A Portal for Your Thoughts

by Jeffrey M. Poole

  “From scaring off a bunch of black rats? No, you’re fine. Please. Get rid of those things. I cannot begin to tell you how disquieting I find them.”

  The squeaking rat thing was getting closer. Steve started backing away, which caused the creature to become bolder. It’s warning chirps and whistles got louder.

  “Sarah!” Steve called out in his loudest voice, silencing the fuzzy black rat. Only for a moment. The moment Steve’s voice trailed off then the creature returned to its attempt to force the intruders to leave. “Sarah, are you here? If you can hear us we’re heading over to that log. Are you here yet?”

  The only thing they heard was the chirps and trills coming from the tiny glen’s new residents.

  “At least we didn’t miss her,” Cecil happily informed him. “I was concerned that we might have.”

  “We still might have,” Steve told him. “I doubt it. The sun is ready to set. This is the official end of day two. This is our meeting spot. We’re right where we’re supposed to be.”

  Cecil nodded, pleased.

  “This is definitely one adventure I won’t be forgetting any time soon.”

  Steve turned to look at his friend. “I don’t blame you. I’ve never traveled through time before. Your friend is my great-great-grandfather. How do you think that makes me feel? It’s crazy.”

  “What’s the first thing you’re going to do when you make it home?” Cecil asked.

  They arrived at the fallen log and each of them sat down at the same time.

  Steve grinned. “Give Sarah a big hug and a kiss. What about you?”

  “Oh, the same. AnnaBelle and I have never really been apart before. I can’t even imagine what she must be going through without me.”

  It was nearly an hour past sunset and the woods continued to darken. For the tenth time in as many minutes Cecil gave him an anxious look.

  “Perhaps we should go to the castle and wait for her there?”

  “Cecil, I’ll tell you now what I told you then. That’s not gonna happen. Do you have any idea how far away the castle is? Even if we headed straight there and didn’t stop it’d take us at least two days, if not more.”

  “Couldn’t we have the dragon drop us off there?”

  “And create a panic in R’Tal when an unknown dragon touches down? There’s no way I’m asking her to do that. Besides, even if Pryllan did give us a lift to the castle it’d be too late. It would take us a few hours of flying time to get there. Sarah and I have already agreed that either this place or R’Tal would be the meeting point. We’re at one of them. She can jump between here and R’Tal literally in the blink of an eye. We cannot, so this is where we are going to wait. Don’t ask me again, okay?”

  “I mean no offense. I can see that you’re worried. That’s what worries me most. Your sense of calm and confidence has been my source of strength ever since we stepped foot here. I cannot begin to tell you how troubled I am to see you so worried.”

  “Sorry. You’re right. I am worried. I didn’t think Sarah would be this late.”

  “Could something have happened to her?”

  “You’re not helping, Cecil.”

  “I’m sorry, Steve, but I feel this topic must be addressed. What happens to us if something has befallen Sarah? How are we to return home?”

  “She’ll show up. Drop it, okay?”

  “Very well. We should at least make it easier for her to find us.”

  Startled, Steve looked up at Cecil.

  “What do you have in mind?”

  “Shall we make a fire?”

  Steve nodded. “That’s a good idea. Come on, let’s see if we can find some rocks to make a hearth.”

  Thirty minutes later they were sitting on their makeshift bench in front of a roaring fire. While they had loaded as many fallen branches and scrap wood into the hearth as possible Steve had ordered his jhorun to make the fire burn twice as hot as it normally would have. The resulting flames were at least five feet high and, he was sure, visible for miles. That is, until he remembered they were in a forest. He reduced the flames to that of a normal size but ordered his jhorun to keep the fires lit, even if it meant tapping into his existing supply of jhorun if there wasn’t anything to burn.

  “Alright, look…” Steve took a deep breath and let it all out with a loud sigh. “We don’t have many options. If something has happened to Sarah then obviously we’ll need to find another way back.”

