by Pamela Davis
Mrs. Philpott sighed heavily.
Hickman, Kentucky, at Dorena-Hickman Ferry
Janine could feel the sharp thread of fear that ran through the horses near her as they watched the rolling waters of the Mississippi flow by. This is more than a creek or stream, she thought, having crossed numerous ones on the way here. This is big. The horse leader had told them all about the Ferry, how they would cross the river on it, over to the Missouri side of the river, but it didn't look so simple now they were here.
As she gazed across the river, Janine could see the ferry moving toward her. Feathers, the dark gray mare she was currently riding--and who, she wondered, ever gave that name to this big, solid horse?-- whinnied, and Janine laughed, hearing a jumbled explanation involving a small child and the small size of Feathers when she was young. The child had named her Feathers, saying she knew she would be light as a feather when she ran, and Janine had to agree her gait was magnificent. Feathers continued speaking to Janine, telling her there were friends on board the ferry who were there to help. And then Janine froze in shock as Feathers explained to her that they had animals they talked to as well! How amazing! Evidently Feathers thought so, too, as she bobbed her head up and down in agreement.
The ferry pulled up to the dock, but the horses did not surge forward. Andy stepped onto the landing area, in awe of the sea of horses before him. They were everywhere! Then he spotted a horse with a rider, and as they came toward him, he was struck by the grace of the girl atop the large horse. They seemed like one being, some kind of centaur or something. He noticed she used no saddle at all. And she looked so young! Her dark hair floated around small shoulders and a delicate-looking perfect face, and her clothes were travel-stained. She smiled shyly as he approached.
"Hello!" he called out. "We're here to get you across the river."
"My name is Janine and this is Feathers. I don't think we're all going to fit on that boat."
"Well, Janine, my name is Andy and we're just going to have to make more than one trip. Uh, you can talk to these horses, right?"
Janine laughed delightedly. "More like they talk to me, but yeah, we can communicate. Isn't it the coolest thing?"
Andy smiled. "It sure is. I have a dog--Waldo--and I'm still kind of blown away by all this."
"Are you driving the boat?"
"No," Andy replied. "There is a captain of the ferry who will get us across, but he's not--" He stopped and realized they didn't have words for all that was happening. "Well, he's not 'one of us' I guess you could say. He isn't talking to any animals and I'm not sure how he will react to the horses, but we'll manage."
At that moment, a loud argument was heard coming from the ferry wheelhouse. "Now listen here, little lady. You never said there were so many of them! You just said, 'take us across the river' all nice and pretty--you never said there were hundreds of horses!"
"I don't care if there are hundreds of rabbits, or cows, or elephants--you are going to take them across this river, and you're going to keep doing it until I say stop!" The final words rose rapidly in volume at the end.
Janine was looking worried as Andy reached out to give her a hand dismounting, and then stopping as he watched her jump lightly to the ground. "Uh, that's just Lisanne, a...friend of mine talking to the captain. Don't worry. Let's just start moving these horses onto the ferry. It's not like he's never seen a horse before. This ferry takes horses and riders--he's just concerned because this was supposed to be the last trip of the night."
"What'll we do if he refuses to come back for the ones that won't fit on the ferry this trip?"
"We'll manage. Or rather, Lisanne will manage. She's pretty formidable when she gets going with all the yelling and screaming. And she's prepared to do what it takes."
As Janine walked with the lead horses onto the ferry, she saw a pretty young woman wearing lots of leather with spiky black hair pop out of the wheelhouse.
"Ooh, they're beautiful!" Lisanne crooned as she watched the horses load.
Janine turned to Andy. "That's your formidable leader who'll keep the captain in line?" she asked in disbelief. "She's hardly bigger than me, and I'm only 16! And she's cute! She didn't sound cute."
"Believe me, size and cuteness don't matter when it comes to Lisanne. She can be a bigger pain in the--well, let's just say that she can handle the captain."
"Whatever you say," Janine said dubiously, before returning to get another group of horses ready to go.
Cape Fair, the Samuels' House
"Mom! Dad, I'm so glad you got here finally," Jessica said as she hugged both her parents. John stood next to her, smiling. "Samantha is going to be so excited to see you both," Jessica continued. "Now come on in and let's get your suitcases into your room and then we can get some food and drink into you. You know, I would have come to the airport to get you."
