Danger in Time

by Flowers, R. Barri

  Obviously Brooke was as her older sister.

  “Yeah, we were just acting out our parts.” Rachel tried to keep her voice level. “I can’t believe you fell for it.”

  He chuckled tonelessly. “I didn’t—not exactly. I was starting to worry that you really believed what you were saying.”

  “Time travel...a long lost sister?” Rachel batted her lashes as if the notion were ludicrous. “Yeah, right. Give me some credit for being a sixteen-year-old with a lot of imagination and creativity.”

  “Guess I’d forgotten just how imaginative and creative you could be.” Edwin smiled at her. “I feel a lot better now. I’m sure Virginia does, too.”

  Virginia stared at Brooke. “So who is your friend?” she asked suspiciously. “And why haven’t we met her before?”

  “I just moved here recently,” Brooke responded quickly. Like an hour ago.

  “Who are your parents?” Virginia probed.

  “My mom’s dead.” Brooke winced at the thought of that truth, even as she made up the rest of her story. “My dad’s a businessman. He travels a lot.”

  Virginia leaned forward. “And Rachel met you where?”

  “It was at the...”

  “Round The Clock Pizza,” Rachel said, picking up the story from there, feeling as if they could finish each other’s sentences as sisters who were always close. She saw no reason for that to change. Especially now.

  Edwin put a satisfied look on his face. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Brooke.”

  “Same here.” Brooke twisted her lips into an awkward smile.

  I’ve known you all my life, Dad. Maybe someday you’ll remember who I am and what fun we used to have as a family when mom was alive.

  “Will you be joining us for dinner?” he asked.

  Brooke glanced at Rachel and back. “Only if it wouldn’t be too much trouble.” Not like I have anywhere else to go. Or anything to do.

  “I’m sure Virginia can handle one extra mouth to feed.” Edwin turned to his wife.

  “You’re welcome to stay, if you like,” Virginia went along with it. “I’ll go re-heat the food.”

  Edwin’s eyes crinkled. “In that case, I guess this meeting is adjourned.”

  It was all Brooke could do not to run up and give him a long hug, having taken her dad for granted as being a major part of her life, even if they didn’t always see eye to eye. Now she would give anything to have him see her for who she really was instead of a stranger. That would have to wait till another time.

  For now, she would have to get used to not identifying him as her father while she tried to navigate through her new life in 2011.

  * * *

  “I’d like Brooke to spend the summer with us,” Rachel announced at the table. After all, this was as much Brooke’s home as hers. Besides, the idea of her big sister coming to the future only to be tossed out on the street was appalling.

  Virginia raised her eyebrows. “Since when have you wanted any of your friends to spend the whole summer here?”

  “It wouldn’t be for the whole summer,” Rachel pointed out, “since part of it is already gone. We’ve become pretty close and I think it would be fun. Almost like real sisters.”

  Edwin looked at Brooke. “What does your father have to say about it, Brooke?” he asked her. “Or haven’t you asked him yet?”

  Brooke moved her fork around the plate aimlessly. “I’m sure he won’t have a problem with it,” she said, trying to sound confident. “He’s not even home most of the time and I’m there all by myself. It can get pretty lonely sometimes without my mom around.” She bit back the pain of knowing her mother’s fate eight years ago.

  “Please say yes, Dad.” Rachel hoped they didn’t pry too much into Brooke’s make believe life. “My room’s big enough for both of us. Brooke can sleep with me or use my sleeping bag if she wants.”

  Or vice versa. Rachel would gladly give up the bed to her sister. All she wanted was for Brooke to feel as much at home as possible, knowing there was no turning back now for either of them. At least she assumed that to be the case. Even if it were possible within the power of the clockwatch and Sisters of Time to return Brooke to 2001, why would they ever take that risk knowing the likely outcome?

  Edwin dabbed a napkin to his lips. “Have you forgotten that Virginia and I are going to Cancun next week and Nana is coming here to look after you? Two teenagers might be more than she can handle at her age.”

