The Madrona Heroes Register: Echoes of the Past

PARTICIPANT OFFSPRING”. In one corner of the page was a symbol that looked familiar to Binny, but she couldn’t quite place it. “What is this?” she finally asked Zach.

  “I think it might be the proof you’ve been looking for.” Zach examined the papers further. “It looks like records of Mom’s participation in that trial. They don’t reveal anything about the purpose of the trial, but they do prove what Huitre said – that Luce Labs is interested in Cassie.”

  “I see you children have made some progress.” The children looked up over their shoulders to see Caleb towering over them, inspecting the papers Zach was holding.

  Binny jumped a bit when she realized he was there. “Caleb, you scared us!”

  “I wasn’t scared.” Zach joked.

  “Shush.” Binny said.

  “Sorry Miss Jordan. I do pride myself on keeping my noise pollution to a minimum. Next time I’ll rustle a few more leaves.”

  “Thank you.” Binny accepted Caleb’s apology.

  “Now let’s see what you have there.” Caleb said.

  “It’s a pink limousine. My limousine.” Cassie tried to be helpful.

  Caleb smiled, as Zach offered up the papers. He reviewed them in earnest while the children waited for his verdict.

  “Well, it is a pink limousine. And a sparkly and expensive one at that.” Caleb addressed his comment directly to Cassie, and then to the others, “But it looks like little Miss Jordan chose just the right scrap paper to draw on. Did you get this at Luce Laboratories?”

  “No. We got mango there.” Penny offered helpfully.

  “Then you got this at Dr. Huitre’s house I assume?” Caleb asked.

  They all nodded.

  “And he just let you leave with them?” Caleb added.

  “He was uh, indisposed when we left.” Binny offered with a guilty look at Penny and Zach.

  “Indisposed, huh?” Caleb muttered to nobody in particular as his eyes were still on the pages.

  §

  As Caleb continued to examine the documents, the kids wandered around a bit, inspecting the car, gathering sticks, and getting antsy. Only Binny remained sitting right next to Caleb, waiting for him to pass judgment.

  “You’ve done a good job, Binny Jordan.”

  “A good job?”

  “Yes. A good job.”

  Binny just stared back at Caleb not quite understanding his meaning. He continued, “You’ve created quite a little team here. And you did it all to protect your little sister. That takes a lot of courage and leadership.

  “Leadership? We… I haven’t really done anything quite yet. Not really. Cassie is still in danger. I don’t trust Dr. Huitre. And I don’t know if these papers are going to be enough to prove to my parents that something funny is going on with Luce Laboratories. All I’ve done is messed up the recording,” Binny shook her head at herself remembering her mistake, “where Huitre admitted that even he wasn’t sure about Luce Labs’ intentions.”

  “Being a leader doesn’t mean that you always succeed. It doesn’t mean that the path to success is ever easy. It means that you try to do the right thing even when it’s hard. Especially when it’s hard. And you, Binny Jordan, you’re not just a leader. You’re a leader of heroes.”

  Binny was beaming at the compliment. “You’re starting to sound like my dad.”

  “Have you thought of a name for your little group?” Caleb asked.

  By now Zach and Penny had wandered over, listening intently.

  Binny looked up at them and then back at Caleb, not sure what to say.

  Caleb continued. “In my day we had a little band of kids running around these same woods. We fought bad guys. We protected the good guys. We called ourselves the Madrona Heroes.”

  “You spent time in these woods when you were a kid?” Binny asked?

  “You fought bad guys?” Penny chimed in.

  “You had a power. Didn’t you. And you still do.” Zach said more than asked.

  Caleb laughed loudly. “So many questions. Which should I answer first?”

  “Answer Zach’s question.” Binny said quietly looking directly in Caleb’s eyes. “Do you have a power? Like Cassie?”

  Caleb paused in the silence that followed the question and then answered, looking directly back at Binny, “No ma’am. I do not have a power like Cassie.” Binny exhaled as Caleb continued. “But that doesn’t mean my friends and I couldn’t be heroes.”

  “The Madrona Heroes. I like the way it sounds.” Penny said cheerily.

  “It’s not terrible.” Zach added.

  “We’re not superheroes.” Binny moved to tamp down Zach and Penny’s enthusiasm.

  “I am.” Cassie was triumphant.

  “You’re certainly not superheroes without a good superhero hideout,” said Caleb with a sparkle in his eye.

  §

  Caleb led them from the abandoned car through the woods. They were no longer on a path. The ground was covered with vegetation, and the trees seemed to get closer together. Caleb would point out a funny shaped tree along the way, or a special rock as landmarks. After they’d walked for awhile, he stopped in front of a massive tree with peeling bark.

  “This… is the last Madrona tree in Madrona.” Binny hadn’t noticed how large Caleb’s hands were. One of them, still impressively strong by the looks of it, held onto the trunk of the last Madrona tree in Madrona.

  The tree rose out of a depression in the hillside. This spot was far from any of the established paths, and if you hopped over the rim of the crater you were essentially invisible from even 20 feet away. Caleb hopped over the rim with surprising ease. The children followed.

  Behind the tree, a curving wall rose into the hillside, covered completely with more of the forest growth that they had trampled to get to this spot.

  “When people first settled this hillside, in addition to all the Ash and Maple there were hundreds of actual Madrona trees covering this area from the lake, all the way to the top of the hill. Over a hundred years ago most of them were chopped down, processed at the local mill, and used to build many of the old houses in this very neighborhood. Even yours.” He looked at the kids as he said this.

  “Other tree species took over, and now this is the last one left. It’s been hiding in these woods, right here in plain sight, for decades. Keeping watch.” His last words came out almost in a whisper.

  “It’s beautiful.” Penny was slowly looking up the peeling bark on the trunk all the way to the top of the towering tree.

  “What do you children see behind the tree?”

  All three looked and couldn’t see anything other than the thicket of moss and vines that lined the far wall of the depression.

  “Look closer.” Caleb encouraged.

  Zach stepped forward using his hand to push aside some of the ground covering. “It’s a door.” Zach knocked gently with his fist hearing the metal sound echo back to him. He felt for the door handle, giving it a tug. “It’s locked.”

  “Twist the handle upward and then pull.” Caleb suggested calmly.

  Zach twisted and the heavy metal door swung open slowly. The children’s eyes widened with wonder.

  Before them was a long, seemingly endless, dark hallway encased in concrete. Caleb reached over the children’s gawking heads to flip on a light switch on the wall. A series of fluorescent lights hanging every 15 feet or so coughed to life, illuminating the hallway. Caleb strode past the children without even turning his head. Not knowing what else to do, the children followed.

  §

  “In the 1950’s, this country was obsessed with nuclear war with what was then known as the Soviet Union. Now you kids refer to what remains of the Soviet Union as Russia.”

  “What’s nuclear war?” Cassie piped up.

  “It’s when countries shoot really scary weapons at each other.” Zach explained, trying not to alarm her.

  “Exactly. And back then, this country built bomb shelters to shield its people from those scary weapons. Bomb
shelters, the last Madrona tree, they’re all echoes of the past.” They’d reached the end of the hallway that had taken them deeper into the Madrona hillside which rose above them. Caleb flipped one additional switch to reveal the expansive windowless concrete room in which they now found themselves. “You’re standing in one of them now.”

  Additional fluorescent bulbs, covered in dust, flickered to life in long rows, shedding light on the contents of the room. The sounds of the bulbs coming back to life after a long slumber echoed in the large space and down the hallway from which they’d entered.

  “Why is this here? I mean, I know they were scared of nuclear war, but why here? In Madrona? Are there bomb shelters everywhere?” Binny’s mouth was agape. There was a secret room hidden under her favorite woods that she hadn’t known was there. And without Caleb’s help, she never would have discovered it.

  “This is a lot better than the crawlspace.” Zach grinned at Binny before wandering off to explore.

  “What crawlspace?” Cassie asked, before tottering off after Zach.

  Penny had also started exploring the room.

  “I don’t know how many of these exist. Probably more than anyone’s ever admitted publicly. But needless to say, even at the time, this shelter couldn’t contain that many people so I’m not even sure what the point was. Maybe they built it just to make themselves feel better. Feel like they were doing something about a potential threat,” Caleb said.

  “But how is hiding in a bomb shelter doing something about a potential threat?”

  “It’s not, really. It’s a place to keep people and things safe. Things that might get hurt out there.” Caleb pointed his eyes in the direction of the hallway they’d used to enter the room. “To really confront a threat, to really solve a problem, you need to do leave the safety of the shelter and deal with it head on. Still, it’s a good place to hide out, get some rest, and make your plan, until you’re ready to put that plan into action. But remember, a secret hiding place is only good if you keep it a secret.” After a moment, Caleb continued, “Keep up the good work Binny. You’re doing a great job. Your sister is in good hands.” With that Caleb turned on his heel and walked out of the room towards the outside.

  Cassie had written her name in the dust on the paneling on one of the walls. Zach and Penny were trying out switches, and seeing what still worked. Binny just stood there watching Caleb walk out of their new hideout. The ‘Madrona Heroes’ secret hideout. What a ridiculous thought. Penny had joined Cassie at the wall and was writing “Madrona Heroes” on the wall with her finger. In between the ‘a’ in Madrona and the ‘H’ at the beginning of Heroes, Penny was drawing a tree – the Madrona tree that obscured the entrance to the shelter.

  Binny breathed easier for a moment. Her friend and siblings were enjoying the relative safety of their new space. Nothing to worry about in here, buried deep under the Madrona woods. Binny looked down the hallway briefly seeing that Caleb had disappeared to a pinpoint, and then scanned the room.

  In a dark corner that the others hadn’t yet explored, Binny spied a set of shelves containing old unused equipment, and still more dust. At the top was a battered milk crate. She stood on her tippy toes, pulling the crate down. It contained a stack of identical notebooks. They looked ‘old timey’. Each was covered with a fake wood pattern.

  Binny took the top one. In the center of the cover was a sticker filled with text: “DAILY REGISTER OF PUPILS. For use in the Public Schools of Washington. Adopted and issued by authority of The Board of State School Commissioners.” Underneath that auspicious title were spots to fill out the “School No.” the “Commissioner District No.” and the “County”. All were blank.

  Maybe it wasn’t so ridiculous after all. They had felt kind of like a team of superheroes when they’d escaped getting in trouble at Luce Laboratories. And Cassie clearly had a super power, though it wasn’t clear what they could do with a seven-year-old who could only turn invisible when she was stressed out. Binny wondered, did Zach have a power? He certainly performed an impressive feat with Dr Huitre’s alarm code. And what about Penny? Binny was pretty sure breaking fragile stuff wasn’t exactly a super power. The lock on Dr. Huitre’s back door must have already been on its last legs. That appeared to be the limit of the power inventory – super or otherwise. Binny herself certainly didn’t have any unique skills to offer. Of that she was sure.

  Binny opened the old book. Dust flew off the pages. She moved her face, avoiding the tiny clouds she’d created. Inside the book, the pages were all identical. They were designed to let the teacher take attendance, write down who’d handed in their assignments, and assign grades.

  Before she even realized what she intended, Binny took a pencil that had been rolling around at the bottom of the milk crate and started writing on the book’s cover. She crossed out the “Daily” in “Daily Register” and replaced it with “Madrona Heroes”.

  Then she opened to the first page, wrote the date at the top, and started filling in everyone’s name. In the first column she put the person’s full name. In the second she put their contribution to the new superhero team.

  Cassie Jordan. Random invisibility.

  Zach Jordan. Good at remembering alarm codes.

  Penny Yang. Good at breaking stuff.

  Binny Jordan. ___

  What should she write after her name? She didn’t know. Maybe Caleb was right. Heroes didn’t need special powers. But what was she even good at? Binny drew a big question mark.

  While Binny wondered about her own role, it had felt good to write down what everyone else did well. She hated to admit it, but her mother had been right. Writing down good things about people felt a lot better than writing down their petty crimes and injustices.

  “There’s no cell phone service in here. If Mom and Dad are trying to call us, we won’t hear it. We should go.” Zach had wandered over to where Binny was scrawling in the notebook. “Whatcha got there?” he asked.

  Binny looked up, startled. “Oh, just doodling in this old notebook.” Binny closed the book and shoved it back in the milk crate which she quickly put back on the shelf. “You’re right, we’d better go before Mom and Dad get worried.”

  Zach and Binny gathered up Cassie and beckoned Penny to follow them out. Binny recounted their accomplishments as they walked the long corridor. “I messed up the recording, but Huitre admitted that he’s suspicious of Luce Laboratories. It’s not much, but these papers do show that Luce Laboratories, and Dr. Huitre, are interested in Cassie. That’s better than nothing. Now we just need to convince Mom and Dad that they are up to no good, and I think we’ll be okay.”

  As they exited, Zach turned off the hallway lights. “Oh shoot. We left the light on back there. I’ll run back and turn it off.” Before anyone could object, he was already sprinting down the hallway to flip the switch.

  The three girls waited outside for Zach to return. Binny and Penny reinforced the need to keep their hideout secret with Cassie. The sun was still reasonably high in the sky, but it was unmistakably close to dinner time. It took at least a minute for Zach to make it all the way back to the exit.

  After they’d closed the door and backed up a step or two, they marveled at how difficult it was to notice that a door even existed given all the foliage in front of it. The dirt colored rust that covered the metal door’s surface almost seemed designed for the purpose of camouflaging the entrance.

  With the door to their new secret hideout sealed, they started walking home through the woods. As they reached the footpath the sound of their mother calling their names came sailing through the trees. “Binneeeeee. Zaaaaaaach. Casseeeeee.” Their father would alternately repeat the call, and then it would begin again with their mother.

  Binny looked at the others. “Uh oh. We’re in trouble.”

  18

  The Announcement

  “You’re not in trouble. We were just worried that Zach wasn’t answering his phone.” Julie told the kids.

&
nbsp; Zach and Binny exchanged a knowing glance.

  “You should have left a note that you were going to play in the woods, or called and told us.” Jay added, not completely satisfied with Zach’s babysitting efforts on this day either.

  “Hi, I’m Julie.” Julie stuck out her hand to Penny who had hung back behind the Jordan kids.

  “Hi, I’m Penny.”

  “Penny lives in the gray house across the street.” Binny added cheerfully, relieved that they weren’t in trouble.

  “Your parents must be wondering where you are, too, Penny.” Jay said as more of a statement than a question.

  “It’s just me and my mom. She knows I’m playing somewhere in the neighborhood, but I should probably get home now.” Penny responded, still not entirely sure whether the Jordan siblings were in trouble or not.

  “Nice to meet you, Penny.” Julie tried to smile, but it was strained with worry.

  As the Jordans walked through the woods and up the hill to their house, Binny thought hard about how to make all the risks they’d taken worth it. How would she convince her parents that Huitre and Luce Laboratories were not to be trusted? How would she make sure her parents kept Cassie out of harm’s way? She still wasn’t entirely sure, but she knew she had no choice but to confront her parents about this. Whatever was distracting her parents would have to take a back seat. Cassie was simply more important.

