Next one the list to ask for the High Court was to be for the positions of Porkha, the High Court Minister of Elderly Affairs, and Kahneu Porkha. Eli had selected Mrs. Dawn Pilgram to be his Porkha and for Amanda Stewart to be her Kahneu. This made for things to be a bit different, seeing how Amanda was not related to Dawn.
Amanda's father, Tom Stewart was Eli's math teacher, so that was an easy invite. David had already invited several of the teachers and Dr. Martin out for dinner on the premise of getting to know them. They also invited Mr. White, who was a former student of Grandpa Max and Tom's Step-Father.
The invite to Dawn Pilgram was a bit trickier. The invite ended up coming from Sherry on the notion of getting help with the food for the reception. This was partly true, but not completely. Sherry did not feel right about the whole thing, and let the guys know.
The time had come and everyone had arrived. Eli had only met Amanda through Mitch Mills, Noah's older brother. She was his girlfriend. Eli and Amanda got along very well. Mitch had told her to ask about the 'Fish' when she came out for dinner.
"Um, Eli? Mitch told me to ask about fish? He said I would be surprised, but didn't really explain why." Amanda told Eli.
"Okay, I should be mad at him, because he was asked not to tell anyone, but I guess he really didn't tell you anything!" Eli laughed. "Here, come with me and I will show you what he was talking about." Eli told the adults where they were going and that they would be right back.
As Eli and Amanda were walking out to the fish building, he could tell that something was bothering her. After he opened up the building and turned on the lights, Amanda let out a surprised gasp.
"Wow, this is impressive. And you own all of this?" She asked the younger boy.
"Yeah, it started as a hobby, but it kind of exploded out of control." Eli laughed.
"So, want to tell me the truth why we are here for dinner? For some reason I don't think it is just to get to know us." Amanda said while staring into one of the tanks.
"No, you are right; getting to know you all was not the only reason. I can tell you about it if you like, or we can head up to the house and talk to everyone at the same time, the choice is yours?"
"If you don't mind, let's head back. I think my dad is a bit worried about this whole thing."
After shutting down the lights and locking the building back up, the two headed back to the house. Once there, they went into the living room where everyone else was talking.
When there was a break in the conversations, Eli jumped in.
"Well, as it turns out the reason we asked you all to come out here tonight wasn't a very good cover." Eli laughed and saw the shocked look on his parents faces. "Everyone in this room is either a Wizard, or family of one. So, that makes this a bit easier. As you may know I am a Wizard, but my mom isn't. However, there are a lot of things behind that, but I am not going to get into them now, but the important thing is that my Birth Parents were both Class III Wizards. I, we, have asked you all out here for a reason beyond getting to know you, and that is to ask a couple of you a question. Well, first I guess I should tell you all that I am the Dexas." Eli rambled.
There was a collective gasp from all of the visitors, but no one said a word.
"Mrs. Pilgram, I would like to ask you if you would do me the honor of agreeing to be my Porkha."
"Um please forgive me, but what is a Porkha? I seem to remember hearing that term, but am not sure what it means." Dawn told the group.
"Porkha is the High Court Minister of Elderly Affairs. I have been asked to be Eli's Shielo, Head Minister of the High Court." Grandpa Max explained.
"Why me? I am sure that there are many others who would be much better qualified than I. And heaven only knows how much the Wizard Council and I get along." Dawn asked.
"Mrs. Pilgram, the reason I decided to ask you is simple, you don't let others push you around. You are a strong, outspoken person whom I know cares about the Wizard World and is not happy about the way things are being done to help others. I have seen how you treat every person who comes into the diner as a friend, and have even paid for some meals of those who couldn't afford a whole meal. I am not worried about you being disliked by the Council." Eli tried to explain to her.
"But, what would you expect from me?" She asked him.
"I expect you to find out what our Elders need and to stand up for their rights. I expect for you to tell the Council of Wizards and myself what we need to do to take care of those who once took care of us! I expect you to be just who you are! That is why I have chosen you for this job!" Eli said giving her a big smile.
"Putting it that way, then I accept this honor and hope to make you proud! Thank you King Eli!" Dawn said bowing her head to Eli.
