Legacy: The Mark of Merlin. Gerald Pruett

amusingly grinned before saying, “Okay, well, if you ask me how we should pass the time, I want to go to the hospital and visit Sonya.”

      “You’re not hungry?” Allyson asked Ellen.

      Ellen thought about it for a moment before shaking her head and saying, “Not really.”

      “You had to think about your answer?” Harris asked.

      Ellen shrugged before saying, “I haven’t had much of an appetite since I was told about Michael and Tanya. I wouldn’t have eaten lunch if it wasn’t for Jane insisting that I eat something. Even then I picked at my food.”

      “We should wait for your parents,” Allyson suggested. “Perhaps Ellen will have more of an appetite by then.”

      “I doubt it,” Ellen said, barely audible.

      Harris looked back at Ellen before saying, “Okay, we’ll go to the hospital to see Sonya.” A grin came across Ellen’s face. “I doubt we’ll be able to visit very long.”

      When Ellen nodded, Harris turned forward and started the SUV.

      Once the three got to the hospital they were able to visit for slightly more than an hour before they had to leave for the airport.

      After a twenty-minute wait at the airport, Harris, Allyson and Ellen greeted Harris’s parents with a hug for each of them.

      Once the greetings were over, Harris asked, “So have you two eaten?”

      “We had something during the London to New York flight, but I couldn’t tell you what it was though,” Avery, Harris’s dad, said.

      “It was fish,” Shannon, Harris’s mother, informed.

      “It was supposed to have been fish, but I have my doubts,” Avery said.

      “Yes, anyway, the reason I asked is that Allyson, Ellen and I haven’t eaten since lunch,” Harris began. “And I was wondering if you two would like to get a bite to eat with us.”

      “Sure, I’m a bit peckish,” Shannon said.

      “Let us grab our luggage, son, and then we can go somewhere where I can identify what I’m eating,” Avery said.

      “Okay,” Harris said before gesturing in a direction. “The luggage carousel is this way.”

      Avery gestured for Harris to go first, and as everyone was following Harris, Allyson asked, “So, Shannon? Avery? How was your flight?”

      “The waiting in New York was exhausting, but other than that, our travel was enjoyable,” Shannon said. “So, Ellen? What grade are you in?”

      “Tenth,” Ellen simply replied.

      When Ellen didn’t say anymore, Shannon asked, “How well are you doing… in the tenth grade?”

      “A’s in math and science, and B’s in about everything else,” Ellen said. “Of course if it wasn’t for Tanya being an English teacher and helping me with my grammar, I wouldn’t do so hot in that subject. She helped me a lot.”

      “Yes,” Shannon agreed. “Tanya was superior in grammar and spelling. She studied journalism at the university, you know.”

      Ellen grinned while saying, “Tanya had told me that two-thirds of your relatives had studied journalism; including you, your sister and your mother.”

      “That’s true, but Tanya was the one who had the real talent for it,” Shannon said. “She would get perfect marks on her tests each time.”

      “Your big sis had helped you to pass a few tests on grammar, Harry,” Avery pointed out.

      “That she did,” Harris agreed.

      “Tanya could’ve been a great reporter if only she had the stomach for it,” Shannon added sullenly.

      “Is that why she became a high school English teacher instead?” Ellen asked as they were approaching the luggage carousel.

      “It was,” Shannon said before they searched through the luggage on the carousel.

      Avery and Shannon had five good size bags and once they were gathered, Shannon saw the gleam in Ellen’s eyes and the pleasant grin that she wore as Ellen asked, “Which of these has the Legacy volumes?”

      Shannon grinned before gesturing towards a group of two bags while saying, “They’re split up between those two bags.”

      “Once we get to the SUV, can I get out one of the volumes?” Ellen asked eagerly.

      “It’s ‘may I’,” Shannon corrected. Ellen grinned as Shannon continued with, “and if you are going to read them, you need to read them in chronological order and not pick one out at random.”

      “Fine, point out volume one to me,” Ellen quickly said.

      “Let’s wait until we get to the vehicle,” Shannon strongly suggested.

      “Okay,” Ellen said before she strained to pick up one of the two bags that held the Legacy volumes. “Let’s go.”

      Shannon and Avery stared surprisingly at Ellen for being able to pick up the heavy bag just as Harris warned, “Ellen, I like your enthusiasm, but you’re going to hurt yourself if you don’t slow down.”

      “I’d carried heavier things than this before,” Ellen said.

      “You being able to carry that heavy bag is only half at what I’m referring to,” Harris said.

      “And what’s the other half?” Ellen quickly asked.

      Harris grabbed his parents’ attention as he said loud enough for only his group to hear, “Learning witchcraft should be approached cautiously and with care, and I can tell that you’re ready to leap into it with both feet.”

      “You want to learn witchcraft?” Shannon quickly demanded to know.

      In a tone as if to take a stand, Ellen said, “I’m going to protect my niece from any threat that might come her way. I’ll give my life for hers if I have to.”

      “Mmm, yes, well do me a favor, Ellen, before you open the books on incantations,” Shannon requested.

      Ellen stared skeptically at Shannon before asking in a matching tone, “What?”

      “There are twenty Legacy volumes in our family’s collection—there should actually be well over a hundred volumes, but the lost volumes are another matter entirely,” Shannon began. “Anyway, the first chronological three that we have aren’t complete—there are missing volumes between each of them, but they will give you the gist on what I want you to know and they were documented during the later half of the Wizard Wars. If you read the first chronological three volumes religiously, you can be done with them within three weeks… a month or longer if you’re a slow reader, and I want you to read those three volumes from beginning to end before you open the books on incantations.”

      Ellen thought about Shannon’s request before nodding and saying, “Okay, and I think I’m a fast enough reader.”

      “Yes, well, if you claim to be done with those three volumes within two weeks, I’ll insist that I quiz you on them before you can be allowed to start on the incantations,” Shannon assured her.

      “Deal.” When Shannon nodded in agreement, Ellen continued with, “Now can we go to the SUV? This bag is getting heavier with each passing second.”

      Harris held out his hand for the bag while saying, “Let me have that before you hurt yourself.”

      “I’ve carried heavier things than this,” Ellen insisted.

      “Have you carried anything that heavy the distance from the luggage carousel to the SUV?” Harris quickly asked.

      “Well, no; not quite that far,” Ellen confessed.

      “Hand