Magic on Changeling Mountain

They all left the bookstore and Amelia locked the door again and then they took off down a quaint side street that was lined with specialty shops. The coffee shop was in the next block, right on the corner. There were several tables set out on the curb but no patrons as of yet because of the constant drizzle that was keeping everyone inside today. They entered the coffee shop and the owner, a short round man with a large handlebar mustache greeted the sisters warmly.

“Ah, two of my most favorite people. Lucinda! Amelia! How nice to see you, especially when you bring me two new customers?”

“Randolph, how good to see you again. I’ll have my usual. How about the rest of you?” Amelia returned his greeting.

Randolph took their orders and went behind the counter to begin preparing their drinks. There were two other customers in the shop and Randolph lifted a wand and waved it in their direction and the two people quickly finished their coffee and left.

“Thank you, Randolph. This is Tamaura, a pure white witch and her changeling friend, Carolyn. We are here to get Tamaura a wand.”

“I thought so. Come with me, my dear. I think I hear one calling to you now.”

Randolph led Tammy into the back room. “You can come too if you like.” He told Carolyn, who did not need to be told twice.

As soon as Randolph opened the door, a long thin box practically flew at Tammy.

“See I told you one was calling to you.” Randolph smiled as he plucked the box out of the air and opened it for Tammy. Inside lay a wand about 10 inches long of a blonde wood that had carvings around the handle that looked like vines. “Oh and a very nice wand at that. This is maple with a strand of unicorn hair. A very flexible but strong wand. I’ve never seen a wand so eager to be with its witch.” Randolph said as the wand floated out of the box and into Tammy’s hand.

Tammy smiled as the wand landed in her hand and she closed her fingers around the handle. It felt like it had been specially crafted for her hand and that it had finally come home to be with her.

“Go ahead and try it out.” Randolph encouraged.

Tammy smiled and waved the wand in the air. Suddenly the normally messy room was put in order. All of the boxes were now neatly stacked on clean shelves and the stack of books that looked about ready to fall over, were righted and sat properly on the rack near the counter. The windows were clean and the metal of the handrail that led upstairs shined like new.

“Thank you!” Randolph said with a big smile. “Most witches or wizards manage to knock things over, not put them back straight and I’m afraid to say that because I’m always so busy in the coffee shop, this room gets kind of neglected.”

“Well, this one suits me just fine. How much do I owe you, Mr. Randolph?” Tammy asked and her eyes opened wide when Randolph answered “$125.” Reading the price tag on the end of the box “But since you are friends with my two most favorite customers, I will give you a 20% discount.”

Tammy mentally calculated how much it would be and then tried to think of any bills that she had left unpaid at home and prayed that all of her clients had mailed their checks this week as she handed him her credit card. She had done all of her invoicing for the services she provided over a week ago. Carolyn felt more than saw Tammy’s concern and wondered if she was running short on money.

Randolph handed her a pamphlet on how to care for her wand and told her “Be sure to read this carefully and follow the care instructions. If you take care of that wand it will always serve you well for many years to come.” He said as he led them back into the coffee shop where he ran her card. He took the wand from Tammy and returned it to the box and then put the box in a bag along with the pamphlet and returned it to Tammy. “Remind me to show you the spell that will allow you to hide your wand on your person no matter what you are wearing.” Lucinda said.

“Do you mean to say this is your first wand?” Randolph asked.

“Yes, it is.” Tammy said shyly.

“Can you believe that until a few weeks ago, she was completely untrained?” Amelia said to Randolph.

“Goodness. How rare! I’ve only ever known one other white witch but she was nowhere near as powerful as you are. Come to think of it, you even slightly resemble her. You have her eyes.” Randolph said.

“Oh really? What was her name?” Tammy asked excitedly.

“I can’t really recall. She came to me for a wand many years ago. She was a white witch too, which is very rare by the way. Now what was her name?” Randolph said, tapping a finger to his chin, as he tried to recall the name. His eyes swept the room as if looking for a clue when his gaze landed on the necklace that Amelia wore around her neck. It was a large green emerald set in an old fashioned setting of lacy scalloped silver around the edges.

“Julia! That’s it! I don’t think she ever gave me her last name but her first name was Julia. Lovely girl! Very pleasant and well spoken. She grew up around here but she went back east to go to college and I never heard from her again.”

