Discovery

by Char Webster

  Kate looked up when she heard someone come in the side gate. She peaked through the azalea bush to where the kids were, expecting to see Eric or Emily come through. She was surprised to see the girl from two blocks over, Clarissa.

  Clarissa walked up to Zach and Alex. “I came by to see if the rumors were true that Kate took in beggars from the system. This is a good neighborhood, and we don’t want lowlife foster kids in it. You should just go back to the projects you crawled out of.”

  Just as Kate stood up to intervene, she saw Alex storm over to Clarissa and get into her face. “I see you came alone. You are really stupid to think you’re safe around foster kids. You know, lowlife foster kids can be dangerous. We learned a lot from being in the projects.”

  Clarissa’s eyes got big, and she realized she could be in danger, so she started her retreat.

  Kate grabbed Maddy and hurried around the house the opposite way to intercept Clarissa in the front yard. She didn’t want this confrontation to be in front of Alex and Zach.

  Clarissa was a very malicious fourteen-year-old girl who lived two blocks down. She was tall and big-boned for her age, which made her look older. She was the exact image of her horrible mother. Both had bleached-blonde hair and expensive clothes that they flaunted. Kate had the misfortune of having babysat for Clarissa when she was younger. The nasty little girl had given her nothing but trouble the entire time. Then, she made up all kinds of lies about how Kate mistreated her when her mother got home and realized that her daughter was not asleep. Clarissa’s mother believed her daughter and threw Kate out without paying her.

  “Wait a moment, Clarissa,” Kate called out.

  Clarissa huffed but turned around.

  “You will never speak to my kids or any other kids in this neighborhood that way again or I will not only call your mother, but I will turn you in to the school.”

  Clarissa shot Kate daggers.

  “You see, there’s a law that requires guidance counselors to report bullying. I’m going to cut you a break this time, but I will not do it a second time. I don’t want to see you around here again.”

  Clarissa snorted and stomped off.

  Kate returned to the backyard just in time to witness a silent exchange between Alex and Zach. They were not saying a word, but they seemed to be communicating. Just then, Zach waved his arm in agitation and the glasses of iced tea on the table several feet away shattered without him touching them.

  Alex screamed at Zach, “What the heck is wrong with you!” but never opened her mouth; she didn’t say it out loud. Kate heard it perfectly in her mind. Alex and Zach looked over and noticed Kate for the first time.

  The three of them just stared at each other.

  ~*~*~

  “I guess I now know why you were in so many different foster homes.” Kate said to try to lessen the tension. “We should probably go in and talk about this.”

  They all filed into the house, and Alex and Zach sat at the breakfast bar that separated the kitchen and family room. Kate walked over to the kitchen sink and washed the dirt off of Maddy. When she was finished, she turned to the other two kids.

  “I’m going to put Maddy down for a nap. Don’t go anywhere. We all need to talk,” Kate told them on her way to the stairs.

  A few minutes later, Kate came back down and pulled up a stool to face the kids. She had no idea where to start. Her years of schooling had not prepared her for something like this. She knew she had to deal with this delicately, or she could risk losing the trust they had all been slowly building. She had begun to care deeply about the kids, and she wanted them to stay. She missed family life with her parents, and she desperately wanted to create her own family with these kids who really needed her.

  She smiled to herself. They were becoming a family. Wow, the thought had just hit her. I really want us to be a family.

  Alex’s eyes got big at that moment, but she didn’t say anything. Zach kept looking down at the countertop, not making eye contact. Kate could tell he was upset over his outburst.

  “I know you heard what I was thinking, Alex, and it’s true. I really want us to be a family.”

  Alex struggled to keep her emotions in check but Kate could feel the hope and fear both raging within her.

  “So . . . I know that Alex can hear my thoughts, and I suspect, you can, too, Zach. Is that right?” Kate asked gently.

  Alex shifted in her seat and said, “Yes. We both can hear thoughts, but I can hear them a little better than Zach.”

