by Pamela Davis
At the mention of the dreams, Zack looked startled and now said, "What dreams?"
Margaret looked at him intently for a moment and then smiled sadly, "Oh, so you know what I'm talking about, Zack. You've been having the dreams too."
Maria glanced back and forth between them and asked, "What's going on? What do you mean?"
"Your next on-air assignment, Maria," Margaret said. "You're going to tell the world how some people have started having dreams about the disasters before they happen and how those dreams are coming true. It's the only way we can hope to save anyone. The people having dreams will perhaps get to places of safety."
Zack's face paled as he said, "But the dream last night--that means--oh, my god! The flood!"
"Yes," Margaret said, pulling her fingers through her hair as if to yank it out of her head. "Yes, it's true. That flood is going to happen--and soon."
Maria stood up again, saying, "Now just hold on! Dreams? Psychic dreams? Is that what we're talking about here? And we're just supposed to believe you, right? I think we all need to just step back a minute and think about what's being said. This is nuts!" She stood face to face with Margaret, pointing a finger at her chest and said, "Where are you getting your information? What 'voice of God' is telling you that all this is connected? Why should we believe you?"
Margaret took a deep breath and said calmly, "It's not a voice of God. It's the voice of the Earth, of the planet itself." At Maria's skeptical look, Margaret smiled and said, "I see you are going to need more evidence than just my say-so. Hmmm, would this help?" And with that, she made a clicking sound with her tongue against her teeth, as if, Maria thought, she were calling an animal.
A large tabby cat walked into the room and jumped up into Margaret's arms. "I believe you know who this is, Maria," Margaret said, smiling broadly. "That voice of the planet I was talking about just now? Well, it led this cat to me, knowing that you would eventually be here, to be reunited."
Tears streamed from Maria's eyes as she gathered the cat in her arms and said reverently, "Cleo!"
Zack said softly, "Impressive!"
The Train, Between Chicago and St. Louis
"You'd think since we got money out of the ATM from both our accounts we could have afforded better accommodations," griped Alex.
Nathan sighed. Alex appeared to be recovering from the effects of the dreams of last night and her psychic premonition about the airplane this morning, and was getting back to her old self. "Like I tried to tell you before--the train's first class compartments were all full so we had to take what we could get, which were these coach seats, or whatever they call them on a train." He continued, "It's not for that long, only six hours to St. Louis, and then we can rent a car and drive the rest of the way."
As Nathan unfolded a map of Missouri he'd bought at the train station, Alex stated, "I'm doing the driving. If you drive, it'll take us forever to get there!"
Nathan groaned and then pointed to the map and said, "Look, I think we need to take a route that gets us clear of the river as soon as possible. We don't know when the flooding will start, but we know we want to be as far away from it as possible."
"Yeah," she replied, "definitely need to be out of the vicinity when that begins." She leaned back in her seat and then said tentatively, "Nathan?"
"Hmm?" he replied, calculating distances on the map.
"You know I didn't really make the pilot land the plane, right?"
Nathan turned to look at her and said, "Alex, we've been over this--at the airport we found out that all those planes were called back, landing wherever the nearest airport was, because of all the others that went down. It wasn't you."
"Yeah, I guess so." She paused, and then said, "So you don't think I had anything to do with those planes crashing, do you?"
Nathan looked completely surprised. He wanted to shake her, because, really, sometimes she could be...but then, looking at her more closely, he saw the fear in her eyes. "No, Alex," he said distinctly, "you were not the cause. You just had a feeling about it--like the dream. That's all it was. You did not cause it."
She seemed to relax a bit and said, "Okay, I was just checking. It's kind of a weird situation we're in, you know. Sometimes, well, it's a little hard to figure out just what the hell is going on!" she finished up defiantly.
Nathan laughed shortly and said, "A little hard to figure out? I'd say we're way outside the range of normal here, heading into the realm of bizarre and having jumped right over strange in the process."
"Yeah, bizarre," said Alex, leaning back in her seat. "You figure out the map. I'm going to sleep." And placing her baseball cap over her face, she appeared to do just that.
Jonesboro, Arkansas
Andy was nervous. As he strode toward the camper truck with Lisanne hanging on his arm, he wondered for the umpteenth time why he'd gone along with this charade. Army boots, khakis and aviator sunglasses weren't enough to convince this guy they were meeting he was the real thing and Andy knew it. He stopped and pulled Lisanne close to him.
"What are you doing?" she whispered.
"I think we should call this off--turn around and get the hell out of here," he said.
"We can't now, look, no--" She grabbed his face and reached up to suddenly kiss him.
As Andy's world tilted slightly, he saw the door of the camper opening out of the corner of his eye. Lisanne's lips released his and whispered, "See? It's too late now. You can do this--just be your dad."
Just be my dad? Andy's emotions dove for cover as Lisanne draped herself over his arm, pressing close. Her scent and the pressure of her lithe body next to his banished all other thought. He watched the approach of the camper owner and decided that more than anything he wanted out of here. Marching forward, he raised a hand and said, "Name's Andy. Heard you might be able to help me out."
