No Road Out

by M. J. Konkel

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  After Anne and Ron caught up to them, they let the cows calm down before getting them back on the trail. The group made Lonnie and his friends lead in the front. There were no further incidents on the way to Ridgeback. The five remaining cows were guided through a narrow walking lane between the tankers and over the bridge, and then paraded down the road to the dock. One cow happened to stray off the path right in front of Ron Lasgaard's camper before Anne shooed her back on the road.

  “What the hell is all the noise when I am trying to take a nap? Can't you damn kids keep those stupid animals quiet?” Ron Lasgaard loudly complained. Intent on scolding the kids further, he stepped down out of his camper and right into a recently deposited thick gloppy pie.

  Anne smiled and patted the side of the cow as she guided her back to the road.

  Chapter 26

  Easter came. No one had any Easter candy, but parents could get plenty of regular candy that they wrapped in colored paper and put into baskets for the younger children. There also were not enough eggs to have an Easter egg hunt, but there were special games for the children after all the masses were over. Karen and Joe watched as Robbie and James found their baskets under their beds.

  James asked, “Does this mean the dinosaurs didn't get the Easter Bunny?”

  Karen asked, “Why do you ask that, Sweetie?” She glanced at Robbie who was staying quiet, listening. She was pretty sure he didn't believe the Easter Bunny was real, but he wasn't going to say so because he still wanted his basket of candy.

  “Roxy said that the Easter Bunny was eaten by the dinosaurs and wasn't coming this year,” James explained.

  “No way!” Joe helped. “Roxy doesn't know what she is talking about. The Easter Bunny is way too fast and too smart for those dinosaurs. He is real quiet too.”

  “He is?” James asked.

  “Oh yeah! They will never catch the Easter Bunny.”

  “I thought so,” said James, grinning.

  Robbie finally decided to speak up. “Mommy, where did people come from? I mean the first people.”

  “Well, a long ... long time ago, there were only two people. Their names were Adam and Eve. They had children and their descendants are the people that we know today. Why do you ask?”

  “One of the older boys said that we evolved from the dinosaurs.”

  “That is silly. We did not evolve from dinosaurs. You can’t believe everything that you hear. If you hear something you think sounds fishy, ask your dad or me.”

  “That's what Dad said too, but then he said we evolved from monkeys.” He didn’t seem so sure about Dad’s explanation.

  Karen smiled at Joe. “I was talking about my side of the family and Daddy was talking about his.”

  “What does evolve mean anyway?”

  “Well, that is a really good question, but it will have to wait till later.”

  “Why not now?”

  “Because it is breakfast time,” replied Joe. “Come on. Let's go see if Grandma and Grandpa are ready for the Easter breakfast over in the cafeteria area. I hear that they will be serving hadro steaks.”

  “And hadro eggs too,” added Karen.

  “Are the eggs green?” asked James. “Because if they are and the steaks are like ham, we would be eating green eggs and ham.”

  “I do not like green eggs and ham, Sam I Am,” said Robbie.

  “They are not green, and you will like them, my little Sam I Am,” answered Karen.

  Chapter 27

  It was a warm and sunny Sunday morning as Joe was strolling back from the bridge. There was a report that a freddie had been seen along the shore near the opposite side, and Joe thought he should be there in case it decided to try the bridge. There was little chance that it could get past the parked milk trucks though. The freddie lumbered past and the excitement dissipated.

  As he approached the cafeteria area he was thinking about how warm it was already. It was going to be a very hot day for so early in May.

  “Happy Mother's Day!” Joe heard a little girl telling her grandmother.

  “Oh my God! That's today?” he muttered to himself. As he approached his camper he saw that Robbie and James were out front drawing on the road with stubs of sidewalk chalk that were still left. “Hey boys! Can you do me a favor?” he asked.

  “What type of favor, Daddy?” asked James.

  “Today is Mother's Day so I thought that maybe you two could go and pick some flowers for Mommy. There are a bunch of violets blooming down the road near the boathouses. Do you think that you could do that?”

  “Sure!” the brothers exclaimed in chorus.

  So as Joe went in to wish Karen a Happy Mother's Day, the boys skipped down the road with Nova tagging along.

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  It wasn't long before they came to the violets and started picking a bouquet. They each had a hand full of small purple flowers James was sure mom would like when he spotted some even prettier ones. He called to Robbie, “Hey! Look at those white ones down there. I bet Mom would love those.” They scrambled down to the river bank to gather a few of the flowers he spotted and as he stretched for and grabbed the first one, he lost his balance, tottered for a moment and then fell into the river. The river current was strong and quickly swept him downriver. He managed to grab onto a branch from a fallen tree that still had its trunk on the shore, but the branch, rotted from river water, snapped and he went under.