  Upon entering the house, Cassie peeled off to go watch TV. “Could you two come with us?” Jay asked quietly as he and Julie led the older Jordan children through the kitchen out to the backyard.

  Maybe they were in trouble after all. Binny was getting annoyed in advance of whatever it was that her parents were going to yell at them about. It was finally time for Binny to tell her parents everything and this time they were going to believe her. She was sure of it. “Listen, I’m sorry that we didn’t leave a note, but we have some very important things to tell you.”

  “Binny, Zach, we’ve actually got something to tell you.” Julie answered.

  Binny suddenly noticed that her mother’s eyes were puffy. It looked like she was about to cry. Mom never cried. Binny looked at Zach. He was stone-faced, staring ahead at some point across the yard she couldn’t see.

  “You know we love you very much.” Julie tried to continue, but by the end of the sentence, the tears started coming in earnest. Jay put reached out and held their mother’s hand, giving it a squeeze.

  “It’s happening isn’t it?” Zach spoke in a monotone, never shifting his gaze. His nostrils flared.

  There was a long pause and then Jay began to explain.

  Binny’s world caved in around her.

  §

  “I don’t want you to get divorced.” Binny wailed. She watched her brother’s face crumple when her father had said the words – “Your mother and I have decided to get a divorce.” She’d never seen Zach like this. Binny herself was barely hanging on, but everyone knew that she was emotional. The tears were flowing freely on all four of the Jordan’s faces, and the family sat on the sloping grass on this beautiful ruined summer evening.

  It didn’t make sense. Binny asked “why” over and over again. Zach just sobbed, not asking any questions. Why were her parents getting divorced? They said they still loved each other. They said they would all still be a family. Divorce happened when parents hated each other. Her parents didn’t seem to hate each other at all.

  But they had been so absent lately. So busy. So – and then it hit Binny, this was what Zach had been worried about. Zach had been protecting their parents because he knew they were talking about getting a divorce. In his own way, he’d been trying to avoid giving them anything else to worry about. Her brother who could be such a jerk was now wiping away tears, tears that she’d never seen before. He had been trying so hard to keep it together. How long had he known? How long had he lived with this secret?

  Binny had thought the kids were the only ones keeping secrets in the Jordan family. She turned to her mother, “You’re going to move into an apartment, aren’t you.” Binny’s tears were ebbing a little but her anger was surging. Without waiting for an answer she continued, raging, “I don’t want you to move out of the house. I won’t go there. Please don’t do this. I’m not okay with this. I won’t let you!”

  Jay and Julie assured their two oldest that it wasn’t their fault, that it was in fact nobody’s fault, and that adults sometimes need to make changes, and that they would still spend lots of time together. They apologized for having been so absent lately, but promised that from now on they would be there more, to spend time with the kids, and of course to keep them safe.

  But the explanations and reassurances melted into a sad messy blur for Binny. She didn’t really hear or understand most of them. They would be repeated in later conversations when Binny’s thinking was less stormy. All thoughts of Cassie, all thoughts of experimental drugs, and danger from strange doctors were gone – as if none of it had never happened. The only words occupying Binny’s head now were “why” and “no”.

  There were more tears, and lots of hugging. It seemed like the Jordan parents, especially Julie, shed even more tears than the children, which was no small feat. The pain in Binny’s heart started to dull from sharp lightning to a low booming thunder. She suddenly understood what people really meant when they said their hearts were heavy.

  Everything felt heavy. When most of the tears had subsided, and the children didn’t have any more questions. Jay and Julie slowly helped each other onto their feet and went in the house together to tell Cassie the news. Binny and Zach remained alone, in the yard, in silence.

  Binny didn’t see her parents linger at the door to the backyard watching their two oldest children exchange a few words of comfort, and then a long hug. Binny would never know how her parents felt at that moment, powerless and defeated by the pain they’d inflicted, and yet so amazingly proud of their children relying on each other for support when their parents couldn’t offer any solace.

  §

  “Can we have a divorce party?” Cassie asked. That was her second statement after hearing the news. The first being “Now I’m in the divorce club like my friend Sarah.” Sarah was a little girl who Cassie knew from school. Cassie already knew how divorce worked: depending on the weekend, a sleepover at Sarah’s might mean staying at Sarah’s mom’s house, or at her dad’s house.

  Eventually Cassie cried as well. More from the looks on her parents’ faces than from a genuine understanding of the implications for her future.

  §

  “I’ve never seen Mom cry like that.” Binny interrupted the sad silence between her and her brother. She never felt so safe in her brother’s presence before.

  “I know. Me neither.”

  The object that Binny had been so angry about, so obsessed with, the mirror, was now out of Binny’s pocket and in her hands. Her thumb was tracing endless circles on the filigreed surface of the gift her father had given her mother many years earlier. “You’ve been trying to protect them, haven’t you.”

  Zach couldn’t even get a word out as he started to cry again. His failure to staunch his parents’ looming divorce caused an irreparable crack in a dam of emotions that were now spilling out.

  Binny had been feeling so sorry for herself, and so angry, that her brother’s incredible vulnerability touched her deeply. She absent-mindedly popped open the mirror with her thumb and looked down, giving Zach a tiny bit of privacy as he tried to choke down his tears.

  The engraving on the inside of the mirror’s cover said, “You’re a vision. I will always be there for you.” Her father had told her it was an antique when he’d bought it for her mother, but the engraving was his addition. His sense of humor was there – giving his wife a compliment and making a joke out of it. But there was also a promise. His promise was burnished into the metal Binny was now holding in her hand. But her father wasn’t going to be there anymore for her mother, was he. Her parents weren’t going to b
e there for each other, and that’s why they hadn’t been there for the kids either. They’d said as much. Despite their promises, how could her parents protect the family that they had just ripped in two? The engraving on the mirror was meaningless now. Wasn’t it?

  Binny was swimming in her family’s pain. She could feel the hurt in her brother, and in her parents. And at this moment Cassie was going through the same thing she and Zach just had. At first Binny was overwhelmed, but the throbbing in her chest had a clarifying effect. Binny wanted to take it all in. Her siblings’ sadness, her parents’ fears, she wanted to protect them. It wasn’t enough to protect just Cassie, Binny felt it was now her job to protect them all. She didn’t just feel it, she knew it in her heart – her impossibly heavy heart.

  Binny threw the mirror across the yard as hard as she could into the stone wall. She saw it shatter into a million pieces. Her mind showed her the mirror’s destruction in slow motion, the pieces flying and bouncing in every direction. But in reality, no such thing happened. In reality, Binny closed the mirror gently, protectively, and carefully slid it back into her pocket for safekeeping.

  §

  Binny and Zach found their way into the house, joining their parents and Cassie, everyone trying to understand the new weird reality.

  “Are we going to go back and forth between Mom’s apartment and this house?”

  “No, this will still be the family house. But you can sleep over there sometimes. Mom will be here at the house lots.”

  “Will we have to change schools?”

  “No. Same school.”

  “Will we get two sets of birthday presents?” Everyone laughed at this query from Cassie.

  “Nope. Just one from the two of us together!”

  “Will you get remarried to other people?” Binny asked this last question accusingly.

  Jay and Julie looked at each other. They hadn’t anticipated every question they would get from their perceptive children. After a long pause, Julie finally responded, “We really have no idea. I suppose it’s a possibility someday in the far off future honey, but that’s not something any of us should worry about right now.”

  “Right now, I think we should worry about dinner.” Jay gamely tried to change the subject.

  Nobody felt that hungry for dinner. The news appeared to have taken everyone’s appetite.

  “I understand if everyone’s not feeling super hungry. But you couldn’t possibly say no to ice cream could you?”

  Binny and her mother exchanged a knowing look at Jay’s suggestion.

  “Ice cream? For dinner?” Cassie thought this suggestion was hysterically funny.

  “Why not?” Jay responded enthusiastically. “We’re going to have to invent a bunch of new rules for our family. I think the creativity should start with tonight’s meal.”

  §

  Ice cream meant Soul Repair, the bohemian coffee and treats shop located in the quiet retail heart of Madrona on the site of the former shoe repair shop. The new owner had kept and modified the original ‘Sole Repair’ sign. Jay never failed to chuckle at this bit of serendipity. The kids liked the spot mostly for the creatively flavored and accessorized homemade ice creams served during the nice weather as well as the ridiculously ornate hot chocolates served in the cold and rainy months.

  “Hello Jordans! What can I get for you on this lovely Madrona evening?” Kay Athanasios, Soul Repair’s owner was in her early seventies but looked much younger. Her long wavy still jet-black hair was punctuated with only a few scattered thick gray streaks. There were small shiny beads in her hair as well as on the surface of her black dress so it wasn’t clear where one ended and the other began. Kay always had a cheery smile for her customers, but she seemed especially fond of the Jordans and their children.

  “We’re having ice cream for dinner!” Cassie announced to Kay.

  “I think that’s a fantastic idea. Why don’t more people do that?”

  Cassie continued with her declarations, “My parents are getting divorced.”

  Binny blanched.

  This premature announcement by Cassie seemed to catch everyone off guard except for Kay who responded without missing a beat, “Change can be hard, huh. I have a strong feeling you’ll always be a family no matter what changes your parents make.”

  Jay and Julie looked more relieved to hear Kay’s pronouncement than even Binny and Zach. Cassie seemed less interested and was already reviewing the flavors trying to decide what she would have.

  Each of the Jordans exited Soul Repair feeling a little more upbeat and holding an even more generous than usual sized ice cream that required their immediate and focused attention. Cassie eagerly started in on her Strawberry Kiwi Bubblegum covered with rainbow sprinkles. Binny got French Toast Maple Chip. There were bits of warm French toast worked into the ice cream and real maple syrup had been drizzled on top. Zach went with Choconut Lime. A super-sized scoop of coconut ice cream had been dipped in liquid milk chocolate and then after a moment to harden, was brushed with a few additional strokes of darker chocolate giving it the appearance of an actual coconut resting atop his cone. Zach took a few bites revealing the white inside the chocolate shell, completing the illusion.

  A single scoop of her regular Green Tea and Ginger sorbet in a cup with a “half portion please” of Sour Cherry gastrique on top was enough for Julie. Jay tried to get his regular choice, a scoop of vanilla, but Kay insisted that he try something different. “How about something just a little bit new?” She didn’t wait for him to say yes. She adorned his scoop with what she was calling “chicken bones”. Much to Jay’s relief these turned out to be home-made combinations of chopped almonds, coconut, and cashews covered in butterscotch. Kay stuck the “bones” in Jay’s scoop, making it resemble a vanilla porcupine with butterscotch quills. “Eat carefully.” Kay said with a wink as she handed Jay his order.

  The Jordans carefully made their way down the street to the park to eat their meal.

  §

  The park was just down the block. Jay and Julie settled on a bench where they could keep an eye on Cassie, who was walking in circles on the elevated edge of a sandpit. Zach and Binny wandered off out of earshot, settling down on the grass to eat their ice cream.

  Binny could tell that Zach was a little bit worn out, despite no longer having to keep secret his fears about their parents’ relationship. Something still seemed to be weighing on him. She caught his eye between licks.

  “I have something to tell you.” As painful as his other secret had been, Zach now appeared to embrace the release of getting everything off his chest.

  “OK.” Binny steeled herself, not sure if she could handle more upheaval.

  “Cassie’s not the only one who can do something.”

  Binny stayed quiet, waiting for Zach to elaborate.

  “I can remember things.”

  Binny put her hand on his reassuringly, “It’s okay. I know. I saw what you did with the alarm code. That was pretty cool!”

  “It’s not just the alarm code. I saw Huitre enter it and I remembered it. But that was easy. I seem to remember,” Zach searched his thoughts for a moment, “just about everything.”

  “Everything?”

  “Everything. Every word of the books I read. Scenes and dialogue in movies. What people say. It’s like I have this enormous memory bank in my head and I can access any of it, any time I want. Sometimes too often. It feels crowded in there.”

  “Wow, that must be kind of overwhelming.”

  Zach was touched by his sister’s concern. It wasn’t the reaction he was expecting. “You’re not upset?”

  “Why would I be upset?”

  Zach’s shoulders slumped in defeat as he finally surrendered, telling Binny the other thing that he was really worried about. “Because, well, Cassie and I, and you, well –”

  “Because you and Cassie have a special power and I don’t?” Binny raised her eyebrows and the corners of her mouth were turned up a litt
le.

  Binny of course had thought about this before many times. But she had decided that the challenge of taking care of her family while being the only sibling without a super power was just part of the hand she’d been dealt. In some way, shouldering that responsibility made her actually feel special. Grown up. Not despite her lack of a power, but because of it.

  Zach looked like he was about to get teary again. Binny hurried to reassure him. “It’s okay. Really. I’ve got enough on my plate.”

  “You’re not mad?”

  “No. I’m not mad.” Binny thought for a second, “How long have you known you could remember stuff?”

  “I don’t know. It feels like I always could I guess. But I’m not really sure.”

  “Well that would make sense; that you’ve always had these powers. Dr. Huitre gave mom that drug before you were born.”

  Zach had collected himself and now looked Binny straight in the eye, “But Binny, he was your obstetrician too.”

  “Maybe it didn’t work on me?”

  “Or maybe your power just hasn’t appeared yet.” Zach pulled a set of folded papers out of his pocket. When he unfolded them, Binny recognized Cassie’s coloring again. He turned them over and showed them to Binny one at a time. “See? Cassie Jordan, Zachary Jordan, and Binah Jordan. There’s one for each of us.”

  “Great, so they’re interested in me too, even though I’m the only one who didn’t get any powers. That sucks.” Binny was trying to make Zach laugh.

  “Well, according to Huitre, they’re only interested in anyone exhibiting strange behavior. And luckily, Cassie is the only one that he’s seen doing that so far.”

  “We need to keep it that way.” Binny surprised Zach at the forcefulness of her tone. She continued, sounding as if she’d made a decision, “And that goes for you too. We can’t tell anyone, not even Mom and Dad.”

  “You changed your mind about telling them?”

  Binny cast a sideways glance at her parents. They looked somehow weaker than she’d ever seen them. “I don’t think they can handle any more right now.”

  “What do we do about Huitre and Luce Labs wanting Cassie then?” Zach asked pointedly.

  “I don’t know yet. I don’t know.”

  §

  Cassie was a notoriously slow, not to mention messy, ice cream eater. She always tried to make her cone last as long as possible, even though she almost never finished the whole thing. She was only half finished after everyone else had eaten theirs, and Jay insisted that she eat the rest of hers on the walk home.

  Binny’s mind was finally calm enough to return to the original problem at hand. She was still scared and upset about her parents’ news, but it had made her feel more responsible for saving her sister from Dr. Huitre and Luce Laboratories now that she knew what her parents were going through. It also made her feel more responsible for them.

  Binny knew that if the people at Luce Laboratories could see first-hand Cassie demonstrating her power, they would do everything in their power to hold onto her and do all kinds of experiments on her. Binny shuddered. And after Cassie, they would no doubt want to experiment on Zach and Binny, too.