"Well, now, we felt like taking the drive, so we just rented a car, honey," her father replied.
As they turned to head into the house, they saw Mrs. Philpott come running up the lane, waving something in her hand.
"Now what is she up to?" John said. "For a gal her age, she can really move when wants to!"
Jessica frowned at him. "John, you're terrible."
As Mrs. Philpott reached them, she bent over a bit, taking deep breaths. "Whew!" she said, straightening up. "I'm out of shape. Here it is--you have to watch this," she said while handing over a videotape to John.
"What is this?"
"A tape of the news that just aired. You need to watch this right now!"
Jessica interrupted. "Mrs. Philpott? Can we wait just a minute? These are my parents and they just arrived. I'd like you to meet Abby and Clayton Ames."
Her father stuck out his hand to Mrs. Philpott. "Just call me Clay. Everyone does."
Abby laughed, saying, "Everyone does because he hates the name Clayton!" She shook Mrs. Philpott's hand. "And I'm Abby, Jessica's mother. It's nice to meet you. That must be some important videotape."
"Oh, yes, well, er, yes, it is--or not, not really. Just the news, you know, probably not as important as I make it out to be, er, nice to meet you both." Mrs. Philpott faltered to a stop.
John took a deep breath, and motioned everyone to the front door. "Let's get inside and get you all settled and then we can sit down and watch this tape. I'm sure Gracie and Rachel will be interested in it too."
"Gracie and Rachel are here as well? What's going on, John?" Abby asked.
He sighed. "Important things, world-shaking events, changes you won't even believe. Other than that, just a little family reunion." And he refused to answer any more questions.
Dorena's Landing, Missouri
Merlin sat on top of the Mustang--the car, not the horse--and watched as Waldo ran happily around groups of horses as they munched on what grass they could find. That dog! Acting like a puppy all slobbering and rambunctious over a bunch of horses. The things a cat has to put up with these days, he thought sullenly. Just because they're big, horses think they can do what they want. Hmphf! He narrowed his eyes and hissed as a young Appaloosa colt scampered near the car. Better watch it, you dumb horse! Lisanne will kill you if you mess with her car.
The colt slid to a stop before bumping the car and looked questioningly at the cat.
Oh, so you can hear me? Well, well, well...this has possibilities!
"Merlin," Lisanne yelled to him. "Be nice to the horses!"
Yeah, be nice to the horses. I'd be more than happy to be nice to the horses if there weren't so goddanged many of them, he thought. He turned away from the colt to watch Janine as she stood in front of a rearing bay-colored stallion. You have to give the kid credit, she shows no fear. Yes, that stallion was the one that got skittish on the way over the river on the last trip across. From the sound of it, even the ferry captain got a little skittish on that ride.
"That's right. You'd better pay me extra, little lady, 'cause we nearly had an accident that last time. Didn't I tell you the currents were act
ing funny? But no, you just had to have your way. And you're lucky I don't call the cops right now to arrest you with your big fancy pistol there."
"Come on, Cap'n Joe, you know I'd never have shot you. You just needed to get your courage up to go across one last time. We're friends, right?" Lisanne said as she put her arm through the ferry captain's. "Now you can see what a good deed you did here. These horses have somewhere to go and that river out there is going to get even weirder tonight and tomorrow. And then you'd better look out because there's going to be one mother of a flood."
"A flood? It ain't been raining or nothing, and the spring thaw wasn't so much this year. There won't be a flood."
"And I'm telling you there will be. You oughta listen to me, Cap'n Joe. In fact, you should come with us because it's going to get dangerous around here."
"Just where are you all headed?"
"Cape Fair."
"They got a big river in Cape Fair?"
"Well, uh, I don't know. I think they have water, a lake or something, but I honestly don't know."
"If they don't have a big honkin' river like this here Mississippi, I ain't going nowhere. Besides, you're a landlubber. You don't know squat about the river and when it floods."
