Gaia Dreams (Gaiaverse Book 1) (36 page)

Rachel chuckled. "Well, I'm here now, and you
know you can always depend on me to listen. No matter how crazy you feel. Not
that I'm saying you sound crazy."

John just looked at her in amusement.

"Okay, maybe I'm saying you sound crazy, all of
this sounds crazy. But I don't think you're nuts for feeling how you do. I don't
begin to understand all of it yet. And maybe because of that, I don't really
believe it all yet. But I'll stop behaving like a brat and try and be a
grown-up for the next few days. You guys did say we would know if it was real,
about the flood I mean, it will happen in a few days, right? If it's going to
happen?"

"Yes, it will happen in a couple days. Sam and
Perceval seem sure."

"And Perceval is the cat, right? The Siamese?"

"That's right. So you'll stay here and wait it
out? I just don't want you leaving and being caught somewhere in the middle of
a flood or something worse."

"There's worse?" Rachel asked, disbelieving.

"Oh, yeah, at least, according to Sam and the
cat and the dog. Come on, let's get back to the house and see what this Black
character and his owl have to say. The more people we run into who can talk to
an animal, the more information we seem to get, like puzzle pieces. We get a
bigger picture of what's to come."

"But you can't talk to any animals?"

"No," John shook his hand, his tone rueful. "Sam
says maybe I'll be able to later. Says I have to 'open my mind' – you can just
imagine how well it went over with me, hearing her tell me, me of all people,
to open my mind!"

Rachel laughed. Linking her arm in his, she
said, "At least my visit here won't be boring. And I thought you guys living
out in the country, in a small town, I thought you had a dull life."

"Well, it's not New York, that's for sure. This
town rolls up the streets and goes to bed by ten every night – at least, it
used to. But can you get talking animals and dreams of the future in the big
city?"

"I'm sure on any street in New York you could
find someone who says they have prophetic dreams and believes in talking
animals, big brother."

He laughed. "Okay, I'll give you that. But here
you can know it's really real."

"I'll wait and see, if you don't mind. Let's not
rush into anything," Rachel declared.

As John opened the back door and entered the den
full of people and animals, noting that Harmony and Max had arrived with the
puppy Ruby. He caught Jessica's eye. She gave him a questioning look. He winked
and nodded his head. Rachel would be okay.

On the road to Cape Fair

Andy fiddled with the radio, trying to find a
weather forecast. He hadn't had time at Dorena's Landing to fire up his new
laptop computer, bought with Lisanne's funds, to check online for radar images
of this area. And from the way the trees were blowing around along the edges of
the road, it looked like the wind had really picked up. "What's going on out
there, boy?" he asked Waldo softly.

The dog whined a bit and Andy grimaced. "So
there's something wrong. I knew it!"

He grabbed the cell phone and called Lisanne. "Hey,
Lisanne--"

"I know, I know," she replied through the static
on the phone. "Merlin's freaking out. We've got to pull over."

As they pulled the cars over to the side of the
road, rain started falling in big fat drops. Andy and Waldo walked back to
Lisanne's car. She rolled down the window. "Merlin says this is a bad storm. He
says Janine and the horses have found some caves, back a ways from here to the
north. We're too far east of Branson to get there in time to beat this storm."

"Those clouds are pretty dark. I would say just
ride it out here, but I'm sure Merlin has a reason for wanting us to hide in a
cave."

Woof!
barked Waldo.

"Okay, okay," Andy said. "I hear you--we'll go to
the caves. Lead on, Merlin!" Saluting the cat, he ran back to his Range Rover.

Cape Fair, the Samuels' House

Finally everyone was seated in the large den,
some on couches and chairs and the youngest on the big braided rug. John
finished setting up a large white board and stood there with a marker in his
hand.

"Start with what we know," suggested Mrs.
Philpott.

"And what we need," Jessica put in. "Supplies
and skills--people who have skills we need."

Gracie said, "Also, what skills do we have now."

John divided the big board into three sections
and began writing, mumbling his thoughts aloud. "What we know--flood coming.
What we need--that's where all of you come in, expand on the lists we have so
far. Skills--thank god you're a vet, Clay. We'll definitely need you."

