She began to read her own words as a young teenager, unashamedly and with obvious fascination.
It was obvious she hadn’t seen the words in years, and was looking forward to reliving one of her young life’s most dramatic nights.
Chapter 48
Sept 20th:
Oh my God, I’m soooo freaking out right now. My hands are shaking and I just want to cry.
Tony just dropped me off and left. I didn’t even realize until he drove off he didn’t even kiss me goodbye.
I think he’s freaked out too, although he’d never admit it.
We spent the evening at the Fall Harvest Carnival at the Pulaski County Fairgrounds.
He won me a huge teddy bear by throwing darts at balloons. He’s my hero! I’m gonna name the bear Theodore.
We took Theodore to Tony’s car and went back to the midway. We rode the Himalaya and the Tilt-A-Whirl and went to see the freak show.
Then we ate typical carnival food. Tony had three corn dogs (he’s a pig, but he’s such a sweet pig and he’s my pig…) and I had a burger with fries.
We were getting ready to leave when I saw a purple tent at the end of the midway. It was in kind of a dark corner and didn’t have a line in front of it. So that in itself was reason to go, because all the other attractions had long lines.
On the outside was a big sign that said, “Fortunes Told, Futures Revealed. All Secrets Told For Ten Tiny Dollars”
I took Tony’s hand and dragged him toward the tent.
He hesitated.
He said, “How come you want to go and waste ten of my hard-earned dollars?”
I told him to stop being a cheapskate.
He asked what I needed a fortune teller for and I told him I wanted to find out for sure if he was telling me the truth when he said he loves me and wants to marry me.
He balked but as always he let me have my way. 'Cuz he knows I’m the boss!!!
Anyways, the fortune teller was kind of creepy, but not in a scary way. She was very old and had the blackest eyes I’ve ever seen.
But the creepiest part was what she told us. She said there’s a volcano underneath Yellowstone National Park. She said nobody knows it’s there because it’s buried deep underground.
But that during our lifetime it’s going to erupt.
She said we were in the unique position to warn millions of people, but didn’t elaborate or explain why.
Anyway, she said we shouldn’t get married or have kids until after the whole volcano thingy because it would distract us.
Then she finally got to the good news!!!!!
She said Tony really does love me and he really does want to marry me someday!!!!!!
YAY!!!!!!
SUPER YAY!!!!!
I’m so happy!!!!
Anyway, the creepiest part came next.
Tony got mad at her and started cursing at her and there was no reason for that. So I grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the tent.
When we got outside I told him to calm down, that he was being childish. And then I noticed he still had the ten dollar bill in his hand.
I made him go back to pay her because I didn’t want karma to make things hard on us.
He didn’t want to but I made him cuz I’m the boss and cuz he loves me!!!!!
But here’s the thing. When we went back to the tent she was gone. She just vanished. And the tent was full of junk that couldn’t have just magically appeared there.
But it was there!!!!
There was a man, a carnival worker, who told us we weren’t supposed to be in there.
But we told him we were just there a couple of minutes before. And that the gypsy told our fortunes.
He got all sad and said that Madame Cervelli… that was her name… had died. That they no longer had any gypsy fortune tellers. That she was the only one.
Then someone called him and he left.
And Tony and I did too.
All the way home we tried to figure out what happened.
Tony thought it was a cheap trick of some kind.
But I don’t know how they could have pulled it off. I mean, the tent was full of boards and wood and stuff. And there was no way they could have stacked it in there in just two minutes. And we’d have seen them if they tried.
I’m tired. I’m going to bed.
Even though I prolly won’t sleep a wink.
The good news is, though…
TONY LOVES ME AND WANTS TO MARRY ME!!!
YAY!!!
SUPER YAY!!!!
Chapter 49
Hannah seemed lost in her own thoughts, and the smile upon her face was probably the biggest one she’d smiled in days.
Despite the spookiness of that night so many years before it was still a very pleasant memory for her.
It was just what she needed to pull her out of her general funk.
She looked at her visitors and suddenly blushed.
“You have to understand, that was me as a sixteen year old girl.
“The words sound so silly now. But back then that was my life.”
“And I guess we have our answer. It was indeed Madame Cervelli who did your reading that night.”
“Yes. It’s too bizarre to be a coincidence.”
“Do you believe in ghosts, Hannah?”
“Before that night, no.
“But that night changed me. I don’t think I believe in ghosts in the traditional sense. Meaning, little white things that jump out from behind furniture and say ‘boo.’
“What I do believe, though, is that there are many things we just don’t understand. And that the possibility of dead people finding ways to communicate with the living just might be possible under specific circumstances.”
“Like maybe, for example, when it’s necessary to warn millions of people they might die?”
“Exactly.”
Rocki started to say something, but hesitated.
Hannah said, “What? What is it?”
