Echo

tree.
    “Brothers, why do you stare at the tree house? You look unhappy. Do you need to go up in the tree house to eat?” The aura wafted in their minds, golden color swirling.
    “No Echo,” Jose answered. “We need to figure out how we’re going to dismantle it and hide it in the garage. Otherwise, someone will steal it from us. But for now, we’re just going to paint it so it doesn’t draw any unwanted attention.” Echo just stared as Jose and Scotty did their best to cover the tree house with paint. It didn’t have to be perfect. As a matter of fact, the more haphazard, the better. The job took them quite a while, dusk descending by the time they finished. Scotty went in to clean up while Echo and Barney stayed with Jose as he finished the job, stashing the tools in the garage.
    Moving from the garage to the back yard, Jose happened to glance up the hill and notice the white car parked in the same place again. It looked occupied. The thought occurred to him that the car looked just like Tomas’s white Volkswagen. It couldn’t be. What would Tomas be doing spying on them? He wouldn’t dare. Dismissing thoughts of the car, he shooed Barney and Echo into the house.
    “Abby, we’re done for now,” he called. “Where’s Scotty? I’d like to make some plans and I think he should be in on this.” Abby came into the room, laundry in her hand. Jose looked at her and stared. Gosh, she was so pretty . He sure had it bad.
    “What are you staring at?” Abby set the laundry on the table, snapping her fingers. “Scotty ran out to get the mail. He should be back by now. Just look out the window and see if you can see him.”
    Jose went to the window and reported Scotty squatting on the ground. He noticed a young boy with him.
    “That’s Kimir. Scotty used to follow his brother around when he was little. I don’t even think Kimir was born yet,” Abby said coming up behind Jose and joining him at the window. “What are they looking at?” She peered out the window.
    “I’m not sure. It looks like a box turtle. Holy shit, no .” He grabbed his sunglasses and tore out the door as Scotty’s tail unwound itself from under his shirt, standing up, high over his head, pointing to the turtle and unleashed its magnificent power.
    Too late, Jose stopped at the mailbox, joined by Abby, who also thought to grab her new sunglasses. Little Kimir sat on the ground. He cradled his arm that sported a nasty gash. His tear stained face, a stupefied expression of astonishment. He picked up his turtle, rubbing a spot on its back. He tapped the turtle’s shell and glanced up at Scotty with confusion. Scotty’s tail was just retracting its membrane and winding itself back under his shirt. Snapping out of it, Kimir stood up and screamed at the top of his lungs. Picking up his turtle, he ran across the neighbor’s lawn screaming, “Mama, mama,” as if pursued by demons.
    “Oops!” Scotty displayed a guilty visage on his face. Looking over to an angry Jose and a bemused Abby, he confessed. “Believe it or not, it was an accident. I couldn’t help myself. My tail has a mind of its own. I couldn’t control it. Gosh, I’m so sorry.” He looked into their faces, looking for forgiveness, seeing only alarm. Peering in the direction Kimir ran, Jose scanned the area to see if anyone else had observed them. Seeing nothing but the annoying white Volkswagen, he hustled them in to the house. Scotty flopped down on the sofa, his head bowed in consternation. Barney padded over, his tongue offering sloppy succor, making Scotty feel better. Wiping Barney’s saliva from his face, he turned to Abby, innocent guilt in his wretched posture.
    “Ab, I know I made a mistake. Maybe nothing will happen. Kimir is only a kid. Who’s going to believe anything he says?” Taking a chair from the kitchen table, Jose carried it over to the deformed sofa, setting it down in front of Scotty. He took another chair and brought it over for Abby, indicating she should sit down.
    “Okay, champ, why don’t you tell us exactly what happened. Don’t worry, no matter what, we’ll work this out. We’re a family, now. Just give it to us straight.” Taking Abby’s hand, he gave it a squeeze. She rewarded him with a tentative smile.
    “Okay, I was going out to get the mail. On the side of the road, I saw a bunch of big kids. They were picking on Kimir. I could see he had some kind of an injury on his arm. He was jumping up and down, trying to