Jane's Superpower

If you asked anyone in Slatterville, Jane Anderson was your typical suburban wife/mom.  

All the neighbours and townsfolk commented on her. “Jane always looks great.” “Jane is the nicest woman and is always smiling.” “Jane is always one of the first to volunteer for community events.”  

She drove the family SUV to soccer practice or to the mall, hosted summer barbecues and dinner parties on a regular basis. There seemed nothing quirky about the tall, elegant lady with the very nice smile.

And she loved animals. “Jane should have been a vet she is so good with them.” Everyone said so.

From all outward appearances, Jane Michelle Anderson appeared normal.

But, she hid a deep secret. Even her husband Ben didn’t know anything about it.

When she was seven, her father lost his job. Family finances were really tight and one day her parents sat down all four children.

“Okay, I’m really sorry, but we are going to have to really tighten our belts around here. Everyone needs to make some kind of income. You can collect pop bottles and cans, you can mow lawns, you can help the neighbour Mrs. Gorman in her garden. You can raise as much money as you can as long as it is done legally.”

Allen, the oldest was seventeen and already worked part-time at a gas station. Emily was sixteen and worked a few hours as a sewer for a lady down the street. Greg was twelve and occasionally helped Mrs. Gorman in her garden. She liked him a lot.

“We are all going to have to make sacrifices. We will get through this as a family.”

Everyone nodded and smiled at each other proudly. Jane smiled but inside she was ready to burst.  

I am too little to have a job. How can I help?

Allen, Emily and Greg picked up a few extra hours at their respective jobs, Martha started to bake pies with her husband’s help. Jane was left to aid her parents, but felt she was getting in the way.

One day, she went to find pop bottles and found a dark green one that had black in it. There was something about it that made it feel strange and weird. It had a cap on it, which was something empty bottles shouldn’t have because they had been used. It was heavier than a bottle that size. So she tried to get the cap off of it and it didn’t work. It was on there real tight.  

“I’ll just bring it home and Allen or Greg will figure it out.”  

She realized that she was talking to herself and started to giggle.

Just then, a rat sprouted up from its hiding place.  

Jane was afraid of rats. It tried to stand up but fell down. It had a very bad leg. Now it was true that she didn’t like the varmints, but a tender young girl’s heart doesn’t work that way. An injured animal - no matter how gross or icky they are - is an injured animal.

Jane grabbed the bottle and started to retreat for fear that there would be other rats. After all, her father always said they travelled in packs.

She grabbed the bottle it slipped out of her hand. The cap popped off and some green mist shot out covering her hands.

“What is this stuff?”

Suddenly, the rat with the very bad leg was getting much closer. She almost screamed. It looked at her with the most pitiful eyes like it knew something that the young girl did not.

“I am sorry, but I don’t really like rats. I am afraid of them and-

She waved her hand over the rat.

Suddenly, her eyesight grew strange. It was like on a blazing hot summer day when one looked out on the highway and the steam rose from it. The nearly broken leg fixed itself and the rat was a hundred percent fit as a fiddle.

It eyed her, looked like it was talking to the girl and then scurried away perfectly healthy.

“That was strange.”

She walked home and tried to wash the green stuff off her hands but it wouldn’t come off.

“Jane, is that green ink on your hands?”

“No, mother, I am not sure what it is.”

“Well, you can’t help with the pies with that stuff on your hands. Go outside or up to your room and play.”

She sighed and went upstairs to the room she shared with her big sister, Emily.

It was a couple of days later.  

She was out collecting bottles and saw a crow with a bad wing. It couldn’t fly. The green stuff had finally come off her hands and she was glad of it. It had a strange smell to it.

The bottle with the green stuff had been kept in a stump in the backyard. It was special and there was something weird about it.

She approached the bird and made sure nobody was looking. Then Jane waved her hand over the animal. It glared at her with angry, frightened eyes. But nothing happened.

She ran back to the stump and rubbed the bottle. 

The she ran back to the injured bird. The same thing happened as with the rat. Her vision grew blurry, but the wing was repaired and the bird flew off perfectly healthy.

Jane smiled and could barely contain her excitement.

“I have a superpower.”

It was one thing fixing the leg of a rat or wing of a bird. The real test came a couple of weeks later. Her father had not found a job and the family was sinking into debt despite everyone’s best efforts.

