Our Grandparent's House. Part Three.

“What are you doing in the crystal ball Grandpa?” Peter asked.
Princess Alda frowned at Peter. “The Grand One is your grandpa?”
“Yes,” I replied.
My brother and I looked at the crystal ball, where Grandpa was looking sheepish.
“I’ve got quite a bit of explaining to do,” he told us. “Alice. Peter. I am a wizard.”
“WHAT!?” We both exclaimed.
“Is Grandma a witch then?” Peter asked.
“No.”
“So, when did this happen then?” I asked.
“When your grandma and I moved into this house,” Grandpa answered. “This was many years ago now, when your Mum was little. There was your mum, your mum’s two sisters and two brothers. And your grandma and I. So, of course we needed a pretty big place to live in. Well, at the time when we all moved in, we didn’t know that the family who’d lived there before all dabbled in magic. I was up in the attic, putting some of our stuff away, when I found the magic books left behind by the previous family, hidden in a corner of the attic.”
“And I guess you didn’t get rid of them?” I asked.
Grandpa shook his head. “Back in those days, I was very obsessed with magic, so when I came across these books, I was very excited. I started practising the magic and spells. Your Grandma wasn’t really into it, so she kept away from it all.”
“But that still doesn’t explain this crystal ball,” Peter protested.
“Yes, I’m getting to that. As well as all the books, I also found a crystal ball. I thought maybe it was a way to tell the future, like in stories. But, no, it’s not. It’s a devise that allows you to connect with witches and wizards from all around the world,” Grandpa paused. “And from other worlds as well.”
Peter and I looked at each other, flabbergasted.
“The world you are in at the moment,” Grandpa continued. “I sent you there. Through the crystal ball, and Princess Alda’s mother, I found out about the Gypsics. You do know that Princess Alda’s mother is a witch?”
Peter and I nodded.
“Well, she told me about how she was queen of the Gypsics, before the evil magician Yelrettek came along, and about how he took over the Valley, and drove her and her daughter away. I swore to help. I promised her that I would send two children to her land to help. With my knowledge of magic, I created a portal to the world you’re in, from the attic, and sent two children, a boy and a girl, but they were only in the world two minutes when the girl got scared and they left. Then they refused to ever go back.”
“So you thought you’d send us instead?” I asked.
Grandpa nodded. “It’s been twenty years since I sent the other two children. Princess Alda?” He addressed the princess. “How long has it been since I told your mother I would send two children to help you?”
“Two days,” came the reply.
“The time is different in the world of the Gypsics,” Grandpa said. “One day to them is like ten years to us.”
“Is that why you think he’s the Grand One?” Peter asked Princess Alda. “Because he ages ten years each day?”
My head was beginning to explode with all the information I’d just taken in. Then something dawned on me. “So, you wanted to send us here? That’s why when me and Peter went off to explore your house, you told us not to go into the attic? Because you knew we would definitely go up there then?”
Grandpa nodded again. “I’m so sorry, Alice. It was the only way I could get you to the world of the Gypsics. I could’ve told you I was a wizard, and about the Gypsics, but you would’ve thought I’d gone mad.”
Then something else must have dawned on Peter, for he suddenly slapped my arm. “What is it?” I asked.
“Princess Alda asked us if we were called Susan and Andrew earlier!”
“Yeah so?”
“She said that the ‘Grand One’ would send two children called Susan and Andrew!”
I looked at my brother blankly.
Peter looked annoyed at the fact I hadn’t caught on to what he was talking about. “Mum and Dad are called Susan and Andrew!”
Then I twigged, and looked at Grandpa. “Yes,” he said softly. “The two children who I sent to the world of the Gypsics twenty years ago were your mother and father.”