Free Return To Lan Darr by Anderson Atlas

Rubic scoops coffee grounds into the coffee machine, fills up the water basin, and then waits, cup in hand, while the stained and overused coffee machine starts to drip, drip, drip, hissss, drip, drip, drip.
    The sound and the waiting are maddening. “Ahhhhh!!! I can’t take it! That boy is supposed to let me know what he’s doin’!!” Rubic cries out and slams his cup on the sink, chipping the bottom rim of his favorite mug.
    Without thinking of his appearance, coffee, or food, Rubic storms to the van. His worry has gone and is replaced by anger and frustration.
    He speeds off, heading toward the mountain.
    After an hour of offensive driving, Rubic stops at the gas station with the food mart. It’s the last stop before Blue Mountain Road narrows and heads into pine country. He expects to see the taxi and Allan waiting for them. But they aren’t here.
    He goes inside, stopping at the register. “Say, I’m lookin’ for a taxi van and a boy in a wheelchair. Have you seen either of them?”
    The female attendant shakes her head. “Nope.” Then the woman raises her finger, the unusually long decorated fingernail gleams. “Ya know, darlin’, I did see a blonde. She bought two coffees and some gum. She looked a mess, that’s why I remember her. She was askin’ about a boy in a wheelchair as well.”
    “Was she riding in a yellow MINI Cooper?”
    “I think she was.” The woman picks up a huge gallon-sized insulated jug by the handle and sips soda through the fat straw.
    “Thanks.” Rubic’s brow relaxes. He didn’t mind Laura taking the initiative and coming up here. She isn’t the kind of person that likes to sit around. He buys water, a coffee (because he just can’t fully function without it), a breakfast burrito, and then fills his gas tank.
    Rubic calls the taxi company. “Hey, this is Rubic, er, Mr. Westerfield. Did you get ahold of Charlie?”
    “No sir, he did not answer his cell. I left a message and am waiting to hear back,” the woman said.
    “Okay, well, I don’t want to wait at the food mart for them. I’m headed up the mountain now. I’ll probably see them before he gets a chance to call you back.”
    Rubic hangs up.
    Rubic speeds up the winding mountain road, inspecting every van he passes for the Handi-Taxi logo. When he reaches the Boy Scout camp road he turns. A weathered, rusty sign points toward the Boy Scout camp. Rubic remembers the burrito he’d bought at the gas station. It tastes like plastic but lessens his hunger headache.
    A mile and a half past the camp, the van hits a huge pothole causing coffee to splash on his console. The road gets worse, and he’s forced to slow to a crawl. He drives up a hill shrouded by tall, thick pine trees then stops at the apex. He has a hard time believing the small MINI Cooper could get over this road. He gets out. The sunlight is hot even though there is a breeze.
    Before Rubic is a huge field of grass and flowers surrounded by pine trees, except for the river off to the right toward the canyon wall. That area had large sycamores and oak trees feeding off the abundant water.
    It’s all so beautiful, but Rubic can’t see the beauty. All he can see is what isn’t there. There’s no taxi, no MINI Cooper, and no Allan Westerfield.
    “Damn,” Rubic mumbles. He turns to get back into the van when a white circular object catches his eye. He runs down the hill, sliding to a stop. There in the washed out crevasse in the road is a disposable coffee cup with the logo of the Food Mart and Gas Station printed on the side. A foot down the road another cup is smashed into the crack. Rubic inspects the cup and realizes it wasn’t flattened by the van or any other vehicle. It was smashed by a shoe.
    “No, no, no.”
    A pink object is pressed into the dirt road a few feet away. It’s Laura’s cell phone! It looks as though someone stomped on it. 
    Rubic looks up and searches the tree line. What is going on here?
     
     
     

 
    Chapter 8
    Steely