Christmas in the House of O'Byrne - To end of Chapter 1

     A huge Christmas tree stood in the corner. Adell had laughed, as she watched her husband Phillip, drag the monstrosity in. Then she got a little more serious, when she thought about decorating it. He saw the look, kissed her on the head, and told her they would make a family event of the decorating. When he stood the tree up, the top bent over against the ceiling. He had misjudged the height of the tree.

     Adell never did decorate the tree. She was going to, but got interrupted and left all the decorations sitting out on the floor. The tree miraculously decorated itself—with the help of many little hands. Someone even used little magical lights instead of the standard electrical ones. A delicate angel was set on the top of the tree—it looked a little strange, lying on its side, pressed against the ceiling.

     Along the wall that separated the great room from the kitchen was a spectacular tapestry of the Yosemite Valley, a gift from a thankful father. The room had a lot of special gifts received through the years—a bracelet here, and a cup there. Most of the gifts were displayed, every gift was cherished. The family felt proud of helping people, and liked to remember the deeds from all the generations. Feeling that pride was the true payment for all the efforts, and sometimes pain of using magic.

     Across from the tree was the formal dining area. A large twelve person oak table set was sitting in the corner. The table and chairs had been hand crafted, and were around a hundred years old. The set had been a gift to an ancestor by the name of Olivia Renay O'Byrne.

     Olivia had foreseen a fire which would have killed the entire Whintel family. She banged on doors, and drove the family out of the house. Her sister went to the neighbors, and insisted that they come and help put out the fire. It was ironic, and a little irritating to the neighbors, to see that the fire had barely started smoldering, and that very little damage had been done.

     George Whintel was eternally thankful. He suspected that Olivia saw more than she had told the neighbors. His suspicions were confirmed the next day, when they found accelerants splashed on the side of the house. A week later George got a confession from his daughter's ex-boyfriend—that he had tried to burn them all out.

     Through the doorway was the kitchen. It was a large country kitchen which hadn't been updated in a long time. The floor was covered with tired, green linoleum. The kitchen didn't have a dishwasher or a microwave. Lidia—the previous Matron—simply didn't see the need, she had dishwashers—although her helpers begged to differ, since they were her dishwashers.

     The kitchen had two older stoves with top burners, and a stand-alone indoor grill. In the corner of the kitchen was a large walk-in refrigerator. It was large enough to feed the whole family through the Twelve Days of Christmas. A long table shared space with the center of the room. It was a most excellent table, long enough to keep order when there were so many people doing tasks in the kitchen at the same time. There were only a couple of chairs and one stool in the kitchen. More could be brought in if necessary, but Lidia thought her workers worked better when standing, rather than sitting and gossiping.

     The window above the large double sink looked out toward the cliffs. Occasionally, deer could be seen meandering in the distance. Sometimes Bear came to the back door to beg for food, but the family was wise enough not to feed them.

     There was a small pantry accessible from the kitchen. It contained the obvious house hold staples such as baking supplies, canned goods, and laundry soap—but toward the back was a secret door. A door most didn't notice—this door led to an underground labyrinth, and could only be opened by those magically keyed to the door by the Matron. The complex labyrinth led to various magical workrooms and libraries, and was routed into the base of the mountains. In the back of the labyrinth was the chamber their ancestors had simply called the Gate—the portal to Faerie.

     There was a laundry off to the side of the kitchen with a bathroom which was accessible from the back deck. The back deck was built along the whole width of the house. On it was a twelve person spa, and an old picnic table. Many generations of O'Byrne's had sat on top of the old picnic table, and gazed at the glory of the stars above. Stairs led down from the deck to a large fire pit.

     The first floor also had a large bedroom at the back of the house with its own bathroom and French doors which opened into the garden. Lidia, the previous Matron, had been living there, but recently vacated the room to return to Oregon.

     There were eight bedrooms on the second floor with three bathrooms. Amber and her daughter Emily lived in two of these bedrooms. The other rooms were identified by their colorful schemes. Some were quite beautiful, some a bit dreadful. Lidia had never taken the interest, or the time to redecorate them.

     There was the blue room, which had lovely blue drapes and an old fashioned feather bed. The white room had lush silky white drapes and a glossy white bedspread. The yellow room was lined with cheerful daffodils. The orange room was a tad boring, and would put people right to sleep—whether they wanted to or not. The green room was rumored to be haunted. The purple room was simply horrid. Each room had been styled by generations of O'Byrne's.

     Lidia had the third floor remodeled when Adell and Phillip were pregnant with Natilie. They moved into them just before the baby had been born.

     The O'Byrne house had an inconsistent flow of residents. Beside the Matron and her immediate family—it was home to the Priestesses of Druantia, and those who came to study and work magic. To many, it had also become a refuge in a time of need.

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