Redemption

As they ate lunch, David relayed Click’s plan concerning the family business. This was simple: She would make the furniture to sell to fund the purchase the tools and machines needed. She would then help the two grandfathers learn to make the furniture, as well as establishing an assembly line.

“I was thinking that I could do the selling,” Ma offered.

“And, I could buy the needed materials,” Grandma added.

“And, I can help make the pieces,” David agreed, “Also; Click would be on-hand to solve any problems that we have.”

“And you will give my grandfather a job?” Cathy asked excitedly.

“That’s right,” William affirmed, “Also; he won’t have to go as far as he does now to get to work, as we are going to set up the shop in our barn.”

“As well,” Mary added, “He will make much more than he does now.”

“But how do I explain this?” The child asked uncertainly.

“That is a good question,” The old lady decided, looking at her husband.

“Simple,” Grandpa decided, “We tell the truth.”

A few minutes later, Click asked him if he wanted to bring Cathy out to the barn, while she made a chair. To their mutual delight, the whole family asked if they could come and watch.

“Aren’t you tired?” David asked silently, as they all filed out the back door.

“No,” the image assured him, “But, just to make sure that everything goes alright, I was hoping that you and Cathy would play a couple games of Challenge while I work.” He explained this to the others as they watched two skids float into the barn. In response, everyone decided to play. Still, at first, the others were more interested in watching the little alien work than think of questions. Finally, after a while, he was able to get his friend to play. Then, Ma joined in.

As they watched her, everyone was amazed at how Click was able to form her little body into tools to perform the needed job. She could become a drill, or a saw, or a grinder, without any effort. Even more astonishing was his revelation that she was having a lot of fun doing it.

“She likes doing this almost as much as she does learning,” he relayed. In reply, Ma asked him what two times ten, then minus two, and divided by three was.

“I love it!” The entity declared happily in his mind as he thought about the question.

An hour later, the small, ornately engraved chair was completed. As they admired this, the image told David that she had made this for Cathy. When he relayed this, the little girl looked at him in open astonishment as the adults smiled.

“She made it to show you that she likes you,” he explained, “And so your grandfather will have an idea of what we want to do.” Then, after listening, he said, “She plans to make you a desk as well, if you want.” At first, the child was speechless. Finally, she looked at the floating orb.

“Thank you, Click,” she said in a near whisper as her little eyes welled with tears.

“She says that you are quite welcome.” With that, the entity moved the chair to make way for the next project. This one was going to be one that the family could sell, she explained. No one minded this at all, as Grandma and Grandpa loved watching the amazing being work and Ma loved the happiness that she brought to the children.

Once the new vanity table was finished, Click had an idea. From the back of the barn, an old, broken sled came floating up to the workbench as the last project lifted to drift gently to sit on the floor of the barn.

“How does she do that?” Cathy asked in excited amazement, as she watched the sled settle onto the worktable.

“By manipulating what she calls the ‘Electromagnetic field’ around it,” David explained.

“What is that?” Grandma asked uncertainly.

“I have no clue,” William admitted, looking at his grandson in question.

“She says that she really does not know how to explain it,” the boy relayed, “as it is something that she sees and feels more than understands. But, she knows that it is there, as she sees it quite clearly.”

“She sees it?” Ma asked curiously. Listening once more, the boy nodded.

“She says that she can see things in several different ways. A couple of these we cannot comprehend. One that uses sound that we cannot hear.”

“How can you see through sound?” Grandpa asked uncertainly, “I know that you can hear a sound, but . . .”

“She says that a bat uses the same sight to see at night,” David assured him, “But she also can see us by the heat from our bodies.” Pausing, he looked to the orb, and then he added, “She says that she thinks that she is capable of several other means of sight, but she has yet to develop the ability.

“So strange,” Mary said in slight mystification.

“I think that she is wonderful!” Cathy admitted with her small voice filled with admiration. There was a slight pause following this. Then the ten year old smiled.

“She says that you are wonderful as well.”

Although old, Click explained that they could use the sled to carry broken skids from the warehouse. Thus, using a concentrated form of high frequency sound, she cleaned the rust off it. Then, once the metal parts were all clean, she removed the broken slats on its bed, and replaced them with left over pieces of skid. By that time, evening was drawing close. Grandpa carried the vanity table into the house, while David carried Cathy’s small chair. Because there was no need to hide her, the small entity floated over his right shoulder as he walked.

