Rankins (The Magician – Chapter Eight)

This is the eighth chapter of the serialization novel I am working on, The Magician – < click there to read the other chapters if you missed them.

---

Rankins

Ophelia Rankin Stoneburner was beaming at the two women as they came up the front porch stairs.  She stepped forward and greeted them both with hugs and kisses.

“It’s so nice the two of you could come for dinner!” she exclaimed.

Ophelia was Benedict’s first cousin.  She was magical, but she had married a normal scoundrel who fathered her two progeny, Stella and Luther.  After swindling her out of a good portion of her money, Andy Stoneburner fled, leaving her to raise the youngsters by herself. Both were spoiled since Ophelia refused to discipline them, citing that they were being raised without a father. 

While Luther had been invited to spend the day away by a friend, Stella was in the sitting room with Ophelia’s father Ezra when the women entered.  Vanessa inwardly groaned. Stella was the reason Freddy had texted her telling her she could flee the house if she needed to.  Stella was an insufferable brat.

The girl was built like her father, tall and lanky and all limbs.  She did not have Ophelia’s grace, so she tended to run into things and rarely watched where she was going.  She often slouched and had a long face, looking as if she were permanently disgusted by the world.  She also thought she was the most important person in the room, so she remained draped over one cushion of the white couch, staring at her phone as the women entered.

“Stella Eugenie,” Ophelia chided defeatedly as Ezra stood and greeted both Vanessa and Evelyn with a kiss to the cheek and hugs.  “Your cousins are here.  Get up and acknowledge them properly.”

Stella rolled her eyes as she pulled her legs off of the arm of the couch and put her feet on the floor.  She stood, sighing dramatically as she stomped over to say hello.  When Evelyn asked her how school was going, the girl merely looked up at her from her phone and stared.

“School?” she asked.

“Yes,” Evelyn said emphatically.  “How is school going?”

“It’s going fine,” Stella mumbled in reply, turning her attention back to her phone.

“Stella!” Ezra commanded.  “Put the phone down.  It’s high time you learn to communicate with your family and not with some damn electronic device.”

The girl sighed and shoved the phone into the cushion of the couch. She flopped down onto the couch and slouched in her seat with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face.

Ezra Rankin was Vanessa’s grandfather’s brother and lived in the mansion as well.  He technically owned half of it, with Vanessa and her uncle Iago sharing the other half through their own inheritance. Uncle Ezra was a genial fellow, stout and broad-shouldered like most of the Rankin men.  He had little patience for the petulance of his granddaughter, often acting as the disciplinarian since his daughter refused to.  But that day, he just decided to ignore her and invited everyone to sit.

He then looked at his grandniece.

“How’s the research going, Nessie?” he asked.

“It’s going well, Uncle Ez,” she replied, inwardly groaning at the use of her childhood name.  “I’ve been spending a great deal of time in the library as of late.  But what I really need to see are the documents at the Museum of Magical Studies that are exceedingly rare.  One of my professors is trying to get me access to see those documents, but since they are very delicate, it might be awhile until I get clearance.”

Her granduncle smiled.  “They sound important.”

“​They are. I’m excited to see them if I get the chance. But we shall see.  If not, I have some feelers out for other options.” She chuckled. “At this point, it’s not like this will make or break my thesis paper.”

Evelyn beamed proudly while Ezra laughed. 

“You have such grit, just like a Rankin would,” he remarked. “Actually, you are more like my mother than anything else. Ben would be proud of you, girl.”

The adults began to chat about other topics, such as how the family was doing and the fact that Vanessa’s uncle, Iago, was still at work though he was supposed to be here for the family dinner.  While Vanessa didn’t chime in, she listened nevertheless, smiling pleasantly.  She was used to being an observer when it came to family conversations.

There was a buzz on her watch and she noted a message had come in from Freddy.

Need a breather? I know Stella is home.

She pulled out her phone to send a rapid reply.

No.  I think all is good at the moment.

As she hit send, she heard her young cousin screech.

“Mom!” Stella whined.  “How come I don’t get to use my phone but Vanessa does?”

Ophelia sighed as she looked over at Vanessa.  Vanessa decided to answer.

“Because I’m an adult,” she replied.  

“That’s not fair!” Stella screeched.  “Why can’t I use my phone if she can?”

Vanessa put her phone back in her pocket as Freddy sent a thumb’s up answer, inwardly chafed over the whining display Stella was demonstrating.  The way she was carrying on was reminiscent of a toddler throwing a tantrum and was quite unbecoming of a young lady.

“I was answering a text from Freddy,” she replied.  “It’s not like I am going to be on it all night long like you would be.”

“It’s not fair.  If I can’t have my phone out, then you can’t either!” she shrieked. 

She ran to her mother’s side and fell dramatically beside Ophelia.  With a wail, she buried her face into her mother’s lap.

Ophelia answered by patting her daughter’s back and murmuring platitudes towards her.  She was answered by wails.

“What is all the whining about?” a male voice boomed from the side door, off of the kitchen. 

Vanessa grinned.  Her uncle had just gotten home from work.

