It’s a Small Uber World After All
Chapter Sixteen
Sam Ruskin and Archangel
“Sopping wet, thanks to you!” Dean fumed.
Never one to miss an opening, Randi replied with her brows crinkled and a grin snaking its way across her striking features. “Hey! I just got here. We haven’t even been properly introduced. What kind of girl do you think I am?” Randi flashed a bright smile, making a point of looking over at her partner. “Now Ginni, pay no attention to the woman on the curb.”
Dean narrowed her blue eyes and considered a response as she studied the woman before her. Katie tightened her hold on the tense muscles in Dean’s upper arm, watching her carefully and speaking softly. The words never quite reached Dean’s ears. She was totally focused on the woman before her.
Randi finished removing her polished black helmet with the smoked visor, allowing her hair to fall freely for the first time in hours. She casually stretched her long arms high above her head and then pulled her head and neck slowly to each side, twisting slightly with each carefully choreographed movement. Dull popping sounds could be heard from inside the old and well worn, black leather Bomber jacket. Completely aware she was being scrutinized, Randi enjoyed the little dance. She wore stonewashed denim blue jeans and an emerald green sleeveless turtleneck beneath the jacket, which she unzipped but didn’t take off. The black eel-skin boots completed the look as well as the journey Dean’s eyes were taking.
“Nice jacket,” Dean mumbled.
It was elephant hide and Randi had inherited it from her Daddy. Ginni smiled knowing that the small phrase would go a long way.
“Thanks.” Randi smiled. “So,” she said, “they holding the BardCon out here on the streets this year?” It was a cheeky grin, one of her finest, and Dean was not immune to its charm.
Rolling her eyes and shaking off the remains of the mud puddle, Dean laughed. “Don’t give them any ideas.”
Katie released Dean’s arm. “How was your trip?”
“Exhilarating,” answered Randi. “Nice ride. Not as nice as my Indian Scout but not bad for a loaner.”
Dean couldn’t help herself. It was automatic. She glanced down at the Harley. It was almost a reflex action and when she realized she had done it, she laughed. Then it hit her what Randi had said. “Loaner? This isn’t your bike?”
“Nope,” answered Randi as she unhooked their bag. “They didn’t have the color I wanted in the new Scouts so I had to have her painted. Ginni wanted to see how this one rode so we took it as a loaner. Besides, they don’t loan the Indians. Bummer, huh?”
Dean laughed again. Katie introduced everyone and suggested they head inside to get Randi and Ginni checked in and settled into their room. As they moved toward the entrance Katie tapped Ginni’s elbow, a concerned look on her face.
“What’s up?” asked the writer.
“Um.” Katie stammered a bit, unsure how best to approach the subject at hand. “Um. Well. I don’t think they will let you take a cat in there.”
Dean scrunched her face up and shook her head slightly. She quickly looked around again just to be certain she had not missed something important. “Cat? What cat?” she asked.
“That cat,” Katie said as she pointed toward the backpack Ginni now wore. The backpack which now appeared to NOT have a white cat peeking out of it. “Huh?” Katie looked at the bag again. When she didn’t see the fluffy white head sticking out like it was before, she reached over and lifted the flap. Nothing. The bag was almost completely empty.
“Damn,” she muttered. “I could have sworn I saw a cat. A very large, white cat.”
Dean laughed. “Well at least it wasn’t a black one. With all the thunder storms we’ve been getting that’s all we need.”
Ginni and Randi exchanged a look and then both women shrugged, silently.
“Actually,” Ginni soothed. “You’d be surprised how often that happens to us.”
“Yeah,” Randi added. “Maybe it’s a ghost cat.” She smirked in the direction of a very unamused Ginni who quietly glared at her.
“Ghost cat.” Dean laughed. “Now that is funny.”
“Oh yeah,” quipped Katie. “You’re a laugh a minute, you are. Not.”
Everyone laughed.
************
Stepping off the elevator, Randi couldn’t help noticing the similarities between many of the women.
“Damn!” She remarked loudly. “Are they all twins?”
Ginni smiled and nudged her partner toward the huge mirror hanging on the wall. Turning Randi to face the cold glass, she waited.
“Oh.” It was all the taller woman said but the others in the small group laughed. “What?” What!”
