Destiny

I doubly do not own. The Ice Age characters belong to Blue Sky Studios; and Sam, Terry, Frank and Claire and the other OCs of Lost in Time belong to Trev.

These two chapters being updated is actually one chapter cut into two parts for readability, and in fact, in the draft, it actually ended up with a whopping 10, 264 words. :P

Therefore, Trev, I win this round, however technically :P ;) And anywho, onto the story!

xxxxx

Music for the Troubles "sequences" (for this chapter)

First Part: www . youtube www . / watch? v=IDTciJgJDwc&feature=related "Whispering Winds" from The Land Before Time, play from 0:00 to 2:12 for the part where Sam watches the Williams leave and then goes into the house.

Second Part: htt www . youtube watch? v=mZlVaAMsoM8&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_fresh+div-1r-41-HM (Immediate Music's Believe) This is to be played from from middle of the "Harsh Encounters" Trouble flashback.

Third Part: htt www . youtube watch?v=1LkFK4CPSAY (Immediate Music's Salvation) This piece corresponds with the August 26th Troubles flashback where Sam finds the Bible - and finds hope.

Also, I feel I must add, (though I hope you all know this already) just take out the spaces and you can get to the corresponding pieces for the sequences, thank you. :)

And I believe that is all for this chapter, besides mea culpa for taking so long with these updates! I just wanted the story to be amazing, especially for you, Trev! :-) Hope you all like these chapters!

"Manny," Sam countered as the group began to gather their supplies together again for another day of traveling. "Not now. I'll tell what become of Frank and me later this evening, okay?" She bestowed upon him a sparkling smile, and once again Manny was intrigued as to what so buoyed her that she could love, laugh, and smile vibrantly despite the loss of her beloved father in the Troubles. It was a mystery he was eager to investigate further, and he could tell her actions had been totally different from how he responded to the murder of his family, and how long it took him to forgive the humans.

Ellie nudged their daughter with her trunk, urging Peaches to get up as she exchanged an eyebrow lift with Manny. The bull mammoth grinned mischievously at his mate, excited to find that she was as puzzled by Sam (and Terry as well) as he was. Crash and Eddie jumped into the air and rolled themselves onto his tusks, dangling there as it they were swings. The two brothers glanced at Sam and Terry, holding hands as the group began to move, and winked at each other. Charlie was letting Ben ride piggyback on his shoulders, as Nigel trailed behind holding a bag with the guns owned by Terry and Charlie, and Claire carried the walkie-talkies, no doubt eager for another communication from her mate again.

Manny, noticing he was about to be left behind, gently slipped his trunk under Peaches, curving his trunk so that it resembled a cushion. Peaches sighed peacefully in her sleep (she was always very difficult to wake up in the morning) as he began to lumber along in the general direction that the others were taking. The travelers slowly began to walk in the direction of the dormant volcano in the distance, all of them lost in their own thoughts as Sam's story crept into their souls, forever etching its presence as one of their memories. Only Hudson, his nose to the ground as he scouted ahead of the unified group, was not bemused or bewildered or stunned by the story that they all had just heard – though in reality, it seemed to the herd members that they had actually witnessed the destruction along with Sam as she relived those painful recollections.

Manny let his mate take Peaches from him, beginning to trail after the others. Her steps were slow, hesitant. Crossing to her side, Manny rubbed his face soothingly against hers, knowing they were both reeling from the impact the story had. Mark ambled behind the American soldier and Sam, glancing up at the woman from time to time with an expression of baffled pain on his face. Manfred noticed this out of the corner of his eye as he brought up the rear, acting as protection for the back.

Lowering his head so that no one could see his face, he allowed two small tears to drip through his fur. What Sam had undergone that day was horrific, and only he could possibly grasp the depth of her feelings as everything was taken from her – her father, her simple life, even her brother had been separated from her.

I wonder how she made it through that, Manny pondered. I'll bet it wasn't easy for her.

Ellie cradled Peaches protectively against her as she lumbered forward ahead of her mate. The images of the destruction of the ancient beautiful city Sam described so affectionately were still pealing through her mind.

How awful! The she-moth exclaimed to herself, gazing down at her just-awakening child. I hope nothing like that ever happens again. From what Sam told us, the world turned mad that day. I hope that it won't happen here.

Crash and Eddie had both transferred themselves from Ellie's tusks to Manny's as the two mammoths had decided the carrying arrangements for their daughter that morning. Crash was very subdued, Manny noticed. His small round head hung down in an attitude of consternation mingled with stunned shock; an expression rarely seen on the lively possum's visage.

