Anywhere You Are

by Constance O'Day-Flannery

  "Jack, I am so sorry for all the trouble I've caused … even these horses have suffered." Stroking her mount, she turned her head and looked back at him. Her eyes were wide and he could see tears welling in them. "Please forgive me, Jack. You are the best man I have ever known. My brother Bryan is brave because he is facing his death with courage and trying to live whatever time is left with honor. I see that in you, too. I just wish that my being here hadn't endangered you."

  "There is nothing to forgive, Mairie," he said in a somber tone. He wanted to take her into his arms, to hold her to his chest and taste her lips once more. One last time…

  Suddenly, envisioning a life without Mairie Callahan in it seemed empty again.

  "You're one amazing man, Jack Fitzhugh Delaney. And it's been an honor to have…" her voice faltered, "… to have spent this time with you. Thank you. Thank you for—"

  Everything happened so fast, yet to Jack it appeared to be taking place very slowly, as if it were a dream. It felt like an eternity, watching the events unfold before him. He heard the impact of the bullet hit the side of Mairie's horse. She must have heard it also, for her eyes became wide with fear as she held Jack's gaze. The horse dropped to its knees behind her and Mairie went tumbling back over it.

  "Mairie!" he yelled out to her, terrified that she too had been shot.

  He reached her only seconds after her head hit the ground with a dull thud.

  "Mar!"

  Rolling her over, he saw blood on the rock where her head had been. He gritted his teeth and tensed every muscle in his face. Squinting in the sun toward the valley, he screamed in anguish. "Harmon, you bastard!"

  His cry echoed against the mountain and across the valley, but for the rush of the desert breeze against the sand, a silence followed. His mind raced. He had to get them inside the cave to safety. Now they were trapped on this mountain. Grabbing her with one arm, he dragged her to the opening of the cave, his other arm aiming his rifle out at tike vast space before them, prepared to shoot anything that moved. They had to find cover while he examined her to make sure she didn't have any other wounds.

  "Mar… can you hear me?" he pleaded, pulling her into the shadows. Resting her against the back wall in the cave, he placed his rifle at his side and began to search for further injuries. Running his hands over her, he tried to probe her body but was hampered by the pack she was wearing. Cursing under his breath, he struggled with the metal and fabric belts until he figured out how the bindings worked. Freeing the straps, he threw the sack to the side and rolled her over to explore her back, shoulders, and sides, anywhere a bullet might have entered.

  Satisfied the reason she had lost consciousness was due to hitting her head on the rock when she went down, Jack rolled her back over to face him.

  No other signs of blood. She was breathing. A surge of relief went through his body. Unconscious. But alive. He exhaled. He removed the bandana from his neck and with it applied pressure to the small cut on the back of Mairie's head. The bleeding was slowing. It wasn't as bad as he had first thought. "Mairie… are you all right?" His voice cracked as he cradled her head in his hands. She didn't answer.

  Looking out into the daylight he shook with anger. That son-of-a-bitch shot the horse. But that didn't make sense. Harmon wouldn't have missed. If he wanted Mairie dead, she would be. He was playing with them now… taking away, little by little, every hope they had of getting away.

  Harmon was insane!

  All their supplies were tied to the horses. Even the water. He had only his rifle.

  His fingers reached out and tenderly stroked her hair away from her closed eyes. Dirt was smudged on her face and he brushed it off gently. He inhaled deeply, exhaling very slowly.

  His heart constricted when he thought of losing her, yet it quickly expanded when he thought of how courageous she was… ready to sacrifice herself for the love of her brother. Maybe that was what struck him the most. He had seen men in battle, heroes who had sacrificed themselves to save another soldier. Those men did it for each other, not for the cause they were fighting. Bravery had nothing to do with politics, he realized. It was human beings coming to the assistance of other human beings. That was nobility. Fighting somebody's cause was the insanity. What a noble warrior princess Mairie Callahan was.

