"Ouch," I yelled, sitting up. Jerky stood in front of me with what I swear was a grin. "Why'd you do that?" I rubbed my ear where the cat had bitten. "I sure hope you didn't draw any blood."
"Guess she wanted you to get up." Sela put her arm around my waist and pulled me back down next to her.
"Well, she needs to learn a better way. A nice gentle kiss would do."
Sela kissed my ear and the warmth of her breath sent shivers down my spine. I turned my head and kissed her passionately. We hugged each other and felt warm. There was a slight nip in the autumn air, probably a warning that winter would be arriving soon.
"So, back on the road today?" I asked.
"Yup. We need to get farther south as soon as possible. This nice weather isn't going to last around this area much longer."
Sela took her clothes from the bottom of her sleeping bag and got dressed. I couldn't help but stare and admire her. She smiled at me. "See anything you like?"
I growled and wrapped my arms around her neck. "You are the most gorgeous woman I've ever met."
Sela giggled as I nuzzled her neck. "Flattery will get you-"
Jerky hissed, arching her back. She was looking down the road from where we had come.
"Okay, time to go. Our early warning system has just been initiated," I said, immediately pulling on my clothes.
We wasted no time packing up. Within a few minutes, Sela had both horses saddled and packed. As soon as I was on Hope, the horse knelt down to let Jerky jump onto her back. I didn't even have to give her the command. The horse could sense the expediency of the situation. Before Sela got on Tempest, she kicked dirt on the remaining fire embers. Jerky was still looking down the road and hissing.
Before I could say anything, Sela jumped on Tempest and they took off. We kept a brisk run for a long while. At one point, I could see that Jerky had calmed down and was sleeping. She liked to rest on my shoulder. I was relieved she wasn't too heavy of a cat. Her breathing and warmth felt good on the back of my neck.
After several miles, Sela slowed down, reached into one of her saddlebags and pulled out a large chunk of jerky. She handed a piece to me and gave Jerky a smaller one.
The morning sun had melted the slight tinge of frost on the grass. It was looking like another perfect warm Indian summer day was shaping up. As we came to a crossroads, Sela pulled a map out of her saddlebag. "I think we're in Kansas."
"That's funny. It reminds me of The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy says 'We're not in Kansas anymore.'"
Sela crinkled her forehead and said slowly, "And how is that funny?"
"I know. I'm weird. I don't know why when anyone ever says 'Kansas,' I always think of that line."
"You're not weird, and if Kansas makes you laugh…that's just fine. We need laughter," Sela said with a grin on her face. "At any rate, I think this is highway 59 and it will lead us down to I-70 and Topeka. We can then jump onto I-335."
As she was so nonchalantly giving us directions, it reminded me of one of the significant horrific events that took place shortly after that bloody Super Bowl.
"Road rage," I said softly.
"I don't think we'll encounter any of that. No one's been doing much driving lately," Sela replied, looking intently at the map.
"No, I was just remembering all the road rage that happened during that spring."
"Oh yeah. The mass insanity had a field day or I should say weeks with all that hellish business."
"You were back east then, right?"
"Yes. I witnessed those bloody, terrifying days first hand. One asshole, I mean one disgruntled driver, lifted a shotgun from the passenger seat and shot at me because I was observing the speed limit, I guess. At any rate, when I saw him lift a shotgun, I sped up. He started chasing me. We topped speeds close to a hundred miles an hour."
I stopped Hope and stared at Sela. She looked at me with terror on her face as she retold the story.
"He kept on my tail. Ramming his big SUV into the back end of my little Subaru. He put his shotgun out the window and fired, causing the back of my window to shatter. I went faster. I thought for sure I was dead."
Reaching over, I put my hand on Sela's thigh to console her.
She smiled and continued. "At one point, I saw an exit approaching. I started to go up the ramp and at the last minute swerved to go back onto the freeway. The road-rage-fueled maniac didn't react quickly enough and slammed into a barrier. He departed his vehicle through the front windshield and went flying through the air. He flew into some wires, which surgically sliced off his head and the arm holding the shotgun. His big SUV went sailing off the road and smashed into a large tree. The car actually exploded on impact."
Sela paused for a moment, sighing deeply. "I was shaking so badly as I eased my car down to normal speeds. I pulled off to the side of the road and cried for the longest time. People who saw me battling with the creep never even bothered to stop to see if I was all right. They either just drove by like nothing happened or honked their horn along with giving me the finger."
"That road rage took place all over the world. Again, it was as if something triggered it. Obviously, it was an evil that Madeline had set up years earlier. No one ever figured out why. It seemed like a good quarter of the world's population died from those tragic and horrific killings."
"Do you remember what happened in Los Angeles?" Sela asked.
"How could I forget? It was all over the news."
"Yeah, it wasn't much longer when the media had its last days and that was the end of knowing what was going on in the world."
I nodded my head in agreement. We swapped stories of what we remembered from the big L.A. road rage. "Blood flowed heavily over the highways for weeks. Cars piled up in huge heaps. It took road crews days to clear some of the roads."
"And then another road rage event would take place, day after day," Sela noted.
"After a while, the road crews started to just leave the wreckage," I said. "Which just fueled more road rage."
"It got pretty gruesome with all the coyotes coming down from the hills in L.A." Sela lightly kicked Tempest to start moving.
"Not to mention the diseases that followed. It was pretty much the end of L. A. and most of the other major cities."
"Months later, you began to see fewer and fewer cars on the roads."
Sela recounted how she decided at that point to make her way back to the family homestead in Iowa. She said that after abandoning her car, it took her months to get home.
"Remember how gas stations started shutting down and people started killing each other for gas. When I took that trip home, I carried a Glock with me at all times."
