"About those mountain lions," he said softly.
"Yeah, I'll tell you tomorrow. You'll be…um…wowed, I'm sure. You get a good night's rest."
"Thanks, Heckel…for…saving my little girl," Jack said reaching up to shake my hand.
His hand was cold. I held it for a long time to warm it up. The doctor instructed three other men to lift Jack out of the cart carefully and put him in his tent. After we got Jack settled, I said good night to Vonnie. Both she and Missy kissed my cheeks at the same time. I blushed.
"Take good care of Jack. See you in the morning."
As I walked back to my camp, I saw the three mountain lions lying in the field twitching their big fluffy tails. Gradually, their size was reduced to that of a normal house cat. They played with each other for a few minutes and then two of them took off in the direction of Jack's campsite. Jerky came running toward me and leaped into my arms.
"Thanks, buddy. You were awesome tonight!"
Chapter 30
The Nevada landscape is boring. I just don't see the attraction. Why in the world would anyone want to live out here? Too many stupid rocks, Madeline thought as the RV sped down I-80, leaving Winnemucca.
A loud banging sound came from the back of the motor home and broke her concentration.
"Damn! Son of a bitch," she heard Quincy utter as the RV slowed to a crawl.
"What's wrong?" Madeline asked, coming up behind the driver.
"I think we have a problem," Quincy said as he turned off the engine. He took out a small laptop computer and attached a cable to a port at the bottom of the steering wheel. After several minutes, he knew what was wrong.
"Looks like it's the fuel lift pump. That's why we have no power. That bang must have been it falling off or something."
"Well, get a new one." Madeline ordered as if the local garage over the next hill would have one readily available.
Quincy smiled nervously and said he'd take one of the support vehicles back to Winnemucca to look for the part.
"Please hurry. It's hot out here and creepy," she whined.
Quincy reached over to one of the switches on the dash and a generator roared to life. "There's plenty of fuel to run that generator for hours. Turn on the AC. You'll be fine," Quincy said as he descended the stairs.
"Just hurry," Madeline said sternly.
As the hours passed by, she plotted her little visit to Heckel. "He won't know what hit him," she mumbled, stretched out on the sofa. "I hope he likes unexpected company." Gradually, her eyes got heavy and she fell asleep.
Her dreams drifted from motor homes to dark storms to dead bodies to snakes and finally to seeing Heckel dismembered. That last dream was especially enjoyable and illuminating. It started with how she planned to get close to him and ended with her slowly dismembering him in front of all his followers. She was sitting on a large boulder and Heckel was suspended in midair by invisible chains. She flicked her long, highly manicured finger and his arm was twisted out of its socket. Blood spewed out like a burst water pipe. His followers were on their knees praying for her to stop. She flicked another finger and his leg was ripped out of his hip. She lifted Heckel high into the air so that his blood sprayed across his followers. One by one she ripped, twisted and yanked body parts from Heckel. Giggling, she flew his blood-soaked body out across his followers as if she had a remote-controlled helicopter toy. Madeline turned his blood into a caustic acid that when it hit the faces of his followers, it instantly dissolved their skin.
She awoke suddenly to noise coming from the engine compartment. It was dark in the motor home and chilly. She turned on several lights and then turned off the air conditioner. Her two dogs were at the door waiting to go out.
"Okay, guys. Let's go see what's up," Madeline said as she opened the door. The two dogs went tearing outside, barking.
The crisp Nevada air washed over Madeline, causing her to shiver. She looked up and was struck by the array of stars.
"That's the Milky Way right above us," Quincy said as he wiped his hands.
"You found the part," she said, walking to the back of the motor home as if she could tell what he was doing.
"By sheer dumb luck. There was a Cummins shop there and the parts department was well stocked. I should have it installed in about another half hour."
"Great. I suppose we should just stay the night here."
"Sounds good to me. I'm pooped. Would it be all right then to finish installing the part in the morning when I have better light?"
Madeline shrugged, waved her hand dismissively and went back into the tenement on wheels.
The next morning, Quincy finished installing the part, started the engine and did a diagnostic with his laptop.
"We are good to go," he reported proudly.
An hour later, Madeline's caravan was back on the road. The group made the border to California by early afternoon. It became evident to everyone that Madeline was getting more anxious to be done with, as she put it, the road trip from hell.
"Looks like we have company," Quincy reported, pointing to an ATV making its way toward the motor home.
"I think it's one of my scouts. I asked to have a report when we got to the California border and he's right on time."
Quincy stopped the rig, got out and helped Madeline down the steps. Several of her other guards approached from behind the motor home.
The ATV was spewing black smoke and had a rattle sound coming from its engine.
"Hello, Ms. Madeline. You asked to have a report," the dirty, toothless man said as he knelt down in front of her. The individual clearly had not been in the vicinity of a bath in a very long time.
"Please get up and stand downwind from me," Madeline said loudly. The men behind her all snickered.
"What news do you have of Heckel?" she asked, putting a hand in front of her nose.
"He's getting close to Sacramento," he said, wringing his hat nervously in his hands.
"Can you be a bit more exact?"
"He's in Stockton. He should be at the intersection of I-5 and I-80 in a day or two."
"Excellent," Madeline said pacing in front of the man. "Go back and keep following him," she said, turning to walk up the stairs into the motor home. "And for crying out loud, go take a bath somewhere. The next time I see you, you better be presentable, or I'll clean you myself…with fire. Go!" The scrawny man jumped onto his ATV, started the engine and raced off.
"I know a nice campground up the road a ways where we could spend the night. It's on the top of Donner's pass," Quincy reported. "It'll be cooler there and in the trees. It's a pretty area."
"Fine. Whatever. Trees sound like a welcome relief from all this boring dirt and rocky landscape. I hate Nevada. Remind me not to come back here again. Let's go," she whined, walking up the motor home's steps.
The entourage stayed two nights at the campground. Everyone was glad to rest and enjoy the mountains, especially the cooler air.
At one point, Madeline met with all her support people and Quincy. She instructed them to leave her alone on the outskirts of Sacramento. She planned to walk to the intersection of I-5 and I-80, and get there before Heckel's party arrived. Quincy sat in silence with a disapproving glare. She further explained that after her drop-off, everyone had orders to head north and join her forces in Oregon just in case she was not successful with the little side trip.
When everyone dispersed, Quincy remained with a sullen face as if he just lost his favorite puppy.
"What's wrong?" Madeline asked standing in front of him.
"I don't like the idea of leaving you alone."
"How gentlemanly," she said, stroking his cheek. "I'll be fine. Remember, I have my little blue friends in the palms of my hands with me at all times." He looked at her hands and flinched.