Off to New York City and a very romantic weekend. Enough said there. This section is a definite ‘R’, but it’s not prurient. These two young adults just happen to be very physically attracted to each other, and they are very much in love. Frank coaxes Randi into Tiffany’s after the opera. I wonder why he did that? If all works out, theirs is going to be a very short engagement. That does beg the question, though. Somebody is watching them.

Does anyone want to venture a guess of the name of the hotel where they are staying? It’s very nice.

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If you haven’t read the previous stories about Cindy, Bobbie, and the rest and how they arrived where they are now, you should probably read them. Start with An Incremental Journey, Cynthia and the Reluctant Girlfriend, Cynthia and the Dumpster Diver, Cynthia and the Moment of Truth, Cynthia and the High School Years — Parts 1 & 2 & Bobbie and the Glass Ceiling.

I have researched the Spell’s—R-Us Universe diligently and cannot find anything that violates it, other than that The Wizard is a bit kinder and gentler than sometimes reported. Don’t get me wrong. Given an opening, The Wizard could resort to some of his more ironic and nasty transformations. I’m sure that could happen at any time.

Holly did an outstanding job of fixing my punctuation errors and occasional wanderings into gibberish. She does a great job figuring out what I really meant.

This work is copyrighted by the author and any publication or distribution without the written consent of the author is strictly prohibited. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of the characters to persons living or dead is coincidental.

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Randi and the College Professor, Chapters 5, 6 and 7
 

Chapter 5 — A weekend in New York

“Mom, Frank asked me to go to the opera with him this weekend. He has two tickets for the Saturday matinee performance of Tosca at the MET.”

“That’s nice. Are you going down on Friday?”

“Yes, we’re going to leave around noon.”

“I take it you will be using precautions.”

“Mother! You and Cindy taught me what to do a long time ago. I’m safe, but as soon as we are married, my system is being turned on. We’ve talked about it, and we know we want to start a family soon. I think we can work things out with MIT. They’ll just have to accept the fact that I am going to have children.”

“Well, I am trying to be realistic about this. You are a grown woman; you are in love with a very handsome young man, and I don’t think you have any intention of remaining celibate. I guess it’s just my motherly concern popping up. I remember when Cindy and Don went off for that weekend after Christmas. They were only seventeen, but so much older in so many ways. I guess you are, too.

“If I had gone to New York with your father to see an opera before we were married, I’m sure we would have slept together. Come to think of it, that’s exactly what we did.” Marissa got a bit of a dreamy look. “That was a wonderful weekend.”

The hotel was just east of 5th Avenue, and Randi could see the trees in Central Park as she stood beneath the awning as the porter retrieved their bags. He followed them into the pleasant lobby of the small but very fashionable hotel.

“Good afternoon, Sir, may I help you?” The gentleman behind the desk had a delightfully affected accent.

“Yes, I am Frank Deere, and I believe you have a reservation for us.”

“Yes, here it is,” he proclaimed after searching the computer for a minute. His nice name tag proclaimed he was the hotel manager. “I see there has been a change. Unfortunately there was an incident with the plumbing, and the adjoining room is no longer available. We’ve given you an upgrade at no additional cost to one of our suites. I think you will find it quite acceptable.”

They were escorted by the manager to the tenth floor. The luggage would follow. He opened the door to a sumptuous living room. They could see a wet bar, not a mini bar, a huge HD television in the sitting area, and another across from a small dining table. A huge bouquet of flowers towered over a plate of fruit and cheese, and a sweating, chilled bucket that contained what had to be a bottle of champagne.

By this time, their bags had arrived and the manager led them into an equally large bedroom that had another huge television. After explaining the operation of the televisions and closet safe, the manager and bellhop departed.

“I think we should have some champagne,” Randi proclaimed as she lifted the chilled bottle from the nuggets of ice and handed it to Frank. He deftly eased the cork from the bottle with the appropriate report. She held the two flutes for him as he filled them with the effervescent liquid. That was just about how she felt — effervescent.

The drive had been very pleasant although the traffic had picked up considerably as they neared Queens. Their conversation had gone all over the spectra, though Frank never brought up Randi’s transformation. He had thought about it during the week, and he realized that it just made Randi that much more special. He was not yet aware of the other transformations that had occurred. His GPS, its voice had returned to the original voice, had unerringly brought him to the hotel.

