Montgomery and Kalista both knew who these people were and after getting out of the van Kalista ran to Carolyne and hugged her all the while saying Jamie. Carolyne hugged her back tightly and said “follow me children we will find rooms for you and food. Eryne came running from a wonderful looking garden and wrapped her arms around Kalista and gathered Montgomery to her also.

Three days later after everyone had settled in Bill gathered everyone in the garden. All together there were 25 children that had been taken from the care home in Wisconsin and others around the country. Montgomery and Kalista knew some of them from Wisconsin and met the others from places they did not know. Montgomery and Kalista were the oldest children aside from Eryne. Bill and Carolyne told them what was going on and how the haven had gotten started Bill, Carolyne and Eryne had all heard of the magic that the children could do with planting. Bill had a proposal for the children “I would like for all of you to plant some orchards and vegetable gardens out there were that blank land is that we first came into when we left the old garage. Would you like to do that?” The children all smiled and almost immediately began to gather into small groups. Montgomery and Kalista both stood in the middle and talked to them by telepathy.

The next day Bill had come to the Garden with his morning tea and biscuits and waited for the children to show up. He and Carolyne had brought the scientists from the base in Wyoming just two weeks before and Bill had been working on the haven for at least a year to be ready for the teams. Eryne had done some things that completely amazed him. All the living quarters had virtually sprang up overnight and appeared to be fully equipped for human occupancy. The power was supplied from something that he did not know about at first. Food was a problem at first but Eryne had done something that made that an obsolete problem. That was another one of those things that he could not understand at first but Eryne explained to him how she was getting food. Knowing a little about that is what prompted him to bring the children and ask if they would plant the orchards and the vegetable gardens.

Setting in his favorite spot in the garden he began to see the other folks of the teams enter and go to the kitchen and come back with breakfast and coffee and other dishes. He did not see the children and wondered where they might be when Eryne wondered in with Carolyne behind her. Bill asked Eryne if she had seen the children this morning. Eryne told him that they had gotten up around midnight and gathered their breakfast and all of them headed out to the field to the east of the haven. Montgomery said something about planting at that time of the day. They all had bags of seeds and I had to ask where they had gotten them from. Kalista told me that the bags had just shown up in their rooms but they knew what to do with them. The same thing happened to us when we were at the care home. She opened one of the bags and there was a glow of light coming from it. So that is where they are and I am going out there later to see about giving them some food. Bill and Carolyne both had big smiles on their faces and continued with their breakfast.

When the children had all awoken and gathered in the garden they all had their bags of seeds. They all had gathered some breakfast on their way out of the living quarters and were busy eating and chatting about where they were going to start. Montgomery and Kalista asked them if they were ready and as they all stood and seemed to move as one. Someone watching the scene would have sworn that the children floated from the garden and moved in a blue light towards the east with a little girl pushing a two wheel cart behind them.

A 20 minute walk or so it would seem, is where the old barn was located. Before the children reached that point they had begun to plant rows of trees stretching from the south to the north. It seemed that each child would stand in a spot and the next one would move to the east and stand. This went on until all the children were lined up in a row from west to east. Montgomery walked to the front of the line and Kalista stood at the rear. Montgomery reached into his seed bag and pulled a handful of glowing seeds out and raised his hand. All the other children did the same and as Montgomery floated backward the children in the rows began to float forward dropping seeds as they moved in a perfect straight line. It appeared that Montgomery was pulling a tether that had all of them strung to it. It almost looked like a tractor pulling a very wide large plow as they all moved toward the north. The lights in the rows moved consistently for quite awhile. Finally Montgomery swung to the east and all the children in the rows stopped dropping the seeds and swung with Montgomery until he turned back towards the south and moved to a position far enough that all the children lined up once again in perfect rows and then the process of planting and moving began again moving toward the south. This process continued until they had gone beyond the barn by 4 full turns north to south. There had been 25 children spread apart by 25 feet between each child.

Montgomery had determined that they had planted 300 rows with a 50 foot open strip in between each 50 row section. The trees were a complete mixed variety of fruits. Montgomery had let the tether of lights go after the last 25 rows had been planted and waited for Kalista. She had been pushing a cart when they all left the garden after breakfast and now brought it up to the row of children. The first child closed his seed bag tied it and reached into the cart that Kalista had opened and took a different bag as he placed his first bag in its place. Kalista pushed the cart to each child and they all did the same thing. When she was done the glowing lights of the tether stretched from the children back to Montgomery. Montgomery grasped the tether once again and the children began floating and planting again. This time they spread different seeds around each tree. This took a little longer as Montgomery pulled the tether of all the children as one. Kalista pushed the cart to a stop and waited for the third treatment.

When Montgomery brought all of them back to the beginning he again stopped and let go of the tether of lights and moved back over the field and waited. Kalista once again pushed the cart to each child and the process of replacing the seed bag with another bag began. Once all 25 children had replaced the bags with another one; Kalista once again pushed the cart away and waited. The children all turned and the tether lights grew back to Montgomery. As he began to float down the rows the children began sprinkling an illuminated dust over the fields and they did this until the entire 300 rows had been dusted with the glowing dust. At the end the tether disappeared and the children broke up and gathered to a resting place in a nearby meadow of some sort. Montgomery and Kalista waited at the edge of the orchards and Eryne came floating to their position. She had brought a train of carts and they floated to the children and they all began to eat foods from the carts as an early morning sun warmed the air and spread a golden glow on all the living grasses and planted trees.

Greybark had been called by mother earth to move to this underground haven and plant him self and wait for humans to be awakened to him. He had been born in a small orchard that had been tended to by a family of humans. They had planted the fruit trees when the country was empty of humans and had lived in the big forest all alone except for the native brothers that roamed the lands. The humans lived for almost 100 years in the place and then something changed and hundreds of humans came and burned the houses and destroyed the crops and killed the peaceful folk that lived there. Greybark had just reached the age of 100 when all of this happened. After that period of time he grew by himself in the midst of the old tall and wise fir trees with the mighty oaks around. The humans did not come around anymore except for a few of the native peoples and when they came they would gather his fruit and feast for a few short days before moving to other places in the world. Time caused him to be obscure and the brambles and bushes and the willows grew around him. The only ones that ate of his fruits were the birds of the forest and they always loved to gather in his boughs while he gave them sustenance and they would talk of the affairs in the greater world.

As the years passed he grew in stature. His trunk had grown to almost 6’ in thickness and his boughs stretched out to a full diameter around his middle to around 70 feet. His height had reached to the sky around 80 feet from mother earth’s cool wrap of his roots. She had nurtured him for 200 years and then awakened his soul and freed his bonds to her soils so he could move through the forests as he felt the need to. He felt so exhilarated in the beginning that he moved all over sometimes traveling miles and miles and he began to find his brothers of like kind and knew that all the forest were his brothers, they just did not bear the fruit that he did. When he discovered the brothers that had the same fruits as him he became excited beyond himself. He found a complete orchard of children and spent time talking with them, telling them of the wonders he had seen and experienced. After a while the humans would come and take all the fruit from the children and then cut there boughs/limbs. The crying and wailing of his brothers and sisters hurt him deeply He had always managed to be gone when this happened knowing that they would do the same to him.

When he had turned 240 years old he had traveled around the forests and met so many brothers and sisters and awakened their souls through Mother Earth when he began to long for his birth ground. So he made his way back and grew his roots back into mother earth. Mother welcomed him and comforted his being. The world seemed to be changing and it was not for the benefit of mother earth. She had been groaning for many years but after that time she began to cry and weep and would roll and buckle and at times would turn. The humans would die and hurt and be in great turmoil with her pains. It was a direct connection to the harmful ways of the humans. What they did to her she reacted back and they felt it devastatingly. At 267 years is when Mother Earth called him to move to the underground place. He moved through the forest once again and came to a cave in the mountain side. He could barely fit into it but managed to move to the swirling cloud of dust. Mother Earth told him to move into it and when he did he found him self standing in a sunshiny day. He became amazed but still Mother told him to move and continue to where she had a place for him. As he moved he noticed humans in the distance and a very large open area off to his side where the sun should come up. He found his way to the spot where Mother directed him and pushed his roots into the soil. It was so rich and moist. He drank his fill and felt the small long brothers crawling over his roots as they were glad for his being. He settled down to wait.

