Synopsis: His twenty-first birthday gives Josh a chance to contemplate the future.
The Kindred Spirits universe is dedicated to the late Philip Gilbert.
Coming of Age is the seventeenth story of Kindred Spirits and the third of Catharsis - a sequence of stories set in the Kindred Spirits universe and exploring the after-effects of the Great Emergence on the lives of those who fought for it.
It is strongly recommended that you read these stories in the correct order:
Kindred Spirits - Two Aims, One Destination
Kindred Spirits - Double Bluff
Kindred Spirits - Slipping the Net
Kindred Spirits - Consumed by Fire
Kindred Spirits - The Stair
Kindred Spirits - Stara Majka
Kindred Spirits - ZD28-FV6
Kindred Spirits - Darkness and Lust
Kindred Spirits - Abandoned
Kindred Spirits - The Path Ahead
Kindred Spirits - Serpent's Tooth
Kindred Spirits - Grand Central Station
Kindred Spirits - Luna Yuletide
Kindred Spirits - Resolutions
Kindred Spirits - Catharsis - The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Kindred Spirits - Catharsis - Level Sands
Kindred Spirits - Catharsis - Coming of Age
Previous stories can be found in the TPFICT archive or on our websites at http://www.oocities.org/tiylaya/KS/ or http://www.effdee.demon.co.uk/tp/Stories/stories.htm
Disclaimer: This story is based on the television series ‘The Tomorrow People’, created by Roger Price and owned by Thames Television/Freemantle Media. It also features original characters and situations created by, and the intellectual property of, Jackie Clark and Elizabeth Stanway, October 2003.
Many thanks to Jackie and to Anyta for your invaluable assistance with this story. Comments would be welcome to tiylaya@yahoo.com
April 2023
"I say we should give our birthday boy the bumps!"
Kershia's suggestion was greeted by cheers of approval from the other British Tomorrow People present, and bemusement from everyone else. Small conversations broke up all around the back of Travin's country retreat, the party guests turning to face Josh. He backed away with his hands raised in front of him as if to ward off an attack. It sounded painful.
"Oh no, I'm fine - really!"
Travin looked up from tending the barbeque he had just lit, and chuckled at the expression on his ward's face. His smile broadened as Kershia shared an image of the procedure with the group and Cole volunteered to grab one leg if Marc could take the other. Marc grinned his agreement, but Travin shook his head. "Why not stick with local tradition? When I hit twenty-one, my friends just threw me in the lake."
Josh held his breath as the other TPs turned to gaze speculatively at Pinewood Lake itself. Water lapped the shoreline just a hundred metres from Travin's cabin, fresh and clear with the last of the spring snowmelt. When Josh had first joined his guardian here, the log cabin had stood self-contained in its clearing. Pine trees had formed a natural boundary to Travin's corner of this wild land, screening the wind from the gentle slope that ran from the rear of the cabin down to a shingle beach at the lakeside. Jutting out into the water, a small and rather dilapidated jetty had been the only other sign of human habitation, the boat that should have been moored there lost after Abby had commandeered it in her hour of need. Now a new craft, simple but well built, was secured to the jetty, and a fence separated the yard from the chill waters beyond - a concession to the patter of small feet that would almost certainly become regular visitors in the coming years. Despite that barrier, the rim of ice that still lingered on the shoreline was clearly visible.
Abigail shivered, even in the warm April sunshine, before giving Josh a sympathetic look.
"I don't think we want to give Josh pneumonia as a birthday present," she said a little regretfully.
The rest of them laughed, yielding to their leader. Ben clapped Josh around the shoulders companionably. "Looks like you've escaped this time," he noted, as the conversation once again broke into the small groups that had been temporarily united by Kershia's idea.
Josh grinned back at him, and the older man drifted back to the cluster of admirers that surrounded Zoë and Don's new baby. Barely four weeks old, little Jess was unaware of the attention being showered upon her. She slept in blissful innocence, held in her father's strong arms. Josh smiled as he watched his friends peer down at the baby, trying not to wake her with their flattering comments. Despite Zoë's work with Sophie in California, the young couple had chosen to make their home in the one of the network of Canadian Labs. Josh himself had taken advantage of their closeness to spend time playing with Jess already. It was only fair that the others should have their turn now.
