The Lodge at Whispering Pines

by Melissa R. L. Simonin

  Her eyes were riveted on my face.

  “The truth is… Doreen, I did know Miles while we were living in the cabin. I fell in love with him while we were living there, and thought I’d lost him forever after you all moved away. He’s the one I was grieving.”

  “How’s that possible?” she asked, looking past me at Miles. “He was in the hospital… in a coma.”

  “No, Doreen,” said Miles, his eyes serious. “I was never in a coma. I’m not who you think I am.”

  “Then… who are you?” she asked, concern in her voice and eyes.

  Miles looked at me and I reached for his hand, and took over the story.

  “Remember how much time I spent at the estate while we were living in the cabin?” I asked.

  “Yeah, sort of. Mom and Dad weren’t very happy about that. Mom said you spent too much time alone.”

  “Yeah, well… I wasn’t alone. I was with Miles.”

  “What?” she asked. Then she stared back and forth between Miles and me in disbelief, and what looked suspiciously like disapproval. “What?!”

  “I can’t be sure what you’re thinking,” I started to say, holding up my hand.

  “But whatever it is, it isn’t even close to the truth,” Miles finished for me.

  “Well then what is the truth?” she exclaimed in frustration.

  “Remember the History Detectives episode I was on?” I asked Doreen.

  “Yeah. I’ve got the whole thing memorized,” she said.

  “Well, remember Miles Bannerman, in the story? The one accused of murdering his brother over our great-great-great Grandmother Sarah?”

  Doreen gave Miles a long searching look.

  He smiled slightly and waved. Her jaw dropped as he said, “It’s unbelievable how much you resemble your great-great-great grandmother.”

  Doreen’s eyes got even bigger—are they inflatable?—and she grabbed the sides of her head with her hands. She was breathing hard again. I rubbed her back as she stared at Miles, then at Elizabeth, then back again.

  “Lean over so the blood doesn’t all rush out of your head,” I said, pushing on her back to get her moving.

  “Oh my gosh—oh my gosh!” she gasped. “If I hadn’t seen her—I wouldn’t believe you! I’d think you were lying!”

  “Yes, I heard you the first time,” I said sarcastically, which made her laugh. Sure, she sounded near hysterics. But she was laughing! That’s better than crying. Or screaming! Or calling Mom. Oh my goodness!

  “Anika and I met the day she began work at the estate.”

  “Please tell me you screamed,” said Doreen, turning her head to look at me.

  “No,” I laughed, glancing at Miles, and he smiled back at me. “He didn’t look like Elizabeth, over there. He wasn’t transparent like that, and his eyes were almost as gorgeous then as they are now. They didn’t glow. I did nearly pass out though, when I realized he was semi-transparent and he told me that yes, he was Miles, but he wasn’t Polly’s grandson.”

  Doreen absorbed that as she slowly sat up. She looked at Elizabeth, who was listening to every word we said with rapt attention. Then she looked back and forth between me and Miles a few times.

  “This is crazy! If it wasn’t for her,” Doreen pointed to Elizabeth, “no way would I believe this.”

  She was looking better. Her cheeks had some color again.

  “Yeah. Well, that’s because you haven’t seen Miles’ superpowers.”

  “Speaking of which,” Miles said to me quietly, “Something’s beginning to exert pressure on the force field.”

  “Elizabeth?” I asked.

  “No, something from outside the force field.”

  “What on earth could it be?” I was baffled.

  “No idea, but something is definitely trying to pull her away.”

  Elizabeth looked afraid now.

  “That’s happened before, lots of times before!”

  “It won’t happen again,” said Miles with certainty. “You’re shielded from whatever force is trying to take you. It won’t succeed.”

  “How do you know?” she asked, panic in her voice.

  “He’s telling the truth,” I said.

  “I am,” he agreed.

  Elizabeth stared at us hard and then relaxed. Doreen stared at us hard too.

  “Force field? Superpowers? Start talking!” she exclaimed.

