“...I’d only considered whether I should love them. I had not realised it would be so difficult to allow them the right to love me. Does it mean I am still angry with them?”
“Yes.” She was now emoting her misery. “Yes, they must not forgive me just because they love me. They should only forgive me if they see I have repented and am now a better person than I was.” She looked into Haven’s eyes. “They won’t forgive me.”
Haven shocked her and us by laughing. She stopped when she saw Al-Cherine’s cheeks flame red with anger and humiliation. “I was not laughing at you. Cherine, my mind is open to you, I have some memories I want you to share from me. They will not make much sense because you do not know our story but I think you’ll understand why I laughed. If you decide I deserved to be loved and forgiven, then you’ll have to accept that so do you.”
We expected her to go to her Robert first. Instead she went to Cher and Robert. “Will you allow me to love and forgive you?”
Even our alien friends who’d been sharing through us or via Freddie rejoiced. Because of all the happiness and release of guilt, Freddie suddenly seemed a more vivid and beautiful world. That night Haven was adored and loved by Robbie and all of us. We let her weep for a short time, for sharing her memories with Al-Cherine had forced those memories on her again as Al-Cherine handled them inexpertly.
We spent the next days helping both Cherines and Roberts so that we could all be one family. We did not have another telling, waiting for our last Robert and Cherine - most of us pleaded with Robbie that we be allowed to bring Tippity and his mini harem to Freddie. He pretended we only wanted to do so for the purpose of teasing him (I mean Robbie, not Tippity). It would have been a good reason but it just happened that we were all in love with the ‘idea of Tippity’, as written by Arthur.
Freddie actually arrived slightly in the past. Robbie, with Cher, as souls, went to watch as she arrived at the stadium. She cringed as she felt herself when she arrived. It was good that Robbie did it this way as it helped her understand that we were not just trying to absolve her of her guilt, she really was not entirely sane when she committed her crimes. Perhaps she never has been since the day she killed her brother. We helped her Robert and Nicko share so that they understand the love and support she will need, for she will be tormented by nightmares for years to come.
Farm-Robert died. His soul was held by Robbie while our Cherine teleported Robert there and, putting in a very brief appearance, she grabbed the dead body of the Farm-Robert. Robert had to place his arms around the Farm-Cherine and bring her. He did not let go fast enough when they arrived and she attacked him, thinking she was being abducted by a fake or different Robert so as to take her away from her own Robert who needed her.
Farm-Cherine and her Robert are going to be one of the really loved Teller families - amongst the Teller alternates. There is a sweetness and gentleness in them that touches the hearts of all, while they also seem to be more down to earth than any of us. This time we did not leave immediately, Farm-Cherine took Robbie and Jade with her in a small platform.
Nicko was supposed to be keeping Nitsa company, but he was sitting with a whiskey bottle close to him, watching Olympiakos playing AEK. Being a fan of Olympiakos, he was upset that they were losing and shouted advice to the players as if they could hear him. Tippity found his behaviour upsetting and had drawn Nitsa as far from Nicko as he could, him and his girls keeping her entertained while they waited for Cherine and Robert to return. Suddenly, as Nicko and Nitsa jerked, crying out, so did Tippity raise his head and howl his agony. They literally only had seconds to grieve and their Cherine appeared in the room. They all mistook Robbie for their Robert for a second or two and then Tippity grunted at his females and they encircled Nitsa while he dashed over to Cherine in case she needs to be protected. Jade stepped out from behind Robbie and Tippity lost most of his aggressiveness to his curiosity about her.
Cherine had no difficulty in convincing Tippity, his girls and Nitsa into boarding the platform. Nicko was another thing. He urgently did his best to excuse himself and get out of there.
Our Cherine jumped and his eyes nearly popped out of his face. She put her hands on her hips as if she were feeling aggressive. “Nicko, this is my Robert, you can’t have him!”
