Bite Me!

by David J. Wighton

  "Reduce the number of choices that she has. She sees a big stack of books and figures that she has to read them all. Have her pick only a few books, and a few games for the day, and those are the ones she has to play with."

  "Thanks, Granny. She has them all in stacks now; it will be easy to do that. Is that a little weird the way she puts everything into stacks?"

  "Not at all, Winnie. Little kids like making stacks. Toddlers do that a lot. Afterwards they knock their stacks over."

  "What about all the hugging?" Reese asked.

  "She's been hurt. People have been horrible towards her. She needs those hugs, Reese. Don't stop giving them; don't push her away."

  "Thanks, Mom. Being a parent is way harder than I thought it would be."

  "Really? I always found it quite easy."

  Granny was still in snort heaven when Marie and Doc came into the kitchen.

  "All done?" Yolanda asked.

  "Yeah. Marie put her to sleep and I inserted a Wilizy brain plug. We'll have a location monitor on her at all times now, plus she'll be able to get into the gym. I gave her a quick check-up. She's healthy."

  "Marie, do you have any ideas on how to keep her occupied?"

  "Teach her how to climb trees. That's what I did with Nary. Drove me crazy, that girl."

  "So that's what did it."

  "Tread softly, Doc. I know many spells."

  "Do you have anything that will make him more sociable?" Granny asked.

  "Not without changing him into a woman."

  "Works for me," Granny said.

  Back to the Table of Contents

  Chapter 7

  Tuesday morning, May 7. Everybody from the satellite community arrived as a surprise for Winnie's 10th birthday. It was a double surprise party. Liset had turned 6 two days earlier. Madison was pumped when she saw who was there. She was able to play with the youngsters and give them a whole lot of hugs. The toddlers hugged her back.

  Winnie offered to put safety-saddles on the wolves and give horsey rides to everybody who wanted one. William acted as horse wrangler, making sure that the little ones were all fastened in tightly. When Liset's turn came, she decided that she'd ride with just stirrups, the saddle, and the reins. No restraints. William looked at Yollie who nodded, so he did as she asked. Madison saw what was happening and stepped forward.

  "Madison," William said with some surprise. Winnie had told him that she had been scared of the wolves.

  "I'm Maddy," she corrected.

  "Madison. Maddy. Too confusing. I'll call you M-girl," William said. "Do you want a horsey ride too?"

  "Like Liset," Maddy said. "Not like the babies."

  So William positioned Maddy on the saddle. "Use your knees to stay tight to Scapula's body. Shake the reins if you want to go faster."

  Scapula started with a walk and Maddy seemed quite content with that until she saw Liset. Liset had been playing horsey for years, so Patella was trotting well in front of Maddy, and going in circles, and even bouncing on her toes a little to give Liset a bumpy ride. Maddy shook the reins and Scapula began to trot. With Patella going in circles, she caught up quickly. Maddy wanted to go in circles too, so Scapula began to follow Patella. Liset looked over her shoulder, saw Maddy right behind her, straightened Patella out, and shook the reins. As Patella pulled away, Maddy shook her reins too.

  It was at about this time that everybody sitting in the common area saw what was happening. Both wolves were galloping by now; both Liset and Maddy were hunched forward, reins forgotten, arms around the wolves' neck. "Faster," Liset screamed. "Faster," Maddy echoed.

  "Oh my God, they'll kill themselves," Granny exclaimed. "Winnie!"

  By this time, both wolves had realized that they could continue to race full out on the bumpy ground and tire themselves out, or they had a second option. They energized their slings.

  Don't turn any sharp corners, Winnie messaged them.

  Both horsies and riders were disappearing into the distance.

  "Winnie!"

  "It's OK, Granny. They're actually safer in the air. Patella and Scapula will fly downriver a bit and then come back."

  And come back they did. At warp speed. Both girls screeching "Faster, faster!"

  The wolves slowed and stopped in front of the community hall, and both girls rolled off their steeds onto the ground, laughing and screaming. They hugged each other and jumped up and down, clasped together in one vibrating mass of excitement. "Can we do it again?" Liset asked. "Again," Maddy echoed.

