Author's Note.
As always I would like to thank my editor Dr Mark for his help advice and expertise.
Caleb 42 - Action.
When I got up the next morning, there was a spider in the bathroom sink. I watched for a moment as it tried to run up the porcelain, all eight legs pumping madly, and yet getting nowhere. I was starting to feel like that. I had so many things going on in my life just now, that I seemed to be spinning on the spot, not knowing which way to turn, and yet not progressing in any way.
It was an illusion, I realized. Time was passing, albeit with glacial speed. Having to drive up to the Steadman ranch had seemed a pain at first, but in reality, it had been a blessing. It had taken up almost the whole weekend, meaning there was only a week to go before our exams, and less than two weeks before Ness, Dean, and Cheryl would be coming down. I was looking forward to that immensely.
What I hadn't been looking forward to, as we drove home on the Sunday night, was getting back to the house and spending time there. The presence of Dylan in my home had made it a place I no longer wanted to be. I had an unreasonable and unreasoned hatred of him. I didn't understand it, but there it was. Hopefully, as soon as Gracie was back on her feet, he would be leaving, and I could have my home back. A month, no more. I was counting those days also.
It was after nine by the time we got home. We had stopped off for something to eat on the way. Josh and Louise were in the living room watching television. I presumed Gracie and Dylan were in Gracie's room. I didn't ask.
"Hey," said Josh as we entered the house. "Good trip?"
"Yeah," I said, "but long. I'm just going to grab a drink, then I'm for bed."
"How's Ness?" asked Louise. "You all okay now?"
I smiled at her. "Yes," I replied, "we're all good."
"I'm glad," she said. "I'm looking forward to meeting her."
After a quick drink, I had a shower and went to bed. Mary came to bed with me and held me until I fell asleep.
Monday passed as Mondays do - starting at the dojo and going on to spend time in class, and then onto an afternoon in my 'office' at the range. Three hypnotherapy appointments. After an early dinner, I went to meet Jeevan at the church hall where I had first seen him performing as the Maharishi Guptal-Pah.
He was half way through his set, when I realised that the woman in the third row, with the red jacket on, was the woman we had cured from pancreatic cancer.
I examined her and saw that her tumours were all gone. There was still a little way for her body to go to be completely back to normal, but I expected that another week or so would see it done. I wondered why she had come back.
I pointed her out to Jeevan.
"I saw,"
he sent.
"Let's see what happens."
There was nobody that really needed healing in the audience. For some reason tonight's crowd were in extremely good health, apart from one guy who had a pilonidal sinus, a very painful condition, which we resolved easily for him.
As the audience filed out, I noted that the woman was hanging back, waiting to speak to Jeevan.
Eventually, she was the only one left. Security was heading for her, to ask her to leave, but Jeevan indicated to him to let her be. He was as interested to see what she wanted as I was. Strangely neither of us had thought to look into her mind. I guessed that we both thought, that since she was healed, we had no reason to do so.
She approached and spoke to Jeevan. I hung back.
"Hi," she said. "I wanted to come and thank you."
"Thank me?" asked Jeevan, his Indian accent still thick.
"I felt it," she said. "I didn't realise at the time what I was feeling, but I felt your power."
"I don't..." began Jeevan.
"You healed me," she said. "I don't know how, but you did. The doctors say I am in full remission. They don't understand why, since I was only getting palliative care. They cannot find a trace of a tumour in my body, and I was riddled with them."
"I think you must be..."
"You know what I think?" she said, noticing me for the first time. "I think that you are someone with real power, pretending to be a charlatan to hide the good you do. And you," she continued turning to me. "You were there also. I felt you too." Her phone beeped in her pocket.
"If you have a minute," she said. "There's someone I would like you to meet."
Jeevan and I looked at each other. He shrugged. We followed the lady outside. There was a minivan a little way from the door, a man in the driver's seat, and two young teenagers in the rear.
"Nick," she said. "This is the Maharishi Guptal-Pah, and..." she looked at me.
"Mister Kay," I said. She half smiled.
"Mister Kay," she repeated. The man looked at us. I could see he was conflicted. She had obviously told him that she believed that Jeevan had been responsible for her healing, but he was having a hard time believing it. However, he couldn't deny that she was, indeed, healed, and the doctors had absolutely no idea how that had come about. "This is Nick, my husband, and my two kids, Deborah and Sam. This is my family, the reason I am so thankful for your help."
"Hi," Nick said. "Nicola is convinced that you are responsible for her cancer going away. I don't know if that's true, but I have read that the human body can do wonderful things, if you believe. Sometimes miracles happen. Whether you did, or did not, heal her, you made her believe that she would get better, and she did. For that I will be forever grateful."
I looked into the back seat of the minivan, where the two children a boy and a girl were gazing at Jeevan with wide eyes.
"If," Jeevan began, "what you suspect is true, then a lot of attention would be the last thing that I would desire, no?"
Nicola looked at him and gave a small smile. "I understand," she said. "I promise that nobody will hear your name from us. But no matter what, Maharishi, Mister Kay, if there is EVER anything my family or I can do to repay you, you only have to ask."
"Thank you," Jeevan said. I nodded to her, when she turned her eyes to me.
She climbed into the passenger seat of the minivan, and they drove off.
"Well," said Jeevan. "That's a first. I have had children feel the healing before as you did, but that is the first time an adult has felt it. Maybe it is your power that she felt. You are so powerful that perhaps it is more discernible when you use a lot of it to heal.
"You are now two for two. Two major Healings and two patients who felt it. Perhaps we need to be more circumspect in future."
I thought about that as I made my way home. I wasn't sure just how we could be more circumspect than we were already being, but I would leave that in Jeevan's hands. We had another two sessions before I would be heading up to the ranch, so I would see what he had in mind.
The house was in full darkness when I got home. That was unusual since normally the girls went to bed after me. I went in, to find the girls in the bedroom, talking quietly.
"What's going on," I asked. "How come you're all in here?"
"We were disturbing Gracie," said Amanda. "Dylan asked if we could keep the noise down. So, we decided to come to bed."
"Noise?" I asked. "Were you having a party or something?"
"No," said Jules. "The girls were in the living room watching television. I was in my workshop. I had my music on but not loud."
"I see," I said, turning back to the door.
"Caleb," said Mary. "Don't."
"I'm just going to have a quiet word," I said.
"Please," said Mary. "It's just for a little while."
I clenched my jaw.
Even with Amanda's power playing over us it took me some time to get to sleep.
Tuesday morning in the dojo, Kevin and I were sparring. It gave me an opportunity to work out some of my aggression.