Текст книги "Grantville Gazette 45"

Автор книги: Paula Goodlett

Соавторы: Kerryn Offord,Enrico Toro,Terry Howard,David Carrico,Griffin Barber,Rainer Prem,Caroline Palmer
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Текущая страница: 10 (всего у книги 15 страниц)

Inevitably the day to leave came. The entire town turned out, lining the shore, the soldiers had to keep them off the pier for fear it would collapse beneath their weight. Pam made a point of walking slowly down the boardwalk, shaking every hand offered. Swedish, Dutch, German, French, Japanese-they had come from many lands, but now they were all Wonderlanders, just like her. At the end of the line Harmannus and Lijss waited, their eyes full of tears as they said their farewells. Pam was having a hard time maintaining her composure, the out-flowing of love from her people was overwhelming, like too much of a fine wine; she felt dizzy. At last, she stepped onto the pier and was escorted by the town guard, wearing spiffy new blue uniforms, out to her waiting ship. Pers and Dorothea waited there, Pam hugged them both and gave them her blessings. They were as much her children as those she had left in Grantville.

"Come back, Momma Pam, okay?" Pers said to her softly, embracing her in his strong arms without any of his former shyness.

"I will, Pers, I promise. I love you, son, and I will think of you every day. I expect you and Dorothea to take care of things for me while I'm gone, right?"

"You got it." Pers wanted to say more, but the words were tangled in his throat.Pam shushed him, and pulled him down to a height where she could kiss him on the cheek, then gently pushed him back into the waiting arms of his lover.

Doctor Durand stepped up to her, his face as long as a bloodhound's.

"So, have you decided, Doctor? Are you staying or coming with me?"

"Yes Pam, I intend to stay. These people need me."

"I'm glad. I'll feel better knowing you are here with them. I really do consider you one of my best friends, you know."

"And I you, dear Pam." the doctor bowed deeply, perhaps hoping to hide his tears behind the wide brim of his fancy French hat. Pam grabbed him by the arms and hugged him, an embrace which he returned, patting her gingerly on the back.

Next came the sailors and marines who had been under her command, but intended to remain on duty in Wonderland, lined up at attention. Pam thanked them one by one, shaking their hands, and telling them how lucky she was to have had such brave men at her side. For a bunch of tough seamen, there was quite a bit of moisture around the eyes. At the end of the line she came to Captain Lundkvist and Flotilla Admiral Engstrom. They both saluted her, their faces stony as they tried to hide their feelings with military pride.

"You know, you guys don't have to salute me. I'm not governor any more, just crazy old Captain Pam." she told them.

"It doesn't matter," Lundkvist said. "I would follow you to the ends of the Earth if you asked it."

"I know you would, my dear, dear friend. I wouldn't go without you."

She took his hands, and held them tightly for a long moment, not wanting to embarrass her chief officer with a hug.

"As would I," Engstrom added, his voice freighted with emotion. "You have done great things here, Pam Miller, great things. The crown owes you more than it can ever pay."

"You saying so is payment enough, Gun," she said, taking his hands next. They were strong, and rough, yet trembled slightly. "I am so proud to have served with you, with you all. It has been the greatest experience of my life. I thank you."

She saluted them both, and turned to the gangway before her own tears let loose, making it hard to see where she was going. Gerbald and Dore waited for her at the rail, each taking an arm as they helped guide her up to the castle deck where the bosun and Torbjorn waited.

"Ready to go, Captain?Torbjorn asked her, taking her hand in loving support.

"Aye, First Mate, let's blow this town." She wiped her eyes on a sleeve of her favorite blue and gold Chinese coat, and turned to her waiting crew. In her best captain's voice, she bawled out, "Make sail, men, time's-a-wasting! Get the lead out!" The bosun gave her a wide, yellow-toothed grin and began barking orders, while the men of the Second Chance Birdbent to their tasks, happy to be going to sea again. Pam turned and waved at the crowd as they followed Muskijlout of the harbor-she would escort them as far as the southern tip of the island. The sound of cheering faded into the distance as Pam took one last look at Port Looking Glass, reflected perfectly in the mirror bright waters of her harbor.

"I'll be back again my friends, count on me," she whispered, then turned her face into the stiff ocean breeze that blew beyond the bay, inhaling the salt air deeply, as if it were the scent of roses on the bloom.

