The Bearens' Hope: Book Four of the Soul-Linked Saga

by Laura Jo Phillips

  “The only thing I know about Hope is that she just returned from Jasan,” Ellicia said finally. “Because of that, I would have guessed these were creatures she encountered on Jasan, but if you guys don’t know what they are, then I assume they aren’t from your world.”

  “No, they are not from Jasan,” Clark said.

  “I suppose it doesn’t really matter,” Ellicia said, turning away from the mural to study the rest of the room.

  “Why not?” Jackson asked, forcing himself to tear his eyes from the painting. There was something about it that seemed to haunt him. It gave him a strange feeling that he didn’t understand or like.

  “Since you said that you could scent Hope’s fear and anger, I’m assuming that she was taken away against her will,” Ellicia said, looking at the Bearens with raised brows.

  “That is correct,” Jackson replied. “Recently too. Perhaps one day ago.”

  “Well, I doubt that whoever took her gave her time to paint that mural as a hint to her whereabouts before dragging her out of here.”

  Jackson smiled tightly. “You are right, of course, Ellicia. I apologize. I’m afraid that we are not thinking clearly at the moment. This is all such a shock for us.”

  “I understand,” Ellicia said. “Do you want to leave? I won’t mind if you guys want to wait outside.”

  “No, absolutely not,” Jackson replied.

  “Okay then, let’s check out the rest of the apartment, but try not to touch anything if you can help it,” she instructed. She waited for all three of the Bearens to agree before turning away from them. She saw a hallway and moved toward it, entering the first room on the right.

  The room was dark so she reached for the light switch and flipped it on, gasping aloud at the sight before her. Jackson, Clark and Rob all crowded into the room behind her and though they made no sound, Ellicia could feel their shock.

  This was obviously Hope’s bedroom, and the wall across from her bed was covered with yet another mural. Only this time, Ellicia had no trouble recognizing the subject matter. It was the Bearen brothers. Jackson, Clark and Rob stared down at them from the wall, every detail exact from their eyes to their hair, even the clothes they were wearing at that very moment.

  “Do you guys always wear those beads in your hair?” Ellicia asked.

  “No,” Jackson replied. “Only when we are on a world where the people use sight as a primary sense and may have difficulty telling us apart.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Ellicia said. “So how come, I wonder, are all three of you wearing the beads in this painting?”

  “That is a very good question,” Jackson said, stunned by the mural.

  Ellicia approached the wall and brushed her hand over it lightly as she had the other mural. “This is new too. The paint is not as fresh as the painting in the living room, but it’s still very fresh. Probably only a few days old. A week maybe.”

  “She knows us,” Rob said, wonder in his voice as he reached out to touch the wall lightly with his finger tips.

  “We must find her,” Jackson said. Ellicia glanced up and was surprised to see tears in Jackson’s eyes as he stared at the mural.

  “We will,” she said, wondering why she was making such a promise. Hope could be off-world already, and if that were the case, she had no chance of finding her. At the same time, she felt like it was a promise she had to make, and she could neither stop herself from making it, nor force herself to take it back.

  Ellicia turned and went into the bathroom just off the bedroom, looking at everything but touching nothing. She went back through the bedroom to the hall, then into the next room down from Hope’s bedroom.

  This was Hope’s studio. Ellicia spent a few minutes looking the room over carefully, then left and crossed the hall to the last room. This room was smaller than the other two. It was set up as a small office, though there didn’t seem to be anything in it other than a desk, a couple of chairs, a small sofa, and an empty book shelf. Ellicia thought about that as she stood quietly, staring at the room.

  After a few minutes she turned and went back to the living room, crossed it and a small dining area containing nothing but a table and chairs, and went into the kitchen. Again she stood still, examining the room carefully with her eyes only, touching nothing. She was aware that the Bearens were right behind her, watching her but staying out of her way, but she put them from her mind.

  When she was sure she had seen everything, she crossed the floor to the sink. She reached out with one finger to lightly touch the bristles of a small paintbrush lying on a towel on the counter with several others. An image flashed into her mind, then another. She lifted her finger and stepped back. After a moment she turned and went back to the living room, holding up one hand to keep the Bearens behind her so that she could see the entire room. She studied it carefully for long minutes, then shook her head and sighed.

  “She just got back from Jasan,” Ellicia said, turning to face the Bearens who were watching her expectantly. “She was gone for six months, and she probably expected to stay there, so I think she had all of her things stored. I bet she used one of those services that moves things back into your home before you return after a long absence, so her furniture is all here, her painting supplies are here, her dishes, cookware, linens, and things like that. But there is not much in the way of personal belongings here. I’m guessing what little is here is what she took to Jasan with her, and that the rest of her things are in secure storage somewhere.”

  “Why does this matter?” Rob asked curiously.

  Ellicia looked at Rob and tried to decide how much to tell them. She understood what an Arima was because Lariah was one. She knew enough to know that it was a strong instinctive connection, and that it was all important to the Jasani. What she did not understand was the strange connection she felt to these men. She had only met them a couple of hours earlier and didn’t really know anything about them at all. Yet she felt as though she had known them her entire life.

