Scattered Remains
Part 1 of 2
To Pat Ames –
Finder of Lost Writers
“Thus does one go to the stars; this is the way to fame and immortality,” - Virgil
“I hate auctions!” Pete Burke hissed through clenched teeth to his partner standing at stiff attention next to him.
“Shhhh!” Alan Virdon cautioned.
“Behave yourself or you may end up held over till tomorrow, and we already know
what happens to leftovers.”
Undaunted, the dark-haired astronaut scanned the crowd of apes and humans milling below the rickety, wooden platform. “If someone buys us, how’s Galen going to locate us when he gets back? And if they separate us, how are we going to find each other?”
The blond looked thoughtful for a moment. “If we do get separated, first chance you get, meet me back at the river bank where we camped the other night. Galen estimated it’d take more than a week to get back to Central City. Then he had to persuade his father to help draw up a set of ownership papers, and you know how tedious government paperwork can be … besides, Yalu wasn’t exactly one of our biggest fans.”
“Well, I think Galen should’ve thought about getting those damned papers while we were still hiding out at his parents’ house. It wasn’t like he had an awful lot to do, and we sure as hell wouldn’t be here right now if he had,” Burke grumbled. “After all, I was the one stuck in bed the whole time, remember?!”
“Pete,” Alan whispered, dumbfounded by his friend’s insensitivity. “I think Galen just might’ve had other, more pressing, matters on his mind.” The blond man looked pointedly at his younger friend. He saw understanding and remorse appear on the thin, expressive face. Liquid brown eyes met his for a scant second, then looked quickly, defensively away. Virdon was suddenly reminded of one of his wife’s frequent sayings. ‘The eyes are a mirror to the soul.’ His friend, Pete Burke, was a living, breathing example of the truthfulness of that statement.
It had been a little over tow weeks since he and Galen had rescued Pete from Urko’s clutches. Galen’s mother, Ann, had voluntarily risked her life and her husband’s career to bluff their way into the Central City hospital just in the nick of time to save Pete from one of Urko’s ‘special’ operations. Luckily, the three of them had managed to free Burke without suffering irreversible injury to themselves or Yalu’s career.
But Alan wasn’t so sure about his friend. Pete’s physical recuperation from Wanda’s mistreatment was still ongoing. Although the bruises to his torso from the beatings he’d endured between brainwashing sessions were fading, he still suffered periodically from attacks of vertigo. His appetite had returned, but most of what he managed to swallow usually came right back up. He had lost weight, leaving his already slim body and face with a gaunt, malnourished look.
Physically, his recovery was
sluggish, but Virdon could see daily progress. However, he was much more
concerned with Pete’s mental and emotional well-being. Even before his ordeal,
Burke had displayed a rash, impetuous streak, frequently rushing doggedly into
dangerous situations before properly evaluating them. But his days and nights
in Wanda'’ sadistic hands seemed to have had a detrimental effect on both his
disposition and his reasoning abilities. Totally unpredictable in his reactions
on a good day, Pete was now downright reckless and irrational on a bad one. For
Burke’s sake, and his own, Virdon sincerely hoped that today was not a bad one.
A husky male orangutan paced up and down the auction block, looking at first Burke, then Virdon. He cleared his throat, clasped his hands together behind his back and rocked back and forth thoughtfully on the balls of his feet directly in front of the tall, blond astronaut. “Chon, does this one have any experience in convalescent home or hospital work?”
The auctioneer, a wiry, nervous little ape, came to stand beside his customer. “I don’t know, sir. These two are brand new to my inventory. They were brought in without ownership papers three days ago. I held them for the mandatory 48hours, but the ape who claimed they belonged to him has not yet returned. I’m perfectly within my rights to sell them today.” He wrung his hands, agitated at having to explain the circumstances whereby he came in possession of these two humans. But the large orangutan had already lost interest in the men and moved on to a small human female at the end of the line.
The skittish auctioneer crinkled his nose and frowned testily at both astronauts, then turned his attention to another potential buyer. “Can I help you, sir?”
“I’m looking for breeding stock,
Chon. Let me see that one, and these two.” The old, graying gorilla wiggled a
palsied finger toward a tall male at the front of the line and Burke and Virdon.
Chon gestured at the first human, who obediently and automatically stripped off all his clothing.
“Well, what are you two waiting for?”
he said sternly to Burke and Virdon, who stood motionless and confused. The
little ape tapped his foot impatiently. “Take off your clothes, humans!”
Pete threw Alan a look of open-mouthed dismay, but his friend could only shake his head sympathetically.
"It’s not worth it, Pete!” Virdon
whispered, already shrugging out of his shirt. “You know you’re not up to
anymore of their disci-line methods.”
Reluctantly, the dark-haired human signed agreement and slowly began to remove his clothes too.
“Whom are you trying to cheat with this merchandise, Chon,” the aged gorilla said angrily, shaking his head and throwing a long, hairy arm into the air for emphasis. “This human has been neutered.”
Disconcerted, Chon wrung his hands. “I don’t understand, sir. That human came from a very reputable dealer. Here,” he gestured towards his new subjects, “these two are in prime condition.”
Burke shot Virdon a sideward glance. “Uh oh,” he groaned under his breath.
The ancient simian limped slowly to
the middle of the platform, stopping directly in front of Burke. He stared long
and hard at the naked man. “And what form of mutilation is this? Or was he
born with this defect?”
“I don’t know, sir,” Chon said
worriedly. He was already envisioning a ‘no sale’ day, and every failed
transaction had the same two things in common – these new humans. His
exasperation was steadily rising, and he turned on Burke. “How did you get this
way?” he asked impatiently.
Teeth chattering, Burke shivered in the cool, autumn wind. “My mom signed a consent form when I was born. The doctor did the rest,” he said truthfully
“Lies … always lies and disrespect
from these creatures,” the auctioneer shrieked. He drew back his arm and
delivered a stinging backhanded slap to Burke’s cheek sending the man toppling
to his knees.
“Bah!” the gorilla huffed snidely. “From the looks of him, he’s been disciplined before. Well, some humans just can’t learn. This one seems to be a troublemaker, Chon. I’m not interested in him anymore. Show me those two tall males on the end.” Without even so much as a glance at Virdon, Chon and his customer moved on.
“Pete?” Alan waited until the two
apes were well out of hearing range, then jerked his pants up and knelt beside
Burke. “Are you okay?”
Trembling with rage, the younger man
turned his head toward his friend. “I’ll ‘mutilate’ him!” Burke growled under
his breath and attempted to stand.
Alarmed at his friend’s continued, possibly destructive, animosity, Alan gripped Pete’s too-thin shoulders tightly and moved closer so he could look long and hard into the man’s eyes. “You listen to me, and you listen good!” he whispered harshly, “If you want to commit suicide, then do it somewhere where I don’t have to stand by and watch. I know you went through a lot, and I know it’s affected you to the point where you don’t seem to care if you live or die. But I do!” Virdon paused for emphasis, then continued. “And so does Galen! We risked our necks to save your ass and, frankly, I’m not going to just stand idly by while you get yourself killed.”
Speechless at Virdon’s
uncharacteristic scolding, Burke dropped his eyes from his friend’s unwavering
glare. For a long moment, he stared in stunned silence at the holes in the
ancient wooden floor, then he reached purposefully for the ragged blue shirt
that lay in a heap on the platform.