The Children slept during the fifth day at the haven. At night they went out to the orchard and tended it plus they planted two more orchards, a bit smaller than the first one but three days after planting the trees had sprung up and were already 2 to 3 feet in stature. Montgomery and Kalista had taken a break from the nights work and on the 7 day they walked through the orchards looking at the vegetables starting to sprout. The night before as they slept, they had been shown the beginnings of a dream network forming around the world and the coming future of what they would be doing. All the children they had with them at this haven would be going with them and they would be planting trees all over the country. The also saw children in other countries planting and a place called paradise planted itself deep into their beings. This would be the beginnings of a healing for mother earth and the human race that lived on her. John and Jamie and Eryne would soon be doing a very important part of this healing. Montgomery and Kalista both knew that John and Jamie who where now Bill and Carolyne had been given Eryne from the Divine and she would be meeting Evelyne soon and they would be the major catalysts to heal the world. They also knew the two spirits names Hava and Luun.

As they meandered through the orchards they had walked towards the east portal that Bill had created. They meant to see how it worked so walking along they saw the huge cherry tree standing by itself not to far from that portal. Montgomery felt the spirit and the soul of the being, he took Kalista’s hand and together they skipped up to Greybark.

Greybark watched the two children skip to him. He knew who they were when he first saw them from a great distance as they moved through the orchards. These children were from the future and the past and the present. They were from Paradise. He knew what they did and had done and would be doing. When they stopped close to his central being and looked up he dropped to rather large juicy cherries. Both children caught them and thanked him; they actually called him by his name. Montgomery walked closer and put his hands on his center and began to speak, “you have traveled a great distance to come to this haven and you are very lonely out here in the middle of the grass land”. Kalista and I can provide containers for your brother and sister spirits if you will allow. Greybark spoke in his slow deep woodsy voice and asked if the other children would come and help. Montgomery told him that they all would come and plant an orchard for him in one night. Greybark was thrilled and so happy that he dropped more cherries for the two spirits and they ate a fill of them. That very night the children came and danced and they all got to know Greybark. Once they all had a fill of juicy cherries they planted an orchard of 50 rows of special cherry and other fruit trees. 25 rows on one side and 25 rows on the other side of Greybark After a busy and very fulfilling night the children all went back and entered into a dream network of wonder. They all dreamed of planting trees everywhere and teaching the children around the world how to plant and access the dream networks. The dreams were of the future and they all met a man by the name of Nick and the symbolism showed that he was Green. He caused dreams to spread and other children to plant.

During the daytime while the children slept the orchard around Greybark grew to maturity. Greybark was no longer by himself and his brother and sister spirits began to reside in the new containers. Mother earth rejoiced with her children. The grass became very sweet and the fruit was delicious and caused a healthy glow to any body that ate of it. The children continued to tend the orchards and harvest the vegetables. The trees never ran out of fruit and the vegetables never quit growing so the food was plenty and the café’ always had the best foods and there was never any charge. The children were loved by all and they often spent time with Greybark and even ventured out of the haven and found other orphaned children and brought them into the fold. The haven had grown and many wonderful things had been created by Bill and the Scientists that he and Carolyne had brought here.

One day a few months after their birthday Montgomery and Kalista were sitting in the garden when Greybark contacted them through mind talk. He asked them to come out to the orchard so he could give them some very exciting news. They both stood and walked towards the Orchard. Eryne walked up and traveled with them for a distance. She knew what was coming and mentioned to them that they would be leaving soon to begin their journey around the country and into the world. They all stopped and hugged each other and Eryne headed back to the garden. When they reached Greybark, he asked them to sit and lean against him. He dropped a few cherries when they were resting and began to explain their journey into the world. They would be taking the children with them and they would be like seed planters everywhere they went. Their safety would be given by Mother Earth and whom ever they planted seed for.

Greybark then told them of the people that would be coming here and how they would also be going on a journey to help heal the planet. There was going to be some very exciting times and there was going to be some very dangerous times for all and especially these people. He told them that some of them would be sitting right in the same spot you are now and he would have to drop cherries on them to get them to awaken to greater things. The children hugged Greybark and their tears ran freely. Greybark shivered and two boughs came down and wrapped the two. 3 days later Bill had driven an old bus down from the junkyard and it had been painted a forest green. Bill had taken one other man and they had rebuilt the entire bus, giving it the newer power plant as well as the old gas motor that ran like it was brand new. Bill had shown Montgomery how to drive a few months prior and Montgomery took to it like a duck to water. The night before they were all to leave there was a great party in the garden and everyone hugged the children and gave them gifts that would be useful on there journeys After all the laughing and crying the children and everyone went off to bed.

Montgomery had two very vivid dreams while he slept; the first one was of a farmer that had a large farm in the north lands. He and the children had stopped at his farm and planted an orchard with all the vegetables for him and his wife. The farmer and all the people around the area had been subjected to some very deadly poisons and were starting to fight back His second dream, was scary and he saw the people escaping a very nightmarish looking lizard creature. They were fighting some other humans. He saw a man and a woman that were coming to the haven and would go on a journey to help heal the world. The names that flooded his mind were Samuel and Mary. The dream ended at that point and he woke to the smell of fresh peach cobbler and hot coffee. The bus left through the east portal after breakfast and passed through the junk yard. Once on State Route 63 it headed east and the children sang merry tunes as they headed into the future. The thoughts of a place called paradise filled their hearts and minds.

10 AN ARK IN PARADISE

Devlin woke suddenly and tried to raise his head, the pain that shot through his forehead and face almost made him pass out. He lay his head back down and opened his eyes to a man standing next to him. The man had a white smock like jacket on and Devlin thought that he might be a doctor. “Well I see you are finally awake, how you feeling?” Devlin tried to raise his head again but the pain forced him to lay back. “Easy now you have taken quite a nasty knock on the head and it actually cut a bad gash down the side. I have done what I can for you but I suspect you will be laying here for a while.” Devlin tried to speak but his throat was terribly dry and all he could get out was the word “water” to which the doctor reached to the tray that was next to the bed and grabbed the glass of water that was sitting there. He raised the bed position up so Devlin would at least be in a semi-sitting position and brought the glass to his mouth. “Be easy now I know you are hurting and it probably is all over your body judging from the way you are moving.” Devlin just looked at the doctor as he took sips of the water and then asked where he was. “You are on the good ship Bess and you are a very lucky young man. We had a touch and go time to get you stabilized when Will brought you aboard. We finally figured out that you needed the sea water and Will gathered that. Your head is going to hurt for some time but it will get better. Seems that when the whale breeched behind your lifeboat the wave she caused after hitting the water caused the stern of the boat to rise up and smash you as it flung you into the water.”

Devlin had heard the doctor say that he needed the sea water and figured that the man may know of his gills. “What made you think that I would need sea water?” “I wasn’t sure what was needed but it seemed that you could not breathe very well and I could not find a clear reason until Will brought a pitcher full of sea water and we got it into you. I must say I have never seen anything like it because as soon as Will got that water into you, your body relaxed and you breathed quit well. So the water you just drank is sea water. Will told me to keep that on hand and continually give it to you.” Devlin started to shake his head but stopped and just said “Thank you; I have a rare condition that makes me have to drink sea water. That is why I work on ships in the oceans.” The doctor shook his head and said “well that explains something’s however I will have some other questions for you when you are up to it.” “Of course now can you tell me if the rest of the crew made it safely?” “Yes, yes your Captain is with Tom, our Captain and the rest of the crew is resting nicely as we speak. Your Captain did want me to notify him when you woke, so I will do that and you can expect him to come see you shortly.” “Thank you doctor, I appreciate you saving my life, can you also ask the man you call Will to visit me also?” “Yes of course, now if you will excuse me I will notify them.” With that he turned and left the compartment.

