Chapter 16

Although Linda and Ely fell asleep quickly, and remained asleep, Karl wasn’t able to. He did doze off, but then he awoke again at the first sound as one of the two women coughed. As he lay there beside the others, he should have felt relatively relaxed and comfortable, but he didn’t. He was certain that he’d be wakened often during the night; in fact he’d probably awaken each time one of the others went to take her place on guard, if not at any other sharp sound. This was one night when he expected to sleep lightly and awaken easily.

On top of that he had a myriad of worries on his mind. He only hoped that the others would sleep quite soundly. His thoughts were almost feverish since he was already trying to consider things he thought might need to be done the next day, yet he couldn’t really plan ahead, not until the day began to develop. At the present time he was left with just too many unknowns.

The one thing Karl hadn’t mentioned to the others was that he appreciated having Bruno inside. With the dog lying by the hearth they had a very effective alarm system. Bruno’s ears and nose would detect a lot more than most people would hear or even see. Karl had seen Bruno when he was hunting and he trusted the dog’s senses to a far greater extent than he did his own.

On top of that, he trusted everyone to do their best and felt that the way he had set up the rotation gave everyone time to get some rest. Realising that he needed to sleep as much as he could, he willed himself to relax. It seemed only minutes later when Keri and Ely were speaking quietly as Ely arose. He rolled over carefully, trying not to disturb Linda, who was snoring softly on the other side of the huge bed.

“Ely, before you go, can I have a hug? Then I’ll get Keri to slip into the middle of the bed so she can sleep soundly for a few hours. That way, I won’t disturb her when I get up,” he whispered.

“You weren’t supposed to wake up, you big lug,” Ely murmured, walking over to hug him as he sat up. “Now go back to sleep.”

“Yes Boss,” he grinned, then kissed her lightly before lying back again.

Ely slipped out of the door and Keri leaned down to whisper in his ear.

“And how do I get into the middle of the bed?” she asked.

“Slip under the covers and crawl over me,” he teased. “I promise I won’t do anything you don’t like.”

“That sounds promising, the problem is that we both need to get our sleep,” she chuckled, easily slipping over him, then snuggling against him for a few moments, letting his body heat warm her.

“Another night I’ll make sure we celebrate like I promised, Little Mommy,” Karl whispered in her ear and kissed her lightly.

“Oh shit!” she giggled softly. “I’d forgotten about that promise in all the fuss, but I’d have remembered and reminded you of it later.”

“I thought so,” Karl sighed. “Unfortunately, right now we’d better get some sleep.”

“Umm hm,” she muttered and snuggled tightly against him.

As they relaxed, Karl fell asleep in her arms and was surprised when Trudy leaned over him and shook him gently. He’d slept right through Ely coming back to bed and Linda getting up.

“Rise and shine Karl, I’m off to bed,” Trudy whispered. “Not much is happening, other than the storm. Linda can tell you about that.”

“Okay Trudy, thanks,” Karl slipped out of bed and dressed quickly, trying to be as quiet as possible.

A quick trip to the john, then he was almost ready to take his place outside. He stopped in the living room long enough to check on the dog, who seemed to be resting easily, then he heard the coffee perk in the kitchen gurgle as it finished its cycle. Chuckling that Trudy would have put on fresh coffee for him, he poured two cups. Then, making sure the tiny light in the kitchen didn’t reach the outside door and pausing to grab a light jacket, he stepped out onto the porch.

He could hear the wind moaning in the trees as well as the rain drumming down quite heavily on the deck overhead, but since it was still fully dark he couldn’t see much. He paused for a moment, allowing his sight to become accustomed to the weak illumination of the distant yard light. He could just make out Linda’s figure as she sat in a deck chair back near the wall of the cabin. In only seconds his eyes had adjusted enough that he could see she had a blanket over her knees and the rifle resting at her side. She smiled at him as he handed her a cup of coffee.

“Thanks Karl, it’s sort of creepy when you’re out here by yourself. You hear the trees and things moving in the wind,” she whispered. “Some of the sounds almost spook a person.”

“Yeah,” Karl answered just as quietly. “Have you heard or seen anything suspicious?”

