Chapter 2

Over the Rainbow

Anthony awakened to the sight of dark green foliage. Towering trees whose tops were lost in a heavy gray mist blocked out all but a pallid light. The trees were close together and their trunks almost touched in some places. The thick, damp undergrowth pressed in. The woods had the silence of a forgotten grace, yet they exuded the feeling of an unsounded scream.

Anthony looked around before trying to get to his feet. He saw his friends coming to and rising as well. Quickly he counted them. Everyone was accounted for.

"Bizarre. Where the fuck are we?", Anthony muttered to himself.

Richard climbed to his feet and looked around. "We...are not in Kansas...anymore.", he said in his Rod Serling voice.

Travis rolled his eyes and helped Ryan to his feet. Kevin clutched at his rosary.

Rebecca turned around. "Alright. What the fuck is going on?", she shouted at Richard.

"What are you shouting at me for?", Richard whined.

"You're the one who knows about all this stuff.", Rebecca replied.

Richard thought for a moment, then it hit him. "SHIT! Shit shit shit shit shit!", he shouted, stomping around and cursing up a storm.

Kevin shouted sternly, "Richard!"

"You know what this means?", Richard said, ignoring Kevin. "I'll never get to see 'Return of the King!'"

"It's aliens isn't it. ISN'T IT!", Rebecca shouted out him, looking frazzled.

Richard stopped in mid-rant. "Aliens?", he said with a small voice. "I'll never get to see 'Aliens vs. Predator' either!", he moaned.

Rebecca looked like she was going to hit Richard with the umbrella. Travis came over and put a restraining hand on Rebecca's arm.

"All of you calm down!.", Kevin shouted.

Richard scrabbled through his pockets. "Oh no.", he said nervously, trying to calm down but failing. "My inhaler's gone."

Rebecca took a deep breath and pulled her arm away from Travis. Travis let her go and looked at Kevin.

"Now what?", the former linebacker asked.

"I don't really know.", Kevin replied.

Richard kept digging, hoping to find his inhaler. As he stepped back, he stepped in something mushy. He took a whiff and instantly knew what it was.

"This is why I didn't want to come back to Kansas!", Richard moaned and looked for some place to scrape his shoe off. "It's not aliens. It's the CIA. And I'll never get this stink out of my sock."

Ryan took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. A trickle of blood seeped from his nose. Richard stared at the blood.

"Bloo...", Richard began, then he fainted, falling into the same pile that he had just stepped in.

Ryan took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood away. "We need to find out where we...Damn it Richard.", he said as he saw his friend fall to the ground.

Kevin helped Richard up. "It was just a little blood, man.", he said.

"Oh, this is shaping up to be all sorts of fun.", Anthony though. But aloud he said, "Getting out of this forest is our first concern, I think."

Anthony glanced around and spotted the exhaust pipe of a vehicle nearby. "Hey, looks like there's a car over here."

"If this is because I downloaded the 'Anarchist's Cookbook'.", Richard began, speaking to no one in particular. "You need to know I have a Constitutionally protected right to…a car?"

Anthony started walking towards the tailpipe. Travis caught up with Anthony and the others followed behind. Pushing through the growth of the forest they found that the exhaust pipe belonged to what looked like the same truck that had come tearing at them moments ago. But the truck that they were looking at was a wreck. The front end had been wrapped around the thick trunk of one of the ancient trees. It wasn't going anywhere.

"Shit, that's a mess.", Travis exclaimed. "Quick give me a hand to see if the driver made it."

Travis and Anthony hurried forward to the truck's cab. Richard followed, hoping that there wouldn't be any blood. Behind the truck there were no signs of skid marks. It looked as though the truck had been there for years and that the forest had grown all around it. Anthony peered in through the broken front window. The first thing that he saw was that he was too late to save the occupants. Much too late. The skeletal remains of two people rested in the front of the truck. From their clothes Anthony guessed that one was a man and the other was a woman.

"Ummm, how did this truck get here?", Rebecca said, shivering.

"And when?", Anthony added.

"Looks like the driver and passenger have been dead for years.", Anthony remarked.

Richard glanced down at the license plate. The tax sticker on it said DEC 93.

"Nineteen ninety-three.", Richard said. "The year Irene vanished!"