“Never mind Sweetheart.” Ginni moved them toward the room as a familiar voice from deep inside reminded her they were here for a reason.
************
Katie, Dean, Colleen and Tracy walked Randi and Ginni to their room, exchanged room numbers, email addys and cell numbers with them and headed back out toward their original destination: Epcot. The group agreed to get together later when Dean promised to introduce Randi to Josie and Rebecca. She had told Randi all about Josie’s pistols and the musician could hardly wait to see them.
Rebecca and Josie sounded like they might be just the people Randi and Ginni had come to see. At least, thought Randi, they fit the description Miranda and Virginia gave us. Thank goodness she told us more about them than the color of their hair and eyes or that one was tall while the other was…not.
“What are you grinning about?” asked Ginni as she unpacked their small bag.
“Nothing,” she snickered. “I was just thinking how appreciative I am of the way Miranda and Virginia described the women we were sent here to find.”
Ginni looked up from where she was connecting her laptop. “Oh,” she smiled. “You mean you’re glad they didn’t say: Look for a tall brunette and a short blonde?”
“Something like that,” Randi laughed.
“Well, just be glad we couldn’t get here until today and managed to avoid the day of Roller Coaster Hell they told us about.” Ginni groaned. She hated roller coasters with a passion.
Randi laughed heartily. “Oh, I dunno. I kinda like it when you get all green around the gills.” Noticing the furrowed blonde brows of her partner she moved on quickly. “There was no way we could make it here any sooner. As it was, we had to flake out on that business dinner last night and I have no doubt we will be hearing about that. The boss probably already has our answering machine tape filled to overflowing with expletives. Not that I care, mind you. I do wish Miranda and Virginia had been a little less cryptic with this one, though.”
Ginni nodded. “I know. And what’s with the damn thunderstorms this time? I’m beginning to feel like flipping Brun Hilda the way the damned skies open up every time we show up anywhere.”
Miranda and Virginia often visited Randi and Ginni now that they had been freed from Magnolia Manor. The four women seemed to have formed a unique bond because Ghost, Miranda’s cat, now had the uncanny and often irritating ability to flit from one couple to the other without regard to planes of existence. Or so it seemed to Randi, who was forever tripping over the large white cat. When Miranda and Virginia appeared it was for a very specific purpose and, often, it had more than a little to do with matters of life and death. Ginni took this aspect of the visits all in stride. Randi still found it disconcerting, to say the least.
Virginia tried her best not to be amused at the way Randi still jumped when she and Miranda appeared. But it was difficult not to at least smile when the tall woman nearly leaped from her skin. Miranda, on the other hand, had no such compunctions.
“Jesus!” shouted Randi as she jumped several feet into the air from where she had been sitting on the bed.
“Sorry Randi,” Virginia soothed while Miranda laughed so loud it was a wonder the front desk didn’t call and tell them to tone it down some.
“Jesus!!” Randi repeated as her heart rate struggled to return to normal. “I wish you wouldn’t do that,” she grumbled.
Ginni chewed the inside of her cheek, forcing down the snicker. “Hello Virginia, Miranda. Maybe you really should find some way to warn us…I mean, alert us… before you just pop in like this.”
“You had it right the first time.” Randi growled. “For heaven’s sake, you scared the shit out of me, Miranda. Can’t you guys ring a fucking bell or something. I know I saw a movie once about a goddamn bell.”
Miranda rolled her blue eyes. “Even I know that was an angel, Randi. Lord, Ginni. You really got to take this girl to movies more often. Why just last week I seen where they play that one all the time on that box ya got over there.”
Ghost sauntered in from the bathroom and leaped into Randi’s lap.
“Well, I’ll be horn swoggled. Virginia! That cat went to her first. Did you see that? MY cat went to her first!!”
“Yes dear.” Virginia smiled. “Ghost is quite taken with young Randi. I think you best be a bit nicer to her if you don’t want to anger your favorite feline.”
“Posh!” Miranda shook her head and shrugged her strong shoulders. “That cat’s been with me for a lot longer than…” she stopped mid sentence. Ghost was now nuzzling Randi’s chin and purring so loudly it could be heard across the room. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
“No doubt,” quipped Randi.
“Now you listen to me you little....”
“Who you calling little, ya big....”
