“Ok, saving the nastiest for first, I would like to explain the problem with Tomas. Abby, Tomas has this thing for you. He’s had it since we were kids. I don’t think his relationship with Kelly is much more than a convenience. The real relationship is with Kelly’s oddball brother, Armoni. A real nasty S.O.B, Armoni has Tomas under his thumb. Kelly is just cover. They use each other for kicks. She is meant to keep an eye on Tomas for Armoni.”
“What does that have to do with me? Since when does he have this so called thing?” Abby asked with complete mystification. Jose squirmed. Scotty knew the next part would not be easy for Jose to explain.
“Well, uh, Tomas has always had a problem with me; a little jealousy thing. I guess it started with his mama’s attention to me when I was first adopted. We were just children. As we grew, I noticed he always had to have whatever I was interested in.”
“But Jose, I still don’t see what this has to do with me. How do you explain his behavior?” Jose flushed, his fine dark features, beet red. Abby looked from Scotty to Jose, perplexed. Suddenly a golden aura flashed into their minds, a whisper infusing their consciousness.
“Sister, I think Brother Jose wants to mate with you.”
“Ewe,” laughed Scotty.
“Damn, Echo!” Jose said pounding his fist on the table. “It’s not like that at all, Abby, I mean—, Scotty, help me out here.”
“I know nothing.” Scotty could not contain his laughter. Jose jumped up from the table, pacing nervously. “Maybe we can talk, you and I, and uh, gee Echo, sometimes you have to think before you speak. Abby can we discuss this later?” Jose loudly swallowed his begging voice, embarrassment plastered like a short circuiting neon sign on his face. Abby put her hand out, drawing him to the table, her expression unreadable.
“Jose, please sit down. The Tomas issue is not important right now. I think you know it’s time to answer my questions.”
“Ok, yes, saving the best, the very, very best for last.” Jose exhaled with relief. Grabbing Scotty, goofing at him like a fool, he clapped him on the back sharing a macho moment of male bonding. Taking Echo and sitting her on the table, again Jose shook his head.
“I can’t believe we were able to keep this secret for so many years.”
“What secret? Who’s we? Come on, what the heck is going on? I’m too tired for games guys.”
“Scotty, make sure the drapes are all shut for me, just in case.”
“In case of what? Come on now guys, this is all weird enough without you trying to scare me.”
“It’s not about pumping the story,” Scotty said, getting up, “It’s about being safe.”
“Yeah, Abby, what we’re going to tell you is going to sound unbelievable. More unbelievable than what’s already happened to you tonight.” Jose said, still stroking Echo.
“But Jose.” Abby sighed; her frustration and growing impatience clear as a bell. She rubbed her bleary eyes. “I don’t even know what happened here tonight. Something happened to me? You mean with Tomas?” Scotty came back to the table and hugged Abby.
“Sis, this is going to be very hard to believe. Jose, I think there is only one way to do it. We need to show her.” Raising his eyebrows to Jose, he got a nod. Slowly, both he and Jose let their tails unwind from under their shirts, standing bravely waiting to be judged. They watched Abby, holding their breath.
“Is this some kind of joke?” Abby appeared stunned and angry.
“No, Abby,” Jose said softly. “This is who we are now, both of us. Please don’t be upset, but this is a side effect of being healed by Echo. We’ve all been healed by her, even Barney. We’ve been hiding this for years. Scotty, since he was a boy.” Abby looked over to see Scotty, the pain of isolation clear on his pale face, his freckles straining with the struggle to hold his emotions in, fighting back the tears. He had been just a little boy, and so alone.
“It was hard, Ab. But now I have Jose and Echo. It’s so much easier. I don’t feel alone anymore. How do you think my eye straightened out and my scars disappeared? And now we have you.”
“What do you mean, you have me? Why do you say I’m healed? Am I going to grow a tail, too?” Her voice was rising, faint hints of hysteria hiding behind her eyes. Calming golden auras spoke.
“Sister Abby; I am pleased you are healed. You are special now. We have chosen you. You will be a survivor now. This will help make my mission easier. Soon I must make a decision. But now we are a family and always will be.”
“Jose, what is she talking about? I don’t understand any of this! Where in the world did this … creature … come from?”
