UA7: Brothers in Spirit

Chapter 6 - 14 Stars

"Is everything okay?" Donny asked with concern.

"Yeah. I think so. That was crazy." Ronny half chuckled.

"Do you need any help with anything now?" Donny asked cautiously.

"No. Later on I might have a few questions about how certain things work, just to be sure I'm doing it right, but I think I'm good." Ronny said somewhat evasively.

"Just let me know when you're ready and I'll explain whatever I can." Donny said in the tone of a solemn vow, then thought to quickly add, "Obie was just telling me about the bedrooms he discovered."

"Oh. Are they okay?" Ronny asked with an uncertain look at the younger boy with them.

"Yeah. They're upstairs. I found four different staircases and a couple elevators so far, there could be more that I just haven't found yet. Anyway, I didn't look in every room. But the bedrooms that I looked at are all really big and nice." Obie rambled enthusiastically.

"And it looks like we'll be sharing rooms, but Obie doesn't know everyone well enough to be able to tell whose things are in each room." Donny said seriously.

"Is there a shortage of rooms? Is that why we have to double up?" Ronny asked curiously.

"No. There's enough rooms so that each of us could have four of them if we wanted to. They probably roomed us together like that so that we wouldn't have to feel alone." Obie said frankly.

After a moment to consider, Donny quietly said, "Loneliness could end up being a real problem if we're actually as isolated as Alistair described."

"I guess that's a good reason to room us together. Even if it doesn't completely stop us from feeling lonely, it'll give us someone we can talk to so we can deal with whatever we're feeling at the time." Ronny said thoughtfully.

"I'm not too good with feelings and stuff. I always kinda let Mike worry about complicated junk like that. I think that instead of worrying about it, me and Paul will probably just watch some cartoons or play Digimon or something." Obie said honestly.

"Yeah. And if I can't find a better way to deal with things myself, I might just join you." Donny finished with a smile.

"That'd be great! Digimon's even better with more people." Obie said enthusiastically.

Ronny let a slight smile slip at the simplistic coping mechanisms at work before him.

* * * * *

"Guys! Hold up! It looks like the end of the lights. There might be a door or something up ahead." Arlo suddenly warned.

"Do you want me to check it out?" Dylan asked cautiously.

"No. I'll get it. I'm counting on you to stay alert and get the kids out of here if this turns out to be something dangerous." Arlo said seriously.

"Be careful. You don't have to prove anything." Dylan cautioned him.

"Don't worry, I'm just going to assess the situation and react accordingly. I won't do anything rash." Arlo said confidently as he pushed his bike past Dylan and Johnny.

"Remember that I'm here if you need me." Dylan said quietly.

"Believe me, I remember. That's why I can do this at all."

* * * * *

"Is it going to bother you guys if we set some food out over here?" Jinx asked as he carried a large bowl of tortilla chips to the stainless steel table along one side of the room.

"No. What are you cooking?" Donny asked curiously.

"Nachos." Jinx said simply, then explained, "We didn't know how hungry everyone would be, so we're going to set out all the stuff to build your own nachos just the way you want them."

"That sounds great. Thanks for thinking of that." Donny said and finished with a smile.

"We'll start moving stuff out here in a few minutes, as soon as everything's hot." Jinx said as he started back toward the kitchen.

"Are you going to set it up in the steam tables?" Ronny asked curiously.

"The cafeteria people always handled all that, so none of us really knows for sure how to work them. But we thought that, for tonight, we could just line it all up in a row on this big table and let everybody help themselves. That should be good enough." Jinx said as he waited for a reaction.

"I've helped out in a few of the bigger shelter kitchens, so I know how most of the equipment works. If we can keep the hot stuff hot and the cold stuff cold, everyone will probably enjoy the nachos even more." Ronny said seriously as he stepped away from Donny's side.

Donny smiled contentedly as he watched Ronny and Jinx retreat into the kitchen.

* * * * *

"You'll never guess what we found." Kole said happily as he led the way into the lounge from the heavy side door.

