The Madrona Heroes Register: Echoes of the Past (25 page)

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 ok. 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 little.

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 ok. 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

“
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.