tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10972641153437845892024-03-18T22:35:03.621-06:00THERE IS MAGIC IN EVERYTHINGA New short story posted every Sunday.Randall R. Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536932805707673903noreply@blogger.comBlogger266125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097264115343784589.post-41632506248523796972020-10-01T21:05:00.000-06:002020-10-01T21:05:10.798-06:00JULIA HUGHESCopyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdiHFiXJVY4BTttbZkCd5GRCPwZH0R_64_wEHuoCFnLLV2dWHPmVMKIXRZ8jTJZSeFlbrFL0yO53CAUFK4aErbM-vHFuqGhx57gzwlBelhaDE3pnmX2O_Mgou3GH5yoFYOVKx0Err2CrA/s459/Julia+boat.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="451" data-original-width="459" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdiHFiXJVY4BTttbZkCd5GRCPwZH0R_64_wEHuoCFnLLV2dWHPmVMKIXRZ8jTJZSeFlbrFL0yO53CAUFK4aErbM-vHFuqGhx57gzwlBelhaDE3pnmX2O_Mgou3GH5yoFYOVKx0Err2CrA/s320/Julia+boat.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Julia Hughes moves the waters of
the River Thames and the literary hearts of millions of readers. From her home
in London, her unsurpassed mastery of fiction and her vast and unsurpassed knowledge
of the Queen’s English make her one of the world’s most brilliant writers. Depth
of Character is one of the Holy Grails of Writing and she keeps this legendary
treasure within easy access in the titanic and mystical chambers of her
brilliant mind. She has been my editor and greatest literary friend for more
than a decade.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">There has always been magic in
writing, ever since that first mark was cut into a tree and some wandering cave
man “read” it. That enchantment lives on in the world of today. Saturday nights
have become “my” time for writing. Any time after 7 PM finds me racing against
the clock to finish a short-story by midnight. It is 7 AM when Julia opens my
e-mail in London. I am no doubt snoring when Julia reads the jumbled words from
that “Hillbilly Writer” in the U.S.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">I always awaken in a Fairy Tale and
find that just like the “Shoemaker and the Elves” the scribbles I laid out the
night before have been transformed into something readable … and occasionally much
much more. No one could ask for a better friend. Her adorable little dog is of
course named “Tinkerbelle”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Thank you Julia! <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Sorry if this all seems a bit rambling.
I could have sent it over for edits … but I wanted to “surprise” you.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">I will love you forever … and I
will never forget!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Julia Hughes books can be found on Amazon. I don’t know how
many there are. Her literary “gifts” would definitely have to include “proliferation.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Julia-Hughes/e/B005CRGP6Y%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share">https://www.amazon.com/Julia-Hughes/e/B005CRGP6Y%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p><br /></div>Randall R. Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536932805707673903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097264115343784589.post-83157878763330452852020-09-21T01:07:00.000-06:002020-09-21T01:07:45.185-06:00CARVED IN STONE part 8Copyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVc6RYBK69lOwtxtFqMcfr-D6e_Wa1WpIlYTe061VaawIu9Zh45oPAeteszUE5sexaLS0LC-DYQo1s6XLBd_EVaZBWhrODrJqtFID-pi6wwINPznZGAQo4nxc6QUzQr5acpGDqgRV_FO8/s1000/Carved+in+Stone+part+8+art.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="1000" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVc6RYBK69lOwtxtFqMcfr-D6e_Wa1WpIlYTe061VaawIu9Zh45oPAeteszUE5sexaLS0LC-DYQo1s6XLBd_EVaZBWhrODrJqtFID-pi6wwINPznZGAQo4nxc6QUzQr5acpGDqgRV_FO8/w400-h186/Carved+in+Stone+part+8+art.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bernard MT Condensed","serif"; font-size: 72.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-effects-shadow-align: none; mso-effects-shadow-alpha: 100.0%; mso-effects-shadow-angledirection: 0; mso-effects-shadow-anglekx: 0; mso-effects-shadow-angleky: 0; mso-effects-shadow-color: black; mso-effects-shadow-dpidistance: 0pt; mso-effects-shadow-dpiradius: 9.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-pctsx: 0%; mso-effects-shadow-pctsy: 0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">CARVED IN STONE<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Brush Script MT"; font-size: 72.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-effects-shadow-align: none; mso-effects-shadow-alpha: 100.0%; mso-effects-shadow-angledirection: 0; mso-effects-shadow-anglekx: 0; mso-effects-shadow-angleky: 0; mso-effects-shadow-color: black; mso-effects-shadow-dpidistance: 0pt; mso-effects-shadow-dpiradius: 9.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-pctsx: 0%; mso-effects-shadow-pctsy: 0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">Part 8<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By
R. Peterson<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------Black
Rose Cemetery-------<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The rotting corpse of forty three year old, Richard
Miles hung from a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">traverse </i>shaped
like a capital X. Someone had doused the body with gasoline and set it on fire.
The flickering fire-light made the moon-shadows of trees appear to dance … but
no one would look. Two chests overflowing with silver spoons and forks guarded
the sides of the cross.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Joanie Otter picked up two forks from one of the
chests and then flung one toward the recently covered grave of Erma Bates. “You
should have let the birds take it,” she said. “You won’t need it now that the
worms crawl into your mouth without any help.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Let’s hold hands … shall we?” Hamilton Fisk
beckoned the hand-held spoons and forks clustered in the oldest part of Black
Rose Cemetery to come closer.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We
must become children,” she said, “the children of darkness,” Joanie Otter
closed her eyes and nodded her head as they joined hands.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“What
is death … but sleep on another world?” Hamilton’s eyes flashed around the
circle of moving bodies seeing beyond that which was reflected of light.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Nothing
… and everything,” the witches chanted as they spun as one.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Who
will close your eyes when we are gone?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“No
one … and everyone,” the witches sang. The wheel they created with their bodies
began to sin faster.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Who
can see with their eyes open?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Only
the dead … and those about to be,” all nine covens chanted. Black garments and
bits of cold-silver became a static blur.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Do
we fear death … or welcome her?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“She
is mother,” the witches sang. “And life is the inattentive father she waits for.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The storm, which had ravaged everything in a circle
outside the cemetery, suddenly spun itself into a dark and fantastic funnel-cloud
that touched down somewhere in the vastness of Motha Forest and opened just above
their heads. Two girls screamed with pleasure as they were spun into the air
and then vanished. A glowing green figure appeared as a tiny speck in the tube
and approached the cemetery with the leisure of darkness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Time
is the doctor who kills her patients,” Hamilton said, “… so who you gonna
call?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And the witches laughed …<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------
Descombey Mansion Cloverdale -------<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“It seems Marjorie had
her heart torn in half.” The sheriff was looking out the upstairs window of
Melania’s bedroom. The storm outside appeared to be growing. A broken branch
from an old Cottonwood tree sailed past the glass … as if it had wings.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Love
will do that,” Melania agreed. “But she really had no choice. A young girl with
her whole life ahead of her must not fall in love with some magical creation …
even if that creation was mine.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Show
me a heart that listens to reason … and I’ll show you a fairy tale.” Allison
was gathering the empty cups and putting them on a tray.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We
can’t be finished,” John said. “There is too much going on in that place we
just visited.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
agree,” Melania said. “And we will drink more tea. But we can’t stay here.
Something evil is coming to Cloverdale on this night … I think perhaps we
should go for a ride.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’ve
got my patrol car parked just down the street.” The sheriff smiled. “It even
has a radar detector … if you fancy a real fast ride.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Thank
you sheriff but I don’t think your car is fast enough …” Melania started to
remove her nightgown and John quickly turned his head. “Not when you have half
the angels in hell polishing your tail-lights.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You
going to drive that old Buick you keep tied up in your garage?” John tried to
look anywhere in the room but at her.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“No
you are,” Melania said. “And watch out for cops! That Roadmaster can outrun a
jet airplane … but them <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">law boys</i> is mighty
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sneaky</i> in this side of Comanche
County.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div style="border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 4.0pt 0in;">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 4.0pt 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 26.0pt; letter-spacing: .25pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;">SCARECROWS </span><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; letter-spacing: .25pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;">part 5</span><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 26.0pt; letter-spacing: .25pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;"> The BURNING<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">By R. Peterson<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">It was morning, but still dark. Ray
Davis left his farmhouse and staggered toward the outhouse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was something he did every morning. The gas
lantern he held in his hand illuminated the barnyard with its cluster of weathered
outbuildings and a long windowless chicken coop. There had been a ruckus in the
coop during the night; he suspected a fox was getting after his chickens. The
smell from the two-seater nearly rolled him over as he hung the light on a
hook. He knew he would have to dig out the pit and re-freshen it before too
long. He wanted to put it off as long as possible. It was a nasty job and his
bones ached with the slightest exertion. He began reading a torn-in-half
catalog from Sears and Roebuck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">A tremendous thump shook the ground and
made the lantern fall from the wall. Ray opened the door a crack and peered
out. He swore under his breath. Maybe one of those Nelson youngsters <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>from the neighbor’s farm was playing a prank. They
would be dealt with harshly when he caught them. He smiled to himself as he
removed his wide leather belt from his trousers. “It’s been a while since I
beat me a brat,” he muttered.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Not finding anything in the yard, he
gave up and was almost to the house when the light from the moon was suddenly
blocked from behind. There was the strange smell of almonds and molding straw.
Ray turned just as two large boney hands clutched at his throat and lifted him
high into the air. His legs kicked frantically and bits of chopped straw sprinkled
over him like salt on pork. His pants, without a belt to hold them up, fell
around his work-boots. Ray was dead before the towering Hodmedod tore his arms
off. He was fifty two and his heart had failed. Inside the house, Ray’s wife,
Nora, had heard a small cry. “Must be constipation,” she muttered as she
slipped into a gingham dress with an apron attached and wearily trudged outside
to help her husband.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Margie
was frantic. She looked everywhere, but Brian was gone. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">When was the last time she had seen him?</i> She hated herself for
walking in the orchard with the soldier. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What
had she been thinking? Spending so much time with Sean O’Brien!</i> The shed by
the woodpile was Brian’s favorite place … but he wasn’t there. What if he had
been captured by the mobs rounding up scarecrows? What if he were already <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">burning</i> on a pile somewhere? Margie
could not stand to think about it. She stood in the doorway perplexed; Brian’s
things were gone. He always kept a bag nearby with tools a knife and extra
clothing. As he became more human he felt things like cold … and he had to eat.
A bundle she had given him, before he hid in the shed, containing bread, fruit
and a bottle of water was also missing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Margie noticed tracks in the snow, they
belonged to Brian and they headed out of town toward the mountains. She felt a
strange relief. He had left on his own. He hadn’t been captured yet.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">She ran toward the house. She would have
to tell Emma. They would take her car. Maybe they could catch up with him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Oh Brian, I am so sorry.” Margie sobbed
as she went into the house.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Ed Fowler drove the 1939 Ford grain
truck, the back was loaded with Hodmedods, and Judge Walker sat in the
passenger side reading from two sheets of paper. He held the first list up for
Ed to look at.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“This is the list of people we can count
on to support us,” he said. “Most of them is good old boys what know which side
their bread is buttered on. This other page…” he held up the second list, “shows
the ones who are sure to make trouble for us!” He frowned at Ed. “We better deal
with them right now … before they do.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“That second list looks to be a lot
longer than the first.” Ed glanced at the judge then turned and spat tobacco
juice out his window then continued driving down the snow covered road.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Of course it is,” the judge said.
“Loyalty always has a price; you can’t recruit good men if you don’t share the
wealth.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“And you’re not in the mood for
sharing?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“No more than I have to be, there’s too
many hands in the kitty as it is.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">They
were just approaching a small farmhouse surrounded by ramshackle outbuildings.
A mailbox painted with flowers stood on a post next the gravel driveway. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Turn in here,” the judge said.
“Jacob and Alice Mathers are dairy farmers; their names are on the list.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Which list?” Ed looked at him and
grinned.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
judge gestured toward the back of the truck where the Hodmedods had begun to move
about causing the truck to rock side to side. “Which list do you think?” he
said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sheriff Walker and Eve walked back
toward the encampment with a group of Mommet that had escaped from the roaming
mobs of angry townspeople. Some were helping scarecrows who were badly hurt
while others carried children in shaky arms. Joe Walker had never been around a
group of people who were so gentle and kind. It amazed him that they even
existed. Just before they came into the Mommet encampment they heard a large
group of voices, all talking excitedly. Melania Descombey Kerns stood in the
center of a group of adoring Mommet. The sheriff recognized his old friend.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Melania,
I never thought I’d see you in the middle of the Motha woods surrounded by
scarecrows!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Believe me, It’s a lot better here
than where I came from -- State Hospital North.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Why the devil would you be at that
place? That’s a mental hospital!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Your brother the judge wanted to
get me out of the way; he has plans for using these straw people and others
like them to control this part of the state. He’s the one who signed the papers
to have me committed.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Excuse me for asking.” The sheriff
looked at her. “But what could they possibly fear from a kind old lady like
you?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Melania
laughed as she looked around and gestured toward the Mommet.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“These
are my children,” she said. “I created most of them thirteen years ago.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“I’ve
heard talk of you being a witch, but I never believed it.” The sheriff’s eyes
were like two full moons. “Is it true?” He took a step back.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Melania
grinned. “I guess I’ve got a lot of explaining to do,” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Brian kept himself on the opposite
side of the fire and held a burning branch to keep the Chinaman away. He kicked
more wood on the fire to build it up. The monster was made of straw but had the
cunning of a fox. Every-time Brian tried to get around the thing, to try to
flee down the tunnel, the creature blocked his escape. The huge Hodmedod’s face
was even more gruesome reflected by the light of the fire. The flesh was burned
completely away on one cheek. The ragged cut showed a jaw that was a strange
mixture of straw and cartilage. The monster lunged in a vain attempt to knock
the burning stick away but Brian dodged at the last moment and the creature’s
claws grazed his chest, cutting a six inch long tear in his bib overalls. Tiny
grain seeds ran from the cut like dripping blood. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Your chafe turns slowly to flesh
and I hunger to taste you.” The Chinaman said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The fire was slowly burning to coals and
it was no longer keeping the beast from lunging. The Hodmedod’s blackened claws
caught Brian’s shoulder and tore away a large part of his previously injured
arm before he was able to pull away. The branch Brian was holding had burned
down to where it was not much more than a twig and the constantly shifting
monster kept him from putting more wood on the fire. Brian tried to think of a
plan, a way to escape from the monster but his brain wouldn’t work. He knew his
time of death was near. His memories always returned to the girl who had
created him. In the last moments of his life he wanted only to think about the
girl. The girl his thoughts danced with. Brian’s last wish was to think only of
Margie.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The end came suddenly. Brian stumbled
slightly; he was worn out and slowing. The Chinaman’s huge clawed hands caught
and crushed onto his throat with a tremendous force that nothing could pry
away. An ephemeral vision of auburn hair blowing in the breeze framing the
lovely face of Margie drifted across the young Mommet’s mind as he went limp
and began to pass out. He smiled despite the pain.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“My mother was a Zingara (gypsy)
from the old country,” Melania told the sheriff. “She brought with her a wooden
recipe box called an Ombre. A cook will use a box like this to store recipes,
but a Bruja (witch) like my mother uses her Ombre to store magic spells. I used
a card from the box called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Walkstraw</i>
to create the first Mommet in the county. Later on, Lemont Hicks stole the card
from me and began to create different types of scarecrows Tattie Bogals,
Moggies even the Hodmedod.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Somehow I didn’t believe all this
wickedness came from your hand.” The sheriff gazed at the group of Mommet
thoughtfully.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“No enchantment is all good … or all
bad,” Melania said. “Ombre is always in balance. There is as much kindness in
the Mommet … as there is evil in the Hodmedod.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">A
gasp came from the crowd of Mommet as a small squat figure shuffled from the
trees. Sheriff Walker reached for his gun. Melania put her hand on his arm.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Wait, its Crab,” she said. “He’s a
friend of mine.” The dwarf-like figure smiled as he walked toward the old
witch. “What are you doing in my neck of the woods?” She asked him with a
smile.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“My third eye tells me there is
great trouble coming to your village.” Crab tapped a spot between his eyes as
if to show an optic that wasn’t there.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You’re talking about the town,
about Cloverdale?” Melania’s tone startled the Sheriff he stared at the old woman.
He had never felt fear radiate from anyone before.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Yes,” Crab said. “We must leave at
once, and army of Hodmedod is about to attack your village and these creatures,”
he pointed to the Mommet, “are the only things that can stop them.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Chinaman suddenly released his
hold on Brian’s throat and flung his huge arms into the air. The monster twisted
and clawed at his back as if trying to remove a stinging wasp. Lavar Hicks
stood behind the beast holding a broom-handle with a wire loop tether and a gob
of black tar on the end. The Hodmedod did a convulsing dance as he tried to
scrape the back ooze from his back.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Brian
lay on the floor of the cave. Lavar looked at him without sympathy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I ain’t saving you,” he muttered.
“I’m just taking back what’s mine. With my pa gone the Chinaman is all I got in
this world.” He grinned as Brian looked up at him. “So get the hell out of here
before I change my mind.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Brian
scrambled up and ran from the cave … on wobbly legs.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It slowly became dark in the town of
Cloverdale. It was strangely quiet as if everyone expected something to happen.
Judge Walker looked down the street where his friends and a group of Klu Klux
Klan members from Alabama had begun the ravaging of the town. Hodmedods dragged
the terrified residents from their homes and businesses while the city police
looted. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">There was a metal on metal whine
piercing the air like an aircraft in a nose dive. Hundreds of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mommet, led by Sheriff Walker, came around
the corner of Wallace and started down Townsend Avenue. They were carrying
torches and the metallic sound came from their voices. A small squat figure
pranced alongside the witch Melania Descombey who held a wooden box in her
hands.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Judge Walker smiled. “I’ve been
expecting you little brother,” he sneered. He gave a signal and a fire truck
with men riding on the sides pulled from the alley blocking the path of the
Mommet. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Seconds
later another group of Hodmedods armed with grain cutters flanked the Sheriff
and his army. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">A blast of water from the fire truck
swept the startled Mommet backwards knocking them to the ground. Their torches
were extinguished. The Hodmedod charged into the confused mass cutting down the
scarecrows like grain. There was screaming chaos everywhere as the Mommet began
to break rank and flee. Mommet children were dragged from their parents and
butchered for sport.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">A young female Mommet who carried a tiny
baby in a pack on her back tried desperately to crawl to safety on one
un-severed leg. A huge Hodmedod sliced off her head with a curved blade then
threw her screaming child into the air and speared it with the scythe as it
fell. The Mommet clustered together around an old female in a group frantically
trying to re-ignite their torches. The old scarecrow bravely faced the charging
Hodmedod and was torn apart by the horrible monsters.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Crab grabbed at Melania’s skirts and
smiled up at her, as she opened the small wooden Ombre box. “Yes, that’s it,”
he said as she pulled out a faded yellow card. “The Returning River Spell.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“How did you know?” Melania looked
down at the dwarf.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Mmm-mm-mmy third eye,” Crab
stuttered. “It sees things before they happen.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Then this will work?” Melania
turned pale as she studied the instructions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Oh does it!” Crabs eyes were bright
and laughing as he looked at the fire truck.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Melania
held the card high above her head as she twirled around faster and faster. She
sprinkled blue liquid from a vial as she spun. Her voice rose above the turmoil
of the fighting, an eerie ominous song announcing the coming darkness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Pioggia rugiada e massiccio del
canto del Gallo, vola torna ora da dove sei venuto (Cockcrow dew and massif
rain, fly back now from whence you came.)”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">She
repeated the chant over and over as her spinning motion accelerated and became
a blur.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sean O’Brian drove Emma Kern’s car
while Margie sat in the passenger seat scanning the countryside. Sean looked at
her. “Don’t worry we’ll find him,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“With the county in an uproar … it’s
a fine time for him to run off!” Margie pouted.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Maybe that’s a good thing,” Sean
said. “Hiding out in the hills might save his life.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“He didn’t run off because of the
scarecrow hunters,” Margie fumed. “We used to be close but I’ve been neglecting
him since …” She looked at Sean. “…since I met you.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Look just up ahead, I think that’s
him.” Sean pulled the car to the side of the road and stopped.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Brian
stood doubled over at the side of the road out of breath from running. He
looked up as Margie leaped from the car.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Brian! Oh my God Brian! Where have
you been?” She began to get angry. “I was worried sick. I told you to hide. I
thought you had been taken.” She grabbed her creation and pulled him into the
car still scolding.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Brian
looked at Sean as he sat, then he hung his head. “I wanted to be by myself …
maybe to find my own kind.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Margie
sobbed as she hugged him. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“My dear Brian,” she said. “I love
you. I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">am</i> your kind.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Sheriff
Walker fired his automatic into the crowd of charging Hodmedod until his clip
ran out. Then he pulled Eve behind him and beat at the scarecrows with a Texan,
a lead bar covered with leather.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The ground began to tremble and shake
like Cloverdale was having its first ever earthquake. The puddles of water
under the fighting masses began to fly backward returning into the fire truck
hoses they had just came out of. Inside the shops, stores and homes that lined
Townsend Avenue toilet tanks began to empty and the water began to flow back
toward the metal water-tower in the center of town. The pumps on the
fire-trucks continued to try to push the returning water forward and smoke
began to stream from the whining motors. A water main under the paved
intersection of Wallace and Galbraith ruptured under the tremendous back
pressure and the explosion blew chunks of asphalt and a parked Volkswagen Beetle
high into the air. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The huge metal water tower was rocking
violently on its seventy foot tall metal legs, and liquid sprayed from the
overflow pipe at the top of the silver receptacle. Water in the aquifer deep
under Comanche County began to rise to the surface. The Cottonmouth River that
ran through the town overflowed its banks and washed out Motha Bridge in one
huge surge of water driven upward like a tidal wave coming from the oceans of
hell.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">A giant Hodmedod, with a gash dripping
chopped straw down one side of his face, fought his way forward. He swung a
grain cutter viciously downward trying to sever the neck of the woman who held
the magic card above her head. Suddenly Crab was in front of Melania he climbed
up her torso like a monkey climbs a tree. The huge blade sliced through the
dwarf splashing blood down the blue/gold dress of the witch.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Ed Fowler and Dr. O’Conner gazed at the
carnage going on at the end of Main Street. Behind them were a group of men,
friends of the doctors from down south. The men wore swastikas on their sleeves.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Hitler has the right idea,” Ed said.
“But he’s taking too much on at once, not thinking it through.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Dr.
O’Conner picked up a German made machine gun and examined it. He lay it back
down carefully.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“He is a fantastic source of weapons;
we should thank him.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“It is in his best interest that we
start an insurrection in this country, and he’s also very interested in the
Hodmedod … very interested.” Ed looked at the doctor. “We will not disappoint
him.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Dr.
O’Conner looked out the window. “As soon as the Hodmedod have weakened the
town, send our storm troopers in, clean up and then have Judge Walker declare
martial law. This is just the beginning. Comanche county is just a stepping
stone to World Domination and with friends in the third Reich … how can we lose?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Margie, Sean and Brian were just turning
off highway one onto Main Street when the supports on the water tower collapsed
and the tank holding 90,000 gallons of water crashed to the ground leveling half
a city block and washing away houses two streets away. Sean spun the car around
and just missed the huge tank as it plummeted into the ground. But the surge of
water flipped over the car and tumbled it end-over-end down the street like a lost
fishing bobber in a raging river.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Sheriff Walker shoved Melania to the
side and beat at the monster scarecrow. The lead filled leather club sunk deep
into the stuffed effigy tearing out huge chunks of straw and bloody flesh.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Melania gathered the severed dwarf
in her arms and hurried toward her house. Sheriff Walker had just smashed in
the head of a Hodmedod and grabbed her arm as she ran past.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Where are you going?” He gestured
towards the fighting. “We may still need your powers.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Melania
carefully extracted the sheriff’s fingers from her arm. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“My magic is complete,” she said.
“The ones responsible for the evil in this town are now dead or soon will be.”
She stared down at the bloody mass in her arms. “This little one here needs my
help to stay alive; there are many things the future needs him for.” She
pointed down the street toward the Spare-a-dime diner. “Your brother is in
there with the last of the evil ones, you must confront him.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Sheriff
Walker watched the old witch scamper away carrying the injured dwarf, then he
turned and ran toward the diner.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Margie, Sean and Brian were all
thrown from the car as it tumbled down the street. They bobbed in the flooding
waves like corks. Margie fought to keep her head above water then Brian was
there holding her up. The current pushed them toward a light pole that was bent
over the water. Brian grabbed the pole and held on with one hand as he held
Margie with the other.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Sean! Do you see him?” Margie asked.
She was frantic.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“There!” Brian pointed upstream
where Sean was swimming toward them, he was too far away to grab and would be
swept past. Brian pushed Margie onto the pole then thrust himself outward. He
grabbed at Sean and flung him with a twisting motion toward Margie and the
pole. Then the young Mommet was sucked under the churning water.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The waters began to recede almost as
quickly as they had come. Sheriff Walker walked down the street looking at the
damage. Most of the heavy Hodmedods had sunk in the water and drown while the
lighter Mommet floated. A mob of townspeople lit torches and were burning the
few stragglers as they found them, one by one. The door to Spare-a-Dime was
ajar and water poured out from the wooden floor. Judge Walker was standing on a
table when his brother walked in. The judge pointed a service revolver at his
brother.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“This is your fault,” he said. “If
you just hadn’t interfered, but then that’s you isn’t it?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Don’t do something you will
regret.” John pleaded with him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“This is something I should have
done a long time ago.” Tom grinned suddenly and looked at his younger brother.
“I was the oldest, but I was still always in your shadow! No matter what I did
I always came in second.” He lowered the gun and smiled. “This time I’m going to
be first.” The Judge raised the gun to his own head.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The blast knocked John Walker to his
knees. Blood trickled from his ear from a concussion. The smell of smoke and
gunpowder filled the café. The sheriff looked at his dead brother with stunned
disbelief. Jap Mary Yokohama who had been hiding in the kitchen crept in softly.
She knelt on the floor beside the Sheriff and put her arms around him. After a
while they both began to cry.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Melania carried Crab down the ladder
into the tunnel under the shed in Black Rose Cemetery. He was weak, but still
alive. “You want to go this way, don’t you?” She gestured into the darkness.
Crab mumbled a “yes”. He looked comatose. Near the middle of the tunnel Melania
stopped in front of the door she had noticed on the way out.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Now we will find out what your
secrets are,” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
old witch’s scream echoed down the tunnel and scared a flock of nesting birds
in the graveyard above … seconds after she opened the heavy oaken door.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The waters receded quickly. Two days
later the only water left was in large puddles around piles of wreckage. The
townspeople of Cloverdale had already begun the cleanup and were starting to
rebuild.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Sean
walked alongside Margie. Her stark face was pale, Mommet-like and her soft
brown eyes still searched for her scarecrow lover. They walked past the collapsed
water tower on the end of Main-Street and Margie turned away from a Cloverdale
police officer’s body lying in the rubble. A sewn on emblem on the sleeve
caught her attention, it was a Swastika. “That’s odd,” she murmured to Sean.
“Isn’t that a German emblem?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>They watched as one of the farmers
from the Spare-a-Dime soaked a huge pile of wood with gasoline and then set it on
fire.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
flames illuminated Margie’s face as she looked at Sean. “Do you think we will
ever find him?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’m sure he got away. After all … straw
floats,” Sean pulled her away from the flames that were now roaring. He
playfully patted her on the stomach.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“What do you think of the name <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chloe</i>, if it’s a girl?” he asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Margie
laughed. “Don’t put the plow before the horse.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">She
was oddly distracted. Something in the fire had caught her eye. She took a step
closer.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Oh my God! Brian!” she screamed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
scarecrow lay near the bottom of the debris pile. The flames were starting to
consume his straw-filled body. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>One eye opened. It was the sky blue
color of early morning. Brian stared at his love. He smiled feebly. His last
wish had been granted. He had seen her one last time. A single tear escaped
from under his eyelid and rolled down the grain sack that covered his face.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I love you,” he whispered just as
the fire covered him like a blanket.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Margie
lunged forward but was driven back by the heat and Sean’s strong arms. The
flames erupted with a roar and consumed the Mommet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sinew and straw became ash and began to
spiral upward.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Margie collapsed on the ground. She was heavy
with a weight of grief that not even Sean could support. The flames danced
toward the sky and a part of her heart rose with them, and left only ash in her
breast. Brian would forever be her greatest love, there would never be another.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">And the two entwined parts were driven
upward by heat, eternally joined but also lost, along with the ashes and the
tears of a beautiful autumn romance. Then everything slowly vanished into the
night sky.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">THE END?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><br /></div>Randall R. Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536932805707673903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097264115343784589.post-72769758168679003932020-09-13T20:58:00.000-06:002020-09-13T20:58:31.874-06:00CARVED IN STONE part 7Copyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOFyVsUtTyiRpRcyaTwzwVh9dhfLr-OfPjeiWq3c9dKUdSpcqyHADiXXHoYyzpA3IDZe6K6pEsdJUeZKw4mBuDOX8sNIIaskiHK7l-ZyGlp5396Hdp5M1T_iNs-eKY6sYcmYXbN-zweqw/s1000/Carved+in+Stone+part+7+art.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOFyVsUtTyiRpRcyaTwzwVh9dhfLr-OfPjeiWq3c9dKUdSpcqyHADiXXHoYyzpA3IDZe6K6pEsdJUeZKw4mBuDOX8sNIIaskiHK7l-ZyGlp5396Hdp5M1T_iNs-eKY6sYcmYXbN-zweqw/s320/Carved+in+Stone+part+7+art.bmp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bernard MT Condensed","serif"; font-size: 72.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-effects-shadow-align: none; mso-effects-shadow-alpha: 100.0%; mso-effects-shadow-angledirection: 0; mso-effects-shadow-anglekx: 0; mso-effects-shadow-angleky: 0; mso-effects-shadow-color: black; mso-effects-shadow-dpidistance: 0pt; mso-effects-shadow-dpiradius: 9.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-pctsx: 0%; mso-effects-shadow-pctsy: 0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">CARVED IN STONE<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Brush Script MT"; font-size: 72.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-effects-shadow-align: none; mso-effects-shadow-alpha: 100.0%; mso-effects-shadow-angledirection: 0; mso-effects-shadow-anglekx: 0; mso-effects-shadow-angleky: 0; mso-effects-shadow-color: black; mso-effects-shadow-dpidistance: 0pt; mso-effects-shadow-dpiradius: 9.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-pctsx: 0%; mso-effects-shadow-pctsy: 0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">Part 7<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By
R. Peterson<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Allison went downstairs
to heat more water for tea. “A gang of murdering scarecrows attacking the town!”
Sheriff Walker looked out the window. Heavy rain beat against the glass; a heavy
oak in the front yard appeared to bend with the wind. Broken branches littered
the lawn. The storm appeared to be getting worse … rather than receding. “Why
wasn’t this on the news?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“The Vanishing River
Tribune tried to cover the story but the entire town was in kayos,” Melania
said. “And the national news was too busy with World War Two to care about what
was going on in a small town in Montana. Your great uncle, Judge Walker, and
others were starting their own war trying to seize all the power in the city.</span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m
sure they told the newspaper what to print. They locked me up in jail so I
couldn’t make any trouble for them.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Did it work?” The
sheriff smiled.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I’ve had a knack for
starting trouble since the day I got my driver’s license,” Melania told him. “Sometimes
it’s just a little harder to get all the wheels turning.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Allison arrived with a
fresh pot of tea. “Who wants to do more traveling?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div style="border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 4.0pt 0in;">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 4.0pt 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 26.0pt; letter-spacing: .25pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;">Scarecrows </span><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: .25pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;">part 4</span><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 26.0pt; letter-spacing: .25pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;"> Love & Loss<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">By R. Peterson<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
sheriff sat up on the cot, his head was still swimming but he was starting to
feel better. He slipped the white bag, with holes cut out for his eyes and
mouth, over his head before he tottered outside. The encampment was surprisingly
silent; the children, who had so often awakened him while he lay in feverish
dreams, were nowhere to be seen. Voices drifted across the rows of pumpkin and
onion vines coming from the grain fields. Joe Walker staggered toward them.
Snow had been brushed away from a large area where a crowd of Mommet gathered. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
frozen ground had been painstakingly tilled and worked till the soil lay piled in
soft furrows. An oversize scarecrow walked the rows spilling what looked like
ashes from a bulky sack with a small hole cut in the bottom, Joe noticed Eve
standing with her children.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Are
you sure you are healthy enough to be up?” She whispered, as he stood beside
her.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What
are they doing?” He kept his voice low.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“It
is the ceremony of Awakening.” Eve murmured. “The ashes of the dead killed by
the Hodmedod are mixed with the grain seed so that after next year’s harvest
they will once again be straw.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">They watched as the
group followed humbly behind the planter with rakes and covered the furrows.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The ground felt damp beneath
his boots as he followed Eve down the rows.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Do they add water to the seed
before it’s covered?” he asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Only the family’s tears,” Eve said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Eve led him to an
area under the trees that contained three crudely made wooden coffins.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Our customs are different than
yours,” Eve said. “Your companions did not survive, I’m sorry.” She put her
hand on his shoulder. ”Were you close to them?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“One was a good friend.” The sheriff
thought of his subordinate and the loyal service he had given. “And the other
two were enemies.” He thought about the men his brother had sent with him, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">they were probably along to kill him and his
deputy</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">He opened the casket
lid and gazed at what was left of his friend.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“What would you have us do with
them?” Eve asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The sheriff let the
coffin lid bang down. “I’ll take this one back with me.” He gestured toward the
other two caskets. “You can burn them or bury them, I really don’t care.” He
said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Judge Walker was swept from Spare-a-Dime
out onto the sidewalk with the rest of the diner crowd. Gunfire erupted across
town and echoed down the emptying streets. Cars were starting up everywhere and
speeding away into the night. One old farmer, who had driven a wagon with a
team of horses into town, whipped his animals furiously heading south even
though his farm was north-west. He didn’t want to go near the source of the fighting.
The crowd began to curse the absence of law enforcement. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Where is that sheriff-brother of yours?”
One of the men asked the judge. “Where is he when we need him?”<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“My brother has problems.” The judge
hung his head; he smiled slyly when he thought no-one could see. “I just never
thought his troubles would keep him from doing his duty.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Looks to me like this is a job for
the city police, this ain’t the county,” another farmer shouted.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The crowd turned ugly.
They began to chant “Where are our police? Where are our police?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The judge found Ed
Fowler in the crowd. “We need to do something,” he whispered.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Relax,” Ed told him. “The cops are
helping to herd the Hodmedod. Once they come into town, and do a little damage
they’ll chase them back out. It makes the chief of police look like a hero …
and us as well.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“This had better work.” The judge
shivered as he looked at the mob.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The sound of gunfire was
louder now. A crowd of gun-packing men backed around the corner from Wallace
Avenue shooting wildly. A mob of scarecrows, armed with grain cutters and
pitch-forks, pursued them. The shots had no effect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A direct hit on a Hodmedod blew out bits of
straw and sinew from the backside, but did little damage. One man stumbled as
he tried to re-load and fell. He used his rifle barrel as a club to ward off
the monster who loomed over him. Streetlights reflected off the blade the
scarecrow carried as he swept it downward. A metallic roar from the beast
rumbled down the street as the Hodmedod held the severed head high like a
hunting trophy. Several women fainted and their men made an abortive attempt to
drag them away. The people of Cloverdale scattered and ran for their lives.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Melania woke up. She lay on her cot
and wondered why. Then a sound came again, the scratchy voice from the cell
next to hers. “Witch woman, are you awake?” Crab asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Yes I’m here.” Melania got out of
bed and squatted next to the hole in the cement wall where Crab’s eye glowed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You want to leave, or do you like
it here?” Melania could see Crab’s open mouth and his tongue moving, and then
it was replaced with his eye as he waited for her answer.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Yes I want to leave.” Melania’s
voice trembled. “But I’m old, too old to fight my way out, if that’s what you
have in mind.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“No fighting, I’ve dug a tunnel. It
took me two years. I hit the pipe more than a year ago.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Pipe?” Melania asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I used to be the caretaker of the Black
Rose Cemetery next door, worked there most of my life. I know the place like
the back of my hand. I surveyed the place lots of times I know where every
grave is, every building. There is a well pipe runs down from the shed where I
kept my equipment, when I hit that I knew I could start digging up.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“How big is this tunnel?” She was
starting to think she might be able to get away.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Big enough! Make up your bed so it
looks like you’re in it. I’ll unlock your cell and we’ll take us a look.”
Melania heard Crab open the door to his cell. She was pulling blankets over a
pillow on her cot when he opened her door. He was short and squat with a long
white beard, each eye was a different color. He looked like a dwarf.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You have keys to the cells?”
