by Amy Cross
Carefully slipping the wedding dress off, I lay it on the bed and change into my everyday clothes. I believe it would be wise not to wear the white dress until shortly before the ceremony begins, since there is a danger it could become ripped or stained. Glancing at myself in the mirror, I see that there is a smile on my face and a light in my eyes that I have scarcely seen before. I turn and head out of the room, hurrying down the stairs as I seek to start the day with a full breakfast. To be absolutely honest, I have never really been happy before, and I do not quite know what I am supposed to do; the emotion is so strange and so new, I feel I might burst at the seams, yet I am quite certain that I must remain focused. It would not do to become irrational, and there is still much to organize. After all, this wedding has been organized in a great hurry, with Albert having only proposed a couple of days ago. I feel as if I am caught up in the most wonderful whirlwind.
"Good morning, Ms. Paternoster," says Henry Porter, looking over at me as I reach the hotel's reception area. "I trust you slept well?"
"I most certainly did not," I reply. "In fact, I was barely able to close my eyes all night. All I could do was think about what it will be like to be a married woman." I pause, unable to hide my excitement. "Have you ever been married, Mr. Porter?"
"Once," he says. "She's gone now, but I think of her every day."
"I'm so sorry," I reply.
"Don't be," he continues. "I loved her, and she loved me. Not everyone gets to experience such happiness, even for a single moment in time."
"I just feel..." I pause, unable to put my emotions into words.
He smiles. "It's good to be nervous, Victoria. It means you're taking the occasion seriously."
"I am," I tell him. "I shall be the best wife any man has ever known."
"You know what?" he asks. "I think I actually believe you. Albert is a very lucky man. Now go through to the saloon, and I'll fetch you some breakfast. You need plenty of energy for the day ahead."
Hurrying through to the saloon bar, I am in such a blissful state of mind that I do not even notice that there is a stranger sitting over by the window. Sitting at the table I usually share with my uncle, I look up at the clock and see that it is perhaps still a little early to expect him. I suppose I cannot expect him to share my excitement on this momentous occasion. In fact, I am a little saddened by the thought that once I have married Albert, my uncle will be all alone. I am not certain how I will cope with the sight of my uncle eventually leaving Devil's Briar, which he says he must do one day soon. Perhaps I shall be able to persuade him to stay after all, and he can end his peripatetic existence and instead settle down in this rather friendly and pleasant town. How wonderful it would be, for we wanderers to finally find a home.
"Good morning, Victoria," says a voice behind me.
Turning, I realize that the stranger has begun to address me. A scruffy-looking man with a thick beard and old, brown clothes, he has a curious expression on his face. Given that I do not believe we have ever met one another before, I feel that he is being rather familiar. In fact, he seems content to sit and stare at me from across the room.
"Good morning," I say politely, before looking back at the table in front of me.
"How are you doing?" he asks, and I hear his chair move as he gets up and walks slowly toward me. As I glance back at him, I see that he has a heavy limp.
"I am very well, thank you," I reply, hoping that Mr. Porter will come through soon.
"You look happy," he says. "Do you want to know how I can tell? You had a smile on your face when you walked into the room just now. You had a smile last night, too, when you were talking to your uncle out by the reception desk." He coughs, and it sounds as if he is rather ill. "I've got to admit, it's nice to see a young lady smile. So many of the girls these days seem so dour and sad. It's as if they're no longer content with their lot in life. I sometimes wonder what's to become of the female sex entirely."
"Quite," I say, glancing over at the door and wondering why Mr. Porter is taking so long to bring my breakfast.
"You don't recognize me, do you?" the man asks suddenly.
I look at his face again, but with the beard and the straggly hair, it's hard to really make out his features. "I'm sorry," I say, my heart pounding, "but I've seen so many new faces since I arrived in Devil's Briar, I'm afraid sometimes I've been unable to recall everyone." I swallow hard, determined to retain a calm demeanor. "You mustn't take it personally."
