Opal's Circle Chapter One

Chapter One: Don’t Tell Justin

Six o’clock Friday morning the mechanical jangle of my ancient Big Ben pulled me from the comfort of pleasant dreams into a state of semi-wakefulness. Opening one eye I groaned as I silenced the horrendous clatter of the alarm clock then forced myself out of bed and began to stumble sluggishly through my morning routine. I came fully awake as warm water cascaded over my diminutive body but my mind was still focused on the dream; the urgency in Mama’s voice as she yelled at me to fly faster, reminding me it was paramount that the creature be captured. And what a creature! I amazed myself that my imagination had conjured up something of such power and beauty. Shades of blue and green glinted luminescent in the moonlight while wisps of bright blue smoke drifted from the giant nostrils and swirled around my head. I flew through them in pursuit of the dragon that forever managed to stay just a hair’s breadth beyond my grasp. Standing in the shower longer than necessary I allowed myself to wallow in the exhilaration of speeding through the tree tops and the complete and utter joy of being with Mama again. With a shiver I realized that the water pouring over my skin was icy cold. I shook my head, pushed the dream aside and hurried to finish getting ready for school.
As usual, during the long humdrum school day, I moved from class to class doing whatever meaningless tasks the teachers required of me and kept my mouth shut while letting my mind wander off to more interesting places. The sound of the closing bell on Friday afternoon caused the return of my full attention to the here and now. A huge sigh of relief escaped my smiling lips as I quickly gathered my things and walked unnoticed through the crowd of boisterous teenagers making their plans for the weekend. I thought about my own weekend with no school to suffer through for two wondrous days. Next week I’d ace all the final exams and then at long last, I’d be rewarded with two months of peaceful freedom from this totally boring waste of my time.
When I reached the car it was empty and still locked. I searched the crowded parking lot until my eyes found my older brother, Justin stopped by Tyler Johnston’s car and laughing with his little knot of geeky friends. Glancing up at the blanket of ominous clouds I prayed the rain would hold off at least until he came and unlocked the car. Sitting my book bag on top of the faded red ‘72 VW bug I waited patiently while once again my thoughts drifted. Unpleasant memories threatened to resurface. I knew if I allowed myself to continue down that black highway an ocean of pain would come rushing back to engulf me but somehow I just couldn’t stop myself.
In my mind I could still see clearly the tears glistening in Mama’s bright green eyes as she hugged first Justin and then me; telling us to be good for Grandma and she would see us in two short weeks. Daddy smiled and patted us both on the head. He reminded us of the fireworks we’d bought in Tennessee on our drive down from Boston and the grand time we were going to have when they got back from Mexico on July Fourth. This was the first time our parents had ever gone anywhere without us. I cried myself to sleep that night. A few days later we got a postcard in the mail from Cancun, Mexico. Mama wrote that she loved us and missed us, she hoped we were having a good time with Grandma and that she would have us both back in her arms soon. A line of XOXOXO across the bottom of the card was her way of sending us hugs and kisses. At the end of the two weeks Uncle John had driven down to Florida to pick them up but when the cruise ship docked my parents weren’t on it. We never heard from them again. Their disappearance ripped a hole in my heart that has never healed.
I quickly wiped the few tears away before anyone could see them. My mind flew forward to August of that same year when Grandma enrolled us in the local elementary school. The principal didn’t quite know what to make of us on, what I have since come to think of as, our first day with the Yahoos. Justin and I had never been to school before so first she tested us and then she ignored the ridiculously high test results and placed Justin in third grade and me in second so we would be with children our own age and find friends. Having never been around other children and not knowing what to expect I was surprised when I found that they oscillated between silly and cruel. I knew I would never find a friend among these people. The first week of school was pretty bad and it all went downhill from there.
“Hey, Opal! How’s it goin’ over at ya’all’s old haunted house, Witch? Any new creepy things move in with ya’all lately?” Tamika Barrett yelled at me from across the crowded parking lot yanking me back to the present. I watched as she and her little clique climbed into her shiny new Mustang. Without answering I turned the other way and ignored them as they drove away laughing.
