Exit God Out - Book One - The Unexpected Terrestrial

Exit God Out Book One: The Unexpected Terrestrial Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Amarr called the Brown home early. "There's a parcel at the post office you should pick up as soon as possible," he said to a sleepy Laura. "You said you were leaving early today so this is your wake up call."

"Thanks Amarr," said Laura. "We forgot the alarm so if you didn't call I would have slept in!"

"Well you better get up and get moving. It's a long way to Canada. Call me when you get back from holidays. I think we have a position opening up at the lab you may be interested in so don't miss the post office today."

She finished her conversation with Amarr and shook Jackson awake. "Amarr has a job at the lab!"

"I thought the only reason you wanted to work there is to get close to Maggie?" Jackson squinted at the street light through the blinds and climbed out of bed. The kitchen was already buzzing with activity. Maggie woke up Sean and Sarah, and Victor had already left and was returning when breakfast was ready.

"Can't believe we slept through the noise," said Laura.

"You had a big day yesterday," said Maggie, as she flipped the first set of poached eggs onto the floor. She called to Annok who took charge of cleaning duty.

The group was out of the house in twenty minutes, looking for breakfast along the way. The drive was long, morphing from stunningly beautiful to oddly repetitive scenery. The journey was over twenty-four hours if you didn't factor in rest stops and food. They were to make Bowen Island by noon the next day figured Jackson, and everyone took turns driving.

They reached the BC/Washington border at 2am the following day. Jackson was proud of the weary travelers. They stopped only once to eat, gathering food at a grocery store and eating when they were hungry.

"This is where Annok and I see you on the other side," said Victor.

"We'll meet you at zero avenue and 184th. Sure this is going to work?" asked Jackson.

"When will you stop asking?" said Victor, and he and Annok jumped out in the small town of Blaine and disappeared into the darkness.

"Fasten your seatbelts everyone, here we go," and Jackson rolled up to the border. An intransigent guard opened his window "How many passengers?"

"Four adults, one child," said Jackson.

"Citizenship?"

"Four US citizens, and I'm dual."

"Passports."

Jackson handed him all five passports. The man leafed through all of them.

"How long are you staying?"

"I live permanently on Bowen Island, my wife, daughter and two friends will be there for only a week."

"Carrying anything to be declared?"

"Only luggage and my daughter's drawings."

"What kind of drawings?" he asked, and shone a flashlight into the truck box. "Are they in the wooden crate?"

"Yes."

"Pull over and wait for someone to come out," and he motioned Jackson to pull over under the canopy. They waited for barely a minute when another steel faced guard came to check Maggie's crate.

"This contains drawings?" he asked. "Rather large for a small kid's work don't you think?"

Maggie walked over to the man and looked up at him. Their eyes connected for a moment, and the man bent over. "You must be some artist to have this many drawings. Can I look inside?" Maggie smiled with delight. He put the case carefully on the tailgate, and everyone jumped out of the truck to take a look at her work. They didn't have a chance to open it earlier as everyone was packing and leaving Denver. Laura suddenly froze: what if Amarr had packed something in there that was for her eyes only? The case opened slowly, and the guard stood there, soaking in the detail and colors as he gently flipped through the large exquisite pieces.