Magic on Changeling Mountain

“Yes. So do you think you would be able to do everything but the shot if I were not able to be here?” Carolyn asked.

“Sure. Is there not a chart that would tell me how much to administer based on an animal’s weight?” Randy asked.

“There is but only licensed personnel are allowed to give shots. Cindy worked with me for over 2 years and while she could load the syringe, she was not allowed to actually administer the shots. If she had and someone reported it, I could lose my license, so don’t ever do it on your own.” Carolyn said sternly.

“Yes ma’am.” Randy said.

Carolyn explained the rest of his duties and asked him what hours he could be available. Luckily for her, he said he could be available at the clinic’s normal business hours 4 days a week which suited her fine.

“I am a senior scout and I spend Thursday afternoons with the boy scouts.”

“That’s awesome. Well, if you are interested in the position, I could use you in the mornings for sure and sometimes in the afternoons and I’ll have to let you know when because I’m never sure myself.”

“Well, I’m pretty handy at fixing things too so maybe I can make some extra hours fixing up things around here?”

“Yeah that would be great! There’s always stuff that needs fixing it seems. Dogs are particularly hard on the kennels. I’ve got a couple of brand new kennels out back that are for large dogs. I’m hoping that once things settle down a bit, I can start offering boarding services for people going out of town for more than overnight. ”

They shook hands in agreement and it was agreed that Randy would start a regular schedule the next day.

“We don’t have many appointments this time of year but I like to keep the clinic clean and ready for anyone coming in. Do you have your own transportation or do you have to share it with your family?”

“I have my own truck. It’s old and looks like it’s been through a war but it runs well and gets me where I need to go.” Randy said.

“That’s all that matters.” Carolyn said. She had him fill out an application and all the necessary paperwork for taxes and such. While he was doing that, she got online and ordered some coats that would fit him, as well as ordering a couple of new ones for herself. The one she had been wearing was thin and dingy from being washed so much.

They spent the afternoon cleaning up the clinic and going over procedures and necessary paperwork that he would need to be familiar with. Randy seemed to catch on fairly quickly and gave her the impression that he was eager to learn.

About 4 o’clock, Tammy called and said she was leaving work soon and asked Carolyn if she was going to meet her in town. They had dates with Colin and Stuart that night and Carolyn assured her she would meet them at Tony’s. She hung up and told Randy, “Hey, it’s quitting time! I’ve got a date tonight and need to get home and get a shower. Come back tomorrow at 9 am. Oh, before I forget, here’s a key. Please never leave the clinic unlocked if you come in and I’m not here and you need to leave for any length of time. The drugs I have locked up but that won’t stop a thief from trying to steal them if they can get in. OK?”

“OK. And thanks, Dr. Masters. I’m really looking forward to working here.” Randy said as he hung up his apron on the hook by the back door. He left and Carolyn locked up the clinic, made sure that everything was turned off and then left the clinic.

Carolyn rushed home and took a quick shower and dressed warmly to go meet the guys and Tammy at the pizza parlor in town. They went to the movies and saw the newest release. Then they all went to Carolyn’s and sat around talking and just enjoying being together. Stuart and Tammy left just before Colin, who stayed around to say goodnight privately.

Over the course of the next few weeks, they began to develop a habit of double dating with Tammy and Stuart on Saturday nights, either bowling or the movies, with Pizza at Tony’s or a meat and three meal at the diner in town. It was getting close to Christmas and Tammy and Carolyn decided to take a trip to New York to go shopping. They called Lucinda and Amelia and found out the location of a safe place to land and planned to go the coming weekend.

“Oh, I’m getting so excited about going to New York. I haven’t been there in years! I went with a couple of other girls from my senior class when we graduated. It was our big adventure away from home. My parents like to have had heart failure when they heard where we wanted to go but they didn’t stop me from going. If there was any place to shop around here, I couldn’t care less about going. But they have the best shopping anywhere in the country and I want to find something special for Colin’s Christmas present.”

“Well, we’ll be there and back before they even miss us. I want to find something nice for Stuart too.” Tammy and Stuart seemed to spend a lot of their free time together. Tammy had moved back into her apartment 3 days after the hunter incident and from what she had told Carolyn, Stuart had been over for dinner a couple of times since then.