It was funny how a slim tiny eight year old managed to intimidate him. He tried to reassure her he did not want her Robert and she asked why, isn’t her Robert just as good as his? As she enjoyed herself flustering him, she drew closer and closer. Suddenly she laughed and reaching around his waist she hugged him. “I was only teasing. All you Nickos find it so difficult to adjust to us. Nicko, I want your parents and Alki to join us; take my hand.” They brought them, adding Perikli and Officer Michaeli. They had all felt the pain in Cherine when their Robert died. They’d also felt her rage and wondered. When they learnt the truth it took them a long time to calm down and stop glaring daggers at Cher.
Just as everyone was settling down and becoming friendlier, Lusalith appeared. “Samantha, I must talk to you.” I quickly went to her, gave her a hug and sat on the grass to hear what she had to tell me. “You do know how our people gather to choose a new god?” She felt my hearts speed up as I thought she meant she is no longer their god. “Not that Sam, we did it as an experiment to try and sense where our Arthur is. We think we have sensed him. He is not of our realities, we are certain of that!” She tugged at my arm, “We must go to find him.”
It took Lynda a while to get a feel for the way Lusalith identified the a-reality. Lynda shook her head and passed on to Freddie the image he should aim for. Playing it safe, Freddie arrived in the void. The instant we arrived, FTS seemed to experience a number of opposite effects at the same time. It was squeezed as if under tremendous gravitational pressure while everything seemed to explode in a ball of white hot fire. As we all lost consciousness, either Vincent with Kirsten succeeded in sending us back out of the reality or it rejected us, expelling us back to the reality we’d come from.
“The real hero is neither Nicko, nor Alki nor Cherine and I. It is president David. From what I’ve understood from the tellings, I guess that for you it is ironic that a politician had the courage and foresight to open our eyes to the dangers we, the people, wanted to keep our eyes closed to?” Robbie knew he was taking a gentle dig at him but he smiled and praised his president David.
Freddie dipped in to their reality and within minutes was out again. Robbie and Cherine had collected their Eddie and Hettie. When they woke up in Freddie they were in their original bodies and they were young, in their teens. It caused them some confusion, convincing them they have moved on to Heaven.
We had a number of Eddies and Hetties with us. They kept themselves blocked to give us time to help their alternates adjust. When they sensed the couple grow angry, they unblocked themselves in case we are attacked. Suddenly sensing the presence of alternates killed their anger for a time as they needed explanations of where they are and how is it possible for us to exist. We always find that last one funny.
Robbie asked, “What angered you?”
“We were murdered by our own people!”
Their Robert asked, “Frank?” They nodded and he grinned. “He’ll never harm anyone again. This lovely Cherine, she is the one that killed us, she also went into his mind and destroyed it. I’m told he’s like a helpless baby.”
“She killed you!?” This was just as good a time as any for bringing them up to date. It never palls and is still fun sensing them. I did not stay with them for all of it as I was still troubled by what happened at the strange reality. On a whim, I jumped to the barrier holding the animals from the world of the Gnolats. There are people who criticise us for keeping them, but if they’d been left in their natural habitat they would all have been dead by now. We do concentrate on keeping them healthy and rejuvenate them when they age as there are no more of their species and we do not want to let them become entirely extinct. The big guy, the only one that used to attack if it saw or sensed any of us, has grown wiser or else it has wearied of our presence. Many Normals make a point of coming to see them and so do aliens, Normals and Cherinians. I sat on a log and watched the old one sway without eating and wondered what kind of thoughts it has. Have the decades of experience brought it any new understanding of nature and life? If its mind should evolve and become self aware, how would we deal with it? We cannot bring it a male or female for it to breed, as it would probably not want to breed with an animal. It is too dangerous for us to encourage it to breed and multiply. What a heartbreak and an ethical disaster that would be. That brought me back to the thought of all those trillions dying (potentially at least) because we visited their reality before it was ready for us. Do we have the right to feel guilty about something we don’t know is true? Exactly how refined do I want my ethics to be?