  With Huitre knowing what he knew, how could Binny keep him from telling the people at Luce? He promised that he wouldn’t tell them, but he also thought they should go to the lab and submit to an examination! The only way to fix this was to throw everyone off the trail. She had to show them that not only Cassie, but none of the Jordan kids had any powers. Her thoughts drifted back to Huitre: What would happen when Huitre woke up? Would he think it was an accident? Or would he blame them and be even more determined to get them to the lab?

  Once the family returned from their ice cream excursion, Binny wandered up to her room and sat on the bed as she mulled over the options. She knew there had to be a solution. She knew she could fix things for her family. But like a word on the tip of her tongue, the solution stayed just out of reach.

  The sound of car doors slamming jarred Binny out of her deep concentration. From her room she viewed the street which now contained two vehicles that hadn’t been there when they’d gotten home a few minutes earlier – a car and a windowless van. She didn’t recognize the car. The van was white and had the Luce Laboratories logo on the side. What was a Luce Laboratory van doing in front of her house? And more importantly, where was Cassie?

  §

  Binny flew out of her room, almost falling down the first few stairs yelling “Cassie, Cassie” the whole time. Halfway down she ran into her father who held her up saying, “Slow down. What’s wrong?”

  “Where’s Cassie?” Binny demanded breathlessly.

  Jay raised his eyebrows but mostly ignored Binny’s demanding tone, answering, “She’s finishing her ice cream on the porch. She got so messy, I told her to stay outside until she was done. I figure I’ll hose her down out there when she’s finished.” Jay chuckled to himself.

  Binny dashed around her now annoyed father and descended the remaining stairs in two large leaps. She sped towards the front door, desperate to get to Cassie before anyone else did.

  By the time she’d made it onto the front porch, it was already too late.

  19

  The Company Van

  “You’re scaring me.” Julie Jordan said to Dr. Huitre, who was now standing on the porch flanked by two security guards from Luce Laboratories.

  Binny thought she recognized the security guards from earlier that day at the greenhouse. After a whisper in Zach’s ear he confirmed her suspicions. Grater and Barrios were in fact the very same guards that were flanking the thin doctor the lab coat. Grater looked smug. Barrios just looked uncomfortable.

  “There is nothing to be scared about. It is simply a precaution.” Huitre put his hands on Cassie’s shoulders and gave them a squeeze. Cassie was actually approaching the end of her ice cream cone at this point.

  Binny found it hard to listen to what Huitre was saying. All she could do was stare at the small bandage and the slightly larger bruised lump that had formed on the side of Huitre’s forehead. If Huitre blamed the children for what happened, he could have gotten them in big trouble when Binny’s parents inquired about his injury. But he just laughed it off saying he had been ‘clumsy’.

  “Could you please explain to me again – why this has to happen right now?” Jay Jordan had a note of irritation in his voice.

  “Where’s Rembrandt?” Cassie’s priorities were different than her father’s at the moment.

  “He is at home, dear.” Looking back up at Jay, Huitre continued, “It was really your comment that triggered this. When you asked me yesterday whatever happened to the clinical trial, I decided to look it up. What I found was a note to all physicians who had administered the trial to check-in with children born from mothers who participated. Apparently in some extremely rare cases there were potential side effects.”

  Binny felt dizzy. She looked over at Zach, he seemed to be shrinking into himself, watching the discussion between their parents and the doctor.

  “What kind of side effects?” Jay demanded.

  Julie squeezed Jay’s shoulder, trying to keep him calm.

  “I want to emphasize that this is only in an extremely low percentage of cases according to Luce Laboratories, but they worry that children who were produced with the help of the drug could have increased susceptibility to meningitis if exposed.”

  Julie gasped. Binny didn’t understand… what was that word? What did it mean?

  “Okay, so let’s take them to their pediatrician tomorrow to get them checked out. We’ve had a difficult day. It’s almost Cassie’s bedtime.” Jay was starting to get angry.

  Huitre continued, “Well, I do not mean to scare you but when I was looking into this, I also saw there have been isolated reports of streptococcal meningitis in our state. Your pediatrician would just refer you to a facility like the one at Luce Labs anyway. And in these cases, we waste no time making sure the children have not been exposed.” br />
  Jay glared at Huitre.

  Huitre continued pleading his case. “The notice about this possibility was issued two years ago. For some reason I never received it. I am feeling a special urgency now because of the reports.”

  “So because you screwed up, we need to put our kids through some scary experience tonight?”

  There was a long pause as Jay’s accusation sank in.

  “What is geninmitis?” Cassie asked interrupting the tense silence.

  Huitre tried to reassure her. “The word is actually meningitis,” he sounded out the syllables, “but you do not have to worry. I am sure you are fine, and this is just a precaution.”

  Binny was staring hard at Huitre. Every single word out of his mouth sounded so smooth. But she knew in her heart he was lying.

  Only briefly did Huitre stumble over his words when he saw Binny’s gaze fixed on him. “The chances are very very low, but I didn’t want to waste any time in letting you know and getting the children checked. I know you are their parents, but your children are also my patients.”

  Jay was about to respond acidly with another observation when Julie gently turned him towards her using the hand she’d placed on his shoulder. “I’m sure that Dr. Huitre feels bad enough as it is that we just got this information. It’s likely the drug company that screwed up the notification. He’s just trying to help now. He’s just trying to protect the children.”

  Binny felt like she was floating above the conversation. The worst possible thing was happening. All her efforts to discredit Huitre had failed. She could never convince her parents of the danger now, either in front of Huitre and the security folks from Luce Laboratories, or alone, they would never believe her. And given how fragile and distracted they were, she thought a big speech from her might cement their trust in Huitre even further.

  “Jay, I think I would feel better if we just got this over with tonight.” Julie was now talking only to Jay. Everyone else was just watching their conversation. “I’d hate to think that a choice I made resulted in any possible health problems for the kids.”

  Suddenly it dawned on Binny that their visit to Huitre earlier that day, which was her idea, was the reason he was pushing to have the kids go in so quickly. Their behavior had prodded Dr. Huitre into wanting to move faster. Binny was horrified that she’d not only failed to protect her sister and their secret, but was now directly responsible for handing her sister over to the bad guys. Binny’s skin felt hot.

  That last argument from Julie appeared to soften Jay’s stance. He seemed only slightly more trusting of Huitre than Binny was, but Julie’s urging had convinced him this was necessary.

  The heavy feeling in Binny’s stomach made an angry reappearance. But with it came the same resolve she’d felt earlier that evening. She may not have a super power, but she was going to do everything she could to take care of her sister, her brother, and her parents. She knew that the best way to keep Cassie safe was to stay out of the hands of Huitre and Luce Laboratories. But that appeared to be the very place they were headed.

  Maybe there was still a way out. Binny knew Huitre was lying, but not about everything. Earlier in the day, at Huitre’s house, he’d made it clear that he too didn’t want anyone to know about Cassie’s power. He was telling the truth about that. How did she know? She wasn’t entirely sure. But, when she looked at him, she just knew he wasn’t lying about wanting to keep it a secret. Maybe he wanted to take the credit for discovering what gave Cassie her power on his own? Binny knew that scientists could be competitive.

  But still, whatever his reasons, Huitre appeared to want to keep Cassie’s power a secret. This knowledge made Binny reconsider Huitre’s suggestion earlier in the day that they submit to the tests at the lab and not reveal Cassie’s power. If they could stay composed, and not reveal anything important, they would be free of Luce Laboratories involving themselves in their lives. Huitre’s proposal might be the only solution to their predicament.

  But there was one more detail that was needed before this plan could work. It had danced in Binny’s mind since they were in the woods with Caleb. Something important. She was so close to seeing a way out of this. She could feel it.

  And then, without warning, something clicked in Binny’s mind.

  §

  There was plenty of room for all the Jordans to go together in Jay’s station wagon but Dr. Huitre explained that in contagious disease cases quarantine was key until the tests were conclusive Julie wondered if she and Jay should be getting tested. Huitre said it was the kids with the potentially reduced resistance, but in the unlikely case that they found anything, they’d test the parents too. But “first things first”. Cassie was excited to go in the Luce Laboratories van with the other kids which made things easier.

  The Jordan kids lined up at the back of the van. The larger guard, Barrios, went to unlock the back door but the handle opened without him having to enter the key.

  “Are you serious?” Barrios muttered angrily.

  “What’s wrong?” Grater asked him, heading around to the driver’s side of the van.

  “The lock, it’s broken. The door still closes but it won’t lock.”

  Grater eyeballed the kids and wagged a finger in their direction, “no jumping out while we’re driving, please. That only works in the movies. In real life you would get badly hurt.” It occurred to Binny that despite his warning, Grater didn’t seem particularly perturbed by the possibility of the Jordan kids going splat on the asphalt. To his partner he uttered a terse, “Don’t worry, it’ll be okay.”

  The Luce Laboratory van had a divider separating the two seats up front where the security guards sat from the back section, where the “prisoners” would sit. It appeared to be designed to keep whatever had infected the people in the back from getting to the people in the front. There were benches on either side of the back, and a pile of tarps up against the dividing wall between the benches, presumably to prevent any sick person’s fluids from spreading around.

  The kids filed into the back of the van, taking their places on the benches. Zach was about to speak when Binny held up her index finger to both of her siblings and mouthed the word “wait”.

  Once the caravan was driving up the Madrona hillside towards Luce Laboratories, Binny finally put down her hand. “Penny, it’s okay, you can come out now.”

  Cassie and Zach’s mouths dropped open as out from under the pile of tarps, glasses slightly askew, emerged Penny.

  “How did you –” Zach started to ask, incredulous.

  “Shhh. Whisper.” Binny interrupted, admonishing him gently while keeping an eye on the two guards up front through the small divider window.

  Penny whispered, “I couldn’t let you go alone.” Binny smiled sweetly at her friend’s loyalty. Penny continued, a baffled look on her face, “But how did you know I was there?”

  “I’ll explain later. What’s important right now is that I have a plan. We only have a few minutes until we get to Luce Laboratories so every second counts.”

  Binny now turned to her brother with a serious look and asked, “Zach, please tell me you still have Cassie’s coloring pages?”

  §

  Binny repeated the plan three times, making sure everyone knew their job. When she got solemn nods from each of them, she turned her attention to her sister.

  “Cassie?”

  “Yes.”

  “You have the most important job of any of us.”

  Cassie broke into a proud smile.

  Binny continued, “Do you know how superheroes always have a secret identity?”

  “Like Clark Kent?” Cassie asked.

  “Exactly.”

  Zach patted Cassie on the back encouragingly for knowing the right answer.

  “Why doesn’t he use his powers when he’s dressed as Clark Kent?” Binny was trying to keep Cassie focused on the matter at hand.

  “Because then his secret identity won’t be a secret anymore!” Penny smile
d looking satisfied with herself.

  “The question was for Cassie,” Binny raised her eyebrows at Penny, “but that’s exactly correct.” Binny returned her gaze to her younger sister. “And your secret identity is – Cassie Jordan.”

  “It is?”

  “It is.”

  “If that’s my secret identity, then what’s my superhero name?”

  Binny was flustered for a moment not expecting the question. “That doesn’t matter.”

  Zach suggested, “How about Invisible Girl?”

  “Nah. I want Sparkle Princess.” Binny could almost see Cassie designing her Sparkle Princess costume in her head.

  Penny piped up again, “Ooh, I like Sparkle Princess.”

  “But you don’t sparkle, you turn invisible.” Zach pointed out. “And not even on command,” he added under his breath.

  “Stop!” Binny corralled everyone, trying to keep her voice down. “Can we please discuss Cassie’s ‘superhero name’ when we’re not trapped in a van heading to a creepy lab?”

  Penny and Zach murmured apologetic assents.

  Binny tried to compose herself, knowing she needed to humor Cassie, “The point is, no matter what superhero name you choose, right now you’ve got to be Cassie Jordan.” Binny took her sister’s hand in hers. “Listen to me closely Cassie – you have to hide your invisibility power from everyone but the three of us. No matter what.”

  “But why?”

  Horrible scenes of Cassie being experimented on flashed in Binny’s mind. “Because that’s what kid superheroes do. They keep their powers a secret from grownups. Grownups would never understand.”

  Cassie was so happy to be included in the older kids’ plans that she agreed emphatically.

  Binny continued, “But do you know how to stop yourself from disappearing? What if you get stressed out?”

  “Absolutely. I won’t turn invisible in front of any of the grownups. I promise.” Cassie sounded as confident as any seven-year-old ever had.

  Binny hoped her little sister was right.

  20

  The Exam Rooms

  And then, without warning, they had arrived. When the security guards opened the back doors to the van, Binny, Zach, and Cassie were all in their original places. The tarps remained on the floor in a pile just as they were when the kids had entered the vehicle.

  Jay and Julie Jordan, as well as Dr. Huitre in his car, had also arrived and were gathered by the back door of the van. Binny tried hard not to glance back at the pile of tarps. When she looked up at her parents, Binny saw that her mother’s eyes were puffy again and wondered what her parents had been discussing in the car. The stern look on her father’s face didn’t give Binny any better clue.

  “Let’s get this over with as quickly as possible.” Jay almost barked at Dr. Huitre and the security guards.

  “Of course, of course.” Huitre tried his best to sound reassuring.

  The three vehicles had parked near one of the oddly shaped modern buildings that populated the Luce Laboratories campus. The lettering on the side spelled out “Epaphus”. Binny didn’t recognize the building or the name. Nor did she see the Records Room with its signature glass dome. She hoped that wouldn’t be a problem for Zach or Penny as that’s where she needed them to go.

  The Epaphus building was shaped like a three-dimensional parallelogram stood up on its side. It looked like it had been dropped from space with such force that one side of the parallelogram had lodged itself in the earth while the remainder stuck up at an odd angle. A suspended walkway jutted out from the high end connecting the parallelogram to a building that looked like a squat white cartoon tornado. It reminded Binny of a museum her parents had taken her to on a trip to New York City.

  Grater finally spoke up. “Patients to the right, others to the left.”

  A pained look on his face, Huitre reminded the Jordan’s about the quarantine requirements.

  If Binny was going to keep the truth from her parents, she thought it might actually be easier if they weren’t in the same room as the kids. “Mom, I promise, we’ll be okay.” She looked at Zach for help.

  Zach took a second to process what Binny was saying and then quickly jumped in, “Yes, I agree. Don’t worry, we’ll be fine!”

  Binny smiled her best smile and after taking Cassie’s hand in hers added, “I promise, we will take care of each other. Just like when you leave us to take care of Cassie at home,” added Binny, not realizing how unsettling that might sound after the events of the past couple of days.

  While Julie wasn’t exactly at ease, she was proud of her children’s independence and maturity. Jay wasn’t quite as reassured given the history.

  Huitre looked reassuringly at the Jordans and said, “I will introduce you to the doctor who ran the clinical trial before any tests happen. I am sure that will put you at ease.”

  Jay and Julie reluctantly agreed and started walking with Huitre to the non-patient entrance to one side of the building. As they rounded the corner, Binny saw the glint in Grater’s eye as he cocked his head signaling the three children to move towards the patient entrance.

  As the party got closer to the building Binny suddenly realized that the other guard, what was his name, Barrios, wasn’t with them. He was still at the van, opening the back door. Binny froze.

