Chapter 9

"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride," proclaimed Mister Skinner, Brodie's bishop from his church.

We were all in the backyard standing under the Elm tree that Brodie had planted when he first bought the ranch. Now the big tree was a sight to behold as it stretched its branches over most of the backyard where the invited guests were seated. The wedding party which included my sisters and myself along with Francis' best friend/ best man Kenji Martin, another detective from California. Now though none of that mattered as Mr. Skinner spoke up after Francis and my mom finished their kiss, saying to the audience, "Ladies and Gentlemen, friends and family, it is my honor and privilege to ask all of you to join me in round of applause for the new couple, Mister and Missus Francis Mayer."

The congratulations was loud and long as Francis and my mother moved through their friends talking to everyone while Shelly, Sheri, and myself stood off to the side receiving our own congratulations from the adults that thought enough of us to be included in the congratulations. Myself I was just happy that in a few short hours all of the craziness of the last couple of weeks would be over. Now that the end of the wedding was over and the media attention that had been focused on our family was dying down. Most of that was from the coroner's report on the guy that I had killed with my gift as it stated that cause of death was unknown at the time of the release. That of course focused the media's attention back on me as there was one reporter that found me absolutely fascinating. Why I had no idea, but none the less in the weeks leading up to the wedding I found him watching me in the mornings when I left for my run along with being there when the bell rang for the end of the school day. Even talking to the SRO about my shadow only produced limited results that were not overly satisfying since he was always on public property and never approached me. He just watched what I did.

That reporter was not the only person that was disrupting my ordered life. After that Saturday with Faith at the canal she became glued to my hand, constantly holding on to me when she was with me. Presently she was being somewhat discrete since her mother and father were at the wedding and I could see her mother giving both of us the evil eye while my sisters were nowhere to be found as they were hanging out with a few of their other friends that they had been allowed to invite to the barbecue.

I was also allowed to invite a couple friends to the wedding and reception. The problem with that was the fact that I had very few friends in school and the few I did have would not be caught near a wedding. For me that meant inviting Steve who I had neither seen, nor had a chance to talk to since the fight. Now though when Faith released me to get some food I found Steve and the two of us loaded up two plates each and headed away from everyone for a chance to talk. That place of course was the glade and with the picnic table there I could offer him a seat. At first neither of us said anything preferring to eat our food before the insects got into everything. When we had finished our rush through our food he asked me how I was holding up. I told him I was doing fine. From there he went on to question me about what happened. I explained what had gone down from the time I spotted the men coming over the hill. When I got to the point where I fought the guy in the shop he asked if I had used my ability and I told I had and how I did it. When I had finished he asked how I felt now that I had a couple of weeks to think about what I had done.

Looking at Steve sitting there patiently waiting for my answer, I stated with a shrug, "I feel nothing for them. They came after me and they died for their efforts."

Steve had still said nothing as if he was waiting for something.

"Other than the eyes of the man I drained I have no idea why I keep seeing his eyes when I close mine," I finished.

"Why do his eyes bother you?" Steve asked.

All I could offer was a shrug because I had no idea why. We were still sitting there quietly when the idea came to me and I answered, "Maybe because I literally drained the life out of him."

We went on like that for another half hour, I also explained about what had happened when I had embedded my Sais and could not get them back. Steve and I discussed what I had done and covered several other possible situations like knives getting stuck when they were embedded to the hilt. That was where Faith, Shelly and Sheri found us an hour later discussing what my schedule would be on Monday once the tryouts for the team started. When they found us we were told that the newlywed couple was getting ready to leave for their trip to Hawaii for the week and they wanted everyone to see them off. We grabbing our trash and all five of us made our way back to the reception. Shortly after depositing our trash the couple made their appearance and everyone bade them fond farewell as they headed around the house to the car they were taking to the airport.

After watching the dust settle as they drove away the remaining party guests returned to the backyard for one more trip through the buffet or simply sit and talk to their friends. That was the way it stayed with the adults sitting around talking and the younger guests like my sisters and their friends out on the dance floor. When the shadow from the hill made its presence felt the party ended. With the crew from the rental place on hand we broke everything down. Before the light had gone we were finished with the leftover food packaged and stored in the house. As for people still at the ranch that was a joke since only Brodie and I remained. My sisters had been invited to stay with Faith overnight. Between Brodie and myself little was said as both of us headed to the freezer and took out the containers of ice cream we liked. Since no one was there to tell us we could not, we got out a couple of the large serving bowls and took what we wanted.

