Chapter 52

By the time we got out to the limousine waiting for us, the girls had quieted down considerably. I could see it in Kim and Heather's eyes, Lisa and Lori's face — Daddy's probably dead and we're laughing and squealing. I said probably because I had not had the chance yet to tell them what I knew. By the time we got into the car, I had a very somber group on my hands.

The seating arrangements, as usual, sorted themselves out in the car by that mysterious method my girls used. The arrangement was interesting. It was apparently a given that Kim and Heather sat on either side of me. They needed comfort, and my girls were very good about giving me up for others that needed me, in more ways than one! What was interesting was where Lisa and Lori sat. It had been maybe 20 minutes or so since Amy had picked Lisa up and proclaimed death to the world if anyone messed with her, and they were already inseparable friends. Lisa sat on Amy's lap, leaning back against her, with Amy's arms wrapped protectively around the little girl. The change in Amy was remarkable. I pitied whoever tried to come between her and her new little friend. Lisa also seemed to be ecstatic about the arrangement. She just leaned back, relaxed, and proceeded to talk non-stop to Amy. That was the other amazing thing; Amy just listened to Lisa, soaking in everything Lisa had to tell her. I had not seen Amy that quiet for that long since Cindi had died in the last cycle. Miracles did happen. I reached over and snapped my fingers in front of her eyes, just to verify that she wasn't asleep or dead or something. Oops, bad joke under the circumstances, I guess. I was glad I didn't say it out loud. Amy gave me a disgusted, 'you're a jerk' look, as she tried not to smile. She knew what I was doing and why. She just smiled and shrugged her shoulders, and went back to listening to Lisa attentively.

I was less amazed, but still a little surprised at the other 'mommy' scene going on. Lori had attached herself to Cindi and they seemed inseparable also. I hadn't really noticed that one happening in the hospital. Lori seemed to be a lot quieter that Lisa. Lori was perfectly content to just sit on Cindi's lap and listen to Cindi prattle on about anything and everything. She had discovered the way to Cindi's heart; let her talk, early and often. Lori was in a state of worship with Cindi, Amy, Christina and Valerie. It was obvious why with the President's daughters; hardly a girl in America wasn't in awe of them. It seemed that somewhere Lori had seen the TV broadcasts of Cindi and Amy when Elizabeth had died, and all four of them were now her heroes. It didn't matter what the four girls talked about, Lori was in ecstasy just listening to them. She probably just enjoyed listening to other young girls talk, having been stuck in the cave for awhile with a bunch of men of the lower persuasions in life. I suddenly hoped that they hadn't taken advantage of her in any other ways other than making her the chief cook and bottle washer. I had a feeling Lori would never tell if they did. She was a strong little girl.

Once we got on the plane, Kim and Heather sat with me on the flight, much as Christina and Valerie had on the way out, but with a noticeable difference. Whereas the First Twins had flirted with me most of the way, while pretending to be asleep, Kim and Heather sniffled and cried softly all the way to Utah. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you — we were not going home yet. I figured since we were most of the way there, we might as well stop and see Megan, Katie and Becky.

It was a pretty short flight. Russ and David had arranged for transportation to be waiting at the airport for us when we arrived. I had decided to just surprise Megan and the girls, not telling them that we were coming. Once we landed at the airport, I decided that was probably a bad idea. I hated surprises like that, even if it was something pleasant like Megan showing up unexpectedly, so I decided not to do it to her. Besides, I had this sudden picture in my mind of walking in on the three of them and finding them in bed together naked. Now where did that come from? It took awhile to get that image out of my mind. I just wasn't sure what I thought of that, although a certain part of my body was perfectly sure what he thought of it! He thought it was HARD-ly a problem! I called Megan from the airport to let her know we would be there shortly. I almost heard her squeal of delight clear out to the airport without the cell phone.

Megan, Katie, and Becky were waiting outside the house they were staying in when we arrived. I had barely gotten out of the car when Megan almost knocked me over, leaping into my arms. We kissed without stopping until the girls started clearing their throats loudly. Cindi broke up laughing when I borrowed a page from her book and gave them all the finger from behind Megan's back as I kissed her some more.

