It’s May, but there were still April
showers hanging on today; though not as much as we’ve had over the past two
days. Maybe Mother Nature has been
telling us that a bunch of kids from Witch Falls don’t belong in a place like
Washington; since it’s just starting to clear up now that we’re down to hours
before we head home in the morning.
Another long travel day is a good reason
for me to keep this short and get some extra sleep; but I have a lot to cover
tonight – and will likely be winding down for a while.
The main reason for that is because I had a
stalker following me around while we were in Colonial Williamsburg today –
someone I had hoped we wouldn’t see while on this trip – or ever again, for
that matter.
Gawain Hathorne – aka, as Aunt Leanne would
say, my sperm donor – came to Williamsburg for reasons that I can only
speculate at now because he didn’t attempt to make contact with me. My guess is that he had a change of heart
about whatever he did have planned for us today; which was a good thing for all
of us. He didn’t use his powers at all
while around us, and stayed far enough away that I didn’t pick up anything
empathically, but the last time that I caught a glimpse of him before he left;
he didn’t seem to be angry at all. If
anything, I’d say he looked a bit sad and regretful.
His appearance had a fairly significant
impact on my morning, and even though nothing happened; I stayed close to my
Magi chaperones; let Uncle Nick know that I had a potential problem; and tried
to juggle playing happy student tourist while wondering if I was going to have
another confrontation with Gawain that could put some of the people I love most
in danger. I knew that there was danger
approaching before I saw him, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it by
then, and in this case; it seems that a Dark Magi made a good choice for a
change.
There’s no point in dragging this out too
long, but before I move on; I should mention that Gawain has definitely not
changed sides or anything. We know a lot
of what goes on around Hathorne Industries; and he and Kellie – and Gwyneth –
all still do a lot of very bad things on a regular basis. I know, Gwyneth isn’t quite three yet, but
there are enough unfortunate ‘accidents’ happening around her – particularly
with her nannies or teachers – to suggest that bad things happen when she gets
upset. If Gawain really did decide to
walk away and leave me alone from now on, there’s a ray of hope for his soul;
but I doubt that even he knows if he’s strong enough to turn away from the
dark.
I’ll have just a bit more on that as we go
along with the update; but let’s get to the sightseeing and fun with friends
part of the report.
The top story on the grapevine morning news
wasn’t fun, but then Sally and Gretchen gave Rowen and me the heads up on it
when they got back to our room last night.
Nora broke up with Brock, which wasn’t really a surprise to any of us;
since Nora had basically been ignoring her boyfriend all week while hanging out
with Vanessa and flirting with what seemed like every boy they met and thought
was hot or interesting. There are always
lots of student tours going on in this city; so there were lots of boys for
them to flirt with – even here at our hotel.
Unlike the other two recent break-ups, Nora
didn’t leave a broken-hearted partner in her wake. Brock is more mad about the whole thing than
anything else, and while I’d say that Nora’s break-up with Tim was a lot worse;
Brock didn’t have anything nice to say about Nora today – though he did keep
his comments quiet and only with his best friend. No, I wasn’t eavesdropping – unless you
consider the fact that I pick up everything around me and remember it all
whether I want to or not.
We were up and on the road very early this
morning because our first stop of the day was to have breakfast in
Williamsburg. Michael and I didn’t have
time for Tai Chi, and I was very glad that I didn’t stay up late and got an
extra couple of hours of down time – especially considering the unexpected
company we had today. The first thing I
want to mention about our destination today is that it is impossible to see
everything in one day, and if you want to hit all of the attractions and
amusement parks here; plan on spending a week here.
Since I do really love history, this was as
much fun for me as the Smithsonian was yesterday. Only having a morning to be immersed in
colonial life in Williamsburg was too short, and being distracted by Gawain
made it harder to appreciate the experience at the time; but I do at least have
all of those memories, and can replay them later with a Dark Magi filter on to
screen out that part of the adventure. I
haven’t been able to tell Rowen about Gawain coming to see me yet, but Michael
was in the loop; and I really appreciated his silent report – and the extra
hugs and kisses were pretty good too.
Uncle Nick and Principal Jacobs picked the
few places we had time to explore on our tour around Williamsburg, and while
there was no way to do everything; we did cover three different aspects of
colonial life; and I loved the stories and semi-real history come to life. As I mentioned, I have no idea why Gawain
decided to leave, but he did just that instead of following us when it was time
for us to move on to Jamestown for the afternoon. That last time that I saw him – without
allowing him to know I was watching; we were both heading toward the parking
lots. I know that he didn’t follow us
because I was able to sense it when he started using his powers again. Fortunately, he was far enough away from us
by then that none of the other Magi in our group sensed him too, or at least if
they did; nobody gave any indication that they had. I’ll ask Michael and Rowen about that – and
Uncle Nick – after we get home and can talk about it.
