Telepath

by Laurence Dahners

  Eva gave a nod. “Yes, the heart pumps blood through your arteries and veins to all the parts of your body. If a part of your body doesn’t get blood it dies. If all your blood leaks out through a knife wound, then your whole body dies because there’s nothing to pump around. But, a heart attack’s when one of the blood vessels to the heart itself gets blocked with a fatty deposit. The part of the heart fed by those blood vessels dies. If too much of the heart dies—or even a small part if it’s an important part—then the heart stops pumping blood. When that happens, the rest of the body dies too. A stroke’s when one of the blood vessels to the brain gets plugged up and part of the brain dies.”

  Kazy felt puzzled. After a moment, she said, “But, there isn’t a pebble for Daussie to teleport away, right?”

  “No, but she can teleport those fatty deposits away too. So far she’s only teleported them away before they’ve completely plugged anybody’s arteries. But, in theory, if someone had a heart attack right in front of her, she could unclog the artery before any of the heart actually died.”

  Realization dawned, bringing a sense of awe. “Oh!” Kazy whispered, “That’d be… amazing!”

  Eva put her arm around Kazy and squeezed, “Yeah, I think so too.”

  They walked in silence for a while again. Eventually, Kazy said, “So, if you guys can do all these amazing things, why aren’t you famous? Sick people should be coming to see you from all over.”

  Eva shrugged, looking a little said. “Daussie’s only just gained her ability, so we haven’t been able to treat many people yet.”

  “Oh! You can’t do it yourself?”

  Eva slowly shook her head, looking sad.

  “So, I might not be able to do it either?”

  Eva caught her lip in her teeth for a moment, then said, “Maybe not. That’s why they used to say we shouldn’t talk to you about abilities before you turned fifteen. They thought learning about abilities too early might keep them from developing.”

  Kazy gave her a puzzled frown, “Why would that happen?”

  Eva shrugged again, “I don’t know. It’s never made much sense to me. Besides, I don’t know how they’d ever know that someone would’ve had abilities if they hadn’t been asked about it too early. So, I guess it’s probably not true.”

  Kazy walked silently for a while, then said, “I don’t think it makes sense either, so I’d just as well find out whether I’ve got any. How do I do it?”

  Eva gave her a sad look, “Other than my ghost and my medical knowledge, I don’t have any abilities. So I don’t really know how to do it myself. You’ll have to ask Daum, Tarc, or Daussie.”

  “Wait, Daum and Tarc can teleport things too?”

  “No, not teleport. They have telekinesis.”

  “What’s that mean?”

  “Moving things without touching them.”

  “What?!” Kazy exclaimed, startled by the idea. Then she wondered why she found that more surprising than teleportation. “What kinds of things?”

  “I guess pretty much anything,” Eva said, “though they have to be small. My understanding is they can’t push very hard, so they can only move things that don’t weigh much.”

  “Like feathers?”

  “Well, it’s not that simple. My understanding is that if he’s really close to it, Tarc can lift as much as half a kilogram now. The farther away he is, the less he can move.”

  “How much can Daum lift?”

  “Not even half what Tarc can. Also, Daum can only move things he can see with his eyes. Tarc can move things he feels with his ghost, like things inside of people. Daum can’t do that because his ghost doesn’t penetrate into things the way yours does.”

  “Oh,” Kazy said, pausing to digest these new ideas. After a while, she said, “And, pushing on things at a distance is useful?”

  “Oh yeah,” Eva said enthusiastically. “When we have patients with pain in their abdomens, it can be pretty hard to figure out which organ’s the source of the pain. But Tarc can poke and prod the different organs until the patient yelps, telling us which one’s tender.”

  Everything’s about healing to her, Kazy thought. “Is it good for anything besides figuring out what’s wrong with people?”

  “Oh yeah,” Eva said, waxing enthusiastic “When people are bleeding, we usually try to stop it by putting pressure on the wound. But when they’re bleeding inside, we can’t apply pressure in there. But, Tarc can. He just reaches inside with his ghost, finds where the bleeding is, and applies pressure with his ghost. He’s saved lives that way.”

  “How about anything other than healing?”

  Eva sighed unhappily, “It can guide knives and arrows to their targets… Daum said he told you Tarc’s the one who actually rescued you from those men. That’s how he did it. So, you could say telekinesis saved your life.” She glanced away, then mused, “Also, he can reach inside of locks and undo them without a key. That’s part of how he set me free, so I guess telekinesis saved my life too.”

  Kazy was overcome with a rush of hope that she’d have telekinesis too. “Can I take one of the horses and go back to talk to Tarc?”

  Eva looked over at her, “I don’t want to say no. But, you really shouldn’t. If he’s back there as our rearguard, he’s got to have his ghost out looking for enemies. If you’re distracting him—”

  “Oh, you’re right. I won’t do that. I’ll go talk to Daussie…” She paused thinking, “Unless, do you think if I try teleporting things first, I might be able to do that, but not do telekinesis? Like, whichever one I try to do first is the one I get?”

