"Keep still JD, or the pins will stick in you," warned Gloria, as the little boy squirmed again. It was after school on Monday, and Gloria was working on the boys' costumes for Friday's family Halloween party.
"I's can't keep still - this is boring," explained the boy.
"Do you want to be a cowboy or not?"
"O-kay."
This time, the little boy remained still - or close to it, while Gloria finished looking over the pinned-together cowboy vest. "All done, now hold still while I take this off."
The boy obeyed as Gloria carefully slipped the material over his head.
"Now, go and fetch Vin for me, please."
JD ran out of the room to find Vin.
CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P
Meanwhile, Terrence and Ezra were in the Magic Room, working on a spell to change the boy into his chosen character. They had to word it carefully, or they'd end up with more than they bargained.
"What would you like to be, Son?" asked Terrence, after having been unable to work out from Ezra's long-worded description what he wanted to be for Halloween.
"I desire to be a comic-book super-hero, Father," answered Ezra, standing tall and straight as though demonstrating how good he would look in a hero's outfit.
"Batman? Superman?" A disgusted look from Ezra told Terrence that he'd guessed wrong.
"Father, do I possess the appearance of an adolescent who would desire to be appareled in either of such ridiculous costumes?"
"I didn't think there were many stylish super-heroes, Son."
"When was the last time you perused literature or watched television pertaining to today's fictional saviors?"
After rolling his eyes at his son for using such long words, Terrence spoke. "Which hero do you want to be?"
"A lesser known one, Father...," started Ezra as he started telling Terrence all about his favorite comic-book hero. His favorite super-hero was far more agile than the two his father had guessed, despite the costume really not looking much better than the other two heroes'.
CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P
Elsewhere in the Potter household, Chris sat on the bed in his room, looking through a library book that contained information and pictures about the real Old West. As he was older than the other two sons who wanted cowboy costumes, Chris wanted to choose his own outfit. So Gloria had gone to the library that morning and borrowed a history book with cowboy pictures to give Chris some ideas for his costume. He'd only started reading since he'd arrived home from school about half an hour ago, but as he was a fast reader, he'd read quite a lot already.
The book contained a lot of interesting details and pictures of the Old West, and the teenager was fascinated by it all. He reached the section about the Old West after the Civil War had ended and turned the page. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw the man smiling up at him from the right-hand page of the book. "OH MY GOD!" Chris couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Blue and white orbs arrived in the room, bringing the Potters' Whitelighter to Chris. Nathan had sensed Chris's immense surprise at something and was concerned about the young man.
Sensing someone else magical in his room, Chris quickly turned, ready to defend himself if needed. He sighed with relief when he saw who it was. "Nathan? What are you doing here?"
"I felt your shock, Chris, and was worried somethin' might be wrong," answered the Whitelighter, looking Chris up and down to check he wasn't hurt in some way.
"I'm fine, Nate. Look what I found in this book." Chris handed the book to Nathan, pointing to the startling photograph there.
The Whitelighter studied the photo, and then became worried that the younger man could learn the startling truth from the image. It could reveal Chris's destiny to become one of the six most powerful witches in the world. The prophecy was to remain secret until the Elders gave the okay to reveal it. The time for it to be revealed to the witches would probably be when they were all grown up AND when their group was complete.
There was still one male witch needed to complete their group - but only the Elders and a few privileged Whitelighters knew his location. Not even Nathan was allowed to know the sixth witch's location, although he knew his name because it was the only one of the Old West seven's namesakes not in the Potter household.
"Nate, tell me that cowboy looks nothing like me!" Astonishment was very evident in the blond witch's voice, as he stared at the black and white picture on the page.
"Well, for one thing, he's smokin' - you don't smoke." Any differences between Chris and the cowboy had to be pointed out so Chris wouldn't be able to see many similarities between him and the blond gunslinger. If the young man found out he was related to the gunslinger in the picture and then discovered the names of the gunslinger's friends, he'd soon start to wonder if it was more than just coincidence that the Old West group and Potter witches shared the same names. "You know smoking's bad for you, Chris."
"Doesn't make him look any less like me though, does it?" As he spoke, Chris was stroking the photograph with his finger - that guy could be an ancestor of his for all he knew. That was when he closed his eyes as he felt a premonition coming on. Chris's first thought was that it would be a premonition relating to the man in the Old West, as the object he touched would only bring on a premonition that somehow related to it. Then Chris realized that the photo was a copy of the original, so couldn't possibly give him a premonition of the man pictured. It was more likely that he'd get a premonition of anyone in the present day that'd touched it - perhaps the last person who'd borrowed the book from the library.
Chris hadn't had any premonitions since Saturday, when he'd gotten one from a car and saved an innocent from being knocked down by that vehicle soon after. His premonitions were usually of things that had recently happened or things due to happen very soon - possibly the day he got them.
CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P
"Sure is one handsome baby," said the blue-eyed man with shoulder length, medium-brown hair.