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  Seeing James fall, Nova raced down to the river bank as fast as he could and leaped in. He paddled downriver, carried by the strong current, until he caught up to James. He bit down on the back of James' shirt collar, holding James' head above water, he started paddling for shore. Meanwhile, the current had carried them past the harbor, and then they were quickly swept past the southern tip of Ridgeback. Nova tried paddling back to the island, but with the fast current and the heavy drag of James, realized he was being swept downriver faster than he was paddling. He turned and started paddling for the eastern river bank. As they got closer to the shore, the current eased. But by that time, they had been carried quite a distance downriver. A loud splash came from a short distance downriver from them and then a second and a third as several large crocodiles who had been sunning themselves on a dark muddy bank noticed their movement. The crocodiles swam in their direction, using large powerful tail strokes. The lead crocodile was closing in on them when they reached the shallows, and James was able to rise to his feet. Nova urged James on, and they both stumbled onto the muddy shore and then climbed up a steep bank. The crocodiles slowed and then waited motionless like dead logs.

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  James sat down and started to whimper, frightened by the ordeal and scared of being out in the wild without his parents. Nova put his paws across his lap and started to lick his face. He put his arms around Nova's neck, and they comforted each other for a few minutes. Although the water was still cold, the air was not, and the bright sun quickly warmed them back up.

  Not too far upriver, he could see Ridgeback. Although he couldn't see it, he knew the bridge was at the northern tip. He should have stayed hidden there in the weeds and brush until help arrived but instead chose to make the trek up to the bridge. He was a lot like his father.

  Nova led the way, scouting ahead of him by a few yards. The retriever kept looking back to make sure he was heading in the right direction and wasn't getting too far in front. They passed over grassy sections and along sandy beaches. Often, they traveled through woods that were now invaded by the swollen river. At one point they waded across a muddy stream that went up to James' knees after sinking another two inches into the muck. The sun was climbing, and it was becoming quite hot. Sweat was flowing down his brow. As they traversed across a short grassy stretch, Nova suddenly froze and hunkered down. James went down to his knees and scooted forward to Nova.

  “What is it, boy?” he whispered.

  Nova couldn't answer him, but he was sniffing the air, and he conveyed dange
r by his posture. James peered through the tall grass at the edge of the woods. Suddenly, he spied a raptorsaur and then two more strutting along the edge of the woods not more than 50 feet away. James and Nova kept very still. Luckily, the wind was blowing lightly from the woods towards them and the river. The dinosaurs looked just like the one that his dad shot at their garage, and the sight of them made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. That earlier incident had given him nightmares ever since. Raptors scared him more than anything. After the raptors passed, heading downriver, he started to breathe again and urged Nova to continue. He felt an urgent need to get as much distance as he could as fast as possible between them and the raptors. Nova seemed to feel the same way as he was leading with a very fast pace.

  After a several minutes they slowed their pace as he was getting a little fatigued, but then he heard leaves rustling behind them and he whipped his head around. Two of the raptors were behind them by no more than a hundred feet. They had come across their scent trail and caught up to him and Nova. He saw movement in the grass. The third was flanking them. There was no way to outrun them. Nova growled and barred his teeth. There was a rocky point jutting out into the river right where they were at. He started backing onto the rocks with Nova, between him and the approaching raptors, growling at them and snapping at them while slowly backing up also. The raptors were cautiously inching closer. He was terrified but trying to think. He could pick up rocks and fling them at the raptors, but he didn't think that that would slow them down much. Maybe he could dive into the water. He didn't know if the raptors could or would swim, but he knew it was better than flinging stones at them. If he jumped in, at least he would have a chance to escape the raptors. The current was strong at the tip of the rocky point and would carry them away fast. He kept backing towards it. Once in the water though, he would be swept downriver again towards the crocodiles that were waiting. Still his chances were better with the crocodiles not noticing him drifting by than with the raptors. He made up his mind. He was getting near to the end of the part of the wing dam that was still above water and was about to jump in, hoping that Nova would follow. The sound of water gurgling and bubbling as it pushed past the rocky point was loud, but there was another faint sound like that of a bumblebee. Then the lead raptor jerked and started to fall. An instant later a shot rang out, then another and then James heard the buzzing sound of a motorboat. The other raptors turned and fled into the woods as he turned to see his dad sitting in the front of the boat, holding a rifle. He started jumping up and down with excitement as the boat slowed to almost a stop, his dad jumped out into waist deep water and pulled the boat safely up to the rocks. His dad scrambled up onto the rocks and grabbed and pulled him into a hug while the driver, Mr. Tascoe, jumped out with his rifle. Mr. Tascoe crept up to the downed raptor and shot it once in the head, making sure it stayed down. Meanwhile, Nova was barking with excitement and wagging his tail.

  “Are you all right? I was so worried about you.” Joe held him by the shoulders.

  “I was so scared. If it wasn't for Nova, I don't know what I would have done. He saved me, Dad. He saved me.”

  “You're all right now.” Joe pulled him into another hug while patting Nova on his head. “Let's go home, Son.”

  Joe and Mr. Tascoe carried the raptor and flung it into the boat while he kept watch. His dad said that despite the ordeal, they weren't going to let good dinosaur meat go to waste. Climbing into the boat, he noticed that he was still clutching the special white flower that he had picked for his mom.