Sitting on the patio watching the light fade away with the sounds of insects and spoons scrapping the last of the ice cream out of the bowls, Brodie asked, "Care to tell me what you are doing up in that apartment that is using so much electricity?"

That caught me off guard as I never thought that I was leaving a trail behind using the electricity. After taking a couple of seconds to answer, I replied, "The truth of the matter is that I am working on an experiment."

"That I figured but the amount of power you are using is significant compared to what the ranch uses normally. Before you go off offering to pay for what you are using I am not too concerned about that, what I am concerned about is that comparing what the farm normally uses you are drawing a lot of power and that amount of power is dangerous. All I am saying is that I want you to be safe in whatever you are doing up there." Brodie finished.

"Don't you want to know what I am doing up there?" I asked.

"Of course I am curious as to what you are doing, I have been watching my power bill and the usage level is different but I also respect your privacy, if you want to show me then you will and I will be happy for the trust you are putting in me. If you do not then I will understand that also but then I would ask that you think about what you are doing and is it safe." Brodie stated.

Looking at Brodie in the darkness I could see that he was watching me waiting for me to make a decision. Deciding that I did not want to give too much away until I knew how he was going to react. Making it simple, I asked, "What is it that you think that I can do now?"

"Well to start with there is the second guy you killed when we were attacked. The detectives said that there were some questions regarding the second guy you killed since other than being obese there was nothing wrong with him but he died of a heart attack. Then of course there was what went on in the hospital when you were injured, I overheard several nurses saying that the monitoring equipment was not working as it should even after being replaced. Then of course there are the things I have seen at your studio with Steve on the few occasions that I got there a few minutes early. Watching you I have never seen anyone move as fast as you and Steve, sure he is fast but what I saw watching you two spar there is no doubt in my mind that you are even faster than what I have seen already."

What could I say other than I did not realize how perceptive Brodie was and how open I was with what I could do. Not knowing what else I could say, I offered, "Steve and I do not know the extent of what I can do yet. When we first moved here and we met him he tested me on what I could do and my overall skill considering that I was studying a new art. At first I was about what anyone could expect, even in sparring on the mat I was okay but due to my lack of any height I was always at a disadvantage. That changed after the accident. What everyone found amazing with my eyesight and how fast I healed was nothing compared to being able to control electricity."

Not giving him a chance to interrupt I raised my hands and let the power I had stored flow between my hands arc back and forth like a Tesla cage. Brodie simply gasped at what I was doing. Continuing I said, "That is where the power use that you have seen in the ranch's electric bill has gone. I have no idea what or why it happened but here I am and I am still trying to figure out what is happening to me."

With a worried expression, Brodie asked, "What do you mean what else is happening to you?"

"What I have shown you and what you have heard about is only part of what I can do," I stated.

The two of us sat there in the darkness for a while before Brodie asked, "Did you do something to Gerty?"

"Yes, I did. I would have done more but I ran out of time when she ran out of time in the gun fight," I answered.

"My God, if everything you are saying is the truth then you need to be a lot more careful with who is seeing what."
"I know there are too many things happening with me to keep everything under cover. Remember when I was in the hospital and the doctors wanted to keep me there for more testing and I wanted out of there, they were already sniffing around trying to piece the puzzle together," I added.

The two of us continued to sit there in the darkness each of us lost in our own thoughts. Finally, he asked, "So what do you want to do now?"

Answering, I said, "I don't know. Until you mentioned everything you picked up on, I thought that I had kept a low profile not letting people see what I could do. Not to belittle you, but if you figured out that something was going on with me then other people who are professional snoops will figure it out eventually."

"So the question remains what do you want to do about it?"

Smiling, I answered, "Be like the government and deny everything until everything blows over."

We both chuckled at my statement then with the silence getting long I let Brodie know that I was heading to my apartment for the night. Picking up both bowls I wished him a good night and after putting the bowls in the sink headed to my apartment.

Sunday with only Brodie and me on the ranch was actually a return to normal for the both of us, back before my sisters arrived half way through summer. Now with everyone else gone the two of us set up for breakfast of eggs, toast and hash browns after we finished our morning chores. Sitting down to breakfast Brodie let me know that he was planning on attending church that morning and that the offer to attend was always open especially after what I shown him the night before. To which I replied that nothing had changed in my life to warrant my appearance in a church. We ate in silence after that and then with Brodie by my side the two of us made short work of our dishes.