"Huh," he says, suddenly sitting down at my table. "You don't recognize me at all?"
I pause, poised to get up and move to another table. "I would really prefer to eat my breakfast alone," I say, "and I must ask that you respect my decision. Thank you."
"What's wrong?" he asks. "Don't you like seeing a face from the past? A face from the old days?"
"The past?" I stare at him, and it feels as if my blood is starting to run cold. "I'm terribly sorry," I say, getting to my feet, "but I have no idea -"
Suddenly he reaches out and grabs my wrist, holding me in place. "You look good, Victoria. The air here in Devil's Briar is obviously working wonders. How long's it been since we were last together? Five, six months?"
I try to pull my wrist free, but his grip is firm. "I shall call for help," I say firmly, "if you do not release me immediately."
To my surprise, he lets go. "You only had to ask," he says with a smile. "It's funny; I remember a time when you liked being touched by me. I remember a time when you were rather more welcoming."
"I'm sure I don't know what you mean," I say, "I'm only -" Suddenly a wave of awful realization crashes over me. As I stare at the man, I start to understand where I've seen him before. My mind is flooded with thoughts, as I try to tell myself over and over again that it's simply not possible, but deep in my heart I know that it's him. After all this time, after all these miles, he has caught up to us once again. It seemed impossible, but it has happened.
"Judging by that look of terror on your face," he continues, "I'm thinking maybe you recognize me all of a sudden."
"Mr. Saxon," I say, forcing myself to smile. "You'll have to forgive me, but it has been a very long time."
"It sure has," he replies. "It's a long and winding road that we're on, Victoria, but I've got a feeling that maybe it ends right here in Devil's Briar. After all, where else can you and your dear old uncle run? There's nowhere to go. If I can find you here, I can find you anywhere. The only way to be sure you're rid of me, is if I decide I ain't gonna come looking for you any more, and why would I do that unless I get what I'm owed? Maybe I'd also like a little compensation for the extreme trouble I've had to go to, just to find you."
"Do you really have to -" I start to say.
"You left me for dead!" he says angrily, raising his voice. "I guess it suited you and your so-called uncle, but I've got bad news for you, Victoria. I'm not dead. I'm here, and I want what's mine. Did you really think you could hide forever?"
Behind me, the door opens and Mr. Porter enters with my breakfast. "I see you've met our other guest," he says, looking a little concerned.
"We go way back," Mr. Saxon says, grinning from ear to ear.
"I shan't be needing breakfast," I say, turning and hurrying from the room. Panicking, I realize I shall have to go and find my uncle. I have no idea how Mr. Saxon could possibly have tracked us to Devil's Briar, but the reality is that he is here, and of all days he has made his presence known just as I am about to marry Albert. Just a few minutes ago, I was looking forward to the happiest and most perfect of occasions, and now I realize that everything might have to be abandoned. Hurrying up the stairs, I race to my uncle's room and hammer on the door. He has to come up with a plan, with a way to get Mr. Saxon to leave us alone. As I stand on the verge of a new life, I cannot let this man from the past ruin everything.
Chapter Two
Today
"Did you hear me, Paula?" Ed says, speaking over the crackly audio connection.
I stare str
aight ahead. Outside my window, the Pacific Ocean looks so beautiful and blue, and the Californian sun beats down across San Francisco. Occasionally, I hear the sound of car horns, and shouts from the street below. It's a busy, hectic place to live, and I love it. The last thing I want is to be dragged away, and to be forced to go back to the old life from which I thought I'd escaped.
"Paula?" Ed continues. "Are you still there?"
"Yeah," I say. "I just don't know what you want me to do about it."
"You know what I want you to do," he replies. "I want you to come up here and help us."