  Chapter 28

  Karen insisted that if they were stuck on the island for a long time, she would need help. June and Ellie committed to studying in their spare time and Karen would provide practical training when she could. Anne also agreed to study as much about medical care as she could and would serve as Karen's assistant. Karen had observed how Anne had cared for Johnny when he was hurt on more than one occasion and thought that she seemed bright, and all her high school teachers vouched for her. An assistant would help ease some of Karen's heavy work load.

  Some of the decisions of the council were to prepare in case the Professor failed or took a long time to succeed, and some were to prepare everyone in case he succeeded soon. The latter was the case when they decided that all the school age children should finish up the school year. Then in mid-May, all the kids had to take final exams to show that they were ready for graduation. Most passed, but those that didn't were tutored for the next two weeks and tested again, passing on their second try. A graduation ceremony was held a few days after that and all the seniors were handed diplomas from Ridgeback High that were printed on a laser printer and signed by Mr. Currents.

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  In late May, Joe took Robbie out fishing for sunfish. Joe thought that it was time that Robbie learned how to fish. Later in the summer, he would start taking James out as well. They took a rowboat out, and Joe paddled downriver a short stretch to where there were some shallow flats around an island. Nova sat in the front of the boat and mostly looked ahead while they were en route. Every so often, the pooch would turn his head back to make sure he and Robbie were still there as if they could mysteriously disappear from the boat. When they got to the spot he intended, Joe put an anchor out to keep them from drifting in the light breeze. He put a worm on the hook, careful not to stick it too hard so that they would stay lively on the hook, and he cast the bait out to the edge of a lily pad field scattered with big white blooms. An occasional bumblebee would came buzzing by pollinating the flowers. He handed the rod to Robbie and soon the float was bobbing and going under. He coached Robbie about when and how to set the hook and cheered him on as he reeled in his first fish. Nova gave a bark of approval. The fish was not very big, about the size of his hand, but they marveled at its beautiful orange belly before putting it in a pail of water. Joe baited the hook again and cast the line out again for Robbie. Typical for sunfish fishing, the time between bites was short and the action was continuous, perfect for a kid's first fishing trip. After an hour, they had about twenty fish in the pail, and they started their return to Ridgeback. The sunfish were not very big, but they would be tasty when pan fried in a little oil. It was a trip that both would always remember fondly.

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  Electric power capacity grew on the island. Solar cells were scavenged from the tops of a couple of houses and from some highway road signs. Three old fashioned wind mills were brought in from some farms. These were hooked up to car alternators and charged up car batteries. Roger Zanzi finished building a paddle wheel that was hooked up to a generator, taking advantage of the steady current that always flowed past the island. All the camper sites already had outlets, so it was easy to plug the new power sources into the grid. People were asked to use no more than one LED light per habitat to read or work by at night since the power was still very limited. A large screen television was set up in the cafeteria area and two movies were shown every night, except during storms, and children's videos were shown during the mornings after breakfast was served. There was an enormous selection of videos to choose from and the problem arose of who got to choose which videos would be played each night. The council decided that the Saturday night videos would be chosen by popular vote. Anyone that wanted to choose a movie for the other days of the week could put their name in a box the night before and two winners were randomly picked in the morning to choose the movies of the day. If people didn’t like the big screen movie, they could always find a portable DVD player playing something more to their interest elsewhere on the island.

  There was no lack of activities to keep everyone busy. There was the primary job of food gathering. Many people enjoyed fishing, and the river was plentiful with many species of fish. This was especially popular for the kids old enough to go down to the bridge or by some of the fallen trees on the east side of the island. Older kids and adults usually went out by boat, kayak or canoe to fish. Many of the men and a some of the women on the island spent a good
deal of time hunting. They quickly learned the habits of the various dinosaurs, how to avoid the dangerous ones and how to hunt the others. A single hadro could provide enough meat to feed everyone on Ridgeback for three days, and they had a particularly appealing flavor. The trouble always was to get the meat carved and transported before the spinos or freddies came. They seemed able to smell fresh blood and a kill often brought them to the scene.

  There was a huge amount of gardening work. One big job was due to the lack of good soil on most of the island. The soil was sandy and thin over the limestone rock that was the backbone of the island, so soil had to be imported from the rich fields lining parts of the banks along the river, and that was hard work. A lot of back-breaking digging and hauling was involved while avoiding the freddies, spinos and raptors. The soil was taken to Ridgeback, and seeds were planted in the raised beds that were built using the soil or in pots. More greenhouses were being constructed as well. Some small apple trees were dug out and transported to their new home on Ridgeback.

  There was time to play too and blow off some steam after the hard work of the day. There were basketball and volleyball games every night after dinner. There were softball games for a while too until too many balls were lost in the river. There were horseshoe tossing pits. There were several pool tables that were brought over to the island but there was no place to house them initially, so they were out in the open and covered with tarps most of the time. They were uncovered in the late part of the day when the sun when wouldn't damage them. Eventually a shack was built to house them to take them out of the sun, and so people could play when the weather was bad. Card games and board games were also popular. Many people were too tired for activities at the end of the day and either went to the cafeteria area to catch a movie or two, or they read a book, or they gossiped with their neighbors and friends. Some people spent the evenings in prayer hoping the good lord would help them find their way home.