The Gifted Ones: A Reader (7 page)

She spoke more firmly, “Joe, this isn’t permanent. You know that, right?”

He was silent.

“I mean, it’s one thing to tell Ellie she’s got the gene, meet some of your…
her
people, understand your goals and all that, but it’s quite another to take this on as a lifestyle. That’s your choice, and Granny’s and Angel’s and whoever else, but it’s not Ellie’s. Ellie was happy in Atlanta. She loved her life. She had loads of friends. She joined clubs, performed in the school play, even helped me out at the Animal Hospital when she had time. She’s not going to run away and hide in the hills of North Carolina for the rest of her life, like you.”

Joe turned his head sharply toward the window, biting back the retort that had formed on his lips.

“Ugh. Sorry, Joe. I didn’t mean that the way it came out. I just—”

“I know what you meant.” He sighed and looked at her again. “Like you said earlier—you want Ellie to have a normal life. You don’t want to turn her upside down and inside out, and you want to save her from any more pain. I get that. But isn’t it her choice? She’s sixteen. She’s old enough to—” He stopped himself as he heard a loud yawn and a rustling from across the cabin.

It was Angel, stretching her long, muscular arms over her head. She pulled herself up to a sitting position, then flashed Joe and Grace her signature toothy, bright white smile. “Man, I love this ride. If you gotta shake some bad guys, this is definitely the way to go.” She glanced out the window. “So, we’re almost home, right? ’Cause I’m starving.”

Grace laughed. “You and Ellie are going to get along well—simple needs: food and sleep, sleep and food.”

Angel looked at the sleeping girl. “You’d never know it. What’s she weigh, like eighty-five pounds? I could help her with that. I could teach her to lift some weights maybe…and then pig out on ice cream together. It’ll be fun. I been needing another chiquita to hang out with.” She reached over and yanked on her new friend’s arm. “Hey sister, rise and shine. Time to land.”

The bleary response was half-mumbled, “Land? Where? Aunt Grace?”

Grace turned to face her. “Hi, honey. Wipe the sleep out of your eyes, Ellie. You’re going to want to see this.” She beckoned toward her side of the plane, and Ellie and Angel crossed over to sit with Joe and Grace.

“Hey…your face looks better, Aunt Grace. You sure heal quickly.”

Joe winked at her, and Grace just smiled. All four buckled their seat belts, then turned to watch out the window as the plane made an abrupt change of direction into a mountain pass. Below them was a valley lined alternately with dense trees and large stretches of farmland and pasture, and dotted with a scant handful of old houses and barns. The plane straightened out, hovering lower, and apparently heading directly for the woods. As if by magic, though, a wide swath suddenly opened in the center of the grove.

Joe grinned at Ellie’s reaction. “Holy crap! What the—”

“Ellie! Mind your manners!”

“Uh, sorry, Aunt Grace, but did you see that? I mean, how did…how could…”

Joe touched her lightly on the shoulder. “It’s all done with mirrors and cameras and what have you, Ellie. It’s really not that big a deal.”

“Not that big a deal? It’s
so cool
! I mean, that was amazing!”

Angel laughed. “If you think that was amazing, chica, just wait. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

# # #

“So after all that, we’re now in…a barn?” Ellie stepped out of the shiny, mirrored elevator, expecting to be surrounded by marble, glass, and stainless steel, and instead found herself behind a wall of hay and face-to-face with a large cow.

“A Beltie!” Grace seemed unsurprised by their agrarian surroundings, and immediately approached the cow and began stroking its neck. “A real, live Belted Galloway. Wherever did you find her, Joe?” Grace looked like a ten year old in a toy shop.

Joe stepped up next to her and ran his hand along the top of the cow’s back. “Gilda here is originally from a farm up in Virginia. We brought her down about five years ago with a handful of others. We’ve got a nice little herd now.”

“Gilda, where are you, girl?” A lanky farmhand-looking person came around the haystacks looking for the cow. “Oh, hey, Joe! Glad you’re back.” The man’s eyes shifted to Grace and Ellie. “And who’ve we got here? Is this Miss Grace and little Miss El-o-die?” He said the name as if he were introducing a celebrity at a supermarket opening. “Been hearin’ all about you ladies today.”