Down in the holds the animals were resting and eating as the ship cruised through the calmer waters. Jon and Will had moved around and told them that they were heading for Paradise and with good sailing and enough fuel they should reach port within a few weeks. Batty had also fluttered around and calmed the spirits. Some of the animals had wandered up to the main deck and gathered the fresh air before going back down. Tom had made sure the coolers were working properly so that in it’s self had helped them relax even more. Will felt the awakening of Devlin and knew that he would be called to come to the sick bay. Tom and Otto were on the bridge and Tom was telling him that they had almost depleted the fuel but the reserves might get them close enough to Paradise for him to call the Maritime Security force to help them.

Otto knew he was going to have to answer to the corporation for loosing one of their ships. The ship was a scow anyway but that would not get him off the hook. Neptune’s Navy had started out as a animal rights activist organization but when the real Navy had been dissolved by the emperor and the Maritime Security forces contracted to move men and supplies to the skirmishes, Neptune’s Navy became a competitor corporation and actually secured some of the contracts to do the same thing. They had acquired some of the old Navy ships as well as the Maritime Security forces did and it always seemed to be a struggle between the two corporations as to who would get the best ships and the best jobs. Tom was talking about getting to port and saying something about the Maritime Security forces as his mind had drifted into his future when the intercom rang and the doctor said that the injured man had come around. Tom stopped talking and answered affirmative then turned and told Otto to go and see his man. It had been three days since they were brought aboard the Bess and he still felt exhausted from the ordeal. He stood wearily and moved to go to the sickbay. Tom watched him go and thought, there goes a broken spirit, that lousy corporation is going to have him for diner and probably make him pay for everything.

On his way to see Devlin, Otto was thinking about not returning to the States. He knew he was going to pay dearly for loosing the ship and he could never live the beating down. Hell he might even be executed for it. He thought about this place called Paradise and wondered if he could get lost in its boundaries. He knew his crew would be alright but he was going to have a good talk with them about what they all wanted to do. Devlin was another matter; He knew the boy was not like any normal human and that he could virtually live in the ocean. There had been a many of times that he saw him dive off the ship and swim to a large pod of dolphins. He seemed to be right at home with the animals. He had witnessed him drinking the sea water and had even known about his gills. He and Devlin had talked about it and his parents and he swore never to let anyone other than the crew know about the boy’s extraordinary capabilities. When the boat had overturned he wasn’t concerned that the boy would drown but more about seeing him get hit in the head with the stern. All the men on the ship loved him and made sure that no one ever found out about his gills.

His thoughts came to a close as he entered the Sickbay and the doctor showed him the way into the compartment where Devlin was recouping. When he walked through the hatchway there was the man that had come and taken Devlin and saved his life. He remembered that he called himself William or Will and moved to him and offered his hand. Will took Otto’s hand and they shook. Otto gave his heartfelt thanks for saving Devlin and noticed the sparkle in the man’s eyes. The doctor was busy tending to the boy and turned and said “Make sure he gets plenty of this sea water, It seems to help him tremendously.” He then turned and said he needed to go do some other business and left. Otto and Will both turned and looked at Devlin. The boy’s entire side of his face, where the boat had struck him, was a deep blackish blue but his eyes seemed to be crystal clear. “How you feeling,” asked Otto. Devlin looked at him and tried to smile, “how do I look,” he said out of the side of his mouth. Otto gave a half snort of laughter and William grasped the camaraderie between these two. “Well you look like shit, but I think you will make it. If you don’t lose that color your family might not recognize you.” That made Devlin try and smile but that hurt so he just raised his hand and waved the comment by. Otto turned to Will and questioned him. “Do you know about the boys extra condition?” Will answered and said “well I wouldn’t call it a condition but rather a gift from the Creator.” Otto relaxed somewhat and said “what about the doctor?” “The doctor is fine he only thinks that Devlin has a condition that could be rare but nothing to be concerned about. I made it so he does not remember the gills and won’t at this point.” Otto relaxed even more and looked at Devlin. “We are going to have to get you in the water soon but for now we just keep giving you the sea water to drink, you think you can hold out till you are able to get up and walk?” Will looked at the two men and said “I have a place we can go and Devlin will be healed quicker. I can take him and bring him back in the blink of an eye.” Otto looked around and said “what about the doctor?” Will told him to not worry it would seem that Devlin was not gone. Otto looked with a deep question in his eye and asked, “Can I go along?” Will walked around the bed and touched Otto and Devlin both and they all disappeared.

The Dream healing center was abuzz that Devlin was coming. Will, Otto and Devlin entered the main room and two young girls walked over to Devlin and said “welcome, we are here to help you heal.” The first one spoke and said her name was Kylie and the second spoke and said her name was Katrina. “We have a very wonderful large pool connected to an ocean that has your family waiting to see you.” “Otto we have a wonderful room for you, where you can receive healing also.” With that the girls took each to their respective places. Devlin entered the pool and his mother was waiting for him. His family of dolphins all swam around him and they all moved to the ocean where they could romp and play. Devlin’s father was waiting for him when they all dove deep and swirled around. Devlin spent two months or was it years, he did not know because time did not inhabit this place. Otto was in his room or rooms when there was a knock on the door. When he answered it, his wife and children were standing there. He had lost them in Russia when the wars first started after the United States came under the control of an emperor. He spent months or years with them and his sorrows and loss was healed. One morning he heard a knock and when he answered it, Will was standing in the hall way and said “We must go it is time.” “Wait said Otto, I can’t leave my family.” Will told him that he would never leave his family “they are always within you.” Otto turned to go back in but he was standing next to the bed where Devlin was lying. Devlin appeared to have dozed off but Otto could see that his face was healed. He turned to Will and Will had a big smile on his face. “Come we must let him get some rest although he is completely healed and I see him getting up very soon.” Otto felt euphoric himself as both men walked from the sickbay compartment.

Will took Otto down into the hold and introduced him to the animals and Jon. Otto noticed his entire crew moving around through the animals and was in wonder about what they might be feeling. Two hours after they had left the sick bay, the doctor came back after making his rounds and went to check on his patient. When he walked in he immediately noticed that the patient was not in the bed. He started to panic but then heard the man say “I am very appreciative to you for helping me recover.” Devlin had removed the head bandage and dressed himself. The doctor was astonished, “how……..Devlin just smiled and said “you seem to have miracle hands doctor. After you left I felt a tingling and all of sudden my head did not hurt anymore and the coloring on my face just seemed to disappear. I don’t know what you did but whatever it was worked a miracle on me.’ “I don’t see any reason why I should take up space here anymore; can you tell me where the crew might be located on the ship?” The doctor sat down in the closest chair and stared at Devlin like he was some kind of wizard. “The last time I saw them they were headed down into the hold where all the animals are.” “Thank you doctor again” and with that he walked out of sickbay and found his way to the hold.

Otto had joined Tom on the Bridge again and discovered that they could be in some trouble. Tom had started using the reserve fuel some 50 nautical miles behind them and there was a storm on their tail. Tom had ordered all ahead full when he received news of the storm and knew that steaming at full would use that fuel twice as quick. They were still at least 1500 or so miles from the paradise port and if the storm caught them it would not be good. If he ran out of fuel in the middle of that storm the ship could be doomed and he did not want to think of losing his passengers and the cargo that was needed in paradise. He sent a message to another Captain that ran a fuel tanker in the South Seas. He had hopes that the man could possibly rendezvous with him and provide enough fuel to make port at Paradise. All he could get at first was static and then Captain Potter came on and asked how he was doing. “Haven’t heard from you for quite awhile Tom, What you calling for?” Hiram Potter’s voice broke up and Tom tried to get him back. He called again and waited. Turning around he looked at Otto and said “There could be another storm between us and paradise; if that be the case we are in for some rough times. Perhaps you and the others could get everyone prepared for some rough seas ahead. I hope that it won’t be too bad and we can get through it before that one behind us catches up.

