and they never try to do anything about it. Throughout your centuries only a bare handful of people have tried to stand in the way of the injustices that have been consistently perpetuated onto the masses ........ by their own kind."
When Per continued speaking, his voice was uncharacteristically laced with sarcasm.
"The one you call your ‘average citizen’ rarely ever raises even so much as a voice in protest."
"What you must understand, Samantha, is that to my race, there is no difference between the perpetrator who actually commits the evil act and the person who does nothing to try to stop it. In our eyes, they are one and the same."
"But surely there must be something we can do to stop this!" cried Sam frantically. "You make it sound as if there is no hope at all."
In the stillness, their eyes locked across the expanse of the room.
"There is no hope," He replied curtly. "The end will come."
"How will it happen?" asked Sam
"It will be merciful and swift. I can promise you that," stated Per as he started to turn away from her.
"You bastard," screeched Sam, suddenly lunging forward and beating Per’s back with her fists doubled in rage. "Who the hell do you think you are?"
Slowly, Per turned back to face Sam. He stood in front of her silently, not even attempting to fend off her furious blows. His face was still as a mask as he waited calmly for her frenzy to come to an end. Finally, exhausted, Sam fell sobbing to the floor.
It was only then, after she had quieted, that Per answered her question.
"As you said, Samantha. I am one of your Zoo keepers."
Chapter 36
Happy was feeling pretty sorry for himself as he stumbled through the darkness and light rain back to Hockamock Head.
Jesus Jumping Up .... Women. Who the hell can figure them? Well, he’d done his best to rescue Sammy, at least he could say that. Funny how she didn’t want to be rescued, though. Happy sure couldn’t figure that one out. He took some satisfaction in knowing that he’d gotten that foreigner a good one. Smack dab in the back of the head. No doubt about it, those 30-30s sure packed some wallop.
By rights, Happy knew he should have been dead. Wonder why he wasn’t?
He made a quick stop to let an overjoyed Spike out of the dilapidated Fairlane and then kept right on going with the hound bounding after him. It being a Saturday night, Happy knew he would find most of the boys at Mink’s place having their weekly game of poker. Being the true loner that he was, Happy had never participated in their game, but tonight he thought he might just drop in on them.
Over on the Minturn side of the Island, at the Dodge’s house, Martha was getting her youngsters settled for the night. Kevin Jr. especially seemed to be going through a difficult time since Nana’s death. Martha sat on the edge of his bed and gently rubbed his back, trying to coax him to sleep.
"Mom," asked Kevin Jr. groggily,"where do you think Nana is right now?"
Her son’s question took her breath away. "I think she’s still with us, Kev - right here in our hearts." How could she explain to an 11 year old something that she herself did not understand?
Kevin Jr. abruptly rolled over onto his back, looking at his mother with a serious expression far beyond his young years. "Know what I think, Mom? I think Nana’s with Gluskabe." Hurriedly, he continued at the doubtful look in his mother’s eyes. "It makes me feel good for Nana to know she’s with him now. I’m glad that Gluskabe took her with him before the Great Purification begins."
"Oh, honey," Alarmed, Martha gathered her son tightly into her arms and spoke softly into his dark hair, "there isn’t going to be a Great Purification. There’s nothing to be afraid of. Nothing like that is going to happen to us, son."
Kevin Jr. pushed himself back in order to look his mother levelly in the eyes. "Isn’t it, Mom?"
When her husband came home from his weekly poker game a short time later, he found Martha wrapped in her old plaid flannel bathrobe sitting alone in the dark on the front steps.
"You’re home sooner than usual." she commented.
"Yep," Kevin heaved a sigh as he sat down beside her, "I got fleeced early tonight."
They sat quietly for a few minutes, both looking up at the stars that were slowly emerging from behind the rain clouds.
"Sure smells fresh after that shower, doesn’t it?" Commented Kevin, taking a deep breath of the sweet night air into his lungs.
