Part 26 - Life as a Sorceress

Christie and her Mom stood waving as Jessica's Mustang disappeared around the corner, headed for the Interstate highway and her home. Honestly, Christie was sad and glad to see the incredibly energetic and powerful woman leaving - at least for a while. It was incredible how much Aunt Jessie had helped her accomplish in just one week. At the same time, the woman was just plain exhausting. Thank god she was in her seventies because she'd have worn Christie down to a nub if she'd been in her prime!

"Let's go in and crash, daughter!" Amanda said with what sounded like a heartfelt sigh of relief. "We both need and deserve a break! Take out for dinner, your choice! Your Mother needs a drink! Meet me in the family room in ten minutes!"

Christie didn't even get a chance to reply before her Mother was off and through their house's front door. "Guess I'm not the only one Aunt Jessie has been running ragged," she giggled softly as she made her way inside.

Keeping up with the good doctor had meant several take-out dinners - mostly pizza and Tai food. Christie was in the mood for something just a bit more substantial. Moo Shu Pork and rice sounded like just the ticket, too. A couple or three appetizers would do nicely to begin replenishing the energy reserves she'd used in the past few days. Lord, she hoped she didn't make a fool of herself the next day at the dojang.

She walked into the family room to find her Mother holding a large glass of white wine. "Heavens, Christie, I am so glad I had to go to work every day this week! At least I got a short respite from our Mad Doctor. How are you holding up? Oh, and you can have a small glass of wine, too. You are definitely not leaving this house until tomorrow."

"Thanks, Mom. I'll wait until we have the Moo Shu first. I think it will go nicely with it. To answer your question? To use one of Aunt Jessie's phrases? I'm fair knackered! I want to be in the same physical shape as Aunt Jessie in my late seventies. Heck, I want to be that fit right now! I thought I WAS in shape! Showed me, didn't she?"

Amanda giggled and took a sip of her wine. "Showed us both, but I, at least, should have expected it. She's always been like that, and I don't think she's ever slowed down. In fact, I think she's more active now that she doesn't have a set routine to get in the way of her flights of fancy!"

"What amazed me the most, I think, is just how small a world I seem to live in these days. Either that or whatever fate has directed my trial and emergence has played more games with me. Did you know that Aunt Jessie already knew both Gunny and Papa Kim?"

"I only caught the edge of that about Gunny because I was signing our guns and ammunition out of the range's secure storage. What was that all about, anyway?"

"They met during the first Iraq war. Gunny's Lieutenant had taken some bullets, and Gunny carried him into Aunt Jessie's mobile hospital bellowing for a medic, a corpsman or a doctor. Or anyone, evidently. The kid was fresh from training and had gotten hit covering Gunny's retreat from an Iraqi ambush. Gunny got out without a scratch, but the Lieutenant didn't. According to Aunt Jess, the Gunny was, shall we say, rather unhappy and annoyed about that."

"I can just imagine how Jess would have said that, so you don't have to, young lady!" Amanda put in as haughtily as she could manage.

"Okay, Mom," Christie answered meekly. "ANY-way, apparently the Gunny had put a lot of effort into training this new officer and was determined not to lose him. Jess said it was touch and go at first - he'd nearly bled out before Gunny got him into the compound over his shoulder."

"But he pulled through?"

"Yep. According to Gunny, he will be promoted to Brigadier General next fall. Gunny's got an invitation to the promotion ceremony. He evidently thought very highly of the man because he couldn't stop thanking Aunt Jessie, even after all these years."

"So that's what that was all about. I wonder if Jessie did her special whammy."

"Pretty sure she did. When Gunny wasn't looking, I put my finger to the side of my nose and made it wiggle. Aunt Jessie smirked and gave a quick nod. She knew Papa Kim, too. Did I tell you that?"

"If you did, I was too tired for it to register. What's that story?"

"Well, Aunt Jess is also a karateka. They met in Korea about forty years ago when Jessie was scheduled to compete in a tournament there, and Papa was one of the organizers. I guess they each recognized the other as a person of power even back then. They were a little sparse on details, so I'm not sure a tournament was the only reason Dr. MacTire was there. Just a feeling, you know?"

"You're the pre-cog, Christie, not me. So what happened in your class when they reunited."

"Oh, that's the best part of the story, and probably why I didn't tell you all about it earlier while Aunt Jessie was here to box my ears for telling on her. Papa Kim challenged her to spar. She initially said no, but Grandfather just kept needling her! Evidently, she's 7th Dan and, well, you know she has a short fuse, right?"

"Let's just say I'd want a ten-meter match if I had to light it."

"Good one, Mom! So, she borrows my spare dobok and walks out of the ladies' dressing room wearing it but without a belt. Papa had a seventh-degree belt waiting for her. She tried to tell him she was only a sixth dan. Grandfather reminded Jessica that she had evidently been awarded the seventh when she retired from the university and moved to the US. Her only comment was, 'Well, dammit, Kim, I never tested for seventh dan!' To which Grandfather replied, 'except when you routinely kicked the ass of your 9th Dan instructor."

"I bet that had her muttering."

"All in Gaelic, too. Well, it wasn't English, anyway. So they started. Master Kim was refereeing, and the four senior black belts were scoring. They're about halfway through the bout when Jessie just goes off and throws a hissy-fit!"

"Really?! Not Aunt Jessie!"

"Yeah, really. She's just standing in the center of the mat, yelling at Grandfather.

"Goddammit, Kim! Stop taking it easy on the old woman! I can still take a f'ing punch!"

"Grandfather just stalked right up to her and went nose-to-nose with her. "Shut up and fight, YOUNG woman! I'll have you know I turn 90 in two weeks, and I wouldn't DARE take it easy on you! I'm too damn busy trying to keep my head on my shoulders and my clock from being cleaned!"

"At that point, everyone in the dojang, including Master Kim, is just about rolling on the floor laughing. Master Kim finally declared the match a no-contest and wouldn't let them continue. Then he ran like hell because they were both after him at that point. I guess they all kissed and made up later because Master Kim and Papa took her out to dinner after class."

"Now that is a show I wish I had seen," Amanda said, wiping away her own laugh tears. "And your progress helping Valerie has been just wonderful, too."

As Jessie predicted, the brain scan results had shown signs of improvement. Unexpectedly so, at least for the doctors. Poor Valerie spent most of Monday and Tuesday in and out of various hi-tech medical machines being scanned up one way and then down another. The doctors finally concluded something had improved, but they couldn't find any reasons why. Jessie and Christie had made two more of the new treatments over the last week. Jessie remained concerned about how much each treatment might be draining Christie's magical reserves and wanted to stay on top of that. Still, every test and scan indicated that the treatments were helping to heal Valerie's injury. Jessie decided she would come back two or three times a week for the foreseeable future to assist with the treatments and to further train Christie.

The doorbell rang. "Food!" Both women cheered. Christie collected their feast while Amanda went to the kitchen for napkins and plates. Both women did full justice to the delicious food, and nary a scrap nor lick remained when they'd finally decided they were satisfied.

They both went to bed early that night, and both slept soundly, although Christie was visited by one of THOSE dreams. The dream wasn't anything threatening, nor was it sufficiently vivid that she could remember any specific details yet. However, she thought it might have something to do with Valerie.

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