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  “Why the hell do they get to go in and not us? We have lived strictly by the book and we get punished.”

  “Makes you wonder doesn’t it, Ted? Maybe you need to rethink this book of yours. Look at you. You’re blind. You couldn’t get into the city, so you resorted to violence. And you saw what happened. I would say open your eyes but you can’t see. Isn’t that interesting?

  “Rory and Marion have been healed and can now have babies. When I left them they were headed to their new house to get started on that.”

  “Okay, if we agree to go into the city, will we get our sight back?”

  “I don’t know if you will be allowed into the city, Ted, not if you’re going to resort to violence.”

  “Okay, you guys. Listen up. I want all of you to get rid of your knives so we can go into the city and be healed.”

  But when they reached for their knives, they were gone, “What the hell?” Ted said.

  I laughed in delight and looked at Irene. She was laughing too. “The weapons have already been taken from you. This is about more than having weapons. It’s about your whole beliefs and attitudes.

  “You can’t just get rid of your weapons and expect to go into the city and be healed and then live like you’ve been living. It may take awhile for you to get this so I suggest that you go on home and think about all this.”

  “How are we going to get home when we can’t see?”

  “I will lead you out of the cave and down the hill and I believe your sight will come back.” I didn’t know if this was true but I hoped it was.

  Their sight returned as soon as they left the cave entrance and they ran down the hill without looking back. I hoped we would see them again but not with more weapons.

  CHAPTER 29

  We didn’t see Ted’s group for several weeks and spent the time enjoying ourselves. We didn’t see Rory and Marion much and left them alone to enjoy each other and hopefully start a baby.

  Edna had her own house with a vegetable garden out back. She had picked a small red house and told me she had never had so much. She was so happy.

  Our community was growing and we had kids everywhere. Joe and I had started another baby and I was so excited. Josie asked me everyday why her little brother or sister didn’t hurry up and come.

  I was designing more and more clothes every day and was designing baby clothes. We had more seamstresses and silk and cotton weavers so we had plenty of clothes.

  There were several men who liked growing cotton. It amazed me how many people liked to grow things and I thought about Ted and his group and the great gardens they had. They could contribute a lot if they would only straighten up their act.

  Joe continued to study his music and could now play seven instruments. We all got together sometimes and sang and danced.

  One day when Joe and I came home from hiking in the hills I noticed there was another room in our house. It had a semi-sphere that looked like it was already shaped small like a baby would fit into.

  There were so many pastel colors in so many shapes it took me awhile to recognize what they were. One was a sphere carved in to fit my butt with rockers on it. There was another one for Joe. We both sat in them and rocked. “We have such a rich life,” I told Joe and he agreed.

  It was only a few days after that day that I sensed something was wrong. I started over toward Irene’s house but she met me halfway.

  “We need to get to the entrance, Ashley. Something is wrong,” and we headed down the dark passage.

  When we got to the cave entrance and looked down the hill we saw seven bloody people struggling to get up the hill. It looked like they had been stabbed several times.

  Irene and I ran down to help them but Ted’s group started coming toward us. I silently communicated to Joe to hurry and to bring other men, but he was already there coming down the hill with the rest of the men.

  Some of the bloody people could hardly move and I was surprised they had made it this far. We had to lift some of them between us and run with them up the hill. Ted’s group was rushing up the hill with knives.

  “I will kill these pigs,” he said. “It’s surely time for Helter Skelter. These are traitors besides being pigs. Let them go so we can deal with them according to Manson’s scriptures.”

  We ignored them but suddenly Ted grabbed my ankle and started dragging me down the hill. “Kill her,” Ted said, “and we will destroy the whole thing. It’s obvious she is the leader.”

  Before any of my people could get down to where I was, Ted’s group was on me stabbing. It hurt so badly. They were chanting pig, pig, pig and suddenly I was in the city and it felt like someone was pouring salt into my wounds. I lost consciousness.

  When I came to, I was in my house and half the neighbors were crowded inside. Joe was holding me and I no longer hurt. I wept in relief.

  “Were you able to rescue the others?” I asked.

  “They’re fine, Ashley. They have been healed and so have you. Our baby is fine.”

  Tears of relief flowed down my cheeks. “Why were they being attacked?”

  “Ted said it was because they were traitors, but I think they needed someone else to hate now that Rory and Marion are no longer the focus of their hate.

  “I’ve called a special meeting for now. Are you up for it?”

  “Yes I am, I want to hear these new folk’s story.”

  Everyone had come to the meeting, even Rory and Marion who shared a sphere and couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Joe and I also shared a sphere like always.

  Zen and Zoe were there with their husbands Evan and Emmitt and both girls were pregnant. Those two couples also shared spheres.

  We had the spheres in a circle like always so no one would be in front like a leader. Several of us women made food and served it. When we got settled in someone called out to the new folks to tell their stories.