Martha didn’t bother to answer. Instead, she said, "Kev, I’ve been thinking.
What if Nana really knew what she was talking about? About the Great Purification coming, I mean. What if the ancient tribal prophesies are real after all? Suppose it’s all true?"
"Christ, Martha, don’t you go getting weird on me now, too."
"I mean it, Kev. Just listen to me for a minute." Martha grabbed her husband’s arm as he started to turn away from her. " For once just shut your big mouth and listen. You’re always such a damn skeptic."
"First rule of skepticism ..... never fool yourself." Her husband managed to get out before he slammed his mouth shut.
Martha’s body shivered spastically in the night’s clammy dampness.
"Come on," Kevin said decidedly, pulling her to her feet, "let’s get you inside.
You’ve had a long day."
Not long after, Martha lay rigidly on her side of the bed listening to the sound of Kevin’s loud, monotonous snoring. It wasn’t the noise that was keeping her awake, though. After sleeping in the same bed as her husband for fifteen years now, his snoring was just so much more background noise, like the constant dripping of the sink faucet in the bathroom down the hall.
No, what was keeping Martha from sleep was that last conversation with her youngest son. She couldn’t seem to stop thinking about it. This is ridiculous, she thought disgustedly.
Martha crawled out of bed and into her robe, tying the sash firmly as she made her way down the stairs to the living room. She fumbled in the darkness on the coffee table for the remote to the television. Slowly, the room acquired that eerie, flickering light the TV gives off and she starting clicking rapidly through the channels. At three in the morning her viewing was somewhat limited.
She skimmed past various fitness ads; whiter teeth ads; jewelry sales on the shopping networks, the Rifleman and an old Cary Grant movie. Finally, she settled on CNN and laid back onto the couch, pulling one of Nana’s crocheted afghans over her.
A man with a well bred British accent and a tie that looked as though it had been drawn by a hyperactive third grader was reading the news as if it were nothing more interesting than a weekly grocery list. It had been a few days since Martha had taken the time to catch the latest news but she found things really hadn’t changed much. Or, she corrected herself, at least they hadn’t improved any.
There were the usual heinous crimes and tragedies that somehow had become an accepted part of every day society. As she listened it occurred to her that much of the news consisted of natural disasters, seemingly on every continent.
Weather patterns were apparently spinning out of control. These days what was considered extreme weather had become the rule rather than the exception. Today, everywhere you looked there were epic floods; droughts; wildfires; killer tornadoes; earthquakes and epidemic diseases. As a matter of fact, Martha realized with a jolt, these catastrophic events were becoming almost common place throughout the planet.
Easy girl, she thought to herself clicking the TV off. She sat for a moment in the complete blackness of the living room before she wearily got up and wandered over to a window to peer up at the night sky.
What if Nana had been right? What if the signs really were all there? What if .....
just what if, she silently asked herself, this really was the beginning of the Great Purification?
Chapter 37
By the time Happy arrived the poker game was just breaking up. He burst through the front door causing everyone inside to momentarily freeze midway throug
h whatever it was they had been doing.
"You’re too late, Happy," commented Fed Larson as he pulled on his jacket, "Mink’s already cleaned us all out. Try us again next week." It took him a full minute longer to register the sight of the Winchester Happy was cradling in his arm.
Mink walked over and took one look at Happy’s face. "Heh, get this man a beer," he yelled as he pushed Happy down into the closest chair at hand.
While someone scurried into the kitchen the rest of the men gathered closely around Happy.
"What the hell’s the matter with you?" asked Mink. "Christ, you look like you’ve seen a ghost or something."
"Something," mumbled Happy as he gratefully took a long swig of the ice cold beer.
Carefully, Fed disengaged Happy’s hand from it’s tight grasp on the Winchester.
He cocked the breach open and sniffed. From the acidic smell of it he knew the gun had been discharged recently ..... very recently. Shit, I guess I’ve got to go to work, thought Fed as he pushed his hat back on his head.