Ellie wondered what the guy had been hearing about them and from whom. She also wondered about his interest in Aunt Grace. The tall blonde farmhand had stepped to within six inches of her and was grinning like an idiot.

“I heard you were a vet, Miss Grace. Maybe you’d like a little tour—”

“Vet tech, actually. I never finished my degree.”

The farmhand shrugged off the difference. “Better than anything we’ve got right now. I’d still like to show you around.”

Joe nudged in between them. “Uh, maybe tomorrow, Doo. The ladies are tired now; they’ve been traveling all day. We need to get them settled in.” He took Grace by the elbow and more or less pushed her away from the cow and the farmhand.

“Okay, Joe.” Doo called after them, “Uh, see you ladies tomorrow!”

“Come on, it’s this way.” Joe was hurrying the group toward a side door, but Ellie couldn’t help but linger. She’d never been on a farm before. The sweet smell of hay and the pungent odor of livestock mixed awkwardly in the atmosphere. Cows mooed, horses whinnied, and somewhere in the distance, chickens squawked and geese honked. And over all of it, Doo could be heard, chattering to the animals as though they were all fluent in English, or at least some twangy Southern dialect thereof.

“Sweetheart, let’s go,” Grace urged, waving Ellie toward the door. “We can come back tomorrow, if you’d like to spend more time with the animals.”

“Huh? Oh, sure…” Ellie followed the others out the door. The sun was low, throwing a warm orange glow across the landscape. A short distance in front of them was the side of a classic nineteenth century farmhouse. It was white and spacious, but not extraordinarily large, and decorated with vines and trellises, arched entrances, and scalloped trim. Tall brick chimneys flanked the sides, and porches wrapped around the circumference. A collection of outbuildings, clustered behind the house, completed the panorama.

Ellie shook her head. This pastoral view was quite the contrast to the space-age private jet that had brought them here, and the super-secret hidden runway they had landed on. What else did this day have in store? She still knew little about what had happened the night before, or why it had resulted in them flying all over the country today and finally coming to rest here in…well, she really didn’t know where they were. After the third or fourth time she had asked, Grace had finally shut her down with a promise that all would be revealed when they finally reached their destination.

Since it appeared they were now there, Ellie caught up to Grace and tugged on her sleeve. “Aunt Grace, where are we? What is this place? And how long are we staying?”

Angel, who was in front of them, spun around and started walking backwards. “We’re in western North Carolina, near the Great Smoky Mountains. It’s a bit rustic for us city gals, but it grows on ya.”

“Wait, what? We’re in North Carolina? We were in the air for eight hours, made three stops, and only traveled a hundred miles? I could have biked here faster.”

Joe laughed. “Probably so, Ellie, probably so. We were just being cautious. We wanted to make sure we wouldn’t be tracked or followed.”

“Tracked? Followed? Seriously? By who?”

“Whom,” Grace corrected.

Ellie stopped abruptly. “Who, whom! Who cares? Aunt Grace, what is all this? Why all the James Bond stuff? Why won’t you tell me what’s going on?”

Before anyone could respond, a voice called out to them from the farmhouse porch. The sound was high-pitched and creaky, yet sternly commanding, “Well, there you are! I was wondering if you’d ever get here. Come on now, let’s get you inside.”

Ellie forgot her questions momentarily, and, like the others, dutifully followed orders. The woman who had called to them was older, sixty-something by Ellie’s guess, and doing as the woman requested did not appear optional. She was tall, bony, and long-limbed. Her hair was a mixture of black and gray, pulled back in a severe bun that emphasized the sharp angles of her jawline. A simple gray dress, fitted at the waist and high of neck, was a perfect match for her very sensible, laced-up shoes. Ellie imagined this woman would make a good army sergeant, or perhaps, prison matron.

“Ah, Grace, it’s good to see you again, dear.” The woman grabbed Grace roughly and gave her a brief, efficient hug, which Grace only half-heartedly returned.

“Elmyra. How are you?”

