VOYAGERS! - The Voyager Chronicles
TASTES OF FREEDOM - BOOK 2
(Sequel to Discoveries)
By DA Daugherty (VoyagersFan)
March 2007 (Revised 05/2009)
Previous disclaimers apply
Chapter 9 – AN OBSTACLE IN THE ROAD
After bidding goodbye to Franklin on the street in Philadelphia, the two Voyagers along with their driver began their long journey to Monticello. In their determination to get to the historic landmark in record time, they continued their ride long into the night. At the break of dawn, they stopped for a while to stretch their legs and rest a spell, before continuing their trek.
The driver pulled back on the reins and shouted to the horses "Whoa boys!" With this, the carriage began to slow down and eventually came to a stop. Bogg stuck his head out the window and yelled up to the driver.
"Is there something wrong?" He asked.
"No." The Driver replied. "Nothing's wrong. I think we need to stop here for a while and stretch our legs. Besides, the horses need some rest as well."
Bogg opened the carriage door and stepped out onto the ground. He turned to help his partner out of the carriage, but Jeff was not behind him. He peered through the door and noticed that Jeff had not yet realized the carriage had stopped. He remained fast asleep inside.
"Hey, Kid! Rise and shine!" Bogg whispered.
"Whaaaaaat!" Jeff replied sleepily.
"Wake up, kid. You need to get out and stretch your legs a bit." Bogg urged.
"I don't want to stretch my legs. I want to sleep." Jeff said as he turned away and closed his eyes again.
"Ok. Do what you want. Just don't blame me if you get a cramp." Bogg said as he closed the carriage door.
Bogg approached the driver, who had climbed down from the driver's seat and was now standing in front of the horses feeding them some apples.
"Sir, how much farther do we have left to go?" Bogg asked.
"Well, I'd say we probably have a little less than half a day's travel left, before we reach Monticello." The driver explained.
"Wow, we're that close?"
"Yes, it's not much further now." The driver confirmed.
"While you tend to the horses, I think I'll go back and check on my partner. Let us know when you are ready to continue." Bogg said before walking back to the door of the carriage.
Jeff was exhausted from his long ride and was still sound asleep inside. Bogg softly opened the door, climbed in and sat down beside Jeff. After a few moments, he poked his partner in the arm to once again attempt to wake him.
"Hey Jeff." Bogg said in a whisper. "Wake up, kid."
Jeff opened his eyes and looked up at Bogg. "Ok." He said as he began to yawn. "I'm awake. What's going on? Why have we stopped?"
"The driver decided to stop for a while and allow us and the horses to rest." Bogg replied.
"I've got some good news though. We don't have much further to go. We're almost there."
Jeff's eyes lit up. "We're almost there! That's great!"
Jeff reached over and began to fumble around in Bogg's vest pocket.
Bogg looked down curiously as he partner continued to search his pocket.
"What are you looking for, kid?" He asked.
"Do you have any jerky left? I could do with a piece right now." Jeff asked.
Bogg reached into the opposite pocket and pulled out one last piece of jerky for his partner.
"Here, this is the last of it, at least until I can get some more." Bogg said as he handed it to him.
Jeff took the piece from him, tore it in half and offered some to him in return. "Here, Bogg, you can have half."
"Thanks, kid."
"Bogg?" Jeff asked.
"Yea, Jeff."
"This trip seems to be taking longer than I expected."
"Yea, tell it to my backside." Bogg replied. "It aches something awful."
"You know, we're not going to have a whole lot of time to convince Jefferson, before we have to start back." Jeff explained.
"Yea, when we arrive, we must immediately put our plan into action and get him convinced and back on the road to Philadelphia."
The two sat there silent for a moment, staring out into the wilderness.
Without warning, the driver came over and stuck his head through the window. "Gentlemen, if you both have had enough time to rest, we will be on our way once again."
"We're ready when you are." Bogg exclaimed.
The driver walked over and began to climb up to the driver's seat. With a snap of the reins, the horses slowly took off.
As the carriage got back up to speed, Jeff, with a rather curious look on his face spoke up. "Bogg?"
"Yea kid."
"How much longer do you suppose I will be with you?" He asked..
"Kid what brought this on?" Bogg replied with a puzzled look. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, at some point I will have to begin my training at Voyager Academy."
"Are you trying to get rid of me, kid?" Bogg teased as he turned and grinned at his partner.
"No, Bogg! I don't want to leave you. I was just wondering how much longer we would be together."
"Kid." Bogg said as he put a hand on Jeff's shoulder. "You amaze me sometimes, always thinking, always one step ahead of the crowd. There's no rule in the Voyager Handbook that specifies when a Voyager trainee should begin his education at Voyager Academy."
"You still haven't answered my question. How much longer do we have together?"
"As long as it takes, kid." Bogg said boldly.
"What do you mean?"
