Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The Clearing

James was waiting in the kitchen for me, he was going to take me to that clearing he told me about yesterday. I was looking forward to a good workout so I got my gear ready as quickly as possible and then headed to the kitchen to join him.

“Are you ready?” I asked bouncing on my feet, anxious to get moving.

“Yes, I’m all set.  What is all that stuff you’re bringing with you?” he questioned.

“I have two long staffs and a katana.  I want to get in as much practice as possible today and I need to practice my hand to hand skills as well as my weapons skills.” I replied.

James whistled lowly.  “You really are serious about martial arts aren’t you?”

“I have to be.  I need to be able to protect myself against pretty much anything.  If I had a rope I’d practise Chinese chains as well, but I don’t want to overdo it” I said in a matter of fact tone.

“Well, we better get going then.  I have to do some things later this afternoon.  By the way how are you holding up?  I know you were avoiding as many personal questions as possible last night but why don’t you open up to Lizzy or Cassy?”James queried as he headed for the door.

“I’m doing okay.  I’ll think about your suggestion but I don’t open up easily.” I replied following James out the door.

“Ya, I’ve noticed.” He said sadly.  We continued walking in silence as we followed a path that was just down the street from the house for about half a kilometer and then we started to run through the bush straight north for three kilometers and then east for the last half kilometer.  When we entered the clearing I was surprised at how flat the area was.  It was about half the size of a football field and was perfect for me to practise in.   As I looked around I noticed a number of piled logs along the edges of the clearing.

“This is my private little spot for camping in the summer when I don’t want people to find me” smiled James.  “Still close to home, and all the amenities it provides, but far enough away for me to get some peace and quiet.”

I shook my head at him.  He was definitely full of surprises.

“So are my invisible protectors watching or are we alone?” I asked.

“We’re alone, why?”

“I don’t like to feel self conscious while I practise and the thought of someone watching me do this can be a bit unnerving.  I know you mean well, with the protection thing but I’m very good at looking over my shoulder” I replied.

“I know you are, and that’s why when we’re together they are off duty” he stated.  “I just want you safe, and unfortunately they can’t watch you all the time, and neither can I so we trade off.”

I smirked at him and dropped into a defensive stance raising my hand and motioning to James “Bring in on old man!” I said slyly.

“Oh I’ll bring it all right, old man my ass!” he mutter.  We circled each other looking for an opening and sizing each other up.  I moved first trying to draw out an attack.  He smirked at me, knowing what I was trying to do.  We continued a slow dance around each other until he struck out with such speed and accuracy that I was almost caught off guard.  We traded punches and kicks, trying different moves to get the upper hand.  It was fun, as we moved all over the field.  We sparred for an hour, gaining and losing ground evenly.  He was testing me, I could tell.  I didn’t let on that I was holding back because I didn’t want him to know all my tricks.  Then, all of a sudden he had me pinned to the ground pain shot through my ribs.  I gasped struggled for a moment getting angry with the situation.  I gritted my teeth and glared at him, when suddenly he was gone.  I sat up gingerly and looked around.  I saw him on the other side of the clearing sprawled across one of the wood piles.

“James!” I called worried as I got up ran to his side still panting hard.

“Are you ok?  What happened? One minute you were on top of me and the next you were gone!” I was babbling because I was so concerned for James.  What the hell happened? I thought vehemently.  James better be okay. Did I do something?  Did I hurt him?  What if he hates me now?

“Have you ever done that before?” he asked as he groaned and sat up.  I helped him to his feet watching him intently for any signs of injury.  He stretched out turning from side to side.

“No, I don’t know what I did” I said too scared to look into his eyes.  I could feel the colour draining from my face as I realized that I had thrown him clear across the field.

“Were you thinking anything at the time?” he asked seriously looking intently at me.

“I was getting angry and I thought just get off me” I replied honestly.

“Well I certainly did” he smiled. “That was quite a powerful blow kid.”

“I’m sorry, I- I didn’t mean to.  I.....” I looked at my feet frustrated - what did I do? How did I do that? He’ll never trust me again.  My eyes were burning and I could feel the tears from the stress of the situation coming.  James gripped my chin gently and raised my head so that I had to look him in the eye.

“It’s ok kid.  I guess we just got a taste of what you’re going to be able to do and I’m glad it happened here with me and not while you were at school” James looked at me with an awed expression on his face.

I looked at him mortified.

“Do you know how to meditate?” he asked.  His sudden change in subject threw me.

“Not really” I replied shyly still afraid to look into his eyes.  “I sort of skipped on the meditation part of martial arts and focussed on learning to defend myself.”

“Well, its time you learn so you can control your emotions.  Sit here, cross your legs, good.  Now I want you to relax your shoulders. That’s it.  Now, empty your mind of thoughts, take a slow breath in and slowly breathe out.  Keep doing that.  Good” James talked me through a meditation sequence for about half an hour.  I slowly felt the tension release from my shoulders and by the time we finished I was feeling pretty good.

