Paper: the word maneuvering is probably more correct. Please remember the trucks they are prophetic. Remember that Esteban was training all the children.
Destinyc we will soon learn how important Estelle is
Keepsmiling7 the wild animals brought back bad vibes to both Liz and to Isabel.
Mary mary just keep watching Estelle
Chapter 21
It was late when the three cars arrived back at Roswell. They all went to their respective homes. Kyle and Serena were too tired to do anything but cuddle. Maria and Michael made slow gentle love. Maria was thinking that the power she had enjoyed had been embraced by Michael. She was lucky to find him. There just weren’t that many good aliens lying about. Liz was still shaking. She lay in Max’s arms as he pulled her close. No dreams came that night, but she felt safe for the first time in a long time just being beside Max. In the room where he lived, Esteban took a small silk string. He had found it on the ground. He couldn’t imagine what it had been used for. He tied the bag tightly, in which the head resided. Tonight, Kivar was not going to get out even a little bit. Esteban had talked to the jaguar and he felt strong because of that.
The next day, Liz was making breakfast. Esteban had put his coffee on and was waiting for that perfect minute when he would take the pot off the stove. Estelle came in. “Mamma, are you still worried about that bad man, Kivar?” she asked.
Liz didn’t know what to say for a minute. She always felt that truth was the best policy with children. Liz sat at the table and said, “Yes, honey, he did some very mean things to me. I fear, if he was to get free, what might happen. That is why Esteban always is around. He is our guard against that man.”
Estelle looked up. She reached to touch her mother’s face. “Don’t worry mommy. I am much stronger than Kivar and as I grow, I will get stronger all the time. Esteban says the evil one will just get weaker with age. The cat, yesterday, said I was the strongest one he had met.”
Liz just looked at her daughter. There was no smile, no hint of a joke or bravado. Estelle was just stating what she completely believed in. Liz was sure some of that was from Esteban. Liz couldn’t help it. She hugged her daughter. Liz, then, went back to making breakfast.
Because Kivar had been carefully bound by the silk cord, Isabel had a quiet night, also. “Isabel, how was last night?” queried Jesse.
“Fine, I didn’t have any dreams. I am going to take José to the zoo this weekend. Do you want to come along?” Isabel asked.
Jesse frowned. He knew of José’s request, but he had been trying to put that off. Jesse was still bothered when he thought of José as other than just a normal child. It bothered him when José would sit beside his desk and talk in such adult terms. Jesse had that delusional concept of a normal childhood. What he was saying was a childhood like Jesse had had. “Daddy, when you have time, I would like you to take me to see the animals at the zoo. I want to see the things Mama saw when she was in the jungle,” José said.
“José, your mother was under a spell while she was in the jungle. She remembers very little of what was around her,” Jesse answered.
“But, in her mind, there are pictures of the jungle. They are not clear and that is what I want to see,” José replied.
Jesse frowned, “What! Do you see in people’s minds?”
José was looking down at his feet like a little boy caught doing something he shouldn’t. Was this one of those things you didn’t let grown-ups see? Estelle had told them all that they must be careful of letting everybody see what they could do, even the parents. José wasn’t about to lie to his father. Jesse had always been truthful to José. “Dad, I see feelings. I see feelings of sadness when I look into Mama’s mind, especially when she thinks of the forest. I just want to understand better.”
Jesse turned to his wife. “I will make time to go with you. Claudio is in town. Maybe, we can ask him to come with us also.”
“You completely trust that man?” Isabel asked.
Jesse smiled at the paranoia of his wife. She had earned that paranoia by the many things that had happened to her. Jesse still felt that they needed help in high places. Claudio had been cool about meeting the family. Maybe, he would have insight into José’s reaction to the zoo.
Albuquerque had a Bio-Park to be proud of. But, in the east, there were any number of zoological parks, which made the one in Albuquerque look small. Claudio enjoyed Jesse’s family. José was so grown up. Like many men who didn’t yet have a family, Claudio was always surprised at José’s manner of speaking.
José was chattering away at what he wanted to see. Deep inside he only really wanted to see the cat exhibit. Because José didn’t want to make his primary desire too obvious, the three adults and José spent the morning looking at the primates, the plains animals and the bird exhibits. They were all interesting, but they were not the main object of the trip. There was a restaurant in the park and they had lunch.
The big cat exhibit was next. Isabel and Jesse were walking and José was holding Claudio’s hand as he led him toward the exhibit area. Suddenly, there was a mutual roaring from the exhibit. It was simply the different cats all proclaiming they were present and well. Isabel stumbled. Jesse was right beside her, but he couldn’t completely prevent her fall. She was sitting beside the path. “Jesse, I tried. I just can’t go on. To see those animals that close again, is just too much.” Isabel was shaking as she was talking. “Go on and I will meet you when you are through at those tables.” Isabel indicated a group of nearby tables at a fast food stand.
Jesse was holding Isabel as she sat by the path. “Claudio, would you mind taking José? I don’t want to leave her alone, but the cat exhibit is the most important one for him.”
Claudio, as was said, enjoyed the presence of José. He took his hand and José led him down the path.
It is always fun to see children when they first see animals they have read about or seen on TV animals for real. The pictures in the books or the movies just do not make the animal real. They need the smell, the sound and the true appearance of the beast. Seeing them scratching parasites on their bodies or to defecate in the corner of the cage, is a reality, which is never conveyed by the media. Time to time, the animals would give a little roar. They had the guttural sounds they made which might have taken the place of the domestic cat’s purr, all this made the animal a real creature.
José looked at the lions. They were so big. They also, were in no way. showing the savagery portrayed in some books. The tigers were so powerful and looking into their eyes for the first time, José felt the beasts were recognizing him. Next, was the mountain lion exhibit. José looked up at Claudio. He felt that he had the freedom to talk to him as he had with his parents. Either, you trusted someone or you didn’t. If Jesse had had doubts, he wouldn’t have had Claudio with him. “That is what Aunty Liz looked like for such a long time.”
Claudio didn’t completely understand that, but he gave José’s hand a squeeze. The panther or mountain lion just paced its area. It looked at José, but did not pay as much attention as did the tiger. The next three exhibit areas were jaguars from Central and South America. That was where José had been heading all along.
The first exhibit was a melanistic phase of the jaguar. As José and Claudio stood looking at the creature, Claudio heard José mumbling in the strange language that Jesse had told him about.
The cat lying on a ledge hissed and spat at them, (Who are you? A pretender, I suppose.)
José spoke more plainly in the strange language. (I am no pretender. I am a power, but not the one ruler.)
The cat growled back. (Then talk to the lord next to me and leave me alone.)
José offered his apologies and led Claudio to the next exhibit. The large male jaguar had heard the conversation and was prepared. He was sitting where he could see the people on the walk around his home. He, likewise hissed. (I was expecting someone of greater statue.)
José spoke to him. (Be advised that my stature is of one just starting out. I will grow from a kitten to a mighty prince, but I will never be a ruler.)
The mighty jaguar, again, looked at the boy. He growled. (I will be waiting to see who or what the ruler is.) Then, the jaguar turned and walked back into a enclosure which served as a home.
José led Claudio to the last exhibit. It was a small female. She hissed and made sounds back in her throat. (He expects a mighty man to come forth to rule. He forgets that it was a woman who brought down the false jaguar god. Grow little one and return to talk to us.)
José conversed for a bit in the strange language. Then, he pulled on Claudio’s hand and they left the big cat area. They found Jesse and Isabel waiting for them at the tables. Claudio went up to the window and bought cokes all around. Then, he returned and sat down.
“I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it,” he stated.
Isabel had been worried. She hated to take Jesse away from José. It was just that she couldn’t face the memories that the big cats invoked. “What happened?” she asked.
“José has this strange language and the cats seem to respond, especially the jaguars,” Claudio answered.
José spoke up. “Aunti Liz said the cats do not have abstract minds. That was the problem of finding out what happened to mama. When I first start to talk to the cat, I see something else. It is a lot simpler. Only after I am before the cat for several minutes does the other conversation take place. The big jaguar was prepared for me. He had been listening to the other animals. I think I am talking to something else. I do not know what it is.”
When they were all back home Isabel was talking to Jesse. “I need to tell Max and the rest what just happened. I do not think I can do it on the phone,” she said.
I have a light load next week. We could call Max and your father and tell them we want to come home for a few days. You could tell him what happened and José could play with his cousins,” Jesse said.
They had flown in late last night and now, in the morning, Isabel and Jesse were enjoying Esteban’s coffee. “Hi Sis, Jesse, how’s life in the big city?”
“It is moving, Max. I still say you should try to get a position in a hospital back there. There would be so much more for Estelle back there,” Isabel stated.
“Well, you know how it is, Sis. Mom and dad are getting older and Liz has all of her friends here. I don’t know if we could up roots and move back,” Max answered.
“Well, we think you should plan a vacation sometime soon and come to see us.” Isabel told him.
It was the way she said it that caught Max’s attention. They had this discussion every time that they were together. Isabel felt a little guilty because it had been left to Max to over see their folks. Jesse had a good practice and he had promised that, someday, they would return to the southwest. But, right now, he wanted to be where things were happening. His friendship with Claudio was one of he things he valued. This time especially when she changed to a statement that Max and Liz needed a vacation and the look on her face, made Max think. “What is wrong, Izzy?” Max asked.
“Jesse and I, along with Claudio, took José to one of the zoological parks the other day,” Isabel said.
Esteban and Liz stopped what they were doing and sat down, giving Isabel their full attention. Isabel reached out and took Liz’s hands in hers. “I couldn’t do it, either, Lizzy. I couldn’t approach the cages of the cats. Like you, I waited until the men returned.” This feeling was one Liz could well identify with.
Jesse continued the tale. “I didn’t want to leave Isabel alone in that condition, so I asked Claudio to take José through the big cat exhibit. All Claudio heard was that José paid a lot of attention to the jaguars. He said one cat was spitting and nasty. The second, an older male, was quiet and just seemed to look at José. The remaining jaguar was a younger female. She mewed and chortled, that was his word for it, as José talked in that strange language.”
“It is what José said later that makes me think you should bring Estelle back for a weekend and visit this zoological park,” Jesse explained.
Esteban was giving Jesse his full attention. Max was frowning. He still didn’t want to think of Estelle as anything, but a grade school girl. Max hadn’t heard what she said to Liz about being able to protect her mother, and Liz, hadn’t yet, found a way to tell him. Jesse turned to Liz. “Do you remember what you always said about the cat’s mind? You always said the mind was very plain and simple. There was hunger, fear, anger and curiosity. You said that was about all the cat thought of. When you told us of Danny talking to the Jaguar, I was thinking of this. Danny was getting a lot more than these few feelings. Now José said the Jaguar asked who he was. When he told him that there was a stronger leader, the jaguar told him to bring the leader. I got to thinking that is pretty sophisticated for a dumb animal.”
Liz winched, “Jesse, I think it is more simple than dumb. I found the cat very smart in very narrow lines.”
Jesse nodded at Liz, “I stand corrected, but what I said still goes. José even said he thought he was talking to something deeper than the cat. He had no idea about what it was.”
Esteban spoke up. “I was an old man,” Liz was wondering how old must Esteban really be? “before I found the spirit that was talking to José. It is deeper than any one cat. It is the spirit of all the cats.” Esteban turned to Max. If we can, we need to take your child and, maybe, Danny to see this creature.”
Later that day, Kyle brought over his twins and Maria brought over Danny. The adults talked about the things that Jesse and Isabel had seen and heard. Max stated that, maybe, they should think about taking all the children back to the zoological park where José had talked to the cat. They couldn’t manage it until there was a school break, so it was just academic for now.
Curse of the Cat (CC,MATURE) COMPLETE - 7/12/09
Moderators: Anniepoo98, Rowedog, ISLANDGIRL5, Itzstacie, truelovepooh, FSU/MSW-94, Forum Moderators
Re: Curse of the Cat mature cc pg 11 ch 20 april 20 2009
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Re: Curse of the Cat mature cc pg 12 ch 21 april 27 2009
keepsmiling7
destinyc
mary mary
Chapter 22
The five children were sitting in the shade. “I talked to something. I don’t think it was the jaguar, exactly. I think it was something else. I think Esteban would know better than anyone else.” José was relating his experience. The children were sitting in a circle. Danny and José were sitting next to each other and it was José who opened the talking.
It was little Estelle who was leading the discussion. “I was accepted by the jaguar here. I need to ask daddy and mommy if they can take me to see your park.” She turned to the twins. You are the least known. I think it would be best if you wait. Whatever it is, I do not think it has a clear idea of you. The cat in Albuquerque noted you, but we don’t know how or if they communicate everywhere. Danny, we need to get your mom to see if you can go with us. When we determine what this is, then we can open ourselves up and all of us can see what powers we have.” Estelle did not know this, but she was so much like her father. They were scheming under the eyes of their parents. The difference was, the parents knew their secret. When their parents were doing this, they were in high school. Here, you had a group of elementary school kids making plans.
Estelle had spoken to her parents. It seemed to her that they were dragging their feet and they were. Max knew that it was important to take Estelle back east. He had talked to Maria and Michael, along with Kyle and Serena. They all agreed that if it was that important, they would make arrangements for their children to go. Liz plainly, dreaded to face anything more of the cats. She knew that it was important, but so are dental sessions. But, that doesn’t lessen the pain. It, finally, was decided that during summer break, they would arrange to go.
Next year, Danny and José would be middle school kids. The twins were on the big kids side of the playground and little Estelle was still on the little kids side. Sometimes, the twins found way to meet for lunch with Estelle. Under trees in the shadows, the three children would sit and talk. The twins had started using the mysterious language to communicate when they didn’t want anyone else to understand them. The teacher was going to send them to the office, but she found an article where twins often made their own language when they were children. It had something to do with exclusion of the rest of the world. Kyle was talking to the twins, “Do you want to go with Danny and Estelle back east to visit another zoo?”
Without looking at each other they shook their heads. “No daddy, maybe, next time. We are not sure if it is time for them to see us.”
Kyle had no idea of what that meant. The children were happy with that decision, so he said no more about it. Michael had to work so Maria came along to be with Danny. She, at first, said to care for Danny, but you do not care for a big seventh grade boy. You may accompany them, but they are beyond being cared for.
Estelle was still on the little kids’ side of the playground. She was in the first grade and she held on tightly to both her mommy and daddy as they entered the plane. She was excited to be flying, but she was insecure enough to want their help. She could plan for the group how to find out about the mysterious spirit they were to visit, but in mundane things, she wanted mommy and daddy.
Maria and Danny had separate seats. Maria was worried, but once when she went back to the bathroom at the rear of the plane, Maria saw Danny busily talking to two college girls. The girls were laughing at something Danny said and Maria privately thought, “What will that boy be like when he finally gets to college?”
That even increased the surprise at Danny’s actions when he finally got to college.
Danny had an aisle seat. On the other side of him were two girls. Julie was a blonde and Robyn was a dark brunette. She had a dark complexion with flashing dark eyes. She reminded Danny of Esteban. At first, the girls were teasing Danny as girls will with a young boy. “Do you have a girl friend?” Julie asked.
Danny looked at her, “There probably is one who is waiting for me, but she doesn’t know it yet.”
“Oh, and who is this lucky girl?” Robyn queried.
Danny smiled, “It wouldn’t be fair to tell someone who she is until I tell her first.”
“A man, wise far beyond his years,” Julie answered with a laugh.
Danny took his turn, “Where are you going to school?” he asked.
“We both go to Dartmouth,” Robyn stated. She studies art,” pointing to Julie, “and I study Anthropology.”
Danny looked at Robyn carefully, “if you are an anthropologist, where is your trowel? Aunti Liz says all anthropologist carry a trowel.”
Robyn and Julie both laughed. “Your Aunti Liz is talking about archeologists. They study and dig up ruins. I study people and language, I am an ethnologist,” Robyn said.
“Aunty Liz studies people.” Danny pointed up the aisle a few seats, “that is where she met my friend, Esteban. He was a shaman in the Amazon Rain Forest.”
The girls had seen and remarked about the small dark man who had the tattooed face that belonged on National Geographic, He was wearing designer slacks and a monogrammed polo shirt that belonged on the cover of Gentlemen’s Quarterly.
Julie was holding her sketchbook. She showed it to Danny. She was mostly, now sketching animals. Danny slowly thumbed through the pages. Julie was working on trying to catch the expression on the animals she was drawing. There was a loose leaf sheet of paper in the back of the book. Danny asked if he could have it. Julie laughed and handed Danny a soft, lead drawing pencil. Danny painstakingly drew the male Jaguar from Albuquerque. Danny made many mistakes and when Julie saw how he was trying to correct the mistakes, she handed him an art eraser. Danny worked on the picture for most of the rest of the flight. When he handed it over to Julie, it was a picture of the male jaguar in Albuquerque. What Julie saw was what she had been trying to capture, the expression of the jaguar. He was regal, but also, showed his contentment. This little boy had accomplished what she was striving for. She would study this picture and later, when she read the newspaper article she would wonder at his relationship with the beast. “He is my friend,” was all Danny said now.
When they all got off the plane, the girls saw Danny standing beside Maria and they saw the dark shaman walk up to them. Another family was, also, walking with them and the girls saw a dark haired girl, probably about six or seven, several years younger than Danny, looking up at him. Robyn nudged Julie, “Do you suppose that is the girl who has not been informed of his love?” Robyn asked.
Julie answered, “If it is, Danny may talk grown up, but he has a lot to learn about women. Just look at the way she looks up at him. She knows very well, even at that age.”
Maria and her son followed Esteban and the Evanses out the terminal. Max found a cab and they were taken to a hotel.
“Isabel, we just got in. Yes, the trip was fine.” Max gave the name of their hotel and made arrangements for them to have dinner that evening. José was used to eating out in the city. Danny and Estelle had never seen anything this big. The restaurant was a good one that Jesse frequented when he had clients. Jesse had arranged a table for the six adults beside a booth which the three children could eat at. Estelle even had a seat which raised her high enough to feel comfortable in the booth. This wasn’t the way Max would have arranged things, but he saw that this gave the adults freedom to talk and let the children, also, have this same freedom. Oh well, Jesse was a lawyer. He was used to arranging things.
“Tomorrow, we will see three jaguars. One is a color phase and I imagine that he had a bad time in the jungle. He probably wasn’t as accepted as the normal jaguars. He was, also, probably hunted just because of that color phase. The male jaguar is very abrupt, but he is the one we must see. Remember, do not think of the twins. We do not want him to know about them, yet. The last cat is a female who is very nice to talk to. I do not know how much power she has, but she is pleasant.” José was explaining what to expect tomorrow.
“Max, I guess I am just not ready to accept the uniqueness of my son,” Jesse stated. “I never had to grow up with dodging FBI and other alien hunters so I still only think of a normal life.”
Esteban looked at Jesse asked, “What is so great about normal. Your son has the intelligence you gave him along with his mamma’s genes from ‘out of this world.’ He also has a lot of the spirits of the forest who protected his mamma.”
Jesse thought and then, said, “I guess I am just not prepared for the strange things that can happen to my son. Will I know what to do?”
Isabel spoke up. “Jesse, children from a barrio in Roswell do not go to Harvard. Growing up in the neighborhood, you should have seen that you were going much further in education than many of your peers.”
“There is something within you that is driven. Your parents, the environment where you grow up, your teachers or something caused you to work hard and excel,” Liz said. Liz was thinking that all of them had drives which had taken them far from their childhood. Even she was not sure what all of these drives were.
That evening, the adults discussed the difficulty in raising bright children. The children discussed the meeting of whatever spirit resided in the cats that they were to see.
It rained that night. Back home with that much rain, there would have been sirens blaring and flood warnings. Here, it was just a normal rain. The Bio-Park back home was big to the children from Roswell. Here, the Zoological Park was practically a college campus. There were the exhibits. Then, there were the indoor exhibits arranged for the animals that did not tolerate the colder weather in the northeastern coast of the United States. There were the laboratories where the animals were cared for and studied. For the southwest, the Bio-Park was progressive, but it, clearly, had a long way to go.
Both Danny and José were impatient to get to the cat exhibit. There was just so much to see that even their impatience was modified by the wonder of it all. To Estelle, there was just more than her mind could comprehend. “Mamma, I want to work with animals in a place like this when I grow up.” Max and Liz were used to things influencing their daughter and they knew that someday, the influence would not fade away but would be her goal. The secret of good parenting, according to Liz, was to offer many influences so the child could, finally, make that lasting choice.
José and Danny were debating whether the insect exhibit or the reptile exhibit would gross out their parents more. Maria stepped in and told a story about once when this huge spider came into the hut she and Michael were sharing. Maria could spin a yarn. She told about seeing the waving legs at the bottom of her open window and then, the head peeking over the sill. She described the mandibles moving back and forth as the spider gathered for a leap from the window ledge. Suddenly, Maria made a crawly motion up the backs of both the boys with her hands and they yelped. Maria had just described the spider leaping onto her bed. Estelle laughed because Maria had captured the attention of both boys to the point of scaring them. “Aunt Maria, don’t most big spiders not have the ability to leap like that. I read that if a tarantula fell very far to the ground, it would break the exoskeleton.”
Maria chuckled, “Probably, but I owed Danny something for making me look at that spider in Albuquerque. And José was just as bad. There were many scary and many dangerous things in the jungle. You had to be careful and check your boots every morning and never put on clothing before shaking it out. Then, during the day, you had to be careful of what was in the path. We got to be pros at living that way when we were there.”
Jose turned to his mom, “Did you see things like that when you were in the jungle?”
Isabel became subdued. “Most of the time that I was in the jungle, I was under the spell of Kivar. I don’t know what was going on around me. During the other part, I was unconscious and cared for by the shaman and of course, I know nothing about that.”
As they proceeded deeper into the park, Liz and Isabel were clutching each other. Finally, Max turned into an outdoor café. Let’s eat and then, I think Liz and Isabel should, maybe, go to the flower exhibit or maybe even go shopping, if they want. Both Liz and Isabel looked at Max with relief. They had held up so far, but it was getting harder with every step closer to the big cat exhibit.
The party was now Jesse and José, Maria and Danny with Max, Estelle and Esteban bringing up the rear. They were now approaching the large carnivore exhibits. You could smell the muskiness of the animals. Danny was struck by the size of all the exhibit areas. They were so much bigger than back home with so much effort to actually make them resemble the wild habitat. They, actually, had a small pride of lions. Danny knew that most big cats were solitary, but there were some like lions and cheetahs, which maintained a family group.
They passed the other cats. Esteban stood in front of each species, and then shook his head. There was nothing of which he was seeking. Finally, they came to the black jaguar. His spirit was just as nasty as usual. When Danny spoke to him, he hissed and spit. When José walked up with Danny, he growled, (What are you doing here? You dare to speak to us.)
Esteban and Estelle walked up. At a sharp word from Esteban, the cat quieted down. Esteban turned to the children and he said in English, “He is nasty because he has been allowed to get away with it too long. In the jungle, that attitude would have been whipped out of him long ago if he wanted to survive.” Then, Esteban started talking to the dark cat. (Before you is the queen of your kind. She was conceived in a woman who had experienced that curse of the cat and defeated it. Her pap is not of this earth and so, also, are her enemies. Accept her or not. She will be the power of all cat spirits.) The other adults, of course, didn’t understand a bit of what Esteban said to the Jaguar. Danny and José knew, sort of, all that he said, but the plainness that Esteban was saying it startled them. Yes, Estelle would be the power that the other children would follow.
When they approached the next area, the old male was waiting for them. He growled, (yes, everything you said, I accept. She is a very small morsel. She wouldn’t even make a single meal.) Then the jaguar quickly said when he saw the frown of all four who understood his speech, (I wouldn’t harm her. I suppose if I did, I would be struck by so much lightening that my hide and whiskers would be singed.) He, then bowed slightly and said, (I accept you, my queen. I give you my entire support for the ordeal you or your children will have in the future.)
