Twenty Six

By the time Mum and Dad returned, Mike and I were sitting nice and close together on the sofa in the lounge, hot drinks to hand. We’d spent quite a bit of time in discussion about exactly what we meant to each other and where we’d go from here. The upshot of all that was that we realised we could be together in our heads just as well as being together physically. Mike and I knew we’d be there for each other, what the future would finally bring we didn’t know, but for now we were content.

“Hello, hello. Mike isn’t it?”

“Hello Mr. Kenyon, Mrs. Kenyon. Just paying Jody a visit.”

The pleasantries continued for several minutes, then Mike said he had to get back home.

“I can’t go as fast as Jody,” he laughed. “I’ll end up trying to fly in the dark.”

I showed Mike to the door, Mum and Dad pointedly not coming with us. We didn’t need words, Mike was still there with me in my head anyway. A long lingering kiss later, and he was gone.

Back in the kitchen, I expected the third degree. Didn’t happen. Mum took note of my smile and probably far-away look and just smiled in return. Dad put a hand on my shoulder, squeezed it gently, and said, quietly, “Nice boy. Don’t let him get away.”

Up in my room, I wanted to talk to Lisa and Holly - only they weren’t there. They were there, of course, but were sort of inactive, as if they were asleep. I ‘called out’ to them.

Lisa popped up first, then Holly a second or so later. “On your own again?” ‘asked’ Lisa.

“Mm. Mikes on his way home.” Then it hit me! “Oh my God. I didn’t tell you! I’m so sorry!”

“Not a problem” ‘grinned’ Lisa. “Mind you, Holly’s been taking notes.”

I must have registered alarm because she went on,” Oh don’t worry. We now know how to shut the link down completely, as you probably found. All that emotion sloshing around, you had Holly in tears at one point.”

“I didn’t!”

“You did I’m afraid,” ‘said’ Holly. “It was so beautiful, I hope it’s what Vic and I’ll feel one day.”

“Well just don’t be silly, like me,” I ‘said’.

“You weren’t silly, not really,” ‘said’ Holly. “It’s only what most boys and girls feel anyway. We’re ever so much better off than they are. We can communicate better than they can.”

“You’d better learn how to block us out, just in case Holly goes to visit Victor later on,” ‘said’ Lisa. She ‘showed’ me how they’d done it. Simple really.

Sunday. The day began quite late. Not too much point getting up at the crack of dawn, it was raining, chucking it down to be exact. I could have gone out, provided I didn’t touch the ground so my field would deflect the rain, but it’s still a miserable experience. I stayed in bed. Didn’t stop conversations anyway.

“Ah. Awake I see lover-girl.”

I sent Lisa a picture of me with my tongue stuck out.

“And the same to you, complete with knobs on. Are you compos mentis, or shall I call back?”

“Am I what?”

“Compos mentis. Latin. Means ‘of sound mind’.”

I sent the tongue-out picture again, with a bigger tongue this time.

“Oo. Childish. Come on, wake up. I need top level discussions. Holly? Up and at ‘em girl.”

“Where’s the fire? Go ‘way. It’s Sunday.” Holly added a picture of herself asleep in bed with her hair like a fright-wig. I could relate to that.

“Come on, the pair of you. Need a conference. You’re barely comprehensible in this state. Out of bed. Now.”

Can’t argue with Lisa in this mood. I got out of bed, called at the bathroom to take care of certain pressing problems, then padded downstairs in bare feet and jim-jams to check out possible breakfast arrangements.

“Hello scarecrow,” said Dad.

“Just because I look like I’ve just stuck my finger in a light socket is no reason to be abusive.” Then I grinned to show I didn’t mean it. I know what I look like first thing after getting up. Frankly I thought the term ‘scarecrow’ was pretty mild really.

“To what do we owe the honour anyway,” asked Dad.

“Lisa wants a conference. Why she can’t wait ‘til after lunch or something I don’t know.”

