by Shea Meadows
“Will you need me in the doctor’s office? It’s crowded here. We passed another waiting area near the front doors. Maybe I can go back there and draw,” Bonta asked.
“We’ll be good, and hopefully this won’t take long so we can be on time for lunch,” Ricky answered.
One of the mothers chimed in. “This looks worse than it is, especially for the babies. There are two nurse practitioners who work with Dr. Susan. They bring the kids in, weigh them, take their vitals, talk to the mom then the doctor sees them afterwards. Works pretty well for us.”
“Call me if you want me back; I’ll come running,” Bonta said with a smile.
The mom who had spoken before held a baby in a football jersey and admired Nory. “How old is she? Pretty new, yes?”
“Two weeks old. She was a month early.”
“Wow, she’s so alert. James is six months and slept the whole first month. But she’s looking around like she wants to take everything in. I’m Judy Foster, by the way. This is my second. His big brother is going into kindergarten in the fall.”
“I’m Ricky Clark and this is Eleanor, who we call Nory. She’s our first, and maybe only. I got started a little late in the baby department.”
“So she was high risk in a couple of ways, early birth and ….”
“Yup, an older mom. I never thought it would happen. David and I have been married a year and a half,” Ricky replied. “That’s why most likely an only.”
“I’m stay-at -home at present, but plan to go back to my job when James turns one. Are you working?”
“My work is flexible. My husband and I have our own company. I take on what I can handle.”
Before Judy could go into the next round of questions, her name was called and she waved goodbye with a friendly smile. Before the woman sitting near her with twins in a stroller could take up the conversation, she was also called in. That left Ricky and one other baby-mom combo in the chairs.
In another ten minutes, Nory was being weighed, examined and listened to. The practitioner kept on saying “wow”. “Wow, she’s slightly over seven pounds. Way to go Eleanor. Wow, look at her examining everything in the room; she’s so alert. Wow, what good reflexes, perfect heart rhythms, wonderful skin color, no jaundice whatsoever. Your little girl gets A+ across the boards. Dr. Susan will be in soon.”
Dr. Fry came in shortly after, chuckling. “Chris was full of superlatives in the chart and I agree. Nory is doing great. She looks great and is gaining weight better than average. No rashes, no edema, doing well.” She looked again at the chart. “You moved? Weren’t you in the York Street house you wrote about in the book? It says DuPont Avenue for the billing address.”
“Yes, we pulled out the day we were discharged. There is a problem in the house that might have caused a health risk for all of us, but Nory in particular,” Ricky answered.
“Really? But she loves that house. Her former father built it, right?”
Ricky nodded. “We all love it and plan to go back, but we have to solve the problem. That might take a little time.”
“Mold in the house? Built in the 1920s, right? Or maybe you checked for radon and it came up positive?” Dr. Susan speculated.
Ricky shook her head. “Since you read the book and know about us, I feel safe in telling you. This is strictly confidential; are you okay with that?”
Susan nodded with a concerned expression. “I won’t say a word except to help you if I know something beneficial.”
Ricky then told her a condensed version of what they had found out about the artifact stored in the cellar. “We are tracking down its origins now and have learned a lot in the last week. But all of us are safe in the new house. We’re having a meeting tonight to confer with the guides.”
Susan looked at her watch. “I have to get to the next patient. Busy day, but would you consider letting me come tonight? I have some connections that might be helpful, and barring emergencies, I have the evening free.”
“Let me check with David about how many are coming. I want to make sure it isn’t standing room only.”
Dr. Susan scribbled her private cell number on the back of a business card. “Give me a call if it’s okay. Not trying to bust my way in on you, but all things Chinese were my passion before I practiced in Minnesota. I guess I would be considered a Sinophile. I lived there and have contacts in the world of antiquities.”
“Okay, I’ll let you know soon.”
“In the meantime, make an appointment for a month from now with the receptionist. I’ll be expecting your call on the other matter,” she said as she smiled and went on to the next patient.
