Whistlestop (5 page)

“
And just who the hell are
you and why are you in my house?” Jerry exclaimed.

The man pulled his hood off, revealing
his head and face. He seemed to be around forty years old, with a
few light wrinkles and a bit of gray around the edges of his
otherwise brown hair. His eyes were sky blue, almost a bit too
light to be real. “Well, I’m more accustomed to deference from my
subjects, but yours is a unique case. I am Karl August Galantine
Armstrong, Emperor of the Universe.”

“
Really, Emperor of the
Universe,” Jerry chuckled. “How come I never heard of you before,
if you rule everything?”

“
Your stupidity is not my
problem, young knight. There are those who will and probably have
told you that I am an evil man, but I think it is important for a
person to make their own decisions. What do you think?”

“
If the cats are an
indication, perhaps those others are right?”

“
Security for someone in my
position is critical. I understand your president has extensive
security with and around him at all times, and he only represents a
small portion of this one planet.”

“
Please just tell me what
you want, or get out of my house.”

“
You must be more courteous
if you expect to do well in life, Lord Jeremy.”

“
I am no lord, your
Majesty.”

The emperor smiled. “I appreciate your
kind words, but as a Knight of Winterpast, you are indeed a lord of
that realm.” He walked over and stood two feet from Jerry and
extended his left arm. “I would like to show you some of the
reality you have missed, Lord Jeremy. Please put your hand on my
arm.”

“
I don’t understand, and
why should I trust you?”

“
Lord Jeremy, if I had
wished harm to you or your family, you would already be dead. You
remember the vision I gave you a short while ago, with the fires
and the slaughter of your neighbor? That could have been real, if I
had wished. You see, you have forgotten the essential skill of
folding, and so I wish to teach you and show you a few things,
after which you will be returned to your bed safely. You have my
word as Emperor of the Universe.”

Jerry was convinced this was nothing
but another dream. He could either try to force himself awake,
which had not worked so far, or could just go along and see what
happens. He raised his right hand and set it on the emperor’s arm.
He held his breath as he felt his body flatten down to two
dimensions and then collapse into a line, then a dot and
disappeared completely. “That was so cool,” little Jeremy said
softly after witnessing the exit through half-opened eyes. He
promptly fell back asleep.

Angelina and her husband were sitting
next to each other in silence at the dinette table as the first
rays of sunrise peeked over the horizon. Neither had slept more
than an hour or two and worry creased their faces. “I’m sure
everything will be okay, Jeremy,” Angie sighed. “There could be a
hundred reasons for so many cats. After all, we don’t know any of
the neighbors. Any one of them could be a crazy cat
lady.”

Jeremy smirked at her contrived
suggestion and replied, “I know what you’re trying to do,
sweetheart, and I do appreciate it, but we have to face facts. I
just thank God you are here to help.”

“
We are a family, Jeremy.
How could I not help?”

“
Angie, I know you gave up
a lot to marry me and stay with us. I really thought Jerry and I
would be safe here. This is where everyone is sent to disappear, so
I thought the emperor would be satisfied and leave us alone. I even
thought that maybe he would forget all about us one
day.”

She took a sip of coffee and set her
mug down. “I think you should cut the cat down from the tree before
Lilian or Jeremy sees it.”

“
That elf bastard always
leaves the clean up to me,” Jeremy complained as he stood. He
pulled open a drawer and withdrew a large chef’s knife and examined
the blade. “I hope that rope doesn’t hurt the edge on this knife.
This thing is made from Damascus steel. I bet it cost a pretty
penny.” He looked up and out the window. A large cat, which must
have weighed forty pounds, was hanging limply from a noose on the
tree in the center of the yard.

“
Just cut it down,” she
said. “Be glad you don’t have to dig a hole to bury it.”

The kitchen door opened and Lynn
entered, still wearing her pajamas and slippers. She also looked as
though she could use more sleep. “Isn’t Jerry here?” she asked, and
then screamed when she saw the cat hanging outside. “What is that?
Who would do such an awful thing?” Her eyes caught her
father-in-law trying to hide the knife behind his back. “What are
you going to do with that knife, Dad?”

Angie rose and strategically placed
herself between Lynn and the window. “Lynn, you have to trust us on
this.”

“
Who killed that poor
kitten?”

Jeremy chuckled and replied, “Kitten?
Did you see the size of that monster? It’s more like a bobcat and
definitely not a kitten, and I’m going to cut it down now.” He
smiled and walked out the back door.

“
Mom, please tell me what’s
going on? And have you seen Jerry?”

“
I thought he was still in
bed,” Angie noted.

“
No, I woke up and he was
gone. I checked the kid’s rooms and he wasn’t there either, so I
assumed he was down here with you.”

Out in the yard, Jeremy had set up a
stepladder next to the hanging cat. He climbed up until he could
reach the rope above the animal’s body and began sawing away at it.
“That’ll teach you to mess with my family, you damned monster.” The
cat’s eyes were still open and almost glowed bright red. It had
fangs extending an inch below its jaws. The claws were long and
razor sharp. This thing had been a killing machine. Jeremy had
already cut through most of the rope and put his free arm around
the cat’s body to stop it from falling to the ground. A few more
strokes of the blade and the cat was freed. Jeremy tossed the knife
out into the yard and began to climb down slowly. He looked down
and noticed a group of dogs had formed a circle around his ladder.
The animals were looking up at the two of them. “I’m damned glad
you guys are here. Make sure there are no more cats around here,
okay?”

“
Do you think he might have
gone jogging or something?” Angie asked.

“
Seriously, you think my
Jerry would go jogging? You must be kidding.”

“
Well, he has to be
somewhere,” Angie said.

