Without thinking, Billy ran up the stairs. Standing next to Buddy and looking into his apartment he saw Ethan standing face to face with the Indian warrior. Looking over his shoulder and seeing me he turned back to the Indian and spoke very assertively, “You must comply. I am no longer of this world, he is the replacement.”
Buddy let out two happy barks as if in acknowledgement and then the presence of Ethan and Buddy faded away. He was left standing face to face with the warrior who was moving side to side slowly, appearing to be sizing up Billy. The warrior glanced toward the kitchen table to the side and nodded. Following his gaze, Billy felt his body pulse from within his chest just as the Indian threw his tomahawk in that direction. There was that familiar violet flash only this time Billy felt as though the flash occurred within him, that only he could see it.
The area around him seemed normal enough except now he was standing next to the table with the tomahawk in his hand. Looking back at the warrior, he saw the Indian smile. Then he heard laughter but it was ethereal, as if it was in his own head, felt more than actually heard. The Indian shook his head up and down approvingly then dissipated as if into mist.
Looking back at his hand, Billy still held the tomahawk. He hefted it, felt it’s weight. It seemed real enough, he lightly tapped the back against the table and it thudded like a hammer, solid. He examined the leather wrapping the handle, observing the intricate carving and colorations by some sort of dye. Not sure why, but it felt good in his hand.
He sat down to the table and continued to examine the weapon. There was a strange familiarity, not just that it appeared to be the same one that had been thrown at him in his bedroom days before but something more. He felt some kind of connection to this object but had no idea why. He had never really spent any time learning about Indian history other than what had been required in grade school. When he was very young, Joey and he had played cowboys and Indians. As he remembered it now, Joey had always been the cowboy.
He wasn’t sure how long he had been sitting there in his own thoughts when he looked up and saw the blinking light on the answering machine. Mechanically, he got up from the table and walked over and pressed the button.
“Hi Billy, this is Mallory.” Billy felt a catch in his throat, anticipating he wasn’t sure what, strangely feeling some kind of connection he couldn’t explain. “Sorry for not getting back to you sooner, I’ve been out of town for a few days trying to get my business set up. Yes, I also enjoyed our conversation and look forward to talking some more. You can swing by my place this Saturday about five o’clock. If that works for you, let me know. I’m looking forward to it.”
Billy was ecstatic. Relieved from all the negative thoughts he’d had over the last few days, thinking he might have read too much into their chance meeting earlier. I guess women were right, guys were more sensitive about their feelings than they’d like to admit.
The time stamp on the message was earlier in the afternoon, so if he called back now, it would be okay. At least, he wouldn’t seem too anxious. He wondered what was going on with him, he hadn’t had feelings like this, ever? Why was he feeling so intensely about this woman, what was their connection. He wondered if she was sensing something familiar? With some trepidation he called her back, would she pickup? “Chill dude. It’s just a phone call.”
The phone rang four times, “Hi you’ve reached…”, he let the message run it’s duration. “Hi Mallory. Sounds great. I look forward to seeing you this Saturday. I’ll be by about five. Take care.” He hung up noticing that his hand was trembling a little. “Get a grip man.”
The rest of the week went pretty smoothly without incident. He and Frank were making good progress on their project and next week he would start to put some more emphasis on his project for Dr. Svengali. School was going just fine despite the weirdness that seemed to occupy his life these days.
No more weird unexplainable events had occurred. Though each night he was having dreams involving the events of the past two weeks. When he woke he had only vague remembrances of their content just that his mind seemed to be attempting to grasp what was going on. At the forefront of his thoughts was getting together with Mallory.
He woke Saturday morning excited about the day. After breakfast he wrapped up his project notes so he’d be set for Monday and could enjoy the rest of the weekend. He thought about having some of the chili he had made then thought better about having so many beans before a date and opted for a grilled cheese sandwich instead. Putting his dishes in the sink for now he threw some clothes into his backpack and headed to his folks house.
He arrived at his folks about two and had a nice visit with his folks. About quarter of four he said, “I have to get ready, I have a date with Mallory tonight.”
His dad just smiled. His mom spoke aloud, “Your Dad told me about her. Sounds like a nice girl, where are you taking her?”
“A new place in Barkton for pub fare and dancing.”
“Sounds like fun. Have a good time, we won’t wait up.”
“Thanks Mom. You remember I’m not a kid anymore right?”
“You’ll always be my baby.”
“Geesh.”
“Easy on him Marge. Go get ready son.”
He arrived at the cabin just before five, as he headed for the cabin he noticed the white wolf at the corner watching closely. As he raised his arm to knock on the door, it opened and Mallory was standing there. Awkwardly he put his arm back down, out of the corner of his eye he noticed that the white wolf was gone. “Hello, Mallory.”
“Hello. I had this feeling that there was someone arriving. Strange, eh.”
“Lately, strange seems to be what I experience a lot of.”
“Huh?”
“Oh nothing. Lot’s of stuff going on at school. Last semester and all, I’m loaded up with projects.”
“I remember. Every professor seems to think their class is the only one of import, right?”
“Yeah, you got it.”
“So where did you have in mind?”
“Halverton’s Hangout, it opened last year over in Borkton. It’s kind of a fifty’s retro theme. They serve predominantly burgers and dogs with all the fixings you could want. On Saturday night they have live music and dancing. Do you like to dance?”
“Sounds like fun. And I do love to dance.”
“I should warn you, I’m a so so dancer. Kinda do my own thing sometimes, don’t necessarily follow the standard moves.”
She laughed, “Don’t worry about it; that’s my style too. Let me put out some food for Gomer first. He likes to lay on the porch and play guard when I’m out.”
After they got Gomer settled and locked up. Billy walked her to the Bronco and opened the door.
“Wow. I guess chivalry isn’t dead.” She climbed in and Billy closed the door behind her.
They pulled out onto the main road and headed for the highway. “It’s only a couple exits up.”
“I know silly. I spent a lot of time in this area when I was younger with my uncle. We spent a lot of time in Borkton. He particularly liked Gradson’s Army Navy, it was probably his favorite store of all. Then we would go to Emmet’s Diner for sandwiches and frappes.”
“Sorry I should’ve realized that. Gradson’s is still there, but Emmet passed away a couple years ago. It’s Whitey’s Diner now. I hear it’s good but haven’t been there myself.”
“Too bad, Emmet’s had the best tuna melt. Loaded with veggies, his own special seasoning, then grilled between two thick slices of his own sourdough bread with sharp cheddar. Delicious.”
“You’re making my mouth water, just describing it.” Billy’s attention came back to his driving, “Here we are.” He pulled off the Borkton, Highland Road exit. The whole intersection on the North side was under construction. They fell in behind a construction truck just leaving that was hauling large debris from the site.
After several hundred yards the truck began to turn to the left. There was a sudden jolt as the truck hit a bump in the road and the rear gate broke open spilling several large boulders into the road. Rolling directly towards the Bronco. Mallory gasped…
Come on back next Monday to see what happened to Mallory and Billy.
Episode 13 – 7/09/21
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