01 Do You Believe in Magic - The Children of Merlin (29 page)

Tris was back from wherever he’d
been for a minute. “Are you
crazy
going into the stall with
that animal?” he yelled. “You could have been killed!”

“It was fine.” Maggie’s clipped
tone said she didn’t want to hear any more about it. Ginny took off
at a run for the office. Felipé went into the stall, making his
bandana into a pad to hold over the wound. Maggie pushed past the
Tremaines and ran to her trailer.

While Drew checked all the kids,
Kemble ambled up to Tris. “She do that a lot?”

“Maggie? Do what?”

“That... whatever it was. We all
felt it.”

“No. She’s some kind of a horse
whisperer, that’s all.” But then the realization hit him. She’d
calmed him once too, when he was hurt just like that horse in
there. That was how she got him to the ER in Reno. Only she’d had
to touch him. God, how she’d touched him. He pushed that thought
away. Today, she hadn’t needed to even touch that horse, and
whatever it was she was doing to it, they’d all gotten a dose.

“She’s just good with horses,” he
repeated. He turned away from the questions in his brother’s eyes.
“And don’t think you’re riding back in the truck with her,
either.”

*****

Maggie slammed home the latch on
her trailer, her eyes filling. God, what
happened
back
there? It was like her ability to calm horses had ramped up by
tenfold and just spilled all over everybody. Now the Tremaines all
thought she was crazy, or a witch or something. Which was also
crazy. There were no such things as witches. She had... had...
what? Maybe she’d accidentally hypnotized them or something. Yeah.
That could happen, couldn’t it? Whatever had happened, Kemble would
make sure she never came near his brother again.

What did she care? That was a
good thing.

Drew appeared around the back of
the trailer. Her gray eyes were steady, speculating.

Maggie drew a hand across her
cheek where her tears had spilled over. “You know, it might be best
if Kemble could squeeze into your car, and I’ll just head out from
here.”

“Nonsense. Mother is expecting
you at the party. And your things are still at our house.”

Maggie swallowed over a lump in
her throat. “Well, I don’t have anything fit to wear to a party
like that anyway. You could maybe send my backpack.” How rude of
her. Asking them to put themselves out and pay for postage. Even if
Mr. Nakamura was the one who ended up doing it. “On second thought,
nothin’ in it I can’t do without. You keep it or throw it in the
trash.” She fished her truck keys out of her back pocket.

“Please don’t disappoint my
mother. She likes you, and you promised to come.”

Maggie shook her head. “With a
full house she won’t even notice I’m not there.”

“It’s just a few friends coming.
She’ll be terribly hurt.” Drew took Maggie’s hand. Her long,
perfectly polished nails were in sharp contrast to Maggie’s short,
decidedly unmanicured ones. “You can borrow a dress from Kee. She’s
not much taller than you are.”

Maggie had to leave before these
people realized it was she who had drenched everyone with calm and
put them to sleep. She glanced up to the barn. Tris and Kemble and
most of the siblings were looking down toward where she and Drew
were talking. “I ... I wouldn’t fit in.”

“Because of what happened in the
barn? That’s nonsense.” Drew smiled wryly. “My family is
very
tolerant of people with special talents. Maybe because
we’re rather odd ourselves.”

“You... you know it was me?”

“Well... yes. Is that how you
ride bulls? You... calm them?”

“Of course not. A calm bull
doesn’t give you enough points for a winning ride.” Why on earth
was she talking about this with Drew?

“Does it happen often?”

Tears welled. Maggie shook her
head convulsively. “I... no. Maybe once with Tris when he was hurt
so bad. But not like this. I
meant
to calm Tris. He was in
such pain and it was a long way to the ER in Reno. Here... I was
aiming for the horse and it was like I went out of control.” The
tears spilled. She swallowed a sob.

“Do you know what it is?” Drew
asked, her voice kind.

“I think it’s hypnosis or
something.” It had better be something like that.

Drew looked like she might say
something, and then thought better of it. She began again. “Well,
it’s over now. And you can’t drive when you’re upset. So there’s
nothing for it but to come back with us and have a good time
tonight and avoid disappointing my mother.”

