Keeper's Knowledge (Balancer's Soul cycle) (89 page)

Soon Jenny walked out looking as pretty as ever. For a middle aged woman she ages gracefully. She wore a gray t-shirt with black pants. Her golden hair was pulled into a ponytail and she didn’t
require
makeup
at all, a natural beauty
.
Jenny
saw
her
first and
said
“Good morning, Sarah.
I’m glad you’re feeling better.
Connor said last night that you were dead on your feet.
” She shut and locked the
front door. She walked up to them
with a playful smile. “So where’s this surprise you are taking us to?”

“Mom, if I tell you it will spoil the
atmosphere. Are you all ready?”

“Get a move on, Son. I’m not getting any younger
standing here
.” David said playfully.

“Well follow us then
and we’ll get there soon enough
.” Sarah
said
gleefully
and
grabbed Connor’s
large and warm
hand
.
They
had to walk slow
ly
,
like normal
everyday
humans
or else
she
’d ruin all of
her
husband’s plans
.
They
crossed the street
, passed her
parents property
and
delved
deep
into the woods.

A few minutes into the walk Sarah
turned around and asked “So Jenny, what has happened at the hospital recently?
Did we miss anything
exciting
?
”

She brightened and said “A few months ago we had this girl who was in an accident and she lost her leg…” Jenny spent thirty minutes telling
them
all the
gory
stories
they
missed since
they
left for the meeting.
Some
topics
were
too
explicit
, but for a pretty woman Jenny sure had a strong stomach and a sense of humor about all the injuries she sees and treats
.

For the rest of the time Connor and David quizzed each other on the diffe
rent plants and animal tracks they
came across. Each of them answered all of the questions correctly.

Sarah was the first to notice the trees beginning to thin. She
said “We’re here.”
Rhoda looked a little tired, but didn’t show her exhaustion easily.

They
finally made it to the flat and rocky clearing. It was huge and perfect for fighting and not destroying plant life.
She
saw that the tiny crater Connor made last year had filled in and the scorch marks had disappeared with the melted snow. The ground was
mostly
brown and gray
and nearly completely made of rocks
. The sun had risen and lit up the field and knocked off the chilly air.

She
remembered where Connor told everyone to hide and
casually
glanced over in that direction.
She
barely saw four silver dots peering through the bushes, but other than that everyone was completely hidden in the forest.

Behind
her she
heard David say “I haven’t seen this place in
over
thirty years. It is a great place if you want isolation…
Connor, what
did you want to bring us all the way out here
for
?
There is nothing out here.
”

Sarah
saw Connor taking a slow and deep breath. It was now time to start his plan.
“Because we have quite a bit to discuss
first
.” David’s face became blank
at hearing how even Connor’s
tone
became
, but Jenny and Rhoda looked at each other with confused expressions. “I have many things I want to show you and many things to tell you about where we’ve
actually
been.” Connor smiled polity to his family. “But
before all that, I
first need some answers that only you can give me.” Connor turned
around
, pointed
and said “Come with me. That shady area over there is very comfortable to relax
in
and have a conversation until everyone shows up.”

“Who’s everyone?” Rhoda asked.

Sarah
explained
“My family, Mark, Kara and two of our good friends will join us shortly. Come on before the sun hea
ts this place up too quickly.” She
began walking to sit under the shade tree.

Sarah sat down first with her
back to everyone
while
waiting. Connor sat
right
beside her
and rested his left arm a
gainst
her
lower back. David, Jenny and Rhoda
just gaw
ked at them
before reluctantly sitting
by the trunk of the tree
,
facing
them
. They all now looked
very
confused, but
they
waited for
the two of them
to start
the conversation
.

Sarah
saw C
onnor’s lips begin to move and
knew his question
s
w
ere
being prepared as delicately as possible
.

This was where the truth would be told today.

Rescue and Abandon

Sarah had put her thigh next to
his as Connor
studied
his
family’s confused faces.
Jenny
was
sitting
closer to
him than his
grandparents were
and
all three sat next to the trunk of the shade tree.
This was it
, time to do what needs be done
.
He
took in a slow breath once again and exhaled it.

He
looked at all three and started the conversation with “I have learned quite a few things about myself since I went on a trip with everyone. You all know I like the truth over a lie any day. Even if it was to protect me
,
I still need the truth.”

