Anomaly

by Scott Prussing

  The Marines keep busy constructing crude barriers around our hiding place out of small saplings and branches hacked from trees. While they work, I sit with Kai. There’s something I’ve been wondering about, so I decide to ask him.

  “When my dad gets here with the rest of the soldiers, will you still stay with us?”

  Kai looks at me with a puzzled expression. “Where else would I go?”

  “I don’t know. I thought that maybe once I had plenty of protection around me, you might return home. To your world, I mean.”

  Kai grins. “Have you grown tired of my company already?”

  I shake my head. “No, of course not. I just thought you might want to go home, that there might be people you miss.”

  Kai doesn’t say anything for a moment or two. “I cannot return to my world,” he says, finally. “The portals go only one way—for now, anyhow.”

  I’m stunned by his reply. “You mean, anyone who comes through to help us is stuck in our world?” I hadn’t really considered that. If it’s true, it means that Selene, Colella and Tamika are stuck here as well. I hope they’re having fun hanging out with some dolphins, at least.

  “Yes, that is exactly what I mean,” Kai replies. “We cannot go back. Perhaps that will change if you and your friends are successful.”

  “I’m sorry,” I say, meaning it. “I didn’t know that. I don’t think I like the idea of people making that kind of sacrifice for me.”

  Kai smiles. “It’s not just for you, Leah. It’s for all of us. I told you how important you and your friends are. Those of us who have come through to help you were happy to do so.”

  I’m glad to hear him say that, but it still doesn’t sit well with me—especially since I have no idea what we’re supposed to do when we get to Alcatraz.

  Kai stands up, rescuing me from my thoughts.

  “Going somewhere?” I ask. I decide to add a little tease. “Have you grown tired of my company already?”

  Kai grins at my jest. “Not just yet,” he says. “I thought I would do some hunting, though. Your friends have some supplies, but I think they’d probably enjoy a bit of fresh meat, don’t you?”

  I smile, remembering how delicious the rabbit tasted.

  “It’s going to take more than a rabbit or two to feed six hungry Marines,” I say.

  Kai’s grin widens. “Then I’ll just have to come back with something bigger.”

  He leaps easily over the fallen tree we’d been sitting against and disappears back into the woods.

  Kai is gone for hours—I guess finding something bigger than a rabbit or squirrel is not turning out to be as easy as he thought. I spend the time chatting with Lieutenant Gregerson, exchanging stories about what we each have been doing since the kraken attack on the ship. He tells me his squad found the remains of my little fire on the beach, which was the first sign anyone had that I had survived. He says my dad was adamant that I had, however, telling everyone he felt sure he would have known if I were dead. I don’t know how much stock I really put in that, but I’m glad he feels we have such a strong connection. The lieutenant and I are both at a loss to explain how I ended up on a beach so far north of everyone else.

  It’s well past noon when Kai finally reappears. He’s carrying a long stick balanced on his right shoulder. Dangling from the stick are a half-dozen or so thick chunks of cooked meat. Now I know why he was gone so long—he butchered and cooked his prey before coming back. Since the meat has been cut up and cooked, there’s no way to tell what kind of animal he killed, but hunks are way too big to be from anything like a rabbit. Maybe he found a deer after all—heck, for all I know, maybe he brought down a bear. I certainly wouldn’t put it past his abilities.

  Kai hangs the stick between two nearby branches, keeping the meat off the ground.

  “Help yourselves,” he says to the Marines.

  He cuts a slab off one piece and then sticks his knife through the center of it. He hands the knife to me, while the Marines begin slicing off pieces for themselves.

  “What is it?” I ask.

  “It was a deer,” he replies with a smile. “Now it’s an early dinner.”

  I bite off a chunk. The meat is way tastier and more tender than the rabbit. I’ve never eaten deer before—venison, I think it’s called.

  “It’s great,” I say. “But why didn’t you bring it back and cook it here? I was starting to wonder where you’d gotten off to.”

