ACT VIII
Charlie slowed to about two miles an hour and tried to split his attention between his driving and the search for Cord's Trans Am. Al finally noticed and barked, "Kid, watch the road!" as if Charlie could hear him. Sam, too intent on his own search to turn around, told Charlie to concentrate on driving and let him do the looking.
"Right," mumbled Charlie in a perplexed tone, and Sam knew in the back of his brain somewhere that Charlie was wondering how Sam knew what he was doing without seeing him. He shut the thought firmly away and all but put his head through the window trying to see into the inky dark that had swallowed them.
"Black as Beelzebub's heart out here," Al muttered, sweeping his "flashlight" beam through the dense woods. "That stinkin' kid knew exactly what he was doing all right. I dunno, Sam, maybe he knew we were following him after all and stranded us in here to throw us off his trail . . . "
At this precise moment the blue beam caught a horizontal line in its scope, and Sam yelled, "Stop the car!" Startled, Charlie slammed on the brakes, which caused the unprepared Sam to lunge forward in his seat, only to be practically hanged on the restraining belt. This latest jar on his ribs was too much for them, and Sam grayed out from the instantaneous bolt of agony that stabbed him.
"SAAAAAAAAMMMMM!!" Al screamed, pulling Sam back to consciousness and making him think it was a wonder Charlie hadn't heard it. "Don't pass out on us now, you're too close!"
"Charlie, right in here," Sam gasped, panting from the torture. "Turn here and leave the headlights on."
"How can you see anything to know he's in there?" Charlie protested, but did as directed, to the great relief of both Sam and Al. "Man, I sure hope you're right."
Since they hadn't seen Cord's car since turning onto the park-entrance road, there was no way of knowing how much time Cord had had to put his insidious plan into action. Charlie inched the car into the trees just until they could all see the back of the white Trans Am, then belatedly switched on his high beams. These revealed that both car doors stood wide open; there appeared to be no one inside.
"Aw, hell, Sam -- " Al cried. "He must've dragged her off into the woods . . . "
Sam released the restraining belt, shoved open his door and nearly fell out of the car. Al popped into being beside him at the same time a wild, terrified scream shattered the cold night. "HELP MEEEEE!!!!!"
"Fight him, Colleen, we're coming!" Al shouted. "Come on, Sam, you gotta get to her!"
"My ribs . . . " Sam moaned, a hairsbreadth away from tears. He truly couldn't remember ever being in this much pain; by now he was about ninety percent certain that Nick's ribs were broken. If Cord hadn't broken them with his punch, all the bumping and jarring Sam had been through since then had doubtless finished the job. "Man, when Nick gets back, he's gonna find himself in the hospital."
"That's for later," Al bawled, sweeping both arms repeatedly to his right like a man directing an airplane to a terminal gate and sending the blue beam weaving all across the surrounding treetops, searchlight-fashion. "Colleen first, Sam. GET TO COLLEEN!!"
Once again they heard Colleen scream in fear and pain. Sam heaved himself to his feet, sucking in air, certain he was going to throw up any minute now. He stumbled wretchedly along past Cord's car, around the open passenger door and into a tiny clearing where Cord's headlights picked out a horrible tableau. All Sam could see was Colleen's legs kicking frenetically and Cord's bare butt pointing into the air. And out of nowhere, Sam's Swiss-cheesed memory yielded an image of his little sister, Katie, covered with bruises and sporting an enormous shiner, offering lame explanations for the black-and-blue marks when the whole family knew damn good and well they were courtesy of Chuck, that useless lout she had married.
Rage, along with curse words in about eight different languages, filled Sam's brain and exploded from him in one unintelligible roar. He reacted on instinct, without conscious thought. Seizing a thick fallen branch from the ground, he staggered over to Cord and smashed it down on Cord's naked backside with every last ounce of strength he had in him. McCord Ericson had probably never in his life had such a violent spanking; at least, Sam devoutly hoped not. He didn't want the miserable little bastard to ever forget this punishment.
