Caleb 48 - Eleanor

I thought about this for a moment.

"When I was being attacked, someone or something was screaming at me in Spanish," I said.

"What were they saying?" Maria asked. I shrugged. "I don't speak Spanish," I said.

"Show me?" she asked, and I shared the memory of my hunkering down behind my shield while barrages of mental missiles assaulted me, all the time a tirade of Spanish washed over me.

"It's bizarre," she said after a moment. "They say that the protection is like a fragment of Tatarabuela Gonzales in our minds, but that feels like more. Almost like she's copied her entire personality in there, and is standing vigil over us."

"Can you communicate with it then?" I asked. She shrugged.

"I wouldn't know where to start," she said. She looked at her little sister, and I saw a thread extending and linking the two together. After a few minutes Maria turned back to me.

"There's nothing there that I can fix on," she said. "I can sense something there, but it doesn't respond to me in any way."

"Maybe it only becomes active when it senses an attack," I said. "Try again, but try a little Healing at the same time."

Maria connected again but in seconds I saw the connection break; it seemed to have been terminated by Eleanor.

"It just dumps me out," Maria said. "It doesn't engage at all; it literally kicks me out of her mind and body."

"So, it won't attack family," I concluded, "but nor will it allow you to attack each other. That's a grandmother's thinking for you. She will, however, attack an outsider, i.e. me."

I looked at my watch - It was lunchtime.

"Let's take a break and get some lunch," I said. "Eleanor should eat something to get some energy back, and I'm hungry too."

"I'm making lunch," I sent to the girls. They replied that they'd be up directly.

By the time they had arrived, lunch was almost ready. I'd made a stack of sandwiches, put out chips and drinks, and some cookies.

The girls were all taken with Eleanor. She in turn was fascinated by the twins. Jules seemed familiar to her, brown eyes and dark hair were pretty common in this neck of the woods. But twins, and golden eyes, not so much.

After lunch the girls headed back down to the beach, taking more drinks with them, and once again I faced Eleanor and Maria.

"I think we were on the right track," I said, "getting the protection routine to engage with me. But if I just hunker down behind my shields all that will happen is that it will continue to attack until Eleanor runs out of power. We can't take the chance it would tap into her lifeforce once that happens."

"So what else can you do?" asked Maria. "If you drop your shields, her attacks will get through, and she might hurt or even kill you."

"What powers does Eleanor have?" I asked.

"Same as me," she replied, "But she's stronger."

"So how can she attack me?" I asked. "I'm strong enough to resist any Compulsion, I'd recognise and counter an Empathetic attack and the same with Telepathic."

"She could hurt you with her CK," Maria said. "She could literally freeze your brain solid."

I pulled a face at that. "I'd rather that didn't happen," I said. Then I had a thought.

"When she was attacking me," I said, almost to myself, "I definitely felt something like a personality. I wonder..."

"I have an idea," I said. "Perhaps we can communicate with whatever personality is left in there running the protection."

"How?" asked Maria.

"I can get through Eleanor's shield," I said. "But once I do - I am immediately attacked by this 'thing.' It feels like a person, so what would happen if I tried to pull it into an illusion with me. Perhaps It would manifest enough of an understanding that I could communicate with it?"

"It's risky," she said. "What if she attacks you inside the illusion? She could hurt you."

"How?" I asked. "If it's my illusion, then surely, I'm in control. I should be able to quash anything she throws at me."

"True," Maria said, "but she was a really powerful and really experienced power user when she created the protection. She might have some tricks up her sleeve you may not even be aware of."

"Worst case," I said, "I'll bug out of the illusion, and we'll be no worse off than we are now."

Maria bit her lip for a moment, but then nodded.

"That should be okay," she said. "Be careful though."

"I will," I said, before turning back to Eleanor, who, as before, was sitting silently staring at me.

"Are you ready?" I asked her, and she nodded. Once more I looked over her shield. The flaw I had found last time was no longer visible so, obviously, the protection had figured out my entry point and closed it. It took a few minutes but I found another. I braced myself and slid a tendril through the shield and into the little girl's mind.

Once more I was assaulted by a barrage of 'missiles' battering against my shield. I ignored them for the moment, letting my shield do its job, while I felt for the 'presence' that was not Eleanor's consciousness. I could feel it, although it was kind of faint and illusive.