"Thank you Mrs. Pilgram, but please call me Eli." Eli told her. "That brings me to my next question. Grandpa Max has asked that every Minister on the High Court have a Kahneu, or an apprentice. I have decided to ask you, Amanda, to be the Kahneu Porkha, will you accept the position?" Eli asked turning to Amanda.
Amanda looked at her Dad and Grandpa, both who had very proud smiles on their faces encouraging her to accept.
"I would be honored to accept and learn all I can from Mrs. Pilgram!" Amanda said with a touch of excitement.
"Great, now that is out of the way, when is dinner, I am hungry!" Eli said causing everyone else to start laughing.
"Dinner will be served in a moment. If you all want to start heading into the dining room, then we will get started before Eli starts eating the furniture!" Grandpa George said with a chuckle.
The rest of dinner had gone great. Dawn had started telling stories of her travels and the funny things that had happened to her. Mr. White was captivated by her, much to everyone's surprise. All in all, the evening was another success.
The last diner party turned out to be a House Warming party for the Martin family as well as a welcome home for Toby. Not only were the Hunts there, but the Mills family was there as well. This made it the perfect time for Eli to finish off asking those whom he had chosen to fill his High Court.
After everyone greeted each other and had gotten a drink, Eli asked if he could have everyone's attention. Once everyone had quieted down Eli began.
"Thank you, as you all know I have been preparing to announce who I am very soon. I have already chosen who I would like to be on my High Court, and have begun to ask those chosen. I have asked that Grandpa Max be my Shielo, he has accepted and asked that each Minister have a Kahneu, or an apprentice. So, he and I have decided we would like to ask Mr. Ryan Martin to be my Kahneu Shielo, Ryan?"
"Yes, thank you! I would be honored to be your Kahneu Shielo!" Ryan said with excitement!
"Great! The other positions for the High Court have been filled or selected. But, I have a few other positions I need to fill. Noah, you are my best friend. You have already helped me out several times by looking at things differently than I do, and I need that. So, would you do me the honor of agreeing to be my Maxus?"
"Of course I will be honored to be your Maxus!" Noah said with a smile and a hint of Duh thrown in.
"Good, because I hadn't thought of a back up! Now, Mitch, I would like for you to be my Mubuquas."
"I have no clue as to what that is?" Mitch said embarrassedly.
"Nether did I until it was explained to me, so don't feel bad! The Mubuquas is the Special Guard to the Maxus. You would be like Noah's secret service agent."
"So, what I already do, keep the runt out of trouble! Yes, Eli, I would be honored to fill that role for you!" Mitch said with pride.
"Thank you. Nora, I would like for you to be my Milius. As I understand this position, you would be my escort and party planner for any formal functions we would have. I would not expect you never to date or anything like that, but this would be just for Formal things." Eli was rushing through this one and was bright red from blushing!
"Thank you, Eli, I would be honored!" She said getting up and giving him a kiss on the cheek. David was worried he was going to have to give him an electric shock to get him going again.
"Um… Mrs. Mills, normally the Milius has an adult assistant, called the Piliuis. This has always been filled by the Milius' Mother or Grandmother. I would like to ask if you would fill the spot of Piliuis."
"I would be honored to be known as the Piliuis to the greatest Dexas our world had ever known! Thank you!"
As the party went on, there were several conversations going on about the different roles the rest were given. Mitch had wanted to know who was going to be the Copus Dubuquas, Commander of the King's Guard. He was pleased when Eli told him that he had asked Deputy Parker Evans to fill that role.
"Good, that is who I was hoping you were going to chose. He will take it very seriously. I think you have made some very good choices for your people. Thank you for giving me a chance to protect the twins. I know that the Mubuquas is mainly for the Maxus, but I will also be looking over Nora as well."
"Good, and if at any time you need help, just ask Parker. He is who you would technically answer to, but not really. I hope that helps." Eli laughed.
"Yes it does. I will work it all out with Parker. He is a great guy!"
A few nights after the house warming party, Prince woke Eli up in the middle of the night by licking his face.
"What are you doing, Prince?" A tired boy asked the dog.
