SiasfL - Stranger in a strangely familiar Land
Act 1 - Getting Together

Chapter 1 - Knight In Distress

© 2002,2003 Christian "Nameless" Schimkowitsch



Early June 2003:


The gravel of the driveway crunched under the wheels of Sarah's Sportage, as she pulled up at the house of her friend Alice Castor. She took a few deep breaths, switched off the engine and left the car. She padded up the stairs and just as she reached for the bell, the door was thrown open.

Alice nearly jumped at her and gave her a big hug. "Hello, Sarah! It's so good to see you again! Come on in."

Sarah winced a little as her friend's exuberance pushed the dull pain in her head past her pain threshold.

After greeting Alice's husband Martin, Sarah walked into the living room and plunked down on the Couch "Alice, can I have some water please, I'm parched. And an Aspirin or something."

The beaver femme brought her a glass of water and the requested painkiller, then she sat down on the couch next to her and Martin took a chair opposite them.

"Thanks!" Sarah swallowed the pill and washed it down, closed her eyes and slowly sipped the water. When she opened her eyes again, she found Alice looking at her curiously. Sarah told her "I stayed the night at a cheap motel and I did not sleep too well. I had set my alarm at half past seven, but I was woken up at seven when they started digging up the road right behind my room. I nearly jumped out of my bed, it was so horribly loud, they must have been using at least two jackhammers. I just grabbed my stuff, stuffed it in the bag and fled. I ate a quick breakfast at a donut shop and I've been driving for the last four hours, just give me a minute or two to recover."

Alice gently patted her paw "Take as long as you need."

When she had finished the glass of water, Sarah felt a little better. She stood up again, stretched and turned to Alice "Come on, you must be itching to show me your new house."


When they came to a small room next to the bedroom, Alice said "As you can see, we are just using this room as storage right now, but we are hoping to turn it into a nest sometime soon."

Sarah looked at her and asked "Got a date yet?"

"No" Alice answered, smiling fondly at her husband "Not yet, but we are working on it."

Martin looked at Sarah, feigning a sleepy look and yawned mightily. She patted his shoulder and said "You'll make it big guy, just a few more weeks and then your wife will let you sleep again. Perhaps." He groaned dramatically and they had a good laugh.


When they came back to the living room, Alice looked at the clock and said "It's still a tad early, but I'll fix us a light lunch while you tell us what you've been up to in the last couple of months, OK?" And so Sarah told them about the divorce from George and filled them in on the latest news from her job.


When they were finished, Martin gave Sarah a checklist "The lodge does not have a connection to the power grid. We have DC power, for the lights only, from batteries and a diesel generator. If you brought any electrical appliances along, you won't be able to use them. There is a water heater that operates with propane. To cook you have to fire up the stove or use the propane cooker. The stove also serves to heat the kitchen and living room. There is also a fireplace and there are wood fired ovens for the other rooms."

Then they got up and walked to Sarah's car. Martin brought a large bundle of bed sheets and towels. "Don't bother washing them, just bring them back with you when you are finished. No extra charge." Then he handed her a small canister "Diesel for the generator."

Alice gave her the key for the lodge, they hugged and Sarah climbed into her car. "Sarah, if you feel lonely up there, call me. Tuesday is my day off, if you want I'll come up to the cabin and we can spend the day together."

Sarah thought about it "I have to drive into town to shop sometime anyway. I'll give you a call Tuesday morning when I'm in town."

Alice kissed her goodbye and reminded her "Be careful, the road is pretty bad."

Sarah smiled at her and patted the steering wheel "I'll be careful and this baby has a four wheel drive so I should do fine." Then she started her car and drove off.


# # # # #


The first thing I remembered was the cool and comfortable dampness of the earth on my back, the warmth of the sun and the light breeze caressing my skin. I have no idea how long I lay there without thinking about anything, just enjoying the feeling. Then the fact that I was feeling the breeze on my skin penetrated my brain. I sat up. Or rather, I tried to. The piece of red-hot iron somebody apparently stuck into my brain forced me to lie down again.


After a few minutes the pain slowly receded so I opened my eyes and looked around. I was lying in a meadow, the grass around me was too high to see anything more than that without getting up. The sky was mostly blue and there were only a few clouds. Other than the slowly fading headache my body did not seem to be hurt. But I did not have any clothes on and without my glasses everything looked a little fuzzy.


