Beyond the New Horizon

by Christine Conaway

  Lucas was having a hard time holding both of the babies now that they were stopped. Gina reached out and took the one from his lap and set it on the ground beside the Jeep.

  “Luke, go ahead and turn it loose. They aren’t going anywhere as long as we have the nanny.”

  Gina reached under the driver seat, found some twine and walked around the to the back. While Sam set the nanny on the ground, Gina fashioned a collar out of the twine and tied it around her neck. Sam tied a length around the billy’s horns; he thought it would be easier to control him than the collar and short rope, then untied its legs. The billy scrambled and fumbled around trying to get his legs under him, while the nanny lay still, as if knowing it would take a minute to get her bearings. She bleated as she rose and the two babies immediately ran to her and began to nurse.

  Sam tied the billy to the towing ball on the back bumper and stepped away. “Damn that thing stinks.”

  Lucas and Gina both laughed at the expression on Sam’s face. With his lips wrinkled back in disdain for the billy, he did look funny. The red spots marking his face made him look like he had the measles. He used his jacket sleeve to wipe at his face and scowled when it obviously hurt him. He gently touched his face and jerked his fingers away in surprise.

  “We’ll have to get Journey to clean you up when we get back. It looks like you might have some glass fragments.”

  Sam shook his head and turned to survey the extensive damage all around them. The highway behind them was literally gone. The rock wall that had once stood perpendicular to the highway on the south side of the roadway was now a gentle hillside sloping down to where the road used to be.

  He walked to within fifty the edge of the abyss that had opened on the north side of the road and stared down. The canyon below had once had a running creek as well as several summer homes along the banks. Now water boiled through the canyon and the houses were gone. The depth and width of the ravine had more than tripled in size. He felt like he was standing on the rim of the new grand canyon.

  Sam jumped and came running back when the earth began to tremble. A grinding noise issued from across the canyon bouncing and echoing off the mountains. The ground heaved again, throwing them off their feet, and Gina looked for Lucas who had been right beside her holding the nanny. The goat squealed and dropped to the ground. Lucas had a baby under each arm holding on to them.

  Gina could feel as the earth changed shape again as rocks and boulders hit the ground behind them. They had been far enough away to prevent rocks from falling on them unless the whole mountain fell away. Gina grabbed Lucas’s arm and held on, as much for herself as for him. She buried her face in the curve of her arm and prayed.

  With one last ear-splitting shriek, the movement stopped. Gina raised her head to see Lucas looking past her. The color had drained from his face, and he began to shake. She turned to see what he was looking at.

  “What? How can that happen?” Gina breathed out. Her eyes searched until she saw Sam lying prone on the other side of the Jeep.

  “Holy cow! Oh my, God, Uncle Sam, look!”

  Gina sat, she was shaking too much to stand right then, and crawled to the front of the Jeep, Lucas crawling right beside her. The view from a sitting position was as devastating as when they saw it from under the Jeep.

  Sam sat for several seconds without moving. He had taken several deep breaths before he spoke.

  “Son of a bitch…damn…holy mother of Jesus,” he turned to look at Gina and Lucas.

  “If I didn’t see this with my own eyes, I would never believe it was possible.”

  Where there had been mountains of shale with trees interspersed among the rocks, was now a sheer cliff face standing straight up. It was like the mountain had turned bottom side up. Behind it, the familiar mountain tops had changed.

  “I’m pretty sure that wasn’t there before,” Gina said and pointed to the northeast.

  A mountain that could easily compete with the size and height of Ranier had popped up. Dirt still rained down on it as if it had simply exploded from out of the earth.

  Sam stared and slowly shook his head, “It’s like we’re now looking at a whole new horizon. Half of those peaks were never there before.”

  “What does it mean Uncle Sam?”

  “I don’t know. But, I thnk it’s time to load up and get the hell out of here before it decides to change shape again.”