"Of course he's handsome, Vin - he takes after his Pa," answered the blonde woman weakly, while lying propped up in bed.
"Two months early and he's healthy as anythin'," exclaimed the dark skinned man, as he finished checking the baby. "Y'all should rest, Mary. I'll take care of Christopher 'til his Pa gets back."
"Thank you, Nathan. It's a good thing Billy's staying with his Grandpa at the moment."
"This sure ain't no place for a boy right now," agreed Vin. "Chris is gonna be so surprised when he finds out he's got a son - and two months early. He thought fer sure it was gonna be a girl."
"So did I, Vin," answered the woman, as Nathan handed her the baby to hold briefly before she rested. "I'm sure he never expected to get a family again when he first came to this town."
CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P
"Wow!" exclaimed Chris, as he re-opened his eyes. He didn't often have such pleasant premonitions - certainly not ones of events that had happened so long ago.
"What did you see, Chris?" asked Nathan, knowing that it was the photograph that had given Chris the premonition.
"It was in the Old West: a blonde woman had just had a baby boy and called him "Chris" after his father, who was out of town. The child was born two months early, but was perfectly healthy. There was something strange the woman said at the end though: 'I'm sure he never expected to get a family again when he first came to this town,' like the father had once had a family but lost them. Except for that, it was a joyful vision."
"Was there anyone else there 'sides the woman and baby?" questioned Nathan, eager to know if Chris had seen anyone familiar in the vision. If Chris hadn't seen anyone who looked like his brothers, then he wouldn't risk finding out about the prophecy.
"Someone just like you also called 'Nathan', but with a stronger accent, was there checking the baby, and there was a Texan guy coincidentally called 'Vin' as well," revealed Larabee.
"Just coincidence about the similar names and that they look like us, I'm sure," said Nathan, trying to explain away any similarities between the Old West men and them.
"The guy sounded exactly like you, Nathan. He might've even been who delivered the baby; did you ever do that?"
"No, never," lied Jackson, worried that Chris would start to get suspicious that his vision was somehow linked to him. Chris was getting closer to the truth, and might get suspicious that something was being kept from him by the Whitelighter. All witches knew that Whitelighters and Elders knew more than they told the witches - so Chris was likely to wonder if Jackson knew something that the witch didn't about his most recent vision.
"I like what this cowboy's wearing - there's something sinister about his all black outfit. No one would dare mess with him, I bet."
"I'm sure you're right there, Chris, but I don't think all black would suit you, even if it is a suitable color for Halloween." If Chris dressed up too much like his gunslinger ancestor, Nathan was scared that something bad would happen - he was already getting a bad feeling after hearing about Chris's vision. What if it was a sign that something was about to happen to stop the prophecy from being fulfilled?
CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P
On Wednesday after school, Gloria continued on Vin's costume, having him try on the pinned material of the Sheriff's jacket and pants to see how it fitted. She planned to work on JD's after dinner-time, then Chris's after the two youngest had gone to bed.
"Vin, you're as wriggly as JD," complained Gloria, as the young boy moaned as another pin from his costume stuck in him. JD had been far luckier despite being just as mobile as his half-brother.
"I can' help it - I need ta go, Ma'am."
"You should've gone before you came in here, child. And what have I told you about calling me Ma'am? It's Gloria, remember."
"Sorry, Gloria," apologized Vin, wishing he could leave so he could have his adoptive father or Nathan heal his pin-pricks. Whitelighters and even half-Whitelighters couldn't heal their own wounds - and not just because it would be personal gain.
"There has to be an easier way to do this," said Gloria with a sigh. "Those pins aren't being too kind to you, are they, Dear?" She could tell that the little boy wasn't happy about the pins pricking him.
"Only like havin' shots, Gloria - I'm fine, really." Being a half-Whitelighter, Vin was naturally skilled at hiding negative emotions. Sometimes though, he did it when he didn't intend to, and people not in the know about him being magical probably thought he was uncaring.
"I'm glad Josiah's sorting out his own costume - I've got three to complete before Friday night or it won't be a costume party. Help me take this off then you can run along."
Vin stood still and helped Gloria take the partial cowboy costume off him. Then he hurriedly dressed in his own clothes and ran to the downstairs bathroom, now quite desperate for the toilet.
"Mizz Potter?" called JD, as he walked noisily down the stairs.
"How many times must I ask you to call me Gloria?" said the woman, trying not to sound stressed.
"Sorry, Gloria. I was thinkin' - 'Siah's going to be an Indian all on his own. I wanna be one too to keep him company."
Gloria smiled. "That's very sweet of you, but I've already started your cowboy outfit. There's not enough time to change it now. I'm sure Josiah won't mind being the only Indian." She wondered how Josiah was getting on with his costume at his apartment.
"O-kay," agreed JD, reluctantly. "Can I see Vin's costume?"
"It isn't finished yet - it won't look too good 'til it's all done. I'm going to get started on dinner now - we're having salad tonight. Once Vin's out of the bathroom you two can go and play upstairs." Dinner wouldn't be ready for about an hour, so Gloria wanted the boys to be preoccupied enough that they wouldn't keep asking if dinner was ready yet. That was what they did if they weren't busy enough around meal-times.