  “I want to ask you a question,” she said, addressing all three of them.

  “Of course,” Jackson said. “You may ask us what you like.”

  “I feel as though I know you,” Ellicia said. “All three of you. I feel connected to you in a way that I cannot explain. I usually have to know a person for more than a couple of hours before I decide to trust them, but for some reason, I trust each of you more than just about anyone I’ve ever known. I don’t understand this. Can you explain it?”

  Jackson, Clark and Rob all glanced at each other, then back to her, but they looked almost as confused as she felt.

  “I am sorry, Ellicia,” Jackson said, running one hand through his hair in the first nervous gesture she had seen from any of them. “We do not understand it either. When a male-set finds their Arima, they will feel a strong connection with her, and she to them. But you are not our Arima. This we know. Yet we feel the same connection to you that you have just described feeling for us.”

  “No, I agree, I am not your Arima,” Ellicia said, shaking her head. “It is not that kind of connection, though I’m not even sure how I know that much. What I do know is that, like I said, I trust you. Because of that, I will tell you something about myself that is secret.”

  Jackson stared at Ellicia for a long moment, then he bowed solemnly. Rob and Clark immediately did the same.

  “Whatever you tell us, your trust will be honored for all time,” Jackson said.

  Ellicia had to think about that for a moment before she understood that he was telling her that whatever she told them, would not be repeated.

  “Thank you,” she said simply. She wasn’t sure what the correct response to their promise was, but it was the best she could come up with.

  The Bearens smiled at her and she couldn’t help but smile back. Their eyes held worry that had not been there a short time ago, but the smile was sincere.

  “I have a psychic talent,” she said. “I am able to find any object so long as it is on
the same planet that I am on.” Ellicia went on to explain the way her gift worked, and its shortcomings, describing how she used it to catch thieves for the Directorate.

  “As I understand it, if you know of a specific object that a person has with them, you can find that object?” Jackson asked.

  “Yes,” Ellicia replied. “That’s why I was looking for personal items. Photographs, a jewelry box, even one of those little dishes women put their rings in before working in the kitchen. But there just isn’t much here.”

  “What about her clothing?” Rob suggested. “That would seem to be fairly personal.”

  “Clothes don’t work,” Ellicia replied. “I’m not sure why, but I think it’s because they are washed regularly. Nor am I able to find people. Even when Lariah was abducted I wasn’t able to find her, and she’s my sister. I had to search for a ring that she wore all the time in order to find her.”

  “If you can’t find people, I don’t understand what good a photograph would do,” Clark said.

  “Lots of women wear a piece of jewelry all the time,” Ellicia explained. “A favorite necklace, a ring, a watch. But they don’t usually wear them to bed, or while bathing. When they take them off they usually put them in the same place all the time. If we had a picture of Hope, I could see what she wears, a watch for example. Then I could mentally picture the watch while trying to find the place she puts it when she isn’t wearing it. A spot on her dresser or bedside table that is, in a sense, connected to that object.”

  “Then you would be able to find Hope?” Rob asked.

  “Not exactly,” Ellicia replied. “I would be able to find the watch.”

  “I see,” Jackson said, frowning in thought. “We are in her apartment, filled with her belongings. There must be something here that you can use to connect to her.”

  Ellicia sighed. “I agree,” she said. “I just have to find that something. I’m going to go through each room more carefully. Maybe I will hit on something.”

  “Is there anything we can do to help?” Jackson asked.

  “No, I don’t think so,” she said. “Just give me a little time.”

  “Of course,” Jackson said, standing aside so that Ellicia had a clear path to the bedroom. “We’ll wait out here so you can concentrate.”

  “Thanks,” Ellicia replied. She headed for the bedroom, but paused in the doorway. She turned back to look at the Bearen brothers, something inside of her aching at the worry and fear in their eyes.

  “I promise, if there is a way for me to find your Arima, I will,” she said. “I won’t give up.”

  Chapter 22

  Earth, Mojave Desert

  Hope, Grace and Karma watched the guards through the living room window, careful not to open the shutters wide enough to attract notice. They looked like human men, but they were big men.

  Hope knew some self-defense, thanks to her cousin, but she didn’t think it would do her much good in this situation. She was in good physical shape and naturally muscular, but she was also only five foot five inches tall, and weighed about a hundred and ten pounds. Karma was perhaps a bit taller and heavier than she was, and Grace was just plain tiny. Even if they all attacked one man alone, she doubted they’d come out ahead. Luckily, they didn’t need to rely on physical strength.

  “What do you think Karma?” Hope asked. “Can you put those guys to sleep?”

  “I’m sure going to try,” Karma replied as she continued to study the two men.

  “Hang on,” Grace said. “Give me a minute to see if I can find something out there I can conk them with if sleeping doesn’t work.”

  Hope eyed the wide expanse of sand that served as a yard for the three houses situated around it, but she didn’t see anything that could be used as a weapon.

  “There’s not much out there,” she said.

  “There are a few rocks along the wall that aren’t too big,” Grace pointed out. “And there’s a lot of sand. No matter how big you are, sand in the eyes is no fun.”