I managed to sit up and took stock of my surroundings. I was in the middle of a sloping meadow, a good way up a mountain. Judging from the trees it was not a very high mountain. Looking up the slope I saw the summit of the mountain, only a few hundred meters away. In the other direction, down in the valley were signs of human habitation and what appeared to be a town in the distance.


"Where the hell am I? And how did I get here" The last thing I remembered was a funny feeling in my body and the loudest noise I ever heard. Had I been hit by lightning? I wasn't anywhere near the parking lot that was the last place I remembered. "Have I been unconscious for so long that somebody could have transported me here? Or have I been teleported here? What a crazy idea!"


After resting a little more, I got up, walked to the summit and looked around to orient myself. If I read the signs correctly, it was late afternoon. I did not see any signs of habitation nearby and decided to strike out in the direction of the town I saw in the distance. Off in the distance the dark clouds could be seen.


# # # # #


It was nearly three in the afternoon when Sarah pulled her Sportage into the driveway of the lodge. She killed the engine, got out of the car and stretched for a minute, inhaling the fresh air. Then she unlocked the door and entered the house. The rooms were clean if slightly dusty and the air was stuffy. She opened most of the windows. When she tried the light, it did not come on. "Ah, yes. Have to turn on the generator." She picked up the small flashlight that lay on a locker near the door and went down into the basement. She examined the generator's small control panel for a few seconds, then she pressed the 'Start' button and it chugged to life, then she switched on the main circuit breaker. Then she tried the basement lights and they came alive. She opened the main valve of the propane cylinder, switched on the water pump and the water heater. Back in the kitchen, put the teapot on the propane cooker and started a fire in the old wood-fired stove.


When the tea was ready, she sat down on bench on the porch, looked down into the valley and sipped her tea. The large maple tree near the house caught her attention. It was easily 30 feet higher than the trees around it and the branches looked sturdy enough to support her weight, all the way to the top. She smiled as she refilled her cup "Unpacking can wait a little more. I've got to climb that." She quickly finished her cup, stretched and got up.


Sarah walked around the base of the maple tree and looked up "That should not be too difficult. There are plenty of pawholds." She selected the best place to start the climb, jumped up and dug her claws into the bark. The climb was easy enough and soon she poked her head out of the foliage at the top and looked around, panting slightly from the exertion. The view was magnificent. Apart from the settlements down in the valley and the few other houses she had passed on the way up, she could see no signs of habitation. The weather was fine, but she saw dark clouds forming in the Northwest "Maybe I should have watched the weather forecast before setting out." She turned around and looked up toward the summit of the mountain. For a few moments she saw somefur standing near the summit. She could not make out any details, she only noticed the fur because he stood out against the sky and because he had appeared while she had looked at the spot. Then the fur moved and she lost sight of him. "It's already late in the afternoon. He's gonna have to move quickly if he wants to find a place to stay before nightfall. Maybe there are houses closer to the summit on the other side." She enjoyed the view for a few more minutes, then she climbed down again.


Feeling refreshed after the climb, Sarah fetched her luggage from the car, unpacked it and stowed the contents away. She dusted the rooms and took care of the dozens of other details necessary to make the house pleasant to live in. Then she went for short walk in the woods to have a look at the pond nearby. When she tested the water, she found it quite cool "Too cold for a long swim. But just warm enough for a quick dip on a hot day."


# # # # #


The sun was quite low in the sky now. I had been walking for several hours, my feet hurt. I was not used to walk barefoot over broken ground for hours on end. They even bled a little from the occasional surprise encounter with a sharp stone hidden under fallen leaves. Every step hurt. The air had cooled noticeably, it wasn't very unpleasant yet, but soon it would be. If I didn't find some shelter soon, night was going to be really miserable, especially considering that the wind was picking up and the clouds were getting darker by the minute. I walked across an area where the trees had been cut several years ago. Then I came upon an old gravel road. It was quite overgrown. Probably the last car had passed here when they cut down those trees. I decided to follow the road.


# # # # #


After supper Sarah sat on the porch, watching nothing in particular and listening to the sounds of nature. However the gathering clouds, the dropping temperature and the wind drove her inside after a short while. She took a hot shower. Afterwards she lit a fire in the fireplace and brewed herself an herbal tea. Then she made herself comfortable on the couch with a book. The rustling of the wind and the drumming of the rain on the roof had nearly put her to sleep when a sudden loud noise startled her.