"Look, you idiot. You're the one who said the currents were acting funny. I'm just trying to save your life and this is the thanks I get?" Lisanne started to stalk away angrily, but then turned back. "Just remember, if you can make it, we'll be in Cape Fair. I'm sure there'll be lots to do there besides working on a ferry. Take care of yourself."
Captain Joe shook his head and went back to securing the ferry for the night. What a crazy couple of hours this had been! These people with all their horses--crazy!
Cape Fair, the Samuels' House
Samantha snuggled into Grandma Abby's lap watching a lady named Margaret on the TV. She'd only gotten a small sense of Margaret for the first time today. She looked like a desert princess, Sam thought. She yawned. The spaghetti and garlic bread, and ice cream for dessert, had filled up her tummy and now she just felt like going to sleep, but she knew there were going to be lots of questions tonight. All her grandparents were watching the news report about the dreams, but she could tell they thought it was some kind of a joke. Her mom and dad, on the other hand, and Mrs. Philpott, just looked grim. Yeah, they were thinking about the coming flood, all those dead people. Sam sighed.
"Are you okay, Sam?" Grandma Abby asked. Before she could reply, Abby said to Jessica, "I don't know if we should be letting her watch this. It might give her bad dreams."
John, Jessica and Mrs. Philpott all looked stunned for a minute; then seemingly against their will, they all started to giggle. John said, "Give her bad dreams? Bad dreams? You don't know--" and then he broke up laughing.
"John, really," Abby replied. "She's just a child and we have to protect children from scary things. I'm surprised at you." She looked at the three laughing adults. "What in the world is going on with all of you? I'm serious!"
As Jessica wiped tears from her eyes, her laughter faded and her expression was one of resignation. "Sorry, Mom. We know you're serious. You just don't know what has been going on here. Samantha already has bad dreams. Bad dreams is an understatement of what she has. She has the dreams, the ones that Margaret person was talking about on TV just now. Sam has already dreamed about the flood of the Mississippi. So when you said it might give her bad dreams, well, it was just so weird in a funny way...."
Gracie spoke up. "Samantha has those dreams? What does this mean? I thought that news report was some kind of joke. Are you saying its true?"
"Of course it's not true, Mother!" interjected Rachel. "People can't have dreams of the future, psychic dreams. That's all just nonsense."
"Oh, dear," murmured Mrs. Philpott.
Harry had come to sit next to Samantha and now stood with her as she got to her feet and walked to the center of the room. "It's all true, Aunt Rachel. I promise you it is. The dreams are the bad part. They are really, really bad. But there's good stuff too. Like talking to Harry and Perceval." They'd all been introduced to Perceval earlier, a bit surprised at the introduction and that Harry and the cat seemed to get along so well.
"Talking to animals? Oh, my God, Jessica, what has been going on here? What have you done to my granddaughter?" cried Abby.
"Mom--" Jessica began. Then Mrs. Philpott cleared her throat and said, "I think it's time for everyone to settle down and sit back and just listen for a while. I'll try to explain." And moving a laptop computer to the floor next to Perceval, she began to lecture to some bewildered relatives. "It all started about two to three weeks ago, before the L.A. quake...."
Somewhere between St. Louis and Cape Fair, Missouri
Nathan heard the two-way radio start squawking, and Alex's voice came over the speaker. "Big Nate, come in, Big Nate, this is Yo Mama, over."
He groaned. Every few miles Alex wanted to talk. They'd decided to get the two-way radios since they were each driving a U-Haul truck. Alex was completely enamored with them. Her 'handle' was actually Yo-Yo Mama, since she was a huge fan of the cello player, but every time she said it, she cracked up laughing, hence the Yo Mama currently in play.
"What is it, Alex, over."
"You're supposed to call me Yo Mama, Big Nate--but I'll forgive you this once. Let's stop for food in the next town. I'm starving. Over."
"I told you my sister will have food, if she's home. It's only a couple more hours, can't you wait?"
"You forgot to say over, Big Nate. No, I can't wait and besides--" She paused, and then resumed sheepishly. "It's just that I want fast food. I mean it may be the last fast food on earth! Ever think of that? I want Taco Bell and a Big Mac and fries from Mickey D's. I want a giant coke. And a fried apple pie. Fast food, Big Nate. Come on, you know you want it! Over."