The little boy looked at the incomplete Halloween costumes lying on the table. "You WILL finish them by Friday, won't you?" he fretted. If the costumes weren't done by then, he was worried that the party would be canceled.
"Of course I will, Dear - I'll make sure they're all ready by then," promised Gloria, wishing she hadn't said she'd make three costumes as it was harder work than she'd expected. "I just heard the bathroom door, so run along and play with your brother now. I'll call you when dinner's nearly done."
JD ran out of the room and crept up on Vin who was walking upstairs. Then the little boy put a hand on Vin's shoulder. Vin screamed, not knowing that JD had gone downstairs while he was in the bathroom.
Running into the hallway after hearing the scream, Gloria stopped in her tracks as she noticed Vin turned toward JD on the stairs.
"Don't scare me like that ever again, JD or I'll orb you to the Underworld and leave you there," threatened the older boy, very angry at his little brother.
"I was just playing, Vin," said JD, before starting to cry.
"Vincent Michael Tanner!" fumed Gloria. "Don't say such things to JD. He didn't mean any harm, although he shouldn't have done it in the first place."
The younger boy wiped his eyes on his sleeves and then apologized first. "I'm sorry, Gloria. I thought-ed it would be fun to scare him, but it wasn't. I didn't know I'd make him scream like that and I won't never do it again, I promise. I'm sorry, Vin."
Chris stood at the top of the stairs, looking down at the two boys. "What's going on?"
"I creeped-ed up on Vin and scared-ed him for a joke. But he thought-ed it was a nasty demon and he said if I ever do it again he'll orb me to the Underworld and won't bring me back."
"It's dangerous to play on the stairs, JD - someone could fall and hurt themselves," said Chris sternly. "Vin, you shouldn't make such threats to your younger brother - EVER!"
"So, you do learn from your own experiences, Christopher," said Ezra, from the entrance of the Magic Room upstairs. He had been in there alone, still trying to write a spell to turn him into a super-hero without any personal gain consequences.
"Ezra, I've got everything under control."
"JD is still in a state of emotional distress though. It's a good thing a fight didn't break out or someone could've ended up in an unconscious heap on the hallway carpet."
"Boys, I can handle this without your help, thank you," said Gloria, annoyed that the older sons were trying to take away her authority over the younger children. "Dinner will be a while yet, so I suggest you go and find things to do upstairs to keep you out of trouble. I'll call when it's nearly ready."
"Yes, Mom," said three boys at once, causing Gloria to grin.
When Ezra belatedly answered, "Yes, Mrs. Potter," he received a glare from Gloria for not calling her the right name, after being told on many occasions not to call her "Mrs. Potter."
"Ezra, if you call me 'Mrs. Potter again', I swear I'll scream," promised Gloria sternly.
Little chuckles escaped Vin and JD, who both received a stern look from their adoptive mother. They both fell silent and then ran upstairs to play.
"My apologies, Gloria," said Ezra, not sounding very sincere. He had always been told to address people formally - even ones he knew. His real mother had always told him it wasn't 'proper' to call people by their Christian names.
"Apology accepted, Dear," said Gloria, with a small smile. Eventually she'd break Ezra's programming and make him always use the first names of people he knew when addressing them.
Chris gently took hold of Ezra's wrist. "I need to tell you something in private, Ezra. Let's go."
"Don't go getting up to any mischief, boys."
"We won't, Mom. We're only going to talk."
Then Chris and Ezra walked along the upstairs passage, and after retrieving the Old West book from his bedroom, Chris led his younger brother into the Magic Room.
CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P
"Ezra," began Chris, receiving a questioning look from his brother, "I had a third premonition of the Old West era." Chris had been receiving Old West premonitions when he touched certain photos in the old history book that Gloria had borrowed from the local library. He'd had one each day, starting with the one relating to his ancestor on Monday. Chris had decided to share his recent premonitions with Ezra after he'd had two from photos in the same book, which seemed unusual to him.
"Really? Who did you see this time? Josiah, perhaps?" Ezra found Chris's Old West premonitions preposterous, as his brother had never had so many happy premonitions so close together before and never usually from photos in books. Actually, Ezra wasn't sure if Chris had ever received premonitions from photographs or other types of pictures.
Pictures of objects or people wouldn't relate to their subjects unless the subjects actually had physical contact with them. If there had been no contact between the subject and the picture, then it wouldn't normally give a witch a premonition - unless someone else magical had planted a vision in it. Ezra didn't think it likely that anyone would have done such a thing to the photos in the library book. "Chris, I don't understand how reproduced photos can give you premonitions of their subjects."
"Me, neither. Just before I got the first one, I thought I'd see an event involving the last person who touched the book. This time I saw your ancestor..." Chris began to recount what had happened when he first went into the Magic Room after school that day.
To be continued...