Chapter 107: Campfire on the Rowena

Thursday, June 10, 1971

They were all huddled together, when I returned. Catherine had just wanted me to know that a courier would meet me in Houston in the morning and that I should sign the papers immediately and let him return with them. They had to do with probating the will and my emancipation. I assured her I would do as she commanded and wished her a sexy good night, again.

“See, every time he’s connected to Catherine, and they get all lovey-dovey, my coochie just oozes, and itches too. Then, all I want is for Michael to scratch it!” Nicky was explaining to the others.

“Yeah. I wish I had that effect on Michael,” Ileana said a little sadly.

Settling back into my spot on the floor, I pulled Ileana into my lap.

“Come here, you!” I said as I kissed her deeply. I poured all of my passion into that kiss, and it went on until I could sense several wet or tingling coochies in the railcar.

“Now, never let me hear you say that again!” I told her. “Or you’ll get what Victoria’s going to be getting soon!”

“Goody!” cried Vickie. Everybody else laughed, except Ileana, who hugged me tightly.

“You mean that every time you mess around, I’m going to feel it?” Jessica asked.

“WHAT?” I cried. “Please. Tell me you are NOT feeling it too!”

“What do you mean? Of course I felt it! Everyone here felt it. Didn’t they?” Jessica asked.

“Oh-oh!” I thought, as I stared at Jessica. I hadn’t expected another one, especially her! So this one caught me flat-footed, coming out of left field like it did. Evidently it surprised Nicky too.

“Ah ... are you sure?” Nicky asked her. “I mean did your coochie get wet when he kissed her?”

“Yeah. And when he was out on the platform, and especially when he was in the bathroom. I almost came that time!” Jessica said. Then blushed at her admission.

“Me too,” Abby said quietly.

“Abby!” Deedee cried. “No!”

“But I did! Just like she said!” Abby replied.

“See!” Jessica said. “Everybody felt it.”

“Not everyone,” Deedee said softly. “I felt Abby when she felt it.”

“I told you!” Abby said triumphantly to her big sister.

“I know,” Deedee sighed.

“So you didn’t feel ... aroused when he kissed her?” Jessica asked Deedee for confirmation.

“Uh ... me either,” Amy said shyly. “I mean I threw myself at him last Saturday night, twice! But he refused. At the time, he said it was because I might get pregnant, but since then, I’ve figured out that there are some girls who can feel him, and some that can’t. I seem to be one of the ones that can’t, and it may be because I’m still a virgin. But the ones that can, all seem to feel it the most when Aunt Catherine is with him.”

“Aunt Catherine?” Jessica asked.

“Yeah. You met her earlier today at the restaurant,” Amy supplied. “And just a few minutes ago, too!”

“That was Catherine? The older woman at the restaurant?” Jessica stated as a question, without waiting for an answer. “But you said that was your grandmother!”

I nodded. There wasn’t much I could say. I would have preferred it to come out a little differently, and at a later time. But once the words were spoken, they can’t be taken back. And Amy didn’t do it out of anger or because she was trying to hurt me, or anyone else. I just hoped that all this wasn’t going to drive Jessica away. I mean, I still had a home to build, and wanted her talents. Besides, I told myself earlier that she would need to understand about my unique family, including most of the connections. At least the important ones. And Catherine was one of the really important ones.

As if she was reading my mind this time, Jessica said, “So this is what you wanted me to understand, and keep confidential? That you’re fucking your grandmother? And your sister?”

I immediately saw red, as my blood began to boil!

“MICHAEL!” they all seemed to be shouting at me in my mind at once. “DON’T!”

I didn’t realize I had actually risen to my feet, the anger suddenly coursing through me.

Jessica cowered beneath Nicky and Ileana, who had launched themselves on top of her in an effort to try and protect her from my anger.

I stared at her hard, then turned, heading for the end of the railcar. I stepped out onto the rear vestibule, slamming the door behind me. We were moving, but had slowed from our normal pace. I noticed a set of parallel tracks and realized we were on a siding, waiting for an eastbound train to pass. So we were probably only going about twenty or twenty-five miles an hour, I later judged, as the diesels strained to pull the long freight train. As we passed a huge boulder on the right-hand side of the car, for some reason, it reminded me of Jessica, and I quickly focused my anger on it.

I’ve thought about it many times since, and to this day I can still see it all happening in slow motion. As the train crawled along, the boulder rocked, and then began to vibrate. Faster and faster it shook, even as it faded almost out of sight, while the train continued its westbound trek. Until, in the darkness came a flash, followed by the boom of the explosion! I ducked back under the roof of the vestibule, as small pieces of rock rained down on the railcar. Faces crowded the glass window in the door, trying to catch a glimpse of what had exploded and caused the train to sway on the steel rails.

Most of the anger had left me with the explosion. I was torn now, between the awesomeness of the power that had caused the rock to explode and the stupidity I felt for trying to trust her. Suddenly I heard the wail of distant whistles. Two engines saluting as they passed in opposite directions.

I began to shake. “What a goddamned fool you are!” I thought to myself. “You could have killed somebody!”

I turned and made my way back into the car. The girls all looked at me, hesitant to speak. Jessica cowered against Roger. He and Steve had heard the explosion and felt the railcar rock and had come to check.

I stopped in front of them, glaring at her coldly.

“GET HER OFF MY TRAIN!” I growled menacingly at Roger. “She shouldn’t even be allowed out of her playpen. She doesn’t listen, and she doesn’t think before she runs her foul mouth.”

“Michael, you’re upset son. Let’s all calm down and talk this through. I’m sure Jessica didn’t mean anything bad,” Roger said.

