Chapter 4

Veronica knew getting to the final round at the fencing competition was going to test her strength and experience as a fencer. She chose the foil and tested its flexibility. Her next opponent was the winner of his division in Houston, he was a good foot taller than Veronica and had about two years of training on her, but he was right-handed and according to her coach, she will be the first left-handed fighter he will face.

“And after he kicks your ass,” Curtis said, “I will be the second left-handed fighter.”

“Oh puh-lease,” Veronica said. “He won’t know you exist until the end, when he sees me kick your ass. Face it, Curtis, you are just another pretty face in a long line of pretty faces.”

“You think I am pretty?” Curtis said smiling. “Good luck and make him favor that right foot. Oh, Veronica, if you beat him, and we match up, don’t cheat.”

“I never cheat,” Veronica said scandalized.

Curtis nodded and pointed to her mask. Veronica picked it up and pulled it on. She and Curtis tapped swords as a good luck ritual.

Veronica stepped into the strip and crossed swords with the boy from Houston. She didn’t know his name, but that wasn’t going to matter in the next three minutes. Any longer, and his endurance might wipe Veronica out. She had to be fast and disarm him quickly. He was stronger, but watching him work, Veronica knew she was faster and speed won out over strength every time.

The ref made the fighting call, “En Garde.”

Both took their positions and waited for the other to take the chase. The boy started first, which was a bad tactic, as the person who takes the first position usually ends up chasing. Veronica let him come to her, he tried to use his strength to push her out of the ring but she would sidestep him every time.

“Watching him fight is like watching a train move through syrup,” Curtis observed to their coach.

The coach nodded and sighed. Veronica was going to make short work of this boy. He was using brute force to push her feet out of the line, but she would step out of the attack and he would have to turn to recover. Veronica almost wished they weren’t wearing the fencing uniforms. He won’t feel any tap of the blade, which might be the way he practiced at home. Veronica grew tired of the hits he was trying to make with his elbow. This was fencing, not wrestling, Veronica thought. How did this guy win in Houston?

“How did this guy take Houston,” Curtis mused out loud, “was everyone sick that weekend? Veronica, take him out, we are getting bored.”

Veronica decided to actually make a fencing move and connected with his blade. Yeah, baby, she thought, that is what a hit is called, when he looked at the spot their blades collided. Veronica thrusted and he forgot to perry.

“Perry this, you filthy casual,” Veronica said as her sword arched through the air in an advancement attack and after connecting the blades in a beat, Veronica disarmed him.

“That’s game,” the referee threw his hands up and both fencers had to remove their masks and shake hands.

“Good game, Veronica,” the boy said.

Four bouts later, Veronica and Curtis entered the strip to face off, winner taking the entire day. Curtis was two years younger, but he was also left handed and fast. Veronica didn’t want to admit it but this might be the day she loses to her younger brother. He was highly skilled.

No, she thought, the day may come when the hearts of men fail and all fellowships are broken, “but it will not be this day.”

“Oh my god,” Curtis said as he took his en garde position. “You seriously did not just quote Lord of the Rings?”

The referee came and stood beside them, “En Garde!”

Brother and sister crossed blades in an engagement. Veronica took a deep breath and started her advance. She knew she had to be fast, her blade whipped through the air and Curtis, anticipating the attack, parried then performed his own riposte by trying the same trick Veronica used to disarm her previous opponent. Veronica recognized the move and parried. This went on for several minutes. Curtis would advance on Veronica, she would counterattack, lunge and recover. Curtis would defend himself against the lunge and advance. There were several beats where their blades connected to get a reaction or cause the other to make a mistake.

Their sister Maddison, who had absolutely no loyalties, started routing for Curtis then Veronica, then Curtis and then Veronica. She watched the bout wishing she was left handed.

They were both dripping sweat in their fencing uniforms, Curtis lunged and Veronica parried; Veronica advanced and Curtis would fein an attack. The trick worked, Veronica went into a defensive position and Curtis led a true attack, but Veronica was faster, crossed the blade and disarmed him.

