Magic on Changeling Mountain

Carolyn sat down by Tammy and looked at her. She looked pale and Carolyn was concerned as she took her pulse. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m not really sure. I feel drained and at the same time jittery, like I drank too much coffee with a whole lot of sugar. I’ve never projected my aura so much before so I guess that’s why I feel drained but at the same time, I feel like someone has shot me up with a mega dose of B12. I feel like I need to do something to burn it off.” Tammy told her.

“The jittery feeling will not last long and when it stops, you will probably be exhausted.” Amelia told her as she came back into the living room. “Lucinda is sleeping. She was almost out on her feet. She had never really recovered from our previous battle with Armand and the trip here was very tiring for her. I need to talk with you, Tammy, now that the immediate danger is over. I’m surprised that you have managed to go so long with no formal training. How have you managed to stay off of the radar?”

“Witches have radar?” Carolyn asked, perplexed.

“The magical community is usually very tight within their areas. It would be almost unheard of for a witch mother to willingly give up her child, especially if they knew the child had powers. It would mean exposure of our world.” Amelia told them.

“So you are saying, I might have been kidnapped?” Tammy asked.

“I don’t know what could have happened. I’m just saying that it would not be normal for you to have been given up willingly. Tell me what you remember of growing up.” Amelia said. She did not want to alarm them but she suspected that Tammy’s parents might have been killed away from their home community.

For the next hour, Tammy explained about being brought up in foster homes with people who had lived all over the place, never having known her parents and of how she and Carolyn had met. She told her about Hazel and of her books. Amelia was surprised to say the least.

“You have been lucky that no other dark witch or wizard has not managed to latch on to you and drain you of your powers or even worse, turn you to the dark side. Lucinda and I agree that you need to be trained on how to protect yourself. For the most part, witches lead normal lives but our powers can make us targets and we have to be very careful that we do not allow them to be misused.”

“Can I ask a question?” Carolyn asked as she sat listening to Amelia.

“Sure.” Amelia smiled at her.

“What exactly is a familiar and how are they different from changelings or shape shifters?” Carolyn asked.

“Well, a familiar is a witch’s guide and protector. Familiars can sense a dark presence and even though it has no power to cast spells or perform magic, it can influence a witch or warlock by warning them when danger is near or lead them in the right direction to get away from danger. A familiar is usually an animal that has attached themselves to the witch.

A shape shifter is a being that can change from one animal to another or into a human form. Shape shifters and changelings are very similar except that changelings can only shift from their human form into one animal but they can communicate with other changelings, no matter what the other changelings form, through telepathy. Shape shifters cannot do that. They must be in the same form of the creature they are trying to communicate with and can only communicate in the way that particular creature does.”

“Can a changeling be a familiar?” Carolyn asked.

“Well, I’ve never heard of it before but I don’t see why not. Were you able to sense the dark presence of Armand even if Tammy wasn’t around?” Amelia asked.

“Yes, I was but I thought it was just because of my cat senses. I sensed Sebastian too but he is not a dark presence, is he?” Carolyn asked.

“No. I have known Sebastian for many years. He is like a brother to me. He was the one who warned me about Armand when he first moved to town. He said the man made his fur stand on end whenever he was around.” Amelia laughed as she remembered the night Sebastian had come to warn her of Armand and his threat to Lucinda.

“How did Armand manage to find me?” Tammy asked. “I mean, it’s not like I live in a highly populated area or get out a whole lot.”

“We will have to wait until Sebastian is awake to ask him, since he is the one who has been following Armand for the last few months. If I had to guess, I would say he came across either someone who knew you or another witch who sensed you in the area who told him of you. Sebastian has grown up around witches so he can probably sense us. He can tell the difference between a dark witch and a good witch, that’s for sure. He spotted Armand from day one.” Amelia replied.

“Hazel is the only one outside of Carolyn’s family that has ever known I was a witch. Oh lord, I hope he did not hurt Hazel. I need to call her and make sure she is OK.” Tammy became agitated and made to stand up.

“Wait. You don’t want to go discussing this on the phone. Let’s wait and talk to Sebastian. He will know how he found you.” Amelia said.

“I won’t discuss this then but I still want to call and make sure she’s OK. She was the only one who was ever there for me when I was growing up. She’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a family except for Carolyn.” Tammy said, as she smiled at Carolyn and reached out for her hand, lightly squeezing her fingers.

Tammy asked Angela if it was OK if she used their phone, promising to pay for the toll call. She called Hazel and was reassured that her longtime friend was fine. Tammy told her she couldn’t talk for long and promised to call her back in a couple of days. Hazel seemed to understand and didn’t press for more information. She wished Tammy well and they hung up.