"Okay, this is officially creepy.", Rebecca said.

Anthony looked over the truck, the damage was severe. It looked like it took the tree head on at high speed. There was no hope of fixing it. But something more occurred to Anthony. The make and model of the truck were the same as that of Irene's grandfather.

"This could well be Irene's grandparents' truck.", Anthony said. He looked around for another corpse inside but didn't find one. "In which case it looks as though Irene survived long enough to get out of the wreck."

Anthony shuddered at the thought of a young kid suddenly finding themselves alone in the middle of a forest, with their grandparents dead.

"Wait. Fuck! You're right.", Rebecca exclaimed. "Holy shit!"

Kevin cringed at Rebecca's language. Richard worked his way around to the passenger side window and inspected the remains. He recognized the dress that the woman was wearing. Irene's grandmother always used to where one like it.

"I've...never seen dead people before.", Richard said, staring at the corpses. "Let alone anyone I knew. She made the best toffee-chocolate chip cookies..."

Anthony pulled himself together, and headed towards the back of the truck. Rebecca passed him, walking around the truck with her jaw hanging open. She looked into the front seat.

"Ewww, gross.", Rebecca said, scrunching up her face.

"I remember once, sitting in the kitchen with Irene, with a huge plate of those cookies and glasses of milk.", Richard continued.

Ryan looked in the driver's side. He glanced over at Rebecca. "Maybe he still has his ID?", he asked.

But Rebecca didn't want to touch the body. "You can look.", she replied.

Kevin looked very uncomfortable at the idea of taking things from a corpse. "I don't know if that's such a good idea, Ryan.", he said.

"He won't mind, he's dead.", Richard replied.

"But Irene survived", Rebecca said, double checking the cab for the corpse of a little girl.

"Yeah, looks like it.", Anthony replied to Rebecca as he searched though the back of the truck. "Though for how long out in the open is another matter."

"She wouldn't last a minute out here without me.", Rebecca said to no one in particular.

"Irene!", Rebecca called out. "Irene!"

Rebecca's voice was muffled by the closeness of the trees. There was no response. Nothing but the sound of her own voice bouncing back off the trees.

"Hey, Richard, did that 'Anarchist's Cookbook' teach you how to open locks?", Anthony asked as he spied a locked box in the back of the pickup.

"Yes.", Richard said guiltily. "But my lock-pick is in the van."

"Oh, maybe Rebecca has a bobby-pin?", Anthony replied jokingly.

Richard didn't get it at first, then he snorted in laughter at the thought of the "Tomboy from Hell" having her hair pinned up all nice and proper. Then he got an idea and checked to see if the keys were still in the ignition of the truck. They were. He yanked them out and handed them to Anthony. Anthony flipped through them and soon found the one that fit the lock.

Richard stared back at the bones. "It's weird. I used to play catch with...it...him.", he said absently.

Richard shook his head and searched the body while Kevin stared at him wide eyed. Richard found a wallet on the corpse and opened it up. The ID inside read "Joseph McKendrick". It was Irene's grandfather.

"Jeez, show some respect for the dead.", Rebecca said.

"It's, it's him. Them.", Richard said. He turned as he spoke, catching disapproving looks from Kevin, Ryan, and Rebecca.

"Well, yeah...", Rebecca replied sarcastically.

"C'mon! He'd have wanted someone to find him, at least.", Richard said defensively. He turned to Kevin. "If it'll make you feel better, we can bury them and you can throw your ashes or dust or whatever-it-is."

Rebecca looked down and nodded. "Yeah, we should bury them or something.", she said.

Inside the case Anthony found a number of things. A pump action shotgun, a box of shells, a bolt action hunting rifle, a box of bullets, a box of magnesium road flares, two machetes, a tire iron and jack, a small tool set, a first aid kit and two blankets.

"Is there a shovel or something back there?", Rebecca asked.

Anthony looked around and found a collapsible entrenching tool in the tool kit. "Not exactly, but this'll do.", he said, tossing the tool the Rebecca.

"I should have brought my laptop. I had a survival manual on it.", Richard moaned. "My laptop! I'll probably never play 'Battlezone' again, either! And Dad wouldn't let me bring my cell phone, so we can't call for help."