  He brought her to his side and sat staring out of the cave, his rifle cocked and aimed for when Harmon made his next move. That madman would have to come around the bend even to get off another shot. Regrets began to flow through Jack's mind. There were so many things in his life he should have done, and still wanted to… especially experience love. How he wished there was more time, time to really live again. How ironic it was that his life would end less than twenty feet from the spot where he'd sat when he first saw Mairie falling from the sky. He'd been asking the Great Spirit for his hope to be returned. He'd wanted a gift.

  He got this incredible woman.

  He wasn't cursed. Even though it looked like this day might be his last, Jack glanced down to Mairie and knew he had been blessed. She had come into his life and he had felt alive for the first time in years. She challenged him. Made him laugh. Made him crazy. And so made him want her more than he had ever wanted another woman, more than he had thought possible to want another.

  She was… she was like an angel. An angel of mercy. What an incredible gift.

  His chest began to fill with an intensity of purpose he hadn't experienced in ages.

  "Damn Harmon to hell," he cursed, refusing to sit back and wait while this woman, this angel from the future, missed her chance of going home. This wasn't a cause. This was justice. Mairie Callahan deserved the chance… and Jack Delaney was going to see that she got it.

  An idea ran through his head so quickly he thought lunacy must have finally taken him for even conceiving of it. He had no idea if it could even work. She had said it would, it might…

  "Shit," he muttered, resigned and crawling the few feet to the mouth of the cave. His decision was made. Mairie's horse lay close enough to provide him some cover, if Harmon hadn't gotten any closer.

  Steadying himself with a deep breath, he scrambled to the dead horse, untied the canteen, and loosened the rope from the saddle horn. Darting back, he slid into the cave and rolled up next to Mairie.

  Harmon must still be climbing to this level. They had time—not much, but enough to pull it off if he hurried. He almost laughed at his own thoughts. Pull off a crazy escapade to outwit an insane man. Sounded about right, considering he was slipping his arms through the bindings of the damn satchel. Tightening them, Jack then crouched in the small space and brought the straps around his thighs, checking them twice to make sure they were fastened the same as the arms.

  Once he had the pack secured, he looked down to the unconscious woman. The only way he knew to get Mairie onto the desert floor was to tie her to him. He struggled with her for a few minutes as her unconscious state made her small frame heavier. Sitting on the cave floor, he pulled her onto his lap, her torso against his. He lifted her arms to his sides and positioned her legs over his, along his sides and behind him. Leaning to weigh her against his chest, he slipped the middle of the rope under her thighs and bottom to the front of her. He then crossed it between her breasts, took it up around her shoulder blades, under her arms, then over his shoulders then under his arms. He knotted the thick rope between them against his chest. Resting against the wall of the cave, he breathed heavily.

  It was what he'd wanted right before he had first seen Mairie.

  Hope…

  This was it?

  If it wasn't so desperate, he would laugh.

  He told himself it was now or never. He had to get to the edge of the cliff while Harmon was still climbing. Going over in his mind everything Mairie had said earlier about operating the parachute, Jack touched the exposed metal handle between him and Mairie.

  He felt the steady beating of her heart and his own was softened. She deserved this chance. No matter what happened, she ha
d earned the right to go home.

  She was an angel.

  He just hoped when they jumped, there were other angels to catch them and safely bring them back to earth. At this point he might as well believe that as think some parasol was going to do it.

  Grunting, Jack rose to a stooped position and grabbed Mairie's calves to keep her feet from dragging, He hated that when they were exposed, Mairie would be an open target, but he couldn't think of any other way to pull off this trick. He also knew she wanted to jump from the sacred rock, but he couldn't make it that far with her tied to him. He would simply have to walk to the edge of this cliff and jump.

  Don't even think about it, his mind commanded. Just do it.