Chapter Seventy-Two: Precious Cargo

Pam and her crew grew somber as they sailed around the rocky headland where the Redbirdhad gone down. They all doffed their hats, standing in a moment of silence for those who had been lost that terrible day. Pam had brought along a bouquet of beautiful native blooms. She threw it into the aquamarine sea when she thought they might be over the final resting place of her lost ship. Pam didn't know whether to cry, or whoop with joy as they pulled into the cove that had been their castaway home for so many months. They would stop here to take on the last of their cargo, the most important export of all: live dodos.

Most of their convoy would simply wait at anchor while Pam went ashore with a group of her sailors and marines. The bosun remained on board with a skeleton crew to mind the ship. Dore stayed behind, too, having no interest in revisiting their former refuge.

"I have seen enough of that God-forsaken beach to last a life time!" she told them, arms crossed in disgust at the very sight of it.

"We will bring you back some coconuts, my dear!" Gerbald told her, which made Pam let out a very un-ladylike snorting laugh. None of the marooned would ever relish that fruit again! Dore just rolled her eyes, with her trademark disdain.

"You two go enjoy your foolishness. Just be careful, and come back soon!" She gave them both a quick peck on the cheek before descending back to her galley, head held high with pride.

When the longboat skidded onto the familiar white sands, Pam was the first to jump ashore.Torbjorn followed her, and she took his hand.

"You've never been here before, Lover. You missed out on the whole castaway experience. Come on, I have to show you something." As they walked down the strand Pam picked a few wildflowers along the way.

After a while, they came to the small hill that served as their cemetery. Pam put flowers on the graves while Torbjorn recited a sailor's prayer in Swedish. They bowed their heads for a few minutes, remembering their missing friends, then Pam led him over to one of the wooden grave markers, weathered by the elements, but still readable. She silently vowed to put up a permanent stone monument here as soon as it could be done. With a spooky grin, she pointed dramatically at the marker in grand Ghost-of-Christmas-Future-style.

"The reports of your death were somewhat exaggerated," she said with a strong drawl. "You are a regular Mark Twain."

"I'm not sure who that was, but that's myname on there! I didn't even know I was sick!" he said, bending down to marvel at the sight. They shared a short, bittersweet laugh, and embraced.

"You did a nice job, Pam, it's a lovely bit of painting."

"I missed you a lot, you big oaf. I had already fallen for you even back then. I can't tell you how glad I am to have you here, alive and well."

"I can very much say, me too! Thank you, my Pam." He pulled her gently into a passionate kiss.

After a long, blissful while they parted. Pam cocked her head at him with a sly look on her face.

"Want to see my bungalow? We could take a little rest there, if you like."

"Oh, definitely, but I have a feeling we won't be getting much rest."

"No, we'll be busy. Come on." Pam felt giddy, it was like being back at a favorite summer camp, and this time she had a hunky boyfriend, to boot!

The camp had weathered its abandonment quite well. The stranded sailors, with nothing else to do, had built to last. Now they were busy sprucing it all up again. Pers and Dorothea intended to make the place a permanent research station, and would be coming to stay in the next few weeks. While the sailors worked on that project, Gerbald and Pam went looking for their old friends, the dodos. The trails were a bit overgrown, but Gerbald's katzbalgershortsword made a fine machete, and soon they were making the gentle climb up forested slopes into the mountainous interior.

Finding the dodos was, of course, key to the mission, and they would take as long as they needed. Pam had been adamant on not capturing any of the birds living near Port Looking Glass. An effort had been made to keep those populations wild, despite their lack of natural fear, but the flock here had grown used to humans, and were accustomed to getting handouts, something Pam was counting on. She carried a hefty sack-full of treats for them, enough to lure them back to the beach and the waiting travel cages. She hated to do it, but had no choice. Besides, it was undoubtedly for the best to not keep all her dodo eggs in one basket. A population in far-away Europe would ensure the species' ongoing survival, even if the Wonderlanders somehow failed in their stewardship.

After an hour or so, they were rewarded with the sound of deep, throaty coos. Coming into a clearing, they found a small group of the birds, several mothers and their half-grown chicks. The older birds stared at Pam with their disconcerting yellow eyes. Could that be recognition? She was certain she had seen them before. There were small variations in each individual, and she knew these hens had been amongst her pets back at the beach camp.

"Hey girls, remember me? I got goodies!" She held out a handful of choice nuts. The dodos let out squawks of pleasure, and rushed over to her, nearly knocking her down with their enthusiasm. They were bigbirds! Gerbald rescued her, carefully shoving them back.

"They haven't forgotten their favorite food source!" he said, laughing.

