The Madrona Heroes Register: Echoes of the Past by Hillel Cooperman

was caught a little off balance by Binny and had
to steady himself on the garbage can next to him. It clattered
loudly. The kids immediately crouched down behind the wall, trying
to stay hidden.
    “ The raccoons have gotten
into the garbage cans again. I have to go get rid of them. We can
talk more tomorrow.” The man was trying to end the phone call.
“Yes, I am aware of my responsibilities.” There was a pause.
“Tomorrow then.” The kids heard the agitation in his voice as the
phone call ended. Then they heard his footsteps on the deck as he
headed towards the very garbage cans next to which they were
crouched.
    “ Let’s run.” Binny pleaded
in a scared whisper to her brother. Binny’s heart was beating fast
at the thought of getting in trouble for snooping.
    “ No. He’ll see us. Stay
put for a second.”
    “ Can you turn invisible
too? Cause that would be pretty useful right about now.” Binny
responded.
    “ No.” Zach smiled briefly,
but his fear of their impending discovery returned to his face
quickly. “Just hold on a second. If we run, we look
guilty.”
    Binny marveled at her brother’s logic.
She hadn’t realized how adept he was at staying out of trouble and
wondered what he’d gotten away with as a result of these
skills.
    The man got closer and closer to where
Zach and Binny were hiding. And suddenly, there was a “ruvh ruvh”
from the house. “Yes yes, Rembrandt,” the man said. “The raccoons
are in the cans again. Can I deal with them first?” The man
approached the gate to the alley. The man’s dog started barking
more insistently now. “You are going to annoy the neighbors again,
Rembrandt. Stop barking.” Rembrandt didn’t appear to care what the
neighbors thought.
    And just as the man put his hand on
the gate to open it, the dog started barking again. This time even
louder. “Fine! Fine! Everyone is ordering me around today, aren’t
they.” the man lamented to himself. Instead of than walking into
the alley to perform an inspection he just shook the cans by
reaching his hand over the fence. When there was no response from
inside, he seemed satisfied that the raccoons had retreated and he
turned back to the house to attend to his dog.
    Zach and Binny waited, barely
breathing as they heard the man’s steps on the deck and the screen
door open and close. They waited another moment then the dog’s
barking also stopped. Zach motioned to Binny to follow and they
scuttled down the alley in crouched positions. Only once they were
a fair distance from the man’s house, did they feel safe enough to
stand up.
    Once they were in the clear, Binny
pounced on Zach, determined. “Did you hear what he said? He was
talking to his boss in the government. They think Cassie’s power is
dangerous. They’re going to take her away!”
    “ Wait a minute Binny. I
know it sounded bad, but there could be lots of explanations for
what we just heard.
    “ Name one.”
    Whether it was the stress of almost
getting caught, the scary barking of the big dog, or finding out
his sister could turn herself invisible, Zach was stymied. He knew
that given a couple of minutes he could come up with an alternate
explanation. But even if there was one, wasn’t Binny’s explanation
really the best explanation? It didn’t matter anyway. Zach could
tell that Binny wasn’t about to give him more time to persuade her
otherwise.
    “ It’s time Zach.” Binny
heard a new note of confidence in her own voice. But there was also
the sound of fear and that was less comforting. “You may not be
worried, but I am. Cassie’s in danger. I’m going to tell Mom and
Dad what’s happening.”
    “ Mom and Dad have a lot on
their plates right now. I just don’t think we need to bother them
with this just yet.”
    “ What could they possibly
have on their plates that’s more important than this? Mom working
late again? Dad drawing in his study? Or let me guess,” now Binny’s
tone was harshly sarcastic,