Read Online More Than an Echo (Echo Branson Series) by Linda Kay Silva - Free Book Online Page B

wouldn’t know. I’m an orphan. My birth name is—”
    “Jane Doe. Yes, I know. I know a great deal more about you than you realize.” She smiled. “I have a few powers of my own.”
    We stayed on the water talking about life, about other supers she had taught and how each of them managed to find their own way. I told her about Danica and how much I missed her. To my surprise, Melika promised I could talk to her tomorrow, when I went in to town. This perked me up immediately. It was one thing to escape from the psych ward, but I felt so cut-off from the rest of the world out here on the Bayou.
    The best part was how calm I had suddenly become. Melika had called it stabilizing. She said it was important for me to clear out the energies from the psych ward and settle down from all the anxiety and fear I had been experiencing. I have to say that sleep really helped. I felt rested for the first time in forever. No night terrors had made their way into my sleep.
    When the bugs started eating us, Melika showed me how to start the motor so we could head back up the Bayou more easily. If you’ve never been in the Louisiana Bayou, the best way I can describe it is a water labyrinth. There are main thoroughfares, side streets, inlets and assorted waterways, none of which were marked with any sort of sign. There was absolutely nothing to let you know where you were and it all looked the same. All of it.
    But I quickly realized it only appeared that way. As Melika pointed out various trees and other landmarks, I started to see the Bayou through different eyes. There were too many greens to name, various trees of all sizes, and scenery more stunning than any I had ever seen. I was beginning to understand why some people never left here.
    Actually, I was beginning to understand me.
    I wasn’t a freak after all. I had a chromosome or something natural that gave me supernatural powers I need not be afraid of. I needed training. I needed understanding. I needed to be exactly where I was.
    When we finally returned to the cute little cottage, Jacob was waiting on the dock. “What is it, Jacob?”
    “Another incoming, ma’am,” Jacob said, holding up a cell phone. “TK.”
    Melika nodded solemnly. “I’ve been expecting him. Where is he?”
    “Atlanta.”
    She nodded. “Tip packed and ready?”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    “Thank you, Jacob.” Melika took his hand as he helped her from the boat. When she got out, she turned and helped me out. “Tomorrow, we will discuss how to protect yourself, how to reserve your energy, how to make everything work in your life. You need not ever be afraid here. You are safe. I know that you have never had a real family, but I’d like you to consider all of us here one.”
    I swallowed hard and nodded. “I’d like that. I’d like that a lot.”
    And with that, for the first time in my life, I had a family.
    No wonder I had slept so well.

    After I was well-rested and well-fed, it was time to get down to the real lessons. Tip had gone off to Atlanta, leaving me and Jacob to tend to the many chores around the cottage. The weather was mild in the Bayou, but without electricity, Melika had to cook by a fire that was always burning. There was also a brick barbecue on the side that she used as well. Let me tell you, that woman could cook. I think I gained ten pounds the first ten minutes I was there. It was a good thing I had chores or it would have been twenty.
    It’s weird to think that my Bayou experience was the closest thing to a normal family I had ever had, but that was the truth. Jacob was the most respectful young man I had ever met. Melika, though not motherly in the slightest, was like a parent in that she had expectations for us to fulfill. We had to rest, eat well, do our chores and be respectful of each other and our environment. Once we finished with our morning chores, our first lesson started, and it wasn’t at all what I thought it would be.
    “The average stay with me is three