Hiram Potter, the Captain of THE EMILY J. had just left the port of Auckland with his tanker full of fuel for delivery to the port of Fulleborne on the island of New Britain. He made this run at least once every three months and in between he would go to ports on the isle of Papua New Guinea and even as far north as the Philippines to deliver the fuel for the freighters and other ships that belonged to the Maritime Security forces. He owned this old tanker and had contracted with Maritime Security forces Corporation to run the fuel from New Zealand. The Neptune’s Navy had even hired his services so life was good and as long as his routes only included these areas it was safe to some degree. He had written his contract carefully to avoid the Indonesian waters and further west and north as the skirmishes, hell he called them wars, were always happening. The damn dictators of the large countries just had to imperialize and expand their grab for more power and land. The ship was riding low due to the full load and he was cutting 15 Knots through the deep blue green sea when he was warned of a small gale force storm moving at him from the Northwest. He gave the warning to the crew and they buttoned down the ship for rough weather. He was 1 day out of Auckland and shooting straight up for New Guinea. Paradise was off to his west and sometimes he would deliver fuel there also but today he was steaming for Fulleborne.

Sitting on the bridge and drinking his coffee he heard the radio static and then a man’s voice crackling through the static. He turned and called to the man in the radio shack and asked what was going on? Kirk Zimmer the radioman dialed the knob on his radio to try and get a clearer connection but the static was persistent. He looked up at the captain and told him that it sounded like someone might be in trouble and was sending out a help message. “I did not specifically hear an SOS but someone out there could be in trouble.” “Well see if you can get him back, this damn storm coming in on us could be the cause of the static.” “Yes sir Kirk said and continued to play with the dial to grab the frequency. As he dialed the radio, the man’s voice came back and this time it was clear. Hiram heard the man speaking and jumped up from the captain’s chair and moved into the radio shack quickly, “I know this man give me the radio,” Kirk handed the phone to him and he spoke. “Tom, can you adjust your frequency better it is hard to hear you,” He waited for an inkst and said “how are you doing, I haven’t heard from you in quite awhile Tom. What you calling for?” “We heard that you went up to the States.” Hiram paused for a moment and all he heard was static again. He handed the phone back to Kirk and told him to keep trying to get Tom back. “That man doesn’t call for social talk so something has to be wrong.”

Tom had heard Hiram for just a short space and was glad that he was out there. The static was bad so he figured the southern storm was moving over him or close. He dialed the radio to another frequency and tried again, “EMILY J, come in” Hiram if you can hear me on this frequency get back.” On the Emily J Kirk was dialing the radio frequencies to different ones thinking the same thing that Tom was. He was also boosting his gain and then caught the frequency that Tom was on. Tom’s voice came in so loud and clear it damn near blew Kirks ear drum out. He pulled the head set off and opened the phone up. “Hiram, do you hear me now?” Hiram came in and picked the phone up and said “yes I can hear you Tom, are you in trouble?” On Bess, Tom gave a sigh of relief and said. “Well Hiram it seems we are running from a storm coming out of the North East and we are running short on fuel. I don’t think we can make it much more than maybe 100 miles more before we are dead in the water and I sure don’t want to be in that storm without fuel and power.” Hiram came back and said “can you give me your coordinance?” “Yes we just crossed 17 degrees, 48 minutes South by 160 degrees 30 minutes east. Hiram we are headed for Paradise and we have a full compliment of passengers and important cargo. These folks have already been through one rough storm and we had to backtrack to save some men that lost their ship.

You know THE LAST BASTION; well she sunk. Apparently her hull was damaged beyond repair and she went through a nasty storm and the bow plates buckled. Hiram had his navigator check the bearings and saw that THE EMILY J would cross THE BESSes course if she kept steaming at full within 18 hours. “Tom, you think you can make these coordinates within the next 18 hours, and he gave the numbers to him. We can pick up our speed some and meet you there. We are just moving into this little gale now and it does not seem to be too bad. THE EMILY J is fully loaded so we have to move slower. I think I can push about 18 knots.” Tom had his navigator check the numbers and then checked the fuel status against the distance. “Hiram, come in.” A few minutes later, Hiram came back on and asked if something was wrong. “We can’t make those coordinances without running out of fuel about 50 nautical miles from them, we can turn into the South and try to meet you but you will have to turn to the North about 10 degrees and 15 minutes, can you do that?” Hiram looked at his navigator and watched the man chart the course. Ollie Hoberman showed Hiram how that could work but it was going to pull them off course a few hundred miles. Hiram shook his head and replied to Tom, “Okay Tom we can do that and it might even get us out of the gale. What’s your estimated time to rendezvous?” Tom told him that they could cut the time down to around 14 hours that way and still keep full throttle. They would be cutting it close but could cruise further when the engines shut down.” “Hiram gave the order to change course and pick up speed as much as possible. “Ok Tom we are changing course now and will see you in 14 hours or so. Keep us posted on that storm bearing from the East. I am putting a call to other boys I know that float these waters so if need be we’ll all have a party out hear on this ocean.” Tom said “See you then and over and out.” He had already sent the word to the engine room and the course was changed.

The Tanker had skirted out of the gale and hit calmer waters as she cruised North at around 17 knots, Hiram’s engine crew could not get any more out of the old girl and especially with a full load. He was happy that the waters were calmer. He could not help to think of what it could be like if they get stuck in that big storm that Tom said was bearing down on them. He only hoped that they could rendezvous in time to get the Bess refueled and head northwest to beat the damn thing. 12 hours later they reached the coordinance and began to wait for the BESS. The water had 3 foot swells but that was calm to the EMILY J. The wind was blowing around 20 knots from the East. He watched the Radar screens closely and they could see the leading edge of the storm to their East. The storm did not seem to be moving very fast but as they watched the thing engulfed the entire top of the screen and that seemed to be just a tip as it moved toward them. The man watching the radar caught the BESSes bleep and saw the ship was running ahead of the storm about 100 miles or so. BESS was just over the horizon about 30 or 40 miles from them so Hiram moved to the radio shack and called Tom. “Tom, how you doing, we see you moving toward us and that damn storm looks like a monster.” A few minutes later Tom’s voice came on and he said. “We picked up a head wind and it is pushing us faster than we thought so we should be coming into your sight within the next few minutes. Is there a way to get underway and we can come up aside and get refueled while underway?” “Of course Tom we were waiting for you to get close enough before we started moving so when you see us we will be slowing getting our speed up and all you got to do is get along side and we can shoot the hose over. I think we ought to keep our speed up to at least 14 knots. That damn storm is moving slow but it is huge and we really don’t want to be caught up into it at this point. If it keeps moving in its steady direction it could hit the Mainland of Australia and it could barrel into Paradise. I know you are headed for that port but if I were you I would see about calling about and let them know what seems to be heading for them.” “I have already been trying Hiram, need to get these folks into port and off this ship and then plan to get back out to sea before she hits. We clocked her speed and it seems she is only doing about 8 knots or so. We think we can make it and unload and get out before she hits.”

BESS was doing 15 knots when she came up along side of the EMILY J. Tom matched the speed and the crews on both ships got the fuel line across. The ships maintained 20 yards between them as the fuel flowed. The storm behind them as they cruised almost due west had picked up some speed but was still lumbering along. It took a few hours to fill the tanks on BESS and the ships unhooked. The waters had become rougher and the waves had reached to 6’ swells and it appeared that they might get rougher. Tom called Hiram and thanked him and slowed the BESS so the EMILY J could get ahead and turn to her original course. Once she was heading away, Tom cranked the speed of the BESS up to full and set his course due west for Paradise. They shot straight for the port and within 9 hours they pulled into the harbor and the tugs took her into the docks. Tom noticed that there weren’t any Maritime security ships docked. He called Otto up and told him that if he wanted to disappear from the shit storm that was coming to he and his crew this was the place to do so and no one would be the wiser. Otto told him that the calls made prior to the destruction of his ship would alert the Navy and the security force. Tom thought about that for a moment and came up with a plan. “We have the lifeboat and a few pieces of flotsam and jetsam from your ship so I have a good plan; it is up to you and your crew.” Otto thought also and said he had to talk with the men. The tugs were slowly bringing the freighter to an unloading dock where they could get the cargo off and open a side door that was big enough to drive forklifts into. Thirty minutes later the ship was secured to the dock and the big door began to open.

