Telepath

by Laurence Dahners

  They’d come up on the boy. Tarc picked up something from where it lay beyond the young man’s outstretched hand. He held it out to Daum who saw it was the silver box containing the Hyllis’s best firestarter kit. Flint, steel, several precious matches and a bit of tinder.

  Tarc dropped to a knee beside the youngster. The young man rolled to his side. As if he had no idea, Tarc asked curiously, “What happened? You were running full tilt toward the woods when you just kind of leaned to one side and fell down.”

  Appearing confused and dismayed, the young man blinked up at Tarc and said, “I don’t know. I got dizzy.”

  “You feeling better yet?” Tarc asked, reaching out a hand.

  The youth said, “Yeah, the dizziness passed.” He gently shook his head, as if testing, then took Tarc’s hand for a pull back to his feet. He glanced around, his eyes momentarily catching on the firestarter kit in Daum’s hand, but quickly moving on. He said, “I saw a guy running into the woods. We’ve been plagued by a thief so I was trying to chase him down.” He glanced at Tarc and Dawn as if judging the effect of this missive. He amplified, “The guy must’ve witched me or something.”

  Tarc made a show of studying the woods, then said, “I guess he made a clean getaway.” He turned to Daum, “We’d just as well go back and finish our lunch, huh?”

  As they walked back to the roadhouse, Daum quietly snickered, “Plagued by a thief.”

  Tarc snorted, “I guess, in a way, they are.”

  ***

  When they got ready to leave the roadhouse and get back on the trail, Eva went to the front to lead the mules. Kazy finally had her chance to ask questions, so she followed Eva forward. She stayed patiently quiet until the wagon was solidly underway, then turned to Eva. “Okay. What’s this about Daussie teleporting things? She made a mess in my hand with some eggs but won’t tell me anything.”

  Studying the horizon, Eva said, “Good. I’m proud of her.” She snorted, “Not for making a mess. For not telling you anything.”

  Alarmed that she might be about to learn nothing, Kazy said, “Daum promised you’d explain this in the morning!”

  “Okay,” Eva said. “First, tell me something. How did you know the diameter of a disk was 1.4 times the diameter of a sphere with the same surface area?”

  “Um,” Kazy said slowly, “I’ve always been pretty good at math.” She spoke more rapidly. “The formula for the surface area of a circle or a disk is πr2. The surface area of a sphere is 4πr2. So if the radius of a one-centimeter sphere is a half-centimeter, r2 is 0.25, four times 0.25 is one and therefore the area of the sphere is π, or 3.14 square centimeters. The disc has two sides so the area of the circle on one side of an infinitely thin disc has to be half of 3.14 or 1.57 centimeters. So if that circle’s surface area of πr2 is 1.57, then r2=1.57/3.14, or r2=0.5. So r = the square root of 0.5, or 0.707. Therefore the diameter of the circle would be 1.414.” Enthusiastically, she continued, “You could also work it out by—”

  Eva waved her hands, “I believe you, I believe you. But that’s not math! That’s algebra… or something…”

  Kazy shrugged. “Grandma taught me. She called it all math, but she really liked working with equations. It isn’t useful very often…” She snorted, “My brothers claimed it was never of any use.” She firmed her chin, “I don’t care if it’s useful. I like it… Just like my grandma did.”

  With an appraising look, Eva said, “I’m glad you do. I think it’s important knowledge that we shouldn’t lose. And I’ll bet there’ll be times in the future when it’s really important.”

  Kazy gave another little shrug. “I hope so. But I have the feeling that you’re just trying to distract me from Daussie and teleporting.”

  Eva sighed, “How old are you?”

  She’s still trying to distract me, Kazy thought. Nonetheless, she answered, “Thirteen. Almost fourteen.”

  “They say not to tell you about this stuff until you’re fifteen.”

  “Daussie’s not fifteen yet,” Kazy said indignantly.

  “Yeah…” Eva said resignedly. “And you’ve already got your monthlies so you must be pretty mature.”

  Kazy didn’t say anything. She didn’t like talking about her periods and besides, it sounded like Eva was slowly talking herself around.

  Eva glanced at her, “How long have you known where the sun is at night?”

  “I’m not sure. It feels like I’ve always known, but I don’t think I have.”

  “And you can tell where people and animals are without looking?”

  “I don’t think so,” Kazy said slowly.

  “Last night you said you knew the Ropers were in their tent…”

  “Oh… Yeah.” Kazy felt surprised herself. “I guess I did.” Without looking around she realized she could sense the mules behind her, and the horses following the wagon.

  They walked silently for a while. Kazy was anxious to get the conversation going, but when she looked over, Eva was chewing her lip thoughtfully. Kazy got the feeling she’d be better off not interrupting the thought process. Finally, Eva said, “People in my family, and in the Hyllises, some of us have abilities…” She trailed off.

  “Abilities?” Kazy prompted.

