Cascadia by H. W. Buzz Bernard

Author:H. W. Buzz Bernard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BelleBooks Inc.
Published: 2019-05-17T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Warnings

Manzanita

Sunday, July 5

ROB LEFT LEWIS’S place and headed back to the beach house to roust Tim out of bed. Like most teenagers, Timothy loved to sleep in on his “days off,” which amounted to most of summer vacation. They needed to get over to the airstrip again, so if—when—the earthquake struck they could get the Skylane airborne as quickly as possible.

As Rob trudged through the loose gravel on the shoulder of the macadam road, he heard footsteps behind him. He stopped and turned.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to startle you,” Cassie said.

“You didn’t. Just kind of snuck up on me, I guess.”

They continued walking, and she fell in beside him, her lush red hair, as usual, tumbling from beneath a ball cap. And as usual, Rob had no clue as to how old she might be. She seemed . . . ageless.

“So today’s the day, I guess,” she said.

“What?” The question surprised him. How could anyone have picked up on that so rapidly?

“The TV satellite truck, it’s still here,” she said. “There’s not much reason for it to stick around except . . .” She stared at him, and he read a timeless wisdom in her eyes, and a thought as bizarre as his “vision” flashed through his mind.

“No,” he said slowly. “You didn’t need any physical clues to figure this out.” He stopped walking and faced her. “You know, don’t you?”

She shrugged. “Maybe I sense it, that’s all. I’m just a university researcher.”

“From Troy?”

“Yes.”

“In Alabama?”

“Everyone has to be from someplace.” She laughed. “Look, I just wanted to get in touch with you and say goodbye.”

“I thought you said you’d be around for a few weeks yet?”

“My work is finished. I need to get home.” She moved her gaze toward the ocean as though seeing something unseeable, then looked again at Rob. “You’ve done well, Dr. Elwood. You’ve stayed true to your principles and beliefs, spoke the truth in your prophecies, and weathered the curses.” She touched him lightly on the arm. “I know about curses.”

“How?”

“It comes with the territory.”

“What territory?”

“You’ll figure it out.” She stepped away from him. “I need to get going. Don’t wanna get caught in a tsunami.”

The sudden yapping of a large dog in a nearby yard drew Rob’s attention from Cassie. When he turned back to say goodbye, she was gone. He caught a glimpse of her lithe figure fading into a soft ocean haze as she walked toward Laneda. He tracked her visually until she turned a corner, heading up Laneda toward 101.

Yes, I figured it out. I know who you are. But I don’t believe it.

More dogs joined the initial yapper. Then yowling cats. Their barks and cries melded quickly into an urgent chorus of concern filling the morning.

Rob broke into a sprint toward the beach house.

Cannon Beach

JONATHAN STARED into the opening he’d hacked out in the lid of the chest. His breathing became rapid and shallow, pure excitement. Zurry looked from the box to Jonathan and back again, puzzled, obviously not understanding his master’s exhilaration.

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