They both stopped, breathing heavily and Curtis nearly fell to the mat, “That is the last time you will beat me,” he said.

Veronica pulled his hand up, and got a premonition. Curtis was right, this was the last time she will defeat her brother. The next time they cross blades, Curtis will take the day. The knowledge shook her. She realized her brother was growing up.

“Veronica,” Curtis said. “Are you OK?”

She nodded. No sense in spoiling the surprise, he would find out in two weeks. That was their next meeting.

“Veronica,” Judith ran to her daughter, “are you alright? We need some Pedialyte, now.” She called out to the training team.

“Yeah, Mom, I am fine,” Veronica said. “I just want to enjoy the victory.” She took the drink from the coach.

The coach handed a Pedialyte to Curtis too. He opened the drink and took a long swig. Sweat was dripping off his dark hair, making it more curly.

“But, Honey, you look pale,” Judith said.

Veronica looked at her brother. He was quickly becoming a man. Right before her eyes. When did that happen? She went over to him and brushed his bangs out of his face.

“Good fight,” Veronica said.

Curtis knew his sister, he threw one arm around her and threw the other around Maddison. He whispered something to Maddison who giggled, she nodded and ran off to the concession stand.

“What did you see, Veronica?” Curtis asked. “Whatever it is, we will face it together.”

“It is much simpler than that, Curt,” Veronica said. “You are growing up. You are becoming a man. Much faster than I expected. I am afraid it is my fault. If you didn’t have to deal with these visions, you could have been a child longer.”

“I have nothing to complain about, Veronica,” Curtis took a chocolate bar from Maddison. “Here, have some chocolate. It will help you feel better.”

Veronica took the chocolate bar in one hand and pulled Maddison closer to her, “I love you munchkin. How was your bout.”

“I took the day,” Maddison said.

“I saw that,” Veronica said. “Soon you will give Curtis a run for his money.”

Maddison shook her head, “I will be the best right handed fighter, but I will never be able to compete with you or Curtis. I can just make you work for it.”

“That isn’t true,” Veronica said. “I have been beaten by right-handed fighters.”

“You were 10,” Maddison said drily.

All three of the Conway children peeled off their fencing uniforms and put on the pant suits with their club’s logo.

Maddison’s medal ceremony was first, she took the top spot and the crowd erupted in applause. Then Curtis took his silver medal and watched Veronica take the gold. After a celebration dinner where all three were required to give speeches and thank their parents, congratulate their opponents and then, in a scene from the Three Musketeers, they crossed blades and shouted all for one and one for all.

The following morning, Veronica was sore from the previous day’s bout so she went into the gym and started to stretch. She watched Maddison come in and both girls decided to do some pilates.

They talked about the bout and Maddison’s school, she was going to start at Crenshaw Academy in the fall. This was going to be a sharp change from her public school.

“It is a good school,” Veronica said. “You will make friends there, connections that will help you for the rest of your life.”

“It is too much pressure,” Maddison said.

“Try being governor of Texas,” Veronica said drily.

“I am not like you,” Maddison said.

“I know, Munchkin,” Veronica said. “You are not like me. And I might have to start calling you Maddison. You are getting too old to be called Munchkin. I need to clear my head and do some meditation.”

“Try not to tap into anything,” Maddison said. “I don’t want you to get stressed out.”

“I will try,” Veronica said.

Maddison knew as well as she did, sometimes her visions came when she was physically tired. She needed to meditate a little. Let everything come as it would. She was tired of fighting them all back. Veronica gave up trying to be normal several years ago when she saw her father getting into a car accident that would kill him. She couldn’t explain what she saw, she just knew if her father drove to San Antonio that day, he wouldn’t be coming home.

Veronica threw a fit, fussed, cried, threw a temper and got spanked for her trouble. But her father ended up leaving about 30 minutes later than he intended. That 30 minutes was all it took. He missed the accident that would have taken his life. He saw the 18-wheeler that his daughter had described in great detail. The same decals and the same design on the mud flaps.