“I mean it, Pete. These temper tantrums have got to stop! Do you understand me?”
The reprimand brought Burke’s eyes abruptly back up. His face was an open mask of shock that suddenly crumpled into the Peter Burke patented ‘little boy lost’ look. With the immediate danger averted, Virdon heaved a sign of relief and shoved his heart back down his throat. He released his grip on Burke’s shoulders, noting with some remorse the reddened, telltale finger marks his large hands had left on the dark-haired man’s bruised skin. He hadn’t realized he’d squeezed so hard. Immediately contrite, Alan reached out to help Pete draw the shirt over his bowed head. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I didn’t mean to be so rough … but, if anything happened to you, Pete, I don’t think I’d have the strength to keep on going.”
Burke wriggled the rest of the way into his shirt and yanked his pants and his body up carefully. An open apology was in his eyes. He knew Alan didn’t expect him to verbalize it. Instead, he cleared his throat and said casually, “Okay, mom. I’ll behave.”
It was enough for both of them.
Secretly enjoying the timid little
chimpanzee’s predicament, Angus found himself smiling absently as he watched the
animated customer rant and rave on the auction platform. Just as quickly as it
had appeared, he wiped the grin off. It wouldn’t be proper for a mere human to
laugh at the misfortune of an ape. But, inside, the smile grew even brighter,
and Angus had to bite the interiors of his cheeks to keep it from returning full
blown to his face.
A keen sense of self-preservation
made him look away, and he stared up at the pitiable lot of humans being offered
for sale. Seemingly oblivious to the altercation on his behalf, the first male
in line was redressing himself slowly. However, the angular, dark-haired human
in the middle of the line huddled red-faced, naked and trembling.
Angus felt a familiar pant of
compassion toward the man, and then he looked into the human’s piercing brown
eyes. Even at this distance, he could tell that the man was not flushed with
embarrassment or merely shaking with cold. He was very obviously enraged and
barely managing to contain it.
Now half-dressed, the light-haired,
stockier male knelt beside the younger man, speaking to him in low, even tones.
So unusual was this display that Angus felt compelled to move nearer for a
closer look. After all, Virgil had told him to keep an eye out for all unique
humans.
Reaching the base of the auction
stand, he ey4ed both men curiously, watching as the tall blond began to help the
other dress. And then he noticed the difference in the human.
“Chon … sir … I beg forgiveness for
interrupting, but I must have a word with you.”
Unaccustomed to a human intruding,
much less speaking in such a forward manner, both apes turned around and stared
at Angus in shocked silence.
Undaunted, he scaled the stairs, two
at a time, then slowed and approached the old gorilla and chimpanzee
cautiously. As he passed the slender human, his heart raced, and another
sideward glance confirmed his first conclusion.
“Sir, I am Angus, assistant overseer
of Lord Micah’s northern territory.” He saw his master’s name and importance
register on Chon’s surprised face. “I believe Lord Micah would be interested in
taking these two humans off your hands. I have papers with his seal giving me
authorization to purchase slaves for him.”
Completely ignoring his already
disgruntled customer, the auctioneer now turned his total attention to Angus.
“I am honored and humbled that your master sent you to view my stock. You are
interested in these two?”
“Yes, sir. We are in need of several
able-bodied humans to help us at harvest time, and I’m certain these two would
be perfect. Here are my authorization papers, sir.” Angus removed a
handkerchief from his pocket and mopped beads of sweat from his forehead. It
was a cool, breezy day, but the thrill of his discovery was making him
perspire. He hoped that he didn’t appear too eager.
The slighted old gorilla huffed and
turned to leave, then paused in front of Burke. “Well, I just hope your master
isn’t looking for breeding stock,” he said offhandedly to Angus. Almost as an
afterthought, the large ape reached out, grabbed a handful of Burke’s shirt and
effortless and vigorously, shook him. “This one is deformed,” he said
matter-of-factly. Abruptly, he released Burke and stalked off the platform.
The slender astronaut swayed on
suddenly wobbly legs, and Virdon watched as every trace of color drained from
Burke’s face.
“Pete?” he said worriedly, reaching
out a steadying arm.
“I … wish …” Burke swallowed hard and
closed his eyes. “I wish … he … hadn’t done that.”
“The dizzies again?”
Burke started to nod his head, then
thought better of hit.
Virdon saw his friend’s lips press
together into a thin, tight line. “Breathe deeply through your nose, Pete.
Keep your eyes closed and hang on to me until it passes.”
Concerned by the interchange, the
auctioneer steered Angus to the far side of the platform. “Now, I cannot
guarantee those two humans, Angus. They are new to my stores, and I have no
pedigree on them. However, I wish Lord Micah to know that if something should
befall one or both of them within, say … three months, I will be happy to
replace them at no extra charge.”
“Sir, is there anything I should know
about these humans before we complete this transaction?”
“No, no, no, no!” Chon was almost
beside himself. “All my slaves are in relatively good condition. I just want
you to make certain that Lord Micah knows these two have been owned before and,
as you can see, their treatment has not been the best.”
“Yes, I noticed the bruises, but the
human is young and seems in good health otherwise. Now, let’s talk price.”
Chon smiled broadly. Those were words that played sweet music in his hairy ears.
**********
The late afternoon sun was gray and
overcast, and the sun’s disappearance transformed what had only been chilled
breezes into icy gusts. Winter was going to be early this year. The assistant
overseer tugged his homespun jacket closer around his neck and chin, pushed his
long, fair hair away from his face, and turned back to check on his master’s new
slaves. For appearance sake, he had been forced to tie them to the rear of the
wagon and purposely depart the village at a fast pace, leaving the two of them
to either walk quickly, run, or be dragged behind. Angus estimated that they
had been traveling for more than an hour, and he knew they had passed their last
ape on horseback over thirty minutes ago. Since then, they had seen no one
else, man nor ape. Glancing around at the denser vegetation and thicker wood,
Angus determined that it was now safe to stop. Vaulting from his wagon seat, he
hurried back to check on his humans’ condition and release their bonds.
Alan, the older, blond human, seemed
barely winded. He was obviously in good, physical shape and, Angus reasoned,
must have spent many months trudging great distances at a high rate of speed.
Right now, however, the man seemed preoccupied with is friend, who was hunched
over, painfully sucking in great gulps of air.
“I’m sorry,” Angus said as he
struggled to untie Burke’s wrists. When the younger man was freed, Angus
reached into the wagon and retrieved a bladder canteen. He handed it to the
still gasping human and moved on to untie Alan. “I had to make them believe you
would be treated as slaves.”
“We have been!” Alan said tersely,
rubbing his chafed wrists and moving to aid Burke.
“It was necessary to do so. It was
the only way I could rescue you from Chon’s greedy clutches.”
Virdon and Burke exchanged puzzled
glances. They had interacted with many different humans since their arrival in
this future world nearly six months before, but they had never run into one
quite as perplexing as Angus.
The assistant overseer shuffled and
maneuvered boxes of supplies and loose hay around in the back of the wagon,
making room for the astronauts to climb on board. “I know you must be cold and
tired. I hear the auction cages aren’t very comfortable. If you’d like to
sleep or rest, please do so. We have a very long way to go before we reach Lord
Micah’s territory.”
