Caleb 85 - A Little Help

Caleb 85 - A little help.

I woke at my usual time the next morning. We'd stayed overnight at the hotel a few miles from Sarah's parent's home after my 'intervention' with her mother Carrie.

I went out for a run, joined by Sarah and Melanie. They were both doing well with their fitness and we easily ran eight miles before returning to the hotel for a shower and breakfast, which we all ate together in the restaurant.

"How did it go?" asked Cheryl, who I'd not seen after I'd been to see Carrie the previous night.

"I think it went okay," I said. "Her aura when I arrived looked really sick but, by the time I left, it at least looked healthy. I don't doubt the attraction will still be there but hopefully it will no longer be an obsession."

"You're going to see them this morning?" asked Dean.

"I said we'd get there around ten," I said. "That will give them time together. I think Carrie will need to work off some frustration from the illusion. I'm fairly certain she won't remember anything about it, other than feeling a little 'wound up.'"

"It's a shame Arnie couldn't be here," Mary said. "It would be better for him to go with you as well."

"He did offer to fly up," said Sarah,"but he has a lesson this morning and his dad wouldn't have been happy with him cancelling it."

When it was time to leave, Sarah and I got into the taxi that we'd booked to take us to her parent's place. We arrived almost exactly at ten.

Sarah was nervous as we walked up the drive to the house and rang the bell.

After a few moments Brian opened the door. He looked from me to his daughter, then stepped aside, mutely inviting us in.

"Carrie is in the living room," he said indicating for us to go through. I followed Sarah into the room. I heard Brian close the door and follow behind.

Carrie was sitting on one of the chairs opposite the sofa. She didn't get up as we entered, she just looked at her daughter. I looked carefully at her aura as she turned her attention to me.

I did see some arousal, but it was mostly embarrassment, shame, and regret. Inwardly I heaved a relieved sigh.

"It worked," I sent to Sarah. I felt her relax a little, although she there was still a lot of tension in her.

We both sat on the sofa. Brian took the other chair.

"Edgar is with the sitter," said Brian. "We thought it best if we met without him being here."

Carrie had dropped her gaze and was staring mutely into her lap.

"Mom?" Sarah said tentatively. Reflexively Carrie looked at her daughter.

"Mom," Sarah said again. "I'm fine, I'm safe, and I'm happy. Can't you be happy for me?"

I saw a tear roll down Carrie's cheek.

"I just..." she began then stopped. "I thought..." she tried again.

"I know what you thought," said Sarah, "but that's not what is happening. You know that things are different for people with power. Caleb told you this right at the start, and I'm sure that he's not the only one.

"I'm surrounded by people who love me and who I love. I'm engaged to an amazing man who understands and accepts me for who I am. It's not like I'm going off to get married right away. We both have plenty of things to do before that happens, and we've already agreed to a long engagement."

"But what if..."

"What if?" asked Sarah.

She waited for Carrie to finish her thought. But there was nothing forthcoming. I don't think even Carrie could figure out what it was that she was scared of.

"Martha told you," said Brian gently, "that Sarah allowed her to read her mind. She saw that there was no Compulsion, and that Sarah was exactly where she wanted to be. She loves Arnie, and she loves Caleb and the girls. What's more, they all love her. She knows her business and she's met hundreds of teens who are either compelled or under some kind of 'cult' influence. She told you Sarah was healthy and happy.

"I know it's not the way that we were raised, but Sarah isn't like us. She has power and we have to realize that her needs are going to be different than ours. This is a lesson we need to learn if we're going to help Edgar when it's time for him to realize his power."

Carrie nodded.

"I thought that he..." she looked at me, "that you... I'm sorry. Things just happened so quickly and Sarah seemed to be moving away from us. You were taking my little girl from me and I was scared that I was going to lose her forever. I could feel..."

"You're not losing me," Sarah said, her voice breaking a little. "If anything, you've gained a whole new family. We are only an hour away by car, and only seconds by phone. But you have to let me live my life, Mom.

"You and Dad gave me the best start you could. I worried that I'd let you down when I got my grades. Now that I know I was being held back by the amulet, I don't feel so bad. You should see the grades I'm earning now. I know I'm going to graduate with a great degree and I have a real future.