  They loaded the goats and using the shoulder which was the only thing left to drive on safely, they headed up the road. At their exit, the overpass had completely collapsed, as well as most of the freeway. There was only a narrow strip of land left if a person wanted to go east. Sam turned up the forestry road and stopped.

  “What?” Gina asked him when he just sat staring ahead. “Sam? Are you okay? You need me to drive?”

  “Do you realize that whole mountain range has changed? It’s almost like it now runs east and west rather than north and south. There are mountains where there used to be valleys. The whole thing is different now.”

  Gina sighed, “I don’t really know enough about the way it looked before, but I’m pretty sure I would have remembered that big one. Do you think it’s active?”

  “It’s like the earth just burped and puked up that pile of rock.”

  “That’s one way to put it, I guess. I wonder if she’s done, or does she have more surprises in store for us?”

  The Jeep began to bounce, “I’m scared, Uncle Sam.”

  “So am I buddy, so am I.”

  The shaking stopped as quickly as it began. Sam let out his breath. “It’s time to get out of here. I just hope there are no surprises ahead of us.”

  Gina was surprised that Sam would admit to being afraid. The truth was, so was she. She was afraid their whole world was changing right in front of their eyes. The mountains shifting position and the canyon beside them opening up like it had and the roadway dropping into the abyss, was not only scary to see, but the sound the earth made as it was changing, was something she would never forget. The worst horror movie she had ever seen hadn’t scared her as much as listening to the earth scream. She shivered as if someone had walked on her grave, and wondered if it was a premonition.

  Once on the forestry road, they hadn’t gone far when Sam stopped again. They could not return the same way they had come because there was no longer a road surface to drive on. Not only had the surface changed across the gorge, but it had made some adjustments on this side as well. They weren’t as dramatic as the changes on the north side, but they were enough that they would have to find another route to the valley.

  The most direct route would have been to go straight up the freeway to the ranch and cut through the pasture as they had always done, but Sam wasn’t sure the roadway continued.

  He shut the Jeep motor off and climbed out. “I'll be right back. I need to see if there is another way around this,” he said, pointing at the gully that now ran across their path.

  Gina realized that Sam was right. It almost looked as if the mountains had changed directions. The gully or valley, used to run east and west alongside the roadway. Now it ran north and south. She was able to see how a crevasse had opened, raw earth and roots hanging down the sides. While it wasn’t that deep, it would be impossible for them to cross it with the Jeep.

  A half hour later, Sam returned, shaking his head. His clothing was covered with fresh soil, and she wondered if he had tried crossing it on foot.

  “It doesn’t get any better down there,” he said pointing south. “Even if we could get by this one, the road ahead is gone.”

  “So, now what? Go back and try the freeway?”

  “There’s no other choice. If we can’t get through with the Jeep, we walk.”

  The billy, now tied in the bed so he couldn’t jump or fall out let out a bleat of protest. “He says no to walking, Uncle Sam.”

  “Let’s hope we don’t have to. It would take us a week to get there, and we have enough food for a day.”
r />   “Yeah, well, I’m not hungry yet,” Lucas told them.

  “Me either. I just want to get back to the cabin in one piece.”

  “We’re going to Carlos first. If I know John, he’s already made a move to the valley, and it wouldn’t surprise me to find them already there.”

  “What does this whole thing mean for the valley? Do you think they’re okay there?”

  Sam frowned, “Honestly, I have no idea. We have no way of knowing until we get there. With them being about fifty miles away, there is no telling how far this thing,” he waved his hand around to include their surroundings, “for lack of a better term, no telling how far it reaches. We’ll find out when we get there.”

  His tone held a finality to it that Gina recognized, as him not wanting to discuss it anymore. She was okay with that, but it didn’t stop her from wondering or worrying. She prayed for the safety of her friends.

