Magic on Changeling Mountain

For the next two days, Carolyn and Tammy took care of Tammy’s parents. Carolyn walked down to her clinic and got some industrial strength disinfectant and took it home with her. She called her assistant, Randy, and told him what was happening. She asked him to go in and check the messages on the machine daily and let her know if there were any calls that sounded like an emergency.

Otherwise he was to call the person back and schedule appointments for next week. Randy confirmed that he would take care of it. He was turning out to be a good assistant.

By the end of the second day, Carolyn was about to start climbing the walls. She hated being trapped inside. As it began to get dark on Saturday evening, she told Tammy, “I’ve got to get out of this house for a while. As soon as it’s dark, I’m going to run a patrol. It’s been days since I’ve gone and I want to check on Wainwright’s place and then go over to my parent’s house. I would like to go see the fairies as well but I’m afraid of passing this onto them. A virus like this would kill them.”

“I know what you mean. I would like to go home and get some clean clothes. I can’t keep borrowing yours. I bet my parents would like a clean change of clothes as well.”

“Well, why don’t you apparate home and get what you need. When you come back, then I’ll go on my patrol.”

“Sounds good. I’ll be back as fast as I can.” Tammy said and took out her wand. Before Carolyn could blink she was gone.

Upon arriving back at her apartment, Tammy quickly found her largest duffel bag and one of her parents’ bags. She got their pajamas and a change of clean clothes each along with their toiletries in their bag and then found the same for herself. She added her laptop, her box of runes and her Tarot cards to her duffle bag, then set it next to her parents’ bag.

She wished her office didn’t have a glass door on it as she wanted to apparate over there to get her work calendar and day planner that were sitting on her desk but she was afraid to chance it.

She could just imagine trying to explain how she just appeared in her office if anyone was passing the door. Glancing around she realized that there were things that needed to be done around her apartment but it was just going to have to wait. Taking care of her parents was her number one priority right now.

Picking up the handles to both duffle bags with one hand, she pulled out her wand and said the apparating spell to take her back to Carolyn’s cottage. She landed in her living room just in time to see Carolyn running from the spare bedroom to the bathroom with the bucket. She heard the toilet flush and the water in the bathtub come on. She walked down the hall and met up with Carolyn coming out of the bathroom with the clean bucket.

“Oh, you’re back! I should have told you to bring your mop bucket. I only have one and it’s your mom that is throwing up now. Could you go back and bring it over?” Carolyn asked.

“I’ll just apparate it over here. I know where it is.” Tammy said and pulled out her wand again. She called for the bucket and seconds later, it appeared as she held out her hand. She went into the bathroom and rinsed it out using some of the disinfectant Carolyn had used. “Hey, this stuff smells good! Like oranges.” She thought to herself as she swished it around in the bucket.

Carolyn came back into the bathroom and washed her hands again. “Did you bring them pajamas? Your dad is feeling self-conscious about being in his underwear in front of us.”

“Yes, I did. I wonder if they would like to take a shower before they change?” Tammy asked.

“They might want to but with as weak as they both are, I would be worried that they might faint in the shower.” Carolyn replied.

“You’re right. I won’t say anything but what do I say if they ask to take one?” Tammy asked.

“Suggest a sponge bath until they are stronger. If your father insists, I guess I could get my dad to come down and help him in the shower. At least he wouldn’t have to be embarrassed by having us in there with him.” Carolyn said.

“Well, let’s just not say anything about it and hopefully he will not ask.” Tammy grinned at her.

“Are you going to be OK while I go on my patrol?” Carolyn asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. You’re not going to be gone long, are you?” Tammy replied.

“I’m only planning on being gone for half an hour, an hour at the most.” Carolyn said. They walked down the hall to the living room and Tammy followed her to the back door. Carolyn stepped outside and transformed. “Wow! When did you turn white?” Tammy said, shocked.

Carolyn transformed back and said “Damn! I forgot about that. I’m so used to being black. Queen Rose did it for me the other day. Oh well, I guess it’s a good thing that there’s snow on the ground everywhere. At least I won’t show up as much. I’ll be back soon.” Carolyn said as she transformed again and jumped down off the porch. She stretched and then took off running.

She ran at a leisurely pace through the woods to the Wainwrights farm and found Mr. & Mrs. Pence coming out the front door. She jumped the fence and transformed in the front yard.

