InsaneJournal

Blair knocked on the door, the sound of a piano inside stuttering and coming to a halt and the sounds of cats yowling from within telling him that someone was indeed home. Cats? That was new, she never had cats before... did she? He didn't remember any at any rate. His musings were cut off as the inner door whipped open and he was looking at the woman he had come to see.

 

Diane DeBoer, the woman who was his mom's oldest friend and his rescuer from when he had fallen from Old Mrs. Danbrush's tree. She hadn't changed much over the last 13 years. Her hair was just as long and she still wore it in her preferred style of a long thick braid down her back, but it was silver now instead of honey blond.

 

The waistline was a little thicker and she moved a little slower, but her mere presence still commanded with a matronly air. Blair couldn’t help but smile, happy he was to see that the years had been kind.

 

“May I help you?” she asked, her eyes staring blindly over his left shoulder. He smiled, his mischievous nature coming out to pay as he answered her.

 

“Got any cranberry chocolate chip cookies, Ms. Diane?” he asked sweetly. Diane started visibly and her eyes narrowed. Her mouth twisted into a scowl as she barked harshly.

 

“And if I do, you gonna stay out of Mrs. Danbush’s tree again, boy?”

 

He tried, honestly he tried not to laugh, but he was certain that a snicker slipped out as her scowled slowly turned into an all out smirk. “I may be small still, but I am a lot older and wiser now, Ma’am.”

 

The smirk remained for a bit longer before she finally said, “Older perhaps… wiser, well that remains to be seen, Leerling. But you come on in and let me see what I can scrounge up.”

 

Diane turned and left Blair with the open door while she stepped into the parlor just off the main hall. A young girl sat on the bench in front of an upright piano, her face pinched as she watched him come in. Diane whispered in her ear and the girl’s face smoothed as she nodded once and prepared to leave. Blair turned to leave them some privacy before he girl left through the front door.

 

His eyes flicked over the pictures on the mantle of the large fireplace, several were of family members and a few of them were students that Diane had taught over the years. His eyes caught on one fresh, freckle-faced, curly haired moppet and he smiled. As he drifted through memories, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck lift. He couldn’t be sure but, he could swear that someone was watching him.

 

Turning to look over his shoulder, he caught sight of the biggest cat he had ever laid eyes on. It lounged on the settee that Diane had standing in the alcove of the bay window in the front of the parlor. Eyes of green watched him coolly and he felt as if he were being judged. His face screwed up and he stuck his tongue out at the cat just as Diane breezed by on her way to the kitchen.

 

“Keep that up, boy, and your face is likely to freeze that way.” She called as she reached the kitchen without a miss-step. Sometimes he forgot that Diane was blind, comfortable as she was in her own home. But when he thought about it, it didn’t really matter where Diane was, she was always one step ahead of the game. Blair spun in place, turning to follow the voice in the kitchen.

 

"Hey, he started it!" Then after a beat he thought to ask, "And anyway, when did you start keeping a cat around?"

 

“Since he showed up on my doorstep,” she replied. Blair walked through the open doorway into the kitchen where she was pouring water into a tea kettle to set on the cast iron stove in the corner. He slammed to a halt at the sight of a prim Siamese who sat in the center of the table, his tail wrapped around the vase of flowers behind him. The Siamese stared back at him, blue eyes locked onto blue in some sort of staring contest.

 

“Poe, get off the table. Blair doesn’t want to share cookies with you.” Diane whirled around to take two cups down from the cupboard and set about getting tea bags from the canister on the counter. The Siamese left the table and settled himself in a nearby chair. The larger cat, a Maine coon if Blair remembered correctly, flopped onto the floor under the chair and both cats turned their intense gazes on to him. Creepy.

 

But turnabout was fair play in Blair’s book so he stared right back at them. The uncomfortable part about this exchange was the expressions on the cat’s faces reminded him of Nunie and Bagheera, annoying Shmucks. He was just about to break contact with the silly game when he caught the most irritating buzz in the back of his mind. Poe canted his head to the side as if he had just heard something he liked.

 

Diane placed a cup of tea before Blair, pushed the plate against his arm and scolded the cats. “You two stop that. Just cause he’s ‘gifted’ doesn’t mean he’s ready for your tag teaming his brain.”

 

Blair gaped at Diane. “How did you know they were doing anything?”

 

Diane smiled. “They were snickering about it, dear. How long would it take them to creep you right the hell out? Devious little klerebeers. They did it to your mother last time she was here… she didn’t get it though, kept ignoring them. They moped for days afterwards.”

 

Blair’s expression didn’t change so much as it softened as he gazed back at the two animals. He couldn’t help but note that when he blinked, they blinked in time. He vaguely wondered what it meant to be gifted, but before he could ask, Diane nudged his elbow and pointed at the tea. He took a sip as she stared in the direction of the cats.

 

“Your mother was quite a force of nature when you were younger, is she still as outspoken as before?”

Blair shrugged. “I guess so. She hasn’t been around much lately. What do you mean gifted?”

 

Diane turned her sightless eyes in his direction. She sat that way for a time, not answering, and Blair was getting the feeling he wasn’t going to get an answer from her when she reached out suddenly and grasp his hand in hers. Through their clasped hands, Blair felt warmth flash from one hand to the other, an intense heat that warmed him to his toes. When she released his hand, Diane picked up her cup and sipped from it again.

 

“In the old days, the town folk would have called you a witch and had you burned at the stake. Before that, your kind and my kind would have been seen as Holy and revered. My sight would have been termed as prophetic.” Diane took a cookie from the plate. Blair nodded in understanding.

