Chapter 11
Ella (Delilah) Kincade sat weeding her garden currently pulling Witchgrass that had been attacking her beautiful golden colored primroses. With deft hands, she expertly removed the green stalks, but it didn’t keep her from frowning. She knew that the rhizomes breaking off would just cause more of the infuriating weeds to grow again.

“Tina, so what do our good friends at The New England Wild Flower Society say I do about these accursed weeds?” Ella didn’t bother to look up at her grandchild, she knew she wasn’t doing anything productive. Getting her clothes dirty was not a priority for a fifteen-year-old girl.

“Cardboard.” Tina sat on a small stone bench with the latest magazine from the Society in her lap. Lightly dressed Tina appeared more interested in getting some sun as opposed to her grandmother who wore jeans, boots, a heavy shirt and thick gloves. Both wore wide brim hats, although only Ella actually had it on her head.

“Bring the magazine here child.” As the pair looked over the article, another woman opened the small wooden door to the garden. “Ella, Greg just called he said that they are all on their way back home. Everything turned out well.”

“That’s good news, Amy.” The older woman sounded relieved.

“Greg also said that Dad wants to have a family meeting and he is bringing a guest home.”

“Oh good are we going to have a grill-out then Mom?”

“Sounds like a good reason as any.” Amy smiled as she came up behind her child and gave her a hug.

“Tell Brandon or Stephen to go down into the meat locker and check on the what we have left for a grill out with everyone.”

“Tina, there should be still plenty of Lori’s venison burgers in there so please check on those first.” Ella started to take off her garden gloves. “Who are they bringing home?”

“Morgan Rynders”

“Good.” Ella was interested in finally meeting this young girl.

Two range rovers moved up the long road towards the Kincade Family compound. Ella could see her husband Richard driving the lead vehicle while his brother Greg drove the second. Behind Richard sat her two sons Charlie and William. Behind Greg sat his eldest Malcolm in a very animated discussion with a young girl. She seemed out of place amongst the large men of the Kincade family.

Stephanie Kincade joined the two other women as the vehicles parked on the other side of one of the buildings. “Malcolm seems happy to be sitting next to Morgan.”

“Oh, that’s right Steph. You met the girl the other week.” Amy said as she watched the men get out of the vehicle. Malcolm didn’t appear to stop talking. “I thought that your son and that Brandy girl were a couple.”

Stephanie shrugged. “Brandy is a nice enough girl Amy I just dislike her father.”

“The mayor isn’t that bad of a man Stephanie,” Ella commented reaching toward her approaching husband for a kiss. “Good hunting?”

Richard Kincade gave an odd smile. The other husbands also greeted their wives as Malcolm and Morgan stood to the side.

“Is that a Viking Longhouse,” Morgan asked Malcolm, as the married pairs were busy for a moment. A 75-foot wooden structure stood in the center of the compound. Made mostly of wood, a good bit of its construction was very modern including the Olympic size swimming pool seen in the back.

“Pretty cool huh.”

“Morgan, this is my wife, Delilah.” The head of the Kincade family began to give introductions.

“Ignore him, Morgan, everyone else calls me Ella.” She greeted the young girl warmly then pointed back to the red-haired woman. “This is Amy, she is Williams’s wife, and you know Stephanie of course.”

Stephanie walked over and to give Morgan a hug. “Good to see you again.”

“Mom, Brandon said there looked to be plenty of venison left.” Tina approached the group speaking to Amy. “So we thought we would go swimming.”

Like a carnivore seeing its prey, Tina darted forward ignoring whatever might have come from her mother’s mouth. “Oh hi, I’m Tina you must be Morgan.”

Before Morgan could reply, Tina grabbed her by the arm and started to drag her away. “Cool, I’ll give you the Grande tour and then we can get some pool time in while the dads are grilling.”

“Swimming I don’t have a bathing suit...Mr. Kincade...” Morgan began while being unceremoniously dragged away.

Richard Kincade smiled at the pleading look. “I’m sure we have extra around here so have fun Morgan, we will catch up to you later.”

“Hey wait up.” Malcolm joined the pair.

“Nice to see you too Mal,” Stephanie whispered as she watched her son follow the two girls. “He seemed very animated in the car Dear.”

Her husband Greg grinned. “Our boy found himself a girl that seems to like computer games. He was talking something about frame rates or some such, and she generally seemed interested.”

“So that little girl is the one who healed Dan where Eshne Teague couldn’t. I find it hard to believe Richard.”

“That’s her Ella,” Greg said. “But she is a lot more focused.”

“Trust me, Mom, from what I saw today you wouldn’t think otherwise.” Charlie Kincade watched the three kids disappear into the Longhouse. “Actually, I’m not even sure if Morgan needed our protection.”

“I’m not too sure about that Charlie.” The Elder Kincade said. ”Still, I think she was more than just polite.”

“Just remind me not to get her angry.” William Kincade laughed.

All of the men agreed.

Ella turned watching the three children disappear into the longhouse. She was suddenly unsure if it was OK for them to be alone with the young girl.

During the summer months, it took no effort to convince the Kincade clan to grill-out for the evening. To the trained eye, one could see that it was a well-organized affair. The men, for the most part, insisted on grilling. Tonight’s meal would include venison patties, elk sausage, and Alaska Salmon.

“Those are vegetables.” Greg Kincade pointed with his tongs at marinated round disks of eggplant.

His wife laughed as she pushed him out of the way to lay them on the grill. “Yes, well people do eat them you know. “

“What, I eat potatoes.”

“Good for you dear.” Stephanie smiled. “Our guest doesn’t really eat a lot of red meat.”

“She seems very popular with Lori’s youngest.” Ella passed Greg a beer. Lori’s girls, Ella's two granddaughters, seemed to have attached themselves to Morgan.

