There's Always Tomorrow (Immortal Series) (29 page)

“But,
Tony.
 
I’m not wearing a hat.”

The American
southwest is unlike any place on earth, and its magic beckoned Tony.
 
He could feel it draw him in, like a
moth to a flame.
 
The colors were
intense, as was the harsh native plants and the animals sturdy enough to
survive its extreme conditions.

“Why has it
taken me so long to make it here?” Tony asked himself.
 
Speaking aloud, he wondered, “I’ve been
so close, but I never took the time.
 
This is it.
 
I can feel it
in my body.”

“I can feel it
in my body, too.
 
I think I have to
pee.
 
Find a gas station,
Tony.”
 
Sophie had been very
thirsty since breakfast, resulting in the urgent need to relieve herself.

“Sophie, you’ll
have to hold it for a little while.
 
There’s nothing but mesquite and cactus…and a few rattlers and
scorpions.”
 
He snickered, thinking
he was very funny.

“Oh, honey,”
she began to cry, “I have to go.
 
Stop the car.”

Tony pulled
over to the shoulder and looked back down the road.
 
“I don’t see anyone coming.
 
Climb out and stay close to the car.”

“Hide me,
Tony.
 
Don’t let anyone see.”
 
Sophie had never relieved herself in
the wide-open spaces before, and she wasn’t too certain as to how to go about
it.

Tony laughed,
and turned his back, protecting her privacy with the car door and his
body.
 
“Isn’t it beautiful out
here?” he asked, while listening to the sound of Sophie’s tinkle.
 
“I’m going to show you things you never
knew existed.
 
Aren’t you finished,
yet?”
 
How long did it take a
pregnant woman to pee, he wondered?

Sophie stood up
and adjusted her clothing.
 
“Do I
look okay, Tony?” she asked, while fluffing her hair.

“Darling, you
take my breath away, as always.
 
Get in and buckle up.
 
I
want to be in Chaco Canyon by nightfall.”

Sophie was
getting bored with the desert.
 
It
all looked pretty much the same, to her.
 
“Tell me a story, Tony.
 
Why
are we coming here and what makes this place so special?”

Tony
sighed.
 
He loved his wife more
than life itself, but sometimes she sorely tested him.
 
“I told you several times, dear, we are
coming here to visit some caves that are reported to have mystical
properties.
 
I hope, that by being
surrounded by their energy, and taking in their healing waters, I might be
relieved from the curse.”
 
Not only
was Tony tired of explaining this mission to Sophie, he was actually physically
exhausted.
 
He almost never tired,
but he felt different, on this road trip.
 
It was probably mental stress.
 
It was so very important to him, to finally become mortal.

“It’s just up
ahead.
 
We’ll get a room, and in
the morning we’ll start out for the caves.”
 
Tony was excited and could feel his blood start to
pump.
 
“The energy is amazing,
Sophie.
 
They say the
electro-magnetic fields are skewed and twisted, resulting in changes in the
physical and mental properties.”

“Oh, look,
Tony.
 
The sign says they have a
hot tub!” Sophie squealed with delight.

The next
morning, Tony was all smiles.
 
He,
too, had enjoyed the hot tub.
 
The
hot, steamy water was almost as hot and steamy as his wife.
 
Sophie had cast away any lingering
inhibitions she may have felt, and let her freak flag fly.
 
Up to this point, Tony hadn’t been
aware of her impressive athletic abilities.

He chuckled, as
he massaged his aching shoulders.

Today, they
would head on out to the caves.
 
He
knew they were located somewhere in Chaco Canyon, but without more information,
or a great deal of luck, it would be like looking for the proverbial needle in
a haystack.

“Come on,
sleepy head,” he teased.
 
“It’s not
my fault you spent half the night taking advantage of my body.”
 
He swatted her cute little butt, still
hidden under the sheet.
 
“The sun’s
climbing high into the sky, and we need to be on our way.”

Sophie mumbled
something unintelligible and rolled over, pulling her pillow over her head.

Tony
sighed.
 
He grabbed a corner of the
sheet and gave it good, strong yank.

Sophie
squealed, as she felt the cool air caress her skin.
 
“Tony!” she squealed.
 
“I’m tired, and it was, too, your fault that I stayed up all night.
 
How did I know you got horny in hot,
bubbly water?
 
My gosh, Tony.
 
We had sex three times before you
started to shrink.”
 
She smiled a
very naughty smile.
 
“I had no
idea.
 
You are some man,
husband.”
 
She ran her tongue
seductively over her upper lip.
 
“Can we do it all again, tonight?”

Tony gently
pulled Sophie to her feet and stood back gazing at her extraordinary body.
 
Nude, she was perfection and she wasn’t
the least bit shy about showing off for him.
 
His voice grew deeper and huskier as he expressed his desire
for his wife.
 
“Sophie, you enchant
me.
 
I’m your slave.
 
Anything you want, darling, I promise
to do my best to see you have it.
 
Tonight, I’m going to ravish you with my kisses.
 
Not one part of your luscious body will
escape my attention.
 
Now, sugar…get
dressed.
 
Time marches on.”

* * *

It was really
hot, but Sophie didn’t mind.
 
She
didn’t complain, because she knew how very important this journey was for her
husband.
 
He felt it was his last
chance to be like everyone else.
 
She thought being normal was a little overrated, but nonetheless, that
was his heart’s desire.
 
The
scenery was unusual and magnificent.
 
Never before had she seen such natural splendor.
 
“Didn’t you say Indians lived here,
Tony?