Of course, Max, Jesse and Maria only saw the posturing and heard the incomprehensible language that went between the children and the old man with the animals.
Again, the last exhibit was the young female. (There is entirely too much testosterone in those cages. I think that is what you humans call it. I am delighted to meet the little queen. Even though she is still a cub, she is strong and has support from friends and family. I think she will be accepted. I, also, am happy to see the woman warrior who finally killed the false jaguar god. He was creating too many of our kind who were not natural. I know she can’t understand me, but her cub can tell her what I say.) The beautiful cat turned to Estelle. (As you grow and become powerful, you will see that most of us will follow you. Look with your heart close by for companionship. You and your children will be ready to meet the trials which await you.) She growled and chortled in her throat. Esteban and the children understood her perfectly.
destinyc
mary mary
Chapter 22
The five children were sitting in the shade. “I talked to something. I don’t think it was the jaguar, exactly. I think it was something else. I think Esteban would know better than anyone else.” José was relating his experience. The children were sitting in a circle. Danny and José were sitting next to each other and it was José who opened the talking.
It was little Estelle who was leading the discussion. “I was accepted by the jaguar here. I need to ask daddy and mommy if they can take me to see your park.” She turned to the twins. You are the least known. I think it would be best if you wait. Whatever it is, I do not think it has a clear idea of you. The cat in Albuquerque noted you, but we don’t know how or if they communicate everywhere. Danny, we need to get your mom to see if you can go with us. When we determine what this is, then we can open ourselves up and all of us can see what powers we have.” Estelle did not know this, but she was so much like her father. They were scheming under the eyes of their parents. The difference was, the parents knew their secret. When their parents were doing this, they were in high school. Here, you had a group of elementary school kids making plans.
Estelle had spoken to her parents. It seemed to her that they were dragging their feet and they were. Max knew that it was important to take Estelle back east. He had talked to Maria and Michael, along with Kyle and Serena. They all agreed that if it was that important, they would make arrangements for their children to go. Liz plainly, dreaded to face anything more of the cats. She knew that it was important, but so are dental sessions. But, that doesn’t lessen the pain. It, finally, was decided that during summer break, they would arrange to go.
Next year, Danny and José would be middle school kids. The twins were on the big kids side of the playground and little Estelle was still on the little kids side. Sometimes, the twins found way to meet for lunch with Estelle. Under trees in the shadows, the three children would sit and talk. The twins had started using the mysterious language to communicate when they didn’t want anyone else to understand them. The teacher was going to send them to the office, but she found an article where twins often made their own language when they were children. It had something to do with exclusion of the rest of the world. Kyle was talking to the twins, “Do you want to go with Danny and Estelle back east to visit another zoo?”
Without looking at each other they shook their heads. “No daddy, maybe, next time. We are not sure if it is time for them to see us.”
Kyle had no idea of what that meant. The children were happy with that decision, so he said no more about it. Michael had to work so Maria came along to be with Danny. She, at first, said to care for Danny, but you do not care for a big seventh grade boy. You may accompany them, but they are beyond being cared for.
Estelle was still on the little kids’ side of the playground. She was in the first grade and she held on tightly to both her mommy and daddy as they entered the plane. She was excited to be flying, but she was insecure enough to want their help. She could plan for the group how to find out about the mysterious spirit they were to visit, but in mundane things, she wanted mommy and daddy.
Maria and Danny had separate seats. Maria was worried, but once when she went back to the bathroom at the rear of the plane, Maria saw Danny busily talking to two college girls. The girls were laughing at something Danny said and Maria privately thought, “What will that boy be like when he finally gets to college?”
That even increased the surprise at Danny’s actions when he finally got to college.
Danny had an aisle seat. On the other side of him were two girls. Julie was a blonde and Robyn was a dark brunette. She had a dark complexion with flashing dark eyes. She reminded Danny of Esteban. At first, the girls were teasing Danny as girls will with a young boy. “Do you have a girl friend?” Julie asked.
Danny looked at her, “There probably is one who is waiting for me, but she doesn’t know it yet.”
“Oh, and who is this lucky girl?” Robyn queried.
Danny smiled, “It wouldn’t be fair to tell someone who she is until I tell her first.”
“A man, wise far beyond his years,” Julie answered with a laugh.
Danny took his turn, “Where are you going to school?” he asked.
“We both go to Dartmouth,” Robyn stated. She studies art,” pointing to Julie, “and I study Anthropology.”
Danny looked at Robyn carefully, “if you are an anthropologist, where is your trowel? Aunti Liz says all anthropologist carry a trowel.”
Robyn and Julie both laughed. “Your Aunti Liz is talking about archeologists. They study and dig up ruins. I study people and language, I am an ethnologist,” Robyn said.
“Aunty Liz studies people.” Danny pointed up the aisle a few seats, “that is where she met my friend, Esteban. He was a shaman in the Amazon Rain Forest.”
The girls had seen and remarked about the small dark man who had the tattooed face that belonged on National Geographic, He was wearing designer slacks and a monogrammed polo shirt that belonged on the cover of Gentlemen’s Quarterly.
Julie was holding her sketchbook. She showed it to Danny. She was mostly, now sketching animals. Danny slowly thumbed through the pages. Julie was working on trying to catch the expression on the animals she was drawing. There was a loose leaf sheet of paper in the back of the book. Danny asked if he could have it. Julie laughed and handed Danny a soft, lead drawing pencil. Danny painstakingly drew the male Jaguar from Albuquerque. Danny made many mistakes and when Julie saw how he was trying to correct the mistakes, she handed him an art eraser. Danny worked on the picture for most of the rest of the flight. When he handed it over to Julie, it was a picture of the male jaguar in Albuquerque. What Julie saw was what she had been trying to capture, the expression of the jaguar. He was regal, but also, showed his contentment. This little boy had accomplished what she was striving for. She would study this picture and later, when she read the newspaper article she would wonder at his relationship with the beast. “He is my friend,” was all Danny said now.
When they all got off the plane, the girls saw Danny standing beside Maria and they saw the dark shaman walk up to them. Another family was, also, walking with them and the girls saw a dark haired girl, probably about six or seven, several years younger than Danny, looking up at him. Robyn nudged Julie, “Do you suppose that is the girl who has not been informed of his love?” Robyn asked.
Julie answered, “If it is, Danny may talk grown up, but he has a lot to learn about women. Just look at the way she looks up at him. She knows very well, even at that age.”
Maria and her son followed Esteban and the Evanses out the terminal. Max found a cab and they were taken to a hotel.
“Isabel, we just got in. Yes, the trip was fine.” Max gave the name of their hotel and made arrangements for them to have dinner that evening. José was used to eating out in the city. Danny and Estelle had never seen anything this big. The restaurant was a good one that Jesse frequented when he had clients. Jesse had arranged a table for the six adults beside a booth which the three children could eat at. Estelle even had a seat which raised her high enough to feel comfortable in the booth. This wasn’t the way Max would have arranged things, but he saw that this gave the adults freedom to talk and let the children, also, have this same freedom. Oh well, Jesse was a lawyer. He was used to arranging things.
“Tomorrow, we will see three jaguars. One is a color phase and I imagine that he had a bad time in the jungle. He probably wasn’t as accepted as the normal jaguars. He was, also, probably hunted just because of that color phase. The male jaguar is very abrupt, but he is the one we must see. Remember, do not think of the twins. We do not want him to know about them, yet. The last cat is a female who is very nice to talk to. I do not know how much power she has, but she is pleasant.” José was explaining what to expect tomorrow.
“Max, I guess I am just not ready to accept the uniqueness of my son,” Jesse stated. “I never had to grow up with dodging FBI and other alien hunters so I still only think of a normal life.”
Esteban looked at Jesse asked, “What is so great about normal. Your son has the intelligence you gave him along with his mamma’s genes from ‘out of this world.’ He also has a lot of the spirits of the forest who protected his mamma.”
Jesse thought and then, said, “I guess I am just not prepared for the strange things that can happen to my son. Will I know what to do?”
Isabel spoke up. “Jesse, children from a barrio in Roswell do not go to Harvard. Growing up in the neighborhood, you should have seen that you were going much further in education than many of your peers.”
“There is something within you that is driven. Your parents, the environment where you grow up, your teachers or something caused you to work hard and excel,” Liz said. Liz was thinking that all of them had drives which had taken them far from their childhood. Even she was not sure what all of these drives were.
That evening, the adults discussed the difficulty in raising bright children. The children discussed the meeting of whatever spirit resided in the cats that they were to see.
It rained that night. Back home with that much rain, there would have been sirens blaring and flood warnings. Here, it was just a normal rain. The Bio-Park back home was big to the children from Roswell. Here, the Zoological Park was practically a college campus. There were the exhibits. Then, there were the indoor exhibits arranged for the animals that did not tolerate the colder weather in the northeastern coast of the United States. There were the laboratories where the animals were cared for and studied. For the southwest, the Bio-Park was progressive, but it, clearly, had a long way to go.
Both Danny and José were impatient to get to the cat exhibit. There was just so much to see that even their impatience was modified by the wonder of it all. To Estelle, there was just more than her mind could comprehend. “Mamma, I want to work with animals in a place like this when I grow up.” Max and Liz were used to things influencing their daughter and they knew that someday, the influence would not fade away but would be her goal. The secret of good parenting, according to Liz, was to offer many influences so the child could, finally, make that lasting choice.
José and Danny were debating whether the insect exhibit or the reptile exhibit would gross out their parents more. Maria stepped in and told a story about once when this huge spider came into the hut she and Michael were sharing. Maria could spin a yarn. She told about seeing the waving legs at the bottom of her open window and then, the head peeking over the sill. She described the mandibles moving back and forth as the spider gathered for a leap from the window ledge. Suddenly, Maria made a crawly motion up the backs of both the boys with her hands and they yelped. Maria had just described the spider leaping onto her bed. Estelle laughed because Maria had captured the attention of both boys to the point of scaring them. “Aunt Maria, don’t most big spiders not have the ability to leap like that. I read that if a tarantula fell very far to the ground, it would break the exoskeleton.”
Maria chuckled, “Probably, but I owed Danny something for making me look at that spider in Albuquerque. And José was just as bad. There were many scary and many dangerous things in the jungle. You had to be careful and check your boots every morning and never put on clothing before shaking it out. Then, during the day, you had to be careful of what was in the path. We got to be pros at living that way when we were there.”
Jose turned to his mom, “Did you see things like that when you were in the jungle?”
Isabel became subdued. “Most of the time that I was in the jungle, I was under the spell of Kivar. I don’t know what was going on around me. During the other part, I was unconscious and cared for by the shaman and of course, I know nothing about that.”
As they proceeded deeper into the park, Liz and Isabel were clutching each other. Finally, Max turned into an outdoor café. Let’s eat and then, I think Liz and Isabel should, maybe, go to the flower exhibit or maybe even go shopping, if they want. Both Liz and Isabel looked at Max with relief. They had held up so far, but it was getting harder with every step closer to the big cat exhibit.
The party was now Jesse and José, Maria and Danny with Max, Estelle and Esteban bringing up the rear. They were now approaching the large carnivore exhibits. You could smell the muskiness of the animals. Danny was struck by the size of all the exhibit areas. They were so much bigger than back home with so much effort to actually make them resemble the wild habitat. They, actually, had a small pride of lions. Danny knew that most big cats were solitary, but there were some like lions and cheetahs, which maintained a family group.
They passed the other cats. Esteban stood in front of each species, and then shook his head. There was nothing of which he was seeking. Finally, they came to the black jaguar. His spirit was just as nasty as usual. When Danny spoke to him, he hissed and spit. When José walked up with Danny, he growled, (What are you doing here? You dare to speak to us.)
Esteban and Estelle walked up. At a sharp word from Esteban, the cat quieted down. Esteban turned to the children and he said in English, “He is nasty because he has been allowed to get away with it too long. In the jungle, that attitude would have been whipped out of him long ago if he wanted to survive.” Then, Esteban started talking to the dark cat. (Before you is the queen of your kind. She was conceived in a woman who had experienced that curse of the cat and defeated it. Her pap is not of this earth and so, also, are her enemies. Accept her or not. She will be the power of all cat spirits.) The other adults, of course, didn’t understand a bit of what Esteban said to the Jaguar. Danny and José knew, sort of, all that he said, but the plainness that Esteban was saying it startled them. Yes, Estelle would be the power that the other children would follow.
When they approached the next area, the old male was waiting for them. He growled, (yes, everything you said, I accept. She is a very small morsel. She wouldn’t even make a single meal.) Then the jaguar quickly said when he saw the frown of all four who understood his speech, (I wouldn’t harm her. I suppose if I did, I would be struck by so much lightening that my hide and whiskers would be singed.) He, then bowed slightly and said, (I accept you, my queen. I give you my entire support for the ordeal you or your children will have in the future.)
Of course, Max, Jesse and Maria only saw the posturing and heard the incomprehensible language that went between the children and the old man with the animals.
Again, the last exhibit was the young female. (There is entirely too much testosterone in those cages. I think that is what you humans call it. I am delighted to meet the little queen. Even though she is still a cub, she is strong and has support from friends and family. I think she will be accepted. I, also, am happy to see the woman warrior who finally killed the false jaguar god. He was creating too many of our kind who were not natural. I know she can’t understand me, but her cub can tell her what I say.) The beautiful cat turned to Estelle. (As you grow and become powerful, you will see that most of us will follow you. Look with your heart close by for companionship. You and your children will be ready to meet the trials which await you.) She growled and chortled in her throat. Esteban and the children understood her perfectly.
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Re: Curse of the Cat mature cc pg 12 ch 22 may 4 2009
keepsmiling7
destinyc
mary mary
paper
Chapter 23
There was a scream, they all turned back from where they had come. There was a group of people crowding the railing. All of them ran toward the sound.
Little Eddie Grover was a brat. His mom, many times, regretted taking him this afternoon. It was just that, with his bad behavior, she avoided doing things with him so many times, that she had just forced herself to accompany him to the zoo. He had run off several times. Susan Grover wished several times that she had him on a leash. She had tried to tell him about the animals, but Eddie wasn’t interested in learning. The lions were just lying down and Eddie wanted them to get up. He had put several rocks in his pockets. He knew that he couldn’t throw that far. Maybe, if he was on the fence, he could hit one of those lazy animals.
The minute his mother was distracted, Eddie went under the rail and up on the fence. He pulled a rock out of his pocket and let it go. Yes, it did hit one of the lions, but Eddie, also, lost his balance. Down he went into the trench. The lion saw the source of its irritation sliding down into the exhibit. Several of the adults had ducked under the rail, but none of them wanted to actually enter the cage. Someone had called the emergency number and the zoo keepers were on their way. They had a tranquilizer gun as well as several high powered rifles. Eddie’s safety was going to depend on how fast they arrived.
The exhibit was built so that the animals couldn’t jump across the ditch with a running leap or leap to the top of the fence from the bottom of the ditch. Getting down where the child was would be no problem. The lions were all at the edge of the ditch all gazing at the little boy who had, in their simple minds, attacked them. No one knew what to do. It was not seen that Esteban, holding onto Estelle and Danny, ducked under the rail. Danny quickly made it over the fence and slid down to the child. Esteban and Estelle stood at the top of the fence and you could hear Esteban shouting in the strange language. (She is the queen of all the cat spirits. She is closest to the spotted ones. Leave the boy alone and do not bring harm to the ‘consort’ of the queen.)
Estelle raised her voice. (The second one is under the protection of the queen. Do not dare to bring harm to him or we will strike you with many bolts of lighting.) The lions were milling around. They were unsure of what they were going to do. Danny stood in front of Eddie. He was demanding that the lions back away. Eddie was still a brat. Later Danny said he was sorry he didn’t just let the lions eat him. Eddie pulled out a rock and prepared to throw it at the big cats. Estelle called out in the strange language and Danny turned. He saw Eddie draw back his arm. Danny stepped up to Eddie and struck him right in the face. Eddie sat down crying.
The zoo people quickly arrived. They knew the minute the situation was described to them what had happened. They weren’t prepared to see one little boy sitting at the bottom of the trench crying, holding his bleeding mouth and the dark shaman holding the dark haired little girl in his arms standing at the top of the fence. The second child standing defiantly facing the lions also confused them. They didn’t know what to do first. The riflemen quickly took sights on the beast. Estelle screamed at them, forgetting they did not understand the language of he cat.
Jesse quickly ran over to the men. Take the little boy out who is sitting. The other boy is with us and is not in danger. Danny was still standing with his arms upraised. The cats were all looking at him and ignoring the crying child behind. One of the keepers quickly strapped on a harness and over the fence he went. He grabbed the child in the bottom of the trench and he was pulled up. As soon as Eddie was safely handed off, the man returned for Danny. He was talking to Danny and Danny was shaking his head. Finally, he handed one end of the rope, which was fastened to his harness and he signaled for them to pull him up. Danny was brought up, but he wasn’t in any ones arms.
At the top as soon as he was over the fence, Danny turned to the lions, (I thank you for sparing the foolish one. He is stupid and will be killed by something else, but the spirit of the cats will not be what does it.) The lions all roared at once.
Estelle waved both of her arms, (May the cat spirits all be blessed,) she called.
Outside the fence, the mother of Eddie was furious. “Your child struck my boy. I am going to sue you.”
This was a threat that Jesse should have answered, but José was there first. “Your foolish son endangered the life of the queen and her consort. If you do not wish curses beyond imagination to be brought down on you, take you child and leave.” It was the way he said it. The crowd was silent. Then, they cheered. The woman, red faced, grabbed the still squalling Eddie and fled.
The head zookeeper turned to Danny, “That was a brave thing you did, but it was foolish. There could have been two children hurt instead of just one.”
Danny looked at him, “They wouldn’t hurt me, especially, in front of the queen.” Danny indicated Estelle still in Esteban’s arms. Esteban carefully put her down and the head keeper looked at the small girl with the green eyes. As the party walked again past the jaguar exhibit, the keeper heard a strange growling and he heard both boys and the girl calling out to the cats in a very strange language. Oh well, at least he didn’t have to put down and kill one of his cats because someone raised a problem child.
This was the story shown in the next morning paper, which the girls, Robyn and Julie, had read. The paper wrote it up as hysteria or just hype. Robyn just remembered the little boy who said the jaguar was his friend.
Once again, Esteban told Max. “I will meet you somewhere later.” He pulled out the cell phone they had given him, tapping it significantly. “I will talk long and hard with my brothers. I will call you when I am through.” The children and three remaining adults proceeded to the rest of the exhibits.
Well, they had visited another group of cats. Max wasn’t sure what was going on. The children and Esteban all talked like the jaguars had been in communication with them. Max remembered the times when Liz faced her transformation. She had faced a dulling of wit and a curtain pulled down clouding reason. Esteban had trouble explaining the concept, as would anyone who was so close, that not understanding was unthinkable. Esteban had grown since he came to live with the Evans and care for the head. The simplicity, he knew in the forest, was suppressed by the things he saw in the cities. Esteban, also, saw that as his mind grew, so did the complexity of the spirits controlling the jaguars.
Max was musing while talking to Esteban. “When I was in the cage, Liz as a cat, saw almost nothing that could translate to what you say comes from the jaguars. Why was her mind so simple?”
Esteban sat for many minutes. To him, the answer was obvious, but he needed to tell his friend in a way he could understand. “When you held the cat in the cage, she was filled with your spirit. That is what always brought her back. The jaguars we visited do not think any more than did Liz at those times. There is nothing to keep the spirits away from the wild or captive cats. We are not talking to the cats themselves, but to some things behind them.”
“Then, why does it seem that the different jaguars have different personalities?” Max asked.
This was hard for Esteban. The Anglo couldn’t understand what the spirits were. He was still insisting that the spirits were individuals. He just didn’t understand. “The old male we saw in Albuquerque was lonely and bored. The parts of the spirits, who just wanted stimulation from the outer world, collected about him. The Black cat was an outcast. His physical differences, with the others of his kind, produced antagonism. Spirits of rebellion and anger surrounded about him. The male we saw in the place far away was wise. In the wild, he would have always been well fed because he could hunt better than the others. In the cage, he was surrounded by spirits, who felt themselves responsible. The last cat, the young female, was playful. She still had a lot of the kitten in her. She was surrounded by spirits who felt kinship to the children. She, also, was surrounded by spirits who felt that they wanted to be part of some powerful change that was brewing. There is a jaguar spirit, but it has many parts. Not all of the parts are alike.”
Some of this was lost on Max. He turned to his greatest concern, which was the welfare of his daughter and the other children. It bothered him that Estelle was singled out as queen. He questioned, “How would this royalty effect her?" He might better have asked, “How would the royalty effect Danny?”
-----------------------
Special Unit is taking on a new character. It is approaching the question, "What will a woman do to protect her man? Many a man will stand over his woman and protect her with force, but sometimes a woman is asked to do other things when it is her that must be the protector.
destinyc
mary mary
paper
Chapter 23
There was a scream, they all turned back from where they had come. There was a group of people crowding the railing. All of them ran toward the sound.
Little Eddie Grover was a brat. His mom, many times, regretted taking him this afternoon. It was just that, with his bad behavior, she avoided doing things with him so many times, that she had just forced herself to accompany him to the zoo. He had run off several times. Susan Grover wished several times that she had him on a leash. She had tried to tell him about the animals, but Eddie wasn’t interested in learning. The lions were just lying down and Eddie wanted them to get up. He had put several rocks in his pockets. He knew that he couldn’t throw that far. Maybe, if he was on the fence, he could hit one of those lazy animals.
The minute his mother was distracted, Eddie went under the rail and up on the fence. He pulled a rock out of his pocket and let it go. Yes, it did hit one of the lions, but Eddie, also, lost his balance. Down he went into the trench. The lion saw the source of its irritation sliding down into the exhibit. Several of the adults had ducked under the rail, but none of them wanted to actually enter the cage. Someone had called the emergency number and the zoo keepers were on their way. They had a tranquilizer gun as well as several high powered rifles. Eddie’s safety was going to depend on how fast they arrived.
The exhibit was built so that the animals couldn’t jump across the ditch with a running leap or leap to the top of the fence from the bottom of the ditch. Getting down where the child was would be no problem. The lions were all at the edge of the ditch all gazing at the little boy who had, in their simple minds, attacked them. No one knew what to do. It was not seen that Esteban, holding onto Estelle and Danny, ducked under the rail. Danny quickly made it over the fence and slid down to the child. Esteban and Estelle stood at the top of the fence and you could hear Esteban shouting in the strange language. (She is the queen of all the cat spirits. She is closest to the spotted ones. Leave the boy alone and do not bring harm to the ‘consort’ of the queen.)
Estelle raised her voice. (The second one is under the protection of the queen. Do not dare to bring harm to him or we will strike you with many bolts of lighting.) The lions were milling around. They were unsure of what they were going to do. Danny stood in front of Eddie. He was demanding that the lions back away. Eddie was still a brat. Later Danny said he was sorry he didn’t just let the lions eat him. Eddie pulled out a rock and prepared to throw it at the big cats. Estelle called out in the strange language and Danny turned. He saw Eddie draw back his arm. Danny stepped up to Eddie and struck him right in the face. Eddie sat down crying.
The zoo people quickly arrived. They knew the minute the situation was described to them what had happened. They weren’t prepared to see one little boy sitting at the bottom of the trench crying, holding his bleeding mouth and the dark shaman holding the dark haired little girl in his arms standing at the top of the fence. The second child standing defiantly facing the lions also confused them. They didn’t know what to do first. The riflemen quickly took sights on the beast. Estelle screamed at them, forgetting they did not understand the language of he cat.
