by Dale Mayer
“You’re just telling me about that now?” he asked. “Why? And your sister, she didn’t get rescued?”
“No,” Whimsy said softly. “And I don’t know why she wasn’t saved. Or maybe she wasn’t fast enough.” She studied his beloved face and added, “I didn’t realize the importance of that first incident until it happened the second time, but there’s no way I can guarantee it’ll happen a third time because I don’t know what caused these each time.”
“Wow,” he murmured. “Who could know? The crazy professor knew about your childhood incident. It’s why he put the tracking chip on you, hoping something would happen, like it did.”
“And the mammals or whatever said the same thing—or something similar. I needed to help.” She smiled. “I promised I would and dedicated my life to marine biology. And I only remembered that a few minutes ago.”
“You’re very special, you know?” he said. “Just like Jamie, you have the ability to step out of yourself and do something more.”
She laughed, but it was broken by the cold. “What is it you think I’m able to do? I can hardly even think.”
He pulled her closer into his arms, so hers were wrapped around his neck and her head lay against his shoulder. “Just rest. Close your eyes, and, if you can contact anything or anyone, do so before we drown.” There was no humor in his voice. “I’m trying to contact Jamie, but can you reach him too?”
At that, she tried to connect with Jamie. But it was so damn hard. She was so cold. And she could feel her body sinking in the water. She held on to Samson, and he held on to her, but she also felt another odd sensation. She went deeper and deeper into the sound. She knew the hypothermia was taking over, since she was falling into a sleep state.
*
Samson felt when she stopped responding, and her body just floated in his arms. He swore softly and held her close. In his mind, he screamed for Jamie and Stefan. If you guys can help, we really could use it now.
He heard a weird humming in his head and around them. Almost like that electromagnetic energy supposedly pulsing through the sound. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but it grew louder and louder. He cried out as the pain vibrated through his head. His body was both icy and fiery.
He went under once and then twice. Underneath the water, the pain wasn’t so bad, but he couldn’t breathe. The next time he went under, he struggled hard to reach the surface, found it so hard to fight the water. He tried to hold up Whimsy’s head, but she kept going under with him and taking him down farther. He refused to let her go. No way he would let her go.
He felt more than saw the waves acting strangely, breaking around them in different formations. He didn’t know if that was caused by the man-made vibrations or Mother Nature because now all his data was called into question. But then he couldn’t think at all. He gasped for air, kicking hard, trying to surface again.
He was so afraid Whimsy was drowning—or rather had already drowned. As he kicked hard again, something came up against his legs, folding them up with the pressure and forcing him up higher and higher. He broke through the surface, gulping for air, looking around to see what it was. All he saw was a huge black back retreating into the depths. “Thank you,” he said. “A little more help though please.”
A half chuckle came from his arms. He looked down and was shocked to see Whimsy staring up at him.
“Well, I called them,” she said. “And they came.” She laughed. “But don’t ask me what language I used. Honestly, I just poured my heart and soul into reaching out to them and somehow it worked.”
“Wonderful. Fantastic and unbelievable.” He kissed her hard. “Only I don’t think I can float for long.”
Just then that huge body returned. They couldn’t hang on because there was nothing to hold on to. Its back was soft, silky and so smooth. But their savior took them a long way across the water, wherever they were. Samson desperately wanted to go to his island and search for his brother, but he had no idea where they were.
As one body slid out from underneath them, another one came up. This time they found a great big fin. They both grabbed on, and it worked for a little while as it carried them through the surface of the water. Samson was amazed to see they were on the back of a killer whale. And, not only that, but several more jumped all around them.
Whimsy laughed and cried in his arms, holding on tight, and she kept whispering, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
He looked at her. “Are you really communicating with them?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said. “But I think so. I’m getting weird messages, but it’s not like words. It’s like cries for help. Pictures I use my mind and heart to interpret.”
“I wonder if that’s what they’ve been hanging around for,” he said. “Although they aren’t here all the time.”
“They don’t like the noise,” she said. “They leave, but then they’re compelled to come back to see how they can fix it.”
“The vibration?”
“I don’t know for sure, but I think so.”
Just then a wave broke over them, and she lost her grip. The two immediately fell back into the water, gasping and clinging to each other until they were separated.
He cried out in the panic. “Whimsy! Whimsy, where are you?” He dove underneath the water, his limbs thick and hard to maneuver, his injured shoulder impeding his progress.
And then he saw a big black back sliding up toward him again, and there was Whimsy, already on it. He reached for her, clung hard, grabbed for the fin, and they both broke through the surface.
She coughed and sputtered. Finally she lay still on the black back, and he hung on hard, but it wasn’t easy. The fin was so slippery and smooth.
He didn’t know how long they traveled across the sound. They fell off several more times, and each time another black back picked them up. All Samson could do was marvel that these animals were willing to help.
