Chapter 13

Saturday, October 6, 1979

We spent Thursday and Friday taking care of Tim and trying to find out anything that might give us a clue to where we might find Jason. Missy, Jude and I were cuddled up Saturday morning, drinking our coffee, when Jude said, {Cindi and I were exploring a little last night and we may have a lead on Jason.}

{Tell me about it, } I said as I gently stroked her butt.

{If you keep that up, I won't be able to tell you anything, } she said, then kissed me on the end of my nose.

{I'll take my chances, } I said as I continued to stroke her lovely posterior.

{Anyway, we found a guy who lives fairly close to here who might be him. We're not sure because the guy is a borderline lunatic. He did mention Jason a few times while we were listening to him, but that's not his name.}

{Any idea what his real name is?}

{No, he didn't think of it at all. For some reason we couldn't scan him, we could just read his surface thoughts. He lives close though. Probably not more than a mile away. There aren't that many houses in the area, so we should be able to find him.}

{Okay people, this is a number one priority. When everyone is up, our family will load into the Suburban and go looking for the bastard. Ken's family and Sheila will stay here to protect Tim. I don't care if it takes a mental or a physical attack, or a combination of both. Let's end this today.}

Missy and Jude agreed, and so did the rest of my family as they got up one at a time and joined us. Ken gave us a little argument about wanting to go with us, but the logic of wanting someone to stay and protect Tim made too much sense and he finally agreed.

{Turn left at the next road, } Cindi said.

I turned left and proceeded down the road. Nothing. {Cindi, we've made a complete circle. I'd assume he's somewhere in the circle, but where?}

{I'm not sure, Mike. Remember, all we're getting from this guy are surface thoughts. That makes it hard to zero in on him. Let's keep going and see if we can find any turnoff that goes toward the center of the circle.}

{Okay, Sweety. I haven't seen anything on this leg of the circle. We'll go ahead and turn where we did before.}

We made the turn and just seconds later Jude said, {Mike, there's a dirt track leading off to our left just ahead. That could be it.}

I slowed and made the turn onto the track. The road was narrow, with grass growing between the wheel tracks, but it showed fairly frequent usage. About a half mile from the main road we saw a large white house on the right. The road ended at the house. {Full shields everyone, } I said as I stopped in front of the house.

A man, who appeared to be in his mid to late twenties was sitting in a wheelchair on the porch. His head was lolled to the side, and although his eyes were open, they were vacant. Cindi and I did a quick scan of him. {He's the one who's surface thoughts we were reading, } she told me.

{Guys, I don't think he's capable of breaking into Tim's brain, } I said. {I'm not picking up any telepathic ability at all.}

{Jude and I aren't either, } Cindi said.

{People, I'm not reading anyone else here, but search the house. There may be someone here with an incredibly good shield.}

{Mike, I just did a really deep scan on this guy. The mental and physical problems are fairly recent. He has an inoperable brain tumor that is causing all of his problems. This is his mother's house and he came here after he found out he was going to die.}

{Oh, shit! Guys. his mother may be hiding somewhere. I suspect she's the one who is trying to take over Tim's brain.}

We did a thorough search of the house and surrounding area, but found no one else. We decided she must have gone for groceries or something, so we decided to wait.

{Mike, I just can't stand to see this guy this way. I'd like to get rid of his tumor and see if his mind clears up. What do you think?} Jude asked.

{Well, Honey, It's a little dangerous, but I agree. We need to be on guard though in case he suddenly has telepathic abilities and attacks. I don't like seeing anyone this way either.}

{Okay, I'm going to do it. I'll make it start shrinking and see what develops.}

{It's shrinking at a rate so that it'll be gone in about half an hour, } Jude told us. {Cindi and I will keep deep scanning him. The rest of you, keep monitoring his surface thoughts.}

It wasn't but a couple of minutes before we could see his surface thoughts start to clear. His name was James (Jim or Jimmy) Allgood. When he became aware of us, I said, "Mr. Allgood, My name is Mike Green. We're here trying to help you."

"I have a brain tumor the doctors say can't be operated on. I don't see how you can help me, Mr. Green."

"I'm a telepath, like your mother. I have a way to shrink the tumor without surgery. When we came up here, you were not thinking rational thoughts at all. I started the tumor to shrinking and now you're talking rationally. If everything works out, you should have full use of your body within half an hour."

"I believe you, Mr. Green. I can feel the changes as we're talking. How did you know my mother is a telepath?"

"Please call me Mike. Because, she's been trying to take over the brain of one of our friends. I think she's trying to transfer your mind over into his brain."

"Oh, shit! I told her not to try that. She mentioned something like that to me about a month ago. I didn't think it was ethical to take someone else's body and brain, so I forbid her to do it. By the way, please call me Jim."

"Jim, a mother's love can cause her to do things she'd never think of doing under different circumstances. Don't think too badly of her."

"Have you known she was a telepath all your life?"

"No, it wasn't until a few years ago that she slipped up. I was thinking about asking her something and she answered me before I had a chance to ask. I confronted her about it and she admitted she had always been able to read other people's thoughts. It scared me at first, but then I realized she was the same person who had given birth to me and had loved me all of my life."

"How old is your Mom, Jim?"

"Let's see... I'm twenty-eight. That would make her sixty-eight. She had me very late in life. Dad was twelve years older then her. He died about three years ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Jim. My Dad was killed in a car accident five years ago. I miss him a lot."

"Where is Mom now?"

"We think she must have gone for groceries or something. You were by yourself when we came here."

Jim raised his hand and brushed the hair away from his face. "That's the first time I've been able to do that in over a month," he told me. "I think you're probably right. She doesn't normally like to leave me alone, but sometimes she has to."