"The price of gas had gone through the roof. Many of those gas stations were burned to the ground because people were so upset at the cost."
"Not to mention all the oil refineries. I'm sure Madeline somehow had her finger in that one as well. She manipulated the disasters and destruction which pretty much put an end to air travel, trains, and anything that ran on gas," I recounted.
Jerky shifted her weight on my shoulder. We walked the horses a little farther in silence. "Well, who would have figured we'd be back to using horses for transportation," I said, petting Hope.
"Unfortunately, too many horses have ended up as food," Sela said with a quiver to her voice.
"Well, that certainly won't happen to these beauties," I said defiantly.
Sela picked up the pace and we ran the horses for several miles. As noon approached, we saw a farmhouse off in the distance. Sela slowed Tempest to a walk.
"Hmm, what do you think?"
I looked at Jerky and detected no concern. "Jerky's alarms are not going off. I suppose we can stop in and see if we can find anything. Just stay alert."
Sela pulled out one of the rifles from the scabbard on the side of Tempest. She put the gun on her back and took off the safety. I nodded my head and did the same.
As we approached the farmhouse, we could see that it had been vandalized and picked over. The windows were all busted, the front door was hanging by one hinge and a skeleton with part of its clothes hanging on its frame was lying on the side porch. Jerky jumped off my shoulder and dashed around to the back of the house.
"What do ya think?" I asked, nervously holding my rifle in front of me.
"I think we're okay," Sela said dismounting from Tempest. She found a place to tie up the horse. Sela took Hope's reins and tied her up as well.
As I got off Hope, I whispered, "I'm sure there's nothing to scavenge around here. Looks like it's been pretty well picked over."
"Maybe."
I followed her into the farmhouse. The inside looked as trashed as the outside. I stood in the front room visualizing how it must have looked when a loving, caring family occupied it. Lace doilies were strewn around the floor where an overstuffed sofa was lying on its side. Beautiful oak end tables were busted up into rubble. A large lump filled my throat as I saw a child's doll in the corner with its head ripped off. As I walked into the kitchen, I could see a large blood stain on the linoleum. It trailed off to the back door. Sela followed it out to the back porch. Standing on the top step, she pointed to the barn. "Looks like the trail goes to the barn."
"Where are you going?" I said grabbing her by the arm. "Maybe we should just go."
"The blood stain is very old. I'm sure whoever did this is long gone. Come on. Maybe there's some grain or something in the barn for the horses."
Jerky came running toward us proudly carrying a dead mouse. "Well, at least one of us is having lunch. Bon appetit," I mumbled, following Sela into the barn.
The sliding door to the barn was partially open. I stepped in front of Sela and slid the large wooden door to the side. It buckled slightly on the track as I wrestled with it and stopped. Sela stepped into the barn and gasped. I pushed the door hard and it slid wide open the rest of the way. She stumbled backward, bumped into me and raised her rifle. I slowly encouraged her to lower the weapon.
The bright autumn sun illuminated a gruesome sight. Dust from the barn danced along the rays. Five skeletons hung from the uppermost rafters, arranged in size. Sela turned away, crying. I put my arm around her and edged her toward a large oak stump. A rusty axe sat on the ground.
After a few minutes, Sela gathered her strength and said, "I'm fine now. We should see if we can find anything in the barn for the horses. Go around front and bring them back here."
"You sure?" I asked
"Fine. Go."
When I returned with both horses, Sela was coming out of the barn with a large burlap sack.
"Okay, my beauties, how about a treat?" she said, setting the bag down.
"What is it?"
"Oats," she said taking out a large hunting knife and slicing a long slit on the bag. Both horses immediately helped themselves, slowly devouring the grain.
"I think I may have found a root cellar as well. I'm going to see if there's anything in it. I'll be right back."
I sat on the stump, watching the two horses eat. Jerky came by with another mouse dangling from her mouth. "Don't overeat. You might get indigestion," I said to the cat.
A few minutes later, Sela came out from the barn with a huge smile. She was carrying two large jars.
"I don't believe it. Are those peaches?" I asked.
"Yup. I found some dried meat and other items we can stock up on. These just looked so good," she said handing me a jar.
"How'd you find the root cellar?" I asked, taking out a big peach from the jar.
"Remember…farm girl?" she asked, pointing to her chest. "I just knew where to look. I'm sure scavengers had no idea where farmers like to put their root cellars. We just struck a gold mine."
We all sat eating contentedly. I flashed Sela a large grin with my cheeks full of sweet peaches.
Before we left the farmhouse, we filled our packs with as much food from the root cellar as we could. "What do you think happened here?" I asked timidly.
"Hard to say, but it looks like maybe Dad killed his family, strung them up in a sadistic tableau and then did himself in. Very sad."
"How could anyone do that?" I asked in disgust.
"There were a lot of those scenes across the planet-people killing each other. A virus of insanity spread viciously and there was no cure for it. Come on, let's get out of here. I don't want to talk about it anymore." Sela mounted Tempest and raced out of the barnyard.
Hope bent down, Jerky jumped up into my lap and we followed.
The rest of the afternoon rolled by uneventfully and it was a welcome relief. We passed field after field of what once probably, at this time of year, would have been busy with farmers' combines harvesting…well, whatever Kansas used to be known for. Occasionally, we would spot the skeletons of cattle lying in the fields. Most likely they had been gutted and sliced up by marauders or perhaps attacked by wild dogs and maybe wolves. I started wondering about those demonic dogs that had been summoned by Madeline to attack Leonard. Were they still following us? As for wolves, I couldn't remember if there were wolves this far south. I knew that Minnesota had a large wolf population, but as for wolves in Kansas, I had no idea. However, given the fact that they were hungry, and looking for food, I wouldn't be surprised if they made their way this far south.
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."