Shadow Of The Past Trilogy ∞ THE DISPLACED

33 ∞ up to me

Day Eight ∞ Friday evening

DAWSON WAVED TO WEAVER as Weaver came downstairs to the basement. "We've got a name! Her name is Mickmi."

"Hm. Never heard that one before." Weaver put on the headset and sat down beside Dawson. He could see activity on the two kitchen monitors: one, showing the wide view over the counter to the dining area where the family was sitting at the dining table and included the doorway to the hallway. The second monitor showed a closeup from the same camera, of the subject Danny, the girl, and the sister's back. The girl was wearing a scarf around her neck—it looked to him that she was covering the choker necklace he'd seen before.

The mother was speaking. "Yes, and even the EKG was normal. All that's left now are the results from the bloodwork, etcetera. So you see, dear, there's nothing to worry about. 'Jehovah preserveth the faithful', you know, and I'm taking extra supplements."

"I'm really relieved to hear that, Mom," Danny said. "You really scared us yesterday."

"I am sorry about that, dear. I must've been really stressed. Mickmi?"

The girl looked up from her food, clearly startled.

"I must thank you again for clearing my head yesterday. I don't know how you did it, but you even cleared a lingering migraine I've been having. It means a lot, what you did, considering..."

Mickmi shook her head. "Mention it not, Mistress McGahn."

"Oh... Don't call me Mistress McGahn; no one calls me that at home, it makes me feel so old! Just... 'Grace' will do."

"Okay... Grace."

They could see Danny make a surprised face toward his sister on the close-up monitor.

"Do you have skills in alternative medicine? I've been reading about it in magazines recently."

"Alternative? I understand not what you mean."

"As in non-traditional... Where did you learn to do that thing with your hands?"

There was a pause. Weaver stared intently at the girl's face—there was something there...

"I have always been able to do it."

"Mom, Mickmi's gifted," Gina interjected. Danny nodded and Mickmi looked toward them with a thankful smile.

"You're not just gifted, you know. You're blessed with a power given to you from the Lord; you must be a disciple of His. You could help a lot of people."

The girl's brow furrowed for a moment before she swallowed her last bite of food. "I wish... that were so, Grace. But, nay... it drains me too much." This time she did not look up.

"That's—"

"Excuse me, Mom. I've got some things to do." Danny pushed his chair back and stood up, taking his plate.

Weaver could tell that the subject thought his mother had said enough. He took off his headphones as the girl and the sister followed suit and helped to clear the table.

"There is something about that girl," he said, loosely shaking his finger at the monitor. "And it's not just that she's not comfortable around the mother. She's hiding something. I'm not sure about the sister, but I know our subject knows about it."