More Than an Echo (Echo Branson Series) (10 page)

I asked Melika one day after a lesson why Tip stayed with us and she told me that Tip was a very powerful telepath who offered to help her take care of the newbies once she learned how to control her very impressive powers. Tip was a projector telepath meaning she could force her way into the minds of others. Not all telepaths could do so and this was when I learned the many variations of our powers.

It was with an open mind that I learned Tip was an exceptional telepath, an avid naturalist, a consummate chess player and a royal pain in my ass. I tried everything to be nice to her, but she treated me like a bothersome little sister, and that pissed me off. I was so glad to be getting away from the way her eyes followed me around the room. No matter what I was doing, if I looked up, I was sure to find her staring at me. If she were a teenager, I’d think she was crushin’ on me, but she was too old for shit like that. She was just…invasive.

“Bishop will pick you and Zack up at Bones’ place,” Tip said, barely looking at me. “This is something the two of you have to do on your own. I’m not always going to be around to help you kids out. You’re ready for this. You make sure you construct a strong shield and keep it up for a prolonged period of time with many people around.”

“Isn’t Jacob Marley coming?” I asked.

“We don’t need him,” Zack retorted. “Or are you afraid to be alone with me?”

“Hardly,” I said. “I just like his company.”

“His company or
him
?”

Shaking my head, I pushed Zack away from me a bit. “Don’t be an idiot.”

“What will we do?” Zack asked.

I had come to love Zack like a little annoying brother. He was respectful toward the process, toward Melika, and toward me. He wasn’t at all like the twelve-year-olds I’d grown up with in various foster homes, the kind of boys who pulled wings off butterflies. Zack was kind and gentle, thoughtful before speaking and considerate of everyone’s feelings. He was very bright and well aware of his surroundings. He didn’t care much for Tip, and steered clear of her ever since their initial meeting.

“Do?” Melika grinned as she handed me a wad of twenties. “What else? Eat! Think of yourselves as two cows and the Big Easy as your pasture. Graze away. In New Orleans the topic of conversation at lunch is where you’re going to eat dinner. In between eating, you can shop, shop, and shop some more. Oh, I’m sure you’ll find quite a bit to do. You’ll love it. I’m sure of it.”

And, boy, was she right.

New Orleans was the most amazing place I had ever seen, and now I got the chance to see it up close.

After picking us up near a gorgeous cathedral, Bishop showed us her place. It was just like the tarot reading parlors in Oakland, only with a far more authentic feel. Hers was in the back of a voodoo shop, and when we arrived at her place there was a line waiting for her.

“Now, you know where I am. I shall be here until six and then we’ll go grab a bite to eat at the Oyster House. My daughter has a habit of coddling her students, but I don’t share that affliction. The Oyster House is well known. Be there at six. Unless there is a dire emergency, I don’t want to see your faces until then. I trust Melika gave you ample funds for a good time. Go enjoy yourselves.”

We both nodded and had started out of the voodoo shop when Bishop called me back and hooked me under the chin. “Large crowds like the ones you are going to encounter are filled with intense emotional energy. If you ever feel like your defenses are down, find an alley or a quiet place where you can rebuild. If that fails, you must return quickly to me here. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Her dark gaze was mesmerizing.

“You are getting stronger every day, and my daughter believes in you...in your gift. She says you have abilities you haven’t even tapped into. Still, you are young and new to handling your powers. Be aware. Always aware.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Now go. Enjoy yourself, and take good care of Zack. It’s always the boys who manage to find a way to screw up on their first time out.”

I nodded and left.

“What did she say?” Zack asked when I returned to him on the street. There were hundreds...no, thousands of people milling about, most of them carrying beer or red punch in a plastic cup, and it wasn’t even noon.

“She told me to make sure I keep my defenses up and to come back if I lose it and can’t get it back up.”

Zack giggled. “That’s funny.”

“Don’t be a perv. Now, don’t lose me, okay? We need to stay together.”

“You’re not scared, are you?”

Scared wasn’t the right word. Apprehensive was more like it. Six months without a lot of people around was a blessing for me. No hassles, no emotions. No problems with foster parents or foster kids. I think I could have lived the rest of my life on the Bayou.

“Not scared. Cautious. Let’s do it.”

And boy did we. We had so much fun looking in all the voodoo shops and tourist shops. There were so many little shops with cool things in them. There were shops selling everything from alligator heads to hot sauce, and we went into them all. Zack’s favorite was the street performers. He couldn’t stop staring at the jugglers and magicians.

“Come on,” I said, pulling his arm.

Zack stopped and I released him. “I just think it’s cool, don’t you? It’s something I’ve never been any good at.”

It wasn’t what he was going to say, but I didn’t want to get into it today. Today was going to be just fun. It felt like forever since I’d had any of that.

“Think the juggler would be impressed with this?” Zack called from inside the candy store.

When I looked up from the map I was staring at, I saw him juggling two pieces of candy without either touching his hands. My mouth dropped open and I quickly looked around. “Stop that!” I hissed. Stepping in the store, I scanned the area to see if anyone else had caught it.

That broke his concentration and the candy fell to the floor. “What?”

Grabbing his arm, I pulled him out of the store. “What in the hell are you doing?”

“Nothing! I was just—”

“I
know
what you were you doing. Have you lost your mind? If Melika or Bishop ever found out, they’d kill you.”

“Lighten up, Echo. I was just messin’ around.” He looked at me with wide blue eyes, his freckles heightened in his flushed face.

“Well, don’t. She’ll send you packing if she so much as suspects—”

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“Good. Let’s get out of here.” As we turned to go, three twenty-something men stood in our way blocking the exit.

“Excuse us,” I said, feeling my shield waver.

