by Cathy Peper
He was already awake, grabbing her hand even as the undulations of the ground tossed them around like popcorn in hot grease. She was flung against him, jostling Hannah who awoke, screaming at the loud noise and violent shaking. It was far worse than the tremors they had experienced so far.
“We will be all right,” Bryce yelled over the racket.
It might be mundane to him, being his third time around, but Ari clutched Hannah, fearing the surrounding trees would come crashing down on them. A smattering of explosions filled the air. “What was that?” Was someone firing upon them?
“Sand blows.” Bryce struggled to unzip the tent. They crawled out, not even trying to gain their feet. Muted by a miasma of darkness, the faint light of the moon provided little illumination, but when another explosion sounded to her right, a plume of something shot into the air.
“Mommy, what’s happening?”
“It’s an earthquake. Everything will be okay.” Ari hoped she spoke the truth. The earth groaned as if in response to her assertion and a stench like rotten eggs filled the air.
“Fissure!” Bryce yelled.
Ari’s gaze followed his pointing finger and to her horror saw a crevasse opening in the ground and heading straight at them. She froze, but Bryce flung her, and Hannah, who Ari held in her arms, to the side.
“The ATV.” He clambered to his feet, stumbling forward, towards the danger. A small tree, in the path of the crack, split and fell within it.
“No,” Ari screamed.
The hole grew, snaking towards their ATV, which tilted alarmingly. Bryce grabbed the steering wheel just as Ari reached for his foot, dragging him to the ground. He lost purchase and a tire dipped into the crevasse, unbalancing the vehicle until with a screech of metal, the ATV overturned and pitched into the abyss.
Bryce kicked free of Ari’s grip and ran to the edge of the fissure. Ari followed, staring in dismay at their vehicle, six feet or more below the surface. “Why did you trip me? We’ll never be able to get it out of there.”
“If I hadn’t stopped you, it would have taken you with it.”
“I would have pulled it free.”
“It’s too heavy, it would have dragged you with it.” They were yelling at one another, but to Ari, it was no longer necessary. At least not to be heard. The ground no longer rolled beneath their feet, the trees had stopped swaying and quiet reigned once more. Hannah sobbed softly, whether from shock or her parents’ quarrel, Ari didn’t know.
“I better go rescue our supplies.” Bryce braced himself on the edge, prepared to jump.
“No, we don’t know if it’s stable. The necklace, treasure, and defibrillator were in the tent with us. There is nothing in the ATV worth taking such a risk.”
“There’s the food and your twenty-first century gadgets.”
“I know.” Ari would hate to lose her extra solar charger, but she’d been using one and still had her phone.
“I’m not leaving the rifle.”
“Bryce—” before she could protest, Bryce jumped. He landed lightly on his feet a few feet from the ATV. Moving quickly, he tossed the rifle to her and then one of the bags.”
Ari bit her lip as he reached for another. The earth trembled in an aftershock and dirt fell in around the edges. “Hurry.”
He tossed up a second bag. The ground shook again and Ari saw in the distance the crevasse begin to close. “Bryce get out of there now!” She threw herself flat against the ground and reached her arm down to him. Please listen to me.
Bryce leaped away from the ATV, took her hand and scrambled up the incline. Ari pulled with all her strength, though her arm felt like it was being ripped from her socket. Ominous sounds rose from the hole, but she couldn’t look, couldn’t take her eyes off the life and death struggle. She pulled and he climbed in a deadly race against time.
With one last wrench, Bryce’s torso emerged from the fissure and he propelled himself the final distance, lying next to her, both of them gasping for air. The earth shuddered and sighed as the chasm closed, rocks sliding upon rocks. Their ATV was swallowed whole as if devoured by a monster.
“Thanks. That was too close for comfort.”
Ari laughed, hearing the touch of hysteria in her voice. “Wonder what the archaeologist will think years from now when he digs up the ATV.”
“Why would an archaeologist dig here? Don’t they study Egypt and ancient civilizations?”
“They dig all over the world in the twenty-first century. Egypt isn’t the only civilization considered valuable. Besides, this find will be two hundred years old by then.” She walked over to Hannah, whose sobs had turned to gasping breaths, and gathered her in her arms. “It’s all right, honey. Daddy is safe and the earthquake is over.”
Hannah clung to her trembling. “The car?”
“Is gone.”
“How will we find Aunt Tori and Uncle Sebastien?”
“She has a point.” Bryce ambled up to them. “We no longer have any transportation. The earthquake has passed. Sebastien survived it or he didn’t. Thankfully we still have my treasure. I see no reason to stay here any longer. We should return.”
Ari glared at him. “Are you crazy? We need to find my brother. You said yourself we don’t know if the earthquake was the culprit. He could still be in danger.”
“How are we going to do that without the ATV and our supplies?”
“On foot, unless we find a place where we can buy horses. You will have to hunt for food. You didn’t want me to bring all that stuff in the first place.”
“I didn’t think it necessary, but it turned out to be useful.”
“We were both right. It was useful, but it isn’t necessary.”
“What about Hannah? Can she walk long distances?”
