Wings of Saturn

Part 3

Jenny took a deep breath. "Okay, normally I'd be all with you on that. But we really need to figure out where the heck we are. Otherwise, we'll probably end up floating around until someone finds us on the water. And I can't imagine anyone who I want finding us right now." Jenny mumbled a curse under her breath. "Maybe I should have just pulled up a map and then tried to commandeer that shuttle. Damn it."

Terri nervously cast another sidelong glance in the lighthouse's direction. "And if they don't want to give us directions and start shooting us instead? Because that really seems to be a thing that keeps happening around you?"

Jenny grinned. "Nothing I can't handle." Then, before she could add anything else, her stomach let out a loud gurgle – one that even Terri heard.

"Hungry?" the angeloid asked.

Jenny's shoulders slumped. "Well, yeah," she muttered. She pushed a hand up her forehead and moved her fingers through her hair. "That would be the other reason we aren't high-tailing it."

"For food? Really?" Terri seemed incredulous. "Are you really so hungry that you're going to risk being attacked again just to get some lunch?"

Jenny brought the canoe to a sudden stop. She hopped out, walked in the shallow water to where Terri was still sitting in the canoe, grabbed her by the collar and hoisted her in the air.

"Is that what you think?" Jenny demanded. "Just some lunch? We're in the middle of nowhere without any food! Do you know what it's like to starve? Because if we don't find anything to eat, you're going to get to find out! And let me tell you something, it ain't fun!"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Terri said, holding up her hands. "Food is important, message received!" Terri wondered what kind of things had happened to Jenny since the last time they were together on Earth but filed the question for later.

Still muttering to herself, Jenny splashed her way back to the front of the canoe and began tying it to a rope from the dock. "Just some lunch," she hissed as she made the knots. "Like we're just stopping at McDonalds."

With the boat lashed up, Jenny made her way out of the water and gave Terri a hand stepping onto the dock. Jenny was surprised how heavy Terri's hand had felt to her and was worried about what that implied about her condition. They started off together toward the lighthouse, and while Jenny's legs trembled a little they didn't buckle.

Moving with caution, they made their way over the slick stones toward the lighthouse's front door. It was made of pocked iron and heavy looking, but Jenny didn't see a lock. She nudged it with the toe of her boot. It moved an inch with a grinding creak, but resisted going any further...

"Doesn't look like it's locked," Terri observed.

"Nope," Jenny grunted. "Just really rusty." She closed her eyes and slowly filled her lungs with air. After holding it for a few seconds, she let it out just as slow and lifted up her right leg. Bracing herself, she slammed it as hard as she could against the door's center. It took three solid kicks, but in the end, she managed to get it to swing open and bang against the attached wall.

Terri winced. "Well, so much for the element of surprise. They probably heard that all the way back at the...Hey. Are you okay?"

Jenny, who had just stumbled and fallen to one knee, grunted, "Yeah, I'm fine." She pushed herself back up. "Stop worrying about me already, it's annoying." With that, they went in.

The interior of the lighthouse was pretty much as you would imagine it to be. A tall, tubular structure with a staircase that wound around the wall up to the rotating lantern at the top. The bottom part had been converted into a miniature home. Several threadbare rugs had been thrown around the stone floor, none of which matched. A wooden table stood in the center of the room, on which sat several leather-bound books, a feathered quill, and an inkpot. Also a number of knives of various sizes that might have been meant for eating, or might not have. Along the wall were several cabinets and bookshelves, containing even more volumes. Several chairs sat here and there, from a comfortable overstuffed easy chair to a plain, three-legged stool and everything in between. Whoever it was that lived here obviously had odd tastes. Not to mention an insanely large budget to have brought all this stuff here. You couldn't exactly find a forest on Saturn, at least one that wasn't jealously guarded by a park ranger.