"What did you find?" Obie asked excitedly.

"Guess." Kole taunted.

"You just said that I'll never guess so why don't you just tell us?" Donny asked reasonably.

"You suck at this game." Kole pouted.

Ryvan smiled at his friend's theatrics, then quietly said, "We found an airplane hangar and a boat dock."

"Seriously?" Donny asked with surprise.

"See? You joke around with him and he gets all pissy about it. Talk to him seriously and he doesn't believe you. There's no winning with this guy." Kole said defensively.

"We didn't look around long enough to see everything, but there's a bunch of ultralight aircraft and a couple really nice boats. The more we saw, the more there was to see. We thought we'd come back and tell you about it before we explored any further." Ryvan said seriously.

"Knowing that there are boats and planes nearby that we can use might help us to feel a little bit less confined here." Donny said speculatively.

"I don't know about that, but when it's time for us to go test them out, count me in on the ultralights, they look amazing." Kole said emphatically.

Before Donny or Obie could respond, the clang of metal pans from the kitchen drew their attention.

"Jinx and the guys are setting up a nacho bar for us." Donny explained.

The matching expressions of interest between Ryvan and Kole were undeniable.

"The guys said that it'd still be a few minutes." Donny elaborated.

"Do you think they made any salsa yet?" Kole cautiously asked.

"I have no idea." Donny said honestly.

"Why don't you go ask them?" Obie asked simply.

Rather than answer, both boys headed to the kitchen, posthaste.

* * * * *

Dylan waited for a moment before cautiously asking, "What do you see?"

"I honestly don't know." Arlo said in bewilderment.

"Is it safe for us to go out there?" Dylan asked uncertainly.

"What? Oh, um, yeah. I think so. Just stay close and watch your step. The light's kinda weird out here." Arlo stammered.

"Do you want me to take one of the headlights off the bikes?" Dylan asked cautiously.

"No. There's enough moonlight. Just be careful. I think it'll be okay." Arlo assured him.

As Dylan approached Arlo's side, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"The sky is pink and purple and... and green." Dylan stammered.

"You noticed that too, huh?" Arlo said absently as he stared into the distance.

"Why is the moon so big?" Dylan asked shakily.

"I don't know. I don't even know what planet we're on." Arlo said in amazement.

"I'm pretty sure that that's our moon. I recognize the surface features. But if this is earth, it isn't our earth." Dylan said reasonably.

"Why is the sky all different colors like that?" Jason K asked as he craned his neck to try and see everything at once.

"I think it's the aurora borealis, but that usually only happens in the extreme northern hemisphere." Arlo said slowly.

"What happened to the stars?" Jason K asked weakly.

"I don't know, K. I've never seen the sky look so empty before." Dylan said in a hollow, lost voice.

"Fourteen stars..." Teddy distantly muttered.

"What can you tell us about them, Teddy?" Arlo asked anxiously, recognizing the boy's trance-like stupor.

"A box is still a box whether it's full or empty." Teddy said uncomprehendingly.

"Is this a message from Alistair?" Dylan asked seriously.

"Maybe. Or it could be from before that, when the dreams came on their own. But either way, this isn't from now. I saw this in a dream a long time ago, I'm not sure exactly when." Teddy slowly answered.

"But you're remembering this dream or vision from a long time ago?" Dylan coaxed.

"Yeah. It's so weird, I never thought I'd see it for real. I don't know, maybe it's somehow double-sided... Or maybe it exists and doesn't... except that time is falling backward and space is only what you see while you're seeing it." Teddy meandered.

"Why can't you tell us now?" Jason K asked curiously.

"Because all of it depends on what's in the box. I don't want for people to get their hopes up and then find out that something that could have been, won't ever be." Teddy said unevenly.

"I can understand you not wanting to disappoint people, but you shouldn't have to deal with that all on your own. You should be able to share it with us."