The offer was very nice. And she
didn’t want to insult Mrs. Tremaine. And she did want to see Tris
again. Just about more than anything. What to do? She’d be the
topic of whispered conversations all night. Almost nothing worse.
But she was so weak-willed. She sighed. “I’m not sure I can take
more probing questions from the Prince of Wales.”

Drew broke out in peals of
laughter. “You got that from Tris.”

Maggie nodded, unable to
suppress an uptick at the corner of her mouth.

“Swear to God and hope to die,
no one will ask probing questions. I’ll drive you back myself.” She
grinned. “And I’ll even keep my speed to fifty. Deal?”

“No prying questions from you
either?”

“Silence the whole way if that’s
what you want.”

Maggie liked this girl who was
so different than she was. “Deal.” Or maybe Maggie was different
now from the Maggie she’d always been. What had
happened
in
there?

“Don’t think too hard about it
right now,” Drew said, as if reading her thoughts. “After the
party, talk to Mother. She knows something about just about
everything. She’ll help you.”

Maggie wiped at her cheeks
again. She was
not
going to talk to Mrs. Tremaine about her
problems. She wasn’t going to talk to anyone, actually. Whom could
she talk to? Elroy?

Not likely.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Kemble stood with his father
looking out over the ocean from the terrace. The house was
momentarily quiet. The guests wouldn’t start arriving for another
half hour. The wait staff clustered in the kitchen. The portable
bars had been set up. The late dinner buffet would magically appear
at nine. The girls were upstairs engaged in some secret ritual of
preparation which involved occasional giggles from Tammy and Kee
drifting out the upstairs windows. He had no idea where the boys
were. Lanyon was probably trying some new hair product designed to
slick down his cowlick, or tease his entire head of hair up into
spikes or something.

But here, with ice clinking in
their glasses and a light breeze off the ocean, it was relatively
quiet. The scent of his mother’s roses filled the air. Gulls
wheeled in the evening updrafts, silhouetted against a sky so pale
blue it was almost green around the streaky cirrus clouds. It would
be a good sunset. He sipped his gin and tonic.

Kemble himself was not peaceful.
Tris had found his mate. He might not know it. He might run
screaming from the room if anyone suggested it. But he had found
her. Kemble, two years older than Tris, had never felt even a
whisper of true love. It was all he could do to seem interested in
the girls with whom his mother set him up. Kemble was jealous of
Tris about something Tris didn’t even want. And now it fell to him
to tell his father. That seemed most unfair of all.

“You missed the fun today.”

“What fun?” His father continued
to stare out over the steel-gray sea. He was smiling. Brian
Tremaine always enjoyed giving his wife parties. They’d been
married thirty-one years. And to their soul-mate. Kemble couldn’t
imagine how that felt.

“We went out to a camp for
disabled children to deliver Maggie’s horses.”

His father chuckled. “Doesn’t
sound like your cup of tea.”

“Glad I went though. We have
more of an issue with Maggie than we thought.”

His father frowned. “Do I need
to buy her off?”

“She doesn’t want his
money.”

“Then what?”

“Well, apparently neither of
them realize it, but she’s got a power.”

His father’s eyes opened wide.
Now Kemble had his father’s full attention.

“He thinks she’s some kind of
horse whisperer or something. But it’s more than that. There was an
injured horse thrashing around in a stall. She calmed it.”

“I’ve heard of that,” his father
said slowly. “It’s force of personality. Not magic.”

“Well, in all the excitement she
doused about ten people with so much calm that Lanyon fell down,
dead asleep, and Tammy couldn’t speak or even cry.”

His father’s eyebrows rose.

“No, no one was hurt. Just the
opposite. It was a great feeling. Drew and I both felt... well.
Whole. Sort of
certain,
I guess. Like everything would be
fine. Maggie went in and freed the horse, came out all embarrassed,
and ran for her truck. I think she’d be halfway to the middle of
Nowhere, Nevada, except Drew gathered her in.”

“The children?”

“They felt it too. Drew
threatened them with bodily harm if they accosted Tris about it on
the way home. Even Tammy kept her mouth shut and didn’t ask
questions.”