“Hi! What are you folks doing up here this late?” Carolyn asked.

“Cleaning. From the looks of things, he wasn’t a very good housekeeper and since there will be people going in and out of here tomorrow, we thought we would tidy up a bit. Your mom was here this afternoon and Mr. & Mrs. Bennet. Your father made a coffin for him and we put him in it. It’s in the living room, instead of the bedroom.” Mrs. Pence replied.

“How nice. I hadn’t even thought about a coffin. When we found him, we just wrapped him in a blanket on the bed.” Carolyn said.

“Well, it’s late and we need to get back. Your folks are looking after our kids. Your father said it’s OK if we stay here after the funeral tomorrow. I definitely want to make a bid on this place, at the appropriate time.” Mr. Pence said. He seemed subdued and extra polite tonight and Carolyn took advantage of his good mood to ask. “What are your plans for your old homestead, if you do move up here?”

“I’m not sure yet. I know I definitely can’t keep up with both of them. This place is going to be all I can do to keep up with it as it is. It’s a lot bigger than what we have now. I’ll probably have to sell it, just to keep up with the payments on the loan I’ll have to make to buy this place but I sure would like to own it.” Mr. Pence admitted, much to not only Carolyn’s surprise, but to Mrs. Pence as well. She knew her husband didn’t normally discuss money issues in front of anyone, even her, so hearing him talk so openly in front of Carolyn was a bit of a shock.

“I’ll ask my friend, Tammy, to inquire at the bank about Mr. Wainwright’s financial status and make sure there he doesn’t have any loans on the property that will need to be repaid. She’s a bookkeeper so it might be easier for her to inquire.

The banks won’t tell just anyone, I’m sure, because of customer confidentiality rules. I’m sure she’d be glad to advise you on loans and stuff as well.” Carolyn said. “Well, I just wanted to check that no one was up here fooling around. My dad said the tractor was sitting out the other day.”

“Yes. Mr. Bennet was going to start digging the grave but it ran out of gas so he had to come back and fill it up. The hole has been dug and everything is ready for tomorrow. Are you going to be there?” Mrs. Pence asked.

“No. Tammy’s parents are sick with strep throat and are resting in my spare bedroom. I’ve been cooped up in my cottage with them for over two days now. I had to get out of the house or start climbing the walls. But it’s probably better for everyone if we stay away until they are over it and we are certain we aren’t coming down with it.” Carolyn said.

She had kept her distance from them the whole time they had been talking but she only had her jeans and a sweatshirt on so she was getting cold in her human form. “I wish I would have brought a coat with me. It’s really cold out here.”

“Go ahead and transform, dear. Oh by the way, I like the white. Very becoming!” Mrs. Pence said and Mr. Pence nodded his head in agreement.

“I’m going to head over to my parents’ house and check in with them. Should I let them know you will be there soon?” Carolyn asked.

“Yes, we’ll be right behind you.” Mr. Pence said.

“Ok. Have a good evening.” Carolyn said before she transformed and took off at a trot. She had only gone a couple of hundred yards when she heard someone call out.

“Hey!” She froze where she stood and looked around. It was Garth. He was walking through the trees, keeping a watchful eye out from the direction she had just come. He stopped behind a large cone shaped boxwood evergreen and motioned for her to come to him. He obviously didn’t want the Pence’s to see him she thought at first but something about the way he was acting was strange and made Carolyn’s hair stand on end. Carolyn slowly walked over to him and he whispered. “Please come closer. I don’t want your friends to know I’m here.”

Something is wrong. Don’t go any closer. Carolyn’s natural protective instincts were in overdrive and she could feel the hairs along her back begin to stand up. Suddenly, just as she was about to transform so that she could speak to him, Damien and Eric came running towards them with bows armed and ready to fire.

“Run, Carolyn. That is not Garth!” Damien yelled and Carolyn took off running as the strange centaur turned on Damien and transformed. Carolyn saw a tall man in dark clothes and a cape appear where the strange centaur had been standing. He froze for a split second as Damien fired his arrow and then disappeared altogether. Carolyn stopped and turned back to talk to Damien and Eric. She transformed a few feet from them.

“Damien! Eric! Thank you! Do you have any idea who that was?” Carolyn asked.

“No we don’t know him but we sensed his evil presence when he came on the mountain. He wounded Garth and took on his image.” Damien said.

