Without Foresight

by P. D. Workman

  “Yes, I remember.” Just like with letter writing, and the fact that he still considered himself to be just settling in at his cabin in the woods, when he had lived there for ninety years. Reg couldn’t imagine taking so much time for anything. But they were clearly a much longer-lived race that had the benefit of time.

  “Well…” Etienne rubbed his whiskered chin thoughtfully. “I got a letter from Ilka. You remember my friend Bruce who took you to the settlement. He brings me my mail…”

  “Yes. The last Tuesday of the month.”

  “It is so. And this month, there was a letter from my Ilka.”

  “Is she okay? Is everything all right?”

  “She is well…” He nodded. But Reg could sense his hesitance to say everything was all right.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Starlight finished eating his food and wandered over to greet the new guest. He stopped a few feet away from Etienne and began to wash, watching him. Etienne began to preen, not licking his fur, but smoothing it with his fingertips, laying down the hair of his arms and legs and fussing over his grooming. Starlight watched him. Reg wondered how much the two could communicate with each other just by their body language and movements. She remembered that Etienne had communicated with the panther in the Everglades without any spoken words.

  After a couple of minutes, Starlight finished his grooming and jumped up into Etienne’s lap. Reg moved to take him away if Etienne were uncomfortable with him taking such liberties.

  “Starlight, you should wait to be asked,” she chided. “Is it okay, do you mind? I try to keep him from jumping on company…”

  “It is fine,” Etienne informed her. “I did invite him.”

  He stroked Starlight’s back, thinking about what he wanted to say. Starlight began a low, rumbling purr.

  “Ilka is coming here,” Etienne said finally.

  “Here? To the United States?”

  “To Florida. She is coming on a boat that is supposed to dock tomorrow!”

  “Oh!” Now Reg knew what had pulled Etienne away from his cabin in the Everglades in such a hurry. There was probably nothing else that would have convinced him to leave, especially so quickly. But a letter from Ilka that she was on her way to see him, that was a different story. “Well, you must be very excited!”

  “Yes, of course.” He nodded. His bushy brow pulled down. “But… I don’t know what to think. We hardly know each other. And what does she expect? I am supposed to go meet her, and then what? I cannot take her home with me. I do not have family near here, and neither does she. So where is she going to go?”

  “She must have some plan. She didn’t say in her letter?”

  “No. Only that she would be on her way to see me when I got her letter, and when it landed.”

  “Then I guess… you discuss it when you see her. Find out what her expectations are, and see how the two of you get along. You don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with.”

  “But there is no agreement between our families. Even to see her alone is… that is not the way our people court.”

  “What do they usually do?”

  “After they have gotten to know each other, there is discussion between the families, and the families arrange for a meeting. Supervised. Chaperoned. And if the couple is willing, after they have met, then the family begins to make arrangements for them to marry and to raise a family together.”

  “Do you have any family? I know they are not in Florida, but is there someone who would help you to negotiate?”

  Etienne thought about it. He nodded slowly. “I have brothers and an uncle. I do not know of the younger generation. We do not exchange many letters.”

  “Do you know where they live? How to get ahold of them?”

  “I have their addresses.”

  “Yes, but what about phone numbers? Email addresses? If you needed to talk to them right away, how would you do it?”

  “I would not. We write letters.”

  “What if it was an emergency? If there was a death? Or someone was sick and needed a kidney transplant? How would you contact your family members?”

  He scratched his jaw meditatively. “I suppose… I could try to reach the general store or post office where they live. Perhaps they could send a messenger.” Etienne shook his head. “Once upon a time, we could send a telegram.”

  ”A telegram. I don’t even know what that is. It’s like an email?”

  Etienne just stared at her.

  “Okay. So I don’t know. Where did your brothers move to? Somewhere there are more people? Less? You said that some of your people get laser hair removal and try to blend in with human beings.”

  “Homo sapiens,” Etienne corrected. “We are human beings.”

  “Oh, okay. With the Homo sapiens. Did any of your brothers do that? Do they live where there would be more people, an easier way to contact them?”

  ”James. He was very interested in that.” Etienne waggled his fingers toward Reg’s phone. “Computers, phones, technology.”

  “Okay. Let’s see if we can find him. Tell me his name and where he lives.”

  James Legrande of Minnesota was not too difficult for Reg to find on social media. Although Etienne had not seen him since his transformation, it was evident from his photos that he was a big man, and he still had a bushy beard and hair that, although not as thick as Etienne’s, looked quite Sasquatch-like. Etienne agreed that the man looked like his brother, but was hesitant to say for sure that it was him. She sent James Legrande a couple of messages through her profiles and hoped that he would get back to her.

  “When does Ilka get here?”

  “Tomorrow afternoon. Two o’clock.”

  “Okay. Well, hopefully, James will get back to us before then. What about Ilka? Does she have a family? Someone who will negotiate for her?”

  “She has a father. But I do not know…” Etienne shook his head. “She has run away. I don’t know if she will allow him to speak for her. This is not the way things are done with our people. She is very headstrong.”

  “And… do you like that?”