The view from their balcony gave them a slice of Central Park, Madison and 5th Avenue to the west, and Park Avenue to the east. The street in front of the hotel was lined with dark green chestnut trees. The weather was relatively cool for a summer afternoon, as they sat in the opening of the French doors listening to the sounds of the city. The bottle of champagne did not last very long.

Randi stood and motioned for Frank to follow her. “Come on.” She led him to the bedroom where she pulled him down for a passionate kiss. There didn’t seem to be any particular order of events over the next few minutes. There were many kisses, and articles of clothing seemed to just fall where they may. They found their way to the luxurious bath. Frank turned on the water as Randi excused herself to use the WC. She returned and noticed that Frank was still quite rampant. She sensed his discomfort. Smiling, she gently touched him. A look of relief spread across his face as his tumescence subsided and he retreated to the WC to take care of things.

When he re-entered the shower, she handed him a bar of the luxurious hotel soap and then led his hands over her smooth body. She did the same to him. Over the next few minutes they mapped each other. She was soft as only a woman can be, but underneath the softness was a firm, well muscled body. Randi was no lightweight and she was proud of it. She loved sports, and her brother-in-law had taught her to be a better than average soccer player. Frank, too, was athletic. He was a low handicap golfer, and an excellent baseball player. He had gravitated to racquet-ball as a graduate student, and was seldom beaten. Randi’s early assessment of his body had been right on. He still retained his washboard abdomen and well defined musculature.

Randi’s explorations had quickly revived him, and as far as arousal was concerned, she was right with him. After drying off, he led her to the bed, and he was in charge. Randi was in a bit of a rush, but he would have nothing of it. He was slow and deliberate, gently kissing her as he caressed her sides and breasts. He lightly stroked her thighs, working his way toward her beautiful flower. His fingers gently slid around but never entered her, gently teasing the juncture of her thighs and lower abdomen. He played homage to her breasts, gently teasing the diamond hard points with his tongue.

When he entered her, she came almost instantly. Her head twisted back and forth as she started gasping. She suddenly broke out in perspiration that covered her entire body, only seconds later to be covered in goose bumps. She fiercely pulled Frank to her, but as she gradually relaxed, he started caressing the deepest parts of her body, slowly drawing out, then thrusting gently back into her depths. Soon she was reciprocating his motion. This time they came together.

“I take it you don’t mind that we don’t have adjoining rooms,” he said as her fingers gently explored him and teased his nipples.

“No, this arrangement is quite acceptable. What makes you think I would have slept in that other room, anyway?

“I guess I had a little flash of uncertainty. I know how I feel about you, and I’m pretty sure how you feel about me. I just didn’t want to look like I was assuming too much too soon.”

“The rooms were adjoining. That certainly didn’t require much assumption.”

“That just happened. I asked for two rooms close together.”

“Wait right here, big boy. I need to show you something.”

He watched her as she slide out of bed, and with grace of a lioness, went to the living room and the large vase of flowers. She pulled out a small card he hadn’t paid any attention to before. Her beauty captured, no demanded his attention. There was nothing self-conscious about her as she returned to the bed, but for some reason, he realized that her openness was for him and him alone. She handed the card to him.

It was signed “Stan” and “Marissa”

She snuggled up to him. The feeling of her body pressed against his caused shivers up and down his spine.

“Mom was a late comer as a witch, but she has caught up quite well. She is very, very good, and the neat thing is, she loves being a witch. She’s the Vice President of the New England Coven. I’m sure she made the hotel think that there was a problem with the room, and then encouraged them to upgrade your reservation. When we check out, I’m sure we will find that she has already paid the bill. The hotel won’t lose anything. I’m sure the other rooms are already filled. With the reputation this hotel has, they probably had a waiting list.”

“What did I do to deserve you?” Frank gave her a kiss that was rather vigorously returned.

“Deserving has nothing to do with it. We are just right for each other. It took me a couple of hours to be sure of that, but I knew it about half way through that margarita.

“I think you know that I wasn’t a virgin: I was a bit adventuresome for a while many years ago, but my relationships were rather meaningless. I never, and I mean never, had what happened to me that I just had happen with you. You made love to me. No one else ever will.”