I know, my thoughts do make many wonder about me, but I can’t help it.
When we went home that night, everyone was happy as this Eddie and Hettie are just as nice as Arthur wrote they are. They are still as deeply committed to protecting and helping their Robert and Cherine and we reassured them that we will not be interfering unless they ask for our help. It meant they will have to play some kind of charade, as we have done in the past, and claim they had to pretend to be dead so that their friends could find those who wanted to kill them. They will announce that Frank was the leader of that group, but since he’s experienced a very bad shock, leaving him semi-catatonic, they are setting up a fund for him to be looked after, as there is no point in having him charged with crimes he no longer understands.
The next morning Robbie sensed Al-Robert and without asking him, Freddie jumped back to their reality. Alessio was still at the hospital, kicking up a fuss because he’d learnt that both bodies have disappeared. He was mostly doing so because it was likely they would want to blame him. Secretly he felt that Robert and Cherine have returned to life and will be contacting him.
Alessio and his wife and son nearly had heart attacks when Robert and Cherine came out of the lift and walked over to them. Robert grinned. “I’m surprised Scotland Yard haven’t arrested you yet for our murder. Shall we go fill in some forms so that it ends here?” He laughed. “Tell me Alessio, did they fill in death certificates? What happens now, do they have to re-issue birth certificates? How do we get declared alive again?”
“Do you really want us to explain here, in front of everyone?” Alessio apologised and they went to have the death certificates revoked. The doctors examined them and they took care of the documentation, but they were very upset, especially those doctors who had examined their bodies. Robert had to insist that he and Cherine were leaving, as they wanted to conduct new tests on them. We wondered what tests; did they need them so as to find it possible to believe they are alive?
They drove in silence to their home. The family came in with them. As the door closed, Alessio exploded, demanding they explain why he and his family had to suffer such grief if the two of them had not really died. Robert let Cherine soothe him while he served drinks for all of them (both he and Cherine love a Baileys with ice). He sat opposite Alessio and looked him in the eyes.
“You and your family are our friends - closer than friends since Cherine linked you to us, so you have the right to know. Something has happened that you will find hard to believe, but I think our presence will prove that I’m not lying. Alessio, there are other realities where the Earth of each one has a Robert and Cherine. They are far advanced and know how to cross the realities and even to return in time so as to bring back those who died. They brought us back.” He did not speak of wanting to bring them to Freddie until he sensed they had come to accept all he’d told them. They asked many questions but he spoke openly and did not lie to them.
“All the other Roberts and Cherines have brought their best friends to Freddie. We also want to have our friends with us, will you come”
Alessio looked at his son and took the plunge. “Do they know I am a criminal?”
“They know you were a sort of gangster, but they also know that you are our best friends. The last is more important to us and to them.”
Lionisio’s sense of humour surprised his father. “This is like Jesus telling a thief that he would be the first to enter heaven with him? I bet my children will boast about their grandfather someday.” They felt the surge of love and gratitude in Alessio’s emoting.
We’d enjoyed sharing and sensing them and when they arrived in Freddie, they were welcomed warmly. Robbie privately wondered what the Alessio of our reality is like.
It actually is funny, in a slightly melancholic way. We all like Alessio and respect the way he accepted the gift of his Cherine and Robert without succumbing to superstitions, so generously becoming their protector because they represented a dream of goodness for him. The decision he made to change his way of life also deserves some respect. However, for most, it is difficult to forget how he made his money and that he is responsible for many deaths and the misery of thousands. I think that Cherine decided to do something about it only because she sensed these feelings in our pappou.
Robbie enjoys having a lamb on a spit now and then, but he has carefully enclosed the area so that species that do not eat meat do not have to view the carcass turning over the coals. He has not done anything to mask the smell as he claims that it whets the appetite and enhances the pleasure of eating. Cherine sometimes takes a very sharp knife and as the spit turns, she quickly slices a piece (or more) for nibbling - she is the only one Maria allows to get away with doing so. She’d already helped herself to three such slices so Robbie chased her away. Laughing at him she walked out and casually seated herself next to Alessio. She had a mischievous look to her so we all watched her out of the corner of our eye - we all enjoy seeing her this way and would hate to miss whatever it is she is preparing to do. Robbie sensed her and walked out and stood close to the enclosed spit area, watching her. Despite being forewarned, we were all shocked when she spoke.