Pam scattered the nuts on the ground and laughed along as the hens gobbled them up, soon joined by their children.

They spent the rest of the afternoon playing Pied Piper, moving through the forest until they had a flock of some thirty dodos following them, including enough males to ensure a breeding population.

"Come along kiddies, it's time to go down to the beach! You get to go on a boat ride!" Pam called out gaily, making Gerbald grin happily at seeing his friend acting silly for a change; it had been too long. The demands of her office had been great, now Pam was free to just be "The Bird Lady" again.

Capturing the dodos for transport was fairly easy, just a matter of leaving a trail of breadcrumbs up the gangways into the longboats parked on the beach. They were placed by twos and threes into temporary travel cages made of bamboo, from which they would be transferred to the special travel pen Pam had designed for the main cargo hold of the junk.

The very last dodo, a rather cantankerous older male, decided suddenly that he didn't want to go along with the rest, and began making a fuss, clucking his displeasure and trying to back out of the cage. Pam grimaced at him, and with as much gentleness as she could, firmly placed her leather boot in his rump just below his fluffy tail, and shoved him back in. Gerbald closed the door, and gave her a wry arching of his brow.

"Thank God, nobody's got a camera," Pam said. "Pam Miller kicking an endangered species in the ass would be just the thing for the front page of the paper."

The Second Chance Bird's dodo pen lay directly beneath the large hatch doors of the spacious hold, where the birds, and the many potted trees and plants accompanying them, would have fresh air and sunlight for at least part of the day. By midnight, the dodos were safely tucked away, and everyone caught a bit of sleep. They sailed at dawn, Pam keeping vigil on the castle deck, watching the island that had been her home for so long recede into the distance until it disappeared over the aquamarine horizon.

"I'll see to it you get back here, if you wish it," Torbjorn told her from the wheel.

"I wish that, very much," Pam answered, giving him a smile and a kiss on the cheek before going down to her cabin to catch up on lost sleep. It would be a long voyage, without much to do.

The days passed by, one slipping into the next as they headed west, Antarctica to their south, Africa to their north. They would sail as the crow flies if the winds allowed, taking the most direct route possible. No one seemed much worried about attack from the famed Barbary pirates or potentially hostile European forces, anyone taking on the Second Chance Birdwould find themselves regretting it.

Pam often sat on the deck with her feet hanging down into the hold so she could watch her charges, listening to the throaty coos and clacking beaks of the dodos emanating from below. The birds had adjusted well enough to shipboard life, and seemed content to eat as many fruits and nuts as she could give them, to the point where they were actually gaining weight and beginning to resemble the fat and spoiled captive dodo that must have been the model for John Tenniel's illustration.

The thought of taking these creatures out of their natural habitat and dragging them all the way back to Europe didn't sit well with her now that she was actually doing it. But, she had promised the princess, and there was no way around that. It was better she did it herself than trust it to anyone else, if something went wrong it would be on her conscience. So, she was making the long trip "home," when she would much rather be back in Wonderland. Pam simply chocked it all up to fate, and resigned herself to it, instead of fretting the way the old Pam would have. Her actions mattered to a lot more people than she ever could have conceived of back up-time, here was a job that only she could do, a need only she could fill. Captain Pam smiled contentedly into the fading daylight over the South Atlantic as the Second Chance Birdand its precious cargo plowed on toward Europe.

Chapter Seventy-Three: Mission Accomplished

There were a great many stares from the shore as the fancifully-painted junk headed toward Hamburg harbor, flying the dodo flag of the Wonderland Colonies that Dore had crafted, crewed by darkly-tanned Swedes, some with their blonde hair bleached nearly white by the tropical sun. They had accumulated a large fleet of various craft following behind them, curiosity seekers anxious to see what such an odd-looking foreign vessel was doing plying the cold waters of the North Sea.

Pam, knowing in advance from the radio that there would be some kind of an official welcome wagon waiting, put on her favorite black dress, a sexy, side-slitted affair, Chinese silk with a filigree of gold flowers. She nodded to herself approvingly, knowing that she looked pretty damn good in the racy little thing. Her necklace of precious "pirate pearls" went on next, and with a wry smile she strapped on her knife and pistol belt, its weight a comfort. She felt very pleased to be making herself part of the spectacle, the shy Pam of old long gone.