Melania was astonished.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I lowered the coffins in the ground
after everyone left,” Crab said. “I buried the head nurse at State Hospital
North; she kept her set of keys on her till the day she died.” Crab grinned as
he slipped a ring of keys into his pocket. “Even after she died.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Melania followed Crab
into his cell where he slid a bookcase away from the wall. A stairway led down
into the darkness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Why haven’t they found this?”
Melania asked. She was astonished.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Because of these.” Crab pointed to
mason jars that filled all the shelves.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Melania picked one
up. It fell to the floor with a crash. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Crab picked up the
pieces and smirked as he laid them on the bookcase.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Body parts,” he said. “Fingers,
ears they don’t know where I get them. It makes them all scared.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Margie
and Emma followed the crowd onto the sidewalk. Everyone was running toward
their cars the sound of gunfire was coming closer. She held Emma’s hand and tried
to move her down the sidewalk as fast as possible. She felt someone brush past
her. The wounded soldier from Spare-a-Dime was holding Emma’s other arm. Sean
O’Brien looked at Margie and smiled. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You look like you could use some
help,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Emma beamed as she
looked up at the young man. “We were just talking about you.” Her eyes darted
toward Margie then back. Her gaze wandered up and down Sean’s body. “How would
you like to give us your clothes?” She asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Margie blushed as
they helped Emma into her car.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“It’s for the scarecrow dance,”
Margie stammered. “I was thinking of dressing my Tattie Bogal as a soldier.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Sean laughed. “At
least let me get home first,” he said. “It’s too cold to drive home naked.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Margie didn’t know
what to say, she was embarrassed but she also felt like she was falling with
nothing to hold on to. The feeling wasn’t bad, it wasn’t bad at all.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Dr. O’Conner and the chief of police
stood in the doorway of an empty building on the end north end of main street
looking toward the fighting going on south of them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“They are almost to Spare-a-Dime,”
Dr. O’Conner said. He turned to the police chief. “Have your men start driving
them back with torches, Chester here will make sure they move back.” He
gestured toward a huge Hodmedod standing at attention behind them. “The judge
will work up the townspeople to make sure all our opposition goes up in flames.
After that we do whatever we want.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The chief of police shuddered
as he glanced at the enormous scarecrow barely visible in the darkness. It felt
like standing next to a circus bear that was off its chain.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You sure you can control these
things?” He whimpered. “I don’t want my men hurt.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“No-one gets hurt,” Dr. O’Conner
said. “As long as you do what I say.” He looked back at the giant man made
monster standing just inside the darkness and smirked. “As long as you do
exactly what I say.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Melania
followed Crab down the steps and into the darkness. The tunnel was large, at
least six feet tall with room for two people to walk side by side. Crab held a
gas lantern high above his head. He walked slowly and held Melania’s hand as
they descended the steepest part of the stairs.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
can’t believe you created this,” Melania said. “It must have taken years.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
used to be a gravedigger,” Crab stopped next to a door in the wall on their
right. “It’s what I know how to do.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">They entered a
storage room filled with tools and equipment. It looked like the inside of a
hardware store.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Crab picked up an axe
and a large pair of bolt cutters. “After you get away I’ll make it look like
someone broke you free from the outside. That way they will have no reason to
search my cell and find all this.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“With such an easy way out, why
haven’t you left? Why do you stay?” Melania asked the small man as they hobbled
down the tunnel.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I have no-where to go, and I
probably really do belong here.” Crab glanced at another door to their left as
walked past. He hung his head as if he was ashamed of something he had done.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Melania looked at the
door. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Does
this door have something to do with the fingers and ears in the jars?” She
asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
probably do belong here.” Crab said, as he led her to a ladder that led upward.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Judge
Walker, and a group of farmers who had stayed in town, watched from in front of
Spare-a-Dime as the chief of police and several of his officers drove the
Hodmedod down the street. The monsters were in full retreat … it looked almost
too easy. Several of the old men from inside the diner cheered. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
honeyed voices of the Mills Brothers singing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You always hurt the one you love</i> floated from the radio through the
smoky air as the judge led the men back inside. “It’s not over yet boys,” he
told them. “Not until we track down every one of them devils, and make sure
they never bring harm to any of our families again.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“How
we going to do that?” Simon Bates, a rat-faced man who ran the local granary,
asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The judge held his
hands in the air as the men all began to talk at once.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We’ll meet here in the morning. Everyone
who has a truck should bring it. We’ll hunt them in daylight when they lay up.
We’ll search every farm, every barn. We bring them to into town, throw them on
a pile and burn em. We won’t stop till we get them all, but this hunt is going
to be organized. No-body does anything … unless I say.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The men started to leave. Mrs.
Yokohama stood in the doorway holding a handful of unpaid checks from the
tables.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You pay for pie and coffee,” she
sang. “I work plenty hard - make you really swell apple pie.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Tim Fowler slapped
the tickets from her hand then knocked the old lady to the floor.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“From now on all of us eat for
free,” he said. “We’re the only thing keeping this place from burning to the
ground.” He kicked her with a dirty work boot. “And I don’t know how long
that’s going to last.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Several men laughed
as they walked past her.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Lowell Thomas’ news
broadcast crackled on the radio. </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">General
Patton's troops and tanks have just crossed the Moselle River and are ready to
capture the city of Metz.</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Jap Mary Yokohama lay
in a pile on the floor of her café … crying.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A rooster crowed somewhere across
town. Emma built a fire in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Home
Comfort</i> wood-burning stove and Margie was filling a kettle for tea when
they heard a knock on the door. Sean O’Brian stood with a bundle of clothes under
his arm. He saw the flustered look on Margie’s face and grinned as he watched her
hand go up to smooth her hair.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’m sorry I know I’m early,” he
said. “But I’ve got work today and I wanted to drop this off before I had to
leave. It’s my dress uniform,” he said as he handed the package to Margie.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Where is your Tattie
Bogal?” he asked as he looked around the room.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Oh we still need to
do some sewing on him.” Margie turned her head away; she hated to lie. “He’s
put away I’m afraid.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Better keep him hid,” Sean said. “The
judge has everyone, including me, out rounding up scarecrows, he wants them all
burned because of what happened last night. I don’t think they would take the
ones you girls made for the dance, but you never know. A lot of the men in town
are still angry because Roosevelt beat Dewey for president they need to take
their hate out on something.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Do you have time to stay for some
tea?” Emma asked. She was thrilled to see the handsome soldier in her house.
“I’ll have eggs and biscuits in a minute too.” She pulled out two chairs so
that Margie and Sean had to sit side by side.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Thank you Madame,” Sean said. “That
does smell mighty good.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
door of the closet was open just a crack as Brian stared out at the people
eating breakfast. There was a funny feeling deep in his chest as he watched
Margie and the soldier drinking tea and laughing. He knew he should be glad
that someone else was showing an interest in the girl he loved. He could never
become human, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">almost</i> but that wasn’t
good enough for a girl as fine as Margie. She needed someone like this soldier,
someone who could give her children that wouldn’t be deformed every other
generation. But it still caused a pain deep inside him as he saw her with
someone else. He tried to remember when they had danced, when they were so
blissfully happy. He wondered if he would ever feel that way again. He felt dampness
just below his eye he reached up and touched it with a glove covered finger. It
was strange he had never leaked water from his eyes before. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Sheriff
Walker came out of the woods on the road where he had parked his car. He was
wearing a cloth bag over his head. Eve and two other Mommet followed him. His
car was in shambles. All the tires had been slashed and all the glass including
the headlights was broken. A puddle of liquid ran from under the vehicle. They
could smell gasoline.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Looks
like somebody doesn’t want me to leave,” the sheriff muttered.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
don’t want you to either.” Eve giggled as she tugged on his head covering.
“Even if you do walk around naked sometimes.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The four looked up at
the sound of crashing coming from the other side of the road. Two full grown
Mommet ran from the woods, they both looked burned. One who was a female, held
a child in her arms.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We worked on the farm for years,”
she sobbed. “Now they take us and cast us into the fire. Of my three children
only this one I could save.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Who has done this?” the sheriff
demanded.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Your brother the judge, and
others,” the Mommet cried. “All these years … why hurt us now?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Eve looked at the
sheriff. “You fight the evil across the great sea while bad men roam your own
lands.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She put her head on
his shoulder and began to cry. “Is there no love in this world for those who
wish only to live and be happy?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It was late afternoon when a knock
came on Emma’s door. Margie answered. It was Sean O’Brian. “I’m sorry to bother
you again,” he said. “I left the judge’s party early. Some of the things that
mob is doing are just not right. We are fighting a war over-seas to protect everyone
from tyranny, not just a chosen few. I don’t know who these scarecrow people
are or how they came to be alive. But I cannot go along with their slaughter,
most don’t even fight back. They just cry as they are burned. Such gentle
creatures, I feel ill.” He staggered and began to fall. Emma and Margie rushed
forward and caught him before he hit the floor.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Later, as evening came, Brian heard
voices. He slipped back inside the shed where he had been hiding and decided to
stack firewood. Margie and Sean strolled down the path through the orchard, Sean
was holding her hand. The soldier was telling her a story about how he had been
driving a car when he got a flat tire. He had to walk to a farm house for help.
They both laughed when he told the last part of the story but Brian didn’t hear
what it was. Brian shivered it was as if the ache in his chest was spreading to
his whole body. He stared at the back of Margie’s head willing her to turn
around with his mind. He had to see her eyes. He had to see what was there
before he would know what to do. His short life of almost a week had been
balanced he figured. He had known fantastic joy dancing with this girl and now
he was learning about a great hurt. A sorrow that was to him more deadly than
fire. Brian held his breath as Margie turned. Her blue eyes sparkled in the
light from the setting sun. Brian slowly gathered some of his things from the
shed and slipped out into the trees … and then he ran. The strange water poured
from his eyes … and trickled down the cloth bag covering his face.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Margie felt a pang of guilt as she
walked next to Sean. She hadn’t spent much time with Brian lately … not since
this young soldier had come into her life. She promised herself she would go see
him later after Sean left. Maybe they could dance again. She smiled as Sean
told another of his stories, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">yes that’s
what she would do, and she would make Brian as happy … as he made her.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Judge
Walker sat in the best booth at Spare-a-Dime with Ed Fowler and Dr. O’Conner.
Mrs. Yokohama sat plates of eggs, bacon and biscuits on the table next to each
of them. There were scratches on the old ladies face and one of her eyes was
blackened and swollen so that it was almost shut. She was little more than a
prisoner in her own café. Ed Fowler looked at her with contempt as she
staggered away. “Damn japs,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Judge Walker looked
around then leaned in toward the other two.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We have burnt all the Tattie Bogals
and Straw Dandies we could find, there might have been a few that got away but
they are probably lost in the Motha Woods by now. They won’t cause us any
problems. I’ll declare martial law this afternoon and we’ll find out who’s
gonna stand in our way.” He looked at the others and smiled as he forked eggs
and bread into his mouth. “By tomorrow this county will be ours, by next month
with all our boys fighting over-seas maybe the state, who knows after that? I
think old Adolph has the right idea the only thing people respect, the only
thing they are afraid of … is power!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Ed Fowler looked at
two teen-age girls giggling as they sat on stools at the counter. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I hope so,” he said as he licked
his lips. “There are a lot of things I want to do in this town.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It was dark, the ground was lit only
by the moon and stars when Brian reached the rocky hills that bordered Motha
Woods. He was cold and getting colder as he scrambled up a worn game trail. He
was freezing and was almost ready to start building a shelter when he spied a
cave entrance in the face of the rock. It didn’t look warm … but it would get
him out of the wind. He stood just inside the entrance and immediately felt better.
There was a part of him he knew that would never be warm again, the part that
longed for the girl with the long auburn hair. His not quite human heart ached
for the beautiful girl he had danced with. The human girl he had held in his
arms. Margie … who had whispered to him, that she would love him forever. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Brian
felt warmth at his back and he turned and stared into the darkness. A tiny
light like a star twinkled from deep in the cave. He walked down a long tunnel.
The light from a tiny fire grew brighter as he walked into a larger chamber. A
pile of chickens lay against the rock wall. Blood, feathers and bloody meat lay
strewn across the floor of the cave. A tiny piece of flesh dangled from a stick
over the pile of burning wood.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A
shadow fell across the fire. Brian looked up to see a hunched figure blocking his
escape. Strings of singed flesh hung from below the murderous eyes of the beast
which had removed its burnt head covering. It was the most dangerous and
terrifying Hodmedod ever created in Comanche County. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Lemont
Hicks’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chinaman</i> loomed over Margie’s
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brian</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">To
be continued …<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">.<o:p></o:p></p><br /></div>Randall R. Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536932805707673903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097264115343784589.post-78681590145090981462020-09-07T04:13:00.000-06:002020-09-07T04:13:02.529-06:00CARVED IN STONE part 6Copyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA8_vKUo5Lfow4knaBVq8Cx0tFJ2ehtFyi8pN-VELxJ9PE5MM8oLCTUZmPM4HCIBvMwCVQ-Us1Zllygypi4nbFNdWDkT_5Y829FKWbXAAqIPdg1-UX-_jH-K9I7f6wCr7D3U5PAKxMw3U/s1000/Carved+in+Stone+part+6+art.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="1000" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA8_vKUo5Lfow4knaBVq8Cx0tFJ2ehtFyi8pN-VELxJ9PE5MM8oLCTUZmPM4HCIBvMwCVQ-Us1Zllygypi4nbFNdWDkT_5Y829FKWbXAAqIPdg1-UX-_jH-K9I7f6wCr7D3U5PAKxMw3U/w400-h186/Carved+in+Stone+part+6+art.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bernard MT Condensed","serif"; font-size: 72.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-effects-shadow-align: none; mso-effects-shadow-alpha: 100.0%; mso-effects-shadow-angledirection: 0; mso-effects-shadow-anglekx: 0; mso-effects-shadow-angleky: 0; mso-effects-shadow-color: black; mso-effects-shadow-dpidistance: 0pt; mso-effects-shadow-dpiradius: 9.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-pctsx: 0%; mso-effects-shadow-pctsy: 0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">CARVED IN STONE<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Brush Script MT"; font-size: 72.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-effects-shadow-align: none; mso-effects-shadow-alpha: 100.0%; mso-effects-shadow-angledirection: 0; mso-effects-shadow-anglekx: 0; mso-effects-shadow-angleky: 0; mso-effects-shadow-color: black; mso-effects-shadow-dpidistance: 0pt; mso-effects-shadow-dpiradius: 9.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-pctsx: 0%; mso-effects-shadow-pctsy: 0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">Part 6<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By
R. Peterson<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Joanie stared at the thunder
and lightning that battled just outside the cast-iron fence. A furious storm
was brewing everywhere … except inside Black Rose Cemetery. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Witches from six covens surrounded an open grave. Brent
Hawke leaned on a shovel exhausted. Baby Bat grinned when she looked at him.
“You shouldn’t have made a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fear wish</i>,”
she said. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“What’s a fear wish?” a
wide-eyed young member of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dirt Blanket</i>
a new coven from Casper, Wyoming asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“That’s when you start
any sentence with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I hope it doesn’t … I
pray it’s not … Don’t let it be</i> … that sort of thing, Abner,” Marsha
frowned. “It’s an invitation to any <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dumb-man</i>
listening to make what you’re afraid of … happen.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“A demon?” Abner
gasped.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dumb-man</i>!” Marsha slapped him. “Speak night-lingo or we’ll cut out
your tongue!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Two members of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Abra Cadaver</i> were perched on the exposed
coffin, prying open the lid. A puff of greenish mist rose from the grave when
the casket opened with a loud crack. Hamilton Fisk leaped into the grave and
yanked the body out. She held the thin, almost rotted corpse of a middle-aged man
in the air for all to see and then shrieked loud enough to make roosting
starlings vacate the trees. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">White bones glistened
under the moonlight as bits of dried skin flaked onto the grass. “Erect a cross
and gather wood for a fire,” Hamilton said. “Even a Momett witch can’t resist
the slow cooked flavor of a …” she looked at the name and the death-date on the
grave marker and licked her lips. “… A forty three year old, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Richard Miles,</i> ground-cured barbeque.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------2-------<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“The
people we thought were gone are still among us … look for them!” Allison
brought the cast iron pot and re-filled the bone-china cups. Some of the tea
spilled. “Thank you dear,” Melania told her.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’m
sorry,” Allison said. “The hairs on the back of my neck feel like tiny nails.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’ve
heard stories,” Sheriff John Walker said. “Told by my father by way of his
father. He said some of these <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nightmares</i>
still roam Motha Forest.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“There
are many dangerous things in those woods,” Melania said. “Thus the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">enchantment</i> to keep people’s dreams
happy.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Another clap of thunder shook the house and John
dropped his cup. “If this storm doesn’t let up, it’s going to destroy the
entire town,” the sheriff gasped as he looked for a towel.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“All
things in this world have a purpose,” Melania said. “Get the sheriff more tea
please,” she told Allison. “There is still much more for us all to see.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“From
what I understand you’ve barely left your bed for years,” John said when he
found a towel. “How can you know so much about the outside world?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“There
are many ways of seeing. Many objects have eyes. You only have to know how to
use them.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Allison refilled the sheriff’s cup and Melania told
her to extinguish all the lamps in the room. The sheriff expected total
darkness but a globe was glowing on a cluttered bookcase. “You may pick it up
and take a closer look, but make it quick … we must be going.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sheriff John Walker stared at the glowing glass ball
in his hand. It was like a snow-globe except a tiny storm swirled in the top.
The three dimensional scene below showed Black Rose Cemetery. Young people
dressed in black were gathered around an open grave … and they were moving.
“Where are we going?” he mumbled.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Back,”
Melania told him, “… back to a time of love … and of course nightmares.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div style="border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 4.0pt 0in;">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 4.0pt 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 48.0pt; letter-spacing: .25pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;">Scarecrows </span><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 26.0pt; letter-spacing: .25pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;">part 3 (courting day)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">By R. Peterson<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Margie moved behind Brian as the thing came out of
the field, but she didn’t run. The Hodmedod towered over the cornstalks and it
swung the scythe in a wide arc above its head. The rotted grain sack, that
covered its face, was torn in several places showing skin like blackened
leather through the holes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We need fire!” Brian yelled as he
picked up a wooden porch support which had fallen to the ground. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Margie
was petrified as she watched the monster lurch toward Brian. The creature viciously
swung the blade with tremendous force, but Brian blocked it with the post. The
razor sharp scythe cut the thick timber in two and left Brian holding a chunk
of wood. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Margie
scrambled through the front door as Brian flung himself away from the slashing
blade. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
Hodmedod watched the young girl with murder in his eyes as she ran into the
house. Brian threw the post striking the thing in the head, and then stumbled
backwards as he lured the monster away. With a roar that sounded like rusty
nails on metal, the Hodmedod charged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Brian fell to the ground and rolled just as the creature drove the blade
into the frozen earth. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Brian
leaped to his feet and raced into the barn with the savage scarecrow behind
him. He grabbed a pitch-fork from a hay pile and used it to keep the monster
away. The tines of the fork drove deep into the Hodmedod’s chest but it did not
stop. The massive weight of the monster broke the fork-handle and pinned Brian
against the side of the barn.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
scarecrow raised the scythe high above its head and swung the blade down. Brian
twisted his body at the last moment and the knife-edge sliced through his
shoulder severing his left arm. The sickle-blade sunk into the old wood becoming
lodged in a giant knot. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
creature tried to free the scythe but the handle refused to budge. It lunged for
Brian as he slid to the ground. The pitchfork handle caught in the frozen snow
just as the Hodmedod’s blackened claws reached for Brian’s throat. With a roar,
like train brakes being applied at high speed, the monster stood upright and
pulled the broken fork from its body. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Bits
of straw clotted with blood sprayed across the side of the barn. The thing bent
one last time as it swiped toward Brian’s neck then lunged upright with a roar.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Margie
had thrust a burning stick from the woodstove inside her aunt’s kitchen into
the Hodmedod’s back. The creature danced across the barnyard as his straw
insides began to catch fire. With huge clawed hands he pulled the burning wood
from his back then rolled in in agony inside a pile of drifted snow. Steam rose
into the night sky and the hissing sound of snow extinguishing glowing embers
filled the air. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Margie
lifted Brian to his feet and they hobbled across the yard. A broken leg on the
scarecrow slowed them down. They were almost to the porch when the Hodmedod
leaped in front of them. Black smoke still smoldered from burnt straw on his
back and sides. He glared at them with eyes driven insane with hatred. Part of
the rotted bag around his mouth had fallen revealing yellow teeth broken into
jagged points. A black tongue flapped from the scowling mouth and dripped gray
slobber into the fresh snow.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Your
life is mine to take,” the monster said. Its voice was like the wind blowing rusty
cans along a barbed-wire fence. Brian pushed Margie behind as he faced the
creature.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Where
does your hatred come from Chinaman?” he asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Hatred
is hunger,” the thing said. “And I will eat my fill.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The monster grabbed
Brian by the neck and lifted him in the air. Margie screamed. Lemont’s
Chinaman’s head suddenly burst into flames. He dropped Brian and turned. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Margie’s
aunt stood holding a burning broom she had just pushed into the creature. With
a vicious slap of his huge arm he swept the broom from her. Aunt Mommet turned
and ran back into the house. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
Chinaman scooped snow from a pile by the steps and slapped it on his burning
body as Margie dragged Brian away. The monster stood and slowly stalked toward
them. Holes in the grain sack covering its head showed bloody burnt flesh
hanging in strips from under murderous eyes. Brian was hard to drag through the
snow; Margie fell and the Chinaman loomed over them. He reached for the straw
dandy. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">There
was a scream and the sound of feet running through the snow. Margie could smell
gasoline. A dripping wet Mommet was running toward them. Margie’s aunt lit a
match and burst into flames just as she wrapped her arms around the Hodmedod’s
legs. The Chinaman bellowed as he tried to free the burning woman draped around
him. He beat his arms viciously, but she clung fast and his hands burst into
flames. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
monster fell to the ground and began to thrash and roll, trying to free himself
from the burning woman who clung like a curse.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
burned clump who had been Mommet finally fell away, and the Chinaman half smoke
and ash staggered into a cornfield. Margie held Brian and cried.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sheriff Tom Walker woke slowly from
a deep slumber. He was aware of moving people dressed in white, but it seemed
like a fever dream. He was fully awake when two small faces stared down at him.
Although they wore grain bags over their heads like the larger ones, he was
able to tell they were children. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">One
poked him with a stick and giggled. “I’ve never seen a naked face before.” The
voice sounded metallic but the sheriff could tell it belonged to a little girl.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
have lots of times.” This was clearly the voice of a boy child.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Where
am I?” The sheriff asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Why
you’re in my mummy’s hut of course.” The little girl tried to poke him again
but the boy grabbed the stick.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’m
telling on you.” The little girl turned and ran through the doorway.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Tell
her the bone man is awake,” the little boy called after her.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A few moments later,
a bigger scarecrow came in carrying a basin of hot water. Steam rose from the
container in the frigid air.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The sheriff knew it
was a female when she spoke.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“My name is Eve,” she said. “Welcome
to the refuge of the Mommet.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She sat the bowl of
hot water beside him then wetted a cloth and used it to wipe his face.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Why did you attack me?” The sheriff
asked. He was wondering about the sudden kindness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“My brother Jack struck you on the
head, but it was for your own safety,” she rinsed the cloth out then continued
to carefully wash away grime from his neck. “The Hodmedod were attacking our
camp, you were unfortunately caught in the middle. If Jack hadn’t struck you
down you would have been killed. The only thing Moggies fear is fire, and you
carried no torch.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Moggies?” the sheriff asked. He was
hearing about all kinds of new things.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“They’re bad scarecrows” Eve said as
she looked at his bewildered face. “We’re the good ones.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I thought all scarecrows were the
same and I didn’t know that any could talk.” Sheriff Walker sat up on the cot
he’d been lying on. There was a large swollen lump on the back of his head and
several scrapes on his face; the room was starting to spin.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We’re just like regular people for
the most part,” Eve said as she carried the basin of water outside. John Walker
stumbled after her. “Most of us are good, but there are bad ones too, just like
you humans. Only with scarecrows it’s a matter of who made us for the most
part.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She
turned and laughed when she saw he had walked outside the hut. She guided him
around and led him back inside where she covered his head with a white sack
with holes cut for the eyes and mouth. “You can’t just walk around like that.”
She giggled. “To us it’s like being naked to show your uncovered face.” She led
him back outside where several Mommet stood laughing and pointing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Eve
dumped the dirty water behind the hut. The sheriff watched her ring the
wash-cloth and hang it from a clothes line. She turned to face him. “You can’t
get good fruit from a bad tree; I believe that is a wisdom your kind believes
in. We have our own sayings … <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bad can follow
good, but it can never create it</i>. The people who made the Hodmedods were
selfish, uncaring, dreadful people without love for anyone, including
themselves. It makes them who they are, and it shows in what they create.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I have a pretty good idea of who
made these … Hodmedods.” The sheriff watched two head-covered children chasing
a rooster across the clearing. He was thinking about his brother and the bad
people he associated with. “You’re not poultry thieves then, are you?” He
stumbled and started to pass out.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Eve laughed as she reached
out. “No, we raise our own food; it gives the children something to do.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Sheriff Walker felt
Eve catch him and a strange warm sensation rushed over him as everything began
to go black. He wondered what this strange woman looked like with the sack off
her head. It was not a bad feeling he thought, not bad at all.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Moonlight illuminated the scene of
the fight. Margie was on the ground holding Brian when Emma drove up in her
Ford. Her aunt’s friend picked up the scarecrow’s sliced off arm as she walked
toward the lovers. She was just about to say something when her eyes strayed to
the blackened lump the Chinaman had left in his flight.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Oh my dear Mommet no.” she
whispered as she slowly walked toward the charred body.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“She saved our lives.” Margie cried.
“Auntie started herself on fire then clung to the monster. I guess it was the
only way she could think of to keep the creature from killing us.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Emma knelt beside the
body and picked up a piece of the charred remains. Even in the moonlight Margie
could see bits of burnt straw clumped together in the ashes and the tears which
ran down Emma’s face.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Mommet never told you where she
came from … did she?” Emma looked at Margie.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I always thought she was born in
Cloverdale, or somewhere near by.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“She was although I wouldn’t say
born, perhaps <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">made</i> would be a better
word.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You mean Mommet and the monster who
attacked us are the same?” Margie was astonished.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Not the same at all.” Emma sighed.
“The Hodmedod who attacked you was made by someone full of hatred and anger. It
always shows in the things they create. Mommet was my dearest friend someone I
could always count on when there was no-one else. I put my heart and soul into
her and she never disappointed me.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Emma
wiped her eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“But Mommet was married, she has
children!” Margie couldn’t believe what she was hearing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“There are many things you must
know,” Emma said. She wiped her eyes with a handkerchief. “I will tell you some
of them on the way to my house.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“To
your house?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Yes
you can’t stay here Lemont’s Hodmedod the one he calls the China-Man isn’t
dead. He could come back at any time and probably will, if Mommet wasn’t his
only post.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Post?”
Margie said as she carried Brian to Emma’s car.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“A
Hodmedod or a Moggie will always plant the post he’s hung from in front of his
intended victim’s residence, before he does his murder.” Emma glanced back at
the farmhouse as they drove away. “I’m so sorry,” she wept. “I should have at
least told you something, now I will have to tell you everything.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Melania watched shadows trying to
appear on the ceiling in the tiny dark cell where she lay on a cot. The only
light entering the closet-like room came from a small barred window in the
steel door. It had taken a few moments for her eyes to become adjusted to the dimness.
She could hear sounds coming from the cell next to hers. It was a raking
scratching sound. A piece of cement fell from a hole in the wall to her left.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Hey old witch woman, are you
awake?” A raspy voice asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">An eye gazed at her
through the tiny hole, she couldn’t tell who it belonged to.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Yes I’m awake, just a bit
confused.” She leaned closer to the hole wanting to see the color of the eye …
color always made a difference. “Who are you?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“They call me Crab; I’ve been here
so long I don’t remember my real name. I’m just another crazy lunatic, one of
the many in this place.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Oh.” Melania sounded disappointed.
She was hoping for some help.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I may be insane but that don’t mean
I can’t be useful,” the voice said. “I can get you out of here, if that’s what
you want. If that’s not what you want, then I’m real good company.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“What color are your eyes?” Melania
asked. She was suddenly intrigued.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">He answered her in a
happy sing song voice … too happy.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“One
is green and one is brown, one is up the other down. I see things that can’t be
seen, with my third eye in between.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Melania laughed. “I
think we are going to be very good friends Mister Crab,” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Ed Fowler and Dr. O’Conner the
psychiatrist from Mississippi left Lemont Hick’s farm driving away in Ed’s
Hudson. Dr. O’Conner held the recipe card in his hand.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Don’t look all that hard to do,” he
said. “Most important part is the heart pieces.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We need predator hearts,” Ed said
“We don’t want to spend a bunch of our time just making Straw Dandies.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The doctor was
tapping his fingers on the dash as he studied the ingredients.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“What heart did Lemont use for his
Hodmedod that one he called the China-man?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“It was the heart of a crippled old
bear,” Ed said. “Everybody hunted the thing for years. It had been wounded a
bunch of times. That grizzly was as mean as they come.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Probably no bears out tonight are
there?” the doctor looked at him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“No but I know where there’s a pack
of wolves, about nine of them, they’ll do just fine.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Whatever happened to the
China-man?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Don’t know. It’s probably hiding in
Motha Woods, everything that goes into that place gets lost.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’ll make some calls; bring in some
Klan boys to help with the Hodmedod. We wear white hoods on our heads down
there too, when we need to. In a couple of days this county is going to be at our
mercy, and that’s just a start.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Lavar walked from the house and across
the barnyard holding a flashlight, his pa was supposed to be home, but wasn’t.
Everything was too quiet. He opened the big sliding cowshed door just wide
enough to squeeze through. Once inside he turned on the light. Everything
looked fine. Two cows chomped on hay in the corner. He noticed a shadow swaying
across the straw-covered floor. He looked up. His father swung in slow circles
from the rafters, a rope was tied around his neck. Coldness ran down the boy’s spine
that would stay with him the rest of his life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’m sorry pa; I won’t do it no
more.” Lavar staggered and dropped the light. He fell to his knees and sobbed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It had been two days and Margie was
still depressed about the loss of her aunt Mommet; she was sewing the severed arm
back onto her scarecrow. Emma tried her best to take her mind off her hurt.
“Have you decided what Brian is going to wear to the dance?” she asked.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I thought about a uniform, like the
men home on leave wear.” Margie said. “But I don’t know of anyone who would
borrow me one.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Let’s go into Cloverdale and eat
lunch at Spare-a-dime.” Emma said. “I hear the O’Brian boy is home, he’s been
wounded I think, he’ll probably be hanging around in there. The old men who
spend all their time in the place love to hear war stories. He might just be
Brian’s size.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">After Emma left to
change her clothes, Margie looked at Brian.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“How
would you like to join the Army,” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Brian joked with her.
“The way I got mauled in that last fight I could use some training.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
was afraid that I would lose you too.” Margie held him close. “With Mommet gone
you’re all I have.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Emma
told you everything … didn’t she?” Brian hung his head.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“She
told me you would become like Mommet, that you could marry and have children.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“And
she told you the rest?” Brian looked at her with fear in his eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
don’t need grandchildren if they wouldn’t be normal, all I know is that I love
you.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
love you more, but I’m not what you need.” Brian whispered.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Margie finished
sewing on Brian’s arm. He stood up and she put her arms around him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
will always love you,” Margie whispered. She could feel the tingling sensation
sweeping down her body.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Forever?”
Brian asked. His eyes were closed as they started to dance.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Forever
plus a week.” Margie smiled. She’d never been happier.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Judge
Walker looked around; the Spare-a-dime diner was full of farmers upset about
what had been going on in the county. Jap Mary was re-filling his coffee cup,
when Ed Fowler slid into the booth next to him. Ed flipped his empty cup over
then examined it carefully holding his hand up to halt Mary who was about to
fill it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You sure these cups are clean?” He
stared at the Japanese American with a sadistic grin on his face.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Very clean, I wash them whole bunch
a times,” Mrs. Yokohama shook her head up and down.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Better be clean!” Ed mimicked the
old ladies accent. “Or I no pay you a whole bunch of times.” The other men in
the booth laughed as Ed gestured with his hand for his cup to be filled. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I better go easy on her.” He looked
at the Judge. “Tom’s brother is a jap lover and an enemy collaborator.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Judge Walker looked
at the men and smirked. “I think my brother is going to be out of town for a
while.” He looked at Ed and grinned. “Maybe permanently.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A
loud voice boomed from the crowd standing around the radio. “Every bird in the
coop torn to bits,” an old farmer wearing railroad bibs yelled. “Twern’t no
Hobos that done it, we all know what we’re dealing with here. Someone has a
string of Hodmedods running loose.” The men standing around him grew suddenly
silent. The farmer had just broken the unwritten rule about discussing
scarecrows publically in the county.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Don’t be looking at me that way!”
he glared at the others. “Just because I’m not afraid to tell the truth.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The judge looked
around to make sure no-body else was listening, and then he leaned in close to
his friends.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Everyone is getting all worked up
over these Hodmedods raiding farms; we are going to use it to our advantage.
There are a bunch of Tattie Bogals hid out, most of them are probably in the
Motha Woods. They have an alliance with the old woman we just put away. Melania
may still be able to control them even being locked up. We will find a way to
get rid of her permanently, but until then let’s make sure the farmers kill the
right Moggies. With them out of the way there will be no one to stop us.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Ed
was excited. “This will be a great opportunity to see how the ones we just made
fight. They’re coming now, we’ll have them kill a few of our enemies and we’ll
blame it on the Straw Dandies. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I’ll Walk Alone</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> was playing on the radio when
Margie and Emma entered the diner. Two men exited their booth with their coffee
cups and stood along the wall drinking, while the women sat down. Emma thanked
them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“That’s
him.” Emma pointed to a young soldier talking with a group of old men by the
radio. “That’s Sean O’Brian.” Margie looked toward where she indicated. Sean
stood casually, his arm wrapped in a sling, talking to the farmers. He turned
as she stared at him as if he could feel her eyes moving over him. Soft brown
eyes, beneath coal black hair, scrutinized her from across the crowded room. He
was tall, over six feet and even wounded he held himself with an easy grace. He
smiled at her and she blushed, turning away quickly. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Emma
leaned across the table and started to whisper in her ear when suddenly the
front door to the café burst open and a company of men charged in.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We are under siege,” a man carrying
a baseball bat yelled. “They are attacking Cloverdale!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The crowded room was
instantly on its feet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Japs?” A farmer
standing by the radio asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Hodmedods!
About twenty of them,” the man with the bat shouted. “They’re out for murder
and they are coming this way.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">To be continued ….<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /></div>Randall R. Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536932805707673903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097264115343784589.post-15892593660612970632020-08-30T21:09:00.002-06:002020-08-30T21:09:58.892-06:00CARVED IN STONE part 5Copyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTKIeRrsxIbC373YBuk6rmc58VZaOc7N7rkHwl-Pm0eEFPoHR42CjL7E3r6yfD0tOCS_9KUK4-Ee4Hl8p1D0xyEJA3Wx3ioB1bzdR6M06IPNOmu9bqIAZmJUNyLRmiaS36U1YbJ3hAvAI/s1000/Carved+in+Stone+part+5+art.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="1000" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTKIeRrsxIbC373YBuk6rmc58VZaOc7N7rkHwl-Pm0eEFPoHR42CjL7E3r6yfD0tOCS_9KUK4-Ee4Hl8p1D0xyEJA3Wx3ioB1bzdR6M06IPNOmu9bqIAZmJUNyLRmiaS36U1YbJ3hAvAI/w512-h238/Carved+in+Stone+part+5+art.bmp" width="512" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bernard MT Condensed","serif"; font-size: 72.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-effects-shadow-align: none; mso-effects-shadow-alpha: 100.0%; mso-effects-shadow-angledirection: 0; mso-effects-shadow-anglekx: 0; mso-effects-shadow-angleky: 0; mso-effects-shadow-color: black; mso-effects-shadow-dpidistance: 0pt; mso-effects-shadow-dpiradius: 9.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-pctsx: 0%; mso-effects-shadow-pctsy: 0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">CARVED IN STONE<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Brush Script MT"; font-size: 72.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-effects-shadow-align: none; mso-effects-shadow-alpha: 100.0%; mso-effects-shadow-angledirection: 0; mso-effects-shadow-anglekx: 0; mso-effects-shadow-angleky: 0; mso-effects-shadow-color: black; mso-effects-shadow-dpidistance: 0pt; mso-effects-shadow-dpiradius: 9.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-pctsx: 0%; mso-effects-shadow-pctsy: 0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">Part 5<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By
R. Peterson<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">John Walker took a last
swallow then stared at the tea leaves swirling in the bottom. They looked like
the dark clouds rolling outside the window. Thunder shook the witch’s dwelling on
the corner of Main Street and Galbraith. Everyone jumped except Melania. “Good
lord,” Alison Weatherbee gasped. “I thought the house was going to come
tumbling down!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“It
will,” Melania said. “All things must pass … but not tonight.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Where
do you buy this?” The sheriff tapped his cup. “I’ve not had such a scary trip since
I rode <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">shotgun</i> in Leroy Hicks’ car
the night of our High School Homecoming bonfires.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Are
you looking to buy?” Allison smirked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“It’s
tempting,” John said. “But any <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">drug</i>
this powerful has to be illegal … or it should be.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“It’s
not the herb that make you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">travel</i>,” Melania
said. “Like lots of things … the power is in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">container</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">John looked closely at his cup. It was cracked and
looked … old.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“This is a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Purple
Sand</i> tea set made from the ashes of a Chinese <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">witch</i> during the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Han Dynasty</i>
about two-hundred B.C.,” Melania explained. “The augury baked into the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bone China</i> allowed the emperor and
others to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">travel</i> without being
noticed.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“But
I heard you ask Allison to bring a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">special
blend</i> from the basement.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">T<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">o</b>rnare
indietro l'orologio</i> was cultivated in the imperial gardens especially to
fill these cups,” Melania told him. “And I enjoy the taste.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’m
just a simple farm boy with a badge,” John said. “I don’t know a lot about enchanting
but it looks like this <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">blend</i> would be
hard to find.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Not
at all.” Allison laughed. “The jars are all on the third shelf near the end … I’ve
never seen them empty.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I get
the feeling this entire house from top to bottom is filled with magic and
mystery.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“So
what did you think of our little <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">adventure</i>?”
