Croatoan

CROATOAN

By Michael Rezabek

©2012

Prologue

Roanoke Island

August 12, 1588

                   

It is a clear night in August.  The skies over the small colony on the island are full of stars.  A light breeze comes off the ocean.  It is a perfect night for several of the colonists to sit on the beach and watch the comet that appeared over the night skies a few weeks ago.  It is a sight to behold, and the colony is divided over its meaning.  Many view it as an omen of bad things to come.  Those on the beach attribute it to being a positive sign from God.  Though they all had good relations with the local Croatan and Secotan tribes, none of the native tribes were to be found since the first few days of the comet’s arrival.  The colonists assumed the natives were afraid of the sight of the comet, or that they were on a long mainland hunting and supply trip.

 

Chocowinity Bay

                   

Several large fires are burning along the banks of the bay.  Members of the Croatan tribe sit around the bonfires and chant in ritual.  The men of the tribe are in their traditional battle paints.  The Shamen of the tribe walk among the men with clay incense pots, smoldering with pine and herb smoke.  The Chief steps out of a small hut, and the tribe grows quiet.  He makes his way to the middle of the group and addresses them.

         “My people, the time is near.  Our ancestors passed down tales of the last time the Tirawahat flew across the night skies, and sent his children to the lands.  They left the islands and the beaches to come here while the Spirit’s children hunted the lands along the great sea.  Here we shall remain until Tirawahat leaves the night at peace.”

         A warrior of the tribe steps forward, “Great Father, what of the tribe that came from the great sea?  Should they not have come with us?”

         The chief nods before answering, “I understand they have become our friends, but they have their own traditions and ways.  I’m sure they have done what they can to prepare for the Tirawahat’s children.  If they come this way, we will welcome them among us, as we have on the island.  For our people, we must keep the fires burning at night, and protect our own people.”

         He turns and returns to his hut.  The warriors and other members of the tribe return to their ritual chants and music.  Sparks drift off from the tops of the bonfires into the night skies.

Outer Space

279 million miles from Earth

                   

The 8 mile wide comet travels along its solar orbit with its tail streaking behind from the solar winds from the sun.  Made up of ice, dust particles, and large masses of iron ore and silica, the comet approaches its closest distance to Earth.  Several large pieces break off the comet and start their descent towards Earth.  In the next days, these pieces will fall into Earth’s atmosphere in an elaborate display of meteor showers.  Most will burn up as they travel through the outer atmosphere.  A few will make landfall.

         Roanoke Island

August 19, 1588

                   

A few colonists are on the beach surrounding a dwindling bonfire, and telling stories.  It is late, and most have already returned to the colony’s fort.  Those who remain wind down their tales, and start to put sand on the remaining coals of the fire.  Soon, they start to head back to the fort.  As they walk to the tree line, one looks up, and sees a brilliant fireball streaking across the sky.

         “Look there!” He exclaims, and the others look up just in time to see the last moment of the fireball’s path.  They are amazed at the sight, and within seconds they see more meteors shooting across the sky.  A few moments later one particularly bright meteor appears with a yellowish-green glow, and races overhead, travelling to the West, and is soon out of sight.

Croatan Sound

         The large meteor streaks over Roanoke Island, and splashes, into the sound, just beyond the western shores of the island.  The water boils around the site, and a greenish glow emanates from just below the surface of the shallow water.  Within moments, the contrast of the hot meteor and the cool waters takes its toll, and the meteor cracks and shatters into pieces.  The waters continue to roil, and soon a pattern of disturbed water and bubbles makes a straight line to the shore of Roanoke Island.

Roanoke Fort, Roanoke Island

         Most colonists are asleep in their homes within the fort.  A few sentries are at their posts along the fort’s outer walls.  With no troubles since first arriving to the island, the watches have grown complacent.  It has been peaceful, and the sentries are not as diligent in their duties.  One of the sentries goes outside of the fort’s walls to do the mundane task of checking the surrounding grounds.  After one pass of the perimeter, he decides all is as it usually is, and decides to relieve his aching bladder in the woods. 

         Finished, the sentry pulls his trousers back to his waist, and resets his belt buckle.  Behind him there is a rustling in the woods.  He spins around, and calls out, “Who goes there?”  The reply is continued rustling.  The sentry listens close.  He is a seasoned veteran, and listens closely to the sounds coming from the woods.  He breathes, deciding that it is the sound of animals scurrying in the darkness.  People, even the native savages, make distinctive sounds, and he hears nothing like what he knows are sounds of humans.  It could be some of the tiny deer that roam the island, or it might be one of the wild boar that the colonists favor for cooking over an open pit.  Not wanting to startle the rest of the colonists from their sleep, the sentry rests his rifle on a nearby tree, and pulls out his long hunting knife.  A chance for fresh meat for breakfast is too hard to pass up, and he sneaks his way deeper into the woods.

