by Jacob Wenzel
“No, I really do.”
“In the timelines in which I tell you, you say 'I wish you hadn't told me that'.”
“Tell me anyway,”
“In two percent of the timelines, a large deranged man in a clown suit, wearing a diving mask, fires a bazooka at you, one of you will be irreversibly killed, which one of you depends on the timeline. His name is Larry.”
“I wish you hadn't told me that.” she said.
“I know.”
“Is he here in the other ninety-eight percent, and just doesn't shoot at us?”
“No, in the others, he isn't here.”
William asked, “What if we don't step out?”
“In two percent, he still fires, and the Winnebago is destroyed, killing both of you in a hyperdimensional implosion.”
“And when does it happen.”
“In fifty-four seconds.”
“William, I think we should go out, now!” insisted Sally.
They ran out, with Fluffy close behind, and away from the Winnie, a minute passed and there was no attack. William took a deep breath and said, “I guess we made the ninety-eight percent, you reacted pretty fast, thank you.”
“I have no idea what a clown is, or a diving mask or a bazooka, but 'irreversibly killed' is pretty clear..., William, are you okay?” He was looking away.
“Sorry, I thought I saw something.”
“You mean the light that just went out in that window on the second floor, over there?”
“You saw it too, then.”
“That, and the one that went out in the next window as we were running out.”
“I didn't see that one.”
“Well, you were pretty preoccupied with saving us from that two percent chance of being killed by that clown, now let's go see who's here.”
“You mean, just walk right in?”
“Why not, we know that Larry's not here, and he was the only danger Bob mentioned.”
William couldn't argue with her, so they walked into the lobby, the place had definitely not been abandoned, but was not exactly well maintained, either. There were piles of trash in the corners, and a half-eaten sandwich on a plate on the stairs. It wasn't rotten, someone had been here very recently.
“It's still fresh,” said William, “someone was just here, they must have run off when we landed.”
Sally said, “They ran upstairs and turned off the lights, I don't think they want us to know they're here.”
“Then why did they leave the plate on the stairs? If they're trying to hide, they're not very smart.”
“Or very old.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Look at the plate, it’s a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, like Annie ate at the picnic, I'm guessing it's a favorite of children in your world.”
“This isn't my world.”
“It's very close to yours, isn't the lodge identical?”
“A little shabbier, but yes, it's almost the same.”
“So, let's go find them.”
They headed up the stairs, and William started to open a door.
“They're not in there” Sally said.
“They? How do you know there's more than one, and that they're not in here?”
“No one's been in there in a long time, look at the dust on the floor, the only clear paths lead to those two rooms, the fourth and fifth on the right, and at the edges of the hall, there are at least two different size footprints, both children's sizes.”
“You're a regular Sherlock Holmes.”
“What's a Sherlock Holmes, and why am I more regular than others?”
“Never mind, I'll explain later, let's check it out.”
William opened the door, and turned on the light, “Hello, anyone in here?”
There was no response.
“Check the closet.” suggested Sally.
He opened the closet, stepped back and slammed it shut when he heard the scream. Sally calmly opened it, “It's okay, we're not going to hurt you.”
The screaming subsided to desperate crying as Sally pulled a young boy about Annie's age from the closet.
“Leave him alone!” a voice came from the hall. “Go away, leave us alone! My parents will be back soon. Go away, this is OUR home!”
They turned to see a girl of about eleven standing in the doorway, she ran in, grabbed the boy away from Sally. She ran past William who tried to grab her but missed, knocking over a lamp in the process, and out into the hallway, but slipped and fell. The boy slipped out of her arms and hit the floor head first, knocking him out, she hit the floor with her right arm extended, then rolled over crying, holding her right arm, she tried to get up when she saw that the boy was unconscious.
“I killed him!” she cried.
By the time she was able to sit up, Sally was already with the boy.
“He's alive, William, we need to get him to the Winnie, I don't think he's okay.”
William was with the girl, who wouldn't let him touch her, “Leave me alone.”
“I think your arm's broken, you need help, and your brother needs medical attention fast, I'm going to take him out to our RV.”
“Are you a doctor? My dad said the doctors were all gone, and he's not my brother.”
“I'm not, but we have one in the RV. Sally, you help her, I'll carry the boy.” He picked up the boy gently, and carried him downstairs, while Sally helped the girl to her feet.
“I'm Sally, what's your name?”
“Maggie, he's Desmond, where did you come from? Did you escape from the dew?” She pronounced it differently, with emphasis on the 'd'.
“No, we're new here, we don't know what the dew is. Where are your parents?”
“The dew got my mother when I was little. We were running out of food, and my father went down the mountain a few months ago to try to find some, he said he'd be back in a few days. He never came back.” She looked up at Sally, who was crying.
“My dad disappeared when I was about your age, he went looking for berries, and never came home.”
“Did the dew get him?”
“No, a storm came up suddenly, he just never came home, and we never found him.”
They went down the stairs, and out to the Winnie, Fluffy was pacing outside. Maggie looked at him, and showed no fear, “That's the biggest cat I've ever seen.”
“That's Fluffy, he's my tiger, my dad gave him to me before he disappeared.”
