A lot of the spring break visit consisted of JJ showing Judy around Berks County often with Jenken along for the ride as the giggling cute toddler Jen with her hair tied up in twin bouncy pony tails. Ken, in typical boyish pique, referred to Jen’s ponytails as ‘Rowlf ears’. (Vignettes from the Muppet Show were a Youtube favorite of the trilateral child.) In point of fact, Jenken was instrumental in helping select destinations of interest as during his mind probes he had accumulated a lot of knowledge about the diverse area. The Gruber Wagon Works at the Berks County Heritage Center was one of the more spectacular locations they visited.

All three helped in the Raven’s Perch in the evening. The Ravens were impressed with Judy’s waitressing skills. Jenken easily formed a bond with Judy and helped his mommy, mom and dad to do the same. JJ asked that Judy join the family for their regular Thursday night open stage performance. Of course they agreed once Jenken silently let them know she’d be an asset. On Thursday night at the start of the open stage, JJ introduced Judy to the patrons as the family set up. With guitar in hand she did a modified curtsey. Then unexpectedly JJ dropped to a knee and presented an engagement ring to Judy. While Judy knew they planned to be formally engaged, she was caught completely off guard and left speechless. Blushing deeply she could only nod affirmatively as JJ slipped the ring onto her finger. The patrons erupted in cheers and congratulations.

“The Wavens be a famiwy band,” Jenken stated seriously while sitting on a stool to better reach the mike. “If Judy hadn’t ‘cepted de pwaposaw, we wasn’t goin to wet hew pway wit us. Now, wet’s jam!”

The crowd was delighted witnessing the engagement as well as with The Ravens performance. With Jenken’s help mentally coordinating everyone Judy easily meshed into the family effort. Since no one else had signed up to play, the family played for two hours with a fifteen minute break at the half way point. Up to this point the family hadn’t named their band, but Jenken’s impromptu name stuck.

During the week Jenken periodically mind linked with Judy to discuss her family situation. The toddler was clearly upset by the cruelty of her self absorbed parents. He assured her she would never have that issue with the Raven family. Judy was nervous when Jenken first linked to discuss her family but quickly relaxed and communicated with the boy. She still found it difficult to believe the toddler was so intelligent and such a good actor with his public toddler shtick.

Judy returned to her KU dorm knowing she’d spend every weekend and the summer with her new family. She finally had a place she could call home. She also returned every Thursday night to join the Ravens on the open stage. With the quality of The Ravens presentation, they moved themselves to the last performer since no one wanted to follow them. Even with that, few people wanted to compete with the family band. By the end of May it was standing room only on Thursday nights.

James trusted Frank James, the owner of a local computer tech store that installed and set-up home and business computer systems and did it’s own repairs. The system the Raven’s Perch used came from there. Telling the owner the set up was so the kids could study better from home, it took two weeks from the time the order was placed for the laptop, internet connection and WIFI to be set up and running flawlessly. The owner, a frequent customer, assumed the set up was to help JJ and Jane with their studies. No one told him it was mainly for Jenken.

Being aware of the precocious youngster, Frank allowed the inquisitive well behaved toddler to follow and watch him as he did the installations and set-ups. Periodically Jenken would ask an age appropriate question but on the whole was unobtrusive.

Jenken spent the time plumbing Frank’s knowledge and making it his own. By the time the installation was completed, Jenken knew how a computer functioned as well as several operating systems and a slew of other tech info.

With that knowledge as a base, Jenken continued to learn all he could about how computers were created and engineered. This led him into binary code, operating systems and computer programming. His enhanced mind gobbled the data, incorporating it into his knowledge. It also made his internet research quicker and more efficient. With a bit of practice he became an astute and accomplished hacker. Firewalls presented no issues and the whiz kid left no traces or set off any alarms. When he hacked into files, he did so simply to learn what they held with absolutely no intent to cause damage. The knowledge he absorbed continued to grow at an astronomical pace.