He moved instead to where Stephanie and Roger's eight-month-old son, Ewan, had been asleep in his carrycot to one side of the group. The child was just beggining to stir, his eyes opening and his emergent telepathy broadcasting his displeasure at waking to find his parents weren't holding him. Josh moved to his little godson's side before the baby could decide to cry, lifting him and tickling him gently, careful to keep hold of the squirming and chuckling child. Ewan was looking about him with the contented, wide-eyed wonder of any infant by the time Stephanie came to rescue her son. Josh let him go reluctantly. Perhaps Ewan was no longer the centre of attention, but he was still a special part of Josh's family. There had been little time for the leading TPs to begin families before now. Every new child was going to be fêted for some while to come.
Josh laughed as Stephanie teased that he would be thinking about starting a family of his own one day soon. It was true that he was developing friendships outside the group now; in fact he had plans to go out with friends later that evening. Nonetheless, Josh still thought of those gathered here as his family. He knew that the others felt the same, even though most of them had blood relatives, whether Sap or TP, who had come unscathed through the troubled times. The traumas of recent years might be past, but a bond had grown up in adversity that would be slow to fade.
Teasing accomplished, Stephanie crossed the clearing to join Travin by the barbeque, Ewan in her arms. Stepping back to the edge of the clearing, Josh let himself relax, soaking in the company. With his mind open and calm, he became aware of another mind and another pair of eyes scanning the small crowd. Thomas leant against the wall of the cabin, looking from group to group as if he wanted to be part of the celebration, and yet was undecided as to which conversation he should join. Josh felt a moment of sympathy for Abby and Marc's adopted son. It must be awkward being the only one here younger than Josh himself - except for the babies, of course. The fifteen-year-old boy gave Josh a quick flash of a smile as he approached.
"I'll understand if you don't stay, you know," Josh murmured reassuringly when he moved into range.
"I can put up with it a while longer before I remember a pressing engagement," Thomas assured him softly. "Then I'll escape to Emina's farm and join my brothers and sisters for a while." He spared his host another brief smile. "Tending to the waifs and strays? This is your party, Josh! You ought to be at the centre of attention, not floating around the edges."
Josh sighed contentedly, stretching his neck and rolling his shoulders before leaning back against the wall. It felt so good to have his friends - his family - around him. It felt wonderful to know that they were relaxed and happy. "I'm just glad to see everyone here. Abby and Kershia have been almost too busy with administrative and resettlement work to spare time for even a conversation lately, and the others are not much better." He frowned for a moment, one regret nagging at him. "It's a shame Jimmy couldn't make it though."
"Marc and Abby have both been looking forward to this for weeks," Thomas assured him, making a deliberate attempt to take Josh's mind off that minor disappointment. The boy looked around them at the trees that bounded the yard, and at the tranquil lake beyond. "And it feels good to get out of the city for a while, too."
For a brief moment, Josh hesitated, thoughts of Jimmy fading as he remembered the flight, in charge of a crowd of frightened children, which had brought him here from the city all those years before. With an effort, he pushed those thoughts aside too. Too much water had passed under the bridge to dwell on that now - for all of them. "It does indeed," he agreed simply.
Whether it was Thomas's comment, or simply the unfamiliarity of seeing so many people gathered here at his peaceful and isolated home, Josh felt a sudden need for a moment's solitude. He slipped away from the small, but happy and laughing crowd, and into the wood. Closing his eyes, he leant his head back against the smooth bark of the nearest pine tree. He felt the life pulsing through it, spring warmth bringing new vitality to its needle-like leaves. On a morning like this, the world seemed pregnant with new hope and possibilities, and Josh revelled in that feeling, happier than he could remember being for many years.
He didn't open his eyes when he felt the presence nearby, but his smile broadened. (I was starting to wonder if you'd even got the invitation.)
Jimmy's seldom heard laugh was soft and a little self-deprecating. "I thought it best if I just hung back here for a bit," he answered aloud.
Josh opened his eyes, looking quizzically at Jimmy. The elder man pushed himself away from the tree he had been leaning against, and brushed his hands together to free them of the bark dust.
"I can't seem to be in a room with most of the others without starting an argument these days," he said matter-of-factly, "and I didn't want to spoil your party." He grinned. "But I could hardly miss saying 'Happy Birthday' on your twenty-first now, could I?" He stepped forward, looking Josh's tall figure critically up and down as if inspecting him. "It seems like an age since we first met, doesn't it? Hard to believe it's only been a few years"
"I was a kid with more energy than sense," Josh admitted ruefully.
Jimmy laughed. "And very irritating it was too," he agreed. He raised an eyebrow. "I hear you're training to be a schoolteacher now?"