"I've got a feeling you wouldn't be able to get a signal here.", Ryan sneered.

"Yeah. Jeez, take a chill pill, stupid-head.", Rebecca groaned at Richard. "We're going to find Irene and we're going to get back, okay?"

"Wherever here is.", Ryan answered back.

Rebecca went to find a place to dig a hole. Travis grabbed the tire iron and followed after her. Anthony looked over the firearms for rust and dirt. The case was watertight and the contents had held up well over the years. The action on the rifle caught a little but it looked functional. After taking note of the contents, he packed the case away again for the moment. Then headed back to front of the truck.

Rebecca found a place where the plant growth was a little thinner and started digging. The small shovel made it difficult work and Travis helped some by tearing at the soil with the spike end of the tire iron. Soon they made some progress but digging a sizeable hole was going to take a while.

"Umm, little help?", Rebecca called out to the others.

"With what?", Ryan asked.

"I'll take over if you want to rest.", Kevin replied.

Rebecca handed the shovel to Kevin and gave Ryan a dirty look. "Thanks.", she said to Kevin who smiled and started digging.

"Only another few weeks before the 'Two Towers' extended edition came out, too.", Richard mumbled to himself.

Anthony stared at the smashed engine. The hood was crumpled and the battery case was cracked. He looked under the truck at the fuel tank but it was empty. He went back to the things in the case, noting that both guns were loaded with a bullet in each chamber. Rebecca sat down next to him.

"Watcha got?", she asked curiously.

"Some essential stuff, if we're here for any length of time.", Anthony replied. "Wherever here is"

Anthony showed Rebecca the contents. He took out the machete and said, "This might help with the grave."

Rebecca picked up the rifle and started looking it over. Then she opened it up and began to take it apart as if she knew what she was doing.

"Still looks good.", Rebecca said as she grabbed a rag and started cleaning the rifle.

Richard stopped himself from making a snide remark, realizing that Rebecca was holding a weapon.

"You're obviously more familiar with guns than me.", Anthony replied. "I'll go see what I can do to help with the grave."

Anthony wandered over to the digging party with the machete as Rebecca cleaned up the guns.

"Anyone know what kind of trees these are? They don't look like anything in Kansas.", Richard asked. "They don't look like redwoods, either. Cedar...oak...ash... Maybe they're Ents?"

Richard walked over to one of the trees. "Hoom-harooom!", he bellowed.

Ryan raised an eyebrow at Richard. "If they start talking back, I'm getting out of here.", he said.

"You and me, both.", Richard replied. "But how do we get out?"

"Where's Tom Bombadil when you need him?", Ryan added.

"With our luck we'll get Gollum instead. Well, actually, we have Rebecca.", Richard said to Ryan's amusement.

Rebecca pumped the shotgun and then removed the cartridge in the chamber. "Grandpa McKendrick could have used a course on gun safety.", she said to herself, but loud enough for the others to hear. She put the boxes of ammunition into her purse and slung the rifle. Then she carried the shotgun back to the others.

Travis looked up from the hole and saw Rebecca with a pair of guns. He caught his breath and said, "Grandpa McKendrick always was the shoot first and ask questions after dinner type."

"Yeah.", Rebecca smiled. "I remember how he always used to jump whenever he heard a noise outside."

"It's a prowler!", Rebecca said, doing her best imitation of a paranoid old man.

Travis leaned against a tree and laughed. "I remember Irene told me about how she tried to sneak back in the house after curfew one time. I think she was out with you. Good thing old Joe had good eyes."

"Oh shit.", Rebecca smiled as she remembered. "When I saw him pointing this thing at me I almost peed in my pants."

The two enjoyed a good laugh for the first time all day.

"So.", Rebecca said holding the shotgun. "Who wants it?"

Travis reached for it. "Let's hope we don't have to use 'em.", he said.

"Hold your horses big guy.", Rebecca said holding the shotgun back. "I gotta show ya some things first."

Travis cocked his head to the side and grinned. "Like what?"

"Watch me. Safety's on, safety's off.", Rebecca said flicking a switch back and forth. "Cock it to load like this.", she pumped it once.

Travis stood back and listened, amazed at Rebecca's knowledge of guns.