         Along the West Wall of the fort, a young sentry leans his elbows along the top of the wall, and stares at the sky.  There are still a few meteors that streak through the sky, but the numbers have dropped in the past couple of hours.  Still, he continues to watch for them.  He has not seen many of these in his life, except for when he made the long transit from England to come here to the island.  As he watches, his thoughts are back home in England, where life was better than this boring assignment to protect the colony.

         A short scream from the woods snaps him out of his daydream.  He pulls up his rifle, and stares into the woods.  Did he actually hear a scream?  It was barely a yelp, but he swore he heard something.  Maybe it was an animal calling out for its mate, but he continues to scan in the direction of the sound he heard.  After a few moments, he remembers that another sentry had gone to do a perimeter check, so he signals the other two sentries over.  After listening to what the young man had to relay, the remaining sentries decide to go out and check on their friend, leaving the young sentry at his post.  He watches as the sentries disappear into the woods in their search. 

         Thirty minutes pass, and the young sentry hears no sounds, except for a growing rustling from somewhere in the woods.  Perhaps the others found the missing sentry injured, or possibly drunk, in the woods, and were struggling to haul him back to the fort.  The rustling grows louder, and he starts to see some of the undergrowth moving, and lines in the vegetation coming towards the fort.  The lines are numerous, and the rustling is now accompanied by a sort of buzzing sound.  “Where are the others?” He thinks to himself, as he trains his rifle on one of the lines that run through the shrubs and tall island grasses.  He looks up from his sights for a moment, and sees that there are several dozen or more lines coming from the woods.  His eyes grow wide as the lines reach open ground, and his breath escapes him when he sees what comes out into the open ground.  Recovering his wits, he reaches for the sentry bell, and starts ringing it in a fury. 

         The young man stops ringing the bell as he sees colonists coming out into the courtyard, and grabs his rifle, and turns back to the ground outside the wall to shoot at…nothing.  There is nothing there.  This can’t be.  He saw them.  Dozens, or more.  He gets a thought, and peers over the wall to look at the ground where the fort’s walls were set into the ground.

         In the courtyard, the men of the colony are gathered and arming their weapons.  They hear a scream, and react by looking up to the sentry’s post just in time to see his legs flailing as he goes over the wall.  They run to the ladders, and climb up to the wall’s platform, and look over the edge.  One of the men speaks what the others are thinking, “Dear Lord, save us!”

CHAPTER ONE

Waterside Theatre

Manteo, North Carolina

June 1st , 2012

                   

Max Evans sat in his aisle seat during the closing moments of the Opening Night for the Waterside’s production of “The Lost Colony”.  Already the United States’ longest running outdoor drama, this season marks the 75th anniversary of the annual summer play.  Max was there with his family, and had attended a numerous shows in years past.  One thing he had learned was that if you are going to attend one of these shows you had better bathe yourself in bug spray before you go in.  The mosquitos are notorious, as Max had learned during his first show.  Later, he would take his clan to the Weeping Radish, an authentic German restaurant.  That was the ritual every year on the trip to the Outer Banks.

         The show ends, and the performers come out to do their bows to the standing ovation the crowd was giving them.  It was one of the best performances by the acting troupe, since they wanted to make this anniversary year one to remember.  As the crowd started to file out of the outdoor theatre, Max’s thoughts drifted to the story of the Lost Colony.  The settlement was small, and because of the Anglo-Spanish War across the Atlantic, it was three years before a supply ship could return to the island from England.  When the ship arrived, they found that the colonists had all disappeared.  The fort was deserted and overgrown with vegetation.  Search parties yielded no sign of the whereabouts of the missing colonists.  One theory was that they had gone to another island, but a hurricane at that time refused searchers the chance to check it out.  Over the years, during contact with the local native tribes, future colonists notice some of the younger members of the native populace having pale blue eyes.  It was thought that without supplies, the colonists turned to the help of the local tribes, and were absorbed into the native society.