Melania gestured. Allison stood up and walked toward the tea kettle.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">John took off his hat and scratched his head. “What
I don’t understand is we’re seeing you with a family and the last name Kernes.
You say you were never married … how can this be?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘I
adopted several unwanted children in my younger days,” Melania explained. “I gave
them an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">imaginary</i> father … as well as
a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">real</i> home.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“It
was interesting seeing Margie O’Brian before she married Sean,” the sheriff
said. “My grandmother used to tell stories about the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chinaman </i>to keep us in line when we were kids.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Did it work?” Allison carried the heavy
pot to the table.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We
were terrified,” John confessed. “But the fear of some <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">imaginary</i> monster soon fades when you’re thirteen.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The
Chinaman <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i> real,” Melania said. “And
so are the Hodmedod. There is balance in all things. The Momett are a very gentle
and loving people … it is only natural that they should have dark and dangerous
relatives.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Is?”
the sheriff stammered.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Would
you like more?” Allison lifted the pot.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">John Walker hesitated. The storm would not be ending
anytime soon. He had never known his grandfather Joseph. And a member of the
Walker family had always been sheriff of Comanche County since the death of the
legendary Thomas Lang. Going with the witch on one of her <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tea</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rides</i> was like living
for a time in the past. “I would <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">love</i>
one,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“All
magic comes from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wisdom</i>.” Melania smiled.
“And its offspring, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">knowledge</i>, is
born of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">love</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And they all drank … and time moved.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bernard MT Condensed","serif"; font-size: 72.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">Scarecrows<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Brush Script MT"; font-size: 48.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">Part
2<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Margie hadn’t felt this
mischievous in a long time; she literally danced around the house as she did
her chores. Emma Hicks would come by at six to take her to the dance rehearsal
at the Melania Descombey Kernes house in Cloverdale. Margie treasured going
into town; it was a welcome relief from the drudgery of living in the country.
She had carefully sewn the head on her scarecrow and no matter how many times
she walked through the porch she still admired how handsome he looked. She had
dyed an old mop head black for hair and it was trimmed neatly and parted in the
middle, like a movie star would wear it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She found herself
fussing with her own hair as she invented excuses to promenade past where Brian
leaned against the wall. This was day two of the Comanche County Scarecrow
Festival and she couldn’t sit still. Margie was beginning to see why it had
become a tradition. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I know I shouldn’t be doing this,” she whispered as
she walked from the radio to the porch. She lifted her creation and slipped her
feet into the straps on its feet. She took a deep breath. “Emma told me not to
dance with you until tonight.” The scarecrow felt like a warm blanket against
her in the frigid air as she embraced it under the covered porch. The Tommy
Dorsey song There are such things began to play on the radio. Margie’s eyes
were closed and her mouth was open slightly as she and the scarecrow began to
drift across the wooden floor. “But a little bit of practice doesn’t hurt does
it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh my sweet Brian!” She exhaled.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sherriff Walker kicked at the feathers and bloody
snow with the toe of his cowboy boot. Mr. Fenster was frantic. “We got us a
killer in this county and I want something done about it.” The old farmer
lifted the wooden door to his chicken coop from the snow where it lay. “Look at
this! It’s ripped right off the hinges, had to be a man that done this, a
weasel or a skunk will just tunnel under. I don’t know of a one that could rip
off a door.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“It wasn’t no skunk or weasel.” Joe Walker squatted
down and looked at the footprints. “These are man tracks made by work boots and
they lead into the woods.” He motioned for his deputy to come over. “Get on the
radio. Contact the mayor and tell him I have a situation. I’ll need to deputize
six men right away. Tell him I’ll explain everything later.” He turned toward
Fenster. “Did you dig these?” The Sheriff gestured toward several round holes
in the ground.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Hell no, I didn’t. Why would I did post holes
here?” Fred Fenster was furious. “Why aren’t you going after him? You got a deputy.
Them is plenty good odds.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Him is at least four men, probably five; each set
of these boot prints is different. I don’t know why five men would want to tear
up a coop and kill chickens. You’d have to be crazy to do what they’ve done,
and that’s what bothers me. I think we are dealing with a bunch of vagrant
maniacs. I haven’t seen worn-out boots like the ones that made these tracks,
for thirty years.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Are you just going to stand there and let them get
away?” Fred shouted.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“It’s getting dark and the Motha Woods are full of
bears, wolves and who knows what. Lead on Fred and I’ll follow you.” The
Sheriff pointed toward the edge of the forest.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fred Fenster hitched up his drooping bib overalls
and capered back toward his ramshackle house.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You
ain’t getting my vote next election! By thee god,” he yelled.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We’ve
got problems,” Judge Walker said as he walked into the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Get your Gun</i> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>next door to
Rip Cycle Motors on the south side of Sarah Dees Avenue. Ed Fowler looked up
from behind a grimy counter and rested the shotgun he was cleaning.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Let
me decide if it’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we</i> or not,” he
said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We
got reports coming in about farm animals being killed … especially chickens.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Sounds
like weasels or skunks … maybe a fox.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Yes
it does, except weasels and skunks don’t dig holes and the only fox holes I
know of are on the border with Germany. We got a gang of Moggies posting
without my say-so.” Tom Walker picked up a box of shotgun ammunition from the
counter and rolled the shells in his hands.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“That
brother of yours; is he on to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">it</i>
yet?” Ed finished cleaning the gun, snapped the breach shut then sighted down
the barrel.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“He’s
been to two farms this morning trying to get extra deputies to go after what he
thinks is a bunch of psychotic tramps.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“How
many <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">volunteers</i> does he have?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“None,
as of yet. I’ve been pressuring the mayor to put him off.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Why
not give him some? Let’s get a few of our boys to go with him as volunteers.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’ll
check around to see if anyone has any escaped Tattie-Bogals; I’ve heard about a
group of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">runaways</i> living in the Motha
Woods, but as far as I know it’s just a story.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We
might have to deal with your brother sooner than we planned.” Ed swung the gun
around till it was pointed at the judge’s head. He pulled the trigger it clicked
on an empty chamber.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“What?”
he reacted to the judge’s wide-open eyes. “It wasn’t loaded!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Emma
stopped her thirty-four Ford in front of her grandmother’s house on the east
end of Galbraith Avenue. Margie sat beside her and kept glancing to the back-seat
where her stuffed dance partner lay. Emma knew the young girl had already
developed a fascination for the creature. “Did you bring the picture of your
favorite movie star?” Emma asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Yes,”
Margie said. “I cut it out of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Look
Magazine</i>.” She held the picture up. “It’s Clark Gable. I tried to copy his
hair style on … Brian.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Oh
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brian</i> is it now?” Emma smiled, but
deep down she was apprehensive about what her and her grandmother were about to
do. She was concerned it might be too much, that it might make Margie’s Tattie-Bogal
… go to a forbidden place. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
other dancers began to arrive. Each carried a scarecrow body that had been
carefully sewn. Everyone laughed when Erma Bates showed up. The padding on her
Straw-Dandy had slid down on the torso making it look like he had a pot gut.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Better
tell him to lay off the beer.” Norma Jennings cackled.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Erma laughed herself as she held the scarecrow in
her pudgy arms “Looks just like my papa,” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">They girls marveled at the intricate detail on
Margie’s dance partner. Some of the girls wanted to kiss his tantalizing mouth.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Margie laughed but refused to share her new love. “We’re
engaged,” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Emma led six teen girls carrying scarecrows up the
ornately manicured grounds and into the two story home.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sheriff
Joe Walker watched as the truck pulled up, six armed men were riding in the
back. “Who’s that driving?” He asked his deputy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
think it’s Clyde Oram.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The
x-con who works for my brother?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
think so.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Damn,”
said the Sheriff.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Clyde came walking over as the half dozen men
climbed from the back of the truck. They came forward with two hound tracking
dogs on leaches. He smirked as he looked at the Sheriff and his deputy. “The
honorable Judge Walker tells me you need lots of help sheriff.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We’re
not after coons,” the Sheriff pointed to the dogs. “Get them out of here.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“But
you need help tracking; these are the best in the county.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One of the hounds sniffed the prints in the snow,
then began to howl.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The
men we’re after leave tracks a blind man could follow, I don’t know who they
are, but we don’t need to let them know we’re coming.” Sheriff Walker put his
hands on Clyde’s shoulders and turned him around. “Shut that dog up,” he
ordered as he shoved him toward the baying hound. “And all of you fellows
leave, except for the two Sullivan brothers. I’ll give you boys a ride back to
town when we’re done.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“His
honor told us all to come out here!” Clyde’s face was red.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“He’s
a judge not a Sheriff. This is my party I say who gets invited.” Sheriff Walker
pointed toward the truck. “Now!” he ordered.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Joe Walker’s deputy leaned in toward his boss.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The
Sullivan boys work for your brother too,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
know that,” said the Sheriff. He watched the two men climb from the back of the
truck. One caught his boot on the trucks bumper, stumbled and fell into the
snow; the other watched him stupidly. “But I can handle them.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You
ever been through the Motha Woods before?” his deputy asked. He was peering
into the gloomy forest.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Through
it!” the Sheriff said. “Hell I’ve never even walked into it.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The four trudged into the snow covered trees … and
disappeared.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
Judge and Ed Fowler were driving Motha road when they met the men returning in
the truck. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Clyde unrolled his window. “You’re brother ran us
all off except for the Sullivan’s,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ed looked at the judge. “There’s no way those boys
can take them alone,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The
sheriff’s car parked up ahead?” the judge asked Clyde.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
believe it is.” Clyde said. “What you got in mind?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“If
we can’t kill them right now we can delay them for a while.” Tom Walker said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He slid a knife from his pocket and showed the blade
to Ed. “Real sharp,” he said. “Sharp enough to cut tires, hoses and a throat if
need be.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The truck full of men turned and followed Ed Fowler
and the Judge … back up the road.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Margie
put her arms around Brian; her feet were strapped to his. The five other girls
stood in the middle of Emma’s grandmother’s living room holding their Straw
Dandies. All the furniture had been moved to the side to allow room for the
dancers. Emma’s elderly grandmother Melania sat at one end of the room cutting
paper into tiny pieces.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Margie couldn’t make her feet stand still; she
giggled.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’ve
got <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">flutterbys in by belly</i>”, she
said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Emma cranked up her grandmothers Victrola phonograph
and placed the needle on the spinning 78 rpm recording. The sounds of the Jimmy
Dorsey orchestra playing Besame Mucho drifted through the air as the girls and
the Straw Dandies began to float around the room.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Margie closed her eyes. She could feel Brian begin
to lift, to pull her into each step. She was no longer guiding his legs through
the dance steps. He was leading her. She started to relax and began to be swept
away by the music and the strange ambiances pulsating the length of her body.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She felt breath like a frosty breeze on her cheek
that made tiny goose-bumps cascade down her arms. She opened her eyes and the
blue buttons were gone. Brian’s eyes were now a pale icy blue and he blinked.
Margie closed her eyes again. She didn’t want the dream to end.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
music stopped and Emma motioned the girls to gather around her. “Form a single
line with your dance partner,” she said. “When the music starts dance through
the arches, me and grandmother have a surprise for you.” Margie looked. Emma
sat on a high stool next to an ornate arbor which had been erected at one end
of the room. The archway led through a hallway into the kitchen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Remember the photographs I had you bring?” Emma
asked the girls. “You are about to find out what they were for.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The music started and the girls danced through the
archway. As they went through Emma scattered finely cut bits of the photograph
each girl had brought over the dancers like confetti. Delighted shouts and
giggles rang out as the couples disappeared into the next room. Margie was last
in line. When she went to dance under the archway with her scarecrow, Emma hesitated
then brought her hand down.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
don’t think I should do this,” Emma said and pointed toward Margie’s scarecrow,
“he’s almost a Mommet now.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Fate
is a lover that will not, and should not be denied.” Melania smiled. She closed
her eyes then motioned for Emma to release her confetti.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Margie felt like an electrical current was raining
down on her and Brian. Millions of diminutive bubbles swept over her body, and
then burst causing exquisite pleasure. She felt weak in her legs and started to
fall, and then strong arms were lifting her holding her up. Margie sensed
herself being pulled through the doorway into the kitchen. Her heart was
beating wildly she was afraid to unlock her eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She heard the knob on the back door turning, then a
screech as the screen door behind it opened. Frigid air blew over her face and
caused her auburn hair to stream out behind her. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Brian gazed back at her with his soft blue eyes. “I
have waited forever for you,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sheriff
Walker studied the tracks in the snow; they had followed them for almost three
miles through thick pine and quaking aspen. The group of men they were pursuing
had held to a steady North West direction until suddenly they had veered off
moving due north. The Sheriff was concerned, tiny tuffs of snow were falling
from the sides of the tracks. A taletell sign that the prints were very fresh. He
and his deputies should be getting close. One of the Sullivan brothers stuck
his head high in the air, he looked like a gopher. His nostrils twitched. “I
smell smoke,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sheriff Walker moved some branches with his hand. In
a glade straight ahead a group of human like figures plodded through the snow around
a rocked-in campfire. Crudely built domed shelters made of pine boughs tied
together encircled the clearing. The figures all seemed to be wearing white
grain bags over their heads. There were smaller ones among them – children! It
wasn’t until he saw the straw sticking out of one old shirt sleeve that he knew
for sure what they were.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Scarecrows!” he gasp.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">An instant later a shriek came from behind. The
Sheriff turned. Almost in slow motion, a giant of a man swept a scythe in a
semi-circle through the air and through the neck of one of his men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not a giant, or a man, his mind calmly
informed him, it’s a Scarecrow. And it’s just cut off the head of one of the
Sullivan brothers. For a split second, Sullivan’s horrified eyes stared at the
Sherriff accusingly. Then they blinked once and Sullivan’s head toppled into
the snow. All hell broke loose.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His deputy’s
gun fired a split second before his own. His bullet hit the charging thing
direct in the chest. A spray of straw blew out from the back of the Scarecrow
but the creatures, dozens of them, were still coming. They were almost upon him
when a sharp blow struck him on the back of his head and everything began to go
black. The last thing the Sheriff remembered before he passed out was the two
groups of Scarecrows converging. One group was carrying burning branches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They seemed to be fighting … each other.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The music stopped suddenly Margie and Brian stood
holding each other on the dance floor. All the girls were out of breath amazed
at the new exuberance of their dance partners. A loud pounding came from the
front door. Emma stood up and started toward it when Melania motioned for her
to stop. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The old lady stood slowly then raised one hand high
above her head and closed her eyes. There was a high pitched tone almost beyond
the range of hearing that seemed to come from everywhere. It slowly faded. The
Straw Dandies that a moment before had been so vigorously alive went limp in
the girls arms. Margie held Brian tight, he was unchanged.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Melania nodded to Emma and she answered the door. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Cloverdale’s chief of police stood holding a paper
in his hand two other police officers stood behind him. “I have an order signed
by Magistrate Judge Tom Walker and a medical specialist. It’s an order for a
mandatory mental evaluation for Melania Descombey Kernes,” The Chief of police
said. “I’m sorry but your grandmother will have to come with us.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Where are you taking her?” Emma gasped.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“To State Hospital North.” The Chief moved aside and
two police officers walked toward the old woman. “I’m sorry,” he said. “This
wasn’t my doing.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Melania turned to her granddaughter as they led her
away.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“The recipe box the Ombre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ecco dove troverete le risposte” (that’s
where you will find the answers), she whispered.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Lemont slid the anvil away from the trap door in his
barn. An owl hooted from the rafters as he lugged away the grain sacks.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I know you’re up and about down there,” Lemont
muttered as he removed the last bag. “It’s dark out and that’s when you do your
murder. I’ve lost so many before. I was hoping to hang on to you. There’s too
many of you things in the woods now. There not all mine. There was plenty of
others let their ones get away too. They’ll be coming after you and the rest,
burning you to nothing.” He opened the trap door then scrambled up a ladder
into the loft and pulled the ladder after him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I’ve seen you posted at her house, you want her
dead as much as I do. No need to wait for the ninth there is a blood moon in
the sky tonight.” Lemont yelled from above.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">With a slow lurching moan the hideous black thing
crawled out of the pit dragging a rotted post. The Hodmedod paused in the barns
doorway and an icy chill ran through Lemont’s veins as the monstrosity slowly
turned. Lemont shrunk back into the shadows away from the creature’s eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Chinaman picked up a hand held grain-cutter and
swept it through the air. The barn lights reflected off its razor-sharp edge.
The monster stalked through the barnyard and into the corn field … dragging the
post behind him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Margie said goodnight to Emma and then carried Brian
to her aunt’s porch as the car drove away.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Wow you’re so much heavier than I remember.” She
was out of breath.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I could have walked, she knows about me,” Brian
said as he watched the car’s taillights.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I think she suspects, but she doesn’t know how real
you are.” Margie said. She was staring into the living scarecrow’s eyes and it
was like looking into a dream about heaven.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“There are things that Melania should have told
her,” Brian said. “Things she should have told you, about me.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“It doesn’t matter,” Margie said. “As long as I’m
with you, I don’t care what people think.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I can never be what you need, but I will always
need you.” Brian hung his head.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A tremendous thump shook the ground and caused a
support post on the porch to fall to the ground.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Margie and Brian stared as a huge dark figure came
crashing through the corn swinging a gleaming blade in the moonlight. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Run Margie! For God’s sake run!” Brian screamed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To be continued …<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><br /></div>Randall R. Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536932805707673903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097264115343784589.post-79757571748077495512020-08-23T20:32:00.001-06:002020-08-23T20:32:26.100-06:00CARVED IN STONE part 4Copyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsHLhoRTG2QfvcvpA-HCcjI7BB3Lj8u7JernwpnrSCADSjamngYmhJUofyHZtJXkJirkvnndSLXeaaAGCPmhmFLr80kpbiODnVO2oYQzraGE3FhJxtdg1ELESad1pd0btC0Tynr-SQaOY/s1000/Carved+in+Stone+part+4+art.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="1000" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsHLhoRTG2QfvcvpA-HCcjI7BB3Lj8u7JernwpnrSCADSjamngYmhJUofyHZtJXkJirkvnndSLXeaaAGCPmhmFLr80kpbiODnVO2oYQzraGE3FhJxtdg1ELESad1pd0btC0Tynr-SQaOY/w400-h186/Carved+in+Stone+part+4+art.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bernard MT Condensed","serif"; font-size: 72.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-effects-shadow-align: none; mso-effects-shadow-alpha: 100.0%; mso-effects-shadow-angledirection: 0; mso-effects-shadow-anglekx: 0; mso-effects-shadow-angleky: 0; mso-effects-shadow-color: black; mso-effects-shadow-dpidistance: 0pt; mso-effects-shadow-dpiradius: 9.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-pctsx: 0%; mso-effects-shadow-pctsy: 0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">CARVED IN STONE<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Brush Script MT"; font-size: 72.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-effects-shadow-align: none; mso-effects-shadow-alpha: 100.0%; mso-effects-shadow-angledirection: 0; mso-effects-shadow-anglekx: 0; mso-effects-shadow-angleky: 0; mso-effects-shadow-color: black; mso-effects-shadow-dpidistance: 0pt; mso-effects-shadow-dpiradius: 9.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-pctsx: 0%; mso-effects-shadow-pctsy: 0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">Part 4<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By
R. Peterson<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Check
your eating utensils at home … see if any forks are missing!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sheriff John Walker blinked his eyes. “What are you
talking about?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Melania Descombey smiled as she walked from the
window. “You asked me how I knew a witch had come of age in Motha Forest.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“What
does that have to do with my dinnerware?” The sheriff was surprised to see the
old woman up and walking. Only moments … before Cloverdale’s resident witch had
seemed ready to take her last gasp.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Witches
send blackbirds to steal forks,” Melania told him. “They use them to cast
spells.” She could read the disbelief on John’s face. “Look in that drawer next
to your sink. If you can’t seem to find a fork, even an unwashed one, you might
want to sprinkle a little garlic around your bed.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I seem to remember trying to eat a steak with a
spoon the other night in Spare-a-dime,” the sheriff said. “I thought it was
just a lazy dishwasher.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You
want to know about the Momett,’ Melania said. “There are many strange aspects
to their story. I could tell you but it will be far better to show you.” The
old woman lifted a tiny bell from a night-table and rang it once. The sheriff
thought the sound was hardly enough to wake a gnat but Allison Weatherbee appeared
at the bedroom door. “Bring a jar of the special tea labeled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tornare indietro l'orologio</i> from the cellar
and brew enough for three in the cast iron kettle.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Good,”
Allison smiled. “I was hoping for some travel.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Melania told the sheriff stories about her early
days while Allison was gone. When the girl returned and filled three cups
Melania smiled.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Can
you hear that noise outside?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The sheriff took another drink of his tea. It was
much better than he expected. “Sounds like a terrible wind coming up!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“That’s
the moon moving from west to East,’ Melania said. “I’m taking you back to 1941where
this all began … well most of it.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And the sheriff, Melania and Allison walked into a
dream …<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bernard MT Condensed","serif"; font-size: 48.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">Scarecrows
part 1<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By
R. Peterson<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Margie
Cleverly put the kettle on the stove for her Aunt’s tea, and then she walked
out on the porch with her sewing basket. There was a breeze blowing from the
southeast. A quartet of tree branches playing down by the stagnant slough,
sounded like rusty door hinges. It was an unusually cold end of October and
she’d been in the kitchen all evening making supper for her two younger
cousins. She covered herself with a blanket. Her Aunt had been sick for almost
two weeks now, two months if you counted from the time she got the letter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Frank her aunt’s oldest son had been killed
in France fighting the Germans.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Margie stood up suddenly from the old porch swing.
She thought she’d seen a man striding through the cornfield. There were hardly
any men in Comanche County, with the war going on. The ones that were left were
either too young or too old to be noticed by a sixteen year old girl. An
occasional vagabond passed by but they were mostly harmless. Clouds covered the
moon and it made it hard for her to see into the corn patch. Margie stared
intently into the dark; she could see someone standing there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His silhouette stood out against the blue black
sky. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A loud thump shook the ground. The moon gently crept
out from behind the clouds and illuminated a scarecrow, erected on land that
belonged to Mr. Hicks the next door neighbor. The figure was nailed to a
leaning fence post, in a field of cut cornstalks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She now knew what it was, but her mind made it into
something more. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Silver button eyes stared at her from under a
fractured leather hat and from the outside of a rotted grain sack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A torn red handkerchief sewn-on for a
scowling mouth dared her to turn her back, with a voice like wind in a
cemetery. The rotted fence post shook as the demon with shabby gloved hands
struggled to get free.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was just a
scarecrow, similar to the one she was sewing blue button eyes on now, but
something about the thing standing in the corn stubble made ice run through her
veins. She bounded as the tea-kettle began to whistle from inside the kitchen.
Margie dropped her scarecrow, gathered up the buttons, thread and needles and
ran, slamming the porch door, as she fled into the small unpainted house.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Just after midnight the old door creaking sound of
the branches stopped and everything was deathly silent, even the cold wind
abated. The silver button eyes on the hanging scarecrow began to bulge outward.
First one then the other button broke loose from the grain sack and fell to the
ground. Murky eyes appeared in the holes left by the missing buttons; they
looked in both directions then focused on the house. The red cloth sewn on for
a mouth began to twist and tear<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>forming
words. They sounds came out softly but in the extreme silence they could be heard.
“I’m going to eat you,” the thing said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Margie woke to pounding on the front door. She tied
a bathrobe around her and climbed the ladder down from the loft bedroom she
shared with Charles and Samuel. The clock above the kitchen stove said 8:00 a.m.
Emma Hicks had told her she would be there early, to help with the chores, take
Charlie and Sam to school and give Margie a break. Emma used to be her aunt’s
next door neighbor before she divorced her husband and moved into town. She was
her aunt Momett’s best friend and had been coming regularly since her illness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“How’s my girl today?” Emma asked when Margie opened
the door. She swept in without being invited she was like family.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I just woke up.” Margie said sleepily. “But I think
she slept all night.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Emma tittered. “I was talking about you,” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She sat an armload of food on the kitchen table then
walked back and peered outside before she closed the front door.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Lemont
was in the corn stubble pulling up a Tatty Bogal when I drove up,” Emma said.
“He turned and walked away dragging the post; he wouldn’t even look at me. I
guess he’s still mad because he don’t get to whomp on me anymore.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“What’s
a Tatty Bogal?” Margie asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“A
scarecrow, it must have posted itself near your house. You need to be careful
now, once they post you know they want something.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Margie looked at Emma and smiled, she figured her
aunt’s friend was pulling her leg. With the Dance of the Scarecrows Festival in
two weeks, that’s all the people in the county talked about.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Oh
Emma, I wish you still lived close. I know why you left and all, but I do miss
you and Mommet does too. She’s just all tore up since Uncle Harold died and
then Frank.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Well
I’ve got something to make her feel better.” Emma said as she pulled a cloth cover
off a big pot of soup.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“It
smells delicious.” Margie could sniff the aroma of the herb seasonings Emma
used in her cooking.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Emma cackled as she un-wrapped two loaves of still
warm bread.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It better
be, I chased that rooster from mother’s coop to the other side of Cloverdale.”
She strolled to the closed door on the side of the hall leading to the
bathroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I better see if I can get
your Mommet to eat something,” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Lemont Hicks dragged the scarecrow back to his farm
buildings. He leaned the splintered post with the effigy hanging from it,
against a milking stall, while he opened a trap door in the floor of the barn.
He never took his eyes off the thing as he worked and he kept a butane torch
and a lighter near him, just in case. The entity didn’t move, not so much as a
twitch, but it was daylight and the moon was sleeping.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“You’re like a dog that won’t stay home,” he
muttered as he lugged it to the open pit. One arm caught as he tried to shove
the thing down the hole and chills ran down his spine for a moment as he
grasped the scarecrow’s hand and tucked it next to the body. He hated to touch
it, but he knew it was better than having the thing touch him. He watched it
slide slowly down the rickety old stairs like a dead body.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“You don’t go posting till I say.” Lemont sneered as
he thought about his estranged wife and that whore friend of hers, the one who
that had talked her into running off. “You just wait till I say.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He closed the thick square of oak timbers, and then
put a lock on the recessed clasp. He kicked dirt and straw over the door to
hide it, then rocked and tugged an anvil till it rested on the lid. He stared
at his work then added five 100 lb. sacks of grain for good measure.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>He
left the barn and staggered toward his chicken coop. The door hung from one
hinge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ground inside and out was
carpeted with feathers and blood. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Lavar!”
Lemont shouted. “Damn you! You left the door open. It was out last night! All
our chickens have been murdered, I followed China Man’s tracks but who knows
where he’s been. Damn you boy! Get out here.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A nine year old toe head dressed in torn bib
overalls and wearing no shoes, stuck his head around the corner of the
pump-house. He was blinking and quivering with a face the color of mud.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“It
wasn’t me pa, someone was here last night, laughing talking like the Tatty
Bogal. I think it was them let the Moggy go.” He began to toddle toward his
stepfather dragging his feet. “Please don’t whip me pa.” He began to cry.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Come
here boy.” Lamont ordered as he slid his belt from his pant loops. “We got us
some sins to skin.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Emma
lifted Margie’s scarecrow form from the corner of the porch and looked at it.
Clean cotton bags had been carefully sewn together and stuffed with finely
ground straw almost like sawdust to make the arms, legs and torso. The head lay
nearby, not attached yet. Margie had been sewing on buttons for eyes and
colored cloth for mouth, nose and ears. Emma giggled. “Blue eyes! You’re Straw
Dandy is so handsome! I wish he was courting me.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You
still have time to make your own dance partner.” Margie said. She lifted the
head and picked at some loose stitching. “After all, me being in this scarecrow
dance was your idea.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
have my own parts in the festival.” Emma said. “Just remember to finish the
body today then bring it tomorrow night, this is making day. Don’t put any
clothing on your Straw Dandy yet, that’s dress day on the third.” Emma had gone
through the festival itinerary with Margie before but she counted on her fingers
as if it were very important.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The
festival runs on odd days. One is making day, three is dress, five is courting,
seven is love, nine is loss, eleven is joining and thirteen is the fire.
Tomorrow is an even day we’ll just practice the dance steps.” She held the legs
of Margie’s scarecrow up and looked at the feet. “Make sure these straps are
tight. We don’t want you tripping and having your courting man fall on you.”
She laughed. “What would Mommet think?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Lemont
took highway 13 into Cloverdale. He made a left turn on Wallace then another on
East Garlow, pulling into the parking lot behind the Spare-a-dime café. He
could have driven down Main Street, it would have been closer, but then the
gang inside would have laughed at the blue smoke his old ford was puffing.
Lemont hated laughter when it was directed at him, and loved it when it was
laid on someone else. His wrist still hurt from the beating he had given Lavar.
“He shouldn’t have tried to run,” he muttered as he walked in the back door of
the diner.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Margie
lifted the scarecrow head and studied it from the kitchen table, the blue
buttons for eyes were a good touch but she didn’t like the mouth. The bristly
black stitching made the thing look evil like Mr. Hick’s scarecrow, the one
that had scared her. She was glad he had taken it down. It must have been in
the corn patch all along and I didn’t notice it till the corn was cut, she
rationalized. She looked again at the instructions Emma had given her, follow
them exactly she had written, below the description of the gloomy thread
cross-stiches for the smile. Margie began to carefully pick the black thread
from the mouth. I have a better idea she thought to herself and after all it is
my boyfriend. She grinned as she thought about how she was going to dress him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Lavar
sat in a booth next to a large glass window that looked out on Townsend Avenue.
There were as many horses pulling wagons as cars on the hard-working
street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ed Fowler, Tom Walker and Larry
Putnam were there drinking coffee and eating pie along with a man he didn’t
know. Mrs. Yokohama was there with a clean cup and a hot pot of coffee as soon
as he sat down.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Good
morning day to you Mr. Hicks,” she sang as she filled his cup with coffee.
Lemont ignored her.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“You want lots of apple pie today, very good - ask
them.” She pointed to the other men at the table, their plates were almost
empty. Tom Walker stuffed a piece of crust in his mouth as she refilled his
cup.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Of
course I want pie, why the hell you think I come in this dump for?” Lemont
bellowed. His friends laughed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Coming
right up! You like apple pie very much I bet!” Mrs. Yokohama scurried away.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Dirty
little slant eyed chink.” Larry Putman watched her carry a load of dirty plates
into the kitchen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“You think she’s got a two way radio back there?” He
asked the others as he spooned sugar into his coffee.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Of
course she does,” Tom Walker said. “Look what they did to us at Pearl Harbor,
sneaking is their way, and I sold Iron to them murdering Jap devils for ten
years.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We
ought to go back there smash it and make Jap Mary Yokohama eat it.” Ed Fowler
said, “After I show her what we do to Japanese women,” the others laughed. He
stood up and rocked his hips back and forth, but sat back down quickly when the
old lady came bustling back with Lemont’s pie and another pot of coffee.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After Mrs. Yokohama left Ed Fowler looked around
then leaned in close to Lemont, he gestured to the stranger sitting with them.
“This here is Dr. Louis O’Conner he’s from Mississippi, he’s Putman’s cousin
and he’s one of them mind doctors.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I’m a psychiatrist,” Dr. O’Conner said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Larry nodded looked at his cousin and grinned. “He’s
been around the block a few times. We can trust him and we can use him.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He looked at Walker “Ain’t that right Judge?” Tom
Walker glanced at Dr. Louis then at the others. “I checked him out – He’s Ku
Klux Klan, Death to Roosevelt - Dewey Republican, Saltillo Fellowship Baptist
Church, he comes from respectable blood.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Louis
O’Conner said “Pleased to meet yawl, I ain’t much for chewing the fat, just
tell me what you got.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Lemont’s
grandmother in law is a witch,” Tom said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Ain’t
they all,” Dr. Louis snorted.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’m
talking the real supernatural kind,” Tom looked around the room, nobody seemed
to be eavesdropping. A group of old men were clustered around a wood burning
stove, listening to Lowell Thomas give a radio report on the war. “About
thirteen years back, 1931 I think it was. Lemont’s wife’s grandmother Melania
Descombey Karnes cast a spell on a scarecrow. The damn thing up and come to
life. Old Lemont here stole the recipe card from the old lady; it tells how to
make them come alive. Once them buggers are conjured up they’re hard as heck to
kill and the longer they’re around the nastier they get. That’s when our
scarecrow festival got started. It runs every November from the first to the
thirteenth. You’ve seen the posters?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“How
could I miss them?” Dr. Louis said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“At
the end of each festival there’s a big bonfire all the scarecrows in the county
get burned.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“So
what you need me for?” Dr. Lewis asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“There
are lots of different scarecrows,” The Judge said. “There’s the Tatty Bogals
and the Straw Dandy’s they’re your regular garden variety and are mostly
worthless. Then there’s the Moggies and the Shufts, they can get mean and
usually do. The best ones are the Hodmedods, they’re big, strong and they love
killing.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ed Fowler interrupted “Most of us have at least one
Moggie or Shuft hidden away, a few even have a Hodmedod that can put to good
use when the need arises.” He looked at Lemont and Lemont glared back at him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Judge continued.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“The Old Lady Karnes has a few too and if need be she can make more,
there is a special breed called Shay, excellent trackers. She uses them to hunt
down the renegades and make sure they get invited to the bonfires.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ed picked up the sugar jar to lace his coffee, it
was empty, he pointed it at Dr. Lewis.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“What
we need from you is a mandate committing the old lady to State Hospital North;
it shouldn’t be too hard,” he said. “She believes that scarecrows come to life,
besides she must be seventy years old.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“She’s
seventy four, born in 1870. She has a brother in town who’s a second generation
doctor, a general practitioner - I have a file on her,” the Judge said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ed continued. “Once she’s out of the way we can do
whatever we want. Dewey will be president in six days. He will own the country
and we will own this county.” Ed smiled. “If anybody gets in our way, they get
a visit from Lemont’s Chinaman.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Lemont scowled at him. “Shut your yap,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“It’s no big secret,” Ed protested. “Everybody knows
you got one, just not where you keep it.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I can sign a few papers, no big deal,” the Doctor
said. “But how do you get these things to obey you? You can’t just tell them to
kill and they do it. Can you?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“The day of each cycle,” Ed said “The anniversary of
when they were created, they can’t refuse any request from their maker,
stalking, scaring, killing you name it and it’s done.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Any anniversaries coming up?” the doctor asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“The ninth” Ed looked at Lemont “Isn’t that right?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Lemont looked angry at first then he shrugged his
shoulders “That’s right.” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ed got up and walked to an empty table and brought
back a full glass sugar jar. After he had laced his coffee, he took the lid off
a saltshaker and emptied the salt into his empty sugar jar. Then he filled the
salt shaker with sugar. He promenaded over and set the two corrupted containers
on the empty table. “Dirty little slant eyed chink,” he said as he walked back
to the laughter coming from his booth.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The radio was playing “That old Black Magic” by Glen
Miller when Joe Walker the county sheriff walked in with his deputy. “Let’s get
out of here,” Judge Walker said as he watched his brother walk to the counter.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Mrs.