After ten years the vast majority of my fellow students had given up on tormenting me. The few remaining terrorists, such as Tamika and her gang, I somehow managed to avoid most of the time. The teachers saw me as a well behaved, straight A student with perfect attendance. Over the years a couple of them have even noticed that I keep entirely to myself and only speak when spoken to. They think I’m shy. I’m not shy. I’ve never belonged with these people.
“Hey, Bad Luck! Stop your daydreaming and get your skinny butt in the car!” Justin pushed my elbow off the side of the car as he passed behind me causing my body to lurch forward nearly falling to the pavement before I caught myself. He slid in behind the wheel leaning across to open the passenger door for me with a smirk on his face.
“You can be so mean sometimes! You’re going to run off to college with those freaky friends of yours and leave me here alone. And now you find it humorous to push me down? Why don’t you just break a few of my bones before you go? It couldn’t hurt any worse than being deserted…” again. I added in my head. Stopping myself from speaking such a hurtful word; I spouted something stupid instead. “Well, I hope monsters do eat you up when you go to the University of Georgia next fall!” I jumped into the car and slammed the door as he revved the engine. “I’m so sorry, Justin. I didn’t mean it! Please, you know I’d die if anything bad happened to you!” I hurried to apologize for wishing ill on my only brother. Grandma had drilled it into me: Be careful what you wish for you just might get it!
Justin’s eyes narrowed for just a split second then he laughed. “You need to grow up little girl. Stop listening to all the fairy tales those old ladies keep feeding you. You know I’d never desert you and the only thing that is going to get me at UGA are some really good looking women. I’m so sick of being taboo by association. I love those old ladies to pieces but do they have to act so mysterious and weird all the time? Going to Athens next fall is going to be the beginning of a whole new life for me. I’m a smart, good looking guy. I might even be popular with the girls once I get away from the Addams Family curse.”
“Justin Lee Mills, you shouldn’t talk about our family that way. You should be glad that we have people who love us and take care of us. Mama and Daddy left us here because they knew we would be safe and I…”
“Shut up. Just, shut up.” All the merriment that was there a moment ago had vanished from his face. “I don’t want to talk about Mama and Daddy again, okay? You are such a little ray of sunshine, do you know that? You’re going to end up just like those crazy old ladies.” We rode the rest of the way home in silence. Ending up just like those crazy old ladies was exactly the future I saw for myself and I’ve become contented with that. If I could just pull an Emily Dickinson and never leave the house again, life would be perfect.
Justin really does believe that Grandma is more than a little bit crazy, but I know better, Grandma isn’t crazy. Grandma is a witch. Well, maybe witch is the wrong word, she and the Aunts don’t ride brooms on Halloween or anything like that, I’ve never seen them cast a spell or brew a potion and they’re definitely not wicked. But then strange things do happen around our house that I can’t describe with any word other than magical. There is even supposed to be a ghost that shows up occasionally and although I’ve never seen this ghost, Grandma swears it’s real. I think Justin is, for the most part, totally unaware of all the goings on. Grandma and the Aunts say it isn’t safe for me to tell Justin too much about what I’ve seen. I don’t like keeping secrets from Justin and I really don’t understand why it’s necessary. But I’ll do as they say for now, trusting that Grandma has her reasons and she’ll share those reasons with me when she feels the time is right.
Cousin Samuel knows more than he’s telling about our ladies but I’ve never seen him leave the attic. I think perhaps he’s unable to leave the attic. I’m not even sure he’s human but if not I can’t make up my mind just what he is. I don’t believe he’s a ghost. He's much too solid to be a ghost but he hasn’t changed one little bit in over nine years since he popped out from behind some boxes in the attic and scared me about half to death. All I’m really sure of about Sam is that he is my best friend. And I’m quite sure that Justin doesn’t have a clue about the strange teenage boy living in the attic.
It started pouring down rain just as we pulled up to the rickety old garage behind the house. Justin turned and winked at me as he backed up and stopped right outside the kitchen door. “No sense in both of us getting drenched to the skin.” He smiled at me. “Here.” He reached behind the seat and handed me both of our book bags. “Try not to fall in the mud, okay?” He chuckled. Apparently his good humor had returned.