Jesse quickly ran over to the men. Take the little boy out who is sitting. The other boy is with us and is not in danger. Danny was still standing with his arms upraised. The cats were all looking at him and ignoring the crying child behind. One of the keepers quickly strapped on a harness and over the fence he went. He grabbed the child in the bottom of the trench and he was pulled up. As soon as Eddie was safely handed off, the man returned for Danny. He was talking to Danny and Danny was shaking his head. Finally, he handed one end of the rope, which was fastened to his harness and he signaled for them to pull him up. Danny was brought up, but he wasn’t in any ones arms.
At the top as soon as he was over the fence, Danny turned to the lions, (I thank you for sparing the foolish one. He is stupid and will be killed by something else, but the spirit of the cats will not be what does it.) The lions all roared at once.
Estelle waved both of her arms, (May the cat spirits all be blessed,) she called.
Outside the fence, the mother of Eddie was furious. “Your child struck my boy. I am going to sue you.”
This was a threat that Jesse should have answered, but José was there first. “Your foolish son endangered the life of the queen and her consort. If you do not wish curses beyond imagination to be brought down on you, take you child and leave.” It was the way he said it. The crowd was silent. Then, they cheered. The woman, red faced, grabbed the still squalling Eddie and fled.
The head zookeeper turned to Danny, “That was a brave thing you did, but it was foolish. There could have been two children hurt instead of just one.”
Danny looked at him, “They wouldn’t hurt me, especially, in front of the queen.” Danny indicated Estelle still in Esteban’s arms. Esteban carefully put her down and the head keeper looked at the small girl with the green eyes. As the party walked again past the jaguar exhibit, the keeper heard a strange growling and he heard both boys and the girl calling out to the cats in a very strange language. Oh well, at least he didn’t have to put down and kill one of his cats because someone raised a problem child.
This was the story shown in the next morning paper, which the girls, Robyn and Julie, had read. The paper wrote it up as hysteria or just hype. Robyn just remembered the little boy who said the jaguar was his friend.
Once again, Esteban told Max. “I will meet you somewhere later.” He pulled out the cell phone they had given him, tapping it significantly. “I will talk long and hard with my brothers. I will call you when I am through.” The children and three remaining adults proceeded to the rest of the exhibits.
Well, they had visited another group of cats. Max wasn’t sure what was going on. The children and Esteban all talked like the jaguars had been in communication with them. Max remembered the times when Liz faced her transformation. She had faced a dulling of wit and a curtain pulled down clouding reason. Esteban had trouble explaining the concept, as would anyone who was so close, that not understanding was unthinkable. Esteban had grown since he came to live with the Evans and care for the head. The simplicity, he knew in the forest, was suppressed by the things he saw in the cities. Esteban, also, saw that as his mind grew, so did the complexity of the spirits controlling the jaguars.
Max was musing while talking to Esteban. “When I was in the cage, Liz as a cat, saw almost nothing that could translate to what you say comes from the jaguars. Why was her mind so simple?”
Esteban sat for many minutes. To him, the answer was obvious, but he needed to tell his friend in a way he could understand. “When you held the cat in the cage, she was filled with your spirit. That is what always brought her back. The jaguars we visited do not think any more than did Liz at those times. There is nothing to keep the spirits away from the wild or captive cats. We are not talking to the cats themselves, but to some things behind them.”
“Then, why does it seem that the different jaguars have different personalities?” Max asked.
This was hard for Esteban. The Anglo couldn’t understand what the spirits were. He was still insisting that the spirits were individuals. He just didn’t understand. “The old male we saw in Albuquerque was lonely and bored. The parts of the spirits, who just wanted stimulation from the outer world, collected about him. The Black cat was an outcast. His physical differences, with the others of his kind, produced antagonism. Spirits of rebellion and anger surrounded about him. The male we saw in the place far away was wise. In the wild, he would have always been well fed because he could hunt better than the others. In the cage, he was surrounded by spirits, who felt themselves responsible. The last cat, the young female, was playful. She still had a lot of the kitten in her. She was surrounded by spirits who felt kinship to the children. She, also, was surrounded by spirits who felt that they wanted to be part of some powerful change that was brewing. There is a jaguar spirit, but it has many parts. Not all of the parts are alike.”
Some of this was lost on Max. He turned to his greatest concern, which was the welfare of his daughter and the other children. It bothered him that Estelle was singled out as queen. He questioned, “How would this royalty effect her?" He might better have asked, “How would the royalty effect Danny?”
-----------------------
Special Unit is taking on a new character. It is approaching the question, "What will a woman do to protect her man? Many a man will stand over his woman and protect her with force, but sometimes a woman is asked to do other things when it is her that must be the protector.
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Re: Curse of the Cat mature cc pg 13 ch 23 may 11 2009
Keepsmiling7
destinyc
mary mary
Chapter 24
Middle school is hard. Being separated from the twins and Estelle made it even more difficult. There were some tussles. Jacob was in high school getting the crap kicked out of him for his big mouth, but there were others who wanted to show their dominance on somebody. The lonely kid was fair game.
Danny didn’t go to stand up fighting. He turned every confrontation into a wrestling match. Rolling in the dirt, it was not as easy to see a few sparks or glows which found the nervous systems of the boys intent on hurting him. His uncle Kyle had been very willing to work out with Danny. It took sometime and during this time Danny spent a lot of time in the principal’s office. “Mr. Guerin, if Danny would just try to be friends with these boys, (meaning kiss their ass,) I am sure he would fit in with them and the trouble would be over,” the principal explained.
“Danny wants to be left alone and it is your job to make sure he has that choice,” Michael explained.
The principal drew himself up like a pouting pigeon, “I am not sure that it is my job to take care of misfits,” he spit out.
“Danny is not a misfit! He has as high an academic record as you have in this school. He just demands the freedom to make his own choice of friends or to be free of any friends,” Michael stated, “and not be forced by this,” Michael waved his hands about his head, “peer pressure or what ever you call it.”
Michael and the principal kept having confrontations. Michael was about to, like Danny, just strike out. The problem about Danny was taking care of itself. The pain, induced when Danny had a wrestling hold on his opponent and induced a slight power surge, made fewer and fewer boys want to take him on. The smaller and quieter boys saw this and they began to collect around Danny. The last confrontation Michael had with the principal, he stated, “You see Danny has friends. They are friends of his own choosing. They are friends who will be with him long after those other boys end up in juvenile custody and worse.”
Several girls began to admire Danny because he was a boy who didn’t always revert to fighting, but was not afraid to defend himself or others. Danny was a freshman in high school when the twins made the sixth grade in Roswell middle school. The twins never seemed to have trouble. No one wanted to go to the principal with charges that they were taking hallucinogens.
Back east, José was in an expensive private school. Private schools don’t necessarily have a better class of student, but they do have students attuned to litigation. They avoided physical abuse, but they were willing to use other kinds. Blogs could be one of the cruelest tools young teens could have. Rumors, also, were prevalent and those concerned with image could have a rough time, if they allowed themselves to be singled out.
José was a loaner. This disturbed Jesse greatly. Jesse saw himself as a bon vivant. He had been in the social whirl in Roswell. Sometimes as the token Hispanic, but his personality was so open, soon he was liked and accepted by those in his class. Many of the boys he had known as a child had given into despair and loosing the drive to succeed in the world in which they found themselves, they had gone into gangs. The gangs were promising, fellowship and protection, but for a very high price. Jesse was soon considered one of the leading Latino youths in his class. He, soon, found himself with a scholarship and though he had to work his way through Harvard, he did end up with a law degree; something, that, no one could take away. Some how along the , Jesse forgot some of the challenges he had faced. He forgot the time until he came to the attention of the school officials, the struggles he had endured.
José faced one big struggle. It was not because he was part Hispanic, but a much more serious one. It was because he was quiet and, most of the time he was alone. The worse part was, this was not something that his dad could understand. Jesse was an extrovert and outgoing in all that he did. José was a thinker. Isabel saw that he was a lot like Max. Had she been the one to give her son the genes that led to his loneliness?
There had been one blog, which played the race card. The language had been derogatory at best. When Jesse found out about it, he was furious. His lawyer character wanted to instigate an investigation. José simply said, “Dad, don’t worry about it. It will all blow away and who cared what a bunch of bigoted screwballs write. Jesse stopped because of his son, but he was still angry. It was some time before Jesse learned that the writer of the blog had lost his whole computer to a nasty virus. The disk drive had to be formatted and the machine had to be completely rebuilt. A few days later, there was a warning placed on the blog. This blog contains a deadly virus. Even now your computer may be infected. The complaints to the host of the blog brought it down soon.
The students who considered themselves the social leaders tried to isolate José. It was said that he didn’t fit into their group. This didn’t work. There were way too many parents who had contact with Jesse. They didn’t want to anger him. The more the social swirl excluded José the more he became a magnet for those who felt they, like wise, had not been accepted. Like Danny back in Albuquerque, José became a pole for those who needed to belong and didn’t. It was seen that there were many who had felt slights from the elite.
Let’s face it; middle school is hell. High school was better. The schools in the east were expensive. The parents expected their children to succeed, as if throwing money at a problem would fix it. For many problems, money did fix it. Tutors quickly caught learning problems and repaired them. The competition was stiff and many of the goals were set by José. Now, his dark good looks were stirring many things in many young ladies. His academic excellence kept him at the forefront of the class and Jesse was pleased. He was now seeing himself in his son.
Jesse would tease his son about which girl he was taking out this weekend. José would, invariably, name a different name every time. He came out of his shell a little, but no one could pin him down. Isabel was worried. She, now, saw something of herself that she had not noticed in José. Remembering how she brushed off Alex, Isabel hoped José wouldn’t do the same thing to his soulmate, if he was to meet her. Isabel thought how lucky she had been. They didn’t make ‘em like Jesse very often. She could very easily have been left, even by him, several times. What if Jesse had said, “Enough is enough,” when Isabel was on the road trip running from the FBI? No, Jesse had gotten with Philip and they closed down the “Special Unit.” What if Jesse had believed Max when, even Max had given her up for dead? There was plenty of reason for Jesse to move on. No, Jesse had come to her rescue and that of her family. That character, was what Isabel had hoped for José.
Isabel could now dream that, someday, José would bring home a girl who he had been waiting for and who would wait for him. Isabel wanted for her son, the happiness she had with his father and maybe, a little bit better. After all, in hindsight, there were always things that could have been improved.
For Danny, in public school things were a little different. Taking gifted and Advance Placement classes removed you from the usual student. It was almost like a school within a school. Of course, there was physical education where the cattle were always run together. Then, there were required classes, which most of the students in the advanced classes thought of as, blow off classes. You had to take ‘em, but why study for the obvious?
There were things like music and art which thrilled the soul so high school wasn’t too bad. Michael was thrilled that Danny had done so well. Michael was very smart, but there had been no reason for him to find a drive when he was in school. The best thing he found was Maria. To Michael she was everything. He worried about Danny’s social life, but Michael had never understood his own.
Danny was part of the student tutorial program. That helped him a lot with some of the former students who had shunned him. There were several linemen who owed their eligibility to Danny’s patience as he walked them through Algebra. To His mother, Maria, except for music, school was just to be tolerated. That her son was tutoring and helping others, made her very happy. As a concession for her, Danny played the flute. He was active in other school music programs.
destinyc
mary mary
Chapter 24
Middle school is hard. Being separated from the twins and Estelle made it even more difficult. There were some tussles. Jacob was in high school getting the crap kicked out of him for his big mouth, but there were others who wanted to show their dominance on somebody. The lonely kid was fair game.
Danny didn’t go to stand up fighting. He turned every confrontation into a wrestling match. Rolling in the dirt, it was not as easy to see a few sparks or glows which found the nervous systems of the boys intent on hurting him. His uncle Kyle had been very willing to work out with Danny. It took sometime and during this time Danny spent a lot of time in the principal’s office. “Mr. Guerin, if Danny would just try to be friends with these boys, (meaning kiss their ass,) I am sure he would fit in with them and the trouble would be over,” the principal explained.
“Danny wants to be left alone and it is your job to make sure he has that choice,” Michael explained.
The principal drew himself up like a pouting pigeon, “I am not sure that it is my job to take care of misfits,” he spit out.
“Danny is not a misfit! He has as high an academic record as you have in this school. He just demands the freedom to make his own choice of friends or to be free of any friends,” Michael stated, “and not be forced by this,” Michael waved his hands about his head, “peer pressure or what ever you call it.”
Michael and the principal kept having confrontations. Michael was about to, like Danny, just strike out. The problem about Danny was taking care of itself. The pain, induced when Danny had a wrestling hold on his opponent and induced a slight power surge, made fewer and fewer boys want to take him on. The smaller and quieter boys saw this and they began to collect around Danny. The last confrontation Michael had with the principal, he stated, “You see Danny has friends. They are friends of his own choosing. They are friends who will be with him long after those other boys end up in juvenile custody and worse.”
Several girls began to admire Danny because he was a boy who didn’t always revert to fighting, but was not afraid to defend himself or others. Danny was a freshman in high school when the twins made the sixth grade in Roswell middle school. The twins never seemed to have trouble. No one wanted to go to the principal with charges that they were taking hallucinogens.
Back east, José was in an expensive private school. Private schools don’t necessarily have a better class of student, but they do have students attuned to litigation. They avoided physical abuse, but they were willing to use other kinds. Blogs could be one of the cruelest tools young teens could have. Rumors, also, were prevalent and those concerned with image could have a rough time, if they allowed themselves to be singled out.
José was a loaner. This disturbed Jesse greatly. Jesse saw himself as a bon vivant. He had been in the social whirl in Roswell. Sometimes as the token Hispanic, but his personality was so open, soon he was liked and accepted by those in his class. Many of the boys he had known as a child had given into despair and loosing the drive to succeed in the world in which they found themselves, they had gone into gangs. The gangs were promising, fellowship and protection, but for a very high price. Jesse was soon considered one of the leading Latino youths in his class. He, soon, found himself with a scholarship and though he had to work his way through Harvard, he did end up with a law degree; something, that, no one could take away. Some how along the , Jesse forgot some of the challenges he had faced. He forgot the time until he came to the attention of the school officials, the struggles he had endured.
José faced one big struggle. It was not because he was part Hispanic, but a much more serious one. It was because he was quiet and, most of the time he was alone. The worse part was, this was not something that his dad could understand. Jesse was an extrovert and outgoing in all that he did. José was a thinker. Isabel saw that he was a lot like Max. Had she been the one to give her son the genes that led to his loneliness?
There had been one blog, which played the race card. The language had been derogatory at best. When Jesse found out about it, he was furious. His lawyer character wanted to instigate an investigation. José simply said, “Dad, don’t worry about it. It will all blow away and who cared what a bunch of bigoted screwballs write. Jesse stopped because of his son, but he was still angry. It was some time before Jesse learned that the writer of the blog had lost his whole computer to a nasty virus. The disk drive had to be formatted and the machine had to be completely rebuilt. A few days later, there was a warning placed on the blog. This blog contains a deadly virus. Even now your computer may be infected. The complaints to the host of the blog brought it down soon.
The students who considered themselves the social leaders tried to isolate José. It was said that he didn’t fit into their group. This didn’t work. There were way too many parents who had contact with Jesse. They didn’t want to anger him. The more the social swirl excluded José the more he became a magnet for those who felt they, like wise, had not been accepted. Like Danny back in Albuquerque, José became a pole for those who needed to belong and didn’t. It was seen that there were many who had felt slights from the elite.
Let’s face it; middle school is hell. High school was better. The schools in the east were expensive. The parents expected their children to succeed, as if throwing money at a problem would fix it. For many problems, money did fix it. Tutors quickly caught learning problems and repaired them. The competition was stiff and many of the goals were set by José. Now, his dark good looks were stirring many things in many young ladies. His academic excellence kept him at the forefront of the class and Jesse was pleased. He was now seeing himself in his son.
Jesse would tease his son about which girl he was taking out this weekend. José would, invariably, name a different name every time. He came out of his shell a little, but no one could pin him down. Isabel was worried. She, now, saw something of herself that she had not noticed in José. Remembering how she brushed off Alex, Isabel hoped José wouldn’t do the same thing to his soulmate, if he was to meet her. Isabel thought how lucky she had been. They didn’t make ‘em like Jesse very often. She could very easily have been left, even by him, several times. What if Jesse had said, “Enough is enough,” when Isabel was on the road trip running from the FBI? No, Jesse had gotten with Philip and they closed down the “Special Unit.” What if Jesse had believed Max when, even Max had given her up for dead? There was plenty of reason for Jesse to move on. No, Jesse had come to her rescue and that of her family. That character, was what Isabel had hoped for José.
Isabel could now dream that, someday, José would bring home a girl who he had been waiting for and who would wait for him. Isabel wanted for her son, the happiness she had with his father and maybe, a little bit better. After all, in hindsight, there were always things that could have been improved.
For Danny, in public school things were a little different. Taking gifted and Advance Placement classes removed you from the usual student. It was almost like a school within a school. Of course, there was physical education where the cattle were always run together. Then, there were required classes, which most of the students in the advanced classes thought of as, blow off classes. You had to take ‘em, but why study for the obvious?
There were things like music and art which thrilled the soul so high school wasn’t too bad. Michael was thrilled that Danny had done so well. Michael was very smart, but there had been no reason for him to find a drive when he was in school. The best thing he found was Maria. To Michael she was everything. He worried about Danny’s social life, but Michael had never understood his own.
Danny was part of the student tutorial program. That helped him a lot with some of the former students who had shunned him. There were several linemen who owed their eligibility to Danny’s patience as he walked them through Algebra. To His mother, Maria, except for music, school was just to be tolerated. That her son was tutoring and helping others, made her very happy. As a concession for her, Danny played the flute. He was active in other school music programs.
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Re: Curse of the Cat mature cc pg 13 ch 24 may 17 2009
mary mary
destintc
keepsmiling7
Chapter 25
It was summer. The twins would be in high school next year. Estelle had one more year at their elementary school in the sixth grade. Danny and José juniors now. Next year they would be seniors. Diane Evans had had a bad year. She’d had had a stroke, but, now she seemed to be over it. The result of this stroke to every one was that she was very mortal. Liz had lost both her parents, Maria had lost her mother the consort of Kyle’s dad for many years, this all pointed out that to those who loved Diane, should be cherish every moment, they had with her.
Jesse made arrangements for Isabel and José to spend the summer in Roswell. He would fly in on weekends to be with them but Isabel could help Max taking care of her mother and José could get to better know his grandparents. Jesse’s mother was still alive and José could spend time with her, also. Jesse really wanted his mother to tell José more of their family history. Like many people, Jesse had not listened as well as he should have when he was young. He hoped that his son would be more attentive. Then, he could tell Jesse what Jesse had forgotten. The Ramirez family rented a house near to that of both the Evans families and that of the Valentis and the Guerins. Some of the glitter was washing off the eastern law practice. Jesse was thinking about retiring to Roswell and setting up a practice at a much slower pace.
True, the queen was still young, but this might be a good time for Esteban to further explain the power they had in the spirit of the cat. The Guerins and the Valentis had taken the four young people to see the Jaguar in Albuquerque. Of course the old cat, who housed the spirit, was glad to see them. Even an old cat feels young when surrounded by kittens. Now that he was in high school, José had made many trips to see the jaguars at his Zoological Park. He had found that even the melanistic beast would speak with him and give advice. The old male, who was getting to the end of his life, would talk for hours about the things of the jungle. The young female, who now had mated with the male and had cubs, had never been in the wild. The spirits that collected in her were not worldly. They seemed to José to be a little frivolous. She was more interested in José’s love life. He explained over and over that he was still too young to produce a family. Yes, there was someone special, but he wasn’t telling her. She probably wouldn’t be able to keep a secret.
José was a delight to both his grandmothers. Jesse’s mother would tell José stories of the Hispanic culture. She told the ghost and monster stories along with the famous and romantic histories that occurred in the southwest.
In the afternoons, the five young people would sit at a table in the park, a far distance from everyone. Many times, Esteban would be with them. “I have learned so much since I left the jungle. There we saw spirits in the trees and animals. Now, I think the spirits are all an expression of the same thing. Estelle’s mother has said the mind of the cat was blank and so it is. Animals only think what they need to survive. They eat, they run or fight, they mate and they rest when nothing else presents itself. The spirits behind the cats are rich in what they can say. Shaman are chosen because they are able to see these spirits. Now, there are many who call themselves shaman and have no idea of what the spirits are. You can call yourself anything you choose. There are some in all cultures who can see these spirits. I learned that they don’t always recognize what they see. The men of Jesus who ran the hospital had some who could see a greater being somewhere. The wise ones were never completely sure of what it was. They had their way of expressing it.”
Esteban continued, “You have been touched by both those not of this world, but also the power of he cat, because your families have always helped each other. Where one person shares the power of the cat, it rubs off on those nearby.”
Esteban pointed to the twins. “Your father stood up to the prince of Antar without any alien powers. He was determined to protect his friends.” Esteban next pointed to Danny. “Your mother brought war down on the prince while he was impersonating the spirit of the cat. Everytime she destroyed one of his creations, the spirit became more and more in her.” Pointing to José, “Your mother was a captive of the prince. He stole power from her for so long. When she was wounded and abandoned we preserved her by the use of many spirits of the forest. We did not even know what many of them were. We just wanted to keep her life together until we could capture the prince and put a stop to him.” Esteban, then, looked at José again, “Since we do not know about all the spirits we used, we have no idea of what your powers will be. You inherit the alien powers of your mother, but there will be a lot more than that. We must watch together.”
Esteban looked at all the children. Danny and José were seniors in high school. They would be married in Esteban’s culture and have large families by now. Here, they still had a lot of education to learn. The twins were so full of life, they were just starting high school. True, in Esteban’s world, they would be preparing for marriage. Then, there was Estelle. She was still a little girl in anyone’s world. To her would fall the greatest power and honor along with the responsibility. She would need strong companionship to endure. Esteban knew they would be tested, but he did not know when.
He walked over to Estelle. “Little one, your mother challenged the world of the cat daily for a year. She was brought back to the world of man only by your father’s love. Your father is the king of a far-off world. He left the title, but he cannot leave what is in him. The spirits have chosen you or maybe, cursed you. It depends on how you see it. You will grow to be a powerful woman in your own right. You will need to find a strong mate. You will direct, or your children will direct, the war on the people who hurt your parents.” With that, Esteban left to walk home. He enjoyed walking. It wasn’t as pleasant as the jungle, but there was always so much to see. He could feel the soul of Kivar kicking in the bag he had in the sash about his belly. This talk had infuriated his majesty and Esteban didn’t care. No one asked Kivar to enter the forest. They had enough of their own problems. Kivar had played with them and he had lost big time.
The children remained seated for several minutes. “Well, I guess that kicks being normal in the butt,” Julius stated.
Danny turned to José, “We will be in college soon. We need to keep close contact to each other.”
“We are destined for something and we are all held together by ability and knowledge. We all have to keep in contact,” June stated.
Estelle was almost in tears. “I am not even in mid school and I am given this responsibility. I need help from all of you. I need you to learn and then, bring the learning back to me of ‘what does it mean to be queen’?”
Julius stood up, “Yeah this is a load on all of us. Esteban was telling me the other day that I would be married if I lived at his village. He, also, told me that living here, I had a lot more to learn.” Julius turned, “I will see you later guys. I want some time alone to think.”
June, with a smile way beyond her years, walked over to José. “Come on big guy, take me home. If you are real nice, I will move over to the far side of he car when we get home so my dad won’t try to kick your ass.”
That left Estelle and Danny. “What am I going to do,” Estelle pleaded.
Danny walked over to the little girl. “I promise that I will always be near and when you need help, I will make sure you get it.”
