sensation.
'Now, I want you to go outside, dressed with your most intimidating look, and pump up your soldiers,' he said standing up. 'Give them your best cheerleading efforts. Get them ready to fight. No more thoughts of love. Lead them into battle like you were destined to do. Finish the fight and be ready to start a new world.'
Madeline pulled back the covers, peeled off the dressing and looked at the wound. It was completely healed. When she looked up, Barker was gone. She slid her legs off to the side of the bed and cried for a moment for Quincy. Then she went to the closet and pulled out her favorite black leather pants. As she got dressed, the anger inside her seethed.
Chapter 33
At Weed, CA, we left I-5 and started our way on US 97, The Dalles-California Highway. A cold drizzle greeted us as we crossed the border into Oregon. It further indicated that summer was on its way out and fall was in the air. I kept thinking it must be getting close to October. Jack was doing much better and was able to ride again. His sense of humor had returned, along with his eagerness to go into battle. We often rode together, sharing memories of the events leading up to the collapse and Madeline's rise to power.
'Hey, Heck, do you remember all those…oh, what do you call them?' Jack said banging the side of his head with his fist as if to dislodge his forgotten memory.
'Hell if I know what you're talking about. Give me a little clue,' I said.
'They rob people on the high seas,' he said still knocking his head.
'Oh, you mean pirates?'
'Yeah, that's it. The pirates.'
'Arrrgh…' I said while squinting an eye. I looked down at Jerky sleeping on my neck and thought that there probably weren't many pirates with a cat perched on their shoulders.
'I remember that whole business escalating somewhere in the early part of the century. There were whole luxury ships taken over with all the passengers raped, tortured and murdered. Do you think it was Madeline's handiwork?'
'No doubt. I'm sure just about every murderous situation was her architecture.'
'Well, it got so bad that no one ventured out to sea much. Cruise lines went belly up.'
'Yeah, and when Madeline came to power there were open battles at sea,' I remembered.
'Those pirates were able to get on board some of our best warships and blow them up.'
'More casualties on Madeline's list to annihilate mankind I'm sure.'
After more stories, we just rode in silence for a long time. For some reason, recounting all the tragedies and losses from Madeline's waves of destruction gave us strength and determination.
The sun peeked out later in the afternoon and boosted everyone's spirits. After a few miles, we decided to stop early and camp for the night. Later that evening, we had a rousing game of soccer and it really lifted the mood.
Sela was in the last month or so of her pregnancy. Her guardian angel never left her sight. Vonnie was especially helpful, giving her advice and just being there for her. She already said that she would help with the delivery when the time came. I told her how much I valued her friendship. That night, she, Jack and Missy brought dinner over for us.
'Wow, thanks. You didn't have to do that,' I said, greeting them as they walked into our camp.
'I hope you haven't eaten yet,' Missy said.
'No, we haven't,' Sela replied. 'Heckel came back empty-handed from fishing. We were just going to eat some old Pop-Tarts that we found back in Weed.'
'How about a little rabbit stew? Missy shot the critter; it's a nice big juicy one. Jack found some wild asparagus and I had some other dried veggies. I think it came out pretty good.'
Vonnie spooned up bowls of the stew. My mouth started watering before I even took the bowl from her.
'Oh, my…normally I'm not a big stew fan, but this is absolutely heavenly. I can't believe how tender the meat is. What's your secret?' Sela asked, shoveling another large spoonful into her mouth.
'Old family secret that I can not reveal,' Vonnie said.
'Riiiiight,' Missy giggled. 'You made it up with the spices we had. Don't let her kid you.'
'I've been caught,' Vonnie said, sitting down with her bowl. 'Dumb luck. I had limited resources.'
'Well, you have to give me the recipe as best you can. It is delicious,' Sela said with a mouthful.
Everyone sat mostly in silence for the longest time. However, there was an occasional 'mmm' or 'wow' issued. By the time we were all done, the big stew pot was empty. Jerky was perched nearby, ready for the green light to lick it clean.
'Thank you so much. That's the best stew ever,' I said, followed by a lengthy belch. 'Oops…excuse me.'
'I'll take that as a compliment,' Vonnie said. Jack added a thunderous and resonant burp. She swatted his arm. 'Stop…now you're grossing me out.'
I got up, pulled a blanket out of our tent and covered Sela's shoulders. Jack put a few more logs on the fire. We sat around reminiscing about fun things. Any time someone started to talk about a bad event, we interrupted and insisted on a more pleasant topic.
'Is the word around about the whole guardian angel support group?' I queried with a very straightforward tone.
'Yup,' Missy offered. 'Seems like everyone is cool with it and pretty much in awe.'
'Yes, most went along with it as if it were common knowledge. There were a few skeptics, that is, until their guardian angel made its presence known. Wow, then you should have seen the looks on their faces-priceless,' Vonnie added.
'Well, good. I had no idea how that one would fly with people,' I said.
'It got kind of funny for a while,' Jack said.
'How?' Sela asked.
'Well, some who had a tiger or large intimidating animal for a guardian angel boasted about how strong and protective it was, while someone else might have only a little Chihuahua,' Jack explained. 'Yeah, then you should have seen what that little dog turned into-a gigantic wolf, who went on to play with the tiger. After that one pissing contest, everyone understood that when needed, the guardian angel could be anything it deemed necessary to protect.'
'Interesting,' I said.
'Yeah, these guardian angels are mean mother-'
Vonnie put a hand over Jack's mouth. We talked further about the whole guardian angel business, feeling very comforted by their presence. Sela recounted the story again of how she discovered her angel and found out the angels were going to help us.
Later, I looked down to see that Sela had fallen asleep in my lap. After a while, our company got up and said good night. I eased Sela awake just enough to help her into the tent. After she got nestled into our bed, I went back out to sit a while longer at the fire. Jerky crawled up into my lap.
As the embers were dying down, Tempest came walking slowly into our camp. He stood there as if waiting for something. Jerky dashed off my lap and jumped up onto his saddle.
'Okay, what's this all about?'
Tempest came up to me and nudged my shoulder. 'Okay, I get the hint.' As soon as I mounted him, Jerky settled onto my shoulder. 'Great. Where we goin'?' The horse turned and sauntered away from the campsite. Once in the clearing, he took off running fast. I held on tight. This horse was strong and powerful and knew his destination.
After about two hours of a grueling pace, Tempest slowed down. We had topped a hill and there off in the distance were Madeline's warriors. Jerky jumped off my shoulders and I dismounted.
'Holy shit,' I said, looking out at the massive army sprawled across the landscape. 'How in the hell-' I started to say when I was interrupted by a strange female voice.
'Want some?'
