He became morose and shows contempt for all the people of this world. He makes his feelings obvious to all the Athenians we meet, whether when purchasing food at the shops, eating in a restaurant or at the coffee shops.
3801
To try to get him to feel love for a child in this condition would be an impossible task. I was more concerned about him at this moment. If we should come across a situation where any male bullies or harms a child, woman or even an obviously weaker man, I know he could become violent. I confided my fears to Shida and he agreed with me that we have a potential crisis on our hands. I admitted I do not know how to handle it.
“Perhaps we should speak to Angelo. When he attacked us for being soldiers, Harvey was angry with him. I think that he would now find the same views more to his liking. Samuel, you are a friend, but you are also an officer, he cannot get rid of the poison eating at him by talking to you. He will not talk with me either, he fears what eats at him and thinks his thoughts could hurt me. I think he could with Angelo. It would also be good for him to see that not all people of this world are rotten.”
I was uneasy as I explained to Angelo. “His soul belongs to the days when a warrior fighting his enemy did so directly by sword, and if his enemy dropped his sword or slipped and fell, he would stand, waiting for his opponent to regain his feet and sword. He has never been exposed to seeing children being sent to take the bullets on behalf of adults and it has sickened him. It is eating away at him, but we do not think he needs someone to tell him not all the world is like that. He needs someone who feels the same despair and hatred for such people. Your dislike of soldiers Angelo, might enable him to open up and talk to you of what is in his heart. We need your help.”
“You wish me to feed his anger and hatred? How do you expect that to help him?”
“Not to feed it Angelo, more like lancing a boil so that the pus is released and healing can begin. He needs someone to talk to, who he will believe understands him.”
“What if he feeds my anger and I do something that harms me?”
“Despite your passionate words Angelo, you are far more cynical, almost sophisticated in your cynicism, from repeated exposures to such atrocities. You can handle it because to an extent you accept them as part of life.”
He flushed. “You are wrong, I do not. I just do not see that there is anything I can do to change the world.”
Smaragda said, “Samuel, I fear that if this friend of yours feels this strongly, he would not be willing to accept that the world cannot be changed and he could draw my husband into some crazy scheme. We have a child and I would not thank you for causing the loss of her father.”
I bowed my head and for the first time was glad I’d met Alki and learnt the truth, for if I had not known I would have mishandled this moment by trying to convince her. It was, I knew, worth the pain the knowledge had brought me.
“Smaragda, you are right. Anna comes first. I apologise.” I beat a hasty retreat and told Shida what had happened and he did not disagree with my decision. Though he has such a gentle heart, he is also stubborn when it comes to standing by a friend, so he tried to make Harvey talk to him. As expected, it did not work.
We were by now accepted as regulars at the coffee shop nearly opposite the entrance to our building, even though we now have to sit inside as winter is upon us. We saw Angelo walk out alone, apparently in a hurry. He saw us and waved and as he began to walk away he stopped and came in to speak to us.
“Harvey, I have to collect some parcels and I cannot carry them all, would you mind helping?” Shida and I stared in amazement as they walked away.
“I thought you said he refused to help?”
“So I thought. I wonder what he is planning.”
“I will be able to tell if they talked when Harvey returns. This world is full of ironies Sam, the one man who has made it obvious he does not like us, decides to help.”
3802
It pleased us when we saw the hours go by without their return. We had our bonus also. Smaragda came down with Anna. They did some shopping and on their way back we invited them to join us. Anna asked for a cup of coffee, but Shida gently convinced her a hot chocolate would be far nicer. Anna told Shida about a game she had learnt using a piece of string. As she looped the string around her fingers and created shapes Shida was suitably impressed and asked to be taught how to play.
“Where is your third friend?”
“He left over two hours ago with your husband.”
She was silent for a moment. “How do you like Greece?”
“I don’t know. We’ve spent all our time sitting here or at home.”
“That is a pity, there is much to see. Why don’t you take a tour? You should also go to the islands.”
“In the winter? To tell you the truth, we needed to just sit and relax. We’ve been through some difficult times and we are enjoying being lazy. Anna looks a lot like you, I do not see much of her father in her.”
She smiled. “He thinks she has his eyes.” At that moment we heard voices raised in fear and saw that a man had collapsed at his table. Shida was out of his chair and by the man before anyone else could react. He eased the man to the floor and put his hands to the man’s chest. We could see the lips turning blue as the man groaned in agony. Smaragda made to get up, but I stopped her.