Jane graduated from high school on the first Wednesday in June. The Spring Semester at KU had ended the day before and Judy had moved into the Raven home for the summer. The sleeping arrangements in the Raven home were the same as Spring Break. Greetings were exchanged and the college students slept late the next morning. Jenken was waiting for them when they came into the kitchen. Judy was initially surprised he’d been left alone but quickly recalled he was not a normal toddler.

It was a comfortably warm Wednesday evening and the graduation ceremony was held outdoors in the football stadium. It was a good thing it was outdoors since Jenken was nearly psychically overwhelmed by the crowd of strangers surrounding him. If it had been indoors, it definitely would have been too much for him to handle. It was nothing like facing the patrons in the Raven’s Perch. The noise of the diverse thoughts and emotions of 2500 people pounded into his head as he struggled to mute the incoming thoughts. JJ and Judy did their best to try to calm him and it worked to a certain extent since the overwhelming emotion was happiness and pride. Still, it made the boy physically uncomfortable.

As the student’s names were called and they moved to the podium to accept their diplomas the applause and cheers of the crowd began to overwhelm Jenken. The little guy knew he had to get away from being encircled by the people surrounding him in the audience. When the principal announced ’Jane Raven’ he saw his chance. The burst of pride his family felt for Jane temporarily muted the dizzying cacophony of foreign thoughts and emotions slamming into Jenken’s mind. Jenken knew he had to get away from the center of the relentless psychic pounding. The desperate little guy used the opportunity to slip from Judy’s arms since she was momentarily distracted by the event. With all the speed he could muster the tiny boy raced to the stage as Jane was walking across it to accept her diploma.

“MOMMY MOMMY,” he cried at the top of his lungs in his best toddler speak as he ran to the stage with arms outstretched. “YOU WAS A GOOD GIWL!” When he reached the steps leading up to the podium he easily scurried up on his hands and feet.

Chagrined by his escape and outburst, Judy and JJ were chasing the errant toddler in an effort to capture him but he was up the steps before they even reached the bottom. Jane heard Jenken calling her name and was blushing a very bright red as he scrambled to his feet on the stage launching himself at his mother. Nearly everyone attending knew of Jane’s ordeal and her diminutive son and they chuckled to see the boy so obviously proud of his mommy.

Jane had little choice but to scoop the effervescent toddler into her arms and sit him on her hip before taking the last few steps to the podium. The principal was smiling. “Congratulations, Ms. Raven,” he declared as he handed the diploma to her.

Jenken realized that his mother’s hands were occupied holding him and there was no way he wanted to get down. Now that he was no longer amidst the crowd, the psychic noise was somewhat abated. With cute childish impertinence he reached out and took the diploma. “DON’T WOWWY, MOMMY, ME TAKE DIS FOR YOU. YOU SMART AN’ A WEAL GOOD MOMMY!” With the diploma in one hand and his arm around her neck, Jenken kissed his mother on her cheek.

Virtually everyone present let out a very meaningful “Ahhhhh.” About a quarter of the females were dabbing at tears forming in her eyes.

Judy stood by JJ at the edge of the stage with her arms reaching out to accept Jenken. As Jane began to head over to pass the boy back he wrapped both arms around Jane’s neck and squeezed his little legs about her waist in a fierce hug. “NO MOMMY ME STAY WIT’ YOU NOW!” Jane was proud of her son yet embarrassed by his uncharacteristic disruption to the graduation ceremony.

Jane, JJ , Judy, June and James knew Jenken was playing with everyone with the adorable toddler shtick but didn’t know why until he flashed a quick mental note. “Too many people around me. They’re overloading me. I’m not mentally influencing anyone. I just had to get out of the middle of the crowd.”

“As principal, I’m making an executive decision,” the principal declared as the family digested Jenken’s explanation. “Everyone here knows this little boy is a miracle. Jane has not only done a remarkable job in raising this young man, she has done so while maintaining her grades and helping out in the family business. Despite all those hurdles, grade wise, this remarkable young woman had the highest 4 year GPA in the school. However, she declined being valedictorian or salutatorian because of what she insists was a mistake she made. Anyone looking at her holding Jenken can plainly see Jane did not make a mistake. Ms Raven, you took responsibility for your actions and never asked for leniency. Jane, I and the rest of the teachers and staff of this school salute you.”

