Shadow of Time - Book 1: (Paranormal Romance)

by Minkman, Jen

  “Wow, you girls are right on time!” Josh appeared on deck as they approached the boat. He was wearing old jeans with the legs cut off, worn flip-flops, and his hair was tied into a ponytail. Of course, in this heat, he wasn’t wearing a shirt. Which was no reason to ogle his chest, Hannah reprimanded herself. So he was walking around shirtless. So what? He’d been walking around shirtless in summer his entire life. Nothing had changed, except her perception of him.

  “H-hey,” she said nervously, despite telling herself off. “How are you?”

  Josh gave her such a heart-wrenchingly sunny smile that Hannah felt her heart skip a beat. Who exactly was she trying to fool with her ‘he-is-just-your-brother’ mantra?

  “I’m fine!” He walked down the gangway to help Amber and Ivy climb on board. When Josh grabbed her hand to help her up, he caught her eye. “Sha’di. How are you?” he asked softly. Somehow, Josh had picked up on her stressed mood.

  She gave him a pained smile back. “I’m okay. I talked to Ben today. He made me promise I’d drop by the police station again and ask for victim services. Ever since I was attacked, I keep – seeing things.”

  Josh froze. “What kind of things?” he asked, suddenly sounding apprehensive.

  Hannah stared at her feet. “Nothing special.”

  “If someone scares you,” Josh started out. “Or – something. Can you tell me?”

  Hannah looked up curiously, surprised at how anxious he sounded. “Yeah, sure. I don’t think there’s anything to worry about. It’s just in my mind.”

  “You promise?” he insisted.

  “Yes, I promise.” Hannah almost felt like crossing her fingers behind her back. Of course she didn’t have the slightest intention of telling Josh about all the bizarre dreams she’d had about him lately. Talk about embarrassing.

  She’d just jumped off the gangway onto the boat when Yazzie walked down the jetty and climbed on board too. “Ya'at'eeh, biligaana,” he called out cheerfully to the girls. “Hey, shitsílí,” he went on to greet his cousin.

  “Hey back, shinaaí,” Josh replied. They always used the Navajo words for younger and older brother – or cousin; there was no real distinction between the two in Navajo – to address each other. Yazzie and Josh usually spoke a mixture of English and Diné Bizaad to each other. It had taught Hannah quite a few words in past summers. Heck, maybe she should start calling Josh shitsílí too – just to make it absolutely clear where they both stood.

  Josh pushed off the boat as Yazzie fired up the engine, lightheartedly chatting to his cousin.

  No reverence there. Apparently, Yazzie hadn’t caught on when the whole all-bow-down-to-Josh thing had happened in Naabi’aani, because he treated his cousin no differently. Or maybe he just didn’t give a hoot. Yazzie had never really cared about rules, written or unwritten.

  “Rainbow Bridge, here we come!” he trumpeted, standing at the ship’s wheel. Today, he was wearing a black hat and a T-shirt with some punk band’s logo on it. Actually, he reminded Hannah of some sort of Native pirate.

  “All he needs is a parrot,” Josh observed at that moment, following her stare.

  She laughed. “Yeah, or an eye-patch.”

  “Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum,” Yazzie growled.

  Hannah leaned her back against the railing and stared out over the water as Josh rummaged around in the minibar to get something to drink. Ivy sat down next to her and switched on her video camera. “I’m so happy we’re going to visit the sandstone bridge,” she said, her voice chipper in happy anticipation. “I promised my parents to tape the whole thing.” She filmed the boat leaving Wahweap Marina, gliding past the brown and red rock formations along the shoreline. Soon, they were on their way to the jetties constructed near Rainbow Bridge.

  The boat trip took about two hours, which the girls used to their advantage by sunbathing on deck. Thankfully, Josh had decided to put on a shirt, so Hannah didn’t need to try and avoid looking at his divine body anymore. The walk from the docks to Rainbow Bridge took them another half hour.