  “Skinning and butchering is messy work,” he says matter-of-factly. “The scent of fresh blood can too easily attract the wrong kind of company, so I thought it safer to do that far from here. While the smell of cooked meat is not quite so tempting to many hunters from my world, I decided I might as well cook it away from here as well, just in case.”

  “Good thinking,” Lieutenant Gregerson says. “And thank you. This is way better than the dried meat we’ve been eating.”

  “I didn’t even have that,” I say. “Since I didn’t know how long I’d be on my own, I’ve been eating just one energy bar a day, until Kai woke me up this morning with some roasted rabbit.” I look at Kai and smile. “He’s definitely a handy guy to have around.”

  Lieutenant Gregerson grins. “I’d say that’s an understatement, no doubt.”

  The afternoon passes with no sign of my dad’s company. Kai takes the leftover deer meat far from our encampment and hangs it from a high branch to keep it—and us—safe from any nocturnal predators who might be drawn by its scent.

  From the edge of the woods, we watch the sun slowly set into the ocean and paint the partially cloudy sky in breathtaking hues of red, gold, orange and purple. It’s a sight I never grow tired of. Once darkness begins to envelop us, we retreat into the crude shelter the Marines constructed earlier. As I wrap myself into my survival blanket, I can barely make out Kai’s outline. He’s sitting atop one of the fallen trees, gazing out into the woods. He’s keeping guard, I know. I’m guessing his night vision is far better than any of ours.

  Surrounded by six tough Marines and watched over by Kai, I feel safe and secure for the first time since I went overboard from The Star of India. I close my eyes, hoping that tonight I’ll enjoy a restful sleep free of any nightmares.

  CHAPTER 24

  I AWAKEN IN GRAY TWILIGHT, which tells me it can’t be long past dawn. I don’t remember any dreams, so I guess I slept peacefully. Kai is still sitting on the log where he was last night. Maybe they don’t sleep over There where he’s from.

  When he hears me stir, he swings his legs over the log so he’s facing me.

  “Good morning,” he says.

  I stretch my arms out to the side and yawn. “Same to you. Did you sleep at all?”

  “For a little while, yes. The lieutenant spelled me for a bit.”

  I’m glad to hear he at least sleeps some. Glancing around, I see that all the Marines are already awake. Most of them are tending to their weapons; two are keeping watch.

  “Now that you’re awake, I’ll go fetch breakfast,” Kai says. “I hope you don’t mind leftover deer meat.”

  I smile. “Not at all.” I want to offer to go with him, but I doubt Lieutenant Gregerson would let me. Besides, I’m sure Kai can travel through the woods much faster on his own.

  By the time Kai returns, I’ve put my blanket away and washed my face with water from my bottle. My hair remains a tangled mess—I wish it was longer, so I could wrap it on top of my head or put it in a ponytail. What I wouldn’t give for a hot shower or bath, but I don’t think either one is likely to be in the cards anytime soon. Maybe if we come across a big enough stream I can take a quick dunk, if I can handle the chill water.

  Cold venison is not quite as tasty as yesterday’s warm treat, but it’s still pretty good, considering. Combined with some dried fruit from the Marines’ supplies, it makes a fine breakfast.

  When we’ve all eaten our fill, we creep down to the edge of the woods and settle into spots where we can watch the highway from the safety of
cover and wait for my dad’s company to catch up with us. Lieutenant Gregerson doesn’t expect it to be too long, but you never know.

  “Your dad knows I would leave a sign he couldn’t miss if we ever left the highway,” he says, “so I imagine they traveled through at least some of the night, as long as he felt it was safe.”

  His prediction proves to be accurate, because we’ve been waiting less than an hour when we spot an advance guard of five Marines appear around a bend in the road. They’re nearly to the beginning of the bridge when the main party appears on the highway behind them.

  We leave the trees and move down to our side of the bridge. Lieutenant Gregerson orders his men to keep watch for any trouble behind us. He and I and Kai walk out to the edge of the gap.

  “Glad to see you found her, Lieutenant,” calls a Marine from the other side. It’s Private Pendergrass, the runner Lieutenant Gregerson had sent back to my dad with the news that I was alive.