  “Doreen, how much do you know about what happened when that guy broke into my apartment last year?”

  Elizabeth’s eyes were almost as big as Doreen’s. All the confusion we’d seen in her the first few times she’d come to call was completely gone. Is that because the costume was gone, or because we weren’t talking directly to her or about her?

  “I know the guy wanted to kill you guys because he thought he could get Miles’ money,” Doreen said.

  “That’s pretty much it,” I said. “Were you aware that the guy held a gun about three feet away from me, and fired at my chest?”

  The look on her face said no, she did not.

  “Did you know immediately after that the bullet veered into one wall, and the guy went halfway through another?”

  The look on her face said no. She did not.

  “Miles saved my life. He did that.”

  Doreen looked at Miles. He smiled slightly and waved again, and she couldn’t help smiling a little.

  “How did you save her?” asked Elizabeth, on the edge of her seat.

  “I used the abilities I had when I was semi-transparent. I stopped the bullet, disarmed the guy, and sent him halfway through the wall.”

  “No way!” said Elizabeth.

  “Oh my gosh! You’ve got superpowers?!” Doreen exclaimed. “Real superpowers?”

  “Yes, he does,” I said a little proudly. Well why wouldn’t I be proud of my husband, the superhero!

  “Well, so what can you do?” asked Doreen. “Besides putting people through walls. I’ll take your word for that.”

  “You sure?” Miles asked, laughter in his eyes. “You don’t want a demonstration?”

  “No, do something else,” Doreen smiled.

  “Okay…” Miles looked around.

  “Hold on,” I said. “Doreen, do you want a snack? How about ice cream?”

  “Sure, okay,” she said, a little confused at what seemed to be a change in subject.

  “So what’s your favorite Doreen, peanut butter cup, rocky road, chocolate…” asked Miles, as the freezer opened and several kinds of ice cream lifted out, and came to rest on the counter. A cabinet opened and a bowl came to rest beside them. A drawer opened and a spoon rose and settled in the bowl. An ice cream scoop rose from the open drawer too, and hovered above the containers.

  Doreen looked at Miles, her eyes registering shock.

  “Oh my gosh… it’s true. I mean…” she stared for several seconds more. “I want rocky road.”

  The fire in the sitting room fireplace flickered cheerfully, casting a warm glow over the room. It was still a little chilly. The automatic thermostat lowered the temperature in the suite hours ago, and while that would be pleasant if we were in bed covered in blankets, it was a little cool to be sitting up talking. I rearranged the afghan around my shoulders and made sure Miles was still covered with its twin. He was sound asleep, stretched out on the couch with his head on my lap. Night wasn’t crazy about that, he felt his rightful place had been usurped. He hopped onto the arm of the couch and made motions with his paw to show me that he wanted on my lap. He was so dramatic about it, he seemed sure if he could only get his point across, I’d make Miles move.

  “Fat chance of that, cat,” I laughed softly, and scratched behind his ears. “You might as well go lay by the fire with the other kids. That’s what you’d be doing right now anyway, if you didn’t feel your spot was taken.”

  I gave him a little shove, and he jumped down and joined Chip, Trixie, and Pandora, who were lying on the floor surrounding the hearth. If he didn’t cast a baleful look in Mile
s’ direction every now and then, he’d be the picture of contentment.

  I was tired and wanted to go to bed, but I couldn’t. Not until my sister was all talked out. We already covered just about everything. More than once. But she still had talking to do.

  I looked over at Elizabeth. She completely zoned out shortly after Miles used his ability to deliver Doreen’s ice cream. I frowned slightly as I puzzled over that. When Miles was semi-transparent he never slept. He couldn’t, even if he wanted to. Why could she?

  “I just… can’t get over it,” said Doreen, as she sat down in the chair across from Miles and me, and dug into her third bowl of ice cream. The last two bowls she had to get herself, since our resident superhero was sleeping.

  “It’s a lot to take in,” I said. My eyelids felt like sandpaper.