Since she decided she would probably be in Utah for awhile, Megan had rented a big old house to stay in. The size of it told me that my little precognitive buddy knew that the rest of us would be there for an extended visit before long. There was plenty of room for each of the girls to have a room, although they would have to share it with their twin or bosom buddy of the moment.

After all the welcomes and commiserations with James' girls had taken place, we all sat down to talk. No one except me knew yet exactly what had happened. I had gotten the story from the police and doctors at the hospital. Oh, probably Victoria and David also knew, but that was it.

The day that James had died, the four girls had gone shopping with a friend and her mother, leaving James behind. He hated to go shopping, and by the girls' own admissions, occasionally liked to get them out of the house so he could have some time alone. He had decided to do some patching on the roof that he had been putting off for far too long.

No one would probably ever know exactly what happened. He was apparently standing near the edge of the roof and either lost his balance and fell, or just wasn't paying attention and simply stepped off the edge of the roof. At any rate, he suffered a skull fracture and multiple other serious injuries when he hit the ground. He apparently had just enough time to call 911 on his cell phone before he blacked out. By the time the police arrived, he was in a coma and never regained consciousness. He died within an hour of arriving at the hospital. By the time the girls got back from their shopping trip and were picked up by the police and brought to the hospital, James had already passed away.

Knowing my suspicious nature and sharing fully in it, Victoria quizzed the police and doctors very thoroughly when she arrived. They were very cooperative after she explained that she had been working on a case involving James in some obscure way for the FBI, as an independent consultant. She assured me that there didn't seem to be any indication whatsoever that his death was anything other than an accident. She had even convinced them to show her his body and she searched it thoroughly for any signs of energy burns, or any sign of trauma inconsistent with an accidental fall. Before we arrived, she had even ignored my request to not leave the hospital, took a quick run out to the house, and climbed up on the roof, looking for signs of foul play. There was nothing. If there had been anything, Victoria would have found it. She was the best that there was at accident reconstruction. For whatever reason, he just fell off the roof.

I think everyone was even more upset by that than if he had been killed. It was such a stupid loss of life. At least if he had been killed in a fight, it would have been trying to save one of our lives. I could see a question in every one of the girl's eyes, but they were not about to ask. I decided to be the gutsy one and ask while Michelle was not there. I didn't know how much she knew, and the information I needed would be impossible to ask without giving away secrets. I pulled Kim over to my lap and hugged her close, hoping not to upset her too badly.

"I just don't understand how this could have happened," I started out. "We almost never die of accidental causes. Even Cindi's accident in the last cycle was not an accident. That's why I was afraid we were missing something important here, but I just don't see it." The more I thought of the matter, the more confused I got.

As soon as I finished talking, I saw Kim, Heather, Lisa and Lori look at each other, as if they knew something that I didn't. When I saw Kim chew on her lower lip, I knew for sure something was going on. I lifted my eyebrows questioningly. Kim, Heather and Lori all looked at Lisa. Now there was an interesting development; two precocious, very mature teenagers deferring to a six year old to explain something. Lisa looked a little... uncertain.

"Well... you see... it probably makes sense," she said, then stopped, looking at me as if that explained everything. As if by prearranged signal, Kim slid off my lap and Lisa slid on, snuggling up to me and closing her eyes for a minute. After a moment of silence, I nudged her gently in the side, 'waking' her up. She squeaked and jumped, then looked at me guiltily.

"Well, you see... It probably makes sense because Daddy was not one of us," Lisa stated nonchalantly, as if that explained all the mysteries of the universe. It only took a few seconds before her little preteen brain figured out that we were not following her.

"Daddy had no powers. He had no colors. He was just a very wonderful man who saw four lost girls and gave them a place to live and a family," she explained. Becky asked what we all wondered.

"But he helped with Megan. He checked her out. He could sense her. He told us what was wrong with her. How did he do that?" She asked. Lisa gave an innocent, shy little smile, just trying to make the whole thing go away.

"Oh, that," she said softly, acting as if it just wasn't important at all. "We taught him how to do that."

