Sumpin' smelled awfully good waftin' in the air. Freck's new momma, Mizzus Anderton, invited me over for dinner since my momma was out on assignment. Mizzus Anderton fretted constantly over both of us. She never had children of her own so made danged sure we were thoroughly mothered. The thought that I might not get a well-rounded meal just wouldn't do. I sure didn't mind 'cuz she was the best cook I ever knew.

Gee tagged along. He doesn't eat people food, but he enjoys whatever he can forage in the garden. When we were stayin' at the Palace, Gee bunked with me. At night he curled up on the braided rug beside my bed. We've been more than pals from b'fore I was born. He says he could mind-speak with me even when I was inside my momma.

Mizzus Anderton's long-lost love, Rotel, came over for dinner too. It's funny, none of us are related by blood but we are just like family. It was my Whistlin' Salamander good luck that brought them to me. I know it. Someone once said that there's the family you inherit, and the family you discover. I love my momma and daddy, but I cared about these folks just as much.

Rotel and Mizzus Anderton wanted to get married. They probably would have by now except for all the troubles happenin' in the Kingdom, and Topside. We'd all been goin' every which-a-way. You cain't have a decent wedding if all the guests are scattered from here to heck and gone.

"Whatcha thinking about Wishes?" Freck was waitin' for us on her front porch.

"Oh, not much. I was thinkin' about how glad I am to be with all of you. That's kinda sappy, ain't it?

She said, "Sometimes I get to thinkin 'bout all the scary things we done. We could've died many times over. Then I realize that we are still alive, and we have all these wonderful folks that love us, and I get  weepy. Do you sometimes wonder if we will live long enough to grow up?"

"I do," I said. "I'm not sure if we can even make it through the next couple weeks. If'n we don't learn cooperative cigam in time, not even Gee can save us."

"I know that I am pushing you hard, but Freck, Wishes, if you could not do this I would not push you at all." Gee mind-spoke, "I understand how you are feeling. You have given it all you have to give. You are discouraged. People who try with all their might to accomplish a thing and fail get discouraged. Too often their disappointment leads to depression. Depression is the worst. Some even take their own lives. Those people do not have what you have."

"What's that?" Freck asked.

Gee continued, "Us. You are surrounded by Keepers who mind-read. We know what you are thinking. Topside, depressed people do not talk about it. They see it as a weakness. They see other people succeeding where they failed and they are too ashamed to tell anyone what their thoughts are. The best cure is to talk about it, and it is the one thing they are afraid to do."

"Do you read our minds all the time?"

"Oh no! That would be rude. With mind-reading you should only do it if you have permission from the other person, or you have a strong suspicion that you are needed. It is like when Renna sent you out after the Great Crash to use your ability to help find people who could not call out for help. You did not have their permission, but you were trying to save lives. As your teacher I can do a better job if I know what you are thinking. In a way when you asked me to teach you you gave me the okay to use all the tools at my disposal. I would never listen in otherwise. Everyone, even students, have their right to privacy."

◽️◽️◽️

Cooperative Cigam practice went much better the next day. The talk we had with Gee helped. I was confusin' urgency with failure. The first shifted monster comin' toward us was a great white shark. A shark on land? It warn't swimmin' instead it kinda glided over grass like a snake. B'fore it reached us, Freck and me was in our Cigam places. She pictured a wicked silver harpoon. Since we was communication I added my energy ta the thought. The exact harpoon we imagined came flyin' out of nowheres. It struck its rubbery head, and pierced through ta its razor tooth mouth. A shark that cain't open its jaws cain't bite. Just ta be sure two more silver harpoons appeared. Bam, bam, one sliced through its brain. The other found its heart. It died. Shark and harpoons vanished.

"Wahoo! We did it!"

"We sure did, Freck!" We were jumpin' up and down, smackin' our hands in the air, and spinnin' in circles. Freck even did a cartwheel.