"This is who I am... it's what I am. You know what? In all the futures that I've seen so far, in all the dreams, there's one thing that was always the same... me. No matter what I say or do, I'm a mess. So no matter what else is going on, I was never going to be normal anyway." Teddy said resignedly.

"If you take a minute to check out the guys around here, you're not going to find a lot of 'normal' going on, so I guess you found yourself in the right place." Dylan said seriously.

"Before I met Alistair, I probably would have fought against this and wished for it to not be so. But now... I don't know... Seeing him helping us by using his gift... my gift, it made me realize that this is a chance for me to help people in a way that no one else can. And also that sometimes 'helping' means not telling everything that I know." Teddy said urgently.

"I remember Alistair going out of his way to make exactly that point." Arlo said seriously, then cautiously admitted, "But I'd still like to know whatever you can tell us about the fourteen stars and the box."

"Don't worry about it. It'll probably end up not mattering anyway." Teddy said seriously.

"We should go back and tell everyone about what we've found so far." Arlo said seriously.

"I could stand here and look at this all night, but... yeah, you're right. We'd better go back." Dylan quietly responded, then added more strongly, "We can come back tomorrow and check this place out in the daylight."

"That sounds like an excellent idea." Arlo quietly responded.

"Who wants to race?!!" Jason K asked with an impish grin before taking off at top speed, back the way they had come.

A scant moment later, the others scrambled to follow.

* * * * *

"Where did Paul go?" Jinx asked as he placed his armload of supplies on the counter beside the cooktop.

"He's in the pantry, looking for jalapeños. I told him that I'd watch after the taco casserole for him while he was gone." Randolph said simply.

"Help me make sure that he doesn't get those peppers anywhere near me. I'm serious, those things supercharge my bad luck." Jinx said earnestly.

"I will do my best to warn him away. However, Paul's natural enthusiasm could be difficult to divert should he set his mind on a course of action." Randolph cautioned.

"What are you making?" Ronny interrupted as he looked over Jinx's shoulder.

"Taco meat." Jinx automatically responded, then cautiously asked, "Did you have something else in mind?"

"No. That sounds great. I just wanted to know because I'm getting the pans together to set up the steam table and I wanted to be sure that I'd have a place for whatever you're cooking."

"Oh, okay. I just thought it'd be good to have a meat topping for the nachos. You know, kind of make it like an actual meal instead of just a snacky thing." Jinx explained.

"Yeah. I get it. Good thinking. I'll make sure that there's a place after the cheese in the assembly line." Ronny confirmed.

"Thanks." Jinx said with sincere gratitude.

"Got 'em." Paul said triumphantly as he entered the kitchen with a gallon size glass jar in his arms.

"Stay over there! Don't bring that anywhere near me." Jinx said firmly.

"You really take this bad luck thing seriously, don't you?" Paul asked hesitantly.

"Every step closer you get to me makes it that much more likely that that jalapeño jar is going to shatter in your arms, cut you to shreds, then flood your fresh wounds with jalapeño juice."

"Um, yeah. How about if I just open these up over here then?" Paul asked as he took a step back.

"I'll be sure to stay out of your way until you have them put away someplace safe." Jinx said seriously.

After a long quiet moment, Paul reluctantly admitted, "It's stuck. I can't get it to open."

"Don't look at me." Jinx said immediately.

Finally, Ronny set down the collection of rectangular steam table pans he had been gathering and said, "Hand it here."

"It's on really tight." Paul warned him.

Ronny accepted the glass jar and made sure to get a good firm grip on both the jar and the lid.

With a satisfying ::thuck:: the seal released and the lid opened.

Ronny absently released his grip on the open jar as Paul took it out of his hands. Although it was a simple thing, Ronny marveled at his display of strength. For some reason, completely unknown to him, he felt like celebrating or at least losing a whoop of joy at what he had just accomplished.

"Have you guys already done the salsa?" Kole asked as he and Ryvan rushed into the kitchen.

"We've got a jar from the pantry, but we haven't opened it yet." Jinx said as he worked to break up ground meat in a skillet.

"Don't." Kole said firmly.

