Little Cherine Book 12 - BPost014

Rob has spent a few days biting his nails while trying to decide what he wants. It is amazing how much fun it is possible to wring out of telling the truth :)

Previous: Book 12 - Post 013

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Rob found it humiliating having little Cher tag along wherever he went. If he wanted to talk with someone he considered important, like the president of a country, Cher would climb onto his thighs and sit back against him. Since everyone, including the Normals, openly showed approval of Cher sticking by him and many made admiring comments to her about her selfless devotion to her Robert, he could not very well discourage her from staying with him, but inside, he squirmed and cursed. Rob ignored something he’d repeatedly been told because he only saw a little girl, which was not only very important, but the very basis of life - Cher could sense his emoting very clearly and she’d have to spend hours with us having her ego boosted after spending time with him, but despite our best efforts, her liking of him was quickly evaporating. If I did not do something (I must have been told a dozen times a day), she will turn against him and then we’ll really have a huge problem.

Just like all other Roberts, Rob is not really thick skinned, he has only been raised to act like he is. The difference between the way he was politely greeted and the warmth most people showed when greeting the other Roberts was too obvious to be missed. So was the fact that his company was not sought and he had to impose himself on anyone who came close enough so that he would not have to be seen on his own all the time. I gave Robbie a grimace and sent to him, *If you think dealing with him will be difficult for me, don’t get too sorry for what I’ll be going through - save it for yourself for when you have to deal with converting his father and mother into Cherinians.* All the Normals close by gave a startled look as everyone suddenly laughed aloud at Robbie’s emoting, but they know by now that something was said telepathically and they’ll look at the Cherinian with them for an explanation.

Rob had temporarily given up and was morosely walking by the big river. I jumped to about ten metres behind him and made enough noise as I walked for him to turn around to see who was behind him. I gave him an uncertain smile. “Can I keep you company for a while?”

“It’s your spaceship.”

I forced the smile to stay on my face. “Do you mean to tell me that you know which Samantha I am? Sometimes even Cherinians get confused, so I’m surprised you can.”

“What’s there to get confused about? Most of your alternates prefer to be older.” He glanced at me. “Why do you want to walk with me?” I felt his emoting and it softened my thoughts.

“Robert, would you stand still for a moment?” He stopped and I went to stand directly before him. “I and we, all of us, owe you an apology. You are the most dislikable Robert I’ve ever met, but that does not give me or anyone else the right to treat you badly. You came here with the wrong attitude and instead of us helping you see why you are wrong, we’ve been giving you the cold shoulder. Robert, your father is wealthy, very wealthy. Do you know how wealthy?”

Reluctantly he replied, “I’m not certain, but between seven to ten million pounds.”

“Okay, ten million, with inflation that would be about two hundred million in my time? That is a lot of money. Robert, let us pretend that all that money belongs to you, not your father. Do you know that even with two hundred million pounds you are the poorest Robert in Freddie? Heck, even Freddie and Vincent are worth more than you. I can’t honestly tell you how much my Robert is worth, but if we exclude all properties, Freddie the ship and various rights to products or services he has, I’m damn certain he is not worth much less than twenty trillion pounds - not all in one reality but still, that’s about it.” Suddenly I used ‘the voice’ and ordered him to sit down. “I did not tell you so as to humble you. You’ve been talking to everyone as if you are someone special and that is not how you make friends. They are all angry with me for pointing out to you that if you think wealth makes you special, then you are the least special. Now, you sit and listen to me so that you learn what it is that truly makes any Robert very special.

Look up there, look at those spaceships. Do you know that each of those ships has armaments that could totally wipe mankind off the face of our planet without them having to bother to defend themselves against our missiles? Robert, I’m talking about my Earth which is like totally different from yours, far more advanced with missiles and lasers that reach into space. Now ask yourself, why do species that hold such power look to Robert for leadership? What is it about a Robert that makes so many love him?” I grinned. “Oops, you did realise that he is our leader because they love him? No? Okay, I’ll tell you what we’ll do before we continue with this conversation. We’ll have an early supper tonight and for many nights, until the girls have finished doing a telling for us. All questions you have will be answered the next morning, never during or just after a telling - we’d prefer you think a little before asking us. Freddie, you got any ideas about which reality we should go to for the tellings?”

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“Personally, I’d love to go to Goldi’s planet, but the young Robert with you is not ready for that. How about we visit your daughter Efineh?” I agreed and he gave everyone notice we’ll be gone for about ten minutes and everyone wanted to come with, even those who happened to be on planet at the moment, when they found out it was for the girls to do a telling. We waited for them and jumped, after the local government leaders attending meetings with our reality leaders were given an explanation and assured that they would only be absent from their reality for an hour or so.

