The Gifted Ones: A Reader (9 page)

“Oh, there you are, Elodie! Come, come, dear, everyone’s waiting.” Granny beckoned with an impatient look, and then hurried Ellie through an open doorway. “Found her,” she announced to the room.

Ellie stiffened, as every one of twenty or thirty pairs of eyes turned in her direction. She had a sudden urge to turn tail and run under the scrutiny. The room included all the new faces she’d encountered in the last twenty-four hours and a bunch more—folks of all ages, from the youngest, like Poppy Prentiss, to a few gray-hairs who appeared older than Granny, and all staring at Ellie. She wondered if the floor might do her a favor and just swallow her up right then.

But it wasn’t that bad. Most of them waved or nodded a greeting, and a few tossed over a quick hello or welcome, and then returned to what they were doing, which was standing around and chatting, or sitting at one of several tables and filling their plates with food. Most, but not all. Her Uncle Joe was there, staring at her, dumbfounded, and Aunt Grace, who stood next to him, seemed mesmerized, as well. In a whisper that almost escaped Ellie’s hearing, Joe said, “Lucy.”

His pronouncement seemed to shake Aunt Grace. She stepped over to Ellie and gently touched her hair. Then she dropped her hand to Ellie’s shoulder and ran it down the length of her arm. She looked over at Granny. “This sweater, the dress. Where—”

Granny’s stern look softened. “She left them behind, a long time ago, when she was in college, I think.” Granny shrugged. “I never throw anything out.”

Ellie’s jaw dropped. “Wait, you’re saying…you mean this stuff belonged to my mom?” She ran her hands down the front of the dress, and stopped at the waistline to finger a tiny bow. “She wore this outfit?”

Aunt Grace wrapped her arm around Ellie’s shoulder and looked her in the eye. “Yeah, kiddo. I remember it like it was yesterday. Lucy took her gawky baby sister along to the mall to pick it out. She was looking for something special to wear on a first date with a handsome young man she’d just met. When she was all dressed and ready, I thought she looked like a fairy tale princess.”

“She did.”

Ellie’s head jerked up at Joe’s remark. She wrinkled her forehead, trying to frame the question, but Grace stopped her. “Come on, honey. Let’s grab a plate and go in the other room. It’s time to talk.”

# # #

It had been so many years since Grace had been told that her siblings—Lucy and Samuel—were different, that they carried a gene that made them special…in a good way. Oh, and that she, Grace, their baby sister, did not. That information, and all that had followed from it, had shaped their lives in ways they never could have imagined. That original conversation had taken place in this very room, the farmhouse library, when Grace was only nine, and Lucy, sixteen, the same age as Ellie was now.

Not that Grace would’ve chosen this age to tell Ellie. In fact, she’d just as soon have kept it a secret for as long as possible. At least until Ellie was in college. Or grad school. Or starting her first job. Or maybe on her thirtieth birthday. Just
sometime
when it wouldn’t disrupt all her life plans, and shatter her world, and crush her dreams.

“Don’t you agree, Grace?”

“Huh? I, uh…what was the question?” Grace flushed under Granny’s scrutiny. All these years, and the old bat could still make her squirm like a worm. She sighed, “Sorry, Elmyra, I was thinking about…” Joe met her eyes across the room. Yeah, he knew what she was thinking about.

Granny set her jaw. “I was saying that I’m sure Elodie has a lot of questions for us, and that perhaps, we should just start there.”

“Oh, right, good idea. El, honey…” Grace waved her encouragement toward the cushy brown leather sofa, where Ellie sat cross-legged at one end, and Angel, as usual, was draped lazily over the other.

Ellie set her half-finished plate on the coffee table in front of her and pushed it away. She glanced around at each of them in turn as she spoke, “Really? You mean someone’s finally going to answer my questions?”

Angel quickly swallowed another mouthful of food and answered first, “Yep, but don’t look at me. This is his department.” She pointed her fork at Joe for a moment, then over towards Granny. “And hers. Me? I’m just here for the food.” She stuck the fork back into some kind of broccoli casserole and began wrestling with molten cheese strings.

