Tempus (26 page)

“Please tell me something that makes sense.”  I sounded calmer.

“I’ll try.”  He sat down again, pulling me with him.  “I saw you that day, in the mirror.  I told my father, so he bought it.  I’ll explain more later, I promise, I’m just trying to make this short.”  He took a deep breath.  “We used the mirror to get here, to
your
time, while you slept on the porch swing.  My father found the listing for this house, so we took it back with us – the listing information.  That paused time here, for us.”  He closed his eyes and made a growling sound.  “I don’t know how to make this make
sense
.”

He was right, it made even less sense now than before he started.  My time, his time, pausing time—I think I would have noticed time pausing.  Okay, no I wouldn’t have, not if it paused.  This was making me crazy!  Was that
possible
?  Was I starting to believe him a little?  I believed that
he
believed it; I could see it on his face.

“I must show you.  It’s the only way you’ll believe me, even if it doesn’t make sense.  I’ve been doing it so long I didn’t even have questions anymore—until now.”  He got a distant look, and then refocused.  “Will you go with me to the house? 
Please
.”

Why not?  He was either crazy, or telling the truth, and I could find out right now which one it was.  “Okay fine, I’ll go.”  I hoped I wouldn’t regret that decision.

The distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.

—Albert Einstein

He held my hand all the way to the house.  We walked in complete silence, and I was acutely aware of every scent, every sound, and every sight around me.  I imagined it as ‘high definition’ existence.  I was also intensely aware of that electric humming again as we walked, his shoulder barely brushing mine now and again as the lay of the land beneath our feet changed subtly, tilting us toward each other.

We walked inside without pause, and Gabriel pushed me gently to the front, indicating I should climb the narrow stairs ahead of him.  He released my hand as I began to climb, and I felt the cooler air rush in, chilling my skin where his had been touching.  I once again held my hands close to me while climbing.  I needed no glimpses to throw me more off-balance than I was already.

When I reached the landing, I paused and stepped aside for Gabriel.  “Wait here.”  He whispered.

All the doors were closed, and I watched as Gabriel went to the one directly across from the door that led to his Fathers bedroom.  He knocked softly.

I heard a chair move on the floor, followed by approaching footsteps.  The knob turned and the door opened noiselessly.

“Father, may I speak with you for a moment?”

Mr. Knight glanced at me and then back at Gabriel.  I put my head down and looked at the wooden floor until I heard the door close.  I could hear them talking, but it was too muffled to understand any words.  I twisted my watch on my wrist, debating whether I should just hurry down the stairs and
away
.  The muffled voices became louder briefly, tempting me to run for the stairs, but I heard the metallic sound of the knob again.

Gabriel stuck his head out the door and smiled a subdued smile.  “He’s a little annoyed with me,” I heard a snort from somewhere behind him, and Gabriel rolled his eyes, “but it will all be fine.  Please come in.”

I slowly approached the door, not sure what would be on the other side.  Gabriel stepped back to let me enter, and left the door open once I was inside.  I couldn’t help but think it was for my benefit, so I wouldn’t feel trapped. 

It was the library.  There were bookcases, floor to ceiling, completely filled with books.  A desk sat in one corner, and the angle reminded me of the one I saw in the mirror, only it was a different desk.  I couldn’t help but see the similarities, though.  A chair, a globe, books stacked on the desk.  Even the way the light fell into the room gave it a jarringly similar feel.

Mr. Knight sat behind the desk, silently watching my reactions.  My eyes scanned the room as I slowly turned.  In the corner, to the right of the door, stood a full-length cheval mirror.  The dark oak frame had a bowed top, supported on a scrolled platform base.

Mr. Knight stood.  I hadn’t realized he was wearing glasses until he removed them and placed them on the desk as he came from behind it.  He passed me, and went straight to the mirror.  I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to say something or not, so I looked to Gabriel for help.