  Eva nodded, “One of the first and most consistent things any of us can do is tell where hot things are without looking. The sun, even though it’s very far away—because it’s so hot. Fires, at some distance. People and animals are warm, so we can sense them, but they have to be closer than fire does. Some of us can tell where close things are, even if they’re at room temperature.”

  “So… Not everyone gets the same… abilities?” Kazy said apprehensively, suddenly worried that she wouldn’t have anything exciting like Daussie’s teleportation.

  Eva shook her head.

  “But you think I have… something?”

  Eva nodded, “You can tell where the sun is, and you could tell where the Ropers were when they were about seven meters away.”

  “So, you’re saying that Daum knew the Ropers were in their tent. He just asked to see whether I could tell they were there?”

  Eva nodded again.

  “And you could tell they were there too?”

  “Yes, though Daum’s better at it than I am.”

  “How’s he better?”

  “He can sense people farther away. He’s really been working hard on it. With practice, he’s gotten to the point that he can tell where people are up to about 100-meters away.”

  Kazy frowned, “He’s been working hard on it? I mean, he’s had it for a long time, hasn’t he? Since he was fifteen?”

  “Well, yes. This is kind of embarrassing, but Daum and I’ve only recently realized it’s useful to be able to sense people when they’re far away. It’s really helpful on the road because we’ve got to worry about people sneaking up on us, especially in the dark.” Eva shrugged, “It didn’t matter much when we lived in towns, so we’ve just recently started trying to get better at it.” She snorted, “Tarc’s the one that told us we could get better at it if we worked at it. We didn’t know.”

  “So, Tarc can sense things too?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “How far away can he sense them?” Kazy asked, thinking that if he could sense people out to a hundred meters like Daum, that having him scouting their rear made sense.

  “Two-hundred meters,” Eva said quietly.

  “He can do it farther than Daum?” Kazy asked, surprised.

  Eva nodded. “Much farther, and I think he’s still getting better with practice like Daum and I are.”

  With dismay, Kazy realized that, although she could see Daum about fifty meters ahead of them on the trail, she couldn’t sense him. Upset, she asked, “Um, how do you practice?”

  “It’s just a matter of trying to sense things. Um…” Eva hesitated, then plunged ahead, “What’s the farthest animal you can sense now?”

  Sadly, Kazy said, “The horses trailing the wagon. I think that’s only twe
nty or twenty-five meters.”

  Eva reached out and thumped Kazy’s shoulder, “Don’t go sounding all sad! Most people can’t sense anything. At least nobody’s going to be able to sneak up on you at night.” Eva hesitated, then said, “Though, if you’re like the rest of us, you’ll have to be actively sensing. Don’t just assume your ghost—which is what Tarc named this sense—is going to let you know someone’s coming if you aren’t paying attention.”

  “Ohh… You’re right. I don’t notice the horses back there unless I’m trying to do it. It’s like your eyes are shut until you try to sense.”

  “Yeah,” Eva said. “Anyway, while we’re walking the road, you should practice with your ghost. Try to detect the animals in the forest around us. When I first started exercising my ghost I couldn’t sense as far as you can, but now I can sense animals out to about fifty meters. You should be able to increase your range quite a bit.” Eva’d had her hand fishing in a pocket. Now she lifted her closed fist, “Can you tell what I’ve got in my hand?”

  Startled at the idea, Kazy studied Eva’s hand. For a moment it seemed like she couldn’t tell anything. Her visual image of Eva’s fist dominated. She closed her eyes for a second. Now she got the impression of a ghostly hand with a silver coin in it. “A silver?”

  To Kazy’s surprise, a relieved smile broke out on Eva’s face. “Great!” She tilted her head, curious, “Are you interested in healing?”

  Kazy was still taken aback at the “great!” comment. Why’s that so great? she wondered. Do they use their ghosts to tell where people are keeping their money? Are they pickpockets? She sent her ghost into Eva’s pocket where she found several more coins and the small glass bottle Eva kept oil in for her dry lips.

  A little distraught about the pickpocketing idea, Kazy shifted her attention to the question about her interest in healing. She remembered Daum telling her that Eva had some of the ancients’ medical books and really did make people better. She slowly responded, “I don’t know. I was taught not to trust healers. Daum says you have some of the ancients’ medical books and that, with the knowledge in them, you actually can do some good for people. I’d like to at least see the books.”

  “It’s not just the books, Kazy,” Eva said, her voice thick with emotion. “It’s the ability to see inside people. Just like you could see the silver in my fist, use your ghost to examine me. Look in my chest and see my heart—” Eva broke off at a squeal from Kazy.

  Not sure whether she was ecstatic or horrified to have felt Eva’s heart beating, Kazy jerked her ghost back out of Eva’s chest. “Oh my God! I can!” She blinked rapidly. When she had her sense of revulsion in control she stammered, “B-but feeling inside someone doesn’t let you cure them… Does it?”

  Eva shook her head, “But it helps you make a correct diagnosis. Knowing what’s actually wrong with a person’s a huge step in providing the correct treatment.”

  “When can I see the books?” Kazy asked, wide-eyed.

  Eva looked startled, “Not while we’re moving. They’re fragile and irreplaceable.”

