Perception

XCVI

"So, how about you?" she asked her friend as she opened the cupboard and took out some of the great assorted mugs. "I mean... you and James, huh? You seem really into him?"
Sarah kept her eyes on the tea pot she was handling, but she nodded salaciously. "Yep, you're right, I'm very into him. But come on, that's not nearly as news worthy as some other recent events, is it? And I have many more questions for you first, before we talk about him. For instance... Mrs. Peterson's note. So... your mum must have known all along that these powers of yours would manifest at some point?"

Anna nodded soberly. She had given this a lot of thought last night. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure she did. And it's the weirdest thing, because all of this time, all my life, I thought I was alone in the world, and now I know that she's been pulling the strings all along, making sure I met the right people, went to the right places. It.... well, it changes everything. And you know what?"
She paused for a moment and stared out of the little kitchen window at the small sliver of sky she could see. "I am guessing that, had I grown up with her, I would have learned  about all of this all along, and I would have had a much more gentle introduction to it."
Sarah's eyes wide and serious as her head bobbed up and down in response. She had frozen against the work surface, her hand on the kettle, not saying a word as Anna talked. Anna looked at the tea pot and carried on.
"But as it was, I was on my own of course, or at least I thought I was. So when my aunt made her plans to take her daughter from wherever she was safely stowed away, I was suddenly catapulted into it all with that first vision."
The kettle started whistling, and Sarah nodded again as she unfroze and poured the boiling water in the tea pot. "And now... you'll be like this forever?"
"I'm guessing yes."
"Wow."
"Yeah."
Sarah looked up to her then, but it was almost with reverence, and Anna shook her head instantly.
No! No way.
"Don't look at me like that, Sarah." she told her friend, "Nothing's changed, I'm just the same. And just for the record... I can't tell you how much it meant that you were there at that time. Your knowledge on the whole seer thing... I was so very freaked out and it really helped me understand what was going on, after the thing with Susan."
Sarah smiled and shrugged slightly. "Yeah, well, I guess things happen for a reason. Like... you helped Susan out, but at the same time that was what  made you realise that you weren't crazy, that this what you were seeing was true."
"Yeah. You're right."

Sarah started carrying the tea pot to the table and Anna picked up the mugs in both hands and followed her. The boys would be back any minute now.

"So, I do have one more question." Sarah put the tea pot on the coaster and sat down on the purple sofa. "And it's about your mother. Do you reckon your aunt was blocking her somehow? Trying to stop her from being there for you? With you?"
"Oh! Yes, I do. In the forest I'm sure she was. And I'm also pretty sure that was why Rose and I were adopted in the first place, to keep us safe from her. I think my mother was probably hiding from her the whole time, before the forest."
"In the beads?"
Anna looked away again, out of the paned living room window at the red tiled roofs of the ancient buildings across the alley. It was a good question. Her hand moved up automatically to the string of beads around her neck, that now meant so very much to her. They glowed faintly in response.
"I think... I don't think she's in the beads, but I think she put a lot of her power into them. She always wore them, Adele said. So they... they're like a talisman, I guess, like a connection to her, wherever she is."
She sat down on the sofa next to her best friend. Sarah squeezed her hand softly.
"Well, that's pretty cool, no? A talisman to connect with your mum.... But do you have any idea what will happen now? Like, in the physical world?"
Anna sighed. Those were the answers she wished she had herself. "I really don't know at the moment. I'm guessing that my aunt will go to prison, where she belongs, and I guess... well, I will just have to wait and see what happens next."

Sarah opened her mouth to say something else, but just then the door creaked open and the boys walked in with a plastic bag bulging with subs.
"Food delivery!" James called with his usual aplomb, as he walked over and unceremoniously dumped the bag on the coffee table with a thump. Eli took his jacket off, sat down on the rug again and started unpacking the wrapped sandwiches.
Anna got up. She had one thing to do before she could dig into that sub.
"Okay, guys, just give me one quick moment, I'm just going to call the hospital before I eat. You guys start." she said, and she quickly grabbed her phone out of her bag to dial that number she had found earlier.