“I’ve been up and awake for ages,” Lisa ‘said’ in my head.

“Ok. I’m eating breakfast. What d’you want to talk about?”

“You here Holly?”

“Yeah. More or less. Looking at breakfast too.”

“Right. Listen up. Been thinking, and no snide comments along the lines of ‘is it painful’ or similar.”

“Wasn’t going to anyway,” I ‘said’, which was a fib, as Lisa knew very well. But she was ‘speaking’.

“When we merge to be Angel, she has more mental oomph that we would have rolled into one, if you see what I mean.”

“The whole is equal to more than the sum of the parts?” ‘said’ Holly.

“Yeah. Think that’s what I mean. Anyway, what if we give her the problem of why we can’t teleport ourselves to solve?”

“D’you think that’d work?” I ‘asked’, munching toast.

“Can’t hurt to try it,” ‘said’ Holly. “We need to practice being Angel anyway or it’s not going to be much use being able to do it at all.”

“Can I go and get sorted out first please?” I ‘said’. “If we figure out how to do it, I don’t want to turn up somewhere still in jim-jams looking like I’ve just been dragged backwards through a hedge.”

“Ok. I suppose so. You too, Holly?” I got a picture of Holly nodding. “Right then. You’re invited here for lunch. I expect us to try and do it by teleporting.”

Mum noticed first. “Ah. You’re back. What did Lisa want?”

“She wants us to merge into Angel and see if she can figure out how to teleport ourselves.”

“Will that work?”

“Can’t hurt to try. Got to go get dressed and stuff. Don’t want to turn up somewhere looking like this.”

Mum just grinned, but Dad laughed outright. I tickled him. Served him right.

Quick shower, fix hair, jump into some clothes, ready. Elapsed time, twenty minutes. Must have missed something out. Oh yes. Brush teeth. Ready now.

“Lisa? How are we doing?”

“Some of us have been ready for hours, while others of us - no names, but you know who you are Jody - have been swinishly asleep.”

“I hope we can teleport because you, Lisa Chandler, are going to get a thump when I get to you.”

“Oh goody. I’m going to sell tickets. Roll up, roll up for the fight of the century. Featuring, in the red corner, Lisa ‘Bomber’ Chandler, and in the blue corner, Jody ‘The Fist’ Kenyon.”

Both Lisa and I ‘said’ it together, “Shut up, Holly.” All three of us couldn’t ‘speak’ for some minutes for ‘laughter’. Lisa recovered first.

“Right you lot. Serious stuff. Are we ready? It shouldn’t make any difference that we aren’t anywhere near each other.”

We tightened the link between us and let that progress into a complete merge. This time it was easier but strange. I could see three bedrooms at once! I don’t know how I was doing it, but I had no problem processing the three different sets of input. I walked over to the mirror in the Lisa-me’s bedroom. I could see I was wearing a pale blue jumper and a pair of jeans. But I already knew that, I’d put them on when I got up this morning. I also knew what I was wearing underneath, as I did for the Holly-me and the Jody-me as well.

But on to the current problem. No need to discuss it, I knew all about it and the views and knowledge of my three parts. How did I do it? How did I move things by telekinesis, or more importantly, by teleporting them. I just ‘told’ them to be somewhere else. Ok then. I ‘told’ the Holly-me to stop being in Holly’s bedroom but to be in Lisa’s bedroom instead - and it worked - just like that. It was obvious! Why hadn’t I realised before? With the Jody-me in the Lisa-me’s bedroom as well a couple of seconds later, I hugged myself and did a little dance. I actually got a tiny bit dizzy as the three parts of me danced round in a circle.

I collapsed the merge as the three of me were still dancing together, going back to being three girls again instead of Angel. Lisa was first.

“Oh wow! We did it!”

“Mm. But can we still do it,” said Holly. Suddenly she was over by the window instead of with Lisa and me at the foot of Lisa’s bed. “Yep. Can still do it.”