  With all that had happened, Rachel had practically forgotten her dad and stepmom’s plans, including Nana’s visit. So not everything had changed after the journey Rachel took into her history.

  “I won’t be any trouble for her,” Brooke promised. She looked forward to seeing her grandmother again, even if Nana wouldn’t recognize her. Brooke tried to imagine surviving in a new century as a homeless teen. The thought was frightening, though still better than being run down by a car.

  Or abducted and murdered.

  “Nana would think it’s a great idea,” Rachel stated boldly. “She always tells me I should be more assertive in standing up for myself. So I’m trying to be.”

  Edwin grinned. “That you are—and I’m proud of you for that, even if we didn’t even know Brooke was your friend before today. Tell you what, when Nana arrives, if she’s up to it, Brooke can stay here till we get back. After that, we’ll see. Fair enough?”

  Both girls silently breathed a sigh of relief. They had dodged one major predicament and bought some time. Using that time to help Brooke adapt to a world in which, technically speaking, she didn’t exist anymore could be even more of a challenge.

  * * *

  That night Brooke and Rachel shared the same bed in a room that belonged to both of them, albeit in different times. Rachel was sure the adjustment would be bigger for Brooke who, after all, had been displaced by ten years and now found herself motherless and essentially fatherless.

  “Are you asleep?” Rachel whispered.

  “No.” Brooke turned her way. “I was just thinking about mom. Maybe it was a mistake to leave when she was just starting to battle the cancer.”

  “It’s what she wanted, Brooke,” Rachel reminded her. “Giving up your life would not have made mom’s situation any better.”

  “But you came and stopped it from happening—twice. Maybe the Grim Reaper would’ve gone after someone else and I could have been there to help take care of her.”

  “Mom wasn’t willing to take that chance,” Rachel said. “Neither was I. The Sisters of Time must have had something in mind by sending me to your rescue. This has to be it. They wanted you to live beyond age sixteen to fulfill your destiny, whatever that may be.” Or it certainly seemed that way to Rachel. She wouldn’t argue with the results in having her sister back again, even if they were now the same age.

  Brooke sighed. “I suppose. Still, is my being alive in 2011 really worth surviving when dad thinks I’m some other man’s wayward daughter and my new stepmom looks at me like I’m somehow trying to muscle in on her cozy little family?”

  “The important thing is we’re there for each other,” Rachel stressed. “Even though it’s going to be a little strange being the same age as you.”

  “At least you’re not ten years older than me now.” Brooke chuckled, though the idea was unsettling.

  Rachel held her hand. “We’ll make this work, I know it.”

  Brooke wished she could feel as certain. “All my friends are older now and probably married with babies, husbands...even divorces, and probably all moved away to who knows where. I won’t know anyone in school, but you. And that’s assuming they even let me go to Lake Melrose High at twenty-six-and-a-half with no history to speak of.”

  “You’re still sixteen, Brooke,” Rachel reminded her, “and you can make new friends. In this case, it’s probably better that no one will remember you. That way you can start off with a clean slate and won’t be gawked at as the remarkable girl who traveled through time without aging.”
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  “I suppose you’re right. Otherwise we’d both have some serious explaining to do, and look how far that’s gotten us.”

  “Not as far as I would’ve liked, that’s for sure.” Rachel frowned. “Given the alternative, I’d take this any day.”

  “Me, too,” Brooke agreed. She really was thankful her life had been spared, even if not quite sure how it happened or why. The strange clockwatch and the Sisters of Time—assuming they even existed—were somehow able to do the impossible.

  Who was she to question it? She would just take one day at a time and see what fate had planned for her in 2011 and beyond.

  Rachel wondered if the worst was truly over in rescuing Brooke from harm’s way. Maybe this had been Octavia and Angelina’s plan all along. Or had they somehow gone against the laws of time by using the clockwatch to bring Brooke to a future where she didn’t belong?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  The Fourth of July fireworks took place by the lake. Duncan had driven there with Rachel and Brooke, promising Rachel’s dad he would return them home by eleven-thirty. As they walked around the carnival atmosphere surrounding the fireworks display, Duncan couldn’t believe how much Brooke looked like Rachel. Or vice versa.

