Soulmates (6 page)

“I can hardly believe that!”

“How far away is this camp, anyway?” Presley asked.

“It’s just right over the hill,” said Paulette. An eerie feeling came over Presley. She felt, once again, as if someone were watching her.

Presley turned behind her and gasped, “Paulette! Look!”

Paulette quickly spun around to see multiple funnel clouds off in the distance. The sky abruptly transformed to dark green. The funnel clouds rapidly became massive tornadoes, heading toward the girls.

“They’re going to kill us!” screamed Paulette. The girls ran up the hill with the tornadoes quickly approaching. Their hair blew violently in the relentless wind. The tornadoes merged into one huge gray force. The wind grew stronger; ripping trees from their roots and tossing them as if they were toothpicks.

“We aren’t going to make it!” shouted Presley.

“We
will
make it! We are almost there! Please, you must believe that we’ll make it!” Paulette shouted back-the wind drowning her screams.

They finally made it to the top of the hill where Presley could vaguely see a tall rock wall through the falling rain and debris.

“Open the gates!” Paulette shouted. The guards that stood on top of the wall jumped from their posts and scrambled to open the massive wooden gates.

“Open the gates!” Paulette shouted again. The thunderous noise of the ruthless storm swept away Paulette’s voice once again. Finally, the gates were open and the girls collapsed to the ground inside. The men quickly shut the gates, and as they all braced themselves for the impact of the tornado, it hit the compound only to mysteriously disintegrate into the air.

The girls lay on the ground for awhile unable to catch their breath. One of the guards asked Presley if she was alright. Unable to speak, she just nodded her head to indicate she was okay. Finally, Paulette stood up and said, “Let me guess, you fear tornadoes."

“Yes. I do. Why?” she asked between breaths.

“Because that’s what they do. Fiend and the others, they create our worst fears. Mine happens to be fire, yours tornadoes.”

A growing crowd of people had begun surrounding the girls. Presley was surprised by the strange appearance of the people. Many of the women wore long flowing gowns with gathered sleeves and pinned brooches. Some wore bonnets on their heads. They all looked as if they were from a different time. Presley slowly scanned the crowd realizing that she was indeed far from home.

“Let me through!” shouted a male voice. Presley watched as a man shoved his way through the crowd.

“Paulette!” he yelled. “What’s wrong with you? Are you trying to get yourself killed or, worse yet, captured? I’ve stayed up all night worried that you were caught! Do you think of nobody but yourself? Why didn’t you tell someone that you were leaving? If you were so hell bent on leaving then we could have at least tried to protect you. One of us would have gone with you," he shouted.

Presley listened to him go on with his rampage. She wanted to defend her new acquaintance, but she couldn’t speak. Not only because was she out of breath, but because he was absolutely breathtaking. To her, he was the most beautiful guy she had ever seen.

He was perfect. His long dirty brown hair was pulled back out of his face. His piercing dark intense brown eyes were captivating. He had golden skin due to the hot sun, and he was muscular and strong. He wore overalls with a white handkerchief in his back right pocket, boots and no shirt. He had dirt under his fingernails and a little dirt smudge on his face.

“Oh, relax, Jesse. Nobody was hurt,” Paulette shouted back.

“Nobody was hurt? By sheer luck nobody was hurt," he said firmly.

“If she hadn’t been there, I surely would have died," Presley finally interjected.

Jesse looked at Presley who was still lying on the ground. He stared, strangely, at her for a few moments, seemingly frozen by her presence. He shook off the silence and quickly rushed to her side.

“Are you alright?” he asked sympathetically, as he held out his hand to help her up.

As she took his hand, she felt as if everybody else was gone and it was only the two of them. He peered into her eyes and Presley felt a rush through her body. She couldn’t place this feeling because she had never felt this way before, but it was intense, real and intriguing.

Paulette, obviously mocking Jesse, said, “Oh, can I help you? Forget poor Paulette. She don’t need any help. I’m fine too, Jesse, just in case you were wondering. I’m just fine," she said in a smart-aleck tone.

“I’m sorry Paulette. Are you alright?” he asked without taking his eyes off of Presley.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just said I’m fine," Paulette sassed.

“Okay, great. Everyone’s safe now. Let’s get you girls cleaned up over at Paulette’s house,” Jesse said.

The group of people that had been surrounding them started to slowly walk away.

“So, what’s your name?” Jesse asked Presley.

“My name is Presley, Presley Dae,” she replied.

“Don’t go into to the whole Elvis Presley spiel. I can tell you right now he won’t know who he is,” Paulette laughed.

“How do you do? I’m Jesse Pike," he said politely.

“Nice to meet you," Presley said anxiously. “Where am I? I mean obviously I am a
very
long way from home. I know that this is going to sound crazy, but did I travel back in time or something?” Presley said impatiently as she looked around spastically.

“Come on. Let’s get you a hot bath and into some clean clothes. Then I will explain where you are. The best that I can anyhow,” he promised.

They began walking down the worn dirt road. Horse drawn carriages rode past them stirring up the dry dust. Businesses and stores made of wood lined the dirt road on both sides. They walked through the small town, until they came to a group of small log cabins. They were lined up in a row, forming a little neighborhood. Some homes had porches on the front, but that was about the only difference between them. All of the structures looked the same.