“Conn
or, what are you getting at?” Jenny
asked calmly.

“What I want to know is w
here you found me as a child?” He
got right down to the point.
It
i
s no use trying to prolong everyone’s suffering.

His
mom’s dark brown eyes bulged while
his
grandparent’s faces had become a
stoic
mask
,
like they have been waiting for this day to come.
That was all the confirmation
Connor
needed
, it was
all
true
.
Jenny’s
lips slightly quivered when she said “W
…w
hat do you mean ‘w
…w
here I found you?’
Y
ou’re my son…”

“Jenny, we know the truth. Please just tell him.” Sarah said calmly.

His
mother’s eyes flared as did her nostrils. Her voice climb
ed as she said “It is the truth!
And how dare you say that to me!”
Jenny’s
f
eatures
had become red.

Sarah’s voice changed into cold steel and her green eyes flared even hotter. “Watch your tone with me,
Child
.”
Their three
jaws dropped
in unison
. “Enough with the charade and tell him where you found him so we can move on from the deceit and into truth.”

Connor
rubbed her back and said gently “It’s alright, Princess.
G
ive the
m time to tell us themselves.” He
turned to look at
his
surrogate parents
who looked even more confused than ever
after that little outburst
. “Listen, we’ll stay right here and wait
all day
until you
’
r
e
all ready to come clean.
As long as it takes
…
” He
smiled calmly and reassuringly.

His
family looked at each other for some time before
Rhoda
looked at
Jenny
and said “We all knew he would learn about this one day. I’m sorry Jenny, but it is time to tell him everything. It will be ok, look at him.”
His m
om turned her head to see
his reassuring
smiling. “He’s not upset about it at all. All he wants is the truth
and nothing more
. Let
’
s give it to him.”
Jenny’s
eyes beginning to tear up
in defeat
.

He
spoke in a comforting tone. “Even if you didn’t give birth to me
,
that does
n’t diminish the fact that you
are
my mom. You raised me like I was actually your blood and I will never forget it.” It took
his
mom a minute to find her voice and stop the flowing tears.

She looked him
in the eyes weakly as she started her story. “When I was twenty three and Kara was
only
a year and a half
old
,
I went camping with Mom and Dad.
We were celebrating my acceptance at the hospital as a
new
trauma nurse. Daddy wanted to take me out to an outdoor camping party; like we did when I was still a child.
We were about fifty miles from where we are now
,
if I remember correctly
.
We were camping out in a heavily forested area so that we could have our peace and quiet. Daddy made
up
camp ahead of time so that we didn’t have to do much once we got out there. We arrived
on a
Friday evening and Mom started the campfire. I was grilling some food while Daddy collected more firewood. Kara loved cooking her own marshmallows.
Her hands were so tiny
and the mess she made..
.
”
Jenny
looked down to finally smile
since she started the story. “I let her eat as many as her little stomach could hold.”

Jenny
looked up at
Connor
again and smiled apologetically. “Saturday night
, January tenth
, our last night out in the woods, something
really
weird happened. The ground and trees started shaking and the air itself felt like it was vibrating. Daddy grabbed Kara
from her crib
and he led us
out
to an open area so that no trees could fall down and crush us.” From the silence and the look
David revealed
,
Connor
knew this was the
total
, unabridged
truth. “That weird event lasted for five minutes or so.
Once things finally settled we were on our way back to camp
too see if anything had been damaged
. I heard something strange
out in the darkness
and I told
my parents
th
at
I needed to go check it out. Mom and Dad took Kara back to the shelter so she would calm down and stop crying. I heard weird sounds like stones falling and sticks snapping. Something big was out there
with us
, but I didn’t see a thing. That was
,
until I found you.”

His m
om wiped more tears from her eyes as she continued. “You stood out in the moonlight in all your naked glory.” She let out a small laugh. “You were filthy from your toes all the way up to your curly white hair. You were
very
muscular even as a toddler
, which was strange..
. I guessed you to be
somewhere to be around
four or five
years old
at the time. For some reason you just stood there
,
looking at something I couldn’t see
in the trees
. I’ve never seen any child standing still for that length of time without doing something else.
Most kids cannot sit still for more than a minute.