I take a deep breath. Sitting here in my little apartment in San Francisco, I feel like I'm a million miles from Devil's Briar, but somehow I knew that I'd get dragged back into the whole mess. It's been two weeks since I left Boston, and almost three weeks since I drove away from Devil's Briar, and I should be getting on with my new life. Instead, it's as if that damn town refuses to completely let go of me. I expected something like this to happen, but I have to admit I never thought it would be so dramatic. There's a part of me that would love nothing more than to slam the laptop lid closed and just cut myself off completely. If only I could be so cold-hearted.
"You just have to keep looking," I tell Ed after a moment, being careful to say 'you' rather than 'we'.
"It's not here," he says. "I promise you, Paula, the place just doesn't exist."
"I've been there," I say firmly.
"We've spent a week looking," he replies. "We've quadruple-checked the GPS, we used visual references from the photos you took... We did everything, and we still can't find Devil's Briar. On the exact spot where you claim this town is supposed to stand, there's nothing more than an open patch of land. It's totally barren, and there's no sign of any buildings having ever existed here. If I didn't know better, Paula, I'd be starting to think this is all part of some elaborate hoax."
"It's there," I say, getting tired of this stupidity. "You're obviously reading the maps wrong."
"Then come up here and show us," he replies. "Paula, we can't sit around here forever. We have to find the town soon, or we've got no option but to head back to Boston and write the whole thing off as a dead-end. You're the only person who can help us work out what's going on."
"I'm not coming," I tell him. "I've got a new life now. I've got a bunch of job interviews lined up. I've moved on."
"Think about Bill," Ed says. "He's still alone in Devil's Briar, right? He must be low on food by now. If we don't find the place in the next few days, he might end up starving to death. I know you're through with him, but can you really let him die?"
"Don't pull that emotional blackmail crap on me," I reply, starting to really hate Ed for the way he's continually pushing and pushing for me to help out. It's like he doesn't give a damn about the fact that I'm trying to start a new life.
"It's not emotional blackmail," he says. "It's the truth. Bill might die if we don't get to him soon, and right now, we're out of ideas. I don't know what's going wrong, but we're not having any luck finding Devil's Briar, and frankly you're our last hope. If you can get out here tomorrow, we have a chance of getting to Bill in time."
I pause for a moment. "You've been to the exact GPS coordinates I gave you?" I ask.
"Yeah."
"Then there's nothing more I can do to help you. All I can suggest is that you get a helicopter and take a bird's eye view of the whole area. Devil's Briar has to be there, Ed. You need to keep looking. A whole town doesn't just disappear."
"Remember those aerial photos I had?" he continues. "The ones that showed no sign of the place during certain periods? You were so certain that it was a mistake, but now I'm wondering -"
"If Devil's Briar has the ability to appear and disappear at random intervals?" I pause for a moment, shocked that someone as straightforward as Ed could even begin to consider some kind of superstitious nonsense. I admit that after being in Devil's Briar for a few days, I started to get a bit freaked out, but this idea of a vanishing town is something completely different. I walked through the streets of Devil's Briar, and I slept there, and I'm absolutely certain that the place exists. "Ed, listen to yourself," I continue. "You need to go over all the data, and work out where you're going wrong. Devil's Briar is out there, and I know the coordinates I gave you are correct because they're the same ones Bill and I used to find the place. So the error is in your method, and I really don't see that I can -"
"Paula, please," he says, interrupting me. "Bill's life is at stake here."
I sigh. The truth is, I know he's right. For whatever reason, Ed and the others seem to be having trouble finding Devil's Briar, and the stark reality is that Bill really might be in danger of starving if he's not picked up soon. While I'm determined to make sure that Bill's out of my life forever, there's no way I can sit back and let him die. Sure, I could stay right where I am and tell myself that it's not my problem, but then I might have to live the rest of my life knowing that I could have done more to help save the man I once loved. Despite everything we've been through, Bill remains someone who has been important in my life, and the thought of him dying alone up in Devil's Briar is just too much to take. Taking a deep breath, I realize that there's only one thing I can do.