“You think I’m upset? You don’t wanna see me upset! Hell! Did you know that I am considered the son of gods by two different nations? And my powers are still growing every moment of every day. I knew I had the power to heal. Now, I know I have the power to destroy. So don’t even think of crossing me again.”

“Michael,” Catherine called softly. “I love you. I need you. When I feel your anger, I suddenly feel so sick and old. Please Michael, don’t make me feel that way again. I love you.”

My heart broke at the thought that I had hurt Catherine. I collapsed into a nearby chair, as my soul cried out in anguish that I had caused her pain.

“I love you, Catherine. I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. Please forgive me. I’m sorry...” I thought to her as I began to shake.

It was Abby who climbed onto my lap, saying, “There, there. It will be okay. Let it out my darling. Let all the anger just melt away,” she repeated, over and over.

Nicky and Vickie and Adriana were there too. I felt their love as it stripped away the last vestiges of my anger, flooding my soul once more with the goodness of their love.

I don’t have any idea how long they sat with me, but finally I said, “I’m thirsty.”

They all seemed to scamper to find something for me to drink. All except Abby, who snuggled in tighter, wrapping her arms around me and chanting softly in a language I’d never heard before.

Adriana handed me a bottle of Coca-Cola. “Would you like a glass?” she asked.

“No, thank you,” I told her. “But now I’m even deeper in your debt. All of you, I think maybe, I owe you my life.”

“But why?” Adriana thought.

“Because for a few moments, I was so angry, I thought that, like Anakin Skywalker, I had crossed over to the dark side,” I replied.

“What’s the dark side? I’ve never heard of that,” Vickie said.

“And who’s Anakin Skywalker?” Amy added.

Suddenly, the rear door of the railcar swung open. As he stepped inside the railcar, all conversation stopped, as the girls, Roger and Steve all stared. I just smiled.

“You don’t have any of your special brew to offer me,” I told him.

A small fire, complete with burning coals and a kettle hanging from a wooden tripod, suddenly materialized in the center of the floor.

I couldn’t help it. My first thought was that Catherine and Liz were going to KILL ME for ruining their carpet.

“You did well, young one. Congratulations! You have passed your first test,” The Old One informed me as he poured me a cup of the warm brew. As always, it was cool as it went down.

“Do I detect some pride in his statement?” I asked myself.

“Remember,” he told me. “Never let the power control you. It truly does lead to the dark side.”

“Oh my god! So it’s really a true story?” I thought.

“It was a long, long, time ago,” the Old One replied to my question.

“A test? This was all a test?” Jessica asked. “Was I being tested as well?”

“I’m sorry, but I am afraid you were just a part of The Chosen One’s test. We used your natural proclivity for speaking your mind, and prompted you slightly for the rest,” the Old One told her.

“Who ARE you?” she asked. “And why did you pick on me. Now he hates me.”

“Look into your heart, young one, and tell me what you see,” he instructed.

“My heart? Oh. I see ... I see a baby. No, wait! There’s two. It’s ... it’s twins. Oh my god! It’s twins. Daddy, it’s twins!” she screamed in joy. She was going to be a mother ... of twins!

“Thank you, sir,” she told the Old One. Then immediately she asked, “Is it true? Is it really true? Am I really going to have twins? And will Michael really be their father? And when?”

“I do not know the answer,” the Old One replied. “What you saw is one possible future. But because it’s the future, it’s very uncertain, now. All futures depend now on whether we can prepare The Chosen One fast enough and help make him strong enough to win.”

“The Chosen One? Michael?” Jessica repeated, questioning. “To win what?””

The Old One looked from Jessica to me, as if debating something. Finally he said, “He has been chosen to fight for all mankind, in the greatest of battles. He doesn’t have long to prepare, and there is much to learn. He will need all the love you can give him, if he is to have even a chance of defeating the evil.”

“Oh, no!” Abby said. “I just found him! He can’t die!”

“Then help him,” The Old One told her. “Each of you can help him. Help him to master his love, for it is the only power in the universe that can save everyone.”

He was standing now, at the door to the Dining Car, facing all of us, when suddenly the door behind us swung open hitting the interior wall with a loud crash. I whipped my head around to see what danger was on us now, but there was nothing there.

“It must have been a gust of wind,” I thought as I turned back to face the Old One again. But he wasn’t there. He was gone! And the campfire with him!

Abby was still sitting on my lap as I searched for signs of the Old One’s sudden departure, but there were none. Nor were there any signs that he had even been here. The carpet was as it had been. No burns or other damages. But unlike before, this time there were witnesses.

“You all saw him, didn’t you?” I asked. “I mean, I didn’t just imagine it, did I?”

“No, Michael. We all saw him,” Adriana thought.

“I saw him, but what did I see?” Roger said. “I mean it ‘looked’ like a real fire, but the carpeting is completely unmarked.”

“He looked the same as he did when I saw him yesterday,” Nicky added.

“You saw him yesterday?” Jessica asked.

“Yeah. He used me to call Michael to him,” Nicky replied. “But it’s kinda hard to explain.”

“Can someone explain to me what just happened?” Roger asked.

The girls all looked at Jessica.

“I’m afraid I made Michael angry when I accused him of having sex with his grandmother...”

“YOU WHAT?” Roger cried.

“ ... and his sister,” Jessica finished.

“Jessica! Tell me you’re kidding. Tell me you didn’t really say that to a client, did you?” Roger asked incredulously.

“Oh, she said it all right,” Nicky answered for her. “Actually, she said, ‘So this is what you wanted me to understand, and keep confidential? That you’re fucking your grandmother? And your sister?’” Vickie provided.

Roger moaned, “Oh-o, Jessica! How could you?”

“I’m sorry, Daddy. When I found out, it just sort of slipped out,” Jessica whined.