The sigh filled the room and crossed the generations. Four arms folded across two chests while four feet tapped a well-known rhythm.
“Uh oh.” The reply was as synchronized as the actions that inspired it. “Sorry.” One word - spoken in perfect harmony.
“Maybe you should just tell us why we’re really here. I’m guessing that is why you came. Right?” Ginni asked.
“Wait!” Randi cried out. Let me close the curtains so the lightening and thunder doesn’t scare Ghost.”
“Very funny,” Miranda mumbled. “The weather is outside our jurisdiction, Miss Smarty Pants.”
“All right you two. Knock it off with the sparring,” warned Virginia.
Ghost looked at Miranda and suddenly she had an armful of purring, nuzzling fluff. It was a most effective distraction from the current flow of conversation.
“As you know,” Virginia began things. “We are in a very peculiar situation in that, for some reason even we don’t understand yet, we are able to talk with people who are alive as well as folks who have passed on. Not long ago we learned that we also have the ability to know the future. Well, not the future exactly. Well, it is the future as it might be..as it will be if something isn’t done….or if something is done…oh hell, Miranda. You explain it.”
Ginny sat down on the edge of the large bed and let out a sound somewhere between a sigh and a whine. Randi didn’t know whether to laugh or hug her. She settled for putting an arm around the small shoulders, never missing the crystal eyes that watched every movement.
“I will try,” promised Miranda. “But it is all still a little fuzzy to me too.”
“Well someone explain it,” cried Ginni. “Preferably before time to meet everyone for dinner,” she said pointedly.
“Just try Miranda.” Virginia pleaded. “They will understand. They have to.”
“Great,” Randi quipped. “More cryptic shit.”
************
While Dean and the others were off having fun at Epcot, Miranda and Virginia explained to Randi and Ginni that something very important had to be done. An action had to be corrected. One small, gold pocket watch had been lost. The owner had not even noticed it was missing yet. Thunder was heard in the distance, startling the women. Miranda and Virginia looked out the window and then at one another. Concern showed clearly on their faces as they returned to the story of why Randi and Ginni had been asked to come to Orlando. It all kept coming back to the watch.
This particular timepiece, they explained, was not extraordinary because of what it was but, rather, because of what it would do. The problem was that if the watch were not in precisely the right place, at exactly the right time, the entire world would change. Even something called the Xenaverse, no - especially the Xenaverse, would be forever altered. There was even the possibility it would cease to exist.
“On the other side,” Miranda explained, “time has no presence. Those who left the earthly plane yesterday mingle equally with those who left it thousands of years ago.”
“That must get very interesting,” quipped Randi.
“It does,” Miranda agreed. “And very busy.” She added. “Everyone has a job to do and it usually has something to do with those who are still on the earth. Sometimes it concerns those who are yet to come here; especially if they are related by either blood or spirit.”
“Related by spirit?” Ginni asked.
“Oh yes,” answered Virginia. “The spirit links far more of us that blood ever could. Haven’t you noticed how many of the women here this weekend are spirit descendants of the warrior you call Xena or her friend Gabrielle? Gabrielle and Xena never dreamed that the things they did would even be remembered beyond the amazons or a few small villages. Of course they do laugh at the way some of their adventures have been exaggerated and stretched all out of proportion to reality. Still, they are very proud of what their modern day Amazon sisters do in the name of the greater good. They care very much what happens to what they consider to be the extension of their line, their children.”
“Xena thinks of us as her children,” marveled Ginni.
“Xena is real?” Randi half-asked in a hushed voice.
Miranda nodded.
“No shit.” Randi sat down and blinked her eyes as if to clear her mind and make room for this new information. “No shit,” she repeated.
Virginia pulled a chair over to the bed and sat down, facing the others. “Funny, isn’t it? All these women working so hard at looking like her and you still believe in your deepest hearts that she and Gabrielle are only fiction. Unbelievable,” she sighed.
“She selected you personally, you know?” Miranda was looking right at Randi.
“What do you mean, she selected me personally? Selected me for what? Wait! You have MET Xena?”
“Yes.” Miranda answered. “How else could she have sent us to give you the message?”
“Message?” questioned Ginni. “What message? I thought we were here to help
someone find a watch or something.”