11 ANIMALS OF PARADISE

Tom stood on the bridge deck and watched the crews securing the freighter to the dock. He saw a crowd of folks walking down a street toward the dock and noticed that they were mostly children. There were some adults with them and he knew a few of them as they approached. Aberdeen and Connie knew through the dream net about the animals that were being brought to paradise. Nick had informed them. The children all knew even before Nick and had gathered all that could come to the docks. Deb, Rolin and Amanda were standing with Aberdeen and Connie. Nick had shown up in the hold earlier and told Will and Jon what to expect. He also introduced himself to the crew of THE LAST BASTION and told them that there was a place for them here in Paradise and no one in the corporations would ever find them if they were willing to join the freedom and healing of the world. They had agreed to stay and do whatever they could in this place called Paradise.

Tom had given the order to unload the cargo after talking to the port authority; the containers began to be unloaded with the big overhead crane. The dock workers brought their forklifts forward to the first opened container and began to unload. The big hatch on the side of the ship was half way open when the children and other folks on the dock heard the trumpeting of an Elephant. Yasar and her family had been asked to help keep the large contingent of animals in control as they exited the ship. William and Jon stood on each side of her as the big door continued to open. It would open and rest on the dock and then Yasar and her family along with the two men would lead the good beings out and into Paradise where they all would be able to find new homes with ample foods.

Aberdeen and Connie along with others had been able to purchase through barter hundreds of more acres to plant trees and build tiny cottages for the folks that wanted to live in paradise. The aborigines, indigenous folks had allowed more to live on their lands and they all were becoming of like mind. The talk had been long between the tribes and the villages and the town of Paradise about the animals that were coming to live on the continent. The animals that already inhabited the lands had begun to live in harmony with humanity and some of the leaders or what was known as the ones of wisdom spoke into the minds of their brothers and were waiting to welcome the new comers in a place on the other side of Keelbottom creek. The lands would be a welcome and absorb the new ones. Will and Jon both had long discussions with the animals on the ship and they were ready and anxious to experience the new lands. The Children knew how they were going to teach and help the new ones adapt to the land of Paradise and stood ready as the big door came down and landed on the dock. All was quiet of a sudden as they all waited and Then Yasar let out a big blast of her self and the groups began to move through the opening in a slow uniform manner as Yasar walked down the gang plank, with her family and two men to the dock.

Megan had brought Timoth into the town of Paradise the day before to purchase or barter for some cloth and other goods she could not get in the small village where she and Galia lived. She wanted cloth to make clothes with and other fine things. She had left her bike at the small grocery at the outskirts of town and walked to the docks where a number of the finer stores were located. She had just come from a store that sold fine candies and pastries and started to tell Timoth to come. Timoth was not where she had left him so her panic bell started to go off. The sound of an elephant or so she thought rang through the air and she turned just in time to see the great animal coming from the belly of the big freighter that was docked. She watched in amazement as the great animal along with others of her kind walked down a wide walkway to the dock and then noticed all the great herd of other animals that was following the elephants. Her thoughts kicked back to Timoth and that is when she saw him standing with a group of children. She had heard of the children and how they planted trees and did so much more for Paradise and had even connected with children in other countries around the world to create food and housing for the poor and homeless.

She started to fetch Timoth when the children began to move toward the animals and Timoth was moving with them. She became afraid that Timoth would or could be hurt in the movement of all the animals and what not. She started to move and call out to Timoth and then noticed how orderly the animals were being as they left the hold of the ship. Something within her caused her to be calm. She walked toward the parade of animals and children as they came together on the Dock. It seemed like the children were in a petting zoo and mingled with the animals. As she slowly moved toward where Timoth had stopped, she saw a herd of pigs that looked just like Timoth cut themselves from the main body of animals exiting the ship and gather around Timoth. They all seemed to welcome each other and the children that were gathered there moved away and began to mingle in the other animals. She had stopped to watch the gathering of the pigs for a minute and then continued toward Timoth. The next thing that brought her up short was Timoth turning and leading the small heard directly toward her. When Timoth approached he slowed and actually sat down right in front of her while the new herd all stopped and sat down also. She did not know what to think but in her mind it seemed that Timoth was politely asking her to take these wayfarers home. She started to say something but heard Bob Comet say. “What a fine family you got there Timoth, ya gonna bring them home?” She turned and saw Bob standing behind her. “Hey now missy, these fellows and their misses’ have traveled along way to find this home. They were being mistreated even worse than Angus was doing and they were saved by a deer from a fate worse than death, so the least you can do is give them a place to hang their hat, so to speak.”

Megan was speechless and said, “Bob you know we don’t have enough room and feed for these extra mouths.” Bob looked at her and said “you know missy that your heart is big enough and as for food, why the children will come and plant whatever is needed so don’t worry your pretty little head about the small stuff.” Megan’s eyes began to swell with tears when one of the new pigs came to her and bumped her while sitting down right next to her. She could not help herself and started to weep as she bent down to wrap her arms around the wee one. With that action, Timoth came over and the rest of the family moved to surround her and give comfort. Bob smiled and then began to laugh with joyous sounds.

Deb Petrovski stood with her children and saw them begin to move toward the animals as they exited the ship. She knew that they meant to welcome and help them adjust to their new place of living. Nick had told her and the others about them and when they could be expected to arrive. The Matriarch elephant in the lead with her family was amazing and she knew that they would be going to the plains in the west. The indigenous peoples had known and were waiting almost impatiently for them along with others that would inhabit the forests and plains. Three of her students separated themselves and moved directly to the Matriarch. The big animal stopped and so all the animals came to a halt and stood patiently while Yasar swung her trunk slowly. Ursula was the one that approached the elephant with no fear or trepidation. The little girl was only 7 years old but she had a heart and wisdom of infinity. She walked right up to Yasar and looked into her eyes. “I have been waiting for you for so long and now here you are Yasar. I, Timmy and Waji have come to guide you to your new home. With that she reached out her small hand and touched the trunk of Yasar. Yasar gently picked Ursula up and placed her on her back and let out a trumpet. Timmy and Waji both had moved to the other family members and two of them did the same. The people that were watching in amazement at all the many different species of animals gave a great cheer as Yasar and her family began to move down the street that leads out of town. The other animals began to follow once again still in an orderly manner.

Deb could see the children mingling among the animals and noticed that certain groups were coming together around each child or more as they moved. She began to see men also in the throngs of animals. One man struck her in particular. Something inside of her rang the doorbell of her heart. The sudden urge to go to this man overcame her and she began to walk toward him as they all moved into the street heading west. The closer she got to the man the stronger the urge became. She was on the verge of calling to him when he turned and saw her. He stopped and the animals walked around him as he stood and gazed at the woman walking toward him

12 THE CAPTAIN AND THE TEACHER

Otto and most of his men decided to stay in Paradise and abandon the corporations. They had been told and shown the advantages of staying and knew that they could find this place to be giving. Most of them knew other trades besides being sailors for a corporation. Otto had always wanted to retire back to being a farmer like his father had been when he was growing up. He had missed that life stile for far too many years. His 40’s had shown him that being a captain was not all that it was cut out to be and he longed for the farm life. He had just turned 50 this year and then the incident with the LAST BASTION broke the camels back so to speak for him and apparently his crew also. They had all gathered with the animals and when the big cargo door opened he became very anxious. Will had told him that there would be land enough and some of these animals would be more than willing to join him on a farm.

As the compliment of animals and humans moved along, Otto began to feel an exhilarating stirring in his soul. It seemed his heart was jumping up and down with joy. He started looking around as he walked and then saw a most beautiful woman walking toward him. She emanated an aura of light as she closed on his position. He had stopped walking and just watched her as she came closer. The animals moved around him and kept walking. The woman came within 10 feet of where he was standing and asked if he was with the crowd. He looked around and said “I came here with them but they are going to places that I will not be going to.” Deb’s heart fluttered with the man’s soft spoken voice. “I have a place you can stay if you need to until you go to where you are headed.” Otto heard a sweet bird song come from this woman’s mouth and moved through the flow of animals to come closer. Deb almost fainted as he moved to stand within 2 feet of her. “My name is Otto and who might you be?” Deb stuttered and finally said “I am Debra.” Otto reached his hand out to shake hers and she timidly raised her hand to grasp his.