“I said I wanted to show you something, but I need my father’s help, or you won’t be able to realize what you’re seeing.”  Gabriel tried to explain.  He, too, went to the mirror.

Mr. Knight slid the mirror away from the wall, turning it to face the center of the room.  “You’re certain?”  He asked Gabriel.  So far, he had not spoken to me.

“I am.”  Gabriel replied, and then he turned to face me.  “I’m not sure the best way to proceed.  We have two options.  One: you can touch this mirror, see if you—‘glimpse’—anything.”  He glanced at the mirror.  “Or, two: you can watch what I have to show you.  It might be more convincing if you can see something by yourself first, but you don’t have to if you’d rather not.”

I peeked at the mirror, then at the two of them.  Gabriel looked encouraging.  Mr. Knight looked skeptical and annoyed. 

“If you see something, would you mind describing it?  My father is as doubtful of what I say as you are.”

Great
!  Now, if I didn’t see anything, Mr. Knight would not believe me,
or
Gabriel.  I don’t know why the thought irritated me so much, maybe because not believing Gabriel would mean I was crazy in his mind.  That made me mad. 
I
wasn’t the crazy one here!

I marched to the mirror and grabbed it in approximately the same location as I would have grabbed my own mirror.  There was a sudden flash, and it was the same library!  Not this library I was in now, but the library in my mirror!  I was seeing from a different angle, though.  Something jumped out at me several feet in front of my new point of view.

“That’s
my
mirror!”  I exclaimed.  “I can see the back of it!  And there’s that book!  MDXCIX.   I know that number!  The globe, where’s the little globe that goes on the desk?”  I could see the room more clearly than I ever had.  Most glimpses appeared foggy, or faded.  Now it looked like I should be able to walk right in, as if it was simply another room in the house.

“What did I tell you?”  I heard Gabriel’s satisfied voice.

“
Astonishing
!”  Mr. Knights voice sounded like a clap of thunder.  “How can there be
no record
?  She can’t possibly be the first, can she?  A genetic anomaly perhaps?”

I released the mirror.  “A what?”  I asked, a hint of my earlier anger in my voice.

“Genetic anomaly.”  Mr. Knight repeated, as if it were not the least bit insulting.

“Are you saying I have a defect?”  I placed my hands on my hips, glaring.

Gabriel was beside me in an instant, taking my hand.  “No, he’s not saying that at all.  He means more of a ‘variance,’ not an abnormality.”

I wasn’t sure if that should make me feel better or not.  “A variance from
what
?”

“From what
we
do.”  Gabriel replied.  “Father, please.”  Gabriel released my hand and walked back to the mirror.

Mr. Knight put out his hand without hesitation and Gabriel took it.  “I can’t be in two places at once.”  He grinned, and so did Mr. Knight.  I had a feeling it was an inside joke.  “Jessie, please seat yourself on the floor.  I only ask because I won’t be there to catch you if you fall.”  He winked.

“Very funny.”  I smirked, but sat down anyway.

“You’re about to see something we have never shown anyone.  We’re not supposed to.  If something—goes wrong—you’ll never know.  In fact, you may not know
me
at all, and you’ll certainly never have been here.”  I’m not sure what look crossed my face, but Gabriel responded to it.  “It’s too much to explain, but I don’t think anything will go wrong, or they would have stopped it before now, I’m sure.”

Gabriel suddenly released his Dad’s hand and quickly crossed the floor.  He got down on both knees in front of me and looked intensely into my eyes.

“Under normal circumstance, I would never think of doing such a thing as what I am about to do.  These are
not
normal circumstances.  Please don’t slap me until I come back.  If I don’t come back, it won’t matter to you—you won’t remember—but I’ll never forget.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mr. Knight shake his head disapprovingly and turn away.  I wasn’t sure what Gabriel was about to do, but I had an idea.  He took my face in his hands and leaned in with his eyes open, fixed on mine.  My stomach leapt up into my throat and my heart pounded.  The instant his lips met mine—it was
fireworks
.