As quietly as the dog could, he told Eli that the strange man was back again. Eli jumped out of bed and ran to David's room.
"Dad, Dad! Wake up Dad." When David opened his eyes, Eli explained what was going on. "Dad, Prince says that strange man is back!"
David jumped out of bed and headed down the stairs as fast as he could. He called the Sherriff's office and told them that there was a prowler on the property. The dispatch told him to stay inside and let them deal with this, but David told her not a chance.
Prince had told Eli that the man was by his bedroom window again, so David as fast and quietly as he could, headed out the front door to circle around the back of the house. David told Eli to stay in the house, but asked if he would send Prince around the other way to the back of the house. Prince did just what David was hoping for, he got there first and growled at the man, who then turned and started to run. This gave David the surprise and advantage he needed to take the man down. As the man was running away from the growling pit-bull, he was watching over his shoulder where the dog was chasing him, and ran right in to David's out stretched arm, clothes lining himself flat on his back.
David and Prince stood over the man, who was gasping for breath, until two Sheriffs Deputies arrived, closely followed by Parker and Nevin. The first thing Parker did was run to the house to check on Eli. Once he knew Eli was safe and unharmed, he headed to where the others were. By this point, the young man was on his knees with his hands cuffed behind his back. The other two Deputies were trying to get info out of the guy when another car pulled into the driveway. George and Matt got out and walked to where the others were. Uncle Matt looked pissed.
"What in God's name are you doing here, Seth?" Uncle Matt yelled at the young man who was cuffed.
"I don't have any place else to go, he kicked me out!" The young man said sounding like he was going to burst into tears at any moment.
"Why were you standing outside Eli's window?" Nevin asked the man.
"Eli, who is Eli? That was the room I stayed in when I lived here during that summer. I was just remembering how nice it was and wish I could go back."
"Sheriff Mills, this young man lived with my wife and I for a summer a couple of years ago. His parents were very good friends of my wife and I, but they were killed in a car crash when he was 13. He should be living with his uncle."
"Uncle Tony said I wasn't a man so I couldn't live there anymore." Seth told Uncle Matt.
"So where have you been staying?" Nevin asked.
"In the old hay barn down by the pond. When I found out that Uncle Matt sold the farm, I didn't know what else to do. I thought that maybe I could just stay there until I could figure something else out, but when I couldn't sleep sometimes it would help to come remember the good time I had here. That's all I was doing, really I was just remembering." He said before starting to cry.
Nevin had one of the deputies remove the hand cuffs and told them they could head back to their patrols. David invited everyone else back into the house so they could talk about what to do. Eli was standing right inside the front door when they came in with a very scared look on his face until he saw that Prince was walking right besides the young man he didn't know.
"Eli, this is Seth. Turns out that he knows Uncle Matt and was just kind of out there wishing he could find him." David said with his arm around Eli's shoulder.
"So everything is alright, then?" Eli asked.
"Yes, or it will be. Now, why don't you run back up to bed, you do have school tomorrow." David said.
"Okay, but don't forget, so do you!" Eli said with a giggle and ran up the stairs with Prince right on his heels.
"I feel so bad for scaring that little boy. Had I known it was his room I would have never approached the house! Why do I have to be so stupid?" Seth said more to himself than anyone else.
"Seth, I am sure you are hungry, let's get you some food. We can talk and figure out what is going to happen to you while you eat." George said before walking into the kitchen.
While George worked on getting some food together, the others sat at the kitchen table. Once the whole story about why Seth was living in the old hay barn came out, there were several very pissed people sitting around the table. Seth's Uncle had kicked him out of the house for refusing to kill a neighbors dog who had gone to the bathroom in his Uncle's yard, and for refusing to beat up a little boy who had cut through the back yard on his way to school.
"First thing we need to get out of the way, David, is Eli going to want to press charges against Seth for trespassing?" Nevin asked.
"NO! Of course not!" David and Uncle Matt said at the same time.