If the room had been chock full of rabbits, there couldn't have been more ears poked straight up in the air as Lisa got all of our attentions. Not just the attention of all of us, but every bit of attention that each of us had.

"You... taught him how to do that?" I asked carefully after a moment's pause. I had waited to see if any of those other chicken shits were going to ask, but apparently it was up to me.

"Yeah. It's not hard," she said in a self-deprecating manner. She seemed to be getting really uncomfortable as we all just stared at her. Kim, Heather and Lori were really busy looking around everywhere else in the room except at Lisa and us.

"What?!?" She asked, finally, getting irritated. "Anyone can do it. It's no big deal. Jeez!" She exclaimed. Then, she looked at us carefully, turned pale and sat real still.

"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" She asked softly. I shook my head.

"Well, I can't tell you how to do it. I'm only six years old, for heaven's sake; I'm just a little girl!" Funny; she didn't like it when Ms. Hanson called her that! "I might be able to show you how; I'm not sure. It's just so natural, I don't know if I can isolate all the steps. The ancient people did it all the time," she said. I could see that as soon as she said that she regretted what she had said.

"How do you know all this, Lisa? What do you know about the Ancients? How do you know the Ancients did it all the time?" Megan asked her gently. Lisa groaned. She had been hoping no one would notice her faux pas. Not a chance, with Megan around. She suddenly acted very much like a little six year old girl. I had already seen what a good actress she was.

"Do I have to tell you?" She whined. "I really don't think you really want to know, and I know I don't want to tell you!" She whined some more. God, this girl could whine! If there was an Oscar for whining, she had it in the bag, without even needing to vote on it. The thing was, I knew she was not a whiney person. It was all an act. It just always got her what she wanted with James, Heather and Kim. Well, it wouldn't work with my crew. They couldn't give a damn less about whining, unless it was them doing it. Then it was important! I hugged her even tighter. She looked at Amy, hoping her new friend would save her. Amy smiled gently, lovingly, even sympathetically at her, and then just as lovingly pushed her off the cliff to the waiting wolves below.

"I think you'd probably better just tell them, Lisa," Amy said softly. Lisa sighed a big sigh.

"That's easy for you to say. You don't know what I have to tell them! What's your official title, Megan?" Lisa asked, seemingly out of the blue. Megan looked surprised, and then answered her.

"I'm the Scribe and Historian. Well, at least I'm a Scribe and Historian, now that Julie is in the picture," Megan answered her confidently. Once again, Megan glared at me. Would she ever forgive me for what I did? Megan grinned at me and shook her head. Lisa looked scared.

"I'm sorry... I really am... Please don't get mad at me, Mommy Megan, but no, you're not; you're mistaken," Lisa whispered quietly. I cringed and looked at her with admiration, as well as sympathy. The girl had guts; telling a Scribe she was wrong. That usually went over really well! She looked for all the world like she wanted to be anywhere but here right now, talking about this.

Megan is good at everything, but she really excels at being a parent and a teacher. She didn't even come close to acting mad, upset or irritated. Here a six year old was telling the Hall of Fame Scribe that something she had known all her life as clearly as she knew her own name was wrong, and Megan just smiled a smile of genuine warmth at the little girl. I had to learn how Lisa did that!

"Well, a Scribe thrives on gaining new knowledge. So, am I not a Scribe, or am I not a Historian, or am I not both?" She asked, seemingly genuinely interested.

I'm sure you've all had those times in your life when you asked a question or did something little and unimportant and just that simple act awakened something really profound that you had no idea was there. That's what happened when Megan made that last remark. It was hard to put my finger on it, but suddenly, Lisa wasn't a little girl anymore. You could see it in her face, her mannerisms, but especially in how confident and sure she was of herself and what she was.

"You're a Scribe. You're not a Historian," she stated definitively. That's all she said. I suddenly had the distinct feeling that she had a very clear idea of exactly who each of us was, and was just overcome with awe at who she was talking to. I suddenly knew that she knew much more clearly who we were than we knew ourselves. I also knew she would not be saying anything else unless we dragged it out of her. It was kind of like the first time Cindi talked to the President.

