Chapter 9

Cathy watched as her daughter's plane took off towards the sky. A hot tear trickled down her cheek and she swiped it away from her face with the back of her hand. She had spent the last seventeen years raising Maria and now, she to basically push her out of the house.

As Cathy turned around and started walking towards Maria's truck, she felt a sudden tug on her heart as she realized how angry everyone was going to be when they found out it was her that helped Maria to escape from the church. But, at the same time, she was very happy that her daughter was finally going to pursue her destiny amongst the stars. She also knew that if Maria was able to, then she would visit as often as she could.

Cathy smiled as she looked at the truck and Reva was still waiting for her. Now was a good a time as any for Cathy to explain to Reva about what was really going on. Reva had been in on Maria's escape plan the entire time but, she did not know why her best friend had to go to Saturn in order to escape an unwanted marriage.

"Has her plane taken off?" Reva asked when Cathy opened the truck door and then sat down.

"Yes, it has. Reva, there is something that I have been meaning to tell you. But, you must swear total secrecy on this" Cathy stated as she turned the truck on and began to back out of the parking spot.

"You have my word. You know you can trust me with anything" Reva said as she fastened her seat belt.

"As you already know, Maria is not my real daughter. Her real mother and father were a king and queen from a distant planet" Cathy paused as she tried to gather her thoughts while she entered onto the interstate.

"I kind of figured that there was something odd about her because she could communicate with Star on such a personal level" Reva was not very surprised by this new revelation about her friend.

"That's not all. You know that necklace that you love to wear that matches Maria's?" Cathy softly questioned.

"Yeah. I don't wear it too often because I am terrible when it comes to delicate jewelry" Reva confessed.

"Do you remember those few times that you wore it?"

"Yes, every time I got around Maria, it would glow and get very warm. Maria's did the same thing!" Reva exclaimed.

"Those necklaces would always do that because you two are sisters. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out when I had you two helping me out in the kitchen that one day and you both had those necklaces on. The only they work is when you are wearing them" Cathy stated, hoping that what she was saying made sense.

"Oh gosh. I didn't know. But, doesn't that mean that I should be going with Maria?" Reva asked.

Reva looked down at the necklace and more carefully examined it. It had a clear crystal jewel in the center of it that was wrapped in silver wire. There was a partial crescent moon that wrapped around the crystal drop. Attached to the partial moon was a silver rope chain.

"I already have your plane ticket and Maria has her cell phone. Your plane leaves out next week. I wish I could have gotten both tickets at the same time so you two wouldn't be separated. That seat was the only one left and it was the soonest I could have gotten it. Go figure, everything works out for a reason" Cathy chuckled as she took a quick glance at Reva, who was looking up at the sky.

"Now, all we have to do is creep into town and pray we don't run into a lynch mob!" Reva stated as she turned around and smiled at Cathy.

"I don't think we'll be that lucky. James is going to be furious when he finds out about what I have done and Harold will probably never speak to me again. Oh well, he hasn't slept in my bed for two years now so this will not make that much of a difference" Cathy laughed.

"Good question. If Maria can talk to animals, what kind of abilities do I have?" Reva asked as she arched an eyebrow at Cathy.

"Have you ever made something happen or something happened that was unusual?" Cathy asked as she continued to drive.

"Sort of…I one time wished that it would snow like it used to up in Boston. Of course, it was in the middle of July and being that we live in Texas I knew that it would never happen. But, about five minutes later, it started to snow. You should remember that because I had been living down here for almost five years when it snowed in July" Reva stated.

"I remember that month very well. You were fifteen when it happened. I thought that was strange but, now I don't think it is" Cathy chuckled.

"So that's my ability. I can manipulate the weather with my mind. Cool" Reva stated.

"Just remember, don't abuse your powers. Use them for the good of others and you can never go wrong" Cathy said with a soft smile.

"Don't worry. I will never forget" Reva stated as she looked back out the window at all the different vehicles passing by them.

"Wait a minute, I just thought of something. If Maria is my sister and she is the daughter of a king and queen, wouldn't that make her a princess? Which would also make me a princess?" Reva questioned as she quickly turned her to look at Cathy.

"You're catching on. Yes, you are correct" Cathy stated with a soft laughed.

"Now that is even cooler than having super powers. I have a sister and I am princess. Way cool!" Reva exclaimed as she leaned over and started to fiddle with the hundred disk CD changer.

"You had better not put any country music on" Cathy warned. She had to listen to country music for most of her life until Reva introduced Maria to the wonders of city music, such as; techno and rhythm and blues.

"Do you honestly think I am that crazy to want to incur the wraith of my sister's mother?" Reva said with a saucy smile.

"If you want my honest opinion on that, then I would have to say yes" Cathy laughed.

"Oh please, I am not that bad. I do like to keep my head attached to the rest of my body" Reva chuckled as she finally found a good techno song.

Since Reva had a very high speed computer with DSL, she was able to download every song right onto her computer and then she would burn all the songs onto CDs. After she loaded the music onto the CD's, she would normally trash the song to make room for another song.