He looked very lost when Cherine took him in her arms again, and did not protest when they returned to the mansion. He never asked to return to his home again.
PART 13
“Close to this mansion used to be a town called Pullman and the city you were captured in was named Baker City. If you travel east of the mansion you’ll find the Bitterroot Range blocking you. It looks more promising if you go west towards Portland. Population densities along the coast were higher so there should be more surviving enclaves than within the mountains and deserts.”
“We have not found any signs of humans near Portland, we’d have to travel past Salem, down towards Grants Pass. I doubt any of our vehicles can travel that country.”
“We can fly you out by helicopter to the limits of our fuel range and from there you’ll have to travel on horseback.”
Robert shook his head. “Horses are highly valued in primitive cultures, we are less likely to survive if we use them. I suggest one mule for carrying our provisions and if we lose it, it won’t be as big a calamity.”
“You both still insist on taking Bobby with?” Bobby’s gaze lingered on Arthur’s face a moment before returning to Cherine’s face.
“We have to, he cannot survive here on his own and he’ll think we’ve abandoned him. I also think he could turn out to be useful as he knows how to survive in the barren lands.”
“I still think you should allow a team of POL agents to accompany you. I’m not going to argue - that has never changed your minds in the past. Be careful both of you, we want you back.”
It took them six days to pass Mt Hood as they preferred to remain close to the remains of a river that must have been fairly large in the olden days. It still retained water under the bed and it was easy for them to call for what they needed so that they don’t rely on their canteens. Although Bobby roamed freely and seemed tireless, he kept Cherine within sight at all times.
“Cum, see.” He tugged at her arm. With a smile Robert unpacked their solar kettle to make tea while Cherine went to investigate what had excited Bobby.
Cherine crossed the brow of the slope and gasped. Hidden away in the tiny valley was a farmhouse with barns and rusted equipment, but what entranced her was the profusion of plants. Bobby broke away from her to explore a number of times, but Cherine was trying to sense the land under her feet as she walked to the main house. She was pleased to sense that the land seemed to have partly healed itself.
There was a faded sign painted on a small sheet of metal nailed to the door, ‘Visitor, welcome, enjoy your stay’. She tried the door and though it needed a bit of force to unstick and open, it was not locked. The walls of the entrance had numerous paintings of horses with their names underneath. She came to realise, as she explored, that the owner had tried to leave the house ready for strangers. However, there was far more damp than there had been at her mansion and there was a lot of decay. There were even spiders!
Walking around the ground floor she entered the study and found some sheets of paper encased within a plastic film. It was aged and cracked but with light fingers she pushed them so that all the sheets lay exposed.
The first sheet read, ‘Welcome. If you are a human of Earth, it means Man has survived and I am pleased. We do not deserve to survive, but then that has never stopped men from fighting to survive and succeeding. If you are an interstellar visitor and are able to read this document, I have recorded our final days. Do not worry, no species from space caused the destruction you will have seen, we did it to ourselves. If there are no men, then I pre-empt the right to bequeath our once lovely planet to your people. Treat her kindly, for she has suffered and needs a lot of love. In the hope that our deaths will serve to prevent the future re-occurring, I have written a synopsis of the reasons we died and are extinct and I have briefly touched on the madness of the final days.’
Cherine read all hundred and fourteen pages and often struggled to read as tears filled her eyes. She checked on Bobby and found him happily making a mess of things in a barn. She asked him to play outside and warning him she was leaving to bring Robert, she teleported. Within two minutes she returned, so Bobby relaxed and forgot them as he climbed over and under ruined vehicles and tractors.
“Go to the study and read the letter the old man, Jeffrey McNeal wrote. I’m going for Arthur. There is a lot here that needs to be restored and preserved and the earlier he brings the team the better. Can you imagine Robert, one man on his own, using his own ingenuity, without any mind gifts, managed to keep this land alive!”
As it had been for Cherine, so was it a holy moment for Robert and Arthur. He reassured them he’d have teams working to preserve everything by morning. He asked Cherine to heal some books before leaving. “If you can, when you would like some company in the evening, please collect me for a visit.” He got hugged and kissed and was then left on his own as they resumed their journey.