“Children from the nineteenth century do. We will have to start slow, for me, too, since I’m no longer in the shape I once was. Living in the twenty-first century made me soft.”
“In all the right places.”
“Stop that,” Ari snapped. “I’m still angry with you.”
“For what? If you hadn’t interfered I could have saved the ATV.”
“Or gotten yourself killed. And to think that after all we have been through you would be willing to abandon my brother…I came back to save him, not to get your stupid treasure.”
“You won’t think it stupid when it pays for the horses or information on where to find the Fury.”
Ari shrugged. “Perhaps not. But we had better get going.” She glanced over at the two bags Bryce had rescued, along with their backpacks and the medical kit. “I don’t think we will be able to carry all this.”
“We will see what we can fit in the backpacks. The rest we will have to leave here.” They spent the next few minutes removing less critical items from their backpacks and stuffing them with food and a few modern gadgets. They argued over whether to bring the defibrillator but decided since it was their ticket home, they couldn’t risk losing it. Bryce put it in the bottom of his pack.
“We will eat a hearty breakfast and stash the rest of this in a tree. Maybe we can come back for it.”
“We won’t need to if we complete our mission. I’ve actually been thinking we could bring Sebastien and Tori back with us. If they want to come.”
“Why? They would have to get new identities, too.”
“Not Tori, though she might have a tough time explaining where she had been.”
“Your brother would. It complicates things.”
“I know, but we should give them the opportunity.”
Bryce busied himself opening cans and didn’t answer. They ate and drank their full. They would only be bringing one bottle of water each. Once that was gone, they would rely on the river. Ari made a face and reminded herself the Mississippi wasn’t as polluted now as it would be in the future. She had grown up drinking the water and could do so again. She worried more about Hannah and wished she’d thought to bring water purification pills.
They star
ted out, packs weighing heavily on their bodies. Ari was glad she had splurged on quality backpacks which distributed much of the weight to their hips. They would follow the river as closely as possible. She expected Hannah to complain about walking, but the little girl seemed to sense her parents’ grim determination and kept silent. It probably wouldn’t last as the weary miles wore on, but after the morning they’d had, Ari treasured every minute of peace and quiet she could get.
* * *
Three days after the third earthquake, Ari and Bryce came upon a stranded keelboat on the river. Bryce took one look at the gaping hole in the boat’s side, heaved a sigh and said, “That’s her. That’s the Fury. Looks like her luck has run out.”
“Really?” They had been traveling for so long without results Ari could scarcely believe she was within minutes of seeing her brother again. She took another look at the damaged boat. At least she hoped she was. If they were too late, she didn’t know if she would ever be able to forgive herself.
She plowed through the underbrush towards the gangplank. “Hello,” she called. “Can we come aboard?”
One of the men was fishing off the side of the boat. “We’re not taking on any passengers or going anywhere until that big hole is fixed.”
“I need to speak to your captain.” Butterflies fluttered in her stomach as hope and fear struggled for dominance.
The fisherman spit into the water, then called to another man. “Go get the patron. This lady wants to talk to him.”
Ari’s ramrod posture relaxed. He wasn’t dead. It seemed to take forever before a figure emerged from the cabin area. Her eyes drank him up: average height with a muscular build, dark brown hair like her own, but with a hint of curl hers lacked. Sebastien. Her throat tightened and she couldn’t speak.
“You wanted to see me?” he asked. “We are in distress ourselves and unable to take on passengers…” His voice trailed off and he raised a hand to shield his eyes. “Ari? Is it really you?”
She nodded and her voice broke free. “I thought I would never see you again.”
He ran down the gangplank and scooped her up in his arms. “Ari, I thought you were dead. I came back to the cave and you were gone, but there was so much blood. I followed the blood trail to the river, but it disappeared there. I assumed you had drowned.”
Ari laughed. “Let me down.” She pulled the stone necklace from under her bodice. “The necklace saved me. It took me to the future where advances in medicine saved me.”
“Victoria was right.”
“She guessed? I hoped she might. I wanted you to know I was safe.”
“I wasn’t sure I believed her.” His gaze traveled to her companions. “How did you get the necklace? Last I saw it, Rivers had it.” His deep blue eyes turned cool. “Or should I call you Bryce?”
Bryce stepped forward, his gaze equally cool. “Bob Rivers was an alias. Bryce Poole is my given name.”
“The man who seduced and abandoned my sister.”
“I never abandoned Ari. There were things I needed to take care of before marrying your sister. By the time I returned, she was gone. Then I learned of her death upon your boat.”
Ari glanced from one man to the other. Bryce had told her he had traveled with Sebastien. They were business rivals, but she had expected a measure of friendship or at least tolerance between them. Instead, she sensed only hostility. “Sebastien, there is someone else I want you to meet.”
Sebastien turned to the third member of her party. Hannah had been unusually quiet, her big blue eyes observing everything. “Your child?”
Hannah tilted her head to one side. “Are you Uncle Sebastien?”
“I am.” He knelt so he was at her level. “You look like your mother.”
Ari almost laughed. With her blue eyes, Hannah resembled Bryce far more than Ari. “I named her Hannah.”
“A beautiful name for a beautiful girl. Come aboard. I am sure you are anxious to see Victoria.”