Manny raised his head to see the jagged line of Half-Peak standing stark against the pale sky, but knew they were not anywhere close to that place that had forever changed his life and the tiger's and the sloth's. Biting back a melancholy sigh, Manny pressed onward, failing to notice that Crash, already bored, had taken out his pea-shooter, tossing pebbles in his brother's direction. Eddie, though being pelted continually by his brother, did not complain until one large pebble hit him solidly on the upper part of his small skull, causing him to take drastic action.

A volley of pebbles rained in Crash's direction as he raised his head in an attempt to block the missiles being thrown at him by his brother. Ellie, walking in the middle with Peaches at her side, glanced back at her mate. Her eyes widened as she took in the chaos that Manny, pensively thinking, was oblivious to. Casting her daughter a stern glance that meant "stay put", the she-mammoth stalked over to her mate and her brothers, irritation oozing from her every step. Her green eyes narrowed as she stared challengingly into the bull mammoth's face, abruptly shaking him out of his pensive reverie.

"Ellie!" Manny exclaimed, his eyes taking on a surprised expression as he realised how annoyed his mate was. But at the moment, Ellie was not looking at him; instead her glance was directed at her rowdy brothers. They quailed under her glare.

"Uh, hi, Ellie," Crash spoke up, a current of alarm vibrating in his tone.

Eddie's paws loosened on his stick. It began to slip through his fingers as he vainly attempted to grasp it. It fell with a dull thud upon the ground. Ellie eyed Manny with a glint of exasperation in her expression, before removing her brothers from his tusks. She sent a glare in Manny's direction before lumbering back over to where their daughter waited for her, her large back rigid with frustration.

The mammoth leader of the herd bit back on a sigh. Shaking his head, he brought up the rear all alone. His small ears turned sharply to the right and the left as he listened intently for any sign that Soto might be on their trail.

...

Mark wended his way through the various groups that made up the herd right now; he loped under the joined hands of Sam and Terry, slid between the knees of Charlie, who was still carrying Ben on his back, and then around little Peaches' feet, and under Ellie, who trod stolidly along with her brothers perched obediently quiet on her tusks, while Claire sat on her back with the walkie-talkies and other valuables. The she-mammoth had noticed that Frank's mate was weary – and together with a combination of excitement, and the stress of discovering that her husband was still alive – and her steps had slowed until she had slightly fallen behind. Ellie, noticing this, had come up beside her unassumingly and inquired if she would like a lift. Claire had agreed, and now was traveling with Ellie as her companion in the midst of the group. Mark scooted underneath Ellie's large hoofs, nearly avoiding getting squashed by the pachyderm.

Glancing back as he ran through her, Mark slid to a halt as Ellie swiveled her head in his direction.

"Mark, honey, are you all right?" she asked, with a motherly inflection underlying in her tone. A worried light lingered in her eyes; she knew she'd almost stepped on the young sabre.

The adolescent sabre nodded in reply as he replied,

"It's okay, Aunt Ellie, I'm fine, you didn't hurt me! By the way, do you know where Manny is?"

Inclining her finely made visage slightly, Ellie pointed with her trunk towards the rearguard of the herd, where Manny was strolling along at the back with Hudson, chatting amiably with him.

"He's over there, sweetie."

"Thanks," Mark called back, loping over to Manny, his chest bursting with questions. He skidded to a halt as the two older mammals stopped their serious discussion to gaze curiously at him, as if surprised that someone would interrupt them at this important moment.

"Hi," Mark squeaked, looking at Manny briefly with an appraising glance. Manny arched an eyebrow; that expression was so reminiscent of an action Diego himself would make. The saber cub himself idly wondered to himself what Mr. Hudson and his Uncle had been discussing in hushed voices; but he pushed the thought to the back of his mind. The bull mammoth glanced at the large dire wolf piercingly; he seemed to sense that Mark would like to talk with him. Hudson nodded his head in reply, loping off to trot alongside Sam and Terry at the front.

Mark gazed deferentially up at the large mammoth, his eyes brimming with curiosity. Manny could sometimes be insightful without his mate's guidance, this was one of those times. Extending his trunk, he placed it on Mark's yellow head with avuncular kindness.

"I suppose you'd like to hear more about your uncle Diego…" he began, meeting the cub's green eyes.

