The intercom buzzed. “Yes, Sarah?”
“Melinda’s here.”
“Send her in.”
“There’s also a woman on the other line from a cable station who wants you to do a reality show about astrology.”
“There are hundreds of excellent astrologers who would love the opportunity to be on TV. If she calls back, suggest astrologers we have on file. Or have her call one of the astrology organizations, like the NCGR or AFAN.”
“She’s more interested in using your renown to help herself rather than help someone else.”
“I think you’re right.”
“That’s why you pay me the big bucks.” She laughed. “Anything you need?”
“Order me breakfast from Louie’s.” Louie’s was his favorite organic restaurant, run by an old hippie from Vermont who’d inherited the building several years before and moved his restaurant down to Manhattan. The menu had many selections that suited Lowell’s vegetarian diet.
“What do you want?”
“Surprise me.”
The door opened and an attractive brunette in an expensive business suit entered. She walked over to the desk and bent to kiss Lowell on his forehead. “Hi, Dad.” At six feet she towered over Lowell’s five-foot-eight frame.
He smiled and leaned back in his chair. “You look tired, Melinda.”
“You tell me that every time I see you.”
“That’s because you look tired every time I see you. Why won’t you let me set you up with your own law practice?”
“Why, so I can work a hundred hours a week instead of seventy? I’m only thirty-two. I’d like to try to have a life outside the office.”
“Eventually you’ll come to the same conclusion I have: it’s better to work for yourself. Especially with your natal chart. What brings you around?”
“I have to see a client in the neighborhood, and I thought I’d come by and say hello.”
“They overwork you terribly.”
“Dad, I’m fine, really.”
“Do you need any money?”
“No, thank you. I make a good living.”
He nodded. “I spoke to your mother last night.”
“I’ve been meaning to call her. How’s she doing?”
***
“Hello Catherine.”
“How are you, David?”
“Is there ever really a simple answer? I’ve been okay. A little tired. Getting very busy with my work.”
His ex-wife sighed. “I’ve been reading about you. Freddie Finger’s murder even made the Woodstock papers. How sad. Remember the first time we saw him in concert?”
He chuckled. “How could I forget? You wore yellow shoes and a very short blue dress. You never wore dresses in those days. Always jeans. And sneakers with no laces. Once I saw that dress I knew we were going to finally get together as a couple that night.”
“Sure of yourself, weren’t you?”
“Not until I saw that dress.”
She laughed. “I must have tried on thirty outfits before my roommate lent me that one.”
“She must have been pissed when you returned it full of grass stains after our rendezvous under the stars.”
They both laughed.
Then there was silence.
“Is there something on your mind, David?”
He sipped his beer and gazed out the window of his Manhattan townhouse at the tiny piece of backyard property fenced in on three sides with high wooden panels. He wasn’t feeling well, and he couldn’t put his finger on it until now when his eyes fell upon that urban oasis enclosed like a child’s dollhouse. He felt claustrophobic. His life seemed to be closing in around him, like that wooden fence.
When he heard ice clink in a glass, he knew she was drinking Sauvignon blanc. She drank it with ice in the summer.
“I was thinking of taking a drive later in the week,” he said, “and was wondering if you’d like some company. I haven’t been up to Woodstock in a while and would like to come up to visit. I miss…the house.”
“Is Melinda alright?”
“Yes, our daughter’s fine.”
“Thank God.” She sipped her wine. “I suppose if your mind is set on it there’s little I can do to dissuade you.”
“It’s going to be a beautiful weekend,” he said quietly, “and I thought it would be nice to take a walk and have dinner. I love that old farmhouse restaurant in town.”
“Okay, David. Next Saturday?”
“I’ll have Andy drive me up in the early afternoon. I’ll see if Melinda would like to join us.”
“It would be nice to spend some time together.”
“I’ll call you on the way.”
When they hung up, Lowell went out to the backyard and sat for almost an hour, beer forgotten in hand, staring at the fence.
***
“Dad?”
“Oh, sorry. She sounded okay. I’m driving up next weekend, and I was wondering if you’d like to come along.”
Melinda walked over to the window and picked up the turtle’s food. She sprinkled a little into the tank and watched as Buster and Keaton shambled over for a second treat. “It’s that time of year again, isn’t it?”
Lowell was silent.
“Yes, I guess I’ll come up.” She gazed out the window. “It doesn’t get any easier with time, does it?”
“Not really. But it would be good to get together as a family.”
“I miss him everyday.”
“So do I.”
Melinda nodded. “Okay, when do you want to leave?”
“Saturday morning about nine.”
“Will Andy pick me up, or should I come up to the townhouse?”
“Andy will get you. Unless you want to stay over Friday night.”
“I’ll check my social calendar and let you know.” Melinda had made finger quotes when referring to her social life. “What are you working on?”
“There are a few things I’m looking into. I just took a rather unusual case.”