  Zach nodded, but still wouldn’t look at Kate.

  “Can you hear everyone’s thoughts?” Kate asked.

  “Just about, but we have to be close,” Alex told her.

  “You just hear what someone is thinking at that moment?” Kate asked, trying to see how much the kids could really hear.

  “Yeah, just what the person is thinking at that second,” Alex explained.

  “Can you both blow stuff up like Zach did?” Kate asked. Zach shifted uncomfortably and shook his head. Alex said, “No.”

  “Zach, it’s okay. I’m not mad at you. I’m just trying to understand.” Kate heard him think, She’s going to send us away now. I really messed up.

  “I’m not going to send you guys away. I want you to stay with me. I care about all three of you, and now more than ever, I want to protect you guys.”

  Zach looked up and nodded. He still looked upset. “I’ve never broken anything before.”

  “So that was a new thing?” Kate asked.

  “I can move things around sometimes but not always. I have to try hard to do it, but when I get mad or upset I move things by accident. Today was different. That’s never happened before,” he said sadly.

  “Don’t worry. We will figure it out together,” Kate told them.

  “Did your parents know what you both can do?”

  Alex looked at Kate oddly and said, “Of course they knew.”

  Kate paused, not really sure what to say next. It wasn’t every day you found out your foster kids have strange powers. “Did your parents have any idea how you got the ability to do these things?”

  Now both kids looked at her strangely. Alex spoke first, “Dad told us about it.”

  Kate wasn’t sure why they were not elaborating but figured they had shared enough for one afternoon. She wasn’t going to push them for more answers. “Listen, guys, you can’t tell anyone about the stuff you can do. I don’t even want to think about what could happen if the wrong people found out,” Kate told them

  “We know. Dad explained that we needed to keep our abilities a secret from ungifted people and also from the Division,” Alex told her. “We didn’t want to tell you at first because we didn’t know if you were a part of them.”

  “Why would you possibly think I would be a part of this Division, whatever that is?” Kate said, confused. “Is that a group of people?”

  “Why are you asking about this? Don’t you already know? Didn’t your parents explain this stuff to you?”

  “Alex, I have no idea what you are talking about,” Kate said in even more confusion.

  “Kate, I don’t know why you’re trying to hide it from us. We know you can hear our thoughts, too,” Zach said with frustration.

  “Yes, I can hear them because you were doing something so that I could hear them.” Kate was now getting a really bad feeling.

  “We can’t do that, Kate. Only a very powerful adult with that gift could do something like that, and we don’t have that kind of power.” Alex was getting angry that Kate was trying to hide her gifts from them. Kate could feel Alex’s frustration and anger.

  “You must be doing something. I’ve never heard thoughts before,” Kate told them, feeling slightly more uneasy.

  “You never have before? Ever?” Zach asked.

  Kate shook her head, but Alex continued trying to convince her. “Kate, you’re doing that on your own. We’re not doing anything. Didn’t your parents tell you about this stuff? Dad told me that some
gifts don’t show up until we’re older. Maybe that’s why.”

  Zach jumped in, “Can you hear anyone else?”

  “No, I just can with you two,” Kate told them.

  “Weird. You’ll have to try it out to see if you can,” Zach told her.

  Alex asked Kate, “Do you have any other gifts? Can you do anything else?”

  “No. No, of course not,” Kate replied offhandedly. She was a little overwhelmed.

  “That’s weird. There isn’t anything you can do?” Alex asked her. “My dad became a doctor because he could tell what was wrong with someone just by being near them. He could feel their pain and could diagnose problems better than all the scans in the world.”

  “Yeah, Dad said that our kind usually pick professions that go along with their gifts,” Zach added.

  Suddenly it hit Kate. “OH MY GOD.”

  Alex got excited. “You do have something, don’t you?”

  “I don’t know; maybe. I just never thought of it like that,” Kate said, trying to come to terms with everything she was discovering. “I can feel people’s emotions, and I always know how to help them.”

