Sela led the way out the back of the barn. Thank God, there was a large harvest moon stealing its way over the treetops. The barking grew even louder. I was sure the dogs had discovered that we went out the back of the house.
A horrific roar broke the tranquil autumn night.
Sela rode faster and I followed. We didn't let up the pace for a good hour. I looked back and saw the orange glow of the fire fading in the distance.
'Let's ease it back for a bit to give the horses a chance to catch their breath,' Sela said quietly. We had crossed several farm fields. She told me that she knew the area well and that by the next afternoon we'd be crossing into the eastern corner of Nebraska. 'We should be coming up to one of the main roads. From there, I'll get my bearings.'
The night sounds returned to just your normal crickets singing, frogs croaking and occasional owl hooting. Sela picked up the pace slightly. At least, we weren't sprinting. However, my insides still felt like they had been shaken, not stirred, and violently rearranged.
At one point, we crossed a stream and Sela stopped so the horses could get a drink. 'I can't believe you had horses. I'm surprised that they didn't end up on someone's table for dinner.'
'Oh, I could never do that. They have been family for a while. Besides, for the longest time, I've had this strange feeling that I'd be taking this trip.'
Leaning down to pet Hope, I said, 'I am certainly grateful you had them.'
'Care for something to drink?' Sela said handing me a bottle of water.
'Thanks.'
'You're welcome.'
'Huh, that just reminded me of something,' I said, passing the bottle back to her.
'What?'
'Do you remember the Today show? I think it was on NBC.'
'Yeah, I used to watch it every morning when I was getting ready for work. Why?' Sela answered.
'I remember a segment that they did for several mornings on the loss of civility. All these experts were brought on to comment about the various problems that our society was manifesting.'
'Oh, sure. I do remember that one. It really made an impression on me. If you look back to that decade, there were definite signs, events, ideals, and people trying to wake us up to our downfall. It was just awful the way people treated each other. Rudeness and callousness escalated to the point where you trusted no one.'
'Madeline's little handiwork, I'm sure. She planted those seeds of mistrust, rudeness and anger. We both know that now.'
Sela gently kicked Tempest and started to walk. 'The big question is how do we stop her evil harvest?'
I whispered, 'We destroy her crops and plant new seeds. Ones that show the good in our world.'
Chapter 9
The first rays of the morning sun slid across the pavement and turned it orange. Jerky had been riding on my saddle in front of me for the last couple of hours. It was pretty funny the way she got up there. Sela gave Hope a command and the horse knelt down, allowing Jerky to have a short jump up into my arms. I caught her and she settled down immediately, nestled between the horn and me. There was no fear on either animal's part. I was amazed. Sela grinned. Tempest snorted.
'Are you hungry?' Sela asked.
I started to give her my usual reply. 'I've been-'
'I know, you've been hungry for a year,' she said interrupting me. After a few minutes, she stopped, dismounted and tied the horse to a tree. It looked like we were on the outskirts of a small town. 'At this point, I think it's best to stay out of small towns. You never know what's lurking around.'
'Agreed. For that matter, it's probably best to stay away from cities, towns, villages and…'
Sela started to cry.
'What's wrong?' I said, dismounting from Hope and walking over to Sela.
'What you just said. It's horrible that we can't trust anyone. I just hate it. How did we get like this?'
'I know,' I said putting my arm around her. 'When we lose trust, civility, common courtesies and…basic love for each other, I guess we've lost everything.'
Sela leaned her head on my shoulder and hugged me. My pulse quickened as I hugged her back. Slowly, she lifted her head, met my eyes and kissed me. It was a gentle kiss, a warm kiss that made me feel comforted. The kiss lasted for what felt like a week. When Sela broke the embrace, she continued to hug me and placed her head next to mine. She whispered, 'I trust you and I'm so glad you came into my life.'
My heart pounded in my chest. With a cracking voice that seemed to skip up an octave making me feel like I was in junior high, I replied, 'Me too.'
She giggled and hugged me harder. 'I have some jerky. Would you like some?'
'Yes, please.'
Sela pulled out a large bag of hard jerky. 'It's made out of chickens. I had a couple of old birds that gave their lives for this jerky.'
'May they rest in peace, or should I say pieces.'
Sela's laugh resounded off the trees. 'I didn't know you did stand-up comedy.'
We found an old log to sit on. Conversation drifted from the weather to favorite fall foods and old movies we enjoyed. When we stopped talking, Jerky jumped down from Hope and took off. However, it wasn't too long before she came sauntering back, begging.
'She's going to bug you until she gets a piece of that Jerky,' I said, biting off a chunk of the meat.
'Well, she deserves it. It's obvious that she is a fine connoisseur of prepared meats,' Sela said, giving Jerky a piece. The cat hunkered down, chomped on the dried morsel and purred.
'Ya know what makes all this difficult?' Sela asked.
'What?'
'Not knowing what's happening in the rest of the world. I mean…I just wonder what's going on. Is everyone dead? How many people are in hiding? Can we fix this mess?'
I sat in silence as she asked question after question. It seemed suffocating. Finally, I assured her that something or someone would turn things around, bring humanity back.
'Like a savior?' she asked.
'I suppose so. I mean…um…we know, at least you and me figured it out, that evil by the name of Madeline instigated this collapse, so there must be someone who can destroy her. There's got to be a leader out there who can bring her down and send her back to hell.'
Sela nodded her head and replied, 'Well, I for one want to find that person and join up.'
'You make it sound like we have a coming battle.'
'Yup. It's got to get to that.'
Her last comment got me to thinking about Madeline with an army of evil soldiers, ready to eradicate the rest of humanity. If that were so, how in the world did we stand a chance? Just look at the state of our present condition. 'How do we fight a demon army?' I asked timidly.
'With all our might. I mean maybe that's why you are drawn to the West Coast. Maybe that's why we found each other. Maybe there are more people migrating to some preordained spot.'
'And maybe that's why you and I weren't poisoned by Madeline years ago when she was planting those diabolical seeds in kids. We must have been immune.'
'Maybe so.'
We each finished our jerky, mounted our horses and rode off. Jerky decided to run ahead of us. I thought for the longest time about what Sela had said.
