This story is all about people who are different, however. However, not all the characters are people. (Explained earlier in the book: Gaia is our "Mother Earth" or, more scientifically, the gestalt of all natural systems. Kami are spirits from the Shinto religion.)
The four arrived at the greenhouse to a shrieking alarm. Its fluorescent lights glared in the dusk. A beat-up sports car of indeterminate age and color sat close to the greenhouse. Eric looked into the car and announced, “Nobody in there.”
“The door’s open,” Jeanne shouted, and ran toward her greenhouse. The others followed.
Jeanne couldn’t detect any damage in the prep room. “You guys see if you can find our burglar, and I’ll check carefully to see if any damage is done. I’ll be in the lab in a minute.” The others moved past her and into the room where her experiments were kept.
As she was about to walk into her lab room, Eric’s bass voice broke the silence. “Jeanne, I think you’re going to want to see this.”
Jeanne strode into her lab, and glanced at her experiments — all were untouched, with no signs of sabotage. Jeanne breathed a sigh of relief.
Then she looked across the brightly-lit lab to find Josh, Eric, and Annie staring at JB from a safe distance.
“What — “ Jeanne asked, and then froze. Within the thick foliage and stems of her pet specimen, she saw a beefy blond man trapped. Vines wound across him, obscuring much of his body and much of his face. What she saw of his face was scratched, as if he had tried to escape and failed.
“Tell me why you’re here,” Jeanne stepped forward, almost nose-to-nose with the miscreant, “and if you’re lucky, I don’t call the cops. I doubt you’re here looking for a bathroom.”
“God, I don’t know why I signed up to do this,” the interloper mumbled through leaves. Jeanne glanced back to see Annie’s wide eyes and Josh’s smirk.
“Signed up?” Eric asked in a voice that oozed menace.
“Extra credit for class,” the beefy young man said, then tried to backpedal. “Uh, we were supposed to — umm —explore a — “
“Excuse me. What’s your name?” Jeanne squinted.
“My name’s Billy, Billy Wisnewski,” the man mumbled.
“What class? Who teaches it?” Jeanne asked sharply.
“Fire and Pesticide Certification. Burkheiser over in Ag.”
“Ok, what did Burkheiser send you to do here? Jeanne wheedled.
“Just case the place.” Billy Wisniewski gasped as vines tightened ever so slightly. “He wants to pay one of us to poison your experiments,” the man admitted.
“Did you poison any plants, or use herbicides on any of them?” Jeanne asked with her teeth clenched.
“No, honestly, I wasn’t supposed to do that yet.” The vine relaxed slightly.
“Josh, he’s not lucky. Call the cops.” Jeanne turned her back to the trapped man.
“Please, call the cops!” Wisniewski gasped. “Just get me away from this damned monster!”
“Jeanne, we can’t call the cops,” Josh shook his head.
“Why not? This — idiot — broke into my greenhouse!”
“Jeanne,” Josh said slowly. “How are you going to explain JB to a cop? Billy here is going to rat you out, and your greenhouse is right here to check out.”
Oh, God, Jeanne thought. My talent has changed my life more than I thought. “Ok, then. Don’t call the cops.”
“Can’t you let me out of here?” Wisniewski wailed.
“Did you poison anything?” Eric’s hand on the man’s shoulder tightened just enough to send a message. So did JB’s tendril, because the trapped man gasped again.
“No, man,” Billy Wisniewski stammered.
“I have one more question. Could you forego the extra credit points and not return any information to Dr. Burkheiser?”
“I ain’t going back to Burkheiser. Honest.” Eric nodded his head.
“JB?” Jeanne asked sweetly. “Could you let the gentleman go?”
The vine forcefully propelled Bobby Wisniewski into a lab table, which he clung onto, panting. “What the hell is that thing?” he shrieked.
“My watchdog, apparently,” Jeanne said grimly.
JB94 nodded.
On the way home, Jeanne fretted. “What if he goes and tells Burkheiser? Or his frat buddies?”
“I don’t think he will,” Josh stated. “Think about it. If he starts blathering about a sentient vine to all who will listen, they’ll tell him that plants aren’t sentient. And they’d be right — JB, although a worthy specimen, is probably a yorimashi — “
“Possessed by kami, right?” Eric pondered.
“Or maybe Gaia,” Annie interjected.
“Or maybe Gaia sends the kami over,” Josh added.
“You really like those kami,” Jeanne countered. “But it occurs to me that we all see things through our filters — I prefer Gaia, while you prefer kami —“
“And I prefer a world that operates by scientific laws, but somehow I seem to have found myself in the twilight zone,” Eric grumbled.
“Science is still a framework by which we understand things. There’s all those subatomic particles out there — what if some of them are — well, Gaia particles?” Annie sighed happily.
“Or kami particles?” Josh quipped. “At any rate, if Wisniewski tells Burkheiser, or anyone else, they’ll say ‘No way, you’re crazy.’ And thus JB, and our garden at Barn Swallows’ Dance, can hide in plain sight.”
Just a few thoughts and questions. Ok as i am reading this it appears that Jeanne has developed a type of vine that is capable of detaining intruders? How very interesting! Is the vine similar to "Seamore" from "Little Shop of Horrors"? What is this vines food source.
ReplyDeleteThis is Lanetta
Jeanne breeds improved plants for perennial food gardens. Her biggest accomplishment so far was developing a thicket bean (wild kidney bean) with big enough seeds that it could be used for food. Her seed stock comes from one plant she kept inside JB94 the huge plant you just met. Jeanne has discovered that when she talks to plants, they grow. Really grow, hence JB94.
DeleteJB isn't really sentient as much as possessed by nature spirits -- Kami, from the traditional Shinto religion. Therefore, he doesn't eat trespassers -- although Billy Wiesnewski thought he did.