Middle Falls Time Travel Series, Books 4-6 (Middle Falls Time Travel Boxed Sets Book 2)

by Shawn Inmon

  He took several steps back up the trail, but drew to a stop.

  And then all this, risking my life, was for nothing.

  He turned around and looked for the small path. He found it and jogged ahead too quickly, getting whipped by branches and blackberry vines that scratched against his jeans and mosquito-bit arms.

  He stumbled into a small clearing and face to face with JD and Bobby, who were in the midst of passing a joint. They wouldn’t have been more surprised if Bigfoot himself had strolled into their camp.

  “Joe? What the hell?”

  “Listen,” Joe said, trying to catch his wind. “I’ve risked my life to come out here and give you assholes one more chance to see another birthday. At this point, I don’t care if you follow me or not. But, the mountain is gonna blow in just a few hours. At least, I hope it’s hours.” He looked at the first sign of pinks and purples in the eastern sky. “Do either of you guys know what time it is?”

  JD and Bobby looked at each other, then comically gawked at their wrists, which were bare. Wide-eyed, they shook their heads.

  “Damn. I never get up early enough to know what time the sun comes up.”

  “Oh, I stay up this late almost every night,” JD said. “It comes up around 5:30.”

  Joe looked at the brightening sky, and said, “Must be around 5:00 or 5:15, then. Shit. Listen, I’m leaving. If you guys want to live, you better haul ass with me. If not, it’s been nice knowing ya, but I’m out of here.”

  “Man, you’ve convinced me. If you’d drag your ass out of Middle Falls and all the way up here just to tell us this, I believe you. We really thought you were just trying to scare us the other night.”

  “At least it’s light enough now, we’ll be able to see where we’re going,” Joe said. “I about killed myself looking for you guys last night.”

  “You’ve been looking for us all night?”

  “Yes, and it’s all for nothing if we don’t get a move on. Come on, let’s go.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Leave all this stuff,” Joe said, casting a nervous eye in the direction of the mountain.

  “What? No way, man? This is all my dad’s camping gear. He’d kill me if I didn’t bring it back,” Bobby said. He stood up, stretched, and looked around at their campground. “Too bad we have to leave, this was an awesome spot. We’ve gotta come back here soon.”

  “No one’s going to come back here for a long time. Every tree around us will be blown down like matchsticks in the first blast. A tremendous lahar, made up of melted snow and ice, mixed with mud, will blow through here, wiping out all traces of life as you see it. In a few hours, this place will be as lifeless as the surface of the moon.”

  “Man, you’re all fired up. You’re like one of those old school biblical prophesiers or whatever. Okay, okay, I’ll hurry and get packed up.”

  Bobby’s idea of hurrying, when compared to the life and death clock ticking its doomsday countdown in Joe’s head, was not hurrying at all. He dismantled the tent, rolled it up and slipped it back inside the orange bag it came in. Joe ran around the area, throwing things into their backpacks, but in the end, he probably just slowed the process down more.

  Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore. The sun was above the horizon, now, and he felt doom descending on them minute by minute. “Dudes, come on, we’ve gotta haul ass out of here.” He looked at JD, slightly bent over by the weight of the backpack that rose above his head, and canvas bag he was carrying.

  Joe grabbed the bags each of them were carrying to more evenly distribute the weight among the three of them, then moved out. When he reached the trail, he turned left and double-timed it. Each step he took away from the mountain, he felt a little better.

  We’re gonna make it. God help us, I think we’re gonna make it.

  Joe glanced behind him and saw that he was already fifty yards ahead of JD and Bobby.

  To hell with it. I’ve done every damned thing I can to save them. If they want to die this bad, that’s on them. I’ve already done en-uuuunnnnhhh.

  Glancing over his shoulder, Joe hadn’t watched where he was going. He fell face-first at double speed. Both his hands were carrying bags, so he couldn’t catch himself. He turned his body to try to absorb most of the fall. He landed shoulder-first in the dirt, then his head slammed into a small rock outcropping with a sickening crack.