“Thanks … Angus,” Burke said and
meant it. Kindness was not something they bumped into every day.
Virdon helped Pete climb into the
tall buckboard and watched as the man snuggled gratefully into the soft,
sweet-smelling hay.
“Get some sleep, okay? I’m going to
ride up front with Angus and find out about our new owner.”
Without opening his eyes, Burke
whispered a quiet affirmation.
Virdon nodded approvingly to himself,
then turned to Angus. “Is it permitted to ride with you? I have many
questions.”
“You may ride with me if you wish,
Alan, but I won’t be able to answer your questions. It is better if you wait
until Overseer Virgil can speak with you. He will explain everything you need
to know.” Angus jumped into the driver’s seat and waited for Virdon to join
him, but the man had returned to the back of the wagon. The assistant overseer
watched as the blond human removed his vest and tucked it securely around his
already sleeping partner’s shoulders.
“Your friend is not well. I’m sorry
I had to make him walk, but I couldn’t afford to raise any suspicions in the
village. Lord Micah is very specific in his instructions to our overseer,”
Angus said as Virdon joined him.
“Pete was … disciplined … by a former
owner. He is recovering, but it will take some time,” Alan explained carefully.
“What did he do?” Angus whistled to
the horses, and the wagon moved forward with a sudden jerk.
“He … refused to divulge the names of
humans and apes who have helped us,” Virdon said cautiously, watching closely
for any reaction.
There was none. Angus merely looked
at him and nodded. I understand,” he said and left it at that.
They spent the rest of the afternoon
traveling at a rather brisk pace, stopping only at dusk to make a quick camp.
After a cold dinner of salt biscuits and dried fruit, Angus curled up in a
makeshift tent beneath the wagon. “If you promise me you won’t try to escape, I
won’t tether you for the night,” he said, almost as an afterthought.
Virdon was incredulous. “You’ll take
our word that we won’t run away?!”
“Of course. Besides, you belong to
Lord Micah now. Why would you possibly want to escape?” Angus adopted the same
incredulity in his voice.
“All right,” Alan said. “You have my
word that we won’t leave tonight.”
Angus nodded his satisfaction and
relaxed. “Then good night. I hope you feel better tomorrow, Pete.”
Burke washed his third mouthful of
dry bread down with several swigs of tepid water, then made a sour face.
“Here,” he said, handling the partly eaten biscuit out to Virdon.
Alan shook his head and pushed the
bread back toward Pete. “You need to eat!” he said pointedly.
“Tell that to my stomach,” the
younger man said, suddenly rising and bolting to the bushes adjoining their
camp. Trembling and several shades paler, he returned a few minutes later.
“Couldn’t keep it down?” Alan asked,
worry evident in his voice.
“No,” Pete said hoarsely. He looked
down at his still shaking hands. “You know, every time she’d stop the wheel,
that sadistic ape-bitch would pour some concoction down my throat. At the time
I thought it was just water, but now that I think back,” Burke locked troubled
eyes with his friend. “… Alan, maybe it was something more …”
Virdon heard the barely concealed
fear in the younger man’s voice. “I don’t think those apes were sophisticated
enough to try to poison or drug you, Pete. Do you remember what it tasted
like?”
“Water … at the time I thought it was
just water …” he repeated, his eyes taking on a vacant, haunted look.
“Don’t do this to yourself, Pete.
You’re still in the recovery mode. You know from past experience that it takes
a lot of time to get over being sick.”
“I’m not sick, Alan. I was tortured
… for days …”
Burke’s expression went bleak again,
and Alan felt compelled to steer their conversation away from the past.
“I know,” the blond man whispered.
“But, it’s all over now, and looking back serves no useful purpose. Come on, if
you can’t bring yourself to eat, at least get some sleep.”
“I slept all day. I’m not tired,”
Burke pouted, sliding back into his defensive persona but, at the same time, he
reluctantly heaved himself up on unsteady legs and started slowly back toward
his warm, comfortable straw bed.
Virdon watched him go, and a vague
uneasiness crawled chillingly 8up the length of his spine. What if Pete was
right? What if Wanda had found more in her book than mere brainwashing
techniques?
Alan sighed tiredly and rubbed at the
ache on the bridge of his nose. And what if Galen had thought to get forged
ownership papers while they were still staying at his parents’ house?
And what if Angus hadn’t decided to
stop at the auction and buy them today?
And what if …. Everything they’d
endured in the last six months was really just an ongoing nightmare and, right
now, he was really at home, lying in bed next to his wife. At any moment, he
would wake up and touch the soft velvet of her warm skin, caress the satin
curves of her body, smell the clean scent of her freshly washed hair. If he
closed his eyes really tight and concentrated, perhaps when he opened them he
would see Sally staring down at him in her own disarming way. She would smile
at him and tickle his nose and lips with her long, honey-colored hair.
“Wanna fool around?” He could almost
hear her deep, early morning voice whisper into his ear. “Chris is still
asleep. I figure we’ve got a whole hour. Think you’re up to it … hmmm?”
Virdon reached out a hand to grab
her, pull her to him, meld her body with his ….
“Alan? You okay?”
*********
Pete’s concerned voice reached
through the centuries, shattering his dream into a million tiny shards.
Reluctantly, he blinked away the fantasy and the unshed tears. Everyone he’d
ever cared about had died more than a thousand year ago. Every one …
He felt cool fingers encircle his
forearm and squeeze gently, hesitantly, and he turned to look into the troubled
face of his friend. ‘No … not everyone …’
“Come on back to the future, Al,”
Pete said softly.
Nodding, he let Pete lead him to the
buckboard. “Don’t you have this backwards? I’m supposed to be taking care of
you.”
“It’s my turn!” Burke said in mock
indignation. “You keep telling me to eat! Now I’m telling you to sleep! Your
bed is right over there. Now march, Colonel!”
Virdon wiped at his eyes one more time and smiled gratefully. “Yes, sir … Major.”
At just before daybreak, they
continued on, but Angus slowed the pace. Traveling in a northerly direction for
another four days, the assistant overseer rose at sunrise on the fifth and
steered the wagon due east. Finally, just as the sun moved from its daily
zenith to warm their backs, he pointed to a grove of stately pines. “Lord
Micah’s territory begins there!” he announced.
Rested from languishing four days in
a soft bed, Burke sat up and plucked at the bits of straw decorating his
abundant, walnut-colored hair. Finding a particularly fat one, he popped it
into his mouth and chewed one end thoughtfully. “Geez, talk about your
boonies! How much further until we reach ‘home,’ Angus?”
“We’ll be there in time for the
evening meal, Pete. Overseer Virgil will be extremely excited to finally meet
you.”
“Overseer Virgil? Does he run the
place? When do we meet Lord Micah?”
“You probably won’t get to see Lord
Micah right away. His greathouse is many more days travel to the north. Virgil
is in charge of our sector. He ensures that everything runs smoothly and that
we always make or exceed our annual quotas.”
“Is he the ape in charge?” Alan
asked.
Angus chuckled, then laughed out
loud, a sound so uncommon in the humans of this world that both astronauts
exchanged looks of wonder.
“What’s so funny?” Burke asked.