  “See, I told you, you’re like us,” Alex said with a satisfactory smile.

  Zach was confused. “Why didn’t your parents tell you this stuff? Didn’t they want you to be prepared?”

  “I was adopted. I tried to find my birth parents, but I couldn’t get any information,” Kate told them.

  “Oh wow. That explains it. You didn’t know you could do anything.” Alex told her.

  “Dad said you have to practice your gift to get stronger with it and to control it,” Zach said. “But, why couldn’t she hear anyone else, Alex?”

  “Dad said sometimes our powers don’t come out unless we are around others like us. She didn’t have anyone around that was like her,” Alex explained.

  Kate was completely overwhelmed and wasn’t sure she could take any more information right then. She started to tune out the kids to just retreat into her own thoughts. It was just all too much to take in.

  “What do you think, Kate?” Alex asked, but Kate had no idea what she had just asked her.

  “I’m sorry. Can you repeat what you asked me?” Kate asked.

  “I said that when Uncle Bud finally shows up we can ask him about your birth parents. He’s good at getting information,” Alex said.

  “Who is Uncle Bud?” Kate asked, confused once again. “If you have a relative, why are you in foster care?”

  “Uncle Bud is our Dad’s brother. He was listed as our guardian in the will. We’ve been trying to find him, but the phone number we have doesn’t work. He travels a lot and sometimes he’s out of the country, so he might not know our parents died,” Zach said quietly, thinking about their parents.

  Kate got a feeling of complete panic. She didn’t want to lose the kids to some traveling uncle who didn’t even check in enough with his family to know that his brother had died.

  Eric and Emily appeared on the back porch and knocked on the door. Kate needed some time for herself, so she told the kids, “We’ve talked about this enough for now. Why don’t you guys go have some fun?” They left with their friends, and Kate put her hands over her face. This just can’t be happening, she thought.

  She sat down on the couch and laid her head back with her eyes closed. Too much was happening all at once. She needed to think. She now had even more questions than before, but she knew someone who just might have some answers. The only problem was, could she trust him? So far, Nick had seemed to want to protect them, but what if he was one of these Division people who wanted to hurt the kids? Are they the people who killed the kids’ parents? Her mind was just going in circles. There was only one way for her to find out. She was going to sit on her porch tonight and wait for him to show up again.

  ~*~*~

  “NOTHING!” Brooks yelled in disbelief. “You’re telling me that you found NOTHING?”

  Frank was not one to shift nervously, but he felt guilty for failing again. He looked over at the wall just above his boss’ shoulder. He hated failing, and he especially hated letting Brooks down. “That file is not anywhere. I looked for it every place possible. Either Johnson must have hidden it, or the Association got to it first.”

  Brooks didn’t like hearing that the Association may have the kids. “If they’re with the Association, then they’re as good as lost to us.”

  Frank jumped in quick with a response. “I’m not giving up yet. I can rough up Johnson or one of her employees to try to get the information we need. That way, we’ll know for sure.”

  Brooks stared down at his glass of scotch. “Do it.”

  ~*~*~

  Kate had set her alarm for 4:00 a.m. Even though she figured that she would not get very much sleep that night, she wanted to make sure that she was awake for her pre-dawn meeting with Nick. Well, at least she expected to have a pre-dawn meeting with him.

  At 3:50 a.m., she had gotten out of bed before her alarm clock had a chance to go off. She quickly dressed in a pair of Capri pants and a matching tank top, and pulled out a cardigan in case it was chilly outside. She made sure her hair flowed nicely around her shoulders without flyaway pieces.

  She was a little nervous. She really wanted to get some answers, but more than that, she wanted to see Nick again. She even looked forward to arguing with him. She went down to the kitchen and made some coffee. After filling two mugs, she went outside to the porch to wait for him.