The evenings were turning cooler and Bobby took to the habit of lying on Cherine’s lap, his body leaning against her and his eyes fixed on Robert as he cooked and they talked. Robert wondered how much he understood but did not try to test him. He was curious about how much Bobby recalled about his time in the void so he suggested she call the Sparkles. That evening he did not make a fire and sat opposite Cherine and Bobby, his knees almost touching hers. Bobby sensed something was about to happen and continually turned to look up at Cherine and then back at Robert.
“We’re going to show you something beautiful Bobby, so don’t be afraid and don’t try to touch the lights. Okay?”
When the Sparkles appeared, dancing among their friends, Bobby sat up, but he showed no fear, only curiosity. Tentatively he put out a hand and a Sparkle danced around it. He was disappointed when they disappeared.
“More?”
“Sorry love, not tonight, they are tired and went home. I’d say he does not recall them.”Robert answered, “It’s better, he’s not mentally equipped to deal with such strangeness.”
“I’m not either.” She laughed when he did.
They travelled slowly, both of them allowing their healers to create a ribbon of green behind them. They found it depressing seeing the many signs of the old civilisation crumbled to ruin. They passed by a small town and Robert laughed.
“Can you imagine Arthur’s reaction if we discover a library?”
“He was disappointed that they’d used the books for lighting fires in the city. We should check, we’ve done so little for him compared to all he’s done for us.”
When they arrived by Springfield, Robert entered the city to search for a library. He found it and stared at the destruction, upset that he’d have to disappoint Cherine. He saw that a door was closed and probably locked. He tried it, saw it was locked and went looking for a bar to use as a lever. It was not difficult to break through as the lock had rusted. He saw steps going down and worried about descending in the darkness. He decided to go for as far as he could still see. As he reached the floor he saw windows, very narrow and barred stretching across much of the wall. He brushed some of the dirt off and turned to examine his find.
“No books?”
“None, they were obviously also used for fires.” He grinned. “Guess what I did find.” He pulled out a disk. “From the title I’d say they used these for storing copies of their books or else people used them for reading. Cherine, there are thousands! The only thing is, I do not think they were made to hold the data for centuries. Should we bring Arthur?”
“You take the disk to him. If it works he can bring agents with to collect the rest.”
Arthur was ecstatic. Of the twenty thousand discs, about a quarter of them still held most of their data without corruption and the rest held data that could be recovered to some degree.
“Many of the disks hold government gazettes, statistics, accounting and so on, but there is enough here to keep us working for years! We’ve just increased our stored knowledge by thousands of books.”
“Does each disc hold a full book?”
Arthur laughed. “A book Cherine? They each hold thousands of books!”
Arthur had brought cookies that were Cherine’s favourites and they were drinking tea. He reached out without looking and touched Bobby’s hand as he was picking up a cookie. Bobby turned to stare at Arthur, but there was no emotion on his face. Arthur pulled back and said sorry, only reaching for a cookie once Bobby’s hand had been withdrawn. They talked for a while and Arthur reached for another cookie. As his fingers closed over a cookie, Bobby stretched out his hand and touched him. Bobby stared at him for a moment and then pulled back his hand.
“I’ll be damned! He still doesn’t let me touch him.”
The next day most of the walking was tiring as thorny bushes had obviously proliferated for a time and their dead remains still blocked much of the land. Cherine checked one and her healer warned that the thorns were poisonous. She made certain Bobby stayed by her side that day.
“According to the map we should be getting close to Roseburg. After that, the terrain should change as we go for Grants Pass.”
The next day, as they came out of the bushes they found twenty people waiting for them. At the front stood a woman daubed in red and ochre designs. She was just over two metres tall, a rarity after the damage to the environment, was slim to the point of being thin, but she was stringy, her muscles live serpents playing under her skin as she moved.
“Man, you bring peace, step aside, I would not harm you.”
“Step aside from what?”
“The carrier of death, the female.”
Robert instantly stepped in front of Cherine. “Take Bobby in your arms, this is not the time for him to panic and provoke an incident.” He called out, “You are wrong, she is a lifegiver. Watch the land behind us and by tomorrow you’ll see the green of life wherever she has stood.”
