Escape with the Dream Maker (18 page)

“Go home, boy,” Stewart said. “Get away from this place. No sense dying for a girl.”

“Well, you're ready to die for one,” Dave challenged.

“No, I'm not. Besides, you're just a boy. Have you ever fought a duel before?”

Dave thought of some of the duels he had endured with dreadful beings back in Nuworld. “I've fought my share,” he said firmly.

Stewart's eyes narrowed. “Well,” he said, “here are two pistols. Take your pick.”

Dave chose one pistol, and Breck Stewart took the other. “Will you load them, or shall I?”

“You do the loading, Captain Stewart.”

“Very well.” Stewart loaded the dueling pistols expertly and held them both out. “Again, take your pick.”

Dave took the one nearest him. “This one will do.”

“Very well. We don't have any seconds, so we'll stand back to back. You count off ten paces. When you have the count of ten, I'll turn and you turn, and we'll fire at will.”

“Very well,” Dave said. “Shall we begin?” He noticed a buggy approaching, a black servant driving wildly, whipping the horses—and a girl in the back. But he said, “I'm ready.”

He turned and felt Stewart touch him as they
stood back to back. Holding up his pistol, he said, “One,” and took a step. “Two,” another step. “Three, four.” He counted slowly, taking one step each time. “Six, seven, eight—”

The sound of wheels and horses' hooves thundered behind him.

“Wait! Oh, wait!” Stewart shouted.

Confused, Dave turned to see Abbey Roberts standing between him and Captain Stewart.

A look of chagrin came over the captain's face. He said bitterly, “It's hard to fight a duel over you, Abbey, when you're standing in the way. I'd have to shoot through you to kill him. Well, go ahead and take him then, if you think that much of him.” He turned, mounted his horse, and rode away without even retrieving his other dueling pistol.

“Thanks, Abbey,” Dave said. “I wouldn't have had much chance with him.”

“Dave, I don't know why I did it.”

“I do. Come, sit over here, Abbey. I've got some things to tell you—”

For a long time Abbey sat on the grass and listened as Dave spoke earnestly and eloquently. They finally got into the buggy and went back to the plantation.

When she got down and started for the house, Dave turned her around. “I guess I might as well tell you this, Abbey. We had some fights in those days, but I grew to love you in Nuworld, and I love you now more than ever. Come back with me.”

Abbey must have felt totally confused, as the other Sleepers had been in the middle of their dreams. Dave saw this. “I told you how hard it was for me. I know it'll be hard for you. I know what will happen, though. Tonight you'll dream of the way it was, you and
me, and you'll come back with me. I'll wait over there.” He looked up and saw the moon beginning to rise. “Come when you're ready to go, Abbey.”

 

The moon was a huge silver medallion high in the sky when Abbey came quietly out of the house. The green grass was soft under her feet. The summer air was warm. She wore a simple blue dress, and the wind stirred her hair, framing her face.

When she came up to Dave, she smiled, but there were tears in her eyes, “Do you really love me, Dave?”

“Yes.”

“Then I'm ready. Let's go back.”

B
ack in Nuworld, once his missing servants were freed from their dreams, Goél gathered the Seven Sleepers into one small, cramped room. “It is all over, then?” he asked. “The nightmare of the Dream Maker?”

“Yes, Goél,” Josh said. Wash thought he looked somewhat embarrassed. “It was all my fault. I should have known that the man wasn't Oliver.”

“It wasn't your fault, Josh,” Sarah said quickly. “How could you have known? He
said
the right thing.”

The false Oliver had, indeed, captured the true one. He'd confessed to intercepting Goél's helper and taking his place after forcing him to reveal the password. Angry with the Dark Lord for failing him, Onan-Oliver smashed the Dream Maker, thus releasing all Goél's missing servants. And now the inventor was held captive in the same prison where he had once held all the others.

“Do not blame yourself, my son,” Goél said. “You were faithful in the end.” Looking around, he smiled. “You all were. I am pleased.”

“What happens now, Goél?” Wash asked. “You said before we began this mission that the last battle would be soon.”

“Yes, Wash. It will be soon. I will not name dates or times, but you must hold yourselves in readiness. The Dark Lord has summoned all the hosts of his evil servants. They are foul, but powerful.”

