Pamela turned the stove off with a loud snick, her half turned body and frequent glances our way showing she too was listening in. At the dining table behind us, several chairs squeaked as people turned to listen.
“I think we should create a safe haven for Clann descendants and outcasts right here in the U.S.,” Grandma Letty announced.
Someone in the dining room snorted.
“And how would that work?” I asked. “We’d need a huge tract of land. Not to mention a long list of resources just to get started.”
“Well, I just happen to have a huge tract of land over in the Spearfish area,” Grandma Letty said. “Your Grandpa Mathew always wanted to build a retirement home on it but died before he could get around to it. It’s got a small river running through it with a stone bridge already in place and well maintained, and it’s deep in the middle of a narrow valley full of trees nestled between several small mountains. Do a little clearing and you’ve got the perfect place to hide a small and possibly self-sustainable village.”
“A secret magical village,” I said, trying but failing to keep the disbelief out of my voice. I knew she needed my support right now in front of all these people, but really? A secret village? That was her grand proposal? “Even buried in the woods, people would find it. Planes and helicopters flying overhead would spot it in a second. Not to mention satellites and hunters—”
“No hunting’s been allowed on it for years. And you told me last night you’ve got an outcast who can do a cloaking spell, which I’m sure could be used to shield it from view.”
“Mike’s cloaking spell only reaches so far,” I said. “No way it’ll cover an entire village.”
“I could probably teach others how to do it,” Mike mumbled around a mouthful of omelet from the dining room table. “Working together, we might be able to cover a small village.”
Steve leaned back in his stool with his arms crossed, ignoring his breakfast. “You can’t be serious. How do you expect anyone to survive in this village? Think about it. Food, water, clothing, shelter. It would take countless amounts of money just to get set up, and even more to keep it going.”
“I can certainly help you get set up for awhile,” Grandma Letty offered.
“Don’t you need to save your millions for your Clann hating son’s next political campaign?” Steve sneered.
I jerked towards him, but Grandma Letty answered him before I could. “My misguided son makes his own way in life, as he always has.”
Pamela scowled. Leaning a hip against the island, she crossed her arms over her chest and turned toward the rest of the group. “We could learn to be self-sufficient, Steve. Use solar, water and wind power. Grow our own food. Use the river for water. Make what we need. We can do our own healing, home school our children the way we want to. We’d be our own little town. Our kids could grow up surrounded by magic and people just like them. We could finally be ourselves and be proud of it.”
Steve looked around him, prompting me to do the same. What I found was amazing. People who had been afraid and angry, their faces dark with despair and resignation, were completely transformed, their shoulders back, standing straight, their faces alive with...hope.
“You’re all crazy,” Steve said. “You’ll get yourselves killed. There’s no way to keep a group this size a secret for long, especially if they try to stay in one place together.”
Pamela stared at him in silent argument until he stood up and stomped out of the kitchen.
After his footsteps faded up the staircase, Pamela said, “We could do it. How many of you would go?”
I swiveled my barstool’s seat so I could see the group behind me better. The adults had all trickled in from the living room at some point, crowding into the kitchen and dining room.
Several people nodded or murmured their agreement. A few even raised their hands shoulder high to signal their vote.
Everyone wanted in. Including Tarah, judging by the way her eyes were all lit up with excitement. When our eyes met, she bit her lower lip and looked away.
I turned back to Grandma Letty. She gave me a challenging half smile, one eyebrow arched, and said, “Well, how about it? Are you in, or are you out?”
Last night Tarah had told me to forget the Shepherd family legacy of leadership and go my own way, to do what I wanted from now on. I looked at her again, openly staring, but she still refused to meet my eyes. She was trying to keep her face blank, probably so she wouldn’t influence my decision.
“You know the logistics of pulling this off is going to be a nightmare,” I muttered, looking around me at all the hopeful faces. “We’re going to need immediate temporary housing, at least till spring, before we can build more permanent shelters. We’ll also need water treatment systems, septic systems, green power of several kinds like Pamela said—”
“So that’s a yes?” Grandma Letty prompted.
I turned to her, Tarah’s words from last night running through my mind on a loop. What do you want?
I wasn’t sure I wanted to make this my life calling. But at least for awhile, it seemed a good route to take. “Yeah, that’s a yes.”
Excited conversation broke out all around us, allowing Tarah to edge closer to me without an audience and whisper, “Are you sure? You know you don’t have to do this.”
“I know. And yeah, I’m sure. I want to do this.”
Finally she met my eyes, searching them to make sure I wasn’t lying just to make everyone else here happy. After she found whatever reassurance she needed, she smiled and took my hand in hers. “Okay, then. If this is what you want to do, then we’ll do it.”
It was what I wanted to do. I just hoped it wasn't a huge mistake. For all of us.
The next few days flew by in a storm of activity as we tried to get it all pulled together. Bud was kept knocked out except for brief semi-conscious bathroom breaks or to eat groggily. Pamela and some of the guys shopped together online for solar, wind and water energy and treatment systems, while the other ladies kept the kids busy in the basement, which turned out to be a crafter’s mecca. There was a reason Grandma Letty hadn’t set up any sleeping pallets down there...you could hardly walk between the towering shelves and tables full of craft supplies. This at least gave the kids plenty to do as they made little gifts for everyone for Hanukkah and Christmas. Also sharing basement space was the laundry room, which was kept going full tilt twenty-four hours a day as my grandma nearly bought out the local Goodwill and consignment shops for clothing for everyone, and the ladies tried to keep us all in clean clothes.