Then her family learned that their oldest daughter had a gift that needed to be protected and taken seriously. Judith had called Melissa Styles as soon as her daughter predicted three other events. She wanted to make sure Veronica had good coping skills. Melissa agreed that she would keep Veronica’s gift a secret.

Now, five years later, Veronica looked across the pool and fixated on the sun’s reflection on the water. She watched the gold light play on the smooth surface.

She focused on her breathing and let her mind wander. She just let images float through her head without fixing on them. Some were memories of last night’s bout, some were just images of people going about their daily lives. Veronica didn’t look into those. She let her mind wonder more and saw a gunfight. The gunfight Lieutenant Feldman was trying to solve.

Veronica fixed on the image and let it play out. There was no harm, the man was already dead. She saw him confront the gang leader and one of his lieutenants. The lieutenant was a violent man, Loco, she recognized him. He lifted the gun and shot the rival member in the back. The rival was walking away. Loco then put the gun back in his jacket pocket. He still had the gun, Veronica realized. She had to snap out of the trance and get to Lieutenant Feldman.

She changed her clothes and grabbed her bike. She wished she had a car, but her bike will work just as well, the police station was about five miles from where Veronica lived. She started to petal out when she heard a shout from the house, she looked back to see her father. She rolled her eyes and rode back.

“Where are you going?” Howard Conway asked.

“I am going to town,” Veronica said.

“I can see that,” Howard said. “Where are you going specifically?”

Sometimes she thought her parents developed the talent of reading her mind. They seemed to know when she had a vision or a premonition.

“I saw some information that can help Lieutenant Feldman solve his case,” Veronica said. “I was going to the police station to talk to him about it.”

“I will drive you,” Howard said. “There is no reason you need to go on your bike after your bout yesterday. You and Curtis basically tore each other apart. He is still in bed recovering.”

Howard grabbed his keys and asked Maddison if she wanted anything from town and she asked for hamburgers. Howard nodded. The meat will be good and there will be plenty of fat.

“OK, kiddo,” Howard told his youngest daughter. “We will be back.”

“Tell Lieutenant Feldman I said hello,” Maddison said as she waved goodbye.

Five minutes later they were sitting in an investigation room. Howard called his brother Maxwell to attend them since Maxwell was a defense attorney. You don’t talk to the police without an attorney, not even as a witness, Howard told Veronica.

All three sat in the room and went over what Veronica had to say. Maxwell said he didn’t know how the police were going to use her vision, but if they can match the gun then she won’t have to testify in open court. They can bring him in for questioning based on an anonymous tip, but that generally doesn’t work well.

Lieutenant Feldman walked in to see Veronica, Howard and Maxwell Conway. He sighed. He knew he was going to get help, but sometimes attorneys just muddy up the water.

“I can point you in the direction of the man who killed the rival gang member,” Veronica said. “I know it was Loco, I saw him pull the trigger, I also saw him put the gun back in his jacket pocket. So he is thinking the gang is going to protect him.”

Lloyd took notes based on what she was saying. He was forming a plan to get access to Loco and the gun, but based on how these guys favor three or four guns, getting the right one may take some time or a warrant. Right now, Lloyd didn’t have probable cause for a warrant, but Veronica was going to save him a lot of time.

“I thank you for the information,” Lloyd told her. “We will take care of it from here. Don’t worry.”

“Thank you, Lloyd,” Howard Conway stood up. “Let us know if you need anything more. And, I don’t have to remind you to keep this between us. I don’t want my daughter exploited.”

“Of course,” Lloyd said. “Your secret is safe with me. I am going to write this up as an anonymous witness.”

Howard just nodded. He didn’t mind helping when and where he could, but his daughter was still just a child. Veronica was tired, the strain of yesterday’s bout and seeing the shooting had taken its toll. She wanted to get home, take a shower and crawl back into bed. She should have taken a page out of Curtis’s book and stayed in bed until the afternoon.