“Alessio, how many people have you killed - I mean yourself, not through a hired gun?”
“What?” His face drained of all colour and his face suddenly looked gaunt. To have the prime Cherine suddenly ask such a question in front of everyone, it must have made him think he was about to be thrown to the wolves or something even worse - separated from his own Cherine and Robert.
“The man who drove at her is responsible, not you.”
Brutally she asked, “Is that what you would tell your son if he took my place?”
With a sick feeling in him, he replied, “No.”
Cherine swung her leg to and fro and smiled. “Well, as I said, it was only an example and a silly one at that. Let’s go back to my question, do you know how many you have killed? Am I wrong to presume that you did kill some?”
“No.”
“Were they all criminals like you?”
“No.”
She widened her eyes. “You killed some nice people?” He was not the only one perturbed, none of us could work out where she was taking this nor did we like it.
“I don’t know, sometimes those who are not criminals are worse than those who are. If they tried to take what was mine or tried to destroy me, I killed them.”
“Robert, is that like what you tell us, that we must defend what is ours?”
Robbie blocked himself so that those outside our family would not sense him. “Not exactly Cherine.”
She swung her legs a couple of times as she thought about it. By now all conversations had died and everyone was looking at her. “I can’t see why, but then I’m certain you’ll explain later on. Alessio, I’m not trying to damn you or destroy what you have with your Robert and Cherine. I’m trying to understand what happened to you. I can sense that you grew up as a good person. Something changed you and you did some very bad things. Still, under all of it, you wanted to be a good person and all the bad things you did made you feel guilty. Am I right?”
He did hesitate slightly before replying, “Yes.”
She bit her lip. “I’m supposed to be special, the prime Cherine who might help all humans evolve, but the truth is, I don’t see how that can happen if I don’t know where I come from - since everybody rushes to protect me from all the bad people. I want to ask you something no Cherinian is allowed to ask for. Alessio, will you share your memories with me? I will not look at your personal moments, just those that made you do what you did and then those that made you want to change. Nobody will ever be allowed to share from me.”
He looked trapped and desperate so Haven spoke up with anger very evident in her voice, “That is a terrible thing you ask of him Cherine - Alessio, refuse her, nobody will think the worse of you if you do, she is the one who has broken our rules.”
Cherine grinned at him. “There you are, you see? Now I’m a criminal just like you. By the way, I’ve also killed someone nice - if nobody has told you, it was my Robert, so we are both the same?” She came to her feet and stood before him. She gestured for him to lean forward and she kissed his cheek. “I made a rule that all alternates must be linked by their own Robert and Cherine and we’ve kept to it for more than a hundred years. I know your Cherine linked you, but I want to break our rules again and ask you to allow me to link you also. This will be the first time it has ever happened, but then it is the first time that a Robert and Cherine have had a pappou who was not an Alki. I think that makes you very special.” She looked him in the eyes and he paled as he sensed her. “I expect you to make amends for all the people you hurt or killed. Will you do so?”
We felt her link him and Robbie called out, “A party, let’s have some fun to celebrate.” Cherine kept her eyes fixed on our pappou until he went to Alessio and hugged him, welcoming him into our family; then the party happened and it went a little bit wild for a while.
To take things in their turn, I’ll move on to Tippity afterwards. The first time we were alone at home with Alki, her mother and all other close friends, Cherine spoke. “We call ourselves Cherinians as if using a title alters who and what we are. I do not wish to speak of it openly for it will only damage the dream for many, but I feel forced to explore the subject with you.” She stared at Haven. “You thought I did something that was wrong?”
