randomplaces | Kelly's Adventure. Chapter 2

Kelly stirred, then frowned as she realized that she had slept in her clothes. Had she been that tired when she got home?
Wait… had she gotten home?
The air felt humid, with a smell of plants and something rank.
She moved again, becoming aware of aches and pains she couldn’t remember having the night before, and of being too hot.
Then voices broke into her consciousness.
“Zit twun?”
“Risptntime.”
What? Her eyes flew open, and she stared upward in confusion.
She wasn’t in her room. She wasn’t in the living room. She wasn’t in the apartment building.
She didn’t think she was even in Canada.
A hundred feet above her, tall, moss-covered tree trunks branched out and spread like massive umbrellas of green.
She pushed aside a strong-smelling skin cover and sat up, heart hammering as she looked into the watchful eyes of two men who sat a few feet away from her on either side of a tiny fire. Her shocked brain registered their clothes, like something the peasants wore in old Robin Hood movies.
“W, who are you?” she quavered. “Where am I?”
The younger man frowned at her and said something unintelligible, staring at her with startling grey-green eyes.
Kelly swallowed and shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
His frown intensified and he repeated himself.
“Making it louder doesn’t help,” she said helplessly.
The older man made a short sound in his throat and got up. Upright, he towered nearly seven feet, with shoulders that made a football player look like a wimp.
He walked over and studied her with twinkling brown eyes, then bent swiftly and pulled her golden cross pendant out of the collar of her coat.
“Hey!” yelped Kelly in fright.
The big guy examined the pendant and chain minutely, then nodded. “Caudis, this cross and chain were never made here,” he rumbled.
Kelly gasped. "You speak English!"
He smiled and let the necklace drop. "I'm speaking the Book language."
"The book language?" Kelly blinked. "What book?"
"Was there ever more than one?" he asked mildly.
"Well, yeah, there are textbooks, and novels, and … you mean the Bible?"
He shrugged and sat back on his heels. "The Book."
"This?" She pulled her little pocket Bible out of her inside pocket and held it up.
He took it and opened it reverently, looking at the printing in wonder. "Yes, this is the Book, though many of these words are strange to me." He flipped pages gently, then stopped and gaped, his eyes widening in shock.
"What?" Kelly jumped in alarm.
"This is the Creation story!" he gasped.
"Uhh, yeah," she said uncertainly.
"But how did you get it?"
"My mom and dad gave it to me last Christmas."
"Your parents have the Creation story?" He looked like he was having trouble breathing. "Where did they find it?"
"At the book store," she said slowly, starting to think she was talking to a mentally ill person. "All Bibles have it."
He turned to Caudis, shaking visibly. "Do you still doubt?"
The younger man shrugged and answered him shortly.
"So the messenger is a woman. God has spoken through women before. Caudis, look at this Book! Look at her cross! She isn't from here. And she's here, at the time the angel said to look for the messenger. She's the one."
"Uhh," said Kelly, "I'm sorry if this sounds dumb, but what 'one' are you talking about?"
The old man turned back to her, looking surprised and confused. "The messenger spoken of in the prophecy," he said, then quoted, "'Behold, one will come from the world where the Savior was born. That one will meet the faithful remnant at the place where the angel told the Good Story and take them back to the Savior's world. Then this world will end.' "
Kelly stared at him, too stunned to do anything else.
"What's wrong?" he asked, leaning down to look at her.
She shook her head mutely, her brain slowly starting to work again.
He went to one knee. "You never heard this prophecy before? Don't they share it in your…world?"
"N, no," she said at last. "Are you sure that I'm the right one?"
"You are here, at the time the angel said to look for you," he repeated simply.
"Okay so I'm the messenger." She swallowed tears. "Now could somebody please tell me how I ended up in the middle of the bush, when I was aiming at my front door?"
He blinked and ran a hand through his curly silver hair, glancing around as if looking for answers in the tree trunks. "You don't know how you got here." He said it softly, as though convincing himself.
She shook her head.
He sighed and sat down. “We didn’t see how you came. We heard you fall on the ground, as though you’d fallen out of a tree. You were…asleep? When we found you.”
“Unconscious,” she said absently. “I was unconscious when you found me. Yeah, I remember falling. But I only walked through the front door….”
She remembered the movie she’d seen and flinched. Oh, no way. You’re not going to tell me I just went through a door and ended up in a different world!
“Uh,” she looked up, “You guys don’t have a missing queen, do you?”
Both men looked totally blank.