Howard remembered the hamburgers, pulled into a local eatery and ordered enough for the entire family. He was glad Judith wasn’t overly obsessed with her weight and could enjoy a good burger. She was a beautiful woman who hadn’t changed much since they first married, even after having three children, and an added benefit was she wasn’t on some constant restrictive diet.

They picked up the food and brought it home, each carrying in half the load. Howard sat his and Curtis’s burger, along with their drinks, down before helping Veronica with the rest of the food. She handed him the drinks and placed the burgers next to her father’s.

Maddison came in and grabbed a burger, unwrapped it and took a bite, “mmm. This is so good. Great idea, Maddison. Why, thank you, other Maddison.”

Veronica watched the exchange, picked up her burger and sighed, “You are worried about me?”

“Oh no,” Howard said as he picked up his burger along with Curtis’s, “we were never worried about you. We were always worried about Maddison.”

Veronica laughed, then groaned as she strained an already sore muscle, “I am going to shower and take a nap.”

“Sounds good,” Her father said as he reached the stairs. “Curtis, I am bringing up your lunch, breakfast, whatever. I don’t think you moved all day. I hope Veronica didn’t kill you.”

He got to his son’s door and knocked on it, he continued when Curtis didn’t answer, an event Howard planned for, “OK, I am about to eat your burger. I am unwrapping it, I am taking a bite out of it. Mmmm, this burger is so good. Medium, just how you like it.” He unwrapped and took a bite out of his own burger.

Curtis opened the door and grabbed the unwrapped burger from his father’s hand and left the door to his room open. Howard followed him in.

“Are you going to get up today?” Howard asked between bites. He really wanted to spend more time with his only son. Lately, Maddison has been taking all his time, but she was at the age where she was about to bloom into womanhood.

“I have been up, I just don’t run myself into the ground with a lot of unnecessary workouts,” Curtis said as he sat down at his desk. He motioned for his father to take the second seat. “I did some yoga earlier this morning then went back to bed. I am a little bruised up.”

Curtis showed his father the bruising around his torso where the uniform failed to protect him from a hit during a practice spar.

“Veronica give that to you?” Howard went to feel the muscle beneath the contusion. “I don’t remember seeing that hit.”

“No, I got it during the practice round,” Curtis said as he took another bite of his burger. “She was the only one who made me feel it. She was all over that strip. Someone should talk to her about her footwork.”

Howard laughed. He was proud of all his children.

“You know what gets me,” Curtis said as he took the last bite of this burger, then took a sip of the drink, “If I didn’t get injured before the first round, I would have taken the day. I would have been strong and fast enough to parry her last advance and disarm her. So, what did she see?”

“What do you mean?” Howard was thrown off by the change of subject.

“Oh, come on, you take an impromptu trip into town, mess with Mother’s menu for the day, which she will not be happy about,” Curtis pointed out.

“I bought her a burger too,” Howard said. “Besides, she will be starving once she gets back from the ladies' chamber meeting.”

“Don’t change the subject,” Curtis said.

“She said she got a vision of some gang member killing another gang member,” Howard said. “She recognized him and even knew his name. I don’t like her hanging out with that crowd.”

Curtis nodded. He didn’t understand why Veronica went out of her way for Shorty or Casey. But those were the only two she had anything to do with and she was never on that side of town.

They both heard Veronica scream from her bedroom and Curtis grunted as he got up and ran towards the door. His father beat him there, opened the door and rushed to her bedside. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her only to realize she wasn’t asleep; she was in a trance.

“Damn it,” Howard said as he let go of her. There were only a handful of ways to get her out of a trance and shaking wasn’t one of them. “Maddison, bring some ice now.” He called out to his daughter downstairs.

When Maddison didn’t answer, Curtis said, “She might be in the gym, I will get the ice.”

“Hurry,” Howard said. “She is terrified.”

Veronica sat straight up in her bed and was staring at a point in the wall. If Howard could break the contact he might be able to get her out of the trance. She started screaming again.

“Curtis, hurry your ass up with that ice,” Howard screamed.

Curtis came into the room with a cup of ice and poured it down the front and back of her shirt. The ice shocked her system and brought Veronica out of the trance, but not before she let out one more terrifying scream.