Bonta was busy sketching in a sitting area near the main doors. She looked up and smiled when Ricky and Nory returned. “Perfect timing, it’s complete.”
“Can I look?”
“Not yet. I called in Chick. He’s invisible and impatient. Next thing we do is go to a lunch room down two halls, which says ‘Staff and Visitors Café,’” Bonta informed Ricky. “Follow me.”
Ricky gave the girl a salute and followed her lead. After a couple of twists and turns, they arrived.
“Now what?” Ricky asked.
“We’re eating, so I will find the perfect table and bring Nory with me while you pick up some food,” Bonta informed her.
Ricky smiled and watched as Bonta found a table near the edge of a group with employee name badges, some in uniform and others in street clothes. As far as she could tell, Blue Olsen wasn’t among them.
Ricky picked out an egg salad sandwich, some ice tea and a banana and joined them at the table.
She could see the faint form of Chick floating around the room searching for his former girlfriend.
Bonta looked at the clock. “Just about time for me to get my lunch, two minutes more.”
“Is it important you go then?”
“You’ll see soon. Now it’s time. Nory will start to cry when I leave. Pick her up and try to sooth her, okay?”
“Got ya.”
Right on cue, Nory let out a screech then a wail. Ricky picked her up, and was soothing her, and in the process knocked the ice tea with her arm, and it splashed its contents over the sandwich.
A pleasant voice came from a young nurse making her way toward the table to be with her friends. “Can I help you? Let me hold her for a minute while you salvage your lunch.”
Ricky looked at the speaker and saw Blue Olsen with her freckled face, shiny brown hair and friendly brown eyes. She handed Nory to her, noting the employee badge identifying her as an LPN. “Thanks so much. I think I can dry off at least half the sandwich.”
“It’s tough to eat with a little one. If you’d like, I’ll hold her for a couple of minutes while you eat. What’s her name, and how old is she?”
“Her name is Eleanor but we call her Nory, and she’s two weeks old today. She came a little early,” Ricky answered between bites of soggy sandwich.
“Hello Nory. What a beautiful name. Look how alert you are.”
“I’m friends with Chick, and he’s here, too. Would you like to talk to him?”
Blue froze, her mouth falling open. She looked around and finally felt the familiar energy of Chick standing near her shoulder. “Um, I need to go sit with my friends. She seems quieter now. Nice to have met you.”
“You heard her, didn’t you? And you can feel him. Chick wanted me to talk to you. Could you stay a little longer?”
Blue took a deep breath. “You’re one of those. Just like Uncle Milton. He says I’m wasting a valuable talent if I don’t integrate it into my life. But unlike Uncle Milton, you want me to talk to Chick. I really can’t do it. Not only is it weird and scary, but a whole table of my friends is like ten feet away.”
Just then, Bonta came back with her tray of food and sat in the chair opposite the flustered nurse.
“Hi Blue. I’m Bonta. I’m so glad you could join us for lunch.”
Blue’s smile looked tortured. “Another one. You’re a shapeshifte
r. I can see the owl outline around your energy field. Really, people, if we must have this conversation, would you follow me? There are some tables out on the lawn.”
Bonta put her food on Ricky’s tray, and Ricky pushed the stroller as Blue went out through some sliding doors that led to a patio outside the lunch room. There were fewer people there, and none were staff members. Blue led them to a secluded table, and they sat down. She took a moment to turn on her pager.
“Okay, we’re here and I’m listening. You’re Bonta and a shapeshifter, right? You live around here?”
“Just visiting for the summer. I’m also a mother’s helper for Ricky for a few weeks and an artist.”
“You’re Ricky?” A startled look of recognition. “You’re Moon Angel’s sister. Everyone has read the books she wrote and your additions. Most people think it is fantasy set in the Minneapolis area so are fans because of that. Others say it’s real, that all that stuff happened to you and people in your group. Uncle Milton saw the ghost-linking going on but doesn’t believe you really stopped it without Moon having a physical body. That’s why I can’t talk to Chick; Uncle thinks Chick wants to link with me.”
