CHAPTER 4
Presley walked up the two wooden stairs that led to the small porch of Paulette’s cabin. As she looked around the land, it reminded her of the pioneer books that she read as a young girl. Several white Arabian horses were corralled by a log fence. An elegant chestnut quarter horse fed on the green grass, while others happily pranced around the large pasture. Past the corral, into the distance, Presley noticed several chickens roaming, and even farther away hundreds of cows were grazing.
“The animals have always been here,” he informed her. “Actually, this whole town was already set up and the animals were here when I first arrived. We use them for virtually everything we need- food, clothes and we use the animal fat for candles and soap.”
As Presley entered Paulette’s house, she was surprised at how charming it was. The windows were open and there was a soothing breeze throughout the room. She turned to switch on the light but quickly realized that there wasn’t any electricity. She noticed a unique braided rug lying on the creaky wooden floor. Two chairs were positioned in the middle of the room. On the right side of the room was a fireplace with a black pot hanging over it. Wooden shelves, which held several bowls and pots, lined the walls by the fireplace. To the left of the room was a light wooden dining table with two chairs on one side and a bench on the other.
Beyond the table was the kitchen which had a small washing area. Big enough for a few cups and dishes. Next to the kitchen was a tiny bedroom. The bed took up most of the room leaving barely enough space for the small chest that was against the wall in the corner. In the far side of the bedroom stood a wooden ladder that led up to a much bigger room in the loft.
Jesse grabbed the pot from the fireplace and took it outside. Paulette anxiously waited until he was out of sight.
“I think that he just might like you. And believe me, that Jesse now, he’s a hard catch,” she laughed.
“Oh yeah, is that right?” Presley grinned slightly, acting as if she wasn’t at all interested.
“Well, Sarah has been after him as long as I’ve been here,” Paulette continued.
Presley quickly looked up at Paulette and before she knew it said, “Who’s Sarah?”
Paulette grinned, “Well, they both came here around the same time and they both keep things running smoothly in the town. She’s a hard worker, I’ll give her that. But I can’t stand her! She’s gorgeous. She’s gorgeous and she will make sure that you are aware of it."
“Yeah, I’m quite familiar with those types of girls,” Presley rolled her eyes.
“Just wait ‘til Sarah sees you with Jesse!” Paulette gleamed. “I’ve got to be there to witness that!” she chuckled.
Jesse walked back into the room with the black pot full of water and hung it back on the hook over the fireplace. The girls were quiet as he chucked several hot coals into the fireplace. He went to the wood box, picked up two big logs, one under each arm, and threw them into the fire. Jesse took one of the chairs from underneath the kitchen table and joined the girls around the fireplace.
“You thirsty, Presley? I’ll get you a drink.” Paulette got up and went into the kitchen leaving Presley and Jesse alone.
“So how long have you been here?” Presley asked him.
“I’ve been here a long time,” he answered with a grin.
“How long?” she pressed.
“1842. Like I said, it was a long time ago.”
“1842? Is that what you said?” she asked astonished.
“Yes, I’ve been here for 168 years,” Presley looked at him mystified by his response.
“I’m so confused. Where are we? I really need to get back home,” she said nervously.
Paulette came back into the room with two glasses of water. “That’s what I’ve been saying for years! How do we get back home?” she asked with a feisty tone.
Jesse shook his head and sighed, “Paulette, how many times do we have to go through this? I don’t know how to get back! Don’t you think if I knew how I would’ve gone back years ago?” he said, aggravated at her tenacious attitude.
“I think you gave up on finding a way back,” Paulette snapped. “If the people you loved were still alive today you would want to go back too. Am I right?” Paulette pressed.
“Of course I would. I understand your frustration, Paulette. Believe me, I felt the same frustration for many years." Jesse hesitated for a moment, “There really is only one person that can help you two if you are both determined on going back. We need to work together to find out the answers.”
“Who is this person?” Presley asked.
“Manna,” he replied.
“Okay. Let’s go talk to Manna,” Presley stated.
“Wait, it’s not that simple. Manna has been here longer than anyone we know. We don’t even know of anyone who has actually seen Manna,” Paulette said.