"Travin's been encouraging me to think about the future and it seems like the thing to do," Josh shrugged. "I was never really cut out to work in security, and - let's face it - despite having Abby's example to follow I'm never going to be a diplomat. After...everything...I don't think I could survive a desk job on the resettlement and arbitration committees either. I'd go mad. But I wanted to do something to help people - in any way I could." He laughed. "They were a little reluctant to let me on the course at first without going to college first, but I think I answered their questions okay at the interview. There are advantages to a TP education after all."
"There are indeed." Now it was Jimmy's turn to look quizzical. "Which makes me wonder why you're training to work in Sap schools at all?"
Josh sighed. Jimmy's constant and unyielding mistrust of the Sap's peace overtures was the barrier that kept him from feeling at ease with his friends. It was what kept him from the party. It was all that stood between them, but it was the one simple point on which neither side could compromise. Still, Josh wouldn't let that spoil today of all days. Instead, he just answered the question as honestly as he knew how.
"Because we're part of this world now, and more and more of our children are going to be sharing their schools. It's up to us to make sure the children - all the children of this world - learn about the world they'll share. They need to learn the truth, and I want to be a part of that."
Jimmy gave him a sceptical look. "You think that if you get to them young enough, you can train Saps not to hate us? You think you can change Sap nature? It's not going to work, Josh. This peace won't hold. They'll hate us whatever you say because evolution drives them to it, and we'll be forced to defend ourselves - just as before."
Josh shook his head sadly. He knew Jimmy wasn't alone in his beliefs, but he just didn't understand how anyone could see the world so bleakly. He looked into Jimmy's brown eyes, and tried to show the other man his certainty.
"You're wrong, Jimmy. I don't know how to make you see that, but you are. The Saps are no better and no worse than Tomorrow People. Isn't it time we gave them a chance to show that? I don't want our kids - kids like Ewan or Jess - growing up in hiding as so many of us did. I want them to have a chance to make the most of this world. And that means teaching them not to be afraid."
For a moment Jimmy's telepathic shields slipped, and Josh saw the older man's frustration and uncertainty. A lifetime of fighting for their people's security had left him ill prepared for the new world in which he found himself. The spectre of a Sap betrayal haunted his every thought. He had never been taught not to fear.
Josh sighed sadly, aware that, despite his best intentions, he had been sucked into an argument. Jimmy seemed to realise it too and took a step towards Josh, his hands spread in front of him in a gesture of apology.
Josh turned away. "I don't want to discuss this any more," he said sharply, then hesitated. "I'm sorry, Jimmy, but I guess you were right. Perhaps it would be better if you left." Suddenly he turned back towards his friend, surprising himself with his own readiness to stand up to the experienced TP in front of him. "But you are wrong about the rest of it, and one day you'll see that. Even if you don't, this is my choice, Jimmy, not yours. We have a new future now. And I'm going to be a part of it!"
Jimmy's expression wavered and the younger man felt his surprise and dismay, but then, unexpectedly, he smiled. He saw the same resolution in Josh's face and thoughts that he had seen many times before. Josh had always been determined not to be left behind. It seemed that the young man refused to let this new world leave him behind either. He would have the normal life that Jimmy's generation of Tomorrow People had been denied - even if had to fight for it.
Josh smiled a little sheepishly in return, startled but pleased by his friend's response.
Jimmy leaned forward to lay a hand on Josh's shoulder, and whatever scepticism he felt about the chances for long-term peace were lost behind his honest and open goodwill. "And you'll be good at it too. I wish you luck," he said simply. "In everything you do. You've come of age, Josh. Congratulations!"
Jimmy jaunted out before Josh could muster a response to his unusual sincerity, and suddenly Josh became aware once more of the happy voices just a few metres away.
"Where has that boy got to?" he heard Abby demand good-humouredly. (Josh? If you don't come back here at once, we'll take Travin at his word and dump you in the lake, pneumonia notwithstanding!)
(Back in a minute,) he assured her, shielding his unsettled thoughts. The argument with Jimmy had been a surprise, but his own determination had been even more of one. He hadn't realised that he had such confidence in the future, such certainty about his decision, until Jimmy had forced him to articulate it. Josh smiled, knowing that despite their disagreement, Jimmy had been glad to see it too. Spreading his hands against the bark of the tree behind him, Josh once again felt the new life of spring pulsing through it and through the woods beyond. He felt the jovial thoughts of his friends, and felt the potential in their children. He felt the promise of the new world that had opened up to them, and knew that he would be there to help shape it.
Refreshed, renewed, more determined than ever, Josh stepped back out of the trees, ready to face the challenges that lay ahead.
Even a dip in the lake. Or the dreaded bumps.