Frank kissed her forehead, and then kissed her lips. “You may read my mind if you wish, but what we just experienced has to be the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me. I don’t know how to describe it. I am happier now than I have ever been.

“Let’s get married soon. I received a rather long email from Dr. Mankowitz this morning. He is offering me a position contingent on my degree and he wants to work with me on the controlled fusion project. He knows about us, and said Cindy recommended me. I think that was tongue in cheek. I think he was saying that he knows I know about all of you.

“I can move back up there, you can work on your doctorate, I can work on the project with Avery, and we can make a lot of babies, if you want to.”

“I think I would like that very much.

“It’s still early, let’s go find a nice restaurant and have dinner before we come back here and pick up where we left off.”

There was still some light from the late dusk as they walked to Fifth Avenue, then across the front of The Plaza Hotel to the west. The lights of the city were beginning to dominate; however, they didn’t really notice. Their inattentiveness to their surroundings would work to their detriment. They were being watched.

A nice Greek Restaurant on Seventh Avenue caught their attention, and it proved to be worthy. The food was fabulous, and the wine list was extensive. The baklava had been made in the restaurant’s kitchen, and was particularly nice.

After dinner, they wandered their way back to the hotel. They spent the better part of an hour and a half making love to each other before falling asleep in each other’s arms.

A shadowy figure stood across 64th Street from the hotel looking up at the tenth floor balcony and the open French doors. Had anyone noticed her, they would have seen a very attractive blonde. Her figure was very shapely, and strangely, there was nothing artificial about it. Her most unusual features were her colorless eyes; however, they were hidden by bright blue contacts. There was one other thing that was a bit unusual about her. In spite of it being summer, her light jacket had a fur collar, something that was a bit out of place for the season.

“I don’t know who you are, bitch, but you had better enjoy him while you can. He is mine, and I have worked too hard to get to this point. Enjoy him now, because after this weekend you will never see him again.”

“So, what are you going to do, Betty?” asked her collar that was actually a ferret.

“Leave that to me, Marvin. When I want your help, you will know it. Right now, we have a lot to do.”

Randi woke up, and feeling a slight chill, pulled a light blanket over her lightly snoring lover and herself. He must have been dreaming, because he was erect. She lightly kissed him. ‘I have a feeling that will be waiting for me in the morning.’

Feeling a chill again, she got out of bed to close the doors to the balcony. She could hear the rapid click of a woman’s high heeled shoes on the walk below and she saw the figure of a woman turning the corner at Park Avenue. Unfortunately, her sense of happiness, well being, and the lingering glow of their love making had dulled her senses a bit. Perhaps it was due to the fact that she was so comfortable that her warning system wasn’t in tune. What she didn’t realize, was that had there been anyone else on the street below, they would have neither heard nor seen the attractive blonde as she walked away.
”ƒ
Chapter 6 — A Confirmation

Randi was not disappointed, nor was Frank. She teased him for a while before he opened his eyes. When she knew he was fully awake, she grasped him as she straddled him, gently sinking down and capturing him completely. She was very ready, and he followed her only seconds after she shivered and semi-collapsed on his chest.

Once again, they memorized each other’s bodies in the warm shower.

The hotel had a very nice, but expensive brunch; however, the price didn’t really matter that much. After eating, they returned to their room to dress for the opera. They could have walked to Lincoln Center; however it was getting warm. Frank called the front desk and there was a cab waiting for them when they left the lobby.

They both knew the story of Tosca, and just enjoyed the tragic story. Cavaradossi, the ill fated hero was wonderful. The evil Baron Scarpia was deliciously evil, and Tosca was fabulously over the top. It was a great way to spend three hours being entertained by some fabulous music.

The afternoon was still young when they came out into the Lincoln Center Plaza. It had clouded up a bit, and that cut down a bit on the heat. The crowd was dispersing; many of the opera goers were piling into the seemingly endless supply of taxis. Holding hands, Frank and Randi wove their way through the crawling traffic on 9th Avenue, then across Broadway at 63rd St. to Central Park. They followed the paths through the park, finally coming out on 59th St. just west of the Plaza Hotel.