I can also tell you that Gawain didn’t use
normal Hathorne transportation to get here; which is why we didn’t get a
warning from Mom – there was nothing on the systems we check to indicate he’d
left New York at all. Hopefully that
doesn’t mean he suspects or knows that we’ve gotten into their computer
systems. That’s something else for us to
talk about, though his choice of travel options might have been to conceal what
he was doing from Kellie and Gwyneth.
Not using his power overtly while close to me was certainly meant to
keep me from knowing he was there, so he has learned a few things from our
first two confrontations; but he just as obviously doesn’t know that we can
sense danger of any kind.
Yeah, I know, but can you really blame me
for spending so much time thinking about that tonight?
I was able to enjoy our time in Jamestown
more without any Dark Magi lurking around; and we again did a bit of a
whirlwind tour after lunch that only allowed us the chance to do a few of the
activities before it was time to head back to our hotel. While there was less rain today, we did still
get damp a couple of times; so we were given a half hour to change and freshen
up before going out for dinner and an evening hanging out around the National
Mall. That was only an option because we
finally got a break from the rain; though everything was also still fairly
wet. We had a few choices for dinner,
and Michael and I went with one of the fast food groups so that we could spend
more time wandering around the National Mall.
We had Rowen, Tim, Sally, Joshua, Gretchen, and Tracey with us – with
Tracey assigned to stick with me just in case Gawain was still in the area.
We thought about renting bikes, but changed
our minds when we found out how much that would’ve cost us for eight
bikes. This is seriously not a place to
visit if you’re looking for a low-cost vacation!
While I’m thinking about that, I haven’t
mentioned the financial side of our trip in my journal yet; and probably should
just in case it’s done differently in the future. The Grade Eight and Grade Twelve Seniors’
trips are both fully paid for except for spending money – and there’s even a
little slush fund available for the teachers to use to help students when
needed. That’s why there was no need for
fundraising or having the parents pay for our trip; though it is the parents
and businesses that support the school trip fund. Most of my classmates don’t have any idea how
much this trip cost, but I do; and I really appreciate everyone who helped to
make this possible for us – including my own parents, family, and our family
business.
I really do need to move this along and
then try to get some sleep since we have to be up very early again and head out
to the airport. After having our quick,
fast food fix; we went for a long walk around as much of the National Mall as
we could cover and still be back to our rendezvous point on time. We’d been a bit surprised that Gretchen had
opted to hang out with us tonight, but I’m glad that she did; because we had a
lot of fun together. She may have just
been tired of hanging out with the ‘single’ girls; since she isn’t into doing
the kind of flirting that Vanessa and Nora found so entertaining.
Memo to me: start inviting Sally, Joshua,
and Gretchen to do more things with us.
That isn’t easy when they all live on farms and have their own
responsibilities and lives; but we really have fun when we can hang out
together outside of school. I’ll at
least add it to my to-do list; and maybe I’ll have better success with that than
I do with so many other things that I never seem to get around to doing more
often.
Our chaperones had us rounded up by ten; it
was a quick hop back to our hotel; and then we had a bit of time to hang out
with the boys before they needed to get back to their room in time for our bed
checks. Rowen and Gretchen opted for
showers tonight once we were on our own while Sally and I will do the early
wake-up shower times in the morning. We
were all in bed by shortly after midnight; Gretchen, Sally, and Rowen are all
sleeping now; and I did about forty-five minutes of work before getting to this
update.
I’m still wound up, and if I’m honest about
it, a bit disappointed that nothing did happen with Gawain today; but I do know
how fortunate we are that Gawain didn’t force a confrontation or a test of
powers. Knowing that didn’t keep me from
visualizing scenarios – particularly earlier tonight while we were near the
monuments and memorials. I’m sure that
there are lots of people who would be happy to know that those scenes are
relegated to my imagination – especially when they’re just about ready to
re-open the Washington monument after spending years repairing it!
Maybe I should cut back on my Hollywood
movie intake! ;^)
Anyway, I don’t really have anything else
to write about tonight, so I’m going to pack up my computer and probably lay
awake staring at the ceiling and thinking too much for too long before having a
nap for an hour or three. This is my
last report from Washington D.C., and while this has been an amazing week; I am
going to be so glad to get home again where love and light is the empathic rule
instead of the exception. Until then…
…Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the
Light!
