Echo

gold coins. Reading the captions, they discovered the coins had been donated to the bank from the founder, Mr. Robert Doyle himself. They were part of an important collection that belonged to the family for decades. It went on to say that one coin had been stolen and never recovered. Alongside the collection was a photo labeled Mr. Robert Doyle and his first wife, Netty. Abby studied the photo, a formal sepia tone portrait of the husband and wife taken on their wedding day. He looked stern, she looked luminescent. For some reason she found the face of Netty Doyle arresting. Why would that be? Perhaps she resembled someone Abby knew. Looking back at the coins, she did a double take. They looked just like the coin Scotty found in the woods so long ago. Could it be that Scotty found the stolen coin? It’s a good thing he never tried to sell it. Mr. Doyle’s estate could probably make a claim on the coin.
    She would have to break the news to Scotty. It would be up to him to decide what to do with it. Turning it over to the estate would not be a good idea, as they could not afford the attention or the publicity it might bring. The loss of the potential money from the sale of the coin no longer mattered to them, thank heavens.
    Dismissing the display, they continued into the bank to make their deposit. They fully expected to raise a few eyebrows with a cash deposit of the magnitude they were making, but Peter told them not to worry as they were committing no crime. The IRS would be inquiring about the deposit anyway. Peter fully expected to handle any inquires it generated. They asked the bank to forward all paperwork and their checks to Peter’s office, in his care. Due to the size of the deposit, the bank bent over backwards to accommodate them.
    Returning to the hotel, Abby and Jose felt an uncontainable sense of exhilaration. Maybe it had something to do with freedom. They now possessed most of the funds they needed to give them a secure base for a long time. And tomorrow, when they leave Norristown, their new lives would begin, overlaid with the complexity of Echo and the changes of their bodies. They felt pretty darn confident they would learn to adjust.
    Entering the suite, they found Scotty still doing his auto shopping, Echo and Barney curled up on the antique sofa, Barney’s head resting in Echo’s tiny lap, her legs curled to the side like a lady in love stroking her betrothed’s brow. They filled Scotty in about his coin, agreeing that they were lucky he no longer needed the money.
    “I guess that means I won’t have to go back to school?” Scotty looked hopeful.
    “Oh, no you don’t. You are not going to grow up a dummy, just because we’re rich. Seriously, I’ve wondered what we would do about Scotty’s schooling. I think we run a risk, registering him in the local schools. They would need his transcripts from back home. This means we’ll have to disclose where we’re located. I don’t think we want to do that. Do we?” Abby asked.
    “No … absolutely not.” Jose frowned. “I agree he needs to finish his education. I think we will have to look into having him home schooled. We can look for tutors. If our changes become more of a problem, maybe we can do it ourselves. It’s better than no education at all. It would only last a couple of years anyway. Scotty? What do you think?”
    “Well, I don’t think going to school will be an option. I was going to get around to telling you but we have been so busy and things were turned so upside down.”
    “Tell us what, exactly,” Abby interrupted. Scotty stood up, removing his shirt. Where his shoulder blades came together he had developed two ugly swollen raised masses. When Abby carefully pressed down, she felt solid mass; nothing soft, no yielding.
    “Does that hurt, Scotty?” Jose stood to look.
    “Not much, more like an annoyance. It was worse in the beginning. I wonder what it means?” Auras crossed into their minds.
    “You will be Elders, my Brothers; and my Sister too. The change takes many years. I am surprised that change has come so soon. The Womb has plans for us. The honor is ours.”
    “Echo, what the heck are you talking about? What plans? What changes?” Jose demanded, stomping uselessly around the tasteful room like a lady of the evening trying to convince her john she was a virgin. No matter what he said, Echo, in what was becoming her typical fashion, would say no more.
    Giving up, Abby decided it was time to place a