The Great Locomotive Chase, 1862

by T. L. B. Wood

  After picking up my shoes, I drove to a small café that served some of my favorite Middle Eastern fare, and we selected a small table on the patio where Kipp could lie unobtrusively. I was a vegetarian by choice but often had to eat meat and other things I don't like to recall in order to survive in harsh times. The stiff corn planks from the early American colony we visited during a time shift still left a bad taste in my mouth. And there was the rancid boiled fish stew that was just shy of qualifying as spoiled... I forced my mind elsewhere.

  The waiter brought me a salad topped with feta cheese and a side of hummus dip and pita bread. I'd ordered a plate of chicken kabobs–without the stick and minus vegetables–which I presented to a delighted Kipp. Fitzhugh ordered the kabobs, too, and we ate in silence, our thoughts curiously unoccupied for the moment. Kipp, curious, sniffed of the humus only to wrinkle his nose in disdain.

  "Who is Philo gonna get to replace Peter if he really follows through with this nonsense of him becoming a traveler?" I asked.

  Fitzhugh shrugged his shoulders and stared out across the street. This particular area was busy at lunchtime, with workers as well as college students either grabbing a bite to eat or taking care of business. The darkening clouds from the west were pushing our way, and I realized we needed to wrap up our party soon.

  "He hasn't said," the old symbiont replied. Cocking his head, he offered, "I know you are skeptical of Peter, and believe me, I understand that. But Petra, he has shown a lot of maturity, I think. You realize that much of the problem I have with his lack of motivation is that he hates the job in the library. It is tedious and boring to him due to his youth. He wants to experience life, not read about it."

  His words rang true with me. I looked down at Kipp, who dropped his lower jaw in his manner of smiling. The thoughts of my partner drifted upward. Had it not been so with me, also? My earlier years were defined by notions that were rambunctious, to say the least. And even though I bridled at being made to work in the research section with Fitzhugh, I handled it better now than if I'd been, say, one hundred years of age.

  "Let's go," I said, standing abruptly. "Those clouds are moving on in, and I want to get Kipp home before the deluge. You know what wet dog smells like," I added, just to provoke my partner.

  "Ha, ha," he replied, giving me a rather powerful nip on the back of my leg. "And I know where you live and when you sleep," he replied, the tone of his thoughts darkly ominous.

  Chapter 3

  "I want you and Kipp to start spending time with Peter and Elani," Philo said, sitting across from me from behind his desk, which was cluttered with papers, folders, unopened mail and pens scattered like toothpicks.

  "Why do you have so many pens?" I asked, truly curious, daring a peek into the mind of an office supply hoarder.

  He frowned and began to gather them together as if he was herding cats. After a few seconds, he plopped them loudly into a coffee mug that I could only hope was empty of liquid. Summer had passed, and September was drawing to an uneventful close.

  Philo went on to explain that the Twelve wanted me and Kipp to take small trips with Peter and Elani, removing them from the collective. The tutoring of novices was usually conducted in such a manner. Even with our policy of not interfering with the thoughts of other symbionts, being in the midst of so many busy symbiont minds posed a challenge to achieve focus and discipline. Peter and Elani needed to develop the ability to be completely in tune with one another despite all outside interference.

  "They are on their way up here for us to talk. We've rented a large SUV and have reservations for you on the coast in Roanoke," he said. "When you get back, we'll arrange another excursion, this time to Chattanooga."

  "Separate rooms, I hope," I said, raising my eyebrows.

  Philo's face assumed that patient expression he wore when he knew I was being deliberately obtuse. Kipp curtailed our game by stepping in and posing the practical question.

  "Why Chattanooga?" Kipp asked, curious but not confrontational.

  "Peter, like you, Petra, has an interest in the American Civil War, and there are two battlefields there. We just thought it would make for a good setting for walking, exploring, and allowing them time to mature." He paused before adding again and unnecessarily, "They are on their way up here now."

