The Madrona Heroes Register: Echoes of the Past (11 page)

And then to no one in particular,
Binny added, “I wonder if Penny’s father lives in an
apartment.”

§

From their vantage point crouching
behind the low slung fence at the back of the man’s property, Binny
and Zach had a pretty good view of the man’s backyard with its
carefully manicured grass. They could also see into his living
room, which opened up onto a deck through two big glass doors. The
deck wrapped around the house to the right and continued beyond
their view.

“
There’s the dog.” Binny
whispered to Zach. “See. Through the glass.” The man’s dog was
curled up in a dog bed on the stone gray tiled floor of the living
room.

Zach was a little nervous about the
dog but didn’t say anything.

There was no sign of the
man.

Neither of the kids was sure of what
they were waiting for, but waiting felt at least like doing
something so they kept it up.

“
Zach?”

“
Yeah.”

“
I know this is
ridiculous, but I have to ask.”

“
Ok.” Zach’s interest was
piqued.

“
You know how Dad is
always joking about being a superhero.”

“
Yeah.” Zach let a little
of his skepticism at what Binny was about to say creep into his
voice.

Binny ignored it. “I mean, I know he’s
just kidding, but. Well. Cassie has a power.” Binny paused and her
eyes got wider. “Cassie’s got a super power. You don’t think Dad’s
telling the truth do you?”

Zach laughed.

Binny cut off his laughter, “I know. I
know. I don’t believe it either.”

“
It’s ok. It’s ok. I’m not
laughing at you.” The events of the afternoon had made Zach a
little more charitable towards Binny. “It’s just that, Cassie can’t
control her ‘power’. You saw. She couldn’t do it when she wanted
to. So it’s essentially useless.”

“
She used it well enough
to steal my mirror and see her birthday present.” Cassie
responded.

This was the third time that afternoon
that Binny surprised him with her solid reasoning. Maybe he hadn’t
been giving her enough credit. Rather than make him feel
competitive, it made him feel just a little bit closer to her.
“You’re right. That she did. That she did.”

§

“
Sam, I am just asking you
what I am supposed to be looking for.” The man’s voice sailed over
from the far side of the house. Binny and Zach immediately shrunk
down behind the fence. When they dared to raise their eyeballs just
over the fence, they could see the man had come out on the deck
from the side of the house. There must be a room on the side that
opened up onto the wraparound deck. The man was pacing back and
forth. He looked agitated.

“
I am sorry. I am not
trying to be difficult. I am just trying to do what you are asking.
Though frankly it makes me uncomfortable.”

Binny and Zach exchanged wordless
glances with each other.

More fragments floated over the yard
from the man’s conversation. Things like, “Yes, I have kept my eyes
open.” “Under what pretext?”, and “I think that would be an
overreaction, and would scare the parents.”

Binny’s head started to spin. Kept his
eyes open for what exactly? What would be an overreaction? Scare
the parents?

“
Very well. I will come up
with something. Just please give me more time. You do not think
there is any danger, do you?” The man continued. The man responded
to a question the kids couldn’t hear. “No, I was just walking my
dog.”

“
He’s talking about
Cassie. I knew it! They think she’s dangerous. And he was spying on
her while he was walking his dog. We need to go warn Mom and Dad
right now before he has a chance to do anything.” Binny was
incredibly agitated but still whispering. She grabbed Zach’s arm
hard, so that he was caught a little off balance by Binny and had
to steady himself on the garbage can next to him. It clattered
loudly. The kids immediately crouched down behind the wall, trying
to stay hidden.

“
The raccoons have gotten
into the garbage cans again. I have to go get rid of them. We can
talk more tomorrow.” The man was trying to end the phone call.
“Yes, I am aware of my responsibilities.” There was a pause.
“Tomorrow then.” The kids heard the agitation in his voice as the
phone call ended. Then they heard his footsteps on the deck as he
headed towards the very garbage cans next to which they were
crouched.

“
Let’s run.” Binny pleaded
in a scared whisper to her brother. Binny’s heart was beating fast
at the thought of getting in trouble for snooping.

“
No. He’ll see us. Stay
put for a second.”

“
Can you turn invisible
too? Cause that would be pretty useful right about now.” Binny
responded.

“
No.” Zach smiled briefly,
but his fear of their impending discovery returned to his face
quickly. “Just hold on a second. If we run, we look
guilty.”

Binny marveled at her brother’s logic.
She hadn’t realized how adept he was at staying out of trouble and
wondered what he’d gotten away with as a result of these
skills.

The man got closer and closer to where
Zach and Binny were hiding. And suddenly, there was a “ruvh ruvh”
from the house. “Yes yes, Rembrandt,” the man said. “The raccoons
are in the cans again. Can I deal with them first?” The man
approached the gate to the alley. The man’s dog started barking
more insistently now. “You are going to annoy the neighbors again,
Rembrandt. Stop barking.” Rembrandt didn’t appear to care what the
neighbors thought.

And just as the man put his hand on
the gate to open it, the dog started barking again. This time even
louder. “Fine! Fine! Everyone is ordering me around today, aren’t
they.” the man lamented to himself. Instead of than walking into
the alley to perform an inspection he just shook the cans by
reaching his hand over the fence. When there was no response from
inside, he seemed satisfied that the raccoons had retreated and he
turned back to the house to attend to his dog.