"So, a Scribe and a Historian are not the same thing?" Megan asked.

"Oh, no, they're very different. They're related in function in some ways, but they're definitely different," Lisa explained.

"So, how is it that all this time I thought a Scribe and a Historian were the same thing, and that I was both?" Megan asked.

"It's an understandable error," Lisa explained patiently. I smiled to myself. The little girl was so in awe of Megan, she was trying to make excuses for her for the misunderstanding. After all, Megan just couldn't be wrong, could she? "In the ancient language, the words for Scribe and for Historian are very similar. There is only one letter difference in the two words, and they sound the same." She thought for a minute. "It's kind of like 'there' and 'their' in English. They are two words that sound alike, and are only one letter different, yet mean very different things. In this case, it was even more confusing, as the two jobs are somewhat related." Was it just me, or was it really weird being lectured on the similarity of English words and confusion of words in an ancient language by a six year old?

"Where the confusion really took hold was that, for the only time in our history, the Scribe before you, Megan, was both the Historian and the Scribe. He performed both jobs for so long that people came to relate the two together." Lisa stopped talking and reverted to her scared, overawed six-year-old persona again.

"What is the difference between the two, honey?" Megan asked, trying to put the girl at ease.

"What do you remember about our history, Megan? And... excuse me, but... what do I call you? 'Megan' just doesn't sound right, given who you are," Lisa asked with trepidation. Megan gave her a cold little smile, but her eyes were twinkling.

"If you think 'Lady Samantha' goes ballistic when you call her that, you haven't seen the crap you are going to step into if you call me anything other than Megan or Mom," Megan threatened her. Lisa gave a nervous little laugh. "I remember every detail of all our lives from the time of the beginning of the cycles and the 37 years of my life before that through to the present. That includes the times in the cycles," Megan explained.

"Right. But you remember nothing before your birth 37 years ago, before the cycles?" Lisa clarified.

"That's correct," Megan verified.

"That's a Scribe. A Scribe remembers everything about a particular subject, in a particular period of time. It can be thousands of years, as long as it is all related; sort of a very specialized Historian. A Historian remembers everything before your birth, before we became 'human', back to and including everything in ancient times. He or she is a living encyclopedia, a living history book," Lisa explained. She blushed and looked down at the floor as everyone stared at her in surprise.

"I've never heard of that before," I interjected. "Is there such a person alive today?" I asked. Lisa bit her lip and nodded her head.

"Who is it? Where are they? And how do you know all this, Lisa?" Becky asked. As the guide for the Ancient Prophecy, she obviously had a great interest in that information. Lisa looked like she was ready to cry.

"I'm sorry. I can't tell you that right now." She looked at us all as if we were going to bite her. Mommy Megan came to the rescue.

"That's ok, sweetheart. We wouldn't want you to do anything that would get you in trouble." Lisa gave her a grateful smile.

I could feel the excitement coursing through my body. So, there was someone around who knew everything about us, from day one! I wondered who it was. Unless Julie was fulfilling both purposes, it couldn't be her; she was a Scribe, and was not even that before I made her one at the end of the last cycle. Sammi was out; she was a new creation, created by Bandor. Amy was a Guardian and Protector; unless she was a really good actress, historical recording was not her forte. Killing assholes that desperately needed killing and defending helpless creatures like me were more her specialties. Cindi would be an interesting choice, but I didn't think so. Her ability to change the conditions of and affect the outcome of events would be in direct conflict with the Historian's duties. Becky was a possibility, but she had indicated she wanted to meet that person; unless she was a consummate actress, that ruled her out. She would be an interesting possibility, however, given her job as guide and expert on the Ancient Prophecy. Katie was probably out also; her ability to manipulate electronic equipment was a potential conflict. Then I mentally slapped myself on the forehead. Of course! It was so patently obvious; why didn't I think of it earlier? In a way, I was pleased. I could see that even the little genius, Katie, hadn't figured it out yet. I had beaten all the little geniuses!

