Table of Contents
COVER
COPYRIGHT
TITLE PAGE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Copyright
Copyright © Ellen Dugan 2017
Edited by Katherine Pace
Editing and Formatting by Libris in CAPS
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any other form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the express written permission of the publisher.
Published by Ellen Dugan
All rights reserved to the Author
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The Hidden Legacy
By
Ellen Dugan
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A special thanks goes to my family, crew of editors, and beta readers.
For the fans of the Legacy Of Magick series. As requested, here is Hannah’s story as a standalone! I hope you enjoy the little side trip to Massachusetts, meeting another magickal family, and learning about the Osborne and Pogue legacies.
Other Titles by Ellen Dugan
THE LEGACY OF MAGICK SERIES
Legacy Of Magick, Book #1
Secret Of The Rose, Book #2
Message Of The Crow, Book #3
Beneath An Ivy Moon, Book #4
Under The Holly Moon, Book #5
The Hidden Legacy, Book #6
Spells Of The Heart, Book #7
Sugarplums, Spells & Silver Bells, Book #8
A Legacy Of Magick Novella (October 2017)
Magick & Magnolias, Book #9 (Coming 2018)
THE GYPSY CHRONICLES
Gypsy At Heart, Book 1
Gypsy Spirit, Book 2 (Coming 2018)
The Posey Ring Charm
For the true of heart, the poesy ring is but a boon,
For all others, the emerald surely spells their doom.
If your lover is untrue, the stone turns a cloudy green,
Should the jewel stay bright and clear, then many blessings will it bring.
To a steadfast soul the legacy passes, heavy though it may be,
To become bewitched and beloved, blessed by the moon, stars, and sea.
-Ellen Dugan
The Hidden Legacy
The human heart has hidden treasures, In secret kept, in silence revealed;
The thoughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures,
Whose charms were broken if revealed.
-Charlotte Bronte
PROLOGUE
“Only the true of heart can hold the ring.”
I blinked in surprise at my grandmother, her comment had been out of the blue. Alone in the hospital room with her, I debated whether or not I should call my parents back in or buzz for a nurse. It was a horrible thing to see the woman, who’d been so feisty and tough, brought down to bedridden and frail.
Was the medicine they’d given her earlier causing hallucinations? I wondered. She’d been ill for weeks and the doctors had advised us to say our goodbyes.
“It’s okay Grandma,” I said, keeping my voice low and soothing. “Don’t push yourself. Try and rest.” I sat beside her on the bed and laid my hand gently on top of hers.
“I’ll have plenty of time to rest, soon enough.” Her eyes opened and she focused on me.
“Hi Grandma Oz.” I smiled at her.
Janet Osborne’s blue eyes were lucid and aware. “Hannah, it will come to you. You’re the next in the Osborne line.”
“Sure, okay,” I said, trying to soothe her.
“Watch for the pirate,” she said. “You’ll know him when you see him.”
“Do you mean Eli? He dresses like a pirate every day,” I reminded her. “Your great-grandson sleeps in his pirate hat.”
“I love that little boy,” she said of my soon-to-be four year old. “You’ve done well there.”
“He’ll be here to visit you this afternoon,” I promised, brushing her hair back from her face.
“The pirate, Hannah. Watch for your beloved.”
“I will. Absolutely.” Poor thing, they must have whacked her up with some really good drugs, I thought.
“It’s not the drugs. I am not hallucinating, I’ll have you know,” she snapped. Outside the hospital, a storm began to gather.
Thunder rolled and I smiled. “I never said you were.”
“No, but you thought it.”
“Stay out of my head, Grandma,” I said automatically.
She managed to glare at me. “If there was ever a time to be indulgent of an eccentric old Crone, it would be now.” Her gown slid off of one shoulder and revealed a faded butterfly tattoo.
I automatically straightened the gown and glanced around to double check that we were still alone. “The Crone is a respected and revered aspect of the triple goddess,” I said quietly. “You taught me that.”
“You’re strong. Always have been,” she said. “You use your gifts and intuition well, assisting your friend Edmund with his investigations...”
“I’d like to think so.”
“I know so,” she said, “and I’m thankful I was here long enough to see you go from Maiden to Mother.”
The wind picked up and howled past the window of her room. I tilted my head towards the window and the wind that rattled the glass. “Is that you?” I asked, trying to make her smile.
My grandmother shut her eyes. “I don’t have the control over my powers that I used to...”
I focused on the wind screaming outside, and the intensity lessened, and the rattling stopped. “There,” I said. “That’s better.”
“You’ve come into your own in the past few years. I’m proud of you. I only wish I had longer. I would have liked to see Eli grow up.”
I tried to smile. Tried to be brave. “Grandma, don’t talk like that.”
“You need to pay attention to me now,” she insisted, her voice going up.
“Don’t get upset,” I said. “I’m right here. Do you want me to call Mom back in?” I shifted, planning to go and get my mother.
“Listen to me!” Her hand clamped down on mine. “It won’t go to your sister, or your brother,” she said. “The legacy must be handed down to you.”
“What legacy?” I asked, easing back down beside her.
My grandmother coughed a little and I offered her some water. I held the straw to her lips, waited while she sipped. “Better?” I asked.
She nodded her head. “The Osborne legacy,” she said, sounding desperate. “It all started with an ancestor named Felicity…and our family kept it hidden and safe for two hundred years. From my