Zach and Binny waited, barely
breathing as they heard the man’s steps on the deck and the screen
door open and close. They waited another moment then the dog’s
barking also stopped. Zach motioned to Binny to follow and they
scuttled down the alley in crouched positions. Only once they were
a fair distance from the man’s house, did they feel safe enough to
stand up.

Once they were in the clear, Binny
pounced on Zach, determined. “Did you hear what he said? He was
talking to his boss in the government. They think Cassie’s power is
dangerous. They’re going to take her away!”

“
Wait a minute Binny. I
know it sounded bad, but there could be lots of explanations for
what we just heard.

“
Name one.”

Whether it was the stress of almost
getting caught, the scary barking of the big dog, or finding out
his sister could turn herself invisible, Zach was stymied. He knew
that given a couple of minutes he could come up with an alternate
explanation. But even if there was one, wasn’t Binny’s explanation
really the best explanation? It didn’t matter anyway. Zach could
tell that Binny wasn’t about to give him more time to persuade her
otherwise.

“
It’s time Zach.” Binny
heard a new note of confidence in her own voice. But there was also
the sound of fear and that was less comforting. “You may not be
worried, but I am. Cassie’s in danger. I’m going to tell Mom and
Dad what’s happening.”

“
Mom and Dad have a lot on
their plates right now. I just don’t think we need to bother them
with this just yet.”

“
What could they possibly
have on their plates that’s more important than this? Mom working
late again? Dad drawing in his study? Or let me guess,” now Binny’s
tone was harshly sarcastic, “they’re too busy fighting crime in
their spandex superhero outfits?”

“
Of course
not.”

Binny continued, “They’re
our parents. This is their
job
.” “Their daughter is in danger,
and they should know, but you don’t seem to care.”

“
Of course I care, I
just…”

“
You just what?
What?”

Zach couldn’t find the words. Binny
closed the discussion: “We need to tell Mom and Dad. I’m gonna do
it with you or without you.”

Zach sighed and nodded just slightly
to Binny in a gesture that Binny took as agreement. Binny started
walking. If she’d continued looking at him instead of straight
ahead, Binny would have seen that in fact, Zach’s face was creased
with worry.

They finished the walk home in
silence.

8

The kitchen in the Jordan house had a
door on one end that swung both ways. Generally Jay liked to keep
the door propped open in one direction or the other to avoid
accidents. But invariably his instructions would not be followed
and someone would inadvertently swing the door into someone else’s
face as they approached. Luckily, there was nobody on the kitchen
side of the door this time as Binny shoved it sharply inward on her
determined march to her parents. Binny came in alone. Zach had made
himself scarce knowing what Binny was about to do.

It was hard to tell the difference
between Binny angry, and Binny angry and scared. At this moment she
was clearly the latter. But while her parents were both experts at
interpreting (if not addressing) Binny’s various moods, they were
both too distracted to notice the subtle difference when Binny
entered the kitchen.

“…
tell them.” Was the
ending of the sentence Julie Jordan was finishing as Binny arrived
with a head of steam.

“
Binny, for the hundredth
time, can you please open that door gently. You can never tell when
someone is on the other side.” Binny’s father admonished her
sternly. Binny’s parents stood opposite each other at the far end
of the kitchen – a large empty space between them.

Jay’s anger caught her by surprise,
but as usual Binny was quick to recover her righteous
trajectory.

“
Why is the door even
closed anyway? You also tell us not to close it.”

“
Binny. Please modify your
attitude. Now.” Jay chastised.

Julie sighed.

“
And what do you mean,
‘telling them’?” Binny paraphrased her mother’s overheard words.
“Who is
they
, and
what will you be telling them?”

“
No one, and
nothing
.” Julie
responded, her face making it clear that Binny should get out while
the getting was good. Binny ignored the advice.

“
What can we do for you?”
Jay asked, in a quieter than normal voice.

Binny’s curiosity about the
conversation she had interrupted was only slightly smaller than her
desire to reveal the day’s events. Binny’s eyes flickered briefly
as she considered the path before her and chose, “I need to tell
you something.”

This got her parents’ attention. They
sat down at the kitchen table together. “What do you need to tell
us,” Julie asked. The tiny note of impatience in her voice was
almost undetectable amid the genuine concern for her
daughter.

“
Cassie can make herself
disappear.”

There. She said it. She would show
Zach that she was the most responsible of the Jordan children. Zach
liked to make it seem like he was equal to their parents when it
came to telling Binny what to do. But Zach was only two years
older, and less mature in Binny’s expert opinion. Now her parents
and Zach would have to take her seriously. Her sister was in
danger!

Her parents started laughing. “We
know. She disappears every time it’s bedtime.” “Or time to do
homework.” “Or, for that matter, time to do anything she doesn’t
want to do.” They laughed together and the tension between them
seemed to dissipate a bit.

“
It’s TRUE. Cassie can
turn herself invisible. Truly.” Binny’s earnestness was apparent on
her face.

“
Uh…” was all Julie could
muster. Jay just sat there looking puzzled.