Virginia laughed. “You thought we came back just to ask you to find a watch? Ginni, I’m surprised at you. Haven’t you noticed all the thunder and lightening every time we show up?”
“Yeah,” Randi interrupted. “What the hell is with the rain anyway?”
“It’s Josie and Rebecca.” Virginia explained. “They do not belong in this time period. They are from the era in which we lived. Josie had no idea that crossing time barriers could create problems no one can ever rectify if she is not very careful.”
“Careful how? What kind of problems? What do you mean, no one can ever rectify? What about the angels you mentioned earlier? I thought angels could fix anything.” Randi nervously insisted.
Miranda rolled her eyes at the musician. “Hardly. Angels have rules too.”
“Angels have rules too? Well shit. There goes another perfectly good fantasy shot to hell.” Randi laughed.
Ginni grinned. “Okay. I take it we’ve been sent here to help Josie and Rebecca, right? Why are we here, then? We should be out finding Josie. Or are we just supposed to find her watch and return it to her?”
“Josie doesn’t know she’s lost the watch yet. She always wears it in the same, inside breast pocket. Since it warmed up so much today she isn’t wearing her jacket and in all the excitement of Disney World and BardCon she has completely forgotten about the watch. In fact, Rebecca bought her a new watch she wears on her wrist now.” Virginia explained.
Miranda continued for her. “It is absolutely essential that Josie not only have her watch when she returns to her own time in two days but she must be wearing it in her left breast pocket.”
A loud crash of thunder rocked the room.
Miranda and Virginia exchanged looks and Ghost lifted the hair on his back.
“We must go,” Miranda whispered in a hoarse voice. “Just remember that Josie has to find her watch and put it on, exactly as she has always worn it. This must be done before she returns to her own time.”
Virginia added as they began to fade from view. “And no, Randi. You cannot just buy her another gold pocket watch. It has to be that pocket watch in that pocket. Remember, you are the spirit children of Xena and Gabrielle. We are all counting on you.”
Another flash of lightening and they were gone, leaving Randi and Ginni to stare at one another, stunned into momentary silence.
************
After spending better than an hour bantering back and forth about where to have dinner, it was finally decided they would stick with a simpler, less costly fare this time around. They all had a pre-planned dinner to attend the next night that was much more formal and probably a lot more expensive. Pizza, burgers, chicken wings and the like had emerged victorious once again. They descended on a local restaurant en masse and placed a huge to go order, which they had agreed to take back to Josie and Rebecca’s room where they would kick back and get to know one another. Naturally, Randi and Ginni hoped to find a way to let Josie know her watch was missing.
“Yeah,” Katie was explaining, “the dreams are so intense I wake up in a cold sweat. My muscles are so tensed up I’m sore for days afterwards. They started right around the time of 911 but don’t really seem to have anything to do with terrorism or New York or anything even remotely related. Weird, huh?” she asked Randi and Ginni.
“Hey, don’t forget to tell them how I keep having the same damn dreams!” Dean added. “Some kinda weird shit, huh?” she asked.
Randi looked at Ginni’s dark blue eyes, searching for a clue as to what she should or should not say. Ginni shrugged, trying to figure out some way of interjecting a comment about a gold pocket watch. She was usually so much faster on her feet than this. Must be all the damned electricity from the lightening, she silently joked.
“Well,” Randi answered. “I think weird is a matter of interpretation. Ginni and I have the same dreams all the time. Hell, we talk to spirits and have a fucking feline the size of a small bobcat who can’t decide if he’s dead or not. What’s in the dreams? Can you remember anything about them?”
“Speaking of dead cats....”
“Dean!” Katie shouted.
“Hey! She started it!”
Randi howled. “Ghost ain’t dead. He’s just…well….ghost…ly.”
Ginni rolled her eyes and smacked Randi on her upper arm. “Randi! You’ll have them thinking we’re nuts.”
“That’d make us a great team. Weird and Nuts. Sounds like a Broadway Play.” Randi offered.
“Or a candy bar,” Dean added.
“So,” Ginni interceded. “Do you remember anything about the dreams?”
“Yes, actually.” Katie explained. “There are these four women in the dream and they are trying to tell me something but no matter how carefully I listen I can’t hear what they are saying. They act like they are getting louder each time I have the dream but no sound ever comes out of their mouths.”