“Yes, I am Ricky. You have gigantic potential for this kind of work. Your Uncle is right about that. But he’s wrong about Chick. This is what he wants. He told me the story of your accident. He wants to apologize. He watched over you while you were healing, and he wanted to tell you but the spirit shields your uncle put up were too strong. I think you can hear Chick while we’re here too. Want to give it a try?”
Blue gave a long shuddering sigh. “Go ahead Chick, I’m listening.”
“Blue, you were the nicest girl I ever met. Even though I was a dumb jock, you didn’t look down on me. I was only sixteen, and you were ready to go to college, but you didn’t shut me out. You hung out with me, and unless I was mistaken, you started to like me.”
“Then you made a mistake. You got way too pushy. I could smell the pheromones. That last day I gave you the benefit of the doubt. Maybe you did need behind-the-wheel experience. And maybe I kind of wanted you like you wanted me.”
“I could feel that, but I was too revved up to take it slow. Making out wasn’t enough. Then we started fighting, and I was driving like crap. And then Ralph came out in the street. I think I left the gate open; I was so hot for your body.”
“You loved that wonderful, big, goofy dog. Of course, you tried to swerve to miss hitting him. Right into the wall. What a huge dose of instant karma.”
“I paid the price I had to pay. That’s how this life was supposed to end, but you got hurt, too. I want to apologize before I go over to spirit world. Bonta, Ricky and Nory say Moon will make me welcome, and I’ll finally see my guide.”
“This is a better last conversation than the argument we were having in the car. Thank you for sticking around long enough until I got my courage up. Goodbye, Chick. I’ll visit when I’m dreaming.”
“That would be wonderful. You can go say hi to Ralph if you want to. Ricky and her husband are living in my old house for a while. Goodbye now. I see what must be the gateway. Bye.”
The last words echoed around them, and Bonta and Ricky cried along with Blue. She looked at her food, took a small taste of her burrito and looked at her watch. “My lunch is almost over. Thank you for doing this. Would it be possible to come to one of your classes? Your work is fascinating.”
“I’m taking a break from teaching until Nory is a little bigger, but Bonta is new in town and doesn’t know anyone her age. I’m sure she’d be happy to tell you about her adventures,” Ricky said.
Blue pulled out a pen and wrote her number on a napkin and gave it to Bonta. “Please call. I would love that.”
Bonta smiled shyly. “I’ll do that. You are my kind of people.”
Ricky watched as Blue walked into the lunch-room. “Okay, now can you show me the drawing?”
Bonta reached into the baby’s diaper bag, pulled out her sketch pad and flipped it to the newly completed drawing. There was Ricky sitting at the table they now occupied with Nory listening in her stroller. Chick floated in the air over Blue’s shoulder, and Bonta was sitting across from her. There was an energy web connecting Blue and Chick, and its residual energy drew in all the others. There was a clock hanging in the air next to Chick that said 12:34.
Ricky checked her watch which said 12:40, so the scene recorded had happened six minutes before.
“Okay, fill me in on the mechanism of that powerful piece of magic, sweet-heart. Do you create that reality or read it in the future?” Ricky asked.
Bonta shrugged. “A little bit of both. My inner vision sees several possibilities, some of which are more probable than others. I pick the one that seems to have the strongest energy and is more in alignment and draw that. Within the drawing, I see the details of the final outcome so they become truth for me. So, if I am part of the action, they are more likely to happen. Does that make sense?”
Ricky smiled. “Beautiful sense; you are a powerful woman. What you do is so much more important than being an art therapist. I can see why Katera thinks you could do more than that.”
Bonta nodded. “Yes, she did everything without society’s stamp of approval. No degrees, no credentials, and it worked for her. But we are in different times. I have seen that if I get the training, I can continue to use my talent and perhaps teach others without making the authorities uncomfortable.”