  “But there isn’t another way back,” Cecil countered.

  “Therein lies the problem. We’re going to have to find a way back ourselves. What we need to do is some brainstorming. Do you know what that is?”

  Cecil nodded. “Sure, only I don’t know how much help I could be here.”

  “That probably means you’ll be perfect,” Steve told him. “Start shooting out ideas. What are our options?”

  When Cecil was silent Steve figured he’d start them off.

  “The first logical choice would be to consider the portal. The interdimensional portal, as the king called it.”

  Cecil beamed his approval. “That’s perfect! We can use the same portal Luther used to get to Idaho. All we have to do is –”

  “Hold up,” Steve interrupted. “That’s the one option we don’t want.”

  “We don’t? Why not?”

  “Think about it. When Luther went through it dropped him off three years into the past. Sarah went through and was dropped off six months ago. I don’t know how I managed to make it to the present.”

  “What if Sarah went to the present and you went to the future?”

  Steve held up both hands, palms out, and shook his head.

  “If I start thinking about that I’ll give myself a headache. I’m not touching that one. The point is that portal is unstable. It messes with time. We could end up arriving in Coeur d’Alene ten years before Luther does. Then we’d have to wait until we caught up with present time again, like Sarah had to do while waiting for me to arrive. Do you really want to risk that?”

  Cecil was speechless as he shook his head no.

  “I didn’t think so. We have to rule that portal out. Maybe if we…”

  Steve trailed off as both of them heard several twigs snapping in the distance. Someone was out there. Was it Sarah? Had she finally arrived? A few more twigs snapped, signaling whoever it was had wandered a little closer.

  “Sarah?” Steve called out. “Is that you?”

  The sounds coming from the forest disappeared. Whoever, or whatever, it was had stopped moving.

  “Sarah?”

  The forest fell silent.

  “I don’t like the sounds of that at all,” Cecil whispered to Steve.

  “What sounds? I don’t hear anything at the moment.”

  “Right. That’s what concerns me. We just did. Someone is out there listening to us. I don’t think its Sarah.”

  Steve rose to his feet. Cecil was starting to rise to his when Steve ignited both hands. Cecil hastily sat back down.

  “Perhaps I should wait here.”

  Steve nodded. “Good idea. I’ll check it out.”

  As he left the comfort of the fire behind he unconsciously increased the jhorun flowing into his hands, which caused them to blaze even brighter. For thirty seconds he walked west, moving as quietly as he dared. However, he didn’t hear anyone else moving about except himself. Maybe it had been an animal and it had scurried off?

  He heard a soft moan and then what sounded like a few quiet sobs. There weren’t any animals he was aware of, save humans, which sobbed like that. It had to be a person! Was it Sarah? Was she wounded?

  “Sarah! Are you there? Are you hurt?”

  Whoever was sobbing fell silent. He heard the person moan again. He was close. They had to be less than a dozen feet from him. Maybe hiding behind one of those trees? The question was, who was it? If it was Sarah then she would have said something. Was someone spying on them?

  “Who’s there? Identify yourself.”


  Now both the moaning and the sobbing had vanished. Steve increased his flames and looked around the area. Trees, trees, and more trees. Whoever it was could be hiding behind any one of them. Perhaps he should offer to help and not sound so intimidating?

  He cleared his throat and tried again.

  “Who are you? Are you hurt? I know you’re here ‘cause I can hear you.”

  He heard a soft moan, this time coming from directly behind him and to the left. He glanced in that direction and saw a small foot wearing a simple brown slipper. He reduced his flames back to standard torch level and ordered his jhorun to remove the heat. He didn’t want to burn whoever it was.

  “Hey there. I see you. Are you okay?”

  The person didn’t answer.

  Steve walked around the base of the huge tree and squatted down low. It was a girl. A young girl, perhaps barely in her teens. She had shoulder length brown hair and was wearing a plain brown blouse with a matching brown skirt.

