Rebecca's Quest, page 14
part #8 of Finding Magic Series Series
Becky remembered many good times with her church family. Some of her best lifelong friendships had been forged there. She could only imagine what giving up all of that might have meant to Jake and his family. She couldn’t blame them for refusing.
“There was more to it though, wasn’t there?” Becky asked.
“The final straw, in many ways.” Livy nodded. “Jake’s family insisted we raise our kids in Jake’s faith. We agreed because we knew you’d they’d make your own decisions when you became adults. Many families in this time dealt with religious differences this way when mixed faith marriages took place. Most parents felt their children would choose the beliefs they’d grown up with, so were willing to agree.”
“What about your parents? How did you persuade them to let us grow up in Dad’s church?”
Livy bowed her head. When she raised it again, her eyes were glassy with unshed tears. “When I told them my intentions to marry, my father insisted on what he called an equal deal. He demanded that you be offered the choice between mortal and Magic when you turned eighteen, the age at which you become legal adults.”
“So everyone made that deal?” Becky frowned.
“It seemed like a reasonable compromise. Once kids grow up, all parents must let them go into the world to live their own lives, Becky.” Livy’s expression was easy, relaxed. “Your dad and I had a good life. We raised you kids and loved every minute of it. Once you became adults, you had the right to make your own decisions. We would never have stood in the way, whether we accepted my father’s terms or not.”
“So you felt Grandpa’s deal was giving him the sleeves out of your vest.” Becky nodded slowly. What she said made sense. Mostly. “But what about Brent? He was older than eighteen when he chose Magic. And Paul was younger.”
Livy smiled. “Brent was always kind of a late bloomer. When he turned eighteen, he simply wasn’t ready. Paul made his decision when he was not quite thirteen, which was much earlier than he should have. Both you and your dad took Paul’s death hard and were grieving heavily. Brent was planning to go to college, so my father agreed to delay Brent’s decision.
Becky said, “In college, Brent was such a party boy. You didn’t trust him to make the right decision.”
Brent interjected, “Hey. Paul was my friend, too. When he died, I felt like my life might end abruptly and too soon. I wanted to live as much as possible first.”
“But we couldn’t afford to pay for college, so he had joined ROTC in high school,” Livy said. “He didn’t want to attend the Naval Academy, so he didn’t. When it came time to enter the Marines, we gave him another reprieve for basic training because we thought he should learn some self-discipline before turning him loose armed with Magic.”
Brent leaned against the sink, ankles crossed. “I’ve already been through all of this, Becky. I was tested before I graduated from Basic Training. I experienced my Magic on my own and had to figure it out, although I was a lot more willing to accept what I’d experienced than you are.”
“Hey!” Becky mimed a virtual punch to his shoulder. When the blow landed, he covered his shoulder with his palm and emitted an exaggerated yelp. Startled that she’d actually made contact, she grinned.
“Good to know I can do that, too. Would have come in handy back when you and Paul were trying to make a reluctant astronaut out of me.”
“Anyway—” He grinned. “At that point I knew some of what a Magic life would offer. I found out about Paul. I’d already turned twenty-one, which made me an adult in the eyes of mortal and Magic law everywhere. So a few days later, when I graduated from boot camp, I was a lot wiser than before.”
Brent leaned across the table, and grabbed another slice of pizza. “And then Mom told me I had a choice to make. I could get on that plane to Pendleton and continue with my life as a mortal. Become a pilot. Maybe even an astronaut someday—which as you know I’d always wanted, even if you didn’t. Or I could choose a life of Magic.”
“And you chose Magic,” Becky whispered.
“That’s right.” Brent nodded as he scarfed down the pizza, as if they were discussing nothing more important than the weather.
Becky couldn’t quite wrap her mind around it all. Too much information overloaded her ability to absorb everything. “But the plane crash killed other people. A dozen people died that day.”
“Yes.” Livy took a deep breath. “The plane crash was exactly what you were told. An accident. The only thing you and your dad didn’t know was that Brent wasn’t on the plane.”
“And if he had chosen a mortal life, to stay with us, he would have died? That doesn’t seem like much of a choice, does it? Either die in two days or choose Magic?” Becky frowned. “Sounds like coercion to me. Was there waterboarding involved?”
Brent shook his head. “That’s not how it works, Becky. No one told me what the future would bring, either way.”
“I didn’t know what was about to happen, either. All I knew at the time was your choice would keep us together or rip our family apart, the way Paul’s choice of Magic decimated Julia’s family.” Livy’s eyes filled with glassy tears. “I wanted Brent to choose a mortal life. I wanted us all to live together, as Jake and I had lived near his family all those years. I didn’t want Brent to choose Magic. But he did.”
Becky absorbed as much as she could. She remembered the horror she’d felt the day that plane went down. She was fifteen, way too young to lose her big brother. Even before Dad had his breakdown, she’d understood that her family would never be the same. There were two big holes in the fabric of her life. One where Paul used to be, and one Brent had occupied.
“This was all Grandpa’s doing, wasn’t it? Or should I say Simon’s?” The anger in her belly had returned. James Russell was evil as far as she was concerned. Always had been. Always would be.