         Max found great credibility in the absorption theory, as these native tribes were friendly to the colonists.  It made the most sense, and it seemed likely that when questioned, the tribes’ leaders, out of fear of retaliation, would suppress any truth of taking in the colonists as their own.  Perhaps, there was a rival tribe that was more hostile, who, in finding colonists living among the local tribes, killed the original colonists, but didn’t know that there were children of the colonist-native marriages.  This could account for the search teams not finding the original settlers.  There were so many possibilities, and without more research or possible archeological evidence, the true story may never be known.  Himself, Max was satisfied in the theory that the local tribes took them in.

         What makes this more of a mystery is the only odd finding at the island when the resupply ship arrived.  One of the ship’s crew found the word “Croatoan” carved into a post at the remains of the fort, the word Cro carved into a nearby tree.  What it meant baffled the searchers, and led them to the Croatan tribe, thinking it was a misspelling of their tribe name.  They learned that Croatoan was also the name of another island, known as Hatteras today, but as the hurricane was brewing, all hopes of going to the island were dashed.  Future searches and later archeological explorations would come to yield nothing, as Hatteras’ geography would constantly change with the tides and storms that frequent the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  It seems that the colony would remain lost in history, and their story would only live on in history books and in the annual play in Manteo.

         Max and his family got in their Suburban, and after bit of a wait getting out of the parking lot, made their way to the restaurant for dinner.  After dinner they would make the late trek back to their summer timeshare cottage in Kill Devil Hills.  They managed to get the timeshare for two weeks this summer, and Max was excited because with the night skies over the beach, he would better see the return of a comet that was last seen over four hundred years ago.  The timing was perfect for him, as he loved comets and meteor showers.  He had last seen a comet when Hale-Bopp was perfectly visible in the skies in 1997, when he out to sea, while serving in the United States Navy.  Yes, it would be a vacation to remember.  Max smiled with these thoughts, as he peeked over to his wife, and noticed that she and the kids were sound asleep on their drive back to Kill Devil Hills.  He chuckled to himself, and drove on.

Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina

June 8th, 2012  5:23am

                   

Max is sitting on the deck of the rented beach house, sipping from his coffee cup, and watching the beginning of a spectacular sunrise out over the ocean.  He loves this, and has waited a long time for mornings like this.  After his time in the Navy, he and his wife, Jenna, moved inland to the Midwest, and started their family.  Between having children and both of their busy jobs, vacations were few and far between.  Max is a man of the sea, and this vacation is exactly what he needed.  The kids have never been to the ocean, so he hopes they will come away from these weeks with a love of the water like he had found while stationed in Norfolk, Virginia.

         The Sun starts to break at the horizon, and the colors are amazing.  Low level clouds make for some great sunbeam patterns along the entire line along the ocean surface.  Max checks the time on his smartphone, and takes another sip of coffee.  He peeks over his shoulder at the comet high in the sky.  It became visible only a couple of days ago, and would be at its peak of brightness in the days to come, as it makes its closest approach to the Earth along its solar orbit.  As the Sun rises the comet will lose visibility during the day.  Scientists have named the comet, De Gruller, after a French mathematician. Max raises his cup in a playful mock-toast to the comet as it already starts to fade from the Sun’s increasing light.

         Max returns inside, closing the French doors, and goes down the hallway to check in on the kids.  They all had a long day sightseeing at the Okracoke lighthouse yesterday, and the children went to bed late after they spent time looking through a telescope at the comet last evening.  He peeks in their room, and sees both of them conked out, and cuddled deep into their covers.  His son, Calvin, is ten, and takes a lot of himself from his mother.  Emelie is 4 years old, and is Max’s little twin.  Dark, curly red hair, and green eyes, she is extremely smart for a child her age, and surprises her parents each day.  He smiles and turns back into the hallway.  He peeks in on Jenna, and finds her sprawled out over the entire bed.  He couldn’t get back into bed if he wanted to, and chuckles as Jenna lets a muffled snore escape.  Max returns to the kitchen, and gets a frying pan out to start breakfast.

Outer Space

283 Million Miles from Earth

                   

The massive comet drifts along its orbital path towards the Sun.  The tail streams behind as the the energy from the Sun ignites frozen gases on the comet surface.  Several meteors of different shapes and sizes trail along the comet, caught in its gravitational pull.  They look the way dolphins would when riding the wake of a large ship.  As the comet gets closer to the Earth, some of these meteors will get conflicted with the Earth’s gravity, and will make their descent to the planet, giving the people on the ground a spectacular show for many days.

