As Luck Would Have it
folder
Fantasy & Science Fiction › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
30
Views:
1,908
Reviews:
0
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
30
Views:
1,908
Reviews:
0
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.
As Luck Would Havie it
Prologue
“Dinner,” yelled Betsy’s mother.
“Coming,” Betsy said, hanging upside down in an apple tree. Betsy was always wearing her big brother Frank’s hand-me-downs. Her brown hair was tied in braids and overalls had worn knees. Her shoes lay under the branch she was hanging from. Her mother told her to keep her shoes on. Only boondockers went barefoot. She flipped out of the tree and onto her shoes.
Betsy looked at the shoes and they seemed to fly on her feet. Betsy glanced at them again and they were tied. She looked at the tree; it was too early in the year for apples. Perhaps, father was going to take her hunting in the morning. Summer was always a boring time of year; Betsy was always short on friends and the library was such a long walk in the heat of day.
Betsy took a seat at the kitchen andceedceeded to conduct the plates to their proper locations on the table. She flicked her hand and pointed to the flatware drawer for it to open then directed the forks and knives to their places. Leaning back in her chair, Betsy yawned. “Mom, can’t I take my broom to the library?” Betsy said in her best whine.
“You\'ll walk like everyone else.” Her mother stirred rabbit stew in a Dutch oven. Betsy smelled the fresh carrots and green onions.
“Billy Parker takes his broom everywhere,” whined Betsy.
“I’m not Billy’s mother. I’m your mother.”
“Why have magic if I can’t use it?” Betsy focused her mind on a peach in the fruit bowl and beckoned it to her then she caught the floating peach with her hand.
“The mundanes in Wolfsbane are outnumbered as it is. We don’t need to make them feel as outcasts.”
“If they don’t like it, they can leave.”
“What about your brother?”
“He can be the first to leave. I will pack his clothes.” Betsy took a bite of her peach. Betsy filled her basket with the peaches highest in the trees by plucking them with her telekinesis. She could fill several bushels in the time a mundane could fill one. As she saw it, mundanes were fairly useless.
“Betsy, you\'ll do great things with your magic,” said her mother. “Your magic will save many lives.”
“I know you are a seer and why you stopped giving readings. You said that it was too painful for you and people don’t want to see the ugly truth.”
“People don’t want to know that their boring lives will continue the way they are and then one day they die. People want to believe that they will do something important with their short meaningless lives.”
“I do something important.”
“You will. Your name will go down in history with Nicolas Flamel, Isaac Newton and Benjamin Franklin. People will remember Betsy Logan and the great discover that she made.”
“All parents say that about their children.”
“I don’t say that about Frank.”
Betsy took a bite of her peach. “If you don’t let me take my broom to the Wolfsbane library, you\'re standing in the way of greatness.”
“Take your broom. Don’t go on the main streets and park it in the back of the building and I\'ll teach you a command so the broom will obey you and fly out of the reach of anyone else’s hands.”
“I have been doing summons commands since I was five.”
“You still need a spell to prevent others from stealing your broom.”
“Mom, will I have children?”
“Two daughters. I see them growing up in different homes.”
“Is that all?” asked Betsy.
“I have visions. I don’t see anyone’s path clear from start to finish. I know my own path better than a stranger’s. Since your path crosses with mine, I know it well.”
“What about Frank?”
“I don’t want you teasing Frank that you\'ll do great things and he won’t. We all have choices to make along our paths.”
Betsy put her finger over her lip. “It\'s our secret. Mom, I have two daughters. What man would marry me? Boys don’t shout that girl has brains.”
“Patience. You\'ll have full life.”
“What does that mean?”
“That means you will have an exciting life. It won’t be as boring as our neighbors. In two hundred years, people will remember Betsy Logan. No one will recall Billy Parker.”
“Dinner,” yelled Betsy’s mother.
“Coming,” Betsy said, hanging upside down in an apple tree. Betsy was always wearing her big brother Frank’s hand-me-downs. Her brown hair was tied in braids and overalls had worn knees. Her shoes lay under the branch she was hanging from. Her mother told her to keep her shoes on. Only boondockers went barefoot. She flipped out of the tree and onto her shoes.
Betsy looked at the shoes and they seemed to fly on her feet. Betsy glanced at them again and they were tied. She looked at the tree; it was too early in the year for apples. Perhaps, father was going to take her hunting in the morning. Summer was always a boring time of year; Betsy was always short on friends and the library was such a long walk in the heat of day.
Betsy took a seat at the kitchen andceedceeded to conduct the plates to their proper locations on the table. She flicked her hand and pointed to the flatware drawer for it to open then directed the forks and knives to their places. Leaning back in her chair, Betsy yawned. “Mom, can’t I take my broom to the library?” Betsy said in her best whine.
“You\'ll walk like everyone else.” Her mother stirred rabbit stew in a Dutch oven. Betsy smelled the fresh carrots and green onions.
“Billy Parker takes his broom everywhere,” whined Betsy.
“I’m not Billy’s mother. I’m your mother.”
“Why have magic if I can’t use it?” Betsy focused her mind on a peach in the fruit bowl and beckoned it to her then she caught the floating peach with her hand.
“The mundanes in Wolfsbane are outnumbered as it is. We don’t need to make them feel as outcasts.”
“If they don’t like it, they can leave.”
“What about your brother?”
“He can be the first to leave. I will pack his clothes.” Betsy took a bite of her peach. Betsy filled her basket with the peaches highest in the trees by plucking them with her telekinesis. She could fill several bushels in the time a mundane could fill one. As she saw it, mundanes were fairly useless.
“Betsy, you\'ll do great things with your magic,” said her mother. “Your magic will save many lives.”
“I know you are a seer and why you stopped giving readings. You said that it was too painful for you and people don’t want to see the ugly truth.”
“People don’t want to know that their boring lives will continue the way they are and then one day they die. People want to believe that they will do something important with their short meaningless lives.”
“I do something important.”
“You will. Your name will go down in history with Nicolas Flamel, Isaac Newton and Benjamin Franklin. People will remember Betsy Logan and the great discover that she made.”
“All parents say that about their children.”
“I don’t say that about Frank.”
Betsy took a bite of her peach. “If you don’t let me take my broom to the Wolfsbane library, you\'re standing in the way of greatness.”
“Take your broom. Don’t go on the main streets and park it in the back of the building and I\'ll teach you a command so the broom will obey you and fly out of the reach of anyone else’s hands.”
“I have been doing summons commands since I was five.”
“You still need a spell to prevent others from stealing your broom.”
“Mom, will I have children?”
“Two daughters. I see them growing up in different homes.”
“Is that all?” asked Betsy.
“I have visions. I don’t see anyone’s path clear from start to finish. I know my own path better than a stranger’s. Since your path crosses with mine, I know it well.”
“What about Frank?”
“I don’t want you teasing Frank that you\'ll do great things and he won’t. We all have choices to make along our paths.”
Betsy put her finger over her lip. “It\'s our secret. Mom, I have two daughters. What man would marry me? Boys don’t shout that girl has brains.”
“Patience. You\'ll have full life.”
“What does that mean?”
“That means you will have an exciting life. It won’t be as boring as our neighbors. In two hundred years, people will remember Betsy Logan. No one will recall Billy Parker.”