Teaching Jeffrey
Chapter 1 - Watching Bogg
Phineas Bogg and Jeffrey Jones landed on a steep dirt slope and slid and rolled down until they got to the bottom, finally coming to a stop when they hit some large boulders.
Bogg sat up first and looked around anxiously, "You okay?" he asked when his eyes fell on Jeffrey about 6 feet away.
"Yeah, you?" was the quick response.
"Yeah," Bogg said rising.
"What's that whistling sound?" Jeff asked, and they both looked around as it got louder. They watched as a man landed on the slope above them and started to roll down. Bogg pulled Jeffrey out of the way as the man's body came to rest at his feet.
"Stan?" Bogg asked in disbelief.
"Phineas?" Stan Fuller asked, then smiled as Bogg reached down and gave him a hand up. "Well, I'll be," he glanced at Jeff, "that the kid I heard about?" he asked.
"This is Jeffrey, Jeff this is Stan Fuller, we went to the Academy together."
Stan held out his hand to Jeff and they shook, "you need help with him?" he asked Phineas as he motioned toward Jeff.
Jeff crossed his arms and scowled.
"Course not," Bogg answered taking out the omni as Stan looked around.
"So what've we got?" Stan asked glancing back at Jeff and grasping the meaning of his body language, "sorry Jeff," he finished.
Jeff chose to ignore him. "This has got to be one of the worst landings we've had," Jeff began, "I mean, look at this place." The area was full of dirt and rocks of all sizes, some of them boulders. "It looks like a landslide just happened here."
"We're luckier than him," Bogg said as his eyes fell on a man partially pinned under a large boulder. He looked down at the omni in his hand, "1849, northern California, red light," he said as they approached the man slowly.
"We'll never be able to get him out," Stan said, stating the obvious.
Phineas knelt down beside the man and Jeffrey followed, but stopped, hesitating, about 6 feet behind him. The man looked dead and Jeff didn't want to go any closer.
Bogg put his hand on the man's shoulder and his hand rose and clutched Bogg's arm as his eyes opened.
"Please," the man gasped, "help me."
Both Stan and Jeff took a step back, startled, and watched as Phineas put his hand over the man's hand and squeezed it. The right side of his chest and his right arm were crushed by the boulder, it was clear to all of them that he wouldn't live long. His breathing sounded like air bubbling through water.
"What can I do?" Phineas asked him, leaning close. Jeff strained to hear what was said.
"The buzzards," the man managed to gasp, "and wolves," again he had to pause, "bury me... please."
The tone of voice was pleading, and Jeff couldn't look any longer. Tears sprang to his eyes and he quickly wiped them away, not wanting Stan to see. He watched the river flowing nearby and tried not to think about what was happening only a few feet from him. He wished he could close his ears so he couldn't hear the bubbling sound each time the man took a breath.
Phineas untied the kerchief from around the man's neck and held it out in Jeff's direction. "Jeff, get this wet in the river for me," he asked, and Jeff took it and obeyed, glad for something to do. When he returned, Jeffrey watched as his partner wiped the man's face gently and let him suck on the end of the wet kerchief. His lips were parched, he had obviously been lying there for a while in the sun. Bogg took off his vest and leaned it against the man's head, giving him some shade. He looked at Jeff and noticed that he looked very upset. "See if you can get some sticks and support this so it gives him some shade, okay?" he asked. He hoped that Jeffrey wouldn't need him until later. This was Jeff's first encounter with death since his own parents died, and Bogg wished they hadn't landed in this situation. He wanted to protect Jeffrey, but this stranger needed him more at the moment. He was glad to see that Jeff got right up and began to search for sticks. Soon, he had a makeshift support for Bogg's vest and the man's face and upper body were shaded. Again, Phineas was forced to agree with an earlier observation he'd made while voyaging, that activity helped in situations like this.
