by James Hoch
We made excellent time, traveling probably a good forty miles or more. As the afternoon sun lengthened the shadows, Sela directed Tempest to a small grove of trees off to the side of the road. It was a perfect campsite for the night that included fresh running water from the stream and lots of firewood. I was still nervous about making fires; Sela assured me we would be all right and reminded me we had our very own security system-Jerky.
After the hard ride, I figured rolling around and bathing in that cold stream would be just the thing. We took all the gear and saddles off the two horses, and walked them over to the stream. They drank for a long time. I couldn't wait to get my clothes off and dive in.
"We can let the horses roam in this grassy area. They won't go anywhere," she said, patting Tempest. "Right boy?"
"You found a good spot," I said, petting Hope.
"Sorry it doesn't have room service."
"If it did, I'd send for a bottle of champagne and a nice smoked cheese plate."
"Um…that sounds absolutely fantastic," Sela said dreamily.
"As for dinner, I guess its peaches and jerky."
After making a small fire, Sela laid out the one sleeping bag we had and an additional wool blanket. I made a mental note that those covers wouldn't help much longer as the nights got colder. We were still very lucky that it was an unseasonably warm fall.
"Did you see where Jerky took off to?" I asked, looking around the campsite.
"As soon as we got here, she took off into that field," Sela said pointing down the tree line.
As I turned back to the fire, my eyes widened. Jerky waltzed into the campsite. There in her mouth was a huge rabbit. The cat walked right up to me and placed the future dinner item at my feet.
"Oh my," Sela said, putting her hand to her mouth. I could see a grin form at the corners. "Look who's been out hunting for us. She looks so proud." Her laugh was infectious.
Now mind you, I've had a few cats in my lifetime. Some were quite big and resembled small lions. Jerky, on the other hand, would be more like a cat who had won the kitty lottery. You know, the cats that get gourmet food like Fancy Feast every night in a crystal bowl, have rhinestone-studded collars and sleep at the foot of someone's bed. Jerky was petite, well groomed and looked like she was ready for the front cover of Cat Fancy magazine. Yet there she stood with what seemed like a smile. When I reached down to pet her, she immediately sat and started grooming her behind. Sela came over and picked up the rabbit.
"Thanks, Jerky. We'll be sure to save you some."
After gutting the animal, Sela found a small combination salt-and-pepper shaker in one of her packs. I made a small spit for the animal. "At least she didn't bring us a scrawny mouse. Those are hard to grill and the burnt hair will send your taste buds packing," I said.
So dinner consisted of charbroiled rabbit and some canned potatoes. For dessert we opened a jar of applesauce Sela found in that farmhouse root cellar. Conversation, for a change, did not include bad memories. Instead, we talked about favorite books we each had read.
"Did you read much Stephen King?" I asked as I tossed the remains of the rabbit into the fire.
"Just about everything he ever wrote. The man could sure tell a story. My favorite was probably The Shining."
"Mine too."
Just as we were sharing favorite scenes from the book, a large gray wolf lunged from the darkness and snatched Jerky by the neck. I hollered and jumped up. Instantly, two other wolves simultaneously attacked Sela. She drew her Glock, shot one of the animals and started wrestling with the other. I found my Glock and shot the wolf that had Jerky in its jaws. The animal flew backward into a bush, still clutching Jerky. I could see that she was lying still. As I went to help Sela, three other wolves viciously lunged at Hope while Tempest was fending off another with his hoofs.
"Quick, shoot them," Sela screamed.
"I don't want to hit Hope."
Before I could get a bead on the wolves, Sela ran to the horse. Hope had one wolf on her back, savagely biting into her neck. Blood spewed from the wound. After a few seconds, Hope fell to her knees. One other wolf was chewing on the horse's calf muscle. A third wolf was poised to rip into Hope's belly. Sela shot that one first and immediately took care of the one on the horse's leg. I lunged at the one on the neck, grabbed the wolf by the neck and ripped her off Hope. I pulled out a hunting knife strapped to my belt and rammed it into the animal's chest.