"Are there any fresh veggies? The more fresh stuff we have to work with, the better it'll be." Ryvan asked urgently.

"There's just about any fresh vegetable you could want in the walk-in cooler, right over there, just inside the door." Jinx said as he pointed with his wooden spoon.

"What's the big deal about salsa?" Paul asked curiously as he scooped peppers into a quart size plastic bin.

"Just wait till you taste it. Kole's salsa is the best!" Ryvan enthused.

"Kole's salsa? If that's so good, what about Kole's slaw?" Paul asked with a cheeky grin.

After a long silent moment, Kole finally dryly said, "That's funny. I've never heard that one before... oh, except for every day of my life. For a while I thought that today was going to be different... but, here we are."

"Take it easy on him. His name is Paul. He doesn't know what it's like. He doesn't have a clue." Ryvan consoled his friend.

"Right. There's no point. He can't possibly understand." Kole said regretfully.

"My last name is Foote." Paul said defensively.

After a moment to consider, Kole finally said, "Okay. I'll let you off with a warning, but lay off the coleslaw jokes."

"I will. I promise." Paul said sincerely.

"Think of it as Kole's Law." Ryvan interjected with an impish grin.

"Ry! How could you!?"

"Sorry! I couldn't help myself." Ryvan said before breaking down into uncontrollable laughter.

"I have already prepared a variety of fresh vegetables to use as toppings, if those would be of use to you." Randolph quickly offered as he indicated a series of containers on the prep island.

"Thanks Randolph! That'll save us a lot of time." Kole said happily.

"I believe that both the taco casserole and cheese sauce are sufficiently heated if you have places for them in the dining room." Randolph said, mostly to Jinx.

"Ronny?" Jinx cautiously prompted.

"Where is the casserole?" Ronny asked hesitantly.

"Here, in the oven." Randolph said as he opened the oven door.

"Perfect. If you'll carry that into the dining room, you can drop it right into the steam table." Ronny said confidently.

"I wouldn't want for the cheese sauce to burn whilst I am away." Randolph said anxiously.

"Take it off the heat and it'll be fine." Ronny said simply, then added, "We'll be right back for it anyway."

"Will you show me where the casserole should go?" Randolph cautiously asked.

"Yeah. Just follow me." Ronny said easily as he started toward the dining room.

Randolph hurried to get hot mitts and get a good firm grip on the baking pan before following.

***

"We're going to need more chips than that." Ronny said simply as he placed items into their allotted positions.

"I believe we have several boxes of chips in reserve. Jinx brought these out for our immediate use." Randolph said seriously.

"I suppose that's best from a freshness standpoint. It won't take long to add more and this way we don't have to worry about a bunch of open boxes going stale." Ronny said as he quickly and efficiently organized both the hot and cold foodservice lines.

"Would you mind if I asked you a question?" Randolph cautiously asked.

"I guess not. Go ahead." Ronny said as he stopped all movement and devoted his full attention to Randolph.

"Please understand that I am from a different time where we were taught not to question but to accept the beliefs that were being passed down to us..." Randolph anxiously began.

"That sounds about right. Go on. I'm not going to bite you." Ronny finished with a slight smile.

"I understand that now you are male. That makes sense to me. What I don't understand is before... you were... what? A female man?" Randolph stammered.

After a moment to reflect, Ronny quietly said, "That's about as good an explanation as I've ever heard of it. And it's certainly one of the nicer ones."

"Please help me to understand." Randolph asked desperately.

"The only way I felt comfortable with myself was when I felt like a boy. I would do my best to look like a boy, sound like a boy, even act with a boy's mannerisms." Ronny carefully explained as he began to set the controls on the steam table.

"So, you knew that you were a girl dressed as a boy?" Randolph asked to confirm.

"Yeah. I wasn't fooling anyone... not even myself. But the camp people decided to let me try out living as a guy for a while so that I could get an idea of what I was most comfortable with. That way, when it was time to make some more permanent decisions, I'd have a better idea of what might make me happy in the long run." Ronny carefully explained.