Aunt Margie, Grandma’s old maid sister was just taking a pan of peanut butter cookies out of the oven as I came through the door. Justin’s favorite. It must be her turn to try and convince Justin that he didn’t want to do what he really wanted to do. I dropped the bags on the floor and ran to the bathroom to get the towel I knew Justin would need by the time he ran to the house from the garage.
“Why don’t you kids ever remember to take an umbrella?” Uncle John grumbled at me as he poured himself a glass of milk in anticipation of the cookies.
“Good question.” I said under my breath as I stood waiting by the back door with the towel in my hands, watching Uncle John and thinking about our family. Uncle John was Grandma’s first born and at nearly forty five years of age he’d never been married and had never left home. Although he’d never said or done anything to cause me to fear him, sometimes I found him downright scary. I guess it was just that he rarely smiled and he growled at me quite often for no apparent reason.
Our mother, Goldie was Grandma’s second child. The baby of her family was Aunt Opal Anne. My parents named me Opal Jane when I was born on October thirty-first just like Aunt Opal. Aunt Opal remains unmarried at thirty-eight although she’s a beautiful, talented and gentle lady. Of Grandma’s three children only our mother married and moved out of this house. Uncle John and Aunt Opal alike are always very quick to point out where that led her.
Grandma’s two sisters, our domineering Great Aunt Margie and our gentle soft spoken Great Aunt April live here with us in this old haunted house as well. Aunt April had been married once a long time ago. She came back to this house after her husband and infant son were both killed in a car wreck. I’m not sure of the details because none of the old ladies ever talked about it. They did all agree that the people in this family should stay where they belong. When they said that they meant here, of course. Here at home, in this house, where our family has lived since Georgia was an English colony, here where it’s safe.
Justin came through the door dripping rain water all over the kitchen floor. I smiled and handed him the towel. “Thanks, Bad Luck.” He grinned at me and started drying his hair.
“I really wish you’d stop calling her Bad Luck, Justin. She’s not you know. Opals are only bad luck when worn by folks not born in October.” Aunt Margie started on one of her usual rants then stopped, probably realizing that she was damaging her chances of success with a more important argument she was planning to deliver with the cookies. “Go change into dry clothes. And mind you, hang your wet things over the edge of the bathtub. No one wants to find mildewed and moldy Levi’s at the bottom of the bathroom hamper.” Oh well, I guess she just couldn’t help being bossy.
As Justin disappeared up the back stairs she turned her attention on me. “I hope that you don’t have too much homework from that school Helen makes you go to. We have big plans for this weekend.”
“Grandma doesn’t make us go to school, Aunt Margie. You know very well that it’s a state law. And none of us except Justin are happy about it.” I smiled sweetly at her. “So what’s the big plan?” I felt a little excitement brewing. Aunt Margie’s big plans usually meant something extraordinary was about to happen.
“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about that. You’ll find out soon enough. You just do whatever you need to do this afternoon to make sure that you’re free for this evening and the next two days.” The whole weekend. Wow! It was going to be something huge. “And Opal Jane?” I was already at the big kitchen table pulling books out of my bag. I paused and looked back at Aunt Margie. “Not a word of this to Justin.”
“Gotcha.” I said as I bobbed my head once and turned back to my books. Really big plans and don’t tell Justin. This weekend was about to get wild and wooly. I opened my trigonometry book but solving math problems couldn’t keep my mind from wandering back to all the possible things the big plans might include.
Justin came down the stairs two at a time; now dressed in bare feet, cut off jeans and an old tee shirt. His shaggy, reddish brown hair was uncombed and sticking up all over the place. Grabbing Aunt Margie, he spun her around and kissed her on the cheek while reaching behind her and stealing a warm cookie. Aunt Margie smiled and raised an eyebrow.
“Is there no comb in your bathroom, rooster? Get yourself back up those stairs. No more cookies for you ‘til you come down looking like a boy again.”
Justin grabbed another cookie as he turned and bounded back from whence he came, laughing all the way up the stairs. “Are you going to try to get Justin to change his mind about going to UGA?” I asked as Aunt Margie put a second pan of cookies into the oven.