In the back of his mind he heard Stefan’s voice saying, Not just these animals. Many of us are gathered right now to save you. The network is helping you to stay alive. We’re all connected.
He could feel tears in his eyes as he realized what was happening. “Does that mean Jamie’s alive?”
Yes, Jamie is alive. He took off and hid, incapable of fighting Bruce, and did what he could, which means he jumped to the other side and contacted all of us. We’re here, doing our best, but you have to help too.
At that, another wave broke over Samson’s head. He gasped and fought for the surface once again. It was all he could do to keep Whimsy in sight, and that was so important. If they got separated out here, there was no guarantee either of them would make it. And, once again, another big black back floated up, sliding underneath them as the animals took turns moving the pair closer and closer to whatever destination the mammals had in mind.
Finally Samson caught a glimpse of his island; they were returning there. And, with a mighty shove, they were both tossed free into one of the deepest bays, but it also had a beach, the same beach where Whimsy had been found. The island here had very steep sides. The whales could come close to shore without getting beached.
But Samson was sinking. He could hear the dogs barking in a distance. And, with that, he fought harder, dragging Whimsy, who was even now plowing forward, trying hard to get up to the surface. And just when he thought they weren’t going to make it, something much smaller came under them and gave them a final push forward. He turned to see a dolphin, maybe a porpoise, he wasn’t sure, but it rose up under him. Three of them pushed him forward to reach land. He could feel solid ground beneath his feet. And then the dolphins dashed under the water again.
He crawled forward out of the water, pulling Whimsy with him, and collapsed on the sand.
The dogs raced close, grabbing his collar, trying to tug him up and farther away from the water. He understood why because the waves here could crash high, and they could be dragged off the small beach again and back in the water.
He moved, struggling, gasping with pain, until he finally got himself and Whimsy high enough on the beach that he stopped, and he collapsed again. He was so damn cold. He knew there was no way they could stay here. He tried to get up but fell immediately. His feet and legs felt like two-by-fours, frozen two-by-fours.
He watched Whimsy manage to get on her hands and knees and come up beside him. “We have to get inside,” she said. “We’re too cold.”
“I know.” He reached out and hugged her tight. “But we’re alive.” Wonder filled him at the miracle of what he’d just experienced.
“It’s a trade-off,” she said. “I promised them we’d stop that vibration from the EMPs.”
“We will,” he promised. “Stefan,” he cried out, “Any chance of some warmth? We can hardly move.”
Suddenly the smoky energy he’d seen sometimes whistling through the trees came toward them.
“What is that?” Whimsy asked in wonder.
The wind came and wrapped up the two of them, giving them strength as they stood. But it was odd, warm yet not. A buzz but almost silence.
“I don’t know what it is,” he said. “But we need to use it to get to the cabin.”
Helping themselves and each other, they slowly made their way up the cliff, the black energy half-helping, half-supporting.
She said, “Is that a person?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “I have no way of knowing what the hell is going on.”
It’s the network, Stefan said. He stood in front of them, smiling. It takes a lot of energy to do this. We need to get you inside the cabin. He reached out and touched them.
Warmth surged through them, energy flowing through their bodies. Samson stared at Stefan. He could feel blood circulating back through his feet, and he could move.
He could feel Whimsy beside him, starting to quake.
“It’s okay. Stefan is helping us. Come on. Let’s go. Let’s go.” When she couldn’t move fast enough, he picked her up in his arms and took the path, as solid and strong as he’d ever been. “If that’s your energy, Stefan, I can’t believe it’s so strong. And my shoulder, … I was shot.”
“It’s not just me,” Stefan said. “It’s Dr. Maddy too … and of course, others. And she took this opportunity to work her magic on your wound. It has stopped bleeding and should be free of pain. And she’s working on Whimsy’s bullet wounds now.”
“Amazing.” And, with a final burst, he could see the cabin ahead. The dogs were barking, leading the way. The doors were opened, and on the floor he could see the blood, his own from when he’d been shot.
He got inside, set Whimsy on the hearth and told her, “Strip.”
He did the same, down to his boxers. He lit the embers to a fiery blaze and reached for some blankets to wrap up in. As soon as he had that done, he poured whiskey into a tumbler, took a cotton cloth and splashed it with some whiskey, and then stroked her face and her hands, rubbing the little washcloth as much as he could on her exposed skin.
She cried out at the heat inside and out. “Why is it doing that? It burns.”
“It’s forcing the body to send blood upward and outward to warm you up.” He tossed the rest of the whiskey back. He preferred his warmth internally.
With the fire blazing and Whimsy huddled on the hearth, he sat beside her wrapped up in a blanket too. “We have an awful lot of people to thank for our lives,” he whispered.
She curled up in his arms. “I think the whole world actually. I think Stefan’s network goes all the way around the world and was involved in our rescue, and we’re supposed to do our best to help them out.”