“Let Shida handle it. The man is having a heart attack and Shida knows what to do to help him.”
“You don’t understand, let me go, I can help.”
“Watch. The man is already recovering.” She gave a start and stared at Shida as the colour came back to the man’s face. He sighed and relaxed. Within a few minutes Shida helped him sit up and he moved him back to his chair. He clung on to the hand of Shida and profusely thanked him for saving him. Shy and embarrassed Shida came back to our table. Anna was staring at him with huge eyes.
“Mummy, he can also do it!”
Very softly I asked. “You can heal?”
Just as softly she replied, “Yes. You too?” I nodded.
Smaragda pulled Anna onto her lap, but she did not leave. We could sense she was withdrawn, defensive, but she stayed. Her fear affected Anna and that worried me. I explained to Shida as Smaragda listened.
“If you have the gift of healing then you must also be able to sense that we are not a threat Smaragda. We are not here to harm anyone.” He has a remarkably gentle voice and I saw her relax a little.
“Can we wait for Angelo to return before discussing it?”
“Of course we will respect your wishes. Anna should not fear us though, please explain to her it is a good secret we share.”
Angelo and Harvey arrived, both of them drunk, an hour later.
“Harvey, use your gift to get rid of the alcohol, we have a small crisis.”
Angelo froze at my words and then he too took my advice. By now Smaragda had recovered and she ordered us to go to their apartment with them. Since I was the only one who knew the truth, I took it upon myself to explain that we have the ability to heal.
“It is as is known, the laying on of hands?”
“No Angelo. We would not need to touch the person needing our healing. It is as if a part of myself can leave my body and analyse what is wrong and correct the problem. It is the same for you I suspect. Does Anna have the same gift?”
3803
She does. We talked for a long time, Anna sitting by her mother listening. Our common gift seemed to bond us and when Anna complained that she is hungry and I invited them out for supper, they accepted.
“Smaragda and I decided we could not keep the gift to ourselves, but we have to keep it a secret. If it had been just the two of us we might have openly helped people, but we cannot risk it with a child. We take turns going out to find people who are sick and we help them without touching them if possible. Where it is something urgent, like the man with the heart attack, we do find we are more effective if we touch them.”
“Perhaps the three of us could risk being more open about it.”
“What are you thinking of doing?”
I had not thought on it till then, so I was surprised at my answer, but also felt how right it was. “I would prefer to concentrate on helping children. Perhaps the three of us could visit children at hospitals and with the excuse that we are bringing them comics and sweets we use our gifts to help them.”
“Your comics and sweets would not camouflage the truth for long.”
“Do you really believe there would be danger for us in allowing the world to know of our gifts?”
“I do. You will be attacked and called charlatans. If the authorities take notice of you they will deport you. How would your government react when you are sent home?”
“That is not something I would like to find out. Angelo, we cannot refuse to help sick children because we fear for ourselves.”
Harvey saw this as a way for us to pay for the evil perpetrated against the children of this world by soldiers and would not listen to our attempts to convince him we have to do so in an anonymous manner. Angelo was abrupt with him and explained that we will soon be stopped from helping children unless he uses caution. Shida then helped convince him.
Anna helped us resolve our problem, by extending our knowledge of how we can use our healing abilities.
“One day a boy at my school was sick. They took him to the sick room where he had to wait for his parents to collect him. He was crying because he was hurting, so I saw where he was and back in my classroom I sent my thing to help him. He got into a lot of trouble for pretending to be sick.”
“I know our neighbour suffers from corns and I’ve been in her apartment. Let me try.”
From the happy look on her face we knew she had succeeded. We decided what we will do is visit the children’s wards without doing anything at that time. The next day we will stand outside the hospital and help heal the children.
“Since there are five of us it would not be necessary for any one of us to visit often, so we should not be noticed.”
“No, Angelo and I will visit the adults. It would not be right to allow them to suffer while we all help the children only.”
We had a problem with regard to the patients who are in intensive care units. We cannot walk in on them, but we do not want to let them suffer or die.
Harvey put his head in his hands. “There are so many people suffering all over the world. How can we help them all?”
Shida put his arm around his shoulder. “We are not gods Harvey. We help as many as we can. I have an idea.” He wanted to get a job at the largest hospital where he can have access to the intensive care patients. As foreigners it would not be easy. Angelo had no suggestions, so we let the idea go for the moment.
