“Diane you’ve had everything ready since about half an hour after you got off the phone with Shemalla yesterday!” He smiled to take the sting out of his words and grabbed her hand to pull her down into his lap. He imagined this would be the last time they had any privacy for a while.
“I hope I got everything Willian will need. I’ve never raised a boy before. I think I’ll need your help with him!”
“We aren’t raising them, Diane. We’re just watching them for a little while until they can go home. You can’t think of them as ours to keep. You will remember that, right?”
“Of course, Chris, but they’re going to need to feel safe and loved while they’re here. I’m going to treat them like they’re family until they get to go home.”
Chris looked at her with concern. He hoped she was not using these children as substitutes for her lost grandchildren; this could go wrong on so many levels. It was too late now to change their minds; however, he would watch Diane to keep her safe from another heartache.
After what seemed an eternity to Diane they could hear a car pulling up into their driveway. They immediately walked to the front door, opened it, and stepped outside into the morning’s warm weather. Chris rushed over to help Shemalla extract the sleeping children from the cab. He pulled out his wallet and paid the cab driver to stay until Shemalla was ready to return. She had already told them she would have to go straight back to the airport for her return flight.
Chris took the little boy’s limp body from Shemalla’s arms and was surprised at how weighty he was considering how small he looked. What was even stranger was Shemalla did not seem to notice just how heavy he had been. He wondered if the people from Tuala had a more dense body structure than the people from Earth. Would it become a problem if they had to go to the doctor? He decided he should ask Shemalla before she left.
Shemalla reached into the cab and brought out a couple of duffle bags and a little girl with blonde hair curled in ringlets. Chris was surprised at how beautiful the sleeping child was, not to mention how similar she appeared to his own daughters. He looked down at the boy and noticed there was little resemblance between the two kids as Willian was dark-haired and his skin was a different shade than Jena’s.
They entered the house following Diane into the little girl’s room first. Diane turned down the sheet and gestured for Shemalla to put the girl into the bed. She fussed with arranging the covers over the sleeping child in the shade-darkened room. Then they went to the next room down the hall and did the same thing for the boy.
Chris could hardly contain his questions until the door was shut. “Will there be a problem if we need to take the children to the doctor or hospital?”
“No, why should there be?”
“The boy was way heavier than someone his size should be. There must be something different with people from Tuala, and I don’t want to bring unwanted attention to either of them.”
“Physiologically our bodies are identical to your own. There will be no problem on that count. There may be some difference mentally since they can probably access the elemental energy in the earth through their birth crystals. You may see them do some strange things, but it’s normal.”
“Normal for you! What if they do something in public which we can’t explain? Can’t you keep their birth crystals for them until they’re ready to go home?” Chris already imagined the predicaments the children could get them into.
“That’s another thing; their birth crystal cannot be removed until they turn eighteen. It’s their protection. Nobody can remove them not even the children themselves.”
“Oh, that won’t seem strange at all. Shemalla, is there anything else we’re going to need to know?” Chris’ tone was laced with sarcasm as he could just imagine all sorts of strange conversations stemming from these two fosterlings.
“No, Chris, other than a few things which will seem odd at first, they’re just scared little kids who have been suddenly removed from their loving family and placed in a strange place with strangers taking care of them. I’m sure you’ll do fine!”
Chris felt abashed at his uncharacteristic outburst and said, “I’m sorry, Shemalla. I wasn’t being fair. We will do our best for them, and hopefully, their home situation will get resolved soon so they won’t have to be separated for very long.”
Diane rushed forward and hugged Shemalla before she turned to go back to the cab. “Thank you for bringing me these children. I’ll keep them safe until they can go home again. I’ll love them like they’re my own grandchildren!”
“I’m sure you will, which is why I asked in the first place. I’ve got to get going. Call me if you have any questions.” She walked out the door and let herself into the cab. Once she was buckled in, she waved just as the cab pulled out of the driveway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once they reached Durseni and finally went to bed, Chelesa cried herself to sleep. Debbon rubbed her back comfortingly until her sobs finally subsided into the heavy breathing of deep sleep. Going against his own rules, he had used a small amount of elemy to help his wife fall asleep faster. He thought she probably hadn’t slept very well from the moment he had left the house to begin the training session.
Since he had a moment to think he wondered just how well Chelesa would do in learning to become a wise-woman. She had always wanted to train for it when she first finished her post-education. Because she had never actively pursued it, he wondered whether or not she actually did have the right aptitude for healing. He would certainly find out shortly. Grinning at the new challenge, he rolled over on the bed, preparing to get what little sleep was still available before morning.
Chapter Eighteen
AMANDA TOSSED AND turned more than she slept, eventually giving up altogether when the first light touched her bedroom window. She wished she did not have to go to work since her mind was too sluggish to think straight. One thing she absolutely had to do was leave a message for Rasa to find out what Juila’s statement at midnight had really meant. She refused to believe her daughter could have died during the night; there had to be some other explanation.
