Chapter 4

Bobby's descent out the window was a little bumpy, but he didn't hit anything on the way down. The trip was bumpy because he kept hanging in air and having to push himself down—gravity just had no effect! However, once he was a few inches from the ground, he released his mental control and fell that last little distance. He hit with no more force than if he had originally jumped to the ground from that few inches of height, so he was not jarred by the impact. Bobby detected somebody leaning out the window, trying to see if there was anyone out there, hanging on the wall or something. Bobby scrunched harder against the wall and waited to see what might happen.

He directed his attention back to the room that he had just jumped from to try to read some minds and find out what was going on. Some idiot asked Iris, the prostitute, why she had shot Joe, and she protested that she had not been the one to shoot him. She said some midget had run into the room and shot the bastard when he had tried to cut her tit off. If she ever saw that midget again, she would give him free dunks any time he asked; in fact, out of gratitude, she might ask him. Iris asked how the hell she could have shot Joe, since his brains were over her head and her arms were not long enough to shoot him from behind from where she was lying.

The marshal finally pushed his way through the crowd, and he asked the same stupid questions. Iris gave the same answers, which seemed to satisfy the marshal, so he chased everybody out of the room while he collected his daily free one from Iris. After that, he rounded up the undertaker to take care of Joe.

Bobby saw that there would be no repercussions heaped on Iris' head, so he walked around to the front of the saloon to check on the town drunk. The drunk had taken advantage of the distraction to visit as many unfinished drinks as he could find and consume them before the rightful owner returned. By this point, he was really soused and had been tossed out the back door to sleep it off. Laughing, Bobby searched the mind of the sleeping drunk to see what amusing he might find there. He was horrified to find that the drunk was a serial killer of children. Shit! That was not funny! Storm Who Walks was just as horrified at what Bobby had discovered and approved when Bobby stopped the drunk's heart from beating.

Bobby took a seat on the edge of the wooden sidewalk to try to regain his equilibrium after that gruesome experience. At first, he insisted to Storm Who Walks that he would never read minds again, but was reassured when Storm Who Walks pointed out that he had saved the card sharp, Iris, and many children with his mind reading skill, so he should be happy, and not sad. Bobby should just think of the multitude of people that he would be able to help by continuing to read minds. Bobby had to concede the truth in that, so he was mollified enough to withdraw his resolution of abstention from mind reading.

Storm Who Walks said, "Now that you have some experience with what I am told are called telekinetics, or TK, and mind reading, or MR, you should expand your study to other skills. For your next skill, we will have to return to solitude for safety, so you may enjoy the rest of the day here in town, and we will leave tomorrow to find a place to be alone."

The next morning after breakfast, Bobby collected his horse and mule and left town. Since it was a known quantity, he returned to the same forested spot he had practiced in before. Storm Who Walks had Bobby set up camp and rest until after lunch.

"Now is the time for you to learn what may be your most difficult, but useful skill. It is known as Teleportation, or TP, and it will let you move from one place to another without having to physically travel the distance between them. For example, you are now standing near your campfire. Suppose you want to travel to that tree over there? You could walk, you could move your body with TK, or you could jump to the tree by using TP. Do you understand what I am saying?"

"Yes, but how is that possible?"

"I don't know how it is possible, but you can do it. We will start out with a simple jump. Study the vicinity of that tree. Once you have a clear picture of what it looks like, close your eyes and visualize yourself standing beside the tree. Supply as many details as you can as you visualize yourself standing there. Concentrate very hard and keep telling yourself that you are beside the tree, just as in your visualization. Now do it!"

Bobby did his best to follow instructions, but he seemed not to be making any progress. Suddenly, he felt a kind of dislocation in his mind, followed by a chill breeze on his skin. He heard Storm Who Walks gasping for breath, he was laughing so hard. Bobby opened his eyes to see what was so funny and nearly fainted from surprise.

A very naked Bobby was standing beside the tree he had been trying to TP to. His clothes were in a pile back where he had been standing. Storm Who Walks finally got himself under control and said, "I must say congratulations on making your first TP jump, Fire Bringer, but I think that it would be a much more useful skill if you kept your clothes with you while you made the jump. Bobby blushed all over from embarrassment at his error. He TPed himself back to his clothes and got dressed.

Storm Who Walks had Bobby repeat his TP jump many times until he could retain his clothes and anything else he wanted to move with him. After nearly 3 weeks of practice, Bobby could TP himself and anything else he wished to any place that he could see without having to pause to visualize the jump. He could TP to a place he couldn't see, but he had to have a moment to visualize the jump. Storm Who Walks assured Bobby that there was no distance he could not reach, but he should not try to jump to the moon or other heavenly bodies for technical reasons that Storm Who Walks didn't understand, so he could not explain them to Bobby. Bobby promised not to TP into water, either, until he had learned a lot more skills.

Bobby spent another month practicing TK and TP until they were second nature. Once he was confident in his use of these skills, Storm Who Walks moved him on to learning another skill which fit with his warrior name. Bobby was going to become Fire Bringer in the literal sense! Storm Who Walks said to Bobby, "I am going to tell you something which I don't understand, so I won't be able to answer a lot of questions. Just listen to what I have to say and try to follow my instructions exactly.

"All of the stuff that makes up the world is made up of tiny bits called molecules. These molecules can move around a little bit. What you know of as heat is a result of this movement of molecules. The faster the molecules move, the hotter an object gets. You can heat an object by making its molecules move faster, that's what a fire does to boil water. You can cool something off by slowing down the molecules, but that can be harder to do.

"You can use your TP skill to move the molecules inside an object. You have to be careful what you decide to heat up. If you use the skill on a piece of wood, it would burn. If you use the skill on water, it would boil. But, if you use the skill on a rock, it might explode like a keg of gunpowder. So, I suggest that you be careful, at first, with what you practice on. Start off with that piece of wood over there."

Bobby imagined that the piece of wood was really a collection of tiny pieces, something like a sculpture made of sand. He visualized these tiny pieces shaking back and forth, faster and faster. Nothing seemed to happen, so he made the minute pieces move even faster. Still nothing, so he got a little pissed off and visualized these tiny pieces moving so fast that the motion was invisible. Still nothing, and Bobby was about to give up in disgust, but he kept at it. Suddenly, the wood burst into flame, and Bobby jumped back in shock.

Bobby could feel Storm Who Walks beam in approval. "Fire Bringer, you have truly earned your new name, and it is the one I shall use for you from now on. Practice some more on new pieces of wood. You must be able to bring fire without delay, if you are to get much use from the skill."