Next morning I arranged an appointment with Alki. I told him what we planned and of the need to get Shida working from inside. He promised to check with a few contacts to see if he can help.
3804
“I am not certain your plan is good Sam. Hospitals keep statistics, doctors are used to the idea that they lose patients and if too many impossible things happen, questions will be asked. If they trace what is happening to any of you, it could blow up in your faces.”
I spoke of it that night. “Why are we looking to hide what we are doing? There is a long history of healers appearing throughout the centuries. I suggest Harvey appear as the healer. We can think up a good story of why he suddenly has healing powers while we help him in the background. With success will come crowds pleading for his help, but that should be the worst that can happen.”
Angelo had a better idea. “Not Harvey. As a foreigner he can be deported. Let us search for some Greek man, someone of mature years I think would be better. We then make it look as if he is the healer. Most people in such a position will enjoy the celebrity status it brings them.”
Thus we gradually wove our plan together. Now we had to find a suitable candidate. Until we could agree on someone, we made a habit of walking the streets and where it was obvious someone is not well we helped. We encouraged Anna to try her hand at helping children with problems like obesity, bad eyesight and so on.
Both Shida and I tried to become friends with Anna so in the perverse way such things happen she was attracted to Harvey. The less attention he paid her the more she tried to catch his attention. Whenever he spoke to her or took part in a game, her eyes would shine. I decided I should not interfere for the time being and wondered for how long he will remain blind to her adoration of him.
February was a really miserably cold month. Our memories of Meli’s world do not include winters and we suffered. We did learn that winter can have it’s good moments. Number one on our list was the buying of small rolled up newspaper packets filled with roasted chestnuts. Because we gorged ourselves, it meant so did Anna and her parents moaned about it, but did not stop us. We found a taverna in the neighbourhood has a fireplace and it became our favourite place, not only for eating. We would sit there for hours drinking coffee or wine and talking.
“I am stumped Smaragda. Every time one of us finds someone we think is suitable to act as a front for us, someone in the group protests, giving reasons why he is not suitable. I am beginning to wonder if anyone is good enough for all of us.”
She smiled. “When you have all given up, I may suggest someone.”
We all loudly told her we had given up and she laughed, a fondness in the sound of it for all of us.
“You won’t like my choice. I think a woman would be more suitable and I know a Greek woman who dabbles in herbs and is already known for helping many people with health problems. The only problem I have with her is that she charges her patients - she has to, she does not qualify yet for a pension and is not employed.”
“What if we offer her an income? I cannot afford to pay her enough on my own, can the three of you contribute?”
“We have enough to keep her in comfort Angelo, it is not necessary for you to support her. We’d rather see you spend your money on your wife and daughter.” We let him contribute a small amount to keep him happy and moved on to the how, when and where.
“We need to do something dramatic that will cause a sensation. What if I get my healer to make me appear to be extremely ill and when I go to her she cures me?”
Harvey shook his head. “You want to start with a deception!”
I nodded. “We have to, for two reasons. First of all we must have a good reason for subsidising her and secondly, she must cure someone who was about to die so that it is talked about in the neighbourhood and others needing help begin calling on her. It should snowball after that.”
Shida made a good point. “Let us say we are successful, how do we manage to always see those who call on her? If she is visited by someone in urgent need of help in the middle of the night and we do not know, she will not be able to help and the failure will also soon be known.”
“He is right, we cannot follow her everywhere she goes, not all the time. She will become suspicious if she can only heal when one of us is with her.”
3805
“There has to be an answer to this problem, we cannot allow it to stop us.” I decided to secretly meet Alki for advice. The evening ended with everyone disheartened and the other two would not let me have an early sleep so that I could leave before they awaken, but I made patience. One night of lack of sleep will not kill me and they were very worried. I found it difficult having to deceive them and pretend to be worried.
Alki listened sympathetically and waited for me to finish.
“It is a good plan and just might work. A few suggestions. It should not be you who is ill. It would be better if it could be Anna. People are always touched when they hear of a child dying, so saving her will make more of an impact. As for your main problem, Sam, you have not learnt how to send your healer to another person?”
“I can do that!?”
“Order it to do so and it will. She would not even have to be consciously aware of it.”
“Can you teach me how to do it?”