Estelle had flirted with feelings for Danny between boyfriend and brother. Right at that moment, the brother was driven from her mind. She had a lot of growing up to do. She also feared, would he wait? Would he meet someone else before she was grown enough to come to him? The little queen had many things to think about for a long time. She took his hand and he, like leading his little sister, walked with her to his car. If he cooperated, Estelle would change that feeling in time.
The rest of the summer, they spent a lot of time together. They were two high school seniors with their three little cousins. It was seen many times with out any overt movement, that Danny and Estelle were near each other and so were José and June. They always included Julius in everything they did but he more and more, would walk home alone. He wasn’t sure, but he felt that something was driving him further from the tight circle.
Summers were good for the children of the cat because they were all together. José spent most of his time with June. Julius would be at every meeting they had to discuss what was happening to them, but he would leave when the discussion was over. June and José would leave together so that left Danny to take Estelle home. He never treated her other than a little sister. The words when little Eddie tried to become dinner for the lions, seemed to be forgotten. Maybe, he was too young to understand what they meant. Estelle knew what consort of the queen meant and she could only hope Danny would clear his head someday. Whenever she mentioned anything to her mother, Liz would reply, “You are still way too young. If Danny is to be with you, it will work out. You both have a lot of growing up to do first.”
The senior year: Many students feel that they are a lot more important than they really are. Like parents with their first child, seniors fail to realize that they are not the first to achieve that rank. In the east, José was preparing to go to college. He had taken all the classes and tests that were required. This year he would play the lottery which told him if he would be accepted at any of the colleges of his choice. He had the grades and test scores. So did everybody else. who applied. Now he needed the luck.
José dated and indulged in the social life of his class. He seldom dated any girl twice. He liked the girls, but there was something that was missing. Jesse was wealthy. His law practice had paid him richly. That is why Jesse was talking to Isabel about moving back to Roswell as soon as José was out of school.
Lorrie-Anne was, also, wealthy. She had played with most of the senior boys and was popular. This evening, she was José’s date. Lorrie-Anne was the first to tell you that she had no idea of how much money her daddy had. She doubted that he did either. She snuggled up to José as he drove to the palatial Country club. Jesse had played golf there a few times but he just wasn’t that comfortable with the members. “Joey,” she insisted in calling him that, “we can go to the founders party in February and then maybe, the Easter Ball in April.”
José was keeping both hands on the driving wheel. It wasn’t as if he was a worried driver. He felt that he would be safer with his hands not free to roam. With Lorrie-Anne, it was safer for his hands to have an alibi. “Lorrie-Anne, I promised to take you to this dance. I do not make any promises what I will do in the future,” José said.
“But, if you leave it to me, I will convince you to make plans for the future. I never had a boy refuse me,” She said petulantly.
“Now that is not quite true, Lorrie-Anne. If it was so, you would be going with your steady and not riding with me,” Jose stated.
“Oh now, you are bringing up the past and being a spoil-sport.” Lorrie-Anne replied.
Jose just laughed. That was what Lorrie-Anne liked about him. He wasn’t intimidated by anything she said. Well, she would see what she could do. She had him as a date, now, to see how much she could make him dance. Lorrie-Anne knew that José was a gentleman and he would not do anything to hurt her. That was freeing because she had no scruples about what she did to him.
The first item was to show José off. There were many girls who would have madly taken the quiet Latin to any party they could. Lorrie-Ann was just the one who had approached him at the right time and in the right way.
They danced and Lorrie switched partners enough to make her friends jealous. Then, she began to make him hers. José remembered Uncle Max telling how the cat would rub up against him every evening to leave scent markers to tell the world that Max was hers. Jose wondered if Lorrie-Anne had scent glands to leave markers. She hadn’t rubbed her ears against him, yet. Lorrie-Anne led him past the chaperones. Lorrie had been well schooled by her mother. Lorrie didn’t even want to score José as a potential mate. She just wanted to be known as the girl of José’s next year while he was in college. She could find anyone when she decided to settle down. Now, she just wanted a new play toy. “Why, look there, that is Cindy Reece. She is going with that dreadful Scott Bryce. How did she ever fall so low?”
That was the tenor of their conversation the whole evening. She would pick some other girl and begin to tear her down. It was sport for her. José was hoping he could keep from deserting her. That wasn’t his way, but she was a hard dish to take. Here he stood; the son of a great lawyer and the princess of another planet. He was the counsel to the queen of the jaguar spirit. The triteness he saw in his date just made it so difficult.
After the dance, they accompanied several of Lorrie’s friends, the few she hadn’t dissed that evening, to a restaurant. It was seen that the restaurant served the youths liquor, even though they were under-aged. Even Lorrie’s taunting did not make José indulge. He could just imagine what his father would say.
Finally Lorrie-Anne was ready to go home. José drove her, but he wasn’t sure if she was awake or not. When they arrived José had to carry her in. The servants led the way to her bedroom and then, quickly disappeared.
José removed her shoes and then, he went to the door and left. He met a woman in the hall. “Please see to Miss Lorrie; I need to get home. I removed her shoes, but she would probably be more comfortable if you got her out of that dress.” As José left, he didn’t see the servant laughing. The mistress hadn’t been able to capture that boy. He saw her claws and wisely fled. The servant lady had no idea that it wasn’t her claws that the first counsel to the queen of cats feared. It was her banality or boorishness that caused him to flee.
Yes, José dated and Isabel was proud of him. Jesse was proud of him also, but Jesse had a picture of his son breaking many hearts along the way.
The prom was coming up. José was worried. He knew who he wanted to ask, but did he dare. “Mamma, she is someone who I have known a long time. I don’t even know if her father would let me take her to the prom.”
“José, you have always been a gentleman with your dates. Why wouldn’t her father be willing to allow her to go with you?” Isabel said.
“Mamma, she is younger than I am. She is a freshman.” José stated.
“Well, if you acted properly around her, I do not see any reason why her father would not allow it,” Isabel answered.
“Mamma, she is Uncle Kyle’s daughter, June."
destintc
keepsmiling7
Chapter 25
It was summer. The twins would be in high school next year. Estelle had one more year at their elementary school in the sixth grade. Danny and José juniors now. Next year they would be seniors. Diane Evans had had a bad year. She’d had had a stroke, but, now she seemed to be over it. The result of this stroke to every one was that she was very mortal. Liz had lost both her parents, Maria had lost her mother the consort of Kyle’s dad for many years, this all pointed out that to those who loved Diane, should be cherish every moment, they had with her.
Jesse made arrangements for Isabel and José to spend the summer in Roswell. He would fly in on weekends to be with them but Isabel could help Max taking care of her mother and José could get to better know his grandparents. Jesse’s mother was still alive and José could spend time with her, also. Jesse really wanted his mother to tell José more of their family history. Like many people, Jesse had not listened as well as he should have when he was young. He hoped that his son would be more attentive. Then, he could tell Jesse what Jesse had forgotten. The Ramirez family rented a house near to that of both the Evans families and that of the Valentis and the Guerins. Some of the glitter was washing off the eastern law practice. Jesse was thinking about retiring to Roswell and setting up a practice at a much slower pace.
True, the queen was still young, but this might be a good time for Esteban to further explain the power they had in the spirit of the cat. The Guerins and the Valentis had taken the four young people to see the Jaguar in Albuquerque. Of course the old cat, who housed the spirit, was glad to see them. Even an old cat feels young when surrounded by kittens. Now that he was in high school, José had made many trips to see the jaguars at his Zoological Park. He had found that even the melanistic beast would speak with him and give advice. The old male, who was getting to the end of his life, would talk for hours about the things of the jungle. The young female, who now had mated with the male and had cubs, had never been in the wild. The spirits that collected in her were not worldly. They seemed to José to be a little frivolous. She was more interested in José’s love life. He explained over and over that he was still too young to produce a family. Yes, there was someone special, but he wasn’t telling her. She probably wouldn’t be able to keep a secret.
José was a delight to both his grandmothers. Jesse’s mother would tell José stories of the Hispanic culture. She told the ghost and monster stories along with the famous and romantic histories that occurred in the southwest.
In the afternoons, the five young people would sit at a table in the park, a far distance from everyone. Many times, Esteban would be with them. “I have learned so much since I left the jungle. There we saw spirits in the trees and animals. Now, I think the spirits are all an expression of the same thing. Estelle’s mother has said the mind of the cat was blank and so it is. Animals only think what they need to survive. They eat, they run or fight, they mate and they rest when nothing else presents itself. The spirits behind the cats are rich in what they can say. Shaman are chosen because they are able to see these spirits. Now, there are many who call themselves shaman and have no idea of what the spirits are. You can call yourself anything you choose. There are some in all cultures who can see these spirits. I learned that they don’t always recognize what they see. The men of Jesus who ran the hospital had some who could see a greater being somewhere. The wise ones were never completely sure of what it was. They had their way of expressing it.”
Esteban continued, “You have been touched by both those not of this world, but also the power of he cat, because your families have always helped each other. Where one person shares the power of the cat, it rubs off on those nearby.”
Esteban pointed to the twins. “Your father stood up to the prince of Antar without any alien powers. He was determined to protect his friends.” Esteban next pointed to Danny. “Your mother brought war down on the prince while he was impersonating the spirit of the cat. Everytime she destroyed one of his creations, the spirit became more and more in her.” Pointing to José, “Your mother was a captive of the prince. He stole power from her for so long. When she was wounded and abandoned we preserved her by the use of many spirits of the forest. We did not even know what many of them were. We just wanted to keep her life together until we could capture the prince and put a stop to him.” Esteban, then, looked at José again, “Since we do not know about all the spirits we used, we have no idea of what your powers will be. You inherit the alien powers of your mother, but there will be a lot more than that. We must watch together.”
Esteban looked at all the children. Danny and José were seniors in high school. They would be married in Esteban’s culture and have large families by now. Here, they still had a lot of education to learn. The twins were so full of life, they were just starting high school. True, in Esteban’s world, they would be preparing for marriage. Then, there was Estelle. She was still a little girl in anyone’s world. To her would fall the greatest power and honor along with the responsibility. She would need strong companionship to endure. Esteban knew they would be tested, but he did not know when.
He walked over to Estelle. “Little one, your mother challenged the world of the cat daily for a year. She was brought back to the world of man only by your father’s love. Your father is the king of a far-off world. He left the title, but he cannot leave what is in him. The spirits have chosen you or maybe, cursed you. It depends on how you see it. You will grow to be a powerful woman in your own right. You will need to find a strong mate. You will direct, or your children will direct, the war on the people who hurt your parents.” With that, Esteban left to walk home. He enjoyed walking. It wasn’t as pleasant as the jungle, but there was always so much to see. He could feel the soul of Kivar kicking in the bag he had in the sash about his belly. This talk had infuriated his majesty and Esteban didn’t care. No one asked Kivar to enter the forest. They had enough of their own problems. Kivar had played with them and he had lost big time.
The children remained seated for several minutes. “Well, I guess that kicks being normal in the butt,” Julius stated.
Danny turned to José, “We will be in college soon. We need to keep close contact to each other.”
“We are destined for something and we are all held together by ability and knowledge. We all have to keep in contact,” June stated.
Estelle was almost in tears. “I am not even in mid school and I am given this responsibility. I need help from all of you. I need you to learn and then, bring the learning back to me of ‘what does it mean to be queen’?”
Julius stood up, “Yeah this is a load on all of us. Esteban was telling me the other day that I would be married if I lived at his village. He, also, told me that living here, I had a lot more to learn.” Julius turned, “I will see you later guys. I want some time alone to think.”
June, with a smile way beyond her years, walked over to José. “Come on big guy, take me home. If you are real nice, I will move over to the far side of he car when we get home so my dad won’t try to kick your ass.”
That left Estelle and Danny. “What am I going to do,” Estelle pleaded.
Danny walked over to the little girl. “I promise that I will always be near and when you need help, I will make sure you get it.”
Estelle had flirted with feelings for Danny between boyfriend and brother. Right at that moment, the brother was driven from her mind. She had a lot of growing up to do. She also feared, would he wait? Would he meet someone else before she was grown enough to come to him? The little queen had many things to think about for a long time. She took his hand and he, like leading his little sister, walked with her to his car. If he cooperated, Estelle would change that feeling in time.
The rest of the summer, they spent a lot of time together. They were two high school seniors with their three little cousins. It was seen many times with out any overt movement, that Danny and Estelle were near each other and so were José and June. They always included Julius in everything they did but he more and more, would walk home alone. He wasn’t sure, but he felt that something was driving him further from the tight circle.
Summers were good for the children of the cat because they were all together. José spent most of his time with June. Julius would be at every meeting they had to discuss what was happening to them, but he would leave when the discussion was over. June and José would leave together so that left Danny to take Estelle home. He never treated her other than a little sister. The words when little Eddie tried to become dinner for the lions, seemed to be forgotten. Maybe, he was too young to understand what they meant. Estelle knew what consort of the queen meant and she could only hope Danny would clear his head someday. Whenever she mentioned anything to her mother, Liz would reply, “You are still way too young. If Danny is to be with you, it will work out. You both have a lot of growing up to do first.”
The senior year: Many students feel that they are a lot more important than they really are. Like parents with their first child, seniors fail to realize that they are not the first to achieve that rank. In the east, José was preparing to go to college. He had taken all the classes and tests that were required. This year he would play the lottery which told him if he would be accepted at any of the colleges of his choice. He had the grades and test scores. So did everybody else. who applied. Now he needed the luck.
José dated and indulged in the social life of his class. He seldom dated any girl twice. He liked the girls, but there was something that was missing. Jesse was wealthy. His law practice had paid him richly. That is why Jesse was talking to Isabel about moving back to Roswell as soon as José was out of school.
Lorrie-Anne was, also, wealthy. She had played with most of the senior boys and was popular. This evening, she was José’s date. Lorrie-Anne was the first to tell you that she had no idea of how much money her daddy had. She doubted that he did either. She snuggled up to José as he drove to the palatial Country club. Jesse had played golf there a few times but he just wasn’t that comfortable with the members. “Joey,” she insisted in calling him that, “we can go to the founders party in February and then maybe, the Easter Ball in April.”
José was keeping both hands on the driving wheel. It wasn’t as if he was a worried driver. He felt that he would be safer with his hands not free to roam. With Lorrie-Anne, it was safer for his hands to have an alibi. “Lorrie-Anne, I promised to take you to this dance. I do not make any promises what I will do in the future,” José said.
“But, if you leave it to me, I will convince you to make plans for the future. I never had a boy refuse me,” She said petulantly.
“Now that is not quite true, Lorrie-Anne. If it was so, you would be going with your steady and not riding with me,” Jose stated.
“Oh now, you are bringing up the past and being a spoil-sport.” Lorrie-Anne replied.
Jose just laughed. That was what Lorrie-Anne liked about him. He wasn’t intimidated by anything she said. Well, she would see what she could do. She had him as a date, now, to see how much she could make him dance. Lorrie-Anne knew that José was a gentleman and he would not do anything to hurt her. That was freeing because she had no scruples about what she did to him.
The first item was to show José off. There were many girls who would have madly taken the quiet Latin to any party they could. Lorrie-Ann was just the one who had approached him at the right time and in the right way.
They danced and Lorrie switched partners enough to make her friends jealous. Then, she began to make him hers. José remembered Uncle Max telling how the cat would rub up against him every evening to leave scent markers to tell the world that Max was hers. Jose wondered if Lorrie-Anne had scent glands to leave markers. She hadn’t rubbed her ears against him, yet. Lorrie-Anne led him past the chaperones. Lorrie had been well schooled by her mother. Lorrie didn’t even want to score José as a potential mate. She just wanted to be known as the girl of José’s next year while he was in college. She could find anyone when she decided to settle down. Now, she just wanted a new play toy. “Why, look there, that is Cindy Reece. She is going with that dreadful Scott Bryce. How did she ever fall so low?”
That was the tenor of their conversation the whole evening. She would pick some other girl and begin to tear her down. It was sport for her. José was hoping he could keep from deserting her. That wasn’t his way, but she was a hard dish to take. Here he stood; the son of a great lawyer and the princess of another planet. He was the counsel to the queen of the jaguar spirit. The triteness he saw in his date just made it so difficult.
After the dance, they accompanied several of Lorrie’s friends, the few she hadn’t dissed that evening, to a restaurant. It was seen that the restaurant served the youths liquor, even though they were under-aged. Even Lorrie’s taunting did not make José indulge. He could just imagine what his father would say.
Finally Lorrie-Anne was ready to go home. José drove her, but he wasn’t sure if she was awake or not. When they arrived José had to carry her in. The servants led the way to her bedroom and then, quickly disappeared.
José removed her shoes and then, he went to the door and left. He met a woman in the hall. “Please see to Miss Lorrie; I need to get home. I removed her shoes, but she would probably be more comfortable if you got her out of that dress.” As José left, he didn’t see the servant laughing. The mistress hadn’t been able to capture that boy. He saw her claws and wisely fled. The servant lady had no idea that it wasn’t her claws that the first counsel to the queen of cats feared. It was her banality or boorishness that caused him to flee.
Yes, José dated and Isabel was proud of him. Jesse was proud of him also, but Jesse had a picture of his son breaking many hearts along the way.
The prom was coming up. José was worried. He knew who he wanted to ask, but did he dare. “Mamma, she is someone who I have known a long time. I don’t even know if her father would let me take her to the prom.”
“José, you have always been a gentleman with your dates. Why wouldn’t her father be willing to allow her to go with you?” Isabel said.
“Mamma, she is younger than I am. She is a freshman.” José stated.
“Well, if you acted properly around her, I do not see any reason why her father would not allow it,” Isabel answered.
“Mamma, she is Uncle Kyle’s daughter, June."
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Re: Curse of the Cat mature cc pg 13 ch 25 may 25 2009
mary mary
destintc
keepsmiling7
Chapter 26
In Roswell, Estelle was now in the sixth grade. The school had many things that were almost a parody of high school. They had a school dance, but couples were not encouraged. The girls and boys did dress up and there were favorite couples who met and danced together the whole night. There were a lot more boys, who were afraid of girls and thus, didn’t get a chance to hold a beautiful, immature body. They circled the floor of as they gyrated opposite each other, depending on the dance. The idea was that the children could dress up and the few who took advantage of the party, had a good time. Those, who through fright held back, were determined, next time they would step forth and wow the girl of their dreams by their person.
“Oh, Mamma, I went, but I didn’t have a good time. The boys are just so silly,” Estelle said.
“Estelle, they have to grow up. There may have been some boy who will be in your dreams, someday,” Liz told her.
“Mamma, there already is a boy in my dreams. He is older and I do not want to say anything until I am grown up. I just hope he waits for me,” Estelle stated to her mother.
“That is the secret, Estelle, grow up first. Then, you will be free to go after your dreams.” Liz said as she left the room. She didn’t hear Estelle’s last question, “What if Danny finds someone else before I grow up?”
Danny was trying to get through his senior year. He was taking tests and keeping up his grades. He had a few times to date, usually, with some girl in his advanced class. They would date, but she didn’t have any more time than he did from their studies. Nothing was serious. The prom came up. Danny wanted to go. This would be the last remembrance of his senior year. Katherine Schmidt was in his Advanced Placement Calculus class. Danny asked her. She, at first, was surprised. She had worked so hard that she had not much time to notice many of the boys, not that the usual boy in high school would ask her out. What jock would date a girl who’s IQ was higher than the total days he had attended school this year? Katherine looked at Danny. He was her chief rival for class position. Yes, she would be glad to go out with him.
Liz came in. Estelle was lying flat on her stomach crying. “Mamma, Danny asked Katherine Schmidt to the prom. José has been telling us of how dumb some of the girls he has dated were. Katherine is probably going to beat Danny in his grade point average. She is just perfect for him. She is beautiful, smart she just has everything.” Estelle just kept crying.
“Was Danny the boy you said was in your heart?” Liz kindly asked.
“Yes, mamma, I was just hoping he would not have anything serious until I was much older. I was hoping he was in my destiny,” Estelle cried.
Liz stroked her daughter’s hair. “Destiny is a funny thing. When we were in high school, there was a girl who believed she was destined to have your father. She managed to hurt everybody. She broke us up and for a time, I thought I had lost your father. She even convinced me that I was the one who was wrong in wanting to be with Max. Estelle, if Danny is in your destiny you must not hold anything he does before you become of age, against him. You must accept him when the time comes and not worry about what he might have done in the past,” Liz told her.
“Oh, mamma, what do you mean? I am only in middle school. Danny will be in college by the time I graduate. He will have the opportunity to meet many girls. What if he likes them better than he would ever like me?” she sobbed.
“Well, then maybe, it wasn’t destiny and you misread what you saw in him, or maybe, the girls he knows will just prepare him for you,” Liz explained.
“But, if he goes to someone else before I grow up, what then?” Estelle asked.
Estelle, you know that girl who knew your father and wanted to take him away? Well she did for a while. They even had a child together. Fueled by what she thought she could do, she killed one of my friends trying to make your daddy take her back to Antar. We think she was the prince of Antar’s sister. He was that man who hurt us all so much. She was killed and the child was secreted away so it could live a happier life. Your daddy and I have been together ever since. Now, we are sure we are destined for each other.” Liz had just told Estelle a story that, maybe, should have been told earlier. Liz walked to the door. “Be Danny’s friend. Learn all you can and see what fate has in store in the future.”
Liz walked down the hall to their bedroom where Max was waiting. “Your daughter is experiencing her first pain of love,” Liz stated.
Max looked up, “Who, when, what is this about?”
“Estelle is heart broken that Danny has a date for the prom and she is too young to be in contention,” Liz told Max.
“I thought those kids all treated each outer like siblings. I would have thought that would have prevented dating each other,” Max said.
Liz giggled, “Maybe, you better talk to Kyle. I hear he is fit to be tied. José has invited June to go east and be his date to his prom.”
Kyle survived and eventually, José felt he could come back to Roswell to visit.
José was going to attend Cornell University the next fall. Danny would go to Stanford. Katherine Schmidt was going to Europe that summer, but she was also scheduled to attend Stanford.
Jesse bought a house this time. Isabel and José came to Roswell for the summer. Isabel was worrying about José being so far away. “I don’t know what I am going to do. Roswell is just so far away from Boston,” Isabel said.
Diane leaned over and kissed her daughter on the cheek. “Yes, dear, it is very far away.” Finally, Isabel understood how her mother felt with her in the east.
The children hung out together for the summer. Julius felt like a third wheel. He thought he shouldn’t. It was only his sister and José who were pairing up. Estelle was still such a kid. Danny was going away and he had a girl or so Julius thought, at Stanford. He knew that they still had to keep in contact with each other. The cat, Esteban said, needed all of them to be prepared. Julius was now doing more on his own. As a twin, he and June had always been just the two of them. Now, it was clear that June had a boyfriend. She had to be careful because Kyle still did not trust them. Serena had many talks with June. There would be a time when José would be older than 18 and she, June, would still be a minor. If anything happened, the legal problems could be difficult. Serena warned that it wasn’t scandal, but legal problems, that they could face. José would be in college most of the time. June would have to decide how to run her life here at school.
The summer was over and Isabel was alone in the house, at least during the week days. Jesse flew in every weekend and he was working on closing out his business. José was at Cornell and emailing June every night. They also had MSN chat so they stayed in close contact. Danny was at Stanford. He would email Estelle at least once a week. He had visited several of the zoos they had in California and he had talked to the jaguars there. Some of them were like the grouchy old one back east but most were much like the old male in Albuquerque. By the way the old male had died. They all felt a lot of sadness. Esteban told them that they had brought a lot of happiness into his life and now, he would go to be part of the forest.
Philip was still in good health, but his wife’s stroke had worried him. He was now, simply retired, not consulting or anything, just retired. He had a granddaughter to play with and Julius would come by a lot. With Max and Isabel nearby, what more could an old man want.