"Yeah..." Mark answered slowly in response, a large grin spreading over his face, glad that Manny understood him so well. "Yeah, I'd like to hear more about him, Uncle Manny," as he brushed his head against the tree trunk of the mammoth's leg. A smile tugged at the corner of Manny's mouth, this was the first time since Mark's discovery that the tiger living in their motley crew was his uncle that he had addressed him as such.

Manny gave a low,

"Ahem" and then began to fill Mark in on more of the details of his uncle's life with their unusual family group. Mark listened in awe to the courageous later deeds his uncle had done – saving Manny and Ellie, the bickering lovers, from sending them all down to their deaths when they got stranded on a balancing rock tower, and those times earlier in that story when only Diego and no one else, not even Sid, had encouraged him during the moments when he sincerely believed he was the last of his kind. He spoke to Mark about his uncle's sacrifices that he had made on behalf of him, Sid, and a baby, his courage, his integrity, as Mark listened in awe to the stories about his heroic uncle's exploits.

By the time the stories were over, a dusky twilight had drifted into the Valley as the travelers approached a cave hewn out of the rock out of lower lying foothills surrounding the area near Half-Peak just as rain began to drum into the earth steadily. Gratefully, the herd crept into the cave as the humans attempted to create a fire to warm their soaked bodies. Manny broke the silence as they all gradually warmed, curious about how the human travellers were here, and his accusations cut Claire to the quick. Ellie tried to make him apologise, however, Manny was stubborn, and went off by himself. Hudson followed him, attempting to explain, and for his efforts Manny only angrily shoved him up against a stone wall, shouting in fury against the humans. His accusations reverberated off the shelter of stone, and then, completely ashamed, Manny released his tusks from Hudson's throat, causing the wolf to fall to ground. Manny then stalked off alone, and then Hudson returned to the others, explaining that the mammoth was busy thinking it over and he would go find him again in a bit.

The mammoth walked along the corridors of the stone, and then stopped short by a pool filled with still water. He gazed down into the water as it reflected the austerely starry sky of the night, and watched as the water rippled briefly and his face vanished, only to be replaced by a honey brown cow's face, her trunk intertwined with that of a little russet brown calf at her side. Manfred, she whispered to him. Daddy, the calf murmured. Manny extended his trunk, attempting to reach them, yearning for their voices to be real as they thinly echoed down all the ages of time to him. Manfred, his first mate continued. Forgive the humans with you… It is not their fault that this happened. We love you, dear… We love you…

Her voice faded away into nothingness, and Manny drew his trunk back from the water, surprised to find that it was dripping with liquid. Gathering himself, he remembered how brusquely he had treated Hudson, shame sweeping over him. He began to walk back towards the others, and then stopped, and then tried again, but the guilt held him back. Meanwhile, the rest of the herd was anxiously searching for him. Manny returned to them at last, apologising to Claire for his accusations, and then everyone packed up again to head for Glacier Pass and an anticipated reunion with the herd already waiting there.

However, things took a turn for the worse when the first herd was ambushed by an army of ghosts from the future past as they arrived at Fort Halstead. Fortunately, the quick action of Frank, Diego, Buck and Sid provided them enough clearance to dash for cover. Upon realising who it was that had saved them, a veritable hugfest began as Claire joyfully threw herself into her husband's arms whilst Mark tackled his uncle to the ground, exclaiming,

"Uncle Manny told me all about what you've done, Uncle Diego." He bent his head down to give his uncle a lick, his eyes mirroring regret from his outburst several days earlier about his relation to the tiger. Confused, Diego glanced over at Manny, silently asking for an explanation. Manny grinned at him, and then spoke to his friend about Mark's reason for calling him "uncle."

"Buddy, Mark and us learned a few days ago that well, you're his uncle. He was a bit disappointed at first, because Soto had mistreated him because of it..." He glanced up at his friend, meeting his gaze, noticing out of the corner of his eye that Mark was gazing into his uncle's face with something amounting to hero worship, and the sight warmed his heart. "But don't worry, he's okay with it," Manny continued, wanting to take no undue credit for the conveyance of the stories about his friend, as after all it had been because of Mark's own curiosity about his uncle and he was more than happy to oblige him.

