Post by StoryGirl83 on Oct 1, 2008 23:47:39 GMT -5
Chapter Twenty-Eight – Happy Sad Memories
In the kitchen, Piper grabbed the measuring spoon away from her oldest. “Read the label again, Wyatt.” She put the measuring spoons down on the counter.
Wyatt picked up the bottle from which he was about to pour red powder. Instead of reading the label he held it out in front of him for his mom to see. “It’s red. Chili is red. Didn’t you say Chili powder?” he asked with a straight face.
Piper gave him a look. “Wyatt.”
Wyatt grinned. “It is chili powder, Mom. I’m bad, but not that bad.”
“It says paprika,” Piper informed him.
Wyatt nodded. “I know.” A mischievous look crossed his face and he teasingly asked, “What, you thought I couldn’t read, Mother? I mastered that ability some time ago.”
Piper gave him a look. “In that case why do you have Paprika?”
Wyatt held it out to her, rubbing his finger against the back. When Piper took it, the label fell to the ground, revealing that the bottle did indeed say “Chili Power”. Wyatt grinned. “You should have seen Chris the first time I pulled that on him.”
“And it required no magic,” Chris commented as he and Phoebe returned to the kitchen.
Piper turned to look at her younger sister. “Everything all right, Phoebe?”
Phoebe looked at Chris. “To be honest, I haven’t a clue. He’s as cryptic as ever.”
Wyatt laughed at that. “Did you even tell her anything, Chris?”
I told her something that will hopefully make sense when she needs it.
Wyatt shook his head. He picked up the measuring spoons from the counter and held them out to his brother. “Trade places?”
Chris glanced at his older brother and chuckled. “Don’t you ever even try, Wy?”
Wyatt nodded. “Yep. I cooked last Saturday.”
Chris grimaced at the remembrance. “Burnt fish. How did you do that anyway?”
“I forgot about it,” Wyatt replied with a shrug. “It happens.”
Chris just shook his head.
“So do you want to help Mom cook?”
Chris glanced over at Piper. I work for her, don’t I?
Wyatt just grinned and waited.
Chris grinned back, even as he rolled his eyes. He walked away from his brother and over to Piper. “Mom, would you like my help?”
Piper smiled up at her younger son. “I would be delighted to have your help, Chris. I assume that you really can cook.”
Chris glanced back at his brother. “Unlike Wy, I learned from the best. I can cook.”
“Then, please do. I would love to cook with one of my sons.”
Wyatt raised an eyebrow. Too cute. I think I’m going to get out of this kitchen and go find Dad.
Chris looked at his brother. He’s in our bedroom, if that helps any. I guess he and Aunt Paige decided to take us upstairs to rest. I betting they aren’t planning on leaving for a while after what happened today.
Wyatt stuck out his tongue. You and your ability to find people. You’d think I could do that. I am half whitelighter, too.
Chris shrugged and turned back to the sink. First, as way too many people have pointed out lately, I am half elder, not whitelighter, and second, you can find people, you just haven’t worked on that ability.
Wyatt heaved in a deep breath. I couldn’t find you when you were missing last week.
Chris turned around. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Phoebe watching him, confused. His mom was doing the same. I was in another realm, Wy. I can’t sense people in the underworld and forget trying to find them where I was. You remembered, so as far as I’m concerned, the fact that you took a while to find me is immaterial. You remembered that I existed. I’ll see you later, because if we continue this conversation, I will be explaining to Mom and Aunt Phoebe why I keep turning around.
Wyatt smiled. “Mom, I’m going to go find Dad. Despite Chris’ persistence, I don’t really belong in the kitchen.”
Piper smiled and shook her head as she watched her older son walk out of them room. When he was gone she turned to Chris. “Okay, what was that?”
Chris groaned.
Phoebe nodded. “You two seemed deep in conversation, but I didn’t hear a word. What was going on? Is one or both of you a telepath?”
Chris shook his head. “Not so far as I know. It’s a spell is all.”
“A spell to read minds,” Phoebe repeated looking at Piper.
Piper almost missed her sister’s words as she thought back to another spell to read minds.
Piper was sitting on the couch by the stairs in the living room, flipping through pages in the Book of Shadows. Prue was sitting next to her bemoaning their situation. “Nineteen warlock specific death spells and not one test.
“What if it’s a conspiracy?” Piper suggested as she continued to flip pages. “Jack and Dan working together, sweet talking and the whole time they’re figuring out how to kill us.
Prue straightened up and turned her head to Piper. “Okay, now you’re being paranoid.”
“Well, how can we not,” Piper reasoned, “with warlocks and demons coming out of the woodwork all the time; it’s a wonder we trust anybody.”
“We don’t,” Prue reminded her, before her attention was brought to a spell on one of the pages Piper was flipping. “Here it is,” she told her sister as she pushed the pages back to the one she wanted.
“To hear secret thoughts?” Piper asked skeptically, question written all over her face.
“Yeah,” Prue confirmed as if it was obvious, “we can hear Jack and Dan’s thoughts just long enough to confirm or deny our suspicions.”
“No personal gain,” Piper stated, warming to the idea.
“Purely for protection,” Prue agreed. They were still for a second before Prue grabbed a firestarter and lit two, tall blue candles with it, one on either side of the Book. “Okay.”
Leaning forward, Prue and Piper chanted together, “As flame lights shadow as truth ends fear, open locked thoughts to my minds willing ear, may the smoke from this candle into everywhere creep, bring inner most voices to my mind in speech.” As the finished they looked around, as if waiting for something to happen.
And something had happened. Tears filled Piper’s eyes as she thought of the older sister she missed so much. The past four years seemed like an eternity looking back. So much has happened since we lost Prue. Thinking of Paige in the other room she added, so much has happened since we gain Paige. Time wise it was all the same, but her sisters were two very different people.
A few feet away, Phoebe was lost in her own thoughts of that same day.
Phoebe listened to Prue rattle off what was going on, suspicion growing. When her sister finished, she stepped away from Eric, their innocent, whom Piper had temporarily froze, and toward her sisters. “Okay, does someone wanna tell me what’s going on here?”
Piper gave Prue a look. Have to tell her now.
Prue returned the look and then looked at Phoebe sheepishly. “Okay, um, Phoebe.” She brushed back her hair nervously. “See Piper and I didn’t really know about the whole pricking thing to expose a warlock.”
Phoebe cast her sisters a look of disbelief while Piper tried not to look to chagrin.
Prue continued speaking, wanting to get it over with. So, we sort of cast a little hearing thoughts spell, just to find things out.
“Oh,” Phoebe replied, her voice almost admonishing, “a hearing thoughts spell.”
Dan’s clean by the way, Piper thought at Prue.
Glad to hear it, Prue returned with a smile. Jack’s not.
Phoebe eyed them suspiciously. “Wait, are you guys thinking something about me right now?”
Prue blinked, as if surprised by the question. “No.”
Of course she knew that they had been thinking something, but she took Prue’s word for it that it hadn’t been about her. Later, Prue admitted that they had been thinking about their attempts to find out if Dan and Jack had been warlocks. Recalling Dan’s reaction to magic when he learned of it, less than a year later, Phoebe thought not. Of course both men had proven to be mortal by the end of the day, as a cut to their hands drew blood. Still, thinking of Prue made her sad, as she still missed her oldest sister desperately.