“Never mind, you’ll met him soon
enough,” Angus shook his head, still smiling at his private joke.
Alan glanced around at his friend
and shrugged his shoulders.
“Okay … I just asked,” Pete grinned,
then sobered. He had a whole afternoon to himself before he became the official
property of Lord Micah. He glanced around, then patted the hay behind him into
a soft pillow and lay back. If he only had a few hours of relative freedom
left, he chose to spend it sleeping.
The assistant overseer glanced back
and nodded approvingly. “Pete is recovering I think.”
Alan bobbed his head in agreement.
“Yes, he’s much better, thanks to you.”
Angus smiled and clicked to the
horses to quicken their pace.
“You know, I’ve been wondering about
something. We were definitely not the best looking humans standing on that
platform. Why did you buy us?”
“Because of Pete,” Angus said
honestly.
“I don’t understand.”
“He’s … different. You know, he’s
not the same as you or I,” Angus hesitated, as though he were trying to remember
something. “There’s a word for it, but I can’t recall it right now. You really
should wait until Virgil can explain everything to you. It won’t be much
longer.”
The blond human watched as the face
of their new friend closed up. The answer was always the same, no matter what
the question: ‘Wait! Overseer Virgil will explain it.’ Well, like the man
said, it wouldn’t be much longer.
“Pete! Wake up! You’re not going to
believe this.”
Alan’s excited voice intruded in his
sleep, and Burke cracked one eyelid to find himself the subject of close
scrutiny by several pairs of prying eyes. He stared up at the well-scrubbed
faces of at least five human children. All seemed content to merely stand and
look at him, and he suddenly felt uncomfortable. Stifling a groan, he pushed
himself into a sitting position. “Whose rugrats?”
Virdon’s face joined the circle of
children watching him. “Boy, you are a sleepyhead! Will you open your eyes and
look around?”
The dark-haired man scratched his
head, stretched grandly and then froze in mid-yawn. His gaze centered on a
magnificent, two-story log cabin directly in front of the wagon. Surrounded by
tall maples and silver oaks, the structure was nothing like any of the hovels he
was used to seeing humans live in. Even those apes he had encountered didn’t
have the technology to create such a house.
It was equipped with several
fireplaces and a wraparound porch that sported an honest-to-god, cane-back
swing. The windows held no glass, but all were equipped with one piece
shutters. Mesh screening had been installed to let air in and keep insects and
other pests out. And behind the screens hung intricate crocheted curtains.
Burke tore his eyes away from the
beautiful house to view the scene behind, but children’s faces blocked his
view. He scrambled to his feet and stood in the back of the wagon.
“I don’t believe it.” As far as his
eyes could see were less spacious, but similarly designed, one-story log houses.
“Angus!” A petite brunette woman who
appeared to be in her late-thirties ran from the porch of the larger cabin and
embraced their benefactor in a great hug. They kissed familiarly.
“I was so worried about you.”
“Well, you shouldn’t have been. You
know I can take care of myself. And look! See what I’ve brought.”
The woman reluctantly pulled away and
looked at Pete and Alan. She smiled warmly at them.
“This is my wife, Neva. This is
Alan, and this is Pete.”
“Hello. Welcome to Lord Micah’s
family.”
“Thank you, Neva. We have Angus to
be grateful to. He rescued us from the auction block,” Virdon said.
“He’s always doing something for
others. My husband has a good heart.”
“Come,” Angus gestured for the two
astronauts to follow him, and he and Neva hurried toward the large house.
Burke jumped agilely from the
wagon. “Somebody pinch me. I must be dreaming. Owww!” Pete’s head whipped
around. “All right, which one of you little monsters did that?”
The children giggled, a musical sound
all on its own. Its merriment infected Burke, who joined them in their
laughter.
“Hey, Al, I think I’m gonna like it
here.” He hurried to catch up with his friend who had already ascended the
steps.
Virdon stopped him with a solemn
face. “You know we can’t stay long, Pete. Galen is probably on his way back
from Central City by now. He’ll be along in a week or so to ‘claim’ us, and
then we’ll have to leave.”
The brown eyes dropped forlornly, and
Pete nodded. “You’re right, I guess. Can’t have ol’ Urko up here messing with
Angus or his family.”
“If we stay too long, you know that’s
exactly what’s going to happen eventually.” Alan looked back at the children
who were now engaged in a raucous game of hide ‘n seek. “I wouldn’t want to be
the serpent in what appears to be another Garden of Eden on this planet.”
“Come inside,” Neva burst out of the
screen door and beckoned to the two men to enter the house. “You must freshen
up before dinner and your introduction to Papa Virgil.”
“Papa?” Pete furrowed his brow at
Alan, who shrugged.
“That’s what the lady said. Come
on.”
Unbelievably, the inside of what they
soon learned was Lord Micah’s greathouse was even more splendid than the
outside. They were shown to a large, upstairs bathroom and were delighted to
discover that the overseer had installed a crude indoor plumbing that featured
both a shower and a bathtub with hot and cold running water.
When they had bathed and wrapped
themselves in large warm towels, Neva reappeared and showed them to another
upstairs room. “This will be yours until Papa Virgil can arrange to have your
cabins built. I hope you won’t mind sharing; all other rooms in the greathouse
are occupied right now … and I’ve taken your clothing – it needs to be washed,
and there were several holes in your shirt,” she said to Pete. “I’ll see to it
that it is mended. I’ve laid out clean clothing for you on the bed. Dress
quickly. Dinner will be ready soon.”
Again, they were shocked to find the
bedroom decorated with beautiful furniture. Although homemade, the full-sized
Paul Bunyon log bed featured a thick mattress, la4rge down pillows and a
colorful, patchwork quilt. Lacy, crocheted curtains hung from each of the
room’s four large windows, and dried flowers kept the look of spring glowing in
the decorative window boxes outside.
Virdon toweled his wet hair
vigorously. “Well, I’m impressed,” he said, still looking around in awe.
Burke sat on the bed and picked up
one of the fleece shirts that had been spread out on the quilt. Soft underwear,
undershirts, knitted socks, and gray trousers were also lying ready for their
use. “I guess they dress for dinner here,” he said offhandedly, running his
hands over the expertly-sewn spread. His fingers touched the fluffy knits and
scratchy homespun squares. Triangles of an unusual, smooth white cloth were
interspersed on the quilt forming ring-like patterns. He reached out and
touched one, frowning at its texture. It didn’t feel like the others; in fact,
it didn’t even look homemade. It felt more like ….
“Pete! Come over here.” Alan stood
gazing out one of the m8iddle windows.
Distracted from his examination of
the quilt material, Burke doffed the towel, pulled on the underwear and grabbed
one of the shirts. He shoved his still damp head through the neck opening and
joined Alan. “What is it?”
“Want to bet that’s Overseer Virgil
down there?”
A glance at the courtyard below
showed Angus conversing quietly with a gray-haired man. The older human had his
back to the astronauts, but even at a distance, they could discern that he was
tall and large in build.
“No bets,” Pete said, returning to
the bed and retrieving a pair of hand-knitted socks. He yanked one on his left
foot, then stopped, frozen in place by an almost forgotten scent.
He sniffed once, twice, then looked
at Alan with wide, wondering eyes. “Is that what I think it is?”
