Hot Tub Time Machine
This is chapter 30 of The Inheritance, a serial fiction novel on FITK
Sunday Evening, July 26th, 2020, Glacier, Washington
“How are your legs?” Sean asked of Mareka, “The hot tub will fell good.”
The cottage they had rented came with an elaborate hot tub. Mary had turned the temperature down a bit before they went on their hike; she thought that it was really too hot for a child—or for her for that matter.
“They feel funny,” said Mareka, “Kind of rubbery.”
They each showered and then got into the tub.
“Ooh,” said Mary, “Just right. What do you two think?”
“Mama bear temperature,” said Sean, “But nice.”
“It feels good,” said Mareka, “Just right.”
After a few minutes of silence, Mareka spoke up:
“Are we in trouble?”
“What do you mean?” asked Sean.
“I mean with the internet and that riot and stuff,” said Mareka, “Something is going on, isn’t it?”
“We’re back in the news again,” said Sean, “But we haven’t done anything wrong. It is all about things that happened to me and Mary, and Jo, before you were born. Things that some bad people did.”
“Tell me about it. I want to know,” said the child.
Mary looked at her daughter carefully. “It’s a long story,” Mary said, “And you’re a part of it too.”
“Tell me.”
Mary looked at Sean. “What do you think?” she said, “This might be a good time to recount our family history.”
“How deep do you want to go?” said Sean.
“Tell me about the magic and the powers,” said Mareka, “All of this has to do with the magic, doesn’t it?”
“This is what I know about my family,” began Sean, “About my mother’s side. Going back to my grandmother Emily and to her great-grandmother, Rosalina. Rosa was the first in the family that we know about who had ‘powers’. She was born in Europe, in Bohemia, in an area which is now called the Czech Republic. We don’t know a lot about her background beyond that. We do know that that area has a history of witchcraft."
“So Rosa had powers too?” asked Mareka.
“It would seem so,” said Sean, “Although we don’t know exactly what she had. Your great-aunt Tina said that the family lore said Rosa was put into an insane asylum, a home for mentally ill people.”
“And what happened to her children?”
“She had a daughter, Sarah. Sarah immigrated to the United States 1880, she evidently didn’t have any powers, but she did give birth to Emily, the artist.”
“And she did have powers?” said Mareka.
“Oh yes. She had many powers,” said Mary, “She is why all of these things are happening.”
“How can that be?” said Mareka, “Didn’t she die before you and Sean were even born?”
“She disappeared, after my Marilyn, my mother, was born in 1945,” said Sean, “This is the mysterious part. This is a family secret. THE family secret. You understand what that means?”
“Is that like not telling any one about my powers?”
“Exactly so,” said Mary, “And you are the central part of that secret.”
“How can that be? I’m only seven-and-a-half.”
Sean and Mary looked at each other. Sean nodded to Mary and she began to tell the story:
“Emily Carroll did not die in 1945. She left this world in 2012, two months before you were born. She had been held captive for over fifty years; she put herself under a spell to protect her body from the ravages of time. Her spirit mind existed in another realm, another dimension, sort of like when you were in the rock. The only way to break the spell was to be awoken with a kiss by someone who also had powers. That someone was me and I started to get my powers when I was pregnant with you. I began to be visited by Emily’s spirit mind; she told me where her body was being held, and what to do to break the spell. Sean and I managed to find her, my kiss broke the spell, and her spirit mind was reunited with her body. We came back to Seattle. She taught me many things. I learned that the powers skip generations. Sean’s mother didn’t have them and Sean, being a man, had them in him but could not use them. I got the key to the powers when I became pregnant with you. You triggered my response. That is how you are the center of this secret.”
“Oh,” Mareka paused, “So if you have powers, and it skips generations, why do I have powers?”
“It is because my great grand-father had powers,” said Mary, “My adoption papers say his name was John De Conqueroo. That is an old African name for a mythical wizard and is also the name of a plant root used in spells. It shows that he was well versed in magic. So you have magic on both sides. Emily knew John when she lived in New York City in the 1930s and received quite a few of her spells from him.”
“So what will I do with my powers, when I grown up?”
“You will do the best you can to renounce evil,” said Mary, “The app that Hilmar and I created with Emily’s spells help people deal with the problems in their lives. Sean’s promotion of Emily’s art has brought joy to many. You will find your place and your magic will be far greater than anything the world has seen before. You were born under signs of great power: earthquakes, volcanoes, a supernova.”
“But why are there people attacking us?”
“There were a group of bad men who fell under an evil influence. They were the ones who imprisoned Emily’s body. They are gone now but their associates still live—working in the shadows, profiting off human misery, this is why things are so bad in the world now. There is a need to change the human condition. That change will come, and magic is a part of the change. People must change if civilization is to survive. It may not, but if it doesn’t there will still be the people, and most of the people are good.”
“Wow. I’m just a kid.”
“Of course you are, ” said Mary, “But don’t worry about it. You can’t change everything, and you can’t change anything overnight. But you will prevail.”
“Who else knows this?”
“Emily did, of course, Jo knows some of it, my Aunt Tina knew most of it, as does Edwin,” said Sean, “You know how Edwin likes you, and you like him?”
“Yes, he’s the best.”
“He sees Emily in you, Kiddo,” said Sean, “And the part of you that is Emily sees her old friend Edwin.”
“Love will prevail,” said Mary, “And now its time to get out of here. I’m cooked.”
Next Chapter: Ghost Alley