Nathan wondered if she was right. Was it the end of fast food? The end of the American society he'd grown up in? During their shopping trip, they'd stopped and watched the news at an appliance store. The report of the dreams had astonished him, even with his and Alex's experiences. The way the report ended so abruptly made him think that the network had yanked it off the air at the end. But word had gotten out. Within an hour of the telecast, he and Alex had noticed a sharp increase in the stores of people buying supplies. And the roads were insane with traffic. They were on back roads now, which were a little better.
He understood Alex's need for fast food. Of course, in Africa they'd had no access to any, and in the course of shopping, they both had come up with so many things they wanted to buy. Useful items, luxury items. Things that might disappear from life if society broke down all at once. As it looked like it might do. Take the two-way radios. They were definitely a useful item. But they ran on batteries. What happens when the batteries are dead and nobody is manufacturing them? They'd bought rechargeable batteries, but still, at some point they'd wear out. What then? And they needed electricity to recharge. How were they going to keep the electricity on in Cape Fair? Nathan sincerely hoped someone there had already figured out the electricity problem. Because so much more was possible in terms of survival if they had electricity. Without it--without it, he thought grimly, they'd be back a hundred maybe even two hundred years in technology. Not good. But that assumed they would all be alive to use the technology. He had his doubts about that.
"Hey, good buddy, you doze off or something? I want fast food! Over."
"Right, Yo Mama, let's go into this next town, Conway. I just saw a sign for Mickey D's there. Your wish can be granted. Over."
He heard excited laughter over the radio. Yes to fast food, yes to technology and lights and hot showers. How the hell would they hang on to all of it? Any of it?
Cape Fair, the Samuels' House
Sam looked around the room. Aunt Rachel was white as a sheet; her hair all messed up from running her shaking fingers through it over and over. Daddy was sitting next to her, trying to talk to her, but it looked like Aunt Rachel was in sho
ck or something. Grandma Gracie, well, she was supposed to just call her Gracie, but she never remembered--Grandma Gracie was the calmest person, just sitting there thinking. Mrs. Philpott was quiet after talking for a long time, drinking her tea and looking curiously at Grandma Gracie. Grandpa was really excited. He was sitting on the floor between Harry and Perceval, watching Perce type on the computer, and he kept laughing and petting both of them enthusiastically. She smiled watching him. For a veterinarian like Grandpa, this was the most amazing thing he ever saw in a million years. Grandma Abby was worried, on the phone trying to call Uncle Nathan, but it didn't sound like she could find him over there in Africa. Mom was trying to tell her she was sure he'd be okay. Samantha laughed to herself. Boy, were they in for a big surprise!
She tiptoed out of the room and headed for the front door. She wanted to greet their next visitors by herself. Sam opened the front door. "Hello Black and White. I'm Sam."
Black stood looking down at her with the owl on his shoulder. His smile was like moonrise on a black night, slowly spreading across his face. "So. You're the one," he said in satisfaction.
Sam nodded. "And you're the Protector. Come on in." Fitting her small hand into his large one, she walked him through the house into the den. "More company, Mom," she announced. "Meet Black and White."
"Oh, my," said Mrs. Philpott into the suddenly quiet room.
Sonoran Desert, Arizona
Maria was still spitting mad and even Cleo the cat didn't want to go near her. Phoebe was in the kitchen making grilled cheese sandwiches for them for dinner. It helped her to stay busy and try not to think. Zack and Margaret were looking at a large map of the U.S.
Zack was a bit bemused by Margaret. She was attractive in a striking, exotic way, but the more he talked to her, the more he lost awareness of that beauty as he saw how absolutely ruthless she was. She seemed totally focused on two things--saving people if it was possible, but not appearing to believe it was. And mostly focused on bettering her communication with the planet. Nothing else mattered to her. Within a minute of Maria's pouting about the network cutting her report short, Margaret walked away from her, uninterested. Zack knew Maria was taking it so hard because she had seen so much death. She wanted the news network and everyone listening to believe her about the flood and was terrified no one would leave the area. Margaret, on the other hand, seemed to just shrug and move on. Like she expected it.