“Not really, it’s been more the sound of trees rubbing against each other and such. Oh, did Trudy tell you the cow and calf came wandering back?”

“What? When did that happen?”

“I guess it was just before Ely came to waken me, She was wet and cold when she came up to trade places, so I imagine it had just happened before that. Trudy said that all Ely had to do was open the gate for them and the cow and calf walked right into the pen, then moved close to the building. She said it was really raining and blowing hard then, so I guess the cattle were cold and wanted the shelter.”

“I suppose they decided that shelter was better than freedom. Maybe they worked the gate free before and just wandered away, but now they’ve wandered back,” he frowned, not really believing in that idea.

“Not unless they know how to untie knots,” Linda sighed. “Trudy had tied the cow before and the rope was taken when the cow disappeared. She said that when the cow came back this time, she had a different rope around her neck.”

“Aw shit,” Karl sat forward, staring at the pen where the cow and calf had to be, but unable to make them out in the darkness. “That means for certain that we have someone else here on the island.”

“Trudy and I came to the same conclusion. We were wondering if the cow could be tracked.”

“That’s not a bad idea. In this weather her hoof prints will be plain for a while. Of course they’ll disappear quite quickly in this storm.”

“How quickly? Could we follow them tomorrow?”

“You mean today,” Karl said, glancing at his watch. “It’ll be daylight in an hour or so.”

“Oh, you know what I mean,” Linda snapped, then she sighed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be grouchy.”

“That’s okay. I was trying to be fairly light hearted.”

“I know, I’m just a bit touchy,” she sighed. “Would you like another coffee? I need to go in to use the can. I could get you one on my way back out here.”

“Yeah, I could use another cup,” Karl handed her his cup as she shifted the rifle to lean it against the wall at his side.

He watched her go inside and he found himself wondering at her easy acceptance of everything that was going on. Then he reflected that they all seemed to be functioning at an unexpected level of awareness of their surroundings. He thought it might be a matter of self protection, but they seemed to have shed a few thousand years of civilization in only days. In fact it seemed almost as though they were now thinking along the lines of tribal members in a clan.

If that was right, he realised that by challenging and proving George wrong last night, he had pushed himself into a clear leadership role. Surprisingly, he regretted doing that, but at the same time he felt that George had been making a mistake. Karl knew that George was still a brilliant man, but he was also more of a theoretician than a practical leader. It was then that he realised George probably felt relief, while at the same time Karl was feeling the burden of added responsibility.

“I guess that makes me the defacto chief of the tribe and demotes George to the position of a village elder,” he muttered softly, then grinned to himself, somehow amused at the thought of classifying their group as a tribe, yet in effect he knew they were really only a family.

Instead of allowing himself to worry about any possible repercussions, he forced himself to concentrate on scanning over the scene beyond the porch while listening for odd noises. In a moment he was sure he heard two women’s voices murmuring softly inside the cabin and only seconds later he knew his ears hadn’t been deceiving him. When Linda came outside, Keri was with her.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“I couldn’t sleep any longer,” Keri spoke in a whisper. “I woke when you got out of bed and I’ve been tossing and turning, trying to get back to sleep since then. I finally got up so that I didn’t wake Ely. I’m taking Linda’s place in a half hour anyway. Since I can’t sleep, I thought she could just as well go back to bed a little bit earlier than we’d planned.”

“That’s fine with me,” Karl shrugged. “Although I wasn’t planning on having her call you at all.”

“I figured that,” she laughed softly. “I think that’s part of the reason I’m so wide awake. I knew if I fell asleep, you might not have me called. Linda, you should get some sleep.”

“And what if three people are needed?” she demanded, sounding almost irritated.

“Linda, if we need someone, you’ll be the first to know,” Karl frowned, thinking that she sounded unlike the person he was used to.

“And by the time I get down here anything could have happened,” she snapped.

“Hey, just a second,” Karl was getting a bit worried about her reaction to the situation. “Right now I’d say lack of sleep is making you grouchy as hell.”

“Sorry,” Linda sighed. “I guess I should rest. I think perhaps I’ve got PMS.”

“It sounded like it,” Keri chuckled. “That’s one thing I won’t miss for a few months.”