"Okay, don't kill me, but I had to ask. Now, Seth, I have been recording this conversation, and with you being a minor, at 16 years old, your Uncle has broken several laws regarding kicking you out. So, what I am going to do is first thing in the morning I am going to contact the DA here, and get him going on having charges against your Uncle brought up. Once that is done, we will ask the court to sever his guardianship to you. I will talk to CPS and try to find a good placement for you around here."
"Can't I stay with Uncle Matt?" Seth said looking over to where Uncle Matt was sitting.
"That I am not sure about, but we can look into it." Nevin said when he saw that Eli was walking into the room.
"It wouldn't work for Seth to live with Uncle Matt. CPS would never go for it because of me." Eli said.
"Son, what do you mean?" David asked.
"CPS will not let Uncle Matt have Seth because he does not have a house. The house he lives in is in Grandpa's name. Also, with Uncle Matt's age and the fact that he is retired is going against him as well. But, what I think should happen is that Seth should go to live with Parker." Eli said as there were several gasps in the room. "Parker and Seth have a lot in common, and Parker can help Seth deal with everything because he has been through it and came out on top. Also, Seth has the desire to become a law enforcement officer, so Parker can help with that as well. It's not like Seth won't get to see Uncle Matt all the time anyway, because Parker will be out here a lot because he is the Copus Dubuquas! Now, you all figure it out, but do it quieter I am trying to sleep!" Eli told the group as he turned around a headed back to his room.
"You know that kid could be very scary if I didn't know him better!" Nevin said before starting to laugh.
"But, I don't know him at all!" Seth said while staring where the young boy had been standing. This caused everyone to start laughing.
"I don't want to get CPS involved tonight, so this is what I think I would like to do. Seth, would your Uncle try to hurt you if he found out that you talked with the police about getting kicked out?" Nevin asked.
Seth thought about it but he wasn't sure, so he looked over to Uncle Matt who was nodding his head. "Yeah I guess he would if he thought he might go to jail." Seth told Nevin.
"That's what I thought. Parker, would you have a problem with Seth staying with you under Protective Custody until we can get this worked out?"
"No Sir, not at all. However, I believe he needs to know a few things if he is going to be around all of us for any amount of time." Seth told Nevin.
"David, it is your call." Nevin turned to David.
"Seth, there are a lot of things going on right now that you should be aware of if you are going to be staying with Parker or even if you were staying with Uncle Matt. However, we can get into most of those tomorrow or the next day. But, what you need to know is, well I guess I should ask if you know of Wizards?" David asked the young man.
"Yes, my friend was one back before my parents were killed."
"Okay, well, Parker, Nevin, myself are all Wizards. Eli is also a Wizard, but special. We will get into why he is special at some point later. We all here trust Uncle Matt with our lives, and he has vouched for you, so we will all trust you to a point as well, the rest of the way will have to be earned. Now, tomorrow we will talk some more and figure out what we are going to do, but, Parker, take this, and tomorrow go get Seth some new clothes and things he might need." David told them as he pulled out about $500 out of his wallet.
"Thank you, Sir, but there is no way I can pay you back." Seth said with his head down.
"Don't worry about that, CPS will pay me back once Parker gives me the receipts." David told the boy.
After Parker and Seth had left, Uncle Matt started talking to Nevin and David.
"Seth has a very large trust fund, we need to find out what is happening with it. I know that the Uncle could pull money out in small amounts for any special needs Seth might have, but he needs a second signature to pull any larger amounts or anything over a thousand dollars in a six month period. I know for a fact he hasn't yet, because, I am the second signer. I will call the bank first thing in the morning and put a freeze on the account, but that will mean he will know that something is up quickly."
"Wait, you said that he could pull money out for Seth's special needs, like what?" Nevin asked.
"Medical, school, or sports needs. Why?" Uncle Matt asked.
"Then what we need to do is to contact the bank and have them set up an alert. Let him take the money out, and then we can add fraud to his charges. We will be able to prove easily that the money he took out of the trust was not for Seth's needs because Seth is in protective custody!" Nevin said with a smile.
"Nevin, you are almost as bad as a crook!" George laughed.
"Well, it helps when you can think like one." Nevin laughed right back.
