Chapter 15

Friday, October 26, 1979

I guess we were all feeling a little guilty so we all went into work on Friday. Sharon and I got a lot done, and we did get a chance to talk with Ann for a while. So far at least her ex hadn't been bothering her at all.

Our collective guilt didn't extend to the point where it kept us at work all day. I don't think any of us were there past 1:00 PM. It was a perfect, late fall, day and we were all anxiously awaiting what would probably be our last cook out of the year.

We had a nice solar cover for the pool, and we also had a solar heating system for it. The water temperature was perfect, and the air temperature was in the low seventies. We had told Sarah to come over by around three and by the time she arrived, most of us had taken at least one dip in the pool.

I was amazed at how Sarah looked. Jude and I were in the hot tub when she arrived and when she came over to say hello, I was blown away. <Sarah, you're cheating, > I said. <I thought you were going to take off a year a week. I'll swear you look twenty years younger.>

Sarah laughed. <I am cheating, Mike. Since Jimmy is so enthusiastic about me getting younger, I've raised it to five years a week. I have to say, I feel a lot better and I feel a lot better about myself.>

<You have every reason to, > Jude told her. <So, what are you going to do with yourself now? I can't imagine you continuing to draw Social Security.>

<You're right, Jude. I don't want to continue to draw Social Security. Would you guys mind if I joined you in the tub?>

We assured her we didn't mind, and much to my surprise, she started stripping right there. She folded each article of clothing and laid it on a chair as she continued to talk to us.

<I'm in a bit of a quandary as to what to do with myself, > Sarah told us. <I have some money and wouldn't have to work for a long time, but I don't feel right not having a job. The problem is, everything says I'm almost seventy years old. Even if I kept myself looking seventy, no one is going to want to hire someone that age.>

I gave Sarah a wolf whistle as she started to climb into the tub. She smiled and winked at me. <Just wait until I'm eighteen again, > she said. <I wasn't a bad looking girl.>

<Sarah, I've thought a lot about the kind of thing you're going through. We're all going to go through it sooner or later. As our calendar age becomes advanced, our bodies will not match what we should look like. I think the best thing would be if you appeared to die.>

<Yeah, but now that I feel better, I don't want to die.>

<Agreed. I said appeared to die. There are certain things we'd need to do and certain forms we'd need. We haven't gathered any of these forms as yet, as none of us are at an age where we would have to do it. The main things we'd need are a Death Certificate and a Birth Certificate. Both of them blank of course. We can fill them out, putting you at whatever age you desired, and Cindi can file them in the appropriate places.>

<That makes sense. I could leave everything I have to Jimmy. I'm sure he'd let me keep living with him.>

<Yes. You could also leave him the house, and leave your money to your Great Niece, Sarah Whoever. That is if Sarah Whoever is the name on your new Birth Certificate.>

<You do have a devious mind, Mike, > Sarah laughed. <I don't think I'd pick Sarah for a first name though. It is a very old fashioned name.>

<What name would you pick?> Missy asked as she walked over to join us. Missy was almost five months pregnant now, and beginning to have a nice little belly on her. To me she was the sexiest creature that ever lived.

<Well... If I had a granddaughter, I was hoping she'd be named Tiffany. She could be called Tiff or Tiffie. I think that's what I'd pick for a new name.>

<I like that, > I said. <Tiffany is a sexy name.>

<Well, I'm not sexy yet, but give me a month or two... You know, it's funny, but over the years my sex drive had almost completely gone away. My husband was twelve years older than me, he was seventy-seven when he died. He wasn't much interested in sex for ten years before he died. What with my change of life and his lack of interest, it just kind of faded away. Now, I think my body age is around fifty and it's coming back.>

<Oh, it will, > Missy said. <With a vengeance. You're also going to start having periods again. After you reach the age you want to be at you can stop them again though by just telling your body not to ovulate until you want it to. It's also a great method of birth control. You won't have to have another baby unless you want to, > she said, rubbing her bulging belly.

<I take it you wanted to have a baby then?> Sarah asked.

<Yep. More than anything in the world. I've wanted to have Mike's baby since before I even joined the family.>

<How did you end up joining the family?> Sarah asked.

Missy told Sarah her story, then Jude told her how she had come to be in the family. This led to a discussion of how each and every one of us had come to be in the family. Sarah was looking very interested as we told her most of the details.

Sarah was looking wistfully at us as she said, <It must be wonderful to be able to talk like this all the time. I feel so much closer to you guys than if we were just talking orally.>

{Missy, Jude, should we bring her into a family strength rapport?> I asked.

{Let's do it, Mike, } Jude said.