“I almost don’t want to tell you this, because right now I sense you’re in a good place. And what I have to tell you might freak you out all over again.”
Hannah steeled herself.
Then she said, “After what I’ve been through lately, how bad can it be?”
Rocki said, “Madame Cervelli’s brother… his name is Jonny Rosco… he also shared some additional information with us. Information you probably don’t know.”
“Which is…”
“Madame Cervelli also foretold that her granddaughter would be in danger. She wanted you and Tony to warn her granddaughter as well to get away from Yellowstone.
“It was, perhaps, Madame Cervelli’s ulterior motive for getting you and Tony involved in the whole process to begin with.
“It seems that Madame Cervelli was estranged from her daughter. And because of that her daughter would not allow her to see the granddaughter. In fact, Madame Cervelli didn’t even know where her daughter and granddaughter were located.”
Hannah forced a half smile.
“It seems rather odd that she could look into a crystal ball and tell my future and Tony’s, but that same crystal ball wouldn’t tell her where to find her granddaughter.”
“That’s a good point. And I agree with you. There are many things which we just don’t understand.”
“Was she ever able to find her granddaughter?”
“No. We believe she was desperate to warn her to get away from Yellowstone. But the only way she could do it was by proxy. She had to find someone willing to pass on that message. In the future, when the time was right.
“So you said Madame Cervelli died prior to that night?”
“That’s what the man said. The man we encountered in the tent when we went back.
“I’ve wondered about that night a lot over the years. So you think she came back from the dead not only to tell us to warn the general public… but also to save her granddaughter?”
“It would appear so.”
“But ho
w in the world would she know I would someday become a geologist? Or that I’d be involved in a project to gather data on the Yellowstone Caldera?
“Or that the government would try to hide the eruption from the public? And that it would fall on Gwen and me to warn everybody?”
Rocki looked at Darrell.
They both shrugged.
Darrell said, “We don’t have a clue how these things work. All we know is there have been a lot of bizarre things going on here.”
“Well, what about the granddaughter? Do we know who she is?”
“All Mr. Rosco told us is that her name is Julianna. And that she works at Yellowstone.
“And that Madame Cervelli was depending on you and Tony to get her away from there.”
Hannah got the strangest look on her face.
As though she’d suddenly recovered a long lost memory.
“And you say her last name was Cervelli? But how could that be? Didn’t her mother change her name when she married?”
“Mr. Rosco said Julianna’s mom never married. That she kept the family name her whole life. And that Julianna’s birth certificate listed no father.
“Julianna kept the family name as well.”
“Hold on a minute.”
Hannah picked up her cell phone and sent Tony a text message:
ANSWER QUICKLY, THIS IS IMPORTANT. THE RANGER WE MET AT YELLOWSTONE… JULIANNA…. WAS HER LAST NAME CERVELLI?
Hannah knew her husband well.
Like many men, he’d ignore a phone call if he was in the middle of something or having an animated conversation. He typically did that about half the time.
And although he almost always called Hannah back within a couple of minutes, that just wouldn’t do in this case.
Hannah wanted an answer now.
And Tony always checked text messages as soon as they came in.
And unless it was something he didn’t deem worthy, like a request to pick up milk on the way home, he typically answered them right away.
In this case, it took him less than thirty seconds.
YES, PRETTY SURE IT WAS. WHY?
Chapter 50
They’d heard the explosion at the Ranger Station, more than a mile from Firehole River.
The problem was Yellowstone has no surveillance cameras. And there are never enough rangers around when they’re needed.
Especially these days, when more than half their staff put in their transfer papers or quit entirely.
The rangers at the station knew which general direction the deafening sound came from, but not specifically how far away it was.
Julianna Cervelli happened to be mounted at the time.
And a ranger on horseback can cover a lot of ground fairly quickly.
She was incredulous. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
She took her radio off her hip and called in.
“Ranger Station, this is Ranger Cervelli.”
“Go ahead, Cervelli.”
“I’m at Firehole River. This was the scene of the explosion. It’s a mess. Flattened trees everywhere. And casualties. I can see one body high in a tree. Looks like a male adult Caucasian, although I can’t say for sure.
“There might be more. I’ll look around.”
“Wait? Don’t go poking around until the sheriff gets there with a bomb squad.”
“This wasn’t man-made. At least I don’t get that feeling. And there’s something else too. Something totally weird.”
“What’s that?”
“The river. It’s boiling.”
The charge ranger, a captain named Richards, looked at his radioman and asked, “Did she say the river was boiling?”
Captain Richards wasted no time in getting to Firehole River.
He didn’t have a horse. It was stabled at the “O.K. Corral” two miles away.
But a four wheel drive jeep works just as well.
When he parked the vehicle and stepped out of it he was quite literally speechless.
The river was indeed boiling. And it was hot.