In response to Manny's explanation, Diego turned to face the young cub beaming adoringly up at him. He grinned at Mark, grabbing his neck, placing his paws on his head to give him a gently rough noogie as they smiled at each other, relishing being in the presence of the other again. Frank and Terry began to good-naturedly taunt each other, and then Buck reminded them that now that the herds were reunited once more, it was time for a celebration! Both groups trooped inside the compound of Fort Halstead, and immediately began digging into the edibles, including the wine, which Ellie daringly tasted and found to her surprise that she quite liked it. Later, sated with delicious food and the exuberance of just being together again, the two groups began to wind down. Frank and Claire stood together, holding hands, while Ben started to play-wrestle with Mark as Sid cleaned his minigun as Buck supervised him and Diego and Manny fell into a conversation about what had befallen their bands after their separation. In the meantime, Terry lead Sam over to an old and sagging couch, carrying a wine bottle with him, which he gave to her once he had helped her sit down. Sam teased him about this playfully,

"Oh, look at you, you strong soldier man," she began, her eyes sparkling. "Being so courteous and chivalrous to me – you do know some would think that a person like wouldn't have it in it you." She finished, winking at her brother. Terry ignored her mischievous behavior, leaning in close to her after placing the wine bottle on a conveniently placed small table nearby, tilting her head upward so that she was staring into his green eyes.

"You know, my headstrong, lovable Sam that I would die for you, don't you?" he murmured, holding her gaze as he cupped her face in his hands, gently linking his lips with her own for several long moments. Sam received his affection vibrantly, throwing herself into kissing him back. When they finally pulled apart, she replied,

"Oh yes… my Terry, I know you would do that for me – and I would do it for you too."

"Well, then I pray you never have to," Terry responded gruffly, unconsciously reaching for his pistol, his eyes darkening with sudden anger. Nearby Manny and Ellie had been watching the strange interaction between the two with unconcealed interest. Leaning over towards his mate, seeing the two kiss, Manny murmured at her,

"Ellie, what are they doing?"

Ellie raised her shoulders in a shrug,

"I don't know Manny, but it sure looks nice – why don't we try it too?"

Buck smirked at the two mammoths.

"Well, be a darn good 'usband and give it to 'er!" he encouraged Manny, winking at him. Manny shrugged, and then leaned his mouth into Ellie's, and for a moment, they held each other's mouths, kissing each other as best as mammoths could do. Buck grinned.

"Now, that's 'ow you do it!" he went on as Manny and Ellie broke apart, gasping with delight over the sensations the interaction had given them. Feeling slightly bemused, Manny glanced back over at Frank's sister and the American soldier man, noticing that Hudson had moved up next to their couch, and that the half-filled wine bottle that Terry had brought over for his wife was empty now, and Sam was fiddling absently with it, her mind obviously elsewhere even though Terry had placed his arm protectively over her shoulders. He wondered what Sam was thinking, remembering she (and Hudson) hadn't been as excited over the alcoholic beverages as everyone else had been, and the fact puzzled him. He cast a sweeping, cursory glance over the room, noting the overfed appearance of the inhabitants, and decided it was time to come back to the story Sam had began telling everyone a few nights ago.

He strode over to where the woman sat, trailed closely by Ellie, Peaches, and the others, who had seen that Manny was curious about something and were interested in finding it out. Frank and Claire walked over, their hands still intertwined as Mark and Ben gave up their mock-wrestle, ambling over as well. Manny peered down into the face of the dark-haired young woman before him.

"Sam," he began, "If it's not too much to ask, I for one are very curious to hear more of your story."

As Manny mentioned the word "story", a peculiar expression emerged into Frank's eyes – a look of guilt-stricken remorse mingled with sorrow, that winked into his brown eyes and then vanished within the barest of moments, however, Diego, who was standing nearby the couple, caught the pain in his eyes but wisely decided not to refer to it right now, thinking it would be best to let Frank reveal more of himself in time.

James glanced over at Sam encouragingly, nudging her gently with his nose as the woman rubbed his head.

"Come on, Sammy, you can tell it," he supported her, glancing at the other animals with an enigmatic smile. "After all, it seems only right to me that they hear of our God, too, Sammy."

At the word "God", the other animals exchanged befuddled glances with each other: Manny to Ellie, Diego to Buck, Mark to Peaches, and Sid to the possum brothers. Everyone wore the same blank confused expression on their faces, wondering what on earth that strange name meant, as it had virtually no implication for them. Hudson allowed a somewhat snarky smile to grace his features.

"Well, we've confused them properly," he noted. "You might as well tell it now so their heads can quit spinning."

Sam took in a deep breath as she raised her head to look up at the assemblage in front of her, and her gaze met her brother's.