“There was talk of lunch,” I said. “I only mention it in case anybody is thinking of teleporting to the kitchen. I would suggest we don’t, at least until we’ve told people what to expect.”

“Good thinking that girl,” said Lisa. “Come on gang, down to the kitchen.”

“Hang on Lisa, hang on. Did you tell your mum and Dad what we were going to try to do?” I asked her.

“Mm, yes. I said to possibly expect all three of us for lunch and why.”

“Jody? You and I need to ring home,” said Holly. “Preferably before we’re missed.”

Too late! The phone was ringing! Lisa’s dad answered it, we heard him in the hall at the bottom of the stairs. “The Chandler residence. Oh, hello Paul. Do you know, I have no idea. Hang on, I’ll see what she’s up to, although from the sound of it, it might be more a case of what they’re up to. Hang on anyway.” He raised his voice. “Is there a Holly in the house? Your dad’s looking for you.”

Holly pushed her way to the front and started down the stairs. “Tell him I’m here please Mr. Chandler. We did it! We teleported.”

Lisa’s dad raised the handset again, “I expect you heard that, Paul? Our offspring have confounded the laws of nature again. No, I don’t know where it’ll all lead either. Better clear a landing area for her somewhere or she might materialise on top of a cupboard or something. You too, take care.” He put the phone down.

“Jody? You’d better ring home before your dad is on the phone as well. What are you laughing at?” said Lisa.

“I’ve just made my phone come to me. It’s just occurred to me - I could have gone to my phone.”

“Is there room for you on that little table in your hall, Jody?” laughed Holly.

“Oh, very funny,” I said. “But I forgive you. I think it’s called euphoria - or has Lisa’s dad been using laughing gas?”

Lisa’s dad chucked cold water over all three of us. “I’d advise you not to do it without thinking about it first. For instance, can you check if there’s nothing in your landing area before you go? If there is, and you still go, what’ll happen? I know you’ll change places with whatever is there already, but what if whatever it is is bigger than you? Will all of it move? Or just the bit required to fit you into it? Suppose there’s a table there, will we just get a circle of wood and will you suddenly be wearing a table as a skirt? See what I’m getting at?”

The laughter had more or less stopped. These were very good questions, questions we didn’t have the answers to - at least not yet.

Anyway, first thing, ring home.

“Hi Dad. Me.

“Hello you. By your sudden requirement to use the telephone rather than your usual arrangement of simply shouting loudly from your bedroom, I have to assume that the latest experiment was a success and you are now at Lisa’s for lunch, thus letting the kitchen staff off the hook at this end.”

“Dad! Why didn’t you just say ‘did it work?’”

“Sorry, I thought I did. But I give in. Did it work?”

“Damn right it worked. I’d jump back and give you a thump, except that Lisa’s dad has given us a couple of things to think about first.”

“Good. Don’t rush things. Tell Phil I’ll speak to him later when the hysteria has died down a bit.”

“Dad! We’re not hysterical - well not much anyway. Got to go. Love to you and Mum.”

After I put the phone down, I dutifully told Lisa’s dad what my dad had said.

Holly had obviously been thinking furiously. “Let’s see if we can work this out. When we fetch things, we already know there’s nothing in the space where we want them to appear.” Her shocking-pink mobile phone appeared on the palm she held out. “It doesn’t matter what’s at the sending end, so to speak. But, I knew where the phone was, and that moving it wouldn’t affect anything else. How do I know that?”

“Ok. An experiment,” I said. “Give me your phone Holly. I’ll take it into the kitchen and hide it. You know where it is, it’ll be in the kitchen. Let’s see what happens when you try to fetch it.”

Holly held out her poor old phone and I took it from her into the kitchen. It wasn’t a matter of hiding it, not really. I just put it on the worktop , and then sneakily balanced a small pan on top of it. If Holly teleported it out from under the pan, they’d probably hear the resulting clatter back home at my house.

“Ok Holly. See if you can fetch it.”