By the time the Budweiser was half gone, Happy’s breathing had almost returned to normal. Spike, on the other hand, still sounded pretty winded as he lay on the floor panting by Happy’s feet.
Putting the gun safely aside, Fed lowered his bulky frame down onto his haunches in front of Happy.
"Want to tell me what’s going on, Hap?" he asked steadily. "It’s too damn early for deer."
Happy shifted uncomfortably on the hard wooden chair. Here goes nothing, he thought to himself. "I shot me an alien." he said bluntly. His remark was met by stone silence. God knows it wasn’t funny, but he couldn’t refrain from laughing at the expressions on the men’s faces turned towards him. "Yeh, I know you boys don’t believe a word of it, but just hear me out anyway."
Pausing only once or twice to take a swallow of the fresh beer someone handed him, Happy recounted all of the events within the last few weeks that had led up to what he’d done earlier that night. When he was finished you really could have heard a pin drop ...... no one said a word.
It was Fed Larson who finally broke the silence. "That’s quite a tale, Hap. You really expect us to believe all that?" When there was no reply, Fed continued talking as he helped Happy to his feet. "What do you say I give you and that old dog of yours a lift home? Sounds to me like what you need is to sleep this one off. Sure everything will look a whole lot different by the light of day."
Feigning obedience, Happy shuffled out to Fed’s truck. The hell with them, he thought angrily ....... the hell with them all.
Chapter 38
Miserable, Sam wasn’t sure if she wanted to cry or scream. It didn’t really make any difference because she realized she didn’t have the energy for either. She propped her elbows up on the table and put her face in her hands. She sighed tiredly.
"Want a brandy?" Per asked.
"Jesus, yes."
They both sat silently at the table. Sam slumped in her chair and Per leaned forward in his. He stared at her as she stared into her half - finished glass of Hennesy.
"Heh," she said, craning her neck to look up at Per, "know when you’re a little kid and everything seems really confusing to you? And you keep waiting and waiting until the day you grow up so you can understand everything?"
Per just shrugged.
"Oh yeah, I forgot ....." Sam mumbled, clearing her throat. "Anyway, what I was going to say was that I guess I’m still waiting to grow up because I don’t understand a damn thing."
Per fixed her with those eyes of his, which could be so warm they made her knees weak or so cold they made her turn to ice inside. Sam tried unsuccessfully to break his gaze. Giving up, she shoved her empty glass into his face, "How about a refill?"
"Later." His chair squeeked loudly as he shoved it back, holding out his strong hand to her expectantly.
Without any hesitation, Sam took his hand firmly into hers and wordlessly followed him upstairs. When they reached her room Per turned toward her. His first kiss was gentle and many times more intoxicating than the brandy she had been drinking only moments before.
"Guess it’s too late to play hard to get?" was the last thing she said just before her mouth dissolved under his for good.
The whole room seemed to be awash in silvery light. To Sam the moon seemed brighter than usual. Turning to Per she asked curiously, "Do you have a moon on your planet?"
"Actually, we have two moons. One is a bit smaller than the other and they are different colors." he replied.
Jesus, this is insane, Sam thought. She couldn’t have stopped herself if she had wanted to, she started to first giggle and then laugh hysterically.
"What’s so funny?" inquired Per propping himself up onto his elbow.
"Sorry ..... " Sam gasped for breath. "I was just thinking of something my mother used to say to me when I started dating."
"What was that?"
"She used to say, ‘Honey, you sure can pick ‘em.’ Too bad she isn’t here to meet you." Once again, Sam doubled over with laughter, clutching her side.
Finally, she sobered. Brushing her thick hair back out of her face, Sam leaned over Per and gently ran her fingertips down one side of his face and across his lips.
"I was very happy just now." She said softly then shook her head bewilderedly. "Doesn’t make any sense does it?"
"Why do you feel there must always be logic in all things?" Per asked as he pulled her close to him. "Feelings are never logical, that much I have learned."
