Keeper's Knowledge (Balancer's Soul cycle) (46 page)

“Would you believe me if I said we met on the first day when I started teaching at the school almost a year ago?
He was the most impressive person in the world, even back then
”
Amber
did believe.
“Well when I got home that day I found out
that
he lived
directly
across the street. Mother wasn’t home yet
and had some loose ends to tie up
and Father was drunk.”

“Nothing worse than a drunken Balancer
…
So self destructive. I know because Ben is the same way whenever we part.”
The sisters b
oth actually agreed on something for once.
“Go on.”

“Well
,
I ran away as Father set his eyes on Conn
or. I became lost before realizing it
. Connor was worried
for my safety
and tracked me down in total darkness. He mostly figured everything out even before
I told him about what we were. He wasn’t even surprised when I told him how old I was.”
Sarah
smiled to
herself at remembering how they
met and became one
spirit
.
“I have been blessed with the man of my dreams and not once has he ever intentionally disappointed me… It’s funny, no matter what he gets into or what finds us
,
I can never
seem to
get mad with him.”
She
felt a smile tugging at
her
lips for
the
next questioning thought
that formed
.
“Would you believe that the fi
r
st time Father and Connor met, that they shook hands and Father had met his physical match even before Connor became my mate?”

Amber’s
mind went
completely
blank for a minute.
The team
rounded the other side of the bleachers.
“You have
got
to be kidding with me!
That strong!
”
Amber
re
a
lized
she
wasn’t making it up when
she
pushed the menta
l
images
of
their f
ather and Connor
shaking hands.
“
A human with the strength to hold his own against Father…
I can honestly say that you have found a mate as odd as you are.”

“Thank you, Amber.”
Sarah
cut the mental conversation as Connor stopped.

They
were on the other side of the field. To
the
left
lay
the flat, brown stone wall and to
the
right were the other bleachers. The aisle
before them was
devoid of people and held enough room for three Keepers
,
if they
stood shoulder to shoulder. L
ittle light
shone
back here, but some light
bled
through the cracks in the bleachers. This area wasn’t very large, but would do for
pitching
practice. In the middle of the lane
sat
a mound of dirt and Connor stood on the base of the catcher
’
s
diamond
.
Sarah
turned to see everyone curiously looking around. T
his place
felt
perfect to keep them
hidden
and the noise from the spectators
will
drown out whatever they’d say
.

Connor turned around to look at everyone
. “Veronica. Please go stand on the
Pitcher’s
mound. Sarah
,
will you please hold onto this for me?” Veronica
passed by them
just after Connor handed
over
the oversized b
at. Its weight wasn’t anything she
couldn’t handle, but getting
her
hands around it
s grip
and not drop
the object
would be another story.

Veronica stood on the mound with a hand on her hip. Connor threw the oversized metal ball to her
as easily
a
s
normal regulation baseball. “First let me see what you’ve got. All I need are three pitches to see what I can do to help you out.”

Veronica
caught it easily out of the air.
She looked at th
e spherical metal for a moment
before placing it in her right hand. She
then
m
imicked the stance of the other pitchers when they took the mound
.

Connor sat on his heels
,
looking straight at her
with calm determination
. Sarah
decided to move back and stand next to
her f
ather.
Jack
sat Haunt down on the ground and laid a single hand on
her
left shoulder.
Her attention was drawn back to her
mate as
she
felt him gathering his energy. Within a few short seconds, Connor made a water orb and stuck his left hand inside. He made a Liquid catcher
’
s mitt
out of the air
. He called “I’m ready whenever you are.” Veronica mimicked hiding the ball with her left hand. Her body moved
sinuously and
perfectly forward a
s
she threw the ball over her shoulder.

The ball w
ent
wild. Connor had to jump ten feet
in the air
just to catch the unguided ball.
Some water droplets flew when he caught the ball.
He landed softly and Sarah
could tell he was trying
with difficulty
to not laugh
aloud by how tense his back muscles were flexing a
nd bunching. Then
they
all heard V
eronica’s embarrassed mental voice saying
“Sorry about that. It
is
more difficult than it appears.”
She scratched the back of her neck self-consciously as she looked at all of
them
with discontent in her eyes.
She
looked
honestly embarrassed.