“Oh god,” She said as she clung to her father, “I am not...what happened?”

“You were in another trance,” Howard said as he pulled the covers away from her wet shirt. “I had to get you out, you were screaming.”

Curtis walked out of the bedroom, into the bathroom and grabbed a towel. Maddison had come in when she heard Veronica scream again. She looked at Veronica’s wet clothes and went into her drawers to get dry clothes. Curtis came back with the towel and Maddison kicked them both out.

“She needs to change clothes,” Maddison said as she pushed them out of the room. “I will let you back in when she is decent.”

Both Howard and Curtis walked out and stood in the hallway.

“OK,” Maddison carried her clothes to her and started to remove the wet blankets and sheets. “What happened? What did you see? Wait, don't tell me, let’s get you dried off and you can explain it to everyone.”

“I am not crazy,” Veronica said. “You don’t have to baby me.”

“You were in a trance, you were screaming and pale so you saw something scary,” Maddison said as she put the sheets in a pile near the door. “They had to throw ice on you to get you out of that trance, and you are not crazy?”

Howard knocked on the door, “Can we come in?”

“Yes,” Maddison called out.

Howard and Curtis came back into the room and Veronica looked at her stripped bed. She wanted to get back into bed, but the mattress was wet.

“You can nap in my bed,” Curtis said. “I will get it ready.”

Veronica followed Curtis to his room, which for a 14-year-old boy, was clean. She climbed into the bed and covered herself to get warm again.

“Was the ice necessary?” Veronica glared at her father.

“Yes,” both Howard and Curtis said.

“Why don’t you tell us what you saw,” Maddison said. “Then we can help if we can or we can figure out if it is something no one can solve.”

Veronica took a deep breath and started recounting her vision: “I was on the northwest side of town near where Curtis’s school is. You know the Styles Academy, that one. I was near there, and there was a man, I had never seen him before, but he started chasing me. I know he wanted to hurt me, I was running through the streets and I just couldn’t get away. He kept coming closer and closer and I couldn’t get away.”

“OK, Veronica, it is OK,” Howard sat next to her on Curtis’s bed and stroked her hair. He wanted Judith home since she would know how to comfort their daughter. “It is OK.”

“I think I just need some rest,” Veronica said. She didn’t want her father to feel like he wasn’t helping, but he wasn’t helping.

“We will let you nap for a while,” relieved, Howard got off the bed and started to head to the door. “OK, kids, let’s give her some time.”

He and Maddison went down the stairs, but Curtis stayed behind for a minute just to make sure Veronica was OK.

“Can you stay with me for a while?” Veronica asked.

Curtis nodded, “I will stay and protect you. I am your brother, that is what I do best. You know the bad things don’t have to happen. We have faced things like this before, well not quite like this, but we have faced bad before as a family and we will do it again.”

Curtis wrapped his arms around Veronica and she snuggled into his chest, which was starting to fill out. He was going to be a handsome man, but more importantly he was going to be a good man.

“Thank you for staying with me,” Veronica said. “I was scared. I thought I was going to watch myself die.”

“Have you ever watched yourself die?” Curtis asked.

Veronica shook her head and pulled the covers closer around her.

“I was scared and now I feel helpless and vulnerable,” Veronica said. “I don’t even know who this person is.”

“Well, what would help you feel better?” Curtis asked.

“I guess taking some action or making a plan,” Veronica said. “I have a feeling that this will happen in the area I saw. We know that area pretty well, you went to school near there.”

Curtis nodded, “get some sleep. No one is going to chase you tonight.”

Veronica closed her eyes and saw another vision: A woman was running from the same man, but she couldn’t get away. Veronica watched the man grab the young woman and rip her clothes off, he rapped her and started to strangle her. He killed the young woman. Veronica started to cry in her sleep. The attack was barbaric. She saw the young woman lose her fight and then her life. Veronica mentally walked over to look at the woman’s face and couldn’t understand what she saw. She started screaming again.