The entire staff of the school, everyone in the audience and the graduating class stood and applauded Jane. Jane hugged Jenken tightly as the little boy leaned over and kissed his mother’s embarrassed but happy tears away. This only served to increase the intensity of the applause. Jane was so moved she was speechless but nodded her head to acknowledge the applause.

“Jane,” the principal stated when the applause died down. ‘I think you’ve earned the right to hang onto Jenken and rejoin your classmates.”

Blushing and nodding to accept the permission, Jane headed back to take her place amongst the graduating class. All the classmates she passed reached out to touch Jenken. When she reached her spot and turned around everyone near her also reached out to touch the smiling precocious boy.

Afterward, the proud family headed home. Jenken apologized for his behavior and explained in further detail how the mass of emotion from the crowd had threatened him. The psychic noise was like an ongoing crash of thunder that shook his entire being. While he had stiffened his ability to be around a group of people, he understood he had to greatly increase his endurance, especially if he wanted to attend any big events like baseball or football games where emotions easily went high.

The next morning after breakfast Jenken let JJ and Judy know he wanted to talk to them.

“Judy, I’ve been doing research on your situation,” Jenken smiled when they were alone. “When your parents divorced neither wanted custody of you. When they realized they couldn’t foist you off on the other and what they would have to pay in child support, they begrudgingly accepted joint custody. Because of that, they never bothered to complete the paperwork for the child support payments.”

Judy was surprised. “How did you find that out?”

“I did a lot of investigating,” Jenken smiled. “I have to admit not all of it was legal but I needed the info. What I found out is to your advantage. In New Jersey, child support is meant to cover the basic expenses associated with raising a child including clothing, food, shelter and entertainment. The State Guidelines determine the amount of money it will take to raise the child depending on the child's age and the income of both parents. The Guidelines assume that as income increases, the cost to raise the children also increases. This means that parents with a combined income of $60,000 would proportionally pay the average of what couples with similar incomes spend to raise their children. Parents with a joint income of $6oo,ooo would pay the average of what couples with similar incomes spend to raise their children. At $60,000 income the rate is $300 a week, at $600,000 income the rate is $2500 a week. The amount is split into percentages of what each earns in relation to the total combined income. At the time of the divorce, each of your parents were earning $300,000 which means your parents were responsible for $1250 each. They went with the joint custody when they discovered how much the support payments would cost to avoid paying.”

“You had to specifically ask for money to buy clothes and food and your parents insisted on seeing the receipts,” Jenken continued. “Wisely, you kept all the receipts. That will prove your parents did NOT support you as they should have done. I hacked the IRS archives and downloaded their tax returns for every year since the divorce so we have those records to determine how much they should have been spending on you according to the state guidelines. They can’t even claim an expense on providing you with a place to live since it’s on their divorce settlement they selected their apartments solely for themselves expecting the other would have custody of you. The fact they kept their apartments unchanged since they threw you out reinforces that. You can claim the difference between what they spent and what you received. On average, you spent $15 a week on clothes and $35 a week on food for a total of $50 a week or $2600 a year. Jointly they should have been spending $2500 a week or $130,000 a year. $130,000 less $2600 leaves $127,400 dollars for that first year. Since their income increased each year, the amount they should have been spending would also rise. Since they didn’t, 3.25% interest on what they owe would also accrue. The result is that they owe you a bit over $1,211,000 for the time until you graduated from high school.”

Judy’s eyes were wide open in shock. “You got all this info off the internet?”

“Yep,” Jenken giggled. “But that’s not all. You are a successful full time student at an accredited out of state university. They KNEW you enrolled at Kutztown University. If they would have objected to you attending an out of state school, they could have avoided further child support. Since they didn’t object to it being out of the state of New Jersey they’re still responsible for child support. Including interest, for the past three years they owe about $445,500. That means that as of the end of this school year they owe you $1,656,500 and they’ll still owe child support for the next year while you’re an undergraduate. They are also liable for a portion of your college related expenses of tuition, room and board as well as books for your undergraduate studies. So far your expenses have been $18,000 a year. You have scholarships for $6000 of that and you’ve paid $2000 a year from money you earned and have borrowed the other $10,000. They owe you the $10,000 each year you’ve had to borrow and will have to pay for next year as well. If they want to pay you off and be done with it, it’ll cost them each $848,250 for a total of $1,696,500. You’ll be able to pay off your student loans with ease.”

