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They were both laughing when Jude joined them. They’d been in the office when the front door had been knocked on, and Jude just came in, sat down, and didn’t say a word. Mercy and Joel talked quietly around her until she got around to speaking.
“This guy, your brother. What do you really know about him?” Joel told her nothing, other than what she’d found on him. “I dug a little deeper. I found some things that he might well have been involved in, but no one could attach his name to the crimes. Things like robbery, kidnapping, and murder. The murder one isn’t recent. But the kidnapping was just a few months ago, just after he got out of prison. I mean, like the same week he got out. I’d like to not have to kill this guy. Sorry, Joel, I know he’s your brother and all, but he has got to go.”
“What did he do to you?” Jude’s face turned bright red. “Did he make a pass at you, Jude? If he did, then you have my permission to murder him.”
“No, it wasn’t that. But somehow he figured out that I’m related to you. And so you know, most of the town believes that we’re all sisters. I didn’t tell them any different. We are anyway, from our single mindedness to stick together.” Mercy thanked her. “No problem. Anyway, he figured out somehow that you’re married to my sister. So, he comes to the office, telling anyone that will listen that he’s going to be taking over running the place for us. You have no idea how much trouble I had to deal with before security took him out. I wish now I’d had him buried in the back of the plant with his head just above the dirt. Do they do that anymore?”
“Did they ever?” Both Jude and Mercy nodded at Joel. “Just keep telling me not to piss any of you off again. I think I got out on the good end of the stick when I messed up with Mercy.”
“If you’d like to think that, go ahead.” Again, she thought Joel was assuming that Jude was kidding when they’d all been ready to kill him. Jude continued as she leaned back in her chair. “He had been asking security for a badge, one that would get him to the upper offices. Also, he is waving around money, just a handful of ones with a fifty on top, that he’ll pay if someone will give them their swipe in badge. I’d hate to think what sort of things he could do to the place if he got in.”
“We’ll have to have the cameras watching all the doors, inside and out, and make it known that if anyone sells or even gives him their badge, they’ll be terminated without regard of their years here. And if their badge is stolen, to report it immediately.” Joel looked at Mercy, his face flushed with embarrassment from his comment. “I’m sorry. I should just keep my mouth shut from now on.”
“Why?” He looked at Jude and told her that it wasn’t his business. “Yes, it is, Joel. Everything that we have, you are now a part of. More so with what Mercy owned on her own before you and Miley came along. We were going to ask you if we could adopt her as our niece, since she calls us her aunts when she needs us. You are just as much family as we are.”
“He’s a falcon. So is Miley.” Mercy watched the expression on Jude’s face turn from concern, to making sure that Joel knew he was family, to excitement. “And we’re having a baby.”
“Holy shit balls. That’s wonderful news. Have you told anyone else of all this?” Mercy said they’d not, but she had more. “I don’t know if I can take much more. This is wonderful enough.”
“I healed Miley. She can’t walk yet—she has to learn how, and since she’s never taken a step, she’ll have to start from scratch. She’s going to need all of us to keep her from trying too much at once.” Jude said she would too. “Yes. I don’t doubt right now she’s scheming up ways to walk around the block while we’re not watching.”
“Yes, well, I won’t let her. Remember when we had to learn to walk? That was an experience that I’ll not soon forget.” Joel asked her about it. “Well, we’d sort of been hopping all our lives. Or flying. That’s what we usually did to get from one place to the other. But walking was like taking on a huge opponent and coming out on the bottom. We fell so many times that it was a wonder that we survived those first few months. Then it was learning to eat. Gross. When I think of all the things that we tried at the beginning. Again, small wonder we’re still alive. But walking was the hardest thing to learn. Even learning to fly as a chick wasn’t nearly as difficult. Mom just tossed us out of the nest and we would fly or not. But walking? You have to learn to balance, bring your body with you as you move. There is picking up your foot enough to walk and then to step over things. Just a lot to do something that as a human, you just do every day.”
“I don’t remember not being able to walk. I mean, I didn’t, not when I was first born, but even after I learned, none of that is in my memory.” Joel laughed as he looked at her. “I’ll have to make sure that I pay more attention when we teach our children to walk. That would include Miley.”