“Believe it or not,” she sighed. “We’ve all decided it will be for the best to just give the boy our blessings and allow him to do what he’s going to do regardless. The others have all gone shopping for his graduation present. I’m not allowed to tell him anything until they get back and neither are you, Opal Jane. Not even a hint or I’ll blister your behind for you!” That was an idle threat. None of them had ever so much as lifted a finger to me. Then again I don’t think I’d ever given any of them reason to. We sat there quietly for a few minutes. I pretended to study the math problem I had written down while Aunt Margie sat there looking like her mind was somewhere far away. Pluto, maybe. Suddenly she jumped up as if someone had pinched her, grabbed an oven mitt and pulled the cookies from the oven. She looked back at me and very softly said, “Here he comes. Not a word now.”
“Look at me! I’m a real live boy!” Justin sang as he danced into the room doing a fairly good imitation of a puppet on strings. A puppet with neatly groomed hair. “Cookies, cookies, feed me cookies!” He got himself a glass of milk and sat down at the table across from Uncle John. “I noticed that the other car is not in the garage and also that three of our ladies have gone missing. I can’t believe I didn’t hear this excursion being planned. They usually talk nonstop for weeks before they step foot out the door. What’s up?” Uncle John just shifted in his chair and growled a little. Good answer, Uncle John.
Aunt Margie chimed in. “Opal Anne wanted to go to Hobby Lobby for art supplies: paint and canvas, and such, you know. Helen and April went with her so she wouldn’t get lost again. You remember the last time she went off by herself. She drove around for hours before she finally called. Then you and John had to go bring her and the car home. That girl’s smart but she’s got no sense of direction.” I was sure that they would come home with paint and canvas too. Our ladies always kept their stories straight.
“Umm. So Mister Blake finished a new book?” Justin asked with his mouth full of cookie. Thomas Blake writes stories for children and Aunt Opal does the illustrations. They made a great team and a sweet couple. They were so obviously in love with one another, I thought Aunt Opal would surely marry Mister Blake but then he suddenly stopped coming to the house almost a year ago. Now he just sends stories to Aunt Opal in the mail and then she sends back pictures. I asked her once what happened and she told me that sadly some people can write nice fairy stories but turn tail and run when faced with the reality.
“No,” Aunt Margie said sharply, bringing my attention back to Justin’s questioning face. She looked at him with an odd glimmer in her eyes. “She wants to paint some family portraits.”
“Humph!” Uncle John snorted as he took his empty glass to the sink. He looked back at Justin and me then turned and left the room, muttering under his breath as he went.
“Actually she wants to paint a portrait of you, Justin.” Aunt Margie admitted.
“Oh, what’s she going to do? Hang it in the basement to scare the rats away?” I giggled. Then I remembered the other portraits hanging in the front sitting room and my giggles turned into gagging. Justin jumped up and started pounding me on the back.
“Hey, you all right there, Bad Luck?” Then our eyes met and he must have seen what I was thinking. He sat down and glared at me. “I don’t understand why Aunt Opal insists on grouping me in with our missing persons. I’m only going to be about an hour and a half away from this house. For crying out loud. It’s not like I’m asking to go to the University of Edinburgh. I’ve earned my scholarship to UGA. David, Ashley and Tyler are all going. And their families are paying. I don’t understand why this family acts like I’m committing a mortal sin just because I want to do something with my life besides sit here and watch this old house fall down around us!” He retrieved his book bag and grabbing three more cookies and the rest of his glass of milk he went stomping up the stairs to his room.
Aunt Margie sat down and took a large bite of cookie. “Well,” she said as she swallowed, “I think the news he gets after supper tonight should go a long way towards ending his crazy mood swings. We all know how he has been beating himself up over not being able to make his ladies happy.” She smiled, but it was a melancholy smile. I turned my attention back to trigonometry.