He laughed. “There is nothing to be learnt Samuel. Give it an order and it will obey. After all, you are ordering it to do what it exists for and your healer will be pleased to obey. Be careful of your wording though. It will have to show initiative and do as she wants without her knowing it exists or receiving orders from her. You can practice during the first days when you are with her.” He looked to be deep in thought so I waited. “Sam, even good people can get tempted. Order your healers not to accept her wishes if she is trying to do something negative, like make someone sick. She could think that if some critic or person in authority is saved by her she will gain from it. I suggest that if she tries anything like that, the healers should make her feel extremely sick, nauseous, for a couple of days.”
I gave him my hand. “An Alki from any reality is a good friend to have. Thank you.”
I felt ashamed of myself when I had to pretend I had thought up the answers to our problems. The others wanted to know how I knew I could send my healer to another person and I had to lie, saying I had tried it and it worked.
“I do not like the idea of Anna being the patient. To make a child sick! It is also not right to make her be a part of our deception.”
Harvey must have known within his own heart that we had to ask her to do it, but he still tried to find another solution, insisting that he use his healer so that within days he becomes a walking skeleton. He insisted his recovery would impress everyone. I let him have his way, only substituting myself for him - he is a lousy actor. I decided it does not matter if we use Anna after me.
Kyria Poursanidi took one look at me and exclaimed, muttering under her breath as she examined me.
“It is too late for my herbs, you must go to hospital.”
“Kyria Poursanidi, the doctors cannot help me, they will only drug me for the pain and let me die. I used to have an ability to feel if someone has a genuine power, but my pain has made it impossible for me to do so now. When I was told about you I wondered, could it be only your herbs, or do you have the power to heal? Please place your hands on my head and wish for me to be healed. I will not be upset if you fail, but if you don’t even try, you will be sending me away to my death.”
With tears in her eyes Anna pleaded, “Please Kyria Poursanidi, please try. I don’t want him to die.”
Her eyes troubled, she snuck her hand out as if it were towards danger and rested it on my scalp. I closed my eyes and after a minute my healer made her hand feel as if it is getting warm, warmer and then she felt as if it is burning. Abandoning her hand, my healer got rid of the symptoms as fast as it could. I sagged, Harvey and Angelo grabbing me and they sat me on a chair. I calmed my mind so that my eyes reflect the inner peace and I looked up at her without speaking for a moment.
In a soft, awed voice I said to her, “The pain is gone. Thank you.”
The poor woman looked as if she were about to faint and with trembling hands she took hold of the arms of a chair and sat down. “I felt it!”
3806
There were a couple of women in the room waiting to buy herbal remedies and they crossed themselves with superstitious awe. By now my face had changed and though still gaunt it could be seen that there is a healthy glow to my skin. Even my fellow conspirators did not have to solely rely on their acting abilities, and as we left the apartment they talked loudly about the miracle. We sat at a coffee shop and talked very loudly about Kyria Poursanidi and how she had cured me within minutes.
I’d left my healer with the woman and I was pleased to find out that I could sense when it is being used. She had already healed her first real patient! Pleased with ourselves we decided to celebrate by going out for a meal. We had to, as I was starving and had to provide the building blocks for my body to recover.
The next morning we returned to Kyria Poursanidi and found the hallway chockablock with people who were curious, people who were sick or helping sick friends or family. Somebody recognised me and they made way for us. Kyria Poursanidi stopped what she was doing and took one look at me and crossed herself, thanking God and the Virgin Mary. It was as if my presence doubled the faith these simple people had in her and soon we stood by as she helped person after person. We were using more than one healer and she was laying on hands without waiting anymore, trusting that her brief touch will heal.
“Attention please.” Angelo called out. “Kyria Poursanidi cannot be expected to continue all day and night without rest or food. Another five people to be healed and then we are taking her out for a meal. Please do not return until five o’clock and she will see as many as she can until half past seven. Those she cannot see tonight will be given a slip of paper so that they are seen first tomorrow morning after nine o’clock. Thank you.”
They heard us, but did not listen and voices followed us as we left, each one asking that we only help them. Near the stairs was a family and they held a baby in their arms. My healer took a look and told me the child has a heart problem and could die. I took Kyria Poursanidi’s hand and touched the baby with it. She hardly noticed, exhausted from her hectic morning.
We got her into a taxi and headed for a restaurant in a different suburb.
“Things are only going to get worse, she will not be able to handle it. We got her into it, now we must help her put some order to her hours. We need an office with people to screen the sick, giving priority to those in danger or pain. We cannot give absolute priority to children, or else no adults will be helped, but I would still like to see her giving some kind of preference to them.”