“May I ask what is it that you do for a living?” Otto could not help but smile, “yes dear lady, I have been and was a captain of a ship but in truth I am a farmer by trade or least ways was in my youth.” Deb had another fainting feeling and stuttering spell before saying, “I have a farm just beyond the pass of the Hervey mountain range. I haven’t been able to manage it for awhile due to having to teach the children but I would love it if you would be willing to see if you can bring it back to par. You see, I have become less of a teacher these days and more of a student and am finding more time to be on the farm. I have a bunk house where you could stay. It has room enough for 3 or 4 men but no one is staying there now.” Otto smiled again. “Well just so happens that I have two companions that are looking for work and they would love to have a home for however long you can have us. They have been on a long journey and both know something about a lot of different things and can be quite handy.”

While Deb and Otto stood there talking Leif Reddson and Johansson Graythorn had made their way across the contingent of animals and stood to the side waiting for Otto to give them some sort of order. Otto saw Deb looking at something and turned. “Well if it isn’t the two companions I just mentioned.” He introduced the two men and Debra to them and asked if they would be up to fixing a farm and getting it back into working order. Both men said yes and shook Deb’s hand. Deb said that she only had a few chickens and one old milking cow so they would have to find some other animals. She also had an older tractor with a few implements but the tractor needed some work to make it run again. “Well looks like we got some work to do men to help this young lady out.” Deb said “I do not have any money to pay you until we can get a crop up and running is that going to be a problem?” Otto looked at his two companions and said “as long as we have a place to stay and food we do not need any money.

While they all stood talking out the details, A Stallion and a Mare cut themselves from the animal parade and walked over and stood just behind the men. A Brahman bull and his mate along with 3 calves also cut from the animals and moved to stand next to the horses. It seemed that there was a group of animals that just began to show up and wait. Two dogs and three cats sat in a small circle and looked on. Two pigs showed up and a big rooster flew in from somewhere. Deb had watched all of this happen and was speechless. The men had turned and saw all the animals just sitting or standing waiting for them to take them home. Three Children walked up and Deb asked them what was going on. “Lonny, you and René and Henry, did you bring these animals here?” Lonny spoke up and said “These beings told us that you had a place for them to stay and they wanted to help you with your farm.” The men were in awe but Deb told them that these were her children from the school and they were part of the children of paradise. They had come here today to make sure that the animals found homes and habitats. Deb told them that she had an old gas powered Truck and she would go get it to ride out to the farm. Otto asked the men to wait and he would help Debra get the truck. They could possibly see about getting some supplies. “Debra, do you have feed for the animals on the farm?” “No I do not have enough.” Otto asked where a feed store might be and Deb told him. “Well men once we get the truck we will need to go to that store and stock up until we get things in order.”

After the old flatbed had been loaded with feed for all the animals that had gathered for the farm, Otto and Deb drove slowly down the road toward her farm while the animals and the men walked behind. The three children said they would go along until they all arrived at the farm and the animals seemed quite happy. The rooster was riding on the feed and out of the sky 4 ducks swooped in and landed on the hay bails that had been stacked up against the front of the bed. A farm was going to be restored in Paradise. The two men walking with the children were talking about a dream net as a blustery wind began to pick up. Leif excused himself for a moment and hurried up to the truck driver side and mentioned to Otto that they should probably get the animals to some shelter soon “you know we were running from a fairly bad storm that was headed this way and I think the beginning of the front may be making a land fall soon.” Otto acknowledged and asked if there was a barn at the farm. Deb told him there was but it was somewhat in disrepair. She thought it might hold the animals and at least give semi shelter against whatever storm may be brewing. All of them picked up their pace and hurried down the road toward the farm.

13 THE STORM IN PARADISE

Tom had watched all of the animals disembark and witnessed the amazing scenes on the dock. He had made sure all the cargo containers were unloaded and placed in safe areas and then notified the Dock master about the approaching storm. His Navigator was watching the storms front on the radar and it was approaching the 1000 mile mark from the coast. It had picked up a bit of speed, in fact it was moving around 10 mph at the moment and it also looked like it could turn into some kind of hurricane as it approached the warmer waters. Tom knew he needed to get out of the port and into deeper waters before the thing made landfall. Devlin had told him that he would stay aboard for now and if he was needed he would make the trip back to the States with him. Tom was quite appreciative of that and then four of the LAST BASTION crew approached him and asked to be part of his crew. That made him pause but he knew these men were seasoned sailors and there addition to his crew would be a welcome boon. Otto and 7 of his men had left the ship and elected to stay in Paradise. Tom had come up with a plausible story as to what happened to the LAST BASTION and would broadcast it across the air waves. He knew it was a fabricated story, not the sinking of the old tub so much but the death of the entire crew. He figured he could use the plastic junk island and the whale as perhaps the main cause of the deaths. That should hold water at least for awhile.

Tom had taken on a few passengers bound for the States and some trade cargo and secured the ship to get underway. The tugs pulled her away from the dock and made way to the deeper waters and currents to release the freighter for open running. The waters had already started white capping and the waves rose to 6 feet and higher as they made way from the port. They would have to pull the freighter about 5000 yards out before she could kick her own engines on and began to steam out to the wide open seas. The tugs got her past the reefs and began the releasing actions. The storm clouds could be seen over the horizon but it was still hundreds of miles into the distance. Tom wondered about the monster as he could see the great black shapes of the high clouds as the thing swirled its way toward land. There was always a chance that it would turn and run either up or down the coast and stay off shore. Tom planned to move toward the south and then turn east to hopefully skirt around the thing. He did not want to take his ship into another one of those 50 degree roller coaster rides, meaning the waves could be so bad that the ship could capsize. He had been through so many of those and he was getting to old for that kind of suspense these days.

Tom took the BESS out to the 200 mile limit while heading South East. He turned and kept a due south course. He figured to get well within the Tasman Sea and scoot over to Wellington and top off his fuel before heading due east. He figured he could shoot east until he was well out of the big storms possible projected paths. He sincerely hoped that the monster would turn or die out before it made a landfall. He could tell the storm was gaining strength and speed as it moved into the Coral Sea. The waves had grown as the BESS cruised south and now they were moving on an eastwardly course toward Wellington. The meteorological reports were coming in regular now and predicting the force and direction of the storm as it moved closer to the big island continent. Tom heard the words “hurricane force winds” and then heard the wind speed of 85 miles per hour. The main center of the thing was moving around 15 miles per hour and the outskirts of the entire thing looked to be 700 to 800 miles across. His first thoughts were of Paradise and what could be fairly devastating for the coastal town and if the storm made a landfall and moved inland until it burnt its self out could cause great damage to the small villages and communities living up and down the coastal regions.

The Town of Paradise had begun to board up the windows and secure the buildings as best they could in the face of the coming storm. The dock was a great water break but even with that a storm of this magnitude could cause great flooding in the town and the outlying areas. People were being warned as deep as 30 or even 50 miles from the coast. Aberdeen and Connie along with Amanda and Rolin and the force of men he could gather were spreading out and warning folks. All of the little cottages that had been built were done in such a way to withstand some fairly harsh weather but it was unknown how bad this coming storm would be. Anyone living close to the rivers that ran from the hills to the ocean was told to prepare for flooding and even evacuation. Five men had shown up and asked if they could help Aberdeen and Connie when they were preparing to leave the town. Aberdeen found out that they were men from the LAST BASTION and had elected to join the folk of Paradise. They volunteered to help board up windows and doors and then went with Aberdeen and company to warn others.

The main body of animals that had not found homes yet, was being led over the mountains that ran along the coastal regions and into a vast savanna type area. They would be safer on the far side of the hills or small mountains. Some of them broke off as they climbed into the mountains and found safe havens among the forests and hills. The Children were leading with Yasar and her family and knew where to get them for rest and nourishment. The Aborigines were waiting and had created some shelters for the smaller ones. Nick, Will and Jon all walked along and Jon gave comfort as well as the children did to all the animals. When they reached the pass to begin their decent the sun darkened and they all turned around and saw the black eastern skies. “We must hurry. The mountains, hopefully will shelter us from the very high winds but even so we must be prepared. The rains that will come are going to be torrential and we must make shelter quickly.” Nick was saying as they all turned and began to move faster down the west side of the mountains.