“Is Garth going to be OK? Did he hurt him badly?” Carolyn asked, concerned.

“He’s not badly wounded and should heal in a few days but you should make your people aware that there is a dark warlock on the loose up here. When are the witches going to finish the barrier? We expected to see them by now. We have been keeping our herd close to the cave because you let us know that there would be strangers around but Garth was gathering food from the forest for his foal when the wizard came upon him. He cut his left rump just enough to make him bleed but it should heal quickly enough.” Eric said. He was obviously the more talkative of the two.

“Tammy’s parents have come down with strep throat and are in quarantine in my cottage. I’ve been held up with them for the past two days. I just had to get out and run some or go stir crazy.” Carolyn said with a grin.

“We understand. Centaurs go quickly insane if confined for any length of time.” Eric said, flashing a look at Damien.

“We have to protect the herd and staying in the cave is the safest place for us while this evil warlock is on the loose.”

“How long have you known he was here?” Carolyn asked.

“He cut Garth just about an hour ago. We felt his presence just a short time before that.” Damien replied.

“Can you tell if he’s still around?” Carolyn asked.

“I do not sense him in the immediate area but that doesn’t mean he’s not still on the mountain. Eric and I will patrol our area but we do not want to be far from our herd. We have more than just the new foal in the way of young ones and they have not been fully trained in combat yet.” Damien said. “Do you need an escort back to your parents’ house?”

“No. Not unless he can catch me when I’m running full out. I’m sure I’ll be fine but I do want to hurry back and let my parents know and I need to get back to my cottage and make Tammy aware of it.” Carolyn said.

“Very well. We will patrol and let you know if we sense anything more.” Damien said as he turned to leave.

“Take care and thank you!” Carolyn said and then transformed.

“Oh, by the way, the white coat is very becoming!” Eric said.

Carolyn nodded and flashed him a toothy cat smile before she turned around and took off running back towards her parents’ house. The closer she got to them, the faster she ran. They needed to be warned as soon as possible.

She was also worried about Tammy and her parents. The Mason’s would be sitting ducks if the warlock was to show up there. With each step her sense of urgency grew and by the time she hit her parents’ yard, she was running faster than she ever had before.

She crossed the large yard in seconds and jumped up on the porch. She was going so fast that she almost went right through the screen door and would have knocked herself out on the wooden inner door if she didn’t have claws.

As it was, she left long claw marks on the porch bringing herself to a halt. Her father opened the front door with his rifle in his hand, which shocked Carolyn. She couldn’t remember the last time she had seen her father with his gun. She quickly transformed and hurried inside as her father held the door for her.

“Daddy? Why do you have your gun out?” Carolyn asked.

“Just cleaning it.” Daniel replied. “What’s got you runnin’ like the devil was chasing you?” He looked beyond her to see if he could see anyone chasing her.

“A dark warlock attacked Garth. Cut him on his rump. He would have gotten me except Damien and Eric stopped him. Dad, I’ve got to warn Tammy and her parents but the Pence’s were on their way back here. I can’t go in two directions at once.” Carolyn quickly explained and then her parents’ phone began to ring. Angela ran to get it and it was Tammy.

“Yes, she’s here. Hang on a second.” They heard Angela telling the caller. “Carolyn, it’s Tammy and she sounds very upset.”

Carolyn quickly walked into the kitchen and answered the call. “Hello? Tammy, are you OK?”

“We’re all fine. Amelia and Lucinda and a couple of other witches are here. Lucinda had a vision about a dark warlock catching you. Thank God you are all right.” Tammy quickly explained.

Suddenly, Amelia took the phone from Tammy and told Carolyn “You stay right there, Carolyn. One of us will be up to get you in a minute.”

“Hurry, Amelia. The Pence’s were right behind me in the woods and they don’t know about him. My dad and I are going to escort them back here.”

“Wait! I’ll be there in a flash.” Amelia said and suddenly the phone went dead.

“Dad, Amelia said” before Carolyn could even finish her sentence, Amelia appeared on the porch with another woman that Carolyn did not recognize. She was short and heavy set with dark hair tied back in a long, thick braid that hung all the way to her waist. She had on rather old fashioned clothes in a long, heavy wool skirt of dark green with a vest to match and a snow white, long sleeved shirt and a black cape. The only thing missing was the pointy witch’s hat and broom.

Daniel opened the door for them and said “Come on in out of the cold.”