The girls quickly changed subjects. My girls are nothing if not empathetic. They understand completely the concept of not being able to talk about things and were the last to ever make someone uncomfortable by prying. They didn't like it, but they understood. Fortunately, we had plenty to talk about; we had the President's daughters with us!

Later, Megan took me to the site she was working on. At least, she tried to, but the handprint access code would not let us in past the foyer. That was interesting, since my handprint appeared to be on the wall, and Megan and Katie had always been able to get in before. Megan and Katie looked at me apologetically; they explained that they still had some preliminary setup work to do on the systems and apparently I couldn't enter until everything was ready. I did notice another handprint on the main door wall. I didn't say anything about it; it was apparent from their lack of comment that Megan and Katie couldn't see it. I knew whose it was. Megan and Katie told me later that as soon as I left, they were able to get in again.

I spent the next few days with Kim and Heather, comforting them and making sure they would be ok. They were especially concerned and upset by what they felt was their lack of respect and decorum to the memory of their Dad with their shrieks of joy after they were allowed to go home with us. I explained to them that it had been the release of a lot of tension and pure emotion and that James would have understood. I finally got them to see my point, but they still apologized to me and swore that they would never do something like that again.

Lisa and Lori seemed to be taking the situation better than Kim and Heather. Of course, they had Amy and Cindi to help them through it. The two little girls stuck to their heroes like glue. That was cute enough, but it was just priceless to watch Amy and Cindi dote on the two precious little six year olds. I never thought I would see the day that Amy would become maternal. She was, though, almost viciously.

The first night turned out to be interesting. The sleeping arrangements just sorted themselves out naturally. When I made my late night inspection tour, I was not surprised at all to find Lisa curled up with Amy, with the older girl's arms wrapped around her protectively. I found a similar situation with Cindi and Lori. Kim and Heather slept together, as I expected. The two surprises came later that night.

I got up later that night, after midnight, to get a drink. The first thing I heard when I walked through the living room was the quiet sobs coming from the couch. I made my way over there, expecting to find Kim or Heather grieving over the death of their father. Instead, I found Amy, crying in her sleep.

I didn't know what she was doing there. Several hours earlier, she had been sound asleep, mostly wrapped around Lisa, keeping her safe. I sat on the couch next to her and gently woke her up. She woke up immediately, saw who I was, and snuggled up, crying softly, sadly. I stroked her hair as I held her and asked her what was wrong.

"They're going to kill him, Daddy! They're just going to kill him! I don't know why! He knows it too. He's trying to escape, get away before it happens. We have to save him, Daddy! He doesn't deserve to die!" She was breathing hard, gasping for breath as she told me what the problem was. I was confused, to say the least.

"Save who, Amy? Who are they going to kill? And who are they?" I was really confused. For once, I was sure this didn't pertain to us. There were no 'him's' among us, except me, and Amy would have been clearer had it been me. I looked at her eyes carefully; they were clear, although filled with tears. They were not flat and devoid of all expression, a dead giveaway that she wasn't talking about me. Amy gave me a sad little look.

"I don't know! I don't know who he is or who they are or why they would kill him. I just don't know!" She was bordering on hysteria. I kissed her to try to calm her down. She grabbed me and kissed me with a desperation and abandon that I had seldom experienced with her before.

"Tell me what you know, honey," I said gently.

"He's about our age, about fourteen. He's not one of us; he's completely human. That's all I know. I can't see into his mind; I seem to be blocked. He lets me see things occasionally. I have been dreaming about him for a couple of weeks, but I thought they were just mindless dreams." She blushed and her voice got low and husky. "I thought I was just horny... it's been awhile and he's really cute!" She smiled at me shyly, apologetically. "But tonight, it was vivid. It's real. But I don't know who he is, where he's at, or why he's in danger. All I know is that it has to do with a sword. That's it. We've got to help him, Daddy." Her eyes were wide open in fright, scared for her anonymous 'friend'. That's when I heard the soft voice from the dark corner of the room.

"His name is Christopher. Christopher Michael. His mother is the only one that called him that, though. Most everyone calls him Chris. That's ok with him, but he prefers Christopher, though," Katie whispered softly, then walked over to the couch. Amy looked at her, eyes wide open in shock.

