Washup

The crew of the Clarabelle woke to the sound of their boat knocking gently against tree roots. Groggy and googly eyed all at once, they jumped around the boat like monkeys in a cage, with shouts of Land! and Ahoy! and Jumpin' Jehosephat, if that ain't a blue bird! Sally poked her nose out from beneath the bench and sniffed the air. It smelled like flowers and dirt.
Hilly green mounds surrounded them, with waterways winding throughout. Birds twirted from branches heavy with nuts and fruit. Truly, heaven could not have appeared to them more beautiful, or more full of super-natural grace.
Immediately they began securing the boat to the nearest thick root, and all climbed out, with Sally handed over carefully and placed on firm ground. She clutched the earth gratefully, and slunk beneath a blackberry bush, lowering her heavy belly with a moan. All others set about gathering fruit and nuts, while Medicine Dan retrieved his trusted fishing pole from the bottom of the boat and commenced fishing in the plentiful waters.
All had worked up a great appetite, what with the poetry reading and ensuing riot, fleeing suddenly from Leroy and his panty-hose brick weapon, enduring great winds and waves, the swift time current, and the attack of the Herliwigs- it was all just too much. What they needed, more than anything, was food and comfort, and stillness.
By late morning, all were well fed and resting around a comfortable fire. Water-logged boots and wet overalls hung from tree branches. Sally had her own fish brought to her by Medicine Dan; he was especially keen on her health and well-being. She ate four cooked fish, bones and all, and then fell into a deep sleep. All around them, the green mounds clicked with life. Herald and Alberto, die-hard mammalists, scampered off to explore. A new world!
Marylou waded to the other side of the small island and washed her hair with Medicine Dan's By-Your-Leave Hair and Body Wash, afterwards securing her golden circlet tightly round her brow and dressing in her one change of clothing, soft brown ninja lounge wear, made by her sister Troybilt. How she missed them! Her heart ached with the thought of her sisters and mother. What must they all think? How long had she been gone? Felt like a few days to her. As long as she came back to them someday, arriving a few days after her original departure date, every thing would be fine. What she didn't know was that her sister Hartgut had already been taken by the river, and remained persona no finda to her family and all those who heard of her great disappearance into the slathering and spitting grey river, one day after Marylou's departure from home.
Upon her return from bathing, Marylou brought forth the map. Some speculation circulated between the two co-captains, Medicine Dan and Marylou, as to how far they'd gone, but George Conley stepped in and set things straight. He jabbed his finger in between Dan and Marylou's shoulders and pointed at a series of islands and promontories, far down at the bottom of the river map.
"This here is Washup. I know it, I've been here before." A furrow of worry appeared between his eyes. He stepped back and surveyed the hills and water that surrounded them. "You get too far down the river, you end up in Washup. All kinds of people and things get washed up here, hence the name. Yep, all kinds of people." He neglected to mention that he and a companion had years ago found themselves on Washup's shores, and had subsequently radically altered the fate of Vertigo River.
Medicine Dan eyeballed the map. Washup was considerably farther down the river than he'd ever been. Part of the Lower Vertigo River, Washup looked to be about a hundred or more years into the future, he speculated aloud.
Marylou wondered if her father could have been washed this far down the river. If so, no wonder he'd yet to return. When finding oneself one hundred years into the future, how long would it take one to get back home, she pondered. He could have been waylaid by any number of circumstances.
In fact, Hans Sneebum had been captured by time river pirates, rescued by cat people, and made to serve a distant ruler of the Washup swamps, all of which led him to be the prisoner of Lady Angela, (formerly Angela Henson).
The sun slit through the trees at a warm and lazy angle. The variety of birdcalls were suddenly interrupted by a distant hooting, and an answering hoot from far away. It sounded like, "Hooo-dee?" answered by "Hoo-de-hoo-de-hooo!"
Medicine Dan and George Conley had both whipped their heads up high the second they first heard it, Marylou noted. Their eyes followed the interaction, scanning rapidly through dense foliage all around them. It unnerved the recent arrivals, and they walked quickly back to the fire, adding sticks, though the day still glowed brightly.
Herald whispered, "You heard that?" The calls echoed around the hills and off the water, slowly making their way closer to them, closing in on two sides. Everyone stood stock still and opened their eyes wide, as if that might help them hear better.
"Sounds like Fur People!" George whispered urgently. "Just move real slow and do what they want. Fur People are strong, and don't like chitchat." The others stood quietly with eyes downcast, like eminent prisoners of war. Presently, two furry creatures and a human woman stepped from between two trees and approached them.
"I am Lady Angela, and this is Unguh! and Bashwalup! Welcome to Washup. We are so pleased to have visitors from the past." she said this with a slight uplifting gesture of her left hand, perhaps a local greeting of some kind. Both she and the fur creatures wore vests with a most curious insignia.
George Conley looked up slowly from underneath the brim of his railroad hat.
He said, "I fear you do not know me, Angela, when I come", the last line from his latest poem.
Angela had heard that poem about her ever since George had dropped her off in the future.To see George in person again, all these years later, and to hear him say those words to her covered Angela in goosebumps. She stepped back with a look of painful pleasure on her face. The others looked back and forth between the two, their jaws agape. Did George Conley have a sketchy and incredible past even in the future?