I won't tell it if it will cause you pain, her eyes said.

It's fine… her brother's eyes retorted. Just as long as you don't bring any of your rubbish about God into it.

I can give you no promise about that, Sam's eyes countered. After that wordless conversation, Sam let out a deep sigh, gathering control of her emotions so as to not let them run away with her as they had done so the last time she had began the story.

"All right," she mussitated, almost to herself as she lifted her head, a joyful light filtering into her dark eyes. "I see you all want more of my story. In that case, my story picks up the day the Williams left Camberwell in search of a life away from our war-torn city, but I refused to go…"

X-x-x-x-x-x-x

August 23rd, 2019 Harsh Encounters

Sam stood outside the door of the Williams' flat, glancing down at the travel bags the elderly couple had packed up, lying there in a hurried jumble. Mrs Williams had invited Sam to come with them to escape the gloom of the decaying city of London, especially since they knew that the army – their own army – was approaching steadily day by day, and the food sources were running low, but Sam refused. She looked up as Mrs Williams emerged from the door, a slightly regretful smile on her face. Noticing the young woman standing there defiantly, once again dressed in her longcoat with a recklessly determined light in her eyes told her all she needed to know. Opening her arms wide, she enveloped Sam into one last embrace, blinking away hasty tears.

"Thank you for being such a good friend to my family," Sam whispered into Mrs Williams' traveling coat, her voice breaking as she said 'family'. "But I cannot go with you – to escape. I have some business to attend to here first, and then I may leave our formerly glorious city…and come find you…"

"I understand, dearie," Mrs Williams replied, holding the girl tightly, savoring their last moments together. Mr William stomped out the door, slamming it rather angrily behind him, abruptly ending the moment between the two women. He grabbed the traveling bags in one arm, and then extended the other to his wife. Releasing herself from Sam's embrace, Mrs Williams grasped her husband's hand tightly and gave a brave, trembly smile to him. Mr Williams doffed his hat to Sam, motioned to his wife,

"Come along, Sarah," and then strode off, letting go of his wife's hand as he went below to wait for her in the deserted street.

Mrs Williams folded Sam into a brief hug, whispering to her,

"I'll be praying for you, dear," and then hurried down to join her husband.

Dammit, Sam thought indignantly, I don't need prayer. I can do perfectly fine on my own. God is just a bunch of rubbish, anyway. She stood on the steps, watching as her former nanny and close friend slipped her arm under her mate's resolutely as they began to walk off into the distance. The young woman ran her fingers through her shortly-cropped hair absently, keeping her eye on the two figures until the horizon swallowed them, making them little dots in the distance as they began their trek, until she could no longer even distinguish their outlines as being visible to her eye. Sam glanced overhead, noting that the sun was now at its zenith before she walked over to the door on her own flat. Placing her hand on the knob, she pushed it open, her eyes seeking the familiar features of the rooms hungrily as she realised how much she had missed her home the days she had lived with the Williams for several weeks after the day the Troubles had begun.

Sam pushed the door open further, causing it to creak slightly on its hinges as she entered the flat, her booted feet treading on the wooden boards of the floor. In the utter stillness of the deserted house, they sounded quite loud, and the sheer emptiness tore at Sam's heart. Turning the corner, she came into the family room. Stopping short, she inspected the swords hanging on the wall: a bayonet from the 1700s and a sabre from America; employed for battle in the Civil War from the 1800s. Her father had collected such swords, relishing the past bound up in them, cherishing them highly, but never as much as his two children.

The young woman let out a sigh as she came to a stop before a painting done in oils of a woolly mammoth, his tusks raised in battle mode as he stood on a tussock of grass, every fiber in his body hinting at his magnificence. Sam smiled up at the picture; it had always been one of her favorites in the house to just let her eyes lazily linger on during rainy days, imagining what it would be like to actually see a mammoth in person, something the biologist in her longed for, it would be such a breakthrough for science. Her gaze drifted upwards, coming to rest on the slender television set on the wall that she and her father rarely ever watched, though sometimes she did tune in for news from the BBC. Frank was the only one who had really liked the television, whereas Sam had preferred books. She remembered occasionally joining him though when he viewed epics from decades ago like Back to the Future and Star Trek (The 2009 reboot) and The Time Machine (the 1968 version, not the 2002 version) , but other than those times when Frank used it, the tv set was silent, growing filmy with dust.