Randi was letting Frank lead the way. She had been to New York City many times, but each time was an adventure in itself. They turned south on Fifth Avenue.

“Oh, look, there’s Tiffany’s. Can’t you just see Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard? I liked the movie ending much better than the book’s.”

They stopped in front of the rather stark exterior. Randi was looking at probably several hundred thousand dollars worth of jewelry in the window. “I’ve never gone inside,” she said a bit wistfully. “I was always a bit in awe.”

“I can’t imagine that in all those times you’ve been to New York that you never went inside Tiffany’s. Well, I think it’s high time that you did.”

He pulled her to the door. As they entered, a gentleman in uniform pulled the inner door open for them.

“Welcome to Tiffany’s. Is there something you would like to see?”

“I think we are just here for the ambience, if you don’t mind. I would just love to look around,” Randi said, somewhat embarrassed by the opulence.

“That’s quite alright,” the greeter said. “Please enjoy yourself, and enjoy your visit to New York.”

“I guess we must have tourist written all over our faces,” Randi whispered. “My goodness, look at these necklaces.”

“Would you like to see something?” a well dressed sales associate asked as she approached from behind the display. Her name was Anita Clemens.

“We’re just looking at your beautiful treasures. Frank dragged me in here. We’ve been walking around after the opera.”

“Oh, you saw Tosca. My husband and I saw it last week. We thought it was wonderful. Marconi is a fabulous Scarpia. You love to hate him.

“Try this necklace. Don’t worry; just try it on. The sapphires and diamonds compliment your eyes.” She reached around Randi’s neck and fastened the clasp. “You are so beautiful; you bring the best out of the jewelry.”

“Thank you, but I think $750,000 is a bit more than I deserve or can afford.”

“Not afford, maybe; don’t deserve, I don’t think so.” Frank hugged her and kissed the nape of her neck. Anita replaced the necklace in the case. She gave Frank a wry smile.

They continued to make small talk as they wandered from display to display. “I have something here that you might like.” Anita slid a tray of rings from under the heavy glass. She selected a very pretty ring with a large blue stone, diamond baguettes on either side, plus a border of small diamonds. She held it up. “Look how it compliments your eyes. That deep blue is you.”

She handed the ring to Frank. “I think you should put it on the lady. It would only be right that you do so.”

He took the ring from Anita, then gently took Randi’s left hand, sliding the ring onto her ring finger. “See. It’s perfect,” Anita stated rather strongly.

Randi looked at the ring, then at Frank. Suddenly he was kneeling at her feet. “Randi, I want to confirm everything I’ve said before. I love you with all my heart and soul. Will you please marry me?”

Randi looked at the ring and the man she loved so deeply. She knew she had been set up. As The Wizard said, there are no accidents. “Frank, we could go to Jersey and get married tonight, but I think Mom would kill me. Yes, I will still marry you. There will never be anyone else for me.

“How did you know? The ring is absolutely beautiful. It’s perfect. I’ve always wanted a sapphire.” She threw her arms around his neck, and delivered a very passionate kiss that was eagerly reciprocated

“Ma’am,” Anita said after a few moments, “the center stone is a blue diamond. You will have to talk to your young man about where it came from, though.”

Randi suddenly realized that the eyes of almost everyone on the sales floor were focused on her and Frank. Someone had taken a picture and promised to email it to her.

Anita turned to another associate, “Ralph, would you take care of Mr. Deere for a moment? I have something to discuss with Ms. Lewis.” She led Randi to a corner away from the activity.

“Randi, I know you turned your sensitivity way down because of Frank, but you need to remain open to certain things. It almost cost your sister her life before she and Bobbie learned how to discriminate.”

“Oh, my, you’re one of us. I should have known. Why didn’t I?”

“Because, I put up a very strong screen; there’s something going on, and we are not sure what it is. Several of us picked something up a couple of days ago. There is a very powerful presence in the area. We are not sure who it is, but we do know that there is a great deal of malevolence surrounding whoever it is.

“I need you to look at something on the terminal. The screen of silence is up.

“Your Wisdom, Randi’s here.”