 

“So, what brings you back to my world, child?” asked the old woman conversationally, a twinkle in her blind, aged eyes.

 

Blair shrugged, knowing instinctively that she would get the gesture regardless of the lack of sight. “I started working on my dissertation.”

 

Ducking his head, the curtain of his hair covering his embarrassment, Blair still could see Poe as he leapt from the chair back to the table, coming within touching distance and sitting comfortably on his haunches. If Blair didn’t know any better he would have thought… but then the buzzing intensified. Narrowing his gaze, he reached out a hand and scratched under the cat’s chin. Sure enough, the buzzing stopped as the cat’s eyes slipped closed.

 

During this exchange Diane ate her cookie in silence, sipping her tea and keeping her thoughts silent. When she had finished her cookie, she turned and leaned an elbow on the table and smiled. “Naomi said you may have found a subject… found yourself a Guardian, did you?”

 

And again that all knowing voice of experience.  If Blair didn’t know better he would have thought that Diane was toying with him. But he couldn’t let her go on thinking that Jim was anything but a subject for his dissertation.

 

“Yeah, I guess… he doesn’t have a companion yet.” Blair took a bite out of his cookie, noticing the Siamese curiously cocking his head to the side. Diane tsk’ed as she sipped her tea.

 

“So you say…”

 

Blair chose to ignore that, chewing his cookie thoughtfully before continuing. “I’ve been trying to help him for a few months now. He’s doing all right, I guess. I know he could do better.”

 

“Well of course he could, dear.” Diane picked up another cookie and nibbled it absently as she muttered. “And when his companion comes to his senses, no pun intended, and actually starts working with the man, imagine the possibilities…”

 

Blair paused in the process of taking another bite of his cookie. “You know who his companion is? You’ve… you know… *seen* him?”

 

Diane snorted in a most unlady-like fashion and took another sip of her tea. “Yes indeed. So have you for that matter. You just seem to be blinder than me in actually seeing who it is.”

 

"Hey, that's... jeez I can't decide on rude, unfair or un-PC." Blair protested. Diane simply smirked at him with undisguised glee.

 

The older woman snorted. "Fair, shmair - just saying it how I 'see' it. And this is something you know I won't interfere with."

 

And yes he did know that. Diane considered her ‘sight’ to be a gift of God, and was to be used as advisement only. Blair understood this. Some people had to learn things on their own. He dropped his head to sip his tea and caught eyes with the Siamese. That shiver went up his spine yet again.

 

“So,” Diane began conversationally, “Have you named them yet?”

 

Blair’s head jerked up and he narrowed sharp gaze at the older woman. She, of course, remained unfazed. “Named who? And why?”

 

“You want to talk about rude and unfair…” Diane waved a hand towards the back door where Blair saw Wolf and Panther sitting, lounging against the wall and staring back at him.

 

“Oh shit…” Blair sighed as he dropped his head on the table. “How long have you two been there?”

 

There was no reason to hide the two spirit animals. They were a part of his ‘gift’ he was certain, and Diane could obviously ‘see’ things that Blair had only once imagined. That included visions, dreams and mystical totems. Wolf yawned while Panther sniffed in disdain and lay down on the floor across the threshold of the door.

 

*#And you call yourself a teeeachER…? Must we teach you everything, Human? You do not even listen to your guides, it is wonder they are still with yooooouuuu.#*

 

Blair blinked, stared at Wolf, then down at Panther, and finally swung around to look at the cats. Poe stared back at him with a defiant air, tail lashing back and forth while whiskers twitched.

 

“What do you mean listen to my guides? I listen to them all the time. It’s not my fault they aren’t clear.” Great, now he was talking to a house cat. Diane snorted in a most unlady-like manner before draining her tea cup.

 

“You have a lot to learn about spirit guides, Leerling.” She said as she stood to clean the kitchen. “They speak just fine, you just have to open yourself a bit more.”

 

Blair was about to fire off a retort when his cell phone rang. “Hello?”

 

*#”Sandburg? Banks, I need you to get to the station. Jim’s having that god awful headache of his again. I think that cold is still affecting him. I need you to get him to go home.”#*

 

Blair sighed. “Fine Captain, I’m on my way.” He clicked the phone off and stood reluctantly. Poe watched him expectantly. He rolled his eyes and nodded. “Ok, I get it. I’m going to need to come back aren’t I?”

 

Diane chuckled as she walked with Blair to the front door. “I think, if you want to understand your ‘gift’ you will have to come back every once in a while so we can talk. If nothing else, you can call me.”

 

Blair stopped at the door, turned and hugged his old friend. “I’ll do that, definitely. In the mean time, I have to find this companion for Jim, before it’s too late and I get him killed.”

 

Diane said nothing as she hugged Blair before opening the door. “Just so long as you really try to get in touch with your gift in the mean time. And give names to those poor beasties. You can’t go around calling them Wolf and Panther all the time, you know.”

 

Blair chuckled before walking out the door. She had a point, of course. Calling them such generic names was bound to annoy his guides eventually. He stopped for a moment and glanced back inside the house. “Nunie, Bagheera, let’s go. Jim’s waiting on us.”

 

Diane smiled as the shadowy forms of the wolf and the panther left the house and headed for his car. Blair shrugged. “I’ll explain later.” He said as he headed after them.

 

He was soon on his way back to Cascade, steering the Corvair down the lone road. Something in him felt lighter and he knew he was finally on the right path to understanding his Shamanic abilities. Nunie the wolf and Bagheera the panther rode with him with happy expressions on their faces. Most definitely on the right track.