Leaving the picture, Sam crossed over to the window, looking outside it. Distant reports from gunshots reverberated to her, and she hung her head wearily as thoughts crowded into her head of her brash, daring brother Frank. She let out a sigh, placing a hand on the window, which surfaced memories of how Frank would tease her by putting his much larger hand over her own, and they would make a game of it to see whose hand could stay atop of the other's while still staying on the pane of the window. I still don't even know if Frank is alive or dead.

In her current musing state, Sam began to saunter around the living room area, finally coming to rest upon the couch. She glanced up briefly, and it seemed to her that she momentarily caught a glimpse of her mother and father sitting in the armchair in front of her, her mother perched on her father's lap, gazing lovingly into each other's eyes. Sam had never really known her mother, but she could imagine her well enough from how her father and brother had spoken of her. The young woman rose to her feet, her mouth open as she silently called out Mama, Daddy only for her to reach the armchair and discover it empty as the will-o-wisps figures of her parents fled.

Sam sank to the floor, grasping the soft embroidered fabric of the armchair as if reaching for help as she crossed her arms, letting her face be hidden in their folds as she attempted to conceal her sorrow. A bomb fell outside the window, startling her to her feet as the bang resounded into her ears, reminding her how very much alone she was. She glanced outside, noticing that the sky had grown dark during the time she had spent reconnecting with her home, and tiredly went up to her bed.

Two days later, Sam ventured out of the flat in search of some edibles, edging carefully around the demolished shards of buildings, her eyes filled with sadness as she looked anew at her crumbling city. She headed for the bar that she had been at several weeks prior, if only to investigate whether people where still around or if they had decided to escape for their own good. Pushing the door open, the bell jangled above her, and she glanced appreciatively at how well-stocked the shelves were.

At that moment, the bartender Matthias emerged, his eyes sweeping her up and down admiringly. Sam only noted inwardly that if this man had decided to stay here and try and rebuild, he must have some sort of moxie about him. Taking her hand, he led her over to his food stores, and freely gave her all she wished. Sam thanked him and then departed, only for Matthias to run after her. He placed his hand on her shoulder, turning her so that she faced him. An unsteady smile hovered on his lips, and then leaned down so that he was staring into Sam's eyes. He brought his face up in proximity to hers, shoving his lips onto Sam's. The young woman recoiled as if someone had thrown cold water on her. Reaching for her knife, she pulled away, snarling,

"Get away from me!" Tears began to stream down her face as she threw all her energy into hitting him, however he merely pushed her hands away, kissing her even harder. Sam flailed her arms at his bulk, spilling the groceries he had given to her. "Get away from me," Sam repeated coldly, her body tight with defiance. "I want to do this with someone, someday, all right Matthias? Just … not … you." She paused to stare into his face, with his little, piggish eyes, now stupefied from his hastiness in sating his desire that he longed for with her that she refused to give. Batting him away one last time, Sam gathered her groceries hurriedly, dashing off as fast as she could run back to the sanctuary of her flat.

Sam flung open the door of her flat, throwing the groceries inside and then slamming it behind her, furious tears streaking down her visage, the numbness coursing through her body making her blind to the curious faces of the few brave stragglers who lived in the flats above her. She crumpled to her knees, exhaustion sweeping over her as she hugged her knees close to herself, sobbing. At last spent, she rose to her feet, completely ignoring the provisions she'd brought on the floor as she walked slowly through the corridors of her house, loneliness and pain from Matthias' assault creeping into her bones. Turning the corner, she caught sight of a filmy outline of a woman with clear blue eyes and the prettiest face – it was an image of her mother again, and she extended her arms towards the girl, welcoming her into her protective enclosure. Sam darted forward near the apparition, reaching her arms out to dash into her mother's embrace, only to find she grasped at air. The young woman groaned, cursing under her breath as she pivoted around in a circle. At the far end of the hallway stood her brother, dressed in his army uniform, his facial expression distant.

"Frank!" Sam called out; hoping against hope that it was really him as she dashed over to the specter her mind had created. She reached out her hand, inspecting her face and noticing the beard growing there, but as she did so, the image of her brother faded away as well, and his absence was like a punch in the gut to Sam. Brokenhearted, Sam turned around, her mind numbly directing her to put away her foodstuffs. Grabbing one of the bags, she took it into the kitchen, where she absently put the food away into cupboards. Her composure ratified, Sam went back out into the hallway – and at the end of it, noticed her father, and his arms were open, waiting for her to fall into his embrace. A joyful smile wreathed her visage, and she began to run down the corridor to him, ready to sink into his hug. However, as she reached him, arms extended, eyes glimmering with bliss, he disintegrated into dust before her.