"I also have a great fiancé and family around me. But that doesn't mean I don't need you and Dad anymore. I'll always love you, and want you, and need you in my life. Both of you."

She looked at Brian when she said that last.

"And we'll always be here for you," he replied. "Won't we Carrie?"

At this Sarah stood up, and moved to stand closer to her mom.

"Mom?" she said holding her arms out. "Please?"

At this Carrie finally broke and a sob wrenched itself from her as she threw herself out of her chair and into her daughter's arms.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," wept Carrie holding her daughter like her life depended on it.

Sarah looked to Brian and held her hand out to him too. He stood and joined the hug, holding his wife and daughter to him, as the two women wept.

When they finally broke apart, Carrie looked at me.

"Caleb," she said. "I'm sorry. I just saw... I thought..."

"It's okay," I said. "A year ago, I'd probably have been right beside you. This new life has been such a shock to me, and I'm living it. I know how it must look from the outside, especially when things happen so fast.

"I promise you that none of us is going to let anything happen to Sarah. We all love her and will protect her with every fibre of our being."

"We kind of saw that," said Brian, a little ruefully.

"Would you mind if I stayed here?" Sarah sent to me.

"I think that's a great idea," I returned. I stood up.

Carrie and Brian both looked at me.

"I'm going to leave you guys to talk," I said. "We're going home on Saturday probably about midday. If you want, I can come get Sarah after we get back, or you can drop her off at home whenever suits you."

Carrie looked from me to Sarah.

"You're staying?" she asked, her face brightening.

"I said I was going to spend the break with you," Sarah said, "if that's okay?"

"That's perfect," said Brian. "Although I'm thinking we'll just spend it here."

"I'd like that," said Sarah.

I headed for the door. "Let me know if you need me to come get you Sunday," I told Sarah. She came over and gave me a hug.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "For everything."

I squeezed her a little and then released her.

Carrie stood uneasily by as I released Sarah and turned to her.

"I'm so sorry," she said. "Please forgive me."

"It's forgotten," I said. "Spend some time with your daughter. Also think about coming up to the ranch for Christmas. Talk to Sarah about it. No pressure, but we'd love to see you both there."

"I'll talk to Sarah and Brian," she said.

Brian walked me to the door.

"Thank you," he said shaking my hand.

"I'm glad it worked out," I told him. "Thank you for trusting me."

"Sarah loves you," he said. "All of you. That much is obvious. You have a very strange family dynamic, strange at least to me, but it seems to work for you guys. I've never seen Sarah happier."

Back at the hotel, we packed up and got ready to return to the Ranch for the remainder of the holiday.

"Are you sure it was a good idea leaving Sarah with her parents?" asked Mary.

"She'll be fine," I said. "Their family needs some time to heal. As before, Sarah is only a thought away and if she needs us, she'll call. Also, Arnie is close by. Maybe they'll invite him over after he finishes flying. It's only an hour's drive from where he is to here.

"That's true," said Amanda. "Maybe they can get to know him a bit better."

"Are we heading back to the ranch now?" asked Ness.

I nodded.

This time, when the dogs piled out, Melanie's reaction wasn't too severe. She tensed on seeing them running toward us. However, they too seemed to have realized her fear and they slowed down, with Blue moving out in front and walking up to her and nudging into her gently while the rest of the dogs took aim at us.

The rest of the week at the ranch passed quickly. I went out and did some work with Pops, this time just general farm work, moving cows from pasture A to pasture B, helping take some hay bales out and other mundane, but at the same time important, tasks. Pops didn't seem to have a particular schedule as to what he would do on any given day. He just seemed to pick a job that needed doing for that day, and got it done. A couple of times we worked alone together and other times we worked with other hands. Jonah, the boy who'd been trapped in the upturned tractor, tried to take the piss out of my tractor driving skills when it took me a couple of attempts to line a bale up on a feeder. He shut up when I pointed out that, even after the two attempts, all four wheels of the tractor were still on the ground and not pointed skyward, prompting laughs from his father and the other hands standing nearby. He took it in good spirit though, conceding the point but vowing revenge.