###


I was freezing. It had started raining a few minutes ago and it was nearly dark. Then I saw a light not very far away. "Saved!" Walking as fast as I dared, I quickly closed the distance, cursing and grunting in pain whenever my feet encountered another sharp stone. It was a house, several of the windows were lit. A car of a faintly familiar type parked in the driveway. I walked up the stairs and knocked on the door "Hello, anybody home?" When I did not get an answer I tried opening the door but it was locked. I knocked again.


# # # # #


Sarah jerked upright. "Somebody is at the door!" Whoever it was knocked again and called something. She shivered and thought "I'm so glad I locked the door!" After taking a few deep breaths to calm down, she got up and went to the front door. She switched on the outside light, but it lit up only for a moment before it went dark again. "That light bulb picked just the perfect time to burn out." she thought. She picked up the small flashlight, went into the room next to the door and opened the window. She pointed the flashlight at the fur outside but it was raining pretty heavily and she could not see him or her well. She didn't recognize the species of the fur outside, but he looked pretty weird and he did not appear to be wearing any clothes. "I've never seen a fur coloration like that. And most of it is sticking to the skin. Whoever he is, he must be freezing. I've go to let him in." she thought. She called out "I'll let you in, just give me a minute!" Then she closed the window.


She went into the bedroom, opened the clothes locker and took out her gun. She checked it to make sure that it was locked and loaded and that the safety was off. Then she fetched a big towel from the bathroom and silently padded to the front door. She put the towel on the locker, took a few deep breaths, unlocked the door and quickly stepped back.


# # # # #


Suddenly I heard the door being unlocked. When it did not open, I made sure my left hand covered as much of me as possible, pulled the door open and took a step forward, out of the rain. When I saw who (or what) had just let me in, I stopped and dropped my hands in surprise. The sound of my jaw hitting the floor might have easily been mistaken for thunder (figuratively speaking that is).


The door opened. Sarah's eyes widened in surprise when she saw who or what had stepped in. She had never seen such a fur. If fur was the appropriate term. Now, that she could see him more clearly, she saw that he had very little bodyfur. When his arms dropped in surprise, she saw that he was male. Whatever else he was, he was definitely male. After a few seconds she moved her gaze back up to his face. He had black headfur and a little fuzz on his lower muzzle and throat. Apart from that, his face was really strange, all flat and the nose looked wrong. Then his cheeks reddened and he moved his arms back in front of him. Simultaneously they forced out a "Hello." She got herself under control, threw him the towel and said "Come in and close the door."


I caught the towel, took another step forward and quickly closed the door, then I wrapped myself in it. Shivering violently I looked at her apprehensively. She (looking at the form of her torso and her clothes I had decided it was a she) was a bipedal animal. Actually she looked much like I had pictured a fur from one of the Sabrinaverse stories. I'd guess a squirrel or something similar. The fur on her face and paws was grey with a hint of brown, her throat was white. The hair on her head was brown with a few grey streaks. She also had a long and bushy tail with brown, black and white fur. I could not say if she was smiling, but she showed some rather impressive teeth and claws. Not the teeth and claws of a carnivore, but if she used them on me with any kind of force, she would maul me badly. And she held a gun. It was pointing at the ceiling, but once the initial surprised look had left her face, she looked quite determined and ready to use it. My teeth started chattering.


Reading the expression on his face was not easy, but he seemed to be afraid and he was shivering. "He was out there without clothes and he has so little fur, he must be absolutely freezing." she realized. She thought about it for a few seconds and decided it would be best to let him have a hot bath. She slowly backed up until she was level with the bathroom door. Keeping her eyes on him, she reached in and withdrew the key. "Do you want a hot bath?" she asked.

He thought about this for a second, gulped and said "Yes, please."

She pointed at the door "Then get in the bathroom." She took a few more steps back. He slowly walked forward. His gaze was fixed slightly to the right and above her head. "He keeps looking at my gun." she noticed and said "I hope I don't have to use this thing, but a girl's gotta be careful. I can't trust you yet." He seemed to relax a little at that. When he was inside, she asked him "Do you know how to use everything?"


I looked around. The controls looked easy enough to figure out. "Yes, I should be able to figure it out."

"Good. I'll lock you in. Is that ok with you?"

I looked at her gun and nodded "I can live with it, I guess I would not like any of the alternatives."

"If you need something, knock on the door." Then she closed the door and locked it.

