MINDSHADOW (part 2)
Brenda had to use the computers at the local library, since Sister Maria refused to even entertain the idea of getting a computer. She said they hadn't the money. It was closer to the truth, though, Brenda knew, that Sister was afraid of computers. The convent didn't even have a telly. Sister Maria would have been perfectly happy in the nineteenth century with gas lanterns and engraved stationery.
Brenda had no problem with the computer—she'd learned to use
it on a previous visit to the library—but she had to time her visit so that
there wouldn't be too many other people around. She still hadn't gotten used to
the background noise of a roomful of thoughts. It's a good thing I don't
live in a city, she thought, or I would have gone mad by now. I hope
this Professor Xavier can teach me how to block them out.
Once she got on, and got herself an e-mail account, she had another problem: what to say.
Where to start?
Start at the beginning, Sister Maria would say. That's always the best place.
All right then.
Dear Professor Xavier,
I've read your book and found it very . . . enlightening. Much of it reminds me of my own questions about
Mutant genes, and I swear your chapter "Discovery" could have been taken right out of my head. (Do you
Have a limit to your range?)
If it's possible, could you send me a reply when you have a chance?
Charles Xavier read with great interest the message that had popped up in his inbox. This young lady sounded like an ideal prospect for his school, if she was interested. He set to work composing a reply:
Dear Brenda,
It's good to hear from someone who's enjoyed my book so much. I enjoyed writing it, to tell you the
Truth. Believe it or not, I wrote most of it right where you're living now. I lived in Ruttletop for six years,
Until I left to come to America.
I'd like to hear more about your abilities. When did you first discover them?
And so began a correspondence that lasted for almost a year. Brenda learned much about herself and mutants in general, while the Professor found her innocence refreshing. It wasn't until the spring that mention of the school was made.
Your school sounds wonderful. Do all your students have similar powers, or are they all different? What are
They like? I can't wait to meet them!
Sadly, it seemed she would have to.
"We don't have the money to fly you to New York," Sister Maria said. "Plane tickets are expensive, you know."
"Even coach," added Sister Humberta.
Brenda's heart sank. She had had such hopes of going to Professor Xavier's school, ever since she had first heard about it. Now what would she do?
She did whatever she did in a crisis: she prayed.
"Hey," Nick said, the following week, "where've you been? I never see you any more!"
"Sorry," Brenda mumbled.
Nick came around the counter until he was standing in front of her. He put his hand under her chin and lifted her face so he could see her eyes. "What's wrong?"
Brenda started to say "Nothing," but she couldn't get the word out. Suddenly she blurted out the whole thing: the school, how she really wanted to go, Sister Maria's announcement that she didn't have the money to send her. Her eyes were so full of tears that she couldn't see a thing, but she felt someone enter the shop.
"Go away!" she yelled, in the vague direction of the door.
The person (it was a woman) came toward her. "Is something wrong?"
Nick sighed, and told her. "She wanted to go to school in America but she can't because she can't afford a plane ticket."
"Oh, is that all?" The woman approached Brenda closely. Her attention seemed riveted on her—not on her face, but just below it.
The locket, Brenda realized, as she heard the woman's thoughts.
It can't be. It can't . . .
"You're the little girl that lives at St. Brendan's, aren't you?" the woman said.
"That's right. The Sisters named me for him."
"Well then." The woman turned toward Nick. "I'll just take the latest Danielle Steel and be on my way."
Nick blinked, as if he wasn't quite sure what had just happened, then went to get the book she had requested.
While he was gone Brenda studied the woman. She was about fiftyish, younger than the Sisters, and was fairly well-dressed. She looked . . . almost familiar somehow, as if they had met before.
Well, they probably had. She most likely lived in town; how else had she known where Brenda lived?
"Here you are," Nick said. He rang up the woman's book for her. No need for a bag, she said, she'd tuck it in her handbag.
She gave Brenda one last curious glance as she went out the door.
Nick returned. "Do you know her?"
"No," Brenda said, but she wasn't sure.
It was two days after that that the telephone call came.
"Brenda!" Sister Maria said excitedly. It was the first time in her whole life Brenda had ever seen Sister so excited. "It's Professor Xavier!"
Hope in her heart, Brenda picked up the phone. "Hello, Professor!"
"Hello, Brenda. It's good to hear your voice." She had heard his, in a video clip of a conference at which he had spoken, which she had found online. It was a warm, comforting voice. "I have good news for you."
