Samantha's Journey into Real Magic Part 2

by Peter Rendell

Rated (18+) Urban Fantasy, Romance and Adventure.In 2010, Angel discovered Samantha had magical powers. Angel was 35 years old before Merlin changed her into a baby in Samantha’s womb. It was all part of a stage illusion, but Angel had an ulterior motive. In the middle of the illusion, Angel told Samantha she wanted Samantha to carry her for a full term and to birth her naturally. It was a big gamble to avoid the big ‘C’, "Cancer". Merlin took the pregnancy back to conception; then, Samantha discovered her magical powers. Samantha altered Angel's egg replacing the faulty cancer cells with healthy copies from her own DNA. Samantha is now 15 weeks pregnant carrying a ‘reconceived Angel’.In the old days, the few people that had magical powers made the powers do exactly as they were told. However, Samantha had spotted that these powers had intelligence. She instructed her powers to work within a set of constraints. Her powers, Astrid and Arturus, would learn alongside Samantha. Samantha decided to test her powers by attempting to fix the drug addicts at the Milton University Research Hospital. When Samantha discovered that Arturus could read and repair memories, it was a small step to surmise that he could copy skills. Samantha postulated that craft skills were memories stored in multiple organs of a body. She saved the skills of a Paris-trained corsetiere and copied them to several recovered patients. She now had the means to build a new business; shortage of skills would not be a problem.Samantha had set up a new company to make ‘made-to-measure clothes’; it would be targeting ‘the larger lady’. She now had a company that was rapidly giving her financial independence. The demand for new personnel was steady. Each patient Samantha rescued was added to her workforce. The fortunate few had a home and a job. Arturus fixed the patients. Samantha was left to come up with stories to explain away the recoveries.Meanwhile, across the pond in Cuba ….ZED was recovering from his close encounter with Merlin. His endeavour to find the ‘subject tested positive’ was successful. He now knew it was Samantha. Unfortunately, he had one answer and many more questions. How long had she been learning Real Magic? How strong was she physically? To name just a few. ZED had lived multiple lives. He had avoided his day of reckoning by using the power of his magical ring of Gaia. When a pregnant great-granddaughter reached 26 weeks, she became due to receive the spirit of the new baby. ZED’s magical ring became the conduit when held by ZED and the pregnant woman. ZED’s spirit moved through the ring into the new baby, thus preventing the arrival of a new spirit. ZED would be reborn yet again.The current ZED was 35 years old. Despite his many lifetimes, ZED was still mentally immature. He acted like a spoiled child – very selfish and headstrong. He even had the arrogance to think he could steal Samantha from Merlin and had a chance of making Samantha his wife. Maybe he could turn Samantha into another Josie? ZED had treated all his women badly. His grand family at his mansion had lived there for many generations. Each generation had been indoctrinated to worship the head of the family. Each woman of the family had been trained, from the cradle, to believe that it was a privilege to be with the head of the family. He would be the greatest lover they could ever hope to bed. ZED’s family were little more than servants.ZED tried to select a great-granddaughter who was carrying a boy, but, he had been forced to be female twice. Unfortunately, this hadn’t mellowed ZED’s attitude to the fairer sex. As a woman, she had been a complete bitch. She had been subjected to the family indoctrination of women in a rebellious attempt to oust her position. ZED came to regard them all as a threat.

352 pages, Paperback

Published June 20, 2019

About the author

My formative years were spent in the City of Bath, Somerset in the United Kingdom. I spent many evenings at the roller-skating rink watching pop-groups such as 'the Small Faces', 'the Yardbirds', 'the Trogs' and many more. Those were the sixties, the days of the Mods and Rockers, where the Rockers did nasty things with motorcycle chains to the scooter-riding Mods. One Mod needed fifty stitches around his head, and these were my elders!?

I emerged from college in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, as a computer programmer working for the local council. Living in a one-up-one-down bedsit on a modest budget, I would spend the weekends walking the town, window shopping. The highlight of the year was the biannual fair, where I became friendly with the roustabouts. I spent most of my evenings at the Paratrooper, a canted wheel with hanging chairs and parachute covers that looked like umbrellas. After a few days, I was inside the fence surrounding the ride; it was very flattering as I was a bit skinny for a roustabout.

Two girls were trying to get my attention; one had jet-black hair to the middle of her back; she was as shy as I am. It was a couple of days before I put my hands around her waist and thought 'I am not letting this one get away'. A 'Rose' by name and a rose by nature. Rose had connections to the fair that even she did not know about. No one charged us for a ride. We rode the Waltzers until I was sick.

The Waltzers were popular in British and Irish fairs. It had a central control cabin with just enough room for a control desk and a single person; windows on all sides gave a clear view of the action. The main floor of the ride rotates around the control cabin. The floor consisted of many segments, supported by limbs beneath that ran on rails. The rail system made the floor rise and fall in an undulating wave. A hump on one side of the ride kicked the floor into the air. A car was mounted on each section of the floor segment. The base of the car was circular; it had a hard leather seat and back running the full length of a semi-circle; it was surprisingly comfortable. A kidney-shaped chrome bar, attached to the front of the car, was pushed down in front of the riders. The car was attached to the floor of the ride by a pivot at the edge of the circle. The offset weight of the riders caused the car to spin. Roustabouts would ride the floor, adding spin to the cars with devilish glee. They took great pleasure in spinning our chair as fast as they could, watching me go green in the process and scream like a little girl.

Rose dragged me back for further punishment; the Waltzers was her favourite ride. When I tried to pay, it was always the same response 'No guv; this lady is Boss Morgan's great, great, great-granddaughter. No one will charge her for anything. Her family features are unmistakable. Treat her right because she comes from a long line of prize-fighters; hard men who fought with bare knuckles. You can assume that she has a vicious right hook.'

After twelve years in permanent employment, I lost my job through a disagreement with my boss; it was a point of principle. To leave your job, without another in place, is a rash decision when you have a wife and two children to look after. I apologised to Rose for my arrogance and promised to accept whatever came through the door, permanent employment, or a freelance contract.

I had loved my job in 'Systems Designers', one of the best software houses in the UK. They had sent me to British Telecom's Research Centre at Martlesham Heath near Ipswich. Travelling and expenses became the thorn of my existence; Manchester to Ipswich was a long trip, five hours at best. I began thinking about freelancing. The last negotiation with the boss about expenses was doomed to fail.

In June 1981, I entered the world of the computer contractor; my first contract was in Antwerp in Belgium. The early days in a new city