“Hi Daniel. We would but if you’ve got people in the woods, we had better get to them as quickly as possible.”

“She’s right, Dad. The Pence’s don’t know anything about this so they are sitting ducks or rather goats.” Carolyn said as she followed her father out the door. They all hurried down the steps and took off at a run across the yard. Thankfully, they didn’t have to go far and met the Pence’s coming through the trees just after they entered the woods.

Daniel and Carolyn transformed and told them “It’s OK, folks. These are our friends.”

The Pence’s looked at each other and then transformed. They could tell they were nervous about something. “Daniel, I don’t know what it was but something is wrong in the woods. I’ve lived on this mountain my whole life and I’ve never felt anything like it but it’s almost like there is something evil out there.” Chester Pence said.

“Did you see anyone?” Amelia asked.

“No. It was just a feeling but it made the hair all over my body stand up! I ain’t never felt nothin’ like it.” Chester said, looking over his shoulder.

“Well, come on, let’s get back to the house where it’s warm.” Daniel said. They all hurried back to the Masters house and Angela let them in. Mrs. Pence was upset and wanted to make sure her children were all ok as she hurried upstairs.

“What is going on? Will someone please explain it to me?” Mr. Pence demanded.

“A dark warlock wounded one of the centaurs and took his form and tried to capture me. Two of the other centaurs chased him off.” Carolyn explained. “Mom, you need to get on the phone to all of the other changeling families and let them know to not be alone for any reason and to keep their children close to home. They need to be wary of any strangers, human or animal that might come around until we get this under control. Amelia, who’s with Tammy and the Mason’s besides Lucinda?”

“My sister, Samantha. I am Sabrina, by the way. We are from Italy and came to help our coven sisters, Lucinda and Amelia.” Sabrina said.

“I told you we were going to contact some friends to help and it took us a couple of days but we finally managed to track them down on the Riviera. Sabrina, this is Dr. Carolyn Masters, her parents, Daniel and Angela. I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t know your name?” Amelia finished by asking who Chester was.

“Amelia. Sabrina. This is our neighbor and good friend, Chester Pence.” Daniel provided the introduction.

“Very nice to meet you, Mr. Pence. Well, now back to the business we are here for. We will cast a spell to protect your home and grounds but then we need to hurry back to the cottage, Carolyn. We need to get this barrier in place quickly since they obviously know where they are now.” Amelia said.

“Right. Go on and do what you have too, Amelia. I just want to check on Mrs. Pence. She was kind of upset.” Carolyn said.

“Carolyn, you go on. You’ve got more important things to deal with. I’ll take care of her.” Angela said.

“Some chamomile tea should be enough but if not, some Benadryl will help her to sleep.” Carolyn smiled at her mom before following the witches out the front door. They stepped outside and Amelia and Sabrina went in opposite directions as they cast their spells to protect the Masters home. They rejoined Carolyn on the front porch and Daniel, who was peeking out the front window, watched as they disappeared.

They reappeared in Carolyn’s cottage to find Lucinda and Tammy peering out her windows. Lucinda was looking out the front window while Tammy was watching out the window on the back door.

“Any sign of him?” Amelia asked, causing both women to jump.

“Goodness. We need to get a set of bells installed here.” Tammy said, thinking of Randolph.

“Can you put up a barrier like the one on Randolph’s shop that will keep anything evil from coming in? Because I definitely want one installed as soon as possible.” Carolyn said, once she swallowed to settle the sick feeling that apparating always gave her. She wondered if she would ever get used to it.

“Already taken care of.” Lucinda said as she turned away from the window. “No evil can enter your home by apparating in but it won’t stop them from coming up and knocking on the door so be very careful about who you let in here. Once you invite them in, they are free to come and go as they please and there’s no spell that will keep them out after that.”

“Is there a spell that would say make someone who’s evil turn green so I would have a head’s up?” Carolyn asked. She almost expected them to laugh but Sabrina stepped forward and said “Actually there is but you would need to have a window in your door or something you could look through.”

“Looks like I need to go shopping for a new front door.” Carolyn said with a smile. She would have to remember to ask her dad about installing one as soon as possible. “How are the Mason’s?”

“Sleeping.” Tammy said. “What happened? Are your folks ok?”

“Yeah. A dark warlock attacked Garth and took on his image. Thank goodness for Damien and Eric. They stopped him from getting his hands on me.”