Tammy was slightly disappointed and she wasn’t sure why. She had never known her birth parents’ names. In fact she didn’t even have a copy of her birth certificate. Her birthday in fact was a “guessed date” that the people at the orphanage had selected for her. No one knew for sure exactly what day she was born but had based her age and on a doctor’s educated guess using her weight and size when she had come to them to be approximately 6 months old.

She had been found on the steps of the church in Salem wrapped in a blanket with the name “Tamaura” embroidered on one corner on April 25th. Tammy had always celebrated her birthday as April 25th, since that’s the only date she knew for sure. Tamaura was the only name she had ever known for sure was hers.

Tammy had gone from one foster home to another her entire childhood. Strange things had always happened when Tammy was around and she believed it was what kept her from being adopted permanently. She wasn’t 100% sure that her legal last name was White or not but that was the name she was given when she started in school and the only one she had ever used since then.

They stayed for one more cup of Randolph’s excellent coffee and then told the sisters that they would also like to visit the mall. “I’m hoping to find a new winter coat and I want to get gifts for my family.” Carolyn said.

“Well, as you’ve never been to the mall here, I would suggest a taxi. Randolph is it ok if they come back here to apparate back to our house? They are not from here so they don’t know the safe spots around town.” Amelia said.

“No, not at all. Just remember ladies. I close at 6 pm sharp. Tonight is my bowling night. Our team is first in our league.” Randolph said.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be back way before then.” Carolyn said. They left the coffee shop and walked down the block to a main street and caught a cab to the mall.

They thoroughly enjoyed spending their day of mostly window shopping but Carolyn did manage to find presents for her family and something special for Colin but she was going to hold on to it until she figured out where their relationship was going to go. The more and more she thought about him, which she had been doing a lot since she’d had so much time on her hands lately to think.

She really hoped that they would be able to make things work. Why should it matter that he is a wolf and she is a cat? Her parents couldn’t have been more mismatched as a couple but they were making it work. But were her thoughts going in that particular direction because she had just had her time of the month, which always made her more emotional than she normally was or was it because she was beginning to hear that age-old clock ticking?

She loved being a vet and she probably would always be the one that the changelings on the mountain came to for help but could she maintain her practice and still be a good wife to Colin and a mother to any children they might have? Did Colin even want children? Did she? Yes! The last question was answered before she even finished asking it.

She definitely wanted children but would prefer just two or three, not a whole litter which was highly possible being that she was a cat and Colin was a wolf. Granted wolves usually just had 3 or 4 pups at a time but it was possible for them to have up to 6 at a time. How would she be able to handle having 6 kids at once and keep her practice going?

These were the questions she had been asking herself ever since they had reached the island and even though she had racked her brain searching for an answer, she had not come any closer to finding one than she had been when they had left home.

But maybe she was getting ahead of herself. Maybe she and Colin would go on a couple of dates and eventually realize that they were actually meant to be just friends. Friends who shared a serious physical attraction to each other in their human forms.

“Hello?” Tammy’s voice broke into her thoughts. “Where were you? I’ve been sitting here babbling away and you’ve been a thousand miles away.”

“I’m sorry. I was just thinking about Colin and home.” Carolyn said.

“Now don’t go talking yourself out of this date before you even give the man a chance. I haven’t known Colin as long as you have but anyone with eyes can see that you two would be perfect together. Whenever you two are within three feet of each other the air becomes electrified.”

“No it doesn’t. I mean, I do like Colin, always have, but I’m a cat and he’s a wolf. How will we ever make it work?”

“The same way your mom and dad make their relationship work. They love each other and they talk to each other.”

Carolyn gave her a weak smile and then looked at her watch. “Hey, we had better get back to the bookstore or we are going to be stuck here overnight.”

They left the mall and took another cab back to the bookstore just in time. Randolph was just about to close up when they came through the door.

“Ah, ladies! I was getting worried that you weren’t going to make it in time. I was just about to close up shop.”

“We’re sorry, Randolph. We went window shopping and time almost got by us. It was very nice meeting you and I hope we get to come back some day.” Tammy told him.

“You will always be welcome here.” Randolph said as he led them to the back room. He wished them luck and they joined hands and Carolyn squeezed her eyes shut as Tammy whispered “Apparate”. Before she could think of how nauseous she felt they were back on Lucinda and Amelia’s front porch.