I ‘felt’ Holly reach out. Because she didn’t know exactly where the phone was, I ‘felt’ her search for it. “Hey, you booby-trapped it. There’s something on top of it, a pan or something. Hm. Needs a bit of extra fiddling.” Her eyes closed. Then the phone was on her hand - and there’d been no noise from the kitchen.

I stuck my head round the kitchen door. There was the pan, sitting on the worktop, looking as if butter wouldn’t melt in its mouth - not that pans have mouths, of course, but you get the idea.

“What’d you do Holly? Lift the pan up first?”

“Yep, basically. Did it work?”

“Marvellously, dear. Now send it back again.”

“What? Under the pan?”

“Yes. You know the space you’re sending to has something already there. See what you can do.”

Holly closed her eyes again for a long minute. Then the phone disappeared. After a few seconds she opened her eyes. “Should be there. I lifted the pan and put the phone back under it.”

A quick check proved the point. I had to move the pan to give Holly’s phone back to her.

“So what does that show, oh Engineer and Scientist?” asked Lisa.

“That we can check what’s in the space we intend to occupy before we occupy it,” I grinned. “If it works for stuff we send, then it ought to work if what we send is ourselves.”

While Lisa and Holly were grinning in turn, I’d had a further thought. “We’ve just wasted about ten minutes.”

“How’d’you mean?” asked Lisa.

“Remember the plane with the bomb? You followed me when we teleported, because I knew where we were going. With me so far?” They nodded uncertainly. “As we went, I knew there was nothing in the space we were going to appear in, I remember distinctly. I must have unconsciously used the things we’ve just worked out. What that probably means is that we can’t inadvertently try to occupy the same space as something else. We still need to be careful though.”

“But what about somewhere we’ve never been? That we have no information about?” asked Holly.

“Hm. Another experiment. Let’s see. The Mayor’s office in the Town Hall. Never been there. Don’t worry, I won’t actually go.”

Try as I might, I couldn’t visualise where I wanted to go at all. After a few moments, I ‘heard’ Lisa say, “Ok. Give up. You’ve made your point. Looks like we can’t go where we’ve never been or can’t see by some means.”

I gave up, but not entirely. “How about your garage Lisa? Maybe the car’s there, maybe not - don’t tell me Mr. Chandler,” I said quickly. “I know where it is, I’ve been in it after all, but not if it’s clear or not.”

I shut my eyes and thought about the Chandler’s garage. Hm. There was the car - a mowing machine - Lisa’s bike she hadn’t used since I’d known her - and lots of other ‘stuff’. I could clearly ‘feel’ a large-ish open space in front of the car. Ok. I ‘told’ myself to be there instead of here. Suddenly ‘there’ changed to ‘here’ - I’d moved! Now, move back. But what if somebody’d moved into the space I’d been in? Check first. Let’s see. Two adults - two girls - large space - ground zero!

I was back in Lisa’s lounge. “Well? How was it?” demanded Lisa.

“Easy. You can reach out and see what’s in the way. Come and look.” That last wasn’t an invitation to look with eyes, more to look with the mind. We linked closely, not as far as Angel, but closely nevertheless. “You just look and see,” I ‘said’.

“Oh, like that,” ‘said’ Holly - and vanished. About one second later, Lisa was gone as well.

I turned to Lisa’s mum and dad.”They’ll be back in a tick. I’ve already been, no point going again.”

Sure enough, a couple of seconds later Lisa and Holly were back. “Garage is getting messy Dad,” laughed Lisa. “Time for a tidy up.”

Lisa’s mum was laughing as she said, “Time for lunch. Any chance of staying in one place long enough to eat it?”

We got around half way through before all the laughter and general euphoria stopped. Lisa stopped and sat stock still with a sandwich about half way to her mouth. Her presence in my mind suddenly switched from active to inactive, there’s no other way to describe it. It was if she’d fallen asleep between one heartbeat and the next!