The Scout

Chapter - 23

The Scout
Chapter - 23
'You're a Bartlett"!!
By; mike hurley

Amy showed Robin, Shawn, and Billie to their tent; at Amy's request it was actually 2 tents made into one. A side for Robin and her privacy and the other for the boys. Amy thanked Pvt Shoals for making their accommodations so nice. She hugged Robin, Shawn, and Billie & suggested they rest before dinner.

While the main Calvary contingent was at the river, a group of 8 men spent several hours setting up camp; tents, a Latrine area, field kitchen, establishing sentry posts and scouting the area, plus erected their flags.
The Cavalry didn't go anywhere without their flags.

They put up an 'officers tent' for Major Borden and Ms Fleming; it was tall enough to stand and had a living room, bedroom, and storage room.

Amy walked into her & Ty's tent, smiled at how nice it was, then collapsed into a blanket & fell sound asleep. She was more exhausted than everyone else & didn't know why......
In just minutes, Amy entered a dream......

........She walked through a blinding snowstorm, on the road to Heartland Ranch, yet she wasn't cold, & she had no coat. She wondered where Ty was; he usually picked her up and apologized for punching Jesse. She glanced at her I-phone. The time showed '0000'; wow, that seemed strange.

She typed him a text; 'where are you'??
She got an error message; 'Could not validate time'; text undeliverable'. WTH!!

But wait; that was a different story!! 🤔📚

The wind blew & gusted and whipped snow into her face, yet she didn't feel a thing. It was nighttime; suddenly, she saw the Heartland Barn appear before her. Lights were on in the farmhouse. She stopped and saw Grandpa looking outside the kitchen window into the cold, swirling darkness.

Amy called to him but he didn't see or hear her, she was invisible. She didn't actually exist in this place, Amy was in the future.

She had a vision like Grandma Lyndy did, but, Amy's was more mysterious. This was not her reality, but everything was so familiar. She peeked into the barn & saw Spartan, oddly he saw her & knickered to come over, she found an apple in the office mini fridge & quickly fed it to her friend and spoke with him. He was so excited to see her. Amy hugged her old friend, Spartan had a calming influence on her, just like Ty.

Yet Amy saw worry in Spartans eyes; something was happening tonight. She slowly walked away just as an old blue GMC truck came barreling into the driveway. Amy stepped back into the barn as the trucks lights shone in her eyes then spun around and slid to a stop, amid grinding tires and a cloud of dust. Amy had a hunch and ran to the truck, she was right, it was Ty. But he jumped out and ran right past her to the ranch house, Amy screamed his name to no avail. She walked up to the porch & opened the door. Amy was greeted by a blood curdling long melodic scream. Two more immediately followed. It startled her & Amy stumbled backwards and fell on the bench. It was a woman's scream, a young woman, and somehow Amy knew....... it was her scream, but in the future.......

Amy tried to calm herself, & focus. But how does one focus in a dream?? She gathered courage about her and looked up at the menacing thunderstorm approaching, it had a green hue & she heard the sound of freight trains approaching. This was Alberta, one minute snow, the next pounding rain & a tornado. Winds blew her across the front porch, she grabbed the door handle and fell inside. She felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. Amy's looked outside and finally saw the ominous black tornado barreling right toward her. It was a huge monster storm that drew its strength from her fears, probably a category 3.

Giant tree branches broke loose & were sucked up into the vortex. She watched the entire barn shake & groan as it fought to stand. Shingles were suspended in the air & swirling around about 30 meters overhead.
But Amy had dealt with her fear before, they always dissipated when Ty was beside her.
She stepped back out onto the porch & stared at the swirling super storm. She closed her eyes and felt a change in pressure in her eardrums. She stood tall and remembered how Ty fought off the mountain lion. Amy forced herself to be calm as she remembered lying in the hay, in a stall, being held in Ty's arms in the auction house barn. They were hiding from Wes. They we were trying to get Spartan back. Ty's arms held her, she could feel his strength and courage. She felt his heart beating steady, unafraid and street smart.