One night that year, Jim Valenti, the former sheriff, Kyle’s father and substitute father, of all of them at one time or the other, simply did not wake up. It was a blow to Kyle, but things like this were natural. Jim had had a wonderful girl friend and a beautiful daughter-in-law. With his grand-children, that was all he could ask. Going to sleep just freed him from pain. He left no regrets.
Estelle hated mid-school. Not because it was so bad, but it was a barrier she had to overcome on her way to growing up. Danny did mention Katherine sometimes. He had talked with Max about his powers and whether he should share them with Katherine or not. There was not much Max could say. That had to be Danny’s choice. Until he was sure of Katherine, there was a danger. For some reason, Danny never took that step.
Julius, like his dad, had gone out for sports. He was stronger than his dad had been at that age. Also, like his dad, Julius went out for several sports. He wanted to generalize his sports ability. June worked hard in her classes. She and Julius were much better students than their dad had been. Kyle said they took that from their mother.
June had gone to a few school functions with boys, but she made it clear that there was nothing, long-termed, promised. She had a boyfriend and he was understanding, but he meant a lot to her. Most boys didn’t try to push her. She was fun to be with and she was very smart. They wouldn’t play much baseball with her. The bases, as far as she was concerned, were closed.
Julius seemed to not be able to keep a girl for very long. They would date for a month or so, and then, he seemed to loose interest. Jesse was spending more time in Roswell and only going back east for things that were still on going. He would be closed out back there soon. His work in Rowell was picking up. Philip Evans had a good reputation and Jesse had made a lot of friends working for him.
Summer was coming. Serena had another talk with June. She was 16 and José was 19. They had to be careful. If it had been anyone but José, she probably would have been in trouble. José did not want to start out life with Kyle mad at him. Nor did he want to disappoint his parents. During the winter, it was nice to have an email girl. Now, that he was at home, it was more difficult.
Danny came home. Estelle was on pins and needles to ask him about Katherine. He didn’t say anything and she was afraid to ask. Things were like normal. The five all hung out together and they went to see the new Jaguar together. They all missed the old one. They, also, missed Jim and his police stories. The last few years, it was noticed that the same stories were having different endings. That was all right, it just made them more exciting.
Speaking about age and death, Liz one night, asked Max about Esteban. “How old do you reckon Esteban is?”
“I do not know. I thought he was old when we were in the forest, but now, I think he is growing younger.” Max answered.
He is not growing younger; we are just growing older. I think he is staying the same,” Liz stated.
Liz talked to the others and they all had the same impression. Esteban was staying the same as they all aged. He still kept up his appearance and he still, carefully, guarded the bag containing the head.
Hanging out together helped José and June. Otherwise they hung out at the Valentis or the Ramirez place. Estelle was with Danny a lot, but she felt that he still considered her just his little sister. That wasn’t what she wanted. Esteban talked with them a lot. He was telling them about legends and stories from the jungle. To help the children, the adults would set up picnics or trips so the whole bunch could be together. Max and Liz were doing this to help Estelle feel included.
The summer was over. Estelle had no idea what Danny was doing with Katherine. June and José hadn’t gotten in trouble and when they had another summer, she would be 17. Serena frowned. “Seventeen is not a license to go do anything you please.”
June smiled and said, “I know, mom, but when I am 18, we won’t have to worry about the law. We will just have to worry about you and dad.”
Danny and José would be sophomores in college. June and Julius would be juniors in high school and Estelle was in the 8th grade. She would be out of middle school next year.
Julius was known to have the girl of the day. June was known to date but she had a big boyfriend who would be real unhappy if she got hurt. Estelle was that little girl who hung around. With her children around Diane Evans seemed to be doing fine. Philip had a desk at Jesse’s office but he seldom went in. Esteban still hadn’t changed a bit. June went to the prom as a junior. She explained the rules to her date. There seemed to be no problem. Julius was between girls, as usual, so he didn’t bother to even think about the prom. Estelle couldn’t wait to get out of middle school.
Summer came. Again, Danny came home and nothing was said about Katherine. Liz told Estelle that it would be okay to ask Danny if he was seeing someone. Estelle didn’t want to know. She couldn’t imagine someone as wonderful as Danny wouldn’t have a girlfriend. Maybe he was living with someone.
June and José found themselves watched even more. June was talking to Liz. “Doesn’t daddy trust us at all?”
“June, it isn’t about trust. Kyle just doesn’t want you to have the opportunity to get into trouble. After next year, you both will be in college. Then, you can decide what you want to do,” Somehow, it was easier listening to Liz speak than her father.
Summers were falling into a rut. They did almost the same thing as they had done last summer and the summer before that. It was definite that June and José were an item. The twins would be seniors next year. Estelle would, finally, enter high school. The twins would be choosing colleges for next year. For June, is would be Cornell if she could get in. Julius had several chances for athletic scholarships. So far, he hadn’t showed any preferences.
destintc
keepsmiling7
Chapter 26
In Roswell, Estelle was now in the sixth grade. The school had many things that were almost a parody of high school. They had a school dance, but couples were not encouraged. The girls and boys did dress up and there were favorite couples who met and danced together the whole night. There were a lot more boys, who were afraid of girls and thus, didn’t get a chance to hold a beautiful, immature body. They circled the floor of as they gyrated opposite each other, depending on the dance. The idea was that the children could dress up and the few who took advantage of the party, had a good time. Those, who through fright held back, were determined, next time they would step forth and wow the girl of their dreams by their person.
“Oh, Mamma, I went, but I didn’t have a good time. The boys are just so silly,” Estelle said.
“Estelle, they have to grow up. There may have been some boy who will be in your dreams, someday,” Liz told her.
“Mamma, there already is a boy in my dreams. He is older and I do not want to say anything until I am grown up. I just hope he waits for me,” Estelle stated to her mother.
“That is the secret, Estelle, grow up first. Then, you will be free to go after your dreams.” Liz said as she left the room. She didn’t hear Estelle’s last question, “What if Danny finds someone else before I grow up?”
Danny was trying to get through his senior year. He was taking tests and keeping up his grades. He had a few times to date, usually, with some girl in his advanced class. They would date, but she didn’t have any more time than he did from their studies. Nothing was serious. The prom came up. Danny wanted to go. This would be the last remembrance of his senior year. Katherine Schmidt was in his Advanced Placement Calculus class. Danny asked her. She, at first, was surprised. She had worked so hard that she had not much time to notice many of the boys, not that the usual boy in high school would ask her out. What jock would date a girl who’s IQ was higher than the total days he had attended school this year? Katherine looked at Danny. He was her chief rival for class position. Yes, she would be glad to go out with him.
Liz came in. Estelle was lying flat on her stomach crying. “Mamma, Danny asked Katherine Schmidt to the prom. José has been telling us of how dumb some of the girls he has dated were. Katherine is probably going to beat Danny in his grade point average. She is just perfect for him. She is beautiful, smart she just has everything.” Estelle just kept crying.
“Was Danny the boy you said was in your heart?” Liz kindly asked.
“Yes, mamma, I was just hoping he would not have anything serious until I was much older. I was hoping he was in my destiny,” Estelle cried.
Liz stroked her daughter’s hair. “Destiny is a funny thing. When we were in high school, there was a girl who believed she was destined to have your father. She managed to hurt everybody. She broke us up and for a time, I thought I had lost your father. She even convinced me that I was the one who was wrong in wanting to be with Max. Estelle, if Danny is in your destiny you must not hold anything he does before you become of age, against him. You must accept him when the time comes and not worry about what he might have done in the past,” Liz told her.
“Oh, mamma, what do you mean? I am only in middle school. Danny will be in college by the time I graduate. He will have the opportunity to meet many girls. What if he likes them better than he would ever like me?” she sobbed.
“Well, then maybe, it wasn’t destiny and you misread what you saw in him, or maybe, the girls he knows will just prepare him for you,” Liz explained.
“But, if he goes to someone else before I grow up, what then?” Estelle asked.
Estelle, you know that girl who knew your father and wanted to take him away? Well she did for a while. They even had a child together. Fueled by what she thought she could do, she killed one of my friends trying to make your daddy take her back to Antar. We think she was the prince of Antar’s sister. He was that man who hurt us all so much. She was killed and the child was secreted away so it could live a happier life. Your daddy and I have been together ever since. Now, we are sure we are destined for each other.” Liz had just told Estelle a story that, maybe, should have been told earlier. Liz walked to the door. “Be Danny’s friend. Learn all you can and see what fate has in store in the future.”
Liz walked down the hall to their bedroom where Max was waiting. “Your daughter is experiencing her first pain of love,” Liz stated.
Max looked up, “Who, when, what is this about?”
“Estelle is heart broken that Danny has a date for the prom and she is too young to be in contention,” Liz told Max.
“I thought those kids all treated each outer like siblings. I would have thought that would have prevented dating each other,” Max said.
Liz giggled, “Maybe, you better talk to Kyle. I hear he is fit to be tied. José has invited June to go east and be his date to his prom.”
Kyle survived and eventually, José felt he could come back to Roswell to visit.
José was going to attend Cornell University the next fall. Danny would go to Stanford. Katherine Schmidt was going to Europe that summer, but she was also scheduled to attend Stanford.
Jesse bought a house this time. Isabel and José came to Roswell for the summer. Isabel was worrying about José being so far away. “I don’t know what I am going to do. Roswell is just so far away from Boston,” Isabel said.
Diane leaned over and kissed her daughter on the cheek. “Yes, dear, it is very far away.” Finally, Isabel understood how her mother felt with her in the east.
The children hung out together for the summer. Julius felt like a third wheel. He thought he shouldn’t. It was only his sister and José who were pairing up. Estelle was still such a kid. Danny was going away and he had a girl or so Julius thought, at Stanford. He knew that they still had to keep in contact with each other. The cat, Esteban said, needed all of them to be prepared. Julius was now doing more on his own. As a twin, he and June had always been just the two of them. Now, it was clear that June had a boyfriend. She had to be careful because Kyle still did not trust them. Serena had many talks with June. There would be a time when José would be older than 18 and she, June, would still be a minor. If anything happened, the legal problems could be difficult. Serena warned that it wasn’t scandal, but legal problems, that they could face. José would be in college most of the time. June would have to decide how to run her life here at school.
The summer was over and Isabel was alone in the house, at least during the week days. Jesse flew in every weekend and he was working on closing out his business. José was at Cornell and emailing June every night. They also had MSN chat so they stayed in close contact. Danny was at Stanford. He would email Estelle at least once a week. He had visited several of the zoos they had in California and he had talked to the jaguars there. Some of them were like the grouchy old one back east but most were much like the old male in Albuquerque. By the way the old male had died. They all felt a lot of sadness. Esteban told them that they had brought a lot of happiness into his life and now, he would go to be part of the forest.
Philip was still in good health, but his wife’s stroke had worried him. He was now, simply retired, not consulting or anything, just retired. He had a granddaughter to play with and Julius would come by a lot. With Max and Isabel nearby, what more could an old man want.
One night that year, Jim Valenti, the former sheriff, Kyle’s father and substitute father, of all of them at one time or the other, simply did not wake up. It was a blow to Kyle, but things like this were natural. Jim had had a wonderful girl friend and a beautiful daughter-in-law. With his grand-children, that was all he could ask. Going to sleep just freed him from pain. He left no regrets.
Estelle hated mid-school. Not because it was so bad, but it was a barrier she had to overcome on her way to growing up. Danny did mention Katherine sometimes. He had talked with Max about his powers and whether he should share them with Katherine or not. There was not much Max could say. That had to be Danny’s choice. Until he was sure of Katherine, there was a danger. For some reason, Danny never took that step.
Julius, like his dad, had gone out for sports. He was stronger than his dad had been at that age. Also, like his dad, Julius went out for several sports. He wanted to generalize his sports ability. June worked hard in her classes. She and Julius were much better students than their dad had been. Kyle said they took that from their mother.
June had gone to a few school functions with boys, but she made it clear that there was nothing, long-termed, promised. She had a boyfriend and he was understanding, but he meant a lot to her. Most boys didn’t try to push her. She was fun to be with and she was very smart. They wouldn’t play much baseball with her. The bases, as far as she was concerned, were closed.
Julius seemed to not be able to keep a girl for very long. They would date for a month or so, and then, he seemed to loose interest. Jesse was spending more time in Roswell and only going back east for things that were still on going. He would be closed out back there soon. His work in Rowell was picking up. Philip Evans had a good reputation and Jesse had made a lot of friends working for him.
Summer was coming. Serena had another talk with June. She was 16 and José was 19. They had to be careful. If it had been anyone but José, she probably would have been in trouble. José did not want to start out life with Kyle mad at him. Nor did he want to disappoint his parents. During the winter, it was nice to have an email girl. Now, that he was at home, it was more difficult.
Danny came home. Estelle was on pins and needles to ask him about Katherine. He didn’t say anything and she was afraid to ask. Things were like normal. The five all hung out together and they went to see the new Jaguar together. They all missed the old one. They, also, missed Jim and his police stories. The last few years, it was noticed that the same stories were having different endings. That was all right, it just made them more exciting.
Speaking about age and death, Liz one night, asked Max about Esteban. “How old do you reckon Esteban is?”
“I do not know. I thought he was old when we were in the forest, but now, I think he is growing younger.” Max answered.
He is not growing younger; we are just growing older. I think he is staying the same,” Liz stated.
Liz talked to the others and they all had the same impression. Esteban was staying the same as they all aged. He still kept up his appearance and he still, carefully, guarded the bag containing the head.
Hanging out together helped José and June. Otherwise they hung out at the Valentis or the Ramirez place. Estelle was with Danny a lot, but she felt that he still considered her just his little sister. That wasn’t what she wanted. Esteban talked with them a lot. He was telling them about legends and stories from the jungle. To help the children, the adults would set up picnics or trips so the whole bunch could be together. Max and Liz were doing this to help Estelle feel included.
The summer was over. Estelle had no idea what Danny was doing with Katherine. June and José hadn’t gotten in trouble and when they had another summer, she would be 17. Serena frowned. “Seventeen is not a license to go do anything you please.”
June smiled and said, “I know, mom, but when I am 18, we won’t have to worry about the law. We will just have to worry about you and dad.”
Danny and José would be sophomores in college. June and Julius would be juniors in high school and Estelle was in the 8th grade. She would be out of middle school next year.
Julius was known to have the girl of the day. June was known to date but she had a big boyfriend who would be real unhappy if she got hurt. Estelle was that little girl who hung around. With her children around Diane Evans seemed to be doing fine. Philip had a desk at Jesse’s office but he seldom went in. Esteban still hadn’t changed a bit. June went to the prom as a junior. She explained the rules to her date. There seemed to be no problem. Julius was between girls, as usual, so he didn’t bother to even think about the prom. Estelle couldn’t wait to get out of middle school.
Summer came. Again, Danny came home and nothing was said about Katherine. Liz told Estelle that it would be okay to ask Danny if he was seeing someone. Estelle didn’t want to know. She couldn’t imagine someone as wonderful as Danny wouldn’t have a girlfriend. Maybe he was living with someone.
June and José found themselves watched even more. June was talking to Liz. “Doesn’t daddy trust us at all?”
“June, it isn’t about trust. Kyle just doesn’t want you to have the opportunity to get into trouble. After next year, you both will be in college. Then, you can decide what you want to do,” Somehow, it was easier listening to Liz speak than her father.
Summers were falling into a rut. They did almost the same thing as they had done last summer and the summer before that. It was definite that June and José were an item. The twins would be seniors next year. Estelle would, finally, enter high school. The twins would be choosing colleges for next year. For June, is would be Cornell if she could get in. Julius had several chances for athletic scholarships. So far, he hadn’t showed any preferences.
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Re: Curse of the Cat mature cc pg 14 ch 26 June 1 2009
mary mary
destinyc
keepsmiling7
Chapter 27
Julius had met an interesting girl. Her name was Antonia Mendoza. Her father had come to Roswell to work at the extension college there. She was a small girl. To Julius, she reminded him of Aunty Liz. He remembered some stories his father had told about Liz when he was going with her as a freshman. Antonia had raven black hair. She wore it long and when she was on the girl’s track, Julius would watch her, that hair streaming back as she ran down the track. She was just marvelous. She had been shy at first, about going with Julius. She, frankly, told him that his reputation didn’t do him much justice. “I am not going to be someone’s Latin girl of the month,” she decreed.
That surprised Julius because he had never heard one’s ethnicity used as a label in that way. A touch of humor from his old man rose up in Julius. “How about being my Latina girl for our senior year?” he responded.
Usually, when she faced an Anglo boy with that statement, they became all flustered. Julius had met her bitter comment with a straight forward answer. Antonia was curious. “I have five brothers so no funny stuff,” she told him.
“I have a sister, three cousins and my best friend is a ‘brujo’” he came back.
“Do you even know what a brujo is?” she questioned.
“Course I do. If you come over for supper sometime, I will introduce you to Esteban. He is a shaman from the Amazon.” Julius told her.
The ice was broken. Antonia conceded that the three cousins and a brujo probably trumped her five brothers, so they spent the rest of the lunch period just talking. Like Kyle, his father, Julius was into team sports while Antonia was more invested into individual sports. She explained that when running she was not aware of anyone else on the track. Antonia explained that she had gone to elementary school in Española, New Mexico. Julius knew that was a town up north, probably near Claudio Alvarez’s home. By the end of the day and several chance meetings in the hall, Antonia had agreed to go to a movie Saturday night with Julius. She gave him her address and Julius said he would be there about 8:00 Saturday night. Antonia felt that she had played a wild card on their relationship. Meeting her at her house, Julius would have to pass inspection by her father and at least three of her brothers. If they knew anything about Julius, all five brothers would probably be there.
June would soon be on her computer. She would be burning up the chat line with José back in New York. She was surprised to see that Julius was being meticulous about his choice of clothes for his date. “Someone in particular, Julius?” she asked
Julius looked up. “This one is a lot different. I am thinking of inviting her to dinner sometime. I will ask Aunty Liz about it,” Julius responded.
“Oh, my, inviting a girl to dinner. That is a first for you,” June stated. June continued, “Who is this wonderful girl?”
“Drop by lunch Monday and I will introduce you,” Julius told her.
Some of the cyber time was spent talking about Julius’s girl that night. José thought that it was good that Julius finally found someone he really cared about. There was a little speculation about Danny. He wrote, but his emails were very generic. He asked how everyone was and he mentioned some of the things he was doing. José thought that Danny had alluded to going places with some girl, but he couldn’t be sure. Katherine had not been mentioned for about two years now.
They finally, got down to pillow talk. June hoped that if the government was monitoring her emails, the official would be a romantic person. She would hate to have her talk with José monitored by a heartless person.
Antonia was sitting with Julius. He hadn’t been anything like his reputation Saturday night. Antonia was constantly on guard for some move on his part that she wouldn’t like. Julius had just been so funny meeting her family. He had arrived and her little brother met him at the door. The little twirp acted as usual. “Are you here to pick up my sister?” he had asked.
Julius nodded and calmly walked into the living room. Antonia’s father was waiting. His flowing hair was now almost white. His mustache was silver, its tips curling gracefully up. He had to continually curl them. His eyebrows hadn’t changed a bit so they were still jet black. He made a formidable figure. “Come in, young man. Just where do you intend to take my daughter?” he asked Julius.
“We are going to a movie and then, to someplace for coffee and pie or something like that. This is the first time we have gone out, so we have a lot of talking to do,” Julius said.
Federico Mendoza frowned, “Young man, you have quite a reputation of going with a lot of girls.”
“That is because I haven’t found the girl I am looking for, yet,” Julius answered him.
Antonia’s oldest brother, Carlos came in the room. He was in track at the extension college. “Just don’t play too loose with our sister. If you hurt her, you will have to answer to all of us.”
Julius looked him straight in the eye, “I am not in the habit of hurting anyone without reason. Antonia and I may have many things in common. I will not do anything to hurt her, nor will I allow anything else to hurt her, either.”
Carlos felt that Julius was just a bit too sure of himself, “Don’t make guarantees you can’t back up,” he stated.
“Oh, family Mendoza have no fear. I can back up anything I say. Your sister/daughter will be safe with me.” Julius gave the little smirk his father was so known for.
That was two nights ago. Now, Antonia was sitting with what might be her new boyfriend eating lunch. When she got home, her father only said, “He is very sure of himself.”
“Yes, I know papa. His whole family is known for being sure of themselves,” Antonia stated.
A blonde girl walked up to Julius and Antonia. “Hi, I am June, Julius’s twin sister,” she stated.
Antonia could see a lot of resemblence. They had the same bright blue eyes, and watching them they had a lot of gestures that were very similar. “You are in the Advance Placement Calculus class, aren’t you? Antonia said. “My math wasn’t quite good enough to get into that class. I hope I will be ready for it when I get to college.”
June laughed, “Math is easy for both of us. I guess we are flukes. Our daddy barely got through his math classes in high school. He is a teacher at the other high school, he and mamma, also. He teaches Physical education and health while she teaches English.”
“Julius didn’t mention that. He said that there was a Mr. and Mrs. Evans who were almost like grandparents to you. He said your real grandfather on your father’s side was dead. He didn’t say much about those from your mother’s family,” Antonia informed her.
June shook her head, “Grandma Troy’s family is a little more difficult to get along with. They don’t approve of us too much.”
Antonia frowned, “Why is that? I don’t see anything about the two of you that is different.”
June made a face, which she thought might be frightening, “Didn’t Julius tell you. We are witches; we can do things.”
After she left June wondered why she did that. Julius needed a steady girl and that one looked like she was smart and not a bubble head. Sometimes, June didn’t completely think things through. She thought then, and really felt bad. Was she jealous that Julius might now have someone who could take him away from her? Julius had never said anything about José, but then José was part of the family.
“What was that all about?” Antonia asked.
Julius look a little sheepish, “I don’t know. She said some things that you didn’t need to know yet.”
Antonia looked at Julius, “What do you mean yet? I thought we said we were going to be upfront with each other.”
“Yeah, but sometimes things have to be revealed in order to be understood.? Julius stood up. Look, I will see you after practice if you want. Until then, why don’t you just think about it.” Julius left to seek out his sister. Whatever had gotten into her mind?
June was sitting on the bottom step of the up stairway. She was looking very glum. “Okay, sis, what was that all about? You never blindsided me like that before,” Julius said.
June hung her head, “I don’t know. It just came out. It was like she was stealing you away or something.”
“I never said anything about you going with José. Why pick on me?” Julius asked.
“José is part of us. I never thought of him taking me away from the rest of you,” June sobbed.
“You never said anything about the other girls I dated. If I remember it was you once who said I should settle down. You said that it was the many girls I was facing that would bring trouble to us,” Julius declared.”
“There was just something about that girl. She wasn’t like the others. I think she is stronger than the other girls you have gone with. I think she might have the power to take you away.” June looked up at her brother, “All I could think of was a half truth that I thought might scare her off.”
“Or, to push her curiosity faster than I am willing to deal with,” Julius stated.
It was football season. Practice was hard today. Julius took everything out on the defensive team. Coach thought he was seeing the making of a future “superbowl,” player. They broke for practice and hit the showers. “Hey, Valenti, we know you want to make it in a top ten college but take it easy on your team mates,” was the call.
“Sorry, guys, I don’t know what got into me. Things just got a little intense today. Maybe, I forgot this was just practice,” Julius answered.
“Could it have anything to do with a certain ‘brown-eyed’ song bird waiting on the benches for you?” the question was asked.
Leaving the field and returning to the showers, Julius hadn’t looked either direction. Apparently, his teammates hadn’t been that blinded. They all knew Julius as a guy who never lost his head over a girl. They also knew that most of his girls hadn’t had that much substance. Since she was in girls track, many of the boys knew Antonia. They knew that going with her had to be serious. It better be serious since you faced her father and brothers.
Julius hurried and dressed. Walking out, he was met by Antonia. “I wasn’t sure you would be here,” he stated.