  When Grater noticed that Binny had stopped walking he followed her gaze and saw that his partner was in the van. “Hey, Victor, you thinking of joining us? Or have you had enough work for one day?” Binny sensed the undertone of anger in the man’s joke. It felt to her like Grater was angry a lot of the time.

  Barrios poked his head out of the back of the van, “I’m just going to clean up these tarps. They’re a mess, and shouldn’t be here anyway. I’ll be inside in a minute.”

  When Zach saw Barrios head back into the van he stiffened abruptly. If they discovered Penny under the tarps who knew what would happen to all of them?

  Binny looked like her eyes were going to pop out of her head. She turned to Zach and mouthed “DO something.”

  “I’ll go help with the tarps.” Zach suggested cheerily. He was already sprinting towards the van before Grater could react.

  “Hey, what are you doing? Come back here!” Grater yelled. But it was too late. Zach had already reached the van and was climbing inside.

  Binny could feel Grater’s anger rise. She had already sensed him starting to boil when Barrios had taken the initiative to clean up the tarps without getting told to do so. But when Zach took off it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Now even a child wouldn’t follow Grater’s orders! Grater ran over to the van yelling for Zach. “Hey, get back out here!”

  Binny and Cassie were left standing on their own. A thought struck Binny, “Hey Cassie, let’s go pick flowers.”

  “OK.” Cassie smiled.

  Binny started walking purposefully away from both the van and the building with Cassie in tow.

  “Barrios, bring that kid out here. Now!” In a few seconds Zach appeared out the back of the van with Barrios right behind him.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Grater barked.

  Zach wasn’t entirely sure whether the man was talking to him or the other guard. In the end it seemed maybe both. Zach decided to answer anyway, “I was just trying to help.”

  “Do you think he needs your help? That way. Now!” Grater pointed towards the entrance but as he turned his head he saw that Binny and Cassie had made significant progress in a completely different direction. “What???” He sputtered. “What are you two doing?!” Grater turned to Barrios exasperated, “Do you think you could do tarp duty later? I could use your help corralling these little monsters.”

  Barrios responded, resigned, “Yes boss. Of course.”

  Even though Binny and Cassie were moving at a leisurely pace, Grater ran as if they were trying to escape on a motorcycle. When he caught up with them, demanding that they return, Cassie turned to him, puzzled, saying swee
tly, “We were just gonna pick some flowers.”

  §

  The guards marched the children inside through the patient entrance. Binny was nervous but strangely excited. She felt almost as if her body was vibrating. The way that she and Zach had distracted the guards and kept Penny’s presence a secret exhilarated her. Hopefully these guards would escort them to their destination quickly and Binny and Zach could get to work.

  But all of a sudden their destination seemed less certain. Binny had assumed that the three kids would be together. But the guard named Barrios was escorting Cassie through one set of doors while the mean guard was directing Zach and Binny through another.

  “Wait, what are you doing?” Binny had stopped in her tracks. “We need to stay together!”

  “Doctor’s orders. Everyone separate.” The mean guard answered.

  Before Binny could say anything else Cassie was out of sight. Once through the doors, Binny found that she and Zach were in a short hallway. On one side, in the direction that Cassie was taken, were two big windows. On the other side of the hallway, facing the two big windows, were two doors. Zach was sent through the first. Grater closed the door on Zach without a word.

  “There.” Grater grunted, pointing Binny towards the other door.

  “How long do we have to wait in here?” Binny said as she reluctantly entered the room. But by the time she turned around to get her answer, Grater had closed the door.

  §

  Binny had to focus. They’d managed to keep Penny from getting found out. They could handle this. She could handle this. Binny explored her surroundings.

  The room was simple. The walls were bare. There were a couple of chairs and a table. A small sad plant sat in a pot on the floor in the corner. Binny thought it might be fake. At the other end of the room opposite the door was a big mirror. Under the mirror was a small slot framed in metal. The room was like no doctor’s exam room she’d ever been in. Binny walked over to the door. Above the handle was a numerical keypad. A light on it blinked red. Binny tried the handle. It didn’t move. That would have been too easy, she thought to herself.

  Binny tried to remember the hallway and the two windows opposite the doors through which she and Zach had been hustled. She hadn’t looked hard, but the windows had looked in on rooms that as best as she could recall looked kind of like this one. Binny suspected that on the other side of the mirror in her room was just such a hallway. Anyone standing in it would be able to look in on her, but she would only see her own reflection. Binny was willing to bet several weeks’ allowance that Zach and Cassie’s rooms were identical.

  It was time, Binny thought. If her plan was going to work she and Zach needed to get out of these rooms and past the guards. Now or never.

  When Zach had told her about his power at the park as they ate their ice creams, Binny had been telling the truth that she didn’t mind being the only one without a special ability. Mostly the truth any way. She was genuinely happy for Zach. But she’d be lying if she said that wasn’t mixed with a little bit of jealousy. She’d suspected Zach was hiding something, so maybe it was easier for her to act like it was no big deal because she already kind of knew.

  But she would also not be telling the truth if she didn’t admit that when she finally realized that she too had a special ability, it filled her with joy. Well, joy and fear.

  She usually knew when her brother was trying to deceive their parents. That was easy. In her estimation he was pretty much always lying about something. But there was something else. Binny had learned to trust her feelings about people, about Caleb, and about Huitre, for example.

  It had ‘clicked’ for her on the front porch as her parents were arguing with Huitre about bringing the kids to Luce Laboratories. As she had pondered Huitre’s statements, she decided to point her mind’s eye, upwards. There was no other way to describe it. It was as if there was a window, hanging above where her thoughts usually congregated that she’d never noticed, and through which she could see things that no one else saw. She saw images and colors and textures too. It was kind of like having a second pair of eyes.

  When Huitre was talking about getting notified by Luce Laboratories, Binny could see an image of him arguing with someone on the phone. The image looked slightly yellow and was flecked with little lines that resembled cracks in an old painting. But when Huitre spoke about caring about her and her siblings, she saw an image of him facing someone in a Luce Laboratories lab coat, standing in front of Cassie as if to protect her. That image was tinged red – a solid red.

  The events of the day had been so emotional and nerve-wracking that Binny hadn’t really had time to let it sink in. Binny Jordan did have a super power – she could read minds! For a fleeting moment Binny let her competitiveness with her siblings get the best of her, as she basked in the idea that her power may be the most special of all. But then she tried to banish those thoughts from her mind. It wasn’t nice, and she had a job to do. But still, she couldn’t help that her power was way cool.

  Binny set her mind to the task in front of her. Closing her eyes, she focused on the window in her mind. It was blank. Well, that wasn’t quite right, it wasn’t entirely blank. There were a few small colored spots. Some were slightly bigger, some a little on the small side.

  Binny willed her mind to zoom in on the nearest dot. It had a touch of dark green around it. The image slowly got bigger and then she was looking at something. Her mind filled with the image of a door handle with a keypad. It was the door handle keypad combination in the room she was in right now. But her eyes were closed. Binny’s eyes opened in surprise and then she was looking up at her own door. But her angle was wrong. Binny was sitting on the floor and looking from below. The image in her mind’s eye was straight on and much closer.

  Binny closed her eyes again and zoomed back in. Now there was writing, like writing on a chalkboard but floating in air above the keypad image. It was a list being written as she looked. The first line said “4 digits – 10,000”. She watched as the second line came out “5 digits – 100,000”. Then a third, “6 digits 1,000,000.”

  Binny had no idea what it meant. Then the words faded and the keypad came back into focus. An index finger traced over the keypad and then punched in the number “0000”. The blinking red light paused momentarily and then continued blinking. Then the finger pressed “0001”. The red light still blinked.

  Binny recognized that finger. The fingernails weren’t exactly what you would call clean. It suddenly hit her. This was what her brother was seeing. He was staring at his door handle, and the numbers were calculations. Zach was trying to figure out how much time it would take him to crack the code on the door handle. A four digit code meant 10,000 different possible combinations. A five digit code meant 100,000 possibilities. As annoying as her brother could be, Binny did admire that he hadn’t given up even though they’d been separated.

  Binny zoomed back out from Zach’s mind and into the second nearest dot. It had a light pink hue to it. Even before she saw the details of the image she knew it was her sister’s mind. It was pink. Who else could it be? It looked like Cassie was reading a children’s book. Where had she gotten it? They’d probably put Cassie in a room with some books and toys for kids to keep them occupied. The image coming from Cassie was easy to understand but covered in little cracks. The same cracks she saw in Huitre’s mind when she knew he was lying. But his thoughts came mostly in yellow. Cassie’s book was being broadcast to Binny’s mental TV in pink. Binny wasn’t entirely sure what the significance was of the cracks if any. Maybe it was like a phone call with a bad connection.

  There had been a third dot, off to the right, a little smaller than the others. Binny zoomed out from Cassie’s mind and then back in on the third dot. This one had a purple tint. First Binny saw an image of Grater barking out orders. She got scared for a minute thinking she was in Grater’s mind. But then the image receded and was replaced by an image of a girl. A girl about Binny’s age. Sitting
cross-legged on a carpeted floor at a man’s feet. She had olive skin, long black hair pulled back with two barrettes, and her ears were pierced with gold studs. She looked up at the owner of the feet and flashed a bright white smile. When she appeared the image went from purple to pink.

  Binny watched fascinated as the picture switched back and forth between Grater yelling and the girl smiling. Each time it would also switch from purple to pink and back again. Binny guessed that the guard was trying to control his anger at his boss by thinking of the little girl who he obviously cared about. The little girl’s face looked familiar. In fact, it looked like the guard whose mind she was reading. Binny wondered, could that girl be his daughter? A plan started to form in her mind.

  §

  Zach got scared when he heard the loud sobbing. It was Binny. She was banging on her door and crying. He rushed to the locked door and started turning the handle furiously. After a few seconds the banging stopped and then only the crying remained. Zach could only pick out fragments, but the words “Zach” and “brother” came through more than once. Zach had stopped trying the door and was just listening intently. After another bout of muffled crying Zach jumped back from the door to his room just as it opened from the outside.

  Standing there was a teary Binny with the guard named Barrios behind her guiding her inside.

  “Look. You can’t do any more of that. Please.” Barrios stood in the doorway sounding stern but sympathetic too as he spoke to Binny. “They want you guys separate.”

  “I promise, I won’t tell anyone. I was just scared and needed my brother. Thank you. Thank you.” Binny was still breathing hard from her bout of crying.

  Barrios started making his way out of the room when Binny shrieked, “Spider!”

  “What now?” Barrios was sounding exasperated.

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Binny was almost hyperventilating. “There’s a huge spider in the corner. I’m just scared of spiders. Please do something.”

  The guard rolled his eyes and shook his head but walked towards the corner of the room where Binny was pointing. “Where? I don’t see a spider.”

  As the guard passed Binny, she shot Zach a wink and a smile, and then went immediately back to her hyperventilation routine. “I swear it was there.”

  “Well it’s gone now. If it comes back, I’m sure your brother can protect you from a spider. OK?”

  Binny stifled her sobs as the guard moved towards the door. Binny’s eyes told Zach to watch the guard. The door had closed and locked behind him when he’d gone to attend to Binny’s fictitious spider and now he had to enter a code to reopen it. Zach watched carefully.

  §

  “Nice acting.” Zach said sarcastically but with a hint of admiration.

  “I had to figure out a way to get you and me out of these rooms. Did you get the code?”

  “Yeah. I got it.” Zach moved towards the door to type it in.

  Binny grabbed his arm to stop him. “Wait. He’s still right outside.”

  “How do you know?”

  Binny paused, unsure of how much to reveal to Zach about what she could now do. “I can see where people are, well, where their thoughts are, in my head.”

  “Uh, wow.” Zach looked dumbfounded.

  Now it was Binny’s turn to hope Zach wasn’t too jealous.

  21

  The Renewed Promise

  “Why are we still waiting?” Jay wasn’t even making an effort to be polite at this point. Julie’s attempts to keep him calm weren’t working, and she was getting antsy herself.

  Dr. Huitre was looking pretty antsy as well. He kept repeating various forms of “I am sure the doctor will be here in a minute.”

  Grater, the head of security, stood stone-faced as the group stood in the small lobby of the Epaphus building.

  “I am so very sorry for keeping you waiting.” Dr. Samantha Trace, hair pulled back in a severe bun, glasses perched upon her pinched face, entered the lobby, addressing her comment to Jay and Julie. “Henry.” She acknowledged Dr. Huitre and then returned her attention to the Jordans. “I can only imagine how inconvenient and stressful this must be. It was very kind of you to bring the children in at this late hour.”

  “We didn’t have much of a choice.” Jay muttered. Julie squeezed Jay’s arm.

  Dr. Trace continued, “Of course, this is completely our fault. You can be sure that we’ll investigate why it took us so long to get in touch with your family. I called Henry immediately as soon as we found our error. We’ve tested hundreds of participants already and only your three children remain.” Dr. Trace turned to the security guard, “Grater, will you please get our guests some coffee.”

  Grater let the slightest grimace briefly cross his face.

  “We didn’t come for coffee.” Jay remarked with a mix of anger and sarcasm.

  Julie interjected, trying to redirect the conversation. “How long will this take? When can we be with them?”

  “Excellent question. I’m so sorry for not explaining that first.” Dr. Trace was doing her best to be conciliatory, but her voice sounded irritated.

  “Your children are in the exam rooms right now. I need to interview each of them briefly, 10-15 minutes at most, and then I’ll draw some blood and you can be on your way.”

  “I am sure Dr. Trace will get it done very quickly.” Dr. Huitre tried to sound encouraging.

  “Great, let’s go to them and get started.” Jay clapped his hands together.

  “Actually,” Dr. Trace paused, sighed, and added, “I have to do the interview on my own.”

  “What?” Jay and Julie remarked in unison.

  “Part of the test is having the child characterize their own experiences and health. We have a specific protocol we use to collect the information, and we’ve found that the presence of even the most restrained parents can’t help but skew the results.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

  “I wish I were, Mr. Jordan. But I promise, as soon as the interview is over, we’ll bring you and your wife in so you can be there for the blood draw. I assure you we take the absolute minimum, and the needle is very small.”

  Julie looked like she was going to cry at the thought of her children getting stuck with needles that evening on top of everything else they’d already had to deal with.

  §

  “Don’t forget, wait for my signal.” Binny reminded Zach for the third time.

  “I know. I know.”

  “Good.”

  Zach looked at his sister, his face extra serious. “Binny, why does it have to be you?”

  Binny was touched by her brother’s concern. “We each have a job to do. I’ll do mine so you and Penny can do yours.”

  “But yours is the most dangerous. It’s not fair.”

  “Zach,” Binny’s voice got low, “There is no fair. Things just are.”

  Zach shuffled his feet and looked like he was approaching Binny to try and give her a hug. Binny spared him the awkwardness adding, “We’re going to be fine. I’m going to be fine. OK?”

  Hug narrowly averted, Zach continued, “Just remind me again, how will I recognize the signal?”

  “Trust me. You’ll know.” Binny had a big grin on her face.