Virdon grinned. “Smells like roast
chicken … with sage dressing. And apple pie!”
A knock at the door and Neva’s voice
hurried them. They finished dressing quickly, and Angus’ wife showed them
downstairs to a spacious dining room already occ8upied by several other humans,
including Angus.
Again, the décor was handmade but
sophisticated. Alan guessed that the long, polished table was maple. There
were lengthy benches on both sides, with two large, ornately carved wooden
chairs placed at both ends.
Several roast chickens were spread
out sumptuously in a veritable smorgasbord of delicacies the astronauts had
neither seen nor eaten in what seemed eons. Cornbread and sage dressing, fresh,
steamed vegetables swimming in homemade butter, and bread still warm from the
oven lay in abundance on the table, and both men felt their stomachs contract
with hunger.
Angus motioned for Alan to join him
on the bench nearest the head of the table. He gestured for Pete to sit
directly opposite him. The other humans arranged themselves on the benches,
leaving both large chairs empty.
“Where’s Trina?” Angus looked around
the room, searching for a face that had not yet appeared.
“I haven’t seen her since early this
morning,” Neva said. “She’ll show up. She always does.”
“My only daughter,” Angus said in
explanation and shook his head. “Seventeen and thinks she’s grown. Do you have
any …” The assistant overseer cut himself off as the side door opened.
An old woman entered, and both Pete
and Alan stood in respect. Dressed in a flattering, formfitting dress, she
appeared to be in her late sixties. Her gray hair had been meticulously caught
up and pinned to the back of her head in a neat bun, and she searched the room
with animated blue eyes. Settling on Burke, her gaze finally stopped.
He met her unyielding glance head on,
but she was intimidating in her stare, and he suddenly felt as though she could
see right through him. He squirmed inwardly, uncomfortable in the grip of her
gaze, and dropped his eyes. When he looked up again, he saw that her piercing
stare now held Virdon in its grasp. Burke saw a flicker of some unrecognizable
emotion flash fleetingly across her lined, but still handsome face as she
examined Alan with her eyes, but it disappeared before he could discern what it
was, and then she continued to her chair at one end of the table.
Angus jumped up. “Let me help you,
mother,” he said and took her arm.
“I see our guests haven’t forgotten
their manners, Angus. Please be seated,” she said to Burke and Virdon. Then to
Angus, “Have you forgotten yours?”
“No, ma’am,” Angus blustered, pulling
her chair out and pushing it in as she seated herself. “I thought I’d wait for
Papa.”
“I’m here, Angus,” a strong, deep
voice said from the front of the room, and Burke and Virdon turned in unison.
Overseer Virgil, his wrinkled face
and leathered skin displaying every decade, stood in the doorway. His gray,
thinning hair was cropped short, and he sported an equally gray beard and
mustache. But age had no touched his body or his voice. He stood tall, well
over six feet, with broad, unstooped shoulders and a massive chest. In two long
strides, he took his place at the head of the table and looked from the still
standing Burke to Virdon.
“Alan,” the old man appeared to have
great difficulty saying the name. He swallowed, then coughed once, twice, then
again and again until it appeared he couldn’t catch his breath.
Angus and Alan moved together to grab
the man’s arms. They tried to help him sit down, but Virgil held up a large
hand to signal that he was okay. Still wheezing, he reached for a handkerchief
and wiped his streaming eyes. “Forgive me,” he said in a strained voice. “I’m
a very old man, and my body sometimes likes to remind me of that fact. Welcome
to Lord Micah’s family.” He held out a hand to the blond astronaut.
Virdon took the proffered hand to
shake it and, instead, felt himself drawn into a warm, friendly embrace.
Marveling at the old man’s strength, he pulled back and stared deeply into
Virgil’s faded blue eyes. “Well, thank you, sir. Pete and I are very
grateful. However, there is a problem ….”
“None we can’t fix, I assure you,”
Virgil said and turned watery eyes to Burke. “And you are Pete. Welcome.”
Again, the hand was extended. Burke
shook it cordially, then found himself similarly squeezed.
“I trust you’re feeling better now.”
“Very much, sir. Thank you.”
“Sit down, gentlemen. Let me introduce you to the rest of my family. My wife and partner in life, Charlie,” he said, indicating the older woman at the opposite end of the table.
The old woman smiled at both
astronauts. “It’s really Charlotte, but he’s always called me Charlie. You can
call me Mama or Charlie or Mama Charlie, whatever’s easiest for you.”
Virgil went on. “To your immediate
left, Pete, are my oldest daughter, Rachel, and her husband, Noel. They are
responsible for running the northern zones of the sector. And on the end are
our youngest, Charla, and her husband, John, who are accountable for the
southern districts. On the opposite side are my only son, Angus, and his wife,
Neva, both of whom you’ve already met. They are in charge of caring for the
residences, the barn, and helping me to oversee all of Lord Micah’s vast
estate. Next to Neva is my middle daughter, Arvid, who runs the children’s
learning house and assists her mother in caring for the sick. And on the end
are my grandson, Andrew, who belongs to Angus and Neva. He’s 15 now and
permitted to join the adults for dinner and ….” Virgil stopped and looked at
the vacant bench space. “What is Trina?” he looked pointedly at Angus.
“You know the child, Papa. She’s
off wandering somewhere in the hills.”
“She’s not a child anymore, Angus.
She’ll be eighteen in less than two months. She has chores and responsibilities
now, and if I find that she’s gone back to the forbidden territory again, I’ll
….”
“I’m sorry I’m late, Papa Virgil!”
An utter whirlwind breezed into the room, slamming the door behind her and
plopping unceremoniously into the vacant seat at the table. She was tall and
lithe, with auburn hair that fell in waves to her waist.
“And this is Trina, my oldest
grandchild,” Virgil finished irritably. “Everyone, this is Alan and Pete.
They’ve joined our family today.”
Virdon surveyed each face. All of
Virgil’s grown children had varying shades of blond hair with deepset eyes that
ranged from brightest blue to murky ocean green. The older two, Angus and
Rachel, had darker hair and complexions than their sisters. Charla, the
youngest, had waist-length saffron hair and seemed extremely shy. She cast her
gaze downward as Virdon looked her way.
But Arvid, the middle daughter, had
no such inhibitions. She boldly returned his stare, and Virdon found her open,
welcoming smile delightful. He smiled back and nodded, noting the attractive
curve of her square jaw and her long, honey-blonde hair.
Reluctantly, he moved his gaze along
the rest of the table, finally halting on his friend. He saw Pete with an
identical grin on his face, but Burke had eyes only for the lovely young thing
who had just joined them.
Virgil motioned for everyone to sit.
“Enjoy your meal, gentlemen. We’ll talk more after dessert.”
Sated, warm and comfortably secure
for the first time in months, Alan leaned back into the homemade sofa and let
his body relax completely. Seated next to him, Pete seemed likewise rested and
content. The dinner meal was everything they imagined it would be and more.
Dessert had been the expected apple pie served with cool, tangy lemonade and,
just when both astronauts knew they couldn’t eat or drink another bite, Virgil
and Charlie moved them into another area of the house that seemed to serve as
the family room or den.
After helping Neva and his sisters
and brothers-in-law clear the table and start the dishes, Angus joined them.
