by Ford, S. M.
Chapter 21
THE BEGINNING
A caravan of cars crept in the moonlight past the old family tree. As we passed, I stared out my open window. I felt, somehow, that the tree was at peace now. Almost as though we had been partners in the wild events of this night. It was a crazy thought, so I didn’t say it aloud. But somehow in my gut, I knew it was true. We parked at the house and began to pile out of the little coupe. Donna dug in the glove box, and after a moment waved a folder at me. “Cal! I almost forgot! Here’s the medical report on Pellegrino that I told you about! I thought you’d like a hardcopy.” I grabbed the envelope, rolled it up and stuck it in my jacket pocket. “Thanks Donna! I’ll file it away upstairs with all the other family memorabilia! Aunt Maia may want to see it, too.”
The entire family converged upon our house, and a party broke out. Belladonna was dead, and Great Sophia and Amedeo had been reunited after 250 years apart. They were madly in love, it was apparent. I had never seen Great Sophia, or Pia as Amedeo liked to call her, quite so happy. In fact, I had never really seen her happy at all. At most, she was civil, but never affectionate! Now, she wouldn’t leave Amedeo’s side. They hadn’t stopped holding hands since he’d been returned. I watched them from across the room, and not more than a minute could pass without them embracing each other. Sophia had always been stunning, but now she was positively radiant. Her outer beauty seemed to be lit from within, and she glowed like a warm flame had been reignited deep inside. Donna, Rosi and I climbed to the first floor landing and surveyed the crowd below. Amid all the joyful celebrations, there was also a sense of sadness. I felt it, too. “This is awesome and crappy, all at the same time... I’m not sure how to feel right now.” Donna threw her arm around my shoulders. Rosi hung her head and inhaled a long, slow breath. “I know... I’m a little twisted up right now, too. I mean, it’s beyond great that Sophia and Amedeo are reunited. I’m not sure how that happened, but I’m so happy that it did...” I agreed. “You know what’s weird? Well, actually a lot of things about tonight are weird... But what I can’t figure out is how Belladonna kept herself just alive enough to be able to return when the curse was reenacted! She must’ve really been one pissed off lady to make herself sort of hover between life and death just so she could come back and kill the whole family in front of Sophia!” Donna nodded. “How crazy was it when Amedeo just sort of appeared out of nowhere?! Where’d he come from?!” Rosi switched seats, moving next to Donna. She laid her head on Donna’s shoulder. “That part was freaking scary. That witch was about to grab me with those nasty bony fingers of hers. She was so close to my face that I could almost taste the rot of her skin ... so gross. But then all of a sudden, she stepped on your necklace Calli. I mean, Great Sophia’s necklace... That bright light that came sorta blinded me, and then Amedeo was standing there!” Belladonna had dropped me just before that had happened. I had seen what occurred next from sand level, as I had laid there trying to regain my breath. “The locket was laying in a pool of blood when Belladonna crushed it. The family blood from the family tree... When the blood touched the hair clipping inside the locket, that’s when the flash of light came, and Amedeo appeared. You know what’s really the saddest part of this whole night? There’s no hope now for the family to ever be free. The A-Watch didn’t work and the curse was just a way for Belladonna to come back and take revenge on Sophia. At least something good came of it though...” The three of us turned to watch Great Sophia and Amedeo. They were strolling the room together, hand in hand, laughing and chatting with the family. We three continued to debate just how the events of the night had taken place, until Greg came bounding up onto the landing. Rosi looked furious. “Greg! Are you JUST NOW getting back?! You missed everything! I’ve been texting you ALL DAY and you never even answered me!” Greg sat down on the step below us and plopped his backpack down. “Yeah, I’m sorry. Mom and Aunt Ellie filled me and Dad in when we got here. We saw all the cars outside as we came up the road, and we knew something big had gone down.” I leaned back against the stair rails, exhausted. “We gave it our best shot guys. We didn’t succeed, but we had one helluva go at it! I’m gonna miss hanging out here... I’m gonna miss the four of us chasing after things that most people don’t even know exist. Even though we pretty much failed, this has been the best months of my life. Real talk, guys.” Then I told them all how Mom and Dad had said we were leaving within the next few days, heading back to Berkeley. Greg looked genuinely saddened. He sniffled, dropped his head, and dug in his backpack. When he raised his head, his face was beaming and his grin stretched from ear to ear. “Hahaha! Just kidding! Check it out!” He stuck his arm in my face. “Wait... Is that the A-Watch, Greg?” Greg smiled triumphantly. “Yup. Dad took me to his old work in Cupertino. That’s where we’ve been this whole time! He asked his replacement, the new CEO, if the engineering department could take a look at the A-Watch! And boy, did they like it!” My heart stopped. “Did they fix it Greg? Did they?!” Greg’s smile broadened even more, if that was possible. “Yup, they said my design was impeccable but my calculations were slightly off. Probably due to the somewhat janky homemade equipment I was using. I mean, there’s only so much tweaking you can do to an old pizza oven. They were pretty impressed that I turned a pizza oven into a Van de Graaf generator though!” And, they’re going to produce us enough of these for the whole family!” Rosi, Donna, Greg and I screamed so loudly that the whole room was instantly silent, and everyone turned to stare. I grabbed Greg by the hand and raised our arms together in triumph. “Greg and Uncle Steve did it! They fixed the A-Watch! Woo-hoooo!” The crowd below erupted in shouts, screams of joy, and uncontrolled tears of relief. Aunt Kharis picked Uncle Steve up and paraded him about the room on her shoulder, heading straight towards Greg. I grimaced. “Better watch out, Greg! Aunt Kharis is fully vitalized and she’s coming for ya!” Aunt Kharis leapt up the stairs two at a time, with Uncle Steve riding her shoulder. In one motion she swooped Greg