Tempest had trampled his one attacker. As I lay breathing hard with the dead wolf on top of me, the black stallion came over to sniff Hope. Sela was shaking as she pushed the dead wolf off me.
"Shit, shit, shit," Sela said over and over. Tears streamed down her face. "Are you all right?"
"Yes, how about you?"
"Just a few scratches. I'm fine. Where's Jerky?"
Without answering her, I stumbled over to the dead wolf in the bushes. The motionless bloody body of Jerky was still in the wolf's mouth. I knelt, pried open the jaws and slowly picked up Jerky.
"Is she still breathing?" Sela asked, kneeling next to Hope. She used her shirt to press on the bloody wounds around Hope's neck. Tempest was licking Hope's calf wound.
"Yes, but barely," I replied as I brought the cat over to the fire. I pushed my pack closer to the fire and laid the cat on top. I pulled several shirts out of my pack, ran to the stream and got them wet. When I returned, Sela was examining the horse's wounds.
"I think this is pointless. Her wounds are much too severe. We are going to have to put her down, probably Jerky as well."
With the dripping shirts, I stared at her and said firmly, "No. We can save them."
"Heckel, look at them. There's no way they can recover. Hope's calf muscles are shredded, not to mention the amount of blood loss," Sela said wiping her tear-streamed cheeks. "And poor Jerky's neck looks broken."
I bent down and cleaned the blood from Jerky's neck. The cat's breathing was labored.
"We have to try," I said softly. "We have to…"
Sela picked up the rifle, getting ready to put Hope out of her misery. I ran and stood in front of the horse.
"Get out of the way, Heckel," Sela said with a tremble in her voice.
"We have to try," I said pushing the barrel of the gun away from the horse. "Please, put the gun away."
Sela sat down, put her head in her hands and cried hard. I put my bloody hand around her neck and massaged it slowly.
After a few minutes, I went to Hope and finished cleaning her wounds. I wrapped her leg with some of the damp shirts. Sela went over and examined Tempest. She hugged the horse and continued crying.
Hope's breathing was also very strained. I took our wool blanket over toward the horse, slid my pack with Jerky resting on top near the horse's belly and lay down. I continued to pet both animals and whisper soft words of encouragement. Please, dear God, don't let our friends die. We need them. I fell asleep with a hand on each animal.
The morning sun hit my face and felt warm, comforting. At first, I had totally forgotten about the attacking wolves. I inhaled deeply and could smell the fresh scent of the morning dew. When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Sela kneeling with her hands in prayer, looking at me.
"Are you all right?" I asked sitting up slowly and rubbing my eyes. "Are you praying?"
Sela just stared at me with an expression of awe and reverence. Her eyes were like saucers.
"You're scaring me," I said.
She extended her arm, pointed and with a controlled, soft voice said, "Look."
Hope was standing next to Tempest and eating grass.
Sela jumped up, came to me and helped me stand. "You did this," she said, putting her arms around my neck and hugging me.
The grip on me almost made me choke. "I don't understand."
"You saved them."
As if on cue, Jerky came from around one of the bushes with a dead mouse in her mouth. I ran up to the cat and picked her up. For a change, she didn't protest. I examined the cat
and there were no signs of any wounds. Her neck was normal and strong.
"You did this," Sela said once again, coming up to me. She petted Jerky who responded with purring and nuzzling into Sela's hand. I looked back and forth from horse to cat as if I were a spectator at a tennis match.
Now I was absolutely freaked out. I handed Jerky to Sela and went to Hope. The horse lifted her head and immediately licked my face. Tempest looked up, came over to us and also licked my face.
"See, they know you did this," Sela said with tears streaming down her face.
I examined Hope's wounds. They were completely healed with not even a hint of a scar or new pink flesh. It was as if nothing ever happened.
Sela announced again that somehow I had cured them, restoring them to the picture of perfect health. Being dazed and practically in shock, I quietly turned away from the horses and walked to the stream. Sela kept her litany of praises going as she set Jerky down to put more wood on the fire.
