A Diamond in My Pocket

  * * *

  We are served lunch, but I’m not hungry. Chris doesn’t eat much. He keeps his eyes on me. Justin, on the other hand, seems pleased he has the fruit and nuts all to himself. We each leave the cubicle for bathroom breaks. I muse to myself, even super-powered people have to tend to their bodily functions.

  After lunch, Clara announces two visitors: Hunters. Alarm bells go off in my head. We’ve been running from Hunters since the moment we left Harold Bates’ office. The last thing I want is to be forced to end another life in the attempt to preserve the trio.

  Justin is the first to speak. “Why do Hunters want to meet with us?” I pick up on the nervousness in his voice. Naturally, he would be worried about being outed to the entire Runners’ Clan as helping the Hunters track us. His predicament is his own doing.

  Clara says, “These Hunters are good. They follow nature’s law.”

  “How do you know?” Justin squeaks as he talks.

  “I know the good Hunters very well, Justin. Trust me.” Clara looks to me and waits for my approval before allowing the two men to enter the cubicle.

  These men look completely different than the Hunters we’ve encountered. They are in their mid-thirties, well dressed, and they look and smell clean. I’m amazed, however, at the size of their noses. I deduce they were probably made fun of as children.

  The first extends his hand toward me, inviting a handshake.

  Justin lunges forward. “I wouldn’t touch her if I were you.”

  I don’t reach forward. The man lowers his hand and says, “My name is Dominic. This is Fred. May we speak with you?”

  “Yes,” I answer.

  Fred sniffs the air and says, “You don’t have a scent. Why?”

  I look over to Chris and exchange glances. “It’s nice to know I don’t stink. I don’t know why you can’t smell me. I can smell you.”

  Dominic scratches his chin. “Yes, that is why we’re here. You hold many powers, yet you have no scent. Tell us about these powers.”

  “Why should I tell you anything? We’ve been hunted by your clan since we started this delivery.”

  Fred raises a hand to stop me. “Those Hunters were mercenaries. Their actions don’t represent our clan.”

  Dominic adds to Fred’s statement. “Some Hunters work independently, and some don’t act according to nature’s will. The rest of us, who chose to follow nature and support the other clans, live in a community with our leader.”

  “Your leader?” I ask.

  “Yes. She chose not to attend, but is curious about your multiple powers. What should we tell her in our report?”

  “That I’m just a girl, following my gut instincts.” Dominic and Fred exchange glances. I continue. “I don’t have any answers to give you. Tell your leader whatever you want.” I look to the floor and squeeze my eyes shut.

  The two Hunters speak with Chris and Justin momentarily and turn and leave. I don’t pay attention their conversation. My mind is preoccupied with their earlier statement: “You don’t have a scent.”

  Soon after the Hunters leave, Clara announces the Healers’ leaders have arrived to see me. I’m tired and just want to be left alone. Then my mind pictures Jonas and his illness and I become energized. Finally, Jonas will have access to the most powerful Healers.

  Clara says, “Calli, this is Andrew Stuart and Robert Yates. You probably recognize them from the hotel.”

  Recognize them? Yes! Am I let down? Absolutely! Andrew couldn’t detect the cancer then, and I have no reason to believe he’ll detect it now.

  Andrew says, “We’re in awe, Ms. Courtnae.”

  Robert nods his head.

  “Call me Calli, please.”

  “Is it true,” Robert asks, “you caused a heart attack in someone and also killed two Hunters?”

  I know Justin had everything to do with leaking the information and I struggle to keep my mouth shut. Instead, I say, “The heart attack guy was trying to abduct me, so I protected myself. Besides, he was a walking time bomb anyway. His heart was ready to fail. The Hunters were trying to kill my team. I had to protect them.”

  “You can feel weaknesses in the body?” Andrew asks.

  “Yes.”

  “Death Clan members learned how to sense weaknesses. To identify physical impairments they need to sense healthy tissue and organs, and that’s how they are able to kill: they go after the heart and stop the electrical impulses.”

  “Are you likening me to a Death Clan member?”

  “Not at all. I’m only amazed you learned so quickly how to scan inside the body for weaknesses.”

  “Well, pardon my candidness, but what’s the use of being a Healer if you can’t sense imminent illness or disease?”

  Robert Yates, speaks up. “We heal injury and sickness when they make themselves known, similar to what you did with your clan members when they were shot in the forest.”

  “What about cancer?” I ask. “At what point can you detect a tumor, and when do you attempt to heal it?”

  “We can detect tumors when they become painful, but only because the individual comes to us with pain. Usually by that time the person has advanced cancer and not much can be done.”

  “I know someone who has cancer. Will you help him?”

  “Who?” they both ask together.

  Justin also wants to know, and I realize Chris hasn’t said anything to anyone. He and Justin are so different.

  I move to the opening in the curtain and point to Jonas who’s on the other side of the large tent, talking with a group of boys. “That boy has cancer.”

  “I’m sorry, but I don’t sense anything in him,” Robert says.

  “I do. It’s so obvious to me.” My voice rises as my frustration peaks.

  Andrew clears his throat and closes the curtain. I take my seat and he says, “Try to imagine for a moment how we view cancer. Cancer presents itself in its early stages as regular cells. Therefore we can’t detect them until they are mutated and extensive, and, as I said before, it’s too late to help the patient at that point.”

  “This isn’t early-stage cancer, it’s nearing end-stage,” I explain. “Why can’t you sense it?”

  “Well, how did you discover his illness? What tipped you off?”

  “I couldn’t read his future. He didn’t seem to have one, so I searched inside his body and found the mass. I could feel the way its tendrils had spread from organ to organ.”

  “Do you realize you used your future-seeing ability to detect the problem? We don’t have that ability. You are a rarity, Calli.”

  “So, can I heal Jonas? Or can you?”

  “Well, here we get into sticky water. If nature—”

  I cut him off before he can go any further with all the nature crap. “I don’t care about that in this case. I can feel his tumor. I know it’s there. If I’m able to, after the delivery I’ll try to heal him. He’s too young to suffer and die of an illness I can do something about.”

  Chris looks to the floor. I can’t tell what he’s feeling, but I can guess.

  “We will assist you if we can.”

  “Thank you.”

  I know I won’t live past the delivery and Jonas will therefore probably die. I made the promise to help Jonas mainly so Chris will think everything will be okay after the delivery.

  The Healers leave the cubicle, and once again Justin and Chris stare at me in silence.

  I turn my back to them so I don’t accidentally connect with their minds. I certainly don’t want to hear Chris lecture me on nature’s will again, not that he actually would after the way he reacted on the bank of the river.