TUS NUA - ch 1

TUS NUA – ch 1

New Beginnings - Mia and Midnight

(*)(*)(*)

There weren’t any words spoken. None were needed as Alistar and Evangaline hurried across the room and knelt at their daughter’s sides.

Although they already knew, Finola, Alistar’s cousin explained, “Alistar, Evie, she, like the others have been drugged.” Alistar and his wife, Evangaline had allowed their only daughter to travel across the ocean with her two friends. Their plan was to celebrate the twenty-first birthday of Saoirse, Ivy’s best friend. Unfortunately for Ivy, they weren’t in America for twenty-four hours, when she met Fred Moretti.

Fred, who along with his brother, Tony and their father, Leo kidnapped young women and kept them drugged, forcing them into their own devious plans of slavery.

Julie Hammond had been one of Tony’s prisoners. However, using her wit, she managed to escape and made her way to Ireland where her best friend Mia lived.

Julie and Mia were close friends in New York when suddenly one spring day, Mia’s family moved to Ireland. The girls, however, always managed to stay in touch.

Julie never doubted that no matter the circumstances, Mia and her family would always be ready to help.

Her trip to Ireland held many surprises, some of which would happen fast enough to make her head spin. One of those surprises was Mickey Diehl, Mia’s cousin. She’d met him the year before when she flew to Ireland to celebrate Mia’s sixteenth birthday. Although Julie was attracted to Mickey, when her vacation was finished, she flew back to New York and did her best to push him out of her memory.

Now, here she is, after escaping from a horrific ordeal that left her pregnant, she’s standing beside him, traditionally hand-fasted in marriage.

She thought, “Who knew Ireland would hold my future happiness so tightly? This is where I belong.”

Mickey smiled at her thoughts and mumbled, “Yes, mo stor, it is. We’ll make such a happy home for our little one.”

“You heard my thoughts?” she asked.

“Normally, I don’t pry but, well, my love, you didn’t actually try to hide that one.”

She smiled and said, “I keep forgetting that I married into a family of witches.”

Mia smiled at her cousin as he placed a gentle kiss on his bride’s cheek. Mia looked at their happiness and thought back to a few days before when Julie arrived on her doorstep, beaten and bruised and more than terrified.

As predicted, Tony arrived in Ireland with the intention of taking Julie back to New York. Mia’s great aunt, Finola, a powerful white witch cast a spell on Tony and was able to ensure the release of all the imprisoned women.

Finola enlisted the skill of her cousin Alistar to magically erect a building that would adequately house the women she’d saved. However, upon their release, Finola realized that one of those women was the only daughter of her cousin, Alistar, a warlock, more powerful than her own skills. She immediately summoned Alistar and his wife Evangeline.

Mia realized Finola was speaking, “I plan to serve them my herbal tea. This will help counteract the effects of the drug but not eliminate them from their bodies. That must come naturally.”

Evangaline agreed. “It’s better that way, cousin. Rushing it could cause psychological damage. Don’t you agree, Morena?”

Morena looked shocked. She didn’t know that Evangaline knew anything about her.

Evangaline smiled. “Morena, I guess I should have introduced myself. Alistar told me everything when he came home from here after helping with the house. Like my husband, I’m also a witch and like Mia, I love gardening. I have a feeling we’ll all get along marvelously. Liz, I’d like you to help me brew a large pot of Finola’s tea. Alistar said he stocked the kitchen, but I don’t know if he anticipated what we’re about to face.”

Finola commented, “Evangaline, that’s an excellent idea. I’d like Morena and Mia to take the girls upstairs and allow them to get to know us. Morena, I have a feeling a few might need medical attention.”

Alistar, not to be outdone by his cousin, blurted out, “Finola, no need to take them upstairs.” He pointed to a wall at the end of the room and snapped his fingers. “Surprise, dear cousin.”

Finola shook her head and chuckled. “Leave it you, Alistar to leave one of the more important rooms for last.”

“Come, ladies, our first priority is to make sure you’re as healthy as you look.” The young women, obediently, due to the drugs they were given, followed her without question, and as Finola gave it a slight push, a door opened to reveal an updated, completely stocked infirmary.

Morena’s eyes widened as she looked around the room. “Oh my! This is perfect. It’s almost as efficient as the clinic in town where I work.”

Julie looked around the gathering room. “Where’s Midnight? I haven’t seen her around in the past hour. Is she alright?”

Brian, Mia father grinned. “Oh, she’s fine. Don’t worry about her. Knowing that silly cat, she’s probably up to some kind of mischief.”

Mia’s mother, Morena, asked Finola if she thought it might be a good idea to keep the young women they saved under a slight influence of the drugs, at least until they had the opportunity to examine them.

“Finola, I can only imagine what they’ve been through, and I don’t want to spook them more.”

“Morena, I thoroughly agree, but can I make a suggestion?”

“Oh, absolutely. What’s on your mind?”

With the snap of her fingers, Morena’s attire became the scrubs she usually wore at her clinic.

“I hope you don’t mind, Morena, but I think they might feel safer if they see a nurse rather than just another woman they don’t know.”

“I couldn’t agree more. While you’re in a finger-snapping mood, would it be possible to snap my nurse’s ID from my purse, which is still at my house?”

Finola chuckled. “To quote the Bible, ‘Ask and you shall receive’.”

With another finger snap, Morena’s ID was attached to the lanyard that now hung around her neck.

“Finola, you are just too amazing!” The witch smiled and asked, “Is there anything else you need, mo stor?”

After looking around, Morena answered, “Actually, yes. While this is one large room, there are no partitions for privacy. I wish we could divide a substantial portion of the room into, oh, I don’t know, maybe four smaller exam rooms?”

“Consider it done! But this will be temporary until we’re finished, then I’ll have Alistar make it permanent. While I can do that, he really is the expert and also, he’d feel left out if I took over.”

Completing a brief exam of the young women and determining there were no injuries other than a few bruises in various places on their bodies, Morena, Mia and Finola brought the young woman to the dining room.

“Ladies, first, I’m promising you that there are no drugs in the food or beverages. Please help yourselves.”

Alistar noticed Ivy shake her head as if to clear any residual cobweb effects of the drug.

Suddenly, Ivy shouted, “Dad, Mom, we have to go back! We have to back to New York.”

As if a light bulb illuminated their thoughts, their eyes widened and Evangaline and Alistar agreed.

He quickly declared, “We’ll be back shortly. In such a haste to help these young women, we forgot about Ivy’s friends, Nova and Saoirse. Ivy, let’s go!”

Alistar opened a portal, and they were gone.

The young women, who now sat round the dining room table, gasped as they witnessed the trio disappear.