“Never mind,” said Kelly, her mind spinning with questions. Okay, God, what am I supposed to do now? How do I get home? Mom and Dad are going to be frantic. And Cory….
The thought of her little brother looking for her, and his confusion and unhappiness at her being gone, was too much. She folded her arms across her chest and sobbed.
She heard an exclamation, then a large hand was laid gently on her shoulder. The unexpected friendly touch made her cry harder, the sobs wrenching themselves out painfully as she fought for control. How big is he going to be when I see him again, God?
After awhile she managed to stem the flood of grief, though her throat felt as though she’d swallowed an unshelled walnut
“I’m sorry,” she croaked, wiping her face.
“What for?” asked the old man. “Are you….”
She looked up and saw that he was struggling to find the word he needed. “I’m okay. Thank you.”
“Okay….” He seemed to be running the word over his tongue experimentally, then looked up and smiled sheepishly. “I’m sorry. It’s been a long time since I’ve used the language.”
She grinned back ruefully. “Don’t worry, I forget words sometimes, and I was born speaking English.”
“Yes….” His smile faded as he took his hand away. “You really had no idea of why you were here?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t even think other worlds existed.”
His eyes went round. “But can’t you see the night sky where you live? All those bright spots are suns, like ours.”
“Yeah, I knew that,” Kelly glanced upward and blinked at the little red sun that peered myopically through thick clouds. “But I didn’t think you could, like, just walk through a door and end up somewhere else. Things don’t work that way in the real world.”
He smiled, his eyes twinkling again. “But Who made the worlds?”
She frowned. “God did. He made everything.”
“Then can’t He work things however He wants? Did Philip have to walk to the next city after he baptized the Ethiopian treasurer?”
“No, he disappeared.” Kelly sagged. “But God never told me what I’m supposed to do here.”
“Yes He did. The prophecy is for your instruction too, it seems.”
“But I don’t know how to get back!” She looked around. “I don’t see any doors around here. How am I supposed to take anyone home, if I don’t even know where home is?”
He sighed. “You’re frightened and confused.”
“Wouldn't you be?” she said defensively, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Probably.” He said thoughtfully. “How old are you?”
She eyed him warily, but saw nothing in his craggy face and open gaze to suggest danger. “I’ll be seventeen in about a week.”
He gave her a startled look. “So young? No wonder. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She stared dully at a small fern poking out of the mossy ground, her mind still blanking out over the idea that she was really, really no longer on Earth.
“What’s your name?” rumbled the old man gently.
She glanced up. “Kelly-Lynn Parker. Most people just call me Kelly.”
The young man called Caudis frowned and said something that sounded like, “That’s not a name.”
Kelly scowled; starting to feel really annoyed with his constant arguing. “Well, it’s my name. Excuse me, but it doesn’t matter if you don’t like it. Yours sounds pretty silly to me, too.”
Caudis stared at her, then turned to the older man.
“She’s right,” he said. “Different places have different kinds of names, even here.” He turned back to Kelly. “My name is Dano.”
She raised one eyebrow. “Like Daniel, in the Bible…Book?”
“You mean the prophet mentioned in the Revelation?” He nodded, his smile widening. “Yes, I’m named for him.”
Then his face fell. “But I’m going to have trouble saying your name.”
“Why?” She frowned.
He looked at her thoughtfully, then sighed. “Kerry.”
“No, Kelly,” she corrected.
“That’s what I said.”
“No, you said Kerry. It’s a different name.” Then she realized that he said all his words with no ‘L’ sounds. “Oh.”
Dano nodded ruefully. “You see?”
“Yeah, well, it’s okay,” she said quickly. “You can call me Kerry.”
He smiled. “It’s a pretty name. A kerry is a bird that lives around here.”
She gave him a spooked look, images of the crystal birds from the movie coming to mind. “What kind of bird?”
He didn’t notice her expression. “It’s small, with a back like bright leaves, and a belt like this,” he pointed to her jacket. “It eats from flowers, and chases away bigger birds and animals. Its wings make a sound when it flies.”
“A hummingbird,” she said, feeling relieved.
Her stomach grumbled then, distracting her. “Um, could I have something to eat?”
Dano looked chagrined. “Yes. We didn’t bring very much.”
Because we thought we’d be eating somewhere else, Kelly finished the sentence to herself guiltily and wishing she could take them back right away. “That’s okay. I’m not picky.”
They gave her a piece of dry, flat, hard bread that tasted as though it was made with stale animal fat. She tried to choke it down, picking out the occasional little black spot with legs, then found the shock catching up with her. Unable to keep her eyes open, she asked God to protect her and bring her home, then lay down on the malodorous skin blanket and fell asleep.