“Actually, I think June was more like my brothers and father. She was protecting something she feared loosing,” Antonia told him. “With your reputation, I don’t know why she was worried about the first date. You have had more first dates than most boys your age and they haven’t gone very far.”
“I think June sees more depth in you than she has seen in other girls I dated,” Julius said.
“Doesn’t she have a boyfriend? I understand she always tells boys she dates that they can’t expect anything more than this one time,” Antonia stated.
“Yes, but José is part of the family. We all grew up together. It was expected for her to pair up with him. We are not blood related, but we have know each other all our lives.” Julius said.
“José, is he Hispanic?” Antonia asked.
“Yes, he lives in New York and goes to Cornell University. His mother and father have recently moved back to Roswell,” Julius explained.
“What is his mother like?” Antonia asked.
“Oh, she is hard to explain. I guess you might say she was out of this world.” Julius left it there for now. If things went further with Antonia she would meet Aunt Isabel soon.
Lunches, hallway meetings and walking home after practice was the progress of Julius and Antonia. They were going to a school pep rally Saturday afternoon. Usually, June would be there, but Julius noticed she was absent. The relationship with his sister had been cool since she had met Antonia.
Antonia’s brothers all told her they had their eye on that Anglo boy. One miss step and they would be all over him. Finally, Antonia told them. “Look, I know you want to take care of me, but don’t antagonize Julius. He is a good boy and there is a lot more to him than you understand.”
destinyc
keepsmiling7
Chapter 27
Julius had met an interesting girl. Her name was Antonia Mendoza. Her father had come to Roswell to work at the extension college there. She was a small girl. To Julius, she reminded him of Aunty Liz. He remembered some stories his father had told about Liz when he was going with her as a freshman. Antonia had raven black hair. She wore it long and when she was on the girl’s track, Julius would watch her, that hair streaming back as she ran down the track. She was just marvelous. She had been shy at first, about going with Julius. She, frankly, told him that his reputation didn’t do him much justice. “I am not going to be someone’s Latin girl of the month,” she decreed.
That surprised Julius because he had never heard one’s ethnicity used as a label in that way. A touch of humor from his old man rose up in Julius. “How about being my Latina girl for our senior year?” he responded.
Usually, when she faced an Anglo boy with that statement, they became all flustered. Julius had met her bitter comment with a straight forward answer. Antonia was curious. “I have five brothers so no funny stuff,” she told him.
“I have a sister, three cousins and my best friend is a ‘brujo’” he came back.
“Do you even know what a brujo is?” she questioned.
“Course I do. If you come over for supper sometime, I will introduce you to Esteban. He is a shaman from the Amazon.” Julius told her.
The ice was broken. Antonia conceded that the three cousins and a brujo probably trumped her five brothers, so they spent the rest of the lunch period just talking. Like Kyle, his father, Julius was into team sports while Antonia was more invested into individual sports. She explained that when running she was not aware of anyone else on the track. Antonia explained that she had gone to elementary school in Española, New Mexico. Julius knew that was a town up north, probably near Claudio Alvarez’s home. By the end of the day and several chance meetings in the hall, Antonia had agreed to go to a movie Saturday night with Julius. She gave him her address and Julius said he would be there about 8:00 Saturday night. Antonia felt that she had played a wild card on their relationship. Meeting her at her house, Julius would have to pass inspection by her father and at least three of her brothers. If they knew anything about Julius, all five brothers would probably be there.
June would soon be on her computer. She would be burning up the chat line with José back in New York. She was surprised to see that Julius was being meticulous about his choice of clothes for his date. “Someone in particular, Julius?” she asked
Julius looked up. “This one is a lot different. I am thinking of inviting her to dinner sometime. I will ask Aunty Liz about it,” Julius responded.
“Oh, my, inviting a girl to dinner. That is a first for you,” June stated. June continued, “Who is this wonderful girl?”
“Drop by lunch Monday and I will introduce you,” Julius told her.
Some of the cyber time was spent talking about Julius’s girl that night. José thought that it was good that Julius finally found someone he really cared about. There was a little speculation about Danny. He wrote, but his emails were very generic. He asked how everyone was and he mentioned some of the things he was doing. José thought that Danny had alluded to going places with some girl, but he couldn’t be sure. Katherine had not been mentioned for about two years now.
They finally, got down to pillow talk. June hoped that if the government was monitoring her emails, the official would be a romantic person. She would hate to have her talk with José monitored by a heartless person.
Antonia was sitting with Julius. He hadn’t been anything like his reputation Saturday night. Antonia was constantly on guard for some move on his part that she wouldn’t like. Julius had just been so funny meeting her family. He had arrived and her little brother met him at the door. The little twirp acted as usual. “Are you here to pick up my sister?” he had asked.
Julius nodded and calmly walked into the living room. Antonia’s father was waiting. His flowing hair was now almost white. His mustache was silver, its tips curling gracefully up. He had to continually curl them. His eyebrows hadn’t changed a bit so they were still jet black. He made a formidable figure. “Come in, young man. Just where do you intend to take my daughter?” he asked Julius.
“We are going to a movie and then, to someplace for coffee and pie or something like that. This is the first time we have gone out, so we have a lot of talking to do,” Julius said.
Federico Mendoza frowned, “Young man, you have quite a reputation of going with a lot of girls.”
“That is because I haven’t found the girl I am looking for, yet,” Julius answered him.
Antonia’s oldest brother, Carlos came in the room. He was in track at the extension college. “Just don’t play too loose with our sister. If you hurt her, you will have to answer to all of us.”
Julius looked him straight in the eye, “I am not in the habit of hurting anyone without reason. Antonia and I may have many things in common. I will not do anything to hurt her, nor will I allow anything else to hurt her, either.”
Carlos felt that Julius was just a bit too sure of himself, “Don’t make guarantees you can’t back up,” he stated.
“Oh, family Mendoza have no fear. I can back up anything I say. Your sister/daughter will be safe with me.” Julius gave the little smirk his father was so known for.
That was two nights ago. Now, Antonia was sitting with what might be her new boyfriend eating lunch. When she got home, her father only said, “He is very sure of himself.”
“Yes, I know papa. His whole family is known for being sure of themselves,” Antonia stated.
A blonde girl walked up to Julius and Antonia. “Hi, I am June, Julius’s twin sister,” she stated.
Antonia could see a lot of resemblence. They had the same bright blue eyes, and watching them they had a lot of gestures that were very similar. “You are in the Advance Placement Calculus class, aren’t you? Antonia said. “My math wasn’t quite good enough to get into that class. I hope I will be ready for it when I get to college.”
June laughed, “Math is easy for both of us. I guess we are flukes. Our daddy barely got through his math classes in high school. He is a teacher at the other high school, he and mamma, also. He teaches Physical education and health while she teaches English.”
“Julius didn’t mention that. He said that there was a Mr. and Mrs. Evans who were almost like grandparents to you. He said your real grandfather on your father’s side was dead. He didn’t say much about those from your mother’s family,” Antonia informed her.
June shook her head, “Grandma Troy’s family is a little more difficult to get along with. They don’t approve of us too much.”
Antonia frowned, “Why is that? I don’t see anything about the two of you that is different.”
June made a face, which she thought might be frightening, “Didn’t Julius tell you. We are witches; we can do things.”
After she left June wondered why she did that. Julius needed a steady girl and that one looked like she was smart and not a bubble head. Sometimes, June didn’t completely think things through. She thought then, and really felt bad. Was she jealous that Julius might now have someone who could take him away from her? Julius had never said anything about José, but then José was part of the family.
“What was that all about?” Antonia asked.
Julius look a little sheepish, “I don’t know. She said some things that you didn’t need to know yet.”
Antonia looked at Julius, “What do you mean yet? I thought we said we were going to be upfront with each other.”
“Yeah, but sometimes things have to be revealed in order to be understood.? Julius stood up. Look, I will see you after practice if you want. Until then, why don’t you just think about it.” Julius left to seek out his sister. Whatever had gotten into her mind?
June was sitting on the bottom step of the up stairway. She was looking very glum. “Okay, sis, what was that all about? You never blindsided me like that before,” Julius said.
June hung her head, “I don’t know. It just came out. It was like she was stealing you away or something.”
“I never said anything about you going with José. Why pick on me?” Julius asked.
“José is part of us. I never thought of him taking me away from the rest of you,” June sobbed.
“You never said anything about the other girls I dated. If I remember it was you once who said I should settle down. You said that it was the many girls I was facing that would bring trouble to us,” Julius declared.”
“There was just something about that girl. She wasn’t like the others. I think she is stronger than the other girls you have gone with. I think she might have the power to take you away.” June looked up at her brother, “All I could think of was a half truth that I thought might scare her off.”
“Or, to push her curiosity faster than I am willing to deal with,” Julius stated.
It was football season. Practice was hard today. Julius took everything out on the defensive team. Coach thought he was seeing the making of a future “superbowl,” player. They broke for practice and hit the showers. “Hey, Valenti, we know you want to make it in a top ten college but take it easy on your team mates,” was the call.
“Sorry, guys, I don’t know what got into me. Things just got a little intense today. Maybe, I forgot this was just practice,” Julius answered.
“Could it have anything to do with a certain ‘brown-eyed’ song bird waiting on the benches for you?” the question was asked.
Leaving the field and returning to the showers, Julius hadn’t looked either direction. Apparently, his teammates hadn’t been that blinded. They all knew Julius as a guy who never lost his head over a girl. They also knew that most of his girls hadn’t had that much substance. Since she was in girls track, many of the boys knew Antonia. They knew that going with her had to be serious. It better be serious since you faced her father and brothers.
Julius hurried and dressed. Walking out, he was met by Antonia. “I wasn’t sure you would be here,” he stated.
“Actually, I think June was more like my brothers and father. She was protecting something she feared loosing,” Antonia told him. “With your reputation, I don’t know why she was worried about the first date. You have had more first dates than most boys your age and they haven’t gone very far.”
“I think June sees more depth in you than she has seen in other girls I dated,” Julius said.
“Doesn’t she have a boyfriend? I understand she always tells boys she dates that they can’t expect anything more than this one time,” Antonia stated.
“Yes, but José is part of the family. We all grew up together. It was expected for her to pair up with him. We are not blood related, but we have know each other all our lives.” Julius said.
“José, is he Hispanic?” Antonia asked.
“Yes, he lives in New York and goes to Cornell University. His mother and father have recently moved back to Roswell,” Julius explained.
“What is his mother like?” Antonia asked.
“Oh, she is hard to explain. I guess you might say she was out of this world.” Julius left it there for now. If things went further with Antonia she would meet Aunt Isabel soon.
Lunches, hallway meetings and walking home after practice was the progress of Julius and Antonia. They were going to a school pep rally Saturday afternoon. Usually, June would be there, but Julius noticed she was absent. The relationship with his sister had been cool since she had met Antonia.
Antonia’s brothers all told her they had their eye on that Anglo boy. One miss step and they would be all over him. Finally, Antonia told them. “Look, I know you want to take care of me, but don’t antagonize Julius. He is a good boy and there is a lot more to him than you understand.”
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Re: Curse of the Cat mature cc pg 14 ch 27 June 13 2009
destinyc
Chapter 28
Antonia was at her locker. She hadn’t seen Julius yet that morning. That wasn’t too surprising as he had classes in another building. A small freshman girl approached her. Antonia carefully looked at the girl. She had hair almost as dark as did Antonia, but she had the brightest green eyes Antonia had ever seen. “Hi, are you Antonia Mendoza?” she asked.
Antonia nodded.
“I am Estelle Evans. I am part of Julius Valenti’s family, sort of. My mother wants me to invite you to a family dinner, if you would like to come. You can come with Julius. Tell him that queen said it was all right. It will be 6:00, Friday evening,” the little girl said.
Antonia was filled with questions. It was lunch time before she found Julius. “The strangest thing happened this morning. A little freshman girl walked up to me. She said her name was Estelle Evans. She invited me to a family dinner Friday evening. She said I could come with you. Then, she said something really funny. She said to tell you that the queen said it was all right.”
Julius chuckled, “Yes that is about as far as a command as she usually gives. “The queen says it is all right.” If you want to come I will pick you up at about 5:30. That should give us time to get home and still not keep the queen waiting.”
Antonia looked at Julius, “Who is the queen? It is clear that you didn’t know anything about this supper, but you are willing to attend without question.”
Julius sighed, “That is one of the things you should learn about in its proper order. If you are willing to go, I will pick you up. The family is very interesting.
It was just a little before six when Julius and Antonia rang the door bell at the Philip Evans home. They were met by a small dark man with a funny haircut. His face was tattooed with stripes across his cheeks and some design drawn on his forehead. He was wearing slacks and a polo shirt with designs embroidered upon it. His bare feet were encased in sandals made of palm leaves.
“Buenos noches, señorita, señor, please come in” he said.
Julius turned to Antonia, “This is my friend and tutor, Esteban.”
The two youths were ushered into the living room and Julius made the introductions. “Antonia, this is Philip and Diane Evans. They have been like grandparents to us for many years. Then, he went down the line. This is Doctor Max Evans and his wife Liz. They have been close to my family all of my life. Kyle and Serena Valenti are my parents and, of course, you know June, my sometimes, bratty sister.”
June took Antonia’s hands, “We are only witches some of the time.”
This earned her a sharp reprimand from her mother, “June you promised you would behave.”
June looked at her parent and pulled Antonia close to her, “That is okay, mom, Antonia and I are going to be great friends. Just like Aunt Isabel and Aunty Liz did for uncle Max; so we can plan Julius’s life for him.”
Of course, that earned her another reprimand from her mother and several chuckles from Max and Liz. Max leaned over and took both of June’s hands, “Just be more gentle with Julius than my wife and sister were with me.” Now, the whole family was laughing and Julius was blushing slightly.
Then, Julius turned to the little girl standing beside Esteban. “You have already met Estelle. She is the daughter of Uncle Max and Aunty Liz. You might say she is the queen around here.”
Liz spoke up. “Please be seated. If the queen will get herself into the kitchen and help Diane and me, we will have supper on the table in a few minutes.”
Antonia noticed that Estelle quickly went into the kitchen with her mother and grandmother. Estelle guessed that Diane was actually Estelle’s grand mother by the name.
They were all sitting in the living room. Antonia noticed that every one kept looking at the door nervously. Kyle saw her wonder and explained. “Years ago at a dinner just like this one, a man knocked on the door. When I answered it, he hurt all of us and kidnapped Max’s sister. No matter how long ago this was, we still are nervous about the door.”
Julius took over, “There are two more people in our family, Uncle Mike and Aunt Maria. They were here that terrible night. They, along with Aunty Liz and Uncle Max, followed the man who took Aunt Isabel to the Amazon forest and rescued her. They have a son, Danny, who is away at Stanford in California. They are out of town, but maybe, you will meet them someday. My Aunt Maria is a famous singer and song writer. Maybe, you have heard of her, Maria Deluca-Guerin.”
Antonia looked up. Yes, she knew of Maria Deluca. Antonia’s mother had several CDs of Maria singing in Spanish. Antonia remembered one in particular about changing into a bird so you could see ahead what was to come. There was something about a cat, but Antonia couldn’t remember that one, as well.
They were called to dinner. It was roast salmon with a lemon sauce. After dinner, Esteban stood up, “Señorita, do you drink coffee?” he asked.
Antonia had always drunk coffee with the family. She knew of the Anglo tradition that coffee was strictly an adult drink. Her mother had said that was confusing because most Anglos allowed their children to drink ice tea. Coca cola and many other things that had a lot more caffeine than did a cup of coffee.
They were all seated in the living room as Esteban entered with his tray of freshly brewed coffee. This time, he was using China cups as a concession to the occasion. Antonia had to admit this was the smoothest coffee she had ever tasted.
“You ought to have tasted what he brewed in the forest. Maria says it is strictly for the gods. I, honestly, think if he hadn’t come back with us, Maria might have stayed down there,” Liz said as the rest of them laughed.
Antonia was having trouble understanding where Esteban fit in the families she had met. Was he a servant or was he more? Once Julius had referred to him as his tutor.
No secrets were given out that night, but Antonia did meet some of Julius’s family. She wasn’t sure she would describe them as strange, but they were powerful.
As Julius took her home, she asked, “You said Esteban was your tutor, What does he teach you?”
Julius laughed a bit, “Weren’t you listening to June? Esteban is a bona fide Brujo, a witch from the Amazon jungle. He teaches us a type of magic and a language that he says someday we will need.”
“What do you mean magic that you will need? Is something going to happen?” she asked him.
“It has already, several times. Our parents are very strong, but soon, it will fall to just us. We hope to be strong by that time. That is another thing you should learn in its proper time.” Julius kissed her and left her at her door. He waited until he saw her go in. Then, he returned home.
Antonia’s brothers were still out, but her parents were up. They asked about the supper and the family. She told about Esteban, but for some reason she did not tell about what Julius said about him.
Julius walked in the door and found his family still waiting up for him. “How much does this girl mean to you, son?” Kyle asked.
“I don’t know, dad. I just met her and we have been on a few dates. She is a lot better than many of the girls I have gone out with before. I think I should take things slowly. Especially about our family and my place in the world of the cat. She has a lot of questions and I put most of them off until later. I figure if we stay together, there will be plenty of time. If we don’t stay together, she hasn’t learned too much to be a danger to us,” Julius explained.
Up in his room, he had no sooner closed the door, than there was a soft knock. He went to the door. June entered and sat on his bed. “She is the one for you!” she said.
“Just how do you know that with all the trouble you caused with her?” Julius asked.
“Just testing her brother. There is something about her. I do not know what. She is, maybe, more than she seems,” June stated.
“Do you mean that in a good way or a bad way?” he asked.
I think, a good way. You might want to go slow. You need to learn something about her in the mean time. Trust me, my brother, she is probably the one for you.” June left him to get ready for bed. She also left him with many questions about Antonia. He needed answers before he brought her to a Sunday afternoon dinner where they discussed alien and other things with the whole group.
That night, after they had heard their children finally settle into their rooms, Kyle held Serena. “I think our son is settling down. Did you see the way he looked at that girl.”
Serena sighed, “I was always worried that he would grow up to not respect women the way he was dating all the time. He never seemed to find any special person. Now, I am seeing the first glance that my son will be leaving soon and he will belong to someone else.”
Kyle pulled her close. On nights like this, Kyle’s old wounds would give him pain. They were telling him of all the adventures he had with the aliens. Well, if Julius found a woman who would stand by him like Kyle had found, then there was hope for all of them. Kyle was aware that the children would be their protectors in the future. Kyle remembered Philip and Diane Evans when Max and Michael went after those who had kidnapped Isabel.
He had been so lucky to have just met Serena Troy. He had been thinking of how he could get the aliens to accept her as his choice. The tragedy struck and everything fell into its proper place. It was Diane who recognized Serena and first offered acceptance. Kyle was thinking that before he met Liz, he had felt a little like Julius. When he lost Liz, then he had been confused. Later meeting Tess and sharing a home with her, Kyle had many fantasies. Of course, it turned out that Tess was controlling many of these, both for her own amusement and also, to attempt the conquering of King Max. When Tess left, then things had been bleak for Kyle.
All of this went through Kyle’s mind as he lifted Serena’s gown. His hands traveled over her body as she twined her arms around his neck. As Kyle rediscovered Serena’s body, his mind drifted. Had June experienced this wonder with José?
As a father, Kyle wanted his daughter to be pure, but what was more pure than finding your true love. He just hoped they would always be responsible. Now Julius, some of his girls were pretty fast, if you believed the stories that had made it, even across town to Kyle’s school. Kyle could only hope that Julius would someday find that one girl who would anchor him. Now thinking about that raven haired beauty, maybe Julius would find what he needed.
With these thoughts Kyle practiced the same act that had created the children in the first place. They had been made by an act of love and Kyle and Serena enjoyed these acts again.
Chapter 28
Antonia was at her locker. She hadn’t seen Julius yet that morning. That wasn’t too surprising as he had classes in another building. A small freshman girl approached her. Antonia carefully looked at the girl. She had hair almost as dark as did Antonia, but she had the brightest green eyes Antonia had ever seen. “Hi, are you Antonia Mendoza?” she asked.
Antonia nodded.
“I am Estelle Evans. I am part of Julius Valenti’s family, sort of. My mother wants me to invite you to a family dinner, if you would like to come. You can come with Julius. Tell him that queen said it was all right. It will be 6:00, Friday evening,” the little girl said.
Antonia was filled with questions. It was lunch time before she found Julius. “The strangest thing happened this morning. A little freshman girl walked up to me. She said her name was Estelle Evans. She invited me to a family dinner Friday evening. She said I could come with you. Then, she said something really funny. She said to tell you that the queen said it was all right.”
Julius chuckled, “Yes that is about as far as a command as she usually gives. “The queen says it is all right.” If you want to come I will pick you up at about 5:30. That should give us time to get home and still not keep the queen waiting.”
Antonia looked at Julius, “Who is the queen? It is clear that you didn’t know anything about this supper, but you are willing to attend without question.”
Julius sighed, “That is one of the things you should learn about in its proper order. If you are willing to go, I will pick you up. The family is very interesting.
It was just a little before six when Julius and Antonia rang the door bell at the Philip Evans home. They were met by a small dark man with a funny haircut. His face was tattooed with stripes across his cheeks and some design drawn on his forehead. He was wearing slacks and a polo shirt with designs embroidered upon it. His bare feet were encased in sandals made of palm leaves.
“Buenos noches, señorita, señor, please come in” he said.
Julius turned to Antonia, “This is my friend and tutor, Esteban.”
The two youths were ushered into the living room and Julius made the introductions. “Antonia, this is Philip and Diane Evans. They have been like grandparents to us for many years. Then, he went down the line. This is Doctor Max Evans and his wife Liz. They have been close to my family all of my life. Kyle and Serena Valenti are my parents and, of course, you know June, my sometimes, bratty sister.”
June took Antonia’s hands, “We are only witches some of the time.”
This earned her a sharp reprimand from her mother, “June you promised you would behave.”
June looked at her parent and pulled Antonia close to her, “That is okay, mom, Antonia and I are going to be great friends. Just like Aunt Isabel and Aunty Liz did for uncle Max; so we can plan Julius’s life for him.”
Of course, that earned her another reprimand from her mother and several chuckles from Max and Liz. Max leaned over and took both of June’s hands, “Just be more gentle with Julius than my wife and sister were with me.” Now, the whole family was laughing and Julius was blushing slightly.
Then, Julius turned to the little girl standing beside Esteban. “You have already met Estelle. She is the daughter of Uncle Max and Aunty Liz. You might say she is the queen around here.”
Liz spoke up. “Please be seated. If the queen will get herself into the kitchen and help Diane and me, we will have supper on the table in a few minutes.”
Antonia noticed that Estelle quickly went into the kitchen with her mother and grandmother. Estelle guessed that Diane was actually Estelle’s grand mother by the name.
They were all sitting in the living room. Antonia noticed that every one kept looking at the door nervously. Kyle saw her wonder and explained. “Years ago at a dinner just like this one, a man knocked on the door. When I answered it, he hurt all of us and kidnapped Max’s sister. No matter how long ago this was, we still are nervous about the door.”
Julius took over, “There are two more people in our family, Uncle Mike and Aunt Maria. They were here that terrible night. They, along with Aunty Liz and Uncle Max, followed the man who took Aunt Isabel to the Amazon forest and rescued her. They have a son, Danny, who is away at Stanford in California. They are out of town, but maybe, you will meet them someday. My Aunt Maria is a famous singer and song writer. Maybe, you have heard of her, Maria Deluca-Guerin.”
Antonia looked up. Yes, she knew of Maria Deluca. Antonia’s mother had several CDs of Maria singing in Spanish. Antonia remembered one in particular about changing into a bird so you could see ahead what was to come. There was something about a cat, but Antonia couldn’t remember that one, as well.