“No. It wasn’t his fault,” Livy said. “One of the hardest things Grandpa ever did was to wait for Brent to make up his mind. Because he knew that if Brent chose a mortal life, he would die in two days.” Livy paused to clear her throat. “Don’t judge my father too harshly. Brent had to make the choice he made of his own free will.”
Becky’s feelings about her grandfather were not so easily softened. “Why didn’t Grandpa just change the plane crash? He’s Magic, right? A mean cat one minute, a mean man the next. He could’ve saved all those people, and he didn’t.”
Brent nodded. “He could have. But he shouldn’t have. He did the right thing.”
Becky stared at him, open-mouthed. “How can letting twenty-two people die possibly have been the right thing?”
Livy reached over to hold Becky’s forearm. “The First Law of Magic governs us all, Becky: All Beings Have Free Will. And that has to be respected. It’s something like that TV show your dad likes, Star Trek. You know how when they find a new civilization, they must never interfere with that civilization’s development?”
“You mean the Prime Directive, Mom,” Brent said, grinning.
“Is that what they call it?” Livy nodded. “We aren’t allowed to interfere with the lives of others, either. We don’t intentionally change anyone’s destiny. Even if we think we can make things turn out better for them, we don’t do it. Because we could be wrong. We’re Magic, but we’re not omnipotent. We can’t see the whole future as it pertains to everyone who might be touched by any event.”
“You, of all people, should know that, Becky,” Brent said. “We’re both Magic. If we could see the future, you’d already know everything we’re telling you.”
“What about Dad? Mom and Aunt Jules and Peter and Brent...you’ve all changed Dad’s destiny, haven’t you?” Becky lifted her chin. “His son died and his best friend’s son died. And you have removed all of his memories about them. That’s cruel, isn’t it? Do the Laws of Magic allow you to be cruel to good people like Dad?”
Livy raked a hand through her hair and sighed. “All of that’s on me, Becky. After you left for Gray Cliffs, I went to the Counsel of Elders and begged them to let me use Magic to turn back the clock to a happier time in our lives.”
Becky stared. “But why? Why would you steal Dad’s memories that way? What about us? You’ve erased us from his memory completely. How fair is that?”
“I couldn’t think of any other way to undo the damage my foolish decisions had caused. You saw that my parents tried to warn me. They cautioned me that mixed marriages never turned out well.”
Anguish for her lost father tore at Becky’s heart. “Why didn’t you listen to them?”
“I was too young. Not quite eighteen. I didn’t really grasp all of the consequences,” Livy replied. She drained her wine glass. “But I’m not sorry that I returned the four of us to 1988, Becky. At least, I’m not sorry yet, and I hope we won’t be in the future. Time will tell.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re the last one of us to make the decision, Becky. If you choose to live a mortal life in Traverse City, stay near Mom and Dad, you’ve seen how your life will be.” Brent took a deep breath. “Or you can choose to live a Magic life. You’ll be with me and Paul. You’ve seen some of how your life will be with that choice, too.”
The little cabin was silent for a good long while. Becky was aware that time moved on, but she now knew the relentless forward march didn’t matter much. She had plenty of time for either choice.
If she chose Magic, she was required to return to the hated Gray Cliffs. At least she now knew she could simply transport herself there. Take her final exams and graduate. She could marry Paul, which she definitely wanted to do. And she’d be with Brent.
But if she chose Mortal, she could go home with Mom. It was 1988 there, but a retro world could be fun, too. Mortal time would unfold as it always had. Professor Kell’s laws of physics would still apply. Becky could figure out how to function there. She’d never used magic in that world before and she’d managed fine. And she’d be with Dad.
“Be very careful, Rebecca. Think everything through,” Brent cautioned. “There is so much more to life than the comforts of our parents’ home. Your life is yours to imagine now.”
Becky loved Brent with all her heart. But do I really want to follow him down that road?
At this point, she simply didn’t know. Magic was much too new to her.
“I know I have to make my own choice. But I know you didn’t want Bret or Paul to choose Magic.” Becky held her mother’s hands and watched her eyes. “What do you want me to do?”
“Want to know the one thing all of this has taught me, honey?” Livy squeezed Becky’s hands tightly for a full second, and then released her. “Follow your heart. Wherever it leads. Never regret anything. That’s what matters.”
Chapter 21
Russell, as Simon or himself, had been watching this little drama unfold from various vantage points. Olivia’s last words of advice to Rebecca infuriated him. He’d worked too hard and too long to reach this point. The fate of the entire family rested on Rebecca’s young shoulders. He would not allow Olivia to sabotage her decision now.
From the top of the refrigerator, Simon the cat instantly appeared, hissed loudly and arched his back.
He jumped onto the table and bared his fangs in Olivia’s face. He drew back his right foreleg and prepared to swipe her with his claws.
Olivia gasped and jumped back. Brent wrapped her in a protective embrace.
She had learned nothing from the ordeal she’d inflicted on so many others. Even as her mortal life crumbled around her, she blathered on about following her heart. As if love was in short supply or limited to mortals.
