by LeRoy Clary
“Momma told me.”
“Today when you didn’t want to take a nap, and you were angry. We can’t have that again. It will bring bad people to us.”
Tad gave him the look seven-year-old boys use when they no longer believe children’s stories.
Gareth said, “I’m going to tell you something else important. You can never tell anyone else without talking to me first. Promise?”
The boy finished loading his drawers and tossed his empty travel bag into a corner. He sat beside Gareth and nodded, solemn as if he were forty instead of seven.
There seemed to be no other way but tell him outright. If Tad didn’t understand to keep it to himself, or if he didn’t try to control his mind, Gareth could influence him to either help him be quiet or to confuse him so he would think of other things. “You have a special power. You and I can speak without words.”
He waited for Tad’s surprised reaction. When none came, he tried again. “I can talk to you without words even when I’m in another room.”
Tad shrugged. “I know that.”
The revelation took Gareth by surprise. “You do?”
“I can always hear you in my head when I listen for you. But I sometimes get confused in my head. Who is thinking? You or me. What does it mean to influence me?”
Gareth locked his mind down. The boy had already heard too much. He hears everything I think? “It means to fill your mind with other things so you cannot pass on information you shouldn’t.”
“Like about us talking inside our heads?”
“How long has this been going on with you? How long have you been listing to what is in my head?”
“I could always hear you.”
“Well, now I can hear you, too.”
“Isn’t that good?”
“No. The problem is that you don’t know how to only touch my mind. Just you and me. When you speak with your mind, everyone hears you.”
“Is that why you smother me?”
“Smother?”
“You hold down my thoughts so I can’t talk to you.”
Gareth settled back on the bed and tried to think of where this was going and how to approach it in a manner a seven-year-old would understand.
Tad said, “I understand more than you think.”
“How much of what I just thought did you hear?”
“All of it. You said you wondered where this was going and how to talk to me in a way a seven-year-old boy would know.”
Orderly shouting came from the decks above. Feet ran in response. Orders were issued. Tad looked at Gareth. “We’re leaving.”
“Yes. This is not the best time to talk. Want to go above decks and watch?”
“You do, so I do too,” Tad said, obviously still reading Gareth’s feelings, if not his words.
Tad walked out the door and climbed the steep ladder to the main deck. They stood out of the way, near the stern where a door led to the crew’s quarters. Sailors pulled the heavy ropes that tied the ship to the pier aboard and coiled them, and an officer, not the Captain, shouted more orders. One sail was raised. The wind was light and the tide running. The ship pulled slowly away from the pier with the wind and tide pushing it. The sail captured the wind, and the helmsman turned the ship gently to face the open sea.
Tad nudged Gareth. “She peeked out the door, saw us and ducked inside.”
Gareth directed his mind to Tad’s. “The woman following the Brothers?”
“Yes. I saw her for just a second. She acted scared.”
The answer came so naturally that if asked, Gareth believed Tad would say he had heard the words out loud.
“No, I wouldn’t,” Tad corrected. “I know the difference.”
“I think we should go to our cabin and catch some sleep.”
“I know what you’re thinking. Tomorrow you will begin to teach me how to use my powers.”
Gareth laughed out loud as he ushered the boy ahead of him.
After breakfast they walked the sunny decks for a short time, then Tad suggested they get started on the lessons. He seemed anxious to learn.
Gareth said, “I don’t even know where we start, but yes.”
Once in the room, they faced each other. By the mid-day meal, Gareth was astounded to find the boy had jumped through all the mental hoops Gareth provided with ease. His only drawback was that he could not control his thinking to direct it at a single mind, yet. His thoughts would have burst from his mind like fireworks, spreading his thoughts to all who could hear if Gareth had not dampened them, or smothered them as Tad called it.
But even dampening Tad’s thoughts didn’t mean some energy might escape beyond the ship, and Gareth tried to keep it to a point that only he and the boy could hear.
By the time the ship passed the twin statues of the famous mythical Rete, at the headlands of Reteam harbor near dusk a few days later, Tad could already partially control his thinking. When he attempted to direct it at Gareth, they touched minds and spoke as if in the same room. However, Tad had not learned to control his wild thinking, especially when angry. There were times when Gareth had to use all his skill to squelch the thoughts and keep them from spreading to all sensitives, and yet, he believed some had escaped.
The commercial area of the Reteam port held over twenty piers extending into the deep water like fingers reaching from the shore. Ships tied up to both sides. Further along were hundreds of other piers for small craft, like fishing and shrimping boats. As the City of Adelaide dipped her sails and navigated closer to one of the piers, Gareth saw a pair of Brothers watching the ship.
Keeping his reaction to a minimum, he searched the other piers and docks. On almost all he found pairs of Brothers. More of them strolled the cargo loading area. Casually, he motioned for Tad to return to their cabin. Once safely inside Gareth touched the minds of each crewman and blurred the images of the two passengers, making them both be remembered as old women, the wives of traders who frequented the vessel.
