Chapter 7/As the Wheel Spins
Donald Flint chuckles as he reads his daughter's most recent letter. The playful complaints about the deep snow are so familiar that his mind brings up an old memory of her saying the same things when she was just barely taller than his knee and had hopped into his footsteps to follow him. Her proud announcement of winning a snowball fight causes him to laugh louder, pitying her opponents. He has no doubt that Marianne still plays as ruthlessly as she did when she was younger.
Her mention of the accompanying package causes him to pause his reading to finally open the small box. The pair of brown-and-white knitted mittens are a little big on his hands as he tries them on, the matching hat is long enough to cover his eyes, and the matching scarf could probably hogtie an elephant, but he couldn't be prouder as he inspects his eldest daughter's creations. A small tag draws his attention and he laughs once more at the label stating the yarn's 'Mari-llama' source.
With Dawn and Sunny gone on their honeymoon, the loneliness around the house reminded him now more than ever how grateful he is that life granted him a second chance. He can't believe how blind he was! That he actually believed every word that man told him, letting Roland take his precious daughter away.
But that was all settled now. Roland Darling will be sitting in prison for a long time with all those charges against him and he didn't pity him one bit once the truth of all his crimes against his family was revealed. The bank is still investigating how he managed to get away with stealing all of Marianne's money from her share of the company but they had managed to get it all back since he kept all of it in a box in his apartment. A strange action that saved them a lot of hassle.
It hadn't saved Roland from the embezzlement and theft charges, though. It also didn't save those three crooked employees of his that cooperated with Roland's scheme to keep Marianne from being able to get in contact with him or Dawn.
So many lies. Worse, lies that he actually believed about his own daughter.
It was a bit rough for a few months with Marianne's lingering amnesia and then her reluctance to renew their relationship because of all the lies between them. Thankfully, Miss Plum and Marianne's new friends helped them overcome the wall Roland had created over the past two years and it's almost like the estrangement never happened.
"I better make sure the plane tickets are ready for when Dawn and Sunny get back. I wouldn't want to miss Christmas with my little girl," Donald murmurs, placing Marianne's enclosed group picture inside a frame on his desk.
"Hey, guys! Is Bog back yet?" Marianne questions after hopping out of the truck.
"Not yet. You know how he is with his dad," Stuff comments, opening the tailgate as Thang joins her.
"Probably having another snowball fight since they don't have to worry about you winning," Thang quips. "How was the hearing?"
"Stupid," Marianne snorts. "The only good thing about it is that they're thinking about charging Roland with attempted murder along with the charges of assault he keeps contesting."
"Seriously?" Stuff questions.
"They way they figure it, since Roland keeps insisting that it's Aura's fault the potion he stole from her wasn't a love potion like he thought, then he's admitting that he didn't know what the liquid in the bottle was and it could have been poison instead of a transformation potion. That and had I not survived the crash caused by the transformation, or had not gotten away from the wolves, or had not gotten rescued, there's a very good chance I could've been dead by the time Aura and Ignatius found me. I think it's more because they're tired of his repeated attempts at appealing his conviction than anything, so I don't know if they're actually going to go through with it. It was worth seeing Roland's terrified face, though," Marianne explains, hefting a feed bag over her shoulder and following Stuff to the nearby shed.
"Marianne," Gus warns as he approaches, eyeing the heavy bag with disapproval.
"I'm fine!" Marianne insists. "I had a doctor appointment before the court hearing, remember? I've been cleared for heavy work. I passed all the tests and I'm fit as a fiddle."
"So long as I don't have to tell Bog on you. He might have to turn you into a llama again to get you to behave," Gus teases.
The group laughs at the playful threat as they continuing unloading the truck's bed before laughing harder when Prim finally leaves the warm house and discovers Marianne's return. Loud humming joins the noise and Marianne is forced to push the excited gelding away to keep from dropping the bag she's carrying before she reaches its destination.