  §

  Binny closed her eyes for a moment, concentrating, “OK. Now or never. That guard is in the outer hallway around the corner. Let’s go.”

  Zach typed in the code he’d seen Barrios enter in the door’s keypad. The light blinked green. Zach went through first making a quick dash down the hall and out the building. Binny left the interview room as well but instead of rushing out she moved towards the big glass window on the opposite wall.

  Hunched in a corner, her face buried in her bunched up knees, was seven-year-old Cassie. Binny thought she looked scared, like she was about to cry. Cassie’s nervousness could end up revealing her powers and make all of Binny, Zach, and Penny’s efforts worthless. The thought of leaving Cassie all
alone hurt Binny’s heart. She wanted to go in there and protect her. But like she’d said to Zach, they each had a job to do. Even Cassie.

  Binny rapped her knuckles gently on the window. Cassie’s head jerked, looking in that direction.

  Binny slid back the panel over the narrow slot in the wall under the window and bent down to whisper through it. “Cassie. Cassie.” Binny whispered as loudly as she dared.

  “Binny?” Cassie asked.

  “Come here. I’m on the other side of this slot.”

  Cassie padded over to the wall. “I can’t see you.”

  “I know sweetie. But I can see you. It’s a one-way mirror.” Binny explained.

  “Oh.”

  “Listen Cassie, do you remember what I told you?”

  “I’m scared.” Cassie said.

  “I know. It’s gonna be okay. I promise. You just have to stay calm. Zach and me and Penny are going to get you out of this.”

  A handful of silvery tendrils of light started to slowly form around Cassie.

  Binny continued more urgently, “Cassie, seriously, you’ve got to do what I said. You can’t turn invisible now. We can’t show them what you can do.”

  “I’m really scared.” The tendrils were swimming around Cassie now and she was starting to flicker. Binny could see the chairs and table right through her sister every time she flickered.

  “Cass, you’re turning invisible right now!”

  “I am? I am?” Tears were streaming down Cassie’s face.

  “Yes. It’s okay. I know you can do this. I promise. I will protect you.”

  “Then why aren’t you in here? Please come in here. I don’t like being alone.” Cassie was visible again with only a few wisps of light slowly snaking around her now.

  “I have to go do something.” Binny responded slowly.

  The silver light grew in strength again, and Binny knew her sister was about to turn completely invisible.

  §

  “Honestly, I’ve never heard of anything like this before.” Jay complained. “Why does the interview matter? The blood test will either be positive or negative. I want to see my kids now.”

  Huitre intervened, “Actually, combining psychiatric observation with blood labs is a holistic and accepted approach to diagnosing patients. Luce Laboratories has always been at the forefront of clinical research.”

  Dr. Trace waited for Huitre to finish his sentence before addressing Jay and Julie directly. Julie thought she detected some condescension towards Huitre from Dr. Trace, but then wondered if she had imagined it.

  “Yes. Thank you Henry.” Trace smiled her pinched smile. “I have a son of my own.” Julie noticed Dr. Trace pausing just slightly after the mention of her own son as if she was picturing what he might be doing at that moment. “I promise to treat your children just as I would treat my own son. OK?” Dr. Trace gently nodded as if to indicate that the conversation was over and it was time to test the children.

  It was not the first time on this long day that Jay and Julie felt that they were not able to protect their children from the painful experiences they were about to go through.

  §

  Binny continued, “Listen to me closely Cassie. We all have a job to do. And this is your job.”

  “What’s my job again?” Cassie was whimpering. To Binny it looked like Cassie’s image was being projected by a faulty film projector, dancing on a fine line between functional and completely broken.

  Binny repeated herself slowly and calmly in the hopes that it would help her sister collect herself. “Your job is to stay calm and not turn invisible.”

  “Why not?”

  Binny didn’t want to scare Cassie even worse, but she needed to impress upon her the importance of staying visible. “You are a special girl. You can turn invisible. It’s amazing. It’s your super power.”

  Cassie gave a faint smile, as Binny continued, “But it’s your superpower. Nobody else’s. Adults, when they see something special, like your ability, they want to find a way to be able to do it themselves.”

  “How could they do that?”

  “Well, I don’t know. But it’s not gonna happen.”

  “Like E.T.?”

  “Like E.T.?” Binny repeated Cassie’s question not exactly sure what Cassie was asking.

  “Daddy said that when they take you apart to see what makes you tick, you don’t come back to life.”

  Binny silently chastised her father for showing Cassie that movie.

  Cassie turned decidedly more transparent.

  §

  Feeling that the discussion was now concluded, Samantha Trace nodded to the Jordans and turned toward the door from which she’d entered. Dr. Huitre made to go with her.

  “Oh, Henry, that’s alright. What I’d really appreciate is if you could stay here with Mr. and Mrs. Jordan. I’m sure you’d be great at answering any questions that might come up. I promise to be quick.”

  “But – ” Huitre blurted out, but Trace was already through the door and striding down the long hallway beyond. Grater’s position at the door made it clear that nobody would be following her.

  §

  Binny could sense a solid purple presence heading in the general direction of Cassie’s room and knew she was running out of time to help Cassie stay calm.

  “Cassie, you can do this. You’re a big kid now. Like me and Zach.”

  “I am?” Cassie’s face brightened and her entire body looked a little less see-through.

  Binny felt in her pocket for something, grasping it in the palm of her hand. “Cassie, you are my one and only sister. I promise, I will keep you safe.”

  “Then come be here with me right now. I don’t like it here, and I don’t want to be alone.” Cassie was completely visible for the moment.

  “I have to go do something, but I have something to give you before I go. Now that you’re a big kid, you’re ready for it. It will keep you strong, keep you from turning invisible.” Binny took a small round object from her pocket and carefully pushed it through the slot towards her sister.

  Cassie grabbed the ornate silver compact mirror just before it fell to the ground. Her eyes got wide. “I can borrow this?”

  “Cassie, it’s yours now.”

  “Really?” Cassie’s eyes were wide with surprise.

  “Really.” Binny nodded up and down and then continued. “Open it, read what it says.”

  Cassie opened the compact and read from the inscription. “You’re a vision?”

  “It means that you’re special, you stand out. You’re not invisible.” Binny smiled sweetly, “Read the rest.”

  Cassie read. “I will always be there for you.”

  “See? I will always be there for you Cassie. Hold on to that mirror and everything will be just fine.”

  “Thank you Binny.”

  “I gotta go now. I’ll be back real soon. I promise.”

  Binny carefully closed the slot just as the door to Cassie’s room opened. Through the door strode the thin annoyed woman from that morning. Dr. Trace. Binny was stunned.

  She almost screamed thinking that the woman had seen her, but then remembered that while Binny could see in to the room, all the thin woman could see was her own reflection.

  Binny hoped that Cassie and the mirror would do their jobs. Now it was time to do hers. Heart beating faster than it ever had, Binny tried her best to exit quietly.

  22

  The Alarming Signal

  The sun had mostly set on this already very long summer day. It was still too light to see any stars, but easy to get lost if you didn’t know the way. Zach knew where he was going. He hoped that Penny did as well. She didn’t have his memory. While not immediately visible from the building they’d been in, the records room with its big glass dome seemed like it would be pretty recognizable. Though maybe less so without the summer sun making it sparkle.

  Zach didn’t know how many more security guards might be patrolling the campus, and he didn’t i
ntend to find out. At least not through a firsthand encounter anyway.

  Zach wasn’t used to taking orders from his younger sister. And to her credit, they didn’t really feel like orders. They were more like plans that she was crazy certain of and wanted them to fulfill together. But if Zach was being honest with himself, he wasn’t used to doing much of anything with Binny other than fighting. These last few days had been quite different than their standard routine.

  Zach could remember every fight between him and his sister for the past year, but he couldn’t remember ever feeling so at ease with her. He wasn’t sure exactly what had changed. Was it his parents finally coming clean that they were splitting up? He shuddered at the knowledge that he’d held onto for so long, always hoping that he was wrong. Was it the danger to their baby sister Cassie? Maybe they had no choice but to get closer so they could work together to keep her safe.

  He realized that it was telling Binny that he had a super power that had made him feel the closest to her. For the longest time he’d thought that maybe there was something wrong with him. He’d read all about people with eidetic, photographic, and even autobiographical memories. But somehow, his abilities seemed to transcend them all. And he’d been afraid to tell anyone what he could do.

  Not so much out of fear that he’d be the one being poked and prodded and end up with a bunch of tubes sticking out of him – though that probably was in the back of his mind. It was more that Zach was just kind of private. Zach had friends at school. But he never felt the urge to tell a single one of them about his power. Binny was the only person in a position to understand how he was really feeling. Zach supposed Cassie might be able to understand, too, but she was still on “planet Cassie”, according to Zach’s father. “She’ll grow out of it eventually – I hope,” he would usually add.

  For now though, Zach needed to focus his full attention on finding Penny and avoiding any security guards that might get in the way of their plan.

  §

  Lucky for me, Binny thought to herself, whoever designed this place loved hallways. Binny had slowly found her way to the second floor of the building with the interview/exam rooms, all the while avoiding the guards as well as her parents. The radar that was now built into Binny’s head was proving quite useful. It turned out that the bigger clumps of color were closer and the smaller ones were further away. As long as she kept a regular check on that screen in her mind, she had a pretty good shot at staying undiscovered.

  Eventually Binny found her target – the suspended walkway that connected the Epaphus building to the circular one next door. The sign on the wall referred to the building next door as “Dionysus”. Hopefully Penny and Zach could find the building labeled “Minos” among all these oddly named buildings. Somewhere in that maze of file cabinets filled with records was the truth about what they had injected into her mother. Binny was sure of it.

  The suspended walkway between the buildings had doors at either end. Both had warning signs. They read “After Hours Emergency Exit. ALARM WILL SOUND!” Binny let herself smile just a little. She had found what she was looking for.

  §

  Zach’s route to the records room was punctuated by a series of starts and stops. He would run to a relatively secluded spot, survey the area before him, and then run to the next hiding place. At one point he thought he saw a flashlight off in the distance, but otherwise he hadn’t encountered a soul. Zach took off at a run to the final spot around the side of the Minos building where he, Binny, and Penny had been earlier in the day. He looked over his shoulder as he reached his destination to make sure nobody was watching him from behind.

  “Took ya long enough.”

  Zach’s heart jumped right into his throat.

  “You okay?” Penny was standing a few feet away sporting a toothy grin.

  “You scared me half to death!” Zach rebuked her.

  Penny said she was sorry but seemed to be enjoying herself a little too much to pull off a genuine sounding apology. Changing the subject, Penny continued, “Remind me what exactly we’re looking for again?”

  “Well that’s the thing. Binny wasn’t exactly specific.”

  “I didn’t want to interrupt her with questions. She seemed so certain about her plan.” Penny smiled.

  “Yeah. She’s pretty confident alright.” Zach smiled in return, sharing a conspiratorial moment with Penny. He might feel closer to Binny these days, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t joke about her a bit. “Binny believes that the records explaining what they really did to our mom are in this building. She believes there’s a smoking gun in those records.”

  “A smoking gun?” Penny looked puzzled.

  “Evidence that this study is not what the Luce Laboratories people say it was. Of course, finding that evidence is not our most pressing problem.”

  “What is?” Penny asked.

  “Finding a way to get inside the building.”

  Penny pointed to the ladder she’d laid at the side of the building responding, “Would this help?”

  §

  Jay, Julie, and Dr. Huitre sat in the waiting area, uncomfortable and fidgety under the gaze of the head of Luce Laboratories security. Dr. Huitre had long stopped trying to make things better as his comments were only making Jay more angry and Julie more upset.

  For his part, Grater just stood by the door to the examination rooms, unmoving and unmoved.

  §

  Penny and Zach had pulled the ladder up onto the roof of the Minos building so it wouldn’t be noticed by anyone below and were now peering through the glass dome into the records room. “You broke the door handle to get into the greenhouse, right? Zach was confident he knew what Penny had done.

  “I didn’t have to. It was unlocked.” Penny smiled at their unexpected good luck.

  “Huh.” Zach pondered that detail for a moment, puzzled.

  “I think if we break these panes here, we can lower the ladder onto that filing cabinet and get down there.” Penny pulled the base of the ladder into position.

  Zach put his hand out between Penny and the glass, “Wait. Not yet. We’re supposed to wait for the signal.”

  §

  Cassie stood still by the large mirrored window as Dr. Trace made herself comfortable in one of the undersized chairs. The room was designed for children, and the small furniture was intended to put the adult clinician on the same level as the child patient. “It’s okay, dear. Why don’t you come over and sit next to me so we can talk?”

  Cassie shook her head.

  “I promise, I won’t bite. The only things I ever bite are sandwiches and I had one just an hour ago. I’m quite full now.”

  Cassie smiled a little despite herself and slowly walked towards the table.

  “That’s it dear. Just have a seat. Now tell me, how have you been feeling lately?”

  §

  “ALARM WILL SOUND!” Binny read the warning several times. It was a security door and not a fire alarm so she didn’t feel too bad. At least she wouldn’t be distracting the fire department from an actual fire. But still, she was more scared than she’d ever been.

  Binny didn’t believe in breaking rules. They existed for a reason. It made her uncomfortable when other people broke them. But to break the rules herself? This wasn’t sneaking a cookie after bed, or staying up late talking at a slumber party. Binny was breaking adult rules. Maybe even committing a crime.

  But wasn’t conducting secretive experiments on pregnant women and their children a crime as well? Binny didn’t really know. But she did know that at that very moment, her baby sister was doing her best not to reveal her super power to that thin woman. Binny could only imagine the satisfaction that lady would feel if she got to experiment on Cassie and find out what made her tick.

  That image was all Binny needed to spring into action. She gave the emergency door a sharp shove and the alarm started to blare.

  §

  “That’s the signal!” Penny and Zach exclaimed i
n unison.

  “She wasn’t kidding about us ‘knowing it’ when it happened.” Penny joked.

  “No, she wasn’t. And it’s pretty smart, because any security guards around here will now be heading over to where the alarm is going off while we hunt for the records.”

  “She’s the distraction.”

  “Yeah. She’s the distraction.” Zach confirmed with a look of concern.

  “You’re worried about her.” Penny put her hand on Zach’s shoulder. She tried to console him, “Don’t worry. She’s pretty good at this whole leading a superhero team thing.”

  “Yeah. I suppose she is.” Zach agreed. “But don’t tell her I said that. We wouldn’t want her head to get too big. Then she’ll be impossible!”

  On the count of three, Zach and Penny swung the ladder into several glass panes at the base of the dome, making enough space for them to fit through comfortably. The tinkling of the broken glass could barely be heard over the droning of the alarm Binny had set off in the distance.

  §

  “What the hell is going on here?” Jay stood bolt upright, marching towards Grater with Julie and Huitre in tow, demanding answers. The head of security already had his hand out as if to keep Jay from getting too close. Grater’s other hand pulled at the communication device on his shoulder – it appeared to be some combination phone and a walkie-talkie.

  “We’ve got security doors lighting up in the walkway between Epaphus and Dionysus.” A voice crackled over the walkie-talkie.

