Chapter 11

Sunday, September 30, 1979

Missy and I were cuddled up with our morning coffee, when Cindi and Jude came in together. As Jude was getting their morning brew, Cindi said, {Guys, I think we have a problem.}

{What's that, Sweety?} I asked.

{Jude and I had some really bad nightmares last night. These weren't your normal falling or trying to run away from something nightmares. These were full blown Steven King or Dean Koontz nightmares. When we woke up this morning we were talking about them, and the nightmares were the same. Identical. Down to the most minute detail. People don't share dreams, Mike.}

{Okay, I gotcha. I didn't sleep at all well myself. I didn't have any nightmares, but I kept waking up. I had this uncomfortable feeling, but I couldn't place what it was.}

{I was pretty much the same way, } Missy said. {I don't know how many times I woke up in the night, but it was a lot.}

{So, what do you think it might be?} I asked.

{I think there's something or someone very evil out there, } Jude said. {I don't know who or what, but it's scary.}

{I agree, } Cindi said. {Whatever this is, Mike, it is something we should be extremely careful with. It must be telepathic, because that's the way we're receiving it.}

{Okay, what do we do to be careful?}

{We need to be fully shielded at all times, } Jude said. {I think Cindi and I should be working on a better shield too. The one we use is good for preventing someone else from knowing we're here. It doesn't do anything to prevent someone else from broadcasting to us though.}

{Is there any way we can do that?} I asked.

{We have some ideas we'd like to try. We've been thinking about it ever since Clyde tried to zap us.}

{By all means, work on it. If you need any help from any of the rest of us, just let us know. It just hit me that Adam Hunt was afraid of someone in Redding. Do you think this could be who he was afraid of?}

{It's possible, } Cindi said. {Whoever it is would have to be awfully strong to project this strongly at this distance though.}

We went into rapport for a few minutes, then rousted everyone else out. Jude and Cindi went off together to work on their ideas while the rest of us fixed breakfast. Sharon and Bonnie had nights like Missy and I had. No nightmares, but definitely uncomfortable.

When Cindi and Jude came in to eat, they were both smiling. I asked why the smiles and Cindi said they thought they had something.

{I don't have the words for what we're doing, } Cindi said. {Maybe one of you can help me out. If someone attacks, we can change what they are sending to something exactly the opposite and send it back at them. This completely eliminates what they are sending at us.}

{It's called negative feedback, Love. The thing you changed would be 180 degrees out of phase with what they're sending. Have you tried this out?}

{We tried it, Mike, } Jude said. {First, I attacked Cindi with everything I had, and it didn't phase her a bit. Then, she tried it with me. She's stronger than I am, so I could still feel it, but I could still withstand it.}

{If you two were in rapport, would you be able to combine your strength?}

{I think so, } Cindi said. {After we get on the road, we'll get Bonnie and Missy and Sharon to attack us and see.}

We had only been on the road a few minutes when Jude came into the cab of the RV. {It works, Mike. We've already trained everyone else in how to help out. If you'd like to pull over somewhere we'll train you as well. You don't have to be in the loop if you don't want to though. The rest of us can protect you as well.}

{I think I'd like to know how though, } I told her. {There may come a time when I need to defend myself.}

I found a place to stop, and they only took a few minutes to show me what to do. It really wasn't hard, and I certainly felt better, knowing we had some active protection from attack.

As we neared Redding, you could feel a kind of malignancy in the air. Nothing was directed specifically at us, so we didn't have to try very hard to counteract it, but we could certainly feel it. Cindi asked me if I would want her to try to probe whoever was sending, but I told her to just leave it alone. I didn't want to stir anything up if we didn't have to.

When we had passed Redding, we could feel the malignancy start to diminish. We were over half way home before it was completely gone.

Unloading the RV didn't take but a few minutes when we got home, so we decided to make a run out to the new house. We took my new Suburban, and everyone fit, just barely.

We were thrilled with what we found. Nothing had been moved in as yet, but the electricity was on and the water had been turned on. The place was immaculately clean, and absolutely beautiful.

Although huge, the outside of the house looked like it had come out of "House Beautiful". Actually, the inside did as well. The entrance hall was huge. It looked like it stretched back forever, although I knew it was less than fifty feet. The floor was made of different colors of slate, fitted together perfectly. I could spend an hour describing in detail, but I'll leave that for another time.

We took a quick look into the guest bathroom. It looked like it had been designed for a head of state. {Guys, } I said. {I'm not sure I could take a poop in something this beautiful.}

Missy giggled. {Don't worry, Mike. There are heavy duty deodorizers in every bathroom.}

The living room was spacious to say the least. I figured you could get fifty people in here and not be crowded. The formal dining room looked like it belonged in a castle.

I was amazed at the kitchen. In addition to the institutional sized oven and dishwasher, there were family sized units as well.

Our suite was where I was really impressed though. The bedroom was huge, easily large enough for two king beds. The sitting room had a sink and counter with a coffee maker already set up. There was a refrigerator that was easily as large as the family was using now.

The walls around each suite were six inches thick, with the best soundproofing available.