"Uh, oh," Samantha said. "This is not good!"
Jumping to her feet she ran to the windows.

Startled, John and everyone else watched as the
large owl, White, spread his wings and Perceval paced over to Sam, fur ruffled
on his back. Harry barked once and trotted over to nudge Sam with his head.

"Now what?" Rachel asked plaintively.

"They're in trouble," Sam said tensely. "Why
didn't Merlin get them to safety sooner?"

The little girl sounded frustrated, and Jessica
looked concerned as she walked over and knelt down in front of Sam. "What is it
honey? And who is Merlin?"

"Oh! That's the cat," Mrs. Philpott said. "The
cat Samantha was talking to earlier today, well, Sam and Perceval were talking
to him. He's with some crazy girl and a weatherman. That's all I know."

"Crazy girl?" Harmony asked.

"Weatherman?" Black asked at the same time.

"Merlin?" Rachel said, loudly. "Like, the
wizard? What is this, some kind of fairy tale?"

"Rachel--hush!" said Gracie.

Sam stood very still for a minute, and then her
shoulders relaxed. Opening her eyes, she looked at her mother and said in relief,
"It's gonna be okay. Merlin knows where they're going and the caves should
protect them. And I think all the horses are safe. I'm not sure there's room
for all of them, but if they don't put the cars in there they should be okay.
The black bear got out of there already so I think they'll be okay."

"Caves?"

"Horses?"

"Bear? What bear?"

Caves somewhere in southwest Missouri

Janine 'listened' to the horses. Ah, yes, there
it was, the news that Andy and Lisanne were almost to the cave. She marveled
over the information flowing like streams through the horse awareness. She'd
found that she could immerse herself in it, or just tiptoe along the edges,
sometimes wading in a bit and then jumping back out. The herd of horses was
comprised of numerous smaller herds, which had all come together as they
traveled. When fully submerged into the river of conversations, Janine found
lots of random bits and pieces, like single leaves floating on the surface of a
brook. Things like this bay mare had a twinge of pain in her leg, and that
black gelding was hungry. Then there were larger pieces of information, made up
of the back and forth between single horses or small groups of horses. Still
larger were communications between leaders of herds exchanging info on the
route ahead on locations for water and food. Finally there was a vast pool of
knowledge deep in the waters of this horse mind. Here was where the most vital
information came from--where the warning came about this current storm and what
it might do. That they needed to get to Cape Fair. And Janine couldn't tell
what it was, where it was coming from, but one thing was clear--it wasn't any
particular horse or group of horses. It was something else.

She heard the sound of car engines being turned
off and ran out to the cave entrance to hear Lisanne complaining loudly to
Andy.

"I'm telling you, I saw a bear, a big, freaking
black bear, running off from here as we drove in. I know what a bear looks like
and that was a damned bear!"

"Okay, Lisanne, okay. I heard you the first
time. I just didn't realize black bears lived around here and I didn't think we'd
be going into a bear's cave, that's all." Andy replied. "Now can we hurry up
and get into the cave? I'm soaking wet."

Lisanne shifted the strap of the computer
carrying case to her other shoulder and marched off.

Andy looked down at Waldo. "You know she's all
wrong for me, right, boy? Then why do I think she's adorable with all that
black mascara running down her face in the rain and with her hair plastered to
her head, dripping wet, yelling at me about something?"

Waldo barked once and took off running for the
cave.

"Yeah, I know. She's nutty, but I think I'm
falling for her." As he jogged to the cave entrance, Andy laughed at himself
and decided if he could survive Lisanne, the disasters would be a piece of
cake.

Cape Fair, the Samuels' House

Before anyone else could bug her about caves and
bears and horses and Merlin, Samantha headed out of the room. "Come on you guys!
We got more company coming! It's gonna be a big surprise!" Then she took off
running for the front door.

"More company?" Jessica said blankly. "A
surprise? I live in a constant state of surprise these days!"

"How does she know these things?" Abby asked,
with a concerned look at Jessica.