  Every turn in the road showed them new colors, different kinds of rocks and plants. Ivy had the time of her life with her dad’s borrowed video camera, and Josh enjoyed himself pointing out all kinds of geological phenomena to them. After a while, they stopped talking altogether, but Hannah didn’t mind – the silence and the intense heat on the path between the rocks made her feel kind of humble. When she finally caught sight of the sandstone bridge she still knew from a childhood visit long ago, she stopped dead in her tracks. Rainbow Bridge was like a theatrical backdrop for a Native American movie, and breathed so much ancient mysticism and wisdom that she was glad there were no other day-trippers at the scene.

  “Magnificent, huh?” Amber gasped beside her.

  “Yeah, that’s exactly the word I’d use here,” Hannah agreed with a smile.

  She started walking again and slipped into the shade of the bridge to take in the beautiful surroundings. It almost felt as if she’d been here before the world had discovered this place – a longer time ago than she could possibly remember.

  Her musings were interrupted by the sound of howling, far away in the distance. She froze. Her heart was suddenly lumped in her throat. She didn’t know much about wild animals, but that definitely sounded like a coyote. Again, a coyote.

  In a sudden panic, she looked to Josh for council. That didn’t help. To her amazement, he gave her an equally panicked look back, running toward her, then suddenly changing his mind and slowing down to a stop. He stood there, a few paces away from her, clearly debating with himself. It was a mystery where his indecision had come from, but Hannah didn’t have the courage to take the few remaining steps separating them to grab his hand. He looked completely stumped. What the hell was wrong?

  Meanwhile, Yazzie had noticed her anxiety. He rushed over to calm her down. “Hey, don’t worry,” he reassured her. “That was far away. They’re wild animals, but they’ll never attack humans if they’re outnumbered. This is just one coyote.”

  “You think so?” she asked uncertainly.

  “I know so. Just relax.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “There’s five of us, so we have nothing to fear.”

  Hannah glanced around. Yeah, maybe Yaz was right. Clearly, she was the only one with a problem. Ivy hadn’t even looked up when the coyote howled, and Amber was busy snapping a few pictures of a rock pillar. She’d been the only one freaked out by the howling. She – and Josh.

  “Shitsílí?” Yazzie shot Josh a worried look. “You all right, man?”

  Josh gawked at his cousin as if frozen in time before his eyes darted to Hannah. He let out a shaky sigh. “Yeah, I’m okay,” he replied in a distant voice. “No worries.”

  Before they even had the chance to ask Josh more questions, he turned around and stalked away, disappearing behind an overhang to the left side of Rainbow Bridge. Yazzie shrugged, stifling a curse when he followed Josh. “T’ahálo! Wait up! What’s wrong?”

  Hannah waited a few minutes for Yazzie to come back with Josh in tow. When that didn’t happen, she absently made her way to the other side of Rainbow Bridge, sitting down with her back against the sandstone interior of the arch. Amber joined her.

  “It’s truly amazing, this place,” Amber said with awe in her voice.

  “Yeah, it’s pretty awesome, isn’t it?” Hannah smiled at Amber. “Glad you came along?”

  The red-haired girl nodded. “Definitely. I’m just a bit disappointed that Em couldn’t come.”

  Hannah winced a bit. She really couldn’t stand listening to someone else’s lovey-dovey stories right now. “You’ll see her soon, I bet.”

  They sat in silence for a while until Amber decided to get up and walk around some more. Hannah was happy to stay put, resting her head against the stone surface and listening to her iPod. She didn’t want to hear a single coyote howl anymore.

  Scrolling through her playlist, Hannah settled on a mellow tune from her New Age collection and close
d her eyes to relax, the sun warming her entire body. The bushes around her stirred in the wind, making a rustling sound fitting right in with the panpipe tune she was listening to. A fly landed on her forehead, and she brushed the insect away with her hand.

  The next thing she felt was an icy gust of wind stinging her face.

  With a gasp, Hannah opened her eyes. The entire landscape around her had changed into a winter wonderland, covered in snow. She was standing now, still next to Rainbow Bridge. Her feet were clad in boots made out of some kind of dark leather. Snowflakes clung to her cheeks, melting where they touched her skin, the bitter wind burning her lips. The rocks she leaned against were cold as ice. And to her left was the older version of Josh from her dreams, wearing a heavy, traditional cloak and roughly-woven, woolen pants. He was watching her anxiously.

  And then, she heard coyote howls coming from behind her.