"Now that you are a boy, how do you feel about it?" Randolph asked curiously.

"Being here as one of the guys is wonderful, but it's not exactly what I expected. I saw guys as being the labels that people use to describe them as a group. I saw the 'what', but not the 'why' or the differences among individuals. Because of that, I'm not always entirely sure of how I'm supposed to act."

"I feel much the same." Randolph admitted, then explained, "In the time and place where I grew up, people behaved a certain way, as was expected of them. Here, I believe different things are expected, although I'm often not sure what they are."

After a long silent moment, Randolph continued, "The funny thing is, my aunt and her friends believed themselves to be so clever. To my knowledge, they were the ones who set the unrealistic expectations for me and my peers that ended up driving us away. The elders wouldn't entertain the notion of alternative views of science, religion, or philosophy. They thought they understood how the world worked and it turns out that they were so very wrong about every single thing."

"I guess you never came across anyone like me back then, did you?" Ronny asked with a smile, then turned on the refrigeration unit in the cold section of the foodservice line.

"Actually, I had a relative, her name was André. I'm not quite sure how we were related, but from all that I know of her, she circulated amongst the academics of her era living like a man and being treated just the same as any of them. She eschewed makeup and the frilly things in favor of a clean face and a keen sharp sense of style. I don't think she 'pretended' to be a man as much as she simply lived her life as one." Randolph quietly recounted.

"She sounds interesting." Ronny said honestly.

"She was dangerous." Randolph said seriously, then explained, "She was family and thus accepted regardless. But I could tell at gatherings that the elders of the family were terrified of what radical ideas she might be tempted to impart to the up-and-coming generations."

"Maybe I was born in the wrong time." Ronny quietly muttered.

"Or maybe she was." Randolph easily countered.

"Either way, she sounds like my type of person." Ronny said consideringly.

"I could see you two becoming fast friends... or perhaps the most bitter of enemies. I'm not quite sure which."

"Could be both." Ronny admitted, then further explained, "I can consider other points of view, although it sometimes takes a little more effort for me than it probably should, given my unique perspective."

"In my youth I tended to speak my mind with little restraint or concern for the ramifications. As time went on, I've gotten better at holding my tongue, although I never quite mastered the art of it." Randolph said with a slight self-derisive chuckle.

"In your youth? When was that? I don't remember if you mentioned it before." Ronny cautiously asked.

"I was born in the summer of 1815. And before you ask, my last memories of my former life were in the autumn of 1830."

"Wow. That's a really long time ago."

"While there are certainly things that amaze me about that, the most surprising is the contrast between how radically different the world is whilst the people have remained so fundamentally unchanged."

"Is that a good or a bad thing?"

"A little of both, I think. Thanks to the time I spent with Arlo, I was able to ease into this new world and have most of my questions about the modern era answered before I could ask them. That made it easier for me to observe people's actions and speculate about their motivations." Randolph said frankly.

"I don't know. It's funny. I've noticed that a lot of times, the people who become your fast friends end up having motivations, I mean selfish ones. The people who don't immediately accept or reject you are more likely to be there when times get tough and you need someone." Ronny said somewhat distantly.

"We had that in my time too. One group tells you what you want to hear, the other tells you what you need to hear." Randolph observed.

"I guess you're right, people as a group don't change all that much over time." Ronny reluctantly admitted.

"There are subtle differences. Even though the people of the 1800's were quite vocal about their beliefs, they tended to be a bit more reserved in their reproachments of others."

"Which, I suppose, could probably be seen as both good and bad." Ronny gently countered.

"Yes. I could agree with that."

"Jinx is probably just about done with the taco meat. We should finish setting this up."

"Just show me what to do." Randolph said cheerfully.

* * * * *

"Something smells good." Dylan said as he led his group into the lounge.

"Paul and Jinx decided that they'd fix a snack for anyone who was hungry." Donny said frankly.

"I wasn't hungry until I smelled that." Arlo said honestly.