We could hear Gee laughin' inside our heads. "See, I told you. You did it once. You will do it again."

We were so excited that it took awhile before we settled down enough to resume practice.

I said, "Okay, I'm ready." Freck said she was too. What rushed toward us next was nothin' I'd ever seen. It was kinda like a great big green booger. We dove down. I thought of fire. Freck thought flame thrower. A jet of blue flame struck the slime monster on the side. Nothin'. It ddn't stop. Right quick I imagined  a bottomless sinkhole. It opened. The thing skidded in and the earth closed over it. 

"What the heck was that?" We said at the same time.

"In the Kingdom we call them mucous worms. You have them Topside too."

"We do?" I was stumped, I just couldn't believe it. "Freck, have ya ever heard of such a thing?"

"Nope."

Gee told us, "Mucous worms live on the bottom of your oceans. They remain undetected for two reasons. The technology to explore the deepest reaches does not exist, and they are transparent in water like some jellyfish. Have you ever heard of The Flying Dutchman?"

I had, so I said, "The Flying Dutchman is a ghost ship. The captan and crew mysteriously disappeared, but the ship keeps sailin' anyway. It's said that horrible bad luck comes to any sailor who sees her."

Gee nodded. Speakin' low like he was tellin' a scary campfire tale, he said, "The Dutchman was not the only vessel this happened to. There are many legends of ships found devoid of  life. What happens to the captains and their crews? It is a Topside nautical mystery.

"The truth is The Flying Dutchman and many other ships stripped of crew on the seas had the misfortune of sailing over mucous worms. The creatures cling to the hull and ooze up onto the deck. No one is safe. They slime under doors, around corners, and through portals. Always ravenous, always searching for food. Anything living, including insects, rats, pets, and people are gobbled up and slowly digested. A single touch on its surface is all it needs. Once touched, escape is impossible. Nothing survives. The vessel becomes another ghost ship in a chain of unsolved events."

Freck asked, "The mucous worms you say we have, how do you know we got them?"

"Our in-worlds share more than portals. Should you tour the Kingdoms you would recognize a lot of similarities. Our animal and plant life is much the same as yours."

We flubbed the next few attacks.

"Do not worry. Remember this is just practice. You win some. You lose some. Everyday you improve until it becomes an automatic response. We should break for the day. You need to rest, because this evening we begin night training."

◽️◽️◽️

I was all wound up. Get some rest Gee said. I could try, but I knew it warn't gonna happen. Ever see a kid tryin' not ta run? It causes a terrible tussle between brain and legs resultin' in odd stop-go jerky steps.

Momma was home for dinner. I was burstin' 'cuz I had so many things ta tell her.

"Well Wishes, how did practice go today?"

"Gosh Darn, we did it! We stopped two attacks and one wasn't even a monster we knew about. Gee said we were doing real good!"

"That is terrific!" Then she asked, "What would you like for supper?"

"I don't know. I'm all charged up," I said while running circles 'round the kitchen."

"I ain't very hungry."

Gee broke in, "You can come out with me, and forage in the garden."

"No thanks," I told him. "I've seen ya eat. I cain't open my mouth wide enough ta swallow a whole squash."

Momma sniggered. I'm sure the picture of me stuffn' a two foot long, eight inch banana squash down my throat would look pretty funny. I had a wonderment, "Gee, what do you eat in the winter?"

"That is not a problem. There are huge greenhouses in the Kingdom where they grow fresh fruits and vegetables in the off season. The Keepers take care of me."

◽️◽️◽️

When the sun set, Gee called us out. We walked ta'gether ta the city park. This time he had us go ta the bandstand in the middle. In the Palace it was a bandstand, but in Burns it had become the temporary hospital after the crash. A hospital would be just what we'd need if it was real lairbeast attacks.

Gee's instructions were, "Move to the center of the gazebo. Stand back to back. Each of you are responsible for your half of the field. In the dark, your eyes (until Cigam gives you night-vision) are the least important sense. Have either of you had an experience with the blind? Without sight, they must rely on their other senses: smell, touch, hearing, and taste. There is a sixth sense that science dismisses because it cannot be measured."

