Chapter 3

He waved to Lily from where she had dropped him off as she drove away in the Winnebago. Lily had been kind enough to drop him off at a store where he could replenish his supplies and catch a bus. In fact, she had insisted that he visit this particular store suggesting that he would get outfitted with the items that he would really need. He watched her turn off the main road to one of the back streets. She was followed around the corner by the local Sheriff in his truck.

Three days lost because of the Medallion and the two wonderful, amazing, days spent with Lily put him behind schedule. His plan had been to hike to here through the park and then to catch a bus that would take him to the next park he was planning to hike through.

Having her drop him off here put him back on schedule and, truth to tell, he wasn’t all that upset about missing five days of hiking. The past two days had been spent in bed, with Lily. It seemed like the only time they came out was to eat, but they had also worked the evening shift at the restaurant to allow George and his wife a chance to be together. He remembered the second morning when they had come in for breakfast how George’s wife, Martha, had told them about going to a movie for the first time in twelve years. She was so excited that it had made all of the work worthwhile.

Lily was the most uninhibited woman that he had ever known. She loved giving head and even swallowed his come with great enjoyment. That was a first for him. When she went down on him, her tongue touched all of the right areas. She caressed his balls with a gentle touch that only added to the excitement. She knew when he was about to come and took the opportunity to insert a finger into his ass. The sensation had sent him over the edge. When he looked down at her, she was looking back up at him with his cock in her mouth and a smile in her eyes.

The only negative thing over the past two days was an increasing restlessness at staying in the same place. It was felt by both of them. Something was calling to them, directing them to go in different directions. He had always known the allure of wandering, but he had never felt it to the degree that built within him over the two days with Lily. It drew him on again towards the door of the store.

He walked to the entrance of the store and held the door open for an elderly woman who was leaving. He entered the store and looked around. Laid out before him was an amazing selection of hiking and camping gear. This was not a normal store. It had everything from arctic to desert gear. There was a dog sled, mule packing gear, and mountain climbing equipment.

As he wandered the aisles amazed at the selection, the proprietor finally caught his attention. He said, “Hey, young man, you need to put your pack in one of the lockers at the door.”

John replied, “Sorry, I didn’t realize. This is amazing. I have never seen so much camping gear in one place!”

The proprietor smiled and said, “Well, I tend to wander a bit myself, so I stock everything I might need.”

John studied the proprietor and guessed he was about seventy years old. He was a short stocky individual, in excellent shape for a man even half his age. His leathered skin showed the years spent in the sun. Laugh lines around the eyes coupled with the twinkle in them identified him as having a good sense of humor. There was a little tension in his stance as if the man expected John to slip an item or two into his backpack.

John walked over to one of the lockers and put his backpack in it. The proprietor visibly relaxed and suggested, “Let’s get you outfitted with what you need. By the way, my name is Jed Hart.”

“I’m John Carter.”

“Well, John, what do you need?”

“Actually, all I need is a good watch, some water purification pills, and matches.”

“I notice that you’re packing light. How long do you expecting to be hiking?”

“Well, I just finished a month in the park. I’m taking a bus down to the Big Bend to hike for a month there.”

“I’m impressed. Most hikers load up with every little gadget they can get,” replied Jed. His respect for John rose. He had sold lots of useless stuff to weekend hikers and didn’t have much respect for most of them. He asked, “How do you get by so light?”

“Thanks, I found that carrying those butane gadgets didn’t help over a long haul. It’s too much weight if you carry enough to last a couple of weeks. Fancy tents are fine, but I like to watch the stars overhead. A simple tarp is enough for rainy nights and it’s versatile enough to serve all kinds of uses. When I do carry something, I like it to be high quality, which doesn’t mean fancy.”

“Smart,” replied Jed as he led John to the water purification area. He watched as John looked over the selection carefully before picking out the tablets. They were simple pills packed in a plastic container. There were thirty pills in a package, so he took two. Jed nodded appreciatively as they were the same ones he carried when hiking. He decided the kid knew what he was doing.

He then led John over to the counter. There were matches and watches there. He watched as the kid picked out a simple set of matches with a light coating designed to keep them from crumbling in high humidity conditions. The matches came in a waterproof package.

John pulled the watch from his pocket and asked, “Do you have one like this?”

