“Avery’s right,” Shannon agreed.
“I wouldn’t cast a hex on my father,” Ellen insisted. When she received incredulous looks from a few of them she continued with, “Okay, I might think that he deserves to be mentally tormented with guilt for what he had done, but I wouldn’t cast the spell to make it happen.”
“You’re not grasping the concept of magic,” Shannon told her. Ellen gave her a confused look. “You don’t have to cast a spell to put a hex on someone. With wizards and powerful witches just his or her ill feelings towards someone would be enough to unintentionally harm someone with magic, and the person unintentionally harmed doesn’t have to be the one who he or she feels contempt for.”
“So my feelings towards my father could harm Sonya… or make her sick?” Ellen questioned.
“It could,” Shannon told her. “Before you begin to learn witchcraft, you need to find it in your heart to let go of your ill feelings towards your father; otherwise the witchcraft that you want to learn that would protect Sonya could unintentionally harm her.”
Ellen sighed before grumbling out, “Fine, I’ll play nice with him for now on… if he would ever come back around, but I’m not promising more than that.”
“It’s a start,” Allyson said with a pleasant grin. Ellen just responded with a grin.
“Everyone had left the cemetery; so we should do the same,” Avery suggested.
“Let’s go,” Shannon said while gesturing towards the parked cars.
Before the group was able to get too far into the cemetery, Ellen announced, “I’m going to Saint Louis.”
“And how are you going to get there?” Allyson was the first one to ask. “You don’t have a car or a driver’s license.”
“A bus to Saint Louis shouldn’t cost all that much or take that long, and I still have a couple of thousand in the bank from when my mom’s life insurance policy had paid out,” Ellen pointed out.
“You shouldn’t be gallivanting across the country…” Avery was only able to get out.
“Saint Louis isn’t across the country,” Ellen interrupted with. “It’s not even out of state and I’m going.”
“It is on the very opposite end of the state and about four hours away,” Jane pointed out. “And a sixteen-year-old shouldn’t be wandering that far alone.”
“I’m going to Saint Louis,” Ellen insisted.
“You are a stubborn person when your mind’s made up,” Harris told her.
“I’m going to Saint Louis,” Ellen repeated in an unyielding tone.
“Yes, I believe you, and if you hold off a night, you and I can drive there first thing in the morning,” Harris told her.
Ellen gave him a look as if to ask, ‘okay, what’s the catch?’
“I’m not trying to trick you or talk you out of it, so don’t look at me like that,” Harris told her. “And if we leave around seven in the morning we can get there at least by noon.”
Ellen grinned before saying, “Thank you.”
Harris nodded with a grin before saying, “You’re welcome.”
“Being that Mike was my son-in-law, I knew him,” Shannon began. “But, Ellen, what were the names to your other siblings?”
“Oldest to youngest, their names were Mike, John, Christian, Rebecca and Andrew,” Ellen said. “Mike was thirteen years older than me. And Andrew was only one week away from turning two when he was killed.”
“And you had turned sixteen on July 21st?” Avery asked.
“July 19th,” Ellen corrected.
Avery shot Ellen a confused look before saying, “I thought your birthday was one day after Tanya’s birthday.”
“On our birth certificates, my birthday is one day before hers, but, in fact, our birthdays are on the same day and time,” Ellen informed.
“How do you figure?” Allyson asked.
“I was born on July 19th at 10:31 P.M., Kansas City time, and Tanya had pointed out that she was born on July 20th at 4:32 A.M., London time.”
Shannon grinned before confirming, “You were born on the same day and almost at the same time, but twelve years afterwards.”
“Your birthday will be easy for me to remember now,” Avery pointed out. Ellen just shot him a grin.
Mitchell’s seventeen-year-old blue pick-up truck was parked a few car-lengths from Harris’s rented SUV and had failed to start when Mitchell tried to start it.
As Mitchell was lifting the hood, Brandon was coming around from the passenger’s side. As the two were trying to determine the trouble, Ellen and the others were walking their way.
Mitchell and Brandon both looked back at the same time and saw the group approaching.
Mitchell was the first to look away and back towards the engine. As Brandon turned away, Ellen asked them, “Birds had never come to you?”
Mitchell and Brandon faced Ellen again before Mitchell asked, “You’re speaking to me?”
“I’m speaking to you,” Ellen confirmed as the group was walking up to the two. “Don’t birds come to you?”
“They do actually,” Mitchell said. “Is there a reason why you’re asking?”
“When that psychic had told you about the bad bird omen, didn’t you think that, that was a contradiction of your life?”
“El… Ellen, I don’t know why birds, rats or even squirrels would come to Brandon and me the way they do… or to your grandfather for as that matters, but between the time when Michael was born and your mother had become pregnant with you, the birds that were flocking around the house had more than tripled.”
“You naturally attract birds and animals… and so does he and so did grandpa,” Ellen began as she gestured towards Mitchell and Brandon. “I do too, and so did my brothers and sister. Now I’m just guessing here, but I’m thinking that the attraction that the birds and animals have for us is accumulative. As more of us are gathered, the more birds and animals are attracted to us.”
Mitchell thought for a second before saying, “That thought had never occurred to me.”
“No duh,” Ellen said barely loud enough to be heard.
Mitchell shot her an annoyed look for her comment before asking, “So why the change of heart?” Ellen gave him a confused look. “Why have you decided to speak to me?”
“My extended family had given me convincing arguments as to why my ill feelings towards you and your brother could be unhealthy,” Ellen said. “So my change of heart isn’t really a change of heart.”
“Hmm, are you always this blunt?” Mitchell asked.
“I have no reason to lie to you about it or spare your feelings,” Ellen replied.
“Okay,” Mitchell said before facing Harris and the others. “I guess I owe you folks a ‘thank you’ for…”
“I assure you that we didn’t do it for you,” Avery quickly interrupted with. “I fully understand her feelings towards you, but those feelings aren’t healthy… for anyone.”
“Yes, well, regardless, thank you,” Mitchell said.