The man standing by the camper was dressed in all black. A face worn by sun and wind and dark as black ink showed no expression. Deep set eyes swept over Lisanne at a glance and settled on Andy. Full lips parted over bright white teeth and a voice like a scratchy record said, "Does she have to be here?"
Andy returned the man's stare, and said only, "Yes."
The man shook his head, then said, "Well, come on over here then," and opened up the back door of the camper.
Lisanne and Andy moved to the camper and for the next half hour purchased more weapons than either of them would have thought possible. As they progressed from one crate to the next, it became more and more clear they didn't have a clue about the weapons they were buying. And as the minutes passed, Lisanne felt her anxiety rising as this stranger helpfully showed them how to operate each type of gun, from cleaning to loading to firing. Something was not right, and Lisanne was regretting with every passing breath the need to have Merlin in the car instead of by her side. Who was this oh-so-helpful black market gun merchant?
Finally, she couldn't take any more. Picking up the latest gun they had been shown how to operate, she stepped away from both men and said, "Okay, just who the hell are you? FBI? ATF? What?"
Andy spun around and stared at her, thinking she'd lost her mind. "What are you doing, Lisanne?" he asked.
"I'm asking a question," she replied. "Who is this guy? Why is he being so helpful? Just what's going on here? I think we need some answers before we go paying for all this. How do we know we aren't about to be arrested and thrown in jail?"
Andy's mouth fell open and then snapped shut in a grim line as he turned to face the man who stood at the door casually loading a Colt .45 while watching his two young buyers.
"I wondered if you two would worry about that," he said. "As for who I am, I don't think names are all that important. Just call me--Black. What is important is that you need to finish here and get on the road if you're going to meet with someone up north--am I right? What with the flood coming and all that."
Lisanne and Andy just stared at him for what felt to Lisanne to be a full few minutes. Then she became aware that
she was hearing the low sound of chuckling coming from the man who called himself Black. The weight of the gun in her own hand brought her back to reality enough to put the gun down and narrow her eyes and start looking around the camper.
Andy said, "What are you doing, Lisanne?"
"I'm looking for a cat or a dog or a--a--a lizard, or I don't know what animal it is, but I bet there's one here." She turned back to the man in black and asked, "Am I right?"
He just whistled, and a snowy white owl flew by them to sit on the shoulder of the man. "This is White," he said.
Cape Fair, Mrs. Philpott's House
Mrs. Philpott sat in the rocking chair by her window, clipboard on her lap forgotten, while Jessica told her of the conversation with Sam. She understood Jessica's distress, but knew there was a lot at stake. Samantha might be a key factor to their survival.
"Jessica," she said in her no-nonsense tone of voice, "you were only caught up in the moment and in the surprise of hearing news that was somewhat astonishing. And Samantha does have a child's way of blithely dropping these momentous announcements on us all."
"But--" Jessica began.
"Wait," Mrs. Philpott continued, "on top of that, you have to understand that Sam is not a normal six-year old girl--not anymore."
She paused and wondered how much to say. Perceval's discussions with her about Samantha's role in their future were only speculation.
She met Jessica's troubled gaze. "I know that's hard for you to accept. Samantha is your little girl. But it's clear to everyone that Sam has a depth of knowledge about what's going on. Her ability to communicate with the animals is profound. She seems capable of seeing the future in ways that the adults can't--at least not yet. We don't know what her ultimate role in all this will be."
"I'm still her mother," Jessica said, "and I'm not going to let her be used to see the future in the way it happened today. You weren't there. You didn't see what it did to her. It was like she was there instead of here. I'm afraid if I hadn't been there she wouldn't have come back."
Mrs. Philpott's brow furrowed as her eyes narrowed in thought. This was not something Perceval had mentioned. Removing her glasses, she rubbed her eyes and said slowly, "Obviously, we must protect Samantha in the days to come--first, because she is a precious child in her own right. But perhaps even more important are her abilities and contributions. There may be times when we'll need to rely on her information, on her abilities. But I promise you that none of us will take advantage of her. It sounds like you stumbled across something today with her.
"As you know, those of us who have the dreams really feel like we are there. I should know. I've felt that drowning sensation before myself in the dreams. But waking up brings you out of it. I've never tried to look at the future in the way Sam did today. It sounds like she tried going into some kind of dream state or trance state. Accessing the consciousness where all of this is coming from.
"It may be that anyone who has a connection with an animal could do what Samantha did, or it might only be Sam. She has the strongest ability with the animals. Were you aware that she can communicate with anyone's animal in our community?"
Jessica looked surprised. "No, I didn't know that. How did you find out--oh, did Perceval tell you?"
"Yes, he did," Mrs. Philpott answered. "Even he was surprised. Regardless of that, this all makes me think we have to start exploring these new abilities. Finding out what the limits are, what new talents are there that we may not be aware of yet. Because we don't want to wear down Samantha, you're right about that."
Mrs. Philpott rocked quietly, thinking about the future, the bits and pieces of it that she knew, the vast amount unknown. Things were changing in ways uncountable. The world they were all so familiar with would soon be gone. Then what? Would they know how to survive? Could they adapt? Learn to? Unknown.