When she woke up the sun gleamed weakly through a gap in the trees. Dano was sitting next to her, intently reading her Bible. Somewhere, some large creature roared. It was answered by a chorus of howls.
Kelly shivered, then sat up and looked around. “So now what?”
Dano closed the book and handed it back to her reluctantly. “What do you want to do?”
She shook her head, holding the Bible to her chest. “I don’t know. Wait, you said you didn’t have much food. Maybe we should get some more.”
“That’s a good idea.” He looked toward Caudis and spoke in their quick, slurred language, then glanced at Kelly and switched to English.
“We might be able to get something from Big Rock tomorrow. They’re usually willing to trade with strangers.”
Caudis looked eastward thoughtfully, then questioningly at Kelly. “Tgnastnootprtnedbra.”
Dano looked at her too, frowning.
“What’s that?” Kelly thought that a couple of the words sounded like English, but she’d thought that with French, too, and gotten in trouble.
“He said that you’re going to stand out.”
“Oh.” She looked down at her jacket and jeans. “That won’t be good?”
He shook his head. “People have a hard time trusting strangers that look and dress like them. Your clothes might frighten them.”
“Frighten them?” She frowned. “What do you mean? Why should my things be scary?”
“They might think they were made by… magic, I think is the right word. Using evil spirits.”
“Yeah, that’s magic.” She sighed. “But I don’t have anything to change into.”
Dano measured her with his eyes. “My shirt would make a …robe…for you. Do you think you could walk barefoot as far as the village?”
“Barefoot?” She looked at the ground thoughtfully. It looked pretty soft. “I can try.”
"Good. Now we should strengthen this. That lion sounded close." He stood and bent over the fire, working it back up to a tiny blaze.
Kelly got up too and came to crouch beside him. “Aren’t you going to make it bigger?”
He shook his head, feeding shreds of bark to the small flame. “If we make it too big it will attract blood bats.”
“Vampire bats? Euww!” She pulled her jacket closer and peered fearfully into the darkening treetops. "What other things are out there waiting to eat us?"
He glanced at her, frowning. Then his face cleared. "What other animals will eat people? Lions and dogs, and there are others like lions, only they hunt alone. Some of the pigs will sometimes kill people and eat them. But none of those will come near a fire.” He looked around at the deepening shadows, his voice dropping. “The villagers tell stories about evil things that aren't like normal animals, things that will attack even a well-lit village, but I've never seen any of them in all my traveling. Neither has Caudis."
"Boogy men." Kelly shuddered, imagining evil orcs and ghouls peering out of the shadows.
"Do you have things like that in your world?" He sat back on his heels and looked down at her.
"No.” She shook her head. “Not animals. People sometimes go nuts and start killing other people, though."
Caudis made a comment from the other side of the fire and Dano translated. "He says that that probably happens anywhere there are people."
"Probably," Kelly agreed, feeling her skin prickle at the thought. "Um, could we talk about something else?"
"Of course." He reached into a roughly-woven sack and pulled out a small piece of hard bread, broke it and offered her half. "Who taught your parents about God?"
"I think they both grew up knowing Him." Kelly's heart jumped into her throat as she caught sight of a dark shadow between two trees. "I know my grandparents are all Christian.”
“Your whole family are believers?” He looked at her in wonder.
“Yeah, except maybe for a couple of my cousins. My dad’s brother’s sons act pretty wild.” The shadow seemed to twitch and she bit her lip to suppress a squeak.
“Is your family large? Are there many of them in your village?” Dano held his bread close to the fire and examined it carefully.
“It’s average-sized.” Kelly watched him pick at the bread, then looked for the shadow. She couldn’t find it at first, but then saw it a little to the right of where she thought she’d seen it before. She shivered and turned to stare at it so it couldn’t move again. “Dad had a brother and a sister. Mom has a sister. But we don’t all live in the same city. Dad’s parents live in Vancouver, BC; Mom’s live in Edmonton, like us. My uncle’s dead. He was a trucker. My dad’s sister lives in Calgary. Mom’s sister married a farmer, they live in Saskatchewan.”
“City,” he said thoughtfully. “What’s the difference between a village and a city? My teacher could never tell me when I was a boy.”
“Cities have thousands of people. Villages have maybe a hundred.” The shadow had changed shape, she was sure of it.
He looked at her wide-eyed. “I know what a hundred is. Your villages have that many people in them? How do they all get to their fields?”