  Joe’s eyes fluttered, then rolled up.

  When he opened his eyes again, everything seemed brighter, but that may have only been the stars he was seeing.

  “Dude. If you try and go that fast, you’re gonna kill yourself,” JD said.

  If you only knew.

  Joe shook his head, but that was a mistake. He rolled over and threw up a thin ribbon of vomit onto the dirt.

  “Whoa, take it easy. You’re bleeding. Pretty sure you shouldn’t move for a while,” Bobby added.

  Joe cleared his throat and spat, then found his own backpack, retrieved the canteen, and washed his mouth out with water, and spat again.

  Joe strove to keep his voice even. “If I don’t move, we’re all dead. I don’t remember exactly what time it’s gonna blow, but it’s full daylight now, so it can’t be long. Any idea how far it is to the parking lot?”

  Bobby shrugged. “No idea. I’m not exactly Grizzly Adams, you know.”

  “This is not news,” Joe said, gingerly touching his hand against his head, just above his right ear. It came away sticky and red. “Okay. I’m gonna have a splitting headache for a while. But, the truth is, it’s not going to matter if we don’t get to our vehicles and put some miles between us and the mountain. I hate to do it, but I’m not gonna wait for you guys any more. If you want to weigh yourself down with crap, go ahead. I’m getting the hell out of here while I still can.”

  A brief conversation later, JD and Bobby stashed all their gear behind a big tree that had been struck by lightning a few years previous.

  “You’re spooking me now, man. I can remember where this tree is and come back and get Dad’s gear next weekend,” JD said.

  “Finally. You should have been spooked a long time ago. Let’s go.”

  The three of them set off at a jog. The bouncing jog made Joe constantly nauseous, and he stopped one more time to vomit. Aside from that, they kept a steady pace that ate up the distance to their vehicles. When they passed Merlin and Sapphire’s camp, Joe was happy to see it was deserted.

  Strangers listen to me? My supposed best friends? No way.

  They turned a corner and ran into the parking lot, panting and out of breath. Joe looked at the same vista of the mountain he had admired the night before. It looked as peaceful now as it had then, its snow cone top undisturbed.

  “Let’s get out of here. Once we get to the freeway, let’s stop at a gas station. The wind’s blowing northeast, but still, everything within a hundred miles of the mountain is going to be covered in heavy ash fall very soon.”

  Bobby opened his mouth to say something, but whatever his words were, they were drowned out by a deep rumbling from the east. The ground under their feet vibrated and bounced.

  “Oh, God, it’s too late!” Joe shouted, knowing his words too, would go unheard.

  As quickly as it started, both the rumbling and earthquake stopped.

  Into the silence, Joe said, “That’s it, boys, that’s the beginning.”

  They turned to stare at the mountain and watched as the whole northern side collapsed and slid away as if solid dirt and rock had been instantaneously liquefied. Immediately, steam, ash, and dirt shot skyward in a massive column.

  Bobby and JD turned to Joe. “Shit, man, I didn’t believe you!”

  Joe ignored him and jumped for the Olds. He fumbled with his key to get in, but eventually managed it. He slid behind the wheel and started the car. He slammed it into reverse and turned toward the road. He felt an onrushing heat and the ash fall covered his windshield faster than the wipers could move it. He hit the window wash spray, but that only smeared
the whole gray mess. The ash was hot and sizzled slightly as it hit the moisture of the washer fluid.

  The car became unbearably hot, but Joe knew he couldn’t open the window. Chaos swirled around him. To his right, a doe leaped ahead of him, running for its life.

  Godspeed and good luck, deer.

  He turned the wipers on high, but they had little effect. He was essentially driving blind.

  It’s like I got dropped down inside a snow globe filled with dirt and ash. I think I’m screwed.

  He made it back to the bridge that crossed the Toutle River. There was debris partially blocking it, and he had to slow to maneuver around it. He glanced in his side mirror and saw JD’s pickup right behind him, riding his bumper.

  Guess they’re finally in a hurry.

  He glanced to his left. A massive wall of brown water, debris, and sludge washed toward him at an incredible speed.

