The Madrona Heroes Register: Underneath It All

Chapter 25 - The Fixer

“Oh Penny.” Quincy said, his voice filled with sadness.

“Fix what honey?” Serena asked, suddenly nervous at the response.

“Us. Our family. I broke us, and now I can fix us.”

Serena burst into tears. Penny’s father’s eyes were red-rimmed.

“Why are you crying? It’s okay now. I will fix everything.” Penny smiled at her parents.

“Penny,” Quincy took his daughter’s hand. “You didn’t break us. None of this is your fault.”

“OK. Fine. But I can still fix things. I can fix things now.” A note of uncertainty crept into Penny’s voice. Penny spoke more quickly, “Dad can move back in. And we can be a family again.”

Now the tears were streaming freely down Quincy’s face.

“Honey. Look at me.” Serena held up her tear-streaked face to her daughter. “I know things have been hard. I know things have felt broken. And I know you want Daddy to live here with us. But the changes we’ve been going through, they’re not your fault, and they’re not reversible.”

“Things can go back to how they used to be. We were happy before, and we can be happy again.” Penny was rapidly losing the courage of her convictions, but she raced through her words as if getting to the end of her sentences would make them come true. “I can fix things.”

“No sweetie. We can’t go back to the way things were. None of us have the power to make that happen.” Serena told her daughter.

Penny had been so sure. The hum of the generator. The lights coming on in the shelter illuminated the idea in her mind. She could fix things, fix every thing. But no. Even that wasn’t good enough. Her family would be broken forever. Penny shattered.

§

“Helloooo. Helloooo. Helloooo.” Zoe was lying on the floor of the shelter in one of the storerooms repeating herself into a metal grate. Zach had explained that it was a ventilation shaft to let air in and out of the shelter. Zach was above in the woods trying to find the other end.

“Helloooo. Helloooo. Helloooo.” Zoe knew that Gabe was her responsibility, but Binny clearly had experience dealing with little siblings. And besides, Zach needed help. But of course that’s not why she had stayed behind. The real reason was that she simply wasn’t that hungry.

“Helloooo. Helloooo. Helloooo.” Zoe pictured Zach up above hunting among the trees and growth for a small vent. Maybe metal, or concrete. Zach hadn’t been specific. Zach was sure all this effort would be helpful in finding who was hurting the animals. It was really very nice of him to take on her cause. He really seemed to want to help.

“Helloooo baaaack.” Zoe heard Zach’s voice coming through the vent. Tinny and a little bit far away, but still, it was him. He’d found the other end of the shaft. “I’ll be down in a minute.”

Zach arrived in the storeroom with a screwdriver, a cardboard box, and a big smile on his face. He immediately got down on his side and started unscrewing the metal vent panel.

With the panel removed, Zoe saw a small cable dangling from the shaft above. Zoe watched Zach take an electronic device from the box Caleb had delivered, plug the dangling cable into it, and plug the box into the nearby wall socket that was now live courtesy of Penny’s amazing new power. Zoe hoped nobody saw the look on her face when they all realized that Penny could now fix things as well as break them.

Zoe’s eyes wandered down to Zach. He looked so serious and determined. “Now, will you tell me what you’re up to?”

Zach got up from the floor with a big grin on his face. “Nope. But I’ll show you.”