At the stream, I knelt down and splashed water on my face. "What in God's name is going on?" I whispered. "There has to be some sort of explanation. Hell, I haven't been to church in years. For that matter, neither had a lot of other people. No, there had to be some weird supernatural explanation. I didn't do anything."
I sat by the stream for a long time, staring into the clear water.
"You okay?" Sela asked, coming up behind me and putting her hands on my shoulders. Her voice was calmer.
Shaking my head from side to side, I muttered, "Yeah, I just can't figure it out and…um…I'm a little scared."
Sela sat down next to me. I picked up a handful of stones and started tossing them into the stream.
"There's a power in you, Heckel. I know it now without a doubt. I saw what you did to end that horrible storm and now this. Not to mention what you told me about how you had that extra strength in your legs to push that old rusty VW Bug that you and Leonard used to get away from Madeline."
"Well, I didn't ask for this…whatever it is," I said, throwing a stone harder.
Sela sat quietly for a while staring into the water, watching as I threw the stones.
"What am I suppose to do with this power? That is, if I really have a-"
"Stop Madeline," Sela said with a hint of excitement.
"Oh, riiiight," I said with a full load of sarcasm. "Me, a short, half-scared, shy, wimpy-"
"You are not wimpy!" she said defiantly. "And stop putting yourself down. You have a power in you that is destined to save humanity."
Laughing nervously, I just threw more stones in the water and shook my head in disbelief. "Oh, come on."
"I know this must be hard to accept, but I'm sure I'm right after what happened last night."
Trying to change the subject, I asked, "Do you think those wolves were sent from Madeline?"
"I don't think so. They didn't have that weird, demonic aura to them or glowing eyes. No, I think these were just a pack of hungry wolves."
We continued to reenact the whole violent scene, praising each other's actions.
"Look, can we not discuss this for a while. I mean, I…um… I am really confused."
Sela stood up, offered her hand and pulled me up. She put her arms around my waist, leaned into me and kissed me deeply. The kiss was reassuring and comforting. It made my head swim and my insides melt.
After the kiss, Sela continued to hug me. Softly she said into my ear, "I love you and will always be there for you."
"I love you too."
Jerky had walked up behind us and with her back arched and purring loudly, she curled around our legs.
"Guess someone wants some breakfast," Sela said looking down at the cat.
"Sounds good to me too."
The three of us walked back to the camp. As Sela bought out the food, I walked over to Hope and petted her. "Whoever named you Hope surely had it right," I said softly. "We definitely need all the Hope we can get."
Chapter 11
The next week passed smoothly and without any trouble, either natural or supernatural. As I rode Hope, I kept thinking of the attack from the wolves and what had happened afterwards. My mind reeled from all the unexplained occurrences and question after question put up billboards in my brain.
As we progressed south, warmer weather thankfully tagged along. A few of the days were unseasonably hot and the nights offered cool, pleasant sleeping temps. There was an occasional shower, but no severe storms.
Along the way, we cautiously stopped at small towns to scavenge for anything useful, but we mostly looked for food. The pickings were slim. Jerky found us a rabbit again and we triumphed in her hunting skills. And of course, I started looking at my traveling companion in a new light. Was she indeed more than just a cat?
Sela and I avoided talking about the wolf attack. The last time she brought it up, I got a bit testy. Why? I don't exactly have an answer for that. I think the flood of emotions associated with the real answer or answers most likely caused my snippy retort.
Sela always rode ahead of me and kept the pace fairly steady and fast. Jerky traded off riding with both of us. Today, she was on Sela's shoulder. Sela slowed down and pointed to a creek off in the distance.
"Looks good to me. I could use a break too," I shouted. As we got closer to the water, Jerky jumped off Tempest and ran ahead. "Guess she needs a break as well."
After we dismounted and led the horses to the water, I said softly in my most apologetic tone, "I'm sorry."
"For what?" Sela asked looking down at me.