“Cool. My arm really hurts.”
“It's broken, we can get it fixed when your bro.. when the Mecha-Med is done with Desmond.”
“What's a Mecha-Med?”
“It's kind of an automatic doctor, it can fix broken bodies, it replaced William's foot when it got cut off.”
By the time Sally got Maggie into the Winnie, William had Desmond in the Mecha-Med, “He's got a pretty nasty concussion, but he should be alright in a few more minutes, then we'll get you in, it will fix your arm.”
Maggie stayed sitting in a chair nearby Desmond, she was holding her arm, and rocking back and forth in pain. Sally sat next to her, stroking her hair, and telling her it would be alright. William took Desmond out of the chamber, and set him down in a reclining chair, Desmond looked better, but was still not awake.
William said, “He'll sleep for a little while, but he's okay, I think we got him in just in time, he had some bleeding in his brain, but it's all fixed. Now, let's get you in there.”
Sally helped Maggie into the Mecha-Med's chamber, which was like a large, rounded sarcophagus with a clear cover. Maggie was apprehensive, but the pain in her arm kept her from putting up any kind of resistance.
“As the cover comes down, you'll get sleepy, just relax, it's best if you're asleep while the machine fixes your arm.”
“Okay.”
William monitored the controls, “She's got compression fractures in her radius and ulna, the bones in her forearm,”
“I know what they are,” said Sally, “I read some of the anat
omy books in your library. It also looks like she tore her rotator cuff, and see that, she's got a fracture in the head of the humerus, no wonder she was hurting so much.”
“She'll feel better in a few minutes.”
Desmond was stirring, he sat up and said, “I'm hungry.”
William brought him a cheeseburger and French-fries, which he began devouring immediately. Maggie was waking up quickly as the chamber cover raised, “Wow it feels all better.... meat! I smell meat! Desmond's got a burger! You've got meat?”
“Would you like a burger, too?” asked Sally. She nodded excitedly, and Sally went to get her one. Bob suggested a lemonade as well.
“Where are we? You moved me when I was asleep?”
“No, why?” asked William.
“This place is big; we were in your car-thing.”
“I think you were hurting too much to notice it, but, this is our Winnebago, it's a little bigger on the inside than most RVs, it's complicated, just try not to think about it too much.”
Sally came back with a burger for Maggie, and brought one for William and herself as well. Maggie just stared at hers for a while, then closed her eyes and ever so slowly bit into it, “I didn't think I'd ever have one again, thank you.”
They ate in silence. Desmond laid down and fell asleep. When Maggie finished eating, Sally asked her if she would like another.
“It sounds really good, but I'm really, really full, I'm not used to eating so much.” Maggie said.
William didn't want to push her, but he couldn't hold back any longer, “What happened here, where are your parents?”
Sally said, “Her father went down the mountain to find food, and hasn't come back yet.”
“Where's your mother?”
“She didn't make it.” Maggie said.
“Didn't make it from where?”
“When we escaped.”
“Escaped from where?”
“What, are you from space or something? From the dew!”
“What is the dew? How can you escape from moisture?”
“Not dew, d-e-u-x, I can't read much, but I know how to spell it.”
“What's that,” asked Sally, “Other than French for two?”
“It controls the world.”
Sally looked at William, “Maybe it's like Sam and Janet, only not nice.”
“It's not people, I never saw it, but there were pictures and statues of it all over, it's a...man with a bird head.”
“A bird-headed man?” asked William. “I don't understand.”
“It keeps people as... slaves, is that the right word? It makes people work, and it's really mean.”
“Bob, do you know anything about this?”
“No, William, I don't, there's a blank in my memory of the near future.”
Maggie screamed, “What's that?”
“That's Bob, my computer, it's okay.”
“It's not the Deux?”
“No, I'm not, Maggie, I don't know about the Deux, I just control this vehicle, and in response to your next question, William and Sally are not my slaves, William created me, and I serve him, and yes, I sometimes can tell what's going to happen in the near future.”
“Oh.”
“Bob, what happens just before the blank?”
“I locate a signal that connects me with a large computer here, and I go blank.”
“Do you think perhaps you should not connect to that system.”
“Yes, that is the path we'll take, I will shut down all radio transmission and reception, although that means I won't be able to communicate with you in the timelines in which you go away.”
“I'm going away?”
“In some timelines.”
“What happens?”
“I don't know; I have no communication with you in those. I have now shut down all channels in this world.”
Maggie interrupted, “I'm really tired, can Desmond and I go back now?”
Sally looked at William, who took the hint, “Would you like to stay here for the night, you don't have to, but I think it would be a good idea.”
“Yeah, okay, if Desmond wants to, and we can stay in the same room.”
Desmond was waking up, “I like it here.”
William said, “I think we can find room for you.”
Maggie said, “I have to go get our toothbrushes and pajamas.”
Bob said, “There will be some in your room for you.”
Sally took them to one of the guest rooms with two beds, Maggie asked if she could give Desmond a bath, she always gave him a bath before bed, Sally showed her that there was a bathroom connected to the bedroom.
“Do you clean this whole place?” Maggie asked her.