She glanced at him in surprise. “They aren’t farmers. Most farmers live right on their farms.”
“On their farms…. I think I’m going to have to wait till I see your world to try and understand it,” said Dano slowly, his forehead creased.
Kelly grinned in sympathy and looked around for the shadow.
She couldn’t find it.
“Uh, Dano,” she fought to keep the quaver out of her voice. “I was just, like, looking at this big shadow between those trees over there. But it’s not there anymore.”
He dropped his bread and shot a glance over his shoulder. Caudis stood quickly and peered past the firelight, holding a long spear in both hands.
“What did it look like?” Dano also stood, lifting a big club in one hand.
“Big, humpbacked. It stood still so long I thought it was just from the trees.” She pressed her hands together to stop them from shaking and prayed fervently.
“Not a leper.” He frowned and swung the club, turning in a slow circle.
Caudis sniffed the air. "Brun."
"I smell it." Dano moved closer to Kelly, putting himself between her and the trees. "It shouldn't attack when there are this many of us, even if it hasn’t eaten in a while.”
“Shdnbtsnrafir,” growled Caudis, digging the butt of his spear into the ground.
“Yes, they usually don’t come this close to a fire.” Dano nodded, turning his head from side to side.
Kelly peered into the darkness. "What is it?"
He shrugged. "Big and dirt-coloured, with little eyes and a nose like a dog's. They usually eat insects and small animals, but some of the males will hunt people."
"Bear," muttered Kelly. "That sounds like a grizzly bear."
"You have them in your world, too?" He leaned forward slightly, staring intently at a spot between two trees.
"Yeah, but there aren't very many left. People have killed most of them." Kelly felt a little sick. Where was the thing, anyway? She could smell it now, a rank odor, even stronger than the skin blanket. “Do you think we could scare it off by yelling at it?”
He shook his head. “If it was afraid of our voices it would have left already. And shouting could attract something else.”
Kelly picked up a stick of wood. It was small, but it was solid and felt better than nothing.
Dano stood for a few more minutes, then shook his head and turned away. “We have to sleep. I’ll stay awake first. Kerry-bird, you can use my coat again to sleep on. You should move here, near the fire. Caudis, you lay near her, so the flame protects both of you.”
“But, what about the bear?” Kelly frowned at him.
He shrugged. “If it attacks, I’ll wake you up and we can fight it off. But all of us don’t need to watch for it.”
She stared at him for a few minutes, then took the skin blanket from him and spread it out. Curled on her side, she stared into the darkness, the weirdness of the day washing over her like a tidal wave. God, is this all real? Am I dreaming? Have I gone crazy? She hid her face in her hands, shivering convulsively.
Dano shifted above her and she started. Please, don’t let that bear attack. I want to go home, to Mom and Dad, and Cory. And I want to take these guys back with me, if that’s really what You sent me here for. Please help Cory be okay without me. She blinked away tears and shut her eyes.

( ( (

She slept fitfully, tossing and turning on the rough hide, then woke sobbing from a dream where someone had been telling her that she could never go home and her little brother was going to grow up missing her.
“What is it, Kerry-bird?”
She looked up at Dano and saw his eyes crinkled with concern. Beside her, Caudis propped himself up on his elbow and looked at her solemnly.
She wiped at her face. “Just a dream.”
“A sad one,” he knelt beside her. “What happened?”
Kelly curled up and hugged her knees. “I dreamed I never got to see my baby brother again.”
He shook his head. “Don’t worry. The prophecy has been right so far. You’ll go home. Dreams are usually just foolishness.”
“I know.” She wiped her face again on the sleeve of her jacket. “But this is the first time I’ve been away from him since he was born. Sometimes he even wants to sleep with me at night.”
“You love him very much,” said Dano softly.
“Yeah.”
He patted her back. “You’ll see him again. Just be patient and trust.”
“Yeah.” A lump in her pocket pressed against her hipbone and she pulled out her mp3 player and looked at it dully. “I will. Sorry for waking you up, Caudis.”
He shrugged, still watching her quietly.
Dano patted her again and stood, looking out into the darkness. “Try to sleep, Kerry-bird. Morning is still far off.”
“Yeah.” She scratched at the edge of the name on the mp3 player with one nail, then pulled on the wire till she found the earphones. Putting them into her ears, she turned on the player and closed her eyes, the familiar lyrics of ‘Jesus Freak’ dispelling a little of the strangeness that surrounded her. Smiling faintly, she fell asleep.