  At that moment, there was a polite tap on the door. At Philo's gruff reply, the door slowly opened to reveal Peter and Elani, both of whom I'd not seen for quite some time. Peter, in the guise of promising traveler, looked different somehow. Freed from the confines of the dark library, he seemed much more relaxed and actually exuded a gentle self confidence–not cocky but a pleasant level of self assuredness. He wasn't as tall as Philo but was somewhere over average, with a slender build. Peter's dark hair was thick with a forelock that begged taming like that of a fractious pony. It occurred to me, as it had on my last leaving party, that he was an attractive young man. I hoped he'd put plans for a family, anytime soon, behind him for the time being. He was just under fifty years of age–a baby, really–and I could only suppose he finally told his domineering mother that he planned on following his heart and another direction.

  Elani, on the other hand, was a totally feminine lupine, beautiful to the extreme, with thick gray fur interrupted by blonde long hairs interwoven throughout to give her a shimmering, almost ethereal appearance. She carried her head high and walked with delicate steps that were wolf-like in their soft and careful placement. I knew her to be bright, since she had been Kipp's stellar pupil in English class, but there was the nagging issue of her undying attraction for my partner. I could feel his tension as she entered the room, but it was something he'd have to manage.

  "Petra," Peter said, walking forward to greet me with a formal handshake that seemed kind of funny, considering we knew each other from the library. I stood, however, and allowed him his display of courtesy, knowing he wanted to project a picture of maturity.

  I think, looking back, that moment, carefully crafted by Philo, was important. Peter and I needed to reset our relationship as well as did Kipp and Elani. I was not longer a fellow researcher, stealing comical glances at Peter behind Fitzhugh's back when the old symbiont would utter some silly nonsense based upon an unbending and subjective set of rules. And Kipp was not the English teacher facing an eager class of fresh-faced lupines. We had, the four of us, become collaborators and team members. Peter and Elani would have to trust us completely as would we they.

  Elani, for her part, moved forward tentatively, touching noses with Kipp, who stood upon her approach. With only a fleeting eye contact having been made, the two lupines circled, trampling an imaginary bed of sticks and leaves, before thumping down on the industrial carpet flooring, a polite distance between the two.

  Kipp, unheard by the others, addressed me. "Petra, this is pretty uncomfortable." He rolled his expressive eyes slightly in their sockets. "I did have a talk with Elani and set the notion that we are professional collaborators and nothing else." He looked at her from the corners of his eyes. "I'm not sure she's okay yet."

  "Well, she still thinks you are as cute as a button, so there's work still to be done." I couldn't help but gently tease him, given his anxiety.

  * * *

  I wrapped up a few business issues, and at week's end, we were ready to go. The weather remained nice as we entered October. The trees were still clad in green with only a lover's promise of beautiful things to come. Peter, to maximize efficiency, picked us up at my house; I sat in the front with him and suggested the original route that Kipp and I had taken to try and capture the feel of the area that once comprised Land's Point Colony. Philo suggested that as a starting place since Kipp and I had such strong associations to the location where we engaged in our first fact finding trip as a duo. Peter proved to be a surprisingly skillful driver and moved the vehicle along at a brisk pace, occasionally letting the speedometer edge up past the speed limit before catching himself. Looking over at me, he grinned.

  "I tend to
have a heavy foot," he said, laughing. "Usually someone fusses at me to slow down; I'm glad you haven't."

  "Well, not yet," I replied, returning the smile. "Can I ask you something?" At his nod, I continued. "I thought your mother wouldn't give approval for you to become a traveler. How did you manage this?"

  He was staring at the road ahead as a slight flush stained his neck. After a long pause, he glanced over at me; the expression in his dark eyes was intense and unreadable. "I told her and all my family that it was my life and I would make my own choices." He shrugged and turned his attention back to the road. "I don't think any of them were very happy."

  I had no reply for his words and decided to gaze out the window at the scenery. It was seldom I got to the coast and always enjoyed the thrill of seeing the ocean... powerful, seemingly endless, and filled with dark unknowns. There was an ominous cloud bank gathering on the horizon, but I thought we could make it to the motel where we had reservations before the weather broke. Philo booked a couple of rooms at a place as near to the original site of the old colony as possible.