"What the HELL -- !!" screamed Cord and rolled off Colleen, who immediately shrank into a fetal position and began to sob heavily. Sam advanced on Cord with the branch in both hands, all the while panting hoarsely and heavily like a grizzly bear on the rampage. Sam's fury was so great he barely even noticed his ribs anymore; he was a fountain of adrenaline, fueled by the worst anger he had known in perhaps his entire life.
However, the ribs slowed him up enough that Cord had time to recognize him. "Well, lookit here . . . it's Big Bad Brother Becker, come to rescue you, Colleen!" he sneered. Sam, still in primal mode, couldn't switch back to human in time to keep Cord from whisking the branch right out of his hands. "We'll just see about that, won't we!" As he spoke he swung the branch around and clobbered Sam in the very ribs that had already sustained far more than their share of abuse. Sam howled and collapsed, reduced to a lump of white-hot agony.
Al, who had been helplessly watching everything from a few feet away, went ballistic. "Dammit, Gooshie! Ziggy! Do something! I gotta get through to Sam! Aw crap, I HATE bein' a hologram at times like this!" Before he could rail any further, though, he caught a movement in his peripheral vision, and focused just in time to see Charlie Mason charge at full speed directly into Cord, head-butting him in the chest. Al cheered like a maniac. "Way to go, Charlie!! Give that S.O.B. what he's got coming!"
Cord had actually been pitched off his feet by the force of Charlie's blow and landed flat on his still-naked rump. Charlie was in almost as much of a rage as Sam had been a few moments ago. "That was for what you did to Nick," he bellowed, and then whacked a surprisingly well-aimed foot straight into Cord's unprotected groin. "And THAT was for Colleen!"
But the most amazing thing of all was Colleen herself. The sheer incredible noise of the confrontation had surprised her out of her sobs just to watch. Now she climbed to her feet, smoothed her skirt in a curiously dignified manner, marched to Cord and kicked him soundly in the ribs - not just once, but three times, as hard as she possibly could. "Now you know how my brother feels," she said.
Al felt his eyes fill with tears. "Atta girl," he whispered. "Atta girl, Colleen. You're gonna be one hell of a strong woman."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The Becker family, Charlie and a host of others had come and gone, and the room was quiet now after visiting hours. Lying in the hospital bed, pleasantly dazed on painkillers and half asleep, Sam regarded Al with bleary eyes. "Is that really what happened?" he murmured.
"Sure is," Al said with a beatific smile. "You caught Cord just in time to keep him from raping Colleen, and those two kids found strength they probably didn't know they had. This new history you created is amazing, Sam. Cord finally gets his. Not only is he thrown off the football team, he's suspended from school. Eventually, with Charlie and Colleen and Nick to testify against him, he'll head for juvie. Never really amounts to much after he gets out, he just kinda disappears into time. Nick and Charlie become best friends. And hey, get this, Sam. Charlie and Colleen start dating . . . and wow, they get married in 1992!" Al beamed as if he himself had given away the bride.
"Look at you," Sam said, curiosity finally piqued beyond endurance. "You were all but fixated on Colleen all the way through this Leap. Does she make you think of Trudy or something?"
Al shook his head, his eyes suddenly downcast. "Nah," he mumbled and fidgeted with the handlink. "She looks like Beth did in high school, that's all."
"Ahh," murmured Sam. For all the holes in his memory, Sam had always been unable to forget Beth, the one true love of Al's life. She was the reason Al had never been able to find happiness with any of the four women he'd married after losing her. "Now I can see why you'd have a soft spot for Colleen. Come to think of it, she does look like Beth." Gently he changed the subject. "So, when do I Leap?"
Al let himself be distracted and squinted at the handlink. "Ziggy says that Nick -- " He cut himself off in mid-speech, glared at the link and shook it hard for about ten full seconds. "Miserable, freakin' useless slab of plastic and Christmas-tree lights! . . . " He stilled his hand, looked at the link again and suddenly grinned.
"What?" Sam persisted.
Al chuckled. "I knew you couldn't resist. Thanks to you and all those textbook problems you were doin', Sam, Nick passes calculus and graduates right on time." He winked . . . and Sam Beckett Leaped.