A silence fell over the room. Wash knew that
everyone wanted to ask about the battle, but no one dared. Finally, he said, “Are there more of them than there are of us?”

“There are always more with us than with them.”

Wash held himself straighter, and nodded almost fiercely. “Then let them come. As long as you are with us, Goél, we can whip 'em.”

“Sure we can,” Reb said, yanking his hat off and slapping it against his thigh. His light blue eyes gleamed. “When does the fracas start?”

Goél laughed. “I would not call such a titanic battle as we face a
fracas.
However, I'm glad to see that you're ready for whatever comes, Robert.” He was the only one who ever called Reb “Robert,” and now he gazed fondly at the gangling young man.

Then Goél looked about at each of them. “When you were dreaming, you had all that you had always longed for—and yet you chose to come back to danger, death, pain.” He was silent then, but Wash felt the glow of his approval. “All seven of you. I have chosen my servants well.” He gathered his robe about him and began to speak of what was to come. He ended by saying simply, “Keep yourselves available. When the call for battle comes, you must move quickly. Now, I must go. Remember, the House of Goél will be filled!”

And then he was gone, vanishing out of their sight.

Wash said, “How does he
do
that?”

“I guess he can do anything he wants to,” Josh said. “And now we'll just have to wait.”

“We've done a lot of that. I just don't care to do much
dreaming
for a while,” Dave said, laughing shortly.

“I don't either,” Jake said. “It was fun being on a starship like I always wanted to be, but it wasn't real.”

“No, it wasn't,” Josh said. He smiled at Sarah.
“Would you like to go back to your dream again, Sarah?”

“No, that's over. It was never really what I wanted. I don't think we can hide behind our dreams. That would be foolish.”

He said, “Come along, and you can tell me about it. Time to go for a walk. I want to hear more about what you liked about me that made you come all the way back.”

The two left, laughing, and then abruptly Dave said, “I guess there's room for two more out there, Abbey. Want to take a walk in the moonlight?”

Abbey looked up. “Did you mean what you said—back in that dream, Dave?”

He looked around with some embarrassment, then straightened up. “Sure, I meant it. Come on, Abbey, let's get away from these yahoos.”

When both couples were gone, Reb and Jake and Wash looked at each other.

There was amusement in Reb's eyes. “Sure is funny how guys get all interested in girls. Mostly they get their feet tangled up. I'm glad I don't have that to worry about.”

“I guess it's all right for them,” Wash said, going to the door and watching the two couples fade away into the darkness. Then he turned to Jake. “What are we going to do now?”

Jake said, “I don't know. What about you, Reb? You got any ideas?”

“Let's go trot-lining. I'd like to catch a big old catfish. One as long as you are, Jake.”

Jake's eyes lighted up. “That would be good. Catfish, and hush puppies, and fried onion rings. Let's do it!”

All three headed for the river, where they kept a
small boat. Soon they were skimming over the surface of the water, the sound of their laughter carrying far.

 

Overhead the silver moon beamed down on the couples walking along the river.

Josh listened with a smile as the boys broke the silence of the night with their yelling. He said, “They're sure having fun.”

“Yes, they are, and so am I.”

Josh looked down at Sarah and said quietly, “I guess we don't have to dream. We've got the real thing.”

“Yes, we have.” She moved closer, and his arm crept around her. They wandered on down the riverbank, walking slowly and speaking quietly.

 

Farther downstream, Dave said with a smile, “I sure did like to dress up and play a Southern gentleman. Those were good times, weren't they?”

“I don't think times were ever really like they were in that TV series.”

“You don't? I thought you liked all that, Abbey.” He looked down at her face and thought again how pretty she was. He took her hand. “You always gave me the impression you'd like to go back and live in the old South.”

“Not really,” Abbey said. Then she stopped walking and looked up at him. “This time is good enough for me—and this place.”

“Well, if you like me better than Breck Stewart, I guess we've got something going.” He pulled her close and held her for a moment, whispering, “You're prettier than Elizabeth Brady!”

 

Go with Josh and his friends as they are sent by Goél, their spiritual leader, on dangerous and challenging voyages to conquer the forces of darkness in the new world. Ages 10-14. The books in
The Seven Sleepers Series
includes:

 

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The Lost Chronicles of several adventures of the Seven Sleepers have been discovered! The books in The Lost Chronicles Series includes: