The If Bridge

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “Firecrackers?” asked the surprised counterman. “The fourth of July was about a month ago, you know.”

  “Yes, I know,” said the customer, a small, thin, wiry man. “And bottle rockets and Roman candles too. Whatever you have left. We’re having a… a kind of a…” He did not finish the sentence.

  “Well sure, OK. And you’ll get a good deal on ‘em. Didn’t quite know what I’d do with ‘em anyway. Too dangerous to just chuck ‘em away. And you can’t exactly burn ‘em, now can you!” he chuckled.

  “No, no I guess you can’t,” said the customer with a forced smile. “Just load everything up in my truck. And put it on my tab. I’ll pay you when my check comes in.”

  “Sure, no problem,” said the counterman as he went to get the boxes.

  A little while later, the loaded truck drove away. And sitting grimly behind the wheel, as I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, was Manny.

  *****

  In the shadowy twilight, deep, deep into the woods, sat the Wolf. And all around her sat… more wolves. Twenty strong. Their sharp eyes fixed upon their leader. The one who promised great and wonderful things. Promised plentiful amounts of food.

  “Join me in defeating my enemies and I will reward you greatly,” said the Wolf. “Never again will you know hunger. Never again will you know fear.” She spoke not in a language of humans, but in the language of wolves. A much more basic communication with no subtleties of thought. A precise, no-nonsense communication that was straightforward and direct.

  “Join me” = You get food.

  “Help me” = You get food.

  “Fight by my side” = You get food.

  “Destroy my enemies” = You get food.

  Just simple and basic equations these creatures could understand.

  And one by one, each wolf in turn growled his or her acceptance. An army was being formed, and a most formidable one at that. These soldiers had speed and strength and cunning. And perhaps, scariest of all, they had powerful jaws and hacksaw-like teeth.

  The Wolf was pleased. Very pleased.

  *****

  Maggie was totally exhausted and mumbling. Molly was just barely conscious. Tim was moaning as he slept a troubled sleep. Mr. and Mrs. Morgan had nasty colds and were drinking tea as they sat wheezing and coughing. The Aunts were soaking their sore feet, and everyone generally felt really bad. No smiles here, just frowns a-plenty.

  “Do you think they’ll try again soon?” yawned a tired Maggie.

  “Din you zay Bear seb he tinks zoon?” sputtered Mr. Morgan. “So Pwobly veby veby zoon.”

  Then he had a sneezing fit that lasted several minutes. A chorus of “bless you” and “gesundheit” followed. Mr. Morgan waved his hand feebly in the air as a gesture of thanks as he went looking for a new box of tissues and cold medication.

  *****

  The Bear and Deer were once again patrolling the Bridge, but this time, thanks to Manny, they had a tent to provide shelter and to utilize as a home base. This way they could stay close to the Bridge as they took turns on guard.

  “I wonder if we will ever see her again,” said the Bear, speaking more to himself. But the Deer heard.

  “I don’t know, Bear,” she answered. “But when the fire extinguisher stream hit her she looked so surprised. I don’t think she ever anticipated the possibility that something could short circuit her portal.”

  “Do you think she’s g-gone?” stammered the Bear.

  “I just don’t know…” sighed the Deer. Then she paused, thinking.

  “…maybe the machinery was merely damaged. If it had been destroyed, would we not have reverted back to our true forms?”

  “True,” said the Bear. “But still…”

  “Yes, I know,” she answered. “But still... now we are alone.”

  “No you’re not!” said a new party to the conversation. It was Maggie, along with Molly, and along with Tim.

  The Bear looked long and deep into Maggie’s clear strong eyes. “No, we are not,” he said. “I believe I was wrong. We are not alone after all.”

  Then the three kids, in a flurry and jumble of words, explained how Manny had purchased fireworks to scare off the enemies, and that they needed to get the fireworks to the Bridge ASAP. There was no way to know when the Wolf and the rest would be back to take the gold. To take it One way or another, as the Wolf had said.

  *****

  As the Wolf sat basking in the warmth of her newly formed alliance, the Snake and the Vulture were silently taking it all in… looking worriedly at this newly formed wolf army. And many pairs of dark, beady eyes regarded them as well.