Yokohama appeared with a ticket just as the men stood up. “Everything is A Ok?”
she asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’m
afraid not,” Larry Putman said. “You should have washed your dishes better; we
ain’t paying for dirty food.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">They were almost to the door when Sheriff Walker
stood up. “Just a minute there boys. I noticed you walked right past the
checkout with-out paying.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The
plates were dirty.” Ed said. “We don’t pay for slop.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Sheriff walked over to their booth. “But you ate
every piece.” He picked the tab check off the table. “Pie and coffee, that’ll
be thirty five cents each,” he glared at them. “Unless you want to work it
off.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Look here Joe, you can’t …” The Judge didn’t
finish. The Sheriff grabbed him by the shirt collar.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I used to think you ran with the wrong crowd.” He
looked at the men. “Now I think they do.” He shoved his brother away. He
watched as the men dug money from their pockets and laid it on the table. They
walked out the front door without saying anything.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mrs. Yokohama hurried up to the Sheriff. “I’m big
sorry,” she said. “I don’t want to make some trouble.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Sheriff smiled at her. “How about some pie,” he
said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Margie
finished sewing the grin on her scarecrow’s face. She used a pale pink fabric
and the mouth really opened. It looked almost real. “You don’t look at all bad
now - Brian,” she said. She giggled as she hugged the stuffed figure. On
impulse she leaned forward and kissed the pink cloth lips. She pulled back
startled. It was a strange new amatory feeling. A tingling sensation swept down
her back and delighted her toes. She took a deep breath then another. There was
a gentle ache in the back of her throat that was somehow sensual. The blue
button eyes twinkled, she felt enchanted as she gazed into them. They seemed to
be looking at her.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“No, not bad at all my dear Brian,” she whispered.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ed Fowler stood with the four men next to Tom
Walker’s 36 Ford Coup. “The first thing we got to do is get rid of your damned
brother the sheriff.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He looked at the
Judge.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
agree, but it’s got to be done correctly. We’ll<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>need a killer who’ll be caught. We need someone to accuse. I think I
know a way to lure him away from town and get him someplace alone.” The judge
looked at Lemont. “You still want to get even with that bitch, the one who
talked your wife into leaving you?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Lemont
had been half listening now he perked up. “I wouldn’t mind giving her some
trouble.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Then
let your Hodmedod out for a little anniversary night-time stroll, have him
visit your friend Emma’s place. Have it slaughter everyone in the house. When
the Sheriff shows up the murderer’s going to get him too.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“This
had better work,” Ed said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“With
my brother gone I’ll have to appoint a new Sheriff,” the judge said. “Who wants
the job?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Emma
Hicks walked into the two story house she now shared with her grandmother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Melania Descombey Karnes sat in a rocking
chair, by the parlor window, looking out at the first falling snow of the year.
“Grandmother you’re too close to the window, you’ll catch a cold!” She picked
up a heavy quilt from the back of a sofa and draped it across the old lady’s
shoulders. “I hate to see this snow so soon. It’s going to make it cold for the
Scarecrow festival.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The
snow will be gone and it will be dry on the thirteenth,” Melania said. “La
paglia brucerà ancora (the straw will still burn).”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“How
can you be so sure? How do you always know what will be?” Emma asked her
grandmother.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The
future is always what you believe; it can be no other way.” She looked at her
granddaughter and smiled. “I’m happy that you’re living with me now, Lemont was
no good for you, I knew that when you first brought him home, but any mother
must allow her children to be wrong, to learn right. Many things in life have
to go their own way.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Emma sat down and put her head in her hands.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I think it was Lemont who took the card from your
Ombre box grandmother, he knows about the magic. I think he has been hiding a
Hodmedod.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Yes he hides it in a hollow under his barn, soon he
will send it out to do murder.” The old woman turned to her granddaughter. “Ha
fatto un cattivo spaventapasseri, (he has made a bad scarecrow). He wasn’t
careful, Egli non ha utilizzato il panno bianco, (he didn’t use the white
cloth.)” Melania was looking out the window, but not at the snow covered
landscape. She seemed to be looking through it. She gestured to her
granddaughter to come to her, and then caressed her cheek as she whispered.
“You must be careful my little one, very careful.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It was nighttime when Lemont lifted the grain sacks
off the heavy door in the floor of his barn, then with some effort slid the
anvil to one side. He stood looking downward for several moments. Fear washed
over him like an icy shower, the thing below had begun to shift. He could hear
a faint rustling, and the grating sound of the post being dragged along the
dirt floor. Lemont grabbed the two live chickens with their feet bound and
tossed them into the pit then slammed down the lid. He quickly replaced the
anvil and the grain bags. He sank to the floor exhausted and listened as the
chickens trapped below shrieked loudly, then were suddenly silenced.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Be satisfied for now,” he whispered to the entity
in the darkness below him. “Soon you will have humans as food to gobble on.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A group of timeworn men huddled next to the
woodstove inside the Spare-a-dime diner, listening to the radio. Allied troops
from Canada had just secured the island of Walcheren off the coast of Belgium.
A blood bath was taking place as the Germans fought furiously to re-take the
strategic position. In the town of Cloverdale another war was just about to
begin. A battle on a much smaller scale but just as strange, just as
significant and just as bloody. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To be continued …<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><br /></div>Randall R. Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536932805707673903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097264115343784589.post-18230631285688674502020-08-16T22:33:00.005-06:002020-08-16T22:42:26.154-06:00CARVED IN STONE part 3Copyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBPiVhPSK4mjQk5uy7DHq3kuLq78Ru1urOxbQLe8Q-ztqbgAN2pxLrlRsrr8enFhdldcOcb5k3WAHZwX3HR5uQpiDW-pdQO5N0kPvBJFJXyOfmMjvU6lSeekmYMBgsc3CqdeLrdnoEuNY/s1000/Carved+in+Stone+part+3+art.bmp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="1000" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBPiVhPSK4mjQk5uy7DHq3kuLq78Ru1urOxbQLe8Q-ztqbgAN2pxLrlRsrr8enFhdldcOcb5k3WAHZwX3HR5uQpiDW-pdQO5N0kPvBJFJXyOfmMjvU6lSeekmYMBgsc3CqdeLrdnoEuNY/w400-h186/Carved+in+Stone+part+3+art.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face="" style="font-family: "bernard mt condensed", serif; font-size: 72pt; line-height: 115%; mso-effects-shadow-align: none; mso-effects-shadow-alpha: 100.0%; mso-effects-shadow-angledirection: 0; mso-effects-shadow-anglekx: 0; mso-effects-shadow-angleky: 0; mso-effects-shadow-color: black; mso-effects-shadow-dpidistance: 0pt; mso-effects-shadow-dpiradius: 9.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-pctsx: 0%; mso-effects-shadow-pctsy: 0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">CARVED IN STONE<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face="" style="font-family: "brush script mt"; font-size: 72pt; line-height: 115%; mso-effects-shadow-align: none; mso-effects-shadow-alpha: 100.0%; mso-effects-shadow-angledirection: 0; mso-effects-shadow-anglekx: 0; mso-effects-shadow-angleky: 0; mso-effects-shadow-color: black; mso-effects-shadow-dpidistance: 0pt; mso-effects-shadow-dpiradius: 9.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-pctsx: 0%; mso-effects-shadow-pctsy: 0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">Part 3<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">By
R. Peterson<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sheriff
Walker called for backup and then took a hand-held spotlight out of the trunk
of his patrol car. The last thing he wanted to do was go down the dark creepy
stairs alone but he thought he’d better at least have a look before his
deputies arrived. Slowly, he descended the stairs; with every step the darkness
seemed to absorb more and more of the already feeble beam from his flashlight.
At the bottom, he found the floor littered with dust and chunks of stone. This
was where Mr. Hill cut the grave-markers and did the engraving. By now the flashlight
was almost worthless but he could tell the basement was not just one room but a
vast labyrinth of passageways, most leading north into Motha Forest. Whatever
frightened Kenworth Hill most likely came from one of the forbidden entrances. The
strict laws regulating the Momett Preserve explicably stated absolutely no
entrance into the forest and that precluded planes from flying overhead and people
digging tunnels beneath the iron-like trees. He would need a court order to
proceed farther. Gonna need a bigger torch, too, he thought wryly, as he
retreated back up the stairs to call off his deputies – for now.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over a heated telephone conversation, Judge
Herman White said he would not even consider signing a search order for the
tunnels without consulting the trust administrator. Sean O’Brian was one of the
most powerful men in the United States, possibly in the world. To go against
him in any way was to court disaster. John remained at the stone house until it
was taped off as a possible crime scene and the coroner left with Kenworth’s
body. It was late as he drove into Cloverdale, to talk to Melania Descombey and
the sky had already started to darken. When he parked just beyond the corner of
Main Street and Garlow black clouds had begun to roll across the stars. No rain
yet … but it was coming.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Cloverdale’s
resident witch had been in poor health for some time and John wasn’t surprised when
her young nurse, Allison Weatherbee, answered after he knocked three times on
the elaborately carved door with a cast iron gargoyle. “I’m sorry to bother
you,” the sheriff said holding his hat in his hand. “I was wondering if it
would be possible to speak with Mrs. Descombey?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Allison led the sheriff past portraits of felines …
some of the paintings looked to be centuries old. John had the impression that
their eyes followed him as he moved … but when he turned there was nothing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“Melania is way over one-hundred years old, and she was
never married, so technically it’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Miss
Descombey.” </i>Allison turned and smiled<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.
</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“But please sit down sheriff. I’ll
pour you a cup of coffee while I see if my <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">guida</i>
is up to instructing guests.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
inside of the mansion smelled of lilac and lavender, a precise mixture that was
both exhilarating and intoxicating. The coffee was just the right temperature
and it went down too easy. Somewhere, a clock chimed nine o’clock and for a few
seconds it sounded as if a flock of birds were flying about an adjoining room.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
sheriff was surprised to hear someone playing passionate chamber music in the
parlor but when he got up from the kitchen table and went to look … the music
stopped. There was no one there and the floor was covered with blue marbles all
rolling toward a drain-pipe worked into the parquet floors under an antique
piano. Allison returned just as he finished his second cup of coffee. “She’s
been expecting you.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">A clap of thunder shook the house just as Allison
opened the upstairs bedroom door. Melania lay on a king-size bed under a quilt
of finely woven Eiderdown. Heavy curtains blocked the windows and the room was
as cold as an ice-house. The room was also as large as a small house. The
sheriff stared about in wonder. One part of the lantern-lit chamber was a vast
library with leather-bound books and a large reading table. Rain suddenly poured
like a river from the cedar-shake roof and it was as if they were meeting
behind a roaring waterfall. Cloverdale’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">founding-mother</i>
was still breathtakingly beautiful … only her <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">eyes</i> counted the ages. Delicate fingers rose from the bed-cover and
beckoned the sheriff to come closer. Her voice was no more than a sigh. “John
Walker,” she whispered. “I knew your father your grandfather and his father …
each was a lawman and every one named John. Does it take a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Momett witch</i> lurking in the shadows to bring you to my house?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘I
was always afraid of this place,’ the sheriff told her. “This is the house the
kids all ran past when we were trick-or-treating.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You
and your friends should have been bolder,” Melania scowled in mock anger. “I
used to make the best popcorn-balls. A few of you might have left as frogs …
but that’s just the price of All Hallows' Eve!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Two
of our residents have died … under what I would call, even for Cloverdale, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mysterious circumstances</i>,” the sheriff
told her. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“This
is the strangest small town on earth,” Melania smiled. “It must be bad to bring
you here!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Erma Bates
was found dead in her house,” the sheriff told her. “It looked like a bird or
several birds had pecked her eyes out. I just came from Kenworth Hill’s place.
He was stone dead at his kitchen table. It looked as if something came up out
of his cellar and scared him to death.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Then
the time of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">revenge</i> has started,”
Melania said removing the bedcover and sitting up.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“What
do you know about this Momett witch?” the sheriff asked her.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
haven’t seen her for years,” Melania said dangling her feet over the side of
the mattress. “And she wasn’t a witch then … just a half-burnt scarecrow child
running for her life.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You
know her then?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Her
name is Kendra but the Momett and others call her <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cinder</i>,” Melania stood up. The sheriff reached out to help her but
she brushed him away. The old woman gestured toward the shuttered window. “Only
a fool would venture out in this storm. Since you’ll be here for a while I’ll
have Allison bring us a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">special</i> tea;
I promise you’ll fall in love with it. With any luck you may leave here without
hopping. I may not have all the answers you seek … but I have those you will need.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">-------2-------<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Joanie Otter strolled down Townsend Avenue, dressed
for a dark and stormy night. She was alone … but not for long. Her thirteen
year old friend ran through the rain and crowded under her umbrella. “Looks
like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Baby Bat</i> slipped out her bedroom
window without breaking the glass this time.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Marsha Heron let a dripping black leather strap
slide from one of her shoulders and tried to look bitchy. “I left hot water
running in the tub upstairs. Mom is watching some romance-movie on the tube and
she thinks I’m taking a bubble bath.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’ll
bet she yells when water starts dripping from the ceiling.” Joanie raised an
eyebrow.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“She’d
think it was the roof leaking but just to be sure …” Marsha reached into her
pocket and held an object up to a street lamp. “I have the drain-plug.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You’re
as sly as a fox …” Joanie complimented.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“With
feathers and egg on my face.” Marsha grinned tossed the rubber stopper into a
garbage can as they passed an alley and then put a bounce in her walk. She
jumped across several puddles. Do you know someone with a boat … or are we
swimming all the way to Black Rose?"<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Flickering headlamps grew brighter and a rusted 1974
Chevy Caprice pulled next to the curb. Joanie yanked opened the rear passenger
door. “What took you so long?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Brent Hawke’s white fingers gripped the
steering-wheel of his father’s car. Jason Lynx sat wide eyed on the passenger
side. “I’m sorry Gravequeen,’ Brent said. “The old man wouldn’t pass out. I
finally had to mix cough syrup with his bourbon.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“That’s
what a baseball bat is for,’ she told him. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Give
me your shirt so I can use it for a towel,” Marsha ordered Jason. He pulled the
black shirt off so fast he lost a button. Baby Bat crinkled her nose and then
slapped him. “When was the last time you washed this thing?” They drove for
twenty minutes and crowded five more youngsters into the car. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Lightning flashed and it continued to rain all the
way down Vineyard Road. Just as they reached the cemetery entrance, everything
stopped. A full moon hung in the sky and there was no breeze. The storm was
everywhere … except for Black Rose. Hundreds of candles glowed as they drove
between the rows of tombstones.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
count six covens,” Joanie said as they slowed to a stop. “It must be a blood
moon!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
hope I won’t have to do any digging,” Brent moaned.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Joanie laughed. “Battle-bats are set on fire … never
buried,” she told him. “But if this new Momett witch does not like our offering
… we may all burn.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">TO BE CONTINUED …<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><br /></div>Randall R. Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536932805707673903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097264115343784589.post-62333896796888398532020-08-02T22:57:00.000-06:002020-08-02T22:57:56.921-06:00CARVED IN STONE Part 2Copyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIyl9Cp4VZoPVvhk3KT-jcw0FIgc-R7Wv_Dfvo7HV8Lalak5rovY3eotYRTYTo6cVXcreCWNaVMIcSIxVvZ1Klho3nW7BpxcP9EWL6ITOcixMOF-gcWAU6vHrdXgf0MroSwAGRR2i1FDk/s1000/Carved+in+Stone+part+2+art.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="1000" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIyl9Cp4VZoPVvhk3KT-jcw0FIgc-R7Wv_Dfvo7HV8Lalak5rovY3eotYRTYTo6cVXcreCWNaVMIcSIxVvZ1Klho3nW7BpxcP9EWL6ITOcixMOF-gcWAU6vHrdXgf0MroSwAGRR2i1FDk/w512-h238/Carved+in+Stone+part+2+art.bmp" width="512" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bernard MT Condensed","serif"; font-size: 72.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-effects-shadow-align: none; mso-effects-shadow-alpha: 100.0%; mso-effects-shadow-angledirection: 0; mso-effects-shadow-anglekx: 0; mso-effects-shadow-angleky: 0; mso-effects-shadow-color: black; mso-effects-shadow-dpidistance: 0pt; mso-effects-shadow-dpiradius: 9.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-pctsx: 0%; mso-effects-shadow-pctsy: 0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">CARVED IN STONE<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Brush Script MT"; font-size: 72.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-effects-shadow-align: none; mso-effects-shadow-alpha: 100.0%; mso-effects-shadow-angledirection: 0; mso-effects-shadow-anglekx: 0; mso-effects-shadow-angleky: 0; mso-effects-shadow-color: black; mso-effects-shadow-dpidistance: 0pt; mso-effects-shadow-dpiradius: 9.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-pctsx: 0%; mso-effects-shadow-pctsy: 0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">Part 2<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By
R. Peterson<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Why
John Walker! You haven’t visited me at home for years!” Cloverdale’s mayor
opened the front door to her very attractive home wide so that the sheriff
could enter. Not that he needed the room … she just wanted to show him he was
welcome. He was holding his brown Stetson hat in his calloused hand and she
stepped back and looked at him wirily. Her lips <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">almost</i> formed a smile. “You haven’t come here to ask for a raise
have you?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“No,”
the sheriff said. “Actually I’ve come here to talk to Joanie.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Oh
my God!” the mayor said. “I knew she was running in a bad crowd. What’s she
done now?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Nothing
that I know of,” John said. “I just need to ask her about something that
happened in the cemetery the other night.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The
cemetery?” Margaret Otter gasped. “When I was young we parked at Makeout Lake
with boys we liked. “We didn’t powder our faces white, paint our fingernails
black and hang out at graveyards!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Times
change.” John said. “Can I speak with Joanie?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Of
course,” Margaret said. “She’s supposed to be up in her room studying. If I
find out she’s snuck out her window again I’m going to send the entire police
department plus the canine unit to scare a little sense into her.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The mayor started for the stairs and then paused.
“I’m sorry,” she said turning. “Would you care for a cup of coffee?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
know where it is,” John waved her on. “Remember I helped Fred build this
house.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------2-------<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Margaret was just coming down the stairs when
Madeline Bird knocked once and then opened the door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She looked around to make sure she and the
mayor were alone. “I saw the sheriff’s car parked outside,” she whispered too
loudly. “Is he here about what we <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">did</i>
to Elvis’s truck?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You
mean what you and Florence did,” the mayor hissed. “I was just the lookout”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Did
I hear someone mention Elvis Hicks?” The sheriff had just walked from the kitchen
with a cup of coffee in his hand.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We
heard that fancy new truck of his got flat tires and scratched-up real good
while it was parked at the Red Rooster,” Madeline gushed. “He’s been sleeping
around on a friend of ours. We were just wondering if you’d caught the ones
that did it yet.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Hicks
knows better than to turn in a vandalism report to me,” the sheriff said. “I
have a warrant for his arrest gathering dust in my glove box over two unpaid
speeding tickets. I’ve been to that shack he passes out in three times … and
he’s never home.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“How
could someone named Elvis turn out to be such a stinker?” Madeline shook her
head.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“His
mamma had high hopes for the skunk,” Margaret said. “But he couldn’t sing a
lick.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">-------3-------<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The mayor’s daughter bounded down the stairs looking
preppy-smart in short pants, too large earrings and a low-cut pink sweater.
There was not a trace of makeup on her face.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The mayor and Madeline walked outside to look at
some roses. John followed Joanie into the kitchen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Something
about you looks different.” The sheriff smirked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I dress for the
night.” Joanie shrugged her shoulders. “Only the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">matinées</i> look witchy around the clock.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I need to ask you some
questions about who you were with and what you were doing in Black Rose
cemetery.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I was with my <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">familiars</i>,” Joanie said. “We were <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">entertaining</i> guests from out of town.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“And who might these
guests be?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Hamilton Fisk and
members of Abra Cadaver. They burn the largest black candle in Salt Lake City.”
Joanie poured a glass of milk from the refrigerator.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Black candle?’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“It’s a ritual thing.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Do you or any of your <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">friends</i> happen to own any crows?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“No we use flying
monkeys,” Joanie laughed. “Why do you ask?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I parked down the road
to make sure you left the cemetery. I saw at least one large black bird fly
across the face of the moon.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“So some witch’s familiar
was running an errand for her at night … is that against the law?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Erma Bates was found
dead in her house. It looked like a bird or several birds had been savagely feasting
on all the soft parts of her face.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Oh my God,” Joanie
gasped. “Ham was right. It’s starting to happen.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“What’s starting to
happen?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Hamilton Fisk has an
authentic crystal globe that’s charged by moonlight and she’s way into
astrology and history. She reads the heavens like other people read a
newspaper.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“And what does the
night sky tell her?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“People have always stolen
knowledge from the stars.” Joanie explained. The heavens say forty-nine years
ago, during a total solar eclipse … a creature with extraordinary power was
born … inside Motha forest!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“What does this have to
do with killer birds?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Hamilton’s crystal sphere
also shows her that an enchantress with great power<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>has come of age,” Joanie said. “Sometimes, evil takes a lifetime
to grow. A murder of crows is used for revenge and Melania says a much younger Erma
Bates was part of a terrified mob that burned Scarecrows a half a century ago …
just before the sun turned black.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“And this is bad?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Very bad,” Joanie
said. “We’re talking about a Momett witch!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------4-------<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The next morning the
sheriff was on his way to see Melania Descombey when he received a call. Kenworth
Hill hadn’t dug any graves for two days. Questions for Cloverdale’s resident
witch would have to wait. The cemetery sextant lived at the end of Vineyard
Road just beyond the county graveyard. His twenty acres crowded the edge of the
Motha Forest Protected Trust and abutted the rock face of a cliff. The former
mason had cut every stone for his dwelling and people said more rooms were
bored deep into the granite of Horse Head Mountain. Technically, parts of the rock
structure were probably illegal, but so far Sean O’Brian, the trust
administrator, hadn’t complained and the sheriff never encouraged trouble …
especially from a house that looked like a tomb.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The man’s old battered truck
was parked by the front entrance. Three Vanishing River newspapers lay on the porch.
No answer came from knocking and no one responded to his yell. When John walked
around a sagging barn, a Black Lab with worried eyes came out barking and
wagging his tail. The sheriff poured Purina Dog Chow from a storage-shed into a
bowl and filled an empty coffee can with water from a hand pump. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Shirts and pants hung
from a clothes line and were now soiled with bird droppings. The front door was
unlocked, so John went inside. A droning came from another room and a too-ripe rotten
apple smell was overpowering. Thousands of flies, some dead and some crawling
painted the walls and the living room window. The sheriff covered the bottom
part of his face with his hat and tried not to gag as he walked into the
kitchen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Kenworth was slumped
over on a broken chair next to an overturned kitchen table. It looked like a
freight train had jumped the tracks and shown up for breakfast. His shrinking
and hardening skin looked as cold and blue-white as fresh fallen snow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A half-eaten baked potato and hamburger patty
was crawling with maggots. Every hair on the man’s head stood on end as if
trying to escape his last thoughts. His wide open eyes ignored a blowfly
crawling across one of them. A denture had slid part way from his gaping mouth.
The man’s elbows were bent and his fingers splayed as if he had died trying not
to see what he saw. John stared at a splintered-door hanging by its hinges and
to stone steps receding into darkness. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Damn Ken!” the sheriff
muttered as he turned away. “Whatever came up from underground … looks like it
scared you to death!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">TO BE CONTINUED …<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /></div>Randall R. Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536932805707673903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097264115343784589.post-74101384679278674862020-07-26T22:09:00.002-06:002020-07-26T22:09:32.512-06:00CARVED IN STONE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Copyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyb2sIU4ep1w8Dk2oxOuoTJu_g_nbZb3CE_Ajot1KhLrryLTMu5nZVdlUu0vKlzrOISyP24-y0i2PCEfnLCRcZOsh5s4Owgop9YhqrL5ELgg1G94Ibc9eZE2k1m5c1OOf1lbTo4E2WPZY/s1600/Carved+in+Stone+art.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="1000" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyb2sIU4ep1w8Dk2oxOuoTJu_g_nbZb3CE_Ajot1KhLrryLTMu5nZVdlUu0vKlzrOISyP24-y0i2PCEfnLCRcZOsh5s4Owgop9YhqrL5ELgg1G94Ibc9eZE2k1m5c1OOf1lbTo4E2WPZY/s400/Carved+in+Stone+art.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bernard MT Condensed","serif"; font-size: 72.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-effects-shadow-align: none; mso-effects-shadow-alpha: 100.0%; mso-effects-shadow-angledirection: 0; mso-effects-shadow-anglekx: 0; mso-effects-shadow-angleky: 0; mso-effects-shadow-color: black; mso-effects-shadow-dpidistance: 0pt; mso-effects-shadow-dpiradius: 9.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-pctsx: 0%; mso-effects-shadow-pctsy: 0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">CARVED IN STONE<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By
R. Peterson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It was just after
midnight early Saturday morning when the Comanche County Sheriff’s car turned
east on Vineyard Road. The police radio crackled. </span><span style="font-family: "AR CARTER"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Calling all available sheriffs … When you get done scaring
the hell out of those kids in Black Rose Cemetery, I need your help in the
dispatch office… Over”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“What’s your problem
Beth? … Over”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "AR CARTER"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“There’s
a man hiding under my desk … over”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“What’s he doing down
there? … Over.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "AR CARTER"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Right
now he’s sitting in a bucket of ice … over”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Does this <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">varmint</i> have a name? … Over.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "AR CARTER"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“He
goes by all kinds of names … but around here folks mostly call him John
Barleycorn … Over.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I’ll bet he’s Canadian
… right? … Over.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "AR CARTER"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“You
know I always buy my whiskey from north of the border … Over.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“This sounds like a job
for your husband … Over.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "AR CARTER"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“His
idea of fun is letting the cat out when the neighbor’s dog is loose … over.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I’ll call you when I
find out what’s going on in the bone-yard …over.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "AR CARTER"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“If
I don’t answer it’s because I’m asleep … over.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Okay Beth … Sheriff
John Walker … over and out.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "AR CARTER"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“You
better stop in before you go home … or there will be hell to pay.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">John smiled. He had
known <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beth</i> all his life. She was a
second or third-cousin from one of the county’s founding families, and was
named for his great-grandmother Elisabeth Walker. Elisabeth Descombey Hicks
would never cheat on her husband Carl, but there wasn’t much else to do working
dispatch after midnight in a sleepy town like Cloverdale except play on the
police radio … and tease whichever officer was on duty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------2-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Kenworth
Hill, the cemetery sextant, was parked in a battered Ford just outside the wrought-iron
gate when John pulled up. John guessed the old man’s age at about ninety three,
but then in Cloverdale it was hard to tell. Kenny looked like he had gone <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">downhill</i> since John had seen him and
that was only a month ago at the Founder’s Day Picnic. Living next door to the
place you worked would do that to a person. The old man’s white hair needed cut
and his hands were covered with rock dust. Not only did he mow and trim the
grass in the Cloverdale resident’s final resting place he also carved most of
the stones under which they lay.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Are the dead rising up out of the ground … again?”
John asked him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“There
will always be death in Cloverdale until someone finds that’s infernal devil’s
nest and gets rid of that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">murderous night
vulture</i>,” the old man said. He was rolling a cigarette with shaky fingers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“That
better be tobacco you’re putting in there!” John smiled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“If
it was loco weed … I have enough sense to not be smoking it right in front of
John Law,” Kenworth retorted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
understand you have some night visitors.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Sounds like someone skinning a damned cat in there,”
The old man pointed toward the stars. “Must be that time of the year.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">John glanced up at the sky and then stared through
the elaborate scroll work of the black-iron fence. “That looks like Mayor Otter’s
daughter and a few friends. They’ve always been strange … into <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Goth </i>dressing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I’ve never known them to dig their black
fingernails into any animals.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">An infernal screeching sound came from the back of the
cemetery it sounded like a couple of huge cats getting ready to fight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“That’s
why I can’t <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">die</i> peacefully in my
sleep.” The old man scowled as he covered his ears. ““If you don’t mind, I’ll
sit in my truck and listen to my songs. I seldom work nights … that’s when the
crow flies.” He pointed toward the cemetery and then stared at John. “And <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I’d</i> never go in there … under a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">flower moon</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The crackling sound of
Hank Williams singing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I’m so lonesome I
could cry</i> came from the truck radio as the sheriff drove to the back of the
cemetery. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What the neck is a flower moon?</i>
He decided he didn’t want to know. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The sheriff used his
spotlight to scan the headstones, and near the back rows he saw five girls, dressed
in black and with flashes of silver, chase a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cat</i> into a bag that two others were holding. They were tying it
shut with rope when he got out of his car. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He was right, it was
the mayor’s daughter Joanie, her friend JoAnne Wolfe and three others he’d seen
hanging-out around town. “What you got in the bag?” he asked as he walked
toward them … as if he didn’t know. For the first time he saw another group of
mostly girls standing far back in the shadows. None looked familiar.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Nothing!”
Joanie shook her head. “We’re just <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">playing
</i>around.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“There
is a law in Comanche County about harming animals,” John told them, “even <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">graveyard</i> mousers.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Better
show yourself, Babybat,” Joanie smiled as her friends untied the rope. John was
sure he saw the bag bulge just before <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Marsha
Heron</i> crawled out. Her mother was on the city council.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
want you and the rest of these ghouls …” He gestured to the strangers standing
in the shadows. “To clear-out for the rest of the night,” John told them.
“You’re going to give poor Kenworth Hill a heart attack with all this <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">witchy</i> business !”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We
were just leaving,” Joanie assured him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------
3 -------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Kenworth Hill had left when John got back to the
gate. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Sheriff parked just
down the road behind a clump of trees and read a newspaper as the two groups
walked out of the cemetery. He waited until he was sure that they had left.
Joanie and her friends were unusual but he’d always found them polite …
respectful. A person had to make allowances for that. The night was especially
bright and oddly there were no cricket sounds. Cold chills caressed his spine
for no apparent reason.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He took a coat from the
back seat and was putting it on when a shadow passed over a copy of the
Vanishing River Tribune that lay on his dash. John looked up. The silhouette of
a woman on a bicycle crossed the face of the moon. It was gone when he blinked
and looked again. Seconds later another silhouette followed the first. This
time it looked like a large, dark bird. John thought it was a crow or a raven;
he could tell by the feathering at the ends of its wings. It was flying west
toward town. He shook his head and started his car. “Only in Cloverdale,” he
muttered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------4-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Erma Bates was
eighty-seven years old, so Sheriff Walker wasn’t surprised when she had been
found deceased by a home healthcare worker. She was the right age. Two deputies
arrived at the tiny house at the south-end of Wallace Avenue a short time
before he did. Deputy Miles Davis stumbled out of the house and vomited on a
rose bush as John was getting out of his car. Hopefully Renny Young was still
on the scene. “Are you okay?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Just give me a
minute,” Miles said wiping his mouth with his shirt sleeve.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">John wasn’t prepared for the carnage inside. A
window was broken on the far wall. Erma lay under torn bed-sheets and bloody
glass fragments. It looked like she struggled and she would have been staring at
the ceiling if she had eyes. Someone or something had forcefully removed them
from her head. The sheriff dropped his pencil when he opened a pad to take
notes. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It bounced off his boot and rolled
under the bed. “I’ll be damned,” the sheriff muttered just before he stood up
holding the pencil and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">something else</i>
…in his trembling fingers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“What’s
that?” Renny asked. His face was as white as the sheets used to be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“A
black feather,” the sheriff said. “It looks like it came from a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">crow</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">TO BE CONTINUED …<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br /></div>
Randall R. Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536932805707673903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097264115343784589.post-23122667388166873982020-07-19T23:27:00.002-06:002020-07-19T23:27:45.752-06:00Sisters of the Sea SHIP WRECK part 3<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Copyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJZLesUoGc_CLR3NbHGiuoDUL6IfNOyqFaTQanMpeqsHCipLyszm6VpKnlr8bpl30jJFUCk8FH4xagvDVQs_Al5vZYGpVeQG7IfJASUjH5ajdcpbUnCgqyZOSccNW_jeb6PtAs8AWZ0Cw/s1600/Sisters+of+the+Sea+SHIPWRECK+part+3+Art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="529" data-original-width="1000" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJZLesUoGc_CLR3NbHGiuoDUL6IfNOyqFaTQanMpeqsHCipLyszm6VpKnlr8bpl30jJFUCk8FH4xagvDVQs_Al5vZYGpVeQG7IfJASUjH5ajdcpbUnCgqyZOSccNW_jeb6PtAs8AWZ0Cw/s400/Sisters+of+the+Sea+SHIPWRECK+part+3+Art.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #4f81bd; font-family: "Matisse ITC"; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid; mso-themecolor: accent1;">SISTERS
OF THE SEA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #4f81bd; font-family: "Matisse ITC"; font-size: 72.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-effects-shadow-align: none; mso-effects-shadow-alpha: 50.0%; mso-effects-shadow-angledirection: 10800000; mso-effects-shadow-anglekx: 0; mso-effects-shadow-angleky: 0; mso-effects-shadow-color: black; mso-effects-shadow-dpidistance: 4.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-dpiradius: 5.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-pctsx: 0%; mso-effects-shadow-pctsy: 0%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid; mso-themecolor: accent1;">SHIP WRECK<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #4f81bd; font-family: "Brush Script MT"; font-size: 36.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-effects-shadow-align: none; mso-effects-shadow-alpha: 50.0%; mso-effects-shadow-angledirection: 10800000; mso-effects-shadow-anglekx: 0; mso-effects-shadow-angleky: 0; mso-effects-shadow-color: black; mso-effects-shadow-dpidistance: 4.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-dpiradius: 5.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-pctsx: 0%; mso-effects-shadow-pctsy: 0%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid; mso-themecolor: accent1;">Part 3<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By
R. Peterson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">All the women ran. The floor
of the cliff opening appeared to quake. Rocks and dirt fell from the ceiling
and the glowing eyes in the back of the cave were lost in dust and a mad scramble
to safety. Once outside, they discovered just how near they had come to being
buried alive. A huge crack in the stone that covered the roof was just inches
from breaking through. “I hope a bird doesn’t land on that,” Polly said. “The
whole thing will come crashing down.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“It doesn’t have to be
a whole bird,” Renny shook her head. “Just a feather or two would do nicely.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I don’t want to be
around when whatever is in the back of that cave gets hungry and decides to
come out!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Margaret gasped.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The shipwrecked pirates
would have carried Loretta down the jungle path if Fiorella hadn’t pointed
toward the beach. Three long-boats filled with British soldiers were just
reaching the sand. The Man-of-War, that had crushed the stern of the Sea Witch,
lay anchored in the bay.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Does that
ship-of-the-line have a name?” Polly asked as Fiorella looked through the
telescope. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“She says she is the
HMS PORTAGE,” Fiorella said. “But I’m more interested in the dandy strolling
about the bridge with an officer dressed as a captain.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Polly took the telescope from Fiorella. “Well if it
Isn’t Jean Molyneux,” she gasped. “Loretta was betrothed to him before she
found out he was dealing in slaves. She’ll be sorry she didn’t get a chance to
… shoot him.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“She
may get her chance yet.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maggie said.
They followed her gaze to where the soldiers had made landing and were dividing
into small groups and starting to search the beach. “When they don’t find us
near the water, they’ll move inland. It’s only a matter of time before they
discover the trail that leads to this cave.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We
should leave,” Renny stared at the cave opening.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“If
whatever is inside that cave hasn’t eaten us yet, it probably won’t,” Fiorella
said. “It would be best if we spent the night right here. We can look down on
the beaches around the entire island. It’s good to know where our enemies are …
and when they come.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The women didn’t relax until they saw the soldiers
making camp far below them. By then several of them were wet and shivering. “Build
a fire and perhaps light a few torches between us and the opening,” Maggie
suggested. “King Georges’ soldiers won’t be able to see the light from the
beach and I’ll feel safer if the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">monster</i>
in that cave has to tromp through some flames to get to us.” That sounded
sensible; most of the women carried knives, and made short work of hacking tree
limbs into firewood. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a short time
they had a cozy fire and three torches blocked the entrance to the cave. They
spent their last waking hours twisting vines into several ropes. They also wove
two baskets. One was large enough to carry Loretta. “Down the cliff might be
our only way out of here,” Maggie told them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Fiorella
spent a great deal of her time caring for Loretta. Her former employer appeared
to not only have a concussion but a fever as well. Near midnight, Fiorella
moved the unconscious woman closer to the fire and covered her with a piece of
sail from the skiff. The fever finally broke near morning and she muttered a thankful
prayer. The women were all sleeping, Renny was snoring. The sun was rising from
the ocean in the east when Fiorella yawned … and her eyes slowly closed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------2-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Where
is she?” Polly was pulling pieces of sail off sleeping women and searching
through bushes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Who?”
Fiorella yawned and then jerked upright.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Polly pointed to the discarded sail and the empty
bed of leaves Loretta had been sleeping in. “Loretta!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fiorella gasped. “Her fever broke during the night!”
Then she moaned. “The captain must have come awake … after I fell asleep.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Polly was looking at the torches burning in front of
the cave entrance. “I seem to remember there were three!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fiorella moaned. “What have I done? My mistress has
ventured into the lair of that horrible monster … all because I couldn’t keep
my eyes open!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The twenty-two survivors of the ship wreck were
awakened by Polly’s boot. They armed themselves with whatever sticks and rocks
they could find and started into the cave, to try to save the twenty-third … if
they could.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------3-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The women in front carried knives and the torches.