  Oh, God.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Joe Hart opened his eyes and coughed violently. He felt dizzy and his shirt clung to him damply. He looked wildly around him, but all was calm.

  He was sitting on his couch, back in the house he had shared with his mother.

  Whoa. It happened just like she said it would. I’m right back here, like a save point in a video game. Holy crap, what a rush. I never want to do that again. In the list of bad ways to die, I’m going to add getting caught up in a volcanic blast.

  He swung his feet to the floor, stood up and walked to the window that looked out on the back yard. There were freshly-turned flower beds, newly planted flowers, and he could still see a few spots where his mother’s ashes were visible. How about you, Mom? Are you in a loop like this, too? If you are, I hope that loop took you back before Dad left on that tour. Otherwise you’re going to be miserable.

  He walked around the house, not surprised by the condition he found it in this time.

  “Well, crap,” he mumbled. “All that work I did is out the door. That’s discouraging.”

  Might as well make the best of it, though. First life, I learned a few things, even if I didn’t do much. Second life, what did I learn? I guess maybe I learned if people want to be stupid, I’ve gotta just let them be stupid. Doesn’t mean I can’t change things, it just means I’ve got to let people find their own destiny. If I try to change it, they’ll do it any way, and they’ll just take me down with them.

  He looked in the bathroom, which was just as filthy as it had been the last time he woke up here.

  I can clean this up again. That’s no big deal. But I don’t know if I can stand to do all the work around here I did the first time.

  With a resigned sigh, he went to the closet and retrieved a bucket, mop, and some Comet cleanser and went to work.

  He was bent over the bathtub, scrubbing at the black grime, when he heard the front door open.

  “Yo, yo, yo, Joe!”

  Joe poked his head out of the bathroom. JD and Bobby.

  Of course. Just a few minutes ago, you were hightailing it away from the eruption, and now here you are again, fresh as the morning dew.

  Bobby took in Joe’s appearance, from the cleaner in his hands, to his plastic gloves. “You okay, dude? Did something turn you into Betty Crocker or something?” His high pitched giggle filled the house. “Is it still copacetic if we watch the game here? Your TV’s a lot better than the one at my house.”

  Oh, God, this might get a little old. I’ve already watched the Sonics lose this game twice, and one wasn’t that long ago.

  “Sure, no problem.” He dug into his back pocket for his wallet—the blue, zippered one—and dug out the twenty dollar bill. “I buy, you fly. I’ll call it in, so it should be ready when you get there.”

  Wolfish grins spread across their faces. “Excellent!” JD said. “We’re off then. Be back before tipoff.”

  Joe peeled off the gloves and tossed them in the tub. I’ll finish that job tomorrow. I don’t think I can hack doing all the work I just did to get this place ready to sell. I do want to sell it, though. Maybe I’ll hire somebody to do it. Money doesn’t seem that important. I don’t really have anything I want to do with it.

  Half an hour later, JD and Bobby returned with two large pizzas and the same bagful of snacks they had bought the last time.

  I’ll be glad when we move forward a little and events start to diverge. I feel like I’m caught in a Deja vu loop.

  Joe chose a spot on the couch, grabbed a slice, and settled in to watch the Sonics’ inevitable loss.

  Joe had done a lot of work on himself in his previous life that he didn’t need to repeat this time. He didn’t feel like he needed to go see Abigail Green. He tried going back to Al-Anon, but found that he was listening to the same stories from the same people he had heard not long before. After a few meetings, he drifted away and didn’t go back.

  He did call Debbie at the animal shelter and arranged to volunteer, though. He missed the dogs, and was glad when new ones appeared that he remembered from his last go-round. It was like meeting an old friend for the first time all over again.

  He decided to hire a handyman to do all the work he had done around the house in his previous life. He looked under “Handyman” in the Middle Falls phone book and was rewarded with zero names. There was a company listed under “Carpenters” though, so he gave the number a call and asked for an estimate.

  The next morning, an older man showed up in a small pick-up with “Rent-a-Husband” painted on the side.

