//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Wilbert Harrison Redux // Story: The Mississippi Voyager // by Alden MacManx //------------------------------// Sunday, 2 April 2017, 1200 hours, Kansas City, MO. West Bottoms Pier The Mississippi Voyager sat at pierside, moored portside to, with the port gangplank extended and in place. The River Bitch, Kansas City’s motorboat, was moored forward of them, cover on and buttoned tight, awaiting use. Captain Crane, Chief Engineer Frack, and Welder Bernie waited on the pier for the Kansas City crew to show up. “I know they know we are coming. I talked with Smokey this morning, and he said a crew will meet us here. Wonder why he’s running late,” Frack tried to explain to the Captain. “I’m sure they have a good reason, Frack. They moved some distance away, right?” Captain Crane asked. “That they did,” Frack confirmed. “Some miles south, to be near the breezie colony. I know they are maintaining the Painted Sofa as a ‘forward camp’ to be near the river. Sure, they can take a truck out and hunt, but going upstream a few miles leads to some good hunting grounds. From the looks of their boat, they do use it often.” “Use it and care for it,” Captain Crane observed. “They also have plenty of stock here. Makes sense to have what you need nearby. They do have a supply of diesel fuel here, right?” “There’s a big tank farm about a mile upstream, past the Kansas River mouth. We’ll have to do some hose rigging, but the source is there. They get their fuel retail, not wholesale,” Frack advised. Howard was about to reply when a loud bellow was heard, coming from the south. Looking towards the source of the noise, a faint dust cloud was seen, with a white form at the front of the cloud, heading right towards them. By instinct, the three fliers headed in the safest direction possible, namely UP! The white form ran under them and into the river, forward of the Voyager, landing with a big splash. “Wakinya! What’s your hurry?” Frack shouted down from where he hovered with the others. “Wanted to see you again, Uncle Frack! How’s Gramma and Grampa?” the white buffalo called up from the river as he swam expertly to a ramp a little downstream of where the Voyager was moored. “Doing well in Europe, kid! Come out and dry off! Where’s everyone else?”  “On their way! I ran on ahead!” Wakinya called out as he climbed the ramp. At the top, he shook himself dry. Once dry, he trotted to a free space to accept a warm hug from Frack. “You learning a lot, Wakinya? Your English is much better than before,” Frack told the young buffalo. “Oh, yes! Learning a lot from everyone, including the crazy old bird! He says I will be a powerful shaman when I’m older,” Wakinya said in bright tones, eager to impress his ‘uncle’. “Well, good! Now, let me introduce you to friends you haven’t met yet, namely Captain Crane and my wife, Bernie,” Frack told Wakinya while doing so. “You’re a waterhorse, right? A hippygriff, like Cold Current?” Wakinya asked the Captain. “That’s hippogriff, Wakinya,” Captain Crane told the young buffalo. “Cold Current is based off a cormorant, while I’m based on a crane.” “Cool!” Wakinya squealed, playfully (and gently) headbutting the Captain before looking up at Bernie. “You have to be nuts to marry this bonkers bird, lady!” he managed to say before giggling. Bernie looked at Frack. “That’s all the proof I need to know you’ve been here! Your reputation stayed behind!” she laughed, putting a wing around Frack and hugging. “I leave my mark wherever I go, love. This is the last place I’ve been that you haven’t. I thought you would have picked up on that by now!” Frack exclaimed, leaning into the hug and giving her a quick kiss. From further inland came a voice that Frack was quite familiar with, that of the local chief and shaman, Smoking Horn. “Makes one wonder which is the bigger fool!”  Standing next to Smoking Horn is what has to be the biggest damn buffalo Frack, or anyone else, had ever seen. All three from the Voyager gaped at the sight of the big brown bull buffalo, who happened to be wearing a black stovepipe top hat with not one, but two pairs of aviator’s eye protectors wrapped around the hat, one set looking left, one set right. “It is hoped the one who weds the fool has the sense to control the fool,” the big buffalo said in a voice so deep the earth trembled. “Allow me to introduce Chief Twogogglehat, leader of the tribe of buffalo that are our near neighbors,” Smoking Horn said, emitting a large cloud of cherry-scented pipe tobacco smoke. All three of the Voyager crew bowed to the chief once they landed. “Honored to meet you, Chief. Are you the ones who requested long-range radio setups?” Captain Crane asked. “Yes,” rumbled the chief. “Soon, we go on migration, to wander the plains. Would be nice to be able to call friends, let know what we find.” “Well, we have your shipment aboard. Smoking Horn, when can we visit your homestead?” Howard asked. “I know you would want to leave some of your crew aboard, but we can head back to the camp as soon as you are ready. We can bring the truck down here, load it with our requested cargo, take whoever wants to ride rough, and head on down,” Smoking Horn said after another puff on his ever-present pipe. “I can get your crew back by dark, and we can be back after breakfast for another load.” “All right then. Bring your truck around and I’ll start unloading your cargo. Deal?” Captain Crane said with a smile. “Deal. Back soon,” Smoking Horn said as he turned around and trotted off. “Can I ask for a tour?” Chief Twogogglehat requested.  “I’ll be your guide,” the Captain replied. “Engineer, please inform the First that the first cargo offload will be done now. I’ll show the Chief around, and you assist Harry in the loading of the cargo.” “Will do, Captain!” Frack confirmed. 