  We arrived as the first raindrops started to patter on the windshield; I waited outside in the car with Kipp and Elani while Peter raced to the lobby. Of course, Philo found a place where pets were welcomed. For a moment, it seemed kind of furtive, like something a couple of kids might do to sneak away for a tryst. The window of the lobby had a slight mist on it, causing Peter to appear faded and slightly unreal. I shook my head to rid myself of the image and glanced over my shoulder to see Kipp staring back at me, his face unreadable. His mind, however, was active and audible just for me.

  "What on earth are you doing?" he asked, his amber eyes opening wider.

  I gave a start, embarrassed at having been caught thinking of such silliness. It quite frankly reminded me of my honeymoon with my husband and our first stop at a slightly run-down little hotel on the outskirts of Ashville. As I had waited in the car, excitement washed over me as I stared down at the plain gold band on my left hand. Being married was a big step for a contented loner, and the prospect of a future and family lay ahead. Closing my eyes, I shut away the memories. That part of my life was long distant and only served as a preamble to that which would follow and my dedication to traveling, my bond first with Tula and now Kipp. I shook my head at Kipp, unable to coherently give voice telepathically to all that came to me in a sudden rush of loosely connected and cascading thoughts. But in the wonderful manner of Kipp, he just understood and reached out with his mind to give me the love I needed. Then he closed an eye, winking at me, so that Elani could not see. Yes, it was our secret.

  The wind was beginning to pick up, and I could only hope this patch of bad weather would blow through tonight. The idea of being stuck at a motel for a couple of days with Peter made me uneasy. I really didn't know him... and as that notion struck me, I realized that was the entire focus of this trip. All four of us had to move beyond polite boundaries; it had been so with me and Tula as we were taught the rules of the road, so to speak.

  "Let's order pizza," I suggested as he jumped back in the car while trying to dodge the large rain drops banging on the hood of the vehicle, "and play Monopoly."

  "You brought a Monopoly set?" Peter asked, trying not to laugh.

  "Yes, a vintage one with the original tokens, thank you very much. And I want the top hat," I said, laying claim.

  Three hours later, the remnants of two large cheese pizzas were cooling in the box and Kipp was just about to put hotels on Boardwalk and Park Place, courtesy of my humanoid fingers. Kipp's nose was useful for pushing his token, but he could neither handle money nor place a house or hotel on property. His audacious cannon had pretty much blown the rest of us to bits. Peter's hapless shoe managed a small landholding on Baltic and Mediterranean, while Elani's ship steamed its way to own the four railroads. My top hat had acquired next to nothing, and I had twenty three dollars left with all properties mortgaged. We were huddled on the floor to accommodate the lupines and three hours of a bent posture left me sore with a completely numb butt. With a sigh, I stood and arched my back, trying to get my spinal column realigned.

  "I surrender," I said, holding up my hands. "It's obvious Kipp has won this round."

  Kipp looked up at me, his eyes bright, plumed tail wagging in a question mark over his back. He was not, by nature, excessively competitive, and I realized his joy at having won was diminished by the fact he had to beat me to do it. There was a loving aspect to it that warmed my heart. Peter began to carefully pick up the money, assembling it into neat stacks of matching denominations. I got the sense he wanted to ask something but was hesitating for some reason. Elani, however, with the sensibility of a well-matched lupine, framed the issue for them both.

  "Tell us what to expect tomorrow, Petra," she requested, her soft brown eyes taking on a pretty glow of excitement. I could easily see the allure she might have for a male of the species.

  The motel was quiet, with only the distant sound of someone's television tuned to a movie. The rain had passed, and all that lingered was the dripping of residual water from the gutters as it gurgled out into the parking lot. A heavy layer of clouds blacked out stars and moon, leaving the landscape in utter darkness, except for the harsh neon sign that advertised the motel. I felt comfortable and relaxed in my room, even with the foreign presence of Peter and Elani.