  “Your life is just sooo amazing,” she said. “I mean I thought it was before. You marry, like, the coolest guy in the world, you live in a castle, you’re in the news all the time for one Foundation event or another, plus all the crazy stuff that’s always happening to you guys… I can’t believe you’re the reason that professor ended up being found out, and those murderers are on trial! If Mom and Dad only knew!”

  “Stop saying that!” I groaned. “They absolutely, positively, must never find out!”

  “What are you so afraid of? What do you think they’re going to do, ground you? Forbid you to be with Miles, because he’s too old for you?”

  I laughed quietly at that thought as I brushed my fingers gently through his hair.

  “Seriously Anika, I don’t get it. I mean I know why no one else should ever know. It’s too dangerous, and yeah, you couldn’t do what you do. People would quit talking to you. But Mom and Dad? Why are you afraid of them?”

  “I’m not afraid of Mom and Dad. What I’m afraid of is that Mom and Dad would see Miles differently. To you, this is cool. It is cool. Who’s ever had a more romantic love story than ours? If they really listened it would be one thing, but I don’t think they would. They’d hear up to a certain point, then freak out and stay that way.”

  Doreen thought about that as she carried her ice cream to the fireplace and sat on the hearth to eat. No wonder, she had to be freezing!

  “Yeah. You’re right. Mom a lot more than Dad, but you’re right. They would completely spaz out.”

  “I get why they would,” I quickly said. “I don’t want to stress them out like that. Mom and Dad have both had enough stress to last them the rest of their lives and then some, and I don’t want to jeopardize their relationship with Miles, either. Now if there was a legitimate reason why they needed to know… then we’d tell them, in spite of the consequences. But there is no need for them to know.”

  I thought about that a second.

  “I’m telling the truth.”

  “That is so cool how you can do that,” she said, licking her spoon. “I wonder if I’ll ever be able to do anything?”

  “No idea,” I said, yawning.

  “Do you think your kids will have superpowers?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “If Trixie’s puppies do, then I’ll be inclined to think so.”

  “Puppies?” her eyes were huge again.

  “Yeah. She told Miles yesterday.”

  “Oh my gosh…” she said. I could see it in her eyes.

  “You’ve got to realize Doreen, and hear me loud and clear on this. They’re Trixie’s puppies, so she’ll decide. Okay? You can offer, with Mom and Dad’s permission of course, to give one of them a home if she decides they need a different one. But whatever you do, don’t ask if you can have one. That would insult her, like you see them as property.”

  “Okay. Do you think she’d let me come play with them, though?”

  “I’ll be very surprised if she doesn’t love that idea,” I said.

  I dozed off, but as had happened so many times throughout the night, my chatty sister woke me up talking again.

  “I wonder what happened to Second-Miles?”

  “Miles and I have often wondered,” I said. “Maybe he took my Miles’ place. He was so badly injured, he was brain dead months before I met Miles. All that was left behind, was a shell.”

  “It’s sad,” she said.

  “Yeah. It is. His parents, too. Polly is so thankful to have Miles. If she didn’t, she’d have no family left.”

  “Yeah, but… they’re not really related.”

  “And yet, they’re family. You don’t have to be blood related for that. Grandma Polly, Miles and I, none of us are related, but we are a family.”

  “Yeah. I guess so.”

  “Oh my goodness.”

  “What?”

  “The sun.”

  The sky was beginning to lighten outside the sitting room windows.

  “I can’t send you to school on an hour’s worth of sleep,” I groaned. “Our mother is never letting you stay with us again!”

  “Well… I took the test I couldn’t miss, yesterday. At least there’s that,” she said, watching the changing clouds as the sun painted them pink and purple. “And anyway… she can’t ground you.”

  No, she can’t. But what I wouldn’t give right now to be sent to my room!

  Chapter 11

  The heavenly aroma of coffee filtered into my dreams. And donuts. It almost convinced me to wake up.

  “Honey, I’m so sorry to wake you,” I heard Miles say, as he rubbed my shoulder. “John and Annette insist they’ve got to talk to us, though. They sound desperate.”