Randi looked at the small point of sale terminal. Suddenly she was peering into The Wizard’s back room. The Wizard moved to the front of the scene. “That’s a beautiful ring, Randi. The stone first belonged to Frank’s great grandmother many generations back. It has been in the family ever since. It is the responsibility of the mother to protect it, but it may only be given to and worn by a witch. It also may only be given when the love is real. This is very important. Never remove the ring. After your death, it should be passed to one of your daughters, granddaughters, or great granddaughters on down the line. They may pass it through a son to a future wife. There are other things that you will find out, and we can discuss those later.

“As Anita told you, there is a power in New York that we have not encountered before; someone who has managed to stay beyond our range of observation. It may be a coincidence that this person showed up in New York when you did, but it might not. Be very careful. Right now, we are dealing with an unknown factor or factors.”

By this time, Frank had finished with some paperwork, and rejoined Randi. “Good afternoon, Your Wisdom, it’s good to see you again.”

“Frank, Randi will fill you in on some things. Enjoy your weekend. The ring is beautiful.” The screen returned to the Tiffany screen.

“Randi and Frank, it has been a great joy to work with you today.” Anita gave both of them a discrete hug. “Randi, say hello to Esmeralda Mather and Evelyn Alden for me. We’ll see you this fall.”

The next thing Randi knew they were back on Fifth Avenue slowly walking back up the walk towards 64th Street. She kept stealing glances at the beautiful ring. She would eventually discover that the blue diamond measured 2.65 carats. All she knew at the moment was that it was huge, and very, very special.

“The stone has been in the family for years. My great grandmother wore it, and she told Mom her grandmother had also worn it.”

“That means your great grandmother was a witch. According to The Wizard, only a witch may wear the stone.” She stopped and turned to him.

“What sort of magic did you work, anyway? A week ago, we hardly knew each other. Then you con me into going into Tiffany’s and the most beautiful engagement ring in the world is waiting for me.

“Your mother knows, doesn’t she?”

“She does. After I took you home last week, we had a quiet dinner. Dad was off doing something after dinner, and Mom called me into their bedroom.”

“This has been quite a day, hasn’t it? Randi’s very special and I’m glad you found each other. I knew she was special when she was in second grade. I didn’t understand then how special, but I should have.”

Flo went to her dressing table and rummaged around in the center drawer for a few seconds. She retrieved a small leather bag. Loosening the draw strings, she poured the contents into Frank’s hand. The ring and matching earrings were very pretty and definitely out of the ordinary.

“These were your great grandmother’s and her grandmother’s. I’m not sure how old they are. I imagine the stones have been reset in the past. I may not wear them.” She did not say ‘can’t’, she said ‘may’ quite emphatically. “The ring must be resized. Randi is quite a bit larger than Gramma was. You will have to take it to Tiffany’s to get it resized, and that should work out very well with your trip to New York later this week.

“The earrings should make a nice gift at the rehearsal dinner.

“Your great grandmother would have been very happy to know who you are marrying. You do realize Randi is a witch, don’t you?”

“Yes, I found that out rather quickly. Her mother and sisters are witches, too. So are several of their friends and relatives. They are rather free talking about it, at least to me. Apparently, I’ve been accepted into the group, and since we can talk about it, I guess you have, too.

“Mom, I met their cats, and they can talk and do other things. Randi’s cat is named Silky. I don’t think I should tell you who all the friends are, at least not now, but some are quite famous. I have a feeling you and Dad will meet all of them soon enough.

“Mom, I really do love her. She is amazing.”

Later that night, he fired up his lap top to check his email. The top email was from [email protected]. Surprisingly, his spam filter had not filtered it out. Then he realized that wasn’t that unusual at all. The message was simple: “Frank, I will be at the mall in the morning where you saw the shop last time. Be there at 10:00. I can’t stay long. I will make sure that Tiffany’s gets the ring. I know what Randi’s size is. The ring will be safe. Two of their employees are witches. You will meet Anita Clemens when you go in. She will know who you are.

(Signed) The Wizard”

Frank was eating breakfast the next morning. “Frank, if you are going to get to New York and get back before dark, you had better be going soon.”

“I would, but I found a delivery service. I met a wizard the other night, and he is going to take the ring to New York. He can do it faster and more securely than FedEx, and I won’t have to make the trip.”