  “Good idea,” Hope said.

  “Ready?” Karma asked Grace.

  “Yep, go ahead and do your thing.”

  Karma focused on the larger of the two men who were standing in the yard talking about a dozen yards away, her face screwed into an expression of intense concentration. She had never tried to put anyone to sleep from such a distance before, but she was determined to make this work.

  After a few moments the man yawned. Karma reached deeper within herself, focusing harder than she ever had before. Suddenly the man crumpled to the ground where he stood. The other man stood and stared for one, shocked moment. He knelt down and checked his companion, then looked up at the house.

  “Gamoto,” Hope hissed. “They know berezi have psychic abilities, so he figures one of us is responsible.”

  Karma switched her focus from the first man to the second even as he rose to his feet and began walking toward the house. He yawned, stumbled, and shook his head in an effort to throw off the effects of Karma’s efforts. He opened his mouth and yelled something just as Grace tossed a large quantity of sand into his face. The yell became a choked cough. The man’s hands came up, scrubbing at his eyes, then his mouth, then his eyes again as he continued to choke and sputter. He was still on his feet, stumbling blindly in the general direction of the house, though he obviously could no longer see where he was going.

  “Put him out of his misery, Karma,” Hope urged, almost feeling sorry for the man. Almost.

  “I’m not sure I can,” Karma said. “He’s too distressed right now.”

  “That’s okay, focus your energies on keeping the other guy asleep,” Hope said. “Grace will take care of this one. Right Grace?”

  “Sure,” Grace replied as she focused on one of the rocks near the fence. A fist sized rock floated up into the air, then flew toward where the second man stood, scrubbing at his face. The rock came to a sudden halt and hovered just behind the man’s head.

  “This is our lives we’re talking about, right?” Grace asked. Hope heard the note of uncertainty in her voice and turned to meet the other woman’s eyes.

  “I don’t think they mean to kill us,” Hope said. “But they took us from our homes, and they mean to keep us prisoner, or tamper with our memories. So in that sense, yes, it’s our lives. We need to do whatever we must if we want our lives to be our own.”

  Grace nodded and set her jaw, her hazel eyes sparking with determination. “Okay then,” she said as she turned back to look out the window. Hope watched the rock moved back a couple of feet, then rise up a few inches as Grace took careful aim.

  “Hard enough to knock him out, but not kill,” Hope whispered. “Just remember, Grace, if it does kill him, we all know it wasn’t what you meant. We have to do what we have to do.”

  The rock wavered for a moment, then shot forward, smashing into the back of the man’s head. The rock fell to the ground and the man fell to his knees where he swayed for a moment before falling forward onto his face in the dirt.

  “Good girl,” Hope breathed. “Let’s go.”

  They grabbed the makeshift restraints they had cut from the bed sheets they’d found in the linen closet Berta had told them about, and went outside. Hope knelt beside the man closest to the house and checked to see if he was still alive.

  “Perfect,” she said. “He has a bump, but it barely even broke the skin.’

  Grace smiled with relief. She had never imagined killing anyone before. The idea of it made her feel a little sick, though she had accepted that it might be the price she’d have to pay for her own life.

  The women bound the men, taking the time to do it carefully. Once their arms and legs were restrained they dragged them into the house. They put one in the room Hope had awakened in, and the other across the hall in what had been Grace’s room.

  Grace spared a few minutes to flush the sand out of the second man’s eyes and mouth. When she was finished, they slipped pillowcases over the men’s heads and tied them in pla
ce by wrapping a wide strip of sheet around their head like a blindfold and tying it in place. There was a chance they would eventually be able to rub the pillowcases off, but they didn’t want to risk strangling them by tying anything around their necks. They meant to be free, and they would do what they had to do in order to accomplish that, but that didn’t mean they wanted to kill if they didn’t have to.

  As a finishing touch, since they had so much bedding available, they wrapped each man up in bed sheets, then tied them in place. When they were finished the men looked like mummies, but Hope thought the chances of them getting free on their own were slim.

  They had to leave the men lying on the floor rather than in the beds as there was just no way they could lift either man. Dragging them into the house had been difficult enough.

  Once they were certain that both men were securely bound, they locked them in their rooms and went back to the dining room where Aisling and Berta were sorting food, dishes, and pots into three piles.

  “You’re going to need water more than food,” Berta advised. “The problem is, water is heavy. This time of year there are lots of little streams and rivers from snow melt in the mountains to the north, so you have a chance to replenish as you go. If you’re lucky enough to cross one.”

  “If we can keep a good, steady pace I’m hoping we can reach that town in three days at best, four if we go slower,” Hope said. “That means we’ll need about two gallons of water each.”

  “That’s a lot of extra weight,” Grace said.

  “There are some one liter bottles of soda in the pantry,” Aisling said. “We can empty those and fill them with water. Smaller bottles will be easier to carry.”

  “Good idea,” Hope said.

  Aisling and Karma headed back to the kitchen as Grace and Hope began loading up the makeshift packs with the food and supplies Aisling and Berta had gathered together.

  “Those packs you made up are genius,” Berta said.