“Who built these cabins?” Presley asked.

“Most of the men who live here helped me build them,” Jesse said. “Paulette’s cabin was the last one we built.”

“This is my cabin.” Paulette said, “The last one on the left."

C
hapter Four

Presley walked up the two wooden stairs that led to the small porch of Paulette’s cabin. As she looked around the land, it reminded her of the pioneer books that she read as a young girl. Several white Arabian horses were corralled by a log fence. An elegant chestnut quarter horse fed on the green grass, while others happily pranced around the large pasture. Past the corral, into the distance, Presley noticed several chickens roaming, and even farther away hundreds of cows were grazing.

“The animals have always been here,” he informed her. “Actually, this whole town was already set up and the animals were here when I first arrived. We use them for virtually everything we need-food, clothes and we use the animal fat for candles and soap.”

As Presley entered Paulette’s house, she was surprised at how charming it was. The windows were open and there was a soothing breeze throughout the room. She turned to switch on the light but quickly realized that there wasn’t any electricity. She noticed a unique braided rug lying on the creaky wooden floor. Two chairs were positioned in the middle of the room. On the right side of the room was a fireplace with a black pot hanging over it. Wooden shelves, which held several bowls and pots, lined the walls by the fireplace. To the left of the room was a light wooden dining table with two chairs on one side and a bench on the other.

Beyond the table was the kitchen which had a small washing area. Big enough for a few cups and dishes. Next to the kitchen was a tiny bedroom. The bed took up most of the room leaving barely enough space for the small chest that was against the wall in the corner. In the far side of the bedroom stood a wooden ladder that led up to a much bigger room in the loft.

Jesse grabbed the pot from the fireplace and took it outside. Paulette anxiously waited until he was out of sight.

“I think that he just might like you. And believe me, that Jesse now, he’s a hard catch,” she laughed.

“Oh yeah, is that right?” Presley grinned slightly, acting as if she wasn’t at all interested.

“Well, Sarah has been after him as long as I’ve been here,” Paulette continued.

Presley quickly looked up at Paulette and before she knew it said, “Who’s Sarah?”

Paulette grinned, “Well, they both came here around the same time and they both keep things running smoothly in the town. She’s a hard worker, I’ll give her that. But I can’t stand her! She’s gorgeous. She’s gorgeous and she will make sure that you are aware of it."

“Yeah, I’m quite familiar with those types of girls,” Presley rolled her eyes.

“Just wait ‘til Sarah sees you with Jesse!” Paulette gleamed. “I’ve got to be there to witness that!” she chuckled.

Jesse walked back into the room with the black pot full of water and hung it back on the hook over the fireplace. The girls were quiet as he chucked several hot coals into the fireplace. He went to the wood box, picked up two big logs, one under each arm, and threw them into the fire. Jesse took one of the chairs from underneath the kitchen table and joined the girls around the fireplace.

“You thirsty, Presley? I’ll get you a drink.” Paulette got up and went into the kitchen leaving Presley and Jesse alone.

“So how long have you been here?” Presley asked him.

“I’ve been here a long time,” he answered with a grin.

“How long?” she pressed.

“1842. Like I said, it was a long time ago.”

“1842? Is that what you said?” she asked astonished.

“Yes, I’ve been here for 168 years,” Presley looked at him mystified by his response.

“I’m so confused. Where are we? I really need to get back home,” she said nervously.

Paulette came back into the room with two glasses of water. “That’s what I’ve been saying for years! How do we get back home?” she asked with a feisty tone.

Jesse shook his head and sighed, “Paulette, how many times do we have to go through this? I don’t know how to get back! Don’t you think if I knew how
I
would’ve gone back years ago?” he said, aggravated at her tenacious attitude.

“I think you gave up on finding a way back,” Paulette snapped. “If the people
you
loved were still alive today you would want to go back too. Am I right?” Paulette pressed.

“Of course I would. I understand your frustration, Paulette. Believe me, I felt the same frustration for many years." Jesse hesitated for a moment, “There really is only one person that can help you two if you are both determined on going back. We need to work together to find out the answers.”

“Who is this person?” Presley asked.

“Manna,” he replied.

“Okay. Let’s go talk to Manna,” Presley stated.

“Wait, it’s not that simple. Manna has been here longer than anyone we know. We don’t even know of anyone who has actually seen Manna,” Paulette said.

“Then how do you know about him?” asked Presley.

Jesse walked over to the fireplace, and put his hand inside the pot to feel the water.

“The water’s ready. Listen. I’ll make you a bath and then we’ll fill you in,” he promised. He lifted the pot and walked outside.

“Let me get you some clean clothes.” Paulette went into an adjacent room and returned with a plain cotton white nightgown and underwear.

“Come on,” Paulette said. Presley got up from the chair, placed her cell phone on the table, and followed Paulette outside. Beside Paulette’s house was a much smaller structure.

“There you go, Presley. Take a nice hot bath. I’m going home to get you some dinner. You must be starving. We can finish our talk then,” Jesse said.

“Okay, thanks,” she said as Jesse shut the door. Presley looked around the small dark room. She ran her hand against the claw-footed cast iron bath tub. The back of the tub slanted upward and the inside was made of white porcelain. The outside was finished with a shiny grey iron material. The light from two candles flickered against the dark wall.