There was a festive gathering on the dock they were headed for, including a brightly-painted banner proclaiming "Welcome Back, Bird Lady!" which made Pam laugh aloud. If you can't beat them join them. Bird Lady I shall be.As they tied up, a USE Navy band started playing. It took her a moment to realize the song was "Country Road." Pam smiled at the choice. At this point it would be kind of nice to see their little circle of West Virginia again. She chuckled happily to see that Princess Kristina was jumping up and down waving crazily, backed by a mob of Grantville students from the old Summer Nature Program. Pam thought the girl looked quite a bit taller, and maybe a little more careworn than before, but she was definitely still a goofy kid. Suddenly, Pam realized who was standing behind her-it was her son Walt and his wife Crystal, and she was holding. the baby! Pam really had become a grandma, and while she was thrilled, she had to quell an inner voice that shrieked, But I'm much too young!

The next few minutes passed in a blur as she was engulfed in hugs from Crystal, and kissed her new grandson, who pulled her hair and laughed, which made Pam love him all the more.

"Boy oh boy, has your ole' granny got some stories to tell youmy lad!" she said as she looked into his bright eyes-they were the Miller stormy gray, which was good, but thank God he had his mother's lush red hair!

Walt was quiet, as usual, but they smiled and embraced. Hopefully, she could make things right with him this time. Eventually, the initial fervor died down, and Kristina approached her, a shy smile on her face.

"I'm glad you made it home, Pam. I was worried," Kristina told her in her perfect, yet quaintly-accented, English.

Pam smiled, and replied in her perfect yet-according to her boyfriend-quaintly-accented Swedish. "It was touch and go for a while. I'll tell you the whole story when we get a chance."

Kristina raised her eyebrows, impressed with Pam's new mastery of her own native tongue, and continued in the same, "I should like very much to hear it!'

Pam's face took on a somber cast.

"Some good people died making this happen, and I need you to hear their tales. We owe them a lot."

Kristina bowed her head, her face also grown somber. "I knew that would probably happen from the start, and I'm very sorry to hear it. Even so, I still feel that the cause was worth it. Do you, Pam?"

Pam marveled at how someone so young could seem like such a wise old adult at times.

"Yes, I do, Kristina, I do. It was all worth it." Pam made her face brighten and took on a cheerier tone. "Sorry for being a downer, there will be time to mourn lost friends later. Today is for celebration, so let's cheer up!"

Kristina brightened up as well, but Pam could still see pain in her eyes. She had heard the news about the death of her mother, the queen, and knew Kristina had suffered much in the years since they first met at Cair Paravel back in Grantville. Pam reached into her trusty old rucksack, which a madly grinning Torbjorn held for her, and pulled out a finely-carved Chinese box made of teak. With a bow and a flourish, she gave it to the princess.

"I have some additions to your crown jewels for you. It's realpirate treasure!"

Kristina's eyes took on a happy sparkle, bright enough to match the jewelry and gems that waited within.

"Really? Pirate treasure? How grand, thank you!" she exclaimed with delight, hugging the box to her chest.

"I have something for you, too, Pam," she said, switching into English. She carefully handed the precious box to a guard, then raised her hand to get everyone's attention.

"The race to save the dodo is over, and just like the 'caucus race' in Lewis Carroll's wonderful book, everybody wins." With a grin that nearly split her perpetually pale face, Kristina reached into her pocket, and pulled out a silver thimble.

"'We beg your acceptance of this elegant thimble,'" Kristina quoted the Dodo as she placed it in Pam's hand. It had the Tenniel version of the bird etched on it, along with an inscription in English that read Thank you for saving us-The Dodos.

"You did it, Pam. Only you could. We are all very proud of you."

Pam laughed, her sharp gray eyes growing misty with emotion.

"Yeah, I guess I really did. And I couldn't have done it without you. You are the hero here just as much as me, kiddo." Pam felt the weight of all she had been through, all she had worked so hard for, lifting off her shoulders. It seemed like a dream already. Her hand shook, as she gazed down at the pretty thimble, shining brightly under the northern spring sun, blurring as her eyes filled with joyful tears.

Kristina saw that her friend was feeling overwhelmed, so she stepped forward and embraced her in a hug that would do any bear proud, the gawky young girl was stronger than she looked. Pam hugged her back, just as she would her own children, her heart full of pride at their accomplishment. They had changed the world for the better, a small change, perhaps, but one that would reverberate through the new centuries ahead, a second chance for a funny-looking bird that was no longer doomed to extinction, not in Pam Miller's world, anyway.

"Everybody wins," Pam whispered.

In the hold of the Second Chance Bird, a dodo squawked, wondering what was holding up feeding time.