The woman ignored him, as if she’d exhausted her reasons for giving warning. The dust before her began to swirl. Slowly it grew and then suddenly it leapt in size and violence. As it intensified, it changed colour until it appeared to be a column of sullen fire intaglioed by a fine web of fiery veins. It vaguely took on the form of a man. She raised her arm. “Fire warrior, kill her.”
It moved fast so Robert only had time to yell to Cherine, “Back to the last camp”. They teleported and instantly the fire warrior joined them at their previous camp. It moved around Robert, reaching out for Cherine. Robert took her hand and teleported back to the woman, aiming to arrive within touching distance. He caught her by surprise when his fingers tightened around her wrist. “Order it to stop.”
The fire warrior stopped without being ordered. Robert was worried that the woman would break out of his grip, for she was far stronger than him, so he ordered his healer to drain her of energy. As it obeyed, the fire warrior flickered and fell apart. Robert had thought of the fire warrior as being a manifestation of magic, he had not realised she was animating it with her own energy.
The rest of her group were obviously cowed by his ability to combat the powers of the woman and made no hostile moves. Bobby was not frightened, but he did realise the woman was hostile so he bared his teeth at her in a silent snarl. She seemed to forget Robert and stared at Bobby.
She called out to her people and they withdrew, quickly melting away into the dead bush and rocks. “She carries the hater of life in her arms and I felt how her link stole my life when you touched me. I am doomed, but my people will avenge me, for her power cannot reach the distance of a thrown spear or an arrow.”
“Your powers are amazing, but they’ve made you arrogant. Cherine, move away from me.”
She did so and he ordered his healer to drain her again. She did not lose her courage and stood without a tremor, but Robert saw the knowledge of her death within her eyes and her set features. He then ordered his healer to restore her energy. Her eyes widened.
“You were right when you told me that I bring peace. I do not allow killing.” He let go her wrist. “Only enemies of life kill without asking questions first. You have failed yourself and the powers you were given through your arrogance. This woman is the most important human being on this world. Because of her the mother earth is being healed - and you dare to accuse her of bringing death!”
“That thing she created, it hates life, I did not need to ask questions.”
“Do you know what the word mutant means? It means a child is born that is different from its parents, maybe without legs or eyes or maybe with a power such as yours. The child was found by her and it is a mutant. When he feels love, he shows hate. It does not mean he does not love, it just means his brains got scrambled so that the opposite of what he feels is shown.”
He saw that she had not understood him when she proudly raised her head and demanded, “What will you do now? Either you kill me or else, the moment you are not close to me the fire warrior kills her.”
“Cherine, move back.” Casually he retreated until both of them stood a distance from her. “Now call to your fire warrior. As your powers are of fire, so are ours of water. Water is stronger than fire.”
As the whirlwind formed, Robert drained her energy. “Try harder.”
With a snarl she pulled out a sharp blade and rushed at him. Before Robert could react, Bobby leapt away from Cherine and rushed at the woman, screeching. As he came between her and Robert he tried to stand on his legs to intimidate her by his size while snarling, growling and raking the air with his bent fingers. She froze, her superstitious fear draining her of her courage and anger.
Bobby spoke. “No! Mine, Rob mine!”
With despair on her face she spoke to Cherine, “What have you brought into this world! A true demon from the land of the dead! All life will end because of you.”
Dear visitor, if you only joined us now, at post 25, welcome.
I think you have missed some beautiful parts of the story of Cherine and Robert.
This is a reminder, you can go to the top of this page and use the link to return to Post 01.
Thereafter, each post has the next link at the end of the story. Or else, from post2 onwards, all you need to do is alter the url, increasing the post number by one.
If you do enjoy the story, I do not ask that you resteem or upvote; those to me are just bonuses, a sign you enjoyed reading Boxee. All I really want as encouragement is that you recommend the story to all your friends; those you think would enjoy such a fantasy story.
I would like to add a personal note, which is also a hope of mine. You may or may not enjoy my way of keeping my writing simple where I can; you may or may not enjoy the style of the adventures experienced; but, I am very confident you will each grow to love at least one character.
Is that character going to be Cherine, Robert, Arthur, Bobby, the Fire Woman or her daughter, or one of the others you will come to know? I will not even try to guess, but I know you will, for I have loved each of them and written of them with love :)
Thank you.