  Steve leaned over to tap her on her shoulder.

  “Hey, are you okay?”

  The girl didn’t answer. From the light of his lit hands he could see that her clothes were scratched and torn in several places. She had a scratch running along her left cheek and had numerous cuts and nicks along her arms.

  The girl moaned again and fidgeted on the ground. Then the sobbing began anew. Again Steve tried to rouse the girl. As before, he was unsuccessful. Then he noticed the beads of perspiration running down her brow. From him?

  Steve scooped her up into his arms and made his way back into camp. Cecil was on his feet in a flash.

  “Who do you have there?”

  “Haven’t a clue. I need you to do something for me.”

  “Of course. What do you need?”

  “Hold a hand to her forehead. Tell me if she’s running a fever. I see beads of perspiration on her face and I’m pretty sure it’s not from me.”

  Cecil held the back of his hand against the girl’s forehead. He looked up at him the moment he was touching her skin.

  “She is. She’s burning with fever. We need to cool her down.”

  “If she was on fire then I’d be the one to talk to,” Steve told him. “I know absolutely nothing about first aid.”

  “I do. Somewhat. We need to cool her down. Quickly, let’s get her into the water.”

  Steve scooped the girl back up and made it a few steps before he bumped into his companion. He leaned to the left to see what the holdup was.

  “What are you doing? Get going.”

  Cecil gestured at the near pitch black darkness surrounding them. “I can’t see where I’m going. I’m going to walk into a tree.”

  A large chaser flared into life and moved out in front of them.

  “Follow the fireball,” Steve instructed. “I’ll follow you.”

  Cecil hurried back towards the sounds of falling water. He waited by the water’s edge for Steve and the girl to arrive. As soon as they did Steve waded into the water and started to kneel down while holding the girl. Cecil held up a hand.

  “This isn’t a question and answer session,” Steve pointed out. “If you have something to say then just say it.”

  “I think the girl is supposed to be undressed for this to work properly.”

  Steve hurriedly straightened and looked down at the girl he was holding in his arms.

  “Hell no.”

  “We need to lower her body’s temperature. Fast. Her life depends on it.”

  “She’s underage. There ain’t no way in hell I’m taking her clothes off.”

  “She could be wearing underclothes.”

  Steve stared incredulously at his friend.

  “Do you want to check? Because I don’t. I don’t know what kinds of laws you’re used to in your time but in my time it is highly frowned upon to undress an underage girl. I’m not going there.”

  Cecil held out his arms. “Give her to me. I’ll do it. It’s medically necessary.”

  Steve passed the girl over and instantly closed his eyes. He heard the sounds of clothes rustling about and then Cecil’s sharp hiss of surprise as he lowered the girl into the water.

  “This is going to cool her down in no time,” Cecil called out. “This water is absolutely frigid. I’m going to need you to warm her once we get her temperature down.”

  Steve groaned. “Was she at least wearing something under her clothes?”

  “Yes. She had on a nightshirt. I left that on.”

  Steve sighed. “Good. Let me know when you’re ready.”

  “I think we’re about ready now.”

  “Are you sure? That was awfully quick.”

  “You should feel this water. It’s incredibly cold. Are you ready? I need you to take her now.”

  Steve reluctantly cracked an eye and looked down at the two of them. Cecil was struggling to rise to his feet while holding the girl in front of him. Thankfully the girl was wearing a thin night shirt that fell down to a few inches shy of her knees.

  He took the girl from Cecil and was surprised at how cold she felt. He increased his jhorun and allowed himself to gradually heat up.

  “Did it work?” Steve worriedly asked as he looked over at Cecil who was huddled by the fire. Did her fever go down?”

  “As soon as I get some feelings back into my hands I’ll check again. Why don’t you feel her forehead?”

  “That never works,” Steve told him. “My hands are always warm.”

  A few minutes later Cecil laid his hand across the girl’s forehead once more. This time he smiled. While her head was warm it was nowhere near the blisteringly hot skin he had felt before.