  Kate drank the last drop of her now-cold coffee and stood up. She was really disappointed that he didn’t show. He had always just appeared out of the blue and the last time when she was alone on the front porch, he had turned up. She had no way of contacting him because they hadn’t gotten that far in their conversation. She had assumed that he would come by just like he had the last time. Maybe he wasn’t watching out for me as closely as I had thought. Maybe be didn’t want to see me as much as I had wanted to see him.

  She walked back into the house, closed the door, and turned out the front lights. Waiting for him for nearly an hour was long enough. She felt foolish for thinking that he would just show up. She would have to ask the kids some more questions and try to figure this all out on their own.

  ~*~*~

  Nick had been sound asleep when his motion detector went off to announce movement on Kate’s front porch. He had installed motion detectors around the perimeter of her house so that he would know if anyone approached her home at night. Since she didn’t have a house alarm, something he would have to convince her to change, he wanted to make sure that they wouldn’t be surprised by an intruder. He jumped up and looked out the window to the house that was down the street. He was shocked to see Kate settle down on the porch with two cups of coffee.

  A huge grin appeared on his face as he pulled on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. She wanted to see me, he thought. She probably wanted to question him some more, but he didn’t mind, because he would get to spend some time with her again.

  He shouldn’t feel this way because he still wasn’t sure if he could completely trust her yet, but he just couldn’t help himself. He liked her. It was that simple.

  He struggled to pull on a pair of sneakers as he ran down the stairs. He didn’t want to keep her waiting too long.

  As he walked out onto his porch, he looked up and saw Robert standing in the shadows across the street. This can’t be good, he thought.

  “Tate,” Nick acknowledged as he walked across and disappeared into the shadows with Robert. Nick wanted to make sure that Kate hadn’t seen him yet. He was far enough away that she shouldn’t catch him.

  “Boy Scout, how nice of you to join me.” Robert was leaning against a fence in the neighbor’s yard.

  “How did you find me?” Nick was not in the mood to deal with his former friend. He wanted to talk to Kate.

  “You think it was hard?” Robert asked with a laugh. “You’re so predictable, Nick. All I had to do is look for the best Chinese takeo
ut in town, and I knew you would show up. You just can’t resist egg rolls and wonton soup.” He paused. “I didn’t expect Kate to be right up the street.”

  It made Nick a little bit angry at how well Robert knew him and how easy it was for him to get this close without Nick knowing it. “So you found me. Big deal. What do you want? I have things to do.” He wasn’t happy that he had led Robert to Kate and the kids.

  Robert glanced down the street toward Kate’s house. They could see her porch light on but not much else. “You see, I was thinking,” Robert started, but Nick cut him off with, “Don’t hurt yourself.”

  Robert ignored him and continued, “I was thinking, what would my old buddy Nick be doing hanging around with a school teacher and her three kids?”

  “Guidance counselor,” Nick muttered without thinking.

  “Whatever,” Robert responded. “Kate is a hot little thing, but I’ve seen you with hotter, so I figured that wasn’t it.” Nick thought Kate was one of the hottest girls he had ever met, but he wasn’t going to admit that to Robert.

  “I sensed something very faint from her that night at the carnival. Something was there but not there. It was weird, so I decided to check it out,” Robert taunted him.

  That got Nick’s attention. What was Robert talking about? He sensed a gift from Kate? That’s not possible, but Robert’s gift was never wrong. If he sensed she had a gift, then she had one. Who was she? Now more than ever he needed to find out. He stopped himself from looking down the street. He wanted to go to her, but he needed to get rid of Robert first. Nick wondered how long she would wait for him.

  “So, much to my surprise, when I followed them to the movies and sat a bunch of rows behind them, I felt gifts from all of them.” Robert let that comment sit for a moment, waiting for some sort of reaction from Nick. Nick hid behind a bored expression, but he was angry that he had missed Robert at the movies that day. He hadn’t known Robert was there. Am I slipping because of my attraction to Kate?