by Vega Lizzie
Olivia broke away from her grandfather and began to move along the railing, her head turning from the trio of distant lights. She was looking down across the rolling foothills. First, she glanced to her mother, but Shannon and Terra were still transfixed by the rock faces. Then she turned to her grandfather, her eyes wide. Her head turned again to the valley and she clapped her hands in delight.
By the time she had gotten her mother’s attention, the sun slipped below the distant ridge and the bright peaks had returned to their dull solemn features. She turned to see her grandfather watching her. He held a finger to his lips with a knowing smile. Echoing his subtle gesture, she smiled back as the first secret between generations was made. She looked at him for a moment, then nodded.
“That was so cool,” she blurted to her mother as Shannon finally realized that her daughter had moved down the road, “We should have filmed it.”
Her grandfather shrugged, “Many have tried. Never seems to capture the same feeling. It’s something you have to see for real.”
As twilight started to roll in from the east, Shannon’s mother was quick to suggest the next event for the evening, “Home for conversation,” she smiled, “I suspect an early day tomorrow.”
Turning to go back to the SUV, Shannon suddenly found Terra and her daughter quickly headed to the car and her father standing at her side. She sighed, calling after them, “Traitors, turncoats,” she chuckled, “I’ll have you in restraints till…” Her lament seemed to run out of steam until she saw Terra turn back with a sly grin. Perhaps she was considering the offer. Shannon looked horrified, “Sorry. Don’t know where that came from…God,” she whispered.
“Ride home with me?” Her father asked, interrupting her thoughts. Positive she was blushing, Shannon quickly agreed and headed to the pickup without further comment.
As her father pulled the battered old truck onto the road, Shannon’s mind was in overdrive. Twice she looked at him to speak then retreated, scoffing at herself in frustration. Remembering Terra’s always supportive words throughout the flight, she took a deep breath, “Dad?”
“I’m so proud of you,” he said, completely derailing her, “Both Terra and Olivia are wonderful.”
“Yeah, um…yes, they are.”
“You must be so happy. It sure seems like it. You are, right? I hope so. I blame myself for what happened between us.”
As if her father had just stood on her emotional brake pedal, years of Shannon’s self-doubt and endless internal conversations came to a screeching halt. “What?” she sputtered, swallowing hard. She turned to him, “Just like that?” she blurted, “and everything’s…okay?”
Even in the dim light, she saw his knuckles tighten on the steering wheel, “Of course not, but…”
“You never listened to me or respected what I had to say and now you’re all mellowed out and wise? C’mon, Dad.”
“You’re right, of course. I can’t offer any excuse other that I meant to protect you and the family as best I could at the time.” He took his foot off the gas and signaled for the side of the highway. By the time the truck lurched to a stop, Shannon was exasperated, “At the time. What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“That I made a lot of mistakes with you,” he said softly, further provoking his daughter, “And then, again with Iris. I was selfish. I have a lot of regrets.”
Shannon put her hand to her face, “I can’t do this. Just go home, I can’t deal with you, right now.” She turned and looked out her window as tears streamed down her cheeks.
He put the truck in gear, looking into the rear-view mirror. But the vehicle only rolled a few feet, “I heard you, you know. I knew exactly what you meant.”
Shannon only sniffled, ignoring him.
“That last day at the bus stop, Shannie, I heard every word you said.” He turned to her, “You were right. You didn’t need me. I was the one that needed you, but I didn’t figure it out in time. When Iris left me, I realized how badly I’d failed both of you.”
“You didn’t fail us.” She wiped her face on her sleeve, “Jesus, Dad, I watch Olivia all the time. I have no idea what the hell is going on some days.”
“She’s something isn’t she?”
“Pops, you have no idea. She’s…I’m... I’m sorry for being a brat…still.”
“Not a brat,” he said, “you were never a bother.