  The snow had begun to fall harder, and with the drop in temperature, Gina snuggled deeper into her coat and wished she still wore John’s heavy jacket. She looked and saw Lukas’s eyes peering out over the top of it. He had it draped over himself and both babies. She hoped he was warm enough, but realized he should be. He had the added heat of the goats under the jacket with him. Without the windshield, there was nothing to prevent the wind and snow from blowing in on them, and it didn’t take long for it to start building up on flat surfaces. Gina gave up on wiping it off her pants. She thought she was probably just rubbing it into the fabric. She shivered and saw from the corner of her eye that Sam was looking at her.

  “Want to to turn the heat up?”

  Gina turned and saw Lucas watching her. His eyes sparkled above the coat collar with silent laughter, she could detect his shoulders moving. It was clear that he thought his Uncle had said something clever as well as funny.

  Gina wiggled her middle finger, certain Lucas wouldn’t see her hand in her lap, “Yes please, that would be nice.”

  She was surprised when she saw Sam reach over and slide a lever to one side, and heard a thump as the vent opened, then felt warm air coming out of the vent down by her feet. She rolled her eyes, feeling stupid. She had thought that Sam was making a joke, but all the while he had been serious.

  “Oh crap. Better turn it off. It’s melting the snow. Better cold feet than cold, wet feet.”

  Sam grinned, and she doubted his reasoning behind turning the blower on after all. He knew it would melt the snow.

  After several hours of slogging through snow and around rocks and piles of dirt, Sam slowed to a stop.

  Gina had pulled the hood of her sweatshirt up over her head and had her chin tucked low in the neckline and was still cold. She thought Sam had to be freezing with his bare head and his jacket undone.

  “Why are we stopping?” She looked forward and realized he may not have had a choice. With the lower altitude, the flakes had grown larger, and the snow had gotten deeper. There didn’t seem like a way to go forward.

  Sam got out and walked to both front wheels, did something, and got back in, put it into gear and rolled forward, up and over what appeared to be a hump of dirt and rocks.

  They were almost to the bottom of the hill when Lucas leaned forward. He pointed ahead, “There it is. I can see the house.”

  Gina couldn’t, but she wasn’t sure if the roof top she could see was it or not. What she remembered was a green roof, and all she saw was white. She didn’t know enough about the terrain to be sure it was or wasn’t their home.

  Sam nodded and told Lucas not to be surprised by what he saw next. Before he could tell him what had happened, Lucas sank back into his seat. Gina looked back at him. He obviously understood that something was terribly wrong. He couldn’t hide his glassy eyes before he pulled the jacket up over his head.

  This was one of those times when Lucas showed he was still a kid. Gina felt sorry that he had to see his former home in such a state. She was grateful for the snow as it hid the bodies she knew still lay down at the bottom of the yard. She didn’t want to think about what they would look like after a couple of days being exposed to the elements and wildlife.

  At the bottom, less than a mile from the house Lucas stopped again. She looked at him. “Now what?”

  He pointed, “Look.”

  Gina looked, but didn’t see anything but snow. “Look at what?”

  The creek. Unless it’s filled in with snow, which I doubt is possible, it’s gone. Maybe not gone, but moved. See the humps over there?” He leaned close so she could follow his finger, “I could be wrong, but it looks like a fissure has opened up, and the water is now flowing to the south.”

  “Oh come on…that’s not possible. Is it?”

  “Not possible, like mountains appearing out of nowhere?”

  Chapter Twenty-eight…………More troubles

  As soon as John reached their cabin, he backed the tractor up to the cattle trailer while Andy climbed down to crank the landing gear up. No sooner had Andy’s feet hit the dirt when the ground began to buck and twist under him. John jumped free as the tractor reared up and fell on its side. He landed and on his bad arm and lay cradling it until Andy screamed at him to move. John rolled until he came up against a tree trunk.

  “John! John, are you okay?”

  John opened his eyes. Inches in front of him, he saw the top side of the trailer. He closed his eyes again trying to wrap his mind around what had just happened.