“Hah, I remember what you were like at those times, but you were doing the distribution.” Karl smiled. “You should have been on the reception end.”

“Hmph, you should feel like a bloated old cow with a belly ache, just once,” Linda snapped. “If all men had PMS just once in their life, the world would be a better place.”

“Yep, I think you need some sleep,” Keri smiled, wrapping Linda in her arms and hugging her tightly.

“Oh fuck. I’m sorry I’m being a bitch,” Linda sighed.

It took a moment or two more and a hug from Karl as well before they convinced Linda to finally go inside and try to catch some more rest.

“Well, at least she isn’t pregnant too,” Keri grinned at Karl after a moment. “I think for a while yesterday you were worried that she might be.”

“Of course I was,” Karl sighed. “But are you sure that she’s not, couldn’t she have PMS and still be pregnant?”

“Nope, I don’t think so. That was my first clue that I might be pregnant, no PMS. Then later my period was overdue. I carefully didn’t tell anyone though, not until I was fairly well positive and I’d made a doctor’s appointment. I was on the way home from the doctor with the good news when the earthquake hit. That was strange. I was driving along and all of a sudden the road just wasn’t there. It was like the car was jolted hard, lifted up, shifted sideways and dropped again. I skidded into some bushes off to one side of the road and slammed to a halt, wrecking the car. In that short time I went from being so happy that I was singing along with the car radio, to being so scared I was whimpering.”

“You weren’t hurt at all?”

“Nope, just scared completely shitless,” she grinned. “I actually peed myself I was so scared. I thought something was wrong with me, that maybe I was having hallucinations or something.”

“So what happened then?”

“Well, I sat there for a moment or two, trying to calm down, then I got out of the car. Since I’d just ridden the ferry back from Seattle, after a two-day stay, I had a suitcase along. I forced myself to be calm as I took off my skirt, changed my panties and put on some jeans. Then as I was starting to move back to the road, another tremor hit. That’s when I knew for sure what had happened and surprisingly that made me calmer, because I knew the accident wasn’t my fault.

“I figured if it had been such a big quake that it was enough to throw my car off the road, I might have a hard time getting home. So, after I thought about it for a minute, I went back to the car. I grabbed my suitcase, my flashlight, a piece of rope, and the tools from the car, but that was only a hammer and a pair of pliers. I packed everything, but the rope, in the suitcase. Then I used the rope to make a sling to carry the suitcase easier and I set out to walk home.”

“You grabbed a hammer and a pair of pliers?”

“Hey, they were the only tools I could find in the car,” she said emphatically. “Besides, you’ve got to remember I’d just been in a car wreck. I was rattled, so cut me some slack huh? I thought about it afterward and decided I did pretty damn good for being bloody well shook up. You should have seen the car. I’m fairly sure it was a complete writeoff, yet I walked away without a scratch, so your harping about always wearing a seat belt paid off.

“Well, that’s one good thing.”

“Hey, you’d have been proud of me. Instead of just diving into things like I usually do, I actually took the time to think before jumping into action. Then I made up my mind what I needed to do before I did anything at all. I looked at the car, decided that it was a total wreck and set about salvaging whatever I could possibly use if I got into trouble. Then I set out to walk the twelve miles home. It took several hours for me to get there, and I had to detour around two big landslides, several wrecked cars, oodles of downed power lines, and various other small obstacles. The worst was when I had to find my way down one side of a ravine, across a stream, and then up the other side, just to get past a bridge that got knocked out by the quake. When I did get home, I found that two big trees had crashed down onto the roof, pretty well crushing the house. At first I was sure everyone was killed, but it didn’t take long to find that they were all crammed into one room at the end and still trying to make some sense out of the mess. It was chaotic, but at least everyone was okay.”

“Ely said you had a rough time.”

“It really wasn’t that bad. I mean, we didn’t have a party or anything, but we managed. That first night was rough, the six of us just huddled together and tried to stay warm. In the next few days we abandoned the house and moved to the boathouse, and even if we didn’t have all that we could wish for, we were doing okay. Then that damn nosy old bastard from down the road started interfering with our lives, but just after that we found out you were okay and you were coming to rescue us.