“Oh wow,” Judy declared amazed by what Jenken had uncovered. “My parents will freak out. Unfortunately they’ll get lawyers and fight it and I can’t afford a lawyer.”

“I have everything already printed out,” Jenken chuckled. “All you need to do is sign everything and file it to complete the child support claim started when your parents divorced. You’ll need to do so in the county family court where you lived and the original determination was made. Since your parents still live there, it will be easy. I’ve set up an appointment for you Monday at 10:30. It will take you just a bit over two hours to get there, so if you leave at 7:30 you should have plenty of time. You and JJ can easily drive over there and file the forms. You won’t need a lawyer. With the evidence you present when you file all the county family court will need to do is verify all the information. Since I used the data they initially calculated, these are the amounts they owe you. The court will only have to reconfirm the results from the child support guidelines. If your parents fight it, they’ll be fighting the court. Their only defense would be to PROVE the documents you submit are wrong or that their initial filing was false. That won’t be possible as their lawyers will quickly point out once they see the evidence. The courts will enforce the judgement. I’d guess you’ll get the money due you before you head back to school. You should be able to pay your way through school.”

“God,” Judy gasped as she looked at Jenken in absolute amazement. “You sound like a lawyer rather than a toddler.”

“I told you he’s something,” JJ smiled.

“Jenken, I don’t know how to thank you,” Judy declared.

“You already have,” Jenken smiled. “I can feel how happy you are. But I do have a request. Don’t get married until you finish your undergrad degree. If you do, your parents won’t have to pay for your schooling or the next year of child support. But then again, once they find out they can’t avoid paying they might be willing to pay off the next year at the same time just to get it over and done with. If that’s the case, then you could marry sooner. I think after all they put you through you’ll want to make sure they pay.”

“You got that right,” Judy chuckled glad to be able to stick it to her parents.

Sunday morning Jane and JJ decided to take 2 ½ year old Jenken and Judy on a walk and picnic down the abandoned rail line into the Lake Ontelaunee watershed. JJ always loved wandering through the protected game lands about the lake. Up until she had been raped, Jane had loved to take morning walks into the serene peaceful forest where it was possible to forget the cares and troubles of the world. The last time she’d been able to wander the forests had been early spring 3 years before. As they led Jenken and Judy down the overgrown railroad right of way Jane and JJ realized just how much they missed those pleasant excursions.

Early June was the time when migrant and breeding birds flocked to the protected wooded watershed. The forests were in full song as Wood Thrush, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Baltimore and Orchard orioles were singing. While a bit farther north than their usual range, a few yellow and black Prothonotary Warblers could be spotted. The shallow, swampy coves attracted ducks, herons and sometimes beavers. Wildflowers that like limey soil grew on the steep, shady banks and rock outcrops along the abandoned rail bed. Meadow flowers that prefer moist soil grew near the water.

Once they had entered the sanctuary, the forest creatures began to emerge to see their little human friend. Even the animals and birds that had never met Jenken were drawn to his presence. In real life scenes similar to those in Disney’s Snow White when she was first lost in the forest, the animals scampered from their burrows, nests and thickets to meet him. Jenken was beaming as he looked at his furry or feathered friends.

Jane and JJ were aware of Jenken’s abilities with animals but this was a stunning revelation for Judy. They were a bit unnerved as they heard Jenken speaking inside their heads as he warmly greeted his furry or feathered friends. It was obvious Jenken had progressed further with his ability to read and communicate with the minds of other beings. Now instead of verbally ‘speaking’ to the animals and birds in their own language, he was able to telepathically communicate with them. But what was even more amazing was that each animal or bird simultaneously heard his ‘mind speech’ in their own language. Jane, JJ and Judy could not only ‘hear’ what Jenken was mentally saying, but they could ‘hear’ the mental replies as Jenken was somehow facilitating a translation from the various sources.