The other hands seemed to be getting used to me being around, having seen me many times before, and I was getting a lot less animosity from them. Those that had had designs on one or other of the Steadman girls seemed to have decided that they were now out of reach. I did hear some random thoughts about how it could be that I seemed to be with BOTH the girls, even though it had never officially been confirmed.

In addition, we spoke to Sarah several times during the week. Arnie had indeed driven out to spend the evening with them, and had even stayed overnight. Sarah had been surprised when her parents had allowed him to stay with her in her room, although she'd not felt comfortable enough for them to actually do anything more than sleep.

Saturday morning soon came around and we were all at the airstrip boarding the jet by eleven.

Dean and Cheryl had initially thought to travel down with us, and then fly back with the jet, but something had come up at the farm which meant that they couldn't, so we were travelling alone.

They had, however, bid us all goodbye at the farm when Gerry had turned up with a mini-van to take us to the airport. There were too many of us now, even without Sarah, to fit in a standard car.

Melanie knelt to say goodbye to Blue who gave her a gentle lick to the side of her face causing her to giggle. I was certain that her aversion to dogs was mostly cured. She'd spent almost the full week being the sole object of Blue's attention, and she'd even stopped jumping when the dogs all started barking whenever someone had come to the ranch.

I wasn't sure how she'd react to other dogs, but I was happy that she wasn't actually terrified of them anymore.

The flight back to Portland was uneventful and soon we were on the ground unloading our luggage from the jet and loading it into our vehicles before heading home.

Josh and Louise were happy to see us when we arrived. Since neither of them had any idea how to cook a meal, they'd spent their week living on take-out and ready meals.

"You really need to learn" Ness told them. "What's going to happen when you guys move away?"

They looked at each other.

"We hadn't planned that far ahead," said Louise.

"I'll teach you," said Ness. "At least the basics. Otherwise, you'll be spending a fortune on eating out and take outs, and it's not a healthy diet either."

"Okay," said Louise. "That makes sense."

Josh and Louise both went into the kitchen to help Ness make lunch. Since it was so crowded in there, I stayed clear and satisfied myself with making sure all my schoolwork was up to date and everything I needed to hand in was either handed in or ready to go.

After lunch, Ness squealed as she opened up her laptop and saw an email she'd received.

"He answered," she said, showing all of us the response she'd gotten from Gordon Ramsay to her request for a written recommendation.

"Print a copy out," I said. "I'll take it with me Monday."

Ness printed three copies out. One she gave to me. I folded it carefully and put it in my bag, ready for Monday. The second she said she was going to frame and hang somewhere. The third she simply sat and read, over and over and over. I have to say that it was an excellent recommendation, especially considering how short a time we'd been with him. She also forwarded a copy to Cheryl. Jules grinned as she watched her baby sister getting so excited by events.

I was surprised mid afternoon when we heard Arnie's car pull up outside, and even more so when the front door opened and he and Sarah entered.

"Everything all right?" I asked, looking at Sarah. She smiled at me.

"Everything's fine," she said.

"I thought you were coming back tomorrow?" asked Amanda.

"I need to get stuff ready for school," Sarah said. "I'll need tomorrow to do that." She flushed a little, and I saw from her aura that that was not the only reason.

I guessed that Sarah was becoming a little 'frustrated' at her parent's house.

"How were things at your parents'?" I asked.

"Actually, really good," she said. "Arnie came over a couple of nights and stayed over. They really got to spend time with him and get to know him. They even let him stay in my room, which I never thought they'd do."

I looked at Arnie. He grinned.

"It was weird at first," he said. "I like Brian though. He's got a wicked sense of humor when he gets going. Carrie was a bit distant at first, but at least she didn't ask any more awkward questions."

"How is your mom?" I asked Sarah.

"She seemed okay." Said Sarah. "At first things were a bit strange. She kept apologizing, but after a while she settled down. It was her suggestion that Arnie came over. She said it would be nice to get to know him more. It was a lot of driving for him, but him being there, and us spending time together, really made a difference."

"We did a lot of talking," said Arnie. "There may not have been any awkward questions, but there sure were a lot of other questions. That first night, we must have talked until past midnight. I said I'd have to go because I had to fly the next day and it was Carrie that suggested I stay over. She apologized for not having a spare bed and asked if I'd be okay sleeping with Sarah."

