Star Ship on Saddle Mountain (19 page)
His mind was playing tricks on him, and he'd better
run back to the Shack and get some sleep. But as he turned to go,
he heard it again—stronger, clearer, unmistakable. Those two
familiar impulses. They were as clear and sharp as the early
morning desert air. Charlie felt crazy, but he stood there and
tentatively answered with his own impulse—then he waited.
Charles—we are waiting, Charles ! We are waiting
for you!
There was no denying it now, that joyous impulse,
that gentler one mixed with it—he knew them well! Charlie started
to run, that last stretch around the hill, to see the Saddle Peaks,
Saddle Mountain. And as he did, the tightness in his chest was
disappearing. It was going fast as he raced out into the clear open
desert. Somehow, as he saw the great filled-in space of Saddle
Mountain, just as he had left it, he knew the cure for that old
pain deep down inside him. The pain was gone now, and he knew it
would be gone forever.
Far in the distance, Charlie saw two tiny,
arm-waving figures, running across the sands to meet him. They
had
waited all night long for him, and he ran harder
now, waving
too.
"Hi, duplicates!" Charlie said aloud, laughing
happily.
The first brilliant rays of morning Sunlight shot
out across the mountains. The golden Sun had struck the discus
flagship with a giant shaft of light. The night was gone.
The great jagged chocolate mountains swung hard in
an easy motion—standing up vertically on end, sideways. Then they
settled back down, in a swift and graceful curve, to the horizon.
From far above the sleeping desert, high above the icy Colorado, a
great star ship thundered out silently, into the blackness of
space. The lone passenger it had been waiting for, hoping for, was
now aboard. Charles Bin was going home.