“Oh, come now, dear, you can do better than…” The woman’s voice trailed off as she turned her attention to Ellie. She sucked in her breath and let out a low whistle. “Oh, my, my, my. Elodie Eggleston.” The older woman reached out and grasped Ellie by the shoulders. “The spitting image. The spitting image, I tell you.” Her voice cracked slightly, and she blinked back a few tears. Then the old woman yanked Ellie into her bony chest and squeezed tightly.

Ellie winced, eking out a response, “Um, hi, nice to meet you, Miss…”

The woman pushed her back away, still gripping her by the shoulders. “Oh, call me Granny, honey. Everyone does.” She glanced quickly at Grace, then added, “Well, almost everyone.”

Ellie thought she heard a chuckle coming from Uncle Joe, but then he cleared his throat and motioned everyone toward the door. “C’mon, folks, let’s get inside and get everyone organized.”

As Joe pulled open the screen door, a commotion inside once again stopped them in their tracks. A little girl of three or four, wrapped in an artist’s smock, came bursting out. She carried a large piece of paper in one hand, and a thick paintbrush in the other. There was blue paint smeared on her face, and a rainbow of colors on the smock. She was giggling and looking back over her shoulder as she rushed by them and down the porch steps.

“Poppy!” Granny called after her, but Angel waved her off.

“I’ve got this, Gran.” Angel started after the little girl, but in no particular hurry. Her voice was playful as she called out to the child, “Poppy Prentiss, you better run! Angel’s comin’ to git you.” Squeals of laughter could be heard in the distance, as the black-leather-bound beauty chased after the little one.

“That child, I swear!”

Ellie turned back toward the door as yet another unfamiliar voice spoke. A middle-aged woman was standing in the doorway. She was short, pleasantly plump, and had long, tangly hair that hung to her waist. Around the face, she wore a couple of tight braids tied off with intricately shaped beads, that kept the hair from falling into her eyes. In her brightly colored tie-dyed dress, she could have been en route to a Woodstock reunion.

Granny set a hand on Ellie’s shoulder and aimed her in the woman’s direction. “Ellie, this is Willow. Willow Moonlight Begonia.”

Ellie couldn’t stop herself from laughing as the woman extended her hand. Ellie shook, and then apologized, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”

“Bah, don’t worry about it. It
is
funny. My folks were hippies from way back. Trust me, I got the
good
name. My brothers are named after constellations, Orion Phoenix and Corona Borealis.”

“Seriously?”

The woman grinned. “Seriously, and I tell you, they’re fascinating constellations. Would you like to see? It’s almost dark. We could head over to the planetarium…” She pointed somewhere back behind the house, toward some of the outbuildings, and began to move in that direction until Granny stopped her.

“Not now, Willow.” Granny caught the woman’s elbow and spun her around. “We’ll have the grand tour later. Perhaps you could take Ellie inside and show her the art studio? I need to talk to Grace and Joe.”

Grace looked annoyed. “Elmyra, it’s late, and we’re all tired—”

But Granny was herding everyone into the house. “I know, I know. We’ll get everyone situated. Soon. But right now, I need to talk to you two. Alone. Now you run along, Ellie. Go with Willow.” Granny gave Ellie a gentle nudge in Willow’s direction. Ellie didn’t appreciate being treated like a child, but she
was
tired, and her head was swimming with all the new people and places she’d encountered in one day, so she decided to just go along with the program.

Still…she couldn’t help but wonder what was so important when Granny’s hushed words drifted down the hall after them, “Something’s happened, Joe. We’ve got to act fast.”

# # #

“So, yeah, Joe. Your first two stops were already on the chatter by the time you guys got back.” Rishi Takoor was speaking to them from a giant screen mounted on the wall of Granny’s office-laboratory.

“Dammit! What the…
how
is this happening?” Joe banged his fist on the granite countertop of Granny’s workbench. A round-bottom flask, carefully placed over a bunsen burner, jumped in its frame. Grace jumped a bit, too. She didn’t recall Joe ever raising his voice back in the days when he and Lucy were together. But that was a long time ago and so much had changed. For all of them.