Chapter 13

John leaned against a boulder watching the evergreens sway in the breeze. Occasionally, handfuls of snow would cascade down from a tree. The snow in the area was over two feet deep and powdery. The footprints that Rover made when he had charged into the woods were visible as dark spots in the snow. He could hear the few birds left in the woods singing.

It was peaceful and as quiet as nature allowed. It was never perfectly silent in the woods. Leaves rustled, birds sang, the wind blew, and animals moved. Nature was never static. There was always motion, but the dynamics of natural surroundings was relaxing rather than stressing. John reveled in the solitude. It had been so long since he had the chance to just sit and be at one with nature.

His last extended hike had been almost six months ago. He wondered when his next chance to walk alone in the wilderness would occur. He promised himself to make the opportunity rather than wait for it to occur. Having the chance to walk out his back door and walk for hours through the desert was very nice. He was able to put together a couple of two-day hikes on occasion. They satisfied, but they were a poor substitute for the kind of introspection that would occur after two weeks alone.

The soft swishing sound of a cross-country skier attracted John’s attention. John stood up and adjusted his cloak around his shoulders. He brought his walking stick up and leaned on it. Rover came out of the woods to sit by him. The noise of the skis increased in volume as the skier neared. At the other end of the clearing, a figure emerged moving mechanically. The person stopped at the center of the clearing when they spotted John. The two of them stared at each other for a minute.

John spoke in a voice loud enough to carry to the skier, “Come here. I was sent to meet you.”

The skier slowly approached and stopped about six feet away. John reached under his shirt and brought out his medallions. He showed them to the skier. The skier looked at them and then fished out a medallion, also.

John said, “I know you’re a little disoriented now, and full of questions. If you come with me I will answer all of the questions that I can.”

“Are you going to hurt me, too?” The voice sounded feminine.

John shook his head and answered, “No, I was thinking of taking you to a café, where we could get something to eat and talk.”

“Okay,” replied the skier. With a glance over at Rover she asked, “Is he safe?”

John answered, “He’s safe.”

“Okay.”

John turned and headed up the hill. He still moved a little slowly and stiffly. He hadn’t recovered fully from the gunshot wound. It was only three days ago that he had been shot. The skier kept shooting out in front.

Finally, John waved and called out, “Hey, slow down. I was shot a couple of days ago. I’m still slow moving.”

The skier stopped and removed the skis. John headed towards the highway, it was only a mile away. At this pace, it would take him forty-five minutes to reach it. The skier revealed herself by removing her goggles and hat. John glanced over at her and said, “My name is John Carter.”

The woman was silent for a moment and then said, “I know who you are. You invented the fusion battery.”

“Yes. More importantly for you, is the fact that I serve the Gods and the Goddesses. I take it that you serve the God?”

“I guess.”

They finally reached the highway. John and the woman followed Rover. John said, “That’s Rover. He’s my friend.”

The woman walked along beside him. Finally, she said, “My name is Catherine Sullivan.”

John followed behind Rover. After a while he answered, “It’s good to meet you Catherine. Before we get to the café, I must warn you that you’ve probably undergone some major physical changes. I became more muscular, my hair changed colors, and my cock got bigger. Since I don’t know what you looked like before, I can’t say what changes you’ve experienced.”

Catherine smirked and said, “Bigger cock? Yeah right.”

John laughed and said, “Just wait. When we get in the café, there is a small mirror near the coat rack. I’ll remove your coat and give you a chance to examine yourself in the mirror. I’ll fumble with the coats for a minute, then I’ll take you to the table. You don’t want to make people wonder about you.”

“Sure.”

They entered the café and John removed her coat and took his time hanging it up. Rover bounded over to the counter where Martha was standing. Other patrons made noises of shock and dismay. Martha smiled as she saw the cat. She shouted into the kitchen, “Six pounds of hamburger served raw!”

George shouted out, “Hey, John. Have a seat. I’ll be right out with a little snack for Rover.”

At the interaction between George and Martha, the other patrons slowly returned to eating. John smiled as he hung up his coat. He glanced out of the corner of his eye as the woman stared at herself open mouthed in the mirror. He turned and grabbed her by the arm. He calmly led her over to one of the chairs at the counter. Martha moved over to them. John greeted her, “Hi, Martha, I’d like you to meet Catherine. Catherine, this is Martha. She and her husband own this place.”

Catherine pulled herself together and said, “Hello, Martha. Nice place you have here.”

Martha smiled at the woman and then said, “You can thank John for that. He provided some motivation for us to fix it up.”

Catherine looked at John for a moment. She tried to remember all that she had heard about him. He was famous for a couple of reasons, but the only one she could remember was the fusion battery. John asked, “What’s the soup today?”

“Beef Barley. Good hearty soup for a cold day like today.”

“Sounds good to me. We’ll both take a bowl,” John said. He saw George come out of the kitchen with a plate of hamburger. He called over, “Hey, George. That had better be for Rover or else your stove isn’t working very well.”