The instant we arrived, Freddie filled with our friends and family. There are still thousands of Normals and Cherinians living and working on planet. Many are there to help the people and to minimise the changes to the ecology, but most were really there to study this world. It is a unique opportunity to get a glimpse of what happened on our planet, so nobody resents their presence. When they heard we are having a telling they promised to return that evening with their local friends. Efineh promised to bring Sebura so that little Piri can come with.

Before we started the tellings, Marian and Alki met with the parents of little Cher and explained what will be shown. This couple are conservative and much nicer than they usually are (in other realities). They did not like little Cher watching the sexual parts, but they admitted it would not harm her if she really is to be the Cherine of their reality. Their only doubts about that were not because of their little girl, they already knew she is special, they just did not like Rob and could not see him changing enough to become a good Robert, worthy of their daughter.

Robbie pulled me to him as we sat to enjoy the telling. He smiled as his hands rubbed along my skinny thighs. “You’re getting lazy, you’re hoping the telling will do your job for you.”

I giggled. “If it works, maybe it will make it easier for you to handle your alternate dad?” He lightly pinched me as I burst into laughter. I sent Haven a kiss for being such a sport and volunteering to sit with Rob through the tellings. I bet he’ll end up falling in love with her after he stops being afraid of her.

Just before the telling began I heard a childish voice calling for me and I jumped up for Piri to run into my arms. It’s only been a couple of months since I saw her and she’s already put on a couple of kilos and grown a centimetre! She’d just had a shower and wore the sweet scent the Orati girls love so I gave Robbie an apologetic glance and looked for an empty space for me to sit with Piri on my lap. Robbie grabbed my ankle and gestured for me to return to his lap. We must have been quite a sight. Cherine and Dommi to either side with me on Robbie’s lap and Piri on mine. Once the telling started I had to remind Piri a few times not to talk, not to even whisper to me. She thought I was being unreasonable but settled down, losing herself within the story as it unfurled through audio, visual and emoting methods so that it was almost like living through it all again, at least it is for me.

After the second night people were giving me the thumbs up. Rob changed and everyone thought my strategy had worked. There is little point in explaining that when I offered the tellings, I did not only do it for strategic reasons, I saw that we really had allowed his emoting to dictate our emotions, antipathy feeding off antipathy or something like that. It is not what we Cherinians are supposed to be like. As far as I’m concerned, it is very likely that in the internal world of Rob he is still an unpleasant person, but what everyone is reacting to is the way his emoting is ‘softer’ and more controlled. I’d say that at this stage it comes from loss of self confidence. The day I sense a beautiful emotion because of his little Cher, that will be the day I re-evaluate who he is. I would not be so hard on him if he was not a Robert - I have high expectations and he’ll have to meet them. He does not have a choice, I will not allow the shallowness of his character to destroy the inner world of his Cherine. Anyone who can feel her would agree that she is far too precious for her not to be given the best of his heart.

Today has been an exceptional day, thanks to Allan. It was still dark when Robbie woke up, aware of a large number of strangers in Freddie and he could sense they were busy doing something. Before he could do anything about it, Freddie let him know he should stay in bed and we should have our breakfast at home this morning.

We delayed going out as long as we could and made our way to the taverna at half past nine. Whatever was being planned, it obviously was not happening close by, so Robbie had another coffee while we relaxed and talked among ourselves. By ten most of our friends had arrived. Suddenly Allan jumped to us, his two loves with him.

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“Come, it is time for some fun. Come to the fair and see wonders no Cherinian has seen before. Come to the fair and set the child in you free…” He carried on like a barker as he ushered us to his loves who took turns jumping everyone to the fair he was talking about.

As we arrived we stood without moving, truly surprised. These were the most exotic fair people we’ve ever seen. There was an Eastern look to them, their clothes bright and glittering and styled in a unique but almost Indian manner with lots of golden jewellery and semi-precious stones. We found out that Allan saw some of them in a small city in the area we think of as India and searched to gather the largest fair ever. There were jugglers, acrobats, fire-eaters, dancers, clowns - not that they looked like clowns to us. There were animals freely moving among them, a handler by their side to prompt them to perform their tricks. We saw tables laden with oriental sweets that were as delicious as they appeared to be and other tables with spicy foods. There was a small stage where a play was performed with some music and dancing included. We’d never seen anything like this and we let go and enjoyed ourselves, screaming and running around just like all the other children. The strangest of all was that it was our alien friends who spent the most time at the fair, trying to experience everything.