Shida said, “If we apply your criteria Samuel, then no elderly will have a chance of meeting her. That would not be fair!”
I shrugged, not wishing to make an issue of it. “We can ask her what she wants to do. I am more worried about the costs, we cannot handle them. We might have to allow her to charge a fee.”
“We dare not do that Samuel! They will charge her with practising without a license and arrest her.”
Harvey blew up, startling Kyria Poursanidi. “That is absurd! How can anyone claim she is practising medicine? She does not give them medicines, she does not examine them and she does not operate on her patients, she only touches them.”
“The church will denounce her as being a tool of the Devil.” Smaragda said.
The three of us examined her face to make certain she was being serious and not joking. Shida muttered to us, “This world! They would arrest our Lady if she came here!”
We found out that our Kyria is named Aleka. I’d told my healer to revive her a bit and she became quite talkative during our meal. We saw there would be little point in discussing the problems with her as she is not really educated, most of the patina of her education having been gathered in little snippets from watching television, but under it all, I sensed she is intelligent. She shrugged aside most of our concerns.
“I was caught by surprise this morning. From now my door stays closed and I let them in when I am ready for them. But I am worried that my neighbours may become angry if the corridor stays full of people and they cannot enter or leave their own apartments.”
3807
Angelo nodded, agreeing. “We could have someone at the entrance to the building allowing them in as you let the previous out, but then there will be a continuous crowd outside and that will bring the police.”
She gave that fatalistic shrug the Greeks love using. “In a few days things will work themselves out.”
Angelo said, “Actually they will get worse Aleka. Imagine you live in some village on the other side of Greece and you have been diagnosed as having a crippling disease. A relative works in Athens and he phones to tell you about this miracle worker who cures everybody she touches. If you had to, you would walk to Athens. What if it were your child? You are about to become a phenomenon and a problem for the authorities. How long before they feature you on television and we have planeloads of sick people flying to Greece to be saved by Kyria Poursanidi?”
Smaragda showed the good down to earth common sense of a woman. “As I see it, the problem is not caused by the seriously ill. People with a slight ache in their joints, a toothache or a cold will be the real problem. We have to have some screening process and Aleka should make it known that she will only cure those who are being crippled by their ailment or whose lives are in danger. The rest can go to the neighbourhood pharmacy.”
Smaragda had to leave us to collect her daughter from school, which was a pity, for she had succeeded in frightening Aleka. We settled on a monthly amount for which she agreed to stop accepting ‘donations’. Angelo promised to have some wall posters ready by morning and we took her back to her apartment. Angelo quickly told the driver to go past when we saw the crowds spilling out of her building and into the street.
As a precaution we had the driver drop us far from our homes and took another taxi back. Aleka did whatever we asked her to and did not speak. We thought she was dazed and afraid!
Angelo wanted to see that his wife and daughter are safe, so he insisted we all come to his apartment. Smaragda listened to our news grimly as she poured us coffee.
“Harvey was right, anything based on deception has a price to it.”
“Deception? My powers are not real? They belong to him?” She pointed at me.
Without thinking, Anna proudly said, “And me.”
Everything unravelled after that and we had to tell her the truth. Instead of her being angry, she was a little bit amused and in awe of us.
“How did it happen that all of you have this gift from God?”
The phone rang and Angelo answered. He was not given a chance to say anything and closing the phone told me a man said I must go to Kolonaki Square to meet him immediately. The blood drained from my face and they all stared at me, expecting an explanation.
“Shida, until I return, you are acting commander.” Briskly I walked out of there before my conscience forced me into explanations I did not want to make.
Though he is shorter than most men I had no difficulty in finding him. All the tables around him were empty. I sat down and waited for my sentence. I was certain the Lady Meli had decided I have messed up and is recalling me. I felt I had to ask my question before he spoke or else I would not be given a chance later.
“My healer recognises the presence of a great number of healers.”
“Relax, we are here to help you. Sam, do not look for them, you must not meet them yet. At the end of your three years you will meet them, I promise.”
“I am not to be sent away?”
“What for? You come from an entirely different civilisation and we should have realised you could not anticipate the outcome. Sam, we cannot afford to allow you to continue with the healing, it could lead to our being exposed on this world and we are not ready for that.”
3808
I took a flying leap in the dark. “You are wrong - I think. If you all have the powers I recall from my world, you must have been tempted at times to use them. With us drawing the attention away from you, you should be safer. You could even lend us your healers when we need them.”