  Turning around, Hannah saw three strange shadows standing there. They were watching her and Josh with murderous eyes, red-glowing in the scant light of the wintry, late afternoon.

  Her heart turned cold as ice. One of the apparitions took a step forward and morphed into a coyote, jumping at her, its teeth flashing.

  “God, no, please!”

  Hannah woke herself up with a scream of pure fear, her hands balled into tight fists to ward off an attack that wouldn’t come. Her eyes snapped open. That’s when she noticed she was still sitting, her back against the warm sandstone of Rainbow Bridge. This was still the same summer afternoon. And Yazzie and Josh were beside her, the latter with a mortified look in his eyes.

  Josh kneeled down and stroked her hair. “Sha’di! What’s wrong?”

  Hannah looked up at him. Strange. His eyes were red-rimmed, as if he’d been crying. This, somehow, caused her to start crying herself. She couldn’t stop it. Shaking with sobs, Hannah climbed into his embrace, huddling against Josh.

  “I had such a terrifying dream,” she finally whispered.

  “You were asleep?” he asked in surprise.

  She hesitated. “Well, it was more like some kind of vision, actually.”

  “This is a sacred place,” Yazzie pointed out, crouching down next to them. “Some Diné come here on vision quests. But it’s not common for people to experience visions when they’re not actively looking for them through meditation.”

  Josh frowned. He slowly let go of Hannah and shifted back. “What did you see?” His voice sounded tense, although he was clearly trying very hard to seem calm.

  Hannah hesitated. What was she supposed to say? “I’d really rather not talk about it.”

  Josh’s gaze didn’t leave her face. She could tell he wanted to ask her more, but he didn’t.

  She bit her lip. Only a few hours ago, she’d promised to tell him if things were bothering or frightening her. But where to start? And how to phrase things and not sound crazy? She’d already vented this morning by voicing her irrational fears to Ben. That would have to be enough for now.

  “I’ll drop by real soon and make you a dreamcatcher, okay?” Josh then said quietly, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. It took him a long time to let go of it, like he didn’t want to leave her behind when he finally got up and walked away. He was clearly still rattled. By what, she had no idea.

  Yazzie was still facing Hannah, regarding her thoughtfully. “Maybe you’re highly sensitive to the spirits around you. Have you ever seen inexplicable things before?”

  Hannah thought back to the past week. “Lately, yeah.”

  “You might have an unexplored talent for it,” he said.

  Hannah twisted her face in a wry smile. “That sounds awesome. Can I still swap it for something else? I’d rather learn how to fill in my tax return.”

  Yazzie snickered. “Good idea. In that case, you can come and help me at my hardware store if you want.” He got to his feet and stuck out his hand to pull her up. “Come on, let’s take a final stroll to the viewing point.”

  Ivy and Amber joined them, all of them climbing the rock rising up next to the sandstone bridge so they had a nice view of Rainbow Bridge and its surroundings from higher up. Slowly, Hannah calmed down, listening to the neighbors’ cheerful banter. She had no idea where Josh was, but it was clear he needed some alone time. His antics were starting to puzzle her more and more.

  At half past three, Yazzie suggested walking back to the docks. They descended from the viewpoint and made their way back to the path leading to the jetty.

  “Where did Josh go?” Ivy wondered aloud.

  “Oh, he went back early,” Yazzie improvised. “He said the heat was bothering him, so he wanted to get something to drink.”

  Yazzie kept up a steady pace, and it wasn’t long before Hannah was so hot she was longing for a drink herself. The water bottle in her bag was almost empty. When they rounded the last corner and saw Yazzie’s boat in the distance, all four of them were exhausted. They found Josh sitting on the deck next to the wheel, staring out over the water. Hannah grabbed five bottles of water from the mini-bar, handing two to Josh and Yazzie.

  Josh looked up. “Ahe’hee.” His eyes were distant. He got up and positioned himself behind the wheel. “I’ll steer her out, shinaaí,” he told his cousin.

  Yazzie nodded, shooting a sideways glance at Hannah that was clearly loaded with ‘maybe he and I should talk alone’. A good thing Yazzie took it upon himself to interrogate Josh about what happened at Rainbow Bridge, because she wouldn’t even know where to start.