“How the hell did you get them to come amongst aliens without going into a panic?”

Poor Allan was being inundated by questions without being given time to respond. Not that he seemed to mind. He continued nibbling at his sliced green mango that was covered with a red spice and grinning he spoke to Jess, “Gosh, they have a lot of questions don’t they?”

“Yuck! Your tongue is bright red. Can I try it?” He passed her a small slice and that was the last of the mango he got to eat, Jess eating some and passing to us the rest of it.

“How are you paying them?” Robbie asked.

“In Euros of course.”

Robbie laughed. “Sure, now tell me, I’m curious.”

Allan laughed at him as he called to one of the fair people. Allan said to him, “Money? Show money?” The man pulled out from a pouch under his shirt a wad of Euros and asked Allan, “More?” Allan handed him a five Euro note which the man first smelled and then happily tucked away.

“What did you tell them about money?” Robbie asked.

“They have money, but they only use coins. I told them that my money is my promise to give them things they want in exchange for my paper promises.”

“What kind of things?”

“Toasters, kettles, computers…” He nearly doubled over in laughter as Robbie’s eyes turned stern and unforgiving. “What did you think I’d offer them? They are allowed to buy what you so freely give to the Orati - chocolates, pretty satin ribbons, bright plastic clips for their hair…all that is of the worst taste from our civilisation. They love everything that is kitsch - with the trade I’ll soon be doing I’ll be acknowledged as the king of tacky on our planet.”

I asked him, “What will it cost me to have them perform for the Orati and the others? At one day each that means they’ll have to work for us for four days.”

He frowned. “One day out of their lives they can afford for gimcrackery, for five days in total we’d have to give them something of value they can trade for food.”

I laughed. “They’ll probably become the equivalent of our millionaires just from the stuff you’re selling them.”

“I know that Sam. To give them what I promised for one day is just fun and funny. We cannot do that as a basis of our regular intercourse - cultural or economic.”

“What would you want to trade?”

“What I’d really like?” I nodded. “How about Cherinianism? I can understand Irfan ignoring them, but how could you do so? They are not an easy people and they have a complex culture and religion, but there are many nice people among them.”

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I took his hand and pressed it to my cheek. “Allan, if you ask the Muyzith and Inguel very nicely, they’ll supply you with terabytes of data. I asked them to plan how we approach them so that we do not disturb their way of life in ways that destroys their culture. I also wanted to preserve for their descendants a full history of their culture before we change it.”

“And I put my foot in it?” I hugged him and reassured him that no damage was done, that I liked his idea of creating ‘promise’ money. He took me to meet those in charge of the various groups and we negotiated another four days at one day each week. After that I rushed to get some green mango with spice but everyone else had beaten me to it and there wasn’t even one slice left.

The next morning, Robbie faced Allan. “I still want to know how you prepared them for meeting aliens without terrifying them. It would also be of interest to learn how you explained Freddie to them.”

“They have known of Freddie for years, well, they did not know what it is, but they’d seen it in their skies. As for their ease amongst aliens, why don’t you ask the Muyzith or Inguel very nicely to explain to you their religion and show you pictures of their gods and demons?” I am always very careful to hide from Allan that it amuses me how easy he finds it to press Robbie’s ‘buttons’, but it annoys Robbie anyway. He glared at me instead of Allan so I jumped out of sight to prevent Allan hearing me laugh.

Efineh and I were sitting on the edge of the cliff overlooking the village of her parents, half our faces covered in ripe mango juice. This year the mangoes are very sweet and juicy so we’d come to fill a few baskets for taking to Freddie. She tossed the pip down, half hoping it would grow into a tree down in the plains for her people to enjoy.

She grinned and announced, “There is a conspiracy against me.”

I gave her a pretend guilty look, “I’m not part of it, I promise.”

She scowled at me. “These last years you seem to think you’re a comedian. I’m being serious.”

“Tell me.”

“The women of the centre have decided I’m getting too old to find a mate, so they’re trying to find me a man, as they say, while there is still time. I’m finding it very embarrassing having men brought to meet me and having my virtues, good points and bad ones, extolled loudly for them to decide whether I meet their approval.” I clamped down on my imagination because I knew I would find it hilarious if I pictured the scene and she would be offended.

“Those are some of the worst situations to be trapped in, when others try to do something for you out of love. None of the men were worth a second look?”