I dropped the towel, and turned on the tap of the bathtub. Fiddling with the controls, I set the temperature as hot as I could stand. I switched the water flow over to the showerhead, climbed into the tub and started the process of thawing myself up. My skin felt as if it was punctured by pins and needles and the soles of my feet positively throbbed when they came into contact with the hot water. The pain slowly faded as my body got used to the temperature.


# # # # #


As Sarah looked down the hallway, she saw his footprints on the floor. As she looked closer at the unfamiliar shape of the prints, she noticed that there was quite a bit of blood mixed in with the water and dirt. She winced "He probably stepped on some sharp stones, his feet must have hurt terribly." She walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch. "What now? What do I do with him?" She thought about this for several minutes. Suddenly her head snapped up "This is too weird. He looks just like a human from 'Hemmer & Hellene'." [See Note] A part of her was afraid of him, but she was also curious about him. "I can't just kick him out again. In that weather that would be as good as murder. And it is too late and dangerous to try to drive him into town." Finally she decided that she wanted to find out a bit more about this strange creature anyway, about him. She would let him stay the night, unless he caused trouble, of course. Still, she had to be careful.


Now that she had made that decision, she needed to prepare. In the kitchen, she set some water on the stove to make more tea and perhaps a soup. Then she went into the bedroom. Luckily Martin kept some of his clothes in his locker. She picked a pair of boxer shorts, a tracksuit and a bathing gown, for good measure. She even found a pair of woolen socks. The clothes probably would not fit him very well. She also found the medicine kit and put everything down in front of the bathroom door. Then she prepared the bed in the guest bedroom. When everything was ready, she put some more wood on the fire and sat down on the couch to wait for him to finish his bath.


As I washed and slowly chased the chill from my bones, I thought about my situation. Either I had found a freak hiding in the woods or I had been transported to a different world. Considering her surprise at my look and the fact that she had a car, I was probably on a different world and I had no idea how I had come here. "Until I find out otherwise, I'll have to assume that I'm stuck here." I tried not to think about the friends and loved ones I might never see again. I wasn't exactly successful, and had to wipe away a few tears. To distract myself, I examined the room. The furniture looked similar to what I was used to. Then I read the label on the faucet "Jonesfur Corporation Chicago, Illinois" So familiar yet different. Either these names were a coincidence, or this world mirrored my own and I was in this world's version of the USA. At least they spoke English here.


Soaking in the hot water, I drifted somewhere between waking and sleeping. In my mind's eye I saw my host. Even though the fur made her look strange to me, in an exotic way she was actually quite attractive. My daydream was interrupted by a knock on the door. Startled I tried to sit up but slipped and slid under the water. I came up spluttering and finally managed to sit up.

There was another knock on the door and then she asked "Are you ok in there?"

I coughed, trying to get the water out. After a few moments she asked again, sounding a little concerned.

Finally I was able to answer "Yes, I'm ok. I think I fell asleep and you startled me."

The door was unlocked, opened a bit and she dropped several things inside. Then she quickly closed and locked the door again. "There are some clothes and a medicine kit if you want to bandage your feet." she called.

"Thank you." I answered.


I got up, drained the bath and dried myself off. Then I dabbed some iodine solution on the wounds on my feet and bandaged them. The clothes were a bit large for me, but the pants stayed where they should be without extra support. The hole they had in the back felt rather strange. I knocked on the door.


# # # # #


After a little while the door was unlocked. I cautiously opened the door. She stood a few meters away, still holding her gun and pointed at a door on the other side of the corridor "Please go in there and sit down at the table." I wasn't about to argue with somebody who held the gun, so I did as she asked. There was only a single chair at the table so I sat down there.

I picked up a glass that stood in front of me and sniffed.

"Water." she said.

I drank some.

"Comfortable?" she asked, looking at me curiously.

I eyes her gun "As comfortable as I'm gonna get, Questions & Answers time, I guess."

"Ok, now what and who are you? And where do you come from?"

"Well, my name is Christoph Saepin, my friends call me Chris." I looked at her "You have never seen anyone like me, have you?"

"No."

"We call ourselves Humans. Our closest animal relatives are apes. Where am I from? I was on holiday with some friends in the USA, we stopped at a parking lot in the Shenandoah National Park and then I was hit by lightning. Or something. The next thing I remember is waking up somewhere near the summit of the mountain sometime this afternoon."