He sighed. “Our Robert agrees with you. He asks that I explain what our problem is. We already have an Angelo on this world. If your Angelo is identified, the authorities will think he is ours.”
“He is not from this world? Smaragda also? I suppose Anna was brought here as a baby. How do we solve the problem Alki, we cannot expect Angelo to stay in permanent disguise. What reason would I give him?”
“It might be better you move to another area and stay away from them hereafter.”
“I still have a problem. Harvey and Shida will not blindly do as I say. I would need a good reason. Harvey does not give up on his responsibilities and we were sent here with orders to protect Anna.”
He laughed. “I see what your Alki meant, you never make it easy.”
“Is there one of me on your world? I meant, in my normal personality.”
“No. Perhaps it was a mistake not asking for one of you. You would have made life more interesting.” He was so amused and yet also something about his way told me he was speaking of me fondly, so I did not press for an explanation of what he meant. I wondered though, what did he mean by saying they should have asked for one of me? How many of me are there and where are they stored? Does a world fill in a form requesting one Samuel and some central authority decides whether they can have one or not?
“Angelo.” I reminded him.
“Yes. It was stupid of us allowing him to come here and use his real name. We’d thought that doing so could be of help if he found himself in trouble.”
I chuckled. “So I am not the only one who makes plans like the mice do?”
His eyes crinkled as he joked. “Nowadays the saying has changed. Men make plans and women dispose of them.”
Thinking of my Lady, I answered seriously, “That is very apt.” For some reason he found my remark very funny.
“Alki, I will tell Harvey that the Lady sent us a messenger and she told me she approves of our healing ideas, but that we must stay away from Angelo and his family, as we are putting Anna in danger. Could you give me an instance of how she would be in danger, for he is certain to ask me.”
“The press are already interested in the Greek lady you used. If they find out you are all involved with her, they will try to find out why. As you become celebrities and your faces are seen on television, there are many unstable people who could try to harm you in the hopes of having their moment of glory on television.”
A disturbing thought came to me and I blurted out, “Is my real world as rotten as yours?” I blushed as I heard my words.
“Unfortunately it is Sam. Your group are stronger than us though and have begun to make changes. I think your coming here is going to force us to make changes also. I hope so.”
“You are monitoring us?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Please call me if you see we may do something to cause you harm.”
“You are offering, giving permission for us to watch through your minds?”
“No, not minds, mine only.”
“Your funds will not cover your expenses, I have placed in your bank account another fifty thousand dollars. If you need more let me know.”
3809
“Our documentation, is it good enough to pass a close scrutiny?”
“Yes. By the way, the three of you are from Brazil. You grew up in the areas surrounding Rio de Janeiro. You worked as mercenaries for a while, but then you decided you did not like being used to kill human beings. There is no record of any of you killing anyone.”
“How can I learn about Brazil? Would I find information in the library?”
“It might be better if you get yourselves a computer and connection to the internet. All the information you need is there.”
“I’ve seen Anna using one. It looks too complicated for me to learn how to use.”
“You say Anna uses one, but you cannot learn how to?”
“Children are more adaptable, it is too alien for me. Never mind, I’ll learn.”
“Teach Aleka that it is not necessary for her to touch the sick. Using three or more healers she could heal more people.”
“No.” I’d not thought it out, just felt it was wrong and that was the reason I had not already told her. I had to resolve it quickly in my mind now. “It is not necessary for her, but it is for the sick. They believe it is the way healers work.”
“Announce that her gift has strengthened.”
I had an ache in my heart so I asked a favour. “My Princess Thina, is she here in her real body? Could I see her please?”
“I’m sorry, it is not allowed. That rule was made by you and your group. If it helps, the healer of the alternate of that person is one of those you feel as present.” He must have felt me and repeated, “If it helps Sam, the love between the two of you is far stronger than what you feel for your princess.”
“How would that help Alki? I cannot feel what he feels, only what I do - and I cannot imagine any love stronger than I feel for my little princess.”
My comrades had been forced to give some form of rationalisation to explain the phone call and my hasty departure. They were not very good at equivocating and had created the impression we had something sinister to hide. They both gave up and refused to talk until I returned. I decided a certain amount of truth was needed.
“Anna, do you remember my telling you about Lady Meli and her world? That is actually where we do come from…”
“If you have secrets then just tell us you do not want to answer our questions, do not patronise us with stupid stories.” Angelo sure gets prickly very fast.