“Mother!”

“What if you told them you prefer to choose a man from your home village?”

“You’re enjoying yourself, aren’t you? I never should have told you.”

“No sweetheart, if you hadn’t it could have caused some really ill feeling between us. Imagine I’d walked in on the ladies extolling your virtues to some Orati rider, I might have laughed, incurring your eternal enmity.”

“I don’t want to discuss this with you anymore, can you change the subject? Have you got enough mangoes? Do you want to find some red bananas for Robert?”

“How come you call me mother, but you don’t call Robbie father?”

She gave me a surprised look. “But he isn’t, he didn’t bring me up, only you and Samuel did, but it would feel funny to call him father. Anyway, should I call Robert ‘father’ or ‘grandfather’?”

I giggled. “I’m certain he’d love it if you called him pappou.”

“You must have eaten some rotten mangoes that fermented!”

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Robbie shared with me when we returned to the centre and he was amused, but he also emoted so much tenderness for Efineh that she actually changed herself to a five year old and stayed on his lap for the rest of the evening. As we were about to go to bed and she climbed off him so as to age herself again, I suggested to her that she only ages herself to about fifteen. She giggled and threw her arms around my neck for a hug and wet kiss. God, I missed having her like this so much that I took her to a guest bedroom so that she could sleep in my arms.

Since we wanted them to absorb and learn from the telling, we could not have a telling every night, just as real life experiences need time to be absorbed, even to be dreamt about, so it is with the telling. We have a telling four nights a week and that is enough to dominate the conversation for the rest of the week. When someone who has seen a telling a number of times or has even lived through the experiences depicted, says, ‘I hadn’t understood that before’ or, ‘I hadn’t realised…,’ it makes the girls happy and inspires them to give more of themselves. Piri only spent the first night on my lap and the fourth, but I kept a mental eye on her and I was pleased to sense that she is understanding a lot more than she did originally. I’m only one of hundreds who are also monitoring Rob. With him it is more difficult to gauge how it is affecting him - I do mean in the longer term and not just the momentary emotions as he shares in the experiences. Perhaps Haven has a slightly more intimate understanding of him, but she is blocking everything to do with him from us.

One thing did visibly impress Rob. The formation of ADFI. He was quick to realise how wealthy it made Robbie and, just by chance, as sometimes happens, as they cannot cover all aspects, the girls did not stress that Robbie does not consider any of those shares or profits as his. Rob now believes that Robbie is as wealthy as I told him and is embarrassed when he recalls how he put on airs. We are fairly close to the end of the tellings, so I asked Haven to chat with me in private.

“I’m guessing that he’s changing into a nicer person, but he’s nowhere close to becoming a Robert?”

“I don’t think he ever will Sam.”

“That’s not an option.”

“You can’t always win! Little Cherine is young enough and she’s not attached to him yet, we can find her another Robert.” She paused. “Scrap that! I can’t believe what I just said, he doesn’t deserve to be abandoned to the kind of life he’ll live instead of being a Robert with his Cherine. I don’t see what else we can do to change him Sam, the way he is has developed from when he was an infant, it is too much a part of what he is, to change him means we’d have to take drastic action and he would not be the same person anymore.”

“I have a feeling that Kolonaki in the Sparkler World is the answer - but not in the usual way.”

She gave me a look that showed she’d thought of something but could not see how it would help. “The only way it could affect him would need that he is part of the coming together of Robert and Cherine and Dommi. The problem is that Robert will not agree to it. You know how he hates the idea of any male sharing with us.”

I said, “We’re almost there,” and then both of us sat without speaking. We stared at each other glumly as we realised neither of us was about to get the breakthrough idea we need. I asked, “You were thinking Robbie and Cherine should live through their meeting with Rob as a passenger in his mind?” She nodded. I nodded back. “You’re right, he wouldn’t agree to it.” A little while later I added, “I think we’re wrong, maybe Cherine is not the answer. It might be that his problem is that he admires his father instead of hating him.”

She looked like she was about to agree and then her face fell. “You’re wrong, what about the Robert who lost his father to a panga attack? He loved his father.”

“But he loved an idealised father, he did not feel the need to emulate the cold and unfeeling nature of his father as Rob does. Because his father succeeded financially, Rob thinks that is how you have to be if you want to be a success.” I shook my head, “He’s been brainwashed and however much we change him, he’ll always be our weak link.”

“What weak link?”

“I was thinking of the war with Dimi - this Robert is likely to betray all other Roberts if he thinks he may be able to lord it over them.”

