by P. Z. Walker
"You were off on your own, to practice your fighter pilot skills," Mike enlightened the man. "Just too bad that your ejection seat isn't made for this." He helped Harry to sit up, supporting the man with a knee in his back.
Sheila and Wendy went to fetch the wheelchair. It was very wobbly with the damaged wheel, but they had to get Harry away from there. At least the bent tyre was still intact. As Wendy held the chair upright, Sheila and Mike carefully lifted Harry into it.
"Are you okay, Harry?" Sheila asked. He had quite a number of cuts on his body and a few parts of him were probably bruised.
"I must say that I've felt better, but seeing your pretty face makes a big difference," the man in the chair said with a grimace. "I'd wink at that if it didn't hurt."
"Sounds like he's not hurt enough," Mike joked as Sheila blushed over the compliment. "Going back up the slope is not going to happen with that chair, so we'll have to take the long route down."
It was a combined effort to get the chair and the man down to the main building. The wheel gave the ones pushing the chair a lot of problems, and they had to stop often because the jolts caused Harry to whine in agony, but finally they arrived.
"Next time you think of going out alone, I'm going to chain your chair to a wall," Mike threatened the man, as one of the receptionists came running out with a first aid kit. Harry's injuries proved to be minor though, and he would heal over time.
Lots more people had arrived at the resort by then, and several had come to ask what had happened. Sheila and Wendy did most of the talking and that was quite a nice way to get introduced to more people there.
All the excitement around Harry had made the sun race through the sky. The afternoon warmth was balmy. Sheila lay on her towel, eyes closed, just enjoying the touch of the sun and hearing the screams and laughter of children running around. Wendy and Mike had wandered off, which was just fine with her. She was a person who got along with herself very well, so being alone was something she cherished. Then a thought hit her. Maybe it was a good thing to go up to the Five Oaks alone and see how the energy was there with no other people present. For a moment she wondered how she could tell Wendy and Mike, but they had walked off without a word, so she could do that as well. She looked at her towel and sandals. Would she need those? Daring herself, she left those on the grass where she'd been lying and sauntered off to the forest.
The sandy path was deserted. Hardly surprising, it was getting late and people were packing up to go home. Sheila was in no hurry though, and soon she was walking up the slope where the Five Oaks were waiting for her. She deliberately didn't activate her sight, she wanted to enjoy the walk without being distracted by all the dancing colours. There was a little bit of wind that played around her naked body for a while. Sheila stood still and closed her eyes, taking in the sensation. It felt surprisingly nice. After a while she walked on to her destination.
First Sheila walked around the trees, her ability still inactive. "Acaraho? I'm at the trees again. Alone. I want to see if there is something I can pick up without others present."
"That is good, but you will have to watch out for yourself now, your friends can't warn you if something happens."
"What would happen?" Sheila wondered.
"You can get scared, for instance. You'll have to cope with that alone."
"What would scare me?" Sheila felt goose-bumps all over her body for a moment, despite the agreeable temperature.
"You know best what would scare you," was the rather unhelpful answer.
The young woman shrugged and then scolded herself for not bringing the towel. Now she'd have to sit on the ground with her bare butt. Oh well. In the centre of the circle she sat down, grumbled as a few parts of nature greeted her behind a bit too happily and then switched on the colours. The blue-flamed barriers jumped to life and buzzed for a moment.
Sheila closed her eyes and tried to meditate. Instead of that her mind drifted off to the people who had roamed here for so long, so long ago. The Crow tribe who had declared this land sacred. After a while she wondered if Josy had any relation to the Crow as well. After all, it might explain (if only a bit) who she had become so susceptible to the energy of this place. Josy, Josy, she then thought, where are you?
"Sheila?"
The mention of her name made her jolt. Had she heard someone say her name? It didn't feel like she'd heard a sound, but...
"Josy?" she asked.
"Sheila! God, am I happy to hear a voice! Where are you?!" It was Josy, without a doubt. "And where the hell am I?"
"Hey Josems, calm down for a moment. A lot happened. First, I'm among the Five Oaks."