2 April 2017, 1800 hours, the former Wolf Springs Elementary School, Bucyras, KS Captain Crane, Smoking Horn, Mrs. Harkness and Chief Twogogglehat sat at a table in the cafeteria, the remains of a delicious meal in front of them. “I have to admit, not even New Orleans is as comfortable as it is here. There, not much in the way of power generation, and air conditioning is hard to find. Using the school as a housing tract and workshop is brilliant,” Captain Crane said. “Not to mention the potion works, the fields, and the housing here. Absolutely brilliant!” Smoking Horn relaxed on his cushion, a pleasantly pungent cloud of tobacco smoke coming from his pipe. “We had some good inspiration pass through early last year,” he said as he looked at another table, where Frack, Bernie and Harry sat chatting with Caleb the earth pony, and two breezies they were familiar with, they being Chopin (said Chop-in) and Landry. “If it wasn’t for the Deliverance crew coming in and shaking things up, we would still be up at the Painted Sofa, just barely hanging on.” “If that would have happened, we would have missed meeting each other, which would have meant my clan would still be wandering in the cold and wet. We all owe much to the Deliverance folk. I can see they did not exaggerate about them, both the tribe here and Caleb. Meeting others is a good thing to have in these times,” Chief Twogogglehat said in his deep voice, his tones indicating that he meant what he said. “As do us breezies,” Mrs. Harkness squeaked. “After Amon-Thoth left for warmer climates, we breezies are happy for the company of Smoking Horn’s tribe, as well as the kindness and generosity the Deliverance crew has shown us breezies, both here and on the road. When Caleb, Landry and Chopin arrived here last fall, bringing news and artifacts from the other cities they visited, we learned a lot about this world. That, and having a radio to listen to Captain Frick. He honors me with his sign-off.” “Good night, Mrs. Harkness, wherever you are,” Howard quoted with a grin. “I’m pleased to meet you. I’ve noticed that Frick never says what you are, just the name and the greeting. The mystery adds to his mystique.” “That, and that dingbat macaw that he works with. Makes his shows entertaining!” Mrs Harkness said with a giggle. “Frack has some good stories about Capo. We’re in no real hurry, so I will invite all those who wish to come for dinner two days from now, please let us know no later than sunset tomorrow, so we can all get together and chat. We’ll need some time to plan a menu!” Howard said with a grin. “Will there be room for the six in my clan, including me?” Chief Twogogglehat asked. “Yes, if we use the patio seating as well as the Lounge. If the weather is fair enough, we can open the windows to allow more mingling of groups,” Howard told the buffalo, looking thoughtful as he did, picturing the layout of the patio and Lounge. “Now, how to get us all there,” Twogogglehat rumbled. Smoking Horn let out a puff of gray cherry smoke. “We’ll have to use two trucks and the big trailer to bring everyone. I’ll have to leave some behind, to keep an eye on the potion factory. They can come up for lunch the next day, yes?” he asked. Howard was about to answer when many heads instantly swiveled to the left and stared out the cafeteria window. Many, but not all. All those from Voyager were left wondering as those who did look west reacted to something they could see, but the others did not. “Oh, shit…” Smoking Horn said, letting his pipe fall from his mouth to the table. “Got that right,” Twogogglehat said before he shook his head hard enough to dislodge the hat. “What’s going on?” Howard asked, completely confused. At his table, Frack said the same thing. Smoking Horn picked up his pipe in his smoke and got it going again. “Message from Raven. Something is going to happen this time tomorrow off west from here. There is a pony who will be caught in the debris field. He requests we go after the pony, even though he is not a follower of Raven. Willing to help?” he told Howard. “Of course. Where is this pony?” Howard asked. “If I’m reading Raven right, Fort Leavenworth. Whoever-it-is only returned to here maybe a week ago. Said pony will be in the debris field, if we don’t get him or her in time. Willing to cruise upriver?” Smoking Horn asked. “Of course. Pick a crew to help us search and meet us as soon after sunrise as you can. We’ll be ready. Keep in touch with my bridge watch,” Howard said, getting up. “Can do, Captain. Want the potions now?” “No. We’ll fly back. Bring them with you tomorrow, and the potion grimoires as well. If needed, Doctor Macombe would like to know what he’s using,” Howard said, getting Frack’s attention. “Copies of the grimoires have been ready for some time. What took you so long to get here to claim them?” Mrs. Harkness asked. Howard let out a grunt of annoyance. “First, politics. Then, we had to build the boat. We’re here now, right?” Mrs Harkness fluttered over to land on Howard’s long beak. “Forgiven. They will be ready.” she squeaked. “Good. Voyager crew, let’s get going while we still have light!” Howard called out as he bumped hooves with Smoking Horn and Twogogglehat before heading for the door. As the four flew back to the river, Frack asked Howard, “What’s going on, Cap? Why the rush out?” “Apparently, Raven sent them a flash about something, and first thing in the morning, we are to take them to Leavenworth to find someone. Why, I don’t know yet,” Howard said as he flew. “Probably because they have not figured out the whole message yet, and will tell us in the morning when they come by,” Frack muttered. “Raven did that with Fred when we were here before.” “Oh, what fun,” Harry grumbled. “Mythical gods messing with the real world. I don’t kiss no god’s hooves!” “You don’t have to, Harry,” Frack said in an oddly gentle voice, for him. “Any deity who tries to compel you is not worth following. Those that ask do take no for an answer, and WILLING followers are for a deity’s benefit. Fred’s been a willing follower of Raven for over a year, in his own way, since we were last here. Raven guided Fred to Wakinya. You’ve seen the little buffalo, and you saw how close he stayed to me? The kid’s got promise, and it’s all due to Raven. If the crazy old bird has something to say, we should at least listen.” “I’ll take your word for it, Frack. I know your word is good, once I untangle them in my head to figure out just what the hell you said,” Harry said as the four flew northward.