"That sounds like a great plan, my plan is to try and get a couple hours of sleep so I can teach tomorrow. So, you all can either find a place to crash, or get out! Your choice." David said as he started to head up the stairs.
There were a few comments from the others like: how rude, and what a wimp, you can TRY to teach, along with a lot of laughter. Nevin decided to head home, and so did the two old war dogs.
First thing in the morning, a very tired Matt started making calls. The first call he made was to the bank.
"First National Bank, my name is Cindy. How may I help you?" The young lady asked answering the phone.
"Yes, my name is Matt Kahne, and I would like to speak to Paul Harbinger, Please?"
"One moment Sir while I check to see if he is available."
After a moment she came back on the line and said that she would transfer him right over.
"Good morning, this is Paul." The man answered his phone.
"Morning Paul, this is Matt and I have a problem!" Matt told the banker.
After explaining everything that Matt knew from the night before, Paul suggested not only putting an alert on the account but also calling for a full audit of the trust. Matt agreed to this as he had planned on asking for this when the mess was over anyway. Matt did make sure the bank would not prevent Seth's uncle from withdrawing money.
His next call was to his lawyer to get someone set up to represent Seth when dealing with the CPS or anything else that might come up. Matt had really liked Eli's idea of Parker taking in and caring for Seth. That was an easy call to be made. After being told that the associate who would be assigned to Seth would be calling later that day, Matt called Parker's house.
"Hello?" Parker answered.
"Hello Parker, this is Matt Kahne. How is it going over there?"
"Just fine, Mr. Kahne. Seth and I were just having breakfast and talking about what all needs to be done today. I was going to be trying to call you as soon as we finished to see what your plans were. Seth would really like to spend some time talking with you." Parker replied.
"Well, that is why I was calling. I wanted to talk to him as well. How about I come over and pick him up so he and I can go get him some new duds and stuff. That way he and I can talk while we drive and shop. You are more than welcome to come with us."
"I am glad you said I was welcome, because I have to go. Don't forget he is with me under Police Protection, and if CPS found out I allowed him to go off shopping with you and I didn't go or another officer didn't accompany him, than we would all be in big trouble." Parker laughed. "Nevin called and said that I was on protection detail until further notice and that I was to be in plain clothes. So you are stuck with me."
"Okay, but I can't think of many people that I would rather be stuck with, Parker! I will be there in about 45 minutes." Matt said before hanging up.
Matt had already told George and Max that he wouldn't be going to the fish house until everything was settled with Seth. Both of his housemates told him they understood and would make sure that nothing fell through the cracks!
While Matt was making calls to protect Seth, so was Nevin. He called the DA from where Seth had been living and filled him in on what was going on, as well as the local Sheriff. Both told him they would take care of things and really liked the whole trust fund fraud sting Matt and the bank had arranged. They assured Nevin that they would work with the bank, and as soon as he withdrew any money from the trust they would arrest him. Nevin assured the DA he would send a statement from Seth as well as a photo of the boy's condition from the night before.
Both Eli and David were a little tired the next morning, David more so. But they did manage to get ready for school on time. Eli started asking David questions as soon as they were in the truck heading to town.
"Dad, what is going to happen to Seth? With him not being a Wizard we can't really step in and do anything for him, can we? Why didn't Uncle Matt keep Seth the first time?"
"Whoa there, son, you are asking a lot of hard questions. First off, you are correct, we can't step in and take over, but there are things we can do for him. One of the gifts that both you and I have is the Gift of Compulsion. We can use that to help guide whoever we get from CPS into doing what is best for Seth."
"But, Dad, that seems wrong to do that to others?"
"Sometimes it is, sometimes it is necessary. When deciding to use a Gift like this it comes down to this, will using this Gift help a person and if I use this Gift will it hurt a person? If you can answer honestly 'yes' to the first question and 'no' to the second, then it would be alright to use the Gift. However, if the answers are anything but 'yes/no' then there is something else going on that needs to be thought of and more questions need to be asked. Does that make sense to you?"
"Yes it does. I didn't think about it like that, but I guess there is a lot of Gifts that rule applies to, aren't there?"
"Yep, there is! Now, one of the things we can do for Seth that is very easy, is to be his friend. Help him fit in with people we know are good people, can you think of any that might be able to help him?"