“No, I think that Bob somehow cleans it with machines, but I'm not sure, it always happens while we're asleep or out. If you need anything, or are just afraid, we're in the room across the hall. I'll check on you in the morning, and Bob is always listening.”
“Sally?”
“Yes?”
“Can you hold me, just for a minute?
Sally sat down and held her. Desmond got up on Maggie's bed, they all hugged for a long time.
“Sally, did you lose your mom, too?”
“When I was about Desmond's age, soon after my brother was born.”
“You have a brother?”
“I haven't seen him for a while, now.. I had to leave my village, it was sad, but I'm here now, I have a new life with William.”
“Will you ever see him again?”
“I don't know, I hope so.”
“I hope so, too, you can let go now, I'm alright.”
Sally had a hard time letting go, she realized that the hug was as much for herself as for Maggie.
“Goodnight, Maggie.”
“Goodnight, Sally, I love you.”
“I love you too, Maggie.”
Sally went back downstairs. William was in the study.
“What are we going to do with them, William?”
“I don't know, we can't leave them here, they'll starve, but it doesn't seem right to take them with us, we'll talk to them more in the morning, and figure out something. Right now, I'm tired too.”
They went to bed and just held each other, neither one of them felt like making love, it was the first night they hadn't since the first time.
In the morning, Sally knocked on the kids' door and went in, Desmond was dressed and ready for breakfast. Maggie was still in bed, lying on her side, with her back to the door, “Sally? Could you take Desmond downstairs to breakfast, and come back?”
Sally was puzzled, but agreed, when she came back to the room, Maggie was still in the same position, “Sally, if something happens to me, promise me you'll take care of Desmond, he doesn't have anyone else.”
“Of course we would, but nothing's going to happen to you.”
Maggie rolled over and looked at her, she'd been crying, “I think I'm dying.”
“Why do you say that.”
“It started a few weeks ago, and I thought I was going to die then, and then it stopped, I was hoping your machine would fix it when it fixed my arm, but it didn't, it started again.”
“What started?”
“The bleeding, down there, it started again last night, I feel awful, I'm dying.”
Sally sat down of the bed and touched her face, “You're not dying, Maggie, that's normal, it happens to all girls, it means you're growing up.”
“It does? I'm alright?” she sat up. “It happened to you?”
“It happens to me every month, I'm lucky, mine are not bad. Some women get it really bad.”
“Was it scary when it started.”
“It wasn't for me, but there were lots of women in my village, and it was celebrated when a girl was ready to start having babies, she was put in a special hut, and the other women would bring her presents, and teach her how to deal with it. I looked forward to it, all the girls did. In some villages though, they didn't understand what it meant,
and women had to stay out of the village until it was over. I knew what was going to happen, but you didn't know, it's very scary if you don't know.”
“What does it have to do with babies?”
Sally explained menstruation and reproduction in ways Maggie could understand. She also showed her how to deal with it, “We didn't have these in my village, it makes it a lot less messy, take a shower, and use one before you come down to breakfast, you'll feel better.”
Sally went downstairs, William had breakfast ready
“You've been awhile, how's Maggie?”
“We had to have a talk, girl stuff, you know. She's been growing up with no female guidance.”
Maggie finally came down, and had breakfast, she and Sally did a lot of whispering and giggling.
William interrupted, “Can we save the 'girl stuff' for later, we need to make some serious decisions. Maggie, tell us about the deux, and how you came to be at the lodge.”
“I don't remember a lot, it was when I was a little kid, Desmond was just a baby. All the people slept in big rooms, and all dressed the same, there were guards, and they would kill anybody who didn't do what they said. That's what happened to Desmond's mom, she was sick, and didn't get out of bed, they took her away. That's when uncle Larry, he's not really my uncle, talked my mom and dad into escaping, it was really scary. My dad knew about this mountain from when he had to work at the hedge.”
“What's the hedge?” interrupted William.
“The hedge is a really mean plant, it eats people, it goes all around anyplace the Deux has people working, to keep them in. It made some of the men cut it back sometimes, so it wouldn't take over, a lot of men never came back. But my dad and some of his friends found a thin place... where they could cut through fast.”
“What did they cut it with.”
“My dad said they used something cold in a can, he didn't know what it was, but you had to be careful not to breathe too much of it or you could go to sleep and die. The hedge doesn't like cold, that's why it doesn't come up the mountain, it gets cold up here, the Deux doesn't like it either.”
“And then you escaped?”
“We ran away when we were supposed to be sleeping, I don't know how we got out, but the guards chased us all the way to the hedge, my dad had hidden some of the cold stuff, and sprayed it on the thin spot, and he and uncle Larry broke through, they carried me and Desmond through, but my mom got too close to the hedge and it got her. My dad tried to spray more cold on it, but he had used some on the guards, and didn't have any left, he pulled me away, and we ran here, it took us a long time, and we didn't have much food. We found the lodge and broke in, no one was here. There was a lot of food in a room by the kitchen, and in a freezer. There was electricity from some things on the roof. We found some old clothes in some of the rooms. We just stayed here until a few months ago, then my dad said we were going to run out of food soon.”