"See, now here's the chamber and see that there's a cartridge in it.", Rebecca explained. "Point it at the target and put the butt up against your shoulder, like this. Now you're ready to rock-n-roll."

"I think I can handle it.", Travis replied. "Where'd you pick all this up, Becky?"

"My father.", Rebecca says. "I used to go hunting with my brothers. Ya learn this stuff."

Rebecca moved the cartridge from the chamber back into the magazine and handed Travis the shotgun.

Anthony headed back to truck. "Someone want to give me a hand getting gramps into the grave?", he asked.

Kevin folded up the trenching tool and walked to the truck. He looked sadly at the bodies inside. "Ashes to ashes." he said as he helped move the grandfather's corpse.

Anthony slid his hands under and behind the old man's corpse, lifting him from the seat. "One final resting place coming right up old man.", Anthony said as he carefully carried the body to the grave.

Rebecca watched the others and felt guilty for not helping out. "Oh alright.", she moaned as she went to help with Irene's grandmother. Rebecca lifted the old woman's corpse out of her seat. "Irene better thank me for this.", she mused.

Kevin helped Rebecca lower Irene's grandmother into the earth. Then Travis and Kevin refilled the hole.

"Father Langley?", Rebecca said teasingly.

Kevin stood over the grave. He bowed his head and spoke quietly, "Merciful Father, please accept these bright souls into your Kingdom and bless them with an end to pain and suffering. Please help us to find our way home again." He paused then added, "And please keep Irene safe until we're all together again. Amen."

"Fuckin-a.", Rebecca replied. "I mean, Amen."

Richard looked around uncomfortably during the prayer, then he smelled something nasty. Carefully he removed his coat.

"Awwww, man. I must have fallen into it when I fainted.", Richard said, looking at the stain. He took his coat over to a tree and started trying to scrape the dung off.

"What now?", Travis asked.

"Find Irene.", Rebecca said, filled with a sense of purpose.

"Anyone good at climbing trees?", Travis asked.

"Yeah.", Anthony replied. He looked around and spotted a tallish climbable tree. "Someone give me a leg up?"

Travis clasped his hands together and helped Anthony up the tree. Anthony hoisted himself up and started climbing slowly up the tree, testing branches for strength before committing his weight.

Richard frowned at his coat and the big wet spot on the back.

"At least it didn't soak through...oh.", Richard mused as he found a matching wet spot on the seat of his pants.

"You know...if it's still damp...it hasn't been here all that long. Days?", Richard said to no one in particular. Then he got worried that maybe a wolf had left it. "Umm, we could tell maybe what sort of animal it was by what's in the...poop."

Richard went back to the mashed pile and poked at it with a stick. "I downloaded a book on tracking a few months ago...never read it...", Richard mused as he looked at the poop. "Grass, looks like...no bones...herbivore?"

Richard turned to Rebecca, "You're the hunter, how big is deer poop?"

"How tall are you?", Rebecca asked innocently.

"Five-six.", Richard replied. Rebecca smiled at him. Then Richard got it.

"Hey! That's not funny.", Richard hissed.

Rebecca laughed. "Sucker.", she called out.

Travis grinned in appreciation.

Anthony kept climbing until the branches started to get too thin to risk going higher. Then he looked all around. The forest stretched out for miles and miles around him. In the moonlight he could see the roofs of a small village to what he figured was the northwest. To the north the land rose and became a fearsome mountain range. One peak in particular caught his eye. Rising high above the valley below was a castle of grand magnificence. Something about the way the sunlight played among the towering spires gave him an unreasoning feeling of dread. Anthony called down  to the others and described what he saw.

"So we head for the town then?", Ryan asked. Everyone nodded and Anthony scrambled back down.

They divided the contents of the case among them. Anthony took one machete and Richard picked up the other. Richard put the blade back into its scabbard and hooked it to his belt.

"I shall name thee...Sting.", Richard said happily. "I've got a sword fighting book."

"I almost joined the SCA.", Richard added, refraining from mentioning having seen "The Phantom Menace" seventeen times.

"Does that make anyone else uncomfortable?", Rebecca asked.

"Uh huh.", Travis said, nodding.

Richard didn't let it bother him now that he was a Jedi knight.