<Sarah, this is nothing. We link our minds and go into rapport together. When you go into rapport, you can have no secrets, so it's not for everyone. Would you like to see what that feels like?>

<I think I'd like that very much, Mike. I have nothing to hide from any of you.>

Missy, Jude and I were linked, and we slowly brought Sarah in. A look of peace and contentment slowly began to spread across her face. Her body relaxed, and I'll swear she looked twenty years younger than she had before we linked with her. We stayed linked with her for about twenty minutes, then gently broke the link.

<My God in Heaven, > Sarah said reverently. <I have never experienced anything like that in all of my sixty-eight years. Do you do this all of the time?>

<Yes, Sarah. Actually, what you just experienced is rather mild. In the link we just had with you, we could hold things back. We have a much closer link with our marriage partners that is a lot closer. It's almost like we're one person with many bodies and one brain.>

We all knew we'd be using the hot tub and sauna the rest of the year, but this was probably our last chance to use the pool this year, so we all took advantage of it. Sarah seemed to enjoy it as much or more than any of us. She seemed really sad when she finally decided it was time for her to go home. We invited her to come back any time, and she assured us she would.

Saturday, October 27, 1979

When I got up the next morning, Jude was already up and had a pot of coffee made. I poured myself a cup and went over and sat on her lap. She let out a "oof" so I got up took a seat and let her sit on me.

{That wasn't very nice, } she said. {You have to weigh twice what I weigh.}

{Yes, but your sweet little lap looked so inviting I couldn't resist.}

Jude giggled, {At least my lap is smooth. Yours has this thing protruding that I have to find some way to avoid. If I wasn't careful, I could impale myself on it and we certainly wouldn't want that, would we?}

{Oh, I don't know. Do you think impaling yourself would hurt?}

{I doubt that, } she grinned. {It's just that if I told myself to ovulate, I could end up looking like Missy.}

{Do you want to end up looking like Missy?}

{Very much. Not until it's my turn though. I know Sharon wants a baby and so does Bonnie. I love them too much to cheat them out of their turn.}

{Jude, you know I love you more than anything, don't you?}

{Yes, I do, Mike. I don't know why it happened, but I've loved you since you first touched my mind. Then when you deep scanned me, I knew I had to be with you the rest of our lives.}

Monday, October 29, 1979

Bonnie was on her way in to work when she noticed a car following her a little too closely. {Mike, I'm on Columbus Avenue and there's a guy that seems to be following me, } she said.

{What's he doing, Sweetheart?}

{Nothing so far, he's just following way too close. I just tried to scan him, and he's shielded.}

{Okay, don't panic. Stay on streets with as much traffic as possible. If you can find a place to do a U-turn, do so and start heading back this way. We're on our way.}

{Okay, Mike. I'm a little scared. If he's shielded, he's a telepath.}

{I know, Sweety. Just hang in there. He may have just noticed you are shielded and is wanting to make contact. Jude, Cindi, Missy, Sharon and I are in the car heading toward you.}

{Thank you, Mike. I can feel you all, so I'm not as afraid. If he attacks mentally, I know we are stronger than he is.}

I was breaking every traffic law as I sped toward where Bonnie and her tail were located. {Mike, this may be a false alarm. He just pulled out to pass me.}

{Okay, Bonnie. Be careful though. What is he driving?}

{It's some kind of full sized van. It's white and doesn't seem to have any windows on the sides. I don't see any kind of markings or I'd think it was a delivery van or something.}

Since we were moving so fast, and Bonnie had slowed down, I figured we were within twenty blocks or so when we heard a mental scream. I tried to contact Bonnie, but she was gone.

I must have been going eighty when I saw the Jag smashed into a beer truck who's cab was extended part way into the street. I hit the brakes and slid to a stop.

The driver of the truck was standing there looking at the Jag and his truck when we piled out and ran over. Bonnie was not in the Jag.

"Did you see what happened?" I asked the man.

"Yeah, I was watching the Jag coming down the street, thinking what a beautiful machine it was. A guy in a white panel truck was passing the van when all of a sudden he seemed to lose control and swerved into the Jag. The Jag was forced into my truck."

"What happened to the woman who was in the Jag?"

"The guy jumped out of the panel truck and went over to her. She was unconscious. He opened the side of the panel truck and yelled over at me that she was unconscious and that he was taking her to the hospital. I started over to help him move her, but he already had her in his vehicle before I got down off the dock. He jumped in and took off."

"What did he look like?"

"He was about your height and out weighed you by maybe thirty pounds. He had brown hair, starting to Grey. I'd say he was around forty."