"You've seen him too?" She asked Katie, her voice trembling. Katie nodded.

"He's in trouble... big trouble. Amy's right... they're going to kill him. He's too high a risk for them; he knows too much, and they don't think they need him anymore. He's no longer controllable. He thinks too much... he's not the mindless automaton that they want. But I don't know where he is either. He'll find us though. I bet you can't guess when his birthday is." I looked at her in shock, and she nodded her head.

"April 13^th?" Amy asked in disbelief. "But... I'm sure he's not one of us!"

"I'm pretty sure he's not either, but the way his mind is shielded, that could be an act. But I see no evidence of colors. I'm pretty sure he's not one of us. And you're right; he's really cute!" Amy blushed. Then, Katie slipped over to me and whispered in my ear.

"Stay here with her. Love her. She needs you tonight. Please. I'll stand watch outside the door and make sure you're not disturbed." She smiled shyly.

"And watch too, you little imp. Right?" I asked. Katie laughed gently.

"Of course. Sarah says it's really fun!"

Katie was right. Amy was very needy. At least three times needy. I carried her to bed later and wrapped her around Lisa again. Then I went back into the living room where I knew Katie was waiting for me. An hour later I carried her to bed also as she slept peacefully in my arms, a cute, satisfied, exhausted little smile on her face.

I woke up about 3:00 am again. The bedroom partners had changed again. Kim and Heather were lying on either side of me, snuggled as close as they could get. That made it hard to go back to sleep! It didn't help either that we were all naked. It really didn't help that Megan was sitting in the chair in the corner of the room, watching us peacefully. She came over and sat by my head. She grinned as she saw me react to the fact that she had no panties on under that t-shirt.

"They just wandered in here in their sleep and crawled in bed with you. I slipped out of bed to keep from waking them up. You know you're going to have to awaken their powers soon, don't you?" She asked, giggling at my discomfort at her question.

"I thought James already did that!" I protested. She laughed at me.

"He did what he could. They need more work. Also, you remember that map in Phoenix showed an unlit light in Washington DC? Want to take a guess who that is?" She asked, grinning. I gasped in horror.

"Megan, I am not making love to the President's daughters! It's not going to happen!" I protested.

"Not even if he tells you to?" She asked quietly. I looked at her as if she was crazy.

"He's not stupid, you know," she continued. "I'm sure he knows about us; certainly he knows about our powers, since he was there when we prevented his kidnapping. More importantly, he knows what all the girls need and who is giving it to them. Mark my words; he will ask you someday soon to wake up his little girl's powers. It's either you or him, and he can't take that chance." I groaned as she laughed at me. God, those two girls had felt so good snuggled up to me that night in the White House. As good as these two now. So soft, smooth, tender. So helpless. Now there was an act if I ever saw one. If they were like my girls, helpless was not a word normally used in describing them. Although, when their eyes weren't crazy, they did look and act like helpless, adorable teenagers. Did I really say that? Adorable teenagers?

We played musical teenagers the next couple nights. The girls always let me have my time with Megan the first half of the night. Then, either Kim and Heather, or Valerie and Christina would come in for the second half of the night, to get their time. With Kim and Heather I think it was mostly comfort. Their reaction to James' death had been delayed due to the problems with Ms. Hanson, but after that was over, it hit them pretty hard. With Christina and Valerie, I think they were just twin horny teenagers who didn't know what to do about it. I think they were hoping I would just take them one night. I think they were also responding to their bodies and mind's needs. Their minds were trying to tell them they needed to be activated. I knew that and I felt sorry for them, but I was not 'activating their powers', or anything else you chose to call it, until I knew it was ok with the father. Twice I also woke up in the morning lying on my back with Lisa lying on my chest, sound asleep. It was very nonsexual, but pleasant. I loved any kind of interaction with that sweet little girl. I hated it that James was gone, but I was as happy as I could be under the circumstances that these precious girls were now my daughters. Of course, if Dad was right, they always had been. Waking up with Lisa, or sometimes Lori sleeping on top of me became a pleasant habit.