After turning on her patil, she walked into the kitchen to get herself a cup of java while she waited for the patil to boot up. Her mind was not thinking clearly enough to use the elemy to create the java, so she used the old fashioned way of making it by hand.
Knowing she could go home soon, she would no longer have the luxury of using elemy to create anything since her powers would be nearly non-existent. She reasoned Shemalla still had access to power because she was a Tualan native, but as she was a native Earthling, she would return to nothing. She banished her line of thinking because it assumed Jena was lost forever and she still refused to admit defeat.
She walked back to the patil and saw it was ready to be used. She pushed the instant message icon and spoke, “Rasa, something strange happened last night. Juila lost her connection with Jena. I’m not sure what it means but I’m hoping you’ll have some suggestions. I’m really scared. Please get back to me soon. I love you! Bye.”
She finished her cup of java slowly as she considered all of the possibilities for Juila’s reaction the night before. She really could not convince herself of anything concrete, so she finally decided to take a shower to clear her mind. Amanda rinsed out her cup and headed to the bathroom.
The shower had helped as well as the java. She woke up Juila and got her ready to go to daycare. They walked silently to work slowly, both too preoccupied with their own thoughts to attempt small-talk. Amanda could see Juila was in deep thought, maybe trying to reestablish a connection with her sister. She did not try to engage her in conversation.
Amanda’s job seemed even harder to navigate that day. She had figured out how to access her home account from her patil at work, and she checked it often to see if Rasa had replied to her message.
Riccan could tell there was something distracting Amanda and wondered whether he could help, but Amanda did not seem inclined to want
to talk about whatever was bothering her, so he did not push. He watched her struggle with items she had breezed through the day before. Something was definitely wrong.
When Amanda finally appeared in his office, he was expecting to have some sort of explanation. “What’s going on, Amanda?”
“I have a family emergency. Would it be okay if I took the rest of today off?” Amanda was embarrassed to have to ask, but this was too important to let go until later.
“Sure. Can I help in any way?”
“Sorry, no. I have to go. Thank you, Riccan.” Amanda raced out of his office and down the hall to the back stairway Riccan had shown her the week before. She could not wait for the elevator since Rasa had messaged saying she had time to meet with her and Juila right away if she could manage it. Amanda had told her she would quit her job if they would not let her leave indicating she would be there no matter what. She rushed into the daycare and signed Juila out.
The surprised attendants handed the little girl over to her anxious mom and wondered what could have happened to make her pick up Juila early.
Amanda carried Juila down the street as fast as she could without running and drawing even more attention to themselves. Rasa had suggested they meet at their own place as Juila would be most comfortable there. Hopefully, Rasa had found a solution to what Juila had gone through the night before.
They rounded the last corner and saw Rasa was just getting to their house. Amanda was relieved she had not kept her waiting and jogged the last little bit to meet up with her. She unlocked the front door, and they all went inside where it was wonderfully cool. Setting Juila down on the floor she went straight for the kitchen to get three glasses of water.
Setting the glasses down on the coffee table within easy reach, she sat down on the couch beside Rasa. Unable to contain her curiosity any longer Amanda asked, “Did you find out something?”
“No, but I wanted to be in physical contact with Juila to check if I can feel the same thing I felt before when holding her in the marketplace. My power is a lot stronger so I might feel something even if Juila doesn’t anymore.”
Thinking Rasa’s explanation sounded reasonable, Amanda picked up Juila and set her in Rasa’s lap. Juila was unusually quiet and withdrawn which hurt Amanda to see her bright little girl so forlorn. She desperately hoped Rasa could feel something, anything! She sat quietly and watched as Rasa began her examination.
At first contact with Juila, Rasa could feel the child’s deep sorrow which almost kept her from delving any deeper, but something told her to keep going. She found the child’s life-line and traced it to the earth’s core energy. She kept following the line of elemy for what felt like forever, further than she even thought possible.
Suddenly there was something else, a separate spark which was Jena. It was not very strong, but she could not feel any sickness or danger, just separation. There was a vast amount of distance between them, and Rasa hoped she could re-link the two girls again.
Rasa came back into Juila’s mind showing Juila the faint spark. She could instantly feel Juila respond to her sister’s energy and the bond actually grew in size. Rasa wondered how Juila had done it so effortlessly yet could only assume it was her desperate need to have her sister with her which made it possible. Finally, Rasa left Juila’s mind and smiled with relief at Amanda.
“Jena’s okay! She went somewhere last night which moved her really far away…farther away than I can even imagine. The link was still there. It was just weaker than they were used to. When I showed Juila where Jena was she managed to strengthen the bond all on her own. I think she’ll be much happier because she has her sister back.”