  “What visual are you getting from the cameras. I need to know now!” Grater barked into the device.

  “We’re working on it, sir.” Came the response.

  “I’ll ask again. What is going on here?” Jay demanded.

  Grater tore himself away from his walkie-talkie. “I assure you it’s probably just an alarm malfunction. Please sir, folks, just give me a moment to talk to my people.” Grater stepped into the hallway and closed the door firmly in the faces of the Jordans and Huitre. “I’m waiting!” He snapped at the person on the other end.

  “Sir, it looks like – ” the speaker paused.

  “Yesss?” Grater demanded trying to keep his voice from being heard through the door.

  “It looks like a little girl just ran into Dionysus through the skybridge.”

  §

  “Oh, now what?!” Despite the relative isolation of the interview room, the sirens interrupted Dr. Trace’s questioning of Cassie. “Gore, would you like to tell me what is going on?” she demanded of the head of security into her cell phone.

  Dr. Trace tried to give Cassie a reassuring smile as she listened to the guard’s explanation over the handset. But the smile came out more like a grimace. As such it didn’t do much to reassure the already nervous seven-year-old sitting across the table.

  “Where else would I be?” She barked into the phone incredulously. “If it’s a malfunction, then just turn it off and let the repair people deal with it tomorrow.” Dr. Trace paused as the voice on the other end tried to respond. “My job is to collect information. I do my job best when I have no distractions. YOUR job is to ensure that I have no distractions. Please do your job, Mr. Grater so that I can do mine.” And with that she hung up.

  Dr. Trace returned her laser-like attention to the curly headed little girl in front of her, and said in her best approximation of a sweet voice, “Now where were we, dear?”

  §

  Gore Grater, head of physical security for Luce Laboratories had just lied. Probably. And while Dr. Trace wasn’t his direct boss, she was not someone you wanted to get on your bad side.

  Grater was used to running a very tight ship. His security men – and they were all men – followed orders. Exactly. Or they no longer worked for him. People did as they were told. But these children had caused him problems. Not just once, but twice today. What were the chances that the very same children who’d trespassed earlier in the day were the ones that Dr. Trace had called in to be examined after hours?

  Grater had long ago stopped questioning some of the coincidences he’d seen at Luce Laboratories. He’d never actually been in the military, but he thought he had a pretty good idea of what it felt like. And at Luce Laboratories he was a loyal soldier. But loyal soldier or not, he did not enjoy being the target of one of Dr. Trace’s withering criticisms. If what the guard watching the cameras said was true – that a little girl had crossed into the Dionysus building over the skybridge – withering criticism from Dr. Trace would be just the beginning of his pain.

  More importantly, how was it even possible that someone had opened the doors on the skybridge? It wasn’t. That little girl was locked up in one of the exam rooms under the personal supervision of one of his men. It wasn’t like there were multiple little girls running around the campus late at night. Therefore, it must be a malfunction. Grater hit the button on his phone to speak with Barrios for confirmation.

  “This is Barrios. What’s going on sir?”

  “Never mind that for a moment. The two older kids are in their exam rooms, correct?”

  “They were a few minutes ago. I’ve been making the rounds in the outer hallway.”

  “You don’t have eyes on them now?”

  “I’ll go do that right now sir.”

  Grater was shaking his head in disgust. A pit had started to form in his stomach.

  Ten seconds later Barrios’ voice crackled over the walkie-talkie. “Sir?”

  “Yessss.” Grater hissed.

  “They’re gone.”

  23

  The Hunters and the Hunted

  “What?!?” Grater stopped himself from screaming in the nick of time, remembering that the children’s parents were still huddled on the other side of the door. He repeated himself, only slightly more calmly, “What did you say?”

  “I don’t understand. The doors were locked from the outside. There’s no way they could have gotten out. I don’t know where they could have gone.” Barrios’ voice was strained and more than a little nervous.

  Grater responded through gritted teeth, “I do.”

  §

  As best as Binny could tell in the dim lighting, the Dionysus building was like a big spiral waterslide. A circular ramp led from the bottom all the way to the top of the building, with a huge empty space in the middle. It looked like it was used as some combination of art gallery and auditorium space. The skybridge deposited Binny somewhere between the second and third floors of the building, leaving her with only two real choices – up or down. It looked like there were more floors above than below, so ‘up’ seemed like the choice to make.

  Binny wasn’t sure how long it would take for Penny and Zach to find what they were looking for. She would need to keep the guards busy for as long as she could without getting caught. She tried not to think about the fact that every minute it took was a minute where Cassie had to keep her composure with that awful woman.

  Binny broke into a run, circling inside the building on the ascending ramp. Periodically there would be small stretches where the floor flattened out for a bit, but in general she was going up. After three loops, Binny still hadn’t gotten to the top. She didn’t think anyone was in the building, but she hugged the outer wall to keep from being seen from below just in case.

  Finally the ramp opened into a sweeping balcony that looked down over the auditorium space several floors below. What looked like fancy art hung on the walls. Wooden benches where you could sit and look at the paintings and photographs were placed here and there. Binny continued on her trajectory to the very end of the balcony, trying to collect her thoughts. She had thought she would lead the guards on a wild goose chase. In reality, she had walked right into a dead end.

  §

  “NOW can you tell us what’s happening?” If Jay’s eyebrows had been raised any further they would have crawled over his scalp and onto the back of his head.

  “It looks like there’s been some kind of a malfunction in the door alarms in the next
building, sir.” That was the second time he’d told that lie in the span of a couple of minutes, Grater noted silently to himself.

  “So this has nothing to do with my children?” Julie asked, her voice betraying the worry she felt.

  “No ma’am. Dr. Trace is interviewing one of them right now.” Well, at least that was true, Grater thought to himself. “My men and I are going to go investigate. I’m sure it will only take a few minutes. Please stay here.”

  Jay, Julie, and Dr. Huitre watched as the guard took off at a trot towards the stairs. He was muttering into his walkie-talkie as he went. And just like that, the three of them were alone.

  §

  Zach pulled the folded up papers with Cassie’s coloring from his pocket. “You see this symbol here that’s on each of the pages?”

  Penny nodded.

  “It’s like a bar code that represents a particular clinical study. They use scanners on their phones to find the matching symbol. We don’t have their scanner, so we’ve got to manually find the matching one on the file cabinets. We’ll do it systematically.” Zach pushed the pages into Penny’s hands.

  “Wait, don’t you need a copy?”

  Zach smiled. “I memorized it.”

  “This?” Penny pointed to the symbol, her eyes wide. “It’s so complicated. All these little squares. They all look the same.” Penny held up the page to the nearest file cabinet label.

  “Don’t you see? There are small differences. Look closely.” Zach traced his finger across the two symbols showing Penny the parts where they differed.

  “And you can see that in your head?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Okaaaaaay.” Penny was stunned.

  “You do this row. I’ll start the next one over. We’ve got to hurry. The more time we take, the bigger chance there is that Binny will get caught or that Cassie will show these people what she can really do.”

  §

  “So you’re feeling just fine? Nothing strange happening to you.”

  “Uh-huh.” Cassie responded to Dr. Trace’s repeated question.

  “But I heard that you can do something.”

  “Huh?”

  “Something special.” Dr. Trace leaned in towards her patient. She meant it to be reassuring and intimate, trying to put Cassie at ease.

  “You did? From who?”

  “Your Doctor. Doctor Huitre told me.”

  “He did?” Cassie asked unbelieving.

  “Oh yes. He told me that you were pretty special. And that what you can do is amazing.”

  Cassie paused, eyeing Trace suspiciously. “What did he say I could do?”

  Dr. Trace continued conspiratorially, “Well, he told me that it was best for me to see it for myself. That’s how I would be the most impressed. Would you show me?”

  Cassie pursed her lips together thinking it over.

  “I promise I won’t tell anyone. It will be our special secret.” Dr. Trace pantomimed locking her mouth and throwing away the key.

  “Promise?”

  Dr. Trace nodded her head up and down solemnly. Her eyes were wide and she was on the edge of her seat.

  Cassie stood, sliding the chair back. “I’ll need a sheet of paper, some markers, and a big bag of pretzels please.” Cassie put her hand out.

  “Why?” Samantha Trace sputtered. “What for?”

  “Dr. Huitre told me when I visited him that he didn’t know what was more amazing: my coloring, or how fast I finished the entire bag of pretzels. I told him ‘both’!” Cassie had a big smile on her face.

  §

  “Misssss JORDAAAAAAAN” Grater bellowed. The alarm had been turned off so his voice was the only sound echoing throughout the circular building. “What the hell is going on here? How is it that a little girl is able to evade the four of us?”

  “I thought I heard her making noise a couple of times.” Barrios responded.

  “But every time we go towards the sound, there’s nothing there.” Added one of the two other guards that were on duty that night.

  “I took you two out of the video monitoring room to help me and Barrios here. But you guys are completely useless!” Grater spat.

  The fourth guard added meekly, “Sir, it’s like she knows where we are. Like she’s got radar or something.”

  Grater moved in towards the fourth guard, pushing his face close to his subordinate’s, “Radar? Ray-DAR?” Grater sounded out the word. “Are you out of your freakin’ mind? Where is this radar? Oh, let me guess. Is it in her head? Maybe it’s some kind of super power? I know, she’s got mental radar that lets her see where we are and avoid us!” The fourth guard was cowering.

  “Sir?” Barrios interrupted, hoping to get Grater off of his current tack.

  “What!” Grater barked still staring down the fourth guard.

  “She must be using the stairwells to pop between the floors. She’s leading us around by the nose.”

  “Do you have a suggestion on how to catch her, Mr. Barrios?”

  “There are three stairwells. If we each cover one, and the remaining one of us starts at the very top, we can all slowly work our way down the ramp and flush her out.”

  Grater pulled back from the guard he was menacing, and thought for a second. “Not bad, Barrios. But she’ll just head down the ramp all the way to the first floor, and walk right out the building.” Grater’s eyebrows were raised mockingly.

  “Not if we build a barricade here from the benches. Right here where the skybridge connects is the thinnest point. We can gather all the benches and stack them so she’s trapped.”

  It took Grater a moment, but he broke into a grin. “Well at least one of you is thinkin’. What are you waiting for? Go grab the benches, let’s seal her in nice and tight!”

  §

  “Did you forget something?” Penny looked up as she heard Zach approaching.

  “I finished.”

  “Finished what?”

  “I finished scanning all the other file cabinets.”

  “You searched this entire maze and I’m only done with half a row?” Penny said in disbelief.

  “It helps to have the image in my head of what we’re looking for.”

  Penny suddenly realized the implication of Zach completing the task. “Wait a minute, did you find it? Because none of these have been a match.”

  “No. None of the symbols matched.”

  “Oh no. What do we do now?”

  “There’s one place we haven’t looked.” Zach suggested unenthusiastically.

  §

  “Cassie, you’re a very intelligent young lady. So I know that you know what kind of behavior is expected of someone such as yourself.”

  Cassie watched intently as Dr. Trace spoke, not sure exactly where the conversation was now heading.

  Dr. Trace continued, “Do you know why Dr. Huitre – your doctor – brought you here?”

  Cassie shook her head.

  “He, and I, and your parents want to make sure you’re healthy. Answering my questions honestly is a very important part of making sure you’re healthy. I know your parents would be very disappointed if they knew you weren’t telling me the truth.”

  Cassie blanched at the thought of her parents thinking badly of her.

  Dr. Trace saw Cassie’s face change and sensed a potential opening. “And not just your parents my dear. What about your siblings, your big sister? Don’t you think she’d be very disappointed in you if you weren’t being completely honest with me? Don’t you want to be grown up just like her? Big girls always tell the truth.”

  Cassie sat frozen and silent in her chair under Trace’s withering gaze. If Samantha Trace had had the ability to see through the table at which she and Cassie sat, she would have seen Cassie’s thumb slowly tracing circular patterns on an antique silver compact mirror held tightly between her little hands.

  §

  Binny had felt pretty good about finding the stairwells at the last minute. By listening for footsteps combin
ed with the mental map of the guards’ thoughts, she had been able to avoid the security guards for the last few minutes. She even grabbed some small rocks from a planter, and threw them in opposite directions to send the guards the wrong way. But Binny’s confidence was short-lived. She’d used most of the rocks at this point and her luck seemed about to run out. On top of that, she didn’t really like looking in the guards’ minds, because what she saw there scared her.

  As best she could tell from her vantage point on the floor above, the guards had erected a barricade right where the skybridge joined the ramp. They’d stacked benches and chairs until the makeshift wall was taller than she was. She hadn’t figured out what good it would do until she saw them all heading for different stairwells with Grater himself heading up the ramp. They were going to try and force her towards the wall. Binny felt like a small animal being hunted by a pack of wolves.

  Grater was swiftly heading up the ramp at this very moment. She needed a place to hide. The stairwells had served that purpose but now they were occupied with guards. Binny frantically searched for somewhere, anywhere, to hide.

  Across the ramp, on one of the flat parts, Binny saw a table draped in black cloth. She wasn’t even sure what was under the black cloth. For all she knew there could be stuff under the tablecloth blocking her entrance. Not to mention, by scurrying across the floor to get under that table, she’d be making herself visible to the approaching guard. She heard Grater’s footsteps coming up the curving ramp. It was now or never.

  Binny felt around in her pocket, silently hoping that she hadn’t used all the rocks. Two small ones remained. She’d need to make the shot count. While staying as concealed as possible behind the low railing wall, Binny lobbed the two rocks clear across the chasm, aiming for a spot a ways behind where Grater was on the move.

  She didn’t need to read Grater’s mind to know that he’d heard the rocks land behind him. His footsteps suddenly stopped and then switched directions, moving back toward the source of the sound. This was Binny’s chance.

  She skittered across the floor straight for the table. But when she looked under the tablecloth, it was smaller than she had anticipated. Worst of all, it was really more of a cart than a table. It had wheels! If Binny didn’t keep perfectly still she might send the cart rolling down the ramp right into Grater’s arms. Left with no choice, Binny carefully stuffed herself on the lower shelf, gently pulling the tablecloth back into what she hoped was its original position. She could already hear Grater resuming his trot up the ramp.

  As he ran past Binny’s hiding place, Grater’s thoughts were displayed vividly in her mind. Everything was a very dark shade of purple, verging on black, and the dim image in the center was of Binny’s own scared face as viewed from the height of an adult – an extremely angry adult. To one side of the image, a big meaty fist held onto Binny’s thin fragile wrist. The Binny in Grater’s mind looked like she was in pain. Binny thought small thoughts and tried her best not to breathe.

  §

  “We probably should have looked here first. Binny was sure this is where the records would be.” Zach was looking at the locked door to the secure records area off to the side of the overall records room. The keypad above the door handle slowly flashed red.

  “Alright Mr. Memory. Do your magic trick.” Penny egged Zach on.

  “OK. OK.” Zach concentrated for a brief moment recalling what he’d seen the employee punch in earlier that day. His memory served up a pattern the employee’s finger had followed. Zach knew he could replicate that pattern exactly.