  My eyes popped open.

  “How did I get in here?” I asked, suddenly confused. I was in bed, not on the sitting room couch.

  “I woke up and realized you were sound asleep, so I carried you,” Miles said. I sat up and he handed me a latte. “Your sister was still awake. I encouraged her to go to bed, and she went. I have a feeling she’s crashed, and we won’t see her for a while.”

  “Oh my goodness, what time is it! What about school!” I exclaimed, ready to panic.

  “Doreen said they’d call and worry your Mom if she’s absent without notification, so I called and said there’d been a family emergency. I wasn’t sure what else to do. She’s in no condition to go to school.”

  “Yeah, she’s got to be exhausted,” I said, taking a long sip of my latte.

  “She was vibrating like a hummingbird the last time I saw her,” said Miles. “What she learned about you and me last night, has got her completely wired. Keeping all of that to herself, assuming she did manage somehow to stay awake, would be torture so soon after learning about it.”

  “I’m glad you called. I would have done the same thing, if I hadn’t fallen asleep.”

  I drank more of my latte and gratefully accepted the donut Miles offered me.

  “Thank you,” I said. “You’re the best.”

  Miles smiled softly, then laughed a little.

  “So much for taking a break this semester, huh.”

  I laughed too.

  “Famous last words,” I said, as I took another drink, and a bite of my donut.

  “No kidding. Have we ever had a busier three days?” asked Miles. “We just got here Tuesday morning, and it’s only now Friday.”

  “What time is it?” I asked.

  “It’s almost nine o’ clock,” Miles said, looking at his watch. “I feel terrible waking you, but there’s something going on with John and Annette. I meant it when I said they’re desperate.”

  “Okay. I’m done with this,” I said, finishing my latte and the last bite of my donut. “Think they can spare fifteen minutes, so I can take a shower?”

  “I’ll tell them they can talk to us in thirty, how’s that?” Miles smiled.

  “Even better.”

  Twenty minutes later, Miles called John and Annette. Since my sister was sleeping and no way were we leaving her alone, they came to us.

  Miles stood with the door to our suite open so John and Annette wouldn’t have to knock, and risk waking up my sister. We were de
termined to go back to bed after this meeting with our friends took place. After last night I had a feeling my sister ran on Energizer batteries, but Miles and I don’t! No way did we want her waking up.

  “Hi guys, come on in,” said Miles softly. “We can talk in the office.”

  They were halfway through the door when they spotted Elizabeth, zoned out in the chair I’d ordered her into, in the middle of the night. It appeared Miles neglected to mention her presence in our apartment, because they both jumped, grabbed each other, and Annette slapped her hand over her mouth to hold in a shriek.

  Miles took John by the arm and I took Annette, and we guided them into the office. Miles shut the door behind us.

  It wasn’t a large room, but it did hold four chairs in addition to the desk. Miles and I sat in two of them and John and Annette turned the other two chairs to face us.

  “Sorry about the apparition,” I said. “She showed up in our bedroom again, last night. So Miles banished her to the sitting room, until we can figure out what to do about her.”

  “She’s confined,” Miles reassured them. “She’s not going anywhere unless I allow it, and I’ll do that only if there’s a very good reason.”

  John and Annette didn’t respond. They did hold hands and look at each other nervously, then at us. I was ready to raise an eyebrow, those two were acting very strange.

  John cleared his throat.

  “Last semester, Annette and I had some… problems.”

  Miles and I glanced at each other, both concerned.

  “Okay,” Miles said, since John seemed to be waiting for something.

  “Well, so Anika gave us advice.”

  “It was good advice, too,” Annette hurried to add. “After a summer apart, we got engaged and immediately moved in with roommates. We had no time alone together, and our relationship was suffering.”

  “Okay,” said Miles, prodding these two slowpokes to get to the point. “I remember, I’m sure Anika does too.”

  “So the same thing is happening now,” said John.