“That’s just it, Abby, she’s from another world; another planet. She’s been here for a very long time. And she chose us to live with. I know she talks about mission stuff, but who knows? She’s ours. Isn’t that cool? And she cured you, Abby. That’s a great thing! She doesn’t seem to eat either, so she won’t cost us anything.” Jose tried hard, pulling out all the stops to sell Abby the idea of keeping Echo.
“Well now, Jose, I need you to know just a little thing.” Scotty spoke slowly. All eyes turned to him.
“It wasn’t Echo that healed Abby. I did it.”
“What do you mean you, Scotty? How would you know how to do it?”
“I don’t know Jose, my tail just popped out without me thinking. It healed her on its own. I guess that means that you can probably do it too. And maybe Abby will be able to do it.”
“Echo, can you please tell us what’s happening to us?” Jose glanced around, not seeing the creature. Barney appeared to have slipped away too. The three of them hurriedly searched through the house. No Echo or Barney.
“Hey guys, out here.” Abby peered out the back window into their miniature yard, its lone maple tree doing a proud job. Echo lay stretched out on her back with her face up to the sun, a waft of air ruffling her golden fur. Steadfast, Barney crouched next to her, a faithful guard.
Scotty slipped outside to scoot them back in. Looking around, Scotty spotted a vintage white Volkswagen parked up the hill on the side of the road. He didn’t recognize the car. Was that someone sitting inside? Can they see into the back yard? Dismissing his paranoia, he closed the back door and returned to the living room with the two wanderers.
Jose knelt down in front of Echo, slipping his arm around Barney’s soft curly neck. Echo’s head bobbed around, turning in all directions. Jose waited patiently until she settled down.
“Echo it’s dangerous to walk outside without one of us with you. Someone might want to steal you. Do you want to leave us?” Golden rainbows flashed madly.
“No, Brother Jose; I need you. I need Brother Scotty and Sister Abby. You are very, very important to me and my mission. And I would never leave My Barney, would I, My Barney?” Echo’s round furry face bobbled up and down as she rubbed her golden fur against Barney’s chest. Barney just sat there with big doggy insouciance; his sloppy tongue hanging over his mouth, dripping slobber on Echo’s shining head.
“Brother Jose, if I am to live with you, I must be able to access the sun to do what you refer to as eating. I cannot survive without it. Otherwise, I must return to the Womb in the woods.”
“Ok, Echo, I have an idea. Tomorrow is Saturday. We’ll all be home. Scotty and I are going to build you a private tree house. You can get the exposure to the sun that you need without anyone spotting you. Can you climb a tree?” The golden auras swirled and then stopped. Before anyone could speak, Echo broke away from Barney, ran to the living room wall and placed one foot in front of the other as she climbed, walking upside down across the ceiling with her head swiveling to watch them and walked back down the opposite wall. Wobbling over to Barney, she pulled herself up, plopped down on his back and curled up. Speechless, Scotty, Abby and Jose just stared.
###
“Well, I guess she showed us. Okay then.” Abby laughed. And it felt good. Many questions remained unanswered but she felt giddy with the new possibilities. Could it really be true th
at she might be healthy now? Glancing over at Jose, who was planning the treehouse with Scotty, she gave him a long pensive appraisal. He certainly took the reins here. It made her feel secure. Her face flushed with other thoughts. Was she completely oblivious or what? Things might be looking up a lot more than anyone expected.
Abby said goodnight, pleading exhaustion. At their quick questioning looks, she reassured them that she felt great. She just wanted some time to be alone. She needed to think about so much. This will dramatically change how she thought about herself and her life. And she needed to think about the loss of her mother. She pressed her hand to her stomach, her emotions in a free-for-all. She needed to take time to say goodbye to her mom in private and have a healing cry.
She pushed back the small seed of bitterness that surfaced. With all of this mystical healing stuff, how come it wasn’t used to save Mom? Irrationally, she refused to admit they didn’t know of her mother’s accident until it was too late. Gee, wouldn’t Mom be happy to see me cured? As she shut the door to her bedroom, she sighed mournfully, realizing the old adage is correct. Timing is everything.