  Pendergrass grabs the rope and begins hauling himself across. Two of his buddies follow close behind.

  “I’m pretty sure the colonel would want as many Marines as possible with his daughter,” Private Pendergrass says to Lieutenant Gregerson, explaining his decision to cross without waiting for my dad to arrive.

  “I expect you’re right, Private,” Gregerson replies.

  Pendergrass takes a quick look at Kai, obviously curious about his strange appearance, but he doesn’t say anything. He and his two comrades move off to join the other Marines guarding our backs.

  Dad is at the front of the larger group, which is now approaching rapidly atop the bridge. My friends are following close behind him. He stops at the edge of the gap and assesses the situation.

  I’m pretty sure I know what he’s thinking, that’s it’s too dangerous to try to carry the Miracles across on the rope. Well, we’ve got a surprise for him.

  He turns and says something to one of his Marines, then grabs the rope and begins making his way across. Dad may be in his fifties, but he’s nearly as strong and fit as any of his much younger men. He has no trouble with the crossing.

  When he reaches our side, Lieutenant Gregerson grabs his arm and helps him up onto the roadway.

  My dad immediately enfolds me into his arms. For the moment, he’s no longer a colonel, he’s simply my dad. I hug him back tightly. Until just a few minutes ago, I wasn’t sure if I would ever see him again.

  “I knew you were still alive,” he says after a moment. “I don’t know how you managed it, being knocked overboard and being all alone out here, but I knew.”

  “I’m tougher than I look, Dad,” I reply.

  He lets go of me and looks me up and down. He grins and rubs his hand affectionately through my tangled mop of hair.

  “I don’t know, kiddo. You look pretty darn tough right now.”

  Damn. I’d kind of forgotten what I must look like. I’m not certain “tough” is the look I would choose right now.

  I glance toward Kai out of the corner of my eye. He’s smiling. I have no idea what that means.

  Dad follows my gaze. I see his eyebrows rise slightly as he takes in Kai’s pale complexion, bare feet and bow and arrows.

  “Dad, this is Kai,” I say. “He saved my life.”

  Dad nods to Kai. “Thank you,” he says, before turning back to me. “You can tell me the story as soon as I get a few more men over here and get the rest started around this chasm with the Miracles. I won’t be comfortable until we’re all together on this side.”

  “That might be sooner than you think,” I say, smiling. “I have a surprise for you.”

  I turn toward Kai. “Go ahead,” I say.

  Kai smiles and removes his bow and his sword, dropping them onto the pavement. Moving far enough back to give himself a running start, he sprints toward the gap and once again leaps easily across. I hear exclamations of astonishment from the other side as he soars through the air and lands lightly on his feet. Radar’s “Holy crap!” is one of the loudest.

  Dad stares across to the other side for a few seconds before turning back to me.

  “Okay, sweetheart,” he says. “Maybe you’d better tell me that story now. Who—or should I say ‘what’—is this guy?”

  I’m still watching Kai across the way. A couple of the Marines, not knowing exactly what’s going on, have their guns raised toward him. I guess I don’t blame them. Protecting the Miracles is their primary job, and after watching that spectacular leap, it’s not hard to see why the soldiers might be unsure about Kai’s intentions.

  “I will, Dad. But first, tell your guys to rest easy. Kai’s there to carry the Miracles across on the rope, so they don’t have to go all the way around.”

  “Stand down, men,” my dad calls across. “He’s on our side.”

  The Marines lower their weapons and Dad turns back to me, looking at me expectantly.

  “I don’t know all the details,” I begin, “but Kai was sent from There to help me. He saved me from a two-headed cyclops right over there on the other side where everyone is standing. He shot arrows into both eyes, a split-second apart, from over here somewhere. It was unbelievable.”

  Dad stares down at Kai’s bow. “It sounds it.”

  “Kai’s incredibly strong. He’s going to carry the Miracles across on the rope. He can do it easily, trust me.”

  We both look back across the broken bridge. Kai seems to be explaining the plan to the Miracles. Even from here, I can recognize skeptical expressions on Lights and Doc’s faces, but Radar steps quickly forward. It looks like she’ll be going first, which is really no surprise to anyone.

