Sam. I wish that I could fix this, but I can’t,” Sarah murmured in his mind. “To be honest with you, I think that Francis is scared, even if he hides it well. He was expecting some irritation, but he didn’t think that Royce would be this hostile about it. Francis knows that if Royce chooses to ignore the rules, there’s nothing that he can do about it. The ones who left the Directives had a solution in case the Tellers abused their power, that’s one of the reasons why they created the Controls in the first place, but who is there to handle the Controls if they don’t stick to the plan?”
“ At least Nathan seems to be on my side,” Sam mumbled.
“ He won’t always be able to watch out for you,” Sarah warned . “He has his own needs, just as we have. You need to find, I need to fix and he needs to watch, but it won’t always be you that he’s watching. I’m guessing, from what I got from Francis, that he has a specific area he has to cover. He’s not just watching for our sake – he’s watching for them, the ones who came up with the Directives, and the ones who set this all up. Francis was thinking that while you were looking for Nathan.”
“ He said that it would be hard to test his gift. Maybe that’s why. If it’s something he just does, maybe there aren’t a lot of ways to tell if he’s actually doing it, just like with Fiona.”
“ She may be hiding it better, but she seems to be almost as angry as Royce is, and she blames Francis for her troubles. She wants everything back the way that it was, and I don’t think anyone’s going to be able to change her mind about that. She doesn’t like either of us, but at least she doesn’t hold us at fault. She doesn’t actually hate us, but she believes that she’s going to be expected to play the part of substitute minder for us, and she’s not happy about that. She considers us a nuisance,” Sarah explained, trying to keep her thoughts quiet, and directed completely at Sam.
“ You heard all of this through the connection – these things that I wasn’t aware of, these things that they didn’t want you to know?”
Sam was starting to understand how poor Royce felt. He had been convinced that the small glimpses he had gotten on occasion from the others, the ones that they had been hoping would remain secret, were something that had given him an edge, but he’d had to be particularly attentive and listen very carefully to pick up on those inner most thoughts. He also had to be extra careful when considering those thoughts, or others in turn would know that he had heard them. From the sounds of it, the other Little in his house-family could access these secreted ideas much more easily than he could. Then again, Sarah had always felt that much stronger than him.
“ Like I said, you were distracted, either looking for Nathan and Fiona, or being interfered with by Royce,” she assured him. “I’ve noticed how it works. If you are panicky, or focussed on something that takes extra concentration, then you can’t hear the mind whispers over your own louder thoughts. Once everyone has their walls set up properly, we probably won’t be able to hear them at all anymore.”
Suddenly she went quiet. After a few seconds of feeling around in the connection to see if the others were awake, and finding nothing, Sam realised that something was wrong. He had felt a slight vibration in the ground upon which he lay.
Sam opened his eyes. Royce was standing over him, and was giving him a menacing glare. It intimidated Sam as much as Royce had intended it to and Sam reached out and mentally nudged Nathan, who stirred almost immediately. The Watcher sat up, rubbing at his eyes.
“ G-go back to b-bed, Royce,” the broad-shouldered boy muttered quietly. Sam saw the black-haired boy’s lips move, but had no idea what he had said in response. He was grateful, however, to see Royce return to the place where he had been sleeping.
Sarah touched
“ At least Nathan seems to be on my side,” Sam mumbled.
“ He won’t always be able to watch out for you,” Sarah warned . “He has his own needs, just as we have. You need to find, I need to fix and he needs to watch, but it won’t always be you that he’s watching. I’m guessing, from what I got from Francis, that he has a specific area he has to cover. He’s not just watching for our sake – he’s watching for them, the ones who came up with the Directives, and the ones who set this all up. Francis was thinking that while you were looking for Nathan.”
“ He said that it would be hard to test his gift. Maybe that’s why. If it’s something he just does, maybe there aren’t a lot of ways to tell if he’s actually doing it, just like with Fiona.”
“ She may be hiding it better, but she seems to be almost as angry as Royce is, and she blames Francis for her troubles. She wants everything back the way that it was, and I don’t think anyone’s going to be able to change her mind about that. She doesn’t like either of us, but at least she doesn’t hold us at fault. She doesn’t actually hate us, but she believes that she’s going to be expected to play the part of substitute minder for us, and she’s not happy about that. She considers us a nuisance,” Sarah explained, trying to keep her thoughts quiet, and directed completely at Sam.
“ You heard all of this through the connection – these things that I wasn’t aware of, these things that they didn’t want you to know?”
Sam was starting to understand how poor Royce felt. He had been convinced that the small glimpses he had gotten on occasion from the others, the ones that they had been hoping would remain secret, were something that had given him an edge, but he’d had to be particularly attentive and listen very carefully to pick up on those inner most thoughts. He also had to be extra careful when considering those thoughts, or others in turn would know that he had heard them. From the sounds of it, the other Little in his house-family could access these secreted ideas much more easily than he could. Then again, Sarah had always felt that much stronger than him.
“ Like I said, you were distracted, either looking for Nathan and Fiona, or being interfered with by Royce,” she assured him. “I’ve noticed how it works. If you are panicky, or focussed on something that takes extra concentration, then you can’t hear the mind whispers over your own louder thoughts. Once everyone has their walls set up properly, we probably won’t be able to hear them at all anymore.”
Suddenly she went quiet. After a few seconds of feeling around in the connection to see if the others were awake, and finding nothing, Sam realised that something was wrong. He had felt a slight vibration in the ground upon which he lay.
Sam opened his eyes. Royce was standing over him, and was giving him a menacing glare. It intimidated Sam as much as Royce had intended it to and Sam reached out and mentally nudged Nathan, who stirred almost immediately. The Watcher sat up, rubbing at his eyes.
“ G-go back to b-bed, Royce,” the broad-shouldered boy muttered quietly. Sam saw the black-haired boy’s lips move, but had no idea what he had said in response. He was grateful, however, to see Royce return to the place where he had been sleeping.
Sarah touched
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