Echo

danced down the hallway.
    Jose continued to muse about Echo. She must have known he and Scotty were complaining about the difficulty of moving the gold. So, she took care of it on her own. Well, with the help of what Echo called the Womb; whatever that was. It never occurred to Jose to consult with Echo over the problem. Staring at Echo, he realized they knew so very little about her. His earlier trepidation dissipated, but he better stop thinking of her as their special pet and Barney’s personal playmate. There may be much more to Echo than they realized. Time for a little chat, although he admitted he usually didn’t get far trying to pry information from her.
    “I know you’re not a monkey. That’s a slang term of endearment. Actually, I don’t really know what you are.”
    “Yes, you do Brother. I am an Oolahan; a minion of the Womb, from the planet Oolah. Did we not have this conversation already, Brother Jose?” Changing the subject, Echo demanded to know who Tomas, Kelly and Armoni were and why they are dangerous. Are they bad humans?
    “Yes, they’re very bad and very dangerous. They wish to harm Abby. I am worried they might get to her if we do not move away from here. That’s why the gold is so important. We can use it to exchange for money. Then we can afford to move away.”
    “Gold will do that for you? I am so happy the Womb chose to make the tree house out of gold then, instead of the diamonds it was going to use. The diamonds would have been stronger but the Womb could not find enough material to complete the task. The gold was much more plentiful.”
    “Diamonds; you had diamonds? This is too much. Echo, any diamonds you find are a good thing; a very good thing. A diamond is something a man gives to the lady he loves. If she accepts it, the man knows she loves him back and they get married, hopefully living happily ever after.”
    “Do you want a diamond to give to Sister Abby, Brother?” Echo asked innocently.
    “Yes, sometime I hope to give Abby a diamond. But I must wait until I am sure she will accept it.”
    “Oh, I think I understand.” Echo’s aura splintered; a new pattern.
    “Brother Jose, don’t worry about Sister Abby. I will protect her.” Jose looked down at the tiny, two feet high, furry enigma. Echo sure did have a magic bag of tricks, but they better rely on him to provide the protection. Patting Echo on the head, he decided he better go round up Abby and Scotty so they could plan how to dispose of some of the gold. Oh, one more question for Echo.
    “Echo, do you have any objection if our family moves away from this neighborhood? Like about a thousand miles away; to another state.”
    “No, Brother Jose. I will be happy to go wherever you need me to go. Will My Barney come too? I cannot leave him behind.”
    “Of course Barney will come. He’s family. And he’s special to you. We wouldn’t leave any of our loved ones behind, okay?” The aura whispered assent and Jose left to find Abby and Scotty.
    ###
    Three very happy young people sat around the kitchen table staring at a piece of gold retrieved from the garage. Abby held it in her hand, estimating the weight.
    “This must be at least ten pounds.” Taking out her cell phone she turned to a calculator app and figured the worth of the hunk of gold. “Current quote for gold is $5523. I don’t know what they will pay, but it will be less a commission. I have no idea how much that is, but it doesn’t matter anyway. What matters is how many pounds they can move for us without questioning us too closely. We may need to use every dealer in the county. Spread it around. Sooner or later they’ll talk to one another and realize they have the same customer trying to dump the gold. I think we should be prepared to get out of town within a month of starting to sell. And of course, we’ll have to research how this is reported to the IRS. We want to be very careful about avoiding the appearance of anything illegal. We may want to consider consulting with an attorney; maybe a tax attorney. What do you guys think?”
    “Sounds great, Abby. Glad you’ve been doing some thinking about this. Scotty. You on board? Scotty?” Scotty scribbled furiously; very busy with a pencil and Abby’s cell phone.
    “Well guys, at $5500 an ounce, allowing for commissions, attorney fees, bribes, etc., I estimate we have over two thousand pounds in the garage. That is almost 176 million dollars. The government leaches will take