Read Online On a Beam of Light by Gene Brewer - Free Book Online Page B

shameless TV weather people, you know that their predictions are very often wrong. Cassie, on the other hand, is usually right for periods of up to two weeks from the date of her prognostication. I had heard, in fact, that Villers, her staff physician, had consulted her about conditions for the proposed outing to the zoo before he would allow a date to be set. (When Milton heard that fair weather was expected for the trip, he remarked, “Only fair? Surely we should wait until it gets better. “)
    Animals also seem to know when changes in the weather are coming, possibly because of some unknown sensitivity to subtle variations in air pressure or humidity, though not so far in advance, probably. But how can we explain her uncanny ability to predict, with more than ninety-percent accuracy, who will become the next president or the winner of the Super Bowl, weeks or even months beforehand, something no animal can do. (It is rumored that Villers has reaped a small fortune from her desultory pronouncements, which he usually keeps to himself, claiming doctor-patient privilege. ) What does she see in the sun and stars that the rest of us are missing?
    I also saw Frankie waddling around the lawn under her usual black cloud. Her inability to form human relationships seems to be related in some way to autism—perhaps a similar part of the brain is involved. Unlike the true autists, however, she has no problem communicating with the staff and her fellow patients, though what she conveys is likely to be a caustic comment or jarring insult. Whether these jabs are intentional I can’t say, but she was one patient I hoped prot might be able to help, despite his own misgivings about human love.
    At the far corner I noticed several of the other inmates grouped under the big oak tree, shading themselves like a bunch of sheep from the heat of the August sun, except that they were all facing inward. I wondered whether something had happened. But when I started in their direction I saw prot in their midst. He was holding forth on some subject or other, commanding their complete attention. Even Russell was silent. As I approached them my beeper squealed.
    I hurried to a phone and punched the number of the departmental office. “It’s Robert Porter’s mother, ” the operator said. “Can you take the call?” I asked him to transfer it.
    Mrs. Porter had received my letter and understandably wanted to know how Robert was doing. Unfortunately, I could only tell her that I was pleased with his progress so far, but that much more work remained to be done. She asked when she could come to see him. I told her I would let her know the moment her son was well enough for that. She seemed disappointed, of course, but agreed to wait for further progress. (I didn’t mention the possibility that she might instead find him in the same state he was in when she was here five years ago. )
    I returned to the lawn. Villers had departed, leaving Cassandra to gaze once more at the heavens. Prot was gone, too, and the others were milling around under the oak tree, directionless without their magnetic leader. Frankie was still off by herself, cursing the wind.
    “Dr. Flynn was here yesterday with another astronomer and a physicist, ” Giselle told me over lunch in the staff dining room. “I gave him an hour with prot. I’ve never seen anybody so eager to meet someone. He actually ran down the corridor to prot’s room. “
    “Well, did he learn anything he didn’t know before?”
    “He didn’t get everything he wanted, but he seemed to think it was worth the trip. “
    “Why didn’t he get everything he wanted?”
    “Prot’s afraid he’ll use the information to his own selfish ends. “
    “I figured as much. Of course it’s also possible that prot doesn’t know all the answers. “
    “I wouldn’t count on it. “
    “What sorts of things did Flynn ask him about?”
    She took an enormous bite of a sandwich and continued, her jaw the size of an