“Carolyn, when can Pastor Robins come so we can finish this?”

“Well, it’s Saturday so my best guess is he would be preparing for church tomorrow. Before I call him though, is it going to be safe to do what we had planned with the rain with a dark warlock on the loose on the mountain? You said before that it would be dangerous with a dark witch or warlock around because they could change your four pointed star into a five pointed star, making it a pentagram.” Carolyn said.

“She’s right. We need more witches!” Sabrina said. “I’ll be right back.” She suddenly disappeared before anyone could say anything.

“Now where did she go?” Carolyn asked, bewildered.

“She’s going to go find more witches!” Samantha came out of the bathroom and added “You must be Carolyn. Hi, I’m Sam!”

“Hi!” Carolyn replied. She couldn’t help but stare at her. Lucinda and Amelia just smiled at her reaction. The fact that Sam was the exact opposite of her sister was simply an understatement. Sam had on jeans that were strategically ripped, a t-shirt with a glittery kitten design on the front and glitter painted sneakers but the most shocking thing was her hot pink and purple hair that was moussed to stand straight up in spikes. She wore blue eyeshadow and long fake eyelashes as well as 3 rhinestones running down her cheek like tears. She had rings on every finger and several bead necklaces hanging around her neck.

“Not what you expected, am I?” Sam smiled at her.

“No but then this whole situation is not normal, for me at least.” Carolyn said, with a guilty smile. “Can I offer anyone something to drink while we wait?” She needed something to do with her hands and, for the first time, wished she had something stronger than soda in her arsenal. She was just passing around cups of ice and cans of soda when Sabrina reappeared with two other women.

“Carolyn and Tammy, these are two more of our coven sisters, Emily and Dawn. They will make the fifth and sixth point of our configuration. Have you contacted the minister yet?” Sabrina asked.

“Hello and welcome and to answer you, no, not yet but I will. First, would any of you like a soda or some juice?” Carolyn said. The two women were obviously not sisters as one of them was black and the other Asian but what surprised Carolyn was, was the fact that they were both young, barely more than teenagers. “Which one is Emily and who’s Dawn?”

The black girl stepped up and said “I’m Emily. Nice to meet you.”

“And I’m Dawn. I’ll take a Sprite, if you have one?” She smiled at Carolyn.

Carolyn got more glasses of ice and found a couple of cans of Sprite and passed them across the counter. “I think I need my dad to bring his map down so we can decide where everyone will need to be to complete this.”

“Ok. One of us will go get him. We don’t want to chance anyone being out in the woods alone right now.” Amelia said.

“Oh, boy! This is going to be interesting.” Carolyn said. “You better let me tell them you are coming. He might not go along with it. He is a bear, especially right now. He doesn’t deal with the winter very well.” She walked over and picked up the phone, dialing her parents’ house. “Mom, where’s dad?”

“He’s in the living room with Chester. They are playing chess.” Angela whispered the last part.

“Oh, boy! I need to talk to him for a second.” Carolyn told her. She heard her mother put down the phone and walk away. A few seconds later her father picked up.

“What’s up, baby girl?” Daniel asked.

“Who’s winning?” Carolyn asked.

“Well, I don’t want to jinx myself but you know…. “ Daniel smiled and rubbed his fingers over the front of his shirt like she could see him and knowing her father so well, she could imagine it.

“We need the map of the mountain. Sabrina brought some friends and they are going to put up the barriers today but we need to know where they will need to be.” Carolyn explained.

“Well, are they going to chase this dark warlock away before they put up the barriers? I mean otherwise, won’t he be trapped here with us?” Daniel asked.

“That’s why they brought some friends. They will make up the extra points of a star to keep whoever this evil presence is from making it a pentagram. Anyway, one of the witches is going to come up and apparate you back down here. Is that OK?” Carolyn asked.

“No! I’ll let you guys borrow the map but I’m not going to let them make me disappear!” Daniel said.

“Ok, daddy, ok. Someone will be up in a minute.” Carolyn said with a grin. She hung up and turned to the witches and said “My father said we can borrow the map but he won’t be coming with it.”

“The big bad bear is afraid of apparating?” Tammy couldn’t resist asking.

“Yep but I dare you to tease him about it.” Carolyn grinned at her.

Tammy’s hands flew up in a motion of surrender “Not me! But I will go get the map. I’ll be right back.” Tammy said and suddenly she was gone.