Jed took the watch from him and noticed that it was generating random numbers. He was not impressed by the radio-controlled watch that set itself from the atomic clock. He expected John to have a more utilitarian watch that was shockproof and waterproof. He looked up at John and asked, “What happened to it? I’ve never seen one do that before.”

“I had a rather strange experience in the park and it started doing that,” replied John as a shudder went through his body. He still had not come to grips with the events in the park.

Jed studied John at the mention of a strange experience. He noticed the strangely colored beard and the distant look in the young man’s eyes. He had an idea what that strange experience had been. He decided to approach the topic slowly, “Yeah, I have a couple of these. Why did you select this kind of watch?”

“It has more to do with my work than with hiking,” replied John. He added, “A more practical watch would probably be better, but again I like to pack light. That goes for the rest of my life as well.”

“Reasonable, I suppose,” replied the proprietor. He revised his opinion of John upwards again. He pulled out a box that contained an identical watch and set it on the counter. He watched as John checked it out. John fumbled with the instructions and set the time zone on the watch. He watched as the watch finally picked up the signal and set itself. Now it was showing the correct date and time.

“Great, I’ll take it.”

“Anything else?”

“Not that I can think of,” replied John. He looked around the store at all of the goods. It really was an amazing place. He really wanted to spend some more time just wandering through the aisles.

As Jed rang up the purchase, he asked, “By the way, did that unusual experience in the park involve a medallion?”

John started at the mention of the medallion. His hand went immediately to his chest where the medallion hung. He looked up to see a smiling Jed. Jed said, “I thought so. I won’t ask for any details.”

“Thanks.” For some reason, the fact that he didn’t have to explain was a great relief. He didn’t understand the great reluctance associated with telling the story of what had happened in the woods. It couldn’t be the rape; that wasn’t enough to explain why his mind shied away from the rest of the experience.

John pulled himself together and paid for his purchases. He put on the watch at the counter as the proprietor disappeared. He walked over to the bin where he had put his pack. He was adding the rest of his purchases to it when the old man returned carrying a walking stick.

“This is yours,” Jed said. He held out the walking stick.

John turned around wondering about what the old man was saying. He hadn’t forgotten anything. He noted the walking stick and asked, “Pardon me?”

“I said, this is yours.”

John took the walking stick from Jed. It was a work of art. It was five feet in length. The wood was a polished jet black with a brass end-cap on the bottom. The top held a brass frame with a crystal held secure within its grasp. There was what appeared to be an inlaid opal near the top. Three brass rings circled it; spaced evenly along its length. The most surprising thing was its weight. It was relatively heavy. He whistled, “Wow, this is a beauty. I’m afraid it’s not mine though.”

Jed smiled and said, “I made it and have been waiting for the right person to give it to. It’s yours.”

“It’s too nice. You should keep it for yourself.” John couldn’t imagine the amount of work that went into making it.

Jed laughed as he said, “No, I have one of my own. This one is yours. After all, we have one thing in common.”

“What’s that?”

“A medallion.”

“Oh,” replied John. He thought about what that meant. He didn’t know what to say.

Jed took back the walking stick and said, “Let me show you some features of this stick. First of all, it’s made of ironwood. That is the densest wood there is, and it’s practically indestructible. Insects can’t eat it and water won’t warp it. It won’t nick, except under the most extreme circumstances. You can hit a bear across the head with it and know that it won’t break.”

“You will notice this opal here on the side near the top. Pressing it turns on a light that is refracted by the crystal giving you a nice sphere of light. The crystal is a Herkimer Diamond. Even though they call it a diamond, it’s actually a large piece of quartz. The light is located below the crystal and is powered by batteries that are recharged by simple up and down movements of the staff. Using the staff as you walk is sufficient to recharge the batteries. This is very useful in caves or when you absolutely must hike at night.”

Jed pressed the button and a soft glow came from the crystal at the top of the staff. John interrupted, “That is brilliant!”

“There’s more,” replied Jed. He added, “It can be taken apart into three sections by unscrewing it just below the brass rings. The staff is hollowed out so that you can carry things in it. It makes it light enough to be useful. I’ll let you decide what you want to put in there.”

“Thank you very much. Will you accept anything for it?” John asked very taken aback by the walking stick.

“No, it’s time for you to leave now. You have far to go and so little time to get there,” Jed replied as he returned the walking stick. As John accepted it, it was as though a shock passed from Jed to him. Jed walked away leaving a very confused young man staring at his back.