  “The Wolf will not need us now,” whispered the Vulture, a tinge of fear in his voice. “She will abandon us now, Oh my, oh my. I can feel it.”

  “No, you are wrong! She will not forsake her friendsss,” exclaimed the snake rather loudly. In fact, too loudly, because the Wolf and all the other wolves turned their heads towards him.

  “Now you’ve done it. They all heard you. Oh, now you’ve gone and done it,” quaked the Vulture. (Of course, only the Wolf understood them. The wolves did not, after all, understand English.)

  The two were frozen to the ground as the Wolf slowly rose and approached, a sly smile curling her lips.

  “Well… what do we have here?” she asked. “Are the two of you plotting against me?” She did not pause for an answer, quickly answering her own question.

  “No, of course not, and I am not plotting against you two either, you imbeciles. These wild wolves are stupid, and the two of you are somewhat less stupid. I need you both to help me keep them in line. Does… this… make… any… sense… at… all… to… you?”

  The Snake spoke. “We were worried that…”

  “Yes, I know. Worried that I would let my little army here rip you apart,” the Wolf broke in with a smile. But her smile quickly faded to a scowl and she said, “Now enough of this foolishness. We need to plan our next move.”

  So the three of them talked, and they planned, surrounded by a pack of restless wolves. And soon the Vulture and the Snake forgot their fears, which is exactly what the Wolf had expected. It was exactly what she had planned. It was exactly what would help her dispose of these two fools when the time was right. When she had what she wanted. Had what was hers. When she had all the gold, gold, gold, gold, gold.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The Bear and the Deer tried once again to summon the Mistress. And much to their amazement, the orb appeared. But their joy soon faded, for the glowing ball was dim, much smaller than it should have been, flickered like a broken lamp, and crackled and sputtered sharply like an old broken radio. No face, either young or otherwise, appeared at its center. But still, it was there, hovering before them. No one moved a muscle.

  At least briefly. Then everyone spoke at once. Their bewilderment, joy, and apprehension formulating a hundred questions. Why is the orb crackling? Is that what that noise is? Just a crackling sound? Is it a voice? Yes? No? Perhaps the Mistress is trying to communicate with us. And why is the orb so small? And why so dim?

  “Quiet,” said the exasperated Deer, as both her long funnel shaped ears turned in, to tune into the orb. “I can hear better than any of you. Let me listen. Make no sound.”

  Everyone stood silently as she concentrated on the sounds. And soon she began to nod her head. “Yes, I can make it out now. It is a repeating message from the Mistress. But all I can make sense of is: much damage… need to repair… use these… may find useful.

  “Use what? Find what useful?” asked Molly as she looked around to the others. “I don’t see anything. Does anyone?”

  “No,” said everyone. But then two ring- shaped metallic objects came tumbling from the orb and down to the ground… followed by a note. The silvery rings hit hard and clanged noisily when they landed, as the paper fluttered down gently and slowly after them, resting neatly within one of the hoops. Nice shot. Bulls eye! Molly ran to
retrieve the note, but then paused, as she and everyone else stood staring at the strange new objects.

  Each hoop was approximately three feet in diameter, which was odd since the orb was less than two feet in diameter. How could that work? No matter, I was never good at math anyway. At one end was a thin, flat, rectangular slab. Obviously meant to hold the hoop upright. Maggie started towards one of the rings.

  “No,” boomed the Bear. “Do not touch them. We must be careful.”

  With those words and their implication of danger, suddenly Molly wasn’t so eager to pick up the note… but her curiosity won out and she lifted it with trembling hands and read it aloud:

  My dearest friends,

  The portal is badly damaged. I believe I can repair it, but it will take some time. And I realize that time is not a luxury we have in abundance. So, here, I send you a prototype of my newest invention: a matter mover, a transporter device. If one of these units is placed near the Bridge and the other near the farm, the physical space between them will be compressed, and anything or anyone could traverse the distance in a fraction of a second.

  It is simple to operate. Step through the first ring and emerge from the second. A journey of 1,000 miles can be reduced to a moment.