Haven did not soften and spoke sternly. “If we adopt certain rules and they apply to all, then you did. If our rules do not apply to you, then you did not. Will you tell me which it is?”
Cherine grinned. “Damn it Haven, I wish I had your heart, nothing fazes you. Our rules apply to all of us, if you wish to think of it that way - yet they also apply to none of us. Haven, we do not have rules as others have laws. If we adopt certain rules, they are only meant to guide us. If a superior rule becomes evident to you, eclipsing another and less important rule that you had adopted, then that is the rule you should obey - if your heart demands it of us it will be the same for everyone. With Alessio, a different aspect of the rule was more important to me because it was more important to him. What is the purpose of most of our rules? Are they not put in place by each of us in an effort by us to protect others from our fears, weaknesses or hunger for power? If I had not asked, opening the way and providing the reason I wished to use for linking him, he would have continued being treated with a lack of respect and love by many.
I started off by speaking of the fact that we are no better than the Normals in this respect; we also have our double standards. I have been waiting for at least some of you to notice, but nobody did, to the contrary, you showed that you accepted it, found it natural and correct of us as Cherinians. Not even you my sweet Samantha, nothing, no alarm bells rang? Robert my love, my dearest Dommi, none of you saw? Not even after I stressed the point?”
Robbie spoke for us. “Because we did not see, it does not mean we approve, my love. Sometimes the best of us can be blind to something important because it is too close for our eyes or minds to focus on.”
“Was Alessio loved and linked by his Cherine? We all know he was. Did Robert demand we accept, link and love our Hettie after the war? Did we? Alki and anyone else, for how long did anyone object? Why did the last of you accept Alessio within your heart once I linked him? When you did, I cringed with embarrassment, for his Cherine has been openly insulted by us.”
Allan tried to justify us, “But Cherine, as your own questioning of him made clear, he has killed and made thousands suffer. We should not forgive and absolve him of his crimes that easily.”
“That’s strange…out of three Cherines we have two who committed crimes, using their gifts to kill. What was said to the one Cherine about absolving her of her guilt? Are you insinuating that because they are Cherines they should be absolved of all their crimes while we refuse to forgive Alessio? You know very well that we must be stricter with each and every Cherine and Robert. Especially each Cherine. Why do you think I shamed Alessio by harping on the question of how many he has killed? If he has killed a thousand, can’t you see that if a Cherine kills even one, her guilt is greater? Our gift is empathy and using empathy to kill, that is not the greatest abomination of all?”
Poor Robbie. He felt an urgent need to protect each and every Cherine, including our own, but he dared not speak one word in their defence. We could feel how Cherine desperately wanted to run to his lap and to hold him, soothe him, but instead she forced herself to stand back so that he handles it on his own. For a family who are desperate to avoid any one of us maturing, we certainly don’t hesitate to force it on ourselves or our loved ones when we think it is important or necessary. It makes me feel very proud of my loves. Cherine went to sit on the lap of Alki and he squeezed her to him with his big heart overflowing with love.
While we spent time monitoring Patrick, the girls did another telling. When they came to the part where Cherine sacrifices her Robert for the Shadow Robert, usually we can sense every heart, even ours, weeping for Robert, his sacrifice causing love for our Robbie to mushroom in our hearts. This time one heart did not weep for him. We felt the keen grief and tears in the heart of Alessio for Cherine. By her mentioning to him that she had also killed, he had watched with a keen interest and as Robert was erased by her, his heart had the empathy to sense what great sorrows awaited her and he wept and grieved within his heart so violently that the telling had to stop for that night. Need anyone explain that Alessio was loved from then by all who love Cherine? That he should be the one to teach us an aspect or expose another kernel within the heart of empathy with regard to something we lived through and have watched hundreds of times, it is truly remarkable. That it should be Alessio, that truly is humbling.