Near the back of the cavern a huge and terrible shadow created by torchlight loomed
against the back wall.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It began to move
toward them. They raised their weapons and their captain’s voice rang out. “Don’t
hurt it,” Loretta commanded. “It only eats mice and bugs … and I think it likes
me!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“What the hell?” All the women stared at the huge
creature.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“It’s a giant Moa!” Loretta laughed. “A flightless
bird. It’s like a very large ostrich. My father was an amateur Paleontologist
and he wanted me to become one. If he could only see me now. These creatures are
native to New Zealand but some remains have been found in Madagascar. They were
supposed to have gone extinct five hundred years ago. Somehow this one must have
survived being hunted for food on this remote island.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“What
on earth are you ever going to do with it?’ Renny asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
named it after my father,” Loretta said. “I guess it’s one of us now!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------4-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">They women carefully tiptoed out of the cave … and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Henry</i> followed … snapping his beak and
making a strange clicking sound. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Just
after mid-day, Renny and two others, who had been raised on farms, captured a squealing
pig and they had it cleaned and roasting over a fire for their evening meal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">With food in their bellies the women felt more
cheerful and alert … but they were not out of danger yet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Looks like we have more company!” Fiorella pointed
as she chewed on a piece of ham. The frigate <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mary George</i> that had been their intended target was now anchored
beside the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">HMS PORTAGE</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
was wondering how your <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">betrothed</i> got
on a king’s ship.” Polly said to Loretta.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Loretta took the telescope from Fiorella and looked.
“It’s the bloody Frenchman all right. But I wouldn’t say <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">betrothed </i>… a condemned woman waiting for an execution is more what
it felt like.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When she handed back the telescope Fiorella gasped. “Looks
like the bugger is up to his old tricks!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">They women took turns looking. They cursed as they
watched as more than twenty terrified women that looked to be from the Arabian
Coast were led from the hull of the Portage and across a plank onto the Mary George.
“The captain of the Portage and Molyneux must be business partners,” Maggie
said. “The king’s captain steals the women and your <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">late-lover</i> sells them as slaves in the Caribbean or some other
island paradise.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“They’re
a long way from home?” Renny suggested.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Dealing
in slaves will get you hanged in England,” Loretta said. “ Jean Molyneux always
was afraid of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rope … </i>and this
secret venture shows he values his neck a little too much.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fiorella was looking at the beaches. “We’ve got real
trouble,” she said. Several of the king’s soldiers were pointing toward the
cave. Molyneux could be seen amongst two other boats loaded with men. They were
all headed for shore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“They
must know we’re here,” Renny moaned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“And
they’re bringing the crews from both ships to make sure we don’t escape.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fiorella shook her head. “What do we do now?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Wait
until they go in the jungle and start up the path,” Loretta told them. “Then
it’s down the ropes for us,” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Make
sure you find a way to take Henry with you,” Polly said. And I’ll need all your
extra clothing! Don’t leave without me. I’ll catch up with you later.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Are
you mad?” Loretta asked her first mate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Of
course,” Polly said. “But I’ve also got a plan!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------5-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
women placed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Henry</i> in the large
basket they had woven the night before. He weighed almost five hundred pounds
and it was all they could do to keep the rope from slipping. He stared about as
he was lowered down the cliff … snapping his beak and making that strange
clicking sound. Loretta did not want to leave her friend behind … but Polly
insisted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The women waited, hidden in some brush just off the
beach until it was after dark. It was a full moon and lights from the two ships
glistened in the water along with the globe from the heavens.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Henry was grazing nearby. “It’s a shame we have to
leave him,” Maggie said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“If
we’re to act we must do it now!” Fiorella told the others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We’ll
take the ships,” Loretta said trying to see up the cliff side. “But I swear I’ll
not leave this bay without Polly!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Let’s
hope that won’t be in a box,” Maggie told her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------6-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There
were only a half dozen soldiers left to guard the HMS PORTAGE with the captain
on shore, the remaining men seized the chance to get into the ship’s store of
rum. A guard near the starboard stern heard a splashing from the water and went
to investigate. His eyes nearly popped from his head when a pretty girl with
sea-weed in her hair appeared in the water … naked from the waist up. “Who are
you?” he demanded.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We
are the daughters of Neptune come to welcome you to our island,” the girl giggled.
Just then two more lovelies appeared in the water beside her; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>neither was shy about showing their breasts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Mermaids?”
The guard dropped the bottle he was holding.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“If
you want to see our <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tails</i> … you’ll
have to swim with us,” the first girl said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Walter!
Charles! Henry and David!” the guard yelled. “Get over here now! The lot of you
ain’t going to believe this!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The guards cheered and drank heavily as a half dozen
near naked beauties frolicked in the water. They were to <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>o busy enjoying the sights to notice the fifteen
other women climbing up the port side.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------7-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
sails were all rigged on the Mary George. The ship-of-the-line was too large
for their needs and had to be abandoned with the prisoners locked in the brig. A
key was left behind, but it would take them days to find it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A brisk wind was starting to blow. All the pirates
had to do was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">weigh anchor</i> and they would
be off. Loretta gazed toward the island one final time. “She must have been
captured … or worse,” Fiorella told her. Several of the women were crying.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There were others that needed protecting. Someone
had to make the hard choices. “Let’s be off then,” Loretta said. Her voice was
no more than a whisper … still it broke. Her eyes were flickering candles … dripping
sadness. “I’m so sorry Polly!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------Post-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Just
as the anchor was hoisted and the sails filled with wind there was a splashing
in the water. It was a miracle anyone heard. All the women rushed to the deck
rails and then they began to laugh. “I had a hard time catching him,” A
dripping Polly said as she climbed aboard. “It’s a good thing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Henry</i> can swim!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“There were plenty of Moa tracks leading into the
cave,” Polly told them later. The ten foot tall flightless bird was eating from
a barrel of grain and the frigate maneuvered around the huge rock without
difficulty. “I used the pig blood from the cooking basket and some of your torn
clothing to make it look like we’d all been killed and dragged into the monster’s
lair.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Then what happened?” Everyone was fascinated by her
story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“It took forever for them to venture inside. If the
king knew he had such cowards in his royal service they’d all be whipped. When
the soldiers, the two captains and Molyneux finally did go in the cave I danced
on the roof,” Polly said, “I nearly collapsed with the rocks! They’ll all get
out eventually … if they don’t die of hunger and probably after a week of heavy
lifting.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------Post
plus one-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Twenty
one women captives had been freed from the hull and they crowded the deck. Most
had been sold by prospective bridegrooms and clergy that they trusted. None wished
to return to their former homes. Polly was doing a head count and she suddenly
laughed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“What
is it?” Loretta asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“A
magic number!” Polly laughed. “We are once again the forty-four!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And as the soon-to-be-renamed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sea Witch</i> sailed from the remote island, even the new women captives
were persuaded to remove their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">niqābs</i>
and join in the laughter and the song. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Henry</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
snapped his beak and made a strange clicking sound.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Beyond the
waves that ply these shores … to ocean’s dreadful end.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We
hope to never use our oars … with gold enough to spend.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
Gods look down upon us … with scorn and malice hot.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">No
sympathy, no tears are shed … for women who are not.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A
coastal tavern dim or bright … will buy the life we need.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And
plant a fortune in our hearts … from lusting’s tiny seed.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To
want of wind and company … we seek nothing more.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And
all the seas belong to us … we mighty forty-four …”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">THE
END?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br /></div>
Randall R. Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536932805707673903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097264115343784589.post-57523539700594392192020-07-12T21:41:00.001-06:002020-07-12T21:41:40.841-06:00SHIP WRECK part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Copyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.<br />
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<span style="color: #4f81bd; font-family: "Matisse ITC"; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid; mso-themecolor: accent1;">SISTERS
OF THE SEA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #4f81bd; font-family: "Matisse ITC"; font-size: 72.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-effects-shadow-align: none; mso-effects-shadow-alpha: 50.0%; mso-effects-shadow-angledirection: 10800000; mso-effects-shadow-anglekx: 0; mso-effects-shadow-angleky: 0; mso-effects-shadow-color: black; mso-effects-shadow-dpidistance: 4.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-dpiradius: 5.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-pctsx: 0%; mso-effects-shadow-pctsy: 0%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid; mso-themecolor: accent1;">SHIP WRECK<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #4f81bd; font-family: "Brush Script MT"; font-size: 36.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-effects-shadow-align: none; mso-effects-shadow-alpha: 50.0%; mso-effects-shadow-angledirection: 10800000; mso-effects-shadow-anglekx: 0; mso-effects-shadow-angleky: 0; mso-effects-shadow-color: black; mso-effects-shadow-dpidistance: 4.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-dpiradius: 5.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-pctsx: 0%; mso-effects-shadow-pctsy: 0%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid; mso-themecolor: accent1;">Part 2<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By
R. Peterson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jagged rocks and coral
rose above the waves as Polly, Maggie and two others managed to navigate through
the storm and bring the lifeboat to shore. They were wet, cold and exhausted.
If the wind and rain hadn’t kept pushing, the women would not have endured.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Captain Loretta DuPont lay in the boat’s
bottom … delirious and suffering from a head injury. Just before they reached
the sand, the battered <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sea Witch,</i> behind
them, listed to starboard, broke apart and sank. Everyone gasped at the sight,
but they were too broken themselves to stare for long. Only a fragmented-mast
and torn-rigging showed above the churning water. The dense fog that had plagued
the women pirates appeared to be lifting and the Island they were on looked
large … perhaps even habitable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Two more lifeboats
appeared farther down the beach with a small cluster of ragged and shivering women
huddled around each one. One of the boats was still partly in the water and had
a jagged hole near the bow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">None of the women
seemed surprised to see a wet, near naked and ravaged Fiorella moaning on the
sand like a beached whale. “Looks like our captain’s handmaid got her kiss,”
Polly mused. “But it wasn’t Davey Jones … perhaps <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Neptune</i> had pity for her broken-heart and decided not to taste her
with his fork!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">While Maggie and the
two rowers carried the captain onto the beach, Polly grabbed the bottle Maggie
had found bobbing in the surf from the bottom of the boat and removed the cork.
“What a festivity!” She laughed. Polly lifted and pressed the bottle against
her lips. Her tongue desperately searched for a last drop of rum as she
staggered onto the sand. With her hair wet and her clothes dripping she looked
like an abandoned child. “But now me thinks … I might be sick!” She threw the
empty bottle toward a pile of tide stones. It didn’t break, and she fell to her
knees and gagged.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------2-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Loretta
was the first concern when the women found each other. They decided she must
have a concussion. Fiorella bandaged her captain’s head with strips of her
petticoat.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
“Does anyone know where we are?”
Polly asked.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Somewhere
west of Madagascar and east of Africa,” Maggie told her. “All my maps went to
the bottom along with the ship’s clock.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Not
too bad,” Polly said. “I thought this might be hell.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They decided what they needed first was
shelter. Of the forty-four so far only twenty-three had survived the shipwreck
and re-grouped. Some of the women were crying … most were in shock. Fiorella
amazed everyone by pulling the metatarsal telescope from the top of her blouse.
“You didn’t think I’d let our<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> treasure </i>go
to the bottom did you?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“There
was a king’s ransom in gold in two chests in the hold,” Polly vowed as she
stared at the broken mast swaying in the distance. “If this storm ever breaks,
I’ll show you why my papa said I was half fish!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Fiorella was scanning the island. The telescope swept along
the coast line, then swung back to linger on a cliff high above them. “It looks
like a cave up there but we’ll never reach it from this side,” she said. “It’s time
to move inland!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
They pulled the boats off the sand and hid them then they used
oars and torn canvas to make a litter for their captain.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“What’s wrong with spending
the night here?” Maggie asked as they looked for a path in the jungle.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Yes!
What if more of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">us</i> show up?” Renny
was still scanning the beach looking for her sister.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We’ll
be able to see most of the island from up there,” Fiorella told them. “If any
show up we’ll fetch them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
“That ship-of-the-line that crushed our stern, might think we’re
a bit of fun.” Maggie agreed. “We don’t want to make our <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">capture</i> too easy!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Let’s
hope our enemies hurry,” Polly moaned as she slapped at a mosquito. “I’d rather
hang in London than be eaten alive by Madagascar’s restless natives!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
-------3-------<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Two
long hours later, they stopped by a fast moving stream and decided to rest. The
cave near the top of the cliff was reachable from the jungle side and there was
even a kind of rugged path leading to it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
A monkey scrambled up a tree. A bunch of them chattered, and
seconds, later Renny was hit with a coconut. Polly chased the apes away with
some well thrown rocks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
They placed Loretta in the shade and several of the ladies
soaked their feet. The water held tiny vibrant colored fish that none had seen
before. The mosquitoes were still feeding.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“What
kinds of beasts take shelter in caves?” Maggie asked as she looked closely at
the ground.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Bears,
lions and pirates without ships,” Polly suggested as she splashed water on her
swollen arms and face.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“These
aren’t no cat or bear tracks,” Maggie said as her eyes grew wide. “I’ve never
seen anything like them!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
They gathered around. None of the women had. The clawed
monster that left the prints looked as large as an elephant. A grieving Renny
was summoned; her sister Penny hadn’t yet made it to shore. “We’ve got two
problems,” she told them as she studied the print’s depth. “Whatever horrible creature
made these marks … weighs close to half a ton!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I hope
it’s a turkey,” Polly stammered. “What’s the second problem?” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The
storm is coming back!” Fiorella wailed. She raised her arms and as if dark
clouds had been hiding and listening … it began to rain buckets. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Let’s
hope that whatever this beast is … it likes to cuddle,” Polly told them as they
ran and splashed toward the cave.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
--------4--------<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“No way
am I going in that door to hell without a light!” Renny shivered. The women
were once again wet and cold as they shivered next to the huge hole in the
cliff side. At least the rain had stopped, for a moment. Fiorella scanned the
beach and the coast with her telescope.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Whatever
we do we must do it fast!” The ship’s navigator pointed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The British man-of-war could be seen cruising
just beyond the breakers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’ve
been wanting to do this for years,” Maggie told them as she removed her blouse tore
it into strips and wrapped the cloth around the end of a stick. One of the
girls from the boats had matches. The first two were wet … but the third
flamed. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“After
you!” a near top-naked Maggie suggested as she looked at Loretta’s former
handmaid.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Me?”
I’m not the leader of this wretched, variegated crew,” Fiorella grumbled, but as
she advanced cautiously into the cave and the rest followed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
The cavern wasn’t as large as they had first suspected and
Polly’s humor returned when the cave appeared to be empty. “The largest and
most beautiful always leads the way,” she said. “That way … while she is being
eaten the others can escape.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Several women laughed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fiorella stopped and looked more terrified than ever. Polly shook her
head. “Really Fiora! Don’t you know I’m jesting?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
An ungodly moan came from the gloom that made everyone’s
hair bristle. Fiorella pointed and the others stared. A pair of too-large,
menacing eyes blinked in the darkness at the back of the cave. Someone screamed.
The thing towered at least four feet above their heads. The cavern floor shook and
small round stones fell from the ceiling and rolled in all directions.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
It was coming!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
TO BE CONTINUED …<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<br /><br />
</div>
Randall R. Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536932805707673903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097264115343784589.post-11442507767275049782020-07-05T20:54:00.001-06:002020-07-05T20:54:57.973-06:00Sisters of the Sea SHIP WRECK<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Copyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDcnRSlwU6RGHceTWN1avY5mBdJI1QVZaztCN_HuQ6IsX1dPNYSn6YCh93MUjX0Jkg08IQ_hTwayyK9eCLAQY8nomVPJ4kp1gtjN3Xgu-Ts_r_6RiE88B1TbA2UUIa6TnBkhjCTndV1NA/s1600/Sisters+of+the+Sea+SHIP+WRECK+Art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="529" data-original-width="1000" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDcnRSlwU6RGHceTWN1avY5mBdJI1QVZaztCN_HuQ6IsX1dPNYSn6YCh93MUjX0Jkg08IQ_hTwayyK9eCLAQY8nomVPJ4kp1gtjN3Xgu-Ts_r_6RiE88B1TbA2UUIa6TnBkhjCTndV1NA/s400/Sisters+of+the+Sea+SHIP+WRECK+Art.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #4f81bd; font-family: "Matisse ITC"; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid; mso-themecolor: accent1;">SISTERS
OF THE SEA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #4f81bd; font-family: "Matisse ITC"; font-size: 72.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-effects-shadow-align: none; mso-effects-shadow-alpha: 50.0%; mso-effects-shadow-angledirection: 10800000; mso-effects-shadow-anglekx: 0; mso-effects-shadow-angleky: 0; mso-effects-shadow-color: black; mso-effects-shadow-dpidistance: 4.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-dpiradius: 5.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-pctsx: 0%; mso-effects-shadow-pctsy: 0%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid; mso-themecolor: accent1;">SHIP WRECK<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By
R. Peterson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“We’ve a nasty-fog and
a three mast <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">purse</i> running off the
port bow,” Pollyanna Nottingham called from the enclosed platform high atop the
main mast. “Her waterline lingers just below her gun ports. King George surely must
be soaking his feet in the bilge … as he counts his gold!” Captain Loretta
DuPont signaled Polly with a wicked smile showing that she had got her report on
the potential <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">booty</i> while her former
hand maid Fiorella quickly searched for the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">chase</i>
with a spyglass. “Ah! Just a wink.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Did
you perhaps spy a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">jack</i> to go with fat
George before she vanished?” Loretta asked the ship’s gunner as she finished
the last swallows from a bottle of rum. In fact the entire crew was drunk.
Someone had discovered a lost cask in the hold and a celebration was underway.
The fog and the storm had fell on them suddenly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Aye,”
Fiorella said carefully placing the stolen <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">metatarsal</i>
telescope, finely-crafted in Rotterdam, into a wooden case just as Polly slid
down the halyard. “She does in fact call herself the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mary George</i> and she showed all the lads a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Red Ensign</i> before she slipped into the bed-sheets.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“A <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Royal</i> bumper then?” Loretta snickered as
she paced the deck. She corked and then threw the empty bottle into the sea. “A
message for my mother!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Lads?”
Polly laughed as she dropped from the crow’s nest. “We’ve but forty-four <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">soiled wenches </i>aboard this tub … and
that’s being over generous.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Perhaps
our king desires a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dirty</i> kiss.”
Loretta suggested.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The
truth of our lot brings me to tears.” The more than three-hundred pound Fiorella
looked ready to weep. “It was nine, October of 1796 when I last had a scratchy
beard wetting my neck. It was inside the Blue Dolphin in London. He was drunk
of course and mistook me for a pretty-boy sailor! But these <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Keelhaulers</i> we’re chasing thinking we be
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">men … </i>might give us an edge.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“There
be no king in that tub but maybe rum, so do we dare the mist and the Devil’s
breath to take her?” Polly asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“How
much of a dive is it to Davy Jones’ sea chest?” Loretta called to Alison
Drescher who had been pulling line at the bow ever since the pirate ship
approached the fog. Margaret Waldheim, the ship’s navigator was holding the
wheel at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">helm</i> while the stout sisters,
the former farmwives, Penny and Renny rolled a second twenty-pounder across the
upper deck.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
show three <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fantom</i> and falling,”
Allison yelled back as she lifted the weighted and knotted rope.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Mice
will flee even a tiny tempest … but not the wise with our thicker tails,” Penny
boasted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We’ll
be hanged yet … though every drop of water swear against it!” Loretta laughed
with Renny as she remembered the words from a famous London playwright. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Captain,”
Polly said. “We’ve got more than an overloaded freighter and fog to vex us.”
She pointed to the dark, rolling horizon behind them. “I don’t need a spy lens
to see that’s a cruel squall sneaking upon our backside.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As if the collaborate Polly’s remarks, a gust of
wind blew up Loretta’s short dress which she wore over men’s pants. She smiled
as she smoothed it down with her hands.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Drop the skirts and go in tender,” Loretta ordered
the eager women crowded around her. “I smell gull nests … even if I can’t hear
them. No treasure buys a scratched hull!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Polly laughed. “You sound more like a pirate every
day!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Seventeen women scampered up the rigging to lower
all but one small sail. Another twenty others hurried below deck tamping cannon
and loading muskets. The day’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">prize</i>
was just a fight away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sea
Witch</i> slowly sailed into the treacherous vapor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------2-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It
was beginning to feel like a trap … but a merry one. There was no one better at
the ship’s wheel than <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Maggie</i> Waldheim
but the haze thickened and she gasped as she narrowly missed a huge rock that
loomed out of the fog. “That tide-stone was as large as a Pompey knocking-shop!”
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Bring the paddles from the bilge,” Loretta ordered.
“We might have to push away the next bugger that fancies a hug!” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A dozen women who had just finished taking down all
but one sail went below deck to retrieve the twenty foot oars which were kept
for emergency use when accosted by doldrums.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By the time the oars were brought on deck it was
already getting dark. Six women manned both port and starboard sides with their
long poles stuck out like quills. A couple of women began to sing … and then
the entire drunken crew did.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Drip
us in the water … but none will ever drown.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We’ll
rot inside a tower cold … if hangman can’t be found.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To
wear a rope is braided gold … around our perfect necks.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Is
what we pray to Neptune’s Gods … with knees upon the decks.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So
push the storms upon us … and wash us with your rain.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Until
the gallows call to us … we’ll never know the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pain.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So
close the door on sinking ships … and open it no more.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We were ever born
to hang … us <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mighty forty-four.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Lighting flashed and illuminated a nightmarish scene
as Maggie held her breath, steered the ship away from a jagged reef and then
breathed to the sound of applauding thunder. Renny and Penny each snapped an
oar. The side of the hull sounded like a bear growling as it scraped the mossy
rock hidden below the surface. It began to rain madness. Icy sheets of water tumbled
from the sky and were quickly picked up and flung by an angry wind. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The witch is thirsty … and she’s drinking!” One of
the women from below deck reported with a smile.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Leaking?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Maggie! Get us out of here,” Loretta ordered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Harsh winds were blowing away the fog. The navigator
had the Sea Witch halfway turned when another flash of lightning showed the
merchant ship they’d been pursuing slipping between two wave-tossed reefs. “Let
fat George have his hellish harbor,” Loretta yelled. “If he thinks this be safety
… his hull must be loaded with hatter’s rats!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------3-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>By
the grace of providence, or by expert seamanship, the pirate ship was somehow
fleeing the tempest. Most hands topside delicately angled the single sail as
the Sea Witch sailed against the wind. It was once again growing light as if an
entire night had passed and not less than an hour. They passed the knocking
rock and hoped to be free of the storm when a final flash of lightning struck
terror into the hearts of all the women on deck. A sixty gun ship-of-the-line
passed through the Sea Witch’s wake and narrowly missed crushing the stern. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“When
the Devil throws a party all of England comes a running!” Polly gasped.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There was little time to laugh … or even smile at
her joke. A startled royal sailor manning a stern gun near the huge British
ship’s aft fired once before they were out of range and wood fragments exploded
as a twenty pound ball of iron split the hull and crushed the Sea Witch’s
rudder.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The huge Man of War vanished into the daylight as
the fatally injured pirate frigate was once again blown back into the nightmare.
This time six oars broke and the center mast bent wildly and then snapped as
the ship crashed into the rock.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Three women with oars were swept over the side. The
wind, huge waves and the leaking hull kept the frigate from righting itself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We’re
sinking!” A woman gunner screamed as the terrified crew from below swam onto
the deck.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Into
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">barrels</i> if we can!” Loretta
yelled just before a piece of broken mast knocked her to the planks. Polly and
Maggie helped her to her feet; her head was bleeding. It took precious moments
to untangle line about her legs. Then a wave washed them all over the side. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Sea Witch had six assorted <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">longboats </i>each one with a capacity of up to twelve sailors. Only
three made it into the water before water washed over and submerged the decks.
Less than ten women left the sinking ship in the boats … the rest sank or flapped
about in the water. Cries of help were muted by the wind or even more ghastly …
smothered by bubbles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Maggie and Polly swam through the wild and churning sea
and somehow managed to lift their injured captain into a dinghy with two women
rowers. “Where are the sharks?” A dripping Polly demanded. “We were promised
sharks!” A wide eyed Maggie plucked a floating bottle from the waves. “A
message to your mother?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Loretta seemed disoriented - half out of her mind. Not
even the insane wit of Polly could lift her spirits. She slipped from their
hands suddenly and stood up nearly capsizing the craft. The wind and the rain
blew her hair outward on all sides. Blood ran down the sides of her face and
her eyes shone as bright as stars. With her arms outstretched, she looked like
a banshee showing terrified travelers the way to doom!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I tremble in the shallows! But I still pay the
Devil for his bits of treachery!” Loretta screamed before they pulled her back down.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">TO BE CONTINUED …<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br /></div>
Randall R. Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536932805707673903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097264115343784589.post-21568151261770996182020-06-28T21:51:00.001-06:002020-06-28T21:51:10.038-06:00DEEP READER part 5.5<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Copyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.<br />
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "Impact","sans-serif"; font-size: 72.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;">DEEP
READER<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Impact","sans-serif"; font-size: 36.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">Part<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>5.5<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 26.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">“Down
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the Darkened Stairs.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By
R. Peterson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>You
must have read DEEP READER part 5 “before” you read this part. If you haven’t
read it yet … go back and read it now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The only things you will need for this journey are a
glass (crystal is even better) of clear, cold water and a table or a piece of
wood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Get them now and place them within
easy reach.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The stairs creek with each descending step we take.
I want to confess that I might not be able to protect you as I promised, but
then you’d probably bolt and run and that wouldn’t do … so I remain quiet. I
need you here with me as much as you need me. In order for me to help you to
conquer your fears … I must first conquer my own.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When I was six years
old I had a recurring bad-dream, a nightmare that visited me for several
nights. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In my dreams, I would open an old
door with dark stairs that led to a cellar in my grandfather’s kitchen. I was
terrified and didn’t want to descend the stairs, but my feet would not obey me.
When I was halfway down the stairs a hideous dwarf with a large wart-covered
nose would appear at the foot of the stairs waiting for me. He would raise his
pudgy fingers to grab me …</i> just before I woke up. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I was terrified and
made a childish agreement with whatever powers that be that if I could stop
having this dream then I would have it on my wedding night. The bad dreams
stopped and the bargain was sealed. I’ve been married twice and both times on
my wedding night I thought about the dream and the bargain that I’d made … both
times the dream did not happen. So it lurks there still in my mind … at the
bottom of the stairs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The dark squat figure, that I glimpsed before, is still
there somewhere in the shadows I know <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">it</i>
is … and so do you. We are blind and in complete darkness but we still need to
find out exactly where this creature is so that we can avoid it. We must use
our other senses. Evil always carries the smell of death and we can use this to
our advantage. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Reach up and gently touch
your nose.</i> If you’re in a restaurant a library or some other crowded place
you can do it so casually that no one will notice. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(DO IT NOW!)</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>You
now have the odor scenting abilities of a bloodhound and you can even smell <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">warmth</i>. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Close your eyes turn your head to the left and breathe in through your
nose, turn you head until it’s looking forward and do the same… then again
while your head is turned to the right.</i> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(DO IT NOW!)</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The scent of warmth was to the front. Fear is
approaching … directly before us. Vicious, mean eyes appear with just the
slightest suggestion of bristly hair surrounding a snarling mouth. I want to sprint
back up the stairs but we must go past this dwarf-like monster. Please help me.
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Make a fist with your left hand and
squeeze your fingers tightly together.</i> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(DO
IT NOW!)</b> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You hold my right hand with your left as we take
slow sluggish steps … we both want to run but we can not. Running gives power
to fear and if we run we’d never get out of this dark place with our sanity
intact. A cold fingernail brushes the back of your neck. You want to scream … but
you don’t … not yet. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Instead you squeeze your
left hand fingers more tightly together.</i> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(DO IT NOW!)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We hear the muted rattle of a dragging chain following
behind us. For the first time I realize my nightmare has been tethered to the
bottom of the stairs. No chain can reach into infinity … we keep moving. I
think we have moved out of its reach but we must be sure. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Close your eyes, then reach up and touch your ear. Listen carefully
until you hear or imagine a clack.</i> This means my monster has reached the
end of his chain. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(DO IT NOW!)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thank you so much! We have moved past <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">my</i> fears … now we must confront <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">yours</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The dark place we are in in unbelievably vast and we
walk beyond the constraints of time. For the first time since arriving at the
bottom of the stairs we see a sliver of light and we move toward it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As we approach the light
we realize it comes from the other side of a closed door. There is in fact a
long hallway with rows of doors on both sides. The doors on the right are good
memories starting from your childhood and proceeding down the hall. The doors
to the left are bad memories. Each door represents a year in your life and each
is marked with the year number. Move down the hall and stop in front of the
door on the left or the right that you want to open. This is your best or worst
memory from that year in your life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You want to relive the
pleasure of your best memory. Take a drink from your glass of water then close
your eyes, relax and tap your desk or your piece of wood twice and the door opens.
Go slow. Allow your best memories to return. You feel wonderful. Should you
want to venture inside …<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Inside each door is a
round room with more than three-hundred sixty-four windows. Each window represents
a day from that year moving from left to right and each has the month and day
carved into the window sill. To relive the memories from a particular day close
your eyes and relax before opening your eyes and looking through the glass. Allow
time for the specific and very detailed memories to form. They may come as
dreams … you must decide if they are real. Taking a drink of the water and tapping
your finger three times … will close the door to that year in your life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Close your eyes and touch
the desk or the piece of wood with your right hand finger once as we pass each
door on the right and you will get a very pleasant feeling of joy or euphoria
without even opening that door as we move down the hall. (DO IT NOW!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For some of us the
hallway is much too long … for others it is short.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You are smiling as we
reach the end of the hallway. This is good. Happiness and fear cannot exist in
the same place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We are only concerned
with the black door at the very end of the hall … this is your greatest fear.
This iron door is partially open … and we must close it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You may wish to venture
beyond this door. If you do, take a drink of the water, close your eyes, relax
and tap the wood (or your desk) twice. If you wish to go inside this door, I
will go with you. If you wish only to close it … tap three times. (DO IT NOW!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When the door at the end
of the hall closes, the lights suddenly come on and our journey is finished. Relax
your clenched left hand and the wonderful memory you brought up from the
darkness has been released. Enjoy it. There are many doors left unopened … many
windows not looked through.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I will leave you … for now.
Memories are our greatest treasures and our most formidable enemies. I hope you
brought at least a few fantastic ones back with you. Remember there are many
doors beyond the dark stairs … perhaps you and I will go again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">THE END ?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br /></div>
Randall R. Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536932805707673903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097264115343784589.post-24188015968994943322020-06-22T01:48:00.002-06:002020-06-22T01:48:19.025-06:00DEEP READER part 5<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Copyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwK8oSSQ4rfqoF6YJcR2YzwRYC5b-yBitDD5UxWExcN6WsFEbOIBs6YWCKpcVajGe2MZF0TLbmoAGtj2bFbt3Gb0xvHD8LPvbNwavqropwOT032qb9eJkypQJK5M3zf2uU3xWAKeIzrhU/s1600/Deep+Reader+part+5+art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="1000" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwK8oSSQ4rfqoF6YJcR2YzwRYC5b-yBitDD5UxWExcN6WsFEbOIBs6YWCKpcVajGe2MZF0TLbmoAGtj2bFbt3Gb0xvHD8LPvbNwavqropwOT032qb9eJkypQJK5M3zf2uU3xWAKeIzrhU/s400/Deep+Reader+part+5+art.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "Impact","sans-serif"; font-size: 72.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;">DEEP
READER<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Impact","sans-serif"; font-size: 36.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">Part<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>5<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face","serif"; font-size: 26.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">“Down
the Darkened Stairs.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By
R. Peterson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The expedition down these dark stairs is the most
dangerous and exciting thing you will ever do at this moment in time. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prepare yourself! If we are successful, and
not all will be, we will return much happier than when we left and with an astonishing
fortune. Together we will seek a vast and oftentimes forbidden knowledge of
things secreted … sometimes before we were born. Words are eternal and time
makes them grow in power. If I am long past from this world my powers are
greater because these words speak to you from beyond the grave. Even if I’m still
living I promise to stand by your side and to lead you to this treasure and
back home again in safety.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This journey will gift you pleasures beyond
imagination, wash away all your fears, fill you with a great and marvelous
ambition and drown your worries in the depths of euphoria. I will be your friend
and guide. Your strict obedience is everything … you must trust me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
will ask you to do some very simple things; only you will know if you do them.
It is important that I be able to control your actions. Once I have full
control of your physical responses then I can open locked doorways into the deep,
vast and darkened corners of your mind. The only things you will need for this
journey are a glass (crystal is even better) of clear, cold water and a table
or a piece of wood. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Get them now and place them within easy reach.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I will give you simple instructions such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Close your eyes and</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tap your finger on the smooth surface of the glass three times</i> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(DO IT NOW.)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">That wasn’t so bad was it? Ready? Let’s go!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Imagine
a path in the woods. Sunlight filters through leaves and turns the small
pebbles you walk on into jewels. We stop and you stare at your feet. Some of
the pebbles are very tiny crystals enchanted with magic. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Smile
and wiggle your toes.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(DO
IT NOW.)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Something very good and pleasant is coming our way …
you feel it and so do I.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We begin to walk and with every step we take we
become younger. The sun crosses the sky from West to East and birds are flying
backwards. By the time we leave the woods and emerge in a meadow we are in the
best times of our lives and we both feel young and restful. Birds are flying in
the right direction landing in the trees and building nests. White clouds dance
together across the sky. Fragrant wildflowers grow alongside the path and as we
breathe in the fresh and clean air we feel great pleasure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Close
your eyes, relax and take three long deep breathes.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(DO IT NOW.)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There is the faintest tingling sensation in the toes
you wiggled before … a whispered promise of the many rich and unexpected pleasures
to come.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We move alongside a babbling brook and it sounds as
if the water is speaking to you. You kneel beside the stream and a fat green frog
with bulging eyes and a red spot on his back jumps from a rock and swims frantically
toward the opposite bank. Is that a crown the frog is wearing? You want to
smile but you don’t … well maybe the corners of your mouth turn up just a
little. If you laughed then even better … and perhaps <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you</i> should be leading this adventure. You see your reflection in
the water and you are fascinated by your own image. You have never looked
better. No one on Earth is more daring and breathtakingly beautiful than you
are!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Close your eyes, and listen carefully until you hear
the moving water whisper the first name of a close friend, a lover or a family
member. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(DO IT NOW.)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The frog vanishes into a clump of thick brush covered
with red berries on the far bank. The foliage shakes. From one to three ripe berries
fall from the green leaves and glisten as they rush downstream. Count them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Close
your eyes, and take a small drink from your glass of water. Hear the whispered name
in your mind.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Do this so you will remember what you
heard the water speak and the number of berries you saw floating down the
stream. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(DO IT NOW.)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We both feel amazingly refreshed. Water is the most
magical substance in the universe and we have enough to do anything Colors seem
much brighter as we once again cross the meadow. The buzzing of bees fills us
with energy. We want to run but decide to stroll along and enjoy every moment.
We begin to laugh … and to dance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">At the far end of the meadow the stream turns away,
the wildflowers vanish and withered grass covers a small mound. A tiny cottage made
of black stone stands atop the hill. The clouds that were dancing before have
turned dark and ugly. A vicious and ruthless tavern brawl begins with the
clouds as the evening darkens. An angry wind bends the trees on both sides of
the foreboding structure with its fury. It begins to rain … and the sky stops
its fight … and then weeps.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A
splintered doorway, much too large for the house, forbids our entry. We are
afraid but we must seek shelter; the storm worsens.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Knock
on the table or the piece of wood three times.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(DO IT NOW!)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The door slowly opens and our fear vanishes. We are
together and we can overcome anything. The room we enter smells dank and musty.