"Sarah's face was a picture," he grinned. "I wish I'd had a camera."

"My face?" protested Sarah. "You should have seen your face. You could have grilled burgers on it."

We laughed at the pair of them.

"So everything's all right with your parents now?" asked Jules.

"I think so," said Sarah. "When we left, Dad said to tell you that if the offer to come up to the Ranch at Christmas is still open, they'd be happy to. It would only be for the Christmas week. He still has to work."

"You could travel up together," I said to Arnie.

"I thought about that," Arnie said. "I could ask Dad if we could borrow the Baron."

"What's your dad doing for Christmas?" asked Jules. "It would be horrible for him to be on his own."

"I don't know," he replied.

"The invite was for you both," she said. "There's plenty of room."

"Are you sure your parents won't mind?" he asked.

"I'm certain," she said. "They'll be more than happy for you both to come up. And I'm also fairly sure he'll send the jet for you. It'll be far quicker than the Baron and will mean we can all travel back together. Let me confirm that though."

"Sure," Arnie said. "I'll speak to Dad about it."

I noticed Sarah shifting uncomfortably.

"Well," I said to her with a grin. "There's still time before dinner. I'm guessing being at your parents didn't give you and Arnie much opportunity to be together..."

Arnie blushed, but Sarah shook her head.

"I couldn't," she said. "Not with them right next door and Edgar the other side. It just felt wrong but also really frustrating. To have him right there and not be able to..."

"Well," said Amanda, "you have some making up to do." She grinned at them both. "Need any help?"

Arnie blushed even deeper.

"Actually," Sarah said, blushing herself. "We did spend quite a lot of time talking, I mean Arnie and me."

I looked at the pair of them. I could see that they were both horny, but Sarah's shields prevented me from hearing her surface thoughts and Arnie was carefully not thinking about anything. For some reason he seemed to be concentrating on the valve clearance settings on his car. I almost laughed out loud. As a way to prevent people finding out what he was thinking about, I'd seen worse methods.

"We were thinking," Sarah continued after a short pause, "that maybe we would like a little help."

"How can we help?" I asked gently.

Sarah looked at me. "I thought..." she began, but Arnie took her hand.

"We thought," he put in softly.

"We thought that maybe you could..." she began hesitantly, "that is... if you'd like to..."

"I'd be honored," I said softly. "If you're both sure that's what you want."

Sarah's eyes flickered up at me for a moment, I could see a need burning in them that I'd seen before.

"Please?" asked Sarah, her face burning.

I stood up and moved to where the pair of them stood. I took Sarah's hand, but looked at Arnie.

"Are you sure that this is what you want?" I asked him directly.

He surprised me a little, by reaching up, and pulling me to him.

The kiss wasn't particularly intense, he felt a little tentative, like he wasn't sure how I'd react to him kissing me.

He released me. I looked from him to Sarah. Both their auras were a deep rich purple. Sarah's pupils were the size of dimes, and she was breathing heavily.

Sarah turned, still holding both our hands, and headed out of the living room.

For some reason she led us into their room rather than ours. It didn't matter, the bed was easily big enough for three. I wondered if it was deliberate, to give Arnie more of a feeling of control it being 'his' territory, or just habit that had directed her feet in there.

Arnie preceded Sarah into the room, and I followed. I closed the door behind me.

Once inside Sarah turned to me, and, releasing her fiancé's hand cupped my face in both hers and kissed me. Her kiss was far more definite than Arnie's had been. It was filled with promise as well as want and need. Our tongues battled for a few moments as she held me in place and then, with a needful moan, she released me.

"I've waited so long," she said. I glanced at Arnie to see how he would react, but all I saw from him was love and lust. If he felt even a trace of jealousy, trepidation, or nervousness, it was not evident in his aura or his thoughts.

His mind was no longer considering his car's engine, but more what he wanted to do, what he wanted to happen. It was difficult to determine because there were so many short bursts of images running through his mind. He couldn't decide exactly what he wanted to happen, but he had plenty of ideas.

The only slight concern I felt from him was how he'd measure up. He was still a little sensitive about his size and I knew I was probably an inch larger than him. God help him if he ever shared with Josh. If he was that worried about his size, Josh had almost an inch on me.