Colin had been over to Carolyn’s as well and they had finally had a serious discussion about the future and what they both wanted. They agreed that they wanted children but that neither of them were ready for them right now. They were enjoying getting to know each other on a level they had never known before but so far still had not slept together. Both of them agreed that until they were officially committed to each other, they wanted to wait. Little did Carolyn know that Colin was planning on proposing to her on Christmas Eve.

Carolyn and Tammy left for New York on Saturday morning and spent the whole day shopping. Tammy apparated their packages home as they went along, using the privacy of various single stall restrooms in stores or restaurants, so they didn’t have much to keep up with and not having to carry their purchases as they shopped was an added plus. They decided to have dinner in town and then go home. Colin was sitting on Carolyn’s front porch when they got back.

“HI. I was beginning to think you guys were going to stay in New York overnight. Did you guys have fun?” He asked as he greeted Carolyn, with a kiss on her cheek. He was beginning to be more comfortable around Tammy and didn’t have as many inhibitions around her.

“If you call emptying my bank account fun, then we had a blast!” Carolyn said as she opened the door to her cottage and let them in. The packages Tammy had apparated home for her were sitting on the coffee table and she quickly grabbed them up and put them in the bedroom.

She didn’t want to take a chance that Colin might peek and find out what she had gotten him. She really wanted it to be a surprise. It was silly, she felt, but she had already planned what she was going to say inside of his card, which she felt was even sillier but that’s how she was feeling lately. She felt all fluttery inside whenever she thought about him or was around him.

“What has you sitting on my porch waiting for me?” Carolyn asked, as she came out of the bedroom.

“I got word today that the trial for the men who shot your Uncle Ray will be held the Wednesday after New Years’ at 10 am. I wanted to tell you before the lawyer shows up with the papers calling you to testify. You will be our expert medical advisor.” Colin grinned at her.

“Ok. Do you want me to have Uncle Ray come in his animal form? He’s healed now so he can transform.” Carolyn asked.

“No, that’s OK. They would require him to be kept in a cage and I doubt if Ray would care much for that!” Colin replied.

“Oh, that’s right and no, he wouldn’t. Oh well, I can just tell them that once he healed, I set him free, as he should be.” Carolyn smiled at Colin. They both wished that Tammy wasn’t standing right there listening to the whole conversation.

“So did you make a good dent in your Christmas shopping list?” Colin asked.

“Well, I still have to get a few people things, but yes, I did. Have you started yours yet?” Carolyn asked, just to make conversation so that he would stick around for a while longer.

Colin grinned at her and winked at Tammy. “I’ve already finished almost all of mine. I used the web and had it mailed directly to them. I was even able to schedule when they will be delivered and everyone should get their things on the day before Christmas Eve. With all of my family living all over the US, it’s kind of hard not to do it that way.”

“Well, you are planning on coming up to my parents’ house on Christmas Eve, aren’t you?”

“Of course. Your mom is a much better cook than the guy at the diner, which is where I would end up. At work, we’ve agreed that we would split the shifts so that none of us have to work the whole day but will only work 4 hour shifts each. That’s the fairest way.

Hopefully things will be quiet and we can enjoy the holiday but I still have to be ready to go at a moments’ notice. Holidays can sometimes be the busiest. People get to drinking and then the fights break out. Sometimes it just takes us showing up and they settle down. Others, it takes a little more persuading.

Anyway, I worked it so that I will work from 4 am till 8 am then I’m free until midnight. I’m going to work from midnight to 4 am, go home and sleep for 4 hours and then go back to work at 8 and work till noon. We will do that schedule for the whole weekend, then we are rotating a full day off for each of us and then back to our normal routine.”

“Well, I was hoping to have a full day together but since I will be helping my mom in the kitchen that morning, maybe it will work out better this way. So long as you promise not to head to the living room to watch the game on TV as soon as lunch is over!”

“Nope! I promise.” Colin smiled at her. “But I’d better get going. I’ve got the regular 8 to 8 shift tonight.”

“I can’t believe that Christmas is only 4 days away.” Tammy said.

Tammy’s statement made Colin’s stomach clinch and the butterflies that he seemed to have swallowed took flight again. Tomorrow he was planning on talking to Daniel Masters, to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage. Colin was nervous as hell but also excited. He forced himself to take a deep breath. He kissed Carolyn goodbye and, with a wave to Tammy, he left to go to get ready for work.