An oil lamp burns on a small table next to a chair covered with a yellow and
green quilt. We sense movement in another room. A dark figure moves about as a
shadow. We heard the rattle of dishes and pouring water … then the voice of a
very old woman.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I’m very busy … but you know the way. Call to me … if
you fall into danger.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Who are you?” We both want to know but the question
comes from your lips.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I am <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hope</i>
to some … and to others <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Despair</i>,” the
crackling voice says. “Only you can decide.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We move across the room and into another. We find
ourselves in a cold and lonely porch with gaping gaps in the slat-board walls. Torn
overalls hand from pegs on the walls. A rat jumps from a box of rotting apples
and runs toward the kitchen. We hear the old woman laugh with joy. The summer-rain
outside has turned into winter. Flurries of snow blow through the cracks and form
drifts around our feet. A very old passageway without a doorknob leans
drunkenly against an earth-smelling wall. It was not made to be entered by the
living. This door can only be opened with your mind. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Close
your eyes and remember the name whispered by the stream.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(DO IT NOW!)</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Somewhere in the house the old woman begins to sing …
a lullaby with all the wrong words.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Close
your eyes and take three long slow breaths.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(DO IT NOW!)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A train rattles over a bridge in the distance. An
air horn blows. Something large bangs against the outside of the house. The old
woman walks on the outside past a broken window with snow in her grey hair and
the rat wrapped in an infant’s blanket.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Close
your eyes and take a large drink from the glass of water.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(DO IT NOW!)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When you open your eyes the passage door without a
knob slowly begins to open. We stare down a dark passage of stairs. Something
squat and dangerous moves in the shadows just beyond our field of vision. An
image from a long ago nightmare best forgotten … and we look at each other
before we descend.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I have brought you to the dark stairs … next week
our adventure will go on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">TO BE CONTINUED …<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br /></div>
Randall R. Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536932805707673903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097264115343784589.post-51888653982908790312020-06-14T18:51:00.001-06:002020-06-14T19:03:10.597-06:00FRANK JAGGER Gang Wars part 4<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Copyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt; text-align: center;">
<b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivaX2WGd3QY5LCUWiHQeBWnunB_fLoEAQM-hxvgAzPSYk-a1t85c9sONudGRvUpy_wzIkb5jSGR3gDHdGK7pBZrm2gGt6FTG4oMGd30cW7EKLEkRwJbsIuDG4gNkl7SWG6qdLIkFbRCRI/s999/Frank+Jagger+Gang+Wars+part+4+art.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="999" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivaX2WGd3QY5LCUWiHQeBWnunB_fLoEAQM-hxvgAzPSYk-a1t85c9sONudGRvUpy_wzIkb5jSGR3gDHdGK7pBZrm2gGt6FTG4oMGd30cW7EKLEkRwJbsIuDG4gNkl7SWG6qdLIkFbRCRI/s320/Frank+Jagger+Gang+Wars+part+4+art.png" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: broadway; font-size: 48pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: broadway; font-size: 48pt;">FRANK JAGGER<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: broadway; font-size: 28pt; line-height: 115%;">GANG WARS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "brush script mt"; font-size: 72pt; line-height: 115%;">Part 4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The rattling flat-bed
Ford dropped us off in front of the farm house, and then disappeared in a cloud
of dust. If we weren’t hired, it would be a long walk back to Chicago. Beth
wore a dirty gingham dress with a clean white apron that clung to her in places
like a nervous coat of paint. The out-of-work farmhand I’d become was dressed
in torn bib-overalls, broken-lace boots that could talk with a little
persuasion and a hat that had to have been stolen from a mule. My hands were
covered with blisters from chore practice and I still didn’t know a chicken
coop from a shoe shine stand. I was convinced these Cleveland mobsters holding
Albert McGooganheimer’s daughter and my missing secretary would see through our
ruse instantly and that we’d be shot on sight. For some reason, I kept thinking
about the taste of <i>Old Forester</i>
Bourbon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Three men in pinstripe
suits answered my knock on the splintered wood door and two of them held
forty-fives <i>almost</i> concealed behind
their backs. I let Beth do the talking. “That store woman in Collinsville says
you’re looking for two people to tend your sick folks and do farm chores,” she
said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“We’ll talk care of my
… <i>parents</i>,” the goon in front said.
He was looking at me suspiciously. “We need people to run this farm … and keep
away visitors.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“What’s them fields
planted in?” I looked behind me and around with wide eyes. I sounded extra
stupid … even to my own ears.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“Horseradish!” one of
the men said. The gun in his hand was now visible. “What else do they grow
around here?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“Is that a duck gun?” I
yodeled, pointing at the Colt</span> <i><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">.38
Special</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> in his hand. “Can you teach me how to aim it?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“I’m Vincent,” the
mobster in front smiled and the guns vanished from the men behind him. “These
are my brothers … Slim and Tony. There’s a cook-stove with pans and utensils in
the barn. I’ll have Tony bring you out some sugar and flour.<span> </span>You can sleep in the hayloft. This house is <i>off limits</i>. Do your work … and we’ll get
along just fine!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“Will we be paid?” I
stammered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“We’ll see,” Vincent
said. “Forget about them horseradish fields … we got us a bug infestation … and
we’re planning to burn them.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">One of the goons was frisking Beth with his eyes. If
he moved, he was in danger of stepping on his tongue. “Thank you so much,” I told
the mobsters. “You won’t be sorry!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">-------2-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The farm’s previous owners were into raising beef,
possibly to hide the taste of all that horseradish. <span> </span>At least two hundred head of bawling Black
Angus steers were crowded into a too small corral without grass or water. A
tired plow-horse leaned against an outhouse. I finally got the cattle moved
into a bigger pasture, forked them some hay and filled all their drinking
troughs. It was suppertime when I trudged back to the barn.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Biddies are harder to catch than you’d think. By the
time I cornered two hens; I’d lost at least five pounds, wore a sweaty jacket
of feathers and was famished. Beth grew up on a farm and cooked the birds along
with corn and other vegetables plucked from a parched-garden. After we ate, my
secretary’s sister decided to take a plate of fried chicken up to the mob
hideout … just to get a look inside.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>There
was a half-starved hound sharing the barn with us and I fed and watered him while
I waited for Beth to return.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">-------3-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>Beth
came back more than an hour later. Her blouse was torn and a couple of her buttons
were missing. I was stomping toward the farm house when she stopped me. There
are eight men inside. All of them are ready to shoot <i>ducks</i>.” She smiled. “Well I guess there are now just seven hunters
still on their feet. I’ve learned a few tricks working at <i>the Horn Section</i>. I think these thugs will leave the one who tore
my blouse behind when they go. Tony wants to be a farmer now. He’s moaning on a
cot in the back room … crying over the two <i>acres</i>
I just gifted him.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>“Do
you have any idea where they’re holding your sister and Lynette McGooganheimer?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>“I’m
sure they’re locked in a small cellar under the back bedroom. I heard two
women’s voices whispering below me as Tony tried to persuade me to <i>make</i> his bed.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>“Any
chance of breaking them out?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>“The
only entrance is through a trap door in the living room.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">She started to leave. “Where are you going?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>“To
wash off the drool,” she said looking for a clean towel. “I feel like I’ve been
locked in a cage with a baboon.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">-------4------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span><span> </span>It was like a scene from a Gary
Cooper western. Beth mounted the plow horse with her boots firmly in the
stirrups of a moth eaten saddle. “There’s only one way around the house once
the gate is open!” She handed me a broken hay-rake handle with coal-oil soaked
rags tied around the top and tucked another one just like it behind her.<span> </span>“You stand over there and keep any <i>strays</i> from going <i>around </i>the house,” she ordered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>Five
minutes later, I heard what sounded like a storm approaching at a fast pace.
Beth rode behind the herd waving her torch and turning the panicked cattle into
a stampede. The Bell Cow was racing in front with its tail on fire. I found out
later it was the only way Beth could get the bovine leader to move. Eight
hundred hoofs pounding the ground was enough to make the old farm house shake.
Vincent and Slim stumbled out on the porch just as the herd charged through the
open gate. I lit my torch and began to wave it in the air. Both men on the
porch fired their guns. The stampede suddenly turned in my direction and I lit
a pile of oil-soaked wood beside me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It was hard to see what
was happening with all the dust and flying wood splinters. The first twenty
cows crashed into the porch and broke away the supports. The next one hundred tore
down the front wall and thundered through the living room wearing the shake-roof
like a wooden hat. An explosion somewhere started an enormous fire. There were
screams and a couple more gunshots. I heard cursing in Italian and caught a glimpse
of Beth as she rode past. I’d never seen such excitement and pleasure in one
person’s eyes. She looked orgasmic. By the time the last cow ran through the ruins,
the farm house was just a smoldering scrap pile. The thugs were all dead, and
we could hear two female voices crying for help beneath the debris.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">-------5------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>McGooganheimer’s
men arrived in minutes and helped us move the wreckage. My secretary was the
first one out and she screamed at me. “What the hell?” <span> </span>Lynette McGooganheimer crawled out after Linda.
She was covered with soot but was still more beautiful than I’d ever imagined. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>The
three women went into the barn to clean up while me and Machine Gun’s men
dragged the smoldering bodies from the ashes searched and then buried them behind
a pig pen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>Later
Linda found me alone while I was rolling a cigarette in the garden. “I’m sorry
I got you mixed up in this,” she said. “Lynette and I have been <i>lovers</i> for more than a year!” I tore the
cigarette I was rolling … and had to start over. “We knew her father would
never approve of our relationship, so we planned an elaborate honeymoon-escape to
the Mediterranean. We thought he would eventually stop looking for us if he
thought it was just another mob-abduction.” She went on. “It was me that typed
the ransom note on your typewriter. We booked passage on a cruise ship, but our
travel-agent was one of Joey Lenardo’s <i>associates</i>.
His men lured us into one of their taxis in order to extort her father.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>I
felt sorry for Linda when she looked at me with her <i>help-me</i> eyes. There was more than ten grand that Machine Gun’s men took
off the bodies before they were buried. I made them give all the dough to Lynette.
No one complained. I told them both to remember the <i>Titanic</i> and to count life boats before they boarded <i>any</i> ship. I watched them drive away sitting
next to each other in one of McGooganheimer’s cars.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">-------6-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>The
driver dropped Beth off at her apartment. She complained she smelled like smoke
and I daydreamed about her soaking in a tub filled with bubbles. We drove right
past the office where I occasionally slept. “McGooganheimer wants to see you …
now,” the driver explained. My dreams were chased away by a growing sense of
doom. Machine Gun would of course demand to know why his precious daughter
hadn’t been returned to him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>There
were at least twenty guards with tommy guns guarding the gates to his
magnificent estate. The Chicago gang wars of 1929 were evidentially still very
popular with mobsters. Two men escorted me into McGooganheimer’s enormous
office then closed the door behind us. It was like I was being locked in my own
cage … this time with a tiger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>The
most notorious killer in Chicago lit a cigar and then stared at me for a full
minute before he spoke. The silence was creeping up on me like a Sicilian
neck-tie <i>salesman</i> and I was wearing a
sweaty shirt. “Where is she?” he finally asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>“I
helped rescue <i>Lynette</i> from her
captors,” I told him. “With all the buildings getting blown down in the Windy
City by the big <i>bad</i> wolfs …” I hoped
he didn’t think I included him. “We figured she needed a vacation … at least
until this dark fairy tale ends. She’s on a cruise ship under an assumed name
and with my very capable secretary along to … <i>guard</i> her.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>McGooganheimer
stared at me for another full minute. I had the distinct feeling that he knew
all about his lesbian daughter. I could almost feel the knife sliding across my
throat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>“Make
sure her <i>vacation</i> remains a secret,”
he said, reaching into his desk drawer and tossing me a fat envelope … filled
with pictures of Andrew Jackson.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">-------Post-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Machine Gun didn’t
spring for the ride back to my <i>home</i> so
I took a cab. On the way back a black sedan pulled up next to us and shot out all
our tires. Another car chased them away. I heard gunfire and saw the explosion
about a block away. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">An hour later, the
hallway that led to my office was the same twenty bucks a month cockroach hotel
… but this time it smelled strongly like lavender. I thought it was my
imagination until I pushed on the door … it was unlocked. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Beth lounged in a large
bathtub filled with hot water and was popping bubbles with a hat-pin right in
front of my desk. I don’t know how she got the heavy cast iron tub and the
heated water up two flights of stairs; she was obviously into some kind of magic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>“I
hear you’re looking for a secretary.” She smiled and my heart danced the Charleston.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>“You
must be a mind reader.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>“Only
the bestsellers.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>“Can
you type?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>“Almost
eight words a minute,” she said, “when I’m wearing my glasses.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>“You
won’t need glasses.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>“You
smell like a hobo camp!” Her nose wrinkled. “I don’t work for <i>dirty old men</i> … you’ll have to clean up
your act!” She slid to one side of the bathtub.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>… and I
locked my office door.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">THE END ?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br /></div>
Randall R. Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536932805707673903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097264115343784589.post-49795521107560508542020-06-07T20:51:00.001-06:002020-06-07T20:51:38.880-06:00FRANK JAGGER Gang Wars part 3<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Copyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.<br />
<br />
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Broadway; font-size: 48.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-effects-shadow-align: topleft; mso-effects-shadow-alpha: 100.0%; mso-effects-shadow-angledirection: 0; mso-effects-shadow-anglekx: 0; mso-effects-shadow-angleky: 0; mso-effects-shadow-color: black; mso-effects-shadow-dpidistance: 0pt; mso-effects-shadow-dpiradius: 4.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-pctsx: 100.0%; mso-effects-shadow-pctsy: 100.0%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#505050 -1 100000 tint=92000 shade=100000 satm=150000\,49000 \#595959 -1 100000 tint=89000 shade=90000 satm=150000\,50000 \#000000 -1 100000 tint=100000 shade=75000 satm=150000\,95000 \#000000 -1 100000 shade=47000 satm=150000\,100000 \#000000 -1 100000 shade=39000 satm=150000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: white; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .7pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: miter; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;">FRANK JAGGER<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Broadway; font-size: 28.0pt; line-height: 115%;">GANG WARS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Brush Script MT"; font-size: 72.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Part 3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Why didn’t I see you
before?” I asked the girl with the long gams wiggling on my lap. The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">paddy wagon</i> we were in, a converted <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Morris Minor</i> van, was racing through the
deserted streets of Chicago, along with five others, at 4 AM on August 10,
1929.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
was in the back … <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cooking</i>,” she told
me. She had a mouth full of gum and she blew and popped a bubble. It was Linda <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Farmgirl’s</i> little-sister Beth all right.
She was even more gorgeous up close.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
didn’t know <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the Horn Section</i> served
food?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was referring to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">speakeasy</i> we had all been in … that had
just been raided. At least three male <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">customers</i>
had been shot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The
books!” She shook her head and I got a whiff of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Demi Jour</i> perfume. “You’ve never heard of cooking the books?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘I’ve
never been hungry enough to eat paper,” I told her, “boiling an old leather
shoe with a few potatoes is as low as I go.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You’re
a funny <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">egg</i>.’ She played along. ‘I hope
you have enough <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dough</i> once we get to their
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">restaurant</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You
don’t seem worried.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“My
boss, Charley, works for McGooganheimer,” she boasted. “These bums ain’t real <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">peaches</i>. They belong to Big Joey Lenardo
and he’s a pig. The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lard’s</i> up here
from Cleveland, trying to cut himself a large, juicy slice of Chicago.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She smiled and popped another bubble. “Charley
has the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lettuce</i> to pay for my ride …
plus he packs enough <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">heat</i> to make these
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mugs</i> boil over.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’m
sure he does.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She looked at me and her eyebrows scrunched together.
“Why all the questions? Are you some kind of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">snooper</i>?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Jagger
Investigations,” I told her. “Your sister works for me.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Beth gasped. “Do you know where Linda is?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“No,
but I’m going to find out!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
was just about to ask Charley … to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">barber
</i>you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Thanks,
but I’ve already had my <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">close-shave</i>.
Where are they taking us?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The
fourth precinct. It’s the only <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cabbage
patch</i> Joey has at the moment … but he’s out on his tractor every night, plowing
fields … and looking to expand.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“At
the moment?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You’ll
see.” She spat out her gum and kissed me. I was beginning to get dizzy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------2-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The jail behind the fourth precinct police station
was packed with people who couldn’t resist the beguiling temptations of illegal
alcohol. Release until some fantasy court date was twenty bucks and was
collected by a cop with a big smile on his face. Luckily, Beth and I were
herded into the same cage. We were the only two left when I offered to pay our
bail. Linda’s little sister shook her head. “Charley says not to give these
bums any money it just encourages them.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A
little while later, a large beefy cop with a leather-handled beat-stick pushed
a heavy black material through the bars and into Beth’s hands. “You got five
minutes,” he whispered. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I helped her carry it
to the back of the cell. When unfolded, the material was the size of a double
sheet and woven from the same metal fabric used for welder’s glove. She pointed
to an empty bunk. “Let’s crawl under there and wrap ourselves up,” she
suggested. Beth had me under her spell the first time she popped her bubble gum.
I crawled under the bunk behind her and pulled the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">blanket</i> over us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We were barely on our
second or third kiss when the explosion came. Broken-iron, cement, bits of
police uniform fabric, and blood rained down on us. When I finally managed to
push what remained of the bunk off from us, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cage</i> we were in had been blasted open.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Dead cops lay
everywhere. Some were still calling for their mothers in the smoke filled
carnage while others pleaded-with or threatened Jesus. We had barely made it to
the street when a taxi skidded to a stop next to us. “Get in … if you want to
live,” the driver told us. The cab had a good heater. We drove for more than an
hour and I finally fell asleep with Beth snuggled against my chest. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------3-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When I woke up, the sun
was rising. A rooster was crowing as we pulled into a farm yard. “Wash up!” a bearded-hick
carrying two pails of milk and with a stem of straw dangling from his mouth
told us. “Breakfast is in ten minutes.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The water in a large
trough was clean enough to drink and after I splashed my face Beth made me
leave while she took a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bath</i>. I
wandered around a huge barn, corrals and behind a freshly painted yellow farmhouse
to gaze at the countryside. Most mornings I wake up thankful to be alive … and
this was one of them. My mother, Julia, was a laundress and a struggling poet
before influenza stole her in nineteen eighteen. I couldn’t help thinking of
her soft and brilliant eyes when she wrote … as I lit a cigarette and surveyed
the countryside. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Endless
fields of ripe-wheat paraded gold in the early light. Red apples sparkled like
rubies from trees … around pale and misty farmyards. Distant meadows became
shallow bowls of emeralds. A scattering of crows brought hope … like tiny ink
splatters on fresh new paper … just under the horizon. Far off, a stream and a
few ponds shimmered like pearls against deep thread-banks … trenching moist and
blackened earth. Azure silk was the enormous lid that covered this open chest
of rural Illinois … night the gentle closing. And one loud, cricket … would
become the clicking lock that secured nature’s treasure… from the darkness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Beth kissed me. She
smelled like lavender. “I’m hungry,” she said as she took my arm. “I hope you
like bacon.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The man and woman
cooking breakfast in the farmhouse looked like they could have been my
grandparents. The taxi driver was eating as well. “We got you out of the forth
precinct jail just in time,” he said. “Joey Lenardo’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">associates</i> were planning for you to have an accident.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Why?” I asked as I
shoveled bacon and two sunny-side-up onto my plate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Because you’re good at
what you do and you work for McGooganheimer,” The woman said. “They thought
Machine Gun would terminate you himself when he found out the ransom note for
his daughter came from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">your</i>
typewriter.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“They underestimated
his intelligence,” the man said as he scooped hash browns next to my eggs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“You’ve found my
sister?” Beth asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Yes, she’s being held
along with McGooganheimer’s daughter at a heavily guarded farmhouse about two
miles from here.” The taxi driver had finished eating and was changing his
clothes. The red plaid shirt and faded bib-overalls he put on made him look
like a country bumpkin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Why would they abduct
my secretary?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“We don’t know why,”
the farmer said. “Maybe they had <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">her</i>
type the ransom note.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Something doesn’t add
up,” the farmer’s wife said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“The men who abducted Lynette
McGooganheimer are from New York City and are very dangerous but they’re unfamiliar
with you people and farm life. The old couple who lived in the house before
they arrived have disappeared.” The taxi driver explained.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The Smiths <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">were</i> nice people,” the old woman shook her head.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The taxi driver finished dressing. “These big city
mobsters are looking for a hard working couple to manage the farm … while they secretly
hide their captives there. McGooganheimer wants you two to apply for the job.
Once you find out where they are hiding his daughter and your secretary you
must help them to escape. You both are known to the captives … they’ll trust you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Say
we do manage to extract them safely from the farm,” I asked. “How far will we
get before they catch up to us?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“McGooganheimer
has an army watching the place around the clock,’ the farmer said. ‘Once his daughter
is safely out of firing range … all hell is going to break loose.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------4-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We
spent the rest of the day making plans and learning how to do farm chores. In
the morning, the taxi driver would drive us to the hideout-farm in an old truck.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Beth had a bed in the
house and I was sleeping in the barn. I woke up when I heard the hay in the
loft shift next to me. A pigeon flew past my ear. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could smell her perfume. I leaned in to kiss
her and she pushed me away. I heard a bubble pop and she spat out her gum. “Do
you really think we should be doing this?” I asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
know more about McGooganheimer’s daughter than he does,” Beth said. “If he
finds out … he’ll probably kill all of us.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“That
should help me to sleep,’ I said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“No,”
Beth whispered. “But I know something that will.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">TO BE CONTINUED …<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<br /></div>
Randall R. Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536932805707673903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097264115343784589.post-21844291157312167092020-05-31T21:39:00.002-06:002020-05-31T21:39:30.655-06:00FRANK JAGGER Gang Wars part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Copyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.<br />
<br />
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Broadway; font-size: 48.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-effects-shadow-align: topleft; mso-effects-shadow-alpha: 100.0%; mso-effects-shadow-angledirection: 0; mso-effects-shadow-anglekx: 0; mso-effects-shadow-angleky: 0; mso-effects-shadow-color: black; mso-effects-shadow-dpidistance: 0pt; mso-effects-shadow-dpiradius: 4.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-pctsx: 100.0%; mso-effects-shadow-pctsy: 100.0%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#505050 -1 100000 tint=92000 shade=100000 satm=150000\,49000 \#595959 -1 100000 tint=89000 shade=90000 satm=150000\,50000 \#000000 -1 100000 tint=100000 shade=75000 satm=150000\,95000 \#000000 -1 100000 shade=47000 satm=150000\,100000 \#000000 -1 100000 shade=39000 satm=150000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: white; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .7pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: miter; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;">FRANK JAGGER<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Broadway; font-size: 28.0pt; line-height: 115%;">GANG WARS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Brush Script MT"; font-size: 72.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Part 2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By
R. Peterson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">An Albatross crew
member was pressing both hands against my back forcing Michigan Lake water out
of my lungs while another removed the cable they had used to pull me, and the
chunk of cement my feet were encased in, to the surface. I wasn’t dead … but I
wanted to be. Albert McGooganheimer stood next to Captain O'Sullivan. “I’m
sorry if we caused you some <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">discomfort</i>,”
he said. “We had to be sure you couldn’t be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">persuaded</i>
to disclose any of my secrets.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When I heard the word discomfort I reached for the
forty-five I kept inside my dripping coat … but of course it was gone. “Next
time, remind me to ask for a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bigger</i>
retainer!” I sounded like a sick beaver gnawing on a tree. The retort wasn’t
nearly as good as a bullet would have been … but it would have to do. One of
the crewmen offered me a cigarette; I shook my head. My lungs already felt like
they were filled with ashes. Captain O’Sullivan offered me a tin cup that I’d
watched him fill with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Old Forester</i>
Bourbon Whiskey. I snatched the bottle from him and tried to put out the fire
in my throat. Machine Gun had to know everything about me … including my exact taste
in booze. “Now that you know I don’t <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sing</i>,”
I told him when I stopped gulping. “How can I make you happy?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’m
a family man,” McGooganheimer said. I wanted to laugh but I didn’t dare. The
cement was still encased around my feet; a crew member with a hammer was
busting it away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Most people think all I care about is money and
power,” he went on. “That’s not true. I have a twenty-two year old daughter
from my third wife named Lynette. She means more to me than a bakery full of
dough. She was kidnapped about a week ago by what I assume is a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rival</i> business organization.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You
haven’t received a ransom demand?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Not
exactly,” Albert said. “Lynette caught that Hollywood virus so many young girls
get. She was singing in one of my speakeasies called the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Delicia</i>. After the club closed at 3 AM both her bodyguards were
found in the alley wearing Sicilian <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">neckties</i>.
My employees always turn the chairs over and place them on the tables before
they clean. An envelope with my name on it was taped to the bottom of one of
the seats.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Machine Gun handed me an envelope with his name
typed on the front. There was a single sheet of paper inside with these words
also typed. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Daddy Bear! Please get out of
the alcohol importation business … so I can come home!<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Daddy Bear?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“It’s
what <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lynette</i> called me at home.”
McGooganheimer smiled. It made my flesh crawl.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Any
idea who sent the note?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We
know <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">where</i> the note was typed,”
Albert took a card from his pocket. “Typewriters are like fingerprints,’ he
said. “Each one types slightly different letters on the page!” He handed me the
card. It was last year’s license application for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">my</i> Packard <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Town Car</i>
filled out in the name of Jagger Investigations. “I have lots of employees <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">moonlighting</i> at the DMV … and many other
city offices.” He didn’t have to tell <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">me</i>
I knew … especially the court house and police stations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“This
note was typed on the old Royal … sitting on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">your</i> office desk!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------2-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
didn’t go back in the water. Albert must have figured one <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bath</i> a day was enough. I had the distinct feeling that if I failed
to return his daughter unharmed … getting <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">clean
</i>would be the least of my worries.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There
were only two people with keys to my office. I was all thumbs and it took an
hour for me to type my own name. I went looking for Linda Farmgirl.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The bed in her upstairs
apartment was made and when I asked, the stack of mail outside her door said
she hadn’t been home for three days. I threatened the pile of newspapers, rent
and utility bills that if they were lying … I’d be back with matches. A hungry
cat named Felix almost bit through my shoe. Linda’s closet was filled with a
rainbow assortment of flapper dresses and her bedroom drawers held mostly black
lacy underwear. The Jagger Investigations envelope, with most of her pay still
in it, was under a Ballerina music box.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
was a framed picture of Linda and her little sister with both parents at a
train station. Her mother looked like she’d been crying. I fed her cat and
watered a dozen house plants. My secretary lived better than I did.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remembered Linda
saying that Beth worked in one of Machine Gun’s clubs. Now I only had to find
out which one … as far as I knew, he had over three-hundred of them … just in
Illinois. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------3-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Twelve year old Sean
O’Brian hawked newspapers on the west end of Water Street when he wasn’t
running numbers for bookies. He knew which pony was going to win each week’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">special race</i> and you could know too …
for a price. I figured if anyone knew where Farmgirl’s sister worked he would. He
looked the train station photo carefully. “She’s catch and release,” he said.
“No hooking!” He was telling me that Beth wasn’t a prostitute. “Try the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Horn Section</i>,” he said. “Downtown …
below the Community Bank.” Sean pressed two fifties into my hand. “Tell Chester
the doorman <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">he has a gift for picking
winners</i>!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I don’t run numbers,”
I told him … trying to give the dough back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“And I don’t give away <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">free</i> information,” Sean said. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------4-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There was a line even
before the stairs. Chester ordered me to “beat it” before I even told him who I
was. He took the fifties and waved me inside after I gave him Sean’s message.
There was a Negro jazz-band on stage with a complete orchestral horn section …
thus the name. I scanned the crowd while I waited for a table. I gave away two
fives and a ten … before one with two chairs opened up. About half the women in
the place were working prostitutes … the other half were retired. A sultry
blonde in a black cat-suit was singing multiple versions of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stardust </i>while the horn section blew her
kisses and the piano player ran his long, sensitive fingers up and down her
many keys. A waiter poured my whiskey. He wanted twenty for the bottle. I paid
him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I hadn’t spotted Beth
and from what Sean said … she didn’t work the back rooms. I was just about to
try another club when the door crashed inward. Chester went flying end over end
and landed on a table occupied by four city cops. The former doorman looked
like an elephant I’d seen shot on safari photo. Blood dripped from a bullet
wound in his head. Someone sprayed two tables to the left of the stage with a machine
gun. “Everyone still breathing stay where you are!” a loud voice warned, “and
finish your drinks!” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“This is an official
police investigation!” another said as the smoke cleared. The cops at the broken
table all gaped at the men wearing trench coats. “Not you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">meter monkeys</i>!” The shooter pointed at the uniforms with his smoking
gun barrel as if daring them to ask to see his badge. “You get the hell out in
the street and block off all the traffic … from here to Detroit!” All four
officers jumped up and became instantly <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">on
duty</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One of the oldest <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">assailants</i> walked to the stage and gave the singer a twenty. “Play <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In the Jailhouse Now</i>.” He smiled and a
woman screamed. We all listened to the band’s cover of the popular song by Jimmie
Rodgers … and we really tried to act like we enjoyed it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">detectives</i> frisked everyone before we
were lined up and crammed into a half-dozen <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">paddy
wagons</i>. We were sitting on bales of straw. I could smell expensive perfume on
the broad almost in my lap but it wasn’t until the guy across from me lit a
cigarette that I saw her face. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Hello,” I said. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It was Linda’s
little-sister … Beth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">TO BE CONTINUED …<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<br /></div>
Randall R. Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536932805707673903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097264115343784589.post-58450209181008888692020-05-24T21:07:00.000-06:002020-05-24T21:07:14.344-06:00FRANK JAGGER GANG WARS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Copyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZWuLxtKlA4bMgwlzx0hTVG-9w_44ysIRwiu4VJ_yP2EhfPpzUmS73q3o-DR4001yVIYb13_66NGGljLwsBGzda6hBIfc2XALJxoxetQCCjSoGFUPOZeNpYoAciHdueu1u7c9vhfjHZ_k/s1600/Frank+Jagger+Gang+Wars+art.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="999" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZWuLxtKlA4bMgwlzx0hTVG-9w_44ysIRwiu4VJ_yP2EhfPpzUmS73q3o-DR4001yVIYb13_66NGGljLwsBGzda6hBIfc2XALJxoxetQCCjSoGFUPOZeNpYoAciHdueu1u7c9vhfjHZ_k/s400/Frank+Jagger+Gang+Wars+art.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoTitle" style="border: none; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Broadway; font-size: 48.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; mso-effects-shadow-align: topleft; mso-effects-shadow-alpha: 100.0%; mso-effects-shadow-angledirection: 0; mso-effects-shadow-anglekx: 0; mso-effects-shadow-angleky: 0; mso-effects-shadow-color: black; mso-effects-shadow-dpidistance: 0pt; mso-effects-shadow-dpiradius: 4.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-pctsx: 100.0%; mso-effects-shadow-pctsy: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#505050 -1 100000 tint=92000 shade=100000 satm=150000\,49000 \#595959 -1 100000 tint=89000 shade=90000 satm=150000\,50000 \#000000 -1 100000 tint=100000 shade=75000 satm=150000\,95000 \#000000 -1 100000 shade=47000 satm=150000\,100000 \#000000 -1 100000 shade=39000 satm=150000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: white; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .7pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: miter; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">FRANK JAGGER<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Broadway; font-size: 28.0pt; line-height: 115%;">GANG WARS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By
R. Peterson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Albert “Machine Gun”
McGooganheimer’s face was splashed all over the front page of the Chicago
Tribune. The photo showed him walking out of a restaurant that he owned on
River Street and smoking a fat Cuban cigar. A good looking dame was attached to
each arm. There was about a dozen cops and three white-faced ambulance
attendants framing both sides of him. Six men wearing expensive fifth-avenue zoot-suits
and brandishing Thompson sub machine-guns lay in small lakes of their own blood.
They had all been shot <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">very- dead</i> by
Machine Gun’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bodyguards</i>. Albert was
smiling … I could see why.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">McGooganheimer had a
last name that folks would die for … and many of them did. He was orphaned at
the age of nine by the death of his Jewish parents Joseph and Eisra Heimer and
adopted from the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Our Mother of the Light Orphanage</i>
on Center Street by A Scottish whiskey merchant named Sean McGoogan and one of
his many wives. Albert grew up on the mean streets of the windy city … and lived
to tell about it. He decided that he liked <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">both
</i>of his last names. If anyone thought this was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">funny … </i>they didn’t for long.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I opened the big drawer
in my desk and pulled out a half-full bottle of Old Forester Bourbon Whiskey. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had just poured my second shot, when I heard
light footsteps coming up the stairs. I was sure it was Linda. She was here to
collect her dough. I’d hired the wide-eyed farm girl to be my secretary, mainly
to keep her from pulling tricks in the double-beds that were always above every
speakeasy. It was Saturday. We didn’t work weekends. I was here because I
remembered the booze … and was running on empty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Linda Farmgirl didn’t
knock; she worked here. “You couldn’t find a better place to get drunk?’ She
shook her head. Linda was tall, almost five foot nine, but her extra-long legs
still touched the floor. Her button-up, pinstriped dress looked painted on …
and her golden hair glowed like a halo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I won’t be here very
long,” I told her, opening my top drawer and handing her an envelope. “I’m just
making sure my <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tank</i> is full … before
I take off.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“It feels a little
fat,’ she said tearing the envelope open. “I hope it’s not filled with ones!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I looked around the office in a greatly exaggerated
fashion. “Who … me?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“There’s
two hundred bucks here,” she said as she stuffed the dough in her purse. “I’m only
supposed to get <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fifty</i> a week!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The
next time you walk through that door, I want you to be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">naked</i>,” I told her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Strip
for an old rat like you?” she grinned. “How about I just remove <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">one</i> earring?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Make
sure it’s your left ear,” I told her. “That’s the one that keeps me dancing.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She picked up the newspaper lying on my desk. “Looks
like McGooganheimer threw another party at his restaurant,” she said reading
the headlines.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I heard people were dying
to get in.” I couldn’t resist the sarcasm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“My
little sister, Beth, works in one of his clubs,” Linda said. “The word is,
Machine Gun’s only daughter has been abducted by a rival gang. Your <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">best customer</i> has been putting <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">feelers </i>out trying to find out which <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mob</i> has her.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“By
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">feelers</i> you mean .45 Caliber whiskers-of-lead
poked into dark alleys and basement speakeasies by Thompson sub machine guns?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Kind
of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">catty</i> … but correct,” she told me.
“I’m surprised he hasn’t collected on that two grand retainer he gives you
every year.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’m
a lover not a fighter,” I said reaching for my coat. I reached for Linda too …
but she danced easily out of my reach.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You’re
getting slow,’ she said just before the door closed. She smiled and blew me a
kiss. “Better watch your back!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------2-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>My
coat was off and flung over my left shoulder. I had just crossed the Dearborn
Street Bridge and turned right on South Water. There was no wind and it was
warm … why take a cab? This was a dangerous mixture for 1929 Chicago. I stepped
away from the curb just as the bulletproof, cemetery-lawn green, 1928 Cadillac
Town Sedan skidded to a stop. At almost the same time two goons wearing
expensive suits and smelling of cheap booze grabbed me from behind. “The boss
wants to see you,” the smiling one said as he stuffed me into the back seat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Albert
Mcgooganheimer doesn’t know how to use a phone?” My ears rang for another
twenty seconds after I stopped seeing stars.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“This
is personal,” A mid-level hood named Chester “Pugs” Dolan said. “The boss likes
his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fish</i> fresh-caught.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We had barely gone ten blocks and were stopped at a red-light
on West Randolph when I saw the gun-barrels poke out of in the mud-splattered
black Ford that pulled up next to us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I hit the floorboards a second before Pugs threw
himself on top of me. It sounded like two freight trains crashing on an
overhead railroad trestle as guns on both sides traded <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">insults</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The money McGooganheimer paid for the heavy
steel-plated Cadillac was not wasted. The Ford was fast but after a high speed
chase during which gunfire from both cars sent pedestrians fleeing off the sidewalks
in all directions, the model A rolled over with two shot-out rear tires on
River Street just before the docks. Five police cars arrived, with sirens
wailing, moments after we did. Half the Chicago cops worked for Al Capone … the
other half worked for my favorite client and they never made trouble with each
other. Two of the squad cars blocked off the street in both directions. The
other cops helped Pugs and his boys douse the Ford with gasoline before they
fired it up and rolled it off the docks. Not all the goons in the
bullet-riddled Model A were alive when it splashed into the water, but enough
were to let the world know … they didn’t like the cold.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------3-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Albert
McGooganheimer sat next to the pool at his Fullersburg mansion. Servants in
white dinner jackets brought drinks as he bid me to sit down. The twelve year
old Scotch was as smooth as a baby’s bum, not that I’ve kissed many. “Chicago
is at war,’ he said. ‘In case you haven’t noticed.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’ve
noticed,” I told him. “You appear to be winning!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A young girl, dressed in almost nothing, brought a
large bowl of mixed nuts and Albert began to crack the walnuts with his bare
hands. “Appearances can be deceptive,” Albert said. “My business has suffered
greatly from the recent territorial unrest.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
know you’re a busy man,” I said. “Why did you bring me here?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
believe my <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">associates</i> gave you a
two-thousand dollar retainer earlier this year,” McGooganheimer said. “I
require services in part of that payment.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“If
you need someone killed, I don’t come that cheap,” I told him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Albert laughed. “I’d never have a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cook</i> weed my garden,” he said. “You’re
too valuable.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Thank
you,” I told him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Every
month or so I have a freighter called the Albatross that crosses Lake
Michigan,” Machine Gun said. “It’s usually loaded with about ten thousand cases
of Canadian whiskey that I pay for in advance.” Albert reached for a Brazil nut
… and then studied it closely. “I’ve had several shipment seized by the feds.