Neva followed with a tray laden with more drinks.
“Oh, no … thank you, but I just can’t
…” Pete said, shaking his head and holding his stomach.
“You should try some, Pete,” Angus
said with a sideward glance and wink at Alan, who already held a glass in his
hand.
Curious, the blond man took a
tentative sip. Almost immediately, his eyes grew large and moist, and he
coughed appreciatively. “It’s beer! Cold and foamy … beer!” He took another
sip and grinned at his dark-haired friend. “I don’t believe this.”
Beside him, Burke lifted a mug of the
unexpected beverage to his lips. He drank long and deep and heaved a sigh of
extreme pleasure. “That … was … wonderful!”
“Take it easy, Pete. Remember,
you’re not used to taking in this much food.”
“I feel fine, Alan. Everything’s
stayed down for several days now. You can let it go, okay?” Burke said with a
hint of annoyance in his voice.
Virdon backed off. “Okay,” Alan said
placatingly and turned his attention to the faces of his new friends. “All
right, Angus. We’re here. Virgil is here. And we have many questions."”
“Yeah, first of all, who are you?”
Pete said, wiping foam from his lips. “And how did you manage to make this
beer?”
“No,” Virgil said simply and kindly.
“First of all … who are you?”
“What do you mean?” Virdon said.
“You know who we are.”
“I have a pretty good idea who you
are, but I’d prefer it if you’d tell me yourselves.”
Burke and Virdon looked at each
other. Mutually indecisive, they turned back to the old man expectantly.
“Angus tells me that Pete is
different from other human males.”
Pete looked up. “I don’t know what
you mean … ‘different.’ How am I different?”
“You are circumcised, are you not?”
Burke’s face flushed an unexpected
crimson. After all, they were sitting in mixed company. Recovering quickly, he
shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, so what?”
“Up until today, I thought I was the
only circumcised male on the planet,” Virgil said.
“Yeah? Well, you show me yours, and
I’ll show you mine,” Burke rankled.
“Pete!” Alan chided. “Don’t you even
hear what he’s saying! How is it that you even know about such a procedure,
Virgil? And why did you say ‘on the planet’?”
“If I’m not mistaken, circumcision
was a fairly common practice for newborn males in the middle and latter part of
the 20th century.”
Virdon was aghast. “So, what are you
really saying, Virgil? That you were born in the middle of the 20th
century?”
The old man smiled. “In 1968 to be
exact,” he said.
Beside him, Charlie suddenly stood
and walked to the other side of the room. She pulled open the middle drawer of
a credenza-like piece of furniture and pulled out a small, round paper-wrapped
item. Returning to her seat, she handed the article to Virdon.
Alan peeled back the fragile
onionskin paper carefully, and both he and Burke caught their breath. The
insignia was old and faded, and the edges were raveling, but the faded letters
were unmistakable.
“NASA,” Alan whispered in stunned
disbelief. “My God, you were an astronaut too?”
“Charlie and I have been awaiting the
arrival of others like us for more than forty years. Now, we have much to
discuss, gentlemen, and when we have finished, then you can decide if you wish
to stay with us or continue on your way.”
“So, theoretically, you’re saying
that if you can find a working computer or the pieces to construct one, the
flight data on your disk will tell you exactly what went wrong and, possibly,
how to reverse the process. Am I right?” Virgil said, blinking his eyes as the
rising sun sent its first glinting rays into the family room.
“Exactly,” Alan said. “Of course,
there’s still one more problem – I didn’t have time to remove the computer card
with the program to recognize this disk before the apes destroyed our ship.
While we already know that there are working models of computers hidden in the
ruins of some of the larger cities on earth, we don’t know if any of them will
be able to translate this disk into anything recognizable. We found one working
computer at what used to be Oakland several months back, but we didn’t have the
time to try it out before it was destroyed by Zaius and Urko.”
“I’ve heard of them, but neither has
ever bothered to travel this far north.”
“Be thankful!” Burke said sleepily
from his reclining position on the couch. “I can guarantee you that if we stay
here long enough, Virgil, there’s a good chance you’ll get to meet one or both
of them very shortly.”
“And there’s another friend who
travels with us … Galen … he’s working on having identity ownership papers
forged for us in Central City,” Alan said.
“A human with those kinds of
connections?”
“He’s a chimpanzee. It’s a long
story, but he saved our lives, and the ape Gestapo has branded him a traitor.
Anyway, he should be along to ‘reclaim’ us in a week or so. Do you think
there’ll be a problem with Lord Micah?”
Virgil looked suddenly tired. “No,”
he said quietly. “I foresee no problems. But until this Galen does come for
you, we can spend time together and talk about … where we came from.”
“Yes, I’d like that very much,” Alan
said, yawning. For the first time he noticed that it was growing light
outside. “I’m sorry, Virgil, I’ve kept you up all night talking about my
plans. Please … get some rest.”
The old man eased out of his chair
slowly. “I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. You’ve don’t know how very long I’ve
waited to find … to have others like Charlie and me … to talk to. I always
suspected there were more like us in this world. Perhaps, working together, we
can help you locate a computer.”
**********
“Would you want to go back with us?”
Virgil looked surprised, as if the
thought had never occurred to him. Then, “No, I don’t think so. My life is
here with Charlie.”
“What about your family back home?”
“My family is here now.”
Virdon nodded. “I understand, sir.”
“All right. We’ll take it one day
at a time for now. Tomorrow we’ll tour the sector so I can show you what we’ve
accomplished here. After that, I’d like both of you to help out with the
preparations for gathering the crops and our Harvest Festival.”
“Harvest Festival?”
“I will, thank you, sir.” Alan
watched as Virgil exited the room, then he turned to his sleeping friend.
“Pete! Time to wake up.”
“It can’t be … morning already. I
just closed my eyes.”
“I know, but it was morning already
when you went to sleep. Come on, I’ll help you up the stairs.”
Their third full day on Virgil’s
sector broke with the promise of rain. As he awoke, Virdon’s nose caught the
familiar, damp scent already hanging in the heavy air. He turned over,
snuggling deeper into the warmth of the first comfortable bed he’d slept in in
over half a year, and noticed that Burke’s side was already empty.
Burke didn’t move his head. “No,”
he said absently.
“Something wrong, or you just
couldn’t take two full nights of these luxurious accommodations?”
Burke took several moments to reply.
Finally, he said, “The world’s spinning round and round again, Alan, and I can’t
get off the wheel.”
Jesus!’ Virdon was on his
feet and across the room in scant seconds. “Let me help you back to bed.”
“Lying down just makes it worse.
When I close my eyes, the bed spins like I’ve tied one on for three days. I’ll
just stay here until it stops.”
“What can I do to help, Pete?”
Burke sighed tremulously, the
tenuous hold he had on his emotions threatening to break. Then, abruptly, he
rallied and regained his self-control. “Go downstairs and eat enough of that
wonderful smelling breakfast for both of us.”
“I’m not going to leave you up here
alone in this condition.”
“I’ve had ‘this condition’ enough to
know that it’s temporary. Look, I’ll be okay. You get dressed and go on down
to breakfast. As soon as I feel better, I’ll join you, all right?” Burke
forced what he hoped was a reassuring smile.