Distracted by her thoughts of Olivia, Shannon was quiet as they arrived home. Climbing out of the pickup, she began to walk toward the house, sure that Terra and Olivia were waiting. She stopped, “Thanks…I guess.” Turning, she saw him already headed for the safety of his barn. It was as if she’d traveled back to the days just before she left the family. Feeling dismissed and ignored as usual, she spun on her heel and stomped towards the back step.
Looking up as her mother walked into the kitchen, her eyes narrowed angrily and her jaw set, Olivia shrunk back from asking about her mood. “Uh-boy,” she said quietly to Terra, “You say something, I’d like to make it to fourteen.”
Trying to stifle a laugh, Terra took a deep breath only to Shannon glare at her, “Not…so not helping.” Her exasperation quickly escalated, “He said something really nice right away and he totally threw me off.” Balling her hands into fists, she growled, “then he went and hid in the damn barn. I wanna strangle him.”
“Maybe just a little,” Terra gently suggested.
“More than a little. I wasn’t done. I got interrupted…shit!”
“Well that’s so much better,” Olivia quickly commented with an eye roll, “what fun is it to be a teenager if you can’t have a tantrum once in a while?”
Shannon shot a glare at her daughter, “Ollie, stop it. I’m not a teenager.”
“You were when your Dad last saw you,” her daughter casually answered back, “only a little older than me. Now you, well, we show up and you’re all grown up. Maybe he’s just as scared as you are. He’s changed but you still want to stomp your feet. Gramma, is there any pie left?”
“Certainly is,” was the bemused response from Shannon’s mother as Terra sat there slack jawed at Olivia’s strategic comment. She looked at Shannon helplessly, “Wow…just wow.”
“Still not helping,” was Shannon’s softer response as she was clearly pondering the situation, “Jeez, Mom.”
“Hun, he’s far from perfect, but you’ve talked with Maggie and know how she feels. I can’t tell you how many times he would tell stories about you over the years. Bottom line, he loves you. He’s just overwhelmed and a little bit dazzled.” She paused to let her words sink in, putting her arm around Olivia. “He’s worked really hard to be a better person, but he’s sad that he missed so much.”
“Fine.”
“Not fine,” Terra corrected, “Go back out there and show him that the stories he’s told about you, the rebel you, are true.” Terra shrugged, “might help start the uh, other conversation too. I get the feeling he’s not used to asking for help.” She looked to Shannon’s mother, “Right?”
Martha looked at her daughter, “But if his rebel daughter offers to help.”
“Gramma for the win, Yesss!” Olivia chuckled as she went into the kitchen with her grandmother. Terra was quick to join Shannon with a long hug. “She might be right, and your Dad has no idea how powerful you have become.”
Martha popped her head out of the kitchen again, “Shan, can I show you something? It’ll just take a second.”
“Sure.” Shannon reluctantly pulled away from Terra and followed her mother through the kitchen. Stopping in the mudroom, Martha pointed out the window to the garage. The lone sodium yard light burned brightly causing harsh shadows across the big back yard.
“Think back, sweetheart,” her mother said quietly, “back to when Dad would hole up in his garage.”
Shannon was quick to catch her point. In her head she could still hear the jarring slam of the side door slamming hard on the frame of the utility building. She didn’t smile at the thoug
ht. “He slammed his door…and I learned to slam mine.”
Tonight, the service door stood propped open, a soft warm light beckoned through the doorway allowed by a short 2x4 against the door jam. While not wide open, Shannon knew his actions had been deliberate and the orange glow from inside might be an offer.
“He's asking, isn’t he?”
“So, it would seem,” her mother responded as she put her arms around her daughter. “I haven’t said a word about your abilities, let alone this crazy Ascension thing. Go easy on him, okay?”
“Serious? Mom, you know?” Shannon’s sigh was both of relief and resignation. “He’s gonna freak. Wait til he finds out about Terra and Ollie.”
“There’s that as well,” Martha chuckled, “I’d love to see the look on his face when you tell him, but this is between the two of you. Iris almost gave him a heart attack.”