"Alright, Prim! Yes, I'm back!" Marianne laughs, finally scratching the persistent white llama's neck. "I've only been gone for two days and a night. Did you miss me that much?"
"He's been unhappy. Probably thinking that you'd be gone for a week like the last time you had to go for all those court hearings," Thang mentions.
"You silly llama," Marianne coos. "I told you that I'd be back today."
"He's not the only one that's been fretting. BK's been an absolute nightmare to deal with," Beaks mutters.
"He had good reason to fret, ya troublemaker," Thug argues, nudging him out of the way to the feed shed. "After all, ya kept reminding him that Marianne hasn't driven by herself since her accident, didn't ya?"
"You did what?!" Marianne and Stuff yell.
"Who's the troublemaker, Stacey?" Beaks counters to Thug with a scowl.
"Don't go blaming me, Bertrude," Thug comments with a smirk. "I wasn't the one who kept repeatedly reassuring him that Marianne would be fine while we were inspecting the cattle after she left yesterday morning."
"See! I was trying to reassure him!" Beaks defends.
"And it only made it worse. Which I told ya after the fourth time ya did it and ya kept doing it anyway," Thug reminds.
"I was only trying to help," Beaks pouts.
"It didn't help," Thang sighs. "Well, that explains why BK and Prim were up so late watching tv that BK slept past breakfast and past the time he was supposed to be at his parents' house for his magic lesson with Lochlan, Aura, and Ignatius."
"And I take it that it didn't go well with him being tardy, did it?" Marianne guesses.
"That witch is crazy. No wonder Lochlan doesn't like her," Beaks mutters.
"She showed up with a bugle, started playing reveille to get him awake, and then started lecturing him," Stuff explains.
"She did calm down slightly when she realized that you weren't here, Marianne, but she kept going on about how BK couldn't slow down on his lessons until after they made sure there would be no more magical mishaps," Thang adds.
"Ugh, it's not like he wants anything to happen! Seriously, she can be just as bad as Lochlan," Marianne growls. "Bog was the one who insisted on checking to make sure none of the other items he created were accidentally spelled and he would never miss a lesson on purpose."
"Well, with him knowing you should be back by now, it shouldn't be much longer before he gets home. That's if no one got hexed at today's lesson," Beaks comments before screaming as a tawny wolf starts chasing him through the snow-filled landscape. "Demon wolf! Demon wolf!"
"He never learns," Stuff mutters.
Ignatius snickers as he watches the scene below them, laughing harder when one of Kaleb's paws slip and he careens into a snowbank. It's funny how everything turned out.
Who would've thought that an inconvenient hassle caused by one man's overblown ego and sense of entitlement would drop, quite literally as it turned out, him and Aura into the life of a very rare magic worker? And even stranger is how they are now his teachers.
"I can't believe she lumped me with that arrogant dummy," Aura grumbles.
"Well, you did overdo it this morning," Ignatius points out smugly. "We do specialize in love magic, after all, and know better than anyone else that those in love do have a tendency to make mistakes when they're worried about the one they love."
He grins sharply at the glare he receives before returning his attention to the yard to watch as the transformed Kaleb scrambles out of the frozen bank and shakes the snow from his fur. The young druid-witch huffs at his escaped prey but doesn't resume the chase, trotting over to Marianne instead and tugging onto the end of her coat until she finally straddles his back.
"Seems someone is impatient for his lover," Aura giggles as the laughing woman is whisked away into the house through the llama door.
"He's not the only one," Ignatius purrs into her ear. "Since we don't have any lessons to teach for a few weeks because of Lochlan wanting Kaleb to work on what he's already learned first before learning more, what say we go to Sicily and lounge on the sands at Marianelli Beach for several days as a reward for all our hard work."
Aura's smirk and subsequent shapeshifting is his only answer and he quickly follows suit, waving his fluffy white tail as he chases his inamorata down the tree and across the snow. Not even his dislike of flying can dampen his enjoyment at what awaits them once they reach their destination.
Tea Blend.