“There was no damn way I was going to let that old bastard screw with you too, so I snuck over to his place to see what I could do to stop that. Luckily I was sneaking over to his place about the same time that he was sneaking over to spy on us. I’m not sure what I’d have done if I’d met him right then, since I was so pissed with him it wasn’t funny. I mean it was Daddy who had gotten him involved with short wave radio. Daddy even gave the old prick one of his older radios as a gift, then showed the dolt how to use the damn thing. After all of that, the old bastard was being a fink and reporting on us. When I looked in his window and saw that he was living far better than we were and hadn’t offered to share anything or to help us in any way, I knew he was a prick. His house was untouched, no broken windows or anthing else, even his kitchen was okay. He even had regular power somehow, while we were fighting a damn generator.

“I guess I lost my temper. I climbed in an open window, took every one of his radios that I could find and put them in a pile on the floor. First, I was going to smash them. Then I decided I wanted to do something ... well something dirtier, something that would really hurt the old prick. I remembered that time you and I found that old boat that had been wrecked and I’d wanted to try to save the radio, which reminded me of how the salt water had eaten it all up inside. So I took the radios and put ‘em all in his bathtub, tipped each one on its face, poured salt and vinegar from the old prick’s own kitchen into the back. Then...” she broke into a giggle, sounding almost like a naughty little girl. “Then I peed in them and I let the pee and the salt soak for a while. After that I put them all back where they had been and made sure they were turned on before I plugged them all in one at a time so I could watch each one fry for a few seconds. There were flashes and sparks from each and every darn one of ‘em too, and the whole bunch stank to high heaven. After a few seconds for each one I pulled all the plugs and switched them off, then plugged them in again. I’ll bet when the old bugger turned them on again and they started to spark and ssmoke he had a fit.”

Karl just looked at her with a weird grin on his face, shaking his head slowly. “Vicious Bitch when you get mad, aren’t you?” he commented.

“Yep, I had a couple of good teachers. You and Dad taught me not to get mad, just to get even. What topped it off though, happened after I got back home. He was trying to push past Ely to see what we had been doing in the boathouse and screaming about reporting us to the cops. Then he was yelling something about the idea that it was his right to see whether we were breaking the law. So I ordered him off with my shotgun. I warned him that if he trespassed around our place again, I’d blow his balls off. Oh, and just as a demonstration that I could shoot, he was carrying a little radio of some sort, I think it was a walkie talkie or one of those pocket radios. Anyway, I ordered him to set it on a fence post, then just as he was pulling his hand away from it, I blew that fucking thing to bits. I think the meddlesome old bastard crapped himself. At least he was waddling like his britches were full when he ran off.”

“Remind me not to get you mad at me,” Karl shook his head while laughing softly.

“Oh come on, he deserved a good scare. Besides, you couldn’t make me that mad because you’re too nice. For instance, when did you ever set out to make life hell for someone else?” she snorted. “That old bastard really pissed me off. I can’t stand someone who can be such a fucking two faced asshole, so I figured to finish him off for good. I used the radio and reported him to the cops for looking into our wrecked house when I was changing clothes and I told them he was jacking off. I hope they hang the bastard, but maybe they won’t ‘cause I didn’t give ‘em my name.”

“Easy girl, easy,” Karl grinned at her, “Your red-headed temper is showing.”

As often happened, that made her giggle, just as it had when he’d teased her years ago.

“What are you going to do if I have a little red head baby?” she smiled at him. “Are you going to tease him or her as much about being a ‘hot-blooded flame top’ as you did me?”

“How would I know that now, it depends on the kid’s personality. Actually, your being pregnant right now scares the hell out of me. For Ely, we knew a doctor was only a half hour helicopter flight away. Heck, calling a chopper and having her flown to a hospital would have only taken an hour at the most. Now we may have to handle your baby’s birth on our own.”

“Huh, you don’t realise just how good Trudy and Ely are as nurses. I’d rather have the two of them deliver my baby than a lot of doctors. Besides, women have been giving birth at home for thousands and thousands of years. Don’t worry Daddy, I’m going to have a great baby.”

“It still worries the hell out of me.”

“Well, what worries me more right now, is that there might be other people on the island that we don’t know anything about,” she sighed.