That made Grace smile. How could anyone
not
like Angel Espinoza? Angel was one of the few people at the farm who didn’t make Grace feel like a misfit. She was casual, comfortable, and down to earth; she said exactly what she was thinking, even when it wasn’t quite appropriate; and she wasn’t an astrophysicist or a best-selling novelist or a Fortune 500 CEO. Or whatever it turned out that Ellie would become.

But it looked like Ellie still considered Grace her best source of information, for she directed her first questions at no one else. “Aunt Grace, what the heck is going on? What was that craziness last night? Who were those people? And why we did fly all over the country to get away from them? In a private jet, no less. And what’s with the impromptu vacation? Not that this isn’t a nice place, but what are we doing here, and how long are we staying?”

She stopped for a breath, but before anyone could begin to process the barrage of queries, she shifted her focus to Joe, “And you, Uncle Joe…no offense, but why? I haven’t seen you since I was a kid, and all of a sudden, you show up outta the blue…” She motioned toward Angel, “With your…girlfriend?”

Angel laughed so hard she practically sprayed broccoli casserole. Joe frowned and grumbled, “Well, is that
so
unimaginable?”

Angel hid her grin behind a napkin. “Uh, sorry, Joe, I didn’t mean, uh…it’s not that…” Joe, who had been standing the whole time, dropped into a chair and raised a hand to stop the embarrassing backpedal. Angel returned to Ellie’s question, “Chica, I wasn’t there for
him
. I came to save
you.
”

“Me?” Ellie’s forehead wrinkled in consternation. “Save me from what? My first kiss?”

Grace’s voice was gentle, “Honey, how well do you remember what happened last night?”

“I remember it. I went to Nathan’s, and we watched some vampire movie, and then I went to pick up the pizza with Aiden, and we stopped at the river, and he, uh, he…” She glanced at the faces around her, and her cheeks started to turn a little pink. “Well, that is, I think he was going to kiss me, and then, Aunt Grace showed up, and there were these scary guys, and then Angel was there, and…” She shook her head out, “It’s a little fuzzy after that. Like, really fuzzy. Like…blank.”

“Hmph.” Joe made a sour face. “That’s because that little piece of sh—”

“Joe!” Grace and Granny admonished him simultaneously. Finally, something they agreed on.

Joe rephrased, “Lover Boy drugged you, sweetheart.”

“He…” Ellie bit her lip and looked at the floor. Quietly she said, “I thought he liked me. Like he thought I was pretty or funny or smart…”

Grace fought the urge to run over and wrap her arms around Ellie. Why did her first horrible experience with the opposite sex have to be shared with so many people? Virtual strangers, no less. “I’m sorry, honey. I’m sure that’s what he wanted you to think. He was trying to gain your trust.”

Ellie was quiet for a moment, then she looked up. “Okay, so I’m an idiot. I got tricked by some stupid guy. Why all the cloak and dagger? I mean, did we really have to leave town? And did you have to call in the troops?” She waved her hand toward Joe and Angel.

Granny set her coffee cup down loudly. “She didn’t call them, Elodie.
I
did. Good thing, too, or your Aunt might be washing up a few miles down the river about now, and God knows what would have happened to you.” She sat forward in her seat, bringing her closer to Ellie. “You’re a hot commodity, my dear, and it’s time you understood that.” With a sidelong glance at Grace, she added, “High time.” Grace just frowned and looked away.

“Hot commodity? Me?” Ellie laughed, “You’ve got me mixed up with someone else.”

“No, honey,” Grace said. “She doesn’t. You are, well, Gifted.”

“Gifted? In what? Being a total klutz? What are you talking about?” Ellie’s amusement appeared to be turning into frustration.

Joe stood again, accepting his role. “You’re Gifted, Ellie, as in, one of us.” He made a whirling motion with his finger, indicating the people in the room, then pointed back out toward the hall. “One of them. You have a gene, Ellie. The Gifted gene. I have it. Granny has it. Your mother had it.”

Angel pulled her hand back from where she’d been picking a piece of food out of her teeth, and added, “Even me.”

“Seriously? I have a-a gene, a special gene?” Ellie looked at Grace. “You have it, too, Aunt Grace?”

Grace shook her head. “No, not me. Grampa Ellicott, your mom, and your Uncle Sam, they all had it, not me. You inherited the gene from your mom.”