With Brodie gone and my sisters still staying with Faith, the ranch was quiet for which I was very thankful. Grabbing my own gear I headed for my grove and did all of my forms. Once I finished with that and with over an hour before anyone would be home I practiced with my telekinesis using it with my weapons. I could pick them up and move them around but as far as wielding them with any skill it was still far above what I could do. So it was that I simply put my weapons away when Faith's family van pulled up to their house. Walking back to my apartment I watched their van pull out and while I was upstairs they pulled into our driveway and the three of them took off for the house never to be seen. Before Faith's mother could pull away Brodie returned and the two adults talked. After that I ignored them all until I was summoned down for dinner.

Monday was a normal day with the exception that my shadow that had been tailing me since the gunfight was not at his usual position. Not looking a gift horse in the mouth I turned and did my usual run all the way into school. Lifting that morning was good as I increased the weight I was lifting again. I was now benching nearly twice my weight. Were it not for the fact that I was trying to keep the gossiping down I knew I could do even more. For now, I had a plan that I would keep increasing the weight every month or so.

Stepping out of the weight room and out into the main gym was when I saw her. She was the one claim to fame our town had due to her gymnastics ability with rumors circulating about competing in the Olympics. That she was extremely cute with long blond hair that hung down past her butt cheeks. Her chest was just as noticeable that while not large compared to some girls in school, stood proud on her chest and gave the appearance of more than what should be there.

Heather was sitting in the bleachers when I emerged along with the rest of the diehard lifters as we were heading to the locker room to change for the day. The problem was twofold in that first she was there which was not normal as she had private lessons that made her late to class. Secondly she had a large metal brace surrounding her leg and crutches on the bench nearby.

In class we were somewhat friendly so seeing her there being miserable I took the initiative and sat down next to her and just watched her and waited. At first she was shocked that anyone would sit next to her, but when I remained silent her look changed from curious to baffled.

When she could not stand it any longer, she asked, "What?"

To which, I replied back with a smile, "What, What?"

When I offered nothing else we sat there silently for a few seconds before she asked, "Why are you here?"

"I could ask you the same thing because you never come into the gym in the morning. In fact I watch you arrive to school late most mornings."

She was looking at me intently before saying, "I had an accident over the weekend and until I can get to a doctor I can't practice in the mornings. The reason I am here so early is that my parents still have to work so they dropped me off early."

"If you were injured yesterday, why are you here today? Wouldn't your mom write you an excuse?" I asked.

She shrugged her shoulders at that then after a second, offered, "I hate sitting and waiting. The accident was actually on Saturday and after driving home from Salt Lake City we spent half the night in the emergency room waiting to have x-rays done. Since I did not like that or sitting in the house all day yesterday I figured I could come to school and at least try to get my mind off my leg."

"So what happened, trip getting out of your uniform?" I asked.

Smiling, she said, "You wish, you boys are all the same."

Smiling my own smile back at her, I offered, "If you knew me you would know that I am not like the other guys."

"Yeah, you're the Squirrel, Master of the pegboard," she offered as her smile got bigger.

"That is only one of my many talents."

"What other talents do you have besides gunfighter?"

Before I could offer my reply everyone started coming out of the locker room reminding me that I still needed to get changed for class so instead of saying what I wanted, I offered, "Well I would tell you but right now I have to get changed for the day. If you want to find out more then you have to find me at lunch time on the gym floor."

"What happens if I have my appointment at that time?" she asked her disappointment showing in her face.

"Then I guess you will either never know what one of my many talents are or you will have to find me when we both have time," I stated as I got up to head to the locker room.

I didn't see her at lunch or anywhere else that day. When I had not seen her in class I put everything out of my mind and instead concentrated on basketball tryouts. At first the coaches worked everyone on the basics so that they could judge everyone. Then once the individual drills were finished we did all sorts of three on two drills with my favorite being Hi-low where two guys are playing defense and three others bring up the ball where they work on their passing. For the defenders their job is to force the dribbler to pass off or shoot. The first guy to try me when I had the ball found out how fast I was as I stole the ball before it hit the ground on his bounce pass. Taking the dribble the other way I found the open man since I knew where the defenders were going to be. We continued on with that one for a while before they moved us to several other drills. At the end of two hours we were done for the day as the boys had to yield the court for the girls to conduct their tryouts. Clearing the court I said goodbye to my teammates and headed out to Brodie who was waiting for me.