A knock on their door signaled that
others in the upstairs part of the house were up and about. Arvid’s voice
called to them from the other side. “Alan! Pete! Breakfast is almost ready.
Hurry down, and be sure to dress warmly. Papa says he wants to take you around
the sector right after you eat. Are you awake?”
“Yes, Arvid. We’re awake. We’ll be
down in a few minutes. Thank you,” Alan replied, then immediately turned his
attention back to his friend. “Any better?”
“A little bit,” Burke said, moving
to stand. He teetered precariously for a split second, then recovered enough to
cross the room and open the chifferobe. “See?” he said triumphantly, pulling a
shirt and capelet from the hangers. “I’m already better.”
Still unconvinced, Virdon poked at
the still-glowing embers in the bedroom fireplace. “Are you going to be able to
eat anything?”
“I don’t know. I’ll try.”
“If you don’t feel up to this little
excursion, tell me now. I’ll make your excuses.”
“No, it’s almost gone, Alan.
Really.”
Virdon joined Burke at the
chifferobe, retrieved a pullover and hooded cape and returned to sit on the
bedside. “How long did this one last?”
“Nearly an hour,” Burke estimated.
“I think they’re getting shorter, and I know they’re happening farther and
farther apart. The last one was four days ago.”
“Maybe that’s a good sign, Pete.”
Burke nodded carefully and, when the
vertigo didn’t intensify, he dressed quickly. Slinging the capelet over his
shoulder, he was almost fully recovered by the time Alan finished getting his
clothing on, and both men hurried down to breakfast.
“October has always been one of my
favorite months,” Virgil said over the noise of the squeaking wagon wheels and
the protesting oxen.
“How do you know it’s October?” Alan
asked. He sat next to the old overseer in the wide front eat of the large
utility wagon.
“Well, 37 years ago …” the old man
thought for a moment, then nodded to himself, “… no, it was almost 38 years ago,
Charlie gave me a son. We named him Angus, and from the day he was born, I
began counting each day and week, watching the positions of the sun and the
stars and noting the changing of each season. Today is October 17th,
give or take a day. I have no idea what year it is.”
“It’s 3025,” Pete said, “give or
take a century.”
“Really?” Virgil was aghast. “We
came that far into the future?” The old man shook his head in astonished
disbelief.
Trina, who’d climbed aboard as a
last minute passenger, sat across from Burke in the back of the wagon. She
shook her auburn tresses out of her face and smile at the astronaut. “Do you
rally think that Alan will find a way to get back to your own time?”
Burke, who had spent most of the
morning in quiet, uncharacteristic thoughtfulness, nibbled persistently at a
hangnail on his thumb. “Alan and I have a minor difference of opinion on that
subject. He believes. I don’t,” he said, spitting the detached nail over the
side of the wagon.
The blond man smiled patiently. “I
wouldn’t exactly call that a ‘minor’ difference of opinion, Pete.”
“Me neither,” Trina agreed, turning
her attention and her ever-changing eyes toward Virdon. “Tell me about your
time, Alan. Papa and Mama Charlie have mentioned some fascinating machines that
transported people from place to place without oxen to pull them and another
strange device that let humans talk to other humans even though they were very
far away. Do you know of these machines? Can you tell me about the things you
did and the places you saw?”
Burke shot Alan a pair of raised eyebrows. Angus’ daughter was not only captivating, she was also extremely intelligent and openly yearning for knowledge.
“Trina,” Virgil interjected before
Virdon could reply. “Pete and Alan may not want to talk about their experiences
just yet. Some recollections may still be quite painful for them.”
The old man cast an empathetic,
sideward glance at Virdon that made the blond astronaut uncomfortable. It was
almost as though Virgil could read his thoughts and was familiar with the
ever-present ache in his heart. Alan considered for a moment, but he couldn’t
decide whether he should be openly amazed or bothered by the man’s
comprehension.
Disappointment showed plainly on Trina’s face, and she cast her eyes down to her folded hands on her lap. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry,” she said miserably.
“Tell you what, Trina,” Burke said,
suddenly perking up, “when we get back to the greathouse, I’ll clue you in on
everything you ever wanted to know about the twentieth century – from
electricity to television, from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Jimmy Carter … hey,
Virgil, you were still there in the eighties, who won the 1980 election, Carter
or Reagan?"
“Reagan,” Virgil said with a huge
smile, “and he won the next one too, followed by Bush and Clinton and …”
“What about the hostages in Iran?”
Alan interrupted. “They were still being held captive when we left Earth. Were
they ever rescued?”
“Not exactly. Carter tried a
rescue mission, but it failed miserably. They were finally released the day
Reagan took office. Kind of a slap in Carter’s face. But he proved to be a
better ex-president when he turned peacemaker in the early nineties.” Virgil
reined the oxen in. “Well, here we are at the northwest corner. Over to your
right is an apple orchard; they’re in the dormant season. To the left are the
late-bearing pear trees. Charlie makes some mouth-watering pies out of them
this time of year. And to the east we have the year-round vegetable fields.
Right now we’ve got two different kinds of cabbage growing.”
“I didn’t know there was more than
one kind,” Burke said in a low voice, and Trina giggled conspiratorially.
Ignoring them, Virgil went on, “And
then there are the pumpkin and autumn squash fields toward the south. We store
a lot of what we harvest in the surrounding caves.”
“You don’t report all your crops to
the apes?” Alan asked.
“No, we stockpile as much as we can
for the leaner months. The snows come in December and January. They’re not
usually heavy, but they do put a crimp in the growing season.”
“What about Lord Micah? Doesn’t he
ever get suspicious?”
Virgil clucked to the oxen and turned
them in an easterly direction. “Micah has always trusted me to keep his best
interests. I’ve never let him down.”
“Will we ever get to meet him?”
“Perhaps. He doesn’t visit us very
often, but there’s a possibility he may pop in for the Harvest Festival.”
“Good,” Alan said, “I think I’d like
to meet him. He sounds a lot like our friend Galen.”
“I hope I get to meet your friend
one day.”
“I do too. Unless he ran into some
trouble, he should be arriving any day now.”
“Well, I have to be honest when I
say that I very much look forward to meeting him, but I’m not happy at the
prospect of losing two good hands so soon after I’ve acquired them.”
“If you’d like us to stay a little
longer and work off the price you paid, we’ll be happy to oblige. I’m sure
Galen would pitch in too.”
“That won’t be necessary, Alan,”
Virgil said and quickly changed the subject. “Now, you can’t see it just yet,
but when we travel a few more miles to the east, the poultry houses that keep us
supplied with fresh eggs and low-fat meats will come into view.”
“Chickens,” Burke said in a bored
voice. “I can hardly wait.”
“Pete, if you’d rather not finish
the sector tour, at this particular location we’re only about an hour’s hike
away from the greathouse. I know there are several items of interest along the
way that might intrigue you. Trina will be happy to point them out. And when
you reach the greathouse, I know Angus and Noel will be more than happy to
accept your assistance with the re-assembly of the bandstand for the Harvest
Festival.”
Burke shot Virgil an apologetic
look, but the old man merely smiled patiently.
“Don’t worry about offending me,
Pete. You were probably a city boy, and I’ve never met one yet, man nor ape,
who could fake an interest in crop yields or egg production. At least you’re
honest.”