  And that's how Maddy learned that the Wilizy could fly. And that's why your narrator remembers her sixth birthday party so vividly.

  # # # # # # # #

  The men were playing floor hockey in the gym after an early supper while the women were still sitting on blankets in a big circle on the common and surrounded by a lot of empty picnic baskets. The toddlers were on the meadow playing some sort of chase game. M-Girl, as William had christened her, was in charge. I was sitting next to Winnie – openly listening to the adults. When the meeting of the Raging Gardeners had started, Granny had mind-messaged Winnie something, but Winnie had replied out loud for everybody to hear. "Liset is old enough to stay." Winnie looked rather determined about that and nobody argued with her. At least not that I could hear.

  There wasn't much to report on the preparations for the battles with Safe Haven. Lucas and Theo were still collecting information. Granny warned everybody that the Wilizy would need everybody for this operation. Winnie must have mind-messaged her because she looked at me and said, "We'll give Liset something to do."

  The talk about Safe Haven and the ranches inevitably led to talk about Madison/Maddy. They agreed that she should have a nickname while she decided which name she would take. It would be too confusing otherwise. Nobody liked William's M-Girl. They brainstormed a few names and Winnie suggested that they shorten M-Girl to MG, but say it as EmmaGee. They agreed that Winnie should see if Madison/Maddy liked that or not.

  Granny said that the meeting of the Raging Gardeners was over and I should go and play with my cousins. Winnie agreed that I should leave but sent me a mind-message of her face winking. So I left. EmmaGee and I thought up a brand new game with one of the soft bouncy balls, so I didn't mind. Winnie told me afterwards what had happened anyway.

  The women talked about how EmmaGee was settling in but would need a lot of caring help still.

  "I like what she's done with her bedroom," Yolanda admitted. "Everything is neat and orderly. All of her playthings are in stacks and put away properly. She now has enough clothes so that she can change each day, and she does enjoy her bath at night."

  Winnie added her impressions of what had happened when she and Yolanda had taken EmmaGee to the second hand store the day before. "It was interesting watching her while she went up and down the aisles. Mom said that we'd let her pick out her own clothes and showed her the list. EmmaGee looked at the list and was able to read it. We started from the ground up. Shoes, socks, underclothes, jeans, tops, sweaters, jackets and hats. Then we followed her around with a big buggy. I was surprised when she was choosing the tops. She would rub the material between two fingers. She did that with a top that looked very nice but was badly made. It was almost like she had a look of disgust on her face when she put it back."

  Yolanda continued. "She didn't know how to select the sizes, so we helped her on that; otherwise, she did everything on her own. She made good choices. Lots of colours for the tops; sturdy jeans. Tell them about the butterflies, Winnie."

  "We had finished all of the clothes shopping and Mom was looking around the store searching for a big toy box. I saw EmmaGee in the used jewelry section and she was staring into one of the glass cases. I went over and stood by her."

  "What are these?" she asked.

  "Jewelry," I answered. "Somebody made these to look like butterflies."

  "Do they zap you?"

  "I wasn't sure what she meant by that, but obviously she was worried about
being hurt. So I explained that they were pieces of jewelry that she could attach to one of her tops. She'd have to open the pin that was behind the butterfly, put the pin through her top, and then close the pin. I could show her how to do that if she wanted, but we'd need to ask the lady at the counter to open the display case."

  "She wanted to see the pins up close, so we had the case opened, and I pulled one out and put it on her. I showed her how I would put it on myself too, so she could see how you have to pull the top away a bit to get at it. She wanted to try it on her own, so she did."

  "It's a little awkward to fasten it," I explained. "The only danger is sticking the pin into your finger."

  "I once cut my finger with a knife and it hurt a lot."

  "This won't hurt much if you accidentally stab yourself."

  "Could you put the pin into the shirt before you put the shirt on?"

  "Sure. That would be a smart thing to do. But be sure to take the pin off before you put the top into your dirty clothes hamper. The washing could break the butterfly."