“Whew! We made it!” Tammy said in a voice that said she was relieved.

“You mean you weren’t sure we would?” Carolyn asked in disbelief.

“Well, considering that I’ve never done it for more than one room to another and by myself, so no, I wasn’t sure it would work. But it’s actually very easy to do, so long as you know where you are going to land.”

“Exactly! Welcome back.” Lucinda said as she sat forward in the wicker fan back chair where she had been sitting. “Are you going to stay for dinner?”

Carolyn and Tammy looked at each other and then Tammy said “Thank you for the invitation but I think Carolyn is past ready to go home.”

“Ah, Colin must be pacing the floor waiting for you.” Lucinda smiled at Carolyn’s gasp of surprise.

“How do you know about Colin?” She asked.

“Honey, anyone with eyes can see the electricity between the two of you. You two are perfect for each other. And take my advice, don’t let him get away. That kind of love doesn’t come around very many times in your life.” Lucinda said with a rather melancholy look on her face.

“Sounds like there is a lost love story in there somewhere.” Carolyn said.

“Yeah but it was a long time ago and I won’t bore you with the details. Tammy, are you going to be OK with transporting all of your stuff and Carolyn or do you want some help?”

“Do I have to do it all at once or can I send our stuff ahead and then it will be just me and Carolyn?” Tammy asked.

“Yes. Just change the apparition spell a bit.” Lucinda said. “Here, let me show you.” She said and took out her wand. Tammy sat one of her shopping bags down on the porch and Lucinda waved her wand and spoke the spell and the shopping bag disappeared.

“There. It will be sitting on the coffee table in Carolyn’s living room.”

“Oh, let me try!” Tammy said as she pulled out her wand and waved it over Carolyn’s packages and spoke the incantation and Carolyn’s packages disappeared as well.

“Cool. That is going to be super helpful on trash day!” Tammy laughed. “I can bypass the cans outside my apartment and send my trash straight to the dump!”

“Just remember. Discretion! You must be careful not to be seen doing magic. The Salem witch trials may have been over a hundred years ago but mortals still fear what they don’t understand.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be careful.” Tammy promised.

“Oh, I almost forgot. The spell to hide your wand.” Lucinda said and quickly showed Tammy how to do it. “Always keep your wand within easy access. A witch without her wand can be very vulnerable.”

“Well, come on. Let’s go get our stuff and get going.” Carolyn urged. She was dreading the trip but was really looking forward to getting home. “Thank you so much for letting me come see your beautiful island and your lovely home.”

“Well, you are always welcome. I do hope you will come again someday.” Lucinda said as she followed them into the house. “Amelia! The girls are back. Come say goodbye!” She called out to her sister.

Amelia appeared out of thin air and greeted the girls warmly. “Oh, I’m so going to miss you both. Do promise to come back and see us soon. And Carolyn, please tell your parents thank you for everything. And give poor Colin a chance. You won’t be sorry!” Amelia smiled and Tammy and Lucinda laughed at the surprised expression on Carolyn’s face.

They hugged the sisters and said goodbye and then Tammy took her hand. Carolyn squeezed her eyes shut and they were off. Minutes later, they appeared on Carolyn’s back porch. Carolyn had to take several deep breaths to keep from throwing up. “Remind me not to eat anything greasy before if we have to do that again.” Carolyn said.

“I think it will get easier after a few times.” Tammy said as she sat down on the lounge chair. “It does tend to make the knees weak.”

Carolyn put her purse down and sat down in the chair across from her. “Oh, it was nice on the island but it’s so good to be home. I need to call my folks and let them know we are back.”

Carolyn dug her house key out of her purse and went to unlock her door. She let herself in and looked around. Everything seemed to be as it should be. The packages that Lucinda had sent ahead were sitting on her coffee table, as promised and their suitcases were sitting next to the sofa. She walked over to the phone and called her parents’ house.

“Hi Mom. We’re back!” Carolyn said when her mother finally answered after several rings.

“Oh, Thank God. We need you up here as fast as you can get here. Your Uncle Ray is hurt.” Angela said breathlessly.

“I’ll be right there.” Carolyn said and hung up. She ran back out the back door and told Tammy “my uncle is hurt, I’ve gotta go. My jeep keys are in my purse if you want to come up but I’ve got to hurry.” She said and then transformed and jumped off the porch.