They were called to dinner. It was roast salmon with a lemon sauce. After dinner, Esteban stood up, “Señorita, do you drink coffee?” he asked.
Antonia had always drunk coffee with the family. She knew of the Anglo tradition that coffee was strictly an adult drink. Her mother had said that was confusing because most Anglos allowed their children to drink ice tea. Coca cola and many other things that had a lot more caffeine than did a cup of coffee.
They were all seated in the living room as Esteban entered with his tray of freshly brewed coffee. This time, he was using China cups as a concession to the occasion. Antonia had to admit this was the smoothest coffee she had ever tasted.
“You ought to have tasted what he brewed in the forest. Maria says it is strictly for the gods. I, honestly, think if he hadn’t come back with us, Maria might have stayed down there,” Liz said as the rest of them laughed.
Antonia was having trouble understanding where Esteban fit in the families she had met. Was he a servant or was he more? Once Julius had referred to him as his tutor.
No secrets were given out that night, but Antonia did meet some of Julius’s family. She wasn’t sure she would describe them as strange, but they were powerful.
As Julius took her home, she asked, “You said Esteban was your tutor, What does he teach you?”
Julius laughed a bit, “Weren’t you listening to June? Esteban is a bona fide Brujo, a witch from the Amazon jungle. He teaches us a type of magic and a language that he says someday we will need.”
“What do you mean magic that you will need? Is something going to happen?” she asked him.
“It has already, several times. Our parents are very strong, but soon, it will fall to just us. We hope to be strong by that time. That is another thing you should learn in its proper time.” Julius kissed her and left her at her door. He waited until he saw her go in. Then, he returned home.
Antonia’s brothers were still out, but her parents were up. They asked about the supper and the family. She told about Esteban, but for some reason she did not tell about what Julius said about him.
Julius walked in the door and found his family still waiting up for him. “How much does this girl mean to you, son?” Kyle asked.
“I don’t know, dad. I just met her and we have been on a few dates. She is a lot better than many of the girls I have gone out with before. I think I should take things slowly. Especially about our family and my place in the world of the cat. She has a lot of questions and I put most of them off until later. I figure if we stay together, there will be plenty of time. If we don’t stay together, she hasn’t learned too much to be a danger to us,” Julius explained.
Up in his room, he had no sooner closed the door, than there was a soft knock. He went to the door. June entered and sat on his bed. “She is the one for you!” she said.
“Just how do you know that with all the trouble you caused with her?” Julius asked.
“Just testing her brother. There is something about her. I do not know what. She is, maybe, more than she seems,” June stated.
“Do you mean that in a good way or a bad way?” he asked.
I think, a good way. You might want to go slow. You need to learn something about her in the mean time. Trust me, my brother, she is probably the one for you.” June left him to get ready for bed. She also left him with many questions about Antonia. He needed answers before he brought her to a Sunday afternoon dinner where they discussed alien and other things with the whole group.
That night, after they had heard their children finally settle into their rooms, Kyle held Serena. “I think our son is settling down. Did you see the way he looked at that girl.”
Serena sighed, “I was always worried that he would grow up to not respect women the way he was dating all the time. He never seemed to find any special person. Now, I am seeing the first glance that my son will be leaving soon and he will belong to someone else.”
Kyle pulled her close. On nights like this, Kyle’s old wounds would give him pain. They were telling him of all the adventures he had with the aliens. Well, if Julius found a woman who would stand by him like Kyle had found, then there was hope for all of them. Kyle was aware that the children would be their protectors in the future. Kyle remembered Philip and Diane Evans when Max and Michael went after those who had kidnapped Isabel.
He had been so lucky to have just met Serena Troy. He had been thinking of how he could get the aliens to accept her as his choice. The tragedy struck and everything fell into its proper place. It was Diane who recognized Serena and first offered acceptance. Kyle was thinking that before he met Liz, he had felt a little like Julius. When he lost Liz, then he had been confused. Later meeting Tess and sharing a home with her, Kyle had many fantasies. Of course, it turned out that Tess was controlling many of these, both for her own amusement and also, to attempt the conquering of King Max. When Tess left, then things had been bleak for Kyle.
All of this went through Kyle’s mind as he lifted Serena’s gown. His hands traveled over her body as she twined her arms around his neck. As Kyle rediscovered Serena’s body, his mind drifted. Had June experienced this wonder with José?
As a father, Kyle wanted his daughter to be pure, but what was more pure than finding your true love. He just hoped they would always be responsible. Now Julius, some of his girls were pretty fast, if you believed the stories that had made it, even across town to Kyle’s school. Kyle could only hope that Julius would someday find that one girl who would anchor him. Now thinking about that raven haired beauty, maybe Julius would find what he needed.
With these thoughts Kyle practiced the same act that had created the children in the first place. They had been made by an act of love and Kyle and Serena enjoyed these acts again.
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Re: Curse of the Cat mature cc pg 14 ch 28 June 16 2009
mary mary
destinyc
Chapter 29
Maria had a letter from Danny. He had included several pictures for his mom. Of course, she quickly brought them over to show Liz and Estelle who was working with her mom. “Here is one of him standing on stage where they presented their study,” Maria said. “And, here is one of him with his date for that night. He says she helped him assemble the project.”
Estelle noticed that Katherine was standing with the team who were working on the project. She didn’t want to ask Aunt Maria anything, but she couldn’t help but wonder who was the girl, the one Maria had said was so helpful, and what did that girl mean to Danny?
Liz didn’t want to say anything when Maria was there. She knew that Estelle was devastated. Later, just before bed, Liz knocked on Estelle’s door. “May I come in?” she asked.
It was obvious that Estelle had been crying. Liz sat with her daughter, the baby she had held so long ago, now almost grown up, but not grown up enough to face the man she loved. “You have to be patient. Whether Danny is the one for you or not is yet to be seen. Danny has to make his own way. He is still part of the group and it may be for him to bring in fresh blood like Julius is called to do. If that is so, then it will be for you also, to search better your heart to find someone to stand with you.”
“Mamma, he promised to stand by me if there was trouble,” she sobbed.
“And stand with you he may, if trouble comes before your are ready for it. Danny knows his responsibilities. What he does in his personal life just might not include you. You have to be prepared for that.” Liz thought about the many years ago when she was trying to convince herself that she would support Max by letting him go to Tess. Liz knew that here on Earth, Max would need her help. Many times, he turned to her even though he was with Tess. Then, Liz remembered the burn when Max told her he had slept with Tess. Even though somewhere in her mind she knew, that was the purpose of dating, to eventually make love and produce a child. It was just that Liz didn’t want to face that moment when Max told her he now had more responsibility toward Tess than he would ever have with her. Yes Liz, could cry herself, later tonight, in sympathy for the plight of her daughter.
As Liz slipped into bed that night with Max, he saw her eyes red. “What’s wrong?” he asked as he put his arm around her.
“It is just that our daughter is facing that her life might not go completely as she wants it to. She is facing, maybe receiving Danny’s support in trouble, but not necessarily his love, otherwise.” Liz explained.
“Are you thinking about another time?” Max softly asked. “A time when I needed your help, but could only see what Tess allowed me to. That was a time when Tess betrayed us, but worse, I betrayed my heart,” Max whispered.
Liz shifted against Max. They had agreed to be open in their feelings long ago. These feelings were so personal she hadn’t ever let herself see them much less explain them to Max. The talk with Estelle tonight had crystallized something in her that had lain dormant for many years. Now she could look back. To Liz, destiny had been served. She was the closest advisor to the king. She was also in possession of the king’s heart. Still, there was a time when the king had exiled her and even her own logic had left her as she tried to move the king toward Tess, Liz’s rival.
June chatted with José. “You wouldn’t believe what I did to my brother. He introduced his girlfriend. This one may be around awhile. Aunty Liz invited her to dinner this Friday. I don’t really know why I feel like I am losing my brother to some other girl. He didn’t ever say anything against you when I told them all that I felt we were to be together.
José wrote back, “You should be careful. If Julius doesn’t find someone, he might face being alone for a long time. Remember, he has to find someone and test them to see if they will accept us and stand by us. Sometimes, I wonder what your father felt when he brought your mother into the family. Let Julius make his own mistakes. He knows how serious it would be if someone found out about us and then, left the family. Danny was wondering about bringing his girl into the family, a couple of years ago. He told me that he just didn’t completely believe she would be with him forever. What about Estelle? Has she got anyone, yet?”
June wrote back, “No, Estelle hasn’t shown any interest in anyone. Of course, we all know of the crush she had on Danny. She may still have it for all I know. Aunt Maria was showing pictures of Danny making a presentation with a team of researchers. I noticed Katherine was on the team and Danny had his arm around some other girl.”
The year progressed. Julius asked Antonia to the prom. As seniors, this was a big thing. the high school frowned on past graduates coming to school functions so José couldn’t come back and go with June. Finally, there was a young man who asked June if she would go with him. “No big deal, I leave for the marines right after graduation, but I would like to go to the prom,” Jack told her.
“So would I and my boyfriend is in college and they won’t let older students come back to school functions. As long as you know all I promise is to accompany you to the prom, I think I will be okay,” June informed him.
Liz told Estelle, “Don’t even think about it. You are still too young to be dating and the prom has a lot of challenges for young people.”
They were all together that summer. June had received admittance to Cornell. Julius took a scholarship at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. It was close and it had the advantage, that Antonia also had a scholarship there. Julius had been very careful what he told Antonia. “My family can do many things, some of them more than others. Aunt Isabel was kidnapped and taken to the Amazon as you know. She was taken there by aliens.”
Julius knew that this would be the big one. Either she would believe him or leave in disgust. That is why Julius put things as he did. If she didn’t believe him, let her think everything he said was a lie and then she wouldn’t want to be with him. Antonia was not gullible, but she had seen pictures of the house when Isabel had been taken. Antonia couldn’t imagine what could do that damage. “What stopped the aliens from taking all of you?” she asked.
Julius shrugged, “Remember, none of us were born yet. First, there was only one alien and second, Uncle Max and Uncle Mike were fighting pretty hard. You see they are pretty strong.”
“But, is pretty strong enough to fight aliens?” Antonia asked.
Julius looked at her, watching for any reaction. “It is if you are an alien, also.”
Antonia leaned back, “Are you telling me you are an alien?”
“No, only Uncle Max, Uncle Mike and Aunt Isabel are aliens. But, the rest of us have been around them so much that we all have alien traits.” Julius told her.
Antonia looked at him, “Do you mean that if I hung around you, I might get alien traits also?”
Julius shrugged, “I don’t know. There is a lot more to it. Aunty Liz was the first to discover the aliens. She was healed of a gunshot wound when she was about 16. She, also, was around Max the most. Aunt Maria has been around Uncle Mike almost as long. He never healed her or anything, but she says she is sure somewhere, something rubbed off onto her. Daddy has been hurt several times. Max has always been there for him. Mom just supports Dad. There is a lot more.”
Antonia sat there thinking, “You associated with aliens which seems to be contagious. What else is there?”
Danny removed his arm from around Antonia. “When Aunt Isabel was kidnapped, it was by an alien enemy. He took her to the Amazon. Uncle Max and Aunty Liz both were ready to follow them to get Aunt Isabel back. Now, Uncle Mike considers himself a soldier. Where ever Max goes, Michael will go. Aunt Maria wouldn’t hear of being left behind. None of them thought she could make it. Aunt Maria bought a rifle and while they were in the Amazon, it was she who killed the alien prince. Esteban had her cut off his head and Esteban keeps the head in a small bag in his belt. The aliens have been back to try to take the head back. That must not be allowed to happen. It is Esteban who trained us from infancy. We all get power from a cat spirit. It is hard to explain, even for Estelle. She is the queen and should ultimately, know everything. This isn’t religion or anything like that. There just are things that modern science doesn’t understand. And, this is one of those. When the four of them were in the Amazon, they were working for a church missionary clinic. Aunty Liz and Aunt Isabel were badly hurt while there. There was something about the cat spirit helping to heal them.”
Julius had waited to tell Antonia all this until they were on the way to meet the rest of the five. He wanted her to have time to think before she went back home. Meeting Danny and José, maybe, she would ask questions they could answer. When he returned her to her home, he wanted Antonia to, at least, understand that this group all believed what Julius had told her. Then, he would just have to see. They all had agreed for him to tell her.
Antonia was worried, “Julius do your people worship this cat spirit or something?” Antonia had been brought up Catholic. She liked Julius, but she had no intention of becoming involved in a cult.
“No, this has nothing to do with religion or philosophy. Aunty Liz is Jewish. Aunt Maria is Catholic. My father studied Buddhism when he was young. I have no idea what he believes now. My mother was an Episcopalian, Uncle Max, Aunt Isabel and Uncle Mike have never answered where they fit in within the earth people’s religions. I asked my father and he just said I should study hard and try to see where I fit in this difficult world. The cat spirit is just something that exists. Esteban even says he doesn’t even think it is strictly part of the family of cats. It is just something that exists and since it knows us, it allows us its power for protection. We can do some mighty strange things. There is no worship involved though.”
That allowed Antonia to relax a little. She had a lot more to learn but she wasn’t about to run screaming down the street like Julius had told her Maria did, when she first found out about the aliens.
destinyc
Chapter 29
Maria had a letter from Danny. He had included several pictures for his mom. Of course, she quickly brought them over to show Liz and Estelle who was working with her mom. “Here is one of him standing on stage where they presented their study,” Maria said. “And, here is one of him with his date for that night. He says she helped him assemble the project.”
Estelle noticed that Katherine was standing with the team who were working on the project. She didn’t want to ask Aunt Maria anything, but she couldn’t help but wonder who was the girl, the one Maria had said was so helpful, and what did that girl mean to Danny?
Liz didn’t want to say anything when Maria was there. She knew that Estelle was devastated. Later, just before bed, Liz knocked on Estelle’s door. “May I come in?” she asked.
It was obvious that Estelle had been crying. Liz sat with her daughter, the baby she had held so long ago, now almost grown up, but not grown up enough to face the man she loved. “You have to be patient. Whether Danny is the one for you or not is yet to be seen. Danny has to make his own way. He is still part of the group and it may be for him to bring in fresh blood like Julius is called to do. If that is so, then it will be for you also, to search better your heart to find someone to stand with you.”
“Mamma, he promised to stand by me if there was trouble,” she sobbed.
“And stand with you he may, if trouble comes before your are ready for it. Danny knows his responsibilities. What he does in his personal life just might not include you. You have to be prepared for that.” Liz thought about the many years ago when she was trying to convince herself that she would support Max by letting him go to Tess. Liz knew that here on Earth, Max would need her help. Many times, he turned to her even though he was with Tess. Then, Liz remembered the burn when Max told her he had slept with Tess. Even though somewhere in her mind she knew, that was the purpose of dating, to eventually make love and produce a child. It was just that Liz didn’t want to face that moment when Max told her he now had more responsibility toward Tess than he would ever have with her. Yes Liz, could cry herself, later tonight, in sympathy for the plight of her daughter.
As Liz slipped into bed that night with Max, he saw her eyes red. “What’s wrong?” he asked as he put his arm around her.
“It is just that our daughter is facing that her life might not go completely as she wants it to. She is facing, maybe receiving Danny’s support in trouble, but not necessarily his love, otherwise.” Liz explained.
“Are you thinking about another time?” Max softly asked. “A time when I needed your help, but could only see what Tess allowed me to. That was a time when Tess betrayed us, but worse, I betrayed my heart,” Max whispered.
Liz shifted against Max. They had agreed to be open in their feelings long ago. These feelings were so personal she hadn’t ever let herself see them much less explain them to Max. The talk with Estelle tonight had crystallized something in her that had lain dormant for many years. Now she could look back. To Liz, destiny had been served. She was the closest advisor to the king. She was also in possession of the king’s heart. Still, there was a time when the king had exiled her and even her own logic had left her as she tried to move the king toward Tess, Liz’s rival.
June chatted with José. “You wouldn’t believe what I did to my brother. He introduced his girlfriend. This one may be around awhile. Aunty Liz invited her to dinner this Friday. I don’t really know why I feel like I am losing my brother to some other girl. He didn’t ever say anything against you when I told them all that I felt we were to be together.
José wrote back, “You should be careful. If Julius doesn’t find someone, he might face being alone for a long time. Remember, he has to find someone and test them to see if they will accept us and stand by us. Sometimes, I wonder what your father felt when he brought your mother into the family. Let Julius make his own mistakes. He knows how serious it would be if someone found out about us and then, left the family. Danny was wondering about bringing his girl into the family, a couple of years ago. He told me that he just didn’t completely believe she would be with him forever. What about Estelle? Has she got anyone, yet?”
June wrote back, “No, Estelle hasn’t shown any interest in anyone. Of course, we all know of the crush she had on Danny. She may still have it for all I know. Aunt Maria was showing pictures of Danny making a presentation with a team of researchers. I noticed Katherine was on the team and Danny had his arm around some other girl.”
The year progressed. Julius asked Antonia to the prom. As seniors, this was a big thing. the high school frowned on past graduates coming to school functions so José couldn’t come back and go with June. Finally, there was a young man who asked June if she would go with him. “No big deal, I leave for the marines right after graduation, but I would like to go to the prom,” Jack told her.
“So would I and my boyfriend is in college and they won’t let older students come back to school functions. As long as you know all I promise is to accompany you to the prom, I think I will be okay,” June informed him.
Liz told Estelle, “Don’t even think about it. You are still too young to be dating and the prom has a lot of challenges for young people.”
They were all together that summer. June had received admittance to Cornell. Julius took a scholarship at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. It was close and it had the advantage, that Antonia also had a scholarship there. Julius had been very careful what he told Antonia. “My family can do many things, some of them more than others. Aunt Isabel was kidnapped and taken to the Amazon as you know. She was taken there by aliens.”
Julius knew that this would be the big one. Either she would believe him or leave in disgust. That is why Julius put things as he did. If she didn’t believe him, let her think everything he said was a lie and then she wouldn’t want to be with him. Antonia was not gullible, but she had seen pictures of the house when Isabel had been taken. Antonia couldn’t imagine what could do that damage. “What stopped the aliens from taking all of you?” she asked.
Julius shrugged, “Remember, none of us were born yet. First, there was only one alien and second, Uncle Max and Uncle Mike were fighting pretty hard. You see they are pretty strong.”
“But, is pretty strong enough to fight aliens?” Antonia asked.
Julius looked at her, watching for any reaction. “It is if you are an alien, also.”
Antonia leaned back, “Are you telling me you are an alien?”
“No, only Uncle Max, Uncle Mike and Aunt Isabel are aliens. But, the rest of us have been around them so much that we all have alien traits.” Julius told her.
Antonia looked at him, “Do you mean that if I hung around you, I might get alien traits also?”
Julius shrugged, “I don’t know. There is a lot more to it. Aunty Liz was the first to discover the aliens. She was healed of a gunshot wound when she was about 16. She, also, was around Max the most. Aunt Maria has been around Uncle Mike almost as long. He never healed her or anything, but she says she is sure somewhere, something rubbed off onto her. Daddy has been hurt several times. Max has always been there for him. Mom just supports Dad. There is a lot more.”
Antonia sat there thinking, “You associated with aliens which seems to be contagious. What else is there?”
Danny removed his arm from around Antonia. “When Aunt Isabel was kidnapped, it was by an alien enemy. He took her to the Amazon. Uncle Max and Aunty Liz both were ready to follow them to get Aunt Isabel back. Now, Uncle Mike considers himself a soldier. Where ever Max goes, Michael will go. Aunt Maria wouldn’t hear of being left behind. None of them thought she could make it. Aunt Maria bought a rifle and while they were in the Amazon, it was she who killed the alien prince. Esteban had her cut off his head and Esteban keeps the head in a small bag in his belt. The aliens have been back to try to take the head back. That must not be allowed to happen. It is Esteban who trained us from infancy. We all get power from a cat spirit. It is hard to explain, even for Estelle. She is the queen and should ultimately, know everything. This isn’t religion or anything like that. There just are things that modern science doesn’t understand. And, this is one of those. When the four of them were in the Amazon, they were working for a church missionary clinic. Aunty Liz and Aunt Isabel were badly hurt while there. There was something about the cat spirit helping to heal them.”
Julius had waited to tell Antonia all this until they were on the way to meet the rest of the five. He wanted her to have time to think before she went back home. Meeting Danny and José, maybe, she would ask questions they could answer. When he returned her to her home, he wanted Antonia to, at least, understand that this group all believed what Julius had told her. Then, he would just have to see. They all had agreed for him to tell her.
Antonia was worried, “Julius do your people worship this cat spirit or something?” Antonia had been brought up Catholic. She liked Julius, but she had no intention of becoming involved in a cult.
“No, this has nothing to do with religion or philosophy. Aunty Liz is Jewish. Aunt Maria is Catholic. My father studied Buddhism when he was young. I have no idea what he believes now. My mother was an Episcopalian, Uncle Max, Aunt Isabel and Uncle Mike have never answered where they fit in within the earth people’s religions. I asked my father and he just said I should study hard and try to see where I fit in this difficult world. The cat spirit is just something that exists. Esteban even says he doesn’t even think it is strictly part of the family of cats. It is just something that exists and since it knows us, it allows us its power for protection. We can do some mighty strange things. There is no worship involved though.”
That allowed Antonia to relax a little. She had a lot more to learn but she wasn’t about to run screaming down the street like Julius had told her Maria did, when she first found out about the aliens.
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Re: Curse of the Cat mature cc pg 15 ch 29 June 22 2009
Smac, Thank you but there are getting to be many more than i any longer want to count.
destinyc
mary mary
keepsmiling7
Chapter 30
When they arrived, Antonia noticed that only the five young people were present. They were at Doctor Evans’ house, but of the elder or younger Evans there was no sight. They were met by Estelle. Estelle had her dark hair in a pony tail and she was wearing Levis, a tee shirt and athletic shoes. Estelle took Antonia’s hand. “I am so glad you were able to come,” she said.
Antonia looked carefully at Estelle. Julius had refered to her as the queen. “Am I supposed to address you as your highness or something?” Antonia asked.
Estelle giggled. “No, just Estelle or Esse if you want. Being queen only means that I will be in the most danger if our enemies ever come again.” Estelle led Antonia to the other people. “Here is Danny. He is the oldest. He is at Stanford in California.” Then they approached one person whom Antonia knew from stories. June was clutched tightly by a tall Hispanic man with large brown eyes. José had those eyes which were the first feature people saw and the one they remembered longest. He briefly took Antonia’s hand.
June spoke up. “I promise to behave tonight. We still have to get together to decide what we want Julius to do with his life.” Antonia smiled, she knew that June was trying to make up for the boorish behavior before.
They all sat around in a circle. “We don’t know what Julius has told you yet, so I guess we just see if you want to ask some questions,” Estelle said.
Before Antonia had a chance to speak Danny spoke up. “I hope you appreciate that these things about us would cause us all a great amount of danger if the wrong people found out about us. When we tell about ourselves, we leave things so ridiculous, that no one will believe us.”
Then José spoke up, “As Julius’s girl, being around us will expose you to many things. Julius says your relationship is serious. Well, we hope so. We hope your relationship is strong for all of our sakes.”
Antonia was starting to get scared. “June spoke up. “We also offer a mutual protection. We always come to each other’s aid.”
Danny said, “You must understand that the alien who kidnapped Aunt Isabel used her to destroy villagers. He was using what some would call magic. To us, it was only alien technology. The alien found something in the jungle of the Amazon that allowed him to turn people into fierce jungle cats. These cats would prey on the people of the jungle. Aunty Liz was one of those who was changed. The shaman of the jungle got her to Uncle Max quickly. They all say that it was his love that always brought Liz back to him. By day, she was Max’s wife and by night she was a fierce cat, a danger to everyone.”