Ellie seemed tickled by the news. “So what does it do? What is this Gifted thing? Will it make me super smart or give me bionic hearing or something?”

Joe grinned. “Uh, no bionic body parts, but super smart or super talented…yeah.”

Granny broke in, “Everyone who has the gene is gifted at something. They’ll have a superior ability in one particular area that goes beyond anything normal humans can attain,
if
it’s nurtured properly. The skill might be scholarly, such as science or math or languages, or something creative, like writing, music, or art—”

“Poppy,” Ellie said matter-of-factly.

Granny nodded. “Yes, Poppy Prentiss is a remarkably talented visual artist. But there are other, more subtle Gifts, too. Leadership, persuasion, healing…like Joseph Manning.”

Then Joe motioned toward Angel. “And some are physically gifted, as with strength, speed, and agility. They may be sports stars or experts in the defensive arts.”

Ellie raised an eyebrow, “Defensive arts…”

Angel shrugged. “He means ass-kicking. They call us Defenders.”

Ellie nodded, taking it all in, then asked tentatively, “So, why are you so sure I have this gene? I’m not good at anything.”

“Sweetheart, you’re plenty good at a lot of things,” Grace said. “And you definitely have the gene. Your mom and I, we had you tested when you were little. But as far as your Gift…well, we just don’t know yet. The Gift will manifest at different ages for different people, usually sometime in adolescence or the teen years, but sometimes earlier, sometimes later. It depends on the environment and the life experiences—”

Granny eyed Ellie knowingly. “Your mother was an early bloomer. She whizzed through all the high school science courses and half the collegiate curriculum by the time she was your age.”

Grace threw her an angry look. Could the old woman not see Ellie’s insecurities? The kid already felt like a failure compared to her genius scientist parents. Her Gift would show itself when the time was right. Why not just let her be a happy-go-lucky teenager in the meantime? That was just one reason she knew, no matter what this place and these people had to offer, that she had to get Ellie out of here and re-establish a normal life for her niece.

“Look, chica, I never knew I had any special abilities, either—until I needed ’em one day. I was fifteen, this skinny little string bean, and some creep tried to hurt my baby brother. All of a sudden, I turn into Wonder Woman.” She snapped her fingers. “Just like that. I got angry, scared, knew I had to save him, and I started kicking and scratching and throwing punches, and, next thing you know, this big ol’ ugly dude is laying on the sidewalk, groaning and bleeding, and a crowd of people are staring at us. A few days later, this stranger walks up to me,” she pointed at Joe, “and offers me a new life. That was over ten years ago, and I’m still here.”

“Wait, I don’t understand…” Ellie looked at Joe. “You found her? On the streets? How?”

“It’s part of what we do here, El. We keep tabs on Gifted Ones all over the world.” He inclined his head toward Granny. “Granny has made it her life’s work to track the history and genealogy of Gifted folks. There are thousands of us around the world…that we know of. Undoubtedly, many more that we don’t.”

“And she’ll be happy to tell you a-a-all about it, if you give her enough time,” added Grace, with a roll of her eyes.

Granny made a sour face in response, but then turned toward Ellie. “You have to understand, Ellie, we don’t just do this out of curiosity. Our work is important, for a lot of reasons. Gifts can be misused, especially scientific ones or persuasive ones. Most of the Gifted strive to make the world a better place, to save lives, feed the hungry, help the environment, or just build a better mousetrap, but there are some who use their gifts for less benevolent purposes. Being gifted doesn’t make us immune to greed and lust and human frailty.” She pushed herself up from the chair and walked to the window. She stared out into the dark night for a moment, seemingly lost in another time and place, then turned back toward the group. She set her jaw. “We see it as our job to intervene, or at least try to intervene, when those things happen.”

“But the best part is what goes on here,” said Angel, throwing her arms wide open. “This place is amazing. Gifteds from all over come here to study, to work together, to do research, and to teach. Like Willow, and Dr. Jameson, and Maya Petanu—she speaks twenty-four languages. Can you believe it? I only know two, and I’m not so good with those. And then there’s Dr. Draco, and Maury Swan, and—”