By the time I pay them for the return of my goods my profits are greatly
reduced.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Times
are tough all over,” I told him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
have one of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">my</i> men on board the
Albatross. He’s the ship’s cook and his name is Finny,” Albert said. “There has
been a far greater than normal number of casualties on this vessel lately and
the captain is always looking for replacement seamen.” Albert cracked the
Brazil nut between his thumb and first finger. “I want you to sign on with this
vessel and find out all you can from Finny. Report back to me when The
Albatross docks again in two weeks.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Chester “Pugs” Dolan and some of his boys drove me
back to the rooming house I was living in. All the way <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">home</i> I kept thinking. “I can barely handle a row-boat!” I knew
saying no was not an option. Nobody who wants to live ever says <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">no</i> to Machine Gun Mcgooganheimer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------4-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
Captain’s name was O'Sullivan and the Irish were not easily fooled. “You mess
me up lad and I’ll pull out every hair,” he said tugging at my four day old
beard. I was given the worst jobs on the boat: cleaning up the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sick</i> from the new crewmembers and making
sure the toilets flushed properly. The first time I met Finny, he spit on the
crust of bread he gave me then waved me past the soup. “I don’t like you,” he
said. “You’re apt to lose a lot of weight.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The second night crossing the lake I was pulled from
my bunk. “Who sent you?” the captain asked as his men beat me. I knew it was
useless to answer, all it did was make the end come sooner and I was beginning
to enjoy every breath. I passed out from the pain. When I awakened I was sitting
on the deck with both feet in a tub of cement that was nearly dry. My hands
were tied behind my back and a cable attached to my wrists slowly lifted me off
the planking. “I’ll ask you one last time,” O'Sullivan said. “Tell us who your
contact is on this vessel and you have my solemn word on my dear mother’s grave
that I’ll let you walk free on shore.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
asked through gritted teeth if his mother had worked in a brothel and if he
knew who his father was. The lake water was colder than I expected. The
pressure grew as the weight of the concrete about my legs pulled me steadily
down. It’s true, my entire life passed before my eyes … every second of
pleasure … every moment of pain. I heard my mother calling me to supper. A dog
was barking. I could not hold my breath any longer. Lake Michigan is deep … I
was only halfway to the bottom when my lungs burst and a cloud of bubbles exploded
and rose toward the surface. Then there was only an eternal … and somehow <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">restful</i> darkness …<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">TO BE CONTINUED …<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br /></div>
Randall R. Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536932805707673903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097264115343784589.post-68922649409016270522020-05-17T19:14:00.000-06:002020-05-17T19:14:06.529-06:00In order for the princess ...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Copyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDEMUAVLOvLMhumAb27buw29qOW7MrlVc3kaWhaEdqiue2mIKAuwvU-PUZHzc2ME1anB1D1352_zB65IXE9ctReldcAUxu0AR0Qwc8tWVJSrozMVg4XL87aVhK55db_QKXcExqZbafnJM/s1600/In+order+for+...+art.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="1000" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDEMUAVLOvLMhumAb27buw29qOW7MrlVc3kaWhaEdqiue2mIKAuwvU-PUZHzc2ME1anB1D1352_zB65IXE9ctReldcAUxu0AR0Qwc8tWVJSrozMVg4XL87aVhK55db_QKXcExqZbafnJM/s400/In+order+for+...+art.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Black","sans-serif";">In
order for the<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Old English Text MT"; font-size: 72.0pt;">Princess<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Black","sans-serif";">To
have a happy ending … something <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Black","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Bad</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Black","sans-serif";">
must happen to …<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Old English Text MT"; font-size: 72.0pt;">The Frog<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">By R. Peterson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Old English Text MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">n the kingdom of Nodnol, which everyone but
the stuffy old turkey-woman who ran the realm’s library called Nod, there lived
a much-more-than-beautiful princess that rich and handsome suitor-princes came constantly
to admire … and to court </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">with hope in
their hearts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">One
day the princess, whose name was Harper, because on the day she was born the
king heard angels playing their instruments, was admiring her image in the
castle moat when a diamond, from an expensive necklace she was wearing, fell
into the murky water. “Drat! That stone was worth at least six kisses!” the
princess moaned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A
frog who had been sitting in the shade under the drawbridge catching flies
heard her cries and dove into the water. The frog searched through the mud
until he found the diamond and then dropped it at the princess’ feet. “Really!”
the princess laughed when the frog gazed at her with great expectations but she
pressed her lips firmly together. “You may not even be a prince!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Princess
Harper called for her carriage and it arrived so quickly that when it left … a
wheel ran over the frog’s leg and he was on crutches for a week!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">-------2-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Old English Text MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">T</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">he King and Queen decided that it was time
for their daughter to be wed and they sent notices to every handsome prince and
wealthy lord in the kingdom. Before long all the roads to Nodnol were filled
with rumbling carriages, prancing horses and boys blowing trumpets to announce
the arrival of each new guest. Of course a magnificent ball was planned and
hundreds of suitors lined up to dance with the princess. By midnight the
princess still had fifty dances written on her card and she was already exhausted.
She tried to flee into the palace garden but the gate was locked. “Won’t someone
help me?” she cried.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
frog who was catching flies next to the pond inside the garden heard her. He
hopped over one of the walls and then stole a key from one of the palace guards.
The frog gave the key to the princess. She unlocked the gate and once they were
both inside, she locked the gate behind her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
frog was delighted when the princess sat on a large, flat-rock near the water
and began to sing. He was not musical at all but he croaked along with her
under the moonlight and they both laughed. And they came close to kissing … but
they didn’t.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">-------3-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Old English Text MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">T</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">he King and Queen were disappointed that
their daughter had left the lavish party without choosing a soul mate … so they
picked a husband for her. Prince Herman Gumtongue from Gorbalash, was tall and almost-handsome
… but he had the intelligence of a rat eating its way through a library. The
first time he met the princess he hung his head and looked at her shyly. He
began to snort and then giggle. Soon he was crowing like a rooster. “I’ll be a
kissin’ yaw every night,” he stammered. The princess burst into tears and then fled
to her tower bedroom. She refused to come down while Herman prowled the castle
looking for her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
frog watched the whole sordid-affair from inside a large bowl that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">had</i> been filled with tiny, tasty goldfish.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He hopped into Herman’s quarters when a
servant left a door open and stole a piece of blank stationary with the royal
crest of Corbalsh printed at the top. The frog penned an urgent message addressed
to Herman, supposedly from his father. The note said he was needed at home immediately.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As
soon as Prince Herman’s carriage rumbled across the drawbridge to take him home.
The princess came down from the tower and she and the frog danced in the garden
under the moonlight. She wore a white gown that shimmered each time she twirled
and the frog rode on her shoulder. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Princess
Harper was so happy she almost kissed him … but she didn’t.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">-------4-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Old English Text MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> very powerful and wicked sorcerer who
had come with the other suitors to court the princess was furious that he had not
been chosen as her mate. While the entire castle was asleep, the horrible wizard,
whose name was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Briesmas</i>, started a fire
with his wand and then fled back to his dark-swamp fortress … riding and whipping
a black horse. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">When
the subjects inside the castle finally awakened, the smoke from the many fires
was chocking their lungs and burning their eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
King and Queen tried to lead everyone to safety out the open front gate … but
they found the entrance also was in flames. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">-------5-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Old English Text MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">T</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">he frog who had just been awakened from
his very last dream was swimming in the moat when he heard the princess’ frantic
cries. He knew he must save her. The frog leaped off the drawbridge over and
over again filling his wide mouth with muddy water then spraying a pathway
through the flames. When a way to escape the fire was finally clear, the King,
Queen, and dozens of lords and ladies trampled the exhausted frog on their way
to safety. The princess noticed her dearest friend at the last minute … and ran
to save him. Heat from the fire had dried the path and the frog was quickly engulfed
in flames. The last thing the princess saw was the everlasting love in the frog’s
bulging eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Old English Text MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">T</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">he King and Queen’s beautiful daughter refused
to marry. She spent most of her days wandering through the beautiful garden
inside her father’s castle grounds. A solid-gold statue had been carefully placed
on a flat-rock at her request. It was near the shimmering pond and close to a constantly
buzzing swarm of flies. Harper often cried, but sometimes she danced under the
moonlight … and when she did something magic always made her smile. She never
forgot that according to the laws of all fairy tales … in order for a princess
to have a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">happy ending</i> … something <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bad</i> must happen to the frog. But Harper
also knew, that a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">new</i> and far-better fairy
tale was often … just a story away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Old English Text MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The End ?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Randall R. Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536932805707673903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097264115343784589.post-13693628411319592612020-05-10T21:22:00.000-06:002020-05-10T21:22:27.254-06:00Keeper and the PLANTERS part 7<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Copyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdnEyhdk4BTcoE8v2rEd-HDjr89dLn3XnWxLvU-NHRMdZDgtNPWgaZqci5BmZRCmrk9BVdLg82kgbE4iQF78oTsJqztL7e1SIIN5d1t1KjkF_IuFvrmSga7OxpRDEYpXZGXneX2VJLvT4/s1600/Keeper+and+the+PLANTERS+part+7+art.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="437" data-original-width="1000" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdnEyhdk4BTcoE8v2rEd-HDjr89dLn3XnWxLvU-NHRMdZDgtNPWgaZqci5BmZRCmrk9BVdLg82kgbE4iQF78oTsJqztL7e1SIIN5d1t1KjkF_IuFvrmSga7OxpRDEYpXZGXneX2VJLvT4/s400/Keeper+and+the+PLANTERS+part+7+art.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;">Keeper
and the<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 48.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>PLANTERS<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Brush Script MT"; font-size: 36.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">Part
7<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By
R. Peterson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It took twice as much
power to start shuttle 419 because of the cold. The bay doors on the Centurion
were iced and had to be thawed with lasers. Teuth navigated the massive
starship back toward a far less frigid orbit as soon as First Officer Jeff
Bland was a safe distance away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jeff slowly shook his
head when Clarence</span> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Wortha one of the most brilliant students
interning aboard the rare species acquisitions vessel staggered from the cargo
area into the shuttle’s cockpit. “What the Hell Pumpkin Head! Don’t you know
it’s a crime to stowaway aboard a Mautese 17 chartered vessel?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Clarence used his vine like arms and hands to insert
a recorded audio disk into the shuttle’s control panel and adjusted the volume.
The sound of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Led Zepplin</i> playing the
opening rifts to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stairway to Heaven</i>
floated <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>through the cockpit. Jeff
smiled, but his eyes still held a tint of malice. “Where did you get that?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“From
your quarters!” Pumpkin Head held up at least a dozen disks. “I figured if we
were going to die, we might as well have a soundtrack to embellish all our
discomforts!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We</i> are not going to die!” Bland started
to turn the shuttle around and then realized the Centurion had already gone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pumpkin Head laughed when he saw the look on Jeff’s
face. “Elvis has left the building,” he snickered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Bland stared once again and then shook his head.
“Alright,” he said. “But it’s my party and we do everything I say … and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I</i> get to pick the next song!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“It
may be your party … but I’ll cry if I want to!” Clarence was looking at a disk
with a tiny hologram showing a dancing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lesley
Gore</i> as shuttle 419 sped toward the surface of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Geelo</i> one of the coldest Ice Worlds in the entire <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Inversijas</i> system.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------2-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Do
you think our captive Earthling will make it back?” Keeper asked Teuth as the
Centurion reached the edges of space. The Ice World, Geelo, loomed far below
them but ice crystals were still forming everywhere on the ship’s control level.
“I lied to him … I lied to my friend,” Teuth moaned. “I knew he would try to
rescue Leika from the surface. He won’t have three minutes. He will be lucky to
have one. I wanted to give him hope … even if it was false. I have more than
twenty-six <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mastery</i> degrees from
universities all over the universe but he has taught me more than any of them.”
Strange almost crusty tears formed in the land-adapted cephalopod’s eyes. “I
only wanted to give him hope.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Teuth’s tentacles fluttered in the light array that
controlled the ship’s functions. Keeper, the Centurion’s captain, moved close
to his navigator, a most unusual gesture from a member of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Druellian</i> race, a kind of
living-hologram with no physical body.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You
gave him everything you had,” Keeper said touching Teuth’s bulbous head. “No <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">friend</i> could ask for more.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------3-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
Centurion shuttle 419 was hurtling toward the surface of Geelo at the steepest
angle possible. First Officer Jeff Bland, thought Clarence, the cadet everyone
called Pumpkin Head, looked like a bobble figure from his past life on Earth as
the shuttle rolled and lurched. He laughed. “Relax kid. Haven’t you ever ridden
a roller coaster?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Clarence was scanning all the ship’s function
readings trying to discover why there was such tremendous turbulence in the
small craft. He glared as he found the answer. “The reverse thrusters are
engaged fully and we using all of the ship’s forward propulsion energy against
them,” he yelled. “How could you not notice this?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
call it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">driving with the brakes on</i>,”
Bland told him. “It used to generate a lot of heat in my old Ford Mustang back
on Earth. I just hope it’s enough to get us to the surface!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“If
by some luck we do reach the surface, how do you expect to open the pod the
Porosities female is locked inside? We’ll have less than a minute on the
surface and Navigator Teuth said the encapsulated cell is sealed by an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">unknown</i> technology!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Probably
made of a dark-matter derivative of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Datonight</i>.”
Bland scowled. “Something that strong must be extremely brittle at these
temperatures.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Even
if you’re right it would still take a huge <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hammer</i>
to crack it!” Pumpkin Head suddenly gasped.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You’re
right kid,” Bland told him. “That’s why we’re going to crash into it at max
speed. If it doesn’t break … we haven’t lost anything!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“That’s
your plan? Crash this shuttle into the pod and hope it breaks? What then? What
if the pod does somehow break apart … and by some <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">miracle</i> we all survive … what happens then?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
haven’t thought that far ahead,” Bland told him. “I can only think of one <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ingenious </i>thing at a time.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pumpkin Head entwined his vine-like arms together
and began to say a prayer directed to the Gods from his home planet. Bland
looked at him and snickered as he placed a new music disk into the ship’s audio
system. The opening riffs to AC DC’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Highway
to Hell</i> blasted through the shuttle’s cabin at maximum volume. “Now aren’t
you glad you came with me?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------4-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We
picked the wrong place to re-orbit!” Keeper pointed to the image of the massive
Cruanium Battle Carrier speeding toward them on the overhead hologram.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“There
is no way we could have known,” Teuth said. All eight of his tentacles were in
the light arrays trying to divert as much of the ship’s power possible to the
shields. “The Gorwanian flagship and its support fighters were hidden inside
one of Inversijas’ strange <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">shadows.</i>
None of our detection systems can penetrate this abnormal kind of dark energy!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Keeper
shrugged his shoulders and smiled strangely. “It looks like our first officer
and Pumpkin Head aren’t going to be the only ones moving on to the next world!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Clarence?”
Teuth looked at the captain. “He’s with Jeff?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“He
missed a class in Dark Matter Engineering,” Keeper said. “I searched for him
and found a hologram of him sneaking aboard shuttle 419 just before it left the
Centurion.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Why
would he want to go on a suicide mission?” Teuth was stunned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
Centurion was suddenly rocked by an enormous blast. Warning devices began to go
off all over the starship.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
have no idea,” Keeper said. “But he does like Bland’s music!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------5-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>First
Officer Jeff Bland and Pumpkin Head were both fighting over the audio disks as
the surface of Geelo roared toward them at a fantastic speed. “If this is going
to be our last song, I get to pick it!” Bland was using all of his muscles but
Clarence’s vines were strong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You
had your <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Highway to Hell</i> … this is my
turn!” Pumpkin Head wrenched the disk away from the shuttle’s commander and
shoved it into the audio device. The Archies’ – “Sugar, Sugar” began to sweeten
the cockpit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Bland’s
eyes rolled in two directions and he began to pull hair from his head. “Do you
know how many times I’ve listened to that song?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
have no idea,” Clarence said. “But it does have a catchy tune.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“At
least a million times,” Bland yelled. “It was on the radio every time I turned
it on!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“What’s
a radio?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“It
doesn’t matter,” Bland told him. “It’s just something that I don’t want to
remember … at this time.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
understand.” Clarence reached for the eject-button … but Bland stopped him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jeff’s eyes took on a far-away look and after a few
moments he spoke. “The first time I saw Janna Stone, this song was playing on
the juke box inside Spare-A-Dime. That’s a little eating place on Earth. It was
spring, and she had on an Easter dress that flowed around her like the halo
that surrounds an angel!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’ve
watched holograms of the women who live on the Paholainen mirror worlds,”
Clarence said. “They <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are</i> beautiful.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’ve
been to the Galaxy of Heaven,” Jeff said. “Janna Stone was more breathtakingly
beautiful than any of them!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
wish I could have known her,” Clarence said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The icy surface of Geelo now filled the entire
overhead hologram. “If you hadn’t come with me,” Jeff said. “You might have
taken your next vacation as a time portal to Earth in the year 1959. You would
have been as captured as I was. I doubt you could have been forced to return.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“She
was that fine?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Centurion was hurtling at unbelievable speed
toward a small object on the icy surface. “She was!” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jeff and Clarence
looked at each other and smiled just before a horrendous crash and explosion …
that no humanoid in the universe could possibly survive. And then there was
darkness … a strange and somehow magnificent darkness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------6-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Teuth
tried every navigation trick he’d learned since he was a cadet at an
engineering flight school on Mautese 17, still the Gorwanian’s loomed closer.
“We have about ten minutes before they’re in range with their big guns,” Teuth
said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Those
weren’t their big guns?” Keeper was astonished.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“According
to the data readouts we were struck with a dark matter cannon at the power of
seven,’ Teuth said. “That Cruanium Battle Carrier carries nine dark matter
cluster cannons on its forward deck alone. Each one exceeds or maintains a
power of forty-nine!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’m
glad we didn’t get hit with one of those,” Keeper said. “We’d be in real
trouble!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The overhead hologram switched to an emergency
channel. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Greina, the Plant Girl’s,
rose-blossom face looked like a dried flower bud being attacked by ants. “We
can’t hold her,” she yelled. “We can’t keep the Saggoplatapus captive. The
creature has grown so large it’s ready to break the ceiling out of the
Biosphere!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Not
now!” Keeper told the hysterical cadet doing Leika’s job. “I’m on my lunch
break!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Teuth looked at the captain with surprise as the
hologram switched back to the pursuers. “Without my First Officer on board, I’m
forced to do both of our jobs,” Keeper explained, “my calm and collected
reasoning … and his malicious-wit and sarcasm.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The
Gorwat are within striking range,” Teuth declared.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The hologram suddenly changed. Gorwan’s lizard-face
loomed like a planet. “You killed my Leika,” he moaned. “You killed my beloved
Leika!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“What’s
he talking about?” Keeper asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Gorwan
is right,” Teuth said. “Our readings detect no life forms alive anywhere on the
surface of Geelo.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You
drove a shuttle filled with explosives into her sleeping chamber on purpose!”
Gorwan’s eyes bulged from his head with murderous intent. “I could destroy you
with one blast but I want my revenge. I’m pulling your entire ship into my
docking bay. There, and in other <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">special </i>rooms
that I’ve provided, each member of your murderous crew will be endlessly
tortured … until I decide that it is time for them to perish.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“That
sounds like a pretty wild party,” Keeper told Gorwan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Teuth stared at him. “It’s close to what Jeff would
have said to his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rival</i>,” Keeper
explained.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------7-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>On
the surface of Geelo, a harsh wind blew frozen ice crystals around the
wreckage. Pieces of charred metal most no bigger than an Earth dime were all
that remained of some of Mateuse 17s most advanced technology. A howl, like a
thousand wolves suddenly released from their cages, swept across the
snow-covered waste-land as a shadow made of Dark Energy slowly left the wreckage
site. There was no life on this planet and it was as if there never had been.
Night was coming … as this part of the planet rotated away from the energy
produced by the giant star Inversijas. The daytime temperature of -200 below
zero would soon be replaced by absolute zero or -460 degrees Fahrenheit. No
life forms without tremendous and very advanced shielding could exist for more
than a few seconds. There was no advanced technology nor would there ever be again
… only cold and death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On an icy outcropping,
more than seven miles from the wreckage-site, a round metal disk reflected the
last rays of Inversijas’ light. Engraved on the disk, in the language of a very
distant planet called Earth, were these words “J. FRANK WILSON and the
Cavaliers - Last Kiss". A sudden gust of wind buried the disk with snow … and
it was no more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------8-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Centurion was
almost inside the massive Cruanium Battle Carrier when Greina, the Plant Girls
face appeared on the hologram. She was furious! “The Saggoplatapus is breaking
away the dome that covers Biosphere 3,” She screamed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Let the damn thing
go,” Keeper told her. “Get the hell out of there … and let the damn thing go!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Moments later the entire ship trembled. The massive
biosphere that protruded from the front of the ship was closer to the Battle
Carrier than any other part of the science vessel. Keeper and his crew watched
as the clear dome covering Biosphere 3 exploded sending more than one-hundred
twenty-five thousand square-miles of sea-water into the tractor beam pulling
them into the battle cruiser. The ocean turned to ice instantly, and a
moon-sized Saggoplatapus flew into the cargo bay of Gorwan’s flag ship. Massive
explosions erupted repeatedly from the enemy vessel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Minutes later, Gorwan’s
lizard face appeared as a wavy-hologram just before the Centurion sped away. Behind
him hundreds of Gorwanian soldiers could be seen fighting a losing battle with a
monster from hell. The creature had grown exponentially in the amphibian friendly
atmosphere and was literally tearing the inside of the massive battle cruiser
apart. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I’ll get you for this!” Gorwan promised.
“I’ll have my revenge … if it’s the last thing I ever do!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------9-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Weeks later Keeper and
Teuth were together in the control room. The Ice Worlds seemed far away. Biosphere
3 had been repaired and they were manufacturing water from a hydrogen and
oxygen rich gas-cloud. The ship’s navigator was still grieving … Keeper, as
captain, was not given that luxury. “The Planters returned the Saggoplatapus to
us for a reason,” Keeper said. “Perhaps they read and somehow alter the
future.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Teuth was quiet for a moment before he answered.
“Does it really matter?” he asked. “Do the Planters really matter?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
think all things matter,” Keeper told him. “Jeff and Leika both mattered to me.
Their death was a most terrible tragedy. But there is a balance in all things …
in good … and in bad. The truth and dreams are the only things that truly last
forever. Perhaps we shall meet again. No odds are too great … in infinity.
There never was a time when we were not here … there never will be a time when
we do not exist. The mysteries of the universe are as infinite as the stars.
Only love lasts forever … riding on the entwined paths of … light and darkness.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">THE END.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">(Thank you everyone who enjoyed reading these space
adventure stories … it is for you that I write)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Post script: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">More than seven months
later, just as the crew of the Centurion was preparing to enter a time warp to
return to their own place in infinity, Teuth detected a beam of dark energy
coming from the far side of the universe, possibly from the Planters, and
moving toward them at an impossible velocity. The tiny burst of focused power
hurtled through entire galaxies in a matter of seconds. There was no chance for
avoidance or any time to activate any of the vessel’s shields. The entire star
ship trembled once and then seemed to become a liquid. Darkness moved across
the face of the waters … and then vanished in a burst of light. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">First Officer Jeff
Bland, Clarence, the cadet everyone called Pumpkin Head and the Porosities
female “Leika” appeared on the control level floor. They were real and not
holograms. Bland was holding Leika who appeared to be waking from a long sleep.
A wide-eyed Clarence gazed about the room. “Let go of me!” Leika slapped Bland
hard across the face and stung him with her quills as she wiggled out of his
arms. “Sleeping!” she said. “You always make your <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">move</i> when I’m sleeping!” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jeff Bland looked at Keeper and grinned. “Wow!” he
said. “What a ride!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br /></div>
Randall R. Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536932805707673903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097264115343784589.post-69339369949384998462020-05-03T23:24:00.002-06:002020-05-03T23:24:51.444-06:00Keeper and the PLANTERS part 6<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Copyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrJA0l7V1FroDEVWc93TDuQtJt4HWx5DzrCgFVZ3Y3d1CcckVAC6fLwSp3GsIbnPsbEmXalywZXHQOe9N5EHFm7khbHKvXwVUOmoansTEfpGFVCbVHBwihvzpGnOkihfCQ53z22Qfa9ZE/s1600/Keeper+and+the+Planters+6+art.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="1000" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrJA0l7V1FroDEVWc93TDuQtJt4HWx5DzrCgFVZ3Y3d1CcckVAC6fLwSp3GsIbnPsbEmXalywZXHQOe9N5EHFm7khbHKvXwVUOmoansTEfpGFVCbVHBwihvzpGnOkihfCQ53z22Qfa9ZE/s400/Keeper+and+the+Planters+6+art.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;">Keeper
and the<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 48.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>PLANTERS<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Brush Script MT"; font-size: 36.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">Part
6<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By
R. Peterson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Mass
and energy are not infinite,” Teuth told the forty-one students clustered
around a hologram that showed tiny bits of matter swirling around and around
much like water rushing down a drain. The Centurion and its crew were speeding
toward a group of planets in the Geelo system called the Ice Worlds. The
hologram zoomed out exponentially showing that what the students were looking
at was a typical spiral galaxy. “And when matter reaches its constraint … it
becomes …?” He gazed about the diverse group of space cadets looking for an
answer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dark energy</i>.” A student with a large, orange swollen head answered.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“That is correct</span>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Clarence</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">,”
Teuth told the class.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The hologram began to zoom out, showing millions, billions,
trillions and finally a zillion-googolplexian assorted-galaxies <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">painted as tiny light specks </i>on the
outside of a huge black ball. Many of the specks were disappearing into black
holes. “And the universe is filled with …”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Dark
energy!” All forty-one students chorused.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“And when dark energy reaches its maximum we have a …?”
The hologram showed that all the light specks on the outside of the ball had
suddenly disappeared. Teuth who was a land-adapted cephalopod raised six of his
eight tentacles in the air in a dramatic gesture designed to arouse the
students.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Big
Bang!” All forty students shouted just as the now-darkened ball depicted on the
hologram vanished and became a tiny explosion of light specks …<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>spreading outward and eventually forming around
a new ball.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“And
all dark energy once again becomes matter and that matter once again begins to
form dark energy,” Teuth told them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“How
many times?” A girl named Greina who resembled a walking plant asked. “How many
times can this process repeat itself?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We
believe the process itself is outside the laws of infinity,” Teuth said. “But
at least a zillion-googolplexian - to the power of 419 - times!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“What
then?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Greina asked. “What happens
then?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Keeper, the Captain of the Centurion, had just transported
onto the engineering level. “We’ll just have to wait and find out.” He answered
Greina.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A pair of students who resembled hyenas laughed. “No
one lives that long!” they declared.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Keeper shook his head. “But we all do,” he said.
“There never was a time when we were not here … and there never will be a time
when we do not exist.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Captain stood close to the ship’s navigator and
leaned toward one of the cephalopod’s artificial audio receptors. “I need you
on command level,” he whispered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Recess,”
Teuth told the students. “But biosphere three is being re-nature configured, so
use one of the other recreational areas.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------2-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">First
Officer Jeff Bland was attending the Centurion’s light beam navigation and
control system when Keeper and Teuth entered the command level. The overhead
hologram showed the vast spacecraft entering the Beku galaxy. “Strange,” Jeff
said. “I already feel cold and we’re still three-hundred light years away from Geelo.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Geelo,
and the other planets they call the Ice Worlds,” Teuth said. “Appear to draw
heat from neighboring star systems and even spacecraft like this one many light
years away.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“This
is because of their most unusual star Inversijas,” Keeper said. “Its core is
made of dark matter and the dark energy it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sometimes</i>
generates, along with light radiation, often draws away heat rather than
compound it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Sometimes?”
Jeff looked at the captain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“If
it were continuous … no life forms would be possible,” Keeper said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You
appear to have a remarkable knowledge of the universe and its mysteries.” Teuth
directed his comments toward the captain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“And
you thought I was only good at basketball!” Keeper rose more than two feet into
the air and pretended to shoot a basket. A feat most remarkable, because he
appeared to have no feet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Don’t
try sucking up to him,” Jeff whispered to Teuth. “I tried that and it doesn’t
work.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“There
are other dangers to this dark energy,” Keeper said. “That’s why I’ve summoned
an expert to this level. He will help navigate our course through these hazards
and on to Geelo.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The student with the giant orange head named Clarence
stepped from the transporter. “Am I late?” he asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jeff Bland looked at his watch and gave the cadet a
mock stern-look. “Another seventeen seconds and you would have been.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Clarence Wortha studied on Zeba, one of the Ice
Worlds when his mother was ambassador to the Inversijas systems. He has
knowledge of the many dangers to watch out for.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’ll
bet you didn’t go on many hot dates while you were in school,” Jeff quipped.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The cadet everyone called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pumpkin Head</i> ignored him. “The most critical danger in approaching
Zeba or the other worlds is a radiation-phenomena called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">shadows,”</i> he said. “Since the light radiation from Inversijas is
neither constant nor predictable and since there is sometimes a burst of dark
energy there are certain areas near this star that cannot be seen nor detected
with any of our known technology.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Sounds
like a perfect place for Gorwan to set up an ambush,” Jeff said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We
had better proceed with our shields at full power,” Keeper told Teuth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Are
there any other anomalies that we should be aware of,” Jeff asked Clarence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Plenty,”
Pumpkin Head said. “There are many even the top scientists on Zeba do not fully
understand.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Just then, the plant girl Greina who had temporarily
been given Leika’s job as head Organic Science Officer came rushing out of the
transporter. “That Maronian Saggoplatapus that was presented to the Planters
and then appeared back on this ship after we escaped from the black hole!!!”
she gasped trying to catch her breath. Her branch like arms, covered in leaves,
appeared to flutter in a vortex wind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“What
about it?” Keeper asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“It’s
loose!” Greina moaned. “Swimming in Biosphere 3 and Growing … growing like
crazy … and it’s smart …. Very-smart!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“This
is all we need,” Jeff told Keeper.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------3-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Huge waves were
pounding the artificial beach as Keeper, Greina and Bland entered the
Biosphere. Miles out on the vast man-created ocean, a monster sized reptile
would occasionally break the surface sending another series of tidal waves
growing in all directions. A few crew members, many wearing trunks and string
bikinis, were still gathering blankets, umbrellas and coolers then dashing
through knee-deep water toward the transporters. “Out of suntan lotion?” Jeff
asked a terrified engine specialist as he ran past with his bawling girlfriend.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Have you tried
re-shrinking this thing?” Keeper asked Greina.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I have,” she said.
“Every time we use <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">herders </i>to get it
under the reduction beams it breaks through the robot nets and escapes.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Have you tried
drugging it?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“We sent several large
boats onto the water equipped with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Goodnite</i>
harpoons. The Saggoplatapus attacked all the vessels and one crew member even lost
his leg!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Sounds a lot like Moby
Dick,” Jeff said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Greina shot him a quizzical glance, and then
continued. “The injured crew member is getting a new genetically-grown limb,
but we still don’t know what to do with this thing.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Teuth’s face suddenly appeared as a hologram above
the incoming waves. “You were right about the ambush,” he said. “We have a
command Gorwanian battle ship and at least a dozen fighters coming at us from
all directions.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jeff’s heart raced. If those bastards want a fight,
I’ll give it to them, he thought, and sprinted towards the transporter. Behind
him, he heard Keeper order Greina and her group of interstellar zoologists to
do whatever it took to restrain the monster lizard. Seconds later, Jeff and
Keeper stepped into the transporter. Jeff grimaced at his friend and captain,
and just before they were whisked away to the ship’s control deck, asked, “Why
can’t we get one disaster at a time?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------4-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A
blast shook the Centurion, made the light arrays on the control module blink
several times and knocked all but Keeper to the floor. “What the Hell was
that?” Jeff moaned. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Teuth recovered quickly and had his tentacles into
the array. “Some form of impulse dark-energy … most likely a Delilah or another
Dark Sister derivative!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Get us out of here!” Keeper commanded.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Huge spaceship rotated one-hundred eighty
degrees and tried to outrace several incoming dark-energy torpedoes. The
spacecraft was jarred violently again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The hologram showed the massive enemy warship and
dozens of support vessels moving in from three sides. The space around the
enemy armada was suddenly swarming with hundreds of fighters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“How long can we hold them off with our shields?”
Keeper was directing the ship’s propulsion while Teuth worked on defensive
systems.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Not
long,” Teuth said pointing with his tentacles. “That’s a Cruanium Battle
Carrier, ten times as large as the Centurion and eighty percent of its
technology is devoted to state of the art offensive weaponry.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“What’s
the other twenty percent?” Keeper acted as if he knew the answer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Experimental</i> state of the art offensive
weaponry!” Clarence, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pumpkin Head,</i>
told them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Where
did these lizards get the credits to buy something like that?” Jeff asked as he
ran toward one of the weapons consoles. He now became one of more than two-hundred
crew members returning fire on the attackers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Probably
selling interactive full-sensory holograms of Leika performing a Porosities mating
ritual,” Teuth said in all seriousness. “Some of those artificial encounters are
worth an entire planetary system … and she’s the most desirable female in half
the known universe.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“When
I was fourteen … I thought a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Playboy</i>
was expensive,” Jeff said as he brought a dark-matter cluster-cannon to full
charge.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Target
the fighters,” Keeper ordered all gunners. “Their Battle Carrier is too well
shielded.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Bland focused on three incoming Gorwanian fighters
all flying in tight formation. He blasted the center fighter nonstop until it
finally exploded taking the other two fighters with it. “These lizards are
dangerous,” he said. “But most of them don’t have any brains.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Centurion was once again rocked by a giant
explosion from the Battle Carrier. Alarms began to go off. “That hit was
critical,” Teuth said. “One more like that and we’re finished!” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Take
us down to the planet’s surface,” Keeper said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The
entire ship? That’s crazy!” Bland was firing at more incoming. This time he
failed to halt the incoming attack. There was a blinding flash of light and
another explosion. More alarms began to go off.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“If
we can stay a few miles above impact we have a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">chance</i> to survive,” Keeper said. “If we stay here … we’re
finished!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
think this is a battle that will be decided by who is the craziest,” Jeff
sneered as he continued to fire.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You’re
probably right,” Keeper agreed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“That’s
why I’m glad I picked … your side,” Jeff said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Teuth put the Centurion into an angled decent. Minutes
later it had moved dangerously close to the planet’s surface. There was a
noticeable chill throughout the vessel. They were pursued by more a dozen
fighters but the Cruanium Battle Carrier stayed in orbit. This time Bland
blasted more than six fighters in a row. “They seem to be slowing down!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The
Gorwanians are used to a much warmer climate,” Pumpkin Head said. “They and
their technology do not function well in frigid climates.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Neither
do we!” Bland was rubbing his hands together. “If we stay here much longer
we’re going to be popsicles!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“What’s
a popsicle?” Pumpkin Head’s eye-brows made a v shape.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Band ignored him. “What’s the name of this planet?”
The exterior hologram showed huge pieces of an icy mountain being pulled away
by the gravity created by the massive space ship.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“This
is Geelo,” Teuth told him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Geelo?”
Bland used pent up rage to blast another fighter from the frigid atmosphere.
“Why would Gorwan bring Leika to a place like this?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Extreme
cold like that which is found on the Ice Worlds is one of the few things in the
universe that can prevent a Porosities from using her powers," Clarence
said. “Gorwan obviously thought he was losing control over her.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“A Cruanium
Battle Carrier and ten thousand fighters is no match for sex!” Jeff laughed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The
rest of the Gorwanian fighters are leaving the surface,” Teuth reported.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“How
long do we have?” Keeper asked Teuth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Less
than an hour,” Teuth said. “And that’s putting all of our power into our
onboard environmental systems.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“How
long to circumnavigate the planet, at this altitude, with our heat sensors
fully activated?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“A
little more than an hour,” Teuth told him. “If we’re lucky and we don’t crash
into a mountain.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We’re
almost eight miles above the surface. Are there really mountains that high on
Geelo?” Bland had already switched power back to the ships environmental drain.
The defensive weapons were no longer operational.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Yes
there are plenty,” Pumpkin Head Clarence shivered. “And some of them are in
shadows!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Greina’s plant-like face suddenly appeared on an
emergency hologram from Biosphere 3. “We’ve got problems,” she moaned. “We’ve
got some real bad problems!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------5-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By Keeper’s
orders, all but the essential levels of the starship had been sealed off. The
crewmembers were crowded together on key levels for warmth. Keep and Bland
walked through empty corridors, with the atmosphere already below freezing. Their
words came out as clouds of white. “Dang,” Jeff moaned. “It’s colder than a
witch’s …” Keeper looked at him quizzically. “Heart,” Jeff said. “It’s colder
than a witch’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">heart</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
imagine you’ve met quite a few,” Keeper said. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The door hung off its hinges on Biosphere 3. The
vast ocean with beaches bordering its sides was frozen. The Plant girl who had
assumed Leika’s job and others were hiding behind a small mountain of rocks. “The
cold is slowing the growth of the Maronian Saggoplatapus,” Greina said. “But
it’s also making it violent!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As if to confirm her words, there was a distant thunder
and crashing sound. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A Mesozoic-era monster
one-quarter the size of the entire fifty-mile diameter Biosphere burst though
the frozen surface, sending millions of tons of ice shards crashing into the
ceiling of the clear dome … thirty miles above. It turned and stared at the
people watching it from the beach. “My God! <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You</i>
do have a problem!” Jeff Bland told Greina.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Me?”
the Plant girl said. “I had no idea something like this is what you people were
collecting!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The monster roared and began to break through the
ice as it charged toward them. Greina moved behind a tranquilizer cannon
designed to subdue any violent animal in the universe. “Shoot it now!” Bland
insisted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>“Its
size isn’t the only problem,” Greina said. “Ever since the Planters returned
her to us she has shown a remarkable growth in intelligence.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Her?”