THE END
Charlie slowed to about two miles an hour and tried to split his attention between his driving and the search for Cord's Trans Am. Al finally noticed and barked, "Kid, watch the road!" as if Charlie could hear him. Sam, too intent on his own search to turn around, told Charlie to concentrate on driving and let him do the looking.
"Right," mumbled Charlie in a perplexed tone, and Sam knew in the back of his brain somewhere that Charlie was wondering how Sam knew what he was doing without seeing him. He shut the thought firmly away and all but put his head through the window trying to see into the inky dark that had swallowed them.
"Black as Beelzebub's heart out here," Al muttered, sweeping his "flashlight" beam through the dense woods. "That stinkin' kid knew exactly what he was doing all right. I dunno, Sam, maybe he knew we were following him after all and stranded us in here to throw us off his trail . . . "
At this precise moment the blue beam caught a horizontal line in its scope, and Sam yelled, "Stop the car!" Startled, Charlie slammed on the brakes, which caused the unprepared Sam to lunge forward in his seat, only to be practically hanged on the restraining belt. This latest jar on his ribs was too much for them, and Sam grayed out from the instantaneous bolt of agony that stabbed him.
"SAAAAAAAAMMMMM!!" Al screamed, pulling Sam back to consciousness and making him think it was a wonder Charlie hadn't heard it. "Don't pass out on us now, you're too close!"
"Charlie, right in here," Sam gasped, panting from the torture. "Turn here and leave the headlights on."
"How can you see anything to know he's in there?" Charlie protested, but did as directed, to the great relief of both Sam and Al. "Man, I sure hope you're right."
Since they hadn't seen Cord's car since turning onto the park-entrance road, there was no way of knowing how much time Cord had had to put his insidious plan into action. Charlie inched the car into the trees just until they could all see the back of the white Trans Am, then belatedly switched on his high beams. These revealed that both car doors stood wide open; there appeared to be no one inside.
"Aw, hell, Sam -- " Al cried. "He must've dragged her off into the woods . . . "
Sam released the restraining belt, shoved open his door and nearly fell out of the car. Al popped into being beside him at the same time a wild, terrified scream shattered the cold night. "HELP MEEEEE!!!!!"
"Fight him, Colleen, we're coming!" Al shouted. "Come on, Sam, you gotta get to her!"
"My ribs . . . " Sam moaned, a hairsbreadth away from tears. He truly couldn't remember ever being in this much pain; by now he was about ninety percent certain that Nick's ribs were broken. If Cord hadn't broken them with his punch, all the bumping and jarring Sam had been through since then had doubtless finished the job. "Man, when Nick gets back, he's gonna find himself in the hospital."
"That's for later," Al bawled, sweeping both arms repeatedly to his right like a man directing an airplane to a terminal gate and sending the blue beam weaving all across the surrounding treetops, searchlight-fashion. "Colleen first, Sam. GET TO COLLEEN!!"
Once again they heard Colleen scream in fear and pain. Sam heaved himself to his feet, sucking in air, certain he was going to throw up any minute now. He stumbled wretchedly along past Cord's car, around the open passenger door and into a tiny clearing where Cord's headlights picked out a horrible tableau. All Sam could see was Colleen's legs kicking frenetically and Cord's bare butt pointing into the air. And out of nowhere, Sam's Swiss-cheesed memory yielded an image of his little sister, Katie, covered with bruises and sporting an enormous shiner, offering lame explanations for the black-and-blue marks when the whole family knew damn good and well they were courtesy of Chuck, that useless lout she had married.
Rage, along with curse words in about eight different languages, filled Sam's brain and exploded from him in one unintelligible roar. He reacted on instinct, without conscious thought. Seizing a thick fallen branch from the ground, he staggered over to Cord and smashed it down on Cord's naked backside with every last ounce of strength he had in him. McCord Ericson had probably never in his life had such a violent spanking; at least, Sam devoutly hoped not. He didn't want the miserable little bastard to ever forget this punishment.