“Yeah, I don’t have enough to go on to make any sense out of that myself,” Karl sighed. “I’d like to know how many are here, both people and animals. We know that there’s a cow and a calf and we think there’s a dog, as well as at least one person. We don’t know if it’s a man or a woman. We don’t know it there’s more than one person. We can be pretty sure whoever it is had to come by water, but what happened to the boat? And how did they know about the passage through the gorge?”

“Well, it does show on some charts, even though it is marked as an unnavigable channel,” Keri said quickly. “Maybe someone was in a boat and at the wrong place in the little bay at the entrance to the gorge at the wrong time, ‘cause it they hit it at the wrong time, the tide could have swept them in. Then if it was flowing fast enough to suck them in, it could have wrecked their boat on that rock slide.”

“If they hit that in a boat, running with an incoming tide, it would have wrecked them all right. They’d have been bloody lucky to survive,” Karl shivered at the thought. “I’ve watched from the cliffs above and seen how that water rips and boils around down in the cut at full flood. That memory still gives me the willies and that was before the slide. It would take a bloody miracle to come through there and live now, what with the turmoil that those new rocks must give the current.”

“Perhaps, but there might be a chance they could make it,” she sighed softly. “Imagine if the water was just deep enough and that they hit the rocks with enough force to carry them over the slide area. We haven’t seen any sign of a boat, but perhaps the boat was damaged badly enough that it sank in the bay afterward. A survivor could have easily swum ashore.”

“I suppose,” Karl sighed, “But that all adds up to a lot of ifs and maybes. Besides, if they did that and were able to swim ashore, why the hell didn’t they ask for help?”

“Oh come on, there could be a ton of reasons,” she snorted. “Maybe they’re sick, or injured. Maybe they’re scared that we have the flu. Maybe they’re even crooks and the cow and calf are stolen. Maybe they just don’t want the authorities to find them and they figure we’d report them for travelling during this curfew thing.”

“I guess,” Karl said slowly, not wanting to argue.

It had begun to grow lighter and a brief windstorm struck, making them retreat back against the building to keep from getting wet with the driving rain. When they stood to move back against the building, they noticed that it felt colder than before and that the wind was whipping the tops of the trees heavily.

“Dammit,” Keri whispered, “Karl, this baby making business is inconvenient. It often means that if I sit still for a while, then move around, I suddenly need the bathroom. Will it be okay if I take a short break?”

“Sure,” he chuckled. “But do me a favour and make me a fresh coffee before you come back out. If you would, please?”

Keri actually put the coffee pot on first, then rushed up to the bathroom. The coffee was almost ready when she came down. Before going back outside she noticed the dog perk up his ears. Going over to pet him she noticed that he seemed tense.

“What’s up Bruno?” she asked as she pet him gently. “Do you hear something?”

His soft “Ruff” sounded almost like confirmation. Ignoring the fresh perked coffee, she hurriedly slipped back outside and moved to Karl’s side.

“Karl, Bruno seems tense and he gave one of those warning barks of his,” she whispered.

“I heard him,” Karl murmured. “Do me a favour, go up on the upper floor and slip out onto the deck. If you see something, tell me, but not loudly.”

“What if I tap on the deck. Three quick taps to call your attention, then a break, followed by two taps for something strange on the left, three for on the right.”

“That sounds good,” Karl was staring out into the semi-darkness.

The light was just strong enough that he was able to make out indistinct shapes. The combination of that, along with the driving rain and distraction of the noises created by the storm, meant Karl kept his eyes roving almost wildly. It took him a second or two to realise that there was a dark object hurtling across the goat pasture toward his goats, then perhaps another second or so before he reacted. Grabbing the rifle, he levered a shell into the chamber and leading the racing figure by several feet, he snapped off a shot.

The crack of the rifle was astoundingly loud and Keri, who had just been about to open the door to go back inside, let out a squeak of surprise.

“Fuck! I missed,” Karl snapped, levering another cartridge in place as he watched the animal spin and race back the way it had come.