At the time, Robbie had warned us that none of us would be guilty for whatever we did against him and the logical part of our mind accepted that he was right. However, though it may have lain hidden even from us, many had secretly condemned Cherine for bringing final death to our Robert. It was such a horror to us that we were not surprised she had become unbalanced (maybe even felt it justified our condemnation?). That unconscious condemnation must have been felt by Cherine without her being aware of it and I am surprised that Kirsten had not seen what lay within us and helped us lance it. None, outside our direct and indirect family, can understand why they sense this difference in us that suggests we have lost some festering darkness from within us and none can understand why we all emoted such a strong wild love for Alessio. Their Cherine made certain that his wife and son felt us, probably helping to heal the hurting, the truth about him had brought to them. Alessio felt them and he had another reason for weeping, even if it was brightly laced with joy.
The monitoring of Patrick went long beyond what was needed, for Robbie found it difficult to accept that his sister had sensed truly, that he is potentially as evil as she sensed while also it is likely that if she had not killed him, he would have grown up to become one of the most powerful psychics ever born. While he was seen as a potential threat to others, our decision was ethically clearer. Once it was extrapolated that he could end up becoming powerful enough to even be a threat to Robbie and us, we dared not make the decision as easily. We then had to contend with doubts about our own motives. To ask others to make the decision would not simplify the problem as we would then have to ask ourselves whether the decision they made was influenced by their love for us. If you are astute enough to have seen through me, you will have grasped the fact that I do not doubt what the decision should be in either case.
Cherine: Robert was not amused by her last sentence. He saw it as a deliberate ploy by her, meant to influence him. She laughed as she told him that he was wrong, that there was no reason for her to use her wiles to ‘influence’ him since it was not required. He acidly demanded to know what she meant by that and she reminded him, and us - maybe even herself - that none of us have the right to make any decision with regard to Patrick. His own Cherine had made her decision and she had felt so strongly about it that she’d executed her decision despite the high price it would cost her. She had crippled herself emotionally for most of her life because of that decision and we do not have the right to come in and say that because we are more powerful we will make our own decision and go against her decision if we feel we do not agree with her. This is her reality and we should ‘butt out!’. That brought about a violent argument by many, for it was counter argued that no Cherinian is allowed to sit by and allow another to harm anyone. Sam listened to everyone arguing and afterwards returned to her apartment, refusing to sleep with us while Robert is angry with her. He refuses to calm down because he says he is angry that she has used his anger as an excuse to stay away so as not to have to look at her arguments honestly, and that by doing so she was deliberately harming our family. I’ve asked my loves to keep out of it, the two of them must find their own answers, we do not have the right to manipulate either of them nor do we have the right to use emotional blackmail on them. So here we are Arthur, you and us will just have to wait awhile. Love you and bi.
Sorry I did not go into much more detail about our stay in the Seychelles but I was in a hurry to get to the subject you were so interested in;
The confusion Tippity felt was very obvious. Finding a number of Cherines and Roberts surrounding him did not make sense in his worldview. His girls drew close, looking to him for protection. I’m not certain that he is capable of recognising the impossibility of the treehouses but he did seem to be fascinated by the scents in the air. He sniffed and sniffed and looked around, obviously smelling something very different to what he knew and interested in finding out what it is. His Cherine sat on the grass next to them and by caressing and scratching the females she soothed them. Tippity looked into her eyes, obviously asking for an explanation. None of us tried to monitor them as we love having a mystery. Everyone wonders whether she is able to communicate with him telepathically, but we don’t want to know for certain until she volunteers the information - if she does.
Our Allan asked their Robert whether he should invite his little sister, Iona, to join us. With a grin, Robert confirmed she is a good choice to start familiarising the chimps with our alien friends.
