And…Chapter 4! What awaits our heroes in a land beyond time? Keep the reviews coming, thanks!
"The wind's picking up," Sherman observed.
"I know, and I don't like the looks of those clouds. I think that one is glaring at me." Penny remarked, chewing on her bottom lip.
"Well, we still have another couple miles to the pitch swamp Mr. Peabody pointed out. I guess we should just keep going and hope it blows over, right?"
"Yeah, I guess…" Penny trailed off. This wasn't Penny's first time in the Age of the Dinosaurs, not even her first in the Cretaceous. Never before had it felt so serious, though, with Mr. Peabody confined to the WABAC and the ominous way he had said they needed to get out of here with "great haste!" Penny was worried and, as always, trying not to show it, least of all to Sherman.
"Hey, I'll race you to that giant oak up ahead. Loser has to carry the pitch all the way back!," she challenged, and, without waiting for a reply, sprinted ahead, sneakers digging into dry prehistoric dirt.
"Why do you get a head start?" Sherman exclaimed, struggling to shift so suddenly into sprint mode.
"Come on, Sherman, what is it Peabody always says? 'Always be prepared for any situation!'" Penny practically broke down giggling over her impression of the canine guardian but managed to keep her composure enough to maintain her lead on Sherman. She knew they were basically an even match on the track so her lead should keep him chasing her heels for a while.
She looked back. Sure enough, his face was bobbing just feet behind her, grinning from ear to ear. They're eyes met and suddenly this was no longer just a childhood game they had done a thousand times before. Suddenly, it felt more real, more intense. Part of her wanted to stop, let him catch her, hold her…
She shook it off, if only mentally. The last thing she wanted was for him to think she was shuddering at catching his eye. When her eyes raised to his again, her breath caught when she realized his had widened with horror. A word was coming to his lips, not yet free of its laryngeal cage. Her head whipped forward in time to feel her feet fail to meet resistance. No longer was there dirt and grass beneath her soles but a chasm of stale air that reeked of death and finality. She was falling, she was falling and there was nothing nearby she could use to stop it. She had no choices now, nothing she could decide. In space, with nothing around you, you are the ultimate island of isolation.
Her feelings of weightlessness suddenly vanished. In an instant, she had mass again, a body again, she was real. Looking up, Sherman had his hand grasping her forearm firmly while the other was wrapped several times through a long, thick vine hanging from the giant oak so far above. She could see now that she had fallen into a deep narrow ravine stretched right next to the Oak. She could see giant roots sticking through and expanding the breadth of the chasm, penetrating the ground on the other side.
Looking down, she could see now that it was not merely blackness. Far below were the gray outlines of rocks, mud, and, she shuddered, the pearly white of bleached bone. That was almost her. Almost, if not for Sherman. She gazed up at his straining face and realized that beyond the strain of holding her up, when he caught her his other arm became tightly encased in the vine, the thick green rope now digging into his flesh.
"Penny, I need you to grab the vine. Hurry!" Sherman managed to huff out.
Quickly, she grasped the vine with one arm, wrapped her legs around it, and let go of Sherman, transferring her remaining hand in the process. "Sherman…Sherman…thank God for you, Sherman," was all she could get out.
And with that they began to climb.
8 miles away to the West, a dog slowly scanned through image after image of the WABAC, trying to find just what had happened. He, of course, had his suspicions, but due to the risk of confirmation bias, he refused to go immediately to the most likely area, carefully scanning the rest of the device. Nothing was out of the ordinary until he came to Sector 9-M, half-way down on the port side. There, where stabilizer fin met the main body were two black snakes where one should have been, both showing their insides proudly to the camera. Mr. Peabody rubbed his eyes. As he feared, a stray bullet must have found the WABAC, despite what should have been a safe distance given the weapons capabilities of the time.
On the bright side, the pitch and other materials he had sent the kids after would be just what he needed to repair it. On the negative, Mr. Peabody was going to have to come up with a way to power the craft. Slowly his eyes trailed towards the near-Earth radar he had been running since shortly after they arrived. Gradually, Mr. Peabody, the dog genius, had an idea.
Sherman and Penny huddled in a cave near the Oak tree. By the time they had pulled themselves out of the pit, the storm clouds from the east had crept practically on top of them. With electricity arcing all around them and the trees acting as particularly effective lightning rods, they reasoned they needed to seek protection prior to becoming the first cooked food in Prehistoric history. As they crossed the cave threshold, the rain hit, thundering upon the Earth's surface, tiny cannonballs peppering anything in sight of the sky.
Settling down on some soft moss, Penny looked at Sherman and Sherman looked at Penny and there was silence between them. Almost instantaneously they both burst into laughter. Tears came to their eyes in merriment as Sherman doubled over and Penny just laid back into the musty-smelling bed. Finally, they both calmed down and settled for staring listlessly at the cave roof, listening to the rain.
"Hey, Penny?"
"Yes, Sherman?"
"I'm…really glad you're okay. We get into a lot of tough scrapes and sometimes I almost lose you and…I'm just not sure I've ever really told you. I'm…just really glad you're okay."
Penny felt tears leap again to her eyes, of a different variety than before. "Sherman, I've almost lost you too. I've seen you go over Niagra Falls, imprisoned in a barrel while I had to watch. I've seen you thrown from a plane without a parachute. We always make it through but I'm always afraid this is the time we don't. Sherman…thank you for saving me. Thank you for being my hero."
Their heads turned to stare into each other's eyes. Those round, auburn eyes, so full of intelligence and hope. She loved those eyes. She loved… And then she was kissing him. Kissing him through salty tears and bruised lips. Kissing him because it was the right thing, the only thing she could do now. She vaguely was aware that he was kissing her back, holding her to him. Lips parted and met again. Heavy, CO2 laden breath met hers, mingling in her nose and her throat. Years of bonding, hours of adventures, a lifetime of trust, all of it come to a steady rise in each kiss. She could feel how close they had grown, how well she knew him. Each kiss was a reminder of a moment they had shared, a thrill they had experienced, a time he had saved her or she had saved him. This kiss was for pulling her from a steadily closing Egyptian tomb. The next for when he held her in the front of the horse of Troy while the whole contraption began to fall around them.
He knew they had to stop and so did she. Slowly, reluctantly, their kissing slowed, until they finally settled their heads back down to gaze into each other's eyes. Such beautiful, slanting azure eyes. He loved those eyes, got lost in those eyes when he didn't think she noticed. Now, it didn't matter, he could stare into those eyes forever and who could object?
"Sherman," Penny whispered, "I love you. Do you know that? Because I do. I love you. I don't know when it started but I think I've loved you for a long, long time."
Sherman's eyes shown with excitement and…yes…that was love in his eyes. Penny knew he loved her, knew it without him even saying it. She had probably known that for a long time as well. So, before he could say anything, she kissed him again and they held each other close, drifting off into a dreamless sleep.