George laughed as he came around the counter and set the plate on the floor. Rover went over to it and started eating. “John, don’t you know that Rover is the only one that appreciates my ability to not cook!”

A couple of patrons laughed at the joke. The realization that the man at the counter was John Carter assured that he wouldn’t be bothered. He was actually well known in this region. He had helped bring a much-needed doctor into the area. In fact, one of the patrons shouted out, “Hey, John, you need to visit the hospital here. Both doctors are getting meaner every year. We need you to put them in their place!”

Everyone, except Catherine, laughed. The story of John’s stay in the hospital down the road was very well known. John replied, “You just have to kiss them on the lips!”

“Hey, since the old doc got married, his wife won’t let us kiss him anymore! We figure she’ll let you.” The man talking was huge, and John couldn’t imagine how anyone could intimidate him.

The laughter was wide spread. Martha turned to Catherine and said, “As you can tell, John is a legend around here. He’s helped many people in this area. He saved the daughter of the Sheriff from being killed by a serial killer, brought us a new doctor in the area, saved a boy, and helped take care of old Jed’s place after he died. Every once in a while he makes the evening news, and he’s all that the town can talk about.”

Catherine turned to stare at John. She remembered some of the other things about John that she had heard. John turned to her and said, “My exploits are exaggerated. There are a hundred people there and they give me all the credit. It’s not fair.”

Martha smirked and said, “Keep saying that and one day you’ll find someone who will believe you.”

George came over to John. He smiled and said, “That was a nice bit of work you did with the FBI in Nevada. How many of the bastards did they get?”

John answered, “Actually, I don’t know. I was shot in the middle of the whole thing. They hauled me off to the hospital.”

George said, “That’s not the way I heard it. I heard that you arrested a guy with an automatic rifle after wrestling with him bare handed. Rover took out another one that was hiding in the shed. Then you plugged the barrel on a gun and the fool using it was stupid enough to pull the trigger. That plus the tear gas you threw in the house caused them to surrender.”

John shrugged his shoulders and said, “Well, Rover did get a little angry at the guy that shot me.”

George asked, “Where did you get shot?”

“In the side,” John replied pointing to the location. He laughed and said, “I died, but I’m feeling much better now.”

Martha asked, “That’s at least twice, now, that you’ve died.”

“Just twice. Let’s not exaggerate it any more than it is.”

George shook his head. He said, “So you died four days ago with a gunshot in the side. What are you doing here?”

John looked at Catherine and answered, “I came here to meet her. I promised Jed that I would be here to find the new owner of his store. She’s probably the one. Still have to interview her.”

Catherine looked around in confusion. She asked, “What do you mean, you promised Jed to give me the store? What store?”

John smiled and answered, “All in good time. Hey, speaking of time, where’s our soup? You feed the fur-ball, but starve us?”

Rover shot John a look and went back to cleaning the plate with his tongue. John leaned over to Rover and whispered, “Sorry about that.”

Two bowls of soup magically appeared in front of John and Catherine. John dug into the soup for a minute savoring the warmth. He looked up at Martha and George. He said, “This soup is great!”

Martha asked, “What else can we get for you to eat?”

“I would like a grilled cheese sandwich. Rover will take another four pounds of hamburger, if you have it. How about you Catherine?”

“I think I would like a Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato sandwich.”

George answered, “How about two pounds of cubed steak? I’m a little low on hamburger.”

John nodded, “That’ll be fine. Of course, this time you are going to have to give me the real price of our food. If you don’t, I’ll write into all of the contracts that no one is allowed to sell you a fusion battery!”

“Oh, I’m mortally wounded,” George replied. He laughed and said, “I never met anyone who would get so mad about being undercharged!”

George went into the kitchen to work on their order. Martha drifted off to take care of some other customers. John turned to Catherine and said, “So, tell me, do you make things?”

Other people might not have understood the question, but Catherine knew exactly what John was asking. She nodded and said, “Yeah. I make all of my own camping equipment.”

John smiled at the answer and said, “Good, then you are the one I was sent to get.”

George delivered the meal and the couple ate it. After a morning in the cold weather, the soup and sandwiches really hit the spot. Everyone, including Rover, left the restaurant feeling much better. They walked down the street and got into John’s rental car.

Rather than heading to the store, John first went to the hospital. Catherine and Rover followed him in. John saw the receptionist and winked. She smiled and pointed to the back. John whispered, “Anyone sleeping?”

“No. You can shout.”

John smiled and walked to the middle of the corridor. Catherine followed behind him confused. John shouted out, “I heard there were a couple of guys here pretending to caring physicians.”

“John! You cad. The veterinarian is down the street. Get there now!” The voice of old Dr. Simpson echoed down the halls.

“Come on out here you old goat and let me kiss you! I come into town and everyone is complaining about you!”

Dr. Simpson came out of his office and walked up to John. He was laughing and asked, “So what are you doing here?”

“Ah, I came to get some stitches looked at. I think I pulled a couple this morning.”