CHAPTER 9
As usual, Anita woke up early the following morning, but whereas she normally felt energised and refreshed, this morning she felt drained and groggy. She hadn’t felt like this for years, not since she’d first started training with Helena when she was thirteen years old. Well at least it shows I’m doing something, even if I’m not yet doing the right thing, she thought, as she prised herself out of bed and went downstairs to do some yoga.
After her workout, she showered, ate breakfast and headed to the Observatory. She felt a bit better, but yoga had been harder work than usual. She wasn’t having a Mind session with Marcus today, as she was supposed to practice what she’d learned yesterday instead. She was going to try and plant an idea in Bas’ head, but she still hadn’t quite decided what it should be. She pondered as she strolled along, walking at a much more sedate pace than her usual march, as she considered her options. She could plant the idea that Bas should invite Anita to sing in his band, but if he took her up on the offer, he might try and make her sing a love song with him, and that would be horrible. She could try to make him suggest they play a game of chess together, but that was probably a bit advanced for her current level of skill; Bas hated chess with a passion, and it wasn’t exactly like Anita was keen on it either. Eventually she settled on trying to get Bas to suggest they go for a swim in the river. It was getting cold now as they were heading for the end of the year, which meant this wouldn’t be something he would suggest naturally, so if he did suggest it, she could claim the plant a triumph.
Anita climbed the Observatory’s spiral staircase and entered the room at the top. Bas and Patrick were having what seemed to be quite a heated debate, presumably about the current energy predicament.
‘Hi,’ she said loudly, so they would notice she was there. ‘Just came from the river, it’s lovely down there at the moment.’
They looked up, bewildered, to check it was Anita, and when they confirmed it was, looked at her like she must have had a nasty fall and hit her head. Anita wasn’t usually a fan of volunteering information, especially when there was an energy conversation to get involved with. ‘If you say so,’ said Patrick, looking at her suspiciously. ‘We’re just discussing that we’re already seeing adverse effects on crop yields as a result of the energy drop.’
‘Really?’ she said. ‘Are we seeing effects anywhere else, for example in the river?’
‘Um, no, not yet,’ Bas said slowly, giving Anita an ‘are you alright’ kind of look. ‘Just the autumn crop yields are down a bit on last year. Austin’s harping on about it being a coincidence and is convinced that it’s all down to the weather. Total idiot.’
‘There’s a surprise,’ said Anita, sitting down at one of the dashboards. ‘How can someone so well educated, who has access to so much information indicating that the energy balance is crucial to our survival, be such a total prat?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Patrick, ‘but he’ll have to pay attention eventually, unless he has a way of producing food out of thin air. I’d like to see how he deals with the situation when people don’t have enough to eat.’
‘Mmm, that wouldn’t be pretty.’
They got to work and there was silence for a few minutes, until Anita chirped, ‘Thorn jumped in the water this morning. It looked so refreshing.’
Bas and Patrick looked at each other, perplexed. ‘Is everything alright Anita?’ Bas ventured.
‘Of course. Why do you ask?’
‘Because for the entire time I’ve known you, which is quite a long time, you’ve never once volunteered any information that you felt you didn’t have to, and you’ve done it twice now in one morning.’
Anita went red. Damn, she thought. She really was hideous at this Mind stuff. ‘Sorry for being chatty,’ she retorted defensively, furious at herself for failing to plant the idea. ‘I’ll keep my thoughts to myself in future.’
‘And she’s back,’ said Patrick, giving Anita an infuriating wink.
Anita sat in silence for the remainder of the day, angry at herself, and plotting who to try next. After work, Anita tried first Cleo over drinks at The Island, then Alistair, who she bumped into on her way home, and then Cordelia when she got there, and everyone just thought she was being weird. Cleo was the only one who’d seen right through what she was doing, she’d come straight out with it saying, ‘Anita, are you trying to plant an idea in my head?’
You idiot, she chastised herself, Cleo wasn’t exactly the best person to try and plant an idea on. Cleo was, after all, a Mind, and manipulation was one of her strongest suits, so of course she’d be able to see through what Anita was doing. ‘Yeah, sorry. I’m getting Marcus to give me Mind lessons and he told me to practice planting ideas. But as you can see, I’m rubbish at it.’
‘Well, my advice, for what it’s worth, is that you’ve got to play to your strengths. When you try to plant an idea, don’t try and simply impersonate what a Mind would do. Use your Body and Spirit skills to help you. You can’t be someone you’re not, so put to use the skills you have.’
Anita nodded and quickly changed the subject. She had no idea how to implement what Cleo was saying, but was both embarrassed and cross with herself for being so easily caught out, so she didn’t want to dwell.