"As smart as you are, I'd have thought you would have figured that out by now. Kid, you may not realize it, but you have already started your Voyager training. With me! You are getting the best one-on-one training that any Voyager recruit has ever had."
At this point, Jeff it suddenly struck him how lucky he was to have Bogg as his partner. With a look of appreciation on his face, he turned to his partner.
"You are the best, Bogg!" He said.
"So just stop your worrying, kid! We will be together until I reach a point where I have nothing left to teach you. Or… until we get tired of each other and I drop you off in Siberia or somewhere else cold." Bogg teased as he winked and then began to laugh.
"Bogg!!!"
While the driver guided the carriage onward toward its final destination, Jeff, weary from his travels, leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. Bogg stared out the window and observed the wilderness as it quickly passed by.
Several hours passed. It was now late afternoon. Inside the carriage, the two Voyagers were once again awake and trying their best to keep themselves occupied. Without warning, the driver quickly pulled back on the reins and yelled out "Hold on gentlemen."
As the driver attempted to bring the carriage to a screeching halt, Bogg was thrown out of his seat momentarily. He quickly picked himself up and returned to his seat.
"Bogg, what's going on?" Jeff asked.
Before Bogg had a chance to respond to his partner's question, the carriage, still traveling at a high rate of speed, hit a deep crevasse in the road. The carriage jolted from side to side and then flew into the air. In a daring move, Bogg quickly grabbed his partner and held him in his arms in an attempt to protect him from harm. Seconds later, the carriage came crashing to the ground and flipped violently onto its side, tossing the driver into a clump of bushes.
Once the dust had settled, Bogg found himself lying face down on top of his partner. Slowly, he reached up and grabbed hold of the edge of the window and pulled himself up. Dazed and a bit shaken up, he stood there for a moment attempting to regain his senses. Once he was back to normal, he reached down and lifted Jeff into his arms.
"JEFF! JEFF, ARE YOU OK!" He exclaimed impatiently.
Jeff cracked open his eyes. Still a bit woozy from it all, he attempted to respond.
"Boooooggggg. Whaaaat haaaaapppppeened?"
"Are you ok?" Bogg asked.
"Yea, I'm ok…Just a little shaken up. What happened?"
"Whew, you're ok!" Bogg said as he hugged him.
He slowly lowered his partner and put him gently down onto his feet. Unlatching the carriage door, he pushed it open and turned back to his partner.
"Kid, we need to climb out of here. You first!" He said as he picked up his partner and hoisted him up through the door.
Jeff climbed up and out of the carriage and slid down its side to the ground. Bogg immediately followed suit. They stood there for a moment and gazed curiously at the road behind them. It was then they spotted what had caused the accident.
"Look kid, back there! We hit that large gully in the road. That's what caused us to flip over."
Jeff looked back at the carriage. "Bogg! Where's the driver?"
"I don't know kid. C'mon, let's see if we can find him."
The two walked over to calm the horses and look for the driver. Unexpectedly, a loud moan came from a clump of bushes nearby.
"Bogg! Over there! It's the driver!" Jeff exclaimed.
Bogg ran over and helped the driver to his feet.
"Thanks, kind sir." The driver said as he steadied himself on his feet. "Are you two alright?"
"Yes sir, we are fine. No broken bones, just a few bruises." Bogg confirmed.
"Are YOU ok?"
"Yes, I too am fine, just bruised and scratched up. I am so sorry, gentlemen. By the time I saw that gully in the road, it was just too late. I couldn't stop the horses in time to avoid hitting it." The driver said with remorse.
"Don't worry about it. It couldn't be helped." Bogg reassured. "I guess the next question is what do we do now?"
"Well, we still have two horses. You two gentlemen can unhitch the horses and ride them on to Monticello."
"What about you?" Jeff asked with concern. "Bogg we can't just leave him here alone with no means of transportation."
"I agree!" Bogg exclaimed. "I've got a better idea. We'll unhitch the horses. Jeff and I will take one and you take the other."
"That's very kind of you, sir. While you two continue your journey, I'll ride back to the last town we passed through and see if I can get some help to fix the carriage. As soon as I straighten out this mess, I'll make my way to Monticello to get the three of you and take you back to Philadelphia."
"Sounds like a good plan to me." Bogg acknowledged. "There's just one problem though."
"What's that?" The driver asked.
"Well, we don't know the way to Monticello." Bogg stated.
"Gentlemen. You are about 4 hours away from the plantation. Just continue on down this road and you will run right into it."
"If that's the case, let's unhitch these horses and get started!" Bogg exclaimed.
Jeff approached his partner with a look of concern on his face. "Please tell me we are not going to ride there on horseback."
"Yep, kid. Looks like that's our only option."
"Bogg! What about using the omni?" Jeff asked.
"I wish I could, but, we can't risk it. Besides, if we leave now, it will raise too many questions." Bogg said.