  “I don’t actually need a husband,” Joe said, coming through the front door, “but I do have a honey-do list as long as your arm.”

  The man climbed out of the pickup and winced a bit. He was a shorter man, with a face reddened by long hours in the sun and the perpetual squint that goes with it.

  “That was my wife’s idea,” the handyman said, pointing to the sign. “Most of her ideas, like marrying me, are good ones, but they’re not all perfect. I’m Stan Fornowski, by the way. Why don’t you show me this honey-do list, and I’ll take a look at it.”

  Joe showed Stan all the jobs he had already done the lifetime before. Stan took his battered old hat off and scratched his thinning white hair. “That’s a pretty good list. I could get all that done for you in a couple of weeks. Gonna run ya about $400 in labor, plus whatever I have in materials, though.” He raised his eyebrows at that last, as though this young man may find that number exorbitant.

  “If you can get all this done in two weeks, I’ll pay you five hundred.”

  Stan raised his eyebrows, then asked, “Half up front?”

  “No,” Joe said. “I’ll pay four hundred up front, then give you the hundred if you get ‘er done in two weeks. How’s that sound?”

  “That sounds like you’re not much of a negotiator.”

  “That’s true!” Joe agreed with a smile.

  Joe hired Stan so he wouldn’t have to do it all himself, but on the very first day, when he saw him painting the garage, he couldn’t help himself. He changed into some old cut-offs and a white t-shirt, found a brush in the garage and went to help.

  When Stan saw him, he raised his eyebrows. “You know you’re paying me to do this, right, son?”

  “I know, but you make it look like so much fun, I can’t help it. You must have a little Tom Sawyer in you.”

  Stan chuckled, but didn’t answer. Once the garage was painted, it was only natural for them to move around to the main body of the house and continue painting.

  That’s funny. I couldn’t stand the idea of doing all this again by myself, but now that Stan’s here, I feel like I’ve got to help him. I don’t think it was doing the work again. It was just doing it by myself.

  With two of them working side by side, the work went quickly. In ten days, not two weeks, they had knocked off every item on the list, and half a dozen more that Stan had suggested. The house looked and felt better than it had the first time Joe had fixed things up.

  On the afternoon of the tenth day, as Stan was pa
cking everything in the back of his little Courier pickup, Joe came out of the house with a Rainier beer and a hundred dollar bill. Stan accepted the Rainier and used an opener on his key chain to pop it open.

  “No beer for you? I’d say you’ve earned it.”

  “Nope.”

  “Good enough, then.”

  One beer probably wouldn’t hurt me, but after watching Mom die the way she did, I just don’t see the attraction.

  Joe watched Stan take a long, deep pull, smack his lips, and wipe his shirt sleeve across his mouth.

  “This is one of the oddest jobs I’ve ever done. I watched you work. You could have done every bit of it yourself, and saved the money.”

  “Not everything’s about money, is it?”

  “Amen, lad. You’re lucky to have figured that out so young.”

  “Speaking of which,” Joe said, handing over the hundred dollar bill.

  “No way I can take that. I would have been hard-pressed to make the deadline without your help. Put that back in your pocket.”

  “A deal’s a deal. I’m happy with what we’ve gotten done. The old place looks damn fine.” He held the bill out to Stan again.

  Finally, the older man took it, put it in his shirt pocket, and nodded his thanks.

  “I’ll tell you what. Me and the missus don’t get much in the way of company, but I’d like it if you’d come over for dinner tomorrow. That’ll give her a chance to complain that the house is a mess and spend twenty-four hours hunting down the last speck of dust.”

  Joe felt a little swell of happiness at the invitation. He nodded, and said, “You bet. I’d like that.”

  Stan took out a business card, wrote an address on it, and said, “We eat around six. Come hungry.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Joe felt nervous all day before going to dinner with Stan and Mrs. Fornowski. He tried to remember if he had ever gone to someone’s house for dinner, and came up blank. He considered calling and canceling more than once during the day, but knew he couldn’t do that to Stan and his wife.