I kept my face calm. “Sometimes the best way to hide the truth is by speaking the truth. Think on that Angelo. I have some other news that is more distressing. The stories about Aleka have reached the press and they are searching for us. We have to make a decision right now. Angelo, I think you and your family should not be part of this story.”
I gave all the reasons and I saw that Smaragda and Aleka agreed, but Angelo was not easily convinced, perhaps he thought we have an angle to this and wanted to keep him out for that reason. Anna was also upset. She had looked forward, I assume, to showing off at school. Harvey strongly came in on my side while Shida mostly kept quiet.
Aleka asked, “This story of another world that Angelo does not believe, can you tell it to me?”
I told it as clearly as I could and my two comrades interrupted me so often to add details, that Angelo stopped looking angry and became thoughtful.
“That explains it then. I could not understand why the six of you have the same gift. Does it also explain their gift Sam?”
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“No. I have no explanation for them having the same gift.”
It was obvious she was not buying that and I saw with dismay that Smaragda was thinking along the same lines as Aleka. My healer warned me Smaragda had sent hers into me, so I expected the next question.
“Do all of you have two hearts?”
“Yes.”
Angelo sat up, only now understanding. “Then it is true!”
Aleka had to have it explained in detail and only when she put her ear to Smaragda’s chest and heard the double beat did she believe. “Then you really were not dying, you are telling me the truth now.”
“Are you angry with me?”
“I think I will be, but right now I’m confused and afraid.”
“There is no need to fear us Aleka. We intended it for the good, we had no wish to harm you or anyone else. Well, that is true of the five of us, Anna I’m not sure of, she is quite a wicked little girl.” That got the responses I anticipated and helped break the tension.
“It would not be honest of me to continue healing with your gifts. I’ll have to go back to selling my herbs and love potions for the foolish.”
“Why would it not be honest? Without you, we cannot heal anyone. You did believe your powers came from outside yourself so what has changed? You would still be giving hope and saving lives, isn’t that what it is all about?”
“The problems have not gone away.” Angelo said. “How do we handle the crowds?
“The first people who came for help did not have really bad health problems so the healers were able to cure them within minutes. Serious damage to their bodies could take hours or even a day or two, so our problem is worse than you thought. As much as I hate to do this, we have to limit the numbers, say about ten people a day. Healing also drains the body and though it is not Aleka being drained we have to give ourselves time to recover our energy or else we will become ill.”
We rented a shop and made it an office. We put up signs, but also let it be known that from now onwards Kyria Poursanidi will only be healing the seriously ill or crippled. We also made it known that out of the ten she will help, a minimum of five places will be kept for children and at least two for the elderly. We placed collection boxes from established charities for helping children and the elderly and asked that those being helped make a small donation if they can afford it.
Nobody was allowed to go to the door of Aleka without a slip from the office. Two trained nurses who are more likely to recognise the ailments and can make a more informed judgement on the urgency or amount of pain, take in the forms applicants have to fill in and decide who will see Aleka.
Although we said only ten per day we ended up helping slightly more people and Aleka even had to go to hospitals now and then to help those who could not come to her. As we’d foreseen, the newspapers wrote articles about her, a magazine interviewed her and a few weeks later a radio station asked to interview her on the air. We made it a rule that no one is allowed to interview her before sending a relative or friend to be healed, so that they do not attack her or waste her time in demands that she prove she is not a charlatan. That little brainwave thought up by Angelo worked like a miracle and she only has had positive articles written about her.
In the beginning, the three of us were seen by the staff and others, but we soon arranged matters so that we were no longer in the public eye. It meant Aleka had to handle some of the administrative work, but she turned out to be good at it.
She was thrilled the first time she was asked to go to the house of a prominent politician to heal his wife. She had to promise not to mention it to anyone. Once the wife was healed, she had an influential supporter and he or his wife must have talked to their friends, for she was soon being asked to handle discretely and privately a number of these visits every week. They found it upsetting that she would not accept payment nor invitations to parties and she insisted that the person who takes her back home place a donation in the box for one of the official charities. Being wealthy, their donations were often smaller than those made by ordinary working people.
I hope you enjoy reading this story of fantasy, adventure and love - and should some of it be true for our reality, I hope you will love our Cherine.
Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου
(Alexander Zenon Eustace)14th December, 2019
- posted: 14th December, 2019
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