  Etienne considered it. “Well… I don’t know about that.”

  “You said that the women of your people are very…” Reg tried to remember the word he had used.

  Etienne smiled and smoothed his mustache and beard, perhaps remembering their conversation. “Formidable?” he suggested.

  “Yeah. So do you like her taking control and coming here to see you, or not?”

  “It is very… flattering. That she would take it upon herself to come all the way here to see me. That she would be so sure we are compatible.”

  Reg nodded. “Well, then, what do you need to do before you see her?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “First impressions. How do you want her to see you? Do you need… a suit? Flowers? A haircut? A dowry? Do you need to talk to her dad before she gets here to ask for her hand?”

  Etienne’s big hands were very gentle as he petted and scratched Starlight. His eyes widened a little as he considered the question, recognizing that he was going to see his sweetheart the next day, and he had very little time to prepare for it.

  “That is an excellent question.”

  It had been good for Reg to get out of the house and to be focused on someone else’s problems instead of obsessing about her own situation. Everything seemed to be just fine, and she wondered if she had been blowing things out of proportion. Maybe she had just been short on sleep and had exaggerated the issues she was having. Everyone had problems when they got overtired; why would she be any different?

  Etienne needed a number of things in short order. A couple of gifts for Ilka. Inquiries into hotel availability. He tried to reach Ilka’s father, eight time zones ahead of them but, like Etienne, Ilka’s father did not have a phone in his house, and it was nearly impossible to find someone to act as an intermediary to track him down and pass a message along. Etienne stopped in at the barber, not for a
haircut, but to have special oils rubbed into his facial fur and to have it combed out until it shone.

  The whole process was fascinating for Reg, who had never been involved in so much as arranging a bridal shower or bachelorette party. She didn’t know what would happen once Etienne and Ilka met face to face, but she could only assume that Ilka believed they were compatible and would find a way to be married shortly after her arrival.

  Was she arriving on a passenger ship or some other kind of boat? Did she fit in or was she hiding on board? Did she need a visa to visit the US? Some other special type of permit or travel papers? It couldn’t have been easy for her to make all the arrangements that would be required. It had been a big step to separate herself from her family and just head out on this adventure on her own.

  Back at the cottage, they were both resting and relaxing after clearing out most of the contents of the fridge. Etienne had his feet up on the coffee table and was snoring gently. Reg’s phone rang. She looked at the screen and saw it was a video call. She knew the face on the display from that morning.

  “Etienne!” She nudged him to wake him up.

  Etienne snorted and his feet fell from the chair to the floor with a bang. His eyes flew open and he looked at Reg. “What? What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing is wrong. Look, it’s James.”

  Etienne stared at the screen. Reg tried to hand it to him, but he didn’t know what to do with it. Reg swiped the call to answer it. She held it up to her face.

  “James? Thanks for calling. Here is Etienne.” She turned the phone around for Etienne to talk.

  Etienne stared at his brother on the screen. “James?”

  “Little brother! I never expected to see you on video. Unless some paparazzi caught a glimpse of you running through the trees.” He laughed a deep-throated chuckle.

  “James.” Etienne leaned close to the phone and spoke louder than necessary. “I have a serious problem.”

  Chapter Twenty

  James and Etienne talked for a long time. Apparently, making decisions was another thing that Bigfoots did not do quickly. Reg became bored with the minutiae and turned on the TV, keeping it quiet so it wouldn’t interfere with the conversation. Though with how loudly Etienne was speaking into the phone, she probably could have had it much louder without them even noticing it was on. Starlight curled up on the couch with Reg, purring away contentedly.

  Since she had reacted so strongly to watching the old horror movies on TV, Reg was much more careful about the entertainment she selected. She flipped back and forth through several different options, including a kids’ movie that had something to do with time-traveling wizards, a nature show, and some light mystery fare. It all seemed innocuous, not likely to cause her any nightmares. She would just sleep soundly and wake up feeling refreshed in the morning.

  Starlight lifted his head to stare at Reg for a few minutes. He curled back up again, needling her leg gently with his claws. Not enough that it bothered her. It just reminded her that he was there, trying to keep watch over her. Provided she didn’t do anything stupid.

  After a while, the time-traveling wizards became too inane; Reg couldn’t stand watching them anymore. She flipped back over to the nature channel, which had been showing a program on bird-watching in the area. Reg had been keeping an eye on it, figuring she might pick up some ideas on setting up a bird feeder or birdbath for Sarah, since she liked birds so much. They would keep Starlight entertained at the window too. But the birding program had apparently ended, and Reg watched it for a few minutes before she figured out that the men in khakis and sun hats were hunting snakes in a Florida swamp. She stared at the screen, eyes wide, unable to bring herself to change the channel before seeing what they found. If she didn’t see where the snakes were hiding, then she would be sure to have dreams of snakes hiding in her house or in the garden outside. She didn’t need another disrupted night.