  A tall woman stood, “My name is Baxter. I have always been a devout follower of Charles Manson. I lived by his words. Ever since we got back home from the cave, Ted started changing the rules. He claims he is Manson’s chosen one. He moved into the big house at the end of the street and started telling everyone what to do including what to wear.

  “He took over all of Rory’s clothes and Remy moved in with him and took over all of Marion’s clothes. When some of us started questioning him he had us punished. He had several people whipped.

  “I got several people together and we headed toward the cave to get some help. He got some others together who he let share his house and came after us.

  “They taunted us by letting us get a ways up the hill and then stabbing us. Then they would retreat and let us get a way farther. Finally you guys came and rescued us. There are others who want to come here but they’re scared.”

  “It’s just like before,” Irene said. “We’re going to have to try to rescue as many as possible and then move on. It seems we’re on a mission.”

  We got Baxter and the group into the city and got them settled in and headed down the hill. Baxter wanted to go with us.

  “For the first time in my life, I feel nothing but love in my heart. I can’t believe how I have been healed not only in body but in spirit. I believe I can help my people since I know how they feel about things.”

  We were glad to have her with us and I thought she could help her people more than we could, especially in their way of thinking.

  “Ted and those in the big house should be taking an afternoon nap,” Baxter said. “They usually smoke some weed after they have the noonday meal and then nap.

  “If we had waited until then maybe we wouldn’t have gotten hurt so badly.”

  There was no one around and I thought back to our first time we came here and how everyone was so friendly.

  The first door we knocked on was answered by a tiny woman in a long cotton floral dress. Her hair was down her back to her waist and she was barefoot. She must have been in her forties.

  Baxter introduced her to us
as Rita. “I’m so glad you’re all right, Baxter!” She cried when she saw Baxter. “How are the others?”

  “They’re great. You won’t believe this place where we’re now living, Rita. It so changes you heart, you feel so at peace within yourself. Will you come with us?”

  Rita began pacing, “I don’t know. I’m so scared they will hurt me.”

  “Even if they do, once you’re in the city, you will be healed instantly. Please come with us, Rita. There’s nothing left here for you.”

  She agreed and started packing, “You don’t need to pack,” I said. “Everything’s provided for you. Those things will just weigh you down.”

  We continued down the road and thirty two people came with us. We made it all the way into the cave before Ted and the others woke up. I knew that the next day would be more difficult. They would be waiting for us when we got there.

  CHAPTER 30

  We had another meeting later that night to discuss how to help the rest of the people down the hill to escape from Ted and his new group. We knew we would be unable to use any weapons. We weren’t allowed to before with the bald-headed people from Joe’s planet.

  It was finally decided that we would go down at around one o’clock in the morning. We were all so hyped up we didn’t bother to try and take a nap before going down.

  We split up into groups of five or six and, because there were now so many of us, each group was able to go to one house. We had a map worked out ahead of time and each group knew which house they were to go to.

  We were too late, however. When we got down the hill we heard shots and ran toward them. Ted’s group had grown and they were herding people in line to a specified place against one of the houses.

  We circled around so we could see and not be seen by hiding behind a dense group of trees. I knew we had to somehow intervene when I heard the question each person was being asked before being shot.

  “Are you still with us, or are you planning to forsake your beliefs and join Ashley and the group at the cave?”

  As more and more people said they were still with him, they joined Ted’s group and were given guns. He then ordered them to kill one of the ones who wanted to join me.

  One woman tried to ask a question about why Ted was no longer living like Charles Manson had written. Before she could finish the question, Ted ordered one of the women from his group to shoot her.

  I could tell that the woman he had ordered to pull the trigger didn’t want to kill the other woman. When she hesitated, Ted shot her through the heart.

  Before Joe could stop me, I ran to the woman who had asked the question and stood in front of her putting myself between her and the mob.

  “No,” Joe screamed just as about six people pulled the trigger.

  It was as if some invisible barrier had been put around me and the woman. The bullets bounced off the invisible barrier and headed back toward Ted and his group.

  This seemed to happen in slow motion and then I realized it had happened in slow motion so that Ted and his group had time to duck the bullets.

  When the others in my group saw this they rushed out of hiding and surrounded Ted’s group who didn’t have guns. Some of the ones with guns threw them down and got inside one of the circles created by our people.

  We moved these circles toward the end of the street towards the hill, Ted and his people shooting the whole time and then dodging the bullets as they bounced back toward them.

  Some people never learn and they continued to chase us all the way up the hill and tried to get inside the cave. As soon as all of us got inside the entrance to the cave, we were again uplifted and our host became transparent.

  We watched as Ted and his group stared up at us and I wondered how it would end. There were so few left of them. Would Ted be the only one left standing?

  I hadn’t thought about what had happened to the spaceship Ted and his group’s ancestors had flown here, but they must have kept it hidden and in good repair for generations.