  "She was continuing to stare at the jewelry. The store had a whole collection of butterflies made up of different coloured shiny stones and beads. These had been made locally, I believe. They weren't second-hand, that's for sure. I rubbed them a little to see how well they had been glued."

  "Why did you do that?" she asked.

  I explained and then she had to do it too.

  "Do you like these," I asked.

  She nodded. "Pretty," she added.

  "Would you like one?"

  "They're not on the list."

  "Mom won't mind adding one to the list."

  "Could I have four?"

  "Why four?"

  She had to think about that.

  "So that there'd always be a butterfly that would go with the different coloured tops," she replied.

  "That really surprised me. Thinking about colour coordination that way. And I looked at the colours that were in the buggy and noticed that she had some favorite colours. Almost everything was one of four colours: fire-engine red, soft pink, royal blue, or Kelly green. The same with her underclothes. I checked the price of the butterflies. A little high. I looked at the buggy again and thought. Dad would have a fit if we paid full price for a whole buggy. I knew what Wizard would do."

  "You can have four," I offered.

  I watched for a bit as she ran her hands over the tray of butterflies. She looked at me, became all serious, and said. "Could I have some privacy, please?"

  "I wasn't expecting that. It wasn't like I was watching her get dressed and undressed. But I agreed and moved away. I pretended to do some shopping, but watched her. What if she wanted privacy so that she could slip a butterfly into a pocket? I didn't think she'd do that, but to be honest, we don't know this girl at all."

  "I learned that she wasn't going to steal them. She was deciding which four to buy. She talked about which ones she should buy out loud. I couldn't hear exactly what she was saying, but I believe she was working out a rotation of how she'd wear the clothes. Each butterfly had to have the same amount of time on one of her tops as the other butterflies, or something like that. I could see her talking to herself about this. But she eventually picked up four butterflies and placed each against the four coloured tops. I could see her sort of relax a bit. The decision was made."

  "I let EmmaGee take the jewelry to the counter while I pushed the buggy. Mom was there too with a circular youth table for her bedroom – something that wasn't too high for EmmaGee and where she could play games, or crayon, or whatever."

  "EmmaGee looked a it. There were some scrapes on the legs, and a few chips out of the edges, but the top was unmarked and that's all that counts. Plus it came with two chairs which I thought was a plus since she and Liset had hit it off so well. Perhaps Liset could come up for more visits. For a sec, I thought she was going to comment on the scrapes. She had a scowl on her face and I could see that she didn't like the table. Then the scowl went away and she had a bright smile."

  "Thank you, Granny," she began. "I know exactly where I'll put it."

  "She actually said, Could I have some privacy, please?" Granny repeated.

  "Yeah. It was almost like an adult talking. A snooty adult."

  "That's a little weird," Melissa ventured.

  "Talking things through is smart though," Mac suggested. "It shows that she has a process for making decisions. Signs of an analytical mind, perhaps. She knows how to plan, I suspect."

  "She seems to do a lot of talking when she's alone," Winnie added. "The getting ready for bed routine, for example. She has her bath, she dresses for bed, and she has some downtime on her own. Reese has heard her chattering away at this time. With her stuffies, I guess. It would be interesting to know what she talks about. She turns the light off on her own when she's ready to sleep. She's getting enough sleep, so I don't see why we should be tucking her in and turning off the light for her."

  "She's been on her own a lot," Yolanda said. "She was an only child who was kidnapped with nobody else to talk to other than the kidnappers. It's not surprising that she'd talk to her stuffies. Perfectly healthy."

  "Not so healthy if the stuffies talk back," Marie quipped.

  "You got that right," Granny said.

  "Did you get a deal on the buggy?" Yollie asked.

  "I asked the owner if I could leave the buggy in a corner while I checked what the other thrift store in town had. She offered 50% off."

  "Did you take it?" Mac asked.

  "She agreed to 60%."

  "Dad would have been proud," Yollie said and led the applause.

  # # # # # # # #

  The guests from the satellite compound had left, but not without some long hugs. "I miss these family events," Yolanda confided to Melissa before she left.