Thirty minutes later I had just finished my last homework assignment of my junior year when the cats came chasing each other into the kitchen. George, a spoiled Russian Blue tomcat, stopped in front of the refrigerator, meowed once, loudly, then proceeded to wash his paws as if that were the most important thing in the universe and he never had or would think of doing anything else. George always lived for the moment. Luna, the big yellow-orange tabby, leapt onto my lap and suddenly my arms were full of giggling little girl. Her carrot orange curls falling softly around her dimpled baby face and big honey colored eyes alight with mischief, she snagged a cookie off the plate and managed to stuff the entire thing into her mouth. “Clothes, Luna How many times do I have to tell you? You can’t just change and run around naked. You have to put on human clothes.”
“Aw, Little Opie, it’s alright, that boy is asleep with his ears covered up and music going straight to his brain. He doesn’t know I’m not being a cat right now. He’s up there dreaming about grown up human girls, not about going to school all the time, like you all think he is.” She gave me her best baby girl smile.
I couldn’t help but smile back at her. “Clothes or cat. Now!”
“Meow!” She sprang off my lap and up the stairs in an orange flash. I finished repacking my book bag and followed her up the stairs. As I walked quietly past Justin’s open door I saw that he was lying on his bed with head phones on and eyes closed. Grandma always said cats don’t know how to lie. Suddenly George was walking behind me in front of me. I almost tripped over him before I realized he was there. “And I wish you would stop doing that! Sometimes the two of you can be quite annoying, do you know that?’ I scolded as I bent down and scooped him up into my arms. He just looked at me with his great green eyes and I could tell he didn’t believe me. Although cats can’t lie, they can’t be lied to either. And unlike Luna, this one had no sense of humor at all. He winked at me then disappeared from my arms. I walked through my bedroom door to see him curled up asleep in the middle of my bed.
Luna, rummaging in my closet for something she might like to wear, was now a woman who appeared to be in her mid-twenties and fairly close to the same size as me. Her baby curls had become thick strawberry blonde waves around a pert pixie face. She slipped lithely into a flowered house dress that buttoned down the front with a full skirt and a matching belt. Like so many others now hanging in my closet, I had found the dress in the attic. I think it must have belonged to Aunt April in the 1950’s, but I liked it, and apparently, so did Luna.
“Nice.” I told her as she twirled around causing the full skirt to flare out, smiling like she’d just swallowed a canary. Her slightly fuller breasts and hips filled the dress up like I never could. Just great, the cat looked better in my clothes than I did.
“I’m spending the weekend with you.” She announced. “Your Grandmother said that I’m riding back with them and we should be here any second now.” She looked thoughtful for a minute. “Don’t wake up Justin. We have some things to hide. Okay. We’re here. Let’s go.” She walked out the bedroom door moving as graceful as… well, as graceful as a cat.
Justin was going to be thrilled to find this Luna here. He always made happy noises and went a bit goofy when this friend of Aunt Opal’s came to visit. I wondered what his reaction would be if he knew that he was wasting all that time and energy flirting with the cat!
Later that evening, after the supper had been prepared and consumed and the dishes had been washed, dried and put away Grandma called us all into the front sitting room. Uncle John took his usual comfy chair by the window. The Aunts sat at their puzzle table but they weren’t looking at the jigsaw puzzle that lay there waiting for their attention.
As Justin, Luna and I sat down on the fireplace bricks I glanced up at the large painting of my grandfather, John Washburn, Senior hanging above the fireplace mantel. Hanging on either side of it there were two smaller paintings, my parents on the right and for some unknown reason Justin’s baby picture on the left. I wondered if Aunt Opal would take the baby picture down when she finished the new portrait.
Justin had a frown on his face as he waited for Grandma to speak. Luna kept giggling until I elbowed her in the ribs. Grandma sat on the loveseat looking at her family with just the hint of a smile on her angelic old face. “I think you all know why I want to have this family meeting tonight.” She looked straight into Justin’s sad brown eyes. His frown became even more pronounced.
“I’m sorry, Grandma. I know how you feel about anyone leaving. And I’ve tried my best to understand, believe me, but I have to do this. I can’t just sit here forever even though you all seem to want me to do just that. I…” Grandma was patting the air with both of her hands, motioning for Justin to stop talking.
