Of Another World

Chapter 1Tony had just reached what promised to be one of the more interesting chapters when a shadow fell over his book. He looked up to see his brother standing next to the deck chair. “Why the hell is your nose buried in a book?” Daniel shook his head. “This is a cruise. You’re supposed to be out there enjoying the sun and the water with everyone else.” He gestured toward the far side of the deck where people were hanging over the railing, chattering to each other at the approved social distance, or walking to or from the covered bar at the rear of the catamaran. True, they were all wearing masks, but their laughter and body language said they were having fun anyway. “Do something, damn it.” Daniel reached for the book, which Tony snatched away with a testy, “You can do everything for both of us. I’m quite content to sit here and read and soak up the sun.” “Why did you bother to come along?” “Because someone—” Tony shot a dour look at his brother, “—browbeat me into it.” “I didn’t. I only suggested it was time we took a break from what was going on out in the big, bad, COVID-ridden world.” “Like we have to worry about it,” Tony muttered under his breath. “No, but we have to act like we do,” Daniel retorted. “It’s hard enough keeping the restaurant going as it is. If we ignored all the restrictions everyone else is living under, where would we be?” “Maskless.” Tony grinned briefly before pulling his mask up from under his chin when he saw a steward approaching with the iced tea he’d ordered. After the man left, Tony told Daniel somewhat spitefully, “You’re pissed off because the pandemic is playing hell with your s*x life.” Daniel obviously took no umbrage because he replied, “It’s hard to find a woman who thinks falling into bed with a stranger is worth a chance of catching the virus. And before you say it, I can hardly tell them I’m immune so they’re safe.” “True enough.” Tony flicked his fingers. “Go chat up one of the pretty ladies, anyway. It’ll give you something to do and keep you out of my hair.” “I should have left you behind,” Daniel grumbled as he walked away. “Yeah, you should have,” Tony called after him before returning his attention to the book while sipping his tea. * * * * Tony finished the chapter and had started on the next one, satisfied the book was living up to his expectations, when he was suddenly aware that it was getting dark. It’s not that late, is it? He looked up to see huge, ominous clouds rolling in. A strong gust of wind evoked a cry from one of the women at the railing, followed by more cries from other passengers as the wind picked up force, rocking the catamaran—something that wasn’t supposed to be possible. He sprang to his feet to hurry to the rail and saw the reason why. What had been a calm sea only minutes before was now a boiling mass of huge waves, tossing the catamaran around like a kid’s toy boat in a bathtub. “What the hell!” Tony half-turned at his brother’s exclamation, grabbing him when the waves lifted the catamaran out of the water. It dropped it down seconds later, and waves washed over it, sending people into the ocean screaming in terror. He intended to teleport Daniel to the shore, which he could barely make out, far off to his right, but the sea had other ideas. A gigantic wave threw them against the bulkhead. He heard something snap and knew his arm had broken, the pain wiping away any chance that he could concentrate on getting them out of there. One look at his brother told Tony he was in even worse shape, his eyes rolled back in his head, blood flowing from his scalp. “Lady Artemis, please,” he prayed, holding Daniel in a death-grip with his good arm. Another wave tipped the catamaran and he felt himself sliding along the deck. He held fast to Daniel as they slipped into the water—his last thought, “I’ll rather have the damned virus.” * * * * Tony kept his eyes half closed against the bright sunlight which exacerbated his throbbing headache, while trying to figure out where he was, and why. Then he remembered. The storm, and damned boat flipped, sending us into the water. Daniel! ::Daniel?:: “Right beside you. A bit worse for wear, and I’ve got a raging headache, but I’m alive, thanks to you.” Tony turned to see his brother sitting cross-legged beside him. The shirt and shorts he’d been wearing on the catamaran were tattered but dry, which told him they been there at least long enough for the hot sun to do its job. The next clue that they hadn’t only recently been tossed ashore was his arm. He knew it had been broken right before they’d been thrown into the ocean. He realized when he used both arms to leverage himself to a sitting position that it was fine now. He looked at Daniel’s head, which had sported a huge gash the last time he’d seen it. It, too, had healed. “One more advantage to being shifters,” Daniel commented dryly, obviously reading Tony’s expression. “Time heals all wounds. Mine faster than yours, but then I didn’t break anything.” “So you’ve