  We had gotten inside the city and the new ones had been healed and picked out their houses. I noticed the city was growing as we increased in numbers.

  CHAPTER 31

  The next morning several of us families were having a breakfast picnic when someone gasped and pointed. What we saw was a spaceship like one I had seen in a movie during my other life.

  It gave chase but when it got close, our host sent out a loud blasting noise and I had to cover my ears. The noise sent sound waves toward the space ship and the space ship began spinning as it was sent whirling away from us.

  We never saw them again and I wondered what they would ever do with their hate.

  We didn’t “swim” in space as long as we had the last time and I had just gone into labor with my second baby when we landed.

  Some of the women in Cave City, as we were now calling where we lived, helped me and I gave birth to a little boy we decided to name Randall. He had curly red hair like me and we had a happy calm baby. Josie loved him so much she didn’t want to leave his side.

  Joe led a group down the next morning to see the kind of place where we had landed. I stayed home planning to spend the day with Josie and Randall.

  There were several other women who joined us with their kids in a beautiful meadow with picnic tables and a lake.

  You could recover from child birth very quickly in Cave City, and I was feeling wonderful. I put on a pair of shorts and a white tee shirt and dressed the baby and Josie and we headed out with a picnic.

  The other women and I spent the day playing and swimming with our kids. It was one of the best days I could remember without having Joe there.

  Joe and the others didn’t get home until long after dark and they were excited. “We want to call a meeting, Ashley,” Joe said. “We found a place where we think we could live without the protection of the cave.”

  Everyone, including the children came to the entrance of the cave for the meeting and all the women had brought her best dish to share with the others.

  Joe did most of the talking except for some interruptions by some of the enthused people who had gone down with him.

  “This is a wonderful place,” Joe began. “They have cars that will take you to where you want to go really fast. They come in all kinds of shapes and colors, but they’re complicated to drive.”

  “I really want one of these cars,” one of the men spoke up. There was a low murmur as several of the men nodded in agreement.

  Joe smiled and held up his hand and continued, “The people have things to do that they call jobs. When you have a job, you get paid money and with that you buy what you want.”

  “What do you have to do when you have a job?” Marion, who had spent the day with my group asked.

  “There are many jobs,” Joe continued. “You can work in a bank where they keep all the money, for example. That’s what I want to do, so I can get all the money I want.”

  Most people nodded in agreement and I was suddenly laughing so hard I started coughing.

  No one said anything but waited for me to get my breath, “I doubt it works that way. This place sounds a lot like earth. If it works the same way, you are paid according to how good you are at what you do.

  “You can’t become a banker just because you want to get money. It takes a lot of training. In fact you usually have to train for any job you do. If it’s anything like earth, many of these jobs require that you go to school, college, or even graduate school.”

  “Oh, Ashley, that’s the other thing. They do have schools. The children sit in class all day and learn. I want that for our kids. Is that okay with you?”

  “Of course it’s okay with me. I can’t wait to see this place. It sounds so much like earth, but not the time of Charles Manson. What were the names of some of these cars?”

  The men started talking all at once they were so excited about these cars, “Ford…Chevrolet… Pontiac…”

  “Just those names, nothing like Pontiac Bonneville?�
��

  “No, just one name on each car.”

  I was beginning to get excited. Maybe this was like earth in the fifties. This is where my mind went off on a tangent.

  What if this were earth in the 1950s and what if everything we had done and gone through before was to prepare us somehow to go back and make sure things didn’t turn out like they did starting with the Manson family and ending up no telling where after I left.

  “Don’t you, Ashley?” One of the women asked.

  “I’m sorry, I was lost in thought. What were you talking about?”

  “The women that went down the hill were describing the clothes. The women here don’t wear much. Their legs and arms are bare and they wear what they call hats on their heads made of straw.”

  Chapter 32

  I was so excited about going down the hill the next day that I hardly slept that night.

  I woke up early and fixed breakfast for us and several other families and took it outside to one of the picnic tables. As people got up, they came out and started helping themselves to the coffee, bacon and eggs.

  This was one of the things I loved about my life, sharing meals with other families. Marion picked up Randall and held him in her right arm while she balanced her little girl, Toddy on her knee.

  All the children felt comfortable with all the adults and anyone could pick up any of them to be with.

  Some of the other women offered to clean up since I cooked the breakfast and to watch the kids for the rest of us who wanted to could go down the hill.

  Irene joined us and we set off. Joe had brought one of his guitars that he had made and he played it while we all sang songs written by a man of our group named George.

  I stopped singing when I saw the cars. I saw a black 1954 Chevrolet and a 1950 Ford. The town looked just like a typical town on earth in the 1950s.

  I recognized the town right away and knew I had come home to St. Augustine, Florida in the 1950s.

  We had actually landed outside of town on state road 16. The little two lane road was almost grown over by weeds from so little traffic.