“How’d you do that, dude?” The biggest one asked. He was tall, bald and had a tattoo of something on his neck.

“He didn’t do anything.” I said, trying to maneuver around them. The short one was wider than he was tall, his arms oak branches hanging at his sides.

“You some sort of freak or something? We saw what you did. How’d you do it?”  The shortest one took a step closer. I didn’t need to lower my shield to know that this wasn’t good.

“He’s into magic, you know?” I said, pulling Zack closer to me. “He’s not very good yet.”

“Bullshit. I know what I saw and that weren’t no magic.”

I could feel Zack beginning to panic, and that meant I was losing my shield. We were in deep dog shit and I had no idea what to do to get us out of it. If Zack panicked and used his powers, we’d really be screwed.

“I want to see you do it again. I bet Buster here twenty bucks it was real. He says it was a lusion or somethin.’”

I put my hand on Zack’s shoulder. If he made a move, we were never going to get out of this unscathed. I had to act before he did. “Leave us alone,” I said, squeezing Zack’s shoulder. I even called out for Bishop in my head. Somebody had to get us out of here before Zack did something foolish. He was getting that skittish feeling that said he was getting ready to use his powers, and if I didn’t get him out of there fast, things were going to go south on us.

“Just show us what you did and you can go.”

“Don’t,” I uttered to Zack, digging my fingers into his shoulder.

“Look, you’re really beginning to piss me off,” the larger one said. “Just fuckin’ do it again.”

I felt
her
at the base of my skull and released Zack’s shoulder to stand a little straighter. I stopped feeling afraid. We were
not
alone and this wasn’t going south.

“So, which is it? The easy way or the hard way?” The short one asked.

“How about the
high
way, fellas.”

Without turning around, I knew it was Tip.

“Fuck off, Injun Jane. Go find yer own fun.”

Tip put one arm around my shoulder and one around Zack’s. “That’s just it, boys. These two
are
my fun. And I don’t share.”

I frantically worked on rebuilding my shield, but I couldn’t manage. I was feeling their anger, their agitation, their aggression. I couldn’t block them out, but what surprised me was that I couldn’t block out Tip’s ire, either, and she was
pissed
!

“This may be hard to believe, but the two kids and I could drop you like that.” Tip snapped her fingers. “And not even get dirty.”

The three thugs threw their heads back and laughed. “A freakishly tall injun, a little white girl and a redheaded freak take us on? Are you fuckin’ nuts?”

“Yeah. You on drugs or somethin’, Chief? Two chicks and Howdy Doody take us?”

To my surprise, Tip chuckled. “Tell you what. I’m gonna give you
boys
a chance to turn around and walk away before we embarrass the hell out of you right here on the street.”

My heart was racing as the last remnants of my shield fell away. I had nothing to contribute to our defense and it was taking everything I had to keep up my own. I wondered what the hell Tip was thinking by antagonizing these guys. They were
thugs
!

“You must be mainlinin’, Chief, if you fucking think—” The tallest one took one step toward us and then dropped to his knees grabbing his head in pain. He howled in agony. The other two looked at each other before also taking a step toward us. They, too, dropped to their knees. Whatever Tip was doing to them, was causing them a whole lotta mental agony. All three were holding their heads and wailing, their pain rattling the marrow of my bones.

“You boys oughtta lay off those Hurricanes. I hear they can give you a mighty big headache. Come on, kids. Let’s get out of here.”

The three of us turned and walked away. At the corner, Tip stopped short, released us and turned to look back. “Hang on a sec. Stay here.”

I grabbed her arm. When she turned, I saw something in her eyes I’d never seen before. It wasn’t fear or trepidation…it was a protectiveness bordering on scary Mama Bearness.

Stepping up to her, I was inches from her face, looking up into brown eyes that truly, deeply cared. “Tip—”

She shook her head and stepped back. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Whatever it was you were going to do.” She stepped back. “Just don’t.”

I cocked my head. “You don’t know?”

She turned around to check on the three men. “I’ve been a bit busy.”

Zack and I both turned back toward the three guys attempting to get back on their feet.

“Mover?” Tip said to Zack, motioning with her chin to the biggest one.

“The tall guy,” I said softly to Zack, feeling his intentions as clearly as if he had been holding a sign that said
I have a gun and I’m going to blow your head off with it
.

“One shot, Zack,” Tip whispered. “That’s all I’m giving you, and I will totally deny it to Melika if either of you snitch.”

Zack looked up at Tip, who nodded.

The big guy reached behind him and before he could move another inch, Zack raised his arm as if he was holding a shot put, and thrust it forward. The guy flew backward about ten feet, crashing against the side of the store. The other two looked at us, then at their friend. They got up and ran, leaving their friend lying on the sidewalk.

“Nice shot,” Tip said. “Not one word about this to anyone. Don’t talk to each other about it, don’t even think about it. It never happened.”

Zack and I could barely manage a nod. I was overwhelmed and unprepared for all of this and was beginning to lose my sense of balance. Emotions are one thing; drunken emotions fill you with this weird, hazy feeling. It’s ugly and disconcerting, and I was having a real hard time focusing. “Tip...”

“I know. Come on.” Taking my arm, she pulled me into a lobby of a hotel room. Tip knelt down and took my hands in hers. It was the most intimate gesture we had shared and the look I’d seen earlier was back. “Can’t get your shield back up?” Her voice was softer than I’d ever heard it.

I shook my head, glad to be off the street and inside where there were less people. My knees were weak and I realized for the first time that I’d been scared. “I’m trying, Tip, really I am.”

“I know you are. Deep breath, kiddo. Take all the time you need.”

I winced. “Tip, how old are you?”