been awake for a while?” “Long enough to do a bit of exploring, which told me nothing other than that wherever we are isn’t where we started out, or even close. I don’t remember pine and oak forests like this around Punt Cana.” Daniel pointed behind Tony. Turning, Tony saw what he meant. Tall pines interspersed with sturdy oaks ran along the narrow strip of land between them and the sea. “You’re right. Where the hell are we?” “You tell me. For sure not anywhere in the Caribbean as far as I can tell, but how the hell did the storm send us hundreds of miles north of there?” “It couldn’t have. We’d be dead bodies in the water if it had, and obviously we’re not.” Tony got to his feet, turning slowly to take in their surroundings. “Trees, a rock-strewn shore…” He frowned. “It’s very like the North-East coast where we grew up, but with a Caribbean sun and sea? Uh-uh, not possible.” Daniel grinned, suddenly. “This is like one of those books you’re always reading. We’ve been transported to another world.” “Yeah, right. Maybe…maybe the storm took us somewhere farther south, perhaps to Venezuela? Are there those sorts of trees there?” “I doubt it, at least not along the coast.” “You’re probably right.” Tony shook his head. “We need to do some reconnaissance. With any luck we’ll run into someone who can tell us where we are.” “I agree. Like this or as our wolves?” “Like this for now. We don’t want to scare the hell out of anyone we run into.” “Not to be a doomsayer, but I hope there’s wildlife and maybe fresh water somewhere nearby because I’m hungry and thirsty.” Tony realized he was, too. “Let’s head into the trees first, shift when we’re well out of sight of the shore, and see what we can find, and pray it’s not a pack of wolves. I’m not sure I want to face a fight over their territory.” “No kidding.” They walked across the rocks into the forest, and with a thought, dispensed with their clothes for the time being and shifted. ::Looks like home,:: Daniel said. Tony agreed, although he knew they weren’t in Colorado, or even Maine if that’s what his brother meant. ::Now if there’s some small animals…:: ::There are.:: Daniel moved swiftly and silently forward through the thick underbrush. Tony followed, the scent of some living creature hitting his nostrils. Daniel vanished from sight for a moment then returned carrying a large, dead hare in his jaws. ::Dinner is served.:: ::Appetizer, anyway.:: Tony replied as they tore into the carcass. ::Was this the only one?:: ::Yeah, so far, but where there’s one there should be more around.:: It didn’t take them long to scent out a hares’ burrow. While Tony kept watch at one entrance, Daniel started digging at the other, sending three of them fleeing toward Tony. He caught and quickly killed two, and soon he and Daniel were, if not well nourished, at least not starving anymore. ::Now if there’s a pond somewhere nearby…:: ::There should be. The hares wouldn’t have set up home here if there wasn’t.:: Daniel replied. He was correct and soon they’d drunk their fill. Tony memorized where it was, in case they didn’t find any more in their travels—something he doubted but he knew to be ready for any contingency. After what he estimated was at least an hour later, from the slant of the sun’s rays through the trees, Tony wondered if there was an end to the forest, and said as much to Daniel. ::Unless we ended up on a small island in the middle of wherever, there has to be.:: ::The way things have gone since we decided to take that damned cruise, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if this was an island with no inhabitants other than the hares.:: ::Let’s teleport back to where we started and walk along the shore,:: Daniel suggested. ::Or maybe try to go home?:: ::If we knew how far away we were, I’d say yes, but you know we can’t do long hops without resting and I for one have no idea where that would be. We could be a hundred miles from the nearest…country? Or island, or whatever.:: Daniel sighed. ::I guess, so back to where we started and go from there.:: They teleported to the shore and took their human forms since they’d be out in the open and as Tony had said earlier, they didn’t want to frighten the human inhabitants, if there happened to be any. “Or get shot,” Tony pointed out. “I don’t want to become a rug in front of someone’s fireplace.” Daniel scoffed at that, reminding him that no matter how they died, they’d end up in their human forms. They set out, walking east, and within minutes the rocky shore turned to tall, thick brush, some of the bushes hung with red and gold berries, others festooned with small white flowers. Soon they saw a large field of long grass spread out in front of them. Following the shoreline, they made their way to what turned out to be a narrow inlet which quickly widened into a large lake. Across the water they could see the far shore and what appeared to be a dirt road. “Or animal trail?” Daniel mused. “We haven’t seen anything that suggests habitation by