         A surge of solar energy hits the comet in a strong wave, causing the comet to expand slightly.  Several cracks form on its surface.  This is common, and the comet will lose a lot of its own material.  Eventually over time, the comet may disappear altogether, or it may gather more material as it travels back away from the Sun when it reaches its ‘birthplace’ in the area of space called the Oort Cloud.  This area is where scientists have theorized to be the origin of many comets, and is made up of frozen gases and other materials.  Once these build up, the Sun’s gravity will cause a large enough chunk to leave the cloud and begin an orbit to the Sun, that can last hundreds or thousands of years.

         A particularly large crack forms along the sunward surface of the comet, and several large chunks of material are expelled away from the comet head.  These pieces will mix with the meteors, and begin a path towards the Earth.

 

Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina

6:17am

                   

Max is cooking breakfast and watching the local news on the small kitchen television.  The forecast is the same as it has been in previous days.  Sunny and lower 80s, with relatively low humidity.  Perfect weather.  A stifled yawn breaks Max from his TV trance and he sees his little angel padding into the room.

         “Good morning Munchkin.  Bacon and eggs, or would you rather have cereal?”

         Emelie places a hand on her hip, and cocks her head to her side in a pose that she inherited from her mother.  “Dadddy!  Calvin can have the cereal.  I want cheesy eggs.”  Yep, that’s his little girl.

         “Okay, okay, Munchkin.  Cheesy eggs it is.  Did I wake you?”

         “No, I just woke up.”

         Max smiled.  She was an early riser, just like him.  “So what would you like to do today?”

         Another yawn, and she responds, “Anything you want to do Daddy.  I like it here.  Except at night.”

         Max gave a slight frown.  “You don’t like the nighttime?  Why, sweetie?”

         She shrugged her shoulders.  “I don’t like that comet thing.  It scares me.”

         Max passed her a small glass of orange juice. “There is nothing to be afraid of, but I do understand.  People a long long time ago used to be afraid of things like comets.  That is because they didn’t understand what they were or why they were in the sky.  They have been around longer than people have been around.”

         “Even longer than Grandma?”  Yep, there was the four year old again.

         “Yes, Munchkin, even longer than Grandma.” He chuckled. “Comets have been around even longer than when the dinosaurs were around.  They are actually quite common, but we only see them when they are close enough to be seen in the sky.  But you don’t need to be afraid.  They haven’t hurt anyone.”  At least not recently, Max said in his mind.  Max told a little white lie in order to keep fear away from his little girl.  He didn’t want to bring up the event at Tanguska, Siberia, in 1908, when what is believed to be a comet exploded over the landscape.  There was even a theory that a massive comet slammed into the Earth, causing the mass extinction of the dinosaurs.  No, this wasn’t the time to tell her about the catastrophic elements of comets.  Besides, this comet would pass far enough away from the Earth to not be a direct threat.  The most that would come of this one would be some possible meteor showers in the coming days.  Hopefully, he would be able to drop her fear so that she would enjoy looking at the night sky when the meteors started. 

         Jenna entered the room with an exaggerated stretch, trailed by Calvin, who went straight to the box of Cocoa Bombs.  Jenna grabbed a cup, and poured herself some coffee, before slumping into her seat.

         “Good morning dear.  Breakfast is almost ready.  What would you like to do today?  Want to go to Hatteras, or to the Wright Brothers Memorial?”

         Jenna took a long sip, and let it work its way into her system.  She looked up at Max.

         “Babe, let’s just relax on the beach in front of the house today.  We have been going around all over the place since we got here.  We have plenty of time for more sightseeing, but I just want a do-nothing day, and chill in the sun.  The kids can swim, and make some sand castles.”

         Max was slightly put off, but she was right.  They had more than a week, and a day to relax would be good for all of them.  It would also give him a chance to do some minor repairs on the beach house.  He got the house for a good rate by promising the owner that he would do some handyman work while they were here.

         “That’s cool, dear. That will give me a chance to run down to the hardware store and get a few things for the house.”

         She smirked, “That isn’t what I meant by a do-nothing day, honey.”

         Max shrugged. “Nah, it’s okay.  I don’t have a lot to do, and then I will come down to the beach afterwards.  It won’t take long at all.”  He kissed her forehead, and they went on to eat their breakfast.

Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina

Kelton Hardware and Coffee Shop

8:43am

                   

Max always loved the little ‘Mom and Pop’ type of businesses.  This was particularly cliché.  The hardware store had the basics, and there was a small storefront coffee shop at the main window.  A few of the older locals would gather here and gossip about the tourists.  This was their ‘safe-haven’ from the hustle and bustle of out-of-towners.  Even though Max was not a local, he enjoyed the simplicity of the local’s day to day routines. 