Looking at Jessica sitting hunched over in worry, Mrs. Philpott asked somewhat sternly, "And as Samantha's mother, are you ready to guard her? From all of us who would try to use her up or wear her down? Will you keep her safe while still letting her use her talents and abilities? Because those are also a part of who she is now, who she has become, is becoming."
Startled, Jessica looked up into serious, pale blue eyes that questioned her.
"I will protect her with my life," Jessica declared, "She's my daughter and I won't let her be hurt by this. No matter what she becomes, she's still my daughter and I will keep her safe."
And as she spoke those words, Jessica felt she was entering into a covenant, that this conversation, this declaration by her as Samantha's guardian, was of great import. It was as if she was in some fairy tale of old, and the wise old wizard was handing down a challenge, a charge to her to accept. Accepting meant more than being just "Sam's mom."
Jessica's eyes opened wide, and then she whispered, "You really are the wizard, aren't you?"
Mrs. Philpott sat back in her chair and sighed. "We are all becoming, my dear. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Maybe you should spend some time with your trees soon."
Ignoring Jessica's astonished face, she picked up her clipboard and made up a list of herbs for Harmony to locate tomorrow.
Chapter 9
On the outskirts of St. Louis, Missouri
The one-sided argument continued from the train station to the cab to the gas station that rented trucks to the shopping mall where Alex finally parked the truck.
Nathan began again. "How many times do I have to remind you that getting away from the flood plain was the goal here?"
Alex yanked the keys out of the ignition.
Precisely enunciating each word, she said, "And for the last time, the plans have changed."
Nathan reached across her body and grasped her door handle. "Just wait, Alex," he said. "Can't we take a minute to talk? You haven't explained anything! You hauled ass out of the train station muttering something about getting a truck and I've been running to keep up since--and I think you can at least tell me what the heck is going on."
Alex took a deep breath and then instead of yelling at him like he thought she would, she leaned back against the seat and blew out the air through her mouth. Settling her baseball cap more snugly on her head and adjusting her ever-present braid, she motioned him away from the door.
"Okay, okay, I'll tell you," she said.
"Finally!" he said throwing his hands in the air.
Alex laughed a bit wildly, and then, her laughing ending abruptly, her voice turned serious and quiet and she started, "When I was asleep on the train, I had a dream."
"Uh, oh," Nathan said. "Why didn't you tell me right away?"
Alex frowned at him and said, "I almost felt like I was still in the dream until just now. I was doing what I needed to do based on what the dream told me, like I had to do it. You know when you reached across me for the door? You brushed against me? When you touched me I kind of, I don't know, came to or something. Like I hadn't been completely awake until then. You hadn't touched me, nobody had, until then."
A few moments of silence passed as Nathan thought of Alex driving him across St. Louis in a state of sleep. After promising himself a good stiff drink at some point in the day, he said, "Okay, new rule: whenever we wake up, either one of us, from a nap or in the morning, we each make sure we have made physical contact. This dream thing is too weird! You're saying you were under some kind of compulsion?"
"I guess," Alex said. "It was just that in the dream I got information."
"What information?" asked Nathan.
"That we should bring supplies with us to where we're going," Alex replied.
"Supplies?"
"Yeah," Alex answered dreamily, "a whole list of supplies, so I would need a truck, so I had to get a truck...." Her voice trailed off.
"Alexandra!" Nathan said and started to shake her roughly back and forth.
"Hey! Stop that--what are you doing?" Alex said.
"You sounded like you were drifting off when you talked about the list
of supplies and the truck, when you described what we needed to get, your voice sounded all spaced out. I thought you were back in dreamland."
"Oh," Alex said. "Well, your shaking me to death seems to have woken me right up." She grimaced and Nathan grinned unapologetically at her.
She continued, "Anyway, I don't know where the info came from, but I think the people in this safe zone we're heading for assume they will eventually be cut off. So they're asking us to bring supplies with us. And I figured a mall like this with a couple of big discount stores would be the fastest way to fill up the truck so we could get out of here."
"Is it just regular survivalist-type gear? Whatever that would be," Nathan wondered.
"No, at least, not all of it. There are a lot of really specific things. A lot of seeds, medical supplies, and yeah, batteries and stuff, but then there's some pretty weird stuff too. Like stuff for animals."
Nathan said, "Well, you'd expect them to have farm animals."
"Uh, no, I mean things to do with the care of cats and dogs and birds."
Alex just nodded in reply to Nathan's raised eyebrows.
She added, "And what do they need electronic parts and computer equipment for? If the world as we know it is ending and we aren't going to have electricity, how would we use computers?"
"What?" Nathan exploded.
"I know," Alex nodded sagely, "I think you and I still don't have as much of the big picture as we thought."
Jonesboro, Arkansas
"Black and White?" Andy asked. "Surely your name really isn't Black."
"No," the man replied, "It's not, but then it probably wouldn't be a good idea for me to be travelling around with a camper full of guns using my real name, now would it?"
Lisanne was staring at the big, snowy white owl in admiration. "That's some bird you've got there--psychic connection?"
Black chuckled again and said, "Well, I don't know if I'd call it psychic. That word seems a bit mild for what's going on. Let's just say that White and I have a connection."