Tad sensed his frightened mood and sat on the bed, watching but not speaking. Gareth moved to the porthole and pulled the dark curtain aside. As the ship turned into the pier, the current and wind moved it closer, more Brothers arrived until there were ten spread out on the land and the pier. Lanterns on tall poles were lit in anticipation of unloading passengers and cargo. Stevedores gathered in groups, waiting for the ship to finish tying up.
“Are they bad men?” Tad asked.
“Well, not exactly bad, but not good for us, either. We’ll want to avoid them. When we get to Freeport, we need to get off this ship without people like them knowing we were there.”
“How can we do that?”
“I’m not sure, yet.”
“You could have Blackie rescue us. He could dive down at them, and they’d run like sheep from a dog.”
Gareth chuckled and tried to ease the mind of the boy. “No, we don’t want to do that. He’s far away and waiting for us in the mountains, and all we need to do is sneak past the men out there at the next port if there are any of them.”
Tad nodded and said, “There will be more.”
Gareth had been considering that. But maybe there were no more inland if they got past the ones watching the docks. However, if he could see ten, it made sense there were more he couldn’t see. He calculated and decided there might be as many as twenty Brothers, or ten pairs watching the ships and port. Reteam was a small port city, unlike Freeport, which was a major city. How many of the Brotherhood were in Reteam on a regular basis? Maybe three pairs at most? If that was true, where had the other seven pair come from? And why?
Answering his own question, he decided they must have come from the surrounded towns and villages, meaning the Brotherhood was concentrating all of their attention on arriving ships. It also meant that if he managed to get inland, there would be far less of the Brotherhood to evade because they were all at the ports.
If Reteam held this many brothers searching, how many would Freeport have waiting for arriv
ing ships? A hundred? It didn’t matter. He felt certain they were waiting and searching for him, although he had no idea of how they knew he would arrive on a ship. He’d love to touch minds with one of them, but they were sensitives also, and would know instantly what he had done. They were probably hoping for such a mistake.
Tad eased to the porthole and watched with him, but said nothing. Gareth opened his mind enough for Tad to enter.
Gareth allowed his mind to reach out to one of the friendly young sailors they had met the first night on the ship. Gently, he touched minds. Having seen the sailor, and spoken with him, it was far easier to make mental contact because he was familiar. “There are so many of the Brotherhood out there, I wonder what’s going on?”
The sailor lifted his head from the line he was coiling and looked to the pier, only a stone’s throw away. He said, “Spike, have you ever seen so many of those green men?”
“Always a couple of them around, but never seen so many gathered at one time.”
Gareth heard the second voice in his mind as clearly as the young sailor heard it in his ears. He pulled back. One by one he touched each crewman on the ship and suggested that they felt uncomfortable discussing anything with the Brotherhood. They would defy them by lying in answers to any questions, especially about the ship, the cargo, or passengers.
As expected, every crewman instantly leaped on the idea with glee. They already distrusted the Brotherhood and misleading them felt right. Gareth allowed them to do what came naturally, even if he did encourage it a little more than they might have if the ship carried different passengers.
Now Tad and Gareth could stay out of sight until the ship sailed, but they still faced, even more, odds in Freeport. More odds meaning more Brothers watching. Gareth glanced at Tad and said, “I know you don’t like ships. Maybe we should try to escape from this one at this port instead of going on.”
“I’ll pack.”
There was no hesitation in Tad. Not only did he not like ships, but he also didn't like the Brotherhood. Gareth gathered his things too and stuffed the little he carried with him in a bag much like those sailors carried over their shoulders. He felt the gentle bump as the ship nudged the pier, and almost at once the motion of the ship changed to one of being contained.
A knock came from the cabin door. Expecting to find a steward or crewman, Gareth was surprised to find a woman. Moreover, it was the woman who had followed the Brotherhood ashore in St. Michelle. Without asking, she pushed the door further open and slipped inside. She closed the door with a firm hand. She appeared both excited and scared.
“Can I help you?” Gareth managed to say.
“The other way around. I’m here to help you, Gareth.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
The woman identified herself as Ann. She stood at the door of the ship’s cabin, facing Gareth and Tad, her stance defiant and imploring at the same time. She said softly, “I am one of the Sisterhood.”
The woman looked middle-aged, at least, perhaps fifty, but on second glance, she might have been much younger. She didn’t wear makeup, her hair was covered with a hood, and she seemed intentionally bland in appearance, and her actions gave her the appearance of age. Gareth considered her admission of being one of the Sisterhood and said, “I watched you following the two Bothers off this ship at St Michelle. You were following them, weren’t you?”
“I was. The Brotherhood is upset about something, a huge something, and lately, they’re acting very odd, as if in danger. Those two Brothers were the first anybody’s ever seen on a ship. There’s something they do not like about ships, but those two booked passage and on impulse I did likewise to see what they were up to.”
Gareth hoped to keep Tad’s abilities hidden from her. He said, “There must be ten pairs of Brothers on the docks to inspect passengers getting off ships. Three pairs are waiting to board and search this ship if I’m not mistaken.”
Ann nodded, “That’s why I’m here. I know that you are Gareth, and you might try to hide in this cabin until they are gone. You could probably hope to get away with it because of your experience and expertise in mind-talk, but your grandson, Tad, cannot.”