"Shenandoah National Park? That's only a few hundred miles from here. Funny that I've never heard of your species."

"Well, what and who are you, if you don't mind me asking?"

She looked at me for a few seconds and then answered "My name is Sarah Carolinae, I'm a Grey Squirrel."

I sketched a bow and mimicked taking her hand, well paw, and kissing it "Pleased to meet you, Sarah."

She giggled and curtsied "Pleased to meet you, Christoph."

"And them?" I pointed at a picture on the wall, showing two furs of a clearly different species from her.

"They are Alice and Martin Castor, the lodge belongs to them. They are Beavers."

I leaned back, looked at the ceiling and then said "Well, I think I'm from a bit further away than a few hundred miles. Where I come from everybody looks like me. More or less, that is, different hair and skin colors are possible. But we don't have any intelligent and talking persons who are descended from other animal species. So I think I'm now on a different planet or in a parallel universe or something."

She looked incredulous "There are no furs where you come from? Everybody looks weird like you?"

"Yes. Well, to me I don't look weird, you do."

She thought about this for a bit and then she asked me "Ok. Are you hungry or thirsty?"

"Yes, very."

"Drink first, I have water, peppermint tea, milk or orange juice."

"Tea please. That bath helped thaw me, but I think I'll feel even better when I have something warm inside me."

"If you want something hot, I have an instant veggie and noodle soup. Then you can have some toast. With cheese, peanut butter or strawberry preserve."

"Sounds good."


She looked at me "Please, move the chair as close to the table as you can." I did and she went to the kitchen area, and prepared a mug of tee and brought it to me. Then she started preparing the food. She put the gun down when she needed both hands but always kept it close at hand and glanced in my direction every few seconds.


I asked her "You are afraid of me, aren't you?"

She nodded "Well, yes, a little. You don't look very dangerous, but I don't know enough about you to trust you."

"I'm a little anxious, too. I think I understand why you are afraid of me. You are alone, in the middle of nowhere, there is nobody here who could help you. Maybe you don't even have a phone."

I paused and she nodded again.

"And you were kind enough to let somebody who you don't know anything about into your house. I'm very thankful for that, I don't know if I could have survived the night outside." I grinned "I really don't want to hurt you, but for all you know about me, Roasted Squirrel could be my favorite food."

She flinched a little at that and held her gun a little tighter.

"Sorry about that, I just like making stupid jokes like that sometime. It is not but until you know me a little better, how can you be sure?"


She considered this for some time and then brought me the food. She had her gun at the ready and placed the plates with the food at other end of the table, so that I could just reach them. When she stepped back, I reached over, fetched the food and dug in.


"Sarah, from the names I have seen, I think the world I come from has a similar geography to this one. Do you have any maps so that I could check that?"

She considered this for a while "I think we have an old school atlas here. I'll fetch it. But don't move." She fetched it and passed it to me.

I carefully paged through it while I ate "Well, this looks extremely similar to where I come from. Even many of the cities I remember have the same or a similar name."


After I finished my meal, we talked some more about where I came from and compared this to her world. When I yawned, she decided to call it quits for the day "Go to the bathroom and get ready for the night. You can sleep in the guest bedroom. But I'll lock you in. You ok with that?"

I nodded "Since I guess the alternative is sleeping outside, I can put up with it." Then I went to the bathroom.

When I came back, she asked me "Do you need anything for the night?"

"I'd like a big glass of water. And a chamber pot might be a good idea if I'm locked up in the room."

She pointed to the cupboards in the kitchen "The glasses are in the upper left cupboard. I don't think I have a proper chamber pot, but take one of the old pots from the lower right cupboard."

At the back of the cupboard I found a slightly rusty pot. Then I grabbed a big glass, filled it with water and carried all this to my room. When she closed the door, I called "Goodnight, Sarah. Thank you for helping me."

"Goodnight, Chris." Then she locked the door.


I went to bed. As I lay there I wondered if I'd awaken here or if the whole thing was just a dream. But tired as I was, it did not take me long to fall asleep.


# # # # #


Sarah went through her preparations for the night, locked the door of the bedroom and tucked herself in. She lay awake for some time, thinking about her strange guest. Somehow her mind kept returning to the scene at the door, the first time she had clearly seen him.



End of Chapter 1


Notes:

1) "Hemmer & Hellene" is an on-line comic about the life of a family of people from a species called "Humans".




  • Story Index
  • Chapter 2