  "I'm learning as we go, Elani," I finally admitted with more honesty than she might have wished for. "The best thing to do, from my way of thinking, is to teach you the way I was taught."

  Later, after we'd gone to bed, Kipp was still and his thoughts were quiet that night, as if he knew I did not need distractions. He rested his massive head across my chest and heaved that deep, shuddering sigh of a big dog. "I wonder if Peter and Elani sleep like us, close together, their thoughts tangled to the point of complete connectedness?" Kipp raised his head for a second, looking at me. "I'm not sure how we help them learn, Petra."

  I rubbed the soft furry top knot on his head as I considered his words. In my thoughts, I urged him to turn off his busy mind, for a while, and let sleep overtake him, which it did. I lay awake, for some time after. When Kipp began to dream, I followed his dreams from start to finish, sharing in his pleasure as he chased a fleeing rabbit across a thick field of tall grass. He never caught the rabbit but the pleasure in surrendering to the primal side of his nature was evident. As a civilized lupine, he kept the primitive urges under wraps.

  The next morning after a light breakfast, we set out for the general area where Land's Point Colony had once stood. The area was relatively clear now, not actually at the water's edge, but close enough that if the wind was right, you could smell the salt air and feel the sting on your face from an ocean breeze. Once, centuries ago, old growth forests had covered the area; many trees twisted and fell through generations of hurricanes and gale force winds blowing in off the Atlantic. After Peter parked the SUV, the four of us walked to the area where Kipp and I had braved our first time shift to investigate a historical mystery. Kipp proceeded to a grassy knoll and raised his head, sniffing at the air. His eyes closed with the memories that seemed to haunt the landscape.

  "It's almost as if the imprints of those people are here," he finally remarked. "They are vague shadows, something that moves with the wind... almost like ghosts."

  It was at that moment I had a visceral understanding of why Philo had chosen this particular place for Peter and Elani's first lesson. Kipp and I had such a strong connection to the landscape and aura that we would naturally lead our apprentice team in a time shift. I, too, could sense the apparitions that Kipp described. Odd, I'd never really paid attention to such things until that moment.

  Peter glanced at me, and I wondered what he was thinking. My relationship with Kipp had caused me to question the fact that we telepaths blocked ourselves so as to not intrude on each others' private thoughts; that behavior had evolved out of a need for civility with one another. Did Peter see a reasonably attractive
female–one old enough to be his mother—with dark hair, hazel eyes, and a chaotic pattern of freckles splashed across a prominent nose? Harrow had liked my nose and the imperfection it gave to my face; a conventional beauty I was not by any means. Did Peter trust Kipp and me to be competent teachers? I wasn't sure I trusted myself. Unconsciously, my fingers reached for the dainty strand of pearls that were hidden beneath my collar.

  "You know you can do this," Kipp said to me in our manner of private dialog as we stood on that quiet, deserted piece of land. Kipp would forever be my main cheerleader and tireless promoter.

  I turned into the breeze and felt my hair flutter gently around my face; although we were not on the beach and the sea was at a distance to be unseen, I could taste the salt in the air as it rested on my lips. Inhaling, I fancied I could smell the rich organic odor of the ocean with all its teeming life and death. Yes, Kipp was right. I needed to trust myself. Rolling my shoulders slightly, I stretched my neck which had acquired a decided crick after the rigors of the Monopoly tournament. Sitting on the motel room floor for hours hunched over a game board had not improved my posture or my humor.

  "Kipp and I will guide you," I began, squaring my shoulders. "I want you to telepathically connect with us and simply follow us with your mind, just as you followed us from the car to this place," I said, pointing at the grass. "Kipp has a very powerful aura and will be like a searchlight in the dark."

  "Is that how you did your first time shift?" Elani asked. Her thick tail was caught in the wind like a kite about to take flight. The air ruffled her dense, gray-blonde coat backwards, revealing silver tipped fur that captured the light like little sparks of fire. I liked the fact she was confident and eager but not cocky.