Finally I locked onto it and pulled, dragging us both into an illusion. Stupidly I had not really thought about the illusion itself, so I was surprised to find myself smack dab in the middle of a bull fighting ring. I glanced around. I knew I'd pulled the other consciousness in with me, but I couldn't see them. The ring, the whole stadium, was deserted. I was completely alone, standing on the sand. I felt a prickle on the back of my neck and, for reasons unknown to me, I threw myself forward into a roll. A ball of ice, probably a foot across, narrowly missed my head as I rolled and came up, facing the direction it had come from. I still couldn't see anyone, but that had been close.

I scanned the arena searching for the source of the ice ball. I caught a flicker of movement off to my left, and once again a huge ball of ice was rocketing toward me. I reached out with my TK and smashed it into fragments.

"Abuela Gonzales," I yelled. "I only want to talk to you."

I hoped that the illusion would manage the translation - Since Eleanor could speak English I reasoned that any presence in her mind would also be able to speak and understand it too.

Another ice ball shot at me, faster this time, but I once again knocked it aside with my TK, only to find there was another immediately behind it. The other had been half the size of the first, and invisible from my point of view. I ducked and it sailed over my head. Smashing into the arena floor about twenty feet behind me.

"Abuela, please!" I yelled. "You need to speak to me."

Suddenly I felt a bone deep chill enveloping me. I could feel my limbs growing heavy. It almost felt like my blood was beginning to freeze in my veins.

I saw threads of power connecting to my body and severed them. I imagined my shield into existence here inside the illusion thus preventing further connection. My arms and legs were stiff though and my movement sluggish, so when the next barrage of ice balls came my way, I knew I had no chance of avoiding them.

Once more my TK came to the rescue. I grabbed the first ice ball and simply stopped it where it was. The following ones crashed into the back of it, destroying it, and also themselves in the process.

"Abuela," I yelled again. "You're killing her. You're killing your granddaughter."

Silence.

"Who are you to call me Abuela?" a voice challenged from across the arena. "I don't know you."

"I don't call you Abuela as a member of my family," I clarified, "but as a sign of respect."

"What do you know of respect," she spat. "You force your way into my granddaughter's mind, and speak to me of respect?"

"It was necessary," I said. "If you let me explain, you will see why."

"Explain?" she said. "You mean lie?"

"No," I said. "Explain. Your granddaughter is sick, and your protection is stopping them from helping her."

"She's not sick," she said. "I would know it."

"Would you?" I asked. "Can you tell when a body is destroying itself? Or can you only detect threats from the outside world?"

There was a longer silence.

"What is this sickness?" she asked eventually.

"It is called 'Cancer'," I said. "The body produces cells that it shouldn't, in places that it shouldn't, and they destroy the healthy cells. In the end, cancer kills the person."

"I know what cancer is." She spat.

"They tried medicine to kill it," I said. "But you destroyed the medicine. Her sister tried to Heal her. But you blocked Maria from destroying the abnormal cells. Unless you let her be Healed, your protection is going to kill her."

I saw movement once again and braced myself for another attack, but instead a small ancient looking woman stepped out from behind one of the walls at the edge of the bullring. She walked purposefully toward me, her eyes fixed on me all the while.

I stood still and waited for her to approach. Eventually she stood about six feet in front of me, glaring up at me.

"Why should I believe you?" she asked.

"What would I have to gain by lying?" I queried.

She shrugged. "I don't know you." she said. "I have no idea what your motivations might be. All I see is someone attacking my granddaughter. If I stop the defence, then you win. That is your gain."

"How can I prove the truth of what I say?" I asked.

"Drop your shield," she said. "Let me see the truth in your mind."

"Like you just said, I don't know you," I said. "And so far, all you have done is attack me. Dropping my shield would leave me exposed to more attacks."

"Then we are at an impasse," she said. "I don't trust you, and you don't trust me."

"Look at Eleanor," I said. "Look at her power. You are eating up her reserves, and soon you will be eating up her life force. I have plenty of reserves, but if you persist, you will kill her."

"Which is something that you don't want," she said. "So perhaps her death may be the safest path for her. You may have something in mind for her that would be worse?"