For the next several days, Tammy trained with Amelia mostly, as Lucinda was still very weak. Amelia taught Tammy to focus her energy and with concentration, Tammy learned to use her telepathic abilities to a fuller extent. “Practice, practice, practice.” Had been the chant that Amelia would say every time Tammy tried to do almost anything, even passing the salt and pepper at the dinner table. “This setting with these people is very rare in everyday life. You will have to be careful about using your powers where anyone might see you. Practice while you can and always make sure your curtains are closed at home when you do it there. With practice, one of these days you will have enough control to lift this house and move it anywhere you want.”

“You really believe I’m that powerful?”

“Oh yes, my dear.”

For the next two weeks, the sisters trained Tammy almost relentlessly on how to use her magic. By the end of the second week of staying at the Masters house, Daniel Masters was beginning to run out of patience. “The witches are wearing out their welcome and it’s time for them to go home. Your mother can’t keep taking care of Lucinda and all of her other chores. She’s wearing herself out and I’m afraid she’s going to make herself sick. Donna and Kevin are threatening to move out if they aren’t gone soon.” Daniel Masters followed Carolyn from one room to another as she moved around the clinic, taking care of the various animals that were in recovery.

“I’ll talk to Tammy tonight, Dad. I’m sorry they are causing so much trouble but I do thank you for helping to find someone to help catch Armand. Lord, only knows what might have happened to Tammy if they hadn’t caught him.”

“I understand and I’m glad that the danger to Tammy is over now but we are not accustomed to having people who practice magic in our house all the time. Poor Tammy can’t move a muscle without Amelia chanting “practice, practice, practice” all the time. She’s going to burn her out.``

“Well, most witches start learning from when they are young, so Tammy is a little behind in her learning and I’d bet that Amelia has already realized that they will have to be leaving as soon as Lucinda is able to travel.”

“Well, she’s eating well enough, in fact, she eats like a horse. They both do and neither of them offer to help with dinner or clean up. They treat us like we are their servants in our own home and my patience is just about gone. And that Sebastian. He lounges around all day doing nothing and talk about someone who can put away food! His hunger for meat disgusts your mother and sister. Kevin has taken to eating in town before he comes home from work so he doesn’t have to watch him eat. I’m surprised his animal is a cat because he reminds me more of a pig.”

“Ok, Dad. I’ll take care of it tonight.”

That evening, after she had closed up the clinic, she drove up to her parents’ house. She had spent most of the afternoon, after her dad had left, trying to think of a way to tell the witches that it was time for them to go without hurting their feelings.

Tammy and Amelia were in the side yard practicing defensive spells when Carolyn arrived. Amelia was throwing energy balls at Tammy and at first Carolyn thought they were dueling and she started to run towards them when Sebastian jumped down off the porch and said “I wouldn’t get in the way, if I were you. Tammy’s aim is not always accurate and you could get hit by accident, if you distract her.”

Carolyn stood with him and watched for a moment and then realized that perhaps it would be better if she spoke to Sebastian about leaving. She had been trying to think of a way to bring up the subject of their leaving all afternoon, ever since her father had come to visit her at the clinic.

“I’m sure Tammy will get better. She’s always been very intense about learning everything she could about her magic. I’m sure she will continue after you’ve all gone.”

“Yes, she has proven to be a virtual sponge and Amelia is thoroughly enjoying having such a willing student. It’s not often that they can find a place to use their magic so openly except when they are at home and even on the island, they have to practice caution, especially in the summer months.”

“Well, I’m sure they are looking forward to going home soon.”

“Are you trying to tell me that we have worn out our welcome, Carolyn?”

“Well, I wasn’t going to put it quite like that but you have to understand that my parents are very private people and are not used to having house guests stay for so long. And this magic thing is unnerving to them. They are wanting their house back, without all the magic.”

“Don’t give it another thought. I’ll talk to Lucinda and between us, we will convince Amelia it’s time for us to go. Maybe Tammy can come visit with us sometime and continue her training at a later time.”

“I would really appreciate it if you can convince them that it’s time to go without hurting their feelings. That’s why my parents haven’t said anything. They don’t want to hurt Amelia and Lucinda’s feelings, they just want their house back.”

About that time, Tammy and Amelia joined them on the porch. “Whew, I’m tired. She is getting really good but she still needs to practice before she can take on an enemy.” Amelia said.

“Tammy doesn’t have any enemies. She’s the most likable person I’ve ever known.” Carolyn laughed at the suggestion.

“There is all kinds of evil out there, Carolyn. Armand wasn’t the only one that might try to feed off of her. She needs to be ready for anyone that might try to drain her of her powers and steal it for themselves.”

“I understand, Amelia, but most people mellow out around me and I can’t remember anyone in my life, except maybe a few of my foster parents who didn’t like having me around.”