"The food line is being set up. It looks like it could be ready any minute now." Donny said seriously.

"If they haven't opened it up within five minutes, I might have to go over there and do some 'quality control', you know, just to be sure it's safe for everyone." Dylan said playfully.

"So, did that door lead to the outside like you expected?" Donny asked curiously as he fought to remain serious.

"To the outside, yes. Like we expected? No. Not even close." Dylan answered evasively.

"Was there a problem?" Donny asked with concern.

"Hold on. We're getting ahead of ourselves." Dylan cautioned.

"We got to ride bikes!" Jason K said enthusiastically.

"I have the idea that you're telling more than one story here." Donny said frankly.

"Right. We should probably start with the bike ride." Dylan said seriously.

"It wasn't a bad bike ride, but it'd be kind of a long walk." Arlo helpfully added.

"Where'd you get bikes?" Donny asked curiously.

"There's about thirty of them right outside the door." Dylan explained.

"They have different sizes of bikes and they all look like they're new and taken care of really good." Teddy rushed to explain.

"And we found out that there's a computer guarding that door, in case you were worried about security." Dylan said seriously.

"Did you find the way out?" Donny asked Dylan and Arlo directly.

"Yes. But it was really dark, so we couldn't see too much." Arlo said seriously.

"Except the moon." Dylan added anxiously.

"Yeah, that and a sea of treetops. In the moonlight and the aurora borealis, it was all we could see." Arlo quickly added.

"The moon was too big." Jason K said assertively.

"Too big... for what?" Donny asked hesitantly, not sure if he had missed something.

"Yeah. It was really freaky. It was HUGE. It looked like it was so close that you could almost reach out and touch it." Dylan said seriously.

"But as big as the moon is, it doesn't make up for there being only fourteen stars left in the sky." Jason K quietly added.

"To be honest, I was too freaked out to stop and count them, but Teddy says there's fourteen, so I'm willing to believe him." Arlo reluctantly admitted.

"I didn't count them either, it came to me in a dream." Teddy quietly added.

"Anything we should know? I mean, dreamwise?" Donny cautiously asked.

"Nothing I can talk about. It might end up being important later. It might not. I think it's something to watch out for... just in case." Teddy carefully explained.

"The food's ready!" Jinx called from the dining room.

* * * * *

"I'm going to grab another bowl of chips, we're already running out." Ronny said as he walked past the line of boys making nachos.

"I'll go too, we're going to need more than one." Jinx said seriously.

"Good job on setting all this up. It came together nicely." Ronny said as they walked into the kitchen at a casual pace.

"You're the one who set up the hot table." Jinx said frankly.

"Yes. But there wouldn't have been any reason for me to set it up if you hadn't organized everything before I got there." Ronny stated simply.

"Paul's the one who came up with the idea, I just helped him get things put in order." Jinx explained as he opened a cardboard box.

Ronny automatically grabbed a large metal bowl and held it steady as Jinx began to fill it with chips, being careful not to break them.

"I have the feeling that you helped Paul realize his vision far beyond anything he could have done on his own." Ronny said seriously.

"I just did what I thought was right." Jinx quietly explained.

"Well, keep doing that. You took a good idea and made it into something great." Ronny said as he sat down one bowl and picked up another.

"Maybe my bad luck didn't follow me here." Jinx quietly speculated.

"I hope not, but even if it did, at least now you know that if you take a chance and try to do something, that it is possible for you to achieve it." Ronny said seriously.

After closing the box and setting it aside, Jinx cautiously asked, "Ready?"

"I'm really looking forward to this." Ronny said with a smile as he picked up one of the bowls.

"Yeah. Me too. I can't wait." Jinx said as he picked up the other.

* * * * *

"So you've been keeping track of everything that's going on. Right?" Dylan asked as he stacked tortilla chips on a plate.

"Yeah. I guess so. When they got back from exploring, each team told me what they found." Donny cautiously confirmed.

"Have you come up with any theories yet?" Dylan asked urgently.