The three adults held back to let Jenken walk about 15' in front of them. Needless to say they were was quite startled when a buck with a velvety eight point rack of still growing antlers emerged from the trees leading four does and six fawns. The fawns looked remarkably like Bambi. The majestic buck ambled right up to Jenken, lowering his head to the toddler’s height. Jenken giggled as the buck mentally communicated his feelings... ahhhh... along with what sounded much like frog croaks as the toddler scratched the fur above his nose. Judy was especially moved since she’d grown up in an urban environment. As she looked at the wild animals coming to greet Jenken, Judy began to understand the beauty and peace that had been the Garden of Eden. That Jenken was able to mimic the long lost nirvana boggled her mind.

As they walked along, the animals followed and grew in number. The abandoned railbed ran along the eastern side of the Maiden Creek. About a mile south of the SR 662 bridge, they reached a clearing that looked down on a long narrow island that split the stream in two. The back water of Lake Ontelaunee was about another mile downstream. They were about a 100' north of a cleared swath 200' wide through which high power electric transmission lines ran. As the humans settled down, so did the animals. For the humans the strangeness of the interspecies communication was already becoming familiar. JJ, Judy, and Jane were fascinated by the thoughts of the animals and birds. A pair of red tailed hawks spiraled out of the sky to land in an open area. The house finches were startled but Jenken easily soothed them.

Quite naturally, the thoughts of the wildlife were certainly not profound nor intellectual. They were filled with simple cares and concerns of their everyday lives. On an interspecies level, the animals shared locations of various edible plants, shelters, safe watering spots and areas where danger lurked. It was clear such interspecies communication had happened amongst the wildlife Jenken had encountered last summer in the backyard. The experienced wildlife ‘informed’ the newcomers that Jenken was an ‘interspecies arbitrator’. Their near constant concerns about safety were temporarily assuaged by Jenken’s mere presence. They had total and utter faith that his mere presence protected them.

For the most part the three adults simply marveled at Jenken’s psychic ability and just listened to the back and forth communication. Tiny interspecies flare ups were common as the prey and predator met and communed for the first time. The same held true for the dominant and submissive. But Jenken made sure things stayed peaceful. Just as he had done the previous summer, he explained that all were part of nature’s cycle of life. Some would be eaten by others. Some of those who ate were also among the eaten. It was simply the way of nature. While most of those listening couldn’t really understand the concept, they all accepted what Jenken told them as fact.

After an hour it was time to head home. Jenken sent out an order that as the wildlife returned to their haunts none should be harmed. Then he told them to go in peace. JJ, Jane, and Judy felt the five minute mind lock he placed upon the predator animals to keep them from hunting.

As they walked home Jenken spoke. “I know you’re concerned about my abilities. My intentions are to use them for good, but at the same time I need to keep them secret. At this point I believe any attempt to get me into college would be detrimental. Truthfully, with the way I can download information from people and the internet, going to college would be a waste of time and money. I can learn and accomplish more by staying out of the system.”

They had to agree that Jenken had an extremely valid point.

“As for what I can learn, I need to experiment with my abilities,” Jenken declared. “For the last few weeks I’ve kept a weak mind link with each animal and person because I want to see how far I can maintain the connection. I’d like to do the same tomorrow when you head to New Jersey. If I can maintain contact to the Hudson County Courthouse, I’d like you to take the Holland Tunnel into New York City to see if I can maintain the link.”

“We can do that,” JJ replied. “If we have any questions about what we’ll be presenting, we can ask you.”

“That was just fantastic how you connected us with the animals,” Jane praised her son. “But they don’t communicate like we do nor do they think like we do yet we were able to understand them. How were we able to do that?”