As soon as Iona appeared, Tippity rose to stare at her. As she approached, he leant forward to peer at her from close up. Suddenly he let out a loud hoot and with his girls he jumped up and down and ran around Iona. The chimps took turns breaking out of the circle to run out to Cherine or Robert or one of us. They’d stare up at us, grin, baring their teeth, make noises, hoot and run back. We did not understand what it was all about, but for a while we were all helpless with laughter. Iona got into the spirit of things and ran in and out, among the chimps, mentally calling to them that she loves playing with them. She is used to our slower Terran reactions and was caught by surprise when one of the females lunged, missed but shot her other arm out and touched her. She instantly froze, turning politely to look at her, as if she’d been ‘tagged’.
“Stop! Don’t touch.” His Cherine ordered Tippity. The females immediately stopped, looking at Tippity for further guidance. The thought crossed my mind, was it possible that they also communicate telepathically between themselves? As unlikely as it seems, how else to explain instant reactions to orders? In contradiction of what I recently said, I reached out in an effort to sensitise myself. The problem is that when doing so, the effort can be sensed by all Cherinians not too absorbed in their own thoughts. It is not the sort of thing done among strangers as it does leave us vulnerable to the direct mental manipulations of others. I sensed Robbie becoming alert, ready to defend me should I need it.
“Kikibiqua, is the new Cherine afraid they will hurt me?” Allan confirmed it was so. She ran up his arm to sit on his shoulder and Allan sat on the ground next to Tippity. She then swayed and moved her feet without changing her position so that it looked as if she were dancing. The chimps came closer to sit before her just like an audience at a theatre. She stopped dancing and gestured towards Tippity. She continued until he raised his hand. Allan gave him his fingers and gently pulled his hand back so that the knuckles of Tippity came close to Iona. She caressed Allan’s cheek and then did the same to the fingers of Tippity. He did not pull back, but he seemed to be puzzled.
His Cherine laughed. “Allan, chimps have their rules or customs, there are defined reactions to most social interactions. Tippity should be returning her caress and searching her for fleas. Since he has been warned not to touch her, he feels he is at a disadvantage.”
Allan looked into the eyes of Tippity. “Tippity, will you let Iona sit on your shoulder?” Allan let go his hand and Tippity placed his hand, palm up, on his shoulder. Iona daintily stepped onto his hand and slowly walked up his arm to the shoulder. She must have watched them interacting, especially their social grooming, for she began to climb all over his body, parting the hairs as if searching for fleas. No fleas are allowed in Freddie so she did not have to crush and eat any.
Tippity relaxed, later on even to the extent that he lay down. When Iona felt she was through, she slowly walked over to the females. They trembled, but let her touch them. I tried hard to sense whether she was talking to their minds, soothing them, for within minutes they had forgotten their fear or nervousness. Once Iona felt familiar, they began to play with her, chasing each other all over the place. Tippity sat watching them, but his eyes would dart over to his Cherine now and then, as if wanting to be certain she is not annoyed.
Allan gave me a grin. “I suggest you power down supergirl, our next visitor will soon be arriving and you’re leaking all kinds of thoughts and emotions.” He felt my sharp withdrawal and bent over with laughter.
“Even should you be right, I’m certain he derives certain pleasures out of them being little girls.” Only Robbie and Allan laughed - the rest of us didn’t, deliberately, so as to discomfort them. It didn’t work.
I hope there will be more to say about Tippity and his family, but for the moment I will have to remain puzzled. Bitsy also contributes to the puzzle. At first he had the common sense to avoid the chimps as they could easily hurt him by accident. We laughed and joked about it with many of us applauding his cowardice. The excitement of seeing them play with Iona was too tempting and he ran to join in, barking with excitement. A female stopped in front of him and jumping up and down like a yo-yo, she bared her teeth and yelled at him. He returned to hide amongst our feet with his tail curled up under him. Now, this is the part that confused us. A little later he had moved out to lie on the grass when the same female chimp went and sat by him. He glanced at her and we could sense he was ready to run away at the first sign of hostility. She started to groom him! Soon he was lying on his back with his tongue hanging out by the side of his mouth and he seemed to have a really idiotic grin on his face. Since then they are friends, but he is careful not to bark when he is next to her.