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Haven paled. “There is one way we could change him, but we’d have to break our most important rule. If we took him back in time and made him share from his father…as I said, we can’t do it. “ We were interrupted by feelings of anger - especially from our family, but it included friends, alien friends also. Since we weren’t getting anywhere we returned to find out what was happening.

Rob met a Tirsoon called Zhifwhige (Unation species from a high gravity planet) and he had a lot of trite questions to ask about their culture which Zhifwhige politely answered, even though Rob was being rude by asking. All of us have had to try and become more flexible so Zhifwhige did not really get upset, he just felt a distaste for having to reply, but Rob could not sense his emoting. Then Rob put a hypothetical question to him that so deeply offended him that he was forced to immediately jump to his ship so as not to lose control of his temper. An hour later his officer forced him to come to us and when the family shared they emoted the feelings that brought Haven and I back to them. For anyone else to have asked the question would have been bad manners, but they might have tried to excuse it as being asked only out of curiosity. For a Robert to ask was unthinkable.

“Watching the tellings I think I’ve understood why so many species have chosen prime Robert as their leader, after all, you were under obligation to him. Yet, I am told that no species chose him as their leader because of any obligations, but because of his qualities as a leader. If I have understood the matter of time, that is, how time in Freddie counts as separate from the time in your own realities, it seems that many of you have been faithful to him for nearly two hundred years! If the personality of a Robert makes him so exceptional that species so different to each other want a Robert as their leader, has it never happened that a species would prefer a different Robert as their leader, a Robert whose views on life are more in line with theirs?”

Robbie, many Roberts, Allan and even Themi argued in favour of Rob. Dommi took Cher to play with Piri on planet as she was becoming frightened of the emoting she was sensing. I thought about it, decided the question was perceptive and came to agree with Robbie and had to argue against Cherine and all my loves. I was surprised when Haven took a stand against Robbie and I.

Robbie argued, “If Zhifwhige had not felt so insulted and angry we would not be attaching any importance to his question. Unfortunately most species have a history of coups and revolutions and they have seen how our species is definitely not an exception. A Robert asking the question was taken as a blatant attempt to secure support for a rebellion. I think that Zhifwhige forgot something very important: Robert is not a Cherinian, so he could not entertain such ambitions even in his daydreams. I do not object to his asking the question, but it would have been more tactful if he’d asked us instead of Zhifwhige.” He stood up and slightly bowed to Zhifwhige. “I apologise for the slight.”

Rob arrived at the taverna just as Zhifwhige and his officer departed. He stared at where they’d been and then said, loudly, “What a strange creature! I was talking to it when it suddenly disappeared without an excuse me! They’ll have to learn better manners if they intend spending any time on Earth.”

I think my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. I barely managed to jump to the Orati centre roof garden before collapsing in laughter. Within seconds Robbie joined me with Cherine in his arms and then all my loves. Soon everyone at the taverna was on the roof and as our laughter began to tail off, Tina pointed out, “We all left without an excuse me, he’ll think we are all rude,” and everyone collapsed in hysterical laughter again. We definitely have to do something about him soon.

The last telling was two nights ago. Cher must have misunderstood something she overheard, for she thought that with the end of the tellings Rob would realise how important she is to him and he’d love her. The morning after, she shyly went to stand by him, finding the courage from somewhere to look him in the eyes. Her inner world crashed as she realised he has not changed and she ran to her parents who took her home. When Cher had approached Rob, there was not one of us who did not wonder and therefore monitor what she was feeling. I think that this is the closest so many Cherinians (even a few Ipohin) have come to hating anyone. He just drank his coffee and made his dreams, oblivious to everything.

I waited until he finished his coffee and then almost ordering him to give me his hand I jumped us to a ledge - one of the really high ones. His terror as he saw through the ledge he was standing on brought him to his knees. I grabbed him and jumped to a hillside, close to some trees and let him have his privacy for a few minutes. I called to him, ordering him to sit by me.

“You are very close to the limit of all we are willing to do to try and help you become worthy of being a Cherinian, Robert. You watched the tellings and all you seem to have made yours from all you shared, is your infantile dreams of becoming powerful and wealthier than your father. You are the worst Robert I’ve ever met and I don’t know why I care, but I’m warning you from now, I am going to smash through that ego of yours and re-make you so that you become the best ever Robert your little Cherine could ever dream of having.”