She hit the ground running and quickly disappeared in the woods. She ran as fast as she could up the mountain, jumping over logs and tearing through the overgrowth. Within minutes she was racing across her parents’ yard. Kevin was on the front porch and he held the door open for her as she jumped up on the porch and transformed. She could tell he had been crying and she gave him a quick hug before she ran inside.

“Mom?” she called out.

“In here, Carolyn.” Angela’s voice called from the kitchen. Carolyn hurried into the kitchen to find her parents trying to remove the arrow that was stuck through his wing. He was in his bird form and Carolyn could tell he was in distress by how fast he was breathing.

“Uncle Ray!” Carolyn said, as she rushed over to them. Daniel Masters was shaking as he held his brother on the table. Angela Masters stepped back so that Carolyn could get closer and examine him.

She carefully lifted his wing and could see that the arrow had gone through the fleshy part of his wing near the joint and the head was partially buried in his chest.

“Dad, do you have any really sharp wire cutters or metal snips?” She asked her father. Daniel stared at her blankly for a moment and then nodded “In my shop.”

“Can you get them for me please and make sure they are as sharp as possible. I’m going to cut the shaft away from the point. Uncle Ray, this may hurt a bit and I will give you something for the pain as soon as you can transform, which I will need for you to do as soon as I have the arrow out. It will be easier to work on you in your human form. I’m afraid to give you anything now in your bird form. Your heart is already beating too fast. Try to calm yourself. Do you understand?” Carolyn asked.

Ray Masters nodded his head and then lay very still, while Carolyn examined him. “Mom, I’m going to need some things from the med room in the barn. Can you get them for me?”

“Yes, just tell me what you need.” Angela said. She was perhaps the calmest one in the room but Carolyn could tell that she was very upset and near tears. Carolyn told her mother what she would need and told Donna, who was sitting at the kitchen table with huge tears running down her face and chewing on her fingernails, “Donna, go with mom and help her carry back what I will need. Bring me a suture kit and some gloves and bandages. Bring that big stainless steel pan and some alcohol and a hypodermic needle and a vial of morphine.”

“Ok.” Donna said and looked longingly at her uncle then she went with her mother.

Carolyn tried to soothe her uncle and then she heard a car come up in the yard fast. The next thing she knew there were heavy footsteps on the porch and suddenly Colin and Tammy rushed into the house.

Carolyn straightened up and smiled at Colin. “Hi! What are you doing here?”

“Tammy called and said there was trouble up here. What’s going on?” Colin said as he crossed the kitchen to stand by her. He wanted to grab her and just hold her but he could see that she needed to have her hands free.

“Someone shot Uncle Ray with an arrow is all I know. We just got home when I called up here to tell my parents we are back and mom told me Uncle Ray had been hurt. She didn’t tell me how. Who would do something like this, Colin? Isn’t killing eagles illegal?”

“It most certainly is! When I find out who did this, they are going to seriously regret it.” Colin said, barely hiding his anger that someone had shot Ray.

Just then Daniel Masters came back, followed closely by his wife and daughter. Daniel handed the sharpened metal snips to Carolyn. “I got them as sharp as I could.”

“Great! These will work out perfectly. Can you get me some clean towels, please?”

Daniel rushed down the hall and retrieved several clean towels and hurried back to the kitchen.

Carolyn said, “Lay them down right here. Spread one out when I lift Uncle Ray, leave it folded in half. I want more traction than this slippery countertop. Colin, can you help me hold his wing up so I can see where I’m cutting? Here hold it like this.” She instructed and showed Colin how to hold Ray’s wing. “It’s going to be his natural instinct to fold his wing in when I pull the shaft out but you must not let him but be careful you don’t break his wing.”

“Uncle Ray, be very, very still and don’t move your wing, at all, if you can help it. It’s going to hurt when I pull the shaft out but it should only hurt for a minute. Once I have the head out, I want you to transform. OK?” Carolyn said to her uncle.

Ray nodded weakly then closed his eyes and laid his head down on the towel.

She bent over and slowly reached in with the tips of the metal snips and with one quick clip, she cut the shaft away from the head and pulled the shaft free. Ray flexed his wing a bit but with Colin’s help, managed to keep it away from the head of the arrow. Colin knew Carolyn was worried that he might push it in farther.