         He made his rounds through the aisles, gathering the need materials for a few of the tasks he would be doing today, and set for the cash register.  The older woman at the counter started to punch his items into the register.

         “Good morning sir.  Did we have all you needed today?”

         “Yes, ma’am, thank you.” Max replied, scanning around the store.  “I love places like this.  Reminds me of some stores where I grew up in Ohio.”

         The woman smiled. “So, you are visiting us for some vacation?  Staying long?”

         “About another week.  Our rental needs a little fixing, so I will be doing some of that today.”

         The woman nodded, and placed his items in a couple of bags.  “Well, if you are hungry, we have a few breakfast specials here.  I can keep your bags up here at the counter until you are done.”

         Max had breakfast already, but the smells from the small grill appealed to him.  He decided it couldn’t hurt to have another small bite, especially local fare.  And, he might discover some great coffee here.  “Thank you, I think I will do just that.  How much do I owe you?”

         “$18.75, but we can add your meal to it at the end.” She smiled.

         Max emphatically nodded. “Sure, that would be great.  Thanks!”

         He made his way to a small table next to the window, and after a minute of looking at the specials on the chalkboard, gave the waitress his order.  She brought him what turned out to be the best coffee he has had in a while, and took long sips from the cup.  A few old-timers were seated a couple of tables away, and he listened in on their conversation.  It was not the proper thing to do, but he couldn’t help himself to listen in.  Some wisdom can be found in the local chats among old retirees and residents.

         The locals were talking about the normal things you find.  Complaints about the local government officials.  Fishing.  Hurricane repairs.  Gripes about the tourists and the traffic problems they cause on the weekend drives in and out of the area.  All common, and Max gave a slight smile.  The little bell on the front door jingled, and Max, in his usual curiosity, looked at the new arrival.  Wearing baggy jeans, a plain grey t-shirt, and an old John Deere hat, the man reminded Max of an older version of Iron Eyes Cody, the Native-American featured on the old 70s ‘Keep America Beautiful’ commercials to fight littering.  Max was slightly amused by the familiarity of the man, and it was obvious that he was of Native American decent.

         One of the other men waved at the man as he made his way to their table.  “Mornin’ Wander.  Lose any horses recently?”  It was a common, yet unfunny joke among the locals.  There is a local herd of wild horses to the north of Corolla, and with the increasing development of resorts and beach homes, the horses were being driven further away from the area.  At times, a horse would wander close to the developed areas, and some have been killed by vehicles driven by unsuspecting tourists.  The old man responded to his friend’s greeting.  “Funny you should ask, Frank.  I do think one of the mares is missing from the herd.  I just came from the Sheriff’s office and he has his deputies on the lookout.  No reports of any horses killed on the roads, so hopefully she is just wandering around where I haven’t seen her yet.”  One of the other men looked slightly to where Max was sitting.  “Hey there, stranger.  Be careful driving out there today, and if you see a horse, call the Sheriff.”

         Max nodded as he took another sip.  “I sure will.  I used to be stationed up in Norfolk, and took trips down here on weekends.  I remember some of the stories of the horses struck by 4x4s on the upper beaches.  My name is Max, and I will keep my eyes open and my speed down.”

         The other men nodded, and the older Native-American smirked.  “You do that Max.  I am Wandering Dune.  I do the caretaking for the wild herd for the National Park Service.  I appreciate you being careful.  Not many tourists take that seriously.  It is funny, though, to hear the complaints from some richy from New York getting bitten trying to pet one of the stallions.”

         Max laughed.  “I bet.  Those horses need to be left be.”

         Wandering Dune smiled, and raised his cup.  “Damn right Max.  Well, I have to get back to my chores.  Take care fellas.  Max.”  He finished his cup in one last long sip, and turned to head out of the shop.  Max finished his meal and coffee, then went to pay at the main counter and grab his bags.  With a final nod to the men at the table he left and got back into his Jeep Compass.  As he rode back to the beach house, he couldn’t help but smile at his small brush with the locals.  “I could definitely retire to here.” He spoke out loud to himself.

Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina

Beach House, 10:43am

                   

Max is finishing the trim insulation on the French doors to the main deck overlooking the beach. The older trim is dry-rotted from years of salt air and spray.  As he wipes the excess adhesive off the door, he hears his wife and children coming up the path from the beach.  That’s odd.  He didn’t expect them to come back for hours.  Jenna had packed a picnic lunch, and he was to join them within the hour.  As they got closer, he heard Emelie crying, and Calvin talking with a teasing tone to her.  Jenna was holding Emelie’s hand and talking to her in soothing tones.  This made more sense as to why they were coming back.  Emelie must have been adventuring and gotten a small scrape from a rock or what have you.  Max jumped off the steps and ran up to his family.