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Predictably he responded, angrily, “You don’t have the right to…”

I shot to my feet. “You just brought me to my limit. I don’t have the right to help you reach your potential? Fine! We’ll bring a Robert from another reality for Cherine and you will remain a nobody - even worse, you’ll be the first ever Robert who is not a Cherinian, does not have a Cherine and grows old and dies just like any other Normal. Hallelujah! I’m finished with you at last!”

“I didn’t mean…”

“What?”

“I want you to help me, but you were talking about smashing me…”

“Smashing your ego, that’s right. It is the only chance you have of becoming a Cherinian.” I stood aggressively with fists on hips and stared at him until he dropped his eyes. “Fine, tell me what is special about you as you are, so that we can consider linking you as a Cherinian. Do you have empathy? Well, do you?”

“Yes.”

“Bull! Let me show you what empathy is really like.” I sent him all the little pains Cher has endured because of him, which, cumulatively should have shattered him. All I got in response was that he looked troubled.

“I don’t understand what you expected me to do. Surely you don’t expect me to fall in love with a five year old? The way she felt, it was not because of me, it was because of the expectations you filled her with. You’re to blame…the whole lot of you!” Mentally I took a step back, from his point of view he was right. but he had also shown a total lack of empathy.

“A child is suffering and all you can think of is ways to absolve yourself of all blame? I was right, you don’t have any empathy, the suffering of others does not touch you if it might affect your own wellbeing. What else is there about you that shows you should be a Cherinian?” He only stared back at me. “Did you honestly think that being a Robert Teller is reason enough for you to be linked? Did you think that Cherinianism is some kind of club? God! You did! You thought you automatically qualify because you are an alternate of Robert Teller.” We’d known he thought this way for some time, but I’d decided it was time he faces that thought and realises exactly how stupid it is.

“The other Roberts…”

“…were not linked because of who they are, they were linked because they loved a Cherine. You Roberts are nothing without a Cherine, hers is the gift and it can only flow from her to you once love has opened the path. Were you hoping to be linked as an ordinary Cherinian, not as a Robert Teller?”

I had not expected the truth to shatter him. He had persisted in believing we were playing games with him for political reasons so that once he is the Robert of his reality we have leverage over him. After having been through a telling and now being confronted by the truth about the origins of his potential powers, he really was shattered and his internal world was collapsing, for he could not see how he could possibly fall in love with a five year old kid and the thought of just being linked as one of many Cherinians was just too terrible for words. He told himself that it could not be, that I must have a reason for playing these games with him and I must be doing so because I feared what he could become. I saw that no arguments would open his heart so I returned to the taverna, unsettling him by not staying to convince him that he needed us, which seemed to confirm his beliefs. His problem was that he could not see how he could acquire his powers so as to give us the finger.

“Robbie, I’m sorry, I can’t go through with it. To shatter his ego would destroy him, he’d be useless as a Robert for his Cherine. I think we don’t have a choice, we’ll have to leave him on his world, but take Cherine with us. We can return in a year or two and if the humiliation of not becoming what he dreamt of has not brought him to Earth, then we’ll have to find another Robert for her.”

“We’ve all thought so for a while now, only you seemed to be determined to succeed so we hoped you’d find a way. Should we take him back now?”

“After we’ve had a nice feast with our friends below. Robbie, I think I need to stay there for a few days so as to get my perspective back.”

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I asked the parents of Cher to come with me as I did not think it was good for her to be in Freddie at the moment. As soon as we arrived I called for Piri. Sebura came with her and seeing him gave me an idea. I placed my hand on Cher’s shoulder so that she could sense me more than those with us.

“Sebura, I need a favour from you. The training you give Piri, I want Cher to learn the same. Could you and Piri help teach Cher how to be a warrior?”

Cher was about to look back at me in surprise, not certain she liked what she was hearing, but Piri got to her first; excited about training her, she soon had Cher convinced it would be wonderful. Cher has had too soft a life for that enthusiasm to last for long, so I turned her to me and Piri went quiet. “If you agree to do this it will be the hardest thing you’ve ever done. Sweetheart, to be a warrior needs a very brave heart, but there is no point in being brave if you don’t know how to fight. To fight you’ll have to listen to Sebura and when all your muscles are hurting you’ll have to be strong and brave enough to refuse to give up. If you think you can’t do what Piri did, then tell me and I’ll take you back to Freddie where everything is nice and safe and you won’t need to be a great warrior.”

“I am strong like her!”