Making small talk with him he let me know that our shadow had returned as the two guys he had hired told him that they had found more tire tracks that did not match any of our vehicles and that they had been parked behind a few of our hills. That the hills where the tracks were found were within sight of the ranch did not need to be stated.

Tuesday Heather showed up again only this time she poked her head into the weight room to get my attention. Walking over to join her on the bleacher I could see that she was upset. But before I could say anything she asked, "So any of your talents being a comic, because I could use some cheering up?"

"Bad news then, I take it?" I asked.

She nodded, saying, "My doctor said that they can repair my knee so that I could walk and maybe ride a bike but gymnastics are out of the question." I could see tears start in her eyes at that point when she continued, "Just like that twelve years of my life are gone Everything I worked so hard for so many years is gone like a fart in the wind!"

That caught me off guard making me laugh. Looking her in the eye I could see that she was hurting from more than the injury. Making a decision that would haunt me later, I asked, "What if there was another way?"

"There is no other way; my doctors say the most I will get out of my knee is the ability to walk again."

"Let me ask you, what would it be worth to you if I could do something to help you out?" I asked.

"No one can do anything for me, my career is over. I will get to walk again but I will never get to be an Olympic athlete," she stated.

"Well I would say that there are always other options, all you have to do is believe enough to try," I offered.

Becoming annoyed she asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Simple really, you say that there is nothing that anyone can do but I say that there are always other options. If you will trust me I will give you a demonstration."

Now she was skeptical but I could see in her face that she was desperate. She was watching me judging me to see if I was going to pull some joke on her. When I placed my hand over her knee I could see that she was ready to jump if I did anything to hurt her.

With my hand covering her damaged knee I numbed her entire leg which caused her to exclaim, "What the..."

Needing to concentrate I tuned the rest of what she said out and focused on examining her damaged knee. I understood why her doctor had stated that she would only be able to walk as her knee not only had torn ligaments but there was also deterioration due to arthritis like what I had seen in the cartilage in Gerty's hipbones. Looking at her other knee I could see the same type of damage comparing the two I could see what needed to be done. Now though time was not in my favor so I could not do it now and in fact would require several hours to repair what I could see.

When my eyes refocused on her she asked, "What's the verdict doctor?"

"Your knees are a mess," I replied.

Before I could say anything else her next question was, "What do you mean my knees are a mess? You only touched my damaged knee, how do you know that my other knee is damaged?" She paused at that point to catch her breath then almost on cue Heather's eyes shot open, as she asked, "Other than seeing the brace on my leg how do you even know that my one knee is hurt?"

Smiling myself, I answered, "The same way that if you think about it right now you will realize that your knee does not hurt. I am blocking the pain right now."

"You fixed my knee? How did you do that?" She asked in shock.

Shaking my head, I said, "I have not fixed your knee, I have only examined your knee. I found the damage to your other knee when I was comparing the two of them to see what I will need to do."

Looking at me hopefully, she asked, "Do you think that you can repair my knee?"

"Well that depends on a few things," I answered.

"Like what I have some money if that is what you want!" she stated excitedly.

Putting my hand on her shoulder to calm her as she was literally bouncing in her seat, I replied, "Money sounds good but with surgery costing more between fifty and sixty thousand dollars that would be a bad idea as I could never hide that much money."

She looked shocked at my statement as to how much this might cost, instead saying, "I don't have that much money and I could never ask my mom and dad for that type of money."

"Well what do you have available?"

Thinking for a second she answered, "I think I have around five thousand."

Well it was more than I had or even more than most kids had so it was a start as I pinched the corner of my mouth thinking about how to work a solution. Finally it came to me though I figured I might get slapped in the process. Looking her in her sparkling blue eyes, I offered, "How about this, first you never talk about this deal with anyone. If anyone suspects anything we are done. Second you say that you have five thousand dollars; if that is true then that will be the down payment for me to fix your knee. At the same time I know this will sound strange but I want your permission to explore your body."

"WHAT!" was her predictable response, I could see a few of the kids looking at us after she shouted out her reply to my offer. Still shocked, she lowered her head and asked, "You want to have sex with me?"

"No I don't" I answered in a low tone only to see her face collapse in what I would call disappointment. Figuring out the words I had answered with I spoke up again saying, "Let me rephrase my response, yes I would like to make love to you but not under these circumstances. What I want as part of my payment was access to your incredibly fit body so that I could study it to get better at understanding how I do what I can do."

"You want me to take off my clothes for you if you fix my knee and let you put your hands on me?" she asked.