Iago Rankin was a highly popular general building contractor.  As a result, he spent a great deal of his time working, even when he was at home.  A confirmed bachelor, he claimed he could never find the right girl to marry.  Vanessa’s dad used to joke that it was because his little brother was fairly married to his work and no woman wanted to play second fiddle to that.

Iago shared the mansion with his uncle and cousin, having inherited his share when Ezekiel had passed away.  It worked well, for Ophelia and Ezra took care of the mansion while Iago worked his long hours.

At that moment, he filled the doorway to the sitting room, his work bag still slung over his shoulder.  He was wearing a dark green and black plaid shirt, the sleeves unbuttoned and halfway rolled up.  The shirt was still tucked into a pair of khaki cargo pants, whose pockets appeared to be loaded with a number of items.  Black steel-toed boots completed his look.

He looked exhausted and scruffy, as a shade of a beard covered his face though Vanessa knew he shaved that morning, meticulously as he always did.  The beard was black with some white strands, the only indication that he was over forty years old. His eyes behind the wire-rimmed bifocals he wore out of necessity were dark brown and furrowed in annoyance.

Stella looked up at him, momentarily shocked into silence as Ophelia continued to pat her in consolation.

“If I can’t use my phone while I sit here with everyone, then neither can she!” she clamored, pointing her finger in an accusatory at Vanessa.

Iago frowned and then scoffed.

“I’ve told you that the cushions of the couch were not an acceptable place to keep your things,” he replied condescendingly, casting a spell that pulled the phone from the couch cushion and into his hand.  “And Vanessa can use her phone since she’s a fecking adult!”

“I-A-GO!” Ophelia replied, enunciating each syllable with frustration. 

“What, O-FEEL-YA?” he replied in return, putting his things down on a nearby chair.  

Ezra chuckled and got situated in his chair with a smirk on his face, as if he expected the drama to unfold.

“You were asked not to use that kind of language in front of my children,” she scolded.

Iago rolled his eyes.  “Yes, I have and I am sorry.  But we’ve been over this, Fee.  If your daughter wants to have adult privileges, then she needs to start acting as though she were an adult.  Throwing a fit because Vanessa dared check hers is asinine.”

Ophelia sighed again at the use of the word and Iago rolled his eyes as he put his things down.  He placed the phone on the table, casting a spell that encased it in magic.

He glared at the girl, who continued to sulk on the floor.  He raised his eyebrows as he challenged her.

“Get up and act like you are an adult and you can have your phone back after dinner,” he ordered.  “Or continue to sit there and act like a child and be treated as such.  Your choice.” 

Stella pushed herself up from the floor and scowled at him.  Tugging her shirt down, she pouted again and dramatically flounced out of the room with a wail.

Vanessa laughed. “Oorrrr go pout in your room like a moody teenager,” she mumbled.

Evelyn scowled at her daughter as Iago laughed.  Before she could scold Vanessa, he spoke.

“Don’t get on her, Evie.  She’s right.  The girl needs to learn to grow up.”

He looked pointedly at his cousin, who just sighed.

“You don’t understand how hard it is to raise children without their father,” Ophelia simpered.

“Maybe not,” Iago said, retrieving the magic that encased the phone and handing it to Ezra.  He tilted his head towards Evelyn.  “But she does.  And Vanessa seems to have grown up all right, even if she had that bit of time after Ben died when she was somewhat out of control, so I think your point once again is moot.  You need to learn to discipline both kids.”

Vanessa frowned at the reference to her father’s death as her mother changed the subject.

“Did you hear what happened along the Riverwalk yesterday?” she asked.

Iago chuckled as Ezra and Ophelia both shook their heads. Iago looked at Ezra with a grin.

“Lucius Tanqueray and Coll MacDonald had a duel again,” he laughed.

Ezra rolled his eyes.

“Those two have been loons since they were in grammar school,” he scoffed.  “They are two of the craziest old name magicians ever.”

The conversation and congenial ambiance carried over through the meal, which was eaten sans teenaged drama, since Stella refused to leave her bedroom.  The adults included Vanessa in conversation, but the young woman remained reserved as she tried to keep her emotions at bay.

On the ride home, Vanessa reflected about her attitude after her father’s death.  Rarely did anyone in the family bring up the subject, which is why it stung when Iago had done so to make a point.  But it was true.  She had become a handful after her dad had died.  She also knew it had changed a dynamic within both sides of her family knowing she had a powerful magic that no one else seemed to have in the family.  It was a magic that literally tore the family apart generations ago.  And she was loathe to let that happen again.

Click here for the next chapter – Note

---

Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction written by K. S. Wood, and thus is copyrighted 2023. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.  No part of this work may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author.  All rights reserved.

---

If you enjoyed this chapter, please share it with others. Every other Saturday, there will be a new chapter posted for your reading pleasure. The entire story can be found on this page – The Magician.

---

If you liked this portion of The Magician, comment below! I do return comments!

Share with others, if you dare. Subscribe to my blog for updates. Visit my “About me” page if you want to contact me.

If you wanted to see some of the fantasy works I have written, check out my Portals Series < Click the title to see it.

If you are interested in my other online endeavors, check out the drop down menu to see more.

And as always, #writeyourownstory