"Fine," I say. "I'll come."
"We've made a small base in Florence," he replies. "It's a small town about -"
"I know where it is," I say. "Don't worry; I can be there tomorrow afternoon. There's only one motel in town, can you meet me there?"
"Sure thing," he says. "And Paula... Thank you."
Once the call is over, I walk over to the window and stare out at the street. I was so certain that I'd never let myself be dragged back to Devil's Briar, and now look at me: getting ready to book a flight to Colorado. I swear to God, if there was any other way to help Ed and the team find Bill, I'd do it, but the reality seems to be that I'm not free yet. Between them, Devil's Briar and Bill have conspired to create a set of circumstances that have forced me to go back to my old life. Had it not been a life and death situation, there's no way I would have given in so easily. I just hope this trip to Colorado will be quick, and that this time tomorrow I'll already be on my way home.
Chapter Three
1925
Standing by the window, my uncle looks out across the town square. He seems strangely calm, as if he has somehow anticipated that this day would come. We have been running for so long, I had almost begun to think that our past would never catch up to us; now that one part of that past has arrived in Devil's Briar, I feel myself being overcome by a feeling of blind panic. My uncle, on the other hand, seems to regard this almost as a natural development. Sometimes I feel as if he is able to anticipate events long before they happen, and at this moment it would seem that he is unsurprised by the fact that John Saxon has arrived in Devil's Briar. I can only hope, and pray, that he has some kind of plan. Otherwise, I fear that Mr. Saxon will cause untold damage, and could even derail my planned marriage to Albert Caster.
"Don't worry about any of this," my uncle says, still staring out the window. "Mr. Saxon has no problem with you, Victoria. It's me he wishes to torment, and his attempts to upset you are merely part of this overall plan."
"I am quite certain that he means business," I say. "I saw pure hatred in his eyes. The man has grown more ragged since last we saw him, but in his eyes there burns the same rage."
"That may be so," he replies, "but this hatred is aimed purely at me. I do not know how many times I must stress this point, Victoria, but Saxon's animosity is focused entirely upon my own person. Any interest he shows toward you is entirely due to his understanding that, through you, he can cause me some additional pain. I must apologize, my dear, for the fact that you face such hardship, but I can assure you that soon this ordeal will be over." He turns to me. "It is quite clear that I must now deal with Mr. Saxon once and for all. The man has plagued and followed us for many years, and I have made the mistake of thinking I could keep running. Finally, it i
s time to face this beast."
"But there is no way to make him stop," I point out. "You've tried before."
"Your wedding day will be unaffected," my uncle replies firmly. "Do you honestly think that I would allow a man such as John Saxon to affect the wedding of my niece? I will do everything in my power to ensure that this day goes perfectly for you, and I'm sure that by now you are aware that my power extends very far indeed." Walking toward me, he smiles and kisses my forehead. "Victoria, your happiness is by far the most important thing in my life. I would do anything to ensure that you are able to marry the man you love." He pauses for a moment. "You know that I would give my life to guarantee your prosperity, do you not?"
"I do," I tell him. "And I feel the same about you." It's true. My love for my uncle is pure and true, and there is nothing I would not do in order to ensure that he prospers in this world. Together, we have wandered across more than half of America, moving from town to town as his experiments drew increasing resistance from superstitious and fearful communities. Yet despite all of these problems, I have remained absolutely convinced that my uncle's work is of vital importance to the future of the world, and I do not doubt that one day he will achieve the results he needs in order to take his ideas to the wider scientific community. There will come a time when my uncle is seen as the natural heir to Tesla's reputation.
"Here's what you will do," he says. "You will continue with your day as if nothing extraordinary has happened. You will prepare for your wedding, you will put on your dress, and you will marry Albert Caster. While you are doing all these things, I will be working to ensure that John Saxon poses no threat to either of us. If there is one thing you have learned over the years, Victoria, it is surely that you can trust me when I make a promise to you."