"What? You're at the resort? Jesus, Sheila, what happened that got you there?"
Sheila took a deep breath. She had to stay calm and focussed now so she wouldn't lose the connection with Josy, wherever she might be. "Okay, I'll get to that. First let me know if you're okay."
"I'm fine. I'm in a forest now, it looks a bit like the one near the resort but there's no resort. I can find stuff to eat, I sleep in a cave and there's a river with clean water. Kind of boring diet but I'm surviving."
Sheila then told Josy what she knew about her friend's disappearing, still making herself stay calm about it all.
"Holy shit, Sheila, so I am in a place no one can find? Then how did you find me? Where are you?"
"I'm meditating or trancing or something like that. No one's with me. And now I have to tell you something else." She detailed how she'd bumped her head, the colours and the connection to her spirit guide. "I think that combination of things makes that I can reach out to you, and I know it sounds weird."
Josy was silent after that.
"Josy? Are you still with me?"
"Yeah. I am. I'm crying, Sheila, and I'm totally scared. I don't know where I am, you don't know where I am, and now I feel like I'm never going to come home any more!"
Chapter 14.
Sheila knew that tears were flowing down her own cheeks as well. She really wanted to help Josy, but how? "Hey, Josems, keep your chin up, okay? I got this far, I'm going to get further. I'm going to do everything I can to get you home, okay? That's a promise."
She was relieved that Josy didn't ask how she was going to pull that off, because she had no idea. She wasn't even sure it was possible, but there just had to be a way!
"I'm going to kick your butt if you don't, Sheila," Josy replied. "Can you stay with me for a while longer? I've been so alone here, I thought I was dead."
"I'll stick with you some more, of course." Sheila then decided to tell Josy that she had joined the naturist resort as a member, to take her friend's mind off her predicament.
"You're kidding me. Miss 'I'm never going to be a naturist' has become a naturist? So you're sitting there with the oaks in your skin?"
"I am. And the ground is poking my butt because I forgot to bring a towel, but finding you makes it all worth that."
"God, that's special. But next time when I suggest something, please do it before I have to disappear, okay?" For the first time Sheila sensed something that felt like relief and even some joy in Josy's words. "I'm feeling a bit better now, Sheila. What time is it there?"
"Late afternoon, on Sunday."
"Odd. It's morning here. Do you have to leave soon?" Josy's joy had vanished.
"I'm afraid so. But I'll try to come back tomorrow. I can take a few hours off each day to talk to you until we know how to get you back, Josy."
"Promise? I need to hear you, Sheila. You're my life-line now."
"Promise, Josems. I need to tell Mike and Wendy that I found you, they'll be happy too."
"Wendy? Who's Wendy?"
"She's someone from my magic group. She also became a member. Wendy has a massive crush on Mike and he responds well to it."
"OHHHH!!! That's something to see! Someone caught the cave-man! Thanks for making me laugh, Sheila. I needed that."
"I can imagine. I'm really sorry that I have to leave you alone now,
but I'm getting a bit cold, Josy."
Josy understood that Sheila couldn't spend all night at the resort. "I really look forward to hearing you in my head again, Sheila. And when I'm home you have to teach me that trick, it would save a lot on phone charges."
Sheila had to grin. Josy was cracking a joke, that was good. "Talk to you tomorrow, Josy. Take care."
"Thanks, Sheila. You don't know how much this means to me. You just saved me from going crazy. I love you, woman."
"I love you too, Josy..." It was hard for Sheila to cut the connection to Sheila, but when she came out of her strange state she shivered. She was really cold. A little gust of warm wind touched her skin and she welcomed that. She disabled her sight and rose. Then she noticed she'd been here longer than she'd thought; it was getting dark now. She should make her way down before she couldn't see where she was going!
Sheila began the way down. She hadn't gone far when she heard a few voices; Wendy and Mike were just coming up the hill! "Hey, I'm here, all is fine!" Sheila called out, "and I found Josy!"
Her words made that Mike and Wendy came running up the hill, very surprised. "Where is she?!"