Stan stood off to the side and observed the area. Buzzards were circling overhead. He couldn't see any sign of civilization in any direction. It looked like they were completely alone. Two leather bags lay several feet from the man, Phineas obviously hadn't seen them. He moved over and picked one up. Sometimes these prospectors had gold with them, and the time was right for the California Gold Rush. Phineas was more concerned with the man, and Stan was thankful for that. He doubted whether he could do what Phineas was doing. He opened the bag and smiled, then took a smaller sack out of the bag and shoved it into his pocket. It was very heavy and he was certain it was filled with gold. He reached down for the other leather bag, and found the same contents inside. He pushed the second sack, which was heavier, into his other pocket and glanced around worriedly. Where there was one landslide, there were likely to be others, he had learned that the hard way.
"What's your name?" Bogg asked as he wiped the side of the man's face and Jeff set up the shade.
"Blake," he gasped.
"Is there someone I can tell?"
"Partner," he paused as if saying just one word was too much effort, "Tharp."
Bogg leaned closer as the voice got softer, "Where is he?" he asked, but the voice was very weak and Jeff couldn't hear what was said. "I'll tell him," Bogg whispered and continued to wipe the man's face.
Jeffrey sat down on a rock a few feet away and watched Bogg as he worked to try to ease Blake's suffering. As they sat there, Jeffrey realized that this man would die soon and there was nothing they could do about it. He hated the bubbling sound that accompanied every breath and wanted to leave. As though reading his mind, Bogg held out the kerchief toward him and asked him to wet it again. He immediately got up and walked to the river, glad to have a break from the intensity of the scene.
He handed the wet cloth to Bogg and sat watching him, mesmerized, for a long time. Blake was no longer talking, but was moving, feeble and restless. Jeff wondered how long it could take for Blake to die, because he realized that Bogg wasn't going to leave him. He watched as Phineas leaned over the man again and spoke quietly to him. What did you say to someone as they were dying he wondered? He watched as Bogg continued wiping the man's forehead, and listened to the noisy breathing one last time.
The realization of what the sudden silence meant hit Jeff and he was stunned. Four of them had been there a minute ago, and now there were only three. He swallowed hard but was afraid to speak. He watched the man's body twitch slightly and then lie still.
Phineas sat back on his heels. "Sorry I couldn't do more," he whispered as he stared at the man. Then he turned to Jeff, "thanks for the shade, it made him more comfortable."
Jeff stared at his friend for a few seconds, "what was the date again?" he asked, wanting to focus on something concrete.
Bogg opened the omni, "June 14, 1849, and now it's green," he said in a surprised tone as he held the omni toward them so both Jeff and Stan could see the light.
"But it can't be green now, we didn't do anything," Jeff said.
"He might disagree," Phineas said nodding toward Blake.
"But he can't change history now," Jeff paused, "we're alone here, this is crazy, nothing's gonna change because of what you did for him," Jeff insisted.
"Well obviously the omni's not working right," Stan added after a short pause.
"What does yours say?" Jeff asked him.
Stan opened his omni and showed them the green light. "I bet it's been green all along," he finished.
"You didn't look at it before, did you?" Phineas asked.
"No," Stan conceded, "but we must've landed in a green zone. The kid's right, nothing you did could've changed history. And after my last mission, I deserved a green zone."
"Our omni must be wrong," Jeff said eyeing Stan's enviously. "Why do we always seem to have trouble with that thing?"
"I wouldn't be so quick to assume that," Phineas began as he put the kerchief into his pocket, but was interrupted as the ground seemed to tremble. A soft, low-pitched rumbling reached their ears. Bogg looked at the surrounding area, the cliff was still steep where the most recent landslide had taken place.
He grabbed his vest and moved quickly toward Jeffrey as Stan started running toward the river, seeming to read his mind. Bogg was afraid to yell, so he spoke softly, but urgently to Jeff, "landslide, we have to move," and then motioned away from the area, toward the river, in the direct Stan had run. The three ran together toward the river as fast as they could.