“Justin, Sweetheart, I’ve thought long and hard on the question of you going all the way to Athens for school and I have, well…” She paused, glancing down at her wrinkled hands with a slight frown. “I’ve decided that you should go to UGA this fall.” Her smile came back like the rising sun. The entire family sat waiting for Justin to speak but he just sat there with his mouth hanging open; stricken speechless by Grandma’s unexpected words. Suddenly Luna’s musical laughter erupted chasing the momentary silence from the room.
“Better shut your mouth boy, before a bug flies in!” Luna said between laughs. Justin looked at her then at me. I was grinning now, too.
“You knew?” The smile lit up his face, his eyes were shinning. Suddenly he jumped up and started making the rounds hugging and kissing everyone. He even grabbed Uncle John in a brief hug and Uncle John almost smiled. Justin had one arm around Luna and the other around me, gushing on about how life just didn’t get any better than this when the telephone rang.
“Justin, it’s for you.” Uncle John held the phone out to him.
“Hello.” Justin laughed into the phone, then he stopped laughing and listened quietly for a minute. “Wow! You’re kidding!” He shook his head as if the person on the other end of the phone could see him. “Hang on just a second, I’ll find out.” Holding the phone to his chest he turned to Grandma. “Tyler’s Dad had the boat all ready for the weekend and then got called into the hospital at the last minute. He told Tyler to get me and David and go have a good time. Please, just say yes, Tyler’s on his way to pick me up right now.” Grandma smiled and nodded her consent. She didn’t seem surprised by this development.
“I’m in. Okay, see you in a few.” Justin hung up the telephone then playfully punched my arm as he ran past me on his way upstairs to pack his toothbrush and whatever else he might need for the weekend. “Ow!” I cried out, grimacing, as I gently rubbed my shoulder. Justin had barely tapped me but I exaggerated the assault out of long habit. Then immediately forgot about it as I noticed the silent communication going on between Grandma and Luna. “Did the two of you, uh, arrange Justin’s sudden trip to Lake Lanier?”
“It wudn’t at all difficult to influence Doc Johnston. Missus Johnston truly didn’t wanna spend another weekend on that borin’ ol’ houseboat a his, anyway. She was fixin’ to be ill with him the whole time and make him just miserable, so I really did him a favor.” Luna’s fake Southern accent was totally over the top. She smiled smugly and looked way too pleased with herself.
“Besides, we needed to get Justin away from the house before…” Grandma stopped speaking and listened intently. A car horn honked in front of the house.
Justin hurried into the room with his book bag slung over his shoulder. He hugged Grandma then turned and winked at me and Luna. “See you Sunday.”
“Have fun!” Luna said to his back as he let the front screen door slam.
Aunt Margie stood up and laid a puzzle piece back onto the table, then left the room without saying a word. How odd. Aunt April stood up and followed her. Double odd. Grandma and Aunt Opal were looking at me strangely and I could see it in their eyes that something tremendous was about to happen. Uncle John even smiled at me. Now that’s something that doesn’t happen everyday. So that made triple odd. Luna was grinning like the Cheshire Cat, that at least was normal.
“Luna, What?”
“Patience, my friend, patience. Wait until your brother is completely away. We wouldn’t want to alarm him or Doctor Johnston’s boy. Another minute and they will be out of the driveway and we can begin.”
“Begin?” I looked at Grandma.
My Grandmother took my right hand and cradled it palm up in both of hers. She studied it for just a moment then smiled as she looked into my eyes. “Opal Jane, what do you believe goes on in this house?”
The question took me by surprise. Sure, I’ve known since forever that things were different here. But they never talked about it. Not even after the first time Luna changed in front of me. Aunt Opal had simply put her right index finger to her lips and said, “Shh. Don’t tell Justin.” I’ve always trusted that I would be told someday. Apparently today was that day. Luna had always been willing to talk but unfortunately her baby girl, which seemed to be her favorite human form, was easily distracted and quite often it was hard to understand just what she was talking about.
All that any of the ladies ever said about things that seemed to be magical was: “Don’t tell Justin.” Grandma watched me carefully as I took a minute to weigh the magnitude of her question. The four left in the room with me all looked dead serious; except for Luna, who was still grinning at me. They were all waiting for my answer, even Uncle John. Uncle John? I never in my wildest dreams thought that he was a part of this. I looked back at Grandma and nodded toward Uncle John. She read the unspoken question in my eyes.