Tom was looking for Devlin as the ship came closer to Wellington. He could not find him and started asking if any one had seen him. Uri Yankovic, one of the LAST BASTION crew members told Tom that he had seen Devlin jump over the side when the tugs were dragging them out and thought that he was just getting his daily needed swim. He figured that Devlin would get back aboard before they started full steam south. Tom asked the men to look for him. He needed Devlin’s advice on the course they would be taking soon. One and half hours later the men reported back and said Devlin was nowhere to be found. Tom was saddened by that and thought that Devlin decided to join his family in the Seas after all. He would miss the boy but knew that he had to be with his family.

Megan and Bob had to take an old coast road to the north before they could head inland to the small village where she had her farm. Timoth was leading the new pig family. The weather had changed drastically. The wind had picked up and was blowing hard enough that Megan felt like it was going to pick her up and fly her across the mountain. Bob had to grab her, a couple of times to keep her from being blown over. The pigs had gathered closer together as they walked. They could feel dampness in the air and it felt like small drops of rain were being blown sideways into them. Megan knew that the road ran close to the ocean at one point and sometimes the ocean would wash over the road. Times like that, people would just wait until the ocean calmed down or the tide went out. They were coming to that low road area soon.

Megan had watched the pigs disappear over the crest of the road as her and Bob heard the waves slapping the shore line. Reaching the crest they both stopped short and saw the pigs stopped half way down the slope. The ocean was washing over the road at the lower area and it seemed that the only way around to where the road climbed back up was to crawl through some rough boulders on the side of the cliff face. The waves were rolling in and crashing against the boulders. It started to rain now and the pigs began to turn around and come back up the road. Bob looked out to the sea and back at the road they had traveled on. His mind was racing for a solution to their predicament. What he saw out to sea made him want to go back and scale the cliff to get on top. He could see the big waves starting to form and new that where they were at this moment was going to be washed with those waves. He started to tell Megan to gather the pigs and to hurry back the way they had come. As he turned he saw her staring at the bottom of the road. Turning toward her gaze he saw a young man standing close to the inside of the road up against the cliff. The water was washing up and hitting him around his waste and then receding back out so the man was standing in water up to his ankles. He did not know what was happening but Megan seemed to be mesmerized by this young man. Timoth had stopped his progress up the road and all the pigs had turned and were also looking at the man. Bob caught a glimpse of movement in the water further out and saw the fins of dolphins swimming around in a circle. Megan turned just in time to see two dolphins break water with their heads and make their sounds of whistles and burst-pulse’s of communication toward the man

Devlin had seen the young woman with her pig and then witnessed the other pigs from the ship move to her. He saw the older man walk up, with a limp, to her from behind and thought the man might be her father. He watched her from the main deck of the BESS as the ship was unloading and something inside told him that this young woman and her companions were in danger this day. He knew the storm was headed this way and Tom was becoming quite anxious to leave port. His heart was fluttering and he wanted to leave the ship but he had told Tom that he would stay with him until he reached the States again. Words given in loyalty on the Seas and kept meant honor and after all he was a sailor in heart and physically as well. The pull to go to this young woman was very strong. He watched from the deck as the ship began to be pulled out, her and the pigs and her father, or so he thought, walk down the street toward the other side of town. He stood on the aft stern and stared at the town as the ship was pulled toward the 2 mile limit that would allow it to be free to steam into open waters. The waters were becoming rougher the further the ship moved out. He knew the course that Tom intended to take and figured the ship to possibly skirt the impending storm. His heart was aching to talk with the young woman. He was starting to turn and go to the Bridge when he heard one of his brothers whistling at him. He turned quickly and listened. The brother told him that he must not leave here yet and that he would have to save some of the animals that had come here and some people. The pull to help overtook him and he dove off the stern. In the water his family told him that the storm was coming faster than the humans expected and could hit the land up and down the coast from the town where all the animals had been taken.

Devlin knew then that Tom and the freighter would probably miss the bigger part of this storm but it would do some serious damage to the place called Paradise. Tom would make it okay to New Zealand and be able to go due east then North again. He knew that he could catch the ship on the other side of New Zealand but it would be days if not longer but for now he had to save the woman and her father and those pigs. His family took him toward the North and headed in toward the land. On the surface the waves were building from 2 feet to around 4 feet. He surfaced and saw the clouds building and growing darker. The wind had now picked up and was causing the waves to crest and spray foam as they rolled toward the shore. He could see the breakers running up the beaches further and splashing against the cliffs that came close to the ocean. He dove again and his family moved swiftly through the water. He saw the bottom rise toward the main land as they moved closer. The next time he surfaced they were within 200 feet of the shore and then he saw the young woman and her father standing at the top of road. The pigs were half way down the slope of the road that apparently ran down to sea level and then rose again on a rocky outcropping. Where the road met the sea level it was under water and the waves were crashing against the rocky cliff. It was beginning to rain from the storm and Devlin knew that it was going to be a hurricane force rain and wind before to long.

The pigs were beginning to move back up the road when he touched bottom and walked across the washed over road.. He stood on it and found that when the waves rolled back out there was only about 5 or 7 inches of water over the surface. However, when the waves came in they would be up to his waste at this point. He knew that the bigger ones where coming and this place could not be accessed for a crossing. As he stood there the pigs saw him first and stopped. The young woman saw him next and stood very still. He yelled at her and the man to come quickly and get the pigs to move also. “The road bed is still just under the water and you can get across to the other side but you must hurry, my brothers tell me that the big waves are coming and they will be here soon.”

Megan could only stare because her heart was in a flutter; Timoth knew that this was the only way but the other pigs were afraid. He began to move down the slope once again, there was something about this man that gave him security. Bob saw the pigs gathered around Timoth as he began to move toward the man. He made his decision and grabbed Megan and hurried along toward the man also. He was looking toward the ocean as he almost carried Megan down to the water. He could see the blackness and then he saw something that scared him silly. He began to run because it looked like a tidal wave was coming. He caught up with Timoth and the pigs and began to scoot them along. The man had come up and began helping to scoot the pigs into the water. Megan finally came to her senses and started doing the same thing. Timoth was squealing and grunting to get them to follow him.

The area that was under water was around 30 feet in width and they were halfway across when one of the waves rolled in. The water rose and covered two of the little fellows. Devlin grabbed one and lifted it out of the water but the other one was swept out with the wave as it receded. Megan tried to grab it but as she stepped out toward the ocean she fell in the dug out road way. Bob was quick and grabbed her before she could be swept out. The Little pig was squealing very loud and trying to stay above the water. Timoth kept moving and the other pigs moved with him and they finally reached the road bed that was not under water. They all gathered further up as Devlin brought the little one onto the road and set him down with the others. He turned and saw Megan screaming at the little one that was now floating 30 yards out. Bob was dragging her to the dry road as she fought him to let her go. Devlin waded back into the water just as another bigger wave came crashing in. The little pig had road it in and Devlin grabbed him before the wave crashed against the rocks.

The dolphins had stayed in the deeper waters and watched the progress of the humans and animals cross the water. When the wave had taken one of the animals and swept it out they went into action and were ready to keep it from going under and/or being washed out further. One of them came up under the little one and buoyed it with his rostrum. The little one was thrashing about and when the next wave came in it took the little one with it as it rolled toward the shore. Finny the one that had buoyed the little one watched brother Devlin catch it and pull it to safety. Devlin spoke to them and told them to get to deeper water because the big wave was coming. He said he would be fine and was taking the others to safety before he would catch up with them. They whistled to him and turned into the deep water.