“You’re right, Virgil. I’m sorry, but I’m just not a farmer like Virdon. What you’ve accomplished here is to be admired, but it’s right up his alley, not mine. Alan could probably sit up there enthralled all day long."”
“No apology necessary, Pete. You and
Trina run along. Tell Charlie that Alan and I will be back in time for dinner.”
“Will do. Come on, Trina.” He
reached for the girl’s hand and helped her from the wagon. “Let’s see if
between the two of us we can find our way back to Oz.”
“Huh?”
“Just follow the yellow brick road,
Trina,” her grandfather said with a happy, nostalgic smile.
“What?”
“Never mind,” Burke said, tugging
her along. “I’ll tell you the whole story on the way back.”
Hand-in-hand, the two scurried off
toward the south.
Alan watched them go with mixed
feelings, and he observed Virgil doing the same.
“If you’d rather Pete not be so
attentive to your granddaughter, Virgil, I’ll speak to him.”
The overseer lifted one shaggy, gray
eyebrow and grinned crookedly. “You’d have to speak to her too. It’s
obviously a mutual thing. But there’s no need to worry, Alan. The rules here
are very different from those of our time. You’ve only been in this world a
short while, but you’ll find that one must grab pleasure where one can find it,
because joy is a rare commodity here. To be frank with you, I’m rather pleased
that Trina has at last shown some interest in being a woman. Not that I’m
sexist or anything like that, but we must be realistic. As a female, she will
be needed to carry on the bloodline and instruct the next generation of our
family. And the more we grow, both in number and in wisdom, the more chance we
have of surviving this hostile societ6y and, maybe one day, overcoming the
inequities and injustices.”
“So is that your ultimate plan,
Virgil … to achieve equality with the apes?”
The old man sighed. “Equality won’t
happen in my lifetime, but it would be an accomplishment to achieve
mutual respect. Once you have the respect of other beings, it’s hard for them
to justify discrimination.”
“I agree.”
“My goodness,” Virgil exclaimed,
“how’d we all of a sudden grow philosophical?”
Virdon grinned in agreement, but it
disappeared from his face almost immediately as an overpowering offensive odor
suddenly assaulted his nose.
The old overseer shot him a look of
pained understanding. “Chicken houses,” he said grimly. “If we could only find
a way to bottle that odor, we could rule this world.” He laughed and hurried
the oxen into a reluctant trot. “Let’s go, boys. This is one part of the trip
we can hurry through.”
Alan took to the ranch and farm work
like the proverbial duck to water, driving himself to accomplish as much
physical work as possible during the steadily decreasing daylight hours of
autumn. Evenings found him reminiscing with Virgil and Charlie about life in
the twentieth century or savoring spirited roundhouse debates with Angus and
Arvid. He also occasionally acted as storyteller to the rapt attention of the
younger members of the family, spinning fanciful tales of talking cats in red
leather boots and foolish chickens with ludicrous ideas about the sky.
Burke, never one to draw any deep
gratification or sense of achievement from manual labor, plodded along
good-naturedly beside his blond friend. True to character, he joked
sarcastically or complained loudly as he assisted Alan in repairing the rotting
back porch steps of the greathouse and mending broken fences in the northern
ranch sectors.
However, Pete chose to spend most of
his free evening hours in the company of Angus’ auburn-haired daughter. With a
ragged deck of homemade cards, he painstakingly taught the girl how to play
poker, taking hours of patient instruction to show her each hand, its
significance and her options with it. When Trina finally seemed to catch on,
Burke suddenly found himself nightly losing hand after hand to their audience
and Trina’s absolute delight.
After four days of miserable
degradation, Trina finally admitted to her chagrined teacher that she had
learned to play the game at her grandfather Virgil’s knee many years before and
had long ago been dubbed the unofficial poker champion of the family.
Time continued to rush by and, as
the two astronauts worked to ready the sector for the upcoming Harvest Festival,
thoughts of their still-absent chimpanzee friend were always present in the
backs of their minds.
**********
The day the great apes arrived was
fare and unseasonably warm for early November, and the two misplaced humans
found themselves busy with several necessary outdoor chores.
Virdon perched haphazardly on the
lower right side of the barn roof, repairing one of the many tiny holes and
readying the large building to house and protect the smaller domestic animals
during the fast-approaching winter season.
Burke balanced on the top rung of
the old wobbly, homemade ladder, a bucket of thick, sticky resin poised and
ready to coat and finish off the repair work.
“They’re coming! They’re coming!”
Andrew’s excited adolescent voice announced the impending arrival of three large
apes.
Virdon stopped his hammering and,
from his vantage, looked out toward the edge of the first clearing. Although
partially hidden behind the nearly naked boughs of several bordering pecan
trees, he could still make out a pair of mounted gorillas. Following closely
behind, a chimpanzee whistled and clicked to the matched pair of white horses
pulling a large, heavy-duty farm wagon.
The three apes reached the courtyard
quickly, and Virgil, Charlie and an uncharacteristically nervous Angus were
ready and waiting when they got there.
“Their serene highnesses, Moe, Larry
and Curly,” Burke said scornfully under his breath.
“Shhhh!” Alan cautioned, and both
men stopped their labors long enough to watch the drama unfolding below.
“Gunter, welcome to Lord Micah’s
northern territory. We wish you a pleasant stay with us.”
“Virgil, it is good to see you
again. I understand the crops were near record this growing season.”
“Yes, sir, we have far exceeded Lord
Micah’s expectations once more. He bids me to make you welcome and comfortable
in his guesthouse. Andrew, John, see to our friends’ horses please.”
Both Virgil’s son-in-law and
grandson hurried forward and bowed respectfully. Andrew took possession of the
two untethered horses and headed toward the barn with them while John grasp3ed
the loose wagon reins. The seated, heavyset chimp snorted at being so soon
dislodged from his comfortable berth, but he leaped down anyway, sending a
scathing look in John’s direction.
“Come into Lord Micah’s greathouse,
sirs. My wife has prepared several vegetable delicacies for your enjoyment.”
“And, I hope, a very large mug of
your famous beer,” Gunter said in undisguised anticipation.
“Tall, cool and foamy, just as you
like it, sir,” Virgil replied, leading the way up the porch steps and into the
greathouse. Gunter and Hector, the second, leaner ape, followed, but the stocky
chimpanzee hesitated, lagging behind his fellow simians.
Odiah stood in the courtyard,
scrutinizing and examining every inch of the humans’ estate. Intermittently,
his bristly brow and pudgy snout wrinkled in stern displeasure as he viewed the
scandalous greathouse and many one-family units. He snorted arrogantly at the
affluent surroundings and made a mental note to discuss with Gunter this
uncommon open display of human wealth and prosperity. He had heard but never
really believed the rumors that Lord Micah treated his humans in such a
luxuriant manner.
As he turned to enter the greathouse, Odiah felt a vague uneasiness wash over him, as though someone in the courtyard were watching him. His heavy head abruptly shifted around and upward, and he found himself the single object of two curious pairs of human eyes. The two men, one tall and blond, the other lean and dark-haired, stood silently watching him from the roof of the whitewashed barn. He stared back condescendingly, waiting for the two brazen humans to immediately and customarily drop their eyes, but neither seemed the least bit i