Tears of joy sprang to Amanda’s eyes as soon as Rasa confirmed Jena was still alive. She could continue to search for her. Amanda decided at that moment that as soon as she had both her girls with her again, she would do whatever was humanly possible to get them back home to Earth right away. Too many crazy things had happened to her children here in Tuala, and she would only feel safe once they were all home with her own parents.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Chelesa awoke the next morning the first thing she did was try to access her children’s birth crystals. The feeling of nothingness almost undid her resolve to carry on as though everything were normal. Nothing would be normal until she had her children back in the safety of her arms. She missed them more than she ever imagined possible.
Knowing there was nothing she could do for her children she resolved to use the opportunity which had presented itself to learn something she had always desired but never believed within her reach. She showered and dressed in record time and surprised Debbon with her cheerful greeting.
“Good morning, Debbon. Did you get me the set of books I’ll need for class?”
Debbon blinked twice before he managed to form an answer. “They’re over on the table. Are you really doing okay, honey?”
“I’ve decided to make the best of this horrid situation. I’m going to devote all of my energy to be your best student. If the class graduates together or not at all, then I have some serious catching up to do. I still have a little time before class starts, show me the topics you’ve already covered and I’ll start reading through them.”
He jumped up from his chair to show his wife what she needed. Opening the top book in the stack, Debbon flipped to the table of contents and pointed to the first two subjects. “We started class with healing ethics and responsibilities. Then we switched to this next book…” He pushed the first book away from the stack and opened the second, “where we covered chapters three and six on diseases and mental illness.” The second book was shoved aside, and the third book covering anatomy and physiology was opened. “We have covered the first four chapters on anatomy. The last thing discussed and practiced on in class was regarding the life-line.” Debbon pulled the last book out from under the anatomy book and flipped to the section discoursing the benefits to healing using the life-line.
Chelesa glanced from the books to Debbon, laughed, and asked sarcastically, “Is that all?”
“I know it’s a lot to cover, but I know you can do it. I just wish we could have started you with the class so you wouldn’t feel such pressure to get caught up. We can still call this off if you want.” Debbon sincerely hoped she would not change her mind. There was no other plan for keeping her safe if she backed out of the class before she even started.
“No, I’m not going to quit now; I’ve had a lot of experience reading through boring contracts, I should be able to tackle this project even better since it’s already something of interest. Don’t worry; I’ll be fine. Now leave me alone for a bit so I can get started. Come and get me when it’s time for us to leave.”
Chelesa picked up the first book Debbon had opened and sat down in the chair at the table. Using the speed reading techniques she had developed over the anons, she rapidly turned the pages as she read through the ethics section. She was surprised to find she had finished reading the portions of the first book and had to stop herself from continuing to the next section. Closing the book with a great amount of reluctance, she picked up the second book and thumbed over to chapter three and began flipping through the pages with equal speed. She was just beginning chapter six when Debbon cleared his throat to catch her attention. Chelesa looked up with a frown and said, “Is it time already?”
“Yes. I see you’ve made some decent progress. Do you have any questions so far?”
“None about the reading, but I’m sure I’ve missed some pretty important class exercises. When do you think we’ll have time to go over those?” Chelesa was concerned her new class would resent the fact she was getting special treatment while starting late in the training. She wanted her skills to prove to the other women she was worthy of the honor.
“We can work on those in the evenings after class. Sometimes students will come over and work on things they are still having trouble processing, so it won’t be any special benefit to you if that’s what you
’re thinking.”
Debbon knew her mind so well she sometimes wondered how often he was using his mind-reading skill. He swore he never had to use it on her, but it was during times like this she had to think he might not even know he was doing it. She smiled at him and said, “You know me too well, Debbon. Let’s get going, so we won’t be late. Which books will I need for today?”
Grabbing the anatomy book from the table, Debbon offered his arm for his wife to hold. He was in high spirits because he was with Chelesa. Being away from her was the hardest part about teaching these classes. Since they were together, he was rather looking forward to letting the class take as long as it would.
Chelesa took hold of her husband’s arm to keep herself from trembling with nerves for her first day of class. Her mind was going over the many things she had already read and prayed the rest of the reading would go as easily. She hoped she would not be too far behind to have trouble keeping up in the class. She smiled at her husband as they left their apartment to begin her new adventure.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Diane awoke from her nap anticipating the waking up of the children. She wanted to be ready for them since she knew they would be confused about their new surroundings. Before she showered, she went to check on both kids. She opened first Willian’s bedroom door and peered around the door to the dim interior. She could see he was still fast asleep. Quietly closing the door again she moved down to Jena’s room.
When Diane peered in on the little girl she had not really seen the night before, she gasped quietly to herself. The light from the window was just touching her blonde curls and giving enough light for Diane to see her beautifully familiar features. Without even realizing it, Diane found herself in the room right next to the bed. She knelt down and studied the little girl’s face intently.
Ascension Discovery Page 75