  I am afraid, however, the device has not been fully tested, but it is my fervent hope that it can help you in your battle with the enemies.

  My faith is in you,

  Mistress

  “Not fully t-t-tested!” said Tim. “B-b-but how do we know it will work?”

  “We set it up and test it ourselves,” said the Bear. And with that he placed a hoop at both ends of the Bridge. “I’ll throw a rock through this hoop and we’ll see if it emerges from the other.”

  So he tossed a rock through the first hoop and it emerged… from the other side of the first hoop! It didn’t work. “Maybe I threw it from the wrong side,” said the Bear, so he tried again. But it still didn’t work. The Deer nudged at the rock with her nose. “Maybe it’s defective,” she said. “Let’s try a stick.” But the stick just landed beside the rock. No one knew what to do.

  Then Molly interrupted. “Er, I forgot to read the rest of the letter. It says, P.S. Don’t forget to turn the units on!”

  “Molly!” rang out an annoyed chorus.

  Managing a cheesey little smile, all Molly could muster was a squeaky little “Sorry.” Then she remained uncharacteristically silent.

  “So, let’s try that again,” said the Bear. And after raising his eyebrows at Molly, which made her laugh, he turned both units on. “Here goes nothing,” he said as he tossed another rock.

  As the rock reached the hoop it vanished with a loud harrumph. Then it emerged a half moment later from the second hoop. It worked!

  Well, kind of worked. Because now it was four times its original size.

  “We can’t go through there,” said Maggie.

  “We’ll be 10 feet tall when we come out,” said Tim. “I have enough t-t-trouble finding jeans that fit as it is.”

  “Oh, uh, well…” said Molly. And all eyes were upon her.

  “Oh, uh, what?” asked the Deer.

  “It… uh… also says, and don’t forget to set the trim dial to 100%,” mumbled Molly.

  “OK then Molly,” said the exasperated Deer, “is there anything else we should know? Better yet, just hand over the note.”

  Sheepishly, Molly handed it to Tim, and everyone just laughed. Molly was, after all, just being Molly.

  The dial was reset to 100%, and the next test worked perfectly, which was great, but no one had been terribly concerned about the test subject. It was just an unfeeling rock. Now, however, they were faced with a more serious test. They needed to see how the device would work on a living thing. And that was kind of scary because what if that didn’t work right? No one knew.

  “I’ll try it first,” said the Bear.

  “No, I will,” replied the Deer.

  And soon the five were arguing and trying to convince everyone else why they should go first.

  But then Tim yelled, “Hey, look over t-t-there,” as a frog appeared from the brush and leaped through the mover… only to reappear a moment later on the other side of the Bridge. He paused for a moment, as if trying to decide what had happened, and how he had gotten there so quickly. But being a frog he shrugged it off with a ribbit and continued on his way.

  “So, I guess it works,” said Maggie with a huge smile. “We’d better bring one of these back to the farm. That way we can go back and forth quickly when we need to.”

  Molly and Tim left with the mover, leaving Maggie behind with her walkie-talkie. This way they could communicate between the Bridge and farmhouse. The Bear and the Deer also stayed, to continue guarding the Bridge.

  *****

  Everyone was standing around the strange new device. Molly and Tim, in a whirlwind of words, explained how it worked… and how they had tested it.

  “I’ll try it,” said Manny, “and I don’t want to hear any objections. Transporting a frog is one thing, but we need to test this on a human being.”

  No one objected, as Manny’s declaration had a note of finality to it that silenced everyone. The usually quiet Manny did not insist upon much, but when he did people took note.

  “Molly to Maggie, Molly to Maggie, Manny says we need another test, over.”

  “Hi Molly. I hear you. Are you guys ready for that test? Who’s coming?”

  Silence, as Molly stared at the walkie-talkie.

  “Molly, can you hear me?” said Maggie louder. “You didn’t answer. Hello? Molly? Is this thing broken?” She tapped it and muttered to herself.

  More silence, as Molly continued to stare blankly at the walkie-talkie. Finally, she cleared her throat. “Ahem.”

  “Molly? Oh, good grief,” exclaimed Maggie. “You’re waiting for me to say over, aren’t you? OK… over.”