Without thought, he reached to his belt and felt for the omni. Much to his surprise, it wasn't there. Bogg started to panic.
"Kid! The omni! Do you have it?" He exclaimed.
"No Bogg, I don't have it." Jeff acknowledged. "Maybe you lost it when the carriage turned over."
"We have to find it, kid." Bogg said with a touch of uneasiness in his tone. "Otherwise, we will be stranded here in this time zone."
"What are we waiting for, let's go find it!" Jeff shouted.
A bit curious as to what the two were in such a tempest over, the driver suddenly approached them.
"Gentlemen, have you lost something?" He asked.
"Yes, sir. I've lost my…", Bogg replied before Jeff interrupted him.
"Pocket watch…He lost his pocket watch and it's a family heirloom." Jeff stated.
"Quick thinking, kid!" Bogg whispered.
"Well you two go have a look around. I'll stay here and finish unhitching the horses." The driver said as he walked away from the two.
Bogg and Jeff left the driver to his tasks and continued their search for the omni.
"Kid, you have a look around out here and I'll climb back inside and see if it's in there."
"Right!"
Bogg climbed inside the carriage and began to rifle through its contents, as Jeff began to search the area around it. Minutes later, Bogg emerged through the door and jumped down onto the ground.
"Did you find it?" Jeff yelled.
"Nope. What about you?"
"Nothing yet, Bogg."
The two continued to comb the area. Bogg scoured one side of the road while Jeff searched the other side. After some time had passed, Jeff yelled over to his partner.
"Anything yet?" He asked.
Bogg misunderstood his partner's question and shouted back. "Did you find it, kid? "
"No, I was wondering if you found it." Jeff yelled.
"No, nothing yet." Bogg replied
By this time, the sun had started to set. Bogg, now tired and worried that he would never find the omni, paused for a moment. He sat down by the side of the road with his head down in his hands. Jeff looked back and noticed his partner sitting down and decided he needed some company.
"What's wrong Bogg?" Jeff asked.
"I'm just tired." Bogg replied in a despondent tone.
"You're worried about the omni. Aren't you?" Jeff said softly.
"Yea kid." Bogg replied.
Jeff got down on his knees and put his hand on Bogg's shoulder. "Bogg, as I recall, we have been in worse situations than this before. And it's always worked out. So don't worry, we'll find the omni. It's got to be here somewhere."
Bogg looked up and smiled at Jeff. "Wait a minute! There's something definitely wrong here. That's the speech I normally give to console you in a time of crisis. What gives, kid?"
"Hey, if it works for me… Why shouldn't it do the same for you?" Jeff said as he grinned a bit, got to his feet and walked away.
"Wait a minute, you can't leave me now. You didn't finish the speech." Bogg yelled. "And I should know, 'cause I wrote it." He mumbled to himself.
"Bogg! Come quick!" Jeff yelled.
Bogg got up and ran over to see what was wrong.
"Yea kid, what is it?"
"Bogg, look! Over there! See it!" Jeff said as he pointed off into the distance.
"What kid? I don't see anything."
"Look! There's something lying in the road, reflecting the sunlight." He shouted.
Bogg and Jeff turned and looked at each other. Almost instantly the two shouted in unison, "It's the omni!" Immediately they took off running toward the object.
Upon reaching the area from where the reflection had originated, there, lying in the road was the omni, enveloped in a good coating of dust.
Jeff reached down, picked it up and wiped the dust off on his sleeve. He looked at Bogg, smiled and handed it to him. "I believe this belongs to you, Mr. Bogg."
"Yes, and what a welcome sight it is. Thank you kid." Bogg replied with a sense of great joy in his voice.
Bogg opened the omni and its red light was still flashing.
"Is it working?" Jeff asked.
"We have a red light! I never thought I would ever say what a pleasure it is to see that light blinking, even if it's red." Bogg said.
The two began walking back to the carriage. Once they arrived, the driver approached them.
"Did you find your watch?" He asked.
"Yes, we found it." Bogg acknowledged.
"Well, that's good. I'm happy that you found it. I finished unhitching the horses and yours is ready to go."
"Well kid, I guess we must be on our way. C'mon, let's get aboard."
"Yea, like it's a ship or something." Jeff said with some sarcasm.
"C'mon!" Bogg said as he playfully pushed his partner in front of him.
Bogg lifted Jeff and put him in the saddle. Before he climbed atop the beast, Bogg turned to the driver and asked, "You're sure you'll be ok? Right?"
"Yes, I'll be just fine…" The driver reassured. 'You two go ahead. You have much work ahead of you to convince Mr. Jefferson to come back. Now, go and good luck to you. I will see you in a few days."
Bogg climbed onto the horse, grabbed the reins and started off.
"Thanks again." Bogg yelled as the two rode off into the distance.