  “Oh… Of course,” Kazy said. They walked on in silence for a while, Kazy’s mind racing with the implications of her newfound abilities. Finally, she asked, “You think I inherited this from my dad?”

  Eva nodded. “I think it runs in the Hyllis family, but Daum says not everyone has it. Maybe some people have it but just don’t realize it…” She glanced at Kazy, “You know, like you didn’t really understand you had it until Daussie asked you about the sun. Well, I guess even then you didn’t realize it made you different from anyone else.”

  “But, if they ask people where the sun is when they’re fifteen, how do they not find out?”

  “That bit of wisdom came from my side of the family, the Gaynors. It runs in our family too.”

  “Wait,” Kazy said, an accusing tone in her voice. “You still haven’t told me about Daussie’s teleportation. Are you trying to distract me with all this other stuff?”

  Eva shrugged, “Some of us have… other abilities. Something beyond just sensing things with our ghosts. In Daussie’s case, she can teleport small objects from one place to another.” She bent over and picked up a pebble, holding it in her open palm. “For instance, she could make this pebble disappear out of my left hand,” Eva tossed the pebble from her left hand to her right, “and appear in my right.”

  Kazy frowned. It seemed a neat trick, but, in the overall scheme of things, not terribly useful. “So…?” She looked up at Eva curiously.

  “So,” Eva placed the pebble in her left hand and made a fist. She opened her left hand showing it empty. Then she opened her right hand, showing the pebble now lay in that palm.

  Kazy’s eyes darted up to Eva’s, “You can do it too?”

  “No,” Eva said, with an embarrassed grin. “I cheated, using sleight-of-hand like a market magician. But Daussie can do it without cheating.”

  Kazy frowned again, “So, does she make money tricking people at the market? I haven’t seen her doing it.”

  “No!” Eva said, looking offended. “No, never. But… Her ability lets us treat people with various conditions. Have you heard of gallstones?”

  Kazy slowly shook her head, wondering if this was one of the imaginary conditions that charlatans claimed to cure.

  Looking earnest, Eva pointed to her right upper abdomen, “The liver’s an organ right up under the ribs here on the right side.” She looked at Kazy and, apparently recognizing Kazy’s skepticism said, “Go ahead. Send your ghost in and see for yourself. It’s a big solid-block of tissue.”

  Startled to realize she hadn’t considered using her ghost for anything yet, Kazy immediately reached into the area Eva’d indicated. She found a large block of tissue as Eva’d described. Resisting her impulse to start sending her ghost all around, exploring everywhere inside Eva, Kazy said, “Yes, I feel it.”

  “Now, feel under the right side. There’s a bag there, the ‘gallbladder.’”

  “Oh, yeah. There’s some fluid in it.”

  “Yes, the fluid’s called bile. It’s secreted by the liver and helps with digestion. Sometimes some of the bile solidifies into little stones called gallstones. They don’t cause too much trouble if they stay in the gallbladder, but sometimes they get squeezed out of the gallbladder and into the duct that goes from the gallbladder into the intestine. Can you feel the duct?”

  Kazy’s eyes widened a little as she realized she could follow a small tube coming off the upper end of the bladder then curling around and down to enter the intestine. She nodded.

  Eva said, “So, a big stone can’t get into the duct, and a tiny one passes through without any trouble. However, some that are just the right size are able to get into the duct and get squeezed along, causing a lot of pain and agony as they go. Stones a little bigger than that can get into the duct, move along a way, then block it completely. A total block makes a patient really sick because bile backs up into the liver.”

  “Okaaay,” Kazy said slowly. “So?”

  Eva shrugged, “So, Daussie can teleport those stones out of the gallbladder. More importantly, she can teleport them out of the bile duct where they’re causing misery and illness.”

  Kazy’s eyes widened. She walked in silence a little way, then with some awe, said, “Are a lot of illnesses caused by stones that block things up?”

  Eva snorted a laugh. “Sadly, no. Your kidneys can form stones and when those pass in your urine from the kidneys down to the bladder they can be agonizing. It’s said to be one of the worst pains you can have. A few other glands occasionally form stones that cause trouble, but really stones aren’t in the top ten causes of disease.”

  Disappointed, Kazy said, “So you guys can cure a few people, just not very many?”

  Eva sighed, “It always seems like there are a lot more people we can’t help than people we can.” She turned and gave Kazy a grin, “But believe me, the people who do have stones are really grateful to have Daussie arou
nd.” After a brief pause, Eva said, “And, there’re other conditions Daussie can treat.”

  “Such as?”

  “You’ve probably heard of heart attacks and strokes?”

  Kazy nodded slowly, “You’re not going to tell me that Daussie can teleport a heart attack out of you, are you?”

  Eva grinned, “No. But both heart attacks and strokes are caused by plugging of your arteries with fatty deposits. Do you know about arteries and veins?”

  “I know they’re what your blood runs through,” Kazy said slowly. “And, that, in a fight, getting them cut with a sword or a knife pretty much does you in.”