The youngest Emma sat on her lap while Olivia who just turned seven was busy trying to braid Morgan’s hair. Ella found it odd that it didn’t stop there. Surrounding Morgan was a number of the younger children and a few of the teenagers. To top it all off, it looked like Stephen and Malcolm were making sure that the Kincade children did not overwhelm Morgan.

“That’s rather odd. Stephanie doesn’t it look like Morgan is holding court.”

Greg Kincade started to cough violently choking on his beer.

++++++

Mr. Kincade seemed quite the take-charge sort of person. Our little group climbed into a pair of Range Rovers and took off towards the outskirts of town. I had heard rumors of the Kincade compound. Some said they all lived in some gigantic mansion with dozens of rooms while others said they all lived in caves. Malcolm thought that story was funny.

On the drive up to the compound, I found myself sitting next to Stephanie’s son. Surprisingly enough he seemed shy at first, he didn’t really seem the type. Disappointed that I knew nothing about sports, he perked up when we began to talk about computer games. We compared some of the most popular first-person shooters and the adventure games I really liked. By the time we rolled up to the compound, Malcolm had turned towards the more technical aspects of video games from camera angels to voice-overs. I knew nothing about the subject, but it was interesting.

So all of the Kincade’s didn’t all live in some sort of mega-mansion. However, the compound consisted of some lovely houses, all architecturally designed to be part of the landscape. I thought the effect stunning, and I approved that the family didn’t strip the hills bare. I had a feeling being Weres that they were closer to the natural than most. Of course, by now with my newfound skills, I knew them to be Were-bears though I had not seen them change.

The other men quickly exited the vehicles making their way to a group of woman who stood in front of a large building. I didn’t know what to expect to see inside the compound, but a Viking Longhouse wasn’t it. It was merging of the modern with the ancient.

As we tried to ignore the adult’s affectionate greeting, I asked Malcolm about it. Before he could really do more than agree it was interesting, I was introduced to Richards’s wife and another woman named Amy. Stephanie stepped forward to embrace me with a hug. They all greeted me warmly, which was something I really needed after my meeting with the Unseelie Court.

Then Tina the tornado as I sometimes affectionately called her came into my life. She was my age and the daughter of Amy and William Kincade and the granddaughter of Richard and Ella. After informing her mom that there was plenty of food for the grill-out, I came under her expert eye. Like a tornado, which pulled in everything that comes near, Tina grabbed me and started to drag me away. Richard Kincade infuriatingly just told me to have fun. Damn that man.

“I really didn’t bring a suit, Tina.” I tried to protest as we entered the Longhouse.

The girl thing wasn’t too alien anymore but the thought of wearing a swimsuit and then it hit me. Sidhe actually don’t have modesty problems. I really wasn’t all that embarrassed. It was rather disturbing. As my objections tapered off Malcolm tried to come to my rescue.

“Tina, let the poor girl breath.”

She turned and gave him a knowing smile. “Fine Malcolm if you would like to join us I'm just going to give her the tour.”

We picked up Malcolm younger brother Stephen along the way coming out of a back door. One look at me and he quickly volunteered to tag along. The emotions coming off the two of them were way beyond my comfort range. Though they behaved liked gentleman even if they were overenthusiastic gentlemen. Tina, for the most part, ignored them.

The Kincade Longhouse had more than a large hall. Several adjourning rooms contain comfortable couches, televisions and pool tables. A large table in front of a massive stone fireplace dominated the hall. At the head of the table was a chair what could only be described as a throne adorned with intricate bear figures. The bear did seem to be the overwhelming motif of the hall.

The tour continued with the downstairs and the very modern kitchen and walk-in coolers with all imaginable foodstuffs. I wasn’t all that surprised to find that it also contained a massive quantity of game meats. For some reason, the trio found it necessary to show me every room in the Longhouse except for one. A set of large double doors lead to an area that was off limits. Tina said it was Richards’s home office.

We lost both boys when Tina brought me into the girl’s dressing room to find a bathing suit. It was nicely decorated and really looked a lot like a spa. I tried to insist on one piece but was overruled.

“Morgan, you have a great body why cover it up.”

Once again, I thought I would be embarrassed, but my new Sidhe nature overruled any objections. We quickly got dressed and for the first time in my life ending up in a cute red and blue two-piece bathing suit.

The view from beside the pool was breathtaking with the mountain range called The Berkshires, which are part of the Appalachians off in the distance. The pool itself was an Olympic size in length but not in width along with Jacuzzis and a smaller kiddy type wading pool off the side. On the side of the Longhouse sat several grills already manned by the older male members of the Kincade clan. Tina never left my side as she began to introduce me to more of the clan

“I’m a little jealous Tina, you have a great family.”

Tina gave me a big smile and hug at the compliment. She was apparently very proud of them. After a brief swim, we seemed to collect a few more people. Two were adorable sisters Olivia and Emma who for some reason found me fascinating. Emma decided that she liked my lap most of all and proclaimed that I needed to braid her hair. Her sister decided I needed braids. My lack of braiding skill was highly amusing to both of them.

The rest of the day and dinner went by quickly. It was family style with lots of meats on the table. Thankfully, there were a large number of vegetables as well, so I didn’t go hungry. Emma didn’t leave my lap much to the embarrassment of her mother, Lori. By the end of the meal, Emma was sound asleep.

“Lori if you can take Emma off of Morgan’s lap we do need to have a meeting.” The head of the Kincade clan laughed.

“Thanks for taking care of her Morgan.” Lori came by and picked her up. I was a little sad. She was sweet. I realized that my kind have a real fondness for children, maybe because we have so few. “You’ll make a wonderful mother someday.”

Another complication added to my life, but it did not sound so bad.