  A low rumble began in his throat as he gathered every ounce of daring he'd ever possessed. This was no time to be modest. This was a moment to recall a lifetime of bold adventures. He had run into the unknown during the war. He had trusted the Great Spirit with his life. Now he knew again, when he stepped into the sunlight, all fears had to be left behind. This was about absolute hope.

  It's about time you had faith in something again, Jack Delaney, he thought. He looked down to the woman attached to him and grinned. He released her legs. Her neck dropped back and her arms hung lifelessly at her sides. He cupped the back of her head and leaned forward, kissing her gently on the corner of her eye.

  "You're going home, my angel," he whispered against her cheek.

  They would make it. They had to. He couldn't even allow another possibility to register. He had asked for hope from the Great Spirit, as if it were something that had to be presented to him.

  It was now, as he held her to him, that he knew it was always within him. It wasn't dead or gone. It wasn't a gift to receive from somewhere. Hope had just been sleeping inside him.

  She was his gift. And for the first time in a long time, he was awake. He was alive with hope. He fortified himself with the thought and gazed lovingly at her sleeping face.

  He had no idea it would be so awkward, as he cautiously struggled to the edge of the mountain. Pull the handle as soon as you jump. Somehow other handles will appear and use them like reins. Pull them hard between your legs to slow down and land.

  Those were the only instructions he could remember. He looked to the shadows on the valley. They could be early or they might be late, regardless, he had to get her back to the desert floor alive.

  He stood for just a second or two, knowing he was about to throw himself and this magnificent woman into the unknown. Looking down, his nerve faltered. Hope, Jack Delaney… that's all you need, the voice inside him resonated.

  From behind a noise made him react instantly.

  He made his leap of faith.

  Harmon watched as the green-and-white billow unfolded in the sky; a brilliant contrast against the brown desert floor. He dropped to one knee and took careful aim with his high-powered rifle. One shot. That's all it would take to kill them both and stop the alteration of the future. He squeezed his left eye shut and viewed history through his scope.

  Searing pain shot through his side as he fell in agony to the ground. A Paiute Indian with bow in hand stepped closer to the dying man and kicked the rifle over the cliff's edge. He watched his brother soar off into Father Sky and began a song for the dead as his heart filled with honor to have played a role in the balance of life.

  A part of the prophecy of the ancient ones etched in the sacred rock above had been fulfilled.

  Chapter 11

  Gravity worked. Newton's law was right.

  They were plummeting toward the earth.

  In the instant it took, he held his breath, closed his eyes and pulled the cord. He expected to fall hard and fast. When the chute deployed, the jolting uplifts shot them like a cannonball higher into the sky. It terrorized him, especially to be dropped moments later with such force he thought the bindings would surely break. Tranquility immediately followed. Nothing but the sound of air rushing over his ears. Finally exhaling, he looked up to the green-and-white material puffed out above them. Damnedest thing. It worked.

  Jack held Mairie so tightly to his chest, his natural fear of the unknown and desire to protect her almost made him forget the 'reins' he needed to guide the chute. They dangled out in front of them. Pull the left to go left, the right to go to the right.

  In spite of it all, he remembered.

  Except for riding a horse or traveling in a wagon, his feet had been on the ground his entire life. He slowly eased his hands away. For just that second, letting go of Mairie scared him more than anything else. Hands trembling, he reached out and grasped the handles. Looking down to the earth made him dizzy, so he attempted to focus on the task before him.

  He pulled on the left handle.

  His vision altered as they turned slightly toward a different view of sky. The clouds he had been using to provide cover now danced so closely. Close enough he thought to reach out and touch them. He didn't even notice when it began… the easing of gripping fear. Perhaps that's why his gaze lowered to the mountains. His dizziness was gone, replaced by awe.

  This was living a vision quest.

  From somewhere in his mind, he saw himself days ago. Sitting quietly on the tallest mountain in his world, looking out over this valley, feeling at one with Mother Earth. But now… this was like being nature. This must be what the eagle and the hawk felt. Maps couldn't do this justice. How could a drawing ever define what he was seeing?