  Brooke Crane was hot—especially in Rachel’s clothes. He liked her hair, which was maybe a shade darker than Rachel’s without the bangs. He was sure all the guys at school would be after her. They would have no idea that she was really born twenty-six years ago.

  Rachel had phoned him yesterday with the details of her incredible time travel journey, including bringing Brooke back with her and how Rachel’s dad didn’t recognize Brooke as his daughter. The whole thing fascinated Duncan as well as concerned him. He was still trying to figure out the Sisters of Time and why they were messing around with history, Rachel, and Brooke.

  They bought some food and sat on a bench waiting for the fireworks to begin.

  Brooke thought Duncan was cute, though not exactly her type. She was happy that he seemed to really care for Rachel, who obviously liked him a lot.

  I wonder if I’ll meet a cute guy in this new time. If so, will I be able to tell him the truth about me without scaring him off?

  Brooke thought about Dennis Farrell and how he’d tried to get her into his car. She wondered what she had ever seen in that jerk. She wouldn’t be surprised if he was in jail now. Or worse.

  Maybe the same could be said of Travis Pickett. Or was he innocent of trying to abduct her ten years ago?

  * * *

  Rachel was glad she could confide in Duncan, considering her dad and Virginia were totally out of the loop as far as her ability to travel in time and rewrite history along the way. Including saving Brooke’s life and bringing her to safety in the future.

  Rachel had put the clockwatch away, not wanting Angelina and Octavia to think they could just whisk her and Brooke anywhere and to any time. Right now, Rachel’s main goal was to do whatever she could to make Brooke feel she belonged here and still had a family. Admittedly, it would still take a lot of work on both counts.

  “So what was it like traveling through time?” Duncan interrupted her thoughts.

  Rachel looked up from her chicken enchilada. “There weren’t flashing lights or anything, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  “Somehow I didn’t think so.” He grinned and took a bite of his corndog. “But you must’ve experienced something amazing, aside from feeling lightheaded?”

  Rachel wrinkled her nose. “It’s kind of hard to explain—but yes, it’s definitely an incredible feeling. Maybe like floating on air.”

  “Awesome.” Duncan wished the opportunity would come his way. He’d take the challenge in a Lake Melrose second.

  “I could hear my heart pounding like you wouldn’t believe,” Brooke admitted. “Other than that, and a feeling like the earth was moving under me, there was really nothing to it. So long as you don’t count the fact that I’m now in 2011 and have lost ten years of my life.”

  “Maybe you can get them back,” Duncan suggested.

  “How?” Brooke cocked a brow. “They’re history now.”

  He shrugged. “I have no idea, really. But since you’re here and alive against all odds or rationale, it means nothing is out of bounds anymore.”

  “Duncan’s got a good point,” Rachel said. “If I’d been told just over a week ago that I would be sitting next to my dead sister on the 4th of July, I would’ve thought it was utterly ridiculous and impossible. But here we are.”

  Brooke laughed, thinking it was funny in an odd way. “Yeah, and I never imagined in a million—make that billion—years that my kid sister would swoop back in time, save me twice, and bring me to the future where we’re now living life at the same age. So I guess anything is possible.”

  Even so, Brooke was certainly not getting her hopes up for recapturing years she had never lived, no matter how incredible this entire thing had been. Nor was she sure she wanted to suddenly become twenty-six, if she had no memory of the past ten years.

  In the meantime, she had to play catch up on all that had happened over the last decade. Or she would be further left in limbo.

  Something weird suddenly happened to Duncan. “You won’t believe this, but I think I remember—” He put his hand on Rachel’s shoulder.

  She looked at him. “Remember what?”

