Part 3 (2/2)
He spared the breath to say, ”If they come back we'll be trapped.”
”No.”
She tugged him forward, and at the last moment, the rock wavered like a doorway in a science fiction movie. His next breath was a gasp as they walked through the rock-into another place he had never seen before. Or maybe he'd completely lost his marbles. Maybe his addled brain thought it was better to be somewhere else, anywhere else.
”Beam me up, Scotty,” he muttered.
”What?”
”Forget it,” he answered, as he looked around.
He understood the nuances of the Maryland woods. He knew the plants and animals in his environment because he spent so much time among them.
This landscape was completely unfamiliar. The hardwood forest was gone. In its place was a plain with charred tree stumps, bare dirt and what looked like buildings that had been badly damaged in a World War II bombing raid. A German city at the end of the war.
The buildings looked ghostly in the moonlight. And the air smelled rank and unhealthy. Not like the clean atmosphere of the forest they'd just left.
”Where are we?”
”My... country,” she answered in her oddly-accented voice.
And what country was that? Denmark? Sweden? She sounded vaguely like she might come from the far north of Europe.
”How did we get here?”
”Through a portal.”
”What happened to the buildings?”
”The wars. Stop asking questions. You need your strength for walking.”
He pressed his lips together and continued to look around at the grim landscape.
Rinna steadied him, but he knew he couldn't go any farther.
”Let me rest,” he gasped, striking out toward one of the buildings. At least it would afford him a little shelter.
”Yes. But only for a few minutes. I'll be right back.”
They crossed hard, packed ground. When they had pa.s.sed through a ruined doorway, she eased him down so that he was leaning against a half-destroyed wall. After giving him a critical look, she turned and trotted off. As she disappeared, he felt a jolt of panic.
From the other side of the building, he saw a flash of white. Blinking, he tried to figure out what it was, then finally realized it was a large white bird, taking flight. A hawk or an eagle. Nesting in one of the buildings?
Rinna must have frightened it.
He saw it rise high in the air, circling around the area where he was lying. Then it was gone, and he was alone again.
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