X-x-x-x-x-x-x

At this moment in the telling of Sam's tale, Manny interrupted, gazing sympathetically at the woman in front of him, who had certainly triumphed in spite of her tribulation.

"I-I can understand what that is like…" He faltered. He glanced at Ellie and Peaches standing before him with a light of near self-reproach in his eyes. "Sam, I-I understand your pain… I experienced the same hallucinations after my first family died – by the hands of hunters – and it drove me so mad that the only thing I thought I could do was go north, opposite the rest of the migration parties, to die." He cast a fond look over at the tiger and the sloth nearby, and they smiled at him in return. He then glanced again at his mate and child, his eyes wistful. Shaking himself, he continued,

"And Ellie, I do it even still – I hope I'm not being disloyal to you and Peaches, but…" he held back a sob. "But I miss them so much!"

Ellie merely leaned her head into Manny's comfortingly, pulling their daughter close to her.

"It's okay, sweetie," she soothed, "I know you, Manny, and you're the most loyal soul a mammoth has ever been given. You're not being disloyal to us, because I know you're not like that…. If you need to still see images of your family because you need their presence in your life, I can understand that."

Sam gazed up into Manny's huge brown eyes, her face wreathed with compassion. Standing to her feet, she crossed over to him, her arms extended toward him. Taking his trunk in her hands, she laid her face against it, and for a moment they stood there, deriving comfort from each other. At last, Manny sighed, pulling his trunk away from Sam. He patted her affectionately on the head, asking,

"And Sam, I'm now more curious than ever about how you made it through your loss. I had my friends to help me, and Pinky, but who did you have?"

Sam grinned, returning to sit next to Terry on the couch. Once she sat down, her husband draped his arm over her shoulder, and she reached up to grab his hand. Winking at Manny, Sam replied,

"Well, Boss, it's quite a story! After my overwrought mind had finally returned me to a semblance of reality, I crept upstairs to my father's bedroom…. Thinking that being near where he had been would ease my sorrow… and so I went up to his bedroom, noticing the reports of the guns and the bombs exploding nearby…and trying to forget them as I went upstairs to bed…"

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August 26th, 2019 Alone, But Not Entirely

Sam kicked off her boots onto the floor as she sat down upon her father's bed, watching the night shadows lengthen across the floor, the hazy red glow of the bombs vaguely mingling with the sunset outside her window, and let out a sigh that was more a huff. Raising her head, her eyes darkened as she remembered her earlier encounter with Matthias and his unwelcome advances towards her, and she writhed in pain and embarrassment all over again. Her mind drifted back then to that terrible day when her world went mad with England's own army turning on its people, and the knowledge that her father had died in the assault. At the thought of her daddy, tears welled up in her eyes again as hopeless yearning rose within her, longing once again for his embrace. With a hasty movement, Sam brushed her hand over her eyes, rubbing her tears away hurriedly, determined not to cry all out. Shaking her head, she glanced down at the floor, noticing and yet not comprehending the small, circular table that stood next to the bed, with a rectangular object on it that Sam didn't see. Regaining her composure, she climbed into her father's bed, crawling under the covers, enjoying the faint hint of her father's cologne that still clung to them. Glancing up, she noticed the red glow of the bombs seeping in through the window.

Furious, Sam grabbed a pillow, throwing it over her head as she attempted to drown the thunder of the bombs out. Bunching the pillow over her ears, Sam gasped for air underneath the pillow while memories flitted through her mind, taunting her with their bittersweet nuances as she imagined a slideshow of happy moments with her father: her father hugging her on her seventeenth birthday, her father chatting with Frank in the days when they both got along (reasonably) well, her father blinking away tears as he looked at a framed photo of her mother before pulling Sam close to tell her about the woman who he had loved and who had given him two magnificent children, who he knew would go on to do great things. At that last memory, Sam's resolve crumbled. Bursting into tears, she dug herself deeper under the pillow, although she loosened it a bit to let some air in before she succumbed to her grief.