“You may speak in front of John, child. He knows the truth.”
“I believe it’s magic.” I said quietly.
“Do you feel like you are a part of that magic?” Aunt Opal asked, a strange need showing itself on her normally calm face.
“Do you want to be a part of it?” Uncle John injected before I could say anything. Now he was on his feet, glaring and growling at Grandma. “Mother, you should give her more details before she commits herself to joining this war!”
“Enough!” I could almost feel the heat radiated by the fire in Grandma’s eyes as she flashed right back at Uncle John. Her eyes cooled instantly as they moved back to mine and she spoke again in a calm firm voice. “Opal Jane, I need to know how you feel about a few things then I will answer all of the questions I’m sure John’s hasty words have caused.” I nodded and she continued, “What do you plan to do after high school? Do you intend to follow Justin or would you be agreeable to remaining a part of this household?”
A sigh of relief escaped my lips. I had thought it was going to be something difficult. This one was so easy, I’m surprised she even thought she needed to ask.
“Grandma, everyone in this house knows I hate school! I can’t imagine subjecting myself to four more years of pure hell. I don’t fit in well with other people, people like the kids at school… I… I’m not… It’s downright painful at times. I wouldn’t bother to finish high school at all if I thought there was any way to avoid it. There is nothing there for me. And as to remaining part of this household; I can’t imagine myself ever wanting anything more. I love it here, I belong here. And yes, Aunt Opal, I do believe I’m part of the magic.” I put my arm around Luna and pulled her close to my side. “Luna and Sam are my friends. The only friends I have. I’m sure I would die of a broken heart if I should ever have to leave them.” Luna laid her head on my shoulder and purred.
Uncle John studied his feet while shaking his head, a resigned look on his weathered face. “Ah, Little Opie, I had hoped that you could still escape this curse. But I see now that it’s far too late. I’m sorry, baby girl. I’m so sorry.”
“John, you should go help Margie and April get everything ready. We will bring Opal Jane out shortly.” He turned and left the room; muttering to himself as he went. I could tell by the gleam in Grandma’s eyes that she didn’t share his negative feelings about whatever was happening here tonight. In fact she looked altogether pleased by my answer. She smiled at the three of us left in the room with her. “I believe I’d like a cup of tea. Shall we all go to the kitchen?”
No one spoke as we walked to the kitchen. I took Blue Willow cups and saucers to the table while Aunt Opal got out the tea safe and the sugar bowl, Grandma already had the kettle on to boil and Luna was busy putting peanut butter cookies onto a small plate then I turned and asked, “What war?”
I was surprised when Luna answered instead of Grandma. “The same war that has been raging since time began. The war between Light and Darkness, Good and Evil, the only war. John is sorrowfully mistaken when he thinks it would be better to remain ignorant of the battles that are being fought. Ignorance only makes you an easy target for the enemy.”
“Justin!” I wanted to shout but all I managed was a weak whisper. I suddenly understood why our ladies had argued so vehemently against my brother leaving. “Justin doesn’t know! He will be a target! Grandma! You have to tell him!”
“Easy, child.” My Grandmother’s arms surrounded me, sheltered me and eased my panic. “We are going to take good care of Justin. We can’t tell him the truth, yet. He doesn’t believe in magic. He doesn’t want to believe and its not something we can force on him. But we will not leave him unprotected in the world. This is not something you need to think about tonight. Sit down. Eat a cookie. Everything will be fine.”
“What, exactly, are we doing tonight?” I asked them and the answering smiles made me feel quite a bit better than I had felt just a minute ago.
It was Aunt Opal’s turn to answer my question. “We are having your coming out party.” She said blithely. “It’s something that we had planned to do on your eighteenth birthday, but we’re rather hoping you won’t mind starting a wee bit early.” She looked at me expectantly.
“Coming out? Out where? What…?” I asked, more confused than ever.
Luna giggled, “Out to the fairy circle, of course! You need to catch the magic!”