Thanks for the reviews so far! I hope y'all will stick around because I'll go ahead and flatter myself that this is some of the fluffiest fluff I've ever fluffed! LOL
This is one of the chapters that is particularly heavy with StarKatt427 spice (for some reason, whenever I mention other writers who have numbers, I feel like shortening their names. Weird, huh?) It's a little short, but there's a lot of flirting in the later end of it. Tee-hee! And there are more lopsided conversations between the two.
Oh, and I have a question: What kind of sweaters did guys wear in the 60s and 70s? Whatever they wore back then, that's what Jack wore…I theorize.
"No one ever leaves Two Rivers." – Rand al'Thor, The Eye of the World
Chapter 6: Silver and Gold
Joanna wasn't the only one crying in that window. Jack watched her with a hand in his hair and he was fighting hard to steady his breathing, not wanting to throw a frustrated snow fit.
The last time he'd seen her cry was early winter of '68 in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. She'd come running up to him in tears, flung herself into his arms and cried, "Jack! My dad says I can't see you anymore!" To see her in hysterics like this had torn him up enough, but this declaration nearly threw him into a panic! His first friend in 200-ish years and now her jerkwad dad was separating them. He remembered how helpless he'd felt as he and the child clung to each other for dear life, the wretched tears he'd let fall at the thought of never seeing his precious friend again. No human could see him back then and most spirits just didn't care. This girl was the only one of her kind that had ever cared for him.
Now she was back and crying again; only this time, he couldn't hold her.
"Why?" he hoarsely asked the moon, "Why did you send her back to me if she can't even see me?"
"Jack?" her small voice spoke his name.
I'm here, he wrote. She wiped her eyes and put her feet down.
"Jamie said you know me," she hesitated, "Is that true?"
He didn't answer at first, just looked at her with deep, sad eyes. She looked worn out and tired.
Meet me here tomorrow night, he wrote, I promise I'll tell you everything.
"All right," she said, "I guess I have had enough for one night. I just wanted you to know."
Wait right there. He leaned out the window and looked up at the sky. When he found who he was looking for, he whistled.
"HEY, SANDY!" he waved him over. In no time, the silent golden Guardian was at the window. "Hey, man. Would you knock her out for me?"
Sandy looked over and saw Joanna. He made a question mark over his head.
"It's a long story, believe me," said Jack. The Sandman wasn't exactly satisfied with this answer, but he smiled warmly and blew a dose of his enchanted dust out of his hand that swirled tantalizingly around her head and reflected in her wonder-filled eyes for a moment. She could see it!
"The Sandman," she murmured sleepily, "Thank you for coming." She slumped against the wall.
"Thanks, man," said Jack as he jumped down to get her. Now he could touch her, so he gently moved her warm face from the wall with one hand and smiled tenderly at her. The sheen of the moonlight blended with the shimmer of Sandy's gold, making her look like an angel.
Jack felt a new version of the old affection he'd had for her as a child and he held her head and kissed her deeply on the forehead. Sandy floated inside.
"I got my girl back," Jack said softly, "She can't see me yet…but she's back."
He picked her up, surprised at how light she was, and laid her in her bed. Sandy came over and made a more demanding gesture. Jack smiled.
"Meet me on the roof," he said as he tucked her in, "I'll tell you the whole story."
He didn't stay long enough to see her dreams take the shape of a ship sailing on the water.
"I'm so sorry about last night, Joanna," said Mrs. Bennett the next morning, "My manager caught me at the last minute."
"Oh, don't think anything of it," said Joanna as she scrambled some eggs, "You don't have to apologize to me. This is what I'm here for." She served her the eggs and poured her some orange juice.
"You're spoiling me," Mrs. Bennett chuckled.
"That's also what I'm here for!" Jo giggled, "Jamie? Sophie? You guys need any more?"
"Yes, please!" Jamie eagerly held out his plate.
"All done!" said Sophie.
"You're done, all right," said her mother, "And some of it's on your face!" She started to clean her off and said, "I get to go to work late today because of last night, so I'm going to take the kids to school." The kids cheered.
"Not a problem," said Jo, "I'll hold down the fort and do some housecleaning."
"Thanks," said Mrs. Bennett, "And if you don't mind, would you walk Abby, too?"
"Sure!" In a few minutes, the Bennetts were bundled, backpacked, and piling into the car. While his mother strapped Sophie into the toddler seat, Jamie stood on the porch with Joanna, who had Abby by the collar.
"Hey, Jo," he said quietly, "Did you see Jack last night?"
"No, I didn't see him," she answered, "but I talked to him."
"Did you hear him, at least?" the boy asked with excitement.
"No," she sighed, then chuckled, "He had to submit his questions in writing—frost writing."
"But you said you believed in him," Jamie said, confused.
"I do," she replied and squatted, "Believe me, I really do. I just…don't know why I can't see him yet." She saw an intent look on the child's face, like he wanted to say something else. "What is it, Jamie?"
"What if it's because you're a grown-up?" he mused. She opened her mouth to answer, then stopped and thought for a second.
"I've never thought of that," she said, "Maybe grown-ups—even ones who believe—just take longer than kids. Good idea, Jamie!" He beamed at the praise. "Now don't you go worrying about me," she said and ruffled his hair, "Today you concentrate on school, okay?"