  “That’s much better,” said Molly.

  Milda turned to Manny and whispered, “Maybe that poor child shoulda been wearin’ a hat. Out in the sun too long if you ask me.”

  “Please, everyone, can we continue?” sighed Manny.

  Molly and Tim both held their breath. Manny filled his lungs deeply as if he were about to dive into a pool. He bent forward slightly and walked through the transporter device. Harrumph. He disappeared… and reappeared on the Bridge.

  “It worked,” he said, standing nose to nose with the Deer. “That Mistress is some kind of incredible! I made it here in the blink of an eye, and I feel just fine. Maggie, please let Molly and the rest know I made it here.”

  “Right,” she said. “Hello Molly, everything’s good here. Manny made it… Hello… Molly?”

  Molly, on her end, once again just stared at the walkie-talkie, waiting. But before anyone could say anything she looked up and giggled, “OK, OK, OK. Just kidding.”

  This time no one was amused. Molly wilted.

  But in all fairness to her, she was acting so frivolous because she was so nervous.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  They began carrying over the boxes of fireworks and other supplies for their base near the Bridge. Harrumph, harrumph, harrumph, harrumph… Molly, Tim, Milda, and Mr. Morgan carried them. Matilda and Mrs. Morgan, along with Bernie, were to stay behind to guard the farm. Most of the action was sure to happen at the Bridge, but the transporter needed to be watched… at both ends.

  Bernie, wanting to be anywhere Molly was, also leaped through the mover. Fortunately, Molly saw him and shoved him right back. “You can help keep the farm safe,” Molly said to him.

  But Bernie didn’t care beans about the farm, only Molly. So he sulked.

  *****

  “At dusk?” asked the Vulture.

  “Yes, dusk. Humans do not see as well as we do, and the fading light will serve us well,” answered the Wolf. “My wolf army, our secret weapon, will remain 100 yards from the Bridge and wait for my signal. I will show them. Then they will move slowly in, and form a noose t
hat will tighten around our battleground. No one will be able to escape. We will wait out of sight near the Bridge until the sun has almost set. Then we will move.”

  The Snake and Vulture looked up to the sky. No longer at its high point, the fiery timepiece had begun its descent. In just a few more hours the fight would begin.

  *****

  “We can hide it in the barn,” said Matilda to the walkie-talkie, while looking at the mover device. “I don’t know where Horris and Payne are, but we don’t want them to find this.”

  So Mrs. Morgan and Matilda carried the unit to the barn and hid it in the shadows under a tarp, behind several bales of hay. Satisfied that it was well-concealed, they went back to the house, put on their fluffy slippers, made some caffeine-free tea, and waited for further instructions.

  *****

  Horris and Payne had just climbed a tree across from the barn when they saw the two ladies carrying something through the barn door. The guys were dressed in camouflage clothing, and blended so well with the leaves that they were virtually invisible. Uncle Payne held a pair of binoculars and muttered to himself. “Now what in the world can that contraption be? A television antenna?”

  ”What is it Unc? What do you see?” whined Horris.

  Payne hated being called Unc.

  “Quiet Horris. I don’t know,” snapped Payne. Then he turned and said, “But we need to find out.”

  So they scrambled down the tree and, keeping to the shade, carefully made their way to the barn. Then they slid the door open just enough for them to squeeze through and shut it quickly behind them.

  It was dark. Not so dark that it was impossible to see, but dark enough to make looking for something difficult. Now, Manny kept a neat barn, but there were tools and boxes and parts of things that someday we’ll need lying about. The place was busy… neat but busy.

  And Horris was no help. He began sniffling, sneezing, and snorting because of the hay. And then he began muttering to himself that he was hungry and this was all just a stupid waste of time. “Gold shmold,” he mumbled. “Rather have a cheeseburger, any day.”

  Payne sighed. He was on his own. Not that he expected great things from Horris, but a little cooperation would have been nice. After all, he did intend to split the gold with Horris, 50-50… well, maybe 60-40… how about 70-30? He would have to see. No matter, he’d find what he was looking for by himself. Horris was just along for the ride. Blood is blood, he thought to himself, then winced at the thought that the same blood ran through both their veins.