I was a little surprised at the size of the two bedrooms we had added for children. When I asked Missy about it, she said, {Think about it for a minute, Mike. There are five of us women in this family. If each of us had one child, that would be five children to find a bed for. If each of us wanted two, that would be ten to find beds for.}

{Wow!} was all I could say.

Monday, October 1, 1979

In a way I wasn't looking forward to the move. It seemed like we were pulling further away from the rest of the family. Missy and I were cuddled with our morning coffee, talking about this, when Jude came in. She got herself a cup and then joined us for a snuggle.

{Mike, Cindi and I tried scanning Tim last night as you asked. He is hiding something, but we couldn't break through his block without letting him know we were scanning him. The weird thing is, Mike, I'm not sure he is even aware it's there.}

{What's that about?} Missy asked.

{Jude and Cindi noticed that Tim was holding something back when we were all in rapport. They were a little concerned about it, so I told them to scan him without his knowing it and find out what it is.}

{That's strange, } Missy said. {Why would anyone want to hold anything back when they're in rapport?}

{That's what bothered us, } Jude told her. {Now, we're even more worried. There are times when anyone might want to block off a stray thought. If you suddenly had the hots for Ken and were afraid of how Mike would react to that, you might want to block that off until you had settled it in your own mind. This is different though. There is a large area that is blocked off. Part of it is memory and part of it is a cognitive thought area. Also, the blockage is far stronger than you'd expect.}

{So, what do you and Cindi think we should do about it?} I asked.

{We think you should confront him with it. Tell him Cindi or I discovered he had something blocked when we were in rapport and ask him what it is. We'll be waiting to help out if he reacts badly.}

{Yeah, I guess that makes sense. It would be best if it appeared to be just him and me. We should wait until we get over to the new house, then set something up. I do want you guys as backup so I won't do anything without you.}

We cuddled for a few minutes, then our whole morning was disrupted. People started showing up who would normally be in bed for another hour or two. When Bonnie came in, she said, <Mike, Missy and Jude, I need you three to go to the new house right now. The movers will be here within half an hour, and the furniture stores will start delivering furniture within the hour. Beth will go with you as she knows what goes where.>

I gave Missy and Jude a hug and said, <Let's get dressed ladies.>

As we started up the stairs, we met Beth coming down. I just picked her up and carried her back up. <Bonnie says to get dressed and get over to the new house, > I told her.

<But I need coffee!>

<Get dressed, get a cup to go, and I'll stop and pick us up some breakfast on the way.>

She went off to her room grumbling, but I could tell she wasn't really upset. I got dressed quickly and went back down stairs. I picked up some coffee filters, a measuring scoop, and a can of coffee. I put these in the Suburban and went back in to find the ladies. Each of them were filling travel mugs in the kitchen.

We ended picking up enough rolls and doughnuts for the entire family. Not our typical breakfast, but it was easy. When we got to the house I asked which suite was ours, and Missy led us to it.

It was on the ground floor, and as empty as the rest of the house. I put the breakfast foods on the counter in the sitting room and started a pot of coffee. It's a good thing we had our travel mugs as we had forgotten to pick up any other cups.

The coffee had just finished brewing when the first furniture van pulled in. Beth started grumbling again as she went to the front door to meet the delivery people.

{I really don't know why they needed us to be here, } I told my wives.

{Beth is going to tell them where everything goes.}

{She'll tell them what room to put the furniture in, and where to place the furniture in her apartment. We'll have to tell them where to position the furniture in our apartment, } Missy informed us.

It was almost thirty minutes before the first items were brought into our suite. Then, it was a steady procession for quite some time. The first things brought in were two massive, king sized beds. The frames and box springs were brought in, and the delivery people set them up, including installing the head and foot boards.

These things were followed quickly by two dressers and four chests of drawers. Four night stands were set up by the beds, and the bedroom was finished.

Before the bedroom people had finished, another van had pulled in and began unloading. They brought the furniture for the sitting rooms and the living room and dining room.

By the time the movers had pulled up, the furniture store vans were departing, and the movers began unloading our original possessions. It was a tiring day, but by late afternoon, everything was in position.

The furniture for our suites and for the living room, dining room, and kitchen was all new. Our furniture from the old house went into the rooms Marj and Fred would be using and into the children's rooms. The movers were very efficient and took each box of clothing into the appropriate closet.

We spent some time arranging clothing into drawers, and hanging what needed to be hung. After everything was put away, we collapsed on the loveseats in our sitting room. I ended up snuggled between Missy and Jude, while Bonnie was sandwiched between Sharon and Cindi.

We had been snuggling for a few minutes when Cindi asked, {Missy, all of the moving and delivery people are gone, right?}

{Yes, Cindi}

{The gate is closed and locked, right?}

{Yes, again.}

Cindi jumped to her feet and said, {Let's get naked and explore!}

We all looked at each other and started laughing. {Someday we have to civilize her, } I told the rest of our group. I got up and started removing my clothes as well.

{Just not right away, } Bonnie said. {I kind of like her the way she is.}

Cindi wanted to explore outside first, so we checked out the pool and the hot tub. Both had been filled, but the water in both of them was extremely cold. I had no idea what had been done to the water in either of them, so we just left things as they were until Fred could take a look at them.