“I have something else that I’d like to talk to you about. As you’ve heard, I’m thinking about leaving the toys to Blaze. I might come back to it, but for now, I’m going to do something different. It’s charitable work around here, and anywhere else we might be needed.” Jude told her that they did that now. “Yes, but this isn’t going to be on a grand scale like that. I have an idea to help people who have left their partners. Something along the lines of when we helped transport people during the Underground Railroad’s time.”
“What do you need from us?” Mercy told Jude that she didn’t know as yet, but she would get a list. “All right. I’m going back to work now. And so you know, Miley is going to be working with Blaze for a few months. Not much, I’m to understand, but enough for her to come in when there is a new product that needs testing. I believe that Blaze is going to come and ask you sometime today.”
After Jude left them, Mercy asked Joel what he was thinking about. She could tell that he wasn’t upset, but just deep in thought. When he smiled at her, she knew that he’d either worked it out on his own or he didn’t have any deep thoughts after all.
“You’re a very good person. I realized that before today, but it just hit me just how generous the six of you are, and that you’re always looking out for others.” She asked him what he meant by that. “When you were really pissed off at me, you still made it so that I had some money in the bank. I have a feeling that you also set up the job for me here, as well as the ramp on this house. There are a lot of little things that I just came to realize that you’ve been doing as well. And then there is this help you’re going to do with the people of abused relationships. You won’t let anyone but your family know that you’ve been doing that, will you? Not to mention, I’m sure that you’ve been doing things like this ever since you came into money.”
“One thing that the queen taught us was that just because you have it, whatever it is, you shouldn’t be selfish to those who don’t. Not just food and housing, but even to sit down and have a meal with the ones you share with. Or invite them to your home for one. She was a good queen. The best, from what I was able to see when we helped. And even when the kingdom that we attacked didn’t have any hold over her, it was for the people living under such barbarous, harsh living conditions that she had us attack the king anyway.” Joel asked her if she’d left them the kingdom. “Not the walls, but yes, the kingdom. The wealth that she had accumulated was vast. Dante gave a great deal of it to the people who depended on her, and the rest was ours. I’ll take you to it one of these days.”
“I’d love to just see it all. I mean, it might be fun to find old money, and even treasures.” She told him that there were a great many treasures. “Anything you’d like to put in the new house?”
“Perhaps. That’s a good idea.” Mercy stood up as she continued. “How about we go and have a look at the house? It’s not far from here. Miley would be able to go to the same school, and it’s close to the library and anything else she’d like to get into.”
“Good. Let’s go. Should we pick up—?” He looked at the open door then back at her. “I can feel her. Miley, I mean. She’s on her way here. How did I do that?”
“You thought of her and needed to know where she was. You can do it with anyone that you’ve touched. Though I would recommend that you don’t think too hard on strangers. That could be a bit tedious for you.”
Laughing, the two of them went to the front door just before Miley got out of the car. After telling her where they were going, they all loaded up in their car and made their way over to it. Joel told Miley what he’d just discovered.
“Hey Dad, you need to keep up. I’ve known that for a couple of days.”
Joel teased Miley as they drove to the house. But as soon as they pulled up in front of it, Mercy knew that this was going to be their home forever.
~*~
Joel wasn’t sure what to think about the house. Christ, it was hug
e. And the fact that it had a large fenced in back yard, a swimming pool to rival ones he’d seen on television at the Olympics, as well as a cook’s quarters and stables was enough to make him feel faint of heart. They would get horses, Mercy told him.
Just like that, we’ll get some horses. He supposed she knew how to ride them. Joel had only seen them at Christmas time when someone in town would give holiday rides on them. But there had never been any snow, not to mention money, to do such things.
“There are six bedrooms on the second floor and two on the top floor. I’m not sure why, but that’s what the reports said. The one down here can be turned into an office. There is also a library on this floor.” Mercy looked at Miley. “And for you there is an elevator at the back of the house. It only goes up to the second floor, so for now, you can get up there without any trouble. I thought it would be nice for you to have two of the rooms so that you can have an office-like study of your own.” They took the elevator up to the second floor as Mercy continued. “The rooms up here are remodeled, but if you want something different, that wouldn’t be any trouble either. I think we’ll more than likely use the two upstairs as just guest rooms. I’d like to be here with my family. If that’s okay with Joel.”