“Hey, do you have any wrapping paper left? I’ve got one more present to wrap and I’m out of paper at home.” Tammy asked.

“Sure, I think there’s still a bit left on a couple of rolls that I bought.” Carolyn found the wrapping paper for Tammy and she took it into her bedroom to wrap the last of her gifts. When she was done, she came back into the kitchen to find Carolyn sitting on the stool by her kitchen counter looking through a cookbook.

“Looking for something to make for a late snack?” Tammy asked.

“No. Looking for something to make to take to my mom’s for Christmas dinner. She’s going to spend the whole day cooking, like always and it’s just not fair. Maybe if I can find at least a dessert to make, she will come join us instead of being cooped up in the kitchen.”

“Your mom is definitely a good cook. What time is she planning on us eating?”

“Lunch time is about 12. The game starts at 1, I think.”

“Hey, look! It’s snowing!” Tammy said, as she walked over to the window.

“Oh, I was hoping for a white Christmas! It’s so pretty!” Carolyn said as she walked over to join Tammy in front of the window. “I do hope the fairies are going to be warm enough.”

“Oh, I’ve got some more fluff for them. I washed clothes at the laundromat the other night and the maintenance man was there. He thought I was nuts when I asked him for the dryer lint he was cleaning out. It’s in my car.” Tammy said.

“Well, it’s too cold to be going up there tonight but I’ll take it up to them tomorrow. For now, I think I’m going to get ready for bed. I don’t have any appointments for the next couple of days so I’m going to clean the clinic with Randy Monday and then cooking on Tuesday and Christmas Eve is Wednesday. What about you?”

Well, I’m doing laundry and house cleaning in the morning and then Stuart is coming over tomorrow afternoon. He’s not going to be here for Christmas, since he had already committed to go spend the holidays with his family before he met me. Anyway, Monday, I’ve got two appointments but then I’m off. I’ve let all of my clients know that I’m closed until after the New Year. I’m going to stay here for Christmas but once it’s over, I’m going to apparate to Amelia and Lucinda’s and continue my training and start looking for my parents. I’ll spend a few days with them and hopefully I can find some information that will lead me to my parents.”

“Do you want me to go with you?”

“Well, you’re welcome to come along if you want but you’ve got a lot going on here with the fairies and centaurs, not to mention Colin and the clinic.” Tammy said.

“I know Colin would understand and I’m sure my folks can deal with the centaurs and fairies. The clinic is the only thing I really have to worry about. What about Stuart? How does he feel about you going?”

“I told him I’m a witch and he admitted that he already knew and he seems ok with it. Besides he’s going to be with his family for the holidays so between that and his schedule at work, I won’t have much of a chance to see him. But I plan on coming back here for New Years and celebrating it with him.” Tammy admitted. “He really is a very special man.”

“Oh, so do I hear some bells tinkling in your future too?” Carolyn grinned at her.

“I don’t know for sure but I will say, if he were to ask, I don’t think I would turn him down.” Tammy admitted.

“How do you feel about him?” Carolyn coaxed.

“I don’t know what I would do if he were to break up with me now. Go seriously insane?” Tammy said and began to wring her hands. It was a habit she had picked up lately whenever she was stressing out about something.

“Ah-ha! So the love bug has bitten you too! That’s wonderful!”

“But has it bitten him, is the question. I can tell he likes me but love? I don’t know. I don’t want to ask.”

“And you shouldn’t have to.” Carolyn said. “Has he talked about any long range plans with you?”

“He mentioned wanting to build a house on some land his father will give him once he finds a mate.”

“Did he say it like that? Once he finds a mate?”

“No, not exactly. He said “my father will allot me a 10 acre plot once I bring my mate home with me.”

“Hmmm. Well, don’t give up hope. Maybe he’s got a Christmas surprise for you!”

“Oh what a lovely Christmas present that would be.” Tammy said, with a dreamy expression on her face.

“Well, don’t go setting yourself up for disappointment if he doesn’t ask but don’t give up on him yet. Stuart is a nice guy. I’m fairly sure he’s not the type of person to use you and then toss you aside like Jerry did. But tonight, I’m tired and I’m going to bed.”

They took turns in the bathroom, getting ready for bed and then turned in for the night.