  Starlight apparently didn’t like the new show. He jumped down from the couch with a huffing sound and stalked away. Reg didn’t try to call him back. He could do something else if he didn’t feel like sitting with her. Reg could still hear Etienne and James talking in the background, but their voices seemed faint and far away. She watched the snake hunters on the screen, exchanging jokes and colorful stories as they poked through foliage and set traps. They speculated whether they would find the creatures they were looking for sunning themselves on rocks out in the open, or hiding in a cool, dark cave or corner.

  Starlight returned, dropping something long and black at her feet.

  Reg jumped back instinctively, sure that it was a snake.

  But of course it wasn’t. There weren’t any snakes in the house and Starlight wasn’t allowed outside. Even if he were, she didn’t imagine that he would have brought her snakes. Mice, maybe, but snakes?

  It was just a shoelace. Reg had bought shoelaces for her favorite pair of shoes, but as soon as she had bought them, one of the pair had disappeared before she had a chance to use them. She didn’t know whether Starlight had the lost shoelace, which he had hidden away from her somewhere, or whether he had the one that she hadn’t lost, which she had thought she’d put out of his reach so he couldn’t steal that one too. Sooner or later, she would either find the lost shoelace, or would remember to buy another pair when she was at the store. Then she’d have three shoelaces, one for a backup.

  Reg bent down and picked up the shoelace. She stretched it out in a long line for Starlight, then slowly tugged it around corners and behind the furniture. Starlight’s pupils were big and black. A few times, he attacked it, but mostly he just seemed to like making it slink around. Reg waved and twitched the shoelace, making it undulate down its length like a slithering snake. Starlight watched it, the green and blue of his eyes just barely visible around the huge pools of black pupils.

  He pounced, bit and clawed at it, and then leaped back away so that it couldn’t retaliate. Reg’s heart was pounding hard and fast as she watched the cat attacking the snake. Attack and retreat, attack and retreat.

  She watched the undulations that she herself was causing, almost hypnotized by the movement. It wasn’t real, but she could feel it. The strong muscles that stretched down the length of the snake. Its cool, dry scales. The writhing movement she would feel if she picked it up.

  “Reg?”

  She didn’t look up from the picture of the snake she held in her head. It was so clear. She could reach out and touch it. Reg reached out her hand, but couldn’t quite reach it. It was an illusion of some sort. It looked and felt so real to her. It was there. In another plane. In another reality. She knew that snake was real.

  “Reg Rawlins, is everything all right?”

  She blinked her eyes, trying to reset her brain. She needed to stay in the physical world around her. It wouldn’t do to disappear into a trance while she had company. Though she couldn’t think of a reason Etienne couldn’t take care of himself.

  “Etienne…?” The shape of the word was strange in her mouth, like she’d never said it aloud before. Reg shook her head and tried again. It didn’t sound right. Not crisp enough. Like her tongue was too slow. That was what she got for being mesmerized by a shoelace. She made a fool of herself in front of her guest. She’d never had a real guest in her cottage before. Not an out-of-town guest. Well, except for Norma Jean, but there was no way Reg would have even considered letting Norma Jean stay there any longer than it took to ask. She saw her on her way. But she really didn’t have a place for Etienne. There was a spare room, but it was set up as an office; there was no bed. There was no pull-out, and Reg could see that the wicker couch would be a big fat “no” for the Sasquatch.

  Etienne’s hand was on her arm. Big, warm fingers. Gentle. But he was also asking questions, and Reg couldn’t answer any questions.

  “No. It’s fine. Finish your call.”

  “My call with James is done. Do you need to do something now? You are very white.”

  “I’m a redhead. I’m a
lways white unless I’m burned, and then I’m red.”

  “You are white.”

  Reg closed her eyes, concentrating again on the picture of the snake. She needed to catch it. To make a full examination.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Do you need to lie down?”

  Reg shook off the questions. “Everything is fine.”

  “Should I get you some tea? Coffee?”

  She wasn’t looking at the man, but could feel him moving around, figuring out what to do.

  “I don’t want tea or coffee,” Reg snapped, her voice an explosion. “I want the snake!”

  The room fell utterly silent. The tuxedo cat had been stalking and chasing the shoelace, but he froze and looked at her. The TV program had been playing, but it shut off. She hoped she hadn’t damaged it beyond repair. She didn’t like having to get rid of broken things.

  The large, hairy man stared at Reg, looking concerned. He didn’t offer tea again, but he was probably trying to think of something else he could do for her. But the truth was, Reg wanted to be left alone to figure things out. What was she going to do? How was she going to get that snake? She would have to stay and make the guest feel comfortable, but all she wanted to do was fulfill her quest.

  “What snake?”

  Reg ground her teeth in frustration. Couldn’t she get anyone around her who was competent? Did they all have to be such dunces?

  “I need the snake I saw,” she told him through gritted teeth. “It’s like that,” she pointed to the shoelace. “I could see it just now…”

  “You are not feeling well,” the man suggested.

  “I’m feeling fine. Stop saying there is anything wrong with me. I just need some space. I need to figure this out. I saw the snake…” She struggled to finish the sentence. “Before. In my dream. I was looking for it in my dream. And I found it, but it was in…” She grasped for it, trying to remember where she had seen the image before.