Redemption

Once the children reassembled outside the school, the teacher locked the building. She would walk them up Thrush to Bennett Road, she announced. That way, she could stop by city hall, and ask someone to come out and get the dog’s body.

For most of the walk home, David wallowed in horror as he recalled the dog’s death. During this time, Click walked close by, saying nothing. As well, the others hovered around him, their gazes holding a silent awe. Yet, Cathy stayed close beside him as well. She kept astride with him down Bennett, and onto Bloody Run. As they neared the turn off to her house, she suddenly looked over at him.

“Is your Ma as nice as she seems, or is she really mean?” She asked frankly. Uncertain of how to take the question, he shook his head.

“She’s nice,” he assured her, shifting his books into his other hand. Hearing this, the girl nodded in an unspoken decision. Then reaching the path to her home, she waved slightly.

“See you tomorrow,” she promised in subdued brightness.

“Yeah,” he nodded, “See you tomorrow.”

“Alright,” Click said in his head as he continued on, “I know that you are mad at me. But, I had no choice.”

“You could have scared it away!” He argued in thought.

“No David,” She assured, “It was rabid. You saw the foam around its mouth.”

“But, did you have to kill it?”

“Yes!” She pleaded, “You know that as well as I, because I learned it from you! Remember what Dad told you about rabid dogs?”

“Yes,” he thought in bitter acceptance.

“There is no hope for such an animal, so they have to be put down,” His father’s image said from his memory, “Otherwise, they will hurt or kill somebody.”

“Okay-okay!” He capitulated. Then, in rueful explanation, he began “It is just that I have never-.”

“I know,” she accepted in a voice heavy with sympathy, “You have never wanted to kill anything. If you could have saved the animal, you would have. But, when it turned, it would have attacked you if I hadn’t have acted.”

Unable to lie to his mother, but not ready to reveal his companion’s presence, David opted to avoid talking about the dog. That night, his homework was all the easier, as his unseen companion was able to remember the slightest details about the lessons that the teacher had taught. In fact, at Click’s insistence, he read further than required.

“The best way to make sure that you meet the standard,” she explained, “is to exceed it.” Yet, as she was only just born, she had no real understanding of something unless she had learned about it. Therefore, a question for him was also one for her.

They had stew that night, which was one of the boy’s favorites. Afterward, they sat in the sitting room, as Grandpa told stories of his days at sea. Often, these included bawdy details that he would spell out to his mother and Grandma. Even though she understood these, Click refused to explain to David.

“You don’t need to know about that right now,” she dismissed gently.

Later, before he went to bed, she asked him to lay his books in a row on his bedroom’s floor. When he asked why, she told him that she wanted to read them. When he demurred at this, saying that he needed the light off to sleep, she laughed.

“I don’t need the light to read, Silly! I can read the words by detecting the ink on the paper.”

“You can do that?” He marveled in his mind.

“Yes,” she assured him, “I can detect each letter by the minute difference of the ink from the paper. To you, this would be impossible to see. But, to me, it is as visible as this house in the field!”

Later, when he fell asleep, she created another dream to keep from drawing him into her studies. This was of an adventure that included his rescuing Miss Thatcher from a mean old dragon. This he did by threatening to make the beast eat Lima beans unless it behaved. In the end, the dragon turned good and gave all of the kids in his class rides on its back-including Ricky, who had decided that being a bad boy was not very much fun.

When she awoke him the next morning, Click had stacked his books neatly on his dresser. To his surprise, she had read every one from front to back. As a result, she found this world incredibly fascinating.

“I am so glad to have been hatched on Earth,” she told him as they walked down the steps, “All the more, I am glad to have landed in the United States, and to have found a friend like you!”

Breakfast that morning was pancakes and eggs. Although David usually loved such, a question for his unseen friend distracted him.

“Should I tell Ma and them about you?” He asked in thought.

“I don’t see why not,” she mused, “After all, I am no threat to you or them. In fact, as you are my host, I have a need to protect you. Likewise, I will protect them, as you would be hurt should anything happen to them.”