So hot he couldn’t get within twenty feet of the shore.
So hot that steam rose from it, twisting and turning like clouds gone mad, then dissipating into the cooler air several feet above the water line.
Julianna was at his side, asking, “What in hell is happening, Captain? Have you ever seen anything like this before?”
“No. No I haven’t. What could possibly cause this?”
Most journalists never stray far from their news desks. They let others style their hair perfectly, apply flawless makeup, and then they smile through perfect teeth into the cameras.
Many would argue that type of journalists aren’t journalists at all.
They argue that real journalists are the ones who go on assignment. Undercover into dangerous drug dens. Mingling with terrorists in countries which cannot offer them personal protection.
Going into war zones and dodging bullets and improvised explosive devices.
And going into places such as Yellowstone, even as scientists are telling people to get as far away from Yellowstone as possible.
Most news agencies bowed out of the Yellowstone news conference.
They didn’t want to “endanger their people,” they explained.
The more hardcore journalists and cameramen called BS on that one.
They went in anyway.
Captain Richards was flanked by two members of the National Geological Survey on one side and two scientists on the other.
“Good morning.
“The river you see behind me is a tributary of the Madison River. This particular section of the river has been called ‘Firehole River’ for a very long time because it runs through and is heated by several thermal fissures.
“These are the same types of fissures which create the geysers in the park. Because they open up on the river’s bottom they add superheated water to the river and warm it.
“It’s been a tourist attraction for a very long time. A place where people could swim in warm water regardless of the air temperature.
“I’m afraid those days are over. This section of the river had been declared off limits. The yellow tape and barricades we put up are intended to keep people two hundred feet away. We’ve determined that’s as far as anyone may safely go without risking severe burns if the wind changes direction and blasts them with the steam that’s rising from the water.
“I’m handing off to Professor Martin Ballinger. He’s a geologist from Penn State University, and he’ll explain what has happened.”
“Good morning. My name is Martin Ballinger. That’s B-A-L-L-I-N-G-E-R.
“What’s happened is simple. A new fissure has opened up in the river’s bed. This one is much larger than the other fissures.
“In addition, the water it’s adding to the river is much hotter than it was previously.
“In layman’s terms, it’s occurred because the pressure beneath the ground has been building. The superheated water in the earth is expanding and looking for a way out.
“Deep underground it found a way. It found a crack in the rock and forced its way into that crack. And that forced the crack to widen. The steam forced its way higher and higher, from one crack to another, and eventually made its way to the surface, where it opened up a new fissure.
“This could have happened anywhere. It could have happened beneath your feet, where you’re standing right now.
“It just happened to open up in the river bottom, and by doing so has created the spectacular scene you see behind us.”
Chapter 51
Dr. Ballinger droned on and on, as scientists tend to do, and when he finished Captain Richards invited reporters’ questions.
“Captain Richards, it is true some of your guests were killed in the explosion?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so. One young man and one young woman. They were apparently in the river, swimming, when the fissure broke through beneath them. The superheated steam, when it hit the
much cooler water, caused a thermal explosion.
“Their bodies, I’m afraid, were thrown a considerable distance.”
“Have they been identified?”
“Yes. We were able to determine their identities using driver’s licenses we found in their car. The blast was so great, by the way, that it not only flattened most of the trees within a forty yard radius. It also flipped their car over onto its top.
“It was a very powerful blast.”
“Who were they?”
“I’m afraid we’re not releasing that information, pending notification of next of kin.”
“Dr. Ballinger, what is the likelihood of other such fissures opening up around the park?”
“Oh, it’s not only likely. It’s inevitable. What happened here is just the first. In the days and weeks and months ahead there will be many more.
“And where will they happen, sir? Will they always occur in the river?”
“Look at your feet. A fissure could open there in thirty seconds and blow you halfway to the moon.
“Each time they open, they will likely cause a tremendous explosion. If one were to open up beneath your feet it would probably kill us all.
“The sad fact is we don’t know when they’ll open up or where. All I can tell you is there will be many more.”
“Captain Richards, is it safe to come to Yellowstone anymore? Should the park be closed?”
“That’s a decision that’s way above my pay grade. It’s a decision that would have to come from the President of the United States, or from the Department of the Interior.”
The Secretary of the Interior, given advance notice of the press conference, was watching in his office.
“Damn it!”
He knew the press would be coming after him, asking the same question: was it time to permanently close one of the nation’s premier tourist destinations?
He’d already been giving the matter great thought.
Had already sought out his top experts for their advice.
The general consensus was that eventually it would become a life or death matter.
He wasn’t expecting that to happen so quickly.
As the news conference concluded two representatives from the National Park Service sat in the den of a small frame house in Apple Valley, California.
The Yellowstone Event (Book 3): A Nation Gone Crazy Page 16