  “John? Hey, are you okay?”

  “Yeah…I think so. What the hell was that?”

  “You won’t believe it when you look. Can you get out of there?”

  John wiggled, but with his bad arm, he couldn’t move. He tried again but only succeeded in wedging himself tighter against the tree. He felt the weight of the trailer pushing on his chest and wondered if even Andy could get him out.

  “I might need a hand here. It seems like I’m stuck.”

  “I need to find something to wedge between the tree and the trailer. Try not to move. There’s not much holding that tree.”

  John tried to turn his head and see what Andy was talking about but found it impossible to see anything but pine tree bark. His shoulder felt like it was being ripped away from his body even though he knew it was in front of him and hurt as much as it did, or more than when he was first injured it, well over a week ago.

  All he could think about was the work Journey had put into fixing it the first time. She was going to give him a piece of her mind for sure.

  He heard the door to the trailer when it hit the ground and felt the pressure on his chest increase. He felt the ground under him shift, but couldn’t understand why it had. “Arrrgh! Andy, what are you doing to me?” He had to force his words out and hold his chest muscles tight at the same time, or he felt he would be squished.

  “Sorry I’m going as fast as I can,” Andy called. “Try to stay as still as possible, and I’ll have you out of there right directly.”

  “Hurry please,” John grunted.

  He could hear Andy clanking and then the sound of a ratchet. For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what Andy was doing until he felt the weight leaving him in small increments.

  “Whatever you do don’t move until I get there.”

  The fear John could hear in Andy’s voice forced him to lay still even when most of the weight was gone from his body. He felt the tree behind his back shift and froze.

  Andy was lying on his stomach with one of the horses lead lines in his hands. “John, tie this around your chest under your arms if you can. Whatever you do, do it with the least amount of movement.”

  John, still couldn’t see the problem but when he shifted his weight around to get the rope around himself, his foot slipped, and there was no ground under it. The sounds of rocks and dirt falling startled him.

  “What the hell?”

  He felt the tree behind his back moving away and realized if his foot had nothing under it, then neither could the tree. He made a decision right then
. He twisted the rope around his good arm and gripped it as tight as he could.

  “I can’t tie it. The tree is moving…” The next thing he knew he was dangling over a crevasse, his full weight supported by one arm.

  “Hang on John. I’ve got you,” Andy grunted.

  Tree roots and dirt tickled John’s face. His feet scrambled trying to find somewhere to brace himself. His bad arm was practically useless, and he couldn’t raise it above his head to grab anything. His other arm felt like it was being pulled free of the socket. Blinking the dirt from hs eyes, he looked up and saw Andy, red-faced with the exertion of holding him and the trailer was hanging precariously above him.

  “Hang on John,” and Andy somehow began to slide backward pulling John up.

  John was afraid to let go of the rope to help himself, because he’d swung around and saw there was nothing but rocks and debris thirty or forty feet below hm. A fall would be certain death.

  “Can’t hold on much longer,” John groaned.

  “Almost there,” Andy grunted. “Okay,” he said, and still on his stomach, grabbed John’s arm and pulled. He reared back onto his knees, bringing John with him.

  Andy didn’t stop pulling even when John was fully up on the dirt. He didn’t give John time to get his feet under him, but backed up pulling John up the hill.

  Finally, Andy sank to the ground beside him and flopped over onto his back breathing hard. He massaged his arm as if it pained him and John realized that Andy had supported his full weight, and he outweighed Andy by sixty or seventy pounds.

  John sat up, careful not to jar his shoulder. He looked around, and the tractor was nowhere in sight. The trailer was hanging by one of the ratchet straps they used when they moved hay. One end was hooked to itself around a tree, and the other was wrapped around the axle. He saw the trailer slip a fraction and looked at the tree. The trailer door still lay open on the ground and staring him in the face was all of their tack for the horses.

  “Holy shit! We need that.” He pointed at the saddles.