Free Scaredy Kat by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel Page A

control it.
     I can’t . . . I’m scared of him. I’m afraid he’ll hurt me. He’s definitely one I’m resisting.”
    Orin nodded. I was sort of hoping he’d give me a little lecture about how a spirit couldn’t physically harm a human, but he
     didn’t.
    “Is the old man making me feel sick and dizzy like this?” I asked. After all, Orin seemed to have the answers to everything
     else. “This isn’t the first time I’ve felt this way, either. It was way worse this time, but I’ve had all this for a couple
     of days—the pounding heart, and feeling sick, plus feeling like a giant Band-Aid is being yanked off my skin.”
    Orin had been kneeling next to the wicker couch. Now he shifted, sitting on the floor with his legs extended.
    “Your physical body and your energetic body are connected,” Orin said. “The resisting, and the blocks you’re putting out,
     and probably the anxiety it’s all causing you, basically make your body overheat, like a car engine. The fight or flight mechanism
     kicks in. Your heart beats faster, you produce a bunch of adrenaline, and that makes you feel shaky, which is scary, which
     makes your heart beat even faster, and so on. It’s a vicious cycle. But the deep breathing can stop it.”
    I sighed. Breathing did feel good. I’d never really thought about it before.
    “I guess you’ll want to know what I was doing in the house in the first place,” I said.
    “Not if you don’t want to tell me,” Orin replied.
    Ah.
    “Well, I kind of guess I maybe don’t at this moment,” I said. “I’d kind of like to get some space between me and the . . .
     things in there. That man.”
    Orin nodded.
    “Sounds like a wise choice.”
    I started to get to my feet, but Orin cautioned me with one raised hand.
    “Just stay sitting a minute. Breathe.”
    I complied.
    “A panic attack is traumatic to your body. You need to take it easy. Not just right now, but for the rest of the day. I wouldn’t
     explore any more abandoned houses if I were you.”
    “Trust me, that won’t be a problem, Orin,” I said dryly. Then I stood up carefully. When the floor didn’t rush up to smack
     me in the head, I knew I was probably okay. Orin opened the screen door for me and followed me down the back steps into the
     yard.
    “Think about what I said, Kat.”
    “Which part?”
    “My teaching. I can help you to learn to manage your energy. I can teach you how to throw a kind of frequency bubble up around
     yourself when you want some space from the spirits. So your system doesn’t overload like it has been. It’s not good for you
     to be constantly in a state of fear, Kat. Your spirit sight is a divine gift, not a curse. I can help take the fear out of
     it for you. Nobody should have to be so frightened of who they are.”
    “I’ll think about it, okay?”
    Orin nodded.
    “I’m just going to climb the wall back into my yard,” I said, nodding toward my house.
    “I’m going to go back in the house to clean up the glass,” Orin said. “Take care of yourself.”
    I watched Orin go back onto the porch and disappear into the kitchen. Then I turned and walked toward the wall.
    My mother was walking down the back steps toward the garden. She was looking right at me.
    I froze, one foot perched partway up the stone wall. Had she seen me come out of the house with Orin? Did it matter if she
     did? I couldn’t understand why I felt so secretive about Orin and everything that came close to the van Hecht house. I couldn’t
     understand why I needed to keep so many things from my mother these days.
    “More work for your school project?” she asked.
    “Kind of,” I replied, climbing over the wall and hopping down into our yard. It could be true. It wasn’t at the moment, but
     maybe I could make it true.
    “What happened to Jac?”
    I was relieved to have the subject moving away from the van Hecht house. Probably she hadn’t seen me with Orin, then.
    “Her mother came and abducted her,”