The Madrona Heroes Register: Echoes of the Past (26 page)

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?

“
OK, 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.”

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 ok.”

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 ok, 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?”

“
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 smiled 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.

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