  “You...at the mall that day—” He concentrated hard, finding it scary and exciting at the same time. “I was hanging out with my buddies when you came in with your mom. I remember looking at you—you had your hair in a ponytail—and waving.”

  Rachel put a hand to her mouth in total shock. She hadn’t told Duncan about the second time she saw him in the past and definitely hadn’t talked about tying hair up to keep it out of her face during the journey. “How is that possible? I mean, didn’t that happen after you had already moved past that point in your life or something? Or am I making any sense?”

  “I don’t know,” Duncan said truthfully to all her questions. “I’m just as baffled as you. But you were there in my past, which became part of your past. Guess the moment of trying to impress my friends just registered somehow. Bizarre, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, it is,” Rachel agreed. “Especially since my dad and stepmom have lost all memory of Brooke and that time in our lives because of my history altering journey.”

  She looked guiltily at Brooke, who offered her a faint smile. “It’s all right. You had no idea that would happen. Besides, we didn’t have a whole lot of options at the time with a big target on my back.”

  “True.” Rachel was glad to have Brooke in her life again, even under the most peculiar circumstances. The fact their dad was missing out was not her fault. All she could do was hope he learned to eventually accept Brooke as something akin to a daughter. It would be even better if his memories of her were to return completely.

  “Seems like there’s nothing about time that’s constant,” Duncan remarked. “Even when it’s disrupted, some things change, others remain the same. Recollections come and go, depending on the person and situation. Strange.”

  Rachel stiffened. “I wonder how much of this is being controlled by the Sisters of Time and what’s totally out of their hands or ours?”

  Brooke asked herself the same questions. It took a lot to believe these fabled sisters were so powerful so as to be able to manipulate time and space through some clockwatch. But she was living proof that out-of-this-world forces were at work in engineering what had happened. And, right now, she didn’t have a better explanation.

  “We might never know what they were thinking,” Brooke said of the Sisters of Time.

  Duncan told them about his further research on Octavia and Angelina. “They may not be through with you yet,” he cautioned Brooke. There was no telling what other tricks the Sisters of Time might have up their sleeves now that they had their attention in a big way.

  “You mean you think this isn’t over?” Brooke stared at him, ill at ease.


  He shrugged. “Who’s to say? Maybe because they saved you, they’re going to expect something in return.”

  “Such as?” Rachel wondered.

  Duncan hadn’t thought it through, but had a possibility nonetheless. “Well, could be one of you or both of you will be called upon to rescue someone else or prevent a disaster or something.” And maybe he could tag along to try and keep them out of trouble.

  Brooke made a face. “You’re kidding, right? We’re just two sixteen-year-old girls—or one disguised as sixteen but actually twenty-six since my birth date. I can’t imagine anyone expecting us to become time travelers to alter world events, historical or otherwise.”

  “From what I read, they’re more concerned about saving individuals from mistakes in time that could make a difference later,” Duncan said. “I’m definitely not an authority on time travel, goddesses, or magical antique clockwatches, but there might be more to this whole thing than meets the eye.”

  “Or maybe not.” Rachel met his eyes. “Seems to me stopping Brooke from being killed twice and bringing her ten years into the future is probably all the time travel drama that was expected of us. At least I hope so. Not sure I’d ever want to go through that experience again.”

  “Me either,” seconded Brooke, though it had saved her life. She hadn’t traveled back and forth twice like Rachel, but had gone through the same emotional ups and downs as a result. And paid just as high a price, if not more, in losing part of herself forever.

  “Maybe Angelina and Octavia saw in their crystal ball that Brooke Crane would one day become the first female President of the United States,” Duncan said, half kidding.

  Brooke chuckled humorlessly. “I doubt that. I’m not really into politics.”

  “People can change, Brooke,” he told her. “Especially when destiny intervenes in their lives.”

  “I think I’d much rather become the next Oprah.” Brooke looked at her sister. “She is still on the air, isn’t she?”

  “Yeah, but she’s got her own network now,” Rachel informed her. “Who’s to say you can’t follow in Oprah’s footsteps?”