“That’s true. You are valuable. I can see a million ways Moon Angel Network could integrate your skills. Another question: you can do this for the future; what about the past? Can you take something that already seems to be complete and change it?” Ricky asked.
“I don’t know. I haven’t tried, but I think it’s possible. The ramifications of changing the past could be gigantic.”
“One more thought: could you latch on to a possibility and enlarge its energy so it becomes more probable? For instance, could you draw a picture of you and I in the cellar on York Street, finding the latch to the sealed room that holds the artifact?” Ricky postulated.
Bonta looked into the sky for a moment. “Yes, perhaps I could. But if I did, we shouldn’t draw that picture until we know what to do with what we find inside.”
“Mommy, its time I nursed. They have a room for that here.”
“Okay, darling, lead the way.” Ricky gathered the baby and her things while Bonta took care of the trays from their meal. Nory directed them to a room three doors down that was designated “Baby Feeding Café.” After a satisfying meal for Nory, a good baby cuddle for Ricky, and time to draw for Bonta, they were ready to leave.
“Guess it’s time to get home,” Ricky said. “David is going to need help preparing for the meeting.”
“Only one more encounter, Ricky; you’ll meet him on the way to the parking lot,” Bonta said.
“I get it; you drew someone to us,” she said with a smile.
As they left the building, a distinguished man came toward them and bent over to admire Nory. He had on a lightweight summer suit and a blue shirt and tie. His long grey-streaked hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and he wore a pair of thick glasses.
“Just as the spirits described; you are the ones I am to thank. I was at a meeting with a friend, and my guides said to wind it up quickly or I’d miss you. You sent the boy Charles Barton the Third to the other side. I am indebted to you.”
“You must be Milton Running Deer, Blue’s uncle. She’s a lovely girl. She was in no danger; he wanted to say goodbye. He had no plans to link with her,” Ricky answered.
Milton nodded. “I thought as much, but the girl has powers she has yet to explore. He is not a good one to teach her; too much sexual energy between them. I thank you, also, Rachelle Banner Clark for all you have done as the champion of your sister. Our methods may be different but our goals are the same.”
He turned to Bonta. “And you are the shapeshifter. Would you consider teaching with me sometime while you’re in our city? I
have students newly on the road to such skills.”
“I would have to check with my mother first. She is my teacher, and I have only taught when she is there,” Bonta replied.
Milton nodded. “Bonta, I have met with Katera Maybum in dreamtime. Check with her please, but you will find she has already given permission.”
Ricky smiled. “Nothing gets by you, Running Deer. I wish to extend an invitation that came to me from Moon Angel as we were speaking. She asks you be included in a meeting at our home tonight at seven p.m. Is that possible?”
“Thank you. I will be there. It is the house belonging to the Burton’s, yes? I will see you there at seven. I am grateful for this chance to work together.”
As he walked away, Ricky nudged Bonta. “Okay, let’s see the newest drawing.”
Bonta pulled the sketch book from the diaper bag and flipped to a picture of the three of them standing in the parking lot, talking to Milton Running Deer, very recognizable in the quick sketch.
“So you made this happen?” Ricky asked
“Not this time. Uncle Milton made it happen. I only witnessed. Nory slowed us down by requesting a feeding at the time she did,” Bonta replied.
“I continue to be astounded with your abilities. Time to get home. This will be a very long day.
After they got to the van, Ricky pulled out her phone and called Dr. Susan Fry, leaving a message with directions to the house. Moon had already informed David of the two new participants. This was going to be an interesting gathering.
* * *
Chapter 9
Nory left her body on the way home. Ricky could feel her sliding out of the physical and traveling to whatever place she felt a need to explore. It made Ricky nervous. Even though she knew Nory was an advanced soul, there were people with strong agendas that could trap her daughter. There was an etheric emerald in the car which was linked to all three of them, so if something went wrong, Ricky would know instantly.