The words shocked him. How had she known his name, their relationship, and why had she hinted Tad’s talents couldn’t be hidden? “Tell me.”
“It’s difficult, but I’ll hurry. I’ll use your example. When I speak to my sheep telling them the pasture that they should graze in and why only my sheep hear me. Otherwise, all the sheep in the kingdom would make for my lands. I limit the distance of the mind-speak.”
Gareth had never considered that idea, but she was obviously right. He could see tens of thousands of sheep heading for her farm is she did not limit the distance. His mind churned to understand the implications. Like speaking softer, he decided.
She went on, “Your mind speech can travel over long distances, but there are limits that we can discuss later. For now, you have to understand. While you cannot hear speech from everywhere, the opposite is also true. When closer, more people can be heard, just like when talking with your voice. Even if you whisper, those near enough will hear.”
Gareth pointed to the bunk, offering her a place to sit while he gave a warning look for Tad to remain quiet. “I accept that you are of the Sisterhood, and I accept at least part of what you’re saying, but there is more than you’re trying to tell me.”
She looked at the boy. “Tad has your gift. You smother his thoughts so they cannot be heard, but any nearby sensitive person of either sex can hear him. Not clearly, or understand what he is saying. But he is there. No mistaking it.”
Gareth hoped he was misunderstanding her.
She continued as she rummaged in her travel bag, “The Brotherhood is coming aboard, soon. You cannot use your mind to shield Bitters Island, the existence of the boy, and speak to the Brotherhood all at the same time. One tiny slip and they will know. I’m here to help suppress Tad’s thinking.”
“You’re hunting for the same medicine I used when everyone was after me?”
“Nothing that strong. Just a milder sedative. One used to help people sleep.”
Gareth reached out and felt the minds of the crew of the ship. On his third touch, he found a sailor already speaking to two Brothers. They would arrive below decks before long. “How much time does it take to work?”
“Not long.”
“Tad, drink the medicine she’s giving you. I don’t care what it tastes like, just do it, this is important.”
As he looked at Tad to encourage him to drink it, the vial was already empty and the boy smiling.
Ann sat on the bed and said, “Give me a minute.”
Her eyes went blank, and she remained still. Gareth imagined he looked much like her when he contacted The Gareth or Blackie. She finally shivered and looked up at him, a smile spreading on her face. “I just delayed them for a little while.”
“What did you do?”
“Bats. I suggested that tonight mosquitoes are swarming around the heads of men. If the bats fly close to men, they will find the best hunting. I’ve tried to send my thoughts as far as I can, but if you want to draw more bats here with your mind, please do.”
“I think your help will cause enough problems for them for now. You said that if you are close, you can listen to Tad’s thoughts?”
“Yes. For the entire voyage, I have listened to his side of your conversation, but not yours because you shield yours so well. Now that we are here, the Brothers will certainly hear Tad unless you continue to blanket all of his thinking, or we use medicine to keep him quiet.”
The revelation stunned Gareth. He quickly realized that they could have kept that information to herself and simply stayed within the range of Tad’s thought emissions and know everything they discussed. Trying to remember everything else he’d talked to Tad about during the last five days was impossible.
The awareness of her listening to them was like finding someone had been watching him get dressed for
the last five days. Her listening to their conversations was not right, and as he started to be offended and angry, he caught a hint of her smile.
“It is sort of like what you do to others, right?”
Gareth settled his emotions and accepted the comment for the truth within it. This was not the time nor place, and he had larger problems. The idea with the bats flying around the men’s heads to distract them was good, but he was thinking ahead to Freeport and the sheer numbers of Brothers probably waiting for there for him. “Ann, I think Tad and I plan to leave the ship here.”
“I was going to suggest that. There may be a hundred Brothers looking at the ships in Freeport. But getting off here will be a problem, too.”
Reaching for his travel bag, he said, “Maybe we should extend your idea with the bats. How many oxen, mules, and horses are on these docks? What if they begin acting up? Go hysterical?”
She said, “Too complicated to control their minds. Rats. Ships and ports are full of rats. We can tell the rats about the bags of grain spilled inland, not far away. Free food. Every rat will race for the grain like boys after free jars of honey.” Her smile was infectious. “Besides, I’ve always wanted to cause chaos like that to happen.”
Tad was looking droopy-eyed but still awake.
“Do you know this port?” Gareth asked.
“No, but I’ll bet there is a town or small city within short walking distance. And once there we can find a stable.”
“Why do we need a stable?”
She batted her eyelashes at him. “We are not going to walk to wherever we’re going when we can ride, are we?”
“So it is we, now? You don’t have any idea of why I’m here or where I’m going, but you want to come along. I’m not at all sure about that.”
She took a step back and waited.
Gareth said, “It will be dangerous, and I don’t know what is going to happen.”
“Then consider me as your emergency escape plan for Tad. I’ll make you a promise to do my best to get him safely away from danger and return him to Bitters Island if anything happens to you. Plus, if you need more help, there is the entire Sisterhood to back you up.”