"For…um…snapping at you. That was rude of me."
"No need. I understand how you must feel," she said caressing my cheek.
"It's just that…well, I've never been a very religious person or thought much about the whole supernatural stuff." I could tell Sela chose her words carefully so as not to rile me up. I resisted the urge to get defensive.
"You have to be open to the possibility that for some reason…you've been…"
"What…the 'Chosen One'? That sounds like a cliche from a movie." I sniggered. "Something Kung Fu or Buddha."
Sela looked hurt. Damn, I did it again. Quickly, I said, "Oops…there I go again. Just punch me," I said offering my arm.
"Just put down your defenses and sarcasm, so we can talk calmly as well as intelligently."
"Okay," I replied, taking her hand and walking toward the stream. Jerky and the horses drank from the clean, fresh water. We stood under a tree that sported the fall look with colorful orange leaves with an occasional one cascading to the ground.
The slightly salty scent of Sela smelled wonderful. I wanted to pull her down into the tall grass and make love to her so I could avoid talking about the whole topic of my being some superhero destined to save humanity and the world from the forces of evil. Softly under my breath using my best Darth Vader voice, I muttered, "Luke, it is your destiny."
"I heard that," Sela said, laughing as she spun around and hugged me. "Yes, maybe it is your destiny."
Suddenly, a cold breeze slammed into me and made me shiver. Either it was destiny validating what Sela just said, or there was a cold front coming.
"Fine. Let's, for a moment, just say that I am some sort of superhero or religious icon poised to confront Madeline and her army of evil. What's the game plan? I mean look around…there's you, me, our two horses and my incredible knows-when-evil-approaches super sidekick, Jerky! It's not exactly an awesome menacing militia."
Sela nodded her head slowly to confirm my sarcasm-tinged statement. "Yes, but we have to put our trust in-"
"God?"
She looked me straight in the eyes, nodded her head a few times and I knew she was dead serious.
"That brings up an interesting question. Why did God let things get so out of hand in the first place? I mean, for Chrissake, so many people died and died horribly. For what?"
"Don't know, but I do know there has always been a battle between good and evil. Guess evil got an upper hand over the last decade or two."
"Do ya think?" I said with my best Steve Martin voice. The minute I said it, I realized my sarcasm went a little over the edge.
Sela socked me in the arm. Both horses looked up for a second and then went back to drinking.
"Ouch," I said. "Okay, I deserved that one."
The horses walked away from the stream and started to munch on the nearby grass.
"We can continue to discuss this more tonight at dinner. We should get in a few more miles before calling it quits for the night."
"You da boss," I said jokingly.
"And you just remember that," she said poking me in the arm and snickering.
Jerky decided this time she wanted to ride with me. The warm cat perched on my shoulder acted like a soft fleece scarf. The wind occasionally contained hints of something colder in the forecast. Our luck with warm weather was most likely going to change.
"I don't suppose you have a tent in that magic bag of yours?" I asked as we slowed the pace for a while.
"No, I've been looking for something like that every time we find a town."
"I think we are going to need one pretty soon. There's a change in the weather coming around the bend."
"Yeah, it's inevitable. There are a couple of towns that we are going to go through tomorrow. Hopefully, we can find a small backpacking tent or at least a tarp."
That night around the campfire, we talked about the events that had happened leading to what we called the collapse.
"Where were you the day that the president and his whole cabinet were murdered?" Sela asked as she threw another log on the fire.
"I nearly forgot about that tragedy. By then it was beginning to get hard to hear any reliable news broadcasting. Most of the television and radio stations weren't even broadcasting."
"That made things so difficult. The just not knowing what was happening. So, where were you?"
I poked a stick in the fire, trying to remember where I was. After a few minutes of stammering and umming, I said, "I think I was in Virginia, still trying to teach. As time went by during the fall after the horrible events in that spring and summer, fewer and fewer kids were showing up at school. Word of the president's death and all his cabinet got to the school. Several parents came and got their kids. People felt it was the final straw. That was the last day I went to teach."
