When Chris had arrived home from high school on Wednesday, he'd immediately gone upstairs to continue reading about the history of the Old West; he'd chosen his cowboy costume already, and Gloria would continue to work on it with him later. In particular, he would continue reading about the town of Four Corners which seemed to be a very colorful town with its seven very different peacekeepers.
Upon turning the page, Chris was astonished to see a photograph of a man who looked like an adult version of Ezra in a different era. It stated his name as "Edward Peter Simpson," meaning he had exactly the same initials as the half-demon witch. If only the photo weren't black and white, then Chris would be able to tell if the man had the same eye and hair color as Ezra. All the book's photos were copies of ones that had been taken a long time ago, before color pictures had been developed.
A man referred to as "J. Steele" had taken the photo of "Edward" that was in the book. Mr. Steele was a writer who'd first visited the town of Four Corners, hoping to write a book about the town's infamous seven peacekeepers. The man had then written a small book after his visit, glamorizing the seven's experiences. Years later, he had re-visited the town in the hope of writing a sequel. Unfortunately, Steele had always been too courageous and foolish during gun-fights, and had died from a gun-shot wound before he'd even started writing the second book.
Chris ran a finger over the photograph, hoping he'd receive a premonition relating to "Edward." After a few minutes of waiting, Chris was finally rewarded for his patience, and received his third premonition from the library book.
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In a crowded saloon in Four Corners, a man with short mid-brown hair and green eyes sat at a card table playing poker with two other men. He wore a red jacket over a white silk shirt, and his black pants looked like they were made from expensive material. His two opponents looked more like regular men of that time, while the green-eyed man looked like he was better bred and wealthy.
"Gentlemen, I regret to announce that fortune is at last smilin' down on me," announced the brown-haired man, in a southern drawl. He placed his cards, face-up, on the table and smiled, his gold tooth glinting. The man had a very good hand of cards that couldn't be beaten.
"How d' you do it, Ezra?" asked the youngest player, with shoulder length, dark-brown hair. Judging by the accent, he was from back East.
"Numerous years of experience have enabled me to become a highly skilled Poker player, Mr. Dunne."
"I say ya cheated, Ez," said the slightly older looking man, standing up. "I demand a rematch."
Ezra looked up at the taller brown-haired man, suddenly towering above him. "Mr. Wilmington, I would be delighted to partake in a further game; but it will have to wait until I've finished my imminent rendezvous with Miss Cheshire."
Mr. Dunne stood up, preparing to leave. "How're things going with her, Ezra? You've been seeing her a whole month now."
Ezra accidentally gave a brief smile, before quickly blanking his expression to answer the youngest man's question. "A gentleman never discloses the fine details of his friendships to anyone." He started to pick up the cards and his winnings.
Wilmington smiled humorously at Dunne. "I guess that means ol' Ez is just 'bout ready to settle down with J.J."
The southerner looked sternly at the man. "I never made such a revelation, so I'd prefer if you didn't jump to conclusions about me and my female companion. I'd also prefer if you didn't discuss our friendship amongst yourselves." After collecting his things together, Ezra then left the saloon through the batwing doors, letting them swing loudly shut behind him.
"I bet Ezra's mother will love her," said the younger man with a grin.
"Real shame Ez has to use that other name 'cause of Mr. Cheshire's dislike of all Standishes," muttered Wilmington.
"Besides that, it's a match made in Heaven, Brothers," said an older man with graying hair and wearing a long light-brown coat, as he walked over to them.
"I never thought Ezra would fall for a woman who wears pants though," commented JD; "I didn't like Casey much to start with because she dressed and acted more like a boy."
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Chris finished recounting his latest Old West premonition to Ezra and then directed a questioning look at his brown-haired brother. He was wondering what his half-demon adopted brother thought about this latest development.
"So this man had to take on an assumed identity because of his girlfriend's family's dislike of all Standishes?" checked Ezra, startled that people would be so against his family name.
"Sounds that way," answered Chris, remembering something Ezra had told him about his mother. "Didn't you say that Maude wasn't very popular with people?"
"You are correct, Chris. If dishonesty is a trait that has been passed down through my family's generations, then I shall be the one to break the curse and ensure my family name is no longer so ill-favored."
Larabee stood up from where he had been sat on the floor and began to pace the room. "Why am I getting all these premonitions of our probable ancestors - all with the same names as us?"
Ezra looked thoughtful, trying to understand why Chris had received all his recent premonitions from the same book about the Old West. There had to be a reason for the visions all coming from the same time-period and all featuring the adopted Potter sons' probable ancestors. Chris wouldn't have received so many from the same object (although they were all from different photos) unless there was a good reason. "Perhaps it's a message?" he suggested to the blond, who was still pacing.
Suddenly standing still, Chris looked at Ezra, surprised by the boy's idea. "If it IS a message, it's far too cryptic for anyone to understand - I bet even Josiah couldn't decipher it."
"The first one involved a child being born to the wife of a 'Chris' who looked similar to you and the second was of some people with our names helping an old lady and her niece fight against miscreants attempting to force them to sell their land inexpensively."
"Except for that one, I think they were about our ancestors starting families - the Larabees got a son, and your likely ancestor started dating his possible future wife."
Nathan suddenly orbed into the room, having listened to the conversation from elsewhere, as he could hear the voices of all his charges inside his head. "Chris, you have to stop lookin' at the book - it's evil." The Whitelighter walked to the book lying on the table and tried to lift it. The book wouldn't move though, as if held down by an unseen force.
Moving closer to the table, Chris put both hands on the book, not wanting Nathan to take it. "There was no evil in my premonitions, Nate; so I think you're wrong. I can sense fear coming from you - possibly because you know more about my premonitions than you're letting on and are afraid we'll find out the truth." Chris took his hands off the book and crossing his arms, glared fiercely at the Whitelighter. He waited for Nathan to tell him all he knew relating to the Old West premonitions.
Nathan wasn't easily scared by Chris's glares; he had been trained to be strong and never reveal more than was allowed to his charges. "Let it go, Chris - stop looking in the book," he requested. His tone meant he was deadly serious in his request. Even the Elders weren't sure what the blond's historical premonitions meant, but they were working on it and would call Nathan when they found out more.
"I like getting those premonitions though - they're joyful visions of people in the Old West starting families, and it's enjoyable to learn about them that way."
"Okay; but I think all those premonitions could mean trouble's brewin'. I'm goin' to check back with the Elders - maybe they can find out why the photos are causin' all those visions for you." Nathan couldn't let on that the Elders were already trying to figure out why Chris kept getting premonitions of his and the brothers' Old West ancestors. Telling Chris that the Elders were already looking into his seemingly harmless visions could make Chris suspicious. The people in the visions could just coincidentally have the Potter sons' names - although it didn't seem that likely. It was vital that the prophecy not be revealed to any of the witches until the Elders gave the say-so.
As Chris and Ezra watched, Nathan orbed back to the heavens; both witches were envious of the Whitelighter's light-show method of fast transportation. Ezra's Blinking power wasn't so beautiful, as Blinking just made someone disappear from one place and appear in another without any fancy effects.
To be continued...