He stopped before her without trying to touch, but he worked out what were her eyes, for he stared into them. He noticed they changed colour and he brought up a hand as if he wished to touch. Lusalith reached out and lightly touched his fingers. His eyes turned to look at his Cherine and then he opened his fingers. Lusalith placed her ‘hand’ in his. Gently he curled his fingers over her hand and lightly tugged. He took her to touch and be touched by his wives. Thinking to please them, Lusalith dreamt herself a body like theirs and with screeches they all shot back, out of reach. Screeching they jumped up and down, definitely angry with her. Maybe they felt she’d betrayed them or else she was more alien to them as a chimp than she was in her natural appearance. Lusalith gave up and came to sit with me. I placed my arm around her, emoting my amusement.
I grinned. “If they have a god, I wonder what he or she would be like.” I pretended to think about it. “Maybe a composite of Jade and Cassie could fill that position very well.”
They both laughed, but Cassie answered, “Actually, chimps are better known for their insatiable curiosity, not their sense of humour. I guess that means you’d have to take our place?” With our teasing and laughter, both Lusalith and her new friends relaxed.
While we speak about the healing and opening of minds and hearts with regard to the Roberts and Cherines, we are also helping those we brought with them from their realities. The funny thing is that the Cherine who tried to kill all the Roberts has many friends and is loved by the family of Nicko and their Alki. The Cherine who has Alessio, does not have anyone apart from him and his family. They lived a more isolated life and it seems they did not dream enough of our life story for them to feel the need to meet those we love. All three Cherines and Roberts have been allowed to read the diary - up to the point where we find them. It gave the Cherine of Alessio the idea of searching for her Allan. Having read how I’ve written about finding Allans, she came to me for help. Robbie has agreed to take her and me to her reality in a platform. With a stern look he told her Robert that he has to take his place and keep everyone safe. We jumped immediately and Robbie kept chuckling the whole time, earning some very fierce scowls from Cherine. I loved it when she told Robbie that he is not funny and lacks empathy, since he knew her Robert will suffer because he has no powers to protect anyone. Robbie gave me a wink, but refused to soothe her.
When we arrived, at a time that the Cherine with us was also still at home and had not met her Robert yet, Robbie told us he has a simple way for checking whether Allan exists. He used a computer to log in to his favourite paedophile site and looked for his nik. No luck. Cherine gave him a funny look when she realised where he’d gone to search for Allan, but did not comment.
“Maybe this Allan is not a paedophile - which means he will not have been writing about us.”
We checked all the places we’ve found him in other realities, but we had to go far back in time to find him in this one. We searched the records of his childhood; his school records suddenly stopped when he was twelve years old. Now we searched the newspapers of that year but did not find anything - apart from one little detail we nearly missed. It was mentioned in the official notices that the business of his father had been sold. At least we had good reason to believe he had not died, that his father must have moved. It took a little longer for us to find the file as the person we bribed in immigration had no excuse for searching the archives and had to find someone else to bribe in turn. When he succeeded, he showed us entries that proved Allan had left the country with his family - and they had moved to Uruguay! Our first South American Allan! If he rides horses and lives on a farm, he will be very different from all the other Allans we know. Even if he only differs in that he speaks Spanish, it will make him think in ways not usual to the Allans I know.
Allan is leading us on a wild goose chase, confusing us with his untypical behaviour, without him even knowing we are looking for him. We found out that his father bought a business in the city and made a success of it. This led to Allan being kidnapped when he was seventeen years old! His father paid, but the kidnappers shot Allan in the leg as a warning to him that he must not identify them or give any clues to the police. The injustice of it kept him in a frenzy of rage and he resisted his parents when they tried to send him for counselling. By nineteen he was known as a playboy who spent his time at discos nearly every night. If the information we gathered was correct, he was not a womaniser and it is believed he showed no interest in a permanent relationship with anyone. His social friends did not know that he spent many hours every week practising target shooting. He also hired an old man to teach him how to throw a knife.
