It Was Still September In Luminous

   A little overlap from the previous chapter:

            It was nearly evening. I said, “hello Raven. I’m back.” 
            And just as magically as he had disappeared, he reappeared. I found it better just then to refer to Raven as he. He just seemed more like a knight than a lady, or a neuter!
            So, as the sun slid down over the severely beautiful Texas landscape, once more the side of Raven opened showing his interior. I glanced back at Mike and Dr. Brown and decided to step inside.
            It was a little awkward. There was a flattened area to clamber over and then I sort of plopped inside feet first, landing on a slightly yielding softly lit surface.
            When I looked around I was shocked utterly to see that the inside was much larger than the outside would have indicated. It was a huge low room. There were chairs and other bits of furniture of a rather rounded organic looking style. There was a large screen up at the nose of the huge ovoid room. I felt as if I had dropped into a dimensional shift somehow. 
            “Hello, Jenae. Welcome,” the soft internal voice said.
            “We are both here,” it continued.
            “Yes,” I said, “we are both here.”
            “No, there is a third, Jenae. The pilot and designer who perished is here also. Only his body died.”

          Yes, it was still September in Luminous Texas.                 As I sat in my ship’s living mindscape, my own mind wandered. I thought of foolish Ellis Roberts. I thought of the secret hangar at the plant, in the biggest building in the world.

         I thought of getting out as secretly as I could manage and the long, long bus ride into Luminous, a location based on a one word hint from Ellis.

            It had only been a few days, but it seemed like history to me now. I thought of Toni, and No. 7 and Maria running her little restaurant, the only lively spot in town.
            And then, everything that had happened since to lead me to sitting here in this seat at this time. Raven. Raven waiting. The living ship.
            I wondered if anyone was searching for me after all.
            I allowed myself to think of home. My Levi, not knowing where I was. My children, with an absent mother. I thought of how Christmas would be without me. I thought of the house darkened. Would there be a tree and presents for my children? Christmas is mostly something done by mothers for their children I thought. How would I ever mend this?
            Thinking much too specifically about a location and a day did it. My heart broke and I wept as I had not wept up until this point.
            Hector Brown, the doctor, had told me to really watch my thoughts. He was right.
            When I opened my eyes again I looked out upon a dark scene. It was my own backyard in Milltown. The tears on my face dried as I gaped, trying to ascertain what had just happened. The house was dark. I didn’t see any lights on at all. I wondered where everyone was. I hardly had time to wonder.
            While I was still staring, and not having learned my lesson yet, I wondered what was going on back at Mike’s ranch house. What must they be thinking. Raven had flown right in front of their eyes! I tried to picture what that might have looked like.
            As moments before, picturing Mike and Hector seeing Raven gone out there in the evening in front of the house did it.
            I was there again, as if I had never left. Very carefully, I told Raven that I was getting out now and the side opened smoothly. I climbed back out onto the rough lawn.
            The mental whiplash was real. I stood there staring at Mike and Dr. Brown with my mouth open.
            “What happened? You kinda winked out for about a minute or a little less,” said Hector Brown.
            I had to answer, so I said, “you were right about thought discipline. I thought of home too clearly and I was only there long enough to see my house from the lawn. It was travel at the speed of thought for sure.         
            “Then I started picturing what it must look like when I vanished, to you two and wham-o I was back right here.  It’s the picturing in your mind that does it!”
            I looked from face to face.
            I was frankly terrified. This was not something I was prepared to continue.
            “Ah, um, I’m not getting in there again,” I told them. “Sorry, Raven,” I added ship-ward. There was no answer from Raven.
            “Also, I’m going home. I don’t care what anybody thinks. I’ll ride the bus out of Luminous just the same way I got here,” I added, getting happier the more I thought about it.
            “And what’s more, I bequeath Raven to you guys. I’m sure you can figure out a way to communicate with him, once he stops pouting,” I told them.
            “Raven, I want you to help Mike Flores and Dr. Hector Brown. Do whatever they want you to!”  I hoped that would work.
            “Alright Jenae,” said Mike. “I’ll drive you back into Luminous in the morning. I think you will be alright on the bus and by the time you get up there to home, nobody will be looking for you because they will be too busy hiding.”
            “It’s a bit of a risk still,” said Hector. “Are you sure?”
            “I’m sure. I brought you the photos. I think I’ve done what I could to help. My part of this whole thing is over, I so hope. It’s your baby now,” I was really looking forward to that bus ride now that I had made up my mind.
            In the morning, Lisa made breakfast. Something with chorizo and eggs, and muffins for a change.
            We put my luggage into the Dr.’s Land Rover and drove the few miles back into town.
            I said my goodbyes to Maria, thanking her for letting me play waitress and being so kind to me. She looked a little sad, but wished me well and said to come back any time at all.
            I went back to the motel, unit No. 7, and got my hat which was the only thing I had left there. I went into the office to talk to Toni and told her I was leaving, gave her the key and thanked her also.
            “Goodbye Mrs. Renton,” she said, clearly confused and curious about what I had been up to.
            Mike and I parked on the other side of the highway through town by the gas station to wait for the bus.
            “You know, I really like Luminous,” I told him. “If I had another life, I wouldn’t mind it being right here. In fact, if things don’t go well up north, you might see all four of us some day.”
            We sat there just waiting for a few minutes in companionable silence.
            “Well, Jenae, I sure hope it all goes smoothly, and that nobody hassles you over this escapade. I think it will be okay once Hector spreads the news around, which, by the way, he is busily doing as we speak.”
            “It was good to get to know you and the doctor a little bit,” I said. “I will miss both of you, and Maria and Toni and even old Lucy, though I do wonder what her game is!’ I laughed.
            The bus rolled up. We got out and Mike grabbed my two bags. The same driver opened the bottom compartment and Mike stuffed my things in there.
            “Take care, Jenae,” Mike said with a little smile.
            “You too, Mike,” I answered. “Thank you for everything.’
            He winked and grinned and I climbed up into the bus, prepared for a long sleepy ride.
            I settled into a seat on the shadiest side of the aisle about halfway to the back, and pulled my hat down over my eyes, to rest for a few minutes while we got on out of Luminous, Texas, a fine town in my opinion.