Sheila told them what she'd done and how she'd suddenly made contact with Josy. The two didn't interrupt her as she spoke, instead they made sure Sheila didn't trip on the way down, as the long sitting still affected her legs.
"How the hell did you manage that?" Wendy asked when Sheila was through talking.
"I don't know. It just happened. And I hope that I can do it again tomorrow because I'm going to do it again tomorrow, and keep going until she's here again."
"Maybe your Indian knows something about it," Mike suggested as they walked along the path that led to the large lawn.
"I'll ask him later. I first need to get warm again," Sheila commented. "How I got this cold, I don't know. It's so nice and warm still."
"You probably used up a lot of energy of your own to keep the connection to Josy going," Wendy thought out loud. "We'll pour some coffee into you, that should help."
*
The coffee helped indeed, as did the food they decided to go for. It was late enough for that anyway.
"So are you going to tell the police that you found Josy?" Mike wondered.
Sheila looked at him. "Do you think they'd believe me? They'd probably have me committed and examined, and then I can't get to her. No, I'm going to keep that to ourselves. And so are you."
Wendy and Mike didn't need any assistance to understand her. "Still it sounds weird, little sister. I have no idea what my guru would say to all this."
"I know it's weird, and maybe I'm fooling myself with all this, but as long as there is a chance we can get Josy back, I'm going to pursue this." Sheila felt determined.
"Of course. Let me know when you're coming in tomorrow," Mike said, "I'll be here to come with you."
"So am I!" Wendy exclaimed.
"Thanks, guys, but I don't know if that will work. Today I was there alone and I found her. Maybe it was because I was alone."
"Then we'll wait halfway down the hill, but you're not going up there alone next time, Sheila." Wendy sounded as if she'd made up her mind with concrete, so Sheila gave in.
"Okay, okay, you win. I do appreciate it, really." Sheila glanced at the big, colourful clock on the restaurant wall. "Damn. So late already. We should get ourselves back, Wendy."
Wendy looked and agreed, so they said good-bye to Mike, walked to Wendy's car, said good-bye to Mike again, and then remembered that their clothes were in the locker room. That was the reason they did a third good-bye before they finally drove off.
"I'm glad you're driving, Wendy. After today, everything in my head feels upside down."
"I understand. How on earth did you figure out how to find Josy? It still sounds impossible."
"Tell me about it. It all feels unreal, and still I know that I talked to Josy today. It felt almost the same as when I talk to Acaraho."
Wendy shook her head. "You're a special one, kiddo. And all it takes is to whack your head into a tree."
Sheila nodded. "To tell you the truth, I'm not sure if I'd do it again if I had the choice."
"Oh yes, you would," Wendy overruled her. "You love things like that. Heck, I would do it too!"
Sheila fell silent and thought about everything that had happened that day, until Wendy dropped her off at her home. "Thanks for the ride, Wendy. Enjoy the evening, and we'll keep in touch."
"Of course. Let me know what time you plan to go back tomorrow and I'll make sure I'm there as well. Little sister." Wendy laughed at the tongue Sheila stuck out at her.
"You spend too much time with Mike!"
"Not barely enough," Wendy laughed. "See ya!" Then she drove off.
Sheila went back inside, made a cup of coffee and sat down on the couch. "Oh..." she mumbled, her head reeling with today's events. Almost without thinking about it she took off the few summer-clothes she wore and sat down on a towel.
Sheila knew she'd have to go to sleep soon as the next day was a workday. It felt so wrong to her that she had to go to work while Josy was facing such odd problems. The only thing that eased her mind was that so far she didn't seem to be in danger.
After finishing her coffee she sat back on the couch and closed her eyes. She switched on her special sight and tried to meditate in the same way as when she had found Josy, but it was a futile attempt. She hadn't expected it to work, but tried it just for herself, to confirm to herself that she had to be at the resort, near the oaks
"Acaraho, are you there?" she asked out loud.
"I am here," she heard in her head.
"Do you think we can get Josy back? I found her today but I don't know where she is."
"What you did was very impressive for someone so young and inexperienced with that gift. Maybe you can allow me to join you when you go out to find your friend again. It might be possible that I can see where she is."
