Paul walks somewhat unsteadily beside Babe, the Ox. Putting pressure on his stump, after years of no use, is still somewhat uncomfortable. He observes the manner in which Crank and Simone hold hands, a smile crinkling his weather-worn face. Yep. More things in Heaven and Earth then can be explained by book-learning.
Simone glances over her left shoulder and observes Paul Bunyan’s conspiratorial smile. She turns so that she can see the giant frontiersman even better and calls loudly to him.
“Paul, when we ended up in that ghost town…You called it home. How can that be? Where is home for you? Where are we?” Simone asks.
Paul shakes his head and a faraway look comes into his eyes.
“I don’t rightly know,” he says, patting Babe’s side with the palm of one hand.
“What do you mean...You don’t know?" Simone says, an edge of frustration in her voice. “How could you not know where you call home?”
Paul chuckles and narrows his eyes.
“All I know is that when I first opened my eyes on this green begotten Earth…This is where I was," Paul responds candidly. "You see…I was never really born. Not in the way people think of being born. I was created. Maybe in someone’s mind. I don’t know. I’ve flitted to and from this place a few times. I always recognize it immediately. Same smell, same saltiness to the air, even the same darn dust storms. To me…All of this is home. Until I somehow find myself somewhere else.”
Simone stops walking and stares at Paul Bunyan. Crank, due to his unconscious strength, nearly yanks her along as he keeps moving ahead. When he realizes his mistake, he stops to see what has caught her attention.
“Paul?” Simone says his name with measured pronunciation. “Are you telling me…That you’ve traveled to other places…In this manner…Before?”
Paul nods his head up and down as if she has asked the dumbest question ever.
“Uh…Yes. Several times,” Paul states.
“And just how do you do the whole…Traveling to other places thing? I mean, how do you go from place to place…Seemingly through time? I only ask because…Well, we kind of need to know.” Simone’s voice rises with her frustration level.
She gently pries her hand from Crank’s, and places them both at her hips. The glare she fires at Paul would make even an outlaw think twice about crossing her.
“I’m not sure,” Paul Bunyan says, rubbing his chin with a dirty hand. “It just happens.”
Simone continues to stare daggers into Paul. She is hoping that he will have a sudden revelation and they can go home. No such luck.
“You don’t have the slightest clue how it could be possible?” Simone presses.
“Nope,” Paul states. “Not one.”
Crank puts his hands on Simone’s shoulders and wills her to turn around. He lowers his head to beside her ear and whispers softly.
“We need to keep moving,” he says with a kind smile. “It’s not too far now. We’re almost there.”
Simone glares at Paul for one final moment, and then allows Crank to lead her away toward the farming town. Paul’s face droops and he seems uncertain. Eventually, he follows his companions. Babe in tow.
-
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Stepping across the threshold into town, Crank puts out a hand to stop the others’ progress. Simone knows he is searching out danger and lets him do what he does best. However, Paul and his favored blue ox lumber ahead as if they never even observed Crank telling them to wait. Crank rolls his eyes, and grabs Simone’s right hand.
“Stay close to me,” he warns.
Simone simply nods agreement. The aura around this particular piece of sub-standard real estate is beyond unwelcoming.
Moving cautiously into the midst of the town square, Crank looks from side to side. He reaches behind him and unhooks his mask, quickly positioning it on his face. There are no other heat signatures nearby. Not even a rat scurries by. Very little has changed since the last time he was here. Most subtle changes could be a result of the violent dust storms. Nevertheless, he regrets not allowing himself more time to check the entire town. After finding water, he had made his way back to Simone. In his heart, he'd needed to know she was okay.
Crank gently tugs on Simone’s hand and gestures toward an old farmhouse. Spying Simone's flushed complexion, Crank offers her his water canister again. This time, Simone takes it gladly. She takes two enormous swallows and attempts to hand the canister back. Crank shakes his head, and motions for her to drink the remainder of the water. Once she is completely finished, Crank returns the canister to his implement belt. He considers carrying Simone. However, he is aware of her stubborn nature. She may object. He points toward the farmhouse a second time.
“That is where I found the working water pump,” he explains. “Let’s go there first.”
Crank and Simone head that way, and Paul urges Babe to follow. The big ox does so reluctantly, letting out an agitated moo.
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A loud crash spooks the big ox and she stomps her enormous hooves. With a strong yank on the reins, Babe causes Paul to stumble and he goes sprawling face first to the ground.
“Darn animal!” Paul shouts. "What's gotten into you?!"
Paul Bunyan wipes dirt from his mouth, with a grimy hand, and lurches for the ornery beast. However, Babe will not be controlled and continues stomping the dry Earth.
Crank pulls his shoulder cannon from his implement belt and locks it in place. Have the rogue hunters followed them here as well? Locking target on a barrel rolling in the middle of the street, Crank stands his ground. There is no discernible wind. That barrel should not have fallen.
A few yards from the barrel, from the entrance of an abandoned warehouse, a black and white goat shoots out and charges in their direction. Spying the big blue ox, the goat takes on a ramming posture. It picks up steam and barrels in their direction. Paul’s mouth drops open in a disbelieving expression.
“Where the hell did that thing come from? And what the hell is its problem?” Paul exclaims, tugging on Babe’s reins.