Keeper raised an eyebrow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Makes
sense, captain,” Jeff said. “Only females are this mean!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“It’s
a she,” Plant girl said. “And she knows enough to stay just outside the
effective range of our cannons. I believe that once we run out of power she
will destroy us!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“This
animal might have to be destroyed,” Keeper said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We’ve
tried that!” Plant girl waved her branches. Tiny ice crystals rained onto the
ground. “Photon cannons, Energy Dumps even Dark Matter converters! The planters
must have made her smarter … and invincible!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Teuth’s face suddenly appeared as a hologram. “It’s
Leika,” he said. “We’ve found her!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Don’t
feed her until we get back,” Jeff told Griena. “Do that, and we’ll never get
rid of her!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------6-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
have good news and bad news,” Teuth told Bland and Keeper. Stalactites made of
ice hung from the ceiling. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Leika
appears to be in perfect hibernation in a sealed and unguarded encapsulated
cell, the kind Gorwanians use to hold galactic criminals just eight miles below
us.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“What is the bad news?” Keeper was almost afraid to
ask.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The
capsule is sealed by an unknown technology and we are out of time.” Teuth shook
his bulbous head. “We must return to orbit. Our systems are failing and unless
we leave right now we won’t be able to. Whoever takes a shuttle to the surface
and attempts to free Leika, will have no help from us. The extreme cold outside
the capsule will kill them in three minutes … and that person will have to find
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">some</i> way to rendezvous with us in
orbit.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Some way?” Bland was
staring at the navigator.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“At these temperatures,
our shuttles will only have enough power to reach the surface.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Once there, the poor soul who tries this rescue
will have to find his own way back.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“What are the chances of a rescue mission like this
succeeding? Keeper gasped.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Teuth hung his head then turned away so no one could
see his face. “Not good,” he mumbled. “Next to impossible! Not good at all!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Bland was already running across the command level.
“Where are you going?” Keeper yelled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“To
grab a coat,” The Centurion’s first officer shouted back. “I hear it’s damn cold
down there!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">TO BE CONTINUED ….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br /></div>
Randall R. Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536932805707673903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097264115343784589.post-2256607836842126222020-04-26T23:51:00.002-06:002020-04-26T23:51:34.331-06:00Keeper and the PLANTERS part 5<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Copyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqF5MLpYg4f7YgPxOR3gEpxt8XaFipXGsj6jJK1oyQi-L_1F5lXLoe4XY3jx6uMgvoGQLrzlo3NFRlA1GtlyT8k0nIk6_AlsYGTXkMHwqNbOuA3RW3sspbS2bl_1clGsot1N2qORRFtJ8/s1600/Keeper+and+the+PLANTERS+part+5+art.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="1000" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqF5MLpYg4f7YgPxOR3gEpxt8XaFipXGsj6jJK1oyQi-L_1F5lXLoe4XY3jx6uMgvoGQLrzlo3NFRlA1GtlyT8k0nIk6_AlsYGTXkMHwqNbOuA3RW3sspbS2bl_1clGsot1N2qORRFtJ8/s400/Keeper+and+the+PLANTERS+part+5+art.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;">Keeper
and the<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 48.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>PLANTERS<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Brush Script MT"; font-size: 36.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">Part
5<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>They
appeared to be inside and outside at the same time. A shadow of a humanoid was
dwarfed before a vast globe of infinite bright light. Somewhere an English
police siren brayed. Keeper and the crew of the vanished Centurion floated
forward until they were below the silhouette. A Beatles record was playing “…
when we become naked!”. Then everything changed and the shadow became a reverse
silhouette against a map of the universe … brighter than the first rays of a
supernova. “Why aren’t we dead?” A girl named Greina, who resembled a
walking-plant, moaned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The
Planters are UBFs,” Keeper, the captain of the Centurion, gasped. The captain
was of the Druellian race and appeared as a kind of hologram with no physical
body. Light seemed to flicker like fire in the space where his feet should have
been. “Unimaginably – Bright - Figures. We always thought them to be myths -
legends. It is said that they <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are </i>what
the Drell will become … in another fifty-million years.” The pendulum inside a
grandfather clock began to bang against the sides and then exploded. A group of
children shouted “Trick or Treat”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The unimaginably bright figure now spoke into the
mind of each crew member. “Welcome,” the entity said. “I am Four-nineteen.” A
hundred bugles sounded … a thousand horses broke into a gallop. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The voice was so strange and magnificent a very
startled Teuth had to explain to the others. “What we are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hearing</i> is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> sound <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">waves</i>,” the Centurion’s navigator gasped.
A cluster of bubbles broke on the surface of the water. “But sound <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">channels</i>. It appears that the Planters
have discovered a way to cut <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">grooves</i>
in air molecule clusters … rather than just cause them to vibrate.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
always thought the old vinyl-records sounded better than the CDs,” First
Officer Jeff Bland muttered. Insane laughter echoed from somewhere far below.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You
are not dead …because you don’t believe you are,” the UBF turned toward Greina.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Someone was shoveling dirt onto a pile. An airplane
sputtered overhead.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Is
this all a dream?” Jeff asked. A large wave crashed against rocks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Possibly,”
Four-nineteen somehow appeared to smile but with no change to his outward
appearance. A wolf howled. The unusual and the impossible had become the norm. A
handful of cubes appeared in the air before Bland … dice rotating like small
planets.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jeff Bland reached out his hand to grasp one of the floating
dice … a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">four</i>, a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">one</i> and an impossible <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nine</i>.
He was astonished when his fingers passed through the four so he tried again. He
heard a howler monkey shriek, probably a caged primate from his youth on Earth.
The dice appeared to be a hologram but without the faint flicker and color
shift associated with the visual technology. It was when his fingers reached up
to scratch his head in amazement and his fingers were unable to touch his hair
that he realized he was in a dream. He was falling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Bland awakened suddenly
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">inside his quarters on the Centurion!</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His insanely expensive music system was
playing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stairway to Heaven</i> at
half-volume. He opened the door to his familiar room just as Jimmy Page broke
into his famous <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lead</i>, and after
touching several objects, ventured outside. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Centurion crewmembers were startled to see Bland
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">re-enter the Planter’s globe</i> when he
had been standing by their side <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">less</i>
than a moment before. His by-their-side image lingered for an instant. Bolts of
lightning crashed from the ceiling and then were blown away by a horrific gust
of wind. The sound of someone turning a crank on a jack-in-the box that played <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pop Goes the Weasel</i> was almost ear
shattering. “Where did you go?” Bang! Jack sprang from the box. “And when!” a visibly
shaken Teuth asked. Keeper had grown legs … but they belonged on a frog.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The UBF’s strange voice once again seemed to carve
channels the air. “One never knows what <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">side</i>
of a dream we will find ourselves on … so we must be careful.” A nuclear
explosion rumbled the globe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I still do not understand,” the plant-girl Greina
said. “My emotions showed creatures shrieking, being cruelly ripped apart by
ghostly shadows! Keeper even asked me to link my emotions to the ship’s holographic
display … and we <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all</i> saw it!” The
plant girl stared as exquisite moth-orchids began to bloom on her fingertips …
then on her head. She was suddenly a tiny seed stuck to a bee-like creature and
being transported above a meadow. A baby began to cry.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“That’s
because your emotions were real, but they were created by your fear.” There was
the sound of fire consuming a vast forest and many running feet. The UBF turned
and began to retreat inside the darkened globe, but his voice continued. “Even
after five billion years of sleep … I still detect a lassitude in you. Perhaps
you all need to rest again.” The sound of an approaching tornado grew louder.
Dorothy was about to be knocked unconscious in her auntie Em’s house and taken again
… by a dream.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Keeper’s voice rose as the entity retreated. “Why
have the UBF come to this side of the universe?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Four-nineteen somehow appeared once again to smile
but with no change to his outward appearance. Somewhere an organ was playing
dark chamber music. “Why, to harvest that which we planted,” the UBF said. “The
future starts as a dream and unfolds with our expectations.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Then there was only darkness, a sleep without dreams,
without sounds and time once again … did not exist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------2-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>First
Officer Jeff Bland opened his eyes inside the sleeping tube aboard the
Centurion. A mist covered the floor of the hibernation level making it appear
as if he were floating. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Teuth needs to
get some ventilation in here</i>, Jeff thought. He was walking into the
hibernation showers as Leika was coming out. She was naked of course, using an
air-paddle to dry the quills that replaced her hair. “I thought we were going
to have to jettison you with the refuse dump,” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“How
long was I asleep?” Jeff yawned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“About
three years longer than the rest of us,” Leika told him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Damn!”
Jeff said. “Why didn’t someone wake me?” He was suddenly in a hurry to enter
the showers, no doubt expecting a stern lecture from Keeper when he arrived on
the command level.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Relax
little boy.” Leika sighed. “I might have exaggerated you nap-time a little
bit.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jeff thought he might be imagining things. The
Porosities’ normally flashing eyes seemed somehow sad. The ever-changing bright
colors under dark lashes … glowed soft and muted. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Bland shook his head and was turning to leave when a
quill suddenly attached itself to the area of skin just behind his right ear.
Streaming sensations of exquisite delight coursed and throbbed through his limbs
and exited through his toes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Not
so fast.” Leika smiled. “I need you to find me … a towel.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------3-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“How
long were we asleep?” Bland asked Keeper and Teuth when he entered the command
level. Teuth moved one of his tentacles inside the light-array before he
answered. “According to the most precise calculations our most limited
technology is capable of .000000000497 of a second.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
can’t believe I watched the earth being formed and all of its most
detailed-history in five billionths of a second.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Time
is relative,” Keeper said. “Put all those numbers on the left side of the
decimal and change the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">second</i> that
follows into years … and it’s about right.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Where
are we?” Bland tried not to absorb too much theoretical physics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We
just passed the Glovian clusters and are more than half way to Zoogutan.” Teuth
seemed satisfied with the calculations and moved his tentacles from the colored
light beams. “The Planters have returned us to our worlds.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Bland gasped. “But that would put us on the path to
…”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Geelo.”
Teuth finished the first officer’s statement then stared at him quizzically.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Keeper raised one of his flickering eyebrows. “I
know our</span> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">organic-science officer can be a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pain</i>, or should I say in your case a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pleasure</i>, sometimes. But don’t you want
to rescue your <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ice-princess </i>from
Gorwan?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“But
I just saw her coming out of the hibernation showers,” Jeff stammered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Teuth muttered. “The porosities, Leika, was taken
captive by Gorwan before we entered </span>Enubus<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> fourteen’s black hole.
She has not been aboard the Centurion since that time.” Then he began reviewing
navigational systems-checks on the speeding vessel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Keeper looked at his first officer kindly. “What was
it the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Planters </i>said … oh yes … the
future starts as a dream and unfolds with our … expectations.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And the Centurion, a
research and rare-species acquisitions vessel sanctioned by Mateuse 17 and at
least twenty other planetary clusters was once again on a mission. A crew of
ten-thousand, eight-hundred and sixty-seven-thousand, four hundred thirty six
and one-half life-forms, hurdled through space at reverse light-speed nine.
Searching for the secrets of the universe, these assorted life forms flew
through an almost infinite darkness … and into the far-reaches … of the unknown.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
TO BE CONTINUED …<o:p></o:p></div>
<br /></div>
Randall R. Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536932805707673903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097264115343784589.post-59451304028196472242020-04-19T23:06:00.000-06:002020-04-19T23:06:10.065-06:00Keeper and the PLANTERS part 4<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Copyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;">Keeper
and the<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 48.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>PLANTERS<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Brush Script MT"; font-size: 36.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">Part
4<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Inside the center of
the black hole the acceleration was tremendous. The tiny ship appeared to be
caught in a giant drain spinning round and round tearing itself in two. Jeff
Bland stared at a duplicate of himself. “What the Hell?” he and his duplicate
said together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Across the floor of the
command level exact doubles had also been created of Keeper and Teuth. First
officer Bland stared as the light array that controlled most of the Centurion’s
functions divided and then moved to one side of the room along with the crew’s
doubles. “We’re being divided by quantum mechanics,” Teuth said. Bland heard a
faint echo as the navigator on the other side of the room said the same thing
at the same time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“How is that possible?”
both Blands asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“A 27-kilometer-long
particle accelerator on Earth was used to verify that if forced to choose
between two diverging paths a single subatomic particle will sometimes go down
both. Quantum mechanics deals with probability, and in the case of the diverging
paths the probability is equal.” Both Teuths echoed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The echoing questions and answers were nerve
wracking. Keeper and his double both moved to duplicate light arrays. “There,”
Keeper said in a satisfied – and single - voice. Bland noticed that a swirling
green sphere of energy had appeared and now hovered near Keeper’s head. A
similar sphere swirled above his own head and Teuth’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their counterparts on the other side of the room
remained silent. Bland noticed their spheres were red. “Dark energy is immune
to quantum mechanics,” green Keeper said, “and I …<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we</i> … have created a dark matter randomizer that decides which one
of us speaks.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As if to illustrate, red Keeper on the other side of
the control level spoke. “We must hurry,” he said. “The passage of time from
when the Centurion was pushed from the event horizon into the black hole’s
center and crushed by infinite mass is only .01<sup>9</sup></span><sup> </sup><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">or less than one
billionth of a second.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Then
why are we still here?” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>red-sphere Bland
asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Time has been slowed exponentially,” green Teuth
answered. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Why?” green Bland gasped.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Because we needed it to,” red Keeper grinned and
then explained. “There are forces in the universe that no one understands. Some
things happen … because we <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">need</i> them
to happen.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“You’re
talking about God?” red Bland gasped.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“If
you prefer,” green Keeper replied.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“The Centurion is being pulled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">out</i> of the black hole by some tremendous force,” red Teuth said, “probably
the Planters. And since that’s impossible for the laws of physics … the
Centurion and its entire crew has been duplicated and divided by quantum
mechanics.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“That
means,” green Bland gasped. “That one Centurion and its crew will be pulled out
of the black hole and one Centurion and crew crushed.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Exactly,” green Teuth
said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Them
poor bastards,” both Blands declared at once.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Keeper checked the settings on the dark matter
randomizer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Are
you afraid?” red Bland asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“A
little,” green Bland admitted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“How
will we know which of us lives and which of us dies?” red Bland looked around.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“It
doesn’t matter,” red Teuth said moving away from the light array as the entire
ship split into two equal wholes. “Because … we’ll never know.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------2-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Keeper and the other
crew members watched on the overhead hologram as the Centurion emerged from the
black hole at the center of the Enubus galaxy with a big bang . An impossibly
fast vortex of entwined matter, anti-mater, dark and light energy and an
exponentially enlarged light-spectrum suddenly dissolved. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“For a while there I
thought I was going to go blind,” Jeff gasped.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The colored sphere that
had hovered near the captain’s head was gone. There was no way to know if it
had been red or green. First Officer Jeff Bland shook his head as if trying to
awaken from a dream. “Did that really happen?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“If
you believe it did.” Keeper smiled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’m
glad <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we</i> were the ones saved,” Teuth
said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Maybe
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we</i> wasn’t.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jeff looked himself over carefully just to
make sure he didn’t see anything different.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“It’s
just as I suspected.” Teuth pointed to the hologram. “Planters!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------3-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Centurion was surrounded by glowing spheres,
some as large as moons. It was hard to tell if they were metallic or some form
of solid-energy. A tractor beam was pulling them inside one of the smaller
ones. “Put all power to the forward thrusters,” Keeper ordered. “Let’s see if
this <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ant </i>can escape from the angry herd
of rampaging elephants!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Ever
the optimist,” Jeff snickered. “We don’t really know if they’re going to be
that friendly.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The giant, rare-species acquisition vessel shuddered
as Teuth put all eight tentacles into the light arrays that controlled 99% of
the ship’s system functions. The smell of ozone penetrated all areas of the
deck as a group of students entered the command level. “That won’t work!” The
student with the enlarged orange cranium that everyone called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pumpkin head</i> warned Teuth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“And
you know this how?” Keeper asked the student.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We’re
being pulled toward the Sadinimo detainment-vessel by a special form of dark
energy that consumes conventional power,” Pumpkin Head declared.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Then the harder we try to escape … the stronger the
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">chain</i> becomes … That makes sense!”
Jeff snickered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“How
do you know this is a detainment vessel?” Keeper asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A girl who resembled a walking plant spoke. “I’m Greina
from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ardd 23</i>,” she said. “And my
species have evolved the ability to use <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">emotions</i>
as a form of visual communication. We see things … sometimes things that are many
light years away.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
know of the Ardd and their special skills,” Keeper said. “Can you give us a
visual?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The plant girl moved with a dreamlike swaying-grace
to the light array that Teuth hovered over. She placed one leafed appendage
inside the beams of light. She shuddered slightly and a horrific scene replaced
the exterior hologram.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In
an unimaginably vast and glistening chamber, thousands of life forms - most
still alive and shrieking, were literally being taken apart by what appeared to
be ghostly shadows. Their interior organs and exterior parts were carefully
dissected, then examined and cast away. “So this is the party we’re crashing,”
Jeff moaned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Thank
you for bringing us this information,” Keeper told Greina.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“That’s
not the only reason I’m here …” Plant girl looked at Jeff Bland and the
hologram changed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Leika appeared inside
an encapsulated cell, the kind of living space designed to hold galactic
criminals. She was dressed in flowing white scales and Tesonian pearls - a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gorwanian wedding gown.</i> Her hands were
folded in what looked like prayer and she gazed upward. Her eye color flashed
between red and orange before drifting from an emerald green to a soft blue.
“If you can hear me,” she whispered. “If somehow you can hear me … Gorwan is
taking me to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Geelo</i> in the ice worlds.
He thinks <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we’ll</i> be safe there … but
I’m already half frozen!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Geelo!” Jeff
thundered. “It warms up to two hundred below zero in the daytime!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“That’s only in the
winter,” Keeper said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“It looks like we might
have a delay in rescuing your <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">girlfriend</i>.”
Teuth grinned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“She’s not my …”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">First Officer Bland’s objections were cut short. The
exterior hologram showed a port hole opening in the side of the Planter vessel
and seconds later the Centurion was sucked inside.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------4-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Time
stood still literally. All life forms inside the spacecraft dissolved and
became a series of seemingly infinite images. Every single event, every moment
in time was replayed in exacting detail. Time did not exist for Keeper and his
crew so it was as if they soporifically endured a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">billions-of-years-long</i> dream. A swirling ball of gasses condensed
and became a massive star and nine orbiting planets of various sizes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Eons later an unknown <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">projectile</i>, composed of dark and light matter hurtling through
space, exploded into the fifth planet and both objects became one large
orbiting asteroid belt. All of the planets changed but the third planet was
rich in hydrogen and oxygen … and water formed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Volcanoes
and earthquakes shaped mountains, continents and oceans and then reshaped and
reshaped them. Life forms, plant and animal, developed in the seas and after
almost a billion years moved onto land. Evolution shaped the world with every
rotation of the planet and with every trip around the star. Terrible animals
roamed the world and then were exterminated. Some life forms advanced more than
others. Cities were built, wars were fought and four and a half billion years
after the planet was first formed a delicate species call <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">man </i>first left the atmosphere of the planet and ventured into the space
between. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And this <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sequence
of origination</i> … up to the present time, was repeated for every life form
on the vessel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Keeper and his crew were suddenly themselves. It was
as if a five-billion year instant replay had abruptly finished. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
ship was gone and Teuth pointed in eight directions to an impossibly immense
chamber of glowing brightness that the entire crew was floating toward.
“Planters,” he gasped.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“And
they know <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">everything</i> about all of us,”
Keeper said … as they entered the light.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">TO BE CONTINUED …<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br /></div>
Randall R. Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536932805707673903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097264115343784589.post-11080268547823977762020-04-12T22:09:00.001-06:002020-04-12T22:10:02.644-06:00Keeper and the Planters part 3<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Copyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.<br />
<br />
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 20.0pt;">Keeper
and the<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 48.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>PLANTERS<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "brush script mt"; font-size: 36.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Part
3<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "brush script mt"; font-size: 36.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“The new-species
acquisition ship <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Centurion</i>, with a crew
of ten-thousand, eight-hundred and sixty-seven-thousand, four hundred thirty
seven and one-half life-forms is hurtling at reverse light speed times nine
toward the inescapable event-horizon at the center of the Enubus 14 Galaxy,” an
orange-tinted cadet with a giant pumpkin-shaped head blurted after raising one of
his vine-like hands. “So why should we be concerned with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">infinity</i> and the advanced laws of physics?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“One-half life forms?”
a girl-android from Mateuse 17 focused the twin aperture lenses imbedded into
her metallic head on the student with the huge orange pumpkin-like head.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“He’s talking about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you</i>, half-screws,” a boy snickered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The android girl cocked her head to one side, a programmed
human gesture, but the light in her camera-like eyes never flickered. Flushing
a deeper shade than pumpkin head, the boy cowered away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Teuth, the ship’s navigator, ignored the banter. “Yes
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Clarence</i>,” he said. “Flying around
the inside perimeter of a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">black hole</i>
is dangerous! So we may never get another chance to enlighten <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">our</i> minds.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The land-adapted cephalopod continued. “The
closed-structure <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">laws of infinity</i> where
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">end </i>becomes the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">beginning</i> apply not only to dark and
light matter … but to analytical things such as size and weight.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“That’s
why unchecked accumulative mass eventually becomes a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">black hole</i> or less than nothing,” one student said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Exactly,”
Teuth agreed. “And the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">largest</i> thing
in the universe … is also the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">smallest</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
don’t understand,” a bewildered student who looked like a walking plant said.
Several students, who resembled earth hyenas, laughed. One lifted his leg. The plant
girl was obviously embarrassed; her naturally green skin-color took on a
crimson tint.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“What
is the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">largest</i> thing?” Teuth asked.
There was a long pause as the students searched for the correct answer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The
sum of all galaxies and gasses in the universe.” the girl android answered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Wrong,”
Teuth said. “It is the expanding ball of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dark</i>
energy that these galaxies float upon.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The girl android appeared to faintly vibrate. An
almost indiscernible wisp of ionized smoke floated from one of her audio
receptors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Teuth
glanced at her and made a mental note to suggest that she have her circuits
cleaned. “And the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">smallest</i>?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“A
sub-atomic particle diminished to the power of four-nineteen … called a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">zilch</i>,” Pumpkin head answered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“And
what is a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">zilch</i> made of?” Teuth
asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“According
to hypothetical-physics a very, very, I could very for a year, tiny-ball of … <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dark energy</i>,” the plant girl said smiling
at her classmates. Suddenly her mouth fell open. “Oh!” She once again turned
red and the hyena-looking students howled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
Centurion’s First Officer, Jeff Bland, appeared beside the teacher. “Keeper needs
you on the control level … now!” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Class
dismissed,” Teuth told the students.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------2-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Keeper
was standing under an exterior hologram showing thousands of battle ships
rapidly overtaking the Centurion. “We were wrong about the Gorwat coming out to
meet the Planters; it’s us they want!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“No!
It’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">me</i> they want!” Leika stepped out
of the transporter and marched toward Keeper, Jeff Bland and Teuth. “I received
a personal message from Gorwan. He will destroy us all … unless I submit myself
to him.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
thought lovers were supposed to die of a broken heart,” Jeff quipped. “That
lizard, warlord-king must not know the rules!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We
were never <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lovers</i>!” Leika glared at
Jeff. “I did what I had to, to get us out of a tough situation.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Will
they catch us before we reach the event horizon?” Keeper asked Teuth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“With
a few alterations to the laws of physics, hopefully I can get us there before
they do,” Teuth said. “The problem is … when we enter the event-horizon they
can keep us from coming out.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’ll
inform Gorwat … that I’ll shuttle myself to his ship.” Leika sighed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“No!”
Keeper said. “The Gorwat have discovered a way to render all Porosities species
powerless. Once he gets you aboard his ship you won’t be able to resist his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">matrimonial</i> plans.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The
captain is right,” Jeff said. “Tell that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lizard</i>
to catch his flies somewhere else!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Flies?”
Leika smirked. “That’s not what you said when <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we</i> were in the showers.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
was pleading for my dignity,” Jeff argued. “I would have said <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">anything</i>!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Teuth had his tentacles in the light array and was
moving them with furious precision. “By switching all power to the engines and
creating a time vapor-lock we should be able to achieve Reverse Light Speed to
the power of twelve.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Time-lock?
I like that,” Jeff said. “I don’t like waiting around for something <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bad</i> to happen.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Do
it,” Keeper told Teuth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Shall
I inform the crew?” Jeff thought Keeper would at least consider other options
before doing something so radical.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“No,”
Keeper said. “They’ll know what happened … when they awaken.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Maximum
power to engines and time-vapor in ten seconds,” Teuth said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jeff looked at Leika and she smiled. He thought he
saw her mouth the words <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I love you</i> …
then he held his breath.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Centurion seemed to
glisten … just before a tremendous acceleration. Inside the vast multi-level
starship all life-forms, as well as machines, became grey, misty-statues,
frozen in time without power or thought. All the ship’s electrical and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">photonomic</i> control systems paused.
Millions of beams of multi-colored light, some now visible for the first time
to the human eye, hung suspended in mid-air and the flow of electrons in
millions of miles of circuits stopped … waiting for eternity … or just a
split-second to continue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------3-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jeff Bland felt pressure
in his ears and his eyes once again focused. Keeper looked much like he had before
… a shimmering-hologram of a humanoid with unfinished legs. Teuth blinked his
bulbous and octopus-like eyes. “Looks like we made it,” Keeper sighed his
relief.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Teuth looked stunned as he examined the light array.
“According to our data … we didn’t.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The holographic display floating above them showed
thousands of Gorwat ships covering all possible escape routes as they entered
the black hole. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Teuth continued. “According to our data, the Gorwat
actually arrived here before we did … we should have been vaporized!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Wait
a minute,” Jeff said as he looked around. “Where’s Leika?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
should have thought of that,” Keeper said as he shook his head. “Porosities are
not affected by time-vapor the same way other species are. She would have awakened
some time before we did.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“There!”
Teuth pointed a tentacle toward the exterior hologram. A small shuttle craft
could be seen being pulled by a tractor-beam into the largest warship.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“She
can’t do that!” Jeff yelled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“But
she did.” Keeper hung his head.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Gorwan’s lizard-like face suddenly replaced the
exterior hologram. “I’m happy that at least one of your allies shows some
reason.” He smiled … and his long tongue licked his wide lips.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We
have entered the event horizon,” Teuth reported without looking up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Keep
us just inside the horizon line,” Keeper told him. “And conserve the power
we’ll need for escape velocity.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
thank you for your <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">gift</i>.” Gorwan
laughed. Leika could be seen struggling behind him and being stripped naked by
dozens of Gorwat warriors. “I must give you something in return!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A tremendous blast of photon energy came from the
largest Gorwat ship and several others. The Centurion, without adequate
shielding, was slammed far inside the black hole at the center of the Enubus
galaxy. With impossible velocity and acceleration the interior of the
spacecraft began to blur. For almost a second, Gorwan’s face and laughter could
be seen and heard … and then it faded.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jeff Bland felt at first
weightless and then as heavy as a planet. A roaring sound volumed to infinity
and then became deathly quiet. He looked across the rippling control level and
Keeper and Teuth both appeared to be swelling and then pulling apart as well as
all the matter and dark-matter machines on the ship. There were suddenly two
captains and two navigators staring at him. He heard a gasp and turned … and he
was looking at … himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">TO BE CONTINUED …<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<br /></div>
Randall R. Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536932805707673903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097264115343784589.post-79037421016103302652020-04-05T20:45:00.002-06:002020-04-05T20:45:57.231-06:00Keeper and the Planters part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Copyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">Keeper
and the<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 48.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>PLANTERS<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Brush Script MT"; font-size: 36.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000\,9000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,50000 \#7C7C7C -1 100000 shade=20000 satm=300000\,79000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=52000 satm=300000\,100000 \#FFFFFF -1 100000 tint=40000 satm=250000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textoutline-fill-color: #7D7D7D; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .415pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: solid;">Part
2<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By
R. Peterson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Planters!” Jeff Bland
gasped.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A hologram above the control level of the spaceship
showed a seemingly endless wave of moon sized and larger spheres appearing over
the horizon at the far edges of the known universe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I think you’re right,”
Keeper said. “I believe what we are seeing is perhaps only the first wave of
the legendary Sadinimo never before seen with humanoid eyes. I don’t recall
ever witnessing an armada of this size and numbers.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Four-hundred nineteen
thousand vessels,” Teuth injected as he moved his tentacles with great
dexterity through beams of colored lights rising from the Centurion’s systems
control panel. “Eighty-four light years away and approaching at a greatly magnified
reverse light speed.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Is that an estimate?”
Jeff was curious. The ship’s land-adapted cephalopod navigator was notorious
for giving exact figures even with numbers approaching infinity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“No,” Teuth told him.
“I’ve counted the approaching objects with three different universal positioning
scans and come up with those exact numbers.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Curious,” Keeper said.
“The quantity four nineteen appears throughout history, on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">countless </i>planetary systems, as a number of great implications.
Science has yet to understand the significance of this numerological anomaly.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Six-hundred
forty-three thousand, eight hundred and seventy two planets,” Teuth said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Back on Earth we
always thought of the number thirteen and the number four nineteen as a bad
luck … satanic,” Jeff said. “There were no thirteenth floors in hotels … and no
room numbers four nineteen.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“How long before we
make contact?” Keeper asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“At their current
velocity I would <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">estimate</i> three
hours, twenty six minutes and fourteen seconds,” Teuth said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Estimate?” Jeff raised
an eyebrow and grinned when he looked at the octopus-like creature operating
the ship’s controls.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“The Sadinimo, if
that’s what they are, appear to be increasing their speed exponentially. The
rapid increase in velocity makes exact calculations very difficult.” Teuth didn’t
look up but appeared to be absorbed in gathering data. His tentacles were
moving so fast through the colored beams of light they looked like a blur.
“Long range life scans have determined that one-thousand three-hundred and
eighty-nine planets at the edge of the universe have just been stripped of all
life forms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Plants or people?”
Jeff gasped.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Everything … all life
forms including bacteriological,” Teuth said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Get us out of their
path Teuth,” Keeper ordered. He turned to Jeff. “Wake up all members of the
crew and have them prepare for maximum reverse light speed without hibernation.
And have our <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">organic science officer</i>
report to the control level as soon as possible.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Leika!” Jeff moaned as
he hurried toward the ship’s inter-level transporter, “and I’m the one who has
to wake the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">witch</i> up!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------2-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>First
Officer Jeff Bland drained the hibernation fluid from the sleeping chamber and
then opened the sealed cover. The organic science officer looked disheveled.
The barbed quills that replaced hair on humans lay limp and tangled. She moaned
softly and twisted as if caught in some otherworldly dream. He was glad her
eyes were still closed. It was anyone’s guess what color they would be when she
opened them. Porosities females had changeable eye color that covered the
entire light spectrum and beyond. The eye color reflected their moods and was
accompanied by an almost hypnotic ability to make male humanoid species fall hopelessly
in love with them. Leika was dangerous and had both a sadistic and enamored
personality when it came to matters of the heart. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Of the male crew
members, only Keeper was immune to Leika’s exotic and irresistible charms. But
then the ship’s captain was not humanoid. He belonged to a rare and mystical
species from the opposite side of the universe called the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Eyd</i> that had evolved over eons away from any type of physical form.
Teuth referred to him as a living hologram. Jeff thought the Centurion’s
captain most resembled a spirit … or a god. The captain’s appearance as a
humanoid was nothing more than an illusion. The space where his feet should
have been was ever-changing multicolored flames … much like Leika’s eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Leika’s lips moved and
she murmured something. Jeff leaned closer to hear her better. Suddenly her
eyes opened, as red as an exploding dwarf star and almost as violent. “Get
back!” she hissed. Before Jeff could take a step back, he was flung across the
room with some type of optic energy. He crashed into a cluster of hibernation
fluid filters and crumbled to the floor. “How dare you wake me before my
appointed time!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“It was Keeper’s
orders,” Jeff stammered. “The Planters are less than four hours away!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I know,” Leika said
and Jeff felt his legs weaken. “I’ve been awake for some time, and when I’m
awake, I know everything that goes on!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Then why did you
pretend to be sleeping and then throw me across the room,” Jeff was astonished.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“That was for referring
to me as a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">witch</i>!” Leika glared. “She
climbed out of the chamber completely nude and walked toward the sleeping level
showers stretching her arms. Her anger seemed to evaporate like a comet that
flies too close to a star. She was the most breathtaking and exotic female
species that Jeff had ever seen. “Roll in your tongue and bring me some towels!”
she smiled. “Make sure they’re clean … and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lovingly</i>
warm.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jeff wanted to run, but instead he went looking for
towels and the warming cabinets … like he was her personal slave.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------3-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
Centurion was hurtling through space at reverse light speed squared to the maximum
power of nine when Jeff and Leika entered the command level. Most of the ship’s
more than ten thousand crew members were already at their duty stations. “It’s
about time you woke up, sleepyhead.” Keeper glanced at Leika.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Next
time send an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">alarm clock</i> with more on
his mind than taking advantage of an unconscious female,” Leika scowled at the
ship’s first officer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
never!” Jeff held up his hands in frustration.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Maybe
that’s your problem,” Leika smirked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’ve
bought us a little time,” Teuth said, “but at their current velocity, the Sadinimo
fleet will overtake us in three-hours and twenty one minutes.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We
need to find a way to get out of their reach,” Keeper thrust his own hands into
the light array.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
would suggest offering the Planters a life form to see what they do with it,”
Leika said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Now,
wait a minute!” Jeff stammered. “I know you’re still angry, but this is murder
you’re talking about.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Not
you fly-paper boy,” Leika laughed. “I would suggest sacrificing something from
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">gumball machine</i>. Perhaps the Alpineen
Sea Snake we captured on NMZ 12?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jeff Bland was closest to the strange storage device
that Keeper kept exotic animal species in. Each life form was shrunk to marble
size, encapsulated along with a critical natural environment and then stored in
a device that indeed did resemble a 1950’s Earth gumball machine. “I would
suggest a Maronian Saggoplatapus,” he said. “Without reduction, they’re almost
as large as this entire ship and we already have too many. They’re extremely
fast breeders … I count at least nine.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Leika turned her head toward a group of mostly male cadets
and didn’t say anything.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Enlarge
one in a self-contained environmental sphere as soon as it’s beyond the ship’s
gravitational field,” Keeper said. “We’ll see what these <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Planters</i> do with the life forms they encounter.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jeff shook his head as he watched Leika stroll
toward the youthful future officers. There was a mixture of exotic anticipation
and sexual excitement in the group … dominated by an understandable fear of
loss-of-control. “Better you than me,” he whispered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-------4-------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">More than half the crew
watched on the overhead hologram as the first of the Planters approached the encapsulated
sea creature. A beam of greenish light suddenly extended from the closest green
sphere and turned the Saggoplatapus a vivid orange. A moment later the creature
and the capsule it was contained in both disappeared. “Vaporized!” Jeff gasped.
“I thought they might at least try to eat it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“That
possibility still might exist,” Teuth said. “The particle imprint that is always
present in all destructurizations cannot be found on any of our energy scans.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jeff gaped. “And that
means?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“The planters obviously
transported the creature inside their own ship or to another location,” Teuth
said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“That’s good news,” Keeper
said. “At least we know our new friends aren’t outright <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">killers.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We
have other problems,” Teuth said. “Do you want it on the hologram?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Why
not,” Keeper said looking about the busy command level. “Why should we keep bad
news to ourselves?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jeff gasped as the hologram appeared above them. “Are
those what I think they are?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Gorwat
battle ships coming out to meet the universe’s newest invaders,” Teuth said. “I
count more than five thousand … some are obviously cloaked.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We’ll
never survive in the middle of this type of war,” Keeper said. “Navigate us into
the exact center of the nearest spiral galaxy!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“That
will put us into a …” Jeff gasped.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“… Black
hole,” Keeper finished. “Don’t worry. I f we survive a rather bumpy ride around
the event horizon you’ll have something wild … to tell your children.” Keeper
smiled as he saw Leika approaching.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">If</i> we survive?” Jeff moaned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">TO BE CONTINUED …<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br /></div>
Randall R. Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11536932805707673903noreply@blogger.com0