"Really?" Freck was anxious ta know. "What is it?"

"Well Freck, it is the psychic sense, otherwise known as extrasensory perception. Laymen call it ESP."

"No kiddin'? It's real?"

"It certainly is. People dismiss it as fortune telling, but you two have already experienced it."

I was flabbergasted. Gee's callin' it real, but ever'one scoffs at it. It makes for good shows like The Twilight Zone, but they're just made up stories—ain't they?

Gee heard my thoughts, "Every, like you say "made up story" contains elements of truth. The writers of science fiction and fantasy are more in touch with ESP than they will ever know. They believe what they write comes only  from their imaginations. It does in a way, but their most incredible ideas are due to psychic connections. They pull them from the future, and other in-worlds. Someday, Wishes, you will write down your adventures. When they are published readers will be amazed at your imagination."

"Are ya sure 'bout that? How do ya know?"

"Wishes I am not a fortune teller, but I can see the obvious results from a current path. Now, to explain about your previous brush with ESP, think back to your search for me in the forest. You used a dowsing rod. The forked stick seemingly led you to Jacob Foster's wallet. But the divining rod was just a piece of scrap wood. The real power came from Freck. She tapped into her psychic ability and sent the signal to her hands."

Your senses, including ESP, are not the only means to anticipate an attack. Your brains are a valuable resource. Your experiences create logic. Take lairbeasts for an example, when you know their weaknesses you can defeat them. There is one thing lairbeasts cannot do. They cannot fly. They can jump, slither, swim, and run. Anything except fly. That will not keep them from transforming into a giant earth bound eagle, for example, Watch the ground especially the grass for evidence that they are coming. Also, pay close attention to the shrubs and bushes. Did a bush just wiggle, split, or get crushed? Depending on the form they take they could climb trees. A tree attack is unlikely because it is their nature to go BIG to intensify the scare in the victim. They are more likely to knock a tree over than to climb it. The moment either of you finds one, notify your partner and dive. Be sure you know what form it has taken so you can imagine the right weapon to stop it.

"Do you have questions?"

I didn't, neither did Freck. We stood back to back like he said, nervous as cats in a room full of rocking chairs. Freck grabbed my hand. I didn't know if was to comfort me or her, but it felt good. We knew what we had to do. We had to relax. We took deep breaths, let out the tension, and got ourselves into a conscious meditative state.

I caught the first one. It wasn't too difficult because the bushes parted, and the ground shook with the pounding power of a rhino. I told Freck and we dove down inside to our cigam places. We sent an image of an impenetrable net to Gee. It hit the net full force. The net, to our horror, stretched to the breaking point, but it held! Instead of breakin' it recoiled and flung the beast back ta where it came from. Crash, thump, whack.

The next three waren't as easy ta spot. They was on us b'fore we knew. "Dang, double dang, dang, dang!" I cursed.

"Settle down Wishes, we'll get the next one."

Freck was right. A giant ape that didn't realize that it was way too big to Tarzan through the trees, caused a huge racket when it fell. That drew our attention. We imagined an enormous pit around the bandstand. It was like a moat, but instead of water it was filled with fire. The flames shot thirty feet in the air. The beast skidded to a stop, and leaned forward on its knuckles. Cautiously, it extended a large as a garbage can sized finger tip. With a painful howl it jumped back, turned around, and disappeared inta the underbrush. It was prob'ly huntin' for cool water. Who could blame it? A good defense works as well as direct attack.

There were two more. We missed one, but got the other. We heard the second one before we saw it.

Gee cheered us, "Wonderful. The darkness made it harder, but you were very good. It is obvious that hearing them works for you. Now we need to work on developing your intuition. Once you perfect danger-sense nothing will catch you off guard. Tomorrow night we will make it a priority."