"Thanks. Would you call the police for us? We're going to see if we can find out what hospital he took her to." The guy said he would, so I gave him a business card and told him Bonnie was my wife. I told him to tell the police what was going on and that they could contact me at the numbers on the card.

When we were back in the car, Missy said, {Mike, you know he didn't take her to a hospital don't you?}

{Yeah, I know, Missy. I just didn't want to be tied up with the police right now. Hold on a minute. I want to talk to the rest of the family.}

<Ken, Tim, can you guys hear me?> I asked.

<Yeah. Mike, > both of the answered.

I explained to them what had happened and asked for them and their wives to start scanning for Bonnie. <If anyone finds a trace of her, let me know immediately.>

The truck driver had said the kidnapper had turned south at the first street, so we went in that direction. We drove around for over two hours but never heard so much as a peep from Bonnie. Finally, feeling very dejected, we went home.

We were all sitting around, trying to figure out what had happened when Melly came up with an idea. <The way I figure it, > she said. <Bonnie was probably knocked out by the accident. This guy must have given her something to make her stay asleep, kind of like we did with Tim.>

We all agreed this was the most likely scenario. None of us wanted to think that she might be dead.

<If what Melly said is true, > Sharon said. <She won't be of much use to him if she's unconscious. He'll have to wake her up sometime.>

<In that case, I think we should set up an around the clock watch. If she is awakened, she'll try to contact us. I don't know if any of the rest of you have noticed it or not, but Melly and Sheila are almost as strong as Cindi and Jude now. I'd suggest they each take a six hour shift, with at least one of the rest of us keeping them company.>

<That makes sense, > I said. <He'll know we're watching though, so he'll probably do it at a really odd hour. Melly, Sheila, Cindi, and Jude, are you all agreeable to doing that?>

<Of course, Mike, > Sheila answered for all of them.

The rest of them agreed. We decided that Sheila would take the 6:00 AM until noon shift and Melly would watch from noon until 6:00 PM. Cindi would take the 6:00 PM until midnight shift and Jude would be on duty from midnight until 6:00 AM.

We had an early dinner then Sharon, Jude and I decided we should try to take a nap. I wanted to be with Jude on the late shift because I figured that was the most likely time the kidnapper would wake Bonnie up. Sharon said she wanted to keep us company.

Missy said she'd stay up with Cindi, but most of the rest of the family would be awake most of the time with them. I finally fell asleep between eight and nine, and was wide awake by 11:30 PM. I went out into the sitting room to check on Cindi and found her deep in conversation with Missy.

{So, you didn't hear anything?} I asked.

{Not a thing, } Cindi said. {Mike, I've been with you guys for a long time. I think I probably know each of you better than anyone else ever has. If Bonnie were anywhere close, I think I'd be able to pick her up even if she was asleep.}

{I know, Cindi. That scares me a little bit. We just have to hope she is okay.}

{Mike, Cindi and I have been talking about this all evening. I'm going to drive her around some tomorrow just to see if we can come into range. Do you have any suggestions as to which way to go?}

{Yeah, I've been thinking about it too. According to the truck driver, the guy took off to the south. I doubt seriously he continued in that direction for very long. He had to know we'd be looking for him, and he had to know the driver would tell us which way he headed.}

{Okay, so that leaves three directions, } Missy said. {If he is expecting us to be looking for them, I don't think he'd have gone over one of the bridges to the peninsula. That would leave either north or east.}

{Yeah, if he went north, he could go all the way to Alaska. He could also hit I-80 to the north of us and then go all the way to the east coast. Same goes if he headed east from the point of the accident. For some reason I feel like he is local though. I doubt they're more than twenty miles from here.}

{Okay, } Cindi said. {We'll start our search to the north in the morning. Now, I think I'll go and wake the lovely Jude up and then go to bed.}

Missy stayed around a few more minutes and we kissed and cuddled while Sharon and Jude made some coffee and got us a snack. When Missy left to go to bed, Sharon and Jude claimed a spot on my lap and we enjoyed each other for a while.

Tuesday, October 30, 1979

Sharon, Jude and I spent a long night, mostly just cuddling and talking. I was worried about Bonnie. The girls were too, but were trying to keep up a good front. We didn't go into rapport, which was probably a mistake because it would have let us deal more easily with our concern.

Sheila and Carrie came in just before 6:00 AM and relieved us. Jude and I went back to bed for a couple of more hours of sleep, but Sharon said she wanted to get ready and go into work early. <I don't know what Bonnie has been working on, so I'd like to look through some of her papers and see if there might be any clues there, > she told everyone.