The Princess and the Papoose

Chapter 1

Once upon a time, in a far away kingdom, there was a place where everyone had a magical gift. In the middle of the Kingdom was a tall hill, and on top of the hill was a beautiful castle. A princess, tall and pale and lovely, with a good heart, lived inside of the castle. Around her neck she wore a pouch filled with magic dust, and it helped her to keep her kingdom safe. Her magical gift was the ability to heal; anyone who was sick, or sad, or scared, she could lay her hands on their head, and they would be cured!
In the kingdom also lived a beautiful young Indian child, a papoose, whose magical gift lay in her dreams. When she slept, she would have visions of any one who was sick, or sad, or scared, and could find them.

"Bethany," A hand touched Bethany's shoulder, disturbing her dream.
"Wake up sis, we gotta get going!" It was Rain's voice, no doubt attempting to rouse her for another long, tedious day at the homeless shelter.
Bethany groaned and turned over, to hear Rain growl and say "Come on, does it have to be this big ordeal to get you up every morning?"
"As long as you insist on getting me up at 7:15 every morning? Yes." Bethany shed her covers, revealing her blue-and-white cloud-pattern pajamas.
Rain scoffed and smiled. "You better hit the shower too, I'll get breakfast ready."

Half an hour later, clean and with a pop-tarts-and-milk breakfast in their bellies, Rain and Bethany Ticket climbed into the eldest's car and headed toward the homeless shelter. Here, the youngest would spend her day. Rain had to leave her there to get to work, but would join her a few hours later.
"I had another one of those dreams last night." Bethany confided after a few minutes of driving in silence.
"Who about?" Rain asked, not averting her gaze from the highway.
"I'm not sure, it wasn't anyone we know this time."
"Then how does it fall under the category of 'those' dreams?"
"I don't know," Bethany shifted in her seat.
"Feet off the dashboard."
"Sorry. But yeah, I'm not sure. It just had that same...feeling."
Rain nodded slowly. "What was happening?"
"It's kind of hard to explain. I'm in a room, and there's a man. I...I can't really tell what's happening. It's like he's choking me. I can feel his hands around my throat, but...he's not touching me. Ahh, I dunno, it was probably just a dream."
"Yeah, that sounds pretty dream-ish to me."
Bethany sighed. "It just felt so real."
"Well," Rain turned her car into the shelter's parking lot. "If you have an encounter with a man who can strangle people without touching them, tell me."
"Don't worry, I will." Bethany unbuckled and climbed out of the car. "Have fun at yuppie central!"
"Ugh." Was all Rain would say. She saw her sister safely indoors, then pulled away from the lot toward her day job at the local Starbucks.

Rain arrived late to assist at Mercy Homeless & Assistance Center. She was exhausted, and Bethany's foul mood didn't lift her spirits.
"Long day, huh?" Rain asked, pulling her apron from the shelter's kitchen wall and pinning her nametag to it.
Bethany submerged a dish in a sink full of hot water, scrubbing angrily at the soup residue. She didn't answer the question.
"Okay, I'll take that for a 'yes'. Faith!" Rain leaned into the other section of the two-part kitchen, summoning the cook that worked the same shift.
"Yes, dear?" Faith was an elderly woman with a head of white hair that was always pinned up at the nape of her neck. She was never flustered or unfair, and Rain enjoyed her company greatly.
"What's for dessert tonight?"
"Ice cream and peach cobbler!"
"Oh, yummy! Do we get some?"
Faith just let loose a hearty laugh, and Rain smiled, quite aware that that meant 'yes' as well. She walked past her sister, and said, in a low, frustrated whisper, "Why can't you be more cheerful?"
Bethany drowned another dish, then said, "I don't know what her problem is, it's been a crummy day."
"How?" Rain was packing a cart with spray-cleaners and fresh rags.
"It just has." That was Bethany's way of saying 'it would take too long to explain and you wouldn't understand anyway'.
Rain sighed. "Fine. I'm off to clean the bathrooms, at least you didn't get pinned to bathroom duty again!"
"No, I just got stuck doing the stupid dishes all day. And Ezzie didn't finish last night, so I had extra this morning!" Another dish went under in Bethany's cold grip, and Rain could practically hear them screaming for mercy. She left before her sister could torture more helpless dishes in front of her.

"I don't get why I have to work at that stupid place anyway," Bethany whined.
"It'll look good on your resume - when you decide to apply anywhere." Rain swore under her breath, then muttered something about needing to shop as she pulled out the last two boxes of macaroni from her pantry.
"You didn't have any volunteer work on your application!" Bethany protested. They'd arrived home about ten minutes ago, and there had been nothing but tension int he air between them since.
Rain was actually surprised that she hadn't been sock-against-carpet-zapped yet. Her sister loved to vent like that. "No, I didn't," she said, "and look at us! Me workking in a coffee shop, barely able to support us, and us volunteering just to take our attention away from our poverty."
"That's mom's fault," Bethany mumbled.
After setting water down to boil, Rain spun around with fire in her eyes. "You know that's not true!"
Bethany immediately felt bad for saying it, but she wasn't about to hang her head in shame about something she knew she felt was true. "She could have tried harder to make it easier for us! Maybe left a few dollars behind-"
"Don't you think she would have if she could? It was hard enough after dad died!"
"It was almost like she wanted it to be hard!"
"Well maybe she did! So what? What's to say this isn't good for us?"
"Good for us?" Bethany thrust an indignant finger toward the pasta boxes sitting on the counter behind Rain. "You call skipping dinner multiple times a month because we can't afford it is good for us?"
"She was sick!" Rain was grasping at straws now, angry that she had to defent their deceased mother's honor to her own sister. She crossed into the carpeted dining room. "She wanted us to be happy, not to fight!"
"Yeah? Well obviously mom didn't get everything she wanted. Why should that change now that she's gone?" Bethany turned to walk away.
Feeling hurt and angry, Rain forced herself ot calm down and sighed. "Bethany," she extended a hand to her sister's shoulder, only to be met with a loud popping sound and pain to the tips of her fingers. "Ow! Bethany! What is it with you and the sock...rubby...thing?"
Bethany was rubbing her shoulder, like she'd felt the shock too, and turned around, frowning. "Rain, I don't even know what you're talking about."
"Me and you need to have a discussion about..." Rain's voice trailed off when she looked down and realized that neither of them were wearing socks; both barefooted against the brown carpet.
"What did you touch me with?" Bethany asked, growing more and more angry.
"My hand," Rain replied, holding up the offending appendage without looking up.
Bethany gingerly touched her sister's fingertips, and jumped back with a startled, "Whoa,"
Rain finally stopped studying their feet. "What?"
Bethany got closer and reached forward again, slowly this time. A weak static beam crossed the air, and it was Rain's turn to stare in awe. "Whoa."