Chapter 4
As Shannon made her way to the barn, she worried about how to begin a conversation that, once begun, couldn’t end. Standing at the open door, she paused to knock then thought better of it. We’ve all changed, Pops, she thought to herself. You have no idea at all.
“Dad?” she called out into the cavernous building, “got a minute?”
Hunched over his worktable, he was quick to answer, “What’s on your mind, hun?” He shifted to view his project from a different angle and Shannon caught her first glimpse of what had occupied her father’s attention for many months.
“When did you become the engineer?” Walking around the topographic map, Shannon quickly recognized the scale model of the landscape they had visited earlier in the evening. The long winding blacktop highway was now a thin ribbon of dark paint, but the three reflecting mountain peaks were clearly denoted and subtly emphasized in detail. Shannon looked up at the rows of books surrounding the workroom. Textbooks, old folios and rolled parchments. For a moment, she thought she was in Angela’s shop.
“Pops, uh, what do you have going on here. Pretty impressive model-building.”
“Your mother believes it’s for a model train layout. Let’s go with that.” He chuckled and went back to his work as she pulled a book from his collection. “So,” she said as she paged through the old book, “Late 18th century military strategies. Great late-night reading, Dad.” Thumbing through the pages, a phrase caught her eye, “adusta terrae, scorched earth. That’s a defensive position,” she continued, “what are you up to? Planning a war?”
“Well listen to you,” he grinned, setting his pencil down, “Trying to avoid one. Hopefully. You came to me many times with stories about things you felt, things that you could see that weren’t there. I’m sorry, Shannon. You were right all along and now it’s gotten out of hand.”
Back in the house, Terra had stretched comfortably out on the sofa and Olivia was in the kitchen with Martha. With the first tremor, Terra thought to look at her wine glass as the concentric rings quickly settled in the glass. It was quiet in the kitchen; she wasn’t sure if Ollie hadn’t hopped up onto the counter like she did at the loft. Hearing nothing unusual from the kitchen, she went slumped back into the cushions and waited.
The second, then third stronger pulse got Olivia’s attention, but Terra was already leaning in the doorway to the kitchen, “Energy burst, second level.” She winked at Martha, “I'd say Harris is sufficiently freaked out, right now.” Olivia grinned, and as she reached for her glass, another much larger shockwave, rattled the windows in the entire house.
“Nice, Mom. Fourth level, maybe more.” Her deep chuckle made Martha laugh but she was taken by how casual they were. “Can you do it too?” she asked curiously, “like that?”
Olivia nodded after a glance to Terra, “Mom’s magic is earth-based. She draws from the ground or nearby energy sources. She’s really good at it. My magic is, uh, more…?”
“Spontaneous?” Terra smiled. “Ollie can manipulate energy and uses a more hybrid system. We’re not really sure where it all comes from, only that she is pinpoint in her accuracy. She has other abilities as well.” Terra was quick to gauge the curiosity in Martha’s face, but was careful to stay calm as another minor tremor shook the house. “How much has Iris told you about us?”
“A little,” the woman said nervously wringing of the dishtowel in her hands “I don’t know whether to be excited or scared. Will you show me some day?”
Olivia looked at Terra, “She’ll show you her plasma coils, but there’s another part that really might scare you, Gramma.”
“Yeah, I’ll keep that under wraps, I think,” Terra suggested as she brought her hand up in the center of the kitchen table. Olivia quickly stuck her hand out as well and soon a dancing ripple of green light shot between her fingers. Terra joined her and soon the kitchen was crackling with a happy display of low-level energy manipulation.
“So,” Shannon began cautiously, “Iris says you are having some troubles. If, ah you would like us to help you…we certainly are in a position to do that. What do you need?”
Again, he hunched down along the tabletop looking at his sculpture, “Might take longer than a day or two to explain, Shannon. I mighta stuck my big fat head into somebody’s business a few years ago and now, seems they are looking to make good on an old threat. I’m certainly out of my league when it comes to these guys.”