“I did,” he
answered.
 
“An ancient civilization
of Anasazi once occupied these lands.”

“I’ve never
heard of them.
 
Did they move away
or did they die?”
 
That would be
sad, she thought.

“No one really
knows.
 
They were once vast in
number, and then, suddenly, they just disappeared.
 
Many brilliant civilizations disappeared about the same
time.
 
The Anasazi were Star
People.
 
It is said they knew
astronomy.”

Sophie wiggled
with excitement.
 
“Ooh, that’s so
cool.
 
I know it, too.”

Tony’s eyes
widened with surprise.
 
“You... you
do?” he stammered.
 
He didn’t mean
to sound as if he didn’t believe she could know astronomy, but he seriously
doubted it.
 
“Enlighten me,” he
coaxed.

“Okay.
 
I was born August 25th.
 
That makes me a Virgo, on the cusp of
Leo.
 
I think.”
 
Sophie’s brow wrinkled.
 
“You are Cancer?
 
Or Taurus?
 
I don’t know, but I read my horoscope everyday.”

Tony tried his
best not to laugh.
 
He glanced over
at the delicious woman sitting next to him.
 
She was so cute in her confidence of knowledge.
 
There is no way he’d shake that
confidence.
 
“That’s right,
darling.
 
I’m one of those.
 
These people even knew more than
that.
 
They studied the moon and
stars.
 
Their religion was based on
the heavens.
 
They were brilliant
in their knowledge.”

“Ohhh,“ she
cooed, obviously impressed.

Tony grinned
from ear to ear, as he pulled the Porsche over to the side of the road.
 

“Look,
Sophie.
 
Those are the ruins of
their city.”

“Those rocks?”
she asked, incredulously.
 
“They
look like children’s building blocks.”

“Those blocks,”
Tony explained, “once made up a city built on astronomical observations.
 
It was built over a thousand years
ago.”
 
Tony squinted at the
markings.
 
They were hard to see
clearly.

“Maybe you need
glasses, Tony,” Sophie giggled.

“Maybe I
don’t.
 
That comes with old age,”
he said, sarcastically.

“You know,
Tony.
 
Now, that you mention it,
you’ve not been acting yourself.
 
I’d swear you were getting sick, with all the sneezing you’ve been
doing, lately.
 
I guess it could be
allergies to all this dust.”

“I don’t get
sick, and I never have allergies.
 
Maybe I’m suffering sympathy pains from being around you,
sweetheart.
 
I hate it when you get
ill and toss your cookies.”

Tony got back
in the car and waited for Sophie to buckle up.
 
“We’re heading for that ridge.
 
I can feel I’m on the right path, sweetheart.
 
I just know it.”
 
Tony felt his heart skip a beat.
 
It was almost too much to hope for.

Several hours
later, the black Porsche pulled up at the base of a steep path, leading high up
the side of a stone bluff.
 
Tony
gripped the steering wheel tightly.
 
It was now or never.

“This is it,
darling.
 
Let’s take our provisions
from the trunk, and head out.
 
I
plan to spend the night, if you’re game.”

Sophie was
silent.
 
She felt very uneasy about
all of this, but for Tony’s sake, she would not complain.

“If you get
tired and need to rest, let me know.
 
We need to take care of you and the baby.
 
The two of you are much more important to me than finding a
cure.
 
You’re my whole life,
Sophie.
 
I hope you realize
that.”
 
Tony’s eyes filled with
emotion.

“I do,
darling.
 
And we’re both just
fine.
 
Lead the way.”

Sophie got a
close up look at more than a few snakes and lizards.
 
Only one rattled.
 
There were gopher holes and spider mounds, and poisonous thorns.
 
“I think I know why they left,” she
grumbled.

“They were
seers, Sophie.
 
They had gifts of
prophecy.”

Sophie was
interested in that.
 
“They were
like the old shaman and Marie Laveau?”

Tony
nodded.
 
“Just as they predicted
good things for me, if I remained steadfast, they could see events for their
peoples.
 
They could see energy
portals.”

“Energy
what?”
 
Sophie had never heard of
energy portholes.

“Portals,
honey.
 
You know, doorways and
passages through time and other dimensions.”

Sophie thought
for a moment.
 
She had no idea what
her husband was trying to explain to her, but she didn’t want to appear to be
ignorant, so she nodded her head, causing her blonde curls to bounce.
 
There was much that her husband knew
and she did not.
 
But she figured
she knew a few things he didn’t, so it would all balance out, eventually.

After resting,
and eating a snack to keep their energy up, they reached a strange and lovely
carved out section of the rock bluff.
 
They both stood and took in the good feeling.

“I believe this
is the entrance to a sacred site, Sophie.
 
I don’t know why I know this, but I’m certain it is of great
importance,” he whispered, reverently.

Tony looked up
ahead, and saw a very small entrance to a partially concealed cave.
 
He couldn’t find his voice, so he
pointed.

“Up there,” he
said, hoarsely.
 
“My search has
ended, Sophie.
 
You can rest here,
if you wish, or you can come with me.”
 
He looked down into her huge turquoise eyes.
 
How angelic she appeared.

She shook her
head.
 
“I don’t think so,
Tony.
 
You know what’s right for
you, but I feel the baby should stay out here, in the sunshine.
 
This is a good place.
 
You don’t have to worry about us.”

Tony bent down
and kissed his wife on her sweet, sweet lips.
 
“I’ll not be long, darling.
 
If you need me, just yell.”
 
He stood up and walked very slowly toward the entrance.