###
Back in the living room, hilarity sounded as Jose collected his tools for the treehouse. Echo steered Barney over to the toolbox so she could examine them. Taking them from the toolbox, she lined them up in the hopes of discovering their purpose. Picking up the hammer, she remembered why it looked familiar. Brother’s two humans; Sister Netty and Brother Wil.
Now that Echo no longer worried about her loneliness, they completely slipped from her mind. She remembered watching Brother Wil from the woods. He often used this primitive tool called a hammer. Echo wondered why Brother had not called on the Womb to make their lives better. Did Brother forget who he was? And now Brother Jose planned to use the same tool. Perhaps Echo should show him the easy way. Well, maybe she should first see what he planned to use the tool for. Echo remembered that sometimes, when she volunteers information, someone gets upset. Sister Abby clearly needs a little looking after, she sure gets upset easily. I better keep an eye on her. She refused to let any trauma or upset come to her new family. Fam-i-ly. She decided she liked the way the word sounded.
###
Studying Echo, Jose wondered what the rascal was up too. She obviously didn’t know what to make of his tools. Well, tomorrow he and Scotty will show her a thing or two. They would have her treehouse up in no time. Motioning over to Scotty, they decided to sit at the table and draw some rough plans. As they sketched, Jose filled Scotty in about Tomas, Kelly and Armoni.
“The news is not good, kiddo, Armoni pulled a knife on me while I confronted Tomas. Armoni’s quite the knife freak. I didn’t get inside, but while I knocked at the door I could hear some girl screaming for help. I had Kelly and Armoni in my eyesight, so it wasn’t them. God knows what freaky stuff happened in there. I got out of there while the getting was good. I gave the cops a quick call; concerned citizen and all. Hope they were able to get in. Tomas will know it was me that called. We’ve got to be ultra-careful. I’m afraid to leave Echo alone during the day. I think we’re going to have to invest in a good security system. Hope we can swing it.”
“By the way, Mama Diaz and the girls did not move in with Tomas. He said Armoni put his foot down. Mama Diaz didn’t have a choice. Tomas is going to drive her back to the projects in Short Hills. Isn’t that where you used to live?”
“Yeah, I can’t believe he would do that to his mother and his sisters. Should we bring them back here?”
“I don’t think so. We have Echo now. And how do we explain Abby’s recovery? And our tails? I don’t see how you kept it hidden. Give me some time to think about what we can do for them. Don’t worry. I won’t let Mama and the girls be dumped like this. What do you say, time to hit the sack? We can start this in the morning. We’ll pick up lumber at the lumberyard and price out security systems. We start building after lunch, okay?”
“Yeah, I need to hit the sack. Echo? Barney? You guys want to bunk with me?” Barney jumped to his feet, following Scotty to his bedroom with Echo shuffling quickly behind, her tiny leather feet trying their best to keep up with Barney. Jose turned out the lights and followed them all to bed.
The house on Lily Pond Road finally settled down for the night. Sleep came to the occupants of all their neighbor’s homes. The night’s creatures woke up, starting their nocturnal foraging. And the predators; oh yes, the predators were afoot. Slowly, ever so slowly, the white Volkswagen on the hillside turned on its headlights, quietly rolled down the hill and silently glided past one particular home on Lily Pond Road, disappearing into the night.
Chapter 9
The next morning Scotty woke to a harsh pounding on his door. Recognizing urgency when it woke him up, he slipped into his jeans and shirt, not bothering to tuck in his tail. Glancing around, he noticed that Barney and Echo were nowhere to be seen. Dashing to the living room he searched for Abby and Jose, finding them hunched over the back window. Joining them, they silently made room for him.
“Holy mother of God,” he whispered with awe in his voice. There, up in the maple tree, sat the furry twosome; Echo, stretched out doing her eating and Barney keeping watch, happily slobbering all over the new treehouse. Looking at Jose, Scotty asked, “Did you?”
Shaking his head, Jose said, “Not me.”
Looking back at the treehouse, Scotty saw how it gleamed like gold in the sunlight. He couldn’t see any joints or supports. No. It couldn’t be, could it? He noticed the trunk of the tree encased in the same substance the tree house was made of, giving it a solid support. Could it be? And how did Barney get up there?