John stood there a second trying to make sense out of the old man’s behavior. He realized that Jed wasn’t comfortable with praise. He decided that the least he could do was give him a minor blessing and then whispered, “May the Gods and Goddesses watch and take care of you.”

Swinging his backpack onto his back, John headed out of the store. He was leaving as the Sheriff walked up to the store. He held the door open for the man, giving him a short nod of his head in greeting. The Sheriff returned his nod.

John stopped and considered his options. Many little stores lined the street, but nothing looked like a bus station. He considered each store trying to decide which would be the best to ask for directions. There were a couple of clothing stores, a little restaurant, a hardware store, and a convenience store. He was surprised that there wasn’t a feed store, but that might be on the next street over. He felt drawn to the convenience store. He considered going back into the sporting goods store to ask the Sheriff, but the idea of imposing on Jed again made him a little uncomfortable.

He walked to the convenience store down the street to locate the bus stop. It was a small town and he was sure that who ever worked in the store would know the answer. He would get a soft drink as an excuse for being in the store. He didn’t drink them very often, but it was a warm day and would be nice for a change.

Using the walking stick seemed completely natural; it felt as if he had been using it his entire life. In use, the weight of the stick disappeared. He wondered why he had not used one before now. In a way, he felt as though it made him complete.

He entered the convenience store. The first thing that he noticed was the young blond haired girl behind the counter. Her hair was cut short and she had it styled in spikes. She was the first one wearing her hair that way that he found attractive. He wondered what the name of that hairstyle was. She looked nineteen or so; with a nice figure. He wondered for a moment if her breasts were real, as they looked too big for the rest of her slim body. When she smiled in his direction, it was like the whole room lit up. He smiled back and nodded.

Looking around the store, he spotted the soft drinks. The aisle was rather narrow and getting at the drinks with the walking stick was awkward. He set it down. He slid open one of the doors to the refrigeration unit and knelt down to get one of the drinks off the bottom shelf. It took him a few moments to get it out of the shelf. It was lodged in that area where the glass doors overlapped. He stood and let the door slide closed. It made a satisfying thud. He didn’t remember picking up the walking stick, but it was in his hand.

As he made his way to the front of the store, he noticed a very dirty kid about twenty standing in front of the register. His long and greasy hair was stringy. His clothes were filthy and ripped at the knees and elbows. They hung loosely off his body.

As John approached, he could smell him. The young girl looked terrified. It took John a moment to realize that the kid was holding a gun pointed at the girl. He continued to walk towards the counter while studying the kid. He noticed that the kid’s crotch was tented and he realized that the kid was sporting an erection. At first, he thought the kid was thinking of raping the girl, but then it dawned on him that the kid was getting sexually excited by the thought of killing her.

As the kid raised the gun, John reacted before he even could rationally think about what he was doing. He ran to get between the girl and the kid. Time slowed to a crawl and he became aware of minutia in his surroundings. As he moved, he observed the box of Cracker Jacks on the shelf; the little logo announcing a toy surprise inside brought back memories of childhood. The details were sharp and the colors overly bright. A few steps later, it was a stain on the dirty linoleum floor that caught his attention. Like an inkblot in a psychological test, it made him think of a butterfly and he wondered what a psychologist would make of that. Another step and he looked at the face of the kid. There was a zit on the side of his nose. The kid’s eyes were focused on the girl. He wasn’t even aware that John was in the room. He could see the kid’s finger starting to squeeze the trigger on the pistol.

Just as he got between the girl and the kid, the gun fired. The strange sense of time dilation held and he swore he could see the bullet as it traveled towards him. As the bullet tore through his shoulder, he spun and the walking stick swung in a wide arc. In slow motion, he fell towards the counter. The front was stocked with all kinds of gum and candies. There was nothing he could do to stop his fall. He hit headfirst on the edge of the counter. Just before losing consciousness, he thought that it was odd that he hadn’t heard a sound from the moment that the door to the soft drinks had slid shut to now. It was the last thing that he remembered in the convenience store.

Floating in a sea of warmth and tranquility, he looked down on his own body as it lay on an operating table. He watched dispassionately as the doctor and a nurse worked feverishly to restart his heart. Turning, he could see the other world. He moved towards it and found his way blocked by the woman from the park. She shook her head and pointed to his body behind him. He nodded and reluctantly returned.