  This was being alive.

  He pulled the right handle and felt an almost childish delight in the graceful drift in the other direction. He forgot they were falling at a speed he had never thought a human could experience. All he could think, in that glorious timeless instant, was he was part of something so much larger than he ever imagined. Something exciting and creative… his mind was expanding beyond anything he could have ever conceived.

  Suddenly the vision quest turned into a nightmare.

  White light flashed around them, blinding him at once. In terror, he seized Mairie to his chest as something, some heat, entered his body, racing along his spine and sending an unfamiliar tingling sensation everywhere. He immediately thought he had died, and a part of him wondered how he could think at all if he were dead. His heart slammed against the wall of his chest, as though it might explode through, and his dizziness returned with a vengeance. Clutching Mairie in desperation, he fleetingly thought that death awaited them both, and wasn't all that surprised to see his vision narrow in darkness as he allowed the dizziness to take over and cover in him in soft, welcoming shadows.

  It was the perfect silence and the warmer wind that brought him out of it. Jack jerked his head upright and he felt the life force surge through his body. Mairie was still unconscious and he immediately grabbed the handles. He looked down to the ground and saw the earth was much closer. Turning to the mountains, Jack pulled harder on the handle and caught his breath at the back of his throat.

  What he saw defied explanation.

  Strange lights glittered through the hazy sunlight, and they were coming from… from a city of some sort. He had never seen such a large settlement. Pulling the handle harder, they turned sharply and he came fully around. The mountains were still in the same place, but this… this city… where was this? It seemed from another world.

  He had no more time to worry about strange lights and buildings as the ground appeared to be racing toward them.

  Pull both handles down hard between the legs.

  The command repeated in his head. Those were the last of the instructions. Taking a deep breath, he mustered all his strength and pulled down hard. It seemed to be slowing the descent and he held the downward force as long as he could. When he let up, he felt their bodies falling through the air with more speed and again pulled down. How could he pull all the way between their legs? He couldn't. Not with Mairie attached in front of him. What was he going to do now?

  There was no time to ponder the question.

  To hell with pull
ing between the legs. He'd do it at his sides.

  He pushed down and held it for so long that the muscles in his arms started trembling, yet he kept up the pressure. Closer and closer the earth came, and Jack thought for certain they would be crushed. He looked up to the green-and-white material and saw that it was narrowing as Mairie had said and knew he had to apply more pressure. From somewhere within him he had to find the strength to pull the lines harder.

  Instinctively he raised his legs and brought both arms down straight below his sides narrowing the chute as much as possible. He growled in a primal voice of desperation as his arms shook with the strain. It was working… the descent was more graceful, yet he felt unsure he could keep it up until they were on the ground.

  The brown desert floor, dotted with sagebrush, flew past his vision and he again felt the incredible, fleeting sensation of being a bird… on its awkward first flight. As landing became imminent, he growled again, knowing he had to pull out any last reserves of strength if they hoped to make it alive. Everything, every single thought and sinew of his body, was focused on landing this contraption.

  He knew it was possible, Mairie had done it.

  The last thing he recalled were his boots slamming into the ground, and he was sure his ankles broke with the impact as pain shot up his body and rammed into the top of his skull. Suddenly he was jerked backward and his legs crumpled under them. His back and head hit the sand as Mairie flopped like a rag doll against his chest. For the second time on this flight, darkness overtook him.

  He passed out.

  Mairie felt bruised and battered. Her head hurt like hell and she couldn't breathe. She lifted her chin up and gasped for air. She opened her eyes just the slightest bit. The pain increased and she immediately shut them in defense. Her chest ached and she forced her arms to move. Slowly placing her hands in the hot sand, she attempted to raise herself. Everything hurt, and something was restricting her from getting up. She squeezed her eyelids tightly, then opened them to find herself face to face with a lifeless Jack. Her hand felt a rope at her breasts and around her back. Why was she tied up… and to him? Fear slammed into her.