  Zach’s fingers played back the pattern on the keypad in front of him. The light paused briefly and then continued flashing red. Zach tried again. Still red. One more time. Red.

  “What’s wrong?” Penny asked, concerned.

  “I… I don’t know. This is what the guy typed in this morning. I’m sure of it.” Zach looked dejected.

  “Try again?” Penny tried to be helpful.

  “I did it three times.” The red light flashed mockingly.

  “Could you have remembered it wrong?”

  “I don’t remember things wrong.”

  “Maybe they changed the code?” Penny suggested. “I read that in a spy story once where they changed the code once a day.”

  For a moment Zach was relieved at her suggestion. “Yeah. That must be it.” His powers of recall having failed them, he was searching for an explanation.

  “Can I give it a try?”

  Zach laughed despite himself. “What are you gonna – ”

  Penny reached her hand up, placing it carefully over the keypad and part of the door handle. She closed her eyes, and then gave the hardware a gentle squeeze. Zach’s eyes got large as the keypad, the handle, and the locking mechanism all fell to pieces, spilling out over Penny’s outstretched hand and onto the floor in front of them.

  Penny opened her eyes, saw the expression on Zach’s face and gave him a wide smile.

  §

  Binny didn’t have to use her powers to know what was happening. Grater’s voice was bouncing off the walls as he yelled at the other guards. “Did you lock the doors to the stairs as you went up?”

  Binny heard a muffled “Yes sir” emanate from the group.

  “Her luck has run out. She is somewhere between us and that barricade. We will start here at the top and work our way down the ramp. You are to leave no stone unturned. I want you to poke your head into every nook and cranny. We WILL find her.” The men started their approach.

  Binny’s breath started to get ragged. She could feel her palms getting damp. She worried she would slip and start the cart rolling down the ramp. She could try and run for it, but she didn’t think she’d be able to climb over the barricade before Grater and his men caught up to her.

  §

  “Nice job.” Zach said, impressed at Penny’s display.

  “I’m getting better at it. Well, at only breaking things intentionally, that is.” Penny’s reflected on the inventory of things on which she’d tested her abilities.

  “We better start looking. We’ve already taken too long.” Zach pushed gently on the door to the small restricted section of the records room. The smile on his face as it swung open was short-lived. A loud blaring sound filled the records room. They’d tripped an alarm.

  §

  Binny’s ears perked up immediately as she heard the alarm go off in the distance. “That must be Penny and Zach” she thought to herself. She’d already been incredibly stressed out trying to figure out how to get out of her current predicament. Now she was beside herself with worry for her brother and her friend.

  “Sir, shouldn’t one of us go check that out?” Binny could hear the guards clearly. They were now only one floor above her.

  “Absolutely not. See these?” Binny peeked into Grater’s mind, she saw an image of the rocks she’d thrown. “I’ve fallen for this girl’s tricks one too many times.”

  “She’s just a kid, sir.” Barrios interjected.

  “I don’t care who she is! We are going to find her, and we are going to bring her to Dr. Trace. Ignore that alarm!”

  At least they won’t go after Penny and Zach just yet, Binny thought to herself. Her own fate was another matter entirely. If there was only a way for her to get over that barricade before the guards could catch her.

  §

  “We’ve really gotta hurry now. You do the searching. You’re way faster than I am.” Penny was almost yelling so Zach could hear her over the sound of the wailing alarm.

  Zach didn’t need any encouragement, and started going through every drawer of every file cabinet, frantically trying to match the symbols in his head with the symbols on the hanging folders.

  The worst part of it was that Zach wasn’t entirely sure what he would find even if he did manage to locate the records. Binny was convinced that the records would reveal the true nature of the drug that Huitre had administered. Armed with that documentation, they would threaten to expose
Luce Laboratories and walk out the front door. Zach wasn’t so sure, but he kept searching anyway.

  The symbol hung in his mind, burning bright. Lots and lots of little squares arranged seemingly randomly in a grid. Some black, some white. Zach could picture it clearly, but he didn’t know what it meant. Luckily, he didn’t have to. All he had to do was find a match. And then, suddenly, there it was, at the very back of the tenth drawer he had scanned. The small symbol on the top of the folder matched the one in his head. He grabbed the folder out of the drawer, almost ripping it in the process. Despite its generous size, it contained only one sheet of paper.

  Zach scanned the page. And then scanned it again. Shaking his head he started saying “No, no, no.” He reread the page one more time.

  “What? What’s wrong?” Penny was genuinely frightened by Zach’s reaction to what he’d read.

  “It’s not going to work. I don’t think Binny’s plan is going to work. We have to go find her. Right now!”

  24

  The Way Home

  This was clearly the absolute worst idea that had popped into Binny’s mind. But since it was the only idea that had popped into her mind, it was also the best. The approaching sounds of the guards’ footsteps sealed the deal. She was out of time, so it was this or nothing.

  In some ways this would be easier than the Hippy Jump she’d yet to complete successfully on her skateboard back at home. All she had to do was land on the floor past the barricade without cracking her head open. But there were some new wrinkles as well. She would be trying to keep her balance atop a serving cart. Unlike her skateboard the cart was not exactly steerable. And to top it off, the jump would be several feet higher than anything she’d ever tried on the sidewalk.

  It was too late to worry about that now. Binny crawled out from under the table cloth and slowly wheeled the cart down the ramp to a flat section about 30 feet from the barricade. She did her best to remain undetected by staying directly underneath the guards as she moved, and desperately willing the wheels of the cart not to squeak.

  Binny perched the cart right at the edge of the flat area just before it started its downward slope. She placed her hands on the cart’s sides and kicked off. Even Binny was surprised when the cart started to slowly roll on a trajectory towards the barricade as she’d envisioned. Binny lay flat on her stomach on the cart as it continued to roll.

  “Sir, I think I found her!” Binny looked up and to her left and saw four faces peering over the edge of the railing above. It was too late to worry about the guards. If Binny didn’t get on her feet, she’d crash headfirst into the barricade. She barely heard Grater scream, “Get her!!!”

  The incline wasn’t terribly steep but the cart picked up speed at a surprisingly rapid pace. Binny had less time than she’d imagined. She pulled her feet under her, gripping the sides of the cart, and managed to get herself into a crouch.

  Binny knew she would have to stand up at some point soon if she had a prayer of making it over the wall of benches and chairs. Suddenly this seemed a lot less like riding her skateboard than she’d imagined in her head. Binny was barely aware of the four men running towards her. She was however acutely aware that she would either escape or they would scrape her broken bloody body off of the floor. She wasn’t entirely sure which.

  Binny willed herself to let go of the sides of the cart and slowly rose as the cart sped down the ramp. Everything was moving so quickly, she leaned forward into the descent, and was ready to jump. The wall was approaching so fast. She had to time it just right. In a couple of seconds she would be there.

  At the very last moment before contact, Binny bent her knees slightly and launched herself over the wall. For a crazy magical fraction of a second Binny was flying. But as quickly as it came the sensation receded and Binny was falling. One thought flashed in her mind – it was going to be an ugly landing.

  While countless attempts at skateboard tricks hadn’t quite taught her how to complete a successful Hippy Jump, she had attained one skill and could do it flawlessly over and over again. Binny knew how to fall.

  Binny instinctively bent her knees and stretched her torso backwards so she wouldn’t land flat on her face. And then as if by some miracle, the soles of Binny’s sneakers hit the floor first. The momentum of her fall carried her forward, but she shot out her hands to avoid smacking the floor with her face. She was stretched out on all fours, her right ankle felt wobbly, and her palms were burning, but she had come to a complete stop.

  The cart had not made the trip over the wall with her. It had smashed violently into the barricade. The guards’ wall had survived the projectile, but Binny’s makeshift skateboard had bounced backwards and made a very loud crashing noise as it clattered across the marble floor.

  Binny couldn’t help but laugh. Her nervous system was flooded with adrenaline. It had given her the courage to try the jump. And now that she had survived, that same adrenaline was overwhelming her with nervous energy. She felt positively giddy.

  “Get her. Get her” Binny heard Grater yell.

  “The benches are in the way, sir.” One of the guards complained.

  “I know that, you idiot. Get them out of the way!” Grater was beside himself with anger.

  The guards’ frantic clawing at the wall behind her was all the incentive Binny needed to collect herself, get up off the ground, and run as fast as she could down the rest of the spiral ramp. As she ran through the front doors and shot outside, the cool night air helped Binny focus. She had to find Penny and Zach. She’d given them as much time as she could. She hoped it was enough.

  §

  “There she is!” Penny was smacking Zach’s arm to get his attention.

  Zach and Penny had made it as far as the visitors’ entrance to the Epaphus building in their search for Binny. The three ran to each other.

  “Are you okay? I heard the alarm.” Binny was still trying to catch her breath.

  “We’re fine. Are you okay?” Zach’s face was set resignedly.

  “I’m fine. What’s wrong? What did you find?” Binny had a worried expression.

  “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. This is all there was.” Zach produced the single document that had been in the file they had found and handed it to his sister.

  Binny started reading. “I don’t understand. What does this mean? This makes no sense.”

  “I know.” Zach said.

  “This was the only thing in the file?” Binny was incredulous.

  “It looked like the folder had contained more documents at one point. But all that was left was this one sheet.” Zach explained.

  “Can someone please tell me what is going on?” Penny demanded. “What does it say?”

  Binny pushed the sheet toward Penny.

  As Penny scanned the document Binny explained: “It’s a participant list. It lists all the patients that were part of the study. There’s only one name – Julie Jordan.”

  “I’m so sorry, Binny. There really were no other documents there. We still have no idea what they were really doing with the trial.” Zach kept apologizing, feeling like he’d failed to get Binny the evidence she needed that Luce Laboratories was up to no good.

  Penny suggested, “Isn’t this evidence enough that they’re up to something? Let’s show THIS to your parents.”

  “It’s proof that something scary is going on. But we can’t show it to my parents. My mom would…” Binny’s voice trailed off.”

  “Your mom would what?” Penny wondered.

  Zach watched intently.

  Binny took a deep breath. “Before, when we got out of the van, Mom’s eyes were puffy and I was worried about her, and I looked.” Binny’s words were coming out hesitantly, in bits and pieces. “Inside.” Binny looked embarrassed to admit what she’d done.

  “Inside her mind?” Zach offered quietly.

  “Yeah. I wasn’t sure what it was at first, but she kept remembering when she’d gotten the drug, and then fast forwarding to images
she was imagining of the two of us and Cassie in hospital beds looking very sick. I think,” Binny paused. “I think she’s feeling incredibly guilty. That this is all her fault. We can’t show her that she was the only one targeted by Luce Laboratories. I think that would just push her over the edge.”

  Zach and Penny stood there, facing Binny, deflated and not quite sure what to do next. The alarm from the records room continued to wail in the background. The dark of the summer night had descended around them completely.

  Penny mused, to no one in particular. “This seems impossible. How do you convince the people who work here to let you go, without revealing your powers, and without freaking out your parents?”

  With a start, Binny turned to Zach, “Zach, the dumbass detector!”

  “Uh, what?” Zach looked up at his sister in confusion.

  “Remember?” Binny spoke excitedly. “You told me at dinner. Remind me EXACTLY how you were so sure it was working. What did you call it when you tested it on people who weren’t dumbasses?”

  “A control group?” Zach asked wondering what Binny was thinking?

  Binny smiled triumphantly, “That’s it!”

  §

  “Do I have to deal with everything myself?” Dr. Trace pushed through the door into the Epaphus lobby waiting area. Before the Jordans and Dr. Huitre could respond, Binny, Penny, and Zach ran through the front doors of the building.

  “Mom! Dad!”

  “Kids!” Julie ran to her children landing on her knees giving them hugs. “Where’s Cassie?”

  Dr. Trace had been hasty in her exit of the exam room and had a stowaway. The door behind Dr. Trace opened slightly and out popped Cassie’s cheeky face framed by her dirty blonde bouncing curls. “I’m right here.” Cassie answered as if she’d been waiting for her cue to walk on stage.

  “It’s you?!” Dr. Trace sputtered at Binny, Zach, and Penny.

  Dr. Trace’s question was interrupted by the bustle of four security guards led by a lobster-red-faced Gore Grater bursting into the waiting area from the nearby stairwell.

  “You!” Grater pointed at Binny. Zach and Penny stepped in front of her.

  “WHAT IS GOING ON IN THIS CRAZY PLACE?” Jay yelled at the top of his lungs.

  Julie stood up, a puzzled expression on her face, and walked towards Dr. Trace with her index finger out “Have you had some previous contact with my children?”

  Binny proffered an answer before Dr. Trace could get her bearings. “Of course not. We just met tonight for the first time.”

  Dr. Trace was getting angrier by the moment.

  “How did you get out of those rooms?” Grater demanded.

  This time it was Jay’s turn to interject, “Excuse me, did you lock my children in your exam rooms back there?”

  A wave of confusion washed over the Head of Security’s face.

  “Of course not. They wouldn’t lock us in.” Binny smiled her best smug grin at Grater.

  “Well this has all been very exciting, but if you wouldn’t mind coming back to the exam rooms, we can finish our testing and send you on your way.” Dr. Trace was trying desperately to control the situation.

  “That won’t be necessary.” Binny responded.

  The room full of adults froze in stunned silence. Zach and Penny were watching Binny intently.

  “Excuse me?” Dr. Trace’s eyes were ablaze with anger.

  “There’s no need to test us. None of us have lowered resistance to meningitis, and I can prove it.”

  “Oh really? Do tell.” Trace tried to hide her feelings with a forced laugh.

  Binny surveyed the room. Now everyone was looking at her expectantly. “Every clinical trial has to have a control group. The control group exists to show what happens to the patients that didn’t get the drug. This is a super important part of the scientific method.”

  “I don’t need to be lectured on the scientific method, young lady.” Trace responded snippily.

  “Of course not Dr. Trace.” Binny sounded like she was giving a report in front of her class. “The point is, Mom, you were in the control group. You got the placebo. You never received the drug. You had us without the help of any drugs at all.”

  Trace laughed heartily. “That’s impossible. There was no – ” her voice trailed off.

  Binny’s eyes glinted as she looked straight at Dr. Trace, waiting for her to complete her sentence.

  “There was no what?” Barked Jay. If his eyes could shoot lasers, they would have bored a hole through Dr. Trace.

  Caught off guard, Dr. Trace stuttered, “What I meant to say was, my dear, there’s no way for you to know who is in the control group. The patients, and their families, are kept in the dark so that knowledge doesn’t affect the outcome of the trial. None of them can see the participant list.”

  Binny had gotten Cassie’s coloring from Zach and topped the pages with the single sheet he and Penny had retrieved from the records room. She pushed the combined documents towards Dr. Trace. “Here’s the proof. It’s a list of ALL the participants in the study.”

  Samantha Trace walked slowly towards Binny, carefully taking the papers from Binny’s hand and skeptically scanning the topmost sheet.

  Binny smiled knowingly at Dr. Trace. “Do you see in the column marked ‘Control Group’? My mother’s name is in that long list?”

  “You told us you tested hundreds of participants. Did you not even bother to check which ones were in the control group and didn’t need to be tested?” Jay asked.