“Then how do you know about him?” asked Presley.
Jesse walked over to the fireplace, and put his hand inside the pot to feel the water.
“The water’s ready. Listen. I’ll make you a bath and then we’ll fill you in,” he promised. He lifted the pot and walked outside.
“Let me get you some clean clothes.” Paulette went into an adjacent room and returned with a plain cotton white nightgown and underwear.
“Come on,” Paulette said. Presley got up from the chair, placed her cell phone on the table, and followed Paulette outside. Beside Paulette’s house was a much smaller structure.
“There you go, Presley. Take a nice hot bath. I’m going home to get you some dinner. You must be starving. We can finish our talk then,” Jesse said.
“Okay, thanks,” she said as Jesse shut the door. Presley looked around the small dark room. She ran her hand against the claw- footed cast iron bath tub. The back of the tub slanted upward and the inside was made of white porcelain. The outside was finished with a shiny grey iron material. The light from two candles flickered against the dark wall.
As Presley quickly undressed, she noticed there were red velvet flower petals floating on top of the water. They were like rose petals in appearance, soft and silky. She sank into the tub and held the petals in her hands. She smiled, knowing that Jesse had placed them in the water for her. She washed her hair and body with a bar of unpleasant smelling soap. As she sat in the water she tried to wrap her mind around everything that had happened to her. The questions in her head bounced around shifting from one thought to the next. She shut her eyes, took a deep breath through her nose, reminding her mind to slow down.
“Who is Manna?” she whispered. “How am I going to get out of here and what are these strange forces that are outside of this town?” She watched as a spider climbed the log wall. She noticed how murky and dirty her bath water had become. Disgusted, she quickly got out of the tub and dressed. She blew out the candles and walked back to Paulette’s house.
≈≈≈≈≈
Soon, Jesse walked in with the stew and bread and noticed Presley in her nightgown.
He began to stutter nervously, “W-w-w-where do you want this?"
Paulette giggled at him as she grabbed the two bowls and handed one to Presley. She took the bread from under his arm and walked into the kitchen to cut it up.
“Are you okay?” Presley asked him, as she braided her long brown hair.
“Yeah. Sorry. It’s just that you are so beautiful,” he said. He knelt down beside her and took her hand. He gently turned over her arm and brushed his finger over the small, dark birthmark. The birthmark she had always tried to hide.
Embarrassed, she pulled her arm back.
“I know that you don’t know me, but let me just ask you… are you feeling what I’m feeling?”
Presley’s eyes grew big and she was taken back by the questi
on. She was at a loss for words. She tilted her head as she tried to determine if he was crazy. She knew Jesse was coming on to her and thought that he was a bit overbearing. He wasn’t like anyone she had ever known. Definitely not cocky and arrogant like Tyler. He was more confident than cocky. Before Presley could answer, Paulette walked back in with the bread and handed a piece to her.
“Thanks,” Presley said, watching as Jesse quickly stood up and anxiously ran his fingers through his thick hair. Some of his hair fell loosely around his face.
“How old were you when you came here?” Presley asked him, trying to change the subject.
“Came here?” he laughed. “You make it sound like I had a choice in the matter. I was eighteen,” he said with an endearing gleam in his eyes.
“And so you stay eighteen?” Presley questioned.
“Yes, we all have stayed the same age we were when we came here. Nobody ages. Nobody gets sick either,” he said.
“Then nobody dies?” she asked mystified.
“No, we can still die, many have died. We just don’t have sickness and disease. Some have died from accidents. Others died trying to find a way back home, and some have been captured by the Manes.” He looked at Paulette in a disappointing way. “That’s why I was so angry with Paulette for sneaking out of here the way that she did. As long as we stay within the walls of this town we are safe. We have a unique protection here that guards us from outside forces, the forces that inevitably want us all dead."
“What are these forces?” Presley asked, unsure if she truly wanted to know.
“The Manes. The evil spirits,” whispered Jesse.
“The Manes?” Presley repeated.
“Yeah,” he began to explain. “They are a group of evil spirits that dwell here. They can manifest themselves into different forms, often evolving into our greatest fears, like the tornadoes. We aren’t sure exactly what they want from us. All we know is that within the walls of this small town we are safe. There are a lot of mysteries about this place, this planet, its past.”