  Eva shook her head, “I don’t think so. At least, I’ve never heard of that, but then, I’ve never heard of anyone who could teleport before Daussie. So, I think you get what you’re going to get and it doesn’t depend on what you try to be able to do.” Kazy opened her mouth to speak but Eva put out a hand to halt her, “In fact, Daussie was trying to do telekinesis when she accidentally started teleporting things. That’s pretty good evidence that your abilities are predetermined and don’t depend on what you try to do first.”

  “Okay,” Kazy said, turning back toward the wagon with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. “I’ll go talk to Daussie first.”

  Eva said, “Try not to be disappointed if you don’t have any other abilities besides your ghost. Remember, that’s a wonderful ability all by itself. It’ll keep you safe and could be really helpful if you’re interested in being a healer. Most people’d be ecstatic to have it.”

  “You’re right,” Kazy acknowledge as she stopped walking and waited for the wagon to catch up to her. But I really want to be able to throw knives like Tarc. Darkly, she thought about just how much she’d like to kill men like the ones who’d held her captive.

  ~~~

  Mr. Roper was telling Daussie about the ancients’ wagons. “Instead of being pulled by animals, they had a thing inside them called an engine. It turned the wheels so that the wheels pulled the wagons along by themselves.”

  Though Daussie knew the ancients were able to do many things, she still wondered whether Roper might be pulling her leg. “What’d they feed these engines?”

  “They weren’t animals, so they didn’t need to be fed. Instead, they put in materials that burned. Like alcohol, which is the main component in your father’s moonshine. Or coal, or even wood. The easiest way to understand it is to think of a covered pot on your stove. When the water boils, the steam blows out from under the lid with a lot of force. They had devices that could capture the force of the steam and make it do work like turning wheels.”

  Daussie pondered this concept. She knew you couldn’t hold the pressure of the steam underneath the lid, it was too strong. So, she could imagine that the power of the steam might be able to do some work. However, she couldn’t imagine what kind of device could capture that force. She turned to Roper, “Are there any books… with pictures of how such devices work?”

  Roper looked at her askance. “I hope
you’ll be careful about saying things like that. Many people frown on the knowledge and especially the books of the ancients. I take a liberal view and think we should learn all we can from those kinds of sources, but some think that’s sacrilege.” Daussie had the feeling Roper wanted to look around to be sure no one was listening, even though they were all alone on the road. She also thought he was somewhat hypocritical to be telling her all about how wonderful the ancients were, then warning her not to ask about books. She didn’t say anything and he lowered his voice to go on, “I’ve seen some books that had pictures and diagrams of how some of those devices worked. They’re fascinating. I’d love to have such a book because I dream of being able to build one of those devices myself someday …”

  Daussie realized Kazy was standing beside the road waiting for the wagon to catch up to her. From the look in Kazy’s eye, Daussie thought she probably wanted to talk about teleporting. Her cousin had been up at the front with Eva much longer than Daussie’d expected. Daussie thought she’d probably heard enough about the theory of talents and was aching to learn more about the practical side of them.

  Since they couldn’t talk in front of the Ropers, Daussie told Henry the ancients’ engines sounded quite interesting, then made an excuse about checking on the horses.

  As Daussie expected, Kazy followed her back to where Brownie and two of the Norton guards’ horses were tethered to the wagon and following along. There wasn’t actually anything to be done for the horses en route, so Daussie just patted Brownie and spoke reassuringly to the horse as it plodded along.

  Eventually, getting frustrated, Kazy interrupted Daussie’s conversation with the horse. “I talked to your mom. She told me about your abilities and about ‘ghost senses…’”

  Daussie’d been thinking she’d make Kazy beg for information, but now she found herself wondering if her cousin really did have a ghost, such as her ability to sense the position of the sun suggested. Besides, she realized that Kazy was probably on edge about whether she had any other abilities, so she felt bad about making it hard for her. Hesitantly, she asked, “So, do you have a ghost? Do you know where things are?”

  “Yeah,” Kazy said, sounding disappointed. “It’s not very strong. Your mom and the lead mule are about as far away as I can sense any animals.”

  “You’ll get better,” Daussie said reassuringly. “I’m much better than I was at first. It seems like the more you try to sense things, the farther away you can do it.”

  “Can you sense things as far as Tarc?” Kazy asked, timidly.

  Daussie nodded, feeling like now wasn’t the time to tell Kazy she could sense farther than Tarc could.

  Sounding nervous, Kazy said, “Your mom said I should ask you and Tarc how to try teleporting and… telekinesing things.”

  Daussie glanced forward at the Ropers, suddenly reluctant to test Kazy’s ability. What if she can’t do it? Daussie remembered the tantrum she herself had had when it seemed she didn’t have any other ability. Kazy’s going to be really upset. She suddenly wanted to do it near Eva so Eva could be the one to console Kazy if Kazy couldn’t actually do anything. She said, “We shouldn’t really do it near the Ropers. Let’s catch up to Eva on the pretext that I’m going to lead the mules for a while.”

  “Okay,” Kazy said, sounding frustrated to have it put off again, yet somehow relieved not to get bad news right away. They started walking faster in order to catch up to Eva and the mule team.

  Reaching Eva, Daussie said, “Hey Mom, Kazy wants to try teleporting something. I didn’t think we should do it back near the Ropers, so I thought we’d come up here. After she tries it, I’ll lead the mule team for a while.”

  Eva gave Daussie a worried look—Daussie thought her mother also didn’t want to be around Kazy if she was about to learn she didn’t have any talent but her ghost—nonetheless, Eva resignedly said, “Okay.”

  Daussie pinched up some dirt from the road, laid it in her hand and sorted through it. She picked out a tiny pebble which was really more of a large grain of sand. She swiped her palm clean and set the pebble back on the flat of her palm. Turning to Kazy, she said, “It’s easier to move small things, so why don’t you try it with this first. What I do is feel the object with my ghost first, then think about pushing it to a different location. Like this…” Daussie pushed and the tiny pebble disappeared from where it lay, reappearing on the other side of her palm. She picked up the pebble and held it out to Kazy, “You try it.”