"Nothing more than what Alistair already told us." Donny said simply.

"I was kind of hoping that you'd have a better explanation for all of this by now." Dylan said honestly.

"You saw a 'too big' moon, a light show in the sky, and a sea of trees. Does any of that contradict anything from Alistair's story?" Donny asked reasonably.

"No." Dylan admitted, then hurried to add, "But we're hoping to be able to see something more in the daylight."

"Well, Kole and Ryvan were talking about a boat dock and an airplane hangar, so I'm pretty sure they're looking forward to the daylight too." Donny said frankly.

"Have you heard anything more about the town that Alistair was talking about?" Dylan asked curiously.

"No. Nothing so far, but once we find it, it sounds like we've got at least three ways to get there, by land, sea, or air." Donny said consideringly.

"But the bicycles aren't going to carry much. We're probably going to need cars or trucks at some point." Dylan said seriously.

"Going shopping isn't very practical if you have to carry all your purchases home on your back." Arlo added supportively.

"We'll have to look around in the daylight to see if we have any high capacity vehicles at our disposal. That would be a good thing for us to know before we end up needing to haul something." Donny said speculatively.

"Hang on. Johnny's got something for me." Dylan said, then closed his eyes in concentration.

Donny was surprised to see a faint spiritual glow briefly surround Dylan's head, almost like a halo. Arlo had turned his attention toward building nachos, but Donny was curious, to say the least, at what Dylan had been able to accomplish with his spiritual abilities.

"Johnny just wanted me to know that on our trip, all the way to the outside and back, he didn't detect another person or creature in limbo. He said that this limbo world is as empty to him as our real world seems to be to us." Dylan said seriously.

"I didn't think of that. Would there be duplicates of spirits that we know were created with the universe or would they only exist in the world that they lived in?" Donny asked as he piled chips onto his plate.

"According to Johnny, there were disembodied spirits wandering all over the place back in Chicago and plenty of animal-type spirits too."

"Animal-type?"

"They might have been the ghosts of actual animals or they could be creatures that are like animals even though they've never been alive or walked the earth." Dylan said carefully.

"Johnny told you all of that?" Donny asked cautiously.

"Yeah, well, most of it, anyway. I'm just explaining what he doesn't have the words to describe."

"But none of those spirits are here?" Donny asked to confirm as he scattered a few different toppings on his stack of chips.

"No. That's what he wanted to tell us. The only spirits that he's seen since we've been here are fleeting glimpses of what he assumes are Ginger and Mary Ann, Jinx's demons." Dylan said frankly.

"If that's true, then what is Johnny doing here?" Donny asked slowly as he began ladling steaming hot cheese sauce over his plates of chips.

"He was in Chicago searching for me and I was in Florida thinking about him when we were brought here. My guess is that that was enough to pull him in with us." Dylan said seriously.

"Do you think that he could travel back where he came from, if he wanted to?" Donny asked curiously.

"I don't know, but it doesn't matter because I already promised him that I wouldn't send him away." Dylan said firmly, leaving no room for debate.

"I'm not asking you to. I'm just trying to figure out if maybe there's a way to find out what he did and how he did it so that maybe we can pass from one universe to the other by way of the spiritual plane."

"Are you that desperate to get back home?" Dylan asked with concern.

"Actually, no. I left nothing and no one behind." Donny said seriously, then explained, "But think about it, Johnny's ability to travel from Chicago to Florida might end up being a spiritual skill we can work to develop. If we can figure out how it works, it could give us a reason to go back into limbo."

"Well, even if we can't find a way to travel cross-country, if we can find a way to travel from one universe to another through the spiritual plane then we might be able to help people in ways that no one else can." Dylan said seriously.

After a long intense moment, Donny quietly said, "I like the sound of that, except... what people?"

To Be Continued...

Editor's Notes:

I was very pleased to see more from this very interesting story
Our boys do seem to be making slow but steady progress.
Let's hope they can keep things moving in a positive direction

Darryl The Radio Rancher