humans. If that’s any indication,” he pointed to the field, “the land is fallow.” “Presumption,” Tony retorted. “There could be farms and towns farther north or somewhere across the lake.” “Only one way to find out.” Instantly Daniel was standing on the road or trail at the far edge of the lake. Tony joined him, studying what he deemed was indeed a road, not a path created by animals. “Too neat and there’s a ditch along each side I’d be willing to bet was dug to let rainwater drain away to keep the road passable.” “It hasn’t been used in a while, however, unless there hasn’t been any rain in ages. No wheel, horse, or shoe prints that I can see.” After checking the ditches, Tony said, “They’re dry on the surface, but damp a couple of inches down, and grass in that field is green. Ergo, there has been rain fairly recently.” “‘A road less traveled’ to paraphrase Robert Frost?” “I’d say so. I vote we go that way, for starters.” Tony pointed south to where he knew the ocean was. “If we stick to the shore…” “We won’t get too lost. Got it.” Daniel headed in that direction with Tony right beside him. They followed the road, if that’s what it was, past the inlet and on for approximately half a mile before it and the shore veered east. The shore was back to being rocky, with grass on the other side of the road, bounded by the trees again. “Pretty damned deserted,” Tony muttered. “Like we’re the only humans for miles, or forever.” “Once upon a time there were some, if not now.” Daniel had come to a dead stop. Tony saw why. Ahead of them, maybe fifty feet away at the edge of the ocean were three structures—houses at one time, he thought, although now they were mere shells of their former selves. The walls were mostly intact, but roofs had fallen in on two of them, and the chimney of the third was gone, leaving only a few bricks on its roof to indicate where it had been. “If this was a town, it was damned small,” Daniel said as they moved closer. “The houses could have belonged to fishermen.” “Good guess, and probably the right one, given the pier, or what’s left of it.” Daniel gestured toward a few pilings sticking out of the water to their right. When they came to the first house they took a look inside. It consisted of three small rooms, with a few pieces of furniture buried under the fallen roof. They decided the furniture had been left behind when the inhabitants had departed for good. The next house was about the same, although there was a fourth room. “Larger family, or maybe richer than the first one,” Tony said. “Makes sense.” The third house was as small as the first one, but with its roof intact. A dilapidated sofa stood along one wall, holes in the upholstery indicating something small, undoubtedly rodents, had turned it into somewhere to live. The fireplace on the outer wall was filled with debris, including bricks from the broken chimney. In what had once been the kitchen, there was a smaller fireplace with a pothook, and a counter with a large stone basin sunk into it. Tony surmised, probably rightly, it had been a sink. The last room was empty except for accumulated debris that had blown in through the broken window and a mattress which had been torn open, revealing it had once been filled with down. Bits of feathers clung to the tear and to pieces of wood which might have been a bed frame at one time. “I wonder why the people moved away,” Tony said when they were back on the road in front of the houses. “If it was a fishing village, maybe the fish moved on, or whatever they do?” “I suppose. At least there’s hope there could be people still living somewhere else. I’d really like to know where the hell we are so we can figure out how to get home.” “You and me, both,” Daniel agreed with a brief smile. “I guess we keep following the road. It has to lead somewhere, right?” “A larger town, maybe? I’m not sure I’m in the mood to bed down in the forest tonight, even as wolves. Those hares we found might not be the only wildlife around.” “Speaking of which, I’m hungry.” “Again?” Tony arched an eyebrow. “We just ate.” “Yeah, about three hours ago, according to the sun. It’s definitely well past noon and we’ve been walking for miles.” Tony knew he had a point, so he suggested they head into the forest to see if they could find dinner. They shifted when they got there and began to hunt. It took a while as they hoped they’d find something more than hares, of which there seemed to be a preponderance. Daniel led, since as the elder brother, he was the more experienced hunter. They had been searching for a while when he came to a halt, his ears forward. ::Hear that?:: ::A stream, and?:: ::A dammed one, I think, and where there’s a dam there’s beaver.:: ::Or humans, so let’s hope you’re right.:: Daniel was, and they dined well before returning to the road after shifting. By then, the sun was beginning to lower, casting shadows from the trees across the road. Therefore, it took a moment for Tony to see someone several hundred yards in front of them.