They lay intertwined, each with their own thoughts, until the pale walls of the bedroom began to turn a faint lavender hue from the rising sun.
Sam stirred, whimpering incoherently in her sleep. Per gently stroked her hair, trying to soothe her. Startled out of her sleep, Sam sat up clutching the blanket to herself in fright.
"My God, Per," she exclaimed, "I’ve had the most horrible dream ...... I dreamed the world is coming to an end!"
Slowly, Sam’s eyes cleared and focused as she finally awoke fully. With complete consciousness came the realization that it had not, after all, been a dream.
Suddenly, time mattered a great deal to Sam.
Clutching Per’s arm, she cried, "Is this it? Will it be today? Please, tell me!" she begged desperately.
Chapter 39
Seagulls streaked across the cloudless sky, which gleamed a deep azure in the midmorning light. Perched on a rocky outcropping overhanging the Atlantic, Sam stared up at them. They seemed so far away. She raised her left arm high .....
stretching her fingers as far as she could ..... but she didn’t even come close to touching them.
They flew so far that they almost completely vanished into the distant horizon, but then abruptly changed course and came back her way. For a time, Sam concentrated entirely on the birds and their ostensibly random flight patterns.
She emptied her mind of everything else.
Per had remained behind in the house while Sam took a walk out to Burnt Coat Harbor. He knew that more than anything right now, she was in need of some time alone. Standing at the kitchen counter making coffee, Per closed his eyes for a moment and clearly saw what Sam saw. He wanted to go to her, but knew he could not. She could only come to terms with what was about to happen by herself.
There was nothing more he could do for her right now.
Eventually, Sam tired of watching the gulls. They seemed to compose images of peacefulness and serenity. All false, of course. Nothing in this world would ever be peaceful or serene again. There would be no more chances. Per had been clearly emphatic about that.
Reluctantly, Sam turned her thoughts inward, replaying in her mind Per’s harsh words of judgment from the day before. The thing was, as desperately as she would have liked to, Sam could not find a strong basis to dispute his opinion of mankind. If anything, if she were to be absolutely objective about it, she would have to agree with his assessment. Over all, mankind sucked. Period. Oh sure, every once in a while a Buddha, Jesus Christ or Mother Te
reasa would pop up and do a great deal to revive your opinion of humanity for a time. But soon enough it would be back to the usual dictators and despots, interested only in squeezing the proverbial lifeblood out of their own people simply in order to get theirs.
However, Sam realized, if she were completely honest with herself she would have to admit that Per was accurate about something else as well. Horrendous as your run of the mill dictator could be, this was only one person out of thousands or millions at any given time ..... and it was the thousands and millions who should have counted.
It was the world community itself who was in the wrong ..... and always had been.
The human race, with all it’s marvelous scientific and technological achievements, would never be able to put down all their differences and learn to work together in order to solve their issues. Let’s face it, she thought, achievements of the heart were merely not considered important enough for the collective benefit of man.
Grabbing up her sweatshirt, Sam headed back to the path that would take her home.
She picked her way carefully over first rocks and then brambles until she had reached the top of the cliff that looked over Burnt Coat Harbor. She stood for a moment in order to catch her breath and gazed out at the beauty of the scenery for miles before her.
There was one more thing that she still needed to face up to. When she had asked Per ‘will it be today?’ and had continued to press him for an answer, he had at length given her one.
Shit, she thought, this could really ruin your whole day if you let it.
Chapter 40
Psychologically, Happy had to admit that he had sunk pretty low. Even by his standards. No one would believe his story of spaceships and a shot-in-the-head alien. What the hell, he thought, having another pull off the bottle.
"You believe me, don’t you boy? Hell, you saw the ship for yourself!" Consoling himself that at least his dog believed him, Happy gave Spike a good rubbing behind the right ear. Spike whined appreciatively and rolled over onto his back hoping for a vigorous belly rub as well.
THE ZOO Page 10