         “What’s wrong?  What happened to Emelie?”

         Jenna’s frown was apparent.  “Well, Munchkin here decided to play up on one of the dunes in the tall grass.  I heard her laughing and she called me to where she was.  So I went up there, and on the back of the dune there she was, petting a wild horse!  It freaked me out and I told her to get away, because they can bite or kick or whatever they do.  But this horse was calm, and let her pet it on its face.  I guess my reaction spooked it, and it ran off.  Anyway, as we were walking back, she complained her back was itching, so when I looked I found this…”  Jenna showed Max Emelie’s upper back, where a large tick had embedded itself in.  “…so when I told her that horse gave her a tick, she flipped out, and here we are.”

         Max nodded, “Okay, let’s get her inside.  I’ll get that tick off, and we will take her to the clinic to make sure she is okay.  Emelie, please don’t go close to wild animals.  Mom is right.  They can bite and kick.”

         Emelie sniffled, and whined. “But Daddy, it was just a horse, and it was so nice.”

         Max chuckled.  The tick probably wasn’t as troublesome to Emelie as Jenna thought.  Emelie was upset about the horse being scared off.  Max took her into the bathroom, and got a set of tweezers from the toiletries bag.  “Okay, Munchkin, sit still.  I’m going to try to get this little sucker off of you.”

         “Will it hurt?” She asked.

         “Nah, you will feel a little pull, but it won’t hurt.”  Max took his time and worked the tick off of her, being extremely careful not to leave the head of the tick in her skin.

         “Daddy, what do ticks do?”

         Max worked the rest of the tick away from her skin and replied, “They are nasty little bloodsucker, sweetie.  They are kind of like a little spider and they feed off wild animals.  I’m not sure what they are around for.  They don’t help us out any.”  He didn’t tell her about the diseases they carry.  No need to worry her any more than needed.  “Anyway, this is your tick.  We’ll have to burn it, and throw it outside.  You probably got it from those tall dune grasses, so stay out of those okay?”

         “Okay Daddy.  I promise.”

         Max gathered the others, and they went into town to the local clinic. The nurse there told max that he had gotten all of the tick, and that there should be no worries.  The doctor prescribed an antibiotic, and gave them a tube of Neosporin to place on her bite.  They returned to the beach house, and had lunch.  The kids went off to take a nap, and Max sat out on the deck, in the shadow of the deck umbrella.  Jenna joined him and brought him a beer.

         “Well, that was definitely a buzzkill to my do-nothing day!”  She griped.

         Max took his beer and clinked it to hers.  “Life with children, my dear.  Never boring, and rarely relaxing.  I’ll do some dogs and sliders on the grill tonight, then we can just chill here this evening.  If you want to go back down to the beach, I’ll stay with the kids.”

         Jenna smiled, and leaned over to kiss him.  “No, I’ll just stay here on the deck and lay in the sun.  Only if you will join me, that is.”

         “That, my dear, is an offer I cannot refuse.”

Just North of Corolla, North Carolina

7:36pm

         

         Wandering Dune is seated at his desk in the small office, when his coworker, Sam enters.  He looks up from his papers.  “Hi Sam.  All done with the count?”

         “Hey Wander.  Yep, and we are still missing a mare.  Weird too.  I think the others know that she is gone too.  They are acting awfully strange and fidgety too.  Even for them!”

         Wander nodded.  “Yep, they can sense when things are not right.  We need to find that mare soon, or we will have to drive the herd towards the Virginia border without her.”  Wander looked at the screen on his laptop.  On the screen was the CNN article of the De Gruller comet, and Wander frowned.  “Yep…we will start driving the herd in two days.  Let’s call a few friends from the preservation society to help find the mare.”

         Sam nodded, and took out his cell phone.  “I’ll start making some calls now.  See you later.”

         Wander went back to the article on his screen.  The comet event would be one of the most prominent since Hale-Bopp some years ago.  Wander leaned back on his chair, and shut his computer down.  He stared out the window to the ocean for a long time, and then got up and shut off the lights and locked the office as he left.  The sun had set, and the comet was visible above the horizon.  Wander stared and frowned.  “Tirawahat.” He said under his breath, and left for home in his old Ford pickup.