I called for a screen and showed her the story of Piri. She was not feeling very empathic when she saw her being made to walk and run when she was already exhausted, but when the rocks fell on Piri, Cher’s eyes were huge and she was angry with Sebura when he left her. When he returned and got her out she rejoiced. When she saw Sebura being attacked by the lion she cried out and then stood with her hand over her mouth as she watched Piri try to frighten the lion away so that it does not attack Sebura again. The showing ended as the two of them arrived back in the village where Sebura was healed.

I knelt in front of Cher. “You were saying?” She stared at me for a moment and then dropped her gaze. I pulled her chin up. “My love, you can be as strong as her, but it will not be easy, when Sebura tells you to walk or run and you are hurting all over, you won’t want to do it - will you be able to remember why you must - and do it?” She nodded. I turned to Piri, “Will you accept Cherine as your sister warrior?” With eyes that were enormous, for she knew what a Cherine is to everyone, she nodded. I left the two of them together for them to get to know each other and with Sebura we went to her parents who did not look at all happy.

“Being a Cherine is not easy Marian, there will be times she will want to give up. What Sebura teaches is not just the toughening of the body, nor is it the techniques of fighting, mostly what he concentrates on is teaching her to have the heart of a warrior. As you see, these are people who still live off the land and their way of life is basic and even primitive in many ways, but let Cherine spend enough time with them and she will grow up to be the best Cherine ever.”

Sebura gave me a startled glance and, of course, Marian being Marian, she just had to ask, “Better than your Cherine?”

I grinned. “Who knows?”

Her father asked, “Are you doing this to keep her away from the Robert of our reality?”

“He won’t be with us for long, as soon as we leave here we’re taking him back home. To be honest, I don’t want Cherine and the two of you to be there. He is going to feel very humiliated and I don’t want him to feel that the three of you might be laughing at him. If there is any hope of him becoming the Robert your daughter deserves he must never feel she shared his humiliation.”

“You expect us to stay here?”

“Why not. The centre has all the luxuries you need, you’ll be safe and the stay will do her a lot of good.” I was very pleased when Marian agreed.

Sebura and I walked off by ourselves. He waited for me to speak, but I could tell he was itching to exclaim at what I’d done.

“Did you ever think this would happen?” I did not smile as I looked at him. “Sebura as protector of a Cherine!”

“You ask me to make her suffer pain?”

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“Keep in mind that Piri was born as one of your people, she was more used to the hard life than Cherine is. Start more slowly, but I want her to be just as tough as Piri by the time I return.” I now gave him a smile. “She will want to give up - remind her that a Cherine never gives up and neither does a warrior and she has to be both. Her parents will complain and you will need to remember that in their world they are not used to seeing their children treated so harshly. Speak to them of how it will help make Cherine stronger so that she never has to depend on anyone but herself - Marian will like that.”

“You have given Piri great honour by naming them sister warriors.”

“No, they are not sister warriors - they must both work hard and help each other so that they grow to become sister warriors, then it will not be just a title, it will be a fact.”

It was his turn to look into my eyes. “Thank you for showing how Piri grew to become my daughter. Now she will not just be a child of savage people for Cherine, she has seen what a brave heart she has.”

We warned everyone we would be leaving in a couple of days and invited them to attend the feasts at the various centres. Only the leaders of all the nations would be brought to the Orati centre to feast with the main body of our family and Cherinian friends. I asked Allan whether we should invite the leaders of the Indian continent, but he thought it was not time for that.

Allan grinned. “If Vincent or Robert don’t mind helping me return to our reality I have someone I might succeed in bringing who could make your feast something to be talked about for days.”

“A Talent?”

“He is talented but not a Talent.” He shook his finger at me. “No more hints.”

“Why do you need to be taken home, you must have…”

“Sam, have you ever heard of or seen me jumping across realities?”

“What!?” I stared at him with shock. “You’ve never done it on your own? But why?”

“The truth? It scares me shitless.”

“I don’t believe this!” Robbie became curious about my emoting and joined us. I explained and he stared at Allan.

“You admit it frightens you!?”

Aggressively he answered, “Yes.”

“You’re lucky.”

“What!?”

“I mean it. I was just as terrified of teleporting, whether locally or to other realities, but as leader and because of my loves I had to hide my fear and jump. Have you jumped with your girls?”

“Yes, maybe that’s why they haven’t guessed I have a problem with doing it on my own.”

“Allan, the lives of your loves may someday depend on you jumping to save them, do whatever it takes, but get over your fear.”

“For any life, I’d jump Robert.”