Olivia had been granted one last chance to correct errors made in her youth and she was screwing that up, too.
He hissed again, furiously preparing to attack.
Becky sat frozen in her seat.
“Enough!” Russell jerked Becky out of the cabin, hard and fast.
He returned her to the abyss.
Chapter 22
Rebecca, astonished and not believing her bad luck, hurtled down the cold abyss once again, falling faster than she’d ever dropped before. At this rate, she’d hit the bottom of the ravine within seconds.
But this time was different. Rebecca was different. She was no longer Becky the child.
Rebecca had acquired hard-won clarity though experiences during her fall that long, dark night. She knew what was happening and what she could do to stop the falling. She was no longer afraid.
The morning’s light splashed the sides of the mountains beside Gray Cliffs, illuminating the stark beauty and deadly peaks that had been cloaked by the darkness before.
Russell had dropped her there. He’d been behind every horrible thing that had ever happened to her at Gray Cliffs and throughout her life. She should have made the connection the first time she’d seen those piercing blue eyes staring at her from Simon the cat’s vicious face. She should have realized the depth and breadth of his power and his malevolence long before this.
She gave herself a little pep talk. “I know what I need to do. Return to Gray Cliffs and deal with Simon. Do it right and he’ll never torture me again.”
Rebecca reached for the amulet, but the pocket where Becky had always found it was empty. The amulet was not there.
Gaining speed with every inch, propelled by the forces of gravity, she was hurtling straight down at an alarming rate of descent. Much, much faster than Mission to Space. She patted all of her pockets, frantically searching for the amulet she might have misplaced.
Her heart pounded wildly, harder than she’d ever experienced before. Her gaze swept over the rapidly changing cliff’s side.
“What did you do with it? Where is it?” she screamed into the nothingness. She was certain Russell was there, but no answers came to her.
Rebecca glanced down. The ravine floor was coming up too fast. Maybe fifteen seconds and her body would be feeding the same vultures as the remains of that poor goat.
Only one person could fix this. The very idea of asking him churned her stomach. What choice did she have?
“Russell! I know you are watching. What do you want?”
His icy blue eyes appeared in front of her. No smile like the Cheshire Cat’s – just the eyes. He said nothing.
She dropped faster and faster as gravity pulled with greater strength.
She was about to die. Not the way Brent “died” because he was mistakenly believed to be the victim of a fiery plane crash. Not the way Paul “died” because he’d faked his own drowning and had never actually died at all. No. Hers was a certain death rushing toward her.
Six more seconds. Rebecca imagined she could feel her soft body crash against the hard rocks. Her bones would break into dozens of pieces. With no one other than Russell to witness the end of her short life. The image made her furious.
She didn’t scream again. There was no need. She knew he could hear her perfectly well.
Calmly, she declared, “You’re a coward, Russell. A total coward.”
He did not reply.
Five seconds.
She made out a stream at the bottom of the ravine she’d never noticed before. The water moved swiftly over the rocks in the stream, creating a pleasant, gentle babbling similar to the pleasant little waterfall in the pond where she’d spent hours with Paul. Finding him again had been one of the best moments of her life. She held the feeling of his kiss in her heart.
Four seconds.
Her mother—Livy gave up Magic for love. Yet, when Jake was desperate, she had been able to create an idyllic existence for them in 1988. How had she done that? She had no access to Magic because of her choice. Someone must have helped her.
Three seconds.
With the amulet, Becky had discovered she had powerful Magic within her. But she hadn’t seen any amulet in Brent’s hand when he worked his Magic. Brent brought things to himself easily using nothing but his mind. The beer, the pizza. He could disappear and reappear, alone and with others. He transported with Becky to see events that happened before either of them were born. Brent’s Magic required no instrument beyond his power.
Two seconds.
Russell’s blue eyes continued to stare at her from above. Becky had seen those eyes staring at her many times. Long before she’d come to Gray Cliffs.
Paul wasn’t really a horse.
Russell wasn’t really a cat.
The amulet was an introductory tool, no more, no less.
Then, in the familiar state of altered consciousness she’d intentionally summoned, Rebecca knew what to do.
First, she stopped falling. Simply took control of her body and stopped time as well as her downward momentum.
Rebecca raised herself to an upright position and hovered over the floor of the ravine. Then she lowered her body to the ground. Slowly. Safely.
Russell’s eyes never wavered, but his smile manifested beneath his eyes in Becky’s peripheral vision.
“James Simon Russell,” Rebecca demanded. “Reveal yourself.”
In a sweeping whoosh, he did so. “Well done, Rebecca. Although it certainly took you long enough. Why must you resist everything that’s good for you until your back is literally against the wall?”
“I make my own decisions now, Russell. You can’t bully me anymore.”
“No? That scar on your calf from Simon’s claws says otherwise, my dear.”
His self-satisfied smirk sparked Rebecca’s temper. Anger over all that Becky had endured at his hand rose from her gut and mushroomed through her entire body. She felt energized, electrified with rage.