"Not exactly, I am a guy and no guy in his right mind would turn down what you said of you stripping for me and letting me put my hands on your incredible body. So if you want to do that I will not stop you. What I want to do is to explore your body using the same ability I am planning on using to fix your knee." I replied

"What all can you do with this ability?"

"Honestly I have no idea but if we do this we need to keep it secret between us otherwise our deal is off."

"What do you mean you have no idea about what you are going to do to me? Either you know what you are doing in which case why do you need to have me as a guinea pig, or you do not know what you are doing then why am I paying you to do this?" she asked.

Taking a breath I answered, "There are many things that I know that I can do. There are other things that I think I can do but I have had no way to test them without drawing unwanted attention to myself. Beyond that I have done a lot of research and I tend to subscribe to the Nuremberg code for medical experimentation so I just can't run out and start experimenting on people. So for a lot of what I think I can do I have no one to practice with which brings me to you. You have something that you want; namely you want your career back and in order for you to have your career you need someone who believes that he can help. Right now I would say that would be me. I on the other hand need something that you can provide, namely your permission for me to continue to expand my knowledge."

"Can't you use a book to get that knowledge?" Heather asked.

"Yes, but I have already read through the anatomy books here in school; I have also read all the ones in the library. But now like a doctor after having gone through medical school I need to put what I learned into practicing on a real person," I answered.

Smiling a big smile now, she offered, "So you want me to play doctor with you?"

Smiling back, I answered, "Yes ma'am I do."

"Deal!" she replied then asked, "What do I get if you fail to fix my knee?"

I was caught off guard at that but answered, "Well I guess I can give you your money back."

"A money back guarantee, not good enough. If I am going to let you put your hands on me I want more if you fail." Heather replied smiling the whole time.

"What more do you want then?" I asked having no idea where this was leading but getting worried as her smile spread.

"Easy enough if you fail to repair my knee like you are claiming, I want you to take me to the next dance and dance with me until I am too tired to dance anymore, brace and all since I will have just gotten out of surgery then," she stated triumphantly.

Agreeing to her plan, I got to my feet then helped Heather to hers holding her crutches for her while she got her backpack in place in order to walk. I escorted her to where the locker rooms were located and then told her I would see her later. I did not see her again until Social Studies that afternoon when she took a seat beside me. We made small talk after that until the bell rang to signal the start of class. Our lecture that day was on Columbus and the reasons for colonial exploration which I quickly tuned out since I had already finished reading the book and answered and turned in all the chapter questions I could find. Now I just sat there listening and trying to not fall asleep while I waited for the end of the quarter break to arrive so I could switch classes.

The first question Heather asked once Mr. Tan finished his lecture for the day was when and where. For my part I was literally flying blind as I had not thought this through at all. My first suggestion was my place saying that I had my own apartment. That went down quickly saying that her mother would never allow her over to a boy's house. Suggesting her house was equally bad as her mother's job was highly variable to the point that she might come home at any time. If her mother were to find out that she had a boy over her life would be over as she knew it. Other suggestions were also shot down since her parents would be home all weekend and that she was not allowed to have a boy in her room or allowed to close her door when she had male friends over. In the end we agreed to think of a couple more suggestions and that she would meet me in the morning in the gym again.

Tryouts on Wednesday were even rougher as the coaches evidently wanted to see who wanted to be on the court. Those that wanted to be on the team played hard and it took a bloody nose to one of the juniors to get the coaches to step in and restore order. I had already been appointed as the point guard whenever I was on the floor. That in turn kept me out of the pushing and shoving match under the basket area. That was not to say that I did not get hit a few times as I moved to intercept outlet passes which the receiving player tried to block me away from. Once our time was up the coaches pulled everyone together and thanked everyone that came out for the tryouts. The coach went on to say that the team rosters would be posted in the morning.

Thursday morning turned out to be a better day on many fronts the first being that the coach that opened the gym doors congratulated me on making the team. The other good news came from Heather, because she caught a break for us because one of her friends and her family were avid hunters. That weekend she learned that all of them were going out for a hunt and would not return until early Monday morning. I asked her how we were going to get in and she stated that their families were friends and they exchanged keys in case the other needed anything while one family was gone. It did not hurt that both families had dinner with the other at least once a month and they had asked Heather's family to keep an eye on their house was while they were gone. I agreed with her that using their home was the best possible solution. Therefore we set a time to meet there Saturday morning.