Robbie nodded. “Yes, you would.” He turned to me, “Can you believe this guy? He jumps to join us secretly in Freddie, but he won’t jump realities!” I quickly sent a secret message to Freddie and then turned to Allan.

“There’s no need for you to stand here listening to us, jump to Freddie and ask Vincent if he’ll take you.” As soon as he was gone I told Robbie what I’d done and we jumped to Freddie. We found Allan looking as if he were having a heart attack. He definitely was not feeling very loving towards me so Robbie told me to keep my distance.

“Samantha tricked you? So, now you’ve jumped realities, it wasn’t that hard was it?”

He pulled himself together and spoke harshly, but his emoting betrayed him. “As leader of the Cherinians you should be censuring her for doing this. What if I’d died!”

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“I’d have brought you back. Actually, as leader of the Cherinians I am impelled to congratulate her - any weakness among the Cherinians that she helps get rid of increases our chances of surviving.”

Allan took a step closer and sticking out his face, from close up went, “Grr…” and then burst into laughter at the look on Robbie’s face. I couldn’t help it and also laughed.

I told Allan, “You’re at our home reality, go get your friend.”

“He’s not my friend, he doesn’t even know me. I saw his show and thought he was great. See you as soon as I get him.”

I sensed Robbie wanted to carry me so I reverted to a six year old (as a six year old I weigh about the same as most four and a half year old girls). I love it when Robbie gets an unbearable urge to squeeze me hard and has to fight it. Maybe it would be worth the pain (just once) to feel him let go and give in. I have the feeling that I would be too immersed in sharing how he is feeling to sense my body being crushed. Sorry, just a silly little fantasy of mine - though I wouldn’t really want anything that extreme to happen to me, I’m so glad I was born a girl.

When Allan returned, Robbie and all us girls were surprised to find that we did not recognise the man he brought with him. “This is Jerry Silvo - I think it is his stage name.” Dommi recalled a cream for polishing silver and giggled, sharing with us. I think one or two of us may have managed to be polite and hide our amusement. Allan scowled at us. “Jerry, don’t pay them any attention…”

“Such beautiful young ladies, how could I do that?” Allan better be right about his talent if we’re going to have to put up with him for days! It was also irritating having him taking photos of us and Freddie without asking whether it is allowed - out of courtesy if nothing else. Robbie sensed me and sent me a smile as he told me most artistes are the same and I should not feel offended.

We arrived back in the Orati reality only minutes after our departure. Allan asked Freddie to show his guest the various points of interest and we felt that he was not very interested in anything, apart from Gnolat City, he preferred to be holding conversations about himself and his talent. I suppose Allan tried to oblige.

“I hope you have understood that your audience is not very sophisticated. Your total audience on planet will be in the millions, but only a few thousand are from our realities.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve worked in South America and Africa, they’ll love me. What about language, do they understand English?” I did not want to spoil it for Allan so I didn’t ask what he does.

“With Claudia and some others to help they’ll think you are talking in their language.” I could sense he was intrigued by the idea and wondering how he would sound in the local languages. Allan took him to the Orati centre and Efineh arranged a room for Jerry. He was a bit upset that he did not have a suite, lounge, bar and bedroom, but he had Allan take dozens of photos of him to show that he’s been here.

The feast was a great success and once the meat had finished and everyone was enjoying their drinks, Allan stood up and announced that we are putting on a show, brought all the way from our home world for them. A box was placed by Allan with a stool next to it and then Jerry walked out. His irritating ways were no longer evident, he was humorous and charming as he first joked and got his audience into a good mood and then he pulled out a doll and placed it on his knee. He is a ventriloquist! I wondered how did Allan think everyone would hear the voice coming from the doll if they were watching over the screen but I saw that unless you knew what to look for it was not obvious he was doing the talking and we soon realised the locals actually believed the dolls (puppets) were doing the talking. It frightened them, but Jerry succeeded in making them laugh and after that they were slapping their thighs in merriment and shouting their comments to the puppets and did not want him to stop when Jerry tried to tell them the show had ended. Efineh was forced to join him and tell everyone the show had ended before they’d accept it. The screens stayed on, showing scenes from our visit to the formation of galaxies after the Big Bang. As I’d expected, to them it was only a show of pretty lights. To tell the truth, us Cherinians sometimes don’t show the common sense a chicken has. After a night of feasting, booze and laughter, did we truly expect the crowds to fall into a reverent awe as they saw suns explode and galaxies form? I doubt that many from our own realities did.

Next [Book 12] - Post 015

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.

• posted: 12th Aug, 2020
  
  
  
  
  

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