"Yeah, Mitch and Amanda can help him. He is right around their age, so that shouldn't be a problem. I will call Mitch and talk to him!" David noticed Eli was sitting a little taller now that he knew he could help.
"Eli, I think we need to be very careful about asking Uncle Matt why Seth wasn't with him. I did the math, and the summer they said Seth stayed was the summer they found out about Patty's cancer. I really think that Uncle Matt is upset with himself for not fighting to keep Seth safe. We will have to support both of them so they know they did everything right, even if it didn't turn out the way they wanted it." David told his son.
"Oh, I didn't know about that. I will be careful not to say anything that will upset things more."
"And, as for what is going to happen to Seth, well I don't really know. But, I do know that he is going to be taken care of no matter what!"
"Yeah, he is one of us now!" Eli replied with a big smile.
When Eli got to the school Café where the group was waiting on him, Nora jumped when she saw him.
"Eli, you have to tell us all about what happened last night! We are dying to know!"
"Really, dang, now I have to plan funerals as well has help with the wedding plans!" Eli said exasperated!
"Haha very funny! Now what happened?" Nora asked.
After Eli gave them the short version of what he knew, he called Mitch.
"Yo what's up?"
"Hello Mitch, this is Eli, you know, Noah's friend?" Eli asked a little scared to be calling the high school boy.
"Yes Eli, I do know who you are! What can I do for you? I don't think you are just calling to say Hi."
Eli told him all about Seth and how he was staying at least for now with Deputy Evans and Eli was hoping that Mitch and Amanda would befriend the other 16 year old and help him fit in.
"Sure, Eli, that is not a problem at all! I will call Parker during lunch and find out what is going on and offer to show Seth around. Hey, Eli, thanks for thinking of me for this, it means a lot!" Mitch said before saying goodbye.
The rest of the breakfast was just chatting about what everyone had coming up.
Toby was excited because he was given the green light to start riding again and was planning on spending the weekend with Ryan practicing. Ryan had been learning to be Toby's mechanic and was becoming very good at it.
Stacy and Noah said they just HAD to go shopping again to find the right dress for the wedding; all the boys rolled their eyes when they said that.
Jeremy said that he was going to be spending a little more time out at the fish house in case they needed him with Uncle Matt being gone for a bit. Everyone just laughed and said that he really was just looking for an excuse to be out with the fish!
Eli had told everyone that he would be spending the weekend at the farm like normal, part with the fish and part training on Gifts and that Noah would be there with him as well. He had hoped that he could get away from the wedding planning for at least a bit if Noah was with him! This caused everyone to laugh.
While they were all laughing, Chad Dawson walked up to the table. At one point Chad had acted like a bully, but it turned out that he only did that because of his grandmother who was THE bully at school.
"Um Your, I mean, Eli, can I talk to you, privately? Please?" Chad asked as he got to the table.
"Sure Chad, let's go out into the court yard." Eli had an idea what this was about, but not completely sure. He did know he was safe with Chad and let Noah know.
"Sir, what should I call you?" Chad started as soon as they were outside.
"Eli is just fine. I take it that Parker talked to you? Have you come to a decision?"
"Yes, I told Deputy Evans that I would be honored to be a member of the Dubuquas. My great-great Grandfather was one. My father will be very proud I was asked to be one. Are you sure you want me?"
"When Parker and I talked about who to ask at first, your name came to mind. I told him I wanted you because you have knowledge on both sides of bullying. This is very important to me, as anyone close to me must know. I do not want someone who will ignore what is going on around them just because I am near. With the Wizard Heart around my neck I can protect myself from almost anything, but I still cannot see everywhere. That is what I want my Dubuquas to do. I want your eyes to see what I can't and I want you to step in where I can't." The young king told the nervous boy.
"Thank you! I will not let you down." Chad told Eli.
"Just don't let yourself down, that is what I want! Parker will train you so you will know what to do and when to do it. But, your life is still yours. Work towards your goals just like you would have if you had not been chosen for the Dubuquas. We will need all types of Wizards to fill many roles." Eli told the older boy.