At last, merciful unconsciousness closed in on her, and Sam, cradling the pillow in her arms, finally slept... a peaceful, dreamless sleep, untainted by memories of the past. Outside her window, the roar of the bombs began to die down, ultimately fading away into nothingness as the crescent moon peaked its nadir before leaving the sky in preparation for his sister the sun. Tentative pinpoints of light from the east signaled her entrance, as she gently extended her fingers into the air, imperiously, slowly beginning to quietly dispel the vestiges of the darkness as her hands extended, shooting slivers of rays of the glowing yellow orb that was herself into the atmosphere, her radiance brushing softly against Sam's window before her fingers crept in, turning the air around her grey as the darkness of the night began to lift fully, bringing colours of light pinks, oranges, and soft reds past the horizon as she painted the early morning.

Sweeping along in her course, she halted momentarily; her arm reaching past the window of Sam's flat into where she slept on the bed, touching her eyelids gently with pervasive light, causing the young woman to groan and stir on the divan, her hand flailing against the light. As she resisted the sun's intrusions on her pleasant sleep, Sam felt her hand come into contact with a thick, rectangular, tatty old blue book. Groggily, Sam raised her head, running her fingers over the book curiously as the light at dawn streamed through the window, illuminating the gold leaf embossed words on the cover in the lower right corner: Christopher Howard.

The young woman's eyes widened as she realised who the book belonged to, interest pulsing through her as she picked it up, absently noticing the words Holy Bible leaping out at her as she brought it over to the bed, depositing it somewhat carelessly onto it as the burgeoning rays of early dawn crept into the room, gradually filling the dark recesses with light as the book fell open to a passage, highlighted in blue highlighter that looked unfamiliar to the girl. Bending her head over it, she prepared to read, if only out of curiosity and because the book had been her father's. Rays of sunlight poured through her window, illuminating the passage for her: I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. On the page directly under the words, was a grayish blot that crinkled the paper slightly. Sam wondered briefly what it was, and then dismissed it as being rain, and then she noticed some words scribbled into the margins of the text: the names "Frank" and "Sam", and then realised, with a pang of regret, that her father had most likely been crying when he had read these words that he had highlighted. Ashamed of the guiltiness plaguing her at that realisation, Sam shoved it away, finding something to nitpick at in the text – the irritatingly blatant declaration of the "truth" mentioned in it.

What's the truth, anyway? Sam scoffed, leafing through the book idly, I make my own truth – I don't need anyone to determine it for me!

As she was thinking this, the book trembled in her fingers as her eyes caught another blue highlighted passage – this one in the book of Isaiah.

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.

Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy?

Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

Despite her aversion to the text, Sam had to admit she was captivated. The words spoke to her, piercing her in her inmost soul and spirit. Flipping through the pages again, hungrily seeking out highlighted passages, Sam came across another series of highlighted words, this time in a yellow pen, and they were being spoken by a man called Jesus the Christ in a book of this … Bible called the Gospel of John. Jesus's words echoed throughout the eons of time, demarcated in red ink (something that puzzled Sam. She only learned later that it was that colour to call to mind the sacrifice the Man had performed on the world's behalf by submitting to his Father's will at the cross for the salvation of mankind) which stood out against the ordinary black ink the other utterances on the page: Therefore Jesus said again, "Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate, whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Have life? Sam wondered. Have it to the full? I have life already, thank you very much! I don't need anyone to save me, I can save myself.

Can you? Another voice in Sam's head whispered. Are you really sure about that? Read more…

What if I don't want to? Sam protested to the small, still voice. What if I think this is all just a pack of lies?

Oh, Hephzibah, the still, small voice continued. Don't' you see how much I love you? Read on.

A bit perturbed that someone appeared to be speaking to her, Sam made a motion as if to close the book, however, the highlighted words drew her in.

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired man and cares nothing for the sheep.

I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me – just as my Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep not of this sheep pen. I must bring them too. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life – only to take it up again.

This man laid down his life and rose again? Is that what He's saying? Sam thought as she mulled over the words. Does that mean since Daddy believed in Him … he will… he will have that as well?

And, from the far recesses of her memory, the young woman could indistinctly recall her father mentioning, as he embraced her soundly, that his hope was that he would one day live again with his Lord in His kingdom, something Sam had ignored as being the irrational thought process of an old man. However, it now appeared that his hope was indeed real and true; and for some indescribable reason, Sam longed to cling to that expectation as well.

She bent her head over the volume, a tear slipping down her cheek as she whispered,

"Oh God," (not even realising she was addressing the One that contained her hope), "Oh God… I want that hope too…"

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End of Chapter Two

Oh my word, I am so sorry this chapter is so long. Rest assured, the third chapter is shorter - but still longish!

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