Connor threw the ball back and it startled her. “You still have two more throws. Once you have gotten the feel of it being thrown, then I’ll show you how the ball should be held and released.
I’m a fan of learning through action.
” He dropped down to sit on his heels again.
His left hand came up and his fingers looked like a rippling mirage inside the water.
“Ready?”

This throw wasn’t as high, but it went towards the rock wall. The third throw w
ent
much better because Connor had to only
take two
long
steps to his left to catch the ball at his chest level.

“Alright. That one was by far the best.” He j
o
gged up to Veronica with the wet ball
while
his left
hand
remained encased in water.

Connor
gave her the ball and
spent five minutes teaching her all about how to control the baseball.
It was strange to hear since he never had a chance to play with others. He must have spent a lot of time alone practicing.
“Hold it with your fingers like this… yes, just like that… to do a slider you keep your index and middle… knuckleballs are more
of
a flick with your fingertips… no, like this… to do a change
-
up… ok now this is how you throw
a
…” Connor’s lecture was very detailed and he
clearly
gave her
subtle and
little demonstrations
on how to do the finer things. He taught her the finger signs he would give her to do a specific pitch. She smiled as Connor taught her so much and in a way so that anyone could learn.

Sarah
looked up at
her f
ather
after
he whispered in
her
ear “He is a good coach. If we play our cards just right we just might win
tomorrow
.” He smiled down at
her
and said “I wonder what position we should be in? We have a pitcher and a catcher, but we need to discuss our other options.” Connor
remained
busy teaching Veronica and Sarah
decided to add to
her f
ather’s thought.

“I think that Mark and I should take the outfield. You, Mother and Kara take the three bases.”

Mark pushed himself into a standing position.
Sarah
could feel his voice reverberating in
her
chest as he asked “Why do you think we should do it this way? Why not Kara and I in the outfield?”

“
Next to Connor, you and I are the swiftest. I want to take the right field for personal reasons.” He watched as
her
hand dropped to
her
belly. He understood instantly that right field is usually the least active and that it gave
her
more time to keep
her
child from the most amount of danger. “
With your speed and my range of elemental skills we will defend that area well.
Father will be our first basemen because that base needs a person with experience to adapt if the person bunts, runs through or rounds the base. Mother will take second so she has the options to throw it to either base. Kara will take third if she has to chase down a runner
,
she will have the speed advantage.”

“That seems like a great analysis of our abilities.” Mark admitted to everyone. “All we can do is try it out and see how things go.
If it doesn’t work we can change players to different areas.
”

Sarah
n
oticed everyone’s eyes shift
behind
her
.
She
turned to see both Connor and
Veronica making their way towards them
.
“Ok
,
now that everything is settled on both of our ends
,
let
’
s see how everyone does. Who wants to be first to bat?”
he asked.

Jillian
jumped up and down
,
waving her arms like a stranded person hoping for a desperate rescue. She made noises like a grunting chimpa
nzee which made
some of them
smile. “Ok, o
k Jillian. Your first, just don’t think the bat is a banana and sta
rt munching on it.” Connor and Sarah
were on the same wavelength.

Jillian
grinned
like a maniac. “I hope I don’t chip a tooth then.”

Veronica’s throwing ability greatly i
mproved
thanks to Connor
’
s tu
telage
. He no longer had to move from side to side or jump
after a dozen tosses
.
Jillian
tried using the bat the Keepers used, but she was unable to hold it well.
Jack
allowed
them
to use Haunt as a bat.
Sarah
knew
they
had to do something about the handle that the Keepers use. Connor entered
her
mind and told
her
of his solution
, but left out how it could be done
. With every pitch
Veronica
became
more and more controlled. She started getting into it and quickly. There wasn’t anyone
alive
who could wipe Veronica’s
honest
smile away.

Everyone got a turn at batting except Connor and Veronica. When it was
Sarah’s turn Veronica
gave
her
two balls and a strike before
she
hit the ball and
the giant caught it barehanded. Connor
said he’ll teach
Veronica
tomorrow how to properly swing the bat and how to move
before the game
.