Back on the ground, Jeremy gently set
the dead cat on the lawn in the center of the canine circle. He
eased the noose from its broken neck and walked over to where he
had tossed the kitchen knife. After picking up the knife, he turned
and noticed that the cat had disappeared. A small white dog was
walking toward him, so he sat down on the grass. “What is it,
girl?”

The dog put its front paws on Jeremy’s
leg and instantly images began to flood into his mind. “My son and
grandson are in trouble?” he muttered. “Tell me something I don’t
know.” The dog continued to stare up at him. “Why do we have to
run, and why does the emperor give a damn about us anyway?” The dog
smirked and blinked at him. “Knights of Winterpast? That old myth
again?” The dog kept staring. “What happened to Jerry? Are you
sure?” The white dog licked his hand and the pack hurried
away.

“
Jeremy, you’d better get
in here!” Angie shouted from the open kitchen door. He climbed to
his feet and rushed back into the house.

“
Dad, have you seen Jerry?”
Lynn asked with tears in her eyes.

“
No,” he replied with a
grim look on his face.

“
Honey, when Lynn woke this
morning, he was nowhere to be found,” Angie interjected.

“
I know. That’s what the
dog just told me,” he exclaimed.

“
What dog?” Lynn
asked.

Little Jeremy walked into the kitchen,
still rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “Why is everybody
shouting?”

“
It’s okay, sweetheart,”
Angie replied. “You should get ready for school.”

“
Mommy, why are you
crying?” Jeremy said to his mother.

“
It’s nothing, Jeremy. I’m
okay.”

“
I’m sure Daddy will be
back soon,” little Jeremy noted. The three adults froze and stared
at the little boy.

“
What are you talking
about, Jeremy?” his grandfather asked.

“
Daddy went with the
emperor last night,” the little boy replied.

All the color drained from his
grandfather’s face as he realized what the white dog had meant. He
collapsed into one of the dinette chairs and held his head in his
hands and began to moan.

“
Dad, what’s wrong?” Lynn
asked. “You have to tell me what’s going on!”

“
I am so sorry you got
involved with this, Lynn. I was too damned stupid to believe we
could disappear forever. Please forgive me. Shit, I never should
have let you marry Jerry.”

“
Jeremy, please tell me
exactly what you remember about your dad going with the emperor,”
Angie asked.

“
Where is my husband?” Lynn
demanded. Angie frowned at her and she sat down and remained
quiet.

“
Please go on, Jeremy,”
Angie said.

“
I woke up last night
because it was so hot in my room. I heard dad talking to
someone.”

“
Daddy was in your room
last night?” Lynn asked. Angie glowered at her and she sat
quietly.

“
Who was the man your dad
was talking to?” Angie asked.

Jeremy laughed and replied, “He said
he was the Emperor of the Universe. Isn’t that funny,
Grandma?”

The elder Jeremy groaned again. “Not
now, honey, I’m talking to your grandson. Jeremy, did the man have
a name?”

“
Yeah, but it was really
long and hard to remember.”

“
Was his name Karl August
Galantine Armstrong?” Angie suggested.

“
Yeah, that was it!” the
little boy exclaimed.

“
Okay,” Angie noted. “And
what happened then?”

“
The man asked Daddy to put
his hand on his sleeve, and they both disappeared. Isn’t that
cool?”

“
What?” Lynn
shouted.

“
Do you remember anything
else?” Angie queried.

“
No, but I fell asleep
after that. Daddy’s coming back soon, isn’t he?”

“
Your dad will be fine,
sweetheart,” Angie said. “Please go get ready for school while your
mom and I make your breakfast.” The little boy smiled and walked
out of the kitchen.

“
Neither of you believe
that nonsense, do you?” Lynn asked. “Obviously, he had a bad
dream.”

“
Jeremy, you need to get a
hold of Jeremiah Beetleweed Mosscatcher right away. I have to talk
to my family and get their assistance.”

“
I know, honey, and please
tell you father that I’m sorry I got you involved in
this.”

“
Are either of you going to
tell me what’s going on?” Lynn begged.

“
Jeremy, you know I love
you and will do anything I can to help our family,” Angie smiled,
and then turned to Lynn. “Things are going to be a bit insane for a
while, so try to hold on as best you can. We will protect
you.”

“
Protect me from what? And
where is Jerry?”

“
You might want to close
your eyes,” she replied.

Angie began to glow as though a
searchlight was buried under her skin. After a few seconds, her
form was so bright that Jeremy and Lynn had to clench their eyes
and turn their heads. After a few seconds, the brightness was gone.
Lynn opened her eyes and saw only her father-in-law smiling at her
from across the table. “Where did she go? Dad, what’s
happening?”

Jeremy reached his hand across the
table and took hers. “Darling, none of us are from this
planet.”

“
This is some kind of sick
joke, isn’t it? We both know that isn’t possible, Dad,” she
scoffed. “How could you be from somewhere else? There isn’t
anywhere else to be from.”

“
Lynn, when I said none of
us, I meant you too.”

“
That’s ridiculous, Dad. I
was born in Louisiana. I remember growing up in Baton
Rouge.”

“
I realize that is what you
remember, but it is a lie, placed there by your father to help you
cope with your new reality. You were born on a planet called
Asterpast, in the same reality as my home world of Winterpast. The
father you know as Arthur Steven Trout was the man I knew as Arthur
Simple Truth, the Foreboding of Asterpast. He and the other seers
of that world were exiled sometime after my father and I fled
Winterpast. When you met my son, I had no idea who you were. I had
not seen Arthur in a long time when we were reunited at your
wedding. You can’t imagine my surprise at seeing him again. That is
when I knew your children were destined to be the great heroes who
would return honor to our worlds.”

“
This is some kind of joke,
Jeremy,” she smiled as she pulled her hand free.