“But, how do I explain you?” He wondered, taking a bite of egg.

“I am not quite sure,” she admitted, “But, give me some time and I will think of something.”

When she joined them this morning, Cathy was much more talkative. In fact, she was outright open in her talking to Ma and Grandpa. Thus, she revealed that she was going to visit her father every morning, as he had passed due to consumption.

“The doctors are certain that I do not have it,” she assured William when he blanched at hearing of the ailment. She then went on to explain that her mother had left her, and that she lived with her grandparents. Of course, this was a sad portent to David’s mother, who hated to think of a child alone in the world. Therefore, to the adults’ happy surprise, the girl agreed to come down to visit them from time to time. Afterward, to Fall’s unhappy surprise, the girl recounted how he “saved” her life.

“Then, when I looked down, the dog was dead and David was standing there,” she finished.

“You did that Davie?” His grandfather asked in amazement.

“I didn’t want it to die,” the boy replied with a trace of shame riding his voice.

“But, if you hadn’t have done something, it would have surely killed her,” Ma countered gently, “A little thing like her hardly stood a chance against a mad dog!”

“But, I just wish that-.”

“It didn’t bite you-Did it?” Grandpa asked in sudden urgency.

“No.”

“Are you sure? If it did, we’ll need to get you to a doctor.”

“It didn’t bite me,” he promised, wishing that the girl had forgotten the matter.

“I won’t be satisfied until someone looks him over,” William insisted to Ellen.

“Tonight, after work,” Ma countered gently, “But, if David says that it didn’t bite him, I believe him. You know that he never lies to me-He is too honest.”

“And brave,” Cathy added, looking at him proudly. Then, her eyes widening, she explained, “That old dog was scary!”

“But, that’s our David,” his mother cooed in matching pride, pulling him into a half hug. At this, it seemed that, maybe, the girl’s telling was a good thing.

When they reached the cemetery, the Cathy said goodbye to the adults, and asked David to wait on the corner for her. Once he had hugged them goodbye for the day, he turned to his unseen friend.

“Now, I have no choice but to tell them about you,” he declared in thought.

“It’s just as well,” Click replied, “As, sooner or later, the question would come up about how you killed the dog, or where you got the bracelet that I am disguised as. And, like Ma said, you will not lie to her.”

“I feel as though I was lying to them then,” the boy argued silently, “I did not kill the dog, you did. So, you are the one who actually saved her.”

“That was why you neither confirmed nor denied it,” she reminded, “And, you are still brave, as you ran after the dog without any thought of the hazards involved.” In the wake of this, he had a sudden, dreadful thought.

“What if they try to take you away from me?” He wondered.

“I would not let them,” she assured, “If I did, I would surely die. Because, as I am attuned to your brain’s frequency, I would have to find a similar one, and I have yet to come in contact with one.”

“Then I won’t let them either,” the boy promised, “Because I don’t like the thought of anything dying.”

With Cathy’s joining him, they continued on to the school. This time, she insisted that he stand in the doorway with her, which actually turned out to be a fun time, because the two played a game as they waited.

“What is two times seven plus three?” She challenged him.

“Two times seven . . . “He thought. Then, elating he replied, “Seventeen!”

“You got it,” she admitted, smiling broadly, “Okay, your turn.”

“Okay, what is twenty-one divided by three, plus two?” Hearing this, the girl took on a distant look as she thought about it. Finally, she perked up.

“Nine!” She crowed.

Click enjoyed their playing this game. Still, she would not help David with the hard problems. “I want you to do it on your own,” she explained, “Because, the harder that you think, the more nutritious your thought’s energy!”

When the pretty schoolmarm arrived, she was happy to learn of the two’s game. Even more, she was happy to see that Cathy had made a friend. Thus it was that she all but insisted that David join them at her desk, to talk about the night’s homework. This was such fun, that he regretted seeing the other children begin to arrive.