“So, that’s how the ring got to Tiffany’s.” He hadn’t told her about the earrings. “It was really quite simple. The SRU shop appeared as I was walking up. It was just like when I met you, except you weren’t there. Wolf was lying in front of the counter and he greeted me as I approached. The Wizard yelled from the back room that he would be just a minute. Wolf let me scratch his ears for a while.

“After I went back into the mall, I watched the shop disappear. I didn’t miss it this time. It’s funny how no one seems to know it’s there or notice when it leaves.”

“That is one of the more interesting aspects of the place,” Randi said. “Probably ninety percent or more of the visitors are expected by The Wizard. I should have figured that out right away when you came in. You are not like most of the customers.”

“What do you mean?”

“All sorts of magical things may be purchased in the shop; however, much of what takes place there has to do with physical transformations dealing with changing sex, and sometimes gender. There are also all sorts of potions and spells that are more of what someone would expect in a magic shop. People can get a potion or spell that might alter or improve their appearance.

“There are even love potions available, but they usually come with a price. Although only one person might take the potion, both parties will be affected, sometimes in unexpected ways. There have been dozens of cases where a boy or girl has purchased a love potion to make another love him or her. There are several gay and lesbian couples in the area who used to be men and women. The person who provided the potion got his or her wish; however, they became the person the other person desired. Some of them work the other way, too. A gay man trying to convert a straight man, became a very loving wife. A lesbian trying to seduce a straight woman became a very handsome and devoted husband. There had to be mental changes; however, the potions allowed the individuals to realize that their selfishness was misguided, and they decided that their lives the way they were now were better than their original selfish desire.

“When Cindy was very young, she encountered an internet predator. The Wizard changed him into a baby girl and put her into a family where she was raised in a very loving environment. The girl and her twin sister have just graduated from college. She won’t remember her past life. Some would argue that was murder; however, her spirit was unaltered and she is a very happy, productive young woman. Someday, many years from now, her spirit will be reconciled with her past. She will know what happened, and I imagine will be quite happy with her changed life.”

They soon returned to their room, still with several hours before dinner. They found their way to the bed. Frank spent several minutes teasing his love. He spent considerable time with his lips and tongue paying homage to her nether lips and very sensitive little man in a boat. As her breathing subsided, he gently held her, kissing her on as many places as he could comfortably reach.

“No one ever did that for me,” she said dreamily. “Now I know why Cindy and Donna were so passionate about each other.”

“Donna, who’s Donna?”

“Oops! Oh well, you would have found out soon enough. Don used to be Donna. This is very complicated. Don was Donna in a parallel earth. When this line was rejoined to that one, Donna ceased to exist. Her spirit was taken back eighteen years and she became Don with her parallel family. It was supposed to have been that way in the first place, but someone screwed up.

“Donna and Cindy were deeply in love, and they still are, obviously. It’s just that Donna is now Don. In growing up the second time, Don didn’t know he had been Donna until just before he and Cindy met for the second time.”

“I think we should discuss this later,” Frank interrupted. “If I start thinking about this too much, I might forget what my primary objective is at the moment. Now, where were we?”

“I think you were doing something that no one else had ever done for me,” Randi said dreamily. “Yesss, that’s it. Now, do that other thing you are so good at doing.” She wasn’t disappointed.
”ƒ
Chapter 7 — A Family Gathering

Madison Avenue is lined with little specialty shops and restaurants. They found a very nice French restaurant that was only a few blocks from the hotel where they lingered over dinner for several hours. No one rushed them.

Over dinner they shared a bottle of very fine Bordeaux — that was all. They were intoxicated, but the intoxicant was their love for each other. If there had been any doubts, those doubts had evaporated many hours before like drops of water on a hot sidewalk.

Walking hand in hand, they meandered back to the hotel. Their love making that night was slow, and very pleasurable. The weather had warmed a bit and they slept with the doors to the balcony open, rather than use the air conditioning. Randi woke during the early morning hours. She had been having a strange dream. A woman she didn’t recognize was trying to take her newly acquired ring from her.

“That ring belongs to me. It was supposed to be mine.” She kept grabbing at Randi’s hand, but for some reason was never able to get a good grip. She finally gave up. “I’ll get it soon enough, just like I will get him.”