Running into the garage, he returned with a couple of cans of black spray paint. Hollering to Jose to get a ladder, he ran into the backyard, starting to spray. Jose dragged the ladder up to the treehouse and begged Barney to come to him. Echo sat up, motioning to Barney. Golden rainbows flashed in their heads.
“My Barney, please let Brother Jose take you down to the ground. Brother Jose, Brother Scotty, Sister Abby, did you not like my surprise? Now you do not have all of that difficult manual labor to do.”
“Echo, will you please come into the house? We would like to talk to you. Oh, and yes, we do love your surprise.” Lifting the squirming Barney, Jose eased down the latter. Scotty watched, tapping on the mysterious metal. The tree house sure felt like solid gold. Watching Echo walk down the gold encased tree, he grabbed a spray can, adding more camouflage.
Abby gathered up the wayward buddies and scooted them into the house, with Scotty and Jose not far behind. Gathering at the kitchen table, Echo climbed up unaided. Abby couldn’t squash a laugh as she watched Echo make herself comfortable on the table. Looking up at her family, Echo stared into their faces, her beautiful golden eyes flashing rainbows.
“I guess you were very busy last night, Echo,” Jose commented softly.
“Oh no, Brother, I slept very soundly last night, and so did My Barney.”
“Well, how did the tree house get built? And is it actually made out of gold?”
“Yes, my Brother, I hope you don’t mind the gold. I realize it is a soft metal, but the Womb found it the most plentiful metal in the earth near the Hive. Since it was only going to be used for my eating and of course, the occasional company of My Barney, we thought it would be strong enough. Do you approve?” Jose looked at Abby and Scotty, amazement leaving him speechless. It was clear Echo had no idea of the value of gold. And it was just sitting in their backyard.
“OH—MY—God.” Abby’s eyes were popping as she looked at Jose. “We have to get that treehouse out of there.”
“I am sorry, Sister Abby. I did not realize what I did was bad. I will have the Womb take it back,” Echo flashed her auras wildly.
“No.” Everyone shouted in unison. “That’s okay, Echo, we can handle this. Guys, we will need to discuss this again later. I guess we all realize we have some new developments on our hands. But right now, we have to get that hunk of go
rgeous gold cut up and stowed away, fast.”
Grabbing Echo, Jose picked her up and gave her a huge kiss on the mouth. Scotty did the same. Abby smiled and patted her on the head. Barney put his paws on the table and standing as tall on his tippy toes as he possibly could, gave Echo a very happy, very sloppy kiss. That one made Echo smile. Scotty and Jose took off for the local hardware store with Abby staying home to keep an eye on Echo and Barney. They all agreed that Jose and Abby should quit their jobs. Even if they didn’t have the specter of independent wealth sitting in their back yard, the complexity of Echo, the Womb and their own changes would force them to reevaluate their schedules, their jobs and their public exposure.
They made a note to pick up a good pair of sunglasses for Abby. She would need them soon enough. Scotty and Jose both noticed that direct proximity to Echo seemed to accelerate the changes. Jose’s eyes had deepened their golden color since they took Echo from the woods. And Scotty’s golden eyes had developed a distinct rainbow shimmer. They both agreed that they needed a more wrap around style of sunglass, for more complete coverage. And how goofy would that look; the three of them walking around in wraparound sunglasses? That only served to draw more unwanted attention. For the glasses to protect them more effectively they should only appear in public separately or maybe just two of them together. With that agreement, Scotty and Jose took off for the local hardware store.
###
Arriving at the huge store, they quickly loaded their cart. They needed a lot more paint to cover the gold. Green and black would do. It should take them all day to cover the gold completely. Then they faced a daunting task; trying to cut up the gold; especially trying to figure out how to hide it from the neighbors. They couldn’t do it in the dark. The light from the blowtorch would be more noticeable. And where to start; Jose decided the top would be best. They couldn’t allow the whole structure to collapse if they started at the bottom. Eyeing the equipment they would need, he realized they probably didn’t have the skills to do the job properly. Glancing in the cart, he hoped his money would cover everything. Abby had been reluctant to pool their money. She just couldn’t get over the idea that it wasn’t necessary to save every penny for her medical treatments.
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