Devlin brought the wee little fellow up and they all moved up the road. The road made two switch backs before it got to the top of the cliff. Bob was pushing the pigs while Devlin held Megan and they all moved quickly. Every few feet or so Bob turned and looked to see the big wave coming. When he turned back he pushed harder. He did not know how big the wave was but he did know that the closer it came to land the bigger it would get. The top of the cliff was only about 50 feet higher than sea level but the road kept climbing from the top toward the mountains. There were level spots but they probably were at least 100 to 200 feet above sea level and he surely was hoping that wave was not going to be that big. They hit the top and kept moving on an uphill slope. Megan said that there was another small hill just ahead and if they could get over that there was a small store and refueling stop on the other side. Bob said “I left my truck there when I came into town so if we reach that we can load this company up and drive to your farm. “Don’t worry about your bike I can come back after this storm is gone and retrieve it for you. I sure hope that title wave is not going to cross over the cliff edge.” Megan turned and said “what title wave?”

Devlin picked up the two little pigs and began to run. “RUN” he said as he climbed the slope to that little hill. Timoth knew something was up when the man picked up the two little ones and began to run. He squealed loudly and took off running. All the others understood and started running also. Bob and Megan both had turned to look out to sea and saw the huge title wave coming. They both turned and started running. Both of them were pushing the pigs as the sound of the wave grew. It sounded like a train running through a canyon. They had just begun to climb the next hill when the wave hit the shore line. It was roughly 60 feet in height when it hit the cliffs. It broke into a very large splashing spray but the 10 feet that was higher kept moving forward. The 10 foot diminished as it flowed toward them. Bob had picked up Megan and was running with her when they hit the bottom of the hill and then his strength gave out and he had to set her down. She turned and grabbed his arm and pulled him as she ran up as best she could. The pigs had made it about 40 feet up the road before the water came to a halt. They were above the water line by then but the rain was soaking them as if they had still been in the wake of the wave. Bob knew that the torrential rains were going to cause some serious flooding as he sat and tried to catch his breath. Megan was looking at the pigs and Timoth came over and bumped her. Devlin had sat the two little ones down with the others and came to Bob. “Are you alright?” Bob looked up at the young man, “Well thanks to you we all seem to be alright.” Devlin sat down next to him and said “I meant are you alright, you look a bit worse for the ware right now.” If you want I could go get your truck and bring it back so you don’t have to walk anymore.”

14 BOB’S LAST HOORAH

Bob could feel the ache in his body and knew that something was not quite right. He reached into his vest pocket and pulled the keys out for the old truck. Why don’t you take Megan and go get the ride. I will wait here with the pigs till you get back. “You sure your okay Bobby Bear?” “Sure you go get the truck and while you’re at it get me some hot coffee.” Devlin looked around and saw a place where Bob and the pigs could at least get out of the rain. He reached down and took Bobs hand and said “lets move over there, at least you can get out of most of this rain.” Bob reached up and Devlin gently pulled him up and supported him while they walked under the canopy of trees. Devlin found a dryer place and let Bob down easy. “Just rest and we’ll be back as quick as we can. Timoth moved close to Bob and sat down. All the other pigs moved into the cover and circled around Bob. “Now I feel cozy and safe” said Bob, “Go on now and get the truck and don’t forget the coffee.” Bob watched the two young people walk away. His sight failed him when they reached the road and turned to go up the hill.

The Rain had a steady rhythm as it pounded on the broad leaves of the canopy above him. His memories flooded into his being. Timoth laid his head onto his chest and he could almost hear the pig crying. The two little ones lay next to him and he felt the warmth. He knew the other pigs were sitting around him in a circle of some sorts. The pain in his chest had been sharp but he kept it close without letting Megan and the young man know. It would come in sharp throbs but then he could not feel it. His love of life and all the creatures had given him a wonderful knowledge and wisdom after his early years. He waited for the next sharp pain and talked to the Creator about being in a Paradise. He had to smile at that because he was in Paradise. He thought about Megan and what she had said about being with her parents. He felt a sorrow that he was going to leave her but this young man that showed up appeared to capture her heart. He had never seen Megan be so stricken with what he called the love bug before. The young man was different and the fact that he could talk with dolphins gave him hope. The man appeared to be just as stricken with Megan. He felt the sharp pain once again and his entire left side went numb.

“Are you ready Bob?” he heard someone say to him. He turned his head just enough to see the man standing close. “Who might you be?” “My name is Nick and I have come to take you to a dream healing place.” Bob stood up and reached out to shake the man’s hand and found his self laying in a very comfortable bed. The rain had stopped or at least he could not hear it anymore. He could see a window and the sun was shinning outside. He thought he had passed out and the kids had picked him up and taken him to a hospital somewhere. While he was gazing out the window he heard a young voice say “Welcome Bob to the dream healing hospital.” He turned his head to look at who was speaking to him and saw a young girl standing next to his bed. “Who might you be young missy?” Hava had to giggle and smiled at Bob’s use of the Phrase. “Well now Bobby bear, my name is Hava and you are here in the dream healing hospital.” Bob looked at her with a surprised look and said “You know there is only one person that ever called me that and you ain’t her.” “Yes Bob and you will see Megan again but for now you are being healed and when you feel up to it we can talk all about this place and where you would like to go from here. It was Bob’s turn to laugh and smile and a young woman wheeled a cart in and parked it next to his bed. It had some delicious smelling food on it and the coffee was too temping so he picked it up and took a sip. When he turned back to talk with Hava she was gone. “Where did she go,” he asked. The young woman who brought the cart in said “oh she has so many other places she has to go but she will come back soon just to see you. Bob sipped his coffee and felt an exuberance he had never felt before.

Devlin and Megan had traversed over the hill and practically ran down the hill. It was raining so hard that it stung their skin. The small store was just ahead and Devlin could see some sort of candle light as they came closer. Megan said “there’s Bob’s truck lets hurry and get him some coffee and get back out there, I am very worried about him, did you see how pale he looked?” “Yes I am worried also; he did not look very well. I’ll make sure the truck is fueled and warmed up if you go get the coffee and other warm stuff. See if you can grab a blanket or something.” Devlin had made sure the truck was fueled and noticed the side rails on the flatbed had been loose so he pounded them down more and made sure the tail gate was secure before pulling the truck around to the front. He jumped out and ran into the store. Megan was at the counter toward the back and an elderly lady was pouring some steaming fluid into an old time Thermos. The elderly lady saw him come in and said “come here boy you need to dry out a bit before you go back out there.”

Devlin walked to the back counter and saw that an old pot bellied stove was burning logs. Megan had a rain coat on and told him that he should put the other one on. The elderly lady handed him some dry cloths and said “here put these on, at least they are dry and it will keep you from catching your death. Devlin was not shy about being naked so he began to strip the wet cloths off while he stood next to the stove. The two women just stared for a minute then went back to gathering other needful things in a basket. Devlin spoke and said “we need to get out there and bring Bob back here to get dry and warm.” He looked at the lady behind the counter and she said “name is Hattie and yes you got to go get my Bob, the old coot doesn’t have the sense to come in out the rain. We packed some extra blankets and Meg tells me you have a small herd of piggies. Once you get em back here there is a storage building in the back and they all can stay in there till this storm moves over.” Devlin just nodded and then asked if she might have a tarp they could throw over the side rails of the truck bed. Hattie turned and walked over to a side door and entered. She came back shortly and had a folded up tarp in her hands. “This should do the trick and right over there is some rope you can use to tie the thing down, now both of you get going and bring Bob back here in short time. I will put my special soup on for him and you.”

Megan and Devlin took the tarp and spread it over the rails and tied it down. It took some doing because the wind was blowing so hard. The rain was now blowing horizontal and they could see rivulets of water washing down from the hill sides. Over to the west was a creek that was beginning to overflow its banks. They jumped in the truck and drove out to the road and headed back toward were Bob and the pigs were. When they topped the hill they could barely see in front of them because the rain was coming in waves. Devlin put the truck in a low gear and they crept down the road. When they reached the area where they had left Bob and the pigs Devlin put the truck in 1st gear and turned it off. He set the emergency brake and had turned the truck sideways with the rear end toward where Bob and the pigs were. They jumped out and hurried to the sheltered area. The trees were blowing sideways and dancing like people used to do at one of those old rock and roll concerts. Megan was the first to reach the spot and came up short. All the pigs were sitting around Bob and when she moved closer she saw Timoth lying down with his head resting on Bob’s chest.