She laughed. “You don’t get any other kind. What is it?”
“A Dr. Williamson asked me to find his son’s identical twin. According to him they were separated shortly after birth when the wife apparently took off with one of the children. The boy has advanced kidney disease and needs a transplant which, because of a rare blood type, apparently only his missing twin brother can supply.”
Melinda turned from the window and looked at her father. “Not your usual case. Do you have the charts yet?”
Lowell shook his head. “Only for the boys.”
“Why did the wife run off? And why did she only take one son?”
“I don’t know. There are a lot of things about this situation that seem a little weird. I have to wait for the parents’ birth information before I can really move forward. Williamson was oddly reluctant to supply his own details on the spot. I let it go for now until I figure this guy out.”
“Why wouldn’t he tell you?”
Lowell shrugged. “He’s supposed to email me his and his wife’s birth information. I need to find out a lot more about the parents if I’m going to find the child.”
“Sounds like it’s time for a Mort special.”
Lowell nodded. “Best Internet guy I’ve ever known. Whatever data’s out there about this guy, Mort will find it.” He turned to the computer screen. “Let’s look at the twins’ charts.”
Melinda was his best astrology student.
Having already put the information into his Solar Fire computer program, Lowell brought the two charts up simultaneously on his computer screen then hit a button which directed the image to the 32-inch flat screen TV against the wall.
“Here are the two charts. They were born on June 10th, 1999 at 3:30 a.m. and 3:44 a.m. in Princeton, New Jersey. Edward, the younger of the two, is the one who’s ill. What do you see?”
Melinda pulled her chair closer to the desk. She took the wireless mouse in hand and used it as a pointer. “Hmm. As you taught me, Venus rules the kidneys, so let’s see how it’s aspected in the natal chart.” She gazed at the screen moving the pointer as she spoke. “The ascendant is Taurus, ruled by Venus, so that planet will have a big influence on the boys.”
He leaned back in his chair and brushed a piece of lint off his jeans. “Right. And how is Venus aspected?” He couldn’t help taking on the professor role.
“It’s badly afflicted. Venus is in opposition to Neptune,” she wiggled the mouse back and forth between the two planets, “a very weakening aspect. It shows the potential for infections, breakdowns, and possibly misdiagnosed ailments in the kidneys and water meridian.”
Lowell smiled proudly. “What else? Why is one boy ill and the other not? What’s different about their charts?”
She looked for a few moments and then smiled. “The Moon. Both boys have the Moon in the 12th house that rules medicine and hospitals. But the older boy, Kevin has the Moon at twenty-nine degrees fifty-two minutes of Aries. Because of the fourteen minutes’ difference in the births, Edward has the Moon at zero degrees Taurus, which adds to the Venus influence. That’s a major difference, isn’t it? The Taurus Moon in Edward’s chart is also in a close square to Venus and Neptune, both at four degrees, creating a tight in-sign t-square resolving in the 6th house of health, which in this chart is also ruled by Venus.”
Lowell nodded. “Right. Just about what I would expect with kidney failure at such a young age. As you know, I‘ve always been a strong believer in sign placement, not just the degrees of an aspect. The Moon has a lot to do with the immune system as well. And because Edward’s Moon squares Venus, it implies that he could have health issues involving the kidneys and the immune system, which may not afflict his brother. Anything else different between the two horoscopes that could affect their health?”
Melinda moved the pointer. “The different birth time also moves the ascendant six degrees, giving Kevin a twelve-degree rising sign, and making Edward’s eighteen degrees. The change puts Kevin’s Saturn in the first house of the self. He may act more maturely than his brother, and could look older as they age. Edward’s birth time creates a different ascendant and puts Saturn, the planet of restriction and limitations, in the 12th house of hospitals. The indication is that there is the possibility that, at some point in his life, Edward could be forced to stay in a hospital or other institution.”
“Excellent.”
“So what I understand about twins, if the problem isn’t genetic, it’s environmental, particularly how the children developed in the womb. That’s why only one identical twin may become sickly.”
“But it should still show up in the natal charts.”
“And what about fate?”
“It has to do with what each person needs to experience in this life. One soul may need to learn to suffer physically in order to rebalance his karmic bank account, while the other must learn patience and unconditional love for the sibling. They come back as twins, one ill, the other not, so they can work through their necessary lessons. Just being twins shows the remarkable connection between the souls. Something that goes back beyond the time of conception.”
“Fascinating!” She looked at her watch. “Dad, I’m so sorry. I’ve got to go. But I’m interested in this case. Keep me up to date. I’ll talk to you before Saturday.” She stood up.
Lowell pushed his chair back away from the desk. “Oh, there is one more little detail I should mention.”
“What’s that?”
“Dr. Williamson gave me a briefcase with a million dollars in hundred-dollar bills as a retainer.”
“This definitely ups the ‘unusual’ quotient.”