Ari longed to see her friend, but not as much as she wanted to know the source of the animosity between Bryce and Sebastien. Still, she followed her brother up the gangplank.
“What happened?” Bryce gestured towards the shattered boards.
“A tree shot out from the river bed during the last quake and burst through the hull like it was an eggshell. Seriously injured one of my men as well.”
Bryce nodded and drew closer to the damage. “What are you going to do about it?”
“I’ve sent Roger to find wood and a carpenter.” He turned to Ari. “Victoria is resting in our cabin. Why don’t you go see her while Bryce and I discuss business?”
Ari hesitated. Would they come to blows if she left them alone? “Hannah, stay with Daddy. I’m going to go see Aunt Tori.”
“I want to see Aunt Tori. I miss her.”
“Later,” Ari promised. Now I need you to keep the testosterone in check. She walked towards Sebastien’s cabin, where she had stayed while pregnant with Hannah. The small cramped space didn’t hold fond memories for her, but she braced herself and knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
Ari pushed the door open. Tori lay on the cot, her blond hair spread out around her pale face, but when she saw Ari, she sat up, a smile spreading across her features. “Anne? How can this be?”
Ari laughed and pointed to the necklace. “Now you know my secret. I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t think you would believe me.”
“Probably not. I barely believed it when it happened to me.”
“You’ll have to tell me everything about it. Especially how you met my brother.”
“He pulled me from the river. Saved my life.”
“And then?” Ari couldn’t remember her brother ever courting someone.
“And then I bribed/coerced him into taking me on as a passenger.”
Ari raised her brows. “Sebastien took the bribe? Or responded to a threat?” It didn’t sound like the brother she remembered.
“I didn’t give him much choice. I was desperate. He wanted to leave me with a family in Ste. Genevieve who wanted me to be their unpaid nanny.”
Ari suppressed a smile. Tori had never been very comfortable around kids, including Hannah. “Not your cup of tea?”
“Hardly.” A tear slipped down her face. “I’m scared, Anne.”
“I go by Ari, now. But what are you afraid of?” Tori looked better than she had when Ari first glimpsed her, but she was still pale and she’d been lying down in the middle of the day. “Are you sick?”
“Not exactly. I’m pregnant.”
“Congratulations! I will be an aunt. Hannah will have a cousin. This is so exciting.” Her words trailed off as she saw Tori biting her lip. “You’re not excited. Don’t worry. I know you don’t have much experience with kids, but you learn by doing. I didn’t know much about being a mother either.”
“That’s part of it. I’ve never been one of those women who loves babies. But I’m also worried about giving birth in this time period.”
“It is a concern,” Ari agreed, “but you’re young and healthy. You know to tell the doctor to wash his hands and clean his equipment.” Or you could come back with us. Ari didn’t want to discuss the possibility just yet.
“There’s more. As scared as I am of having this baby, I might be even more scared of losing him.”
“No point in worrying about it. Miscarriage is common, even in the future.” But infant mortality is more common now.
“I know, but I took a fall during the quake and have been spotting ever since.”
Ari took a deep breath. “Well, you’re taking it easy. That’s all you can do.”
“Sebastien insisted upon it.” She made a face.
“It’s the right thing to do even if you don’t like taking orders.”
“Why are men so bossy in this time period?”
“Men are bossy in any time period.” They laughed.
“If you used the necklace to get back here, you must have met up wit
h Bryce. But why would you come back to the nineteenth century? You had a good life in the future and he was hell-bent on getting there.”
There was an edge to Tori’s voice Ari didn’t understand. Obviously, there was more between Bryce, Sebastien, and Tori than he had told her. “I saw him on TV. I wasn’t sure it was really him, but I had to be sure.”
“Why was he on TV? Did he tell people about the necklace?”
“No. He rescued a young woman from a couple of guys who tried to rape her. He was quite the hero.”
“Really?”
Ari frowned. “Don’t sound so surprised. He’s not the type to stand by and watch a woman get abused.”
“He’s not?”
Ari threw up her hands. “Okay, something is going on here that I don’t know about. Bryce and Sebastien seem to hate each other, although Bryce told me they traveled together. I can understand why Sebastien would be angry with him if he knew who he was, but Bryce used a fake name.”
“Bryce never told you how he got the necklace?”
“Not exactly. He implied you gave it to him.”
“He stole it from me.”
“What?” Not that Bryce was above stealing. He took the defibrillator kit and didn’t seem overly concerned about the ATV they had left buried in a crevasse.
“He hired someone to take the necklace from me and then kidnapped me so I could show him how to work it. Not that I was much help.”
“Oh, no. Hannah or no Hannah, Sebastien is going to kill him. I’d better go out there.”
“Wait.” Tori laid a hand on her arm. “Sebastien isn’t going to kill him. Not now when he knows you are together. Earlier, maybe. He blamed both Bryce and himself for your death. But Bryce did threaten to kill Sebastien. He hoped it would inspire me to cooperate.”
“This just gets better and better.” What else had Bryce kept from her?
“You are together, right?”
“Yes, but I didn’t know about any of this. What should I do? He is Hannah’s father.”
