Part 15: Off the Grid

She's given him a slip number. He had wanted to meet her at the pier, but she was worried about being exposed, with Savannah, while she waited for him. So she told him to meet her at the marina instead, and she's given him a slip number. But the marina is massive, a labyrinthine maze of walkways and dock lanes and ropelines and loud, salty noise. He suspects that part of this exercise is meant to test him on his orienteering skills.

The boat he finds at slip 44-J is compact, but spacious. A sleek bullet-shaped ship with a flat deck and quarters beneath it. The deck has been stripped of the built-in accoutrements, save for the steering wheel and nav panel, leaving a wide expanse of surface free of distraction and with space to move around on. Sarah is perched on a fold-up deck chair, Savannah in her lap, reading aloud to her.

"The Silver Shoes," said the Good Witch, "have wonderful powers. And one of the most curious things about them is that they can carry you to any place in the world in three steps, and each step will be made in the wink of an eye. All you have to do is to knock the heels together three times and command the shoes to carry you wherever you wish to go."

"If that is so," said the child joyfully, "I will ask them to carry me back to Kansas at once."

She threw her arms around the Lion's neck and kissed him, patting his big head tenderly. Then she kissed the Tin Woodman, who was weeping in a way most dangerous to his joints. But she hugged the soft, stuffed body of the Scarecrow in her arms instead of kissing his painted face, and found she was crying herself at this sorrowful parting from her loving comrades.

Glinda the Good stepped down from her ruby throne to give the little girl a good-bye kiss, and Dorothy thanked her for all the kindness she had shown to her friends and herself.

Dorothy now took Toto up solemnly in her arms, and having said one last good-bye she clapped the heels of her shoes together three times, saying: "Take me home to Aunt Em!"

Sarah saw him coming, looked up, fingered the last few pages of the book. Then closed it, hefted Savannah off of her lap, stepped onto the dock and wrapped him in a slow, deep hug.

"They can't swim," she finally says.

He draws her away, takes in her serious expression. "Who can't, Sarah?"

"The Terminators. They can't swim. This will be the safest place for us, until she's old enough to...this will be safe."

He hops on board, let's Savannah give him a tour. There is a small bedroom, just big enough for the double bed, with a door that slides shut. There are two single beds built into cavities on opposite walls. Like a spaceship, Savannah tells him. In one of them she has piled her stuffed animals. In the other, there is a cheerful quilt and a curtain they can pull when she's sleeping. A kitchen area, with stovetop, microwave, tiny fridge and a dining table, big enough for four. A flatscreen tv mounted on a wall. A small alcove with a desk and his laptop computer. And cubbyholes, compartments and hidden spaces everywhere, full of stuff---clothes, gear, food...and weapons. More books than he thought she would bring. More weapons than he thought could fit in a space this size.

"That's my girl," he teases.

"And don't you forget it. I had some improvements made. Solar panels on the aft deck. Waste recycling unit tied into a generator for the rest of it. Put in a pantry, too. Hope you like rice, lentils and raisins."

"Um, Sarah..."

"Oh, don't worry, we'll be dockside often enough. For refueling, if nothing else. But in a crisis, it's good to know that we could survive out there for months on our own if we have to, isn't it?"

"But where are we going?"

"Anywhere we want to. You have so much to learn, James. We need time and space, to teach you. To teach her."

Savannah tugs on Sarah's sleeve. "Aunt Sarah. The story. There were two pages to go. We never finished it."

Sarah pulls her into a hug, then pulls him in and embraces both of them together. "There's time for that," she says. "Once we cast off. There will be time for a lot of things."

"I want to see how it ends. She gets home, doesn't she, Aunt Sarah? She gets home?"

"Yes," Sarah says. "She gets home. Well? Should we go now?"

He lets her be the one to cast them off, to set the ropes free and jump onto the deck, where they are waiting to pull her in.

They are alive. They are together. And they have time. That's all he needs.

*the end*

Note: Sarah reads to Savannah from The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum.

Note 2: Huge THANK YOu to everyone who left me feedback. You guys rock! It really does mean a lot and help keep me writing. So glad you enjoyed it!