"Oh?" No, she mustn't, she mustn't get her hopes up about the school. They didn't have the money, and that was that.
"I've just found out that someone bought a one-way ticket from London to New York, in your name. It's waiting for you at the airport."
Brenda's jaw dropped. "Who?"
"I have no idea."
It couldn't be the Sisters, they'd already said they couldn't. Who then? Who knew she needed money for a plane . . .
Nick! It had to be, he was the only other one she'd told! She'd have to thank him, next time she saw him. Which reminded her. "When is the ticket for?"
"Tomorrow. It's a 9:00AM flight."
Nine A.M.! Good Lord, they'd have to be up at the crack of dawn! But they already were anyway, she remembered with a smile. They were nuns, after all.
"I'll see you when you arrive in New York tomorrow evening," the Professor said. He sounded genuinely delighted.
"I'll run and pack right away," Brenda said.
As soon as she was off the phone, she threw her hands in the air and spun around in a joyful dance. "I'm going, I'm going! Tomorrow morning!"
"What do you mean?" Sister Maria asked.
Brenda filled her in on the exciting news.
"Nine A.M.!" the older woman said. "Well, it's a two-hour drive to London. We'll have to leave first thing."
"I'll be ready," Brenda said. "I don't think I'll sleep tonight. I have to get my things together, I have to—I have to see Nick!"
"Nick?"
"At the bookstore, in town! I have to tell him! I have to thank him!" Brenda was already halfway out the door. She ran all the way to the bookstore, carried on wings of joy.
"Nick!" she cried as she burst through the door.
He looked up. "Oh, Brenda, it's you. Good, I wanted to talk to you about—"
"I'm going! To that school in New York! But you already knew that, you wonderful person you! Oh, I could kiss you!"
"Don't," Nick said, looking a little embarrassed. "There's people in here."
"How did you ever manage it? Did you have extra money put aside? I hope I didn't use up your holiday funds!"
"Wait, slow down. What are you talking about?" Nick held her by the arms to prevent her flying off into space. Or, more likely, knocking something over.
"The ticket. A plane ticket from London to New York. Didn't you . . .?"
Nick shook his head. "Wasn't me, love."
"But you were the only other person I've told! Who else could it have been?"
"Your guardian angel, maybe?" He was joking, but Brenda's face lit up.
"Yes, of course! I'll have to be sure to say a thank-you
prayer to the Blessed Mother, and St. Brendan, and everyone else.One of them
must have been the one." She realized that Nick had said something before she
began gushing. "What did you want to say to me?"
Nick sighed. "Nothing. It's not important." He reached down and gave her a hug.
"Have fun at your school. I'll e-mail you as soon as I can."
"Thanks," she said. She was going to start crying in a moment. "Well, I should get home and pack."
"You do that."
"I'll see you when I come home at Christmas."
For a moment a shadow crossed Nick's face. Then it passed. "Yeah, I'll see you."
She had one last ice cream cone at the little shop on the corner. I wonder, she thought, if the ice cream in New York is this good? I guess I'll find out soon.
She did sleep, after all, although she lay awake until nearly midnight thinking about her new school. What would the other students be like? Did they all have the same powers as she did, or were they all different? Were any of them her age? Did they like to read? Would they like her?
It seemed she'd barely gotten to sleep when Sister Maria tapped on her door. "Hurry, child, it's almost six. We need to leave soon to make your flight."
"What?" There was a moment when she thought that it was all a dream. There was no school in New York, and she wasn't any different from anyone else. Then the reality set in, and she got excited all over again.
After a hurried breakfast of cereal and fruit, and a final blessing from the Sisters, she put her bag in the car, and she and Sister Maria set off for the airport.
By the time they found the gate from which her flight was departing, they were already making the first boarding announcements. Brenda picked up her ticket at the window, and then she and Sister said their goodbyes.
It was hard to leave the woman who'd been so much of a mother to her these last fifteen years. She had to keep reminding herself that she was coming back in a few months. It wasn't like they'd never see each other again. And she'd call, and write, in the meantime.
"You'd better go, dear," Sister said. "Before the plane leaves without you."
They exchanged one last hug before Brenda picked up her bag and hurried through the gate. She glanced back once. Already Sister looked smaller, and she hadn't even left yet.
Just GO already! A voice in her mind said, and she went. They closed the door behind her with a solid thud.