“Interesting.” Ginni thought. “Do you remember anything about the women or where you are in the dream?”
Dean responded. “I do. We’re in an old west saloon and two of the women looked a lot like you and Randi, now that I think about it. Only older. Maybe from around the civil war or something. Speaking of the old west….Randi, you seen Josie’s guns?”
“No, I haven’t,” Randi answered. “But I’d love to. Would you mind Josie?” Randi asked.
“Not at all. I took them out of the safe earlier when Rebecca reminded me to check to see if I had put my pocket watch in there the other night. I didn’t.” Josie had walked across the room, picked up the guns and belt and returned. “Dean, you didn’t see where I put my pocket watch didja? I don’t usually go anywhere without the dang thing. I feel kinda naked without it when I wear my coat. Oh well. It’ll turn up. Always does.”
Randi could hardly believe her good fortune. Now she could help Josie find her watch and they would be all set.
Ginni was thrilled beyond imagination when Katie told her the rest of the recurring dream. It was so obvious. Miranda and Virginia had been trying to reach Dean and Katie to stop Josie from losing the watch in the first place. Xena and Gabrielle seemed to believe that Josie was going to be in a shoot out when she returned to her own time, just after midnight two days from now. One of the bullets would be deflected by the edge of the watch. As a result, Josie would be injured but survive. If she didn’t have the watch in her pocket, at precisely that moment, the bullet would hit its mark. Josie would die.
Without Josie none of those she would touch with the spirit of Xena would discover the warrior and bard. None of the good destined to be done by Josie after that moment would ever come to pass. It was terrifyingly amazing if you thought about how many lives are affected by any one moment of any one life. No wonder Miranda and Virginia had asked them to do this. It boggled Ginni’s mind that so much could hinge on one missing gold pocket watch.
There was a loud crashing sound followed by what sounded like an explosion and everything went black. The lights flickered and another set of lights, dimmer and wearing an odd hue, came on.
“Oh shit,” Randi whispered. “I bet we’ve been hit by lightening.
“No shit?” Dean asked.
“Is anyone hurt?” Josie wondered aloud.
No one answered at first. Gradually everyone answered that they were fine, just startled. Everyone, that is, but Rebecca, who couldn’t answer. She was lying unconscious on the floor only seven feet from where Josie sat with her eyes adjusting to the darkness which was interrupted periodically by flashes of lightening as it streaked across the Florida sky.
“Rebecca?” Josie called out again and again.
“She’s over here,” Katie said. “Someone see if the phones are working. She’s unconscious. I think she may have fallen on something and hit her head. I can’t tell yet. It’s too damn dark in here.” Hearing the panic in Josie’s breathing, Katie added: “She’s breathing Josie. Just someone find a doctor. Now.”
************
None of the telephones in the hotel were working. The thunderstorm had knocked out a power line about four blocks from the hotel. Everything had been shut down automatically, as a safety precaution. The clerk at the main desk had sent runners to every floor to assess the damage and see if any of the patrons were hurt. That was the moving wall Katie had encountered on her rush toward the stairs and help.
“You all right, Miss?” asked the bellhop.
“No. Yes. No.” Answered Katie. “I mean, I’m fine but my friend is hurt. She’s unconscious and we need a doctor right away.”
“Well, I’ll go downstairs and check with the desk to see if we have any doctors in the hotel. It will be a while before we can call out, I’m afraid.” The young man replied as he started back the way he had come.
“That won’t be necessary,” came the strong and soothing female voice from a few yards away. The fog-like atmosphere generated by the emergency lighting created an eerie shadow around the two figures as they moved into the hallway. “I’m a doctor, a flight surgeon actually. Maybe I can help.”
“Yes. Thank God.” Katie shouted as she dashed toward the voice. “My friend is hurt. We’re just down the hall about five doors on the left. Hurry please. My name is Katie.”
“Hi Katie. I’m Garrett Trivoli and this is my flight nurse, Danni Bossard. Lead the way.”
“Garrett? Isn’t that a man’s name?” asked Katie as they rushed toward her fallen friend.
Danni grinned so brightly it was a wonder it didn’t solve the lighting problem all by itself.
“Don’t start,” growled Dr. Garrett Trivoli. “Just don’t even start.”
To be continued in Chapter 17 ....