“Ok kid, how do you feel?” he asked.

“Pretty good, I’m relaxed but I still feel uneasy” I confessed.

“I’m sure you do.  It was a shock to me too.  You’re going to have to meditate every day so you will be able to control your new abilities as they develop.  For now let’s spar with the long staffs and then you can practise the katana.” he looked at me appraisingly.

We practised with the long staff for about half an hour. My fingers got hit a couple of times but I knew that he was in worse shape than me I had made contact a couple of times too.  He wasn’t used to being bested and that was obvious.  After I went through a couple formations with the katana I stopped.  James was looking into the woods intently.  He was so still I froze sliding automatically into a defensive position.  James slowly turned and looked at me, realizing that I was ready for a fight.  He put his hands up in the peace stance and I relaxed.

“Sorry about that, I got lost in thought. We had better start heading back.” he said

“I’m sorry about earlier James.  I really didn’t mean to hurt you.” I was still concerned about throwing him half way across the field.

 “Don’t worry about it kid, your abilities are going to be surfacing over the next few months.  I’m just glad I was able to see, or rather feel the first occurrence”

“Oh, um, that’s not the first occurrence of something James” I confessed peeking up at him as we slowly walked home.  I decided that I could trust him even though I had only known him for a week and a half.   I had to trust someone because I was terrified about these strange changes going on in my body even if I didn’t show it.  He looked at me questioningly. 

“Last night was the first time I ever did anything.  I woke up in the middle of the night covered in sweat from a bad dream.  I knew that it was still night time, but when I looked out my window it was like looking at the woods on a cloudy day, dim but not black. I could make out movements of a rather large animal or possibly one of your protectors. I can’t be sure because it only lasted a couple of seconds.” I looked at him slightly scared about telling him this, I didn’t want him to think I was crazy or a freak. 

“Keep me in the loop with all the things that are happening to you, ok kid?  I want to understand this as much as you do and perhaps one of my friends can shed some light on things once we know more about what you can do.”  I nodded glad that he was so supportive.

We arrived back at the house around two o’clock.  We were both surprised at how late it was.  I had better have a shower I thought as I put everything away.  Once my shower was done I sat at the kitchen table suddenly feeling exhausted.  I drank a couple glasses of water and ate a sandwich.   I grabbed my cell phone and headed out the door with my car keys and Alex’s jacket.  James watched me pull out of the driveway with a concerned look on his face.  I smiled and waved at him.  He knew I wasn’t going to be gone long because I need to get everything ready for school tomorrow and I was already exhausted.  I called Lizzy to get directions to her house. I had to go north on highway eleven to the next exit, turn west and travel for about five kilometers to a dirt road that I was to turn right on and follow it to the end.  I drove along the winding dirt road surrounded by trees.  It was beautiful, all the trees were starting to change colour, yellows, oranges, reds and browns.  In a few more weeks it would be absolutely breathtaking.  At the end of the dirt road was the most amazing house I had ever seen.  It was one of those houses you expected to see on a TV show like ‘The Most Amazing Homes of the World’.  You could tell that this was a custom built home.  Max Worthington was an architect and contractor who owned his own company and his home was a tribute to his genius- it was an amazing piece of art.  Most of what I could see was glass and stone.  The front and right side of the house was all glass with ivy branches climbing up it to the roof.  There were skylights on the roof and when I looked at the yard I noticed a windmill too.  This home was environmentally friendly and energy efficient.  I was in awe.

I parked my car beside the black BMW at the side of the house.  I got out of the car and leaned back in to grab Alex’s jacket.  I could hear laughing coming from the back yard so I followed the sound.  As I rounded the side of the house to the back yard I could see Max and Katie playing a friendly game of touch football with Alex and Cassy.  Two other boys were there as well one with long straight dark hair with golden hazel eyes who looked about eighteen or nineteen years old and the other with short wavy reddish blond hair with deep golden hazel coloured eyes, who looked about nineteen or twenty years old. I swear they both looked like super models from a European runway show - they looked so elegant leaning against the picnic table.  It seemed like these two gorgeous specimens were keeping score and itching to get in on the fun.  Alex made a touchdown just before he saw me and started to dance.  I couldn’t help but laugh.

“What, did you miss me already?” he called teasingly, grinning at me.

“You’re the one who conveniently left his jacket on the chair last night so I would have to return it today” I retorted trying not to blush as the two boys who I believed were George and Stephan bellowed with laughter.  I handed Alex his jacket and stepped back quickly.

“Oh, she’s got your number alright!” laughed the older boy.

“I’m George and this is Stephan my little brother, you must be Anna.” he introduced himself with a warm and inviting smile.

“Hi” I replied, walking over towards Max and Katie and trying not to blush at the attention this Adonis was giving me. I mean they both looked like Gods – they were so beautiful.

“Your house is amazing Max.  I wish I had brought a camera, it’s a work of art” I complimented.