  Hannah took the other three bottles to the bow, where Ivy and Amber had slumped down on the deck. They both looked worn-out but satisfied. Hannah didn’t say much as the boat pulled out of the inlet and set sail back to Wahweap. A shadow had tainted this place, and it made her immensely sad. Rainbow Bridge was supposed to be a sacred place, but all it had brought her were horrible visions. Hopefully, Yazzie was wrong about her developing some sixth sense. She really didn’t need that on top of everything else.

  By the time she made her way back to the ship’s wheel, Josh had fled below deck to play some music on an old guitar lying around.

  “Hey, biligaana,” Yazzie waved at her. “Can you get me another bottle of water? I’m starting to feel like a phoenix here. You guys should make sure the captain stays alive.”

  Hannah got another drink from the fridge and handed it to Yazzie. He sat down on the deck, holding the wheel in one hand, putting the bottle to his lips with the other.

  “So. What’s up between you and Josh?” he asked with the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

  Hannah blushed. “What do you mean?” she replied awkwardly.

  Yazzie shot her a look from underneath his black hat. “Oh, come on. I may look stupid, but I’m not blind.”

  Hannah let out a disgruntled sigh. “Nothing’s up,” she snapped sarcastically. “I’m just not sure how to behave around him anymore.”

  “Well, he seem to be having the same problem around you.”

  “So?” Why was Yazzie rubbing it in? Wasn’t it embarrassing enough that she was crushing on his younger cousin, who kept calling her his big sister in front of everybody?

  “So if he likes you and you like him, what’s the problem?” Yazzie asked, quirking an eyebrow.

  Hannah’s mouth fell open. “Uhm, how about getting a hearing aid? Did you somehow miss the fact that he calls me sha’di?”

  Yazzie gave her a blank stare, then started to laugh out loud. “No, he doesn’t,” he finally said.

  “No? What do you mean, no?” Hannah demanded to know.

  He leaned back, eyeing her pensively. “He used to call you sha’di when he was a kid, but he calls you shan díín now. It means sunbeam.”

  Hannah’s stomach made a perfect revolution. Was this true – had Josh been calling her his sunshine for the past two days? An inane grin spread across her face. “Oh,” she said stupidly.

  Yazzie grinned back. “I mean, we as Diné can hear the wordplay on the word for older sister, but Josh doesn’t call you
that anymore. He’s turned it into something else.”

  Wow. She suddenly felt a lot lighter.

  Yazzie winked at her. “I hope this was a useful one-on-one.”

  “Yeah,” Hannah said breathlessly, deciding to kick Emily’s butt the next time she saw her. Couldn’t her best friend have told her Josh called her his ray of sunshine all the time?

  When the boat got back to Wahweap Harbor, Ben was waiting for them at the docks. He hugged her tight when she stepped ashore. “Hey sis, how’ve you been today?”

  “I’m fine. We had fun. So, did you miss me so much you decided to wait for me here?”

  “Of course. I’m glad you guys are back again. I was beginning to feel like Gandalf, sitting around in a cabin all by myself with just piles of dusty books for company.”

  Hannah snickered. “I admire your endurance.”

  “Studying is good for me,” Ben said fervently, as though he was trying to convince himself.

  “As long as you don’t take those books with you on our camping trip,” Josh warned, walking up to them. “That would truly worry me.”

  Ben scoffed. “And me. You don’t seriously think I’d slog around on the rez with twenty pounds of textbooks in a backpack? That would make me certifiable.”

  As Ben and Josh walked back to the harbor entrance, chatting about their planned hike, Hannah looked around to see where Ivy and Amber were. Maybe they could all grab dinner together. She wanted to stay close to Josh for a bit longer, now that Yazzie had given her the heads-up about her nickname. Life looked a lot rosier all of a sudden.

  To her disappointment, Josh announced he was going straight home when they were all standing in the parking lot. He avoided her gaze when he said it. She couldn’t understand what was up with him. Was he still upset about the howling coyote at Rainbow Bridge? That didn’t make much sense. She had far more reason to be upset after that terrible vision.

  “I’ll see you soon.” He gave her a quick hug. “Take care of yourself, okay?”

  Hannah nodded, pressing her body against his a few more seconds than usual.