Waking, Randi looked at the image in her dream. There was something familiar about her. She was attractive, but there was something cold about her, and it was reflected in her almost colorless eyes.

It wasn’t that cold in the room. It was actually comfortable, but Randi closed the balcony doors and pulled a light blanket over her and Frank. She didn’t hear the click of heels as someone left the area in front of the hotel.

Randi insisted on dragging Frank in to say hello to her folks and any others who might be there. As they walked in, she could see Silky waiting for her in the window. They usually travelled together; however, Silky thought it best that she stay home this time. She knew Frank accepted her, but she also knew that some times were best left private, and the previous weekend was one of those. Silky was waiting at the door when the two lovers came in.

Of course Frank was greeted with a big kiss from Marissa, and a hearty handshake from Stan.

Martha raced down the stairs to greet her big sister and Silky retreated to the countertop. Martha was almost 14 and turning into a beautiful young woman like her older sisters. She was a strawberry blonde, and more than once had been mistaken for Bobbie’s sister. There was a striking resemblance.

She grabbed Randi’s hand. “God, that thing is huge! I wanna try it on. Can I?”

“I would let you, but His Wisdom said never to take it off. I guess there’s something about it. It belonged to Frank’s great grandmother. She was a witch, too.”

“Oh goodie,” Martha said as she looked at Frank. “That means you’re magic, too, doesn’t it? Nobody tells me anything.” Pouting, she turned.

“Mom, I am thirteen. I need to know these things,”

“Marti, we’ll talk about it later this evening. There’s just so much going on, we haven’t had time to fill everyone in on everything.”

Turning to Frank and Randi, “Frank, your mom and dad will be here in a little while. Stan was firing up the barbecue just as you got here. I had the nicest talk with Flo yesterday, and we just thought it would be nice if everyone got together. Flo and I hadn’t talked since Randi was terrorizing second grade. I’m surprised she would welcome Randi after everything she did.”

“Mom, I wasn’t that bad.”

“What about Timmy Johnson?”

“Well, he deserved it. He was so mean to Sarah. Sarah is such a sweet person. She couldn’t help having cerebral palsy.”

Frank was a bit curious, “What did you do?”

“Timmy and Sarah were a couple of grades ahead of me. Every time he was mean to anyone, especially Sarah, I relaxed a certain muscle of his. It took him a couple of weeks to figure it out. It really worked. He became quite nice after a while. Timmy was very intelligent. He just hadn’t been brought up to understand what it meant to be disadvantaged.

“Sarah had a brain injury due to a difficult birth. There was nothing hereditary or organic about her problem. She has trouble walking and has some facial paralysis. She also has seizures every once in a while.”

“So, what happened? Timmy sounds like a real jerk.”

“Sarah is expecting her second child in a few months. She has been married for three years. Timmy adores her, and she loves him very much. They are psychologists and counselors working with disadvantaged children.

“I never ‘messed’ with his mind. I guess I could have, but that wouldn’t have been right. I just got his attention. After ninth grade they were inseparable. She was afraid to tell him she was pregnant. She thought he would leave her. When he found out, he secretly told her parents that she was the love of his life, and was going to propose. He convinced her to go with him for the weekend, and proposed to her in a restaurant in front of about twenty people. It was very sweet.

She was six months pregnant when they got married. She wanted to walk down the aisle, but it was getting difficult for her, so Silky and I helped ‘carry’ her while her dad escorted her.”

Frank suddenly started. His phone was vibrating. He frowned as he read the text message. “Damn, I’m going to have to go down to Princeton tomorrow. They’re having some problems in the lab. It sounds like a software problem. Take a couple of weeks off, and everything goes to pot.

“This better not take too much time to straighten out. Randi and I wanted to walk a section of the Appalachian Trail later this week.”

Bob and Hilda Brewer arrived with their daughters Lucy and Charli. Jorge was on an anthropological expedition in the Yucatan, and a baby sitter was taking care of the two newest additions to the family. Frank’s parents arrived right behind them. There were many more congratulatory hugs, handshakes and back slaps.

The girls quickly surrounded Randi. “God, look at this thing,” Charli exclaimed as she held Randi’s hand. “It’s huge.” The ring seemed to feed off the attention it was receiving, something that was not missed by Charli, and it seemed to be developing a light of its own. “Oh my, this ring has a lot of magic.”