“This is all a little farfetched for me, spirits, planets. I don’t know,” Presley shook her head.
“Why? Spirits are accepted on Earth. So, no other planets can have spirits, only on Earth?” he asked.
“Well, I don’t know. Just thinking about another planet is strange,” she said, flustered. Jesse looked at Presley and gave her a gentle smile.
“But there are other planets. Do you know how many galaxies there are?” he charmingly asked.
“No,” replied Presley.
“Okay, let me try to put this into perspective for you. In the galaxy that we come from, the Milky Way, there are well over 100 billion stars. Again, just in our galaxy alone! And in the universe there are over 50 billion galaxies. Our sun provides life. Without it nobody would be alive. The planet that we are on is much like Earth, obviously it has a sun, but the difference, for some reason, is that this planet has a much stronger magnetic force. Thoughts are retrieved by the universe faster on this planet than on Earth. And this world is more matured- more evolved. It’s so much more beautiful, from the trees and flowers to the animals."
“I’m not trying to be difficult, but what does all this mean?” Presley said as she was trying to keep up with the conversation.
“It means that there are forces that are here and beyond. We may not understand them all, but they are present whether you believe in them or not. They are bigger than our minds could ever comprehend. I mean, trying to figure all of this out would be the equivalent of an ant trying to figure out what we are, or what we look like, or how we work together to build a house,” he laughed. “Impossible. They cannot begin to fathom who we are or how we do anything. They do not have the brain capacity, nor do we- I mean to understand spirits or the cosmos. So, just accept the notion that there are mysteries that we will never comprehend, because we lack the brain power to do so,” he said.
“So then you are saying that I am on a different planet?” Presley questioned.
“Different planet and different galaxy, but the same universe,” added Paulette.
“Isn’t there only one universe?” asked Presley.
“No,” he smiled. There are many universes.”
“Okay. Never heard that before. So, how did we get to be here to this uh . . . different planet . . . same universe . . . different galaxy?” Presley asked still confused.
“Our theory is that you, I and everyone here from Earth has ventured through a worm hole of some sort . . . that is much faster than the speed of light, and you ended up here, like we all did,” Jesse explained.
“How do you know all of this?” Presley asked.
“We have a book that was left for us here in this town. Though much of the book is scripted in code, which makes most of it impossible to translate, there are some entries that we feel were intended for us to understand. Through the illustrations we are able to view our world and our universe much differently. The book must have been written by several authors, but the one who presents himself many times throughout the book is Manna. If you two have any hopes of getting home then we must find him. That is, if he’s even still alive,” he explained.
“If you’ve never seen him then how do you know where he is?” asked Presley.
“The Book of Codes has several maps. Some, I believe, were intended to help lead us to him. If we decide to track him down, it will take us a while to get prepared,” Jesse stood up to leave. “Girls, get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning,” Jesse picked up Presley’s hand from her lap and kissed it, and then left the cabin.
Presley turned toward Paulette, “I can’t take in anymore tonight. I feel like my head is going to explode. Way too much information for one day. If it’s okay with you I think I might just go on to bed.”
“I know, we have had a long day,” Paulette showed Presley to her room, which was located next to the small living room.
“Oh, I thought this was your bedroom,” said Presley.
“No, I sleep upstairs in the loft. Holler if you need anything,” Paulette yawned as she climbed up the ladder to her room. Presley looked around, and then she curled up on the stiff bed. For a few moments she thought about Tyler. She wondered if he was searching for her. She hoped that he was worried and desperately trying to find her.
Finally, she drifted off into a deep sleep.
≈≈≈≈≈
Her dream began like all of the dreams that came before. Presley was chasing after Paulette again unable to catch her. The rain poured down on Presley’s head, lightning struck so close that her heart pounded in fear. Then, Presley was taken out of the storm, suddenly reliving this day and all of the previous days that she had ever had. Even the early years that she had with her father, all the way back to being an infant. With this dream came great peace and calmness. For the first time in her life, even as she slept, she felt a subtle knowing that something greater than herself was present. And had always been present.