We talked for a few minutes longer and I could see Jim gaining more control of his body as we spoke. Finally, I asked, "Is your mother going to attack us when she gets here?"

"If I'm standing up, I think she'll be so happy she won't even think about it," he said. "I feel I could stand now, but I'll wait until we hear her coming before I get on my feet."

Sarah Allgood didn't attack. Jude picked up her thoughts as she turned off the main road and contacted her. To say Sarah was surprised would have been the understatement of the year. Jude explained what we had done for Jim and she was all smiles as she got out of her car.

We all introduced ourselves then she said, "I can't thank you all enough for what you've done for my son."

<You can thank us by releasing Tim's mind, > I told her mentally.

Sarah looked dumbfounded. <Mike, I don't know what you're talking about. I talked with Jimmy about trying something like that, but I didn't even know where to start and he made me promise I wouldn't do anything like that anyway.>

{Cindi, Jude, deep scan her please to see if she's telling the truth.}

{Already did, Mike, } Cindi said. {She didn't have anything to do with Tim.}

<Sarah, we came here because the person who is controlling our friend's brain said to call him Jason. We started scanning the area and the name, Jason, kept coming up in your son's mind.>

<The Jason Jimmy was thinking about was his best friend growing up, Jason Caldwell. The boy had a very unhappy childhood. He was abused by his father physically, mentally and sexually. Jason killed himself when he and Jimmy were seventeen.>

<I'm sorry, Sarah. We just assumed Jimmy was thinking about the person who was controlling our friend.>

<That's okay, Mike. I would have assumed the same thing. What did you do to Jimmy to get him back where he is? He hasn't been able to talk for quite a while, let alone stand up.>

<First, I have a question for you. What kinds of telepathic abilities do you have?>

<Well... I can pretty much read anyone's mind whenever I want. That's about all really.>

<Sarah, we can do a few more things than that. For one thing, we can control our own bodies and make sure we never get sick. We can also control some things in other people's bodies as well. What we did was tell Jimmy's body to absorb the tumor until it was entirely gone. He won't have any more problems with it and it will never come back.>

<Again, I thank you for this, Mike. Look, I'm just an old woman and sometimes I don't think I'm as sharp as I used to be, but from what you said, I just have to ask. Are you guys immortal?>

<I don't know about immortal, but we should live for a very long time.>

<I have so many aches and pains now, I wouldn't like to live for a long time. When my husband died, he left me well enough off that I don't have to work. It seems like a bad joke that when you reach a point in life where you can enjoy it without having to work, you no longer feel like enjoying it.>

<Yeah, I've thought of that too. My grandfather was like that. He worked all of his life so they could have a nice nest egg when they retired. He and grandma retired when they were sixty-five. Grandma died two years later. Grandpa had worked so hard all his life that his body gave out on him. He had a heart attack, then a couple of years later he had a stroke. A couple of years after that, he had another heart attack, then another one a year later. He was dead a year and a half after Grandma died.>

Sarah started asking Jimmy how he felt and they were soon in a conversation about his tumor, which was no more. I had just about decided to leave when Bonnie said, {Mike, Sarah seems like such a nice lady, we really should adjust her blood vessel so that she can regain her youth. She has a good mind and a good heart. It would be a shame to just let her go ahead and die of old age in a few years. Besides that, she has arthritis and is in a lot of pain.}

{I don't know, Bonnie. I understand how you feel, but I'm just not sure it's our place to go changing people's lives, even though we think it's a change for the better.}

{Come on, Mike. You know it's something we should do for her, } Missy said. {We never even thought twice about doing it for Tim and Ken and Sheila and Jude and Melly. Maybe we'll never ask her to join the family, but at least we should give her the chance to live for as long as she can.}

I don't know if any of my wives realize it or not, but I can never say no to Missy. {Okay, Missy. I'll ask her if she wants us to do it for her.}

<Sarah?>

<Yes, Mike?>

<There is a blood vessel in your brain that, if we increase the size of it, will give you much the same abilities that we have. In other words, it would let you stop or reverse the aging process and would allow you to fix all of the problems your body has. We have the ability to increase the size of this vessel if you would like for us to. Would you want us to do that for you?>

<When you say reverse the aging process, do you mean I'd get younger?>

<Sarah, Bonnie here is almost forty years old. Does she look it?>

<No, I'd say she looks more like eighteen or nineteen.>

<If we did this for you, you could look and feel eighteen again.>

<Oh God yes! Why would you do this for me?>

<Sarah, you have a good mind and a good heart. People like you are rare. We just don't want to see you grow old and die before you have to.>

<Thank you, Mike. By all means, do it.>

<It's done. The rest of us need to get home. Cindi will stay with you this afternoon and teach you how to use your new abilities. If you could bring her home when she's finished, I'd appreciate it.>

<I don't feel any different, Mike. Are you sure it worked?>

<Absolutely. Are you in any pain right now?>

<Yeah, my left hand is killing me.>

<Okay, just tell you body your left hand doesn't hurt, and see what happens.>

<My God! It quit.>

<Yes, but you've only masked the pain. Cindi will teach you how to tell your body how to fix what is causing the pain.>

<I will certainly bring her home, Mike. Thank you so much for what you did for Jimmy and what you did for me.>

<You're welcome, Sarah. We have some energy drink over at the house you'll probably need when you start rejuvenating. You can pick it up when you bring Cindi home.

<So, what do we do now?> Ken asked as we sat around the living room drinking coffee after dinner.

<Well, Cindi and Jude are going to continue scanning the area to see if they can find who is doing this to Tim. I have my doubts though as he will probably be shielded like we are.>

<Okay, if that fails, what do we do?>

<I'm not sure, Ken. I'm open to suggestions. I was hoping whoever it is would give up and leave by now.>