Carolyn reached in with her gloved hand and felt his feathers around the arrow head. It was only about half way in and a large part of the base was sticking out. She grabbed it and quickly pulled it out and put her finger over the hole that was left. Ray jerked as he felt her pull the arrow head out and then put her finger over the hole. He opened his eyes and looked at her and then at Colin.

“Colin, let go of his wing and help me get him upright.”

Colin did as she instructed and then they stepped back so that Uncle Ray could transform, which he quickly did. He remained sitting on the counter but he slumped forward as he got lightheaded from the loss of blood. Carolyn rushed forward and caught him, as did Colin. “Dad, come help Colin get him over to the table so I can stitch him up.” Together they helped Ray over to the table and he laid down on it.

Carolyn quickly filled the hypodermic needle with the proper amount of morphine for a man his size and grabbed the suture kit Donna had brought her and went over to the table. She injected it into Ray’s arm and after a few seconds he seemed to relax and had a slight smile on his face. He wouldn’t be knocked out but he wouldn’t care what she did to him. Carolyn examined his injuries more closely now. He had a small hole on both sides of his arm to stitch closed but didn’t appear that the arrow had gotten close to the bone, but she would want to get x-rays later on to be sure there were no bone fragments floating loose in his arm or chest. Next she turned her attention to his chest and was glad to see that while to a bird, the arrow head had gone in far enough to have been lethal, if left unattended, it was barely more than a scratch in his human form. His more serious injury was to his arm. Hopefully the arrow had missed the bone, but the muscles of his arm had been damaged. He would have to let it heal completely before he attempted to fly again.

She put one stitch in the small hole on his chest and wished she had some butterfly stitches in this kit but she didn’t. The hole on his arm took three stitches on each side and then she wrapped it with some gauze and tapped it in place.

“He’ll need to change the bandage every day but keep it dry. I’ll bring him some antibiotics later on. He will need to let this completely heal before he attempts to transform again. He’ll not only rip out the stitches, he’ll make the injury bigger. I don’t think there was any nerve damage but his muscles are going to need to heal. He’ll need to rest and will probably sleep for a few hours from the medicine I gave him.”

“Colin, can you help me get him upstairs? He’ll have to sleep in Carolyn’s room.” Daniel Masters said.

Between the two men, they got Ray upstairs and into bed. Carolyn tried to calm Angela, Donna and Kevin, all of whom were very upset by what had happened. As soon as Tammy stepped closer to them, they immediately began to calm down and Carolyn smiled at her. “Thanks!”

“How did this happen?” Carolyn asked her mother, Donna and Kevin.

“We don’t know. I was outside on the porch when Damien came into the yard carrying Uncle Ray. He said he had seen something hit him and he started falling from the sky. Damien sure doesn’t talk much, does he?” Kevin sniffed as Carolyn put her arm around her brother, trying to comfort him. He might be a man now but he and his uncle had always been very close and it was obvious that he was very upset.

“I wonder if there are campers on the mountain. Has anyone been running night patrols while I’ve been gone?” Carolyn asked.

“No. Dad won’t let me go out after dark. He’s afraid of traps ever since that goat girl got hurt. He barely lets me go out into the woods at all lately.” Kevin almost pouted.

“Because he loves you and doesn’t want anything bad to happen to you.” Carolyn assured him. “You have to admit, in your animal form, you are not very imposing. If these people will shoot an endangered species out of the air, they would think nothing of killing an otter.”

That made Kevin think but he smiled up at her. “I wish my animal was something bigger, like you or dad. But I sure do have fun as an otter. I can get into small places that you guys would not be able to fit in.”

“Your body may be small but you’ve got a big heart and an even bigger knack for getting into trouble. Which way did Damien come from?” Carolyn asked.

“From over there.” Kevin said, pointing at the woods beyond the road.

Just then Colin and Daniel joined them on the front porch and Colin asked Kevin the same questions Carolyn had just asked and Kevin told him the same answers he had given Carolyn.

“Kevin started yelling up a storm and I came running. I’m afraid I wasn’t very polite to Damien but I thought my brother was dead or dying. All I wanted to do was get him inside.” Daniel admitted. “I’ll have to go up to the cave and find him and apologize.”

“I’m sure he understood, Dad. I would like to talk to him to see what more he might know. Colin, are you up to taking a run with me?” Carolyn asked

“Sure. Anytime.” Colin said and they both transformed and jumped down off the porch.