While they waited upon dinner, the boy got his homework, and sat discussing it with the girl, as the alien hovered over him, feeding on the energy from his thoughts. To the lad’s amazement, she was not tired from all of the work that she had done.

“I am much stronger than I was when I tried to talk,” she explained, “And I will be even stronger tomorrow.”

“Because I will be smarter tomorrow,” he recognized.

“Yes, but also I will be a day older.”

A few minutes later, Grandma came in, telling the children to wash up before dinner. When Cathy wondered if she should go, Mary adamantly shook her head.

“No, dear,” she assured the girl, “I made enough for everyone. Besides, William and Ellen are going to walk you home, as they want to talk to your folks.” The child enjoyed the pot roast that they had that night so much that she gladly accepted seconds.

Later as night fell, the four of them bundled against the night. Yet, despite the night’s chill, Click kept them warm. When they reached the Planchet house, Cathy stepped in, to tell her grandparents that they had company. Then, she stepped back out onto the porch and invited them in.

As old and creaky as their house was, Cathy’s house was even older, and more dilapidated. Helpless to this, the little girl led them into the front room, where her folks were sitting. Later, Ma would recall feeling horror at the sight of the old place.

“It’s a shame that a child has to live like that.”

Once they were in the room, Cathy introduced them, pointing out David’s mother as the person who had bought her the muffler, and fixed her coat. Expressing their gratitude at this, the elderly couple asked them to have a seat on an old, broken down couch. Grandpa Planchet then explained that he fell from the rigging of a ship, which injured him and forced him to quit seafaring. Thus, with Mrs. Planchet sick, they were suffering hard times. A few minutes later, Ma explained that the chair was a gift to the ragged child. William then came out and revealed that they were meaning to start a new business, and that they had come to offer him a job.

“You wouldn’t have that far to go to get to work,” he said, “As we are setting up shop in the barn. And, as it would just be our families working at it, our pay would be substantially more than you are currently making.” Still, Dale, as Cathy’s grandfather asked them to call him, was not certain about it.

“I don’t think that you could teach me to do as fine a work as that chair,” he admitted gently. Hearing this, William shook his head.

“I know how you feel, as I find myself feeling that way,” he assured, “But, I figure that we haven’t got anything to lose in trying.”

“But, didn’t you make that one?” Planchet asked, pointing at the chair. When William shook his head once more, he fumbled “Then, why . . . ?” At this, Grandpa leaned forward to fix him in an earnest gaze.

“Now, you and I are both old canvas-slappers. So, we have both seen things on the tides that we can’t explain-Right?” With the other elder’s reluctant nod, he pressed, “Now, sea-dog to sea-dog, I want your word that you will keep an open mind about what you are about to see. Alright?” With the other man’s repeated nod, he looked around at his grandson. At that, David pulled back his coat sleeve, and held out his arm. Ma would later muse that one could have knocked Cathy’s grandparents over with a feather when Click rose to form an orb in the air.

“What is that?” Dale gasped, eying the floating ball of metal.

“Her name is Click,” the boy replied, “She is my friend.”

“And she is the one who carved the chair for little Cathy,” Winston added. When this drew a disbelieving look from the two, he stabbed a thumb towards the child, “Ask her yourself.”

“She did, Grandpa!” Cathy assured him with a touch of excited pride, “I watched her do it!”

“Now, I know that you aren’t going to catch on all at once,” William explained, “But, I also know that if you are half as sharp as your little angel here, then you will be plenty smart enough. As well, I am not saying that you should quit your job tomorrow. In fact, until we get things up and running, I will be happy if you gave me a couple of hours in the evening.” In the wake of this, David stood up as the entity hovered over his shoulder.

“Mr. Planchet, Sir,” he added, “Click came up with the idea, so she could help our families. Because, she likes Cathy a lot, and hated to hear mean old Ricky Greesome make fun of her because she is poor. In addition, she hates to think of Cathy being so sad. Therefore, she wants us to be able to do this. Because then, our families won’t be poor anymore.” Pausing, he listened, then he added, “And she knows that you will find it hard to learn new things at first, but she is willing to work with you and Grandpa until you are experts. She says that she only asks that you try and she will do everything that she can to help you.”

“I would ask that you do it for little Cathy’s sake,” Ma offered gently. In the face of all of this, Dale sat silent. Then he looked over at his wife, who peered back at him. Finally, she nodded slightly. With that, he looked back at them.

“Alright,” he affirmed definitely, “I’ll do it.”