Antonia was incredulous, “You mean like a werewolf?”
Danny looked at her, “Were-cat might be the correct term. But yes, there are some things that science doesn’t answer. My mamma shot the prince of Antar. That is the place where these aliens are from. Liz is protected from whatever caused her to change by the shrunken head that Esteban carries on his belt.”
Antonia noticed that none of the people present gave any hint of a joke or anything. She saw that even Julius was dead serious on this topic. José spoke up, “My mother, Isabel, lay dead for a year. The shaman of the forest kept her in some sort of stasis so that when Aunt Maria killed the prince, she could be brought back to life.”
Estelle spoke up. “Remember that my mother is a trained anthropologist as well as a biologist. My father was doing his internship at the medical school. The people there were not ignorant. They saw things and did things that had no explanation in religion or science. Even with the alien abilities, my father saw things that he didn’t understand.”
That evening, Antonia found her beliefs tested. She and Julius had already talked about being together in college. She knew that he had chosen New Mexico State University because she would be there. He told her that the scholarships were just not that important. In a way, as they went on, Antonia felt she was drowning. Could she run? What would that do to Julius? Was he important enough to her that she wouldn’t want to hurt him? Then, the thought ran through her mind, or Lose him?
It was late when the talks ran down. There was a soft noise from the kitchen and Esteban entered. He had his tray with a pitcher and several cups on it. “Niños (children) it is too late to be drinking coffee. I fixed you all a confection of the forest.” He passed out the cups and poured a coconut confection that none of them had ever tasted. “I cut this out from magazine by a woman named, Martha Stewart. She is sometimes wise woman and she has some ‘cool’ ideas on food and drink.”
Julius took Antonia home that night. Just before he was to walk her to her door, he pulled her to him in a kiss. “I just hope the family wasn’t too much for you. That is the fear we all have. To accept us, you must accept the family. To reject us, we must fear that you would do harm to the family. Realize that none of us do this very often. This is the first time, ever, for me. You are the first person I ever felt I wanted to meet the family.”
Antonia returned the kiss. She had a lot of things to think about, but leaving Julius at this time, wasn’t one of them. He had tried to be truthful and he wasn’t like his reputation when he was with her, at all. She must go in soon. She didn’t want another scene with her brothers coming out to smash the car of a wanna-be boyfriend. It struck her very hard. Julius wasn’t a wanna-be. He was the real thing.
Upstairs in the darken Mendoza house Carlos was looking out the window. “I swear that if I see that car start bouncing, I am going to go down and beat the shit of that gringo.”
Carlos felt a strong hand on his shoulder. “He brought her to her own driveway. I don’t think he would do that if he intended her harm. We may have to trust Antonia on him. He may be the one we have to welcome into our family next.” The white shaggy head of the old man slowly nodded. “We, maybe, will have to trust Antonia.”
Danny was the last to leave the Evans’ home. He was a little afraid to be alone with Estelle too much. She was so young. He knew that when she was in grade school she’d had a crush on him. He was sure that with high school, she was meeting boys of her own age. He wasn’t a pervert. Why did he feel so guilty when they were alone together. He hadn’t felt that way before.
What about Katherine? They had cooled their relationship at school and he was now seeing a girl called Ellen who had helped him in his project. No matter even though both he and Katherine were dating other people, they remained good friends and when there were breakups or misunderstandings with their significant others, they supported each other.
Danny remembered his promise to stand with Estelle if trouble came. He would honor that no matter who he was with. Family was most important. Thinking about Julius, Danny really hadn’t felt compelled to bring anyone to meet the family. He had admitted to others that his family was strange, but he gave no further explanation. He had talked to his father a little about this. He just didn’t feel comfortable telling his love life to his mother. He was sure she would be understanding, but, well, Michael was just easier.
Danny had come home and with a functionary, “Good night,” and he had gone to bed.
Michael was lying in bed with Maria. “Julius brought his girl to the group this evening. We should ask, tomorrow, how the meeting went. Danny said Julius was sure of the girl and he wanted both her acceptance of the family as well as the families acceptance of her.”
Maria giggled, “I just hope they were easier on him than you were on everyone. Remember that you didn’t trust anyone. I always wondered, unless you went to Isabel, were you intending for the three of you to always remain alone?”
“I didn’t know what I wanted. Remember, I was alone. I didn’t trust anyone. Now, we all have many people who support us. I hope the kids are careful, but I think we are safer now to let people in,” Michael said.
Michael turned over and pulled Maria to him. “I worry about Danny. I asked him if he had anyone special? He just answered, I have people to be with, I am just not comfortable bringing them to meet the family.”
Maria said, “There is one who dearly loves Danny, but he is just too old for her. I don’t know what her folks would think if they knew. I was over at Liz’s the other day and I showed them a picture of Danny with his research team. Katherine was in the picture as well as another girl. Poor little Estelle’s face just fell when she saw the picture. I didn’t want to say anything. She is just a freshman in high school and he will soon be a senior in college. If Danny ever noticed her, Max would have a shotgun out and I wouldn’t blame him. She is just too young.”
Michael looked at her, “Let’s be fair. If Danny is almost a senior in college, then Estelle is almost a sophomore in high school. Does that make it sound any better?”
Maria raised up on her elbows to better kiss Michael and then melt in his embrace. “No, and I don’t think it would sound any better to Pappa, Max Evans.” With that, she allowed herself to collapse on Michael’s chest and he ran his hand up under her top. She was wearing baby doll pajamas so he carefully slipped his fingers under the elastic and pulled down the bottoms. Maria kicked them off and they began to explore much traveled ground. To Michael, no matter how many times he traveled this path, he found he still loved the trip.
Jesse had enjoyed coming back to Roswell. His mother was growing old, also. Jesse had always like working for Philip Evans. Even though, at first, Philip wasn’t too happy about Jesse running off with his daughter, Jesse had always thought of Philip as his friend. Isabel needed to spend more time with her family, also. Jesse did miss some of the people he met back in the east. Claudio had become one of his biggest friends.
Jesse thought how his life had finally turned out. Isabel had given him a son, of whom he was very proud. Their life had turned out more than he had ever considered when he first flirted with the, then, just legal girl he met at a picnic. That same son, had told them that he dearly loved June. Kyle had finally settled down and even called Jesse his “primo”. Kyle hadn’t used the term completely correct. Primo meant cousin, but it could also be derogatory, as chump or fool. Jesse decided that Kyle was just trying to show that he accepted the relationship between José and June.
José had told his father that they were all worried about Estelle. She had this terrible crush on Danny, but everyone felt she was just too young for him. As Jesse took Isabel in his arms prior to pulling off her nightgown, he whispered. “You might talk with Estelle sometime. She is about the same age difference to Danny as we are. She might need some cheering up.” Then, his hands were way too busy to allow his mind to think anymore.
The summer flew by. Well, it flew by for everyone except Estelle. She would now be a sophomore in high school. June and José weren’t married yet, but they wrote Estelle that they were just waiting for his graduation. Julius was seen as the constant companion of Antonia. The Mendoza family was trying to accept Julius. He ate at their house as much as he did at the Evans’ home. Antonia had told her brothers to not make her choose between them or Julius. They, finally, got the message. The following summer, the Mendoza family took Julius to Española for the Fourth of July. He was treated to a real rodeo. Now, the small town rodeos are not like the ones you see on TV. Here, you have everyday cowpunchers and young men, sometimes not so young men of the town trying to ride the bucking horses and the recalcitrant bulls. The men roping calves did this for a living on the small family ranches in this area. At first, the blond gringo was subjected to glares by the predominately Hispanic crowd and also, the Anglos who had grown up in this area. One burly cowboy came up to Julius, “Think you could ride one of these, ‘pardner’?” he asked pointing to the bawling bulls in the pen.
“No, Julius, they are just trying to get you hurt!” screamed Antonia. She turned to her brothers, “Stop him. If he gets hurt, I won’t ever speak to you again.”
Carlos spit a stream of tobacco juice in the dirt, “Hermana, (sister) if he wants to try the bull, let him. We have all ridden one at some time in our lives.”
Julius was looking at the beast wondering what he had gotten himself into. Antonia went to the pickup. If Julius got himself hurt, or worse killed she wouldn’t ever talk to her family again. She was mad at them and she was just as mad at Julius, also.
Antonia heard the cheers as she imagined Julius getting on the bull. “Damn all men and boys! Was there really a difference,” she said to herself. There was a cheer and the cheer rose. Antonia kept waiting to hear the cheers turn to cries of anguish. There was an Oh! Call. Then several minutes of complete silence follow by a laughing and cheering. Antonia couldn’t imagine what had happened. Even though she promised herself she wouldn’t go back to the arena, she couldn’t help herself.
As she approached, Carlos, followed by her other brothers, came up to her. Carlos embraced her, “Your boyfriend is muy macho.”
“What happened?” she asked.
Julius had been shown how to grasp the “bull rope”, a braided rope that encircled the bull, and wrap it around his gloved hand. Carlos had winked as he said, “It’s only for eight seconds. You can do it.”
Julius thought of the jaguar spirit, how Esteban said it wasn’t necessarily tied to big cats only. He thought of the old Jaguar he had met in his youth. The old cat had stood for wisdom. Was what Julius was about to do wise? He could only hope so.
Julius eased himself down on the quivering bull. He could feel the power between his legs. He had heard some of he other cowboys describe it in almost sexual terms. Julius wasn’t that experienced, but he wasn’t thinking about sex when he settled on the animal. He knew he had to time it just right.
The gate opened and the bull came out. Bull riding is about balance and luck. Balance so you move with and not against the bull. Luck that the bull doesn’t do something so unexpected that you do not have a chance to keep your balance. Julius was sure seven seconds was coming up. As the animal curved his back in a mighty thrust, Julius let go of the line. He was launched high into the air. He came down in the plowed ground mixed with two days worth of cow shit. The trip down wasn’t that bad, except for the smell. Julius knew that the rodeo clowns would be hazing the animal to give him a chance to escape. This was where he needed the help of the cat spirit. Instead of scrambling out of the arena, Julius simply walked up to the bull. The animal was snorting and pawing the earth. Julius spoke to him in the language that he learned from Esteban. They had always called it the language of the cat. There had been questions about this, even from Esteban. Julius talked to the bovine in the language and the bull started to settle down. Julius walked up to him and petted him between the horns. Julius took off his glove and scratched the animals forehead. Then, Julius turned and walked away. Surprisingly, the bull just walked back into the gate and trotted back to his pen. The show was over. That is when the cheers really went up.
Purposely, Julius had not stayed on the bull the eight seconds. It wouldn’t have set well, to have shown up one of the real bull riders. What Julius did was just for show.
When Antonia saw him, she ran to him. He wasn’t hurt. She threw her arms around him. Then she remembered why she never dated rodeo riders. She pushed Julius away. “You are badly in need of a bath,” she said as she wrinkled her nose.
destinyc
mary mary
keepsmiling7
Chapter 30
When they arrived, Antonia noticed that only the five young people were present. They were at Doctor Evans’ house, but of the elder or younger Evans there was no sight. They were met by Estelle. Estelle had her dark hair in a pony tail and she was wearing Levis, a tee shirt and athletic shoes. Estelle took Antonia’s hand. “I am so glad you were able to come,” she said.
Antonia looked carefully at Estelle. Julius had refered to her as the queen. “Am I supposed to address you as your highness or something?” Antonia asked.
Estelle giggled. “No, just Estelle or Esse if you want. Being queen only means that I will be in the most danger if our enemies ever come again.” Estelle led Antonia to the other people. “Here is Danny. He is the oldest. He is at Stanford in California.” Then they approached one person whom Antonia knew from stories. June was clutched tightly by a tall Hispanic man with large brown eyes. José had those eyes which were the first feature people saw and the one they remembered longest. He briefly took Antonia’s hand.
June spoke up. “I promise to behave tonight. We still have to get together to decide what we want Julius to do with his life.” Antonia smiled, she knew that June was trying to make up for the boorish behavior before.
They all sat around in a circle. “We don’t know what Julius has told you yet, so I guess we just see if you want to ask some questions,” Estelle said.
Before Antonia had a chance to speak Danny spoke up. “I hope you appreciate that these things about us would cause us all a great amount of danger if the wrong people found out about us. When we tell about ourselves, we leave things so ridiculous, that no one will believe us.”
Then José spoke up, “As Julius’s girl, being around us will expose you to many things. Julius says your relationship is serious. Well, we hope so. We hope your relationship is strong for all of our sakes.”
Antonia was starting to get scared. “June spoke up. “We also offer a mutual protection. We always come to each other’s aid.”
Danny said, “You must understand that the alien who kidnapped Aunt Isabel used her to destroy villagers. He was using what some would call magic. To us, it was only alien technology. The alien found something in the jungle of the Amazon that allowed him to turn people into fierce jungle cats. These cats would prey on the people of the jungle. Aunty Liz was one of those who was changed. The shaman of the jungle got her to Uncle Max quickly. They all say that it was his love that always brought Liz back to him. By day, she was Max’s wife and by night she was a fierce cat, a danger to everyone.”
Antonia was incredulous, “You mean like a werewolf?”
Danny looked at her, “Were-cat might be the correct term. But yes, there are some things that science doesn’t answer. My mamma shot the prince of Antar. That is the place where these aliens are from. Liz is protected from whatever caused her to change by the shrunken head that Esteban carries on his belt.”
Antonia noticed that none of the people present gave any hint of a joke or anything. She saw that even Julius was dead serious on this topic. José spoke up, “My mother, Isabel, lay dead for a year. The shaman of the forest kept her in some sort of stasis so that when Aunt Maria killed the prince, she could be brought back to life.”
Estelle spoke up. “Remember that my mother is a trained anthropologist as well as a biologist. My father was doing his internship at the medical school. The people there were not ignorant. They saw things and did things that had no explanation in religion or science. Even with the alien abilities, my father saw things that he didn’t understand.”
That evening, Antonia found her beliefs tested. She and Julius had already talked about being together in college. She knew that he had chosen New Mexico State University because she would be there. He told her that the scholarships were just not that important. In a way, as they went on, Antonia felt she was drowning. Could she run? What would that do to Julius? Was he important enough to her that she wouldn’t want to hurt him? Then, the thought ran through her mind, or Lose him?
It was late when the talks ran down. There was a soft noise from the kitchen and Esteban entered. He had his tray with a pitcher and several cups on it. “Niños (children) it is too late to be drinking coffee. I fixed you all a confection of the forest.” He passed out the cups and poured a coconut confection that none of them had ever tasted. “I cut this out from magazine by a woman named, Martha Stewart. She is sometimes wise woman and she has some ‘cool’ ideas on food and drink.”
Julius took Antonia home that night. Just before he was to walk her to her door, he pulled her to him in a kiss. “I just hope the family wasn’t too much for you. That is the fear we all have. To accept us, you must accept the family. To reject us, we must fear that you would do harm to the family. Realize that none of us do this very often. This is the first time, ever, for me. You are the first person I ever felt I wanted to meet the family.”
Antonia returned the kiss. She had a lot of things to think about, but leaving Julius at this time, wasn’t one of them. He had tried to be truthful and he wasn’t like his reputation when he was with her, at all. She must go in soon. She didn’t want another scene with her brothers coming out to smash the car of a wanna-be boyfriend. It struck her very hard. Julius wasn’t a wanna-be. He was the real thing.
Upstairs in the darken Mendoza house Carlos was looking out the window. “I swear that if I see that car start bouncing, I am going to go down and beat the shit of that gringo.”
Carlos felt a strong hand on his shoulder. “He brought her to her own driveway. I don’t think he would do that if he intended her harm. We may have to trust Antonia on him. He may be the one we have to welcome into our family next.” The white shaggy head of the old man slowly nodded. “We, maybe, will have to trust Antonia.”
Danny was the last to leave the Evans’ home. He was a little afraid to be alone with Estelle too much. She was so young. He knew that when she was in grade school she’d had a crush on him. He was sure that with high school, she was meeting boys of her own age. He wasn’t a pervert. Why did he feel so guilty when they were alone together. He hadn’t felt that way before.
What about Katherine? They had cooled their relationship at school and he was now seeing a girl called Ellen who had helped him in his project. No matter even though both he and Katherine were dating other people, they remained good friends and when there were breakups or misunderstandings with their significant others, they supported each other.
Danny remembered his promise to stand with Estelle if trouble came. He would honor that no matter who he was with. Family was most important. Thinking about Julius, Danny really hadn’t felt compelled to bring anyone to meet the family. He had admitted to others that his family was strange, but he gave no further explanation. He had talked to his father a little about this. He just didn’t feel comfortable telling his love life to his mother. He was sure she would be understanding, but, well, Michael was just easier.
Danny had come home and with a functionary, “Good night,” and he had gone to bed.
Michael was lying in bed with Maria. “Julius brought his girl to the group this evening. We should ask, tomorrow, how the meeting went. Danny said Julius was sure of the girl and he wanted both her acceptance of the family as well as the families acceptance of her.”
Maria giggled, “I just hope they were easier on him than you were on everyone. Remember that you didn’t trust anyone. I always wondered, unless you went to Isabel, were you intending for the three of you to always remain alone?”
“I didn’t know what I wanted. Remember, I was alone. I didn’t trust anyone. Now, we all have many people who support us. I hope the kids are careful, but I think we are safer now to let people in,” Michael said.
Michael turned over and pulled Maria to him. “I worry about Danny. I asked him if he had anyone special? He just answered, I have people to be with, I am just not comfortable bringing them to meet the family.”
Maria said, “There is one who dearly loves Danny, but he is just too old for her. I don’t know what her folks would think if they knew. I was over at Liz’s the other day and I showed them a picture of Danny with his research team. Katherine was in the picture as well as another girl. Poor little Estelle’s face just fell when she saw the picture. I didn’t want to say anything. She is just a freshman in high school and he will soon be a senior in college. If Danny ever noticed her, Max would have a shotgun out and I wouldn’t blame him. She is just too young.”
Michael looked at her, “Let’s be fair. If Danny is almost a senior in college, then Estelle is almost a sophomore in high school. Does that make it sound any better?”
Maria raised up on her elbows to better kiss Michael and then melt in his embrace. “No, and I don’t think it would sound any better to Pappa, Max Evans.” With that, she allowed herself to collapse on Michael’s chest and he ran his hand up under her top. She was wearing baby doll pajamas so he carefully slipped his fingers under the elastic and pulled down the bottoms. Maria kicked them off and they began to explore much traveled ground. To Michael, no matter how many times he traveled this path, he found he still loved the trip.
Jesse had enjoyed coming back to Roswell. His mother was growing old, also. Jesse had always like working for Philip Evans. Even though, at first, Philip wasn’t too happy about Jesse running off with his daughter, Jesse had always thought of Philip as his friend. Isabel needed to spend more time with her family, also. Jesse did miss some of the people he met back in the east. Claudio had become one of his biggest friends.
Jesse thought how his life had finally turned out. Isabel had given him a son, of whom he was very proud. Their life had turned out more than he had ever considered when he first flirted with the, then, just legal girl he met at a picnic. That same son, had told them that he dearly loved June. Kyle had finally settled down and even called Jesse his “primo”. Kyle hadn’t used the term completely correct. Primo meant cousin, but it could also be derogatory, as chump or fool. Jesse decided that Kyle was just trying to show that he accepted the relationship between José and June.
José had told his father that they were all worried about Estelle. She had this terrible crush on Danny, but everyone felt she was just too young for him. As Jesse took Isabel in his arms prior to pulling off her nightgown, he whispered. “You might talk with Estelle sometime. She is about the same age difference to Danny as we are. She might need some cheering up.” Then, his hands were way too busy to allow his mind to think anymore.
The summer flew by. Well, it flew by for everyone except Estelle. She would now be a sophomore in high school. June and José weren’t married yet, but they wrote Estelle that they were just waiting for his graduation. Julius was seen as the constant companion of Antonia. The Mendoza family was trying to accept Julius. He ate at their house as much as he did at the Evans’ home. Antonia had told her brothers to not make her choose between them or Julius. They, finally, got the message. The following summer, the Mendoza family took Julius to Española for the Fourth of July. He was treated to a real rodeo. Now, the small town rodeos are not like the ones you see on TV. Here, you have everyday cowpunchers and young men, sometimes not so young men of the town trying to ride the bucking horses and the recalcitrant bulls. The men roping calves did this for a living on the small family ranches in this area. At first, the blond gringo was subjected to glares by the predominately Hispanic crowd and also, the Anglos who had grown up in this area. One burly cowboy came up to Julius, “Think you could ride one of these, ‘pardner’?” he asked pointing to the bawling bulls in the pen.
“No, Julius, they are just trying to get you hurt!” screamed Antonia. She turned to her brothers, “Stop him. If he gets hurt, I won’t ever speak to you again.”
Carlos spit a stream of tobacco juice in the dirt, “Hermana, (sister) if he wants to try the bull, let him. We have all ridden one at some time in our lives.”
Julius was looking at the beast wondering what he had gotten himself into. Antonia went to the pickup. If Julius got himself hurt, or worse killed she wouldn’t ever talk to her family again. She was mad at them and she was just as mad at Julius, also.
Antonia heard the cheers as she imagined Julius getting on the bull. “Damn all men and boys! Was there really a difference,” she said to herself. There was a cheer and the cheer rose. Antonia kept waiting to hear the cheers turn to cries of anguish. There was an Oh! Call. Then several minutes of complete silence follow by a laughing and cheering. Antonia couldn’t imagine what had happened. Even though she promised herself she wouldn’t go back to the arena, she couldn’t help herself.
As she approached, Carlos, followed by her other brothers, came up to her. Carlos embraced her, “Your boyfriend is muy macho.”
“What happened?” she asked.
Julius had been shown how to grasp the “bull rope”, a braided rope that encircled the bull, and wrap it around his gloved hand. Carlos had winked as he said, “It’s only for eight seconds. You can do it.”
Julius thought of the jaguar spirit, how Esteban said it wasn’t necessarily tied to big cats only. He thought of the old Jaguar he had met in his youth. The old cat had stood for wisdom. Was what Julius was about to do wise? He could only hope so.
Julius eased himself down on the quivering bull. He could feel the power between his legs. He had heard some of he other cowboys describe it in almost sexual terms. Julius wasn’t that experienced, but he wasn’t thinking about sex when he settled on the animal. He knew he had to time it just right.
The gate opened and the bull came out. Bull riding is about balance and luck. Balance so you move with and not against the bull. Luck that the bull doesn’t do something so unexpected that you do not have a chance to keep your balance. Julius was sure seven seconds was coming up. As the animal curved his back in a mighty thrust, Julius let go of the line. He was launched high into the air. He came down in the plowed ground mixed with two days worth of cow shit. The trip down wasn’t that bad, except for the smell. Julius knew that the rodeo clowns would be hazing the animal to give him a chance to escape. This was where he needed the help of the cat spirit. Instead of scrambling out of the arena, Julius simply walked up to the bull. The animal was snorting and pawing the earth. Julius spoke to him in the language that he learned from Esteban. They had always called it the language of the cat. There had been questions about this, even from Esteban. Julius talked to the bovine in the language and the bull started to settle down. Julius walked up to him and petted him between the horns. Julius took off his glove and scratched the animals forehead. Then, Julius turned and walked away. Surprisingly, the bull just walked back into the gate and trotted back to his pen. The show was over. That is when the cheers really went up.
Purposely, Julius had not stayed on the bull the eight seconds. It wouldn’t have set well, to have shown up one of the real bull riders. What Julius did was just for show.
When Antonia saw him, she ran to him. He wasn’t hurt. She threw her arms around him. Then she remembered why she never dated rodeo riders. She pushed Julius away. “You are badly in need of a bath,” she said as she wrinkled her nose.
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-