Babe also lowers her head, anticipating the rapidly approaching goat, and stomps her hooves even more furiously. Giant puffs of condensed air churn from her nostrils. Crank stares at one angry beast then the other. Babe would be a wonderful specimen for a hunt. The other creature, not so much. While it is brave, it also shows great stupidity, and is much too small to be an honorable trophy.
Crank’s thoughts are interrupted by a loud shout coming from the warehouse where the goat appeared. A tall gangly man wearing a tweed jacket, a hat, and no trousers runs out of the warehouse. The man’s voice is so thick, with what Crank can only assume is an ooman dialect, that Crank can barely understand his words.
“Get back here with my trousers…You miserable beast!” the man shouts.
The pantless ooman waves his hands frantically in the air. As fast as he may run, Crank is certain he will never catch the storming beast.
The goat continues on its murderous quest, paying no heed to the screaming man. That is when Crank notices that there is indeed a pair of pants wrapped around one scraggy horn of the black and white beast. Simone bursts into laughter and bends at the waist, trying to compose herself. Crank takes matters into his own hands and aims his targeting system just in front of the charging goat. He fires the device and a spot of dirt a couple yards in front of the goat explodes in a shower of particles. The goat becomes frightened and veers off of course, taking the man’s trousers with it. The man takes off after the goat. Even Crank laughs this time.
For several moments more, the man chases the goat in a circle. Finally, the goat grows tired and plops into the dirt. It glances around with angry eyes. Slowly, the man approaches the goat and speaks to it reassuringly. When he is close enough, the man quickly grabs his trousers from around the goat’s horn. The goat releases a hard breath and turns it head as if no longer interested in the stupid man.
The man, in turn, quickly puts on his trousers. He immediately heads toward Simone and the others, a joyful expression on his face. However, he stops short when he lays eyes on Crank and Babe. Taking a backward step, the man raises his hands in the air. He calls to them warily.
“Hello, my fellow countrymen…And woman,” the man says; his accent immediately recognizable to Simone as very English.
“Hello, yourself,” Paul replies. “Who are you?”
The man approaches yet again, still wary of Crank and Babe.
“Do you mean to tell me that you’ve never heard of the great Sherlock Holmes?” the man retorts, tossing his nose in the air. “I would think that even in such a place as this…Dr. Watson’s accounts of my many extraordinary deeds would be required reading for those of more than mediocre intelligence.”
Paul Bunyan scratches his chin and lowers his gaze to the ground. He seems to consider the man’s questions very hard. However, when he speaks, his voice is dull as ever.
“Nope, never heard of ya!” Paul says.
Simone steps closer to the man in tweed, studying him carefully. Could it be? What is really going on?
“Mr. Holmes,” Simone chances to ask. “Where are we? And what is happening?”
The man, who calls himself Sherlock Holmes, offers Simone a sincere smile.
“My dear lady,” he begins. “I would think it would be elementary by now…That I haven’t the faintest idea.”
Simone’s heart drops in her chest and she sways unsteadily. Crank takes hold of Simone and lifts her into his arms. Sherlock looks from Crank to Paul.
“Did I say something which frightened her?” Sherlock inquires honestly.
“The lady has been through quite a shock,” Paul confides, poking Sherlock with an elbow. “Maybe you wouldn’t mind if we continue this conversation indoors?”
“Oh yes…Of course,” Sherlock says. “I’ve already made tea and biscuits. You will join me?”
It is then that Simone realizes she has not had anything to eat in over a day.
“Tea and biscuits sounds lovely,” Simone hears herself say.
Crank smiles one of his awkward smiles and Simone cannot help but do the same. Crank repositions her in his arms, in order to make her more comfortable, and Simone places her arm around his neck.
Sherlock Holmes leads them toward the empty warehouse. He glances over his shoulder at Crank with a strange expression. Arching one eyebrow, he taps his upper lip with a fingernail.
“My great powers of deduction tell me that you are not an Earthman,” Sherlock says smartly.
Paul Bunyan shrugs and looks up at the sky. Swear words slip inaudibly from his lips, and he slides his eyes back in Sherlock's direction.
“And your powers of deduction would be correct, Mr. Holmes," Paul drawls sarcastically. "Crank is a yautja. He comes from…Out there…Among the stars. His kind is a race of mighty hunters. They collect human skulls for trophies. If I were you, I’d keep my skull close…If you know what I mean?”
Sherlock catches the sarcasm in Paul’s voice and shoots him a stern glare. Paul simply shrugs again. Silence falls over the group as they approach the entryway of the abandoned warehouse.
“You can bed that animal down in the barn over there,” Sherlock says to Paul
The famed detective points to a weather-beaten barn between the warehouse and the farmhouse where they were headed before. He glowers at Paul Bunyan with what can only be described as a deeply personal hatred.
“No animals allowed in here," Sherlock exclaims. "I’ve got things just the way I want them. Bring the young lady inside, Mr. Crank. We’ll make her quite comfortable and get her something to eat.”
Paul grumbles as he leads Babe toward the barn. Sherlock Holmes holds the door open as Crank steps inside the warehouse, carrying Simone.
The goat rises from its place on the ground and follows Paul at a distance. Paul worries that it will try to charge him from behind. He shouldn’t have worried.
Once the trio reach the barn; the goat lies down beside Babe in the hay. Babe lets out a deep moo and lowers her head. Before long, both animals are asleep. All of their past history already forgotten. Wiping sweat from his brow, Paul chuckles and shakes his head.