“I think I have a pretty good idea but it’s difficult to explain,” Jenken sighed. “All brains consist of neurons and they all function the same. Neurons send out electrical impulses which pass from neuron to neuron with the help of chemical messengers, the neurotransmitters. When an impulse reaches the end of a neuron, a chemical is released which sets off a reaction in the receiver area, a synapsis, in the next nerve cell. The impulse travels on from one cell to the next. The impulses are transmitted along the innumerable neuron chains. The final result of these impulse messages depends on which of the neuron link ups were involved. If the impulses came from the area of the brain which is responsible for communication, speech if you will, the result is that we are able to talk and hear. The process is the same for brains of every species. I don’t know how I do it but I somehow tap into the ‘speech’ process in other brains and somehow automatically translate it so I can understand it. The nearest comparison I can come up with is the universal translator from Star Trek. I simply let the translations flow from one species to the other through the mind links I establish. They ‘speak’ in their own way, language if you will, my enhanced brain translates so the listeners ‘hear’ it in theirs. I can do the same thing with what they see. I can literally see what they see. I haven’t tried to share that yet as it’s more than a bit disorienting as well as confusing. I think I can handle it only because of my weird brain.”

“So that’s how you can read people’s minds,” JJ nodded. “You latch onto their thoughts as if they were speaking.”

“Pretty much,” Jenken agreed. “I’ve been practicing probing deeper. I really learned a lot from Dr. Greene. When I probed her I learned she was upset that the specialists in the hospital were using me as a lab rat just as you suspected. She only passes minimal information on to them. I was able to ‘download’ most of her med school memories. That’s how I figured out why my brain is so different. I’ve picked the minds of patrons for their knowledge too. When I do that their knowledge becomes mine. That’s how I learned to play the penny whistle, I copied Dad’s muscle memory as well as his mental memory about how to play it. I simply downloaded that knowledge into me and I could play. I’ve been able to integrate what I pick up with everything I’ve learned.”

“So you can read people’s memories too,” JJ frowned. “Isn’t that a bit invasive?”

“Yes, but I do my best to filter everything as I ‘download’,” Jenken explained. “For the most part I’m able to keep out personal memories and only tap the knowledge. I’ve experimented and can get personal memories, but I’ve only done that with family and only in a limited manner. Yes Judy, I pulled the pertinent data from you about your parents so I knew where to dig for the data I gathered.” Jenken confessed as he could sense her thoughts on the matter burgeoning. “But I left your personal feelings and thoughts about them alone. It’s a fine line but so far I have not crossed it. The only way I can see doing so would be if it’d help a situation that needed immediate resolution. Something like a kidnaping where the victim is hidden and we know who the perp is.”

“Jenken, when the animals that met you last year were explaining you to the newcomers, the way I heard what they said was that you are an interspecies arbitrator,” Judy stated. “Just what is an interspecies arbitrator?”

“That’s difficult to explain too,” Jenken sighed. “My universal translator ability lets me share concerns between and among species. They can actually communicate through me. What they can’t do is understand why another species behaves the way they do. The pair of red tailed hawks that landed are a good example. They are carnivores who eat mice, squirrels, rabbits and similar small animals. They are also avivorous which means they also eat other birds like house finches. There were mice, squirrels, rabbits and house finches with us, they all eat plants and some insects. They have no concept of eating meat and have learned to hide from red tailed hawks. They don’t understand why the hawks eat them. By the same token, the hawks are just being themselves when they catch prey. When I allow them to communicate across species, the topic of who eats what was shared but most really couldn’t understand since it was outside their thinking abilities. Animals have no intellectual basis from which to look at the other guy’s point of view so while the prey was fearful the hunters were checking out dinner selections. They could talk to each other but had no foundation of understanding. I somewhat facilitated their understanding. Basically I tell them that all life has to eat to survive, a concept they all understand. Then I let them share what they eat, which is a concept some can learn. Then I explain that in nature, everything gets eaten in one way or another. We all eat part of nature and some part of nature will eventually eat us. There is nothing malicious in what happens, it’s just the way of life. That makes me an interspecies arbitrator. I don’t solve issues but I help them understand.”

“That’s heavy,” JJ nodded.

“All right!” Jenken suddenly exclaimed. “Everyone, quick, sit down and close your eyes.”