Swinging the rifle on his shoulder, he aimed more carefully and fired once more. His shot came just before whatever it was came to the fence and tree line. This time he was rewarded by a high-pitched yelp. His target seemed to drop low to the ground, wriggle forward, then slip into the trees and brush at the edge of the clearing, all before he could get a chance to shoot again.

Karl was still staring outward, his eyes panning across the landscape when Keri finally spoke.

“What the fuck was that?” she whispered.

“Dog, I think, or a wolf,” he snapped. “Go inside and tell everyone we’re okay. Those shots will have wakened everyone from a sound sleep.”

Keri realised he was right, the increasing sounds from inside the cabin were going to make it hard, if not impossible, for them to concentrate. She slipped inside to reassure everyone and quieten them down. In the meantime, Karl was scanning the murkily lit landscape.

The only objects that Karl could see moving were the tree tops that swayed in the wind and a few of the goats that seemed to be milling slightly. They were acting as if they had belatedly realised that they might have been in danger. The storm seemed to be easing and the sky was brightening, which meant that Karl was able to see better with every passing moment.

Meanwhile inside, Keri was trying to get everyone to be quiet, explaining that Karl had shot at a dog that was attacking the goats. Bruno was trying to get up to investigate and she was having trouble keeping him calm. David came over and sat at the dog’s side, sleepily petting him, but that settled the big dog almost instantly. Keri had hardly gotten to her feet again when Ely came charging down the stairs.

“Wait Ely,” Keri said sharply. “Don’t run out. Karl is extremely intent. You might break his concentration and that could be dangerous.”

“Yeah! I know!” Ely said sharply, then turned toward Karl’s den where George and Trudy had slept. “Dad, are you up?” she asked at their door.

“Of course,” he sounded irritated, almost angry. “What would you like?”

“Sorry to bug you, Dad, but we seem to be under attack, I know you’ve got a gun tucked away in your briefcase, can I borrow it for now? I’d like to help Karl.”

“Oh, certainly, it will only take me a moment to get it,” he answered.

“I’ll get it dear,” Ely and Keri heard Trudy say, then in a few seconds she slipped out the door with a small black pistol in her hand.

“It’s really just a pop gun,” she almost whispered as she handed it to Ely. “It’s only a .22 caliber and it’s not loaded or cocked. I just put the clip in, but the safety is on. Oh, and all we have here are the nine bullets in the clip. There are more over at the house, but that doesn’t do us much good here.”

“Better than nothing. Thanks,” Ely said as quietly, then wheeled and headed for the door.

“Keri, you might talk to Linda, I think she’s quite upset,” she said over her shoulder, then she paused at the door, barely cracking it open. “Karl, I’m coming outside,” she called softly.

“Okay,” he sighed softly.

It was getting quite light outside by the time Ely joined Karl. He glanced at her and noticed the pistol instantly.

“Where the hell did you get that?” he demanded.

“Don’t get mad,” she said softly. “Dad had it tucked away and I knew about it, but it slipped both of our minds last night. It wasn’t until I heard you shoot that I thought of it.”

“Oh fuck,” Karl grinned at her. “I’m not mad, in fact I’m happy as hell. If I’d have known about that pistol about an hour ago, I would have been out there, carrying it, when that damn dog came around, which might well have been a mistake. But, with you having it now, I can leave you here on the deck, then go have a look around without as much fear of being under a surprise attack, or at least not of being overcome.”

“And what makes now better than an hour ago?” she demanded.

“Less wind, less rain, and more light,” he answered. “Before the storm comes back, I want to go out and look around a bit, okay? I’ll leave you the rifle and take the pistol.”

“I’d rather you waited for full light and I’d like Linda and Keri down here too. It’s a hell of a lot easier to keep an eye on a ninety-degree arc than almost three hundred degrees.”

“Okay, you slip back in and get Keri and Linda or Trudy or whoever. All of you put on coats, this rain will give you all chills if you get wet and we can’t afford to be sick,” he literaly barked. “Oh and while you’re inside, see if your Dad can get the weather forecast would you?”

“Okay, anything else you can think of?”

“Yeah, ask David to stick close to Bruno. If Bruno gets restless, let him give a warning. Bruno heard something going on before I ever saw that damn dog. He thinks he’s still on guard even if he’s stuck inside.”