  ~~~

  Kazy reluctantly put the little pebble onto her palm. She reached for it with her ghost. She had a little difficulty because it was tiny and cool, but she closed her eyes for a moment and then her ghost recognized it. Opening her eyes, she thought of pushing it across her palm.

  Nothing happened.

  Gritting her teeth, she made a bigger effort, hearing a roaring in her ear as she did so. Still, nothing happened.

  She tried it again with her eyes closed.

  When she opened them again, the pebble lay in the same spot.

  Horrified, she felt her tears beginning to well up. “It’s not working!” she said plaintively. She turned to look at Eva and Daussie. “Do you do something different for telekinesis? Will Tarc be able to show me how to do that?”

  Daussie put an arm around her and squeezed, saying, “I don’t know. Maybe? I think he just tries to push things too, but maybe if you try it a few different ways, it’ll work.”

  Kazy spun from beneath Daussie’s arm, clapping her hands over her eyes and trying not to scream.

  Stopped, she heard the mules patiently plodding by.

  The wagon creaked toward her.

  She wanted to disappear.

  Somebody approached and she felt Eva’s arms go around her. “Kazy,” Eva said patiently, “whether or not you’re ever able to do anything more, just having a ghost is a wonderful ability.”

  “I know,” Kazy said with a strangled sob. “I know.”

  As the wagon rolled by, Haley Roper’s voice came from just behind Kazy. “What’s the matter? Can I help?”

  Eva said, “Just a little emotional upset. I’m afraid it’s something she’ll have to get over on her own.”

  Kazy felt someone pat her on the back, presumably Roper.

  Kazy could hear the wagon rolling away.

  Eva said, “Come on now, we’ve got to stay with the wagon.” Keeping one arm around Kazy, she tugged her along.

  Kazy stumbled a few steps with her hands still over her eyes, then she opened them on a blurry world—a world that seemed much dimmer than it’d been moments ago.

  Chapter Two

  The light was dimming. Tarc realized they weren’t going to catch up to the caravan this day. Mr. Roper had thought they might reach the next walled town, a regular stop for the caravan, but it didn’t look like they were going to make it. Tarc started trotting forward to catch up to the wagon, while casting his ghost back to make sure no one was coming up behind.

  Oh, damn, he thought. There’s someone back there. He wondered whether it was a fellow traveler, just moving a little faster than the wagon. Or, he thought grimly, someone who watched us go by, then came out on the road, intending to catch us from behind.

  Tarc kept trotting forward, still straining with his ghost to evaluate the party behind him. Four, maybe five men, all on horses, he decided. He took his bow off his back, set the lower end on the notch in his stirrup and quickly bent it to attach the string. Pulling out an arrow, he turned and looked behind him. Without his ghost telling him where to look, he didn’t think he would’ve noticed the men back there in the weak light of dusk.

  Tarc pulled on the string around his neck, bringing the whistle up out of his shirt. He almost had it to his lips, ready to blow the single long toot that would tell the others that he’d encountered someone but didn’t know whether or not they were hostile.

  Before he blew, he heard a single long toot on a whistle from up in front of the wagon. Strangers behind the wagon mi
ght be friendly, but strangers both in front and in the rear must be an ambush, he thought. He urged his mount to more speed as he blew two long toots of his own.

  ~~~

  Lizeth felt grateful that the ancients had built up a road across this swampy section. She wondered whether the adjoining land might’ve been even swampier in the ancient past. At present, it seemed mostly scrubby brush growing in a kind of mud flat. Freestanding water was visible here and there. Charred tree trunks here and there suggested it’d once grown up into somewhat of a forest before a fire took it back down. Some distance behind her they’d passed a broken down carriage, abandoned a short distance out into the brush, leaving her to wonder what’d happened to its owners.

  They were coming to a wooded area at the end of the brushland. She suddenly had a bad feeling about it. We’re trapped on a narrow road between swampy brushlands on either side. A perfect place for an ambush, she thought, focusing intently on the woods ahead.