Not many places left in the country that did that. In some ways, this town had a very old fashioned flavor that I liked.I still practiced my hand to h...nd with Tom, but I also practiced my other abilities, too. I could now move a hundred pounds easily, more if I concentrated, but it caused me a severe headache afterwards. My perception of people I was looking for improved to a very clear picture, and I now had sound, also. My range when I was doing this was of course worldwide.What was. " Madly?" Madly."So through that summer we spent lots of time together although much of my time was taken up working with the fire department. I really missed Pete. We'd hardly heard form him. He'd finished his training and was deployed to Iraq with the Marines. We got a card from him a few months later. The message was cheerful but the photo was telling. Pete was leaning against a mud brick wall in full combat gear, minus his helmet, cradling a submachine gun. He told me later it was. Mom and Dad, I hope you don't mind but Lissa and I are going to leave early. We're going to drive back this afternoon." What?" asked Doug. "What happened? Did Shawn overdo it? Did he scare Lissa off?" No, it wasn't Shawn," Meg replied."What, then?"Meg opened her mouth as if to say something, but then hesitated, as if she wasn't sure what to tell them.Lissa decided to come to her rescue. "It's my fault," she said. "I've got a big test coming up after the break that I have to study for, and I. I was distant and mistrustful. I spent a great deal of time in my room reading or watching the VID. I couldn't go out often during the day. It was too much of a risk. Get known in an area and people want to know about you. It's safer being a stranger believe it or not. Folks just don't want to have much to do with strangers. Consequently, strangers don't get asked a lot of questions unless they're acting suspicious.Thus, the tension grew. Gary was wonderful, for the most part. He tried to.