"Thank you Eli for talking with me. I will do what you ask and you have my support and loyalty!" Chad said before heading back inside.
"So what was that about?" Jeremy asked when Eli joined the group.
"Parker asked Chad to be a member of the Dubuquas. He was just asking me why him and all that. No big deal."
"But, he was a bully to a few people? Wouldn't that give the wrong impression of what you wanted for your guard?" Stacy asked.
"No, he was a bully because he was being bullied. It is that fact that makes him perfect for the Dubuquas. He has been on both sides therefore he can help either the person being bullied or the bully themselves. I have read a lot of information on bullying, and most of the time the bully themselves have something going on in their lives that is causing them to lash out. Sometimes it is even the fact they are being abused at home, there for they strike out at someone else to try and gain some of the power they have lost at the hands of their abuser." Eli told the group.
"Wow, you really have read up on it. I have, too, and dad has a lot of books on the subject and they all say the same thing. But, why do you want the Dubuquas to worry about bullying? I mean it's not like you are going to be bullied." Ryan tossed in.
"Well, you're right, at least I hope so. I told Parker that I didn't just want the Dubuquas to be my body guards. The Secret Service does a lot more than just protect the President. They are in control of our money and many other things. As Parker and I started talking about what help the Dubuquas could do while not protecting me and my family, we came up with the idea they could also be like the Wizard Police as well as being like the Wizard National Guard. This way they can step in and help where they are needed. We are still working everything out, and technically they won't be starting until my identity is announced. But, well we want to try and have everything in place before that happens."
"Wow Eli, I didn't know you were putting this much time into this. When do you have time for anything else?" Toby asked.
"Well, Noah and I go to the Sheriff's office every day after school. I train there because of the inhibitors and Parker is normally there too, so we do both. Noah has come up with more than I have when working on this!" Eli said with pride as he gestured towards Noah. "I would be lost without his help with everything that has been going on! And with Jeremy helping out with the fish, that has allowed me even more time to get things ready. Ryan has helped coming up with ideas on how to solve a few problems by using his Gift to help us. Nora has been helping to make sure that I remember things I am to be doing, like homework assignments and things. Stacy has been helping me with English. Toby, you have been helping me with History, so you see it is because of all you that I can get things like this going. It is not just me doing it, but a large group!" Eli said with pride.
All the others at the table were sitting up a little straighter, and with a proud look of accomplishment on their faces when Dr. Martin and David walked up to the table.
"I for one agree whole heartedly with what young Eli here just said. I cannot tell you all how proud I am of what this group has accomplished." Dr. Martin said to the group. "With that being said, Eli, we do have to ask you for something else?"
"Sure, what do you need?" Eli asked with a smile. Mainly to try and show the others that helping out is what everyone should do.
"Son, do you remember Sasha Kohler?" David asked.
"Sure I do. How is he doing, is everything alright with him and the Welsh's?" Eli asked sounding a bit scared.
"Oh, yes! Everything is working out great with them. It turns out that Sasha is very gifted, and is being transferred here to our school. We were hoping that you would maybe bring him into your group and show him around. He is going to be the youngest kid in the school and might feel a bit better if this group had his back." David told Eli and the rest of the group.
"Well, I don't see a problem with it. I will be his buddy on his first day if our classes are close and we can get to know him better and see how it goes, but I am sure the rest of the group will try and welcome him as well. We all know what it is like to not fit in somewhere." Eli told the adults.
"I agree with Eli. I have meet Sasha down at the station, and he is a really cool kid. So I am sure he will fit in with us with no problems!" Noah piped in.
"Great! Just franking great!" Nora stared to gripe. "Just what we need, another boy! Why couldn't you find us a couple more girls to hang out with?" She said before everyone started laughing except for the two adults who looked at each other and rolled their eyes.
As the Principle and teacher were walking away, Dr. Martin made a comment to David who had to stop and lean against the wall he was laughing so hard.
"I wonder when they will realize that Nora is going to be the true power behind Eli?" Dr. Marten had asked.
I would really like to thank THE STORY LOVER for editing this work for me. Please let me know what you think.