His father gave a humphing
sound, but he was thoughtful. “They must realize how important this
is to the family. I’ve never heard of a power like that.”

“Neither have I. But we can’t
ignore it.”

“Does your mother know?”

“Of course I know.” His mother
sailed out onto the terrace with a glass of white wine in one hand.
She wore a black cocktail dress with a bolero jacket beaded in jet
over a plunging neckline. The solitaire diamonds in her ears and
necklace were quietly impressive.

“You look stunning, my dear.”
His father’s smile went soft. Kemble liked that particular smile.
“Not a day over thirty.”

His mother gave a huge sigh.
“One can’t deny the creep of time.” Then she too got that smile.
“But with one’s family around one....” She took her husband’s free
hand. “It’s almost bearable. Drew told me, of course, but she
needn’t have bothered. I knew it from the moment Maggie arrived. I
confirmed it by casting the cards. I don’t know what her power is
precisely. But she’s come into her own. And we know why.”

“Why?” the two men said in
unison.

“Because she found Tris, and
she’s fallen in love with him.” She said it slowly, as if to
children. “And because... well... well I don’t have to say it to
you. You’re men of the world.”

Kemble sighed. “Last night,” he
confirmed.

His father looked incredulous.
“In my house? Under my roof?”

His mother’s eyes twinkled as
she nodded. “I’m afraid so.”

“Well.” His father’s “captain of
industry” demeanor slid back into place. “Since he doesn’t realize
she’s magic, I’ll have a talk with him. We can have a quick
wedding, and Tris can start assuming his responsibilities.”

“No,” his mother said
quickly.

“Bad idea,” Kemble echoed. His
father trying to push Tris into
anything
would be a
disaster. But marriage? The one sure way to capsize the boat.

“Well, he’s found his true love
and she’s got the gene. What more is there to be said?”

“Have you seen Tris exhibit any
powers in return?” Kemble was sorry he had to ask it.

His father grew thoughtful. “He
stared at her all through dinner last night.”

“Oh, he’s in love with her all
right,” Kemble said. “Stupid jerk thought I was trying to move in
on him this afternoon. I’m lucky to be in one piece.”

“But he hasn’t accepted it yet,”
his mother said patiently. “And until he yields to his love, I
don’t think his own powers will emerge.”

“He felt what happened today,
but he insists she’s just a horse whisperer. Definite denial.”

“I hope he’s an Adapter,” his
father said, a smile beginning around his mouth.

“Brian....” Here she squeezed
his father’s arm. “You know Tristram doesn’t believe in our
destiny. He doesn’t think the powers are genetic. Definitely
doesn’t believe they trace back to Merlin. He might not welcome the
feeling that something bigger than he is rules his life. If you
push this on him, it could trigger a rebellion.”

“He was always good at
rebellion. Is that a power?” his father asked no one in
particular.

“If he refuses her, even though
she’s what he wants and needs most... if he rejects his destiny,
the effects could be devastating.” His mother was almost
pleading.

“He’s been rejecting it for
years,” his father said bitterly.

“And look what that’s done to
him. He lost interest in his business. He certainly didn’t care
about any of the girls he dated. He even left his family. It will
get worse if he continues to reject what’s in his very genes.”

Tris would end up a suicide or
an addict with no connection to life at all. Kemble didn’t say
that. He didn’t have to, from the looks on his parents’ faces.

“Well, what do we
do
?”
his father asked in frustration. Kemble’s sentiment exactly.

“We wait. And we’re nice to
Maggie O’Brian.” This was said pointedly to both of them. “You
can’t tell me you don’t like her. I saw you watching her at dinner
last night.”

His father rolled his eyes. “I
like her. I admitted that.”

“Then don’t scare her away.” She
turned on Kemble. “I heard you accused her of gold-digging on the
way out to the camp.”

Maggie must have spilt the beans
to Drew. Drew was such a snitch. “I was thinking of the family,” he
sputtered. He’d been doing what his father wanted him to do,
distasteful as it was.

His father sighed. “I asked him
to do it. Not directly. But he knew.”

That was the good part about his
father. He had courage. His mother shook her head at them. “I’ll be
nice,” Kemble promised.