  “It’s okay Dad. It’s not her fault. Even the researchers are kept in the dark on who’s in the control group so it doesn’t affect the results.”

  “Young lady, where did you get these documents?”

  “Well, that’s a funny story. My sister was coloring over at Dr. Huitre’s house earlier today, and she thought these records were scrap paper.”

  Dr. Huitre shifted on his feet looking increasingly uncomfortable.

  “Look at the one on the bottom, there’s a pink limousine!” Cassie shouted, happy to finally have something to add to the conversation.

  “So there is.” Dr. Trace looked at Dr. Huitre, glaring. “I don’t know how these documents ended up at your house, Henry,” she said with a glare in Dr. Huitre’s direction. “This participant list is supposed to be under lock and key in our records room.” She folded up the pages and put them in her pocket as she spoke.

  “Hey, those are my drawings.” Cassie whined.

  “It’s okay, you can make another one at home.” Julie had pulled Cassie towards her and was patting her reassuringly.

  “Seems like you’re doing an excellent job of keeping these important documents very secure.” Jay directed his sarcasm at Dr. Trace.

  Without taking her eyes off Dr. Huitre, she responded through gritted teeth, “Obviously we have some work to do to make sure our records stay secure.” Then turning her head to Jay and Julie she continued, “Please accept my apologies for this lack of professionalism. I assure you, this is not standard procedure here at Luce Laboratories. I so appreciate you coming out here tonight, and I am deeply sorry to have caused you any inconvenience or worry.”

  Jay clapped his hands together, “So, we’re done here?”

  Without waiting for a response, Julie squeezed Cassie and Binny’s shoulders, ruffled Zach’s hair, and said “Let’s go home.”

  §

  As they exited the building and headed for the parking lot, Penny, Dr. Huitre, and the Jordans could make out the muffled sounds of an even more agitated Dr. Trace berating the security team. “I’m glad I don’t work for her.” Jay joked. Everyone laughed. Dr. Huitre made one final round of apologies to everyone and left in his own car.

  As the kids piled into the Jordan family station wagon, Julie swiveled around in the front passenger seat, “Uh, Penny? I’ve been wondering – what are you doing here?”

  “Oh, I wanted to hang out with Binny so I hopped in the Luce Laboratories van.”

 
“You did what? Does your mother know where you are?”

  “Oh, it’s okay. She thinks I’m at your house.” Penny flashed Julie a smile as if the matter was settled and then continued giggling with Binny as they fastened their seatbelts.

  Julie was so tired, nothing was surprising her anymore on this endless day. “Well let’s get you home before she starts to worry.”

  §

  The day had been so crazy that Binny could hardly believe half the things that had happened. She was still extremely sad about her parents’ announcement, but it was difficult to dampen her feelings of accomplishment after leaving the Luce Laboratories headquarters.

  As Jay turned the car onto the main street and off of the Luce Laboratories campus, Zach leaned his head forward from the way back seat, between Binny and Penny’s whispering, “Binny, I don’t understand, there was no control group. There was only Mom.” Binny whispered back, “I know. But Trace couldn’t admit that in front of Mom and Dad. She was so worried we’d tell Mom and Dad that she went along with my lie.”

  “Remind me never to get on your bad side.” Zach joked and then leaned back in his seat.

  Penny turned to Binny, “Remember that day when you were skateboarding and you got mad at me?”

  Binny’s cheeks turned pink, “I’m so sorry about that. I really am.”

  “No, no, it’s okay. I just remembered something. You were so sure I was making fun of you. And I told you then that you weren’t able to read my mind.”

  “I remember.” Binny said.

  “I just thought, I won’t be able to say that to you anymore.” Penny and Binny couldn’t hide their happiness from each other. Their relationship had come quite a ways in a very short time.

  From the front seat Jay piped up, “What are you two girls laughing about?” The only response he received was more conspiratorial chittering from the back seat.

  Jay continued, “You kids did very well tonight. And especially you, Binny. You were a real superhero tonight.”

  “Dad!” Binny was embarrassed.

  “No, I mean it. This was a hard day for all of us. The last thing you kids needed was to be questioned, poked, and prodded by some angry scientist lady. You stepped up, took charge, and got us all out of there. You’re my hero.”

  As Jay delivered the compliment, Julie looked back at Binny proudly and added, “I hope you’ll be there for me if I ever need rescuing.”

  Binny was beaming.

  Binny reflected on her life. It was so very different than it had been just a few days ago. She and her siblings and her new best friend had super powers. She’d successfully kept that knowledge from her parents and from that terrible Dr. Trace. And most importantly, she’d kept her baby sister safe. Binny had information that Luce Laboratories didn’t want her to reveal. That should keep them away from Cassie for awhile. Binny had made a promise to Cassie. She’d kept it tonight, and she intended to keep it forever.

  Binny looked down at her little sister. Cassie’s eyelids were heavy; she was on the verge of falling asleep. Before her eyes closed completely, Cassie looked back up at her sister and gave her a tired but sweet smile. Binny didn’t know what exactly came over her, but she couldn’t resist taking a look inside Cassie’s head and seeing what she was thinking.

  On the screen that hung high in Binny’s mind she saw her own face looking down at her sister. Unsurprisingly, the image had a distinctly pale pink hue and was covered end-to-end in countless luminescent sparkles.

  25

  The Unanswered Question

  It had been a month since four children had exhibited super powers in the small lakeside neighborhood of Madrona. But so few people had seen them demonstrate their powers, it was almost as if it had never happened at all. Signs of normalcy and calm were still everywhere.

  “It’s not fair. You can’t be the seeker, you have to be one of the hiders.” Zach explained for the umpteenth time.

  “I promise not to cheat.” Binny was laughing as she said the words, her smile making it clear she had no intention of honoring that promise.

  A chorus of “Hi Mom”s rang out from the Jordan siblings as they passed their mother coming up the steps to the house, while they ran in the opposite direction.

  “Where are you all going?” Julie inquired.

  “Oh, hi Mrs. Jordan.” Penny flashed a toothy grin as she brought up the rear of the pack.

  “Hi Penny. And please call me Julie.”

  “Okaaaaaaay.” Penny’s voice got fainter as she ran past. The last thing Julie could make out was Penny saying, “Well Cassie has to do the seeking. We’ll never find her if she hides.”

  Julie continued her ascent onto the porch and towards the front door wondering what the children were debating as they ran down the hill. She almost ran into Jay leaning against the front door frame, arms crossed, smirk on his face, and shaking his head. “I have no idea either.”

  Julie and Jay shared a laugh.

  “I was just coming by to spend some time with the kids. I’d promised Zach that we would play some chess.” Julie’s smile was still a touch nervous, her statements a little bit tentative.

  “Of course. Zach will love that. Are you staying for dinner? It’s grilled cheese and steamed cauliflower night. There’s plenty.” Jay raised his eyebrows in mock enticement.

  “Mmmmm, my favorite.” Julie joked, but her eyes showed she was grateful for the warm welcome.

  §

  “But I want to play hide-and-seek again!” Cassie whined.

  “We’ve already played twice. Dad wants us to get home for dinner. If he has to come get us he’s going to be annoyed.” Binny lectured her sister.

  “I don’t care!”

  “Hey Cassie, what if we stop and say hi to Rembrandt on the way home.” Penny suggested.

  “Ooooh, okay.” Cassie’s tone went from dark and stormy to endless sunshine in a flash.

  Binny held her tongue despite the exasperated look on her face. All three girls started the trek towards the edge of the Madrona woods and then home when Binny noticed that Zach was dawdling. “Are you coming?”

  “Yeah. You guys go ahead. I’ll catch up. There’s something I want to check really quick first.”

  “You want me to wait?” Binny asked.

  “Nah. You better go with the princess or she’ll never make it home.” Zach laughed.

  Binny gave Zach a knowing look, as she knew all-too-well their sister’s penchant for wandering off at inopportune moments. And then, Binny herself was off running after Penny and Cassie. Zach could hear her yelling “Hey, wait up.” as she got further away.

  Zach waited briefly while Binny faded into the distance of the now dusky forest before he traced the path backwards for a couple of minutes. Eventually he caught up with his quarry. “Hey Caleb.”

  The late July sun had started its slow descent and Caleb Adams was heading home for the day. He stopped and turned back at Zach’s call, “Who won your game?”

  “I don’t know that hide-and-seek has a winner exactly.”

  “You raise a good point. I’d never thought about that. What can I do for you, Mr. Jordan?”

  Zach looked uncomfortably down at his feet as he stood before Caleb. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

  Caleb waited silently.

  “I was wondering, well, I was thinking I guess – ” Zach hemmed and hawed, not sure why he was suddenly nervous. “It’s just that Penny has powers, not just me and Cassie and Binny. Penny’s mother didn’t get the drug from Luce Laboratories. So whatever that drug did, if anything, it clearly wasn’t responsible for giving us our powers. So I guess what I’m asking is, where did they come from?”

  “And you think I can help you answer this question?” Caleb seemed to be gently enjoying Zach’s awkwardness.

  Zach finally looked Caleb straight in the eye, “I do.”

  “Well, I do have some notions that I’ve been meaning to share with you and your companions.”

/>   Zach’s pocket buzzed, and then it buzzed again.

  “Shouldn’t you get that?” Caleb raised an eyebrow. “I suspect your parents would like you to come home for dinner, no?”

  Zach cast a glance at the phone pulled halfway out of his pocket. “Yeah, it’s my dad. I’m late.”

  “Well, perhaps another time then.” Caleb smiled and resumed his own trek home.

  “Yeah, another time.” Zach said under his breath and headed in the other direction.

  §

  July turned to August, a daytrip to the islands was made, and tongues were stained purple from a seemingly endless number of blackberries. Julie Jordan even managed to sneak in a week of chess camp for her children. Penny convinced her mother to sign her up too.

  The kids could walk to Julie’s new apartment, it was so close. And despite not sleeping in the Madrona house, Julie seemed to spend even more time there than when she had lived there. There was now the occasional Jordan girls’ slumber party on the floor of Mom’s living room. But in general things had gotten relatively routine.

  Binny had even managed to convince her parents to buy her a fifth skateboard. As the summer progressed she would ride through the neighborhood thinking less each day about her parents’ divorce, and more about her new powers. “Are you reading my mind?” Zach would sometimes ask when they were alone together. Despite Binny’s reassurances, Zach could get twitchy and uncomfortable just at the very idea of Binny browsing his private thoughts.

  Binny skated her favorite routes on autopilot. Invariably she would end up at one of the many entrances to the Madrona woods. Partly because that’s where most roads in Madrona led, and partly because that’s where she loved to spend time. Binny was so lost in thought she almost ran into the teenage boy crossing the little bridge over the trickle of a stream that bordered this side of the woods. He had red spiky hair, blotchy skin, and a smirk on his face as he drank from a tall silver beer can.

  Binny realized that she knew this boy. It was the boy that yelled at Caleb. The boy who let his dog poop in my hideout. The poop I sat in. The humiliation of that day came back to Binny in a tear-streaked rush. This time the boy was all alone.

  “Watch where you’re going.” He barked at her.

  Binny wasn’t sure what came over her, but she didn’t feel any fear of the boy who was almost ten years her senior. “Why don’t you watch where YOU’RE going?”

  “Are you kidding me?” The boy wasn’t used to being challenged. And certainly not by a ten-year-old girl on a skateboard.

  “Have you been throwing more empty cans in the forest for someone else to clean up?” Binny shot him an accusatory look.

  “Hey, I’ve got an idea, junior police girl: why don’t you go home, play with your dolls, and stay out of the big scary woods.”

  “Hey, I’ve got an idea. How about you never come back to these woods again and go somewhere where you’re actually wanted.” Binny’s hands were on her hips.

  The blotchy boy started laughing. He laughed so much it turned into a cough, and then back into a laugh once he caught his breath. Binny watched him carefully, knowing exactly how small he was trying to make her feel with his endless laughter. Binny thought back to that day when Caleb had stood up to the boy.

  The boy’s laughter finally subsiding, he leaned in closer to Binny, “How exactly are you gonna stop me from going anywhere I want?”

  “I know what you’re scared of.” Binny didn’t move an inch. “I know what you did that you don’t want your grandfather to find out about. And if you ever come back here, I’ll tell him myself.” Binny’s eyes were slits as she concentrated on the boy looming above her.

  At first a look of mild surprise crossed the boy’s face. Then as he digested Binny’s statement, the look blossomed into genuine fear. And at that moment, Binny got exactly what she needed.

  “What are you talking about?” The boy demanded.

  “Do you think your grandfather would be okay with you driving his car without him knowing?”

  “What? How did you?” The boy couldn’t finish his sentences. “You’re a freak.” He started backing away from Binny slowly.

  “I’m not a freak. I just don’t like litter.” Binny took a step towards the boy.

  “Hey. Stay away from me.” The boy took another step back.

  Binny tried to warn him but it was too late. The boy had backed up, lost his footing, and landed sitting right in the little stream. He wasn’t hurt, but the water was already spreading to the front of his jeans. He looked like he’d peed himself.

  “Are you okay?” Binny reached out a hand to try and help him up. The boy recoiled from her hand as if it were radioactive and scrambled to his feet. He took one last fearful look at his ten-year-old nemesis and ran, getting as far away from her as he could, as quickly as he was able.

  §

  Binny felt bad about what had happened. It’s not that the boy hadn’t deserved it. She just hadn’t intended for him to get quite so scared. Well, maybe he deserved that too. A little water was nothing compared to sitting in poop. So what was really bothering her?

  Walking in the woods Binny knew what she really felt bad about. She’d just been thinking about whether it was fair of her to use her powers; whether it was nice to see people’s private thoughts without their permission. Almost immediately after that thought she’d done exactly that to the boy. She hadn’t hesitated even for a moment. Were there times when it was okay for her to use her powers and times when it wasn’t?

  As far as Binny knew, she was the first person on Earth ever to have to contemplate this moral dilemma. She couldn’t exactly check “Telepathy and Morality: A Discussion” out of the Madrona library.

  The shelter that Caleb had shown the kids had been the perfect replacement for Binny’s rusted out old car. Just as she had with the car, Binny now came to the shelter when she needed to think.

  Binny wandered over to the same corner she had weeks before on her first visit to the shelter. The milk crate sat on the shelf just where she’d left it. The Jordan children and Penny had spent lots of time in their new clubhouse since that night they’d spent dodging guards at Luce Laboratories, but she’d never looked back at the Register. The Madrona Heroes Register to be exact – still scrawled in Binny’s handwriting across the cover.

  Binny opened the book to the first page where she’d listed the members of their nascent superhero team. Everything was just as she’d left it. A list of team members and their powers.

  Cassie Jordan. Random invisibility.

  Zach Jordan. Good at remembering alarm codes.

  Penny Yang. Good at breaking stuff.

  And her name on the last line. Binny Jordan. But after her name something was now written. She was sure she’d left it blank, but there was definitely a word there now. Binny was pretty sure it was in her brother’s handwriting. The last line in the list now read:

  Binny Jordan. Leader!