"All right," he rolled his eyes playfully, "You know, you're as bad as Jack. He keeps telling me not to worry, too!"
"Well, he's right," she smirked and stood, "Kids have their own problems to worry about without adding others." They hugged and Jamie trotted off, waving as he went.
"Bye, Jo!" he called and was echoed by Sophie, "Bye, Abby!"
Abby wagged her tail and Joanna waved her hand until the car was out of sight. Then girl and dog looked at each other.
"Well," said the girl, "Come on, Abby-nathy! Let's clean house!"
Piff! A snowball disintegrated against the side of her head; she recovered just enough of her wits to grab the dog again, who was growling at the tree in the yard. There was no one there that Joanna could see, and she knew what that meant.
"Okay, Jack," she smiled in a way that almost matched his own, "I know you're here, even without the dog."
"Oh, yeah?" Jack taunted, "Prove it!" He hit Abby with a snowball and she barked. Joanna shoved the dog back into the house and closed the door, all the while searching for Jack like a predator on the prowl. Suddenly a small spot on her cheek was chilled as a short gust whizzed past her. She yelped in surprise and touched her face, now pink.
"What the—? How did—?" She spun around, still looking. "Did you just kiss me?"
"Wow, you guessed it," said Jack, "I'm impressed. Whoa!" He just barely avoided getting hit himself and stumbled off the porch. "Okay," he said in shock, "Now I'm impressed."
"Told you so!" Joanna said gleefully, "I'm starting to sense your presence, I can ride your wind, and…" She slipped her feet out of her houseshoes and stepped right into the snow! "Look, Ma! No shoes!"
"You're kidding, right?" Jack raised an eyebrow. No human he'd ever seen could stand that for very long.
'Ah,' his brain clicked, 'No human you've ever seen.' That was just one more thing on his list of compelling evidence that Nanny Jo was his long-lost spirit friend from the Great Lakes.
"I'm still here, Jack," she said, bouncing a snowball in her hand, "And I'm still barefoot! Jamie tells me you do the same; must be fun!"
"Not as much fun as this!" Jack wound up like a pitcher and beaned her in the shoulder; she immediately returned fire, but he was too quick for her.
"You'll have to do better than that, Nanny Jo!" he crowed as he ran all over the yard, lobbing snowball after snowball at her. She chased him fruitlessly and kept missing him, but she still laughed as hard as he did. For a moment it seemed like they were back in the park in Green Bay—ten years apart but visible to each other, playing in the snow without a care in the world. He ducked as another one flew right over him and shook his head with a chuckle.
"You know, I'm disappointed," he teased with his staff slung across his shoulders, "I seem to recall you being a much better shot than that."
A short tiny whoosh and a direct smack made him freeze in his tracks. It was just the small sound of a snowball, but to Jack and Joanna it was the Shot Heard 'Round the World.
Jack slowly half-turned with bits of snow falling off his back to see Joanna still bent in something of a baseball pose, reflecting his own shock on her face. She could see where she'd hit him and her eyes lit up.
"You hit me," he said as a smile spread slowly across his face.
"I just hit you," she started laughing like she couldn't believe it.
"That was amazing!" he got excited.
"I totally just hit you!" she bubbled.
"I know! I've still got it on me!"
A mischievous gleam came to her eye. "And now I know exactly where to find you!"
"Uh-oh." After a brief deer-in-the-headlights look, Jack turned tail and ran for the tree, hastily brushing the snow off his back as Joanna went on the offensive.
"Oh, come on, Jack!" she laughed and climbed after him as nimbly as he did, "Don't run away! I can sense you now, remember?"
Jack shook his head; he'd been staring at her (again) and how fast she could move. If he hadn't known better, he'd have sworn they were twins separated at rebirth. She was squatting like a frog on the limb next to his with one leg dangling. Her eyes were warm and bright with fun and expectation. She was wearing brown capris and a midnight blue turtleneck with a ruffle around the bottom that fluttered like a skirt. It was kind of a mismatched outfit, but it somehow seemed to fit her perfectly.
"Jack?" she said weirdly when nothing happened. He tapped a branch over her head with his staff and it dumped snow on her. "Okay, I deserved that," she laughed. Jack perched next to her; this time she knew it because she felt the whoosh. She looked up.
"I can almost feel you," she said, "It feels colder where you are. Jamie thinks that maybe the reason I can't see you yet is because I'm an adult and would take longer."
"He's probably right," Jack sighed and leaned back on his hands with his staff behind him, "He usually is." He smiled as he thought of Jamie's bright eyes and quick mind, his loyalty, and his unwavering faith.
"Well," Jo said, "I've got to head inside and start cleaning the house. I'd invite you in…" She smirked. "But you probably don't wait for an invitation." She slipped backwards off the limb and swung herself down. Jack laid on his stomach and watched her go in.
"Sure sounded like one to me," he grinned and followed.
Author's Review:
In case there's any confusion, she can't hear him, either. They're just riding the same wavelength…sort of.
Normally my stories are chock-full of references to other things—movies, TV, books, etc. But this time, the only one I've got (for this chapter, at least) is the Hunger Games reference to the way Jo called the dog Abby-nathy. Props if you got it!
Is anyone reading this, btw? I tend to babble a lot.