He reached down, kissed her gently on the temple and said, “Count me in.”
And then he shifted them to the recliner, where they curled up together in front of the fire and fell asleep.
Chapter 27
Whimsy woke up with her bladder urging her to move. She didn’t want to. Everything ached, and she was chilly again. She got up, leaving her blanket behind, saw the fire was down to embers and threw on more logs, made her trip to the bathroom and returned to the main room.
Samson had shifted in his sleep in the recliner, not leaving much room for her there anymore. No matter. She grabbed her blanket, curled up in the chair with him, still tired and so cold.
She didn’t know what had happened to the asshole who had done this to them. Was Bruce still out there? She wanted the whales to sink his boat. But that was probably the wrong type of energy, considering all the people who had done so much to help them. But she didn’t really care as long as Bruce didn’t hurt anyone again. She was just too tired and worn out to send love to a man who had tried to kill her.
As she curled up in front of the fire, she thought about all the events, how closely entwined her life was with Samson’s. Jamie, where are you?
No answer came.
She didn’t dare not think about him. He had been instrumental in helping them. She stood, still just in her underwear with the blanket wrapped around her, as she walked to his room.
He was sound asleep on his bed. She checked that he was breathing. He mumbled something and rolled over.
She pulled the covers up over his shoulders. Sleep. You need it.
His voice rippled through her head. Sleep. You need it too.
She chuckled. I will. I’m going to get your brother to bed.
She walked into the living room and woke Samson up. “Come on. You need to go to bed and get some proper sleep.”
He stared at her groggy-eyed but obediently stood and followed her.
She tucked him into bed, went back in the other room, added more wood to the fire, closed the doors on the fireplace and turned the damper down slightly. It would hold for a few hours. Calling the dogs inside, she returned to Samson’s bed and curled up beside him, pulling extra covers over them both. And she slept.
When she woke a few hours later, it was like being attached to a furnace. She’d gone from cold to hot, hot to cold and now back to the heat again. And then his hands gently stroked her ribs and hips and thighs.
“Nothing quite like realizing you survived a traumatizing event to remind you about the most basic instincts of life,” she whispered with a smile.
Samson flipped her onto her back and stared down at her. “Absolutely. But more than that, to find that perfect person who fits into your heart, into your mind and into your soul, like a puzzle piece that’s been missing for a lifetime.”
She smiled, reached up and stroked his face. “I think that’s the nicest thing anybody’s ever said to me.”
“Good,” he said, “because it’s not just nice words. I mean it.”
She nuzzled his chin. “Look at that beard already.”
He rubbed his chin and said, “Do you want me to shave first?”
She tightened her arms around his neck. “Hell no. I don’t want to let you go long enough for even that.” The warmest smile she’d ever seen came into his eyes and lit a fire deep inside her. She kissed him gently. “I think we were meant for each other. We just didn’t know it.”
“We hadn’t met each other,” he corrected. “I think that’s a fairly important part of this equation. I normally have a strong radar telling me about talented marine biologists so no idea why I didn’t know about you earlier.”
“Details, details,” she murmured. “I’m sure Stefan would say that after my initial drowning I kept my energy very close to my soul so no one would know what had happened.”
“We have much to learn.”
“But, we’re here together at a time and place that we can,” she murmured. “And that is worth so much. Although not as much as having you in my life.”
He tilted her chin and kissed her gently, the first real kiss they’d shared. But there was so much warmth, so much caring. And what she really sensed under all of it was so much gratitude. Grateful for their lives, grateful for being with each other, grateful for the moment. She wrapped her arms tighter around his neck
and deepened the kiss. “I don’t know about you,” she said, “but I’ve wanted to do this since I first laid eyes on you.”
He gave a gentle sigh against her lips, offering and receiving her own gentle sigh back as he kissed her again and again and again.
When he finally lifted his head, he said, “Absolutely. I knew I wasn’t supposed to have those thoughts because you were so hurt and sick, and yet, I couldn’t help it. I’d sit by your bedside while you slept for hours, gently stroking your hair and telling you to live, to fight, so we could see what the hell this was going on around us.”
“And I did,” she whispered, her hands stroking his forearms, shoulders and neck. “And I didn’t know that, but I’m very glad to hear it.” She wiggled beneath him, sliding the heels and soft soles of her feet up and down his calves. “And don’t think I haven’t forgotten how you tried to keep me floating in the water,” she murmured.
“I tried,” he said. “Even when I couldn’t. I don’t think anything is more terrifying than Mother Nature when she unleashes her power on us poor beings.”
“Or more wondrous when some of her creatures lend a hand in our time of need.”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “Isn’t that the truth.”
She shifted again, tilting her pelvis up against him, sliding her legs higher so her knees were wrapped around his hips. She could feel the ridge between them as his body responded. She chuckled and shifted again and then again.
“Witch,” he said thickly. “You’re just asking for trouble.”