  The girl stirred in Steve’s arms. Two striking blue eyes opened and fixed upon his.

  “Who are you? Why are you holding me?”

  Steve smiled sheepishly. “I was trying to warm you up a bit. We had just dunked you in a cold lake to lower your body temperature. You were burning up with a fever.”

  “Where are my clothes?”

  “Cecil draped them across that log right over there.”

  “Please put me down.”

  Steve carefully lowered the girl to the ground. The young teenager took a few steps before she started swaying dangerously to the right. Steve caught her before she could topple over. The girl clutched his arm as she tried to regain her balance.

  “My heartbeat is elevated, I’m short of breath, and I have a fever. I don’t suppose either of you have any goatweed, do you?”

  Steve shook his head no and indicated he didn’t have any pockets.

  “No, I don’t. I don’t think he does, either.”

  “Do you think you could find me some?”

  Steve gave the girl an appraising stare.

  “You know about herbs?”

  The girl nodded. “Goatweed is commonly used to reduce a fever. It grows no higher than a few feet. It has narrow, oblong yellow-green leaves with translucent dots seen throughout the leaves and tissue. It grows like a weed so you should be able to find some nearby. If it’s flowering, look for a yellow five petal flower.”

  Cecil stared at the girl with a mixture of uncertainty and skepticism.

  “How do you expect us to find it at night?”

  The girl looked over at Steve and smiled.

  “I’m sure he can find some.”

  Steve sighed. He pointed at the log and indicated the girl should sit down.

  “Fine. I’ll go. What’s your name, anyway?”

  “Lissa.”

  “I’m –”

  “Sir Steve, I know.”

  Cecil’s mouth fell open. “You know him?”

  “Of course. He’s the Nohrin. Everyone knows who he is.”

  Steve stared at Lissa for a few moments more before heading off into the dark forest. Fifteen minutes later he was back. Steve handed the girl a plant with bright yellow flowers, in the process of closing its petals for the night, complete with clumps of dirt still falling from the roots. Lissa nodded approvingly.
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  “Now pick off a dozen leaves and at least twice that many of the seed pods and mash them into a paste.”

  “Mash them with what?” Cecil wanted to know. “We don’t exactly have the supplies we need here.”

  “See if you can find a stone with a natural depression,” Steve suggested.

  “And where would you suggest I find that?”

  Steve hooked a thumb back towards the waterfall.

  “I’d try back there at the lake.”

  “But I can’t see anything.”

  Steve waved a hand and a trail of chasers appeared, spaced even apart extending all the way back to the lake.

  “That’ll work. I’ll be right back.”

  Ten minutes later Lissa’s fever was threatening to come back but this time they were ready for it.

  “You must hurry,” Lissa urged. “It will lose its potency if you wait too much longer.”

  “We’re working on it,” Steve all but snapped. He grimaced. “Sorry.”

  Lissa waved off his concerns. “Has everything been mashed into a paste?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is it purple?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. Mix it in with the water and heat it up.”

  Cecil scraped the gelatinous paste onto a flat rock that could pass as a very shallow bowl. He added some water, stirred it with a stick, and carefully passed the rock to Steve. Steve ignited the hand holding the rock and heated the stone. The water began to bubble in just a few moments.

  “That’s perfect,” Lissa praised. “Now you need to feed that to me.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You’ve heated the rock. I can’t touch it or else I’ll be burned. Therefore you’ll have to tip the rock up and pour the mixture into my mouth.”

  Cecil’s eyebrows shot up and a grin formed. Steve scowled.

  “Not a word, dude.” He walked over to where the girl was sitting and knelt down beside her. “Ready? This is going to be hot.”

  “It’ll be no hotter than the tea I drink from home. Go ahead. I’m ready.”

  Steve tipped the rock so that the bubbling mixture flowed into Lissa’s mouth. Her eyes flew open and she gasped. She fanned the air in front of her mouth.