Charli looked at Frank, then at his parents. Flo smiled back at her and gave her a knowing nod. “But, you’re not …?”

“No Charli, I’m not a witch. My grandmother was though, and her grandmother was, and I have a feeling that Frank and Randi will have a lot of magical children if they choose to have children,” Flo said as she looked at Randi who was beaming as she snuggled up to Frank. “If I can read Randi correctly, I think I will have several more grandchildren. I just hope they will be easier to control that she was.

“I just realized something. Randi, did you do that thing with the apple?”

“Yes, Ms. Deere, I wuz a bwad widdle girl.”

“You little imp; there was a period of about two weeks when I couldn’t keep anything round on my desk top. You did it to the pencils, too, didn’t you? You were clever though. Whatever it was would fall off only once. I couldn’t figure it out, and I had the custodian check to see if my desk was level.

“You and Ginny were always up to something. I’ll bet you did that thing at the high school with the tires.”

“Guilty. Well, Charli, Lucy and Ginny helped.”

“Exactly what did you do? You never told me about this. Maybe you should explain exactly what happened,” Marissa sounded a bit disturbed.

“That was the year Southside beat us in the Turkey Tussle. We were cruising around after the game, all between boyfriends at the time. I think we all had the same idea at the same time.

“There’s that big tire company across from Southside. They have those giant tires used on big tractors and earthmoving equipment. We parked around the corner, and Charli used an invisibility spell so no one could see us. Ginny and Lucy picked out the tires. We started with the biggest we could find, and Charli and I lifted them over the flagpole. There was an eighty foot pyramid of tires. They were very heavy and it was all Charli and I could do to lift them up there.”

Charli was giggling a bit, as was Lucy; however, they stopped when Hilda frowned at them.

“Now, I remember. There was a lot of conjecture about how they were going to get them off. Some of those tires cost thousands of dollars, and they thought they were going to have to cut them off.

“So what happened to them?”

“Silky and I went down there the next night and put them back. Charli couldn’t come, and of course Lucy and Ginny couldn’t help. It was a lot easier with Silky’s help.”

“You better tell them what it cost you,” Silky interjected.

“Yeah, that was a bit expensive. We had to give Silky, Selene, Petra and Chloe some tuna.”

“Tell them, Randi,” Silky admonished.

“Aren’t you the little blackmailer,” Randi said, scratching Silky’s ears.

“The tuna was 30 pounds of fresh Sashimi Grade Yellow Fin Tuna. That was The Wizard’s suggestion. He knew what we had done right away. That cost Charli and me almost a thousand dollars. He said Ginny and Lucy weren’t to blame; that if it hadn’t been for Charli and me, they would never have thought of it. It also cost us two new I-Phones and a pretty severe chewing out from His Wisdom. It was a valuable lesson.

“He said the toad threat was being transferred to me, and that Cindy and Bobbie had never done anything like that. I knew that he was kidding, but I also knew he was very disappointed in me and Charli. I think we grew up a lot that weekend.”

Almost five years after the event, it was something they could laugh about. However, there was a serious side to it. Magic was something that was not well accepted in modern society, and if the stunt had ever been attributed to magic, there might have been some serious problems.

Marissa snuggled up to Stan later that evening after all the visitors had gone home. “I knew about it, but His Wisdom told me he would handle the discipline. I wanted to, but because they had violated the rules about the use of magic, he felt he needed to handle it. There’s no question they learned a valuable lesson. Hilda was really pissed when she found out. I think she showed remarkable restraint, though.

“Charli’s been a good girl, but she’s a lot like Randi in so many ways. It’s hard to believe it’s been thirteen years since we found her. Now she’s a college student. Bob and Hilda certainly have been fortunate. So have we, for that matter. Maybe we should make another baby.”

Stan rolled over and started caressing and kissing Marissa’s breasts. “Do you think that would be a good idea? I mean, you are fifty-five. People might talk. Think about it. However, I’m not against practicing just in case.”

Things can’t go this well forever, and come to think about it, things are already starting to go wrong. I wonder what happened to Frank’s project. Who is this observer with the ferret? She doesn’t sound very nice. The families are about to be tested and Randi’s heart is almost broken.