"Worse than death?" I asked. "What could be..."

"When you've lived as long as I have," she interrupted me, "you'll see that there are plenty of things worse than death."

"There must be a way to prove to you," I said, "that what I'm saying is true. I could show you the memory of my conversation with Eleanor and Maria?"

"Maria is here?" she asked. She looked around. "Where?"

"She is not in the illusion with us," I said, "but she is close by."

"What line are you?" she asked. "I don't recognise you."

"Stott," I said.

"Ah," she said. "The Everson's lapdogs."

I chuckled slightly. "Not anymore," I said.

She raised an eyebrow.

I don't know what prompted me to, but I told her my story, from first discovering my power, to the present time. It took hours. All the time we stood, in the centre of a deserted bull ring. I was keeping an eye on my power meter, and it was down to about half. I hoped that Eleanor was doing okay. I had no idea where her reserves were at.

After I finished my tale, she stared at me for a while. "I met Zacharia Everson one time," she said, "maybe a hundred and fifty years ago, He was but a boy, but even then, he was arrogant. His control over your family made him so."

"He hasn't changed," I said. "Although he no longer wields any control over my family."

"Good" she said. "His prejudice blinded him."

"I hate to press," I said, "but Eleanor must be getting low on energy now. She needs to be Healed. If you will allow me, to connect to her as a Healer, I can show you exactly where the problems are, and what needs to be done to fix it. You have her powers and you could do the Healing once you recognize the problem. Or, if you won't allow me, then allow Maria to connect. Talk to her and allow her to show you. Then you need not trust me at all."

She looked at me for a moment. "Tell Maria to start the Healing," she said. "I will speak to her."

I nodded. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Abuela Gonzales," I said.

She just clicked her tongue at me.

I waited for a second, thinking she might say something more.

"Well?" she demanded. "Go on!!"

I smiled as I dropped the illusion.

I opened my eyes to find myself surrounded by the entire family. Maria was seated on one of the pool chairs, Eleanor in her lap.

Mary and Amanda were sitting either side of me Jules was in my lap and Ness was kneeling at my feet.

"What time is it?"

"After six," said Dean from a couple of seats down.

I looked at Maria. "How is she?" I asked.

"Tired," she said. "You completely wore her out, but she ate while you were in there. Now that you're out of her head, she'll regain her strength."

"I didn't know I was in there that long," I said. "Maria. Try some Healing."

She looked at me, then at her sister, and I saw her power flare and envelop her sibling.

She sat still for maybe ten minutes and then I saw her power fade. When she looked at me, her cheeks were wet with tears.

"I spoke to her," she said. "My Tatarabuela, she spoke to me."

"Did you explain to her about the cancer?" I asked. She nodded.

"Now she recognizes it," she said. "Once Eleanor recovers her energy, the protection will destroy it and Heal her."

I smiled at her. "That's great," I said.

"Caleb," she said, "I don't know how to thank you."

"You know that there's no need," I said. "Healers help one another. Isn't that the point?"

Suddenly Eleanor, who had been dozing, opened her eyes and looked at me. I felt a thread of her consciousness touch mine.

"Tatarabuela wants to talk to you," she sent to me.

I sent a thread of consciousness into her mind and felt a tug. I generated the illusion again, pulling on that connection, and found myself back in the bull ring facing the tiny old lady once more.

"I owe you my apologies," said the old woman without preamble. "I can see the issue now, and I can deal with it. You have my thanks, Caleb Stott."

"There are no thanks necessary," I said. "I am happy to have been able to help."

"You took a risk," she said. "I could have hurt you, or worse."

"It was calculated," I said. "I was fairly certain that I would survive."

She shook her head.

"Nevertheless," she said, "you risked yourself to save my granddaughter. Our line owes you a debt for that."

"Honestly there..."

"Do you never shut up?" she asked irritably. I clamped my mouth shut. "So. . .how do we settle the debt?"

I stayed quiet. She was on a roll and I knew that she didn't need my input just now.

She looked me in the eye.

"You saved a member of my line," she said. "It's only right that we reciprocate. Would you allow Eleanor to give you my family's protection? It will care for you as it cares for her and the rest of my family. All I would ask is that you keep the secret, as my family had for six generations."