Her parents were not getting along so well anymore. They had always laughed and talked and teased each other. Now they argued more. Her father was such a proud man that it killed him not being able to take care of his family.

One night, the four kids got together in secret.

“Okay, we need to do something here.” Allen looked at the other three.

“I’m already getting as many hours as Mrs. Stevens will give me.”

“Me too,” said Greg.

“I know, but mom and dad aren’t getting along very well.”

“Dad is just frustrated because he doesn’t have a job.”

“Maybe there isn’t a lot we can do more financially, but how about no more arguments or fights?”

“You’re right, Allen, mom and dad don’t need all that extra stress.”

“Okay, so we don’t fight or argue anymore.”

“Agreed,” they said all together. The four of them smiled at each other.

But Jane wasn’t happy inside. All of her siblings were making a lot more money than she was. In three weeks of collecting pop bottles she had made only four dollars.

Then she heard that Mr. Jones’ horse had a very bad leg. It was a thoroughbred worth thousands of dollars, maybe even millions.

Mr. Jones was the richest man in Wayville and word was that he had spent a lot of money on some fancy veterinarian, but the doctor had been unable to fix things.

Jane rode over and knocked on Mr. Jones’ door. 

He opened it and didn’t look very happy.

“I am sorry little girl but I do not have any money for whatever you are selling. I am very busy right now.”

“I’m not here to sell anything. I am here to fix your horse.”

He laughed saucily.  

“How can you fix my horse when all of the best veterinarians that money can buy couldn’t fix them?”

“I have the touch.”

“Do you know little girl?”

“My name is Jane.”

“I’m sorry, Jane, but I really don’t have time to cater to your fantasies.”

“The least you can do is to let me try.”

Mr. Jones made a face and looked like he was being harassed. 

“Honestly, little girl, I have another vet coming today and he is the best that money can buy.”

“You said that about the last one. How much are you going to pay him?”

“That is none of your business.”

“Well, it is because if you give me a hundred dollars then I will fix your horse.”

Mr. Jones smiled. The vet bill was going to be in the thousands. He had already paid one quack two thousand dollars and the horse still was in bad shape.

“I don’t think so.”

He started to close the door and she wedged her foot in it.

Their eyes met.

“Okay, one hundred dollars.” He sighed. The man looked very tired probably because of worrying over the horse. 

They walked to the barn and there were many horses and to the particular stall where Whistler stood. He was a magnificent species. 

“Wow, that sure is a beautiful horse, Mr. Jones.”

“He is my prize horse and is worth millions.”

“Okay, it shouldn’t take but a few minutes.”

He stood over her patiently.

“Have you ever been near a horse?”

“Yes, we go to the county fair every year and they give pony rides.”

“I see,” said Mr. Jones. He looked very skeptical.

“I really have to do this on my own. What is the horse’s name?”

“His name is Whistler.”

“Okay, Whistler and I have to be alone.”

She looked at him and smiled.

He didn’t seem to like that but went ahead anyway and left.

“Okay, Whistler, this isn’t going to hurt one bit.”

She waved her hand over the horse’s leg and nothing happened. She had rubbed the bottle before she had left to give her superpowers.

She waved her hand again and nothing happened.

Whistler moved about uneasily.

“It’s okay big fella, you’ll be good as new real soon. Now why is this not working?”

This time she waved both hands over the leg injury and then it happened. Her vision went blurry and the leg healed itself. She waved her hands back and forth a few times and the leg grew straighter and stronger.

Whistler trotted back and forth and neighed noisily. Mr. Jones came running and he was laughing hard.

“You did it little girl, you did it.”

“The name is Jane.”

“Yes, Jane, you did it.” He grabbed her hands and danced around with her.

She danced along until she almost fell.

“Oh, Jane are you okay?”

“Yes, I am.” She was laughing.

“Okay, I have to pay you.” He pulled his wad of cash. Jane had never seen so much money in her whole life.

And he peeled off a hundred dollars but didn’t stop there. He continued until he reached a thousand dollars. He went to hand it to her and then stopped.

“This is the deal, Jane. If I have a problem with any of my horses or prized birds, then I will call you and you will come over and fix things. Is that okay?”

“Absolutely,” said the young girl who was almost in tears.

