I knelt beside her and offered a smile. “You have a gift for taming animals. Are you able to bring all animals to you?”
She nodded and put her hand in the water. Moments later, a large trout darted to the surface, running its back against her palm before disappearing.
It was quite a sight to behold – not unlike watching her play tag with the fish a few days earlier, and a thought came to me. If she was able to calm animals, tame them even, then the animals would always protect her from harm.
“That’s wonderful!” I praised and she smiled.
“Animals like me.”
“I can see that.” I held my hand to her. “Want to go and get breakfast?”
Placing her small hand in mine, she stood and I pretended to use her help in getting myself to stand. She thought that was very funny, and I followed her through the boulders back up the mossy steps to the house.
Naira climbed into a chair at the dining room table and watched me make her some chocolate milk. Her large green eyes followed my every movement.
“Okay, we’ve got some oatmeal, cereal and bread for toast.” I said as I poured the milk, “I’m not any good at cooking, so those are your options. What would you like?”
“Cereal!”
“Yes Ma’am!” Closing the microwave door on the cup of milk, I pushed the start button. “Do you want healthy cereal or fun cereal?” I asked, holding the cupboard open to reveal several cereal boxes.
“Fruit Loops.”
“Okie dokie!"
When breakfast was ready, I set her cereal and chocolate milk in front of her and sat beside her with my own bowl of Fruit Loops. She grinned when she saw I was eating fun cereal too.
“Do you want to go swimming after breakfast?” She asked.
Not really. The thought of running into Sharlie, who had turned out to be very real, didn’t make me want to place one toe in the lake.
“Don’t you think it’s a tad early to go swimming?” I shoveled a spoonful into my mouth.
“You don’t have to be scared of Sharlie,” she said.
Her comment made me freeze. Naira had always seemed special and her powers could be multiplying along with her growth. What other powers had she gained lately?
“Naira, can you read my mind?” I asked.
“Yes.”
I placed my spoon back in the bowl. “Does Mom know?”
“No.”
“Why haven’t you told her you’ve got a new power?”
“Mama’s worried right now. I don’t want to.”
“Are there other powers you have you haven’t told her?”
She nodded.
“Like what?”
She didn’t say anything. I changed the conversation. “Can you teach me how to read minds?”
Her eyes lit up with excitement and she nodded.
“When do you want to start?”
“Let’s swim first!” She cried.
I’ll be honest. I haven’t been a huge fan of the cold or the water my whole life. I mean, let’s face it - Stanley is pretty cold most of the year and it doesn’t make you want to run gleefully toward forty degree water clad in a thin layer of Lycra. Payette Lake is cold - most of the year. Knowing Sharlie was still somewhere close didn’t exactly fill me with confidence either, but I had to at least pretend to be fine.
I had never swum with Naira and she was very excited about it. She ran ahead of me, nearly tripping on the edge of the dock. Her perfect smile played about her lovely face as she hopped up and down on the dock, making the waves ripple outward from the dock’s slimy edges.
“Hurry!” She called. “It’s not bad!”
When I reached the dock, I dipped a toe in and rolled my eyes. “Not that bad? It’s freezing!”
“No it’s not,” she argued and slid into the dark lake. I was surprised to see her tail was not like any I’d seen before; it was turquoise and magenta.
“What do Mom and Tammer say about the color of your tail?” I asked, my teeth already beginning to chatter as I eased into the frigid water.
“They say it’s pretty,” her tone saddened, “but really they think there’s something wrong with me.”
“What?” I couldn’t believe that.
She nodded. “They’ve never seen a tail like mine. But I already know why it’s like this.”
“Oh yeah?” I phased, instantly feeling my skin adjust to the temperature of the water. “Why?”
“Because I’m your sister.”
That didn’t make any sense. “What do you mean?”
“Everything’s going to change now,” she said. I watched her blond ringlets slowly disappear from the surface of the water as she slipped down into the depths.