Shannon looked along the rows of books. Scanning the old history books as well as a full row of science and geology tomes, an odd image of her old science teacher came to mind. Then her eye landed on a short group of genealogical books, “Is this a physical threat, Dad?” she asked quietly, “I can probably help with that by myself. No reason to get anyone else involved.”
“Iris said much the same thing,” he sighed, “it’s physical, yes, but its’ also…” He pointed down to the board as Shannon moved to stand next to him, “It’s more in your new realm,” he said, “if I’m not overstepping my boundaries here.”
“My boundaries,” Shannon caught herself as her temper flared. “Sorry, that was loud. Honestly, Dad, I haven’t been around long enough to know what your boundaries are. I’m still learning mine.” Leaning down alongside him to share his continuing view of the topographical layout, she leaned into his shoulder, “Sorry. Wanna tell me why you’ve decided to build a scale model of the foothills? It does seem a little OCD.”
“The land we own is down in the valley below the peaks. It just speaks to me for some reason and I haven’t been able to let go of it” he said, then winced, “Sorry, is on me this time. I have gotten the impression from Iris that you are, um…” He stopped, hanging his head, “entitled to a long and detail filled apology from me.”
“That might help, Dad. A lot, but you don’t need to apologize for being protective of us. I was just too young to understand why. Mom tried a little but...”
“It’s for me to tell you, hun.” He pointed to a folding chair along the wall, “Have a seat. I’ll give you the condensed version before I talk with Terra and Olivia. They deserve to hear this as well.” Walking to the makeshift library, he pulled down a binder, “This goes back quite a ways, skipped over me, skipped your Grampa as well. It finally dawned on me a few years ago that I was probably angry about being left out.” He handed her the binder and sat next to her. “I might be guilty of taking some of my childish anger out on you and Iris.”
“Skipped over you,” Shannon repeated, but given that the family tree had just landed in her lap, she was quick to put it together.
“Maggie shows no signs of abilities or she’s just gotten good at hiding them from us.” Harris chuckled, “She prefers to bring home stray boyfriends just to get under my skin.”
Shannon smiled at the disclosure, “Does it work?”
“It absolutely does,” he grinned, “The last one though wasn’t too bad. Knew how to handle a fly rod pretty well. Seemed to like her a lot.”
“How long have you known that the family had, um, extra qualities?”
He pointed to the book, “Not long actually and
it didn’t stand out until I noticed a trend along our branches of the tree.” He opened the wide portfolio, “On our side of the family, with rare exceptions, there are broken families all along the tree. Only one or two couples stayed together more than a few years before finding another direction.”
Shannon traced her finger along the documented lineage of her family as well as many names she had never seen, “You and mom are an exception, right?”
“We are,” he said quickly, “I’m grateful for that. Your Mom’s a rock as always.”
“Sounds a little cold, if you don’t mind the joke, Pops.”
He winked, “She’s as cuddly as ever, hun. I was quoting Iris actually. The way she chose to display her magic to me was…startling.”
“Mmm, yeah,” Shannon murmured as she continued to look down at the book, “What does this have to do with your threats?”
“Not direct threats, actually,” he hedged, “more like a series of coincidences that add up to something that I don’t want to see happen. It’s about the family land and some of our assets.”
“A financial threat, then. Do you need money? We’re doing all right. I could certainly help you.” As the words left her mouth, Shannon realized the gravity of what she had just said. She could see the pride well up in his face. “You’ve done so well, Dad. Maybe I could help…a little? Who is responsible for the…” She stopped, “I have people, um family in a way, that can help you in some pretty wild ways.”
“Remember Allan Henderson?”
Shannon thought for a moment, then shook her head, “Sure, Chris’s dad. You two went hunting back in the day. What about him?”
“Dead now,” her father shrugged, “Lost his implement business then had a heart attack.”
“That’s terrible, he’s your age.” She flexed her arms in a bodybuilder pose, “He was huge.”
“Bar bouncer huge, I thought so too.” He reminisced, “I mean we’re not young guys anymore but, yeah, bulletproof. Heart attack. Dropped like a stone in his driveway.”