"I don't know, Mom, I just don't know. But if
she says we have more people coming tonight, I guess we ought to just follow
her lead." She headed off after Sam.

"Clay?" Abby turned to him. "Clay, this worries
me. I don't know what Jessica is thinking letting that child just run wild with
all this--this--this--"

"Abby, honey, you've got to trust your daughter.
She knows what she's doing. Always been a good, level-headed girl. If she's
okay with this thing with Samantha, then you have to be okay with it too." Clay
put an arm around his wife and kissed the top of her head. "Some fantastic
things are going on here, amazing things. I won't tell you not to worry because
I know you'll worry anyway. But, honey, we just have to go with the flow, as
they say, and see what happens next."

"Clayton Ames, you're just so happy about
finding animals that can talk to you that you aren't even looking at the big
picture! I know, I know I worry too much. But she's just a little girl, Clay.
She's my granddaughter and I'm going to worry about her because this isn't
right."

Clay sighed. "Yes, it is strange, Abby. But that
doesn't mean it isn't right. It's just something new. Maybe something
wonderful."

"Aha! You said maybe--maybe it's wonderful. So
even you aren't sure."

"Well, honey, we just don't know enough yet –
and I'm not sure Jessica and John know all that's going on either. You notice
they seemed mighty surprised by Sam just now. They aren't used to this thing
she can do yet either. But we've got to be supportive and not question them too
much. In time it will all get sorted out."

Abby nodded slowly. She turned and hugged her
husband tightly. "I wonder who the company is."

In a Cave, Southwest Missouri

"Do you all have anything to eat?" Janine asked.

Lisanne rummaged in the backpack she'd dragged
into the cave. "Sure, kiddo. Here's some Doritos, some chocolate-covered Oreos,
Cheetos...now where did I put that can of cashews?"

"Lisanne, I thought you said you had stocked up
on food at that little store we were at," Andy said, frowning at her.

"This
is
food. Here, have a Snickers."

As Janine tore open the cookies, Andy looked at
Lisanne quizzically. "Do you do anything, anything at all, that's healthy? I'm
not judging you. I'm just curious."

"Hey, there's nutritional value in the peanuts
in that Snickers bar. And have you ever read the back of the Doritos bag? You
can get some minerals and stuff from them." She smiled broadly as she pulled a
can of cashews from the backpack. "There you are, my lovely salted cashews!
Here," she thrust the can at Andy. "Open these up and quit complaining. I'm
sure there will be veggies and fresh fruit when we get where we're going. Then
you can be all healthy all the time. You probably jog too."

Defensively, Andy started, "Jogging is good for
you! Better than smoking."

"Oh, no! I left my cigarettes in the car!"
Jumping up, Lisanne headed out of the cave.

"Stop her!" Janine said urgently. "It's about to
get bad out there."

Andy looked out at the pouring, blowing rain and
said, "About to get bad? It's already pretty bad."

"Andy, just go get her. The horses are
frightened. Something's about to happen."

Andy walked to the cave entrance and then heard
a scream. Running out into the rain, he heard loud, cracking sounds. Lightning
was flaring through the trees as the wind picked up, and he was bent almost in
half as he struggled against it. "Lisanne! Lisanne!" he yelled.

"Over here."

Coming around his car, he saw Lisanne sitting on
the ground, slumped against her car door. "Help! That tree attacked me!" she
said accusingly.

Crouching down next to her, Andy told her, "The
tree didn't attack you--a branch just fell off and whacked you on the arm."

Cradling her left arm gently, he put pressure on
the cut that was bleeding. "Okay," he said, "we have to get back to the cave.
This storm is getting worse. Can you walk?"

"I need a drink!" she reported.

"I thought you said you stopped drinking. Can
you walk?"

"I don't care. Let me be an alcoholic. I stashed
a bottle of scotch in the trunk, next to my telescope."

"Telescope? You brought a telescope when we
needed room for supplies?" Andy asked, incredulous.

"What's an astronomer without a telescope?"
Lisanne replied reasonably.

"You never said you were an astronomer. Did you?
I think I'd remember you telling me that."

"So? I dropped out before I finished my
dissertation. Now, can I have that drink?"