My eyes closed and I kissed back.  I knew his dad was in the room, but I didn’t care.  It was like nothing even my creative mind could have conjured.  It was the most right thing I had ever felt.  If this was the last time I ever saw him—it couldn’t be!  I would never forget it, no matter what happened.

Mr. Knight made a noise and Gabriel let go.  My eyes opened and everything was swimming.  A shadow of fear ran through me.  I didn’t know what he was about to do, but I didn’t want him to do it.  I grabbed his arm.

“Don’t do it.  I believe you.”  I said hastily.  I didn’t even care what “it” was.

Mr. Knight broke his silence.  “There’s nothing to worry about, or that never would have happened.”  He gave Gabriel a stern look.  I couldn’t decipher his mood.  “It won’t change anything significant.  They would have stopped it by now.”

He put out his hand and nodded his head toward the mirror.  Gabriel reached over and patted my knee, giving me a beautiful smile when he stood and turned.  As he approached the mirror, he took his Dad’s hand, and just kept walking—straight into the mirror.

I blinked my eyes.  He hadn’t bumped into the mirror; he had
gone into
the mirror.  The second his foot had touched it, everything in the room
warped
, as if there were an invisible film he stretched and then broke through.  The film snapped back in place, but Gabriel was on the other side of it.

Mr. Knight’s hand was partially inside the mirror, and I could see Gabriel’s fingers wrapped around it.  I continued blinking as the room hummed, and my ears were ringing.  It seemed to be lasting forever.  I glanced down at my watch and the second hand appeared to move slower than it should, it didn’t tick, it was sliding.

I looked up anxiously at Mr. Knight, who was completely calm.  I looked at the mirror, and knew Gabriel was on the other side of it, but I couldn’t see him, only the reflection of the room, and Mr. Knight.

Gabriel stepped back through slowly.  The film appeared to reverse now, bulging out a little as I watched him break through it.  I jumped up and crossed the floor, extended my hand and touched him.  He was
really there
.

“Come for your slap, I assume?”  He asked teasingly.

“
No
.”  I put my arms around him and squeezed.  He
felt
solid and real.

“How do you feel?”  He asked, squeezing back.

“I don’t know yet.”  I answered,

“That’s an honest answer.”  He whispered.

“So what are we to make of this?”  Mr. Knights' voice sounded loud in the otherwise quiet room. 

“I don’t know yet, Father.  I had hoped
you
could answer that question.”  Gabriel released me, slipping one hand down my arm, and holding my wrist loosely.

“There is something we should try, something that could get one question out of the way.”  Mr. Knight looked at me, contemplating.

“Not a good idea,” Said Gabriel.  “I don’t like it.”

“We have to know, Gabriel.  It’s part of why we’re here.”

“It’s too risky.”  Gabriel was shaking his head.

“What is?”  I asked.  I hated them talking ‘around’ me.

“My father thinks you may be a traveler, like me, just untrained. 
I
don’t think so.  He wants you to try the mirror, and I don’t.”  He glanced at his Father.  “That’s it, right?”

“It would be easy to find out.  I can hold her hand, she won’t get lost.”

I was with Gabriel.  Time travel—in theory—was just fine, but I didn’t like the idea of truly stepping into some other time, past
or
future.  In spite of wishing occasionally to ‘go back’ and look around, I didn’t
really
want to.  Not now that I considered it might be possible.

“Miss. McLeod.”  Mr. Knight began.

“Jessie.”  I corrected.

“As you wish.  Jessie, I believe you might be a
traveler
.  A traveler is simply someone who can move from one time to another.  It’s more complicated than that, but for the sake of this discussion, I’ll keep it elementary.”  I wrinkled my nose.  “Mirrors are like doors, for our purposes.  Instead of being between two rooms, they are between two times.  Do you understand the concept?”  I nodded.