"I..." I said not knowing what to say. I could see the advantages of having this protection, but could I trust her?"

She saw my reluctance.

"Read my thoughts," she said. "You will see for yourself everything you need to see."

She stood before me, completely unshielded, waiting for me to delve into her mind. I looked into her eyes for a second, but then shook my head. "No need," I said. "I would be honored to receive the protection of Tatarabuela Gonzales."

She nodded, satisfied.

"When you are ready," she said, "return to Spain. Our lines should merge. A child of Stott-Gonzales heritage would be powerful indeed. Maybe in ten or fifteen years?"

"Who knows," I said a small smile on my face. "Who knows."

She, very unceremoniously, kicked me out of my own illusion without so much as a goodbye. I was sitting staring into Eleanor's eyes. I felt her extend a tendril at my mind and I opened my shield to her. Her touch was gentle and light. I felt something warm and comfortable slip into my consciousness and take up residence there. Eleanor withdrew.

Maria's eyes were wide.

"Eleanor?" she asked. "What...?"

"Tatarabuela told me to..." she said to her sister. Maria looked at me.

"She also told me," I said, "that in ten or fifteen years our two lines should perhaps consider producing an offspring."

Maria blushed a little at that, until Eleanor piped up. "She told me that too." Then it was MY turn to blush.

Maria climbed, a little stiffly, to her feet.

"It seems," she said, "that our two lines are destined to have a future together. She pulled me into a hug and kissed me on both cheeks. "Welcome to the family, mi hermano," she said.

Eleanor extended her arms to me, and I bent to hug her. She too kissed me on both cheeks. "Thank you," she said. "Will you come back and visit sometimes?"

I smiled at her. "I will," I said. "Vendré a ver a mi hermanita." Eleanor giggled.

Apparently having the Gonzales protection living in my head had other advantages. Having a native Spanish-speaking consciousness as part of my mind apparently gave me the language too.

Maria looked at me and shook her head. "You'll have to come meet the rest of the family," she said. "Perhaps you could all come for dinner before you return to the U.S.?"

I looked at Dean. "We were going to fly back Sunday," he said. "So, any time before then?"

"Saturday night then?" she suggested. I looked around all those gathered.

"Everyone would be welcome," said Maria. "I'll text you an address and time."

I walked the pair of them out to Maria's car, Eleanor holding onto my hand as we walked.

"Once again," Maria said, "thank you, Caleb."

"No thanks necessary," I said. "I am very happy I could help, and I think I have been more than amply rewarded. I'm honored to have been trusted with this."

She smiled. "Welcome to our family," she said kissing my cheek again.

She got into her car and I pressed the button to open the gate for her.

Wearily I made my way back into the villa where everyone was waiting by the pool to hear my account of the day's events. True to my word, I left out any mention of the new presence in my mind.

+++++

The next day we managed to convince Amanda to abandon the beach and we all went into Barcelona. Despite her not wanting to walk any more, we toured the city seeing some amazing buildings and history. We ended up at the zoo for the afternoon. We ate an early dinner at a small restaurant overlooking the marina. I was greatly amused when an old rich guy invited the twins to go and party on his yacht which was apparently moored there. What amused me most was that he sent one of his two bodyguards over to our table to invite them.

It started to become less amusing when Amanda, who had been approached first, politely turned him down. The bodyguard went back to the older guy, who looked greatly displeased and spoke to his other bodyguard, who returned to our table to re-make the offer. This time there were incentives offered to both Mary and Amanda. This time they both refused telling the bodyguard, in no uncertain terms, that they were not interested.

Meanwhile I zeroed in on their boss, who was still eyeing the twins with an avaricious eye. I could see that he had decided that he was going to have a night with them and wasn't going to take no for an answer.

He shifted for a moment, uncomfortable in his seat, as he felt an itch start to manifest itself in a very personal place. He held out for about five minutes before he left his table heading for the bathroom. That would do him no good. He was in for a miserable twenty-four hours.

When we left the restaurant about an hour later the old man was nowhere to be seen, having left the place earlier presumably to return to his yacht to scratch at his ring-itch in private.

I wondered how many other girls he had paid, or otherwise coerced, onto his yacht and whether I should do anything about it. I determined to have a conversation with Maria when we met again to ask about him.