“Thank you, Anna. You are always welcome to stop by anytime.  Lizzy had to run out for a minute, she said she would be back soon. Can you stay for a bit?” Max asked politely.

I checked my watch, four in the afternoon.

“Sure I can stay for a bit.  I have to be home by five thirty though since I still have to get everything ready for school tomorrow and I want to get to bed early” I said.

“Wow Anna, you look like a truck hit you or something” teased Will as he wandered into the back yard.

“Thanks a lot.” I replied sarcastically, and then blushed as usual.  He laughed good naturedly. He got a kick out of teasing me and making me blush, that was obvious.

“What happened? Didn’t you sleep good last night?” Alex asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

“Not really, and I’ve been sparring with James all morning” I confessed.  I’m not sure why I always told him the truth.  It was unnerving.  I could usually hide what I didn’t really want people to know except from him and Lizzy.

“What do you mean sparring? Verbally or physically?” asked Will condescendingly. 

“What, you want to play with me now?” I asked snidely.

Alex and George burst into laughter at the stunned look on Will’s face.  I could see Max and Katie smiling to each other behind them.  They were all enjoying my verbal banter with Will.

“Oh I think I could take you Anna.  You’re pretty small, and a girl so it shouldn’t take much to put you in your place.” Will stated confidently.

I looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “I think you should call James before you make statements you can’t back up.” I chided him.

They all looked at me in disbelief.  I just smiled politely and slid into a defensive pose and motioned to Will with my finger. 

“Come on then” I coaxed “It’s your funeral” The sly smile forming on my lips made Will pause.  Just then Lizzy arrived, saving me from having to fight with Will.  It probably wouldn’t have gone over too well when I beat him and I didn’t want Will as an enemy – I just hated to be pushed around.

“Anna, you’re here!” she called smiling.

I smiled at her and waved starting to walk towards her.  Just then Will pounced.  I saw him coming with my peripheral vision.  My god he was fast but I moved faster, and turning I grabbed his shirt just in time and sent him flying over my head as I executed a perfect back roll and sprung back up onto my feet.  He landed with a thud gasping for air as I placed one foot on his throat and my knee on his solar plexus holding him down.  If I shuffled my weight slightly, it would be easy to crush his windpipe.  I was lucky that I was so warmed up from sparring earlier, my ribs were sore but they weren’t shooting pain like earlier so I was able to keep a straight face. 

“Will, she’ll never want to come over if you treat her like that!” said Lizzy looking at me with approval.  Alex was beside her with an eyebrow raised and a huge smile on his face.  Stephan, George and Cassy were all trying to stifle their laughter.

“What are you talking about I’m the one who’s on the ground with a foot on my throat!” Will complained half heartedly as he grinned at me, respect evident in his eyes.             

“I warned you.  Next time I think you should take my advice and talk to James first.  I’m sure he’ll be sore in the morning” I smiled at Will as I straightened up, then offered him my hand to help him to his feet.

“I think your friend is going to be a handful Lizzy” Alex looked at me in admiration.  Lizzy shrugged rolling her eyes at him and stalked over to me. 

“Big brother types are soooo annoying” she looked at me apologetically as she grabbed my hand and walked me to the front yard.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get back earlier. I knew that Will was going to bug you as much as possible, it’s because you blush so much. I wasn’t expecting Alex to get in on the fun too.” Lizzy shook her head.

“It’s ok.  I really don’t mind, your brother and Will have been bugging me since the first day I met them and I think I might be starting to get use to it. Besides, I’ve never had a big brother, so to be honest it was kind of fun to let loose a bit with Will.  I don’t think he was expecting what he got though.” I laughed as Lizzy shook her head grinning.

“You look really tired, are you ok?” Lizzy asked concerned.

“I had a nightmare last night and didn’t get much sleep, and I was sparring all morning with James so I’m a bit exhausted.  When I get home I’m planning on getting everything ready for school and going straight to bed” Lizzy nodded as she assessed me and told me that was a good idea.  She looked so much older than me in that moment, like she knew more than she was letting on.

“Anna, are you sure that’s it?  You were sort of I don’t know quiet and avoiding certain topics last night.” She was very perceptive and it seemed that I would have to work on hiding my emotions from her and her family.  As with Alex, I couldn’t figure out why I wanted to tell her things, to confess my thoughts and emotions to her, but I did.

“My friend Paul was murdered on Friday.” I mumbled as I looked at my hands in frustration.

“Anna, I’m so sorry. Are you going to be okay?” she looked so kind and sad for me.  It was nice to have people who truly cared.

I nodded and got to my feet. I really didn’t want to talk any more about it and Lizzy realized that.

“Well I gotta go. I’ll see you tomorrow at lunch then” I said quietly.

“I’ll save you a seat” she replied worry evident in her eyes.

“Later then.” I said sadly trying to give her at least a half smile.

“Later” she replied.