“Did you even consider that maybe it was because they were witches or other magical creatures and just didn’t know it? Maybe they were dark witches and therefore your white aura would have irritated them, instead of calming them. I think that’s why Armand wanted your aura so badly. He seemed to thrive off of negativity. I bet that’s how he found you to begin with. If you had recently done even the smallest amount of magic, he probably felt it and just followed it here.”

“Can someone be a witch and go their whole lives without knowing it?” Carolyn asked.

“Yes. Most people chalk up their powers to coincidence when strange things happen around them or they just choose to ignore it, instead of embracing it and helping it to grow. That’s why there are so few of us and we are so scattered all over the place. There used to be a time when we lived in our own communities but the world has crowded in on us and there are too few places where we can live and practice freely in this world.”

Lucinda came out onto the porch just then and said “Angela says dinner will be ready soon.”

“I bet she will be glad when we are gone and she won’t have to cook for so many people anymore.” Sebastian found a good opening and didn’t miss the shot.

“Tammy, have you been down to your office lately?” Carolyn asked.

“No, and I’d better make some effort to contact my clients or they are going to think I’ve given up and just didn’t bother to inform them.”

“Yes, I guess it is time for us to be going home soon. It’s been so nice staying here. It’s been nice to be able to practice our magic without having to worry about prying eyes.” Amelia admitted.

Amelia and Lucinda and Sebastian left the next day after Tammy promised to stay in touch and to come visit them in the near future. Sebastian had told them that he had followed Armand to an island off the coast of Maine where an old witch lived. He had fed off of her powers until he almost killed her. Sebastian said he was guessing but thought she might have been family to Armand. “The witches familiar tried to warn her but she seemed upset with him and would not listen. Armand did not have enough power to cast a spell yet and I could have sworn at the time that he seemed reluctant to draw power from her anymore. He would have killed her, if he had. She was very old.”

At first, Carolyn had kind of been hoping that Sebastian might stay, not because of a romantic interest but because she had never known anyone who could change into a big cat like her. But, even though he had lightly flirted with her, it was clear that he was not interested in starting up any kind of permanent relationship. He was just an overgrown tom cat and while cats do not mate for life, Carolyn was not the kind to “cat around”.

Carolyn was kind of sorry to see them go because if it wasn’t for them her best friend might have been changed into an evil warlock. Because of them, it was now safe for Tammy to return home. Even though Daniel and Angela had been glad to see the other witches go, they were sad that Tammy would no longer be staying with them. They had grown fond of their daughter’s best friend. Carolyn wondered if it was because of the way she made everyone who came into contact with her feel.

Everything seemed to return to normal over the next few weeks. Carolyn had been very busy at the clinic and she was thankful every day that she had Cindy as an assistant. She was going to hate it when Cindy left for college in the fall. She wondered who she was going to find to take her place once she was gone. Several of the changelings from the mountain had applied but Carolyn wasn’t so sure about how they would interact with her towner’s pets. One was a sheep, another was a badger and the last one was a bird. Unfortunately, their human sides mirrored their animal sides too closely and none of them would work out well in the clinical setting.

She thought about maybe hiring a towner. Maybe one of the seniors from the local high school could come in and help out after school and on weekends but what would she do when a changeling showed up hurt and she needed to treat them? Hmmm. No matter which way she went, she was going to have challenges. Oh well, it was still over a month away and maybe something would turn up.

Tammy was so happy to be back in her own place, both at home and work. She had invented a mysterious aunt that had been ill that she used as an excuse to her clients and they all seemed to accept her explanation without question. All of them had offered their best wishes for her quick recovery.

The only bad part about the two weeks she was away was that Tammy’s boyfriend, Jerry, had thought that Tammy had abandoned him and he started seeing someone else. Carolyn thought it very fickle of him but Tammy had been so upset. Jerry had been her first really serious relationship and she had thought he was “the one”. She had spent the night with Carolyn the first night she had found out about Jerry’s new girlfriend and they had stayed up all night. That’s when they realized that Tammy’s moods could also affect the weather around her and because of Jerry, she kept crying, which caused it to rain….inside! Carolyn went from trying to console her to finding enough towels to keep her cottage from flooding. She finally convinced Tammy to come out on the back porch so that her rain tears wouldn’t ruin the hardwood floors in the cottage.

From then on, Tammy spent a lot of evenings over at Carolyn’s. They sat and talked, played cards and watched movies on TV. “This is so sad. We are two vibrant, attractive young women and here we sit on a Friday night watching a love story on TV. We are so pathetic! We have got to get out and have some fun!” Carolyn said.

“Let’s plan on getting out of town one weekend. Maybe go down to Asheville or maybe even to Myrtle Beach and have some fun. There is a 3 day weekend coming up soon and it’s been so long since we’ve had any time to ourselves. If I don’t find an assistant soon, it might be a long time before I can get away again.”

“Sounds good to me. I vote for Myrtle Beach. It’s been a long time since we went down there and I remember having a blast the last time we were there.”