  She hops up onto Kai’s back, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. With no hesitation, Kai squats and grabs the rope, swinging himself easily hand over hand across the abyss. Even with Radar hanging onto his back, he makes the crossing faster than any of the Marines did. I can’t tell for sure, but I think maybe Radar has her eyes closed. I think I probably would, too.

  Once Kai is safely away from the edge, Radar lets go of him and rushes into my arms. We hug each other tightly, like best friends who haven’t seen each other in years. In some ways, it almost feels like it’s been that long.

  Finally, Radar lets go. We watch as Kai takes another running leap across the abyss.

  “Your new boyfriend is awfully strong,” Radar says. “Pretty sexy, too, though he could probably use a bit more time out in the sun…you know, to work on his tan.”

  I feel myself blushing. “He’s not my boyfriend. He was sent here to help me, same as the mermaids.”

  While Kai is ferrying Plush across, I give Radar the condensed version of how he saved me from the cyclops. I know I’ll have to repeat the whole story again once all the Miracles are over here.

  “I don’t care if he’s from There,” Radar says. “He’s here now. And he definitely looks like boyfriend material to me.” She grins and gives me a wink. “He felt like boyfriend material, too, if you know what I mean. If Jordy wasn’t here, I’d ask for another ride.”

  “Oh, hush,” is about all I can think of in reply.

  When Plush is safely across, she gives me a hug almost as tight as Radar’s.

  “I’m so glad you’re okay,” she says. “We were so worried about you.”

  “Yeah,” Radar says. “And while we were busying worrying, Leah’s been enjoying some private time with Mr. Hunk there.”

  Plush glances toward Kai, who has just begun carrying Lights across.

  “He is pretty hot,” she says, smiling. “Instead of worrying, maybe we should have been jealous.”

  I feel myself blushing. “Stop it, you two. You both have real boyfriends, remember? All Kai did was save me from a cyclops.”

  Plush’s eyes go wide at the mention of the cyclops.

  “A cyclops? For real?”

  “A two-headed one,” Radar adds.

  Plush looks at me questioningly.

  “I’ll tell you all about it when everyone is here
,” I promise.

  One by one, Kai brings the rest of the Miracles across. Everyone gives me a big hug, though the guys are a little less emotional about it than the girls. And they don’t tease me about Kai, either, for which I’m very grateful.

  Kai doesn’t seem to be tiring at all from his exertions. In between each trip, a Marine hauls himself over to our side, reinforcing our guard. Jordy was the first, and he and Radar are now standing with their arms around each other’s waist. Plush and Lights are doing the same.

  Finally, only Sneak is left on the other side. He seems to be arguing with Kai, but I can’t hear what they’re saying. I can’t believe Sneak is afraid to be carried across—he’s usually pretty fearless. Maybe he doesn’t like heights.

  I watch as Kai reaches for Sneak, but Sneak vanishes. Kai’s arms close on empty air, causing him to stumble slightly.

  “Sneak!” I yell. “Stop fooling around. Let Kai bring you over, so the rest of the Marines can join us.”

  Suddenly, the blue rope sags a bit, then begins bouncing gently. It takes me a moment to realize what’s happening. Sneak wasn’t afraid to come across; he just wanted to do it himself. He’s always been the most independent of all of us, probably because he’s the youngest and is always feeling like he has to prove himself.

  Halfway across, he materializes. Sneak is pretty athletic for his size, and he’s having no trouble making the hand-over-hand crossing on his own. When he reaches our side, I’m tempted to give him a tongue-lashing for risking himself that way, but I know him well enough to know my words would fall on deaf ears, so I remain silent.

  Now that all the Miracles are here, I give them the detailed version of who Kai is and how he saved me. He’s standing near the edge, watching the rest of the Marines cross. During my story, my friends keep stealing curious glances at him. I don’t blame them—I’d be doing the same thing if I hadn’t already spent so much time with him. In fact, I find myself following their gazes anyhow.