up and tossed him onto her other shoulder, then gave us a thumbs-up, turned and danced her way back downstairs and into the fray. We hadn’t accomplished exactly what we set out to do, but some good things had still happened because of us, and it felt good. The party raged on until bands of golden light began to peek around the edges of the clouds, making them look like a heavenly hairstylist had hombre-dyed them all. The family, now completely spent, had begun to trickle out the door toward their homes. Great Sophia sought me out before she left. “Callidora ... might I have a word, please?” Jeez, I hope she didn’t want her necklace back! I had no idea what had happened to it after Amedeo had choked Belladonna with it. Who would want it back after that?! “Yes, of course, Great Sophia. What can I do for you?” Sophia sat on the sofa and patted the cushion next to her. “Callidora, I wish to thank you. I have already spoken to Ambrosia and Donna. And of course, Gregario. I wish to thank you for your bravery. You risked your own safety to free me from that vile witch’s foul grip. I shall never forget that, my dear. And my love, the only one to have ever held my heart, my Amedeo, has been brought back to me. For this, I can never repay you, but I shall try. And now, about the necklace...” Awww jeez. Here it comes, I thought. Sophia smiled and continued. “There is a story I would like to share with you about the necklace. Many years ago, before I left Italy, my sister told me that the necklace would bring me the greatest joy and the greatest protection. How right she was. It returned my Amedeo and killed Belladonna before she could kill us all. I must call Milena and tell her that her prophesy was correct.” Great Sophia stood to leave. What had she just said?! “Wait, please! Your going to call your sister? Your sister is still ALIVE? How’s that possible? I thought it was only your descendants that were affected by the curse?!” Great Sophia turned back towards me. “That is true, my dear. Milena is my younger sister by three years. But she is a seer... She possesses the gift of second sight. With her gift came the ability to avoid death, although she has not been able to stop the signs of age.” Sophia grimaced. “She has not
weathered the years quite as well as I, but I am working on a little something for her that might help.” I was intrigued now. “Please, this is so interesting! Before you leave, tell me about Milena. And what’r you gonna do to help her?” I leaned back into the sofa cushions and Sophia told me her tale. After Sophia fled Italy, Milena moved to the south of France. She lives there still, in a series of mountain caverns. Through the decades many other seers, both young and old, have taken shelter with Milena to avoid being exposed to the masses. Such exposure would bring unwanted, relentless, and potentially dangerous attention from the entire world. Through conversations with Milena and others in her group Sophia had learned some years ago about the existence of an object that was said to split time. It would allow the possessor to choose which facet of time they desired to manipulate. Essentially, with this object, Milena could turn back the clock on her aging process without reversing any other aspects of her life. When Sophia had finished her story, I realized that Greg, Rosi and Donna had slipped onto the sofa next to me and had been listening raptly. I grinned and held my hand out to them. “Who wants to take a trip to France to meet Great Milena and her band of psychics and find the time-splitter thingy?!” Donna immediately grabbed my hand. “Definitely!” Rosi frowned, though. “Umm, that’d be beyond awesome! Except, how the heck are we gonna afford plane tickets and hotels and everything?! I mean, ya, we just kicked an old witch’s ass, but we are still just 15. And 16. And 12. Sorry to poop on your party, Cal.” Greg stood up. “I’ll pay for it. I won’t have my first check for another few months, but after that, we’re goooone. Rosi, you’ll hafta convince Mom and Dad, though. Manipulation is your thing, not mine!” Rosi threw a sofa pillow at him. Like a ninja, I reached out and grabbed it just before it blasted his face. “Hold on. What? What checks? What’r you talking about?!” Greg grinned, and drew a deep breath. “Well, I was gonna tell you earlier but Aunt Kharis beasted me onto her shoulder and it took me hours to convince her to put me down! Anyway, Dad’s old company liked my designs a lot. In fact, they’re gonna include parts of my design in the second generation release of one of their newest products. It’s a wristwatch that enables users to track their physical fitness data, connect to their smart phones, read emails and access the internet. They said the ions charged in a synchotronic path via the Van de Graaf generator could be applied in their watch to indefinitely extend battery life, pretty much regenerating it’s own power. There was also talk of migrating the technology into their next gen smart phone. A smart phone that will never lose battery power is sure to be a best seller. Basically, I’m gonna be stinkin’ rich pretty soon. So, the France trip is on me. I mean, our long lost Aunt Milena is a seer and lives in a cave with a bunch of other seers. And somewhere, there’s an object that could allow us to peel the layers of time like an onion! You know, Albert Einstein talked quite a lot about the fabric of time! He concluded in his later years that the past, present, and future all exist simultaneously. THIS could be an interesting trip!” Great Sophia nodded. “Yes, Gregario, it would. Please notify me of your plans as they solidify. Amedeo and I will accompany you.” She turned to leave, and then paused. “Callidora, I told you on the day we first met that you were a girl like minded to myself. I was wrong.” I was confused. What had I possibly have done wrong in the last few minutes? We had just been sitting here talking! Great Sophia walked back to us. “I was wrong because you are far more clever than I. And possibly stronger as well. All of you. Oh, and Callidora, do not pack your suitcases just yet. I have spoken to your parents. Apparently they may have changed their minds about moving you away from the family.” I had to do it. I went in for the hug. In an instant, Great Sophia’s glove cracked across my cheek ... and then, laughing, she wrapped her arms around us all and pulled us in to her. With my face pressed firmly into her shoulder, I smiled. “Finally!”