Sheila described what Josy had told her of her environment, but that didn't help Acaraho. The only thing she could do was what he'd already suggested. "Okay, let's give that a try then." She yawned. "I think I should go to sleep, I'm dead tired."
"Sleep well, Shíile Isshiiá," Acaraho said before he left.
*
"Sheila, what's the matter with you?" Gary asked. "You've been looking at the clock as if you're afraid someone's going to steal it!"
"Sorry, Gary. I'm just still so worried about Josy."
"And staring at the clock is going to bring her back? Come on, Sheila. Two more clients, so keep yourself together. The police are looking for her and that's what they do best. Now you do what you do best."
Sheila almost snapped at him that bringing Josy back was what she did better than any cop, but bit the remark away. It wouldn't do her nor Josy any good to get into a fight with the boss. She shrugged. "Okay, sorry."
"Listen, Sheila. I know you don't get along well with Herbert, but he was available and he's doing a great job. We should be glad we have him."
"Gary, you didn't listen. I'm fine with Herbie as long as he's not in the same room. It's Josy I worry about."
Gary couldn't suppress his grin over Herbie but then patted her on the shoulder. "I understand. Let's get this day over with, the next patient's waiting already."
Sheila did her best to keep a cheerful mood, but her mind was out the door before the last client had left. Quickly she grabbed her purse, wished her co-workers a nice evening, and she had barely left the street when she was talking to Wendy. "Heya, off work finally. Had an emergency come in, was quite a mess, so I'm running late."
"No problem. Where are you heading?" Wendy asked.
"I'd have to make a detour picking you up before going to the resort. Can you meet me there? We can grab food there and then go up the hill."
"Way ahead of you, kiddo," Wendy grinned, "I have two pizzas waiting. I'll bring them and we can eat them while we walk to the Five Oaks."
"You're a doll, Wen!"
/> "I know. I'm Mike's doll. See you there!"
Sheila laughed as she ended the call. Mike's doll. She wondered what the two of them had been up to already, without her knowing. Not that it was any of her business of course, but she just wanted to be certain that Wendy was safe, she justified her thought to herself.
Soon she reached the resort. The weather was still amazing, it was turning into one of the best summers ever, so with a daring grin she took off her clothes after closing the gate, and got into her car all naked. There she decided that the air conditioning was definitely not necessary for a naturist, so with the blower off and the windows down she drove to the parking lot where Wendy was already waiting.
Wendy, who sat on the hood of her car, laughed at Sheila as she came out of the car naked. "Did you drive in the nude all the way from the practice?"
"No, just from the gate to here," Sheila grinned, "I don't want to get a ticket for indecent exposure. And come to think of it, I don't think this is indecent."
Wendy kissed Sheila on the cheek. "I'm so proud of you, Shilli Isha, or whatever your Indian name is. You're turning into a proper naturist. Being naked without giving any special meaning to it is not indecent. It's just relaxing."
"I'm beginning to understand that more and more. And now you owe me a pizza," Sheila said. "And my Crow name is Shíile Isshiiá, although I'm not sure if I pronounce it correctly. I'd have to ask Acaraho."
"Ohh, that would be cool," Wendy responded, half inside her car to get the pizzas out. "Could you let him talk to me?" She shut the door with her behind. "Does he take over your voice when he talks? Can I hear that?"
"Pizza!" Sheila said, ignoring the rambling of her friend for a moment. She took a box from Wendy, opened it and started devouring a slice. "Goob piffa," she approved of the food with her mouth full.
"You're a pig," Wendy said. "Keep your eye on my pizza. Only your eye, hear me? Mike's inside, I'll go get him."
Chapter 15.
Sheila ate her pizza and then felt guilty as suddenly Josy came to mind again. Poor Josy who probably hadn't had any proper food since she got trapped in wherever. She looked at the remaining slices. Logic told her that she couldn't hand them to Josy and she would need her energy trying to contact her. When Mike and Wendy came walking from the building, Sheila took both boxes and went to meet them halfway.