"What the HELL -- !!" screamed Cord and rolled off Colleen, who immediately shrank into a fetal position and began to sob heavily. Sam advanced on Cord with the branch in both hands, all the while panting hoarsely and heavily like a grizzly bear on the rampage. Sam's fury was so great he barely even noticed his ribs anymore; he was a fountain of adrenaline, fueled by the worst anger he had known in perhaps his entire life.
However, the ribs slowed him up enough that Cord had time to recognize him. "Well, lookit here . . . it's Big Bad Brother Becker, come to rescue you, Colleen!" he sneered. Sam, still in primal mode, couldn't switch back to human in time to keep Cord from whisking the branch right out of his hands. "We'll just see about that, won't we!" As he spoke he swung the branch around and clobbered Sam in the very ribs that had already sustained far more than their share of abuse. Sam howled and collapsed, reduced to a lump of white-hot agony.
Al, who had been helplessly watching everything from a few feet away, went ballistic. "Dammit, Gooshie! Ziggy! Do something! I gotta get through to Sam! Aw crap, I HATE bein' a hologram at times like this!" Before he could rail any further, though, he caught a movement in his peripheral vision, and focused just in time to see Charlie Mason charge at full speed directly into Cord, head-butting him in the chest. Al cheered like a maniac. "Way to go, Charlie!! Give that S.O.B. what he's got coming!"
Cord had actually been pitched off his feet by the force of Charlie's blow and landed flat on his still-naked rump. Charlie was in almost as much of a rage as Sam had been a few moments ago. "That was for what you did to Nick," he bellowed, and then whacked a surprisingly well-aimed foot straight into Cord's unprotected groin. "And THAT was for Colleen!"
But the most amazing thing of all was Colleen herself. The sheer incredible noise of the confrontation had surprised her out of her sobs just to watch. Now she climbed to her feet, smoothed her skirt in a curiously dignified manner, marched to Cord and kicked him soundly in the ribs - not just once, but three times, as hard as she possibly could. "Now you know how my brother feels," she said.
Al felt his eyes fill with tears. "Atta girl," he whispered. "Atta girl, Colleen. You're gonna be one hell of a strong woman."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The Becker family, Charlie and a host of others had come and gone, and the room was quiet now after visiting hours. Lying in the hospital bed, pleasantly dazed on painkillers and half asleep, Sam regarded Al with bleary eyes. "Is that really what happened?" he murmured.
"Sure is," Al said with a beatific smile. "You caught Cord just in time to keep him from raping Colleen, and those two kids found strength they probably didn't know they had. This new history you created is amazing, Sam. Cord finally gets his. Not only is he thrown off the football team, he's suspended from school. Eventually, with Charlie and Colleen and Nick to testify against him, he'll head for juvie. Never really amounts to much after he gets out, he just kinda disappears into time. Nick and Charlie become best friends. And hey, get this, Sam. Charlie and Colleen start dating . . . and wow, they get married in 1992!" Al beamed as if he himself had given away the bride.
"Look at you," Sam said, curiosity finally piqued beyond endurance. "You were all but fixated on Colleen all the way through this Leap. Does she make you think of Trudy or something?"
Al shook his head, his eyes suddenly downcast. "Nah," he mumbled and fidgeted with the handlink. "She looks like Beth did in high school, that's all."
"Ahh," murmured Sam. For all the holes in his memory, Sam had always been unable to forget Beth, the one true love of Al's life. She was the reason Al had never been able to find happiness with any of the four women he'd married after losing her. "Now I can see why you'd have a soft spot for Colleen. Come to think of it, she does look like Beth." Gently he changed the subject. "So, when do I Leap?"
Al let himself be distracted and squinted at the handlink. "Ziggy says that Nick -- " He cut himself off in mid-speech, glared at the link and shook it hard for about ten full seconds. "Miserable, freakin' useless slab of plastic and Christmas-tree lights! . . . " He stilled his hand, looked at the link again and suddenly grinned.
"What?" Sam persisted.
Al chuckled. "I knew you couldn't resist. Thanks to you and all those textbook problems you were doin', Sam, Nick passes calculus and graduates right on time." He winked . . . and Sam Beckett Leaped.
THE END