“What is wrong?”

“My father lost his job. All my siblings are older and they have made a lot more money than I was able to make. My mother bakes pies all day so we have enough money. I am just happy that I can make a contribution to the family finances.”

She smiled at him and wiped her tears.

Mr. Jones nodded his head.

“So what do you know about me, Jane?”

She shrugged her shoulders because the young girl didn’t want to say anything bad.

“Well, you are the richest man in the whole town.”

“And what else?”

She didn’t want to say anything.

“Go ahead, you aren’t going to hurt my feelings.”

“You are a nasty man who is not very nice to anyone.”

He laughed heartily. 

“You are right. I don’t have a lot of patience with people and am not very nice. But, you are a special little girl with healing powers. We are going to be friends. I am going to go back home and explain things to your parents.”

“Okay.”

He put the bicycle in his expensive car and drove Jame home. 

They pulled into the yard. Her father was sitting on the porch worried and looked up. He figured Jane was in trouble with Mr. Jones of all people.

He stepped off the porch and knocked on the window. Martha walked out wiping flour on the apron.

Mr. Jones walked up and greeted them.

“Good day, Mr. and Mrs. Jane’s parents.”

Jane laughed. She whispered to him: “It’s Anderson.”

“Yes, of course, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson.”

“Hello, Mr. Jones, what can I do for you? Is my little girl in trouble?”

“Your little girl, Jane? Why no, she’s not in any trouble whatsoever.”

“Then why are you here?”

“My horse, Whistler, had a very bad leg. I paid a lot of money for that thoroughbred . He is a prize specimen. I also shelled out a lot of money for some quack to fix the problem but it was a waste of funds. Now I am not a patient man. Your lovely daughter Jane came to me and claimed she could fix the horse. I was in doubt, but she did it. Your daughter has healing powers.”

Her parents looked at her surprised.

Jane just smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

“I like animals. All you have to do is rub the leg the right way and it gets fixed.”

“Of course, I don’t expect the gifted girl to do this for free so I paid her.”

“That’s fine,” said Jett Anderson.

“I gave her not as much as I would have the vet, but a good sum. Tell your parents how much I gave you?”

She gushed and blushed. “Mr. Jones gave me a thousand dollars.”

Jett whistled and looked at Martha.

“We appreciate your generosity, but we can’t accept-

“It isn’t generosity. It is payment for a job well done. This is one of the reasons I am here. I figured that if the young girl walked into the house with a thousand dollars it would raise an alarm.”

“Of course it would.”

“Now, Mr. Anderson what do you do for a living?”

“You can call me Jett and this is my wife, Martha. I was a foreman at the tire place.”

“So you are kind of a handyman?”

“I can do a lot of things.”

“But baking pies isn’t one of them.”

Jett eyed Martha who just smiled.

“Don’t feel bad, I couldn’t make a pie if my life depended on it. Why don’t you come to work for me? I need a handyman.”

Jett shifted his weight from one foot to another.

“Well, Mr. Jones, I am not sure-

“This isn’t charity in case you think it is. This is a man who needs someone that he can rely on to show up for work every day and do what is needed. I see those qualities in your daughter. I have also hired Jane, which is another thing I had to say.”

“To do what?”

“If one of my prized animus has a problem then she can fix it. She is better than a vet. The girl fixed Whistler when those trained that went to school couldn’t heal the horse.”

Jett shrugged his shoulders.

“Okay, I’ll take the job.”

“That’s great, Jett. How about you show up tomorrow morning at eight sharp?”

“I can do that.”

“Great. And as for you young lady, I will be calling on you when needed.”

“Okay, Mr. Jones. It was nice doing business with you.”

She shook his hand enthusiastically and he was taken by surprise. They all laughed.

“One last order of business. What kind of pies do you make?”

“All kinds, what is your favourite?”

“Blueberry or apple, if you have one.”

“I have both of them and they are just coming out of the oven in about five minutes.”

“I will take one of each.”

Jane was out on her morning walk and there was an injured bunny. She stopped Skipper from eating the poor frightened animal and touched the bottle that she carried in the backpack. 

Then she waved her hand over the quivering beast and her vision went blurry and then the little one hopped away.

“See, Skipper, I have a superpower.”

They resumed their jog.