  "I do too. I wish we could live closer to you, but it's too risky. Learning what EmmaGee went through makes me shudder. What if somebody kidnapped one of ours?"

  Maddy/Madison had liked the EmmaGee nickname, so that's what Liset called her when they said good-bye. All of the other toddlers were asleep by then because of the time zone difference, so Liset was the only one that EmmaGee could hug.

  ...

  I'll skip forward a few hours now to tell you what happened later that night. EmmaGee was in her bedroom, wearing some blue and white jammies if you're interested in such things. She was sitting at the new round table with the Snakes and Ladder game spread out in front of her. It's not much fun to play games by yourself, but EmmaGee had worked out a way. She had four markers on the game board. These weren't the small coloured discs that came with the board; she was using her butterflies as player markers. One was predominantly red, the other mostly pink, the other blue, and the last green – to go with her clothes, as I have mentioned.

  The talk at the table will be a little confusing for the reader.

  "Karita rolls a 6; you'll want a 2 next turn." EmmaGee moved the green butterfly six spaces.

  "Now it's Freya's turn. Oops. The blue butterfly has to go down the snake. Now it's Madison's turn. Madison, you have to remember to tell us which number you're hoping for. That way, your counting will improve."

  At that point, EmmaGee extended her right hand, put her finger next to the pink butterfly, and counted out the spaces to reach a ladder. "I need a 6."

  "OK, roll the dice. You didn't get a 6. You got a 4. How much more did you need? Two? Two is correct. Now move your butterfly."

  EmmaGee moved the pink butterfly four spaces.

  "My turn now. Maddy rolls a 4." EmmaGee moved the red butterfly four spaces.

  ...

  Four girls' names; four butterflies. EmmaGee must be trying out four possible names to call herself, not just two. The reader knows about the Madison and Maddy names. She obviously was considering Freya and Karita as names too. Or perhaps there's another explanation. I'll describe the conversation that followed after the game was over in a different fashion so that you'l
l understand what I mean by another explanation.

  # # # # # # # #•

  Karita: "What does everybody think about Liset?"

  Madison: "She's OK."

  Freya: "I like her."

  Maddy: "I like her a lot. We could be good friends with her."

  Karita: "That's because of the horsey race, Maddy. You're always doing things that are way too dangerous."

  Madison: "I almost peed our pants, I was so scared."

  Freya: "You have to stop doing that, Madison. It's very uncomfortable walking around in clothes that are wet and smelly. Do you want to turn out like Pissy?"

  Madison: "I don't do it on purpose, Freya. You and Karita peed our pants when Brute put us down on the rock with the snakes too. Only Maddy didn't."

  Maddy: "I didn't know that the body had so much pee in it."

  Karita: "I wonder how long it took for Pissy to get out of the bedroom."

  Madison: "Pissy was OK when she wasn't angry. I didn't mind her reading to us. She read slow and sounded out the words."

  Freya: "Brute was real mean. I hope he didn't get out."

  Karita: "Freya! You wanted him to die?"

  Freya: "I did. If it hadn't been for Maddy being brave, we'd still be there."

  Karita: "If it hadn't been for Maddy being able to read, we'd be back in a Safe Haven ranch."

  Maddy: "If I can read, that means you can too. It's the same as Karita. She can speak Scandinavian, so we all can too."

  Freya: "I remember my mommy speaking Scandinavian to me. That was before you guys came."

  Madison: "I can't read like Maddy can. Too many words to remember."

  Freya: "You need to try harder, Madison."

  Madison: "You need to be less bossy, Freya."

  Karita: "Yeah, Freya. You're not in charge, you know. We almost didn't get this table because it wasn't good enough for you."

  Maddy: "It's a good table, Freya. Who cares what it looks like?"

  Freya: "I care. I can't help it. Just like Madison can't help talking all the time."

  Madison: "I don't talk all the time."

  Freya: "Yes, you do!"

  Maddy: "Sometimes I take over the body only so that we can have some quiet."

  Karita: "Madison can't help the way she is. We shouldn't be mean to her."

  ...

  Madison: "Did you know that Izzy can change her skin colour from white to brown?"