Stones of Time

by Andreas Oertel

  “It all makes sense now,” I said. “If the people who used the wormhole made accurate calculations, the wormhole on this end will begin to close when the days start getting shorter, right after the solstice.”

  Eric added, “So maybe we can still make it out of here.”

  “We must make it out of here today,” Anna said. “We will not get a second chance tomorrow.”

  “We need to find Rachel,” I said, “and get to the pillars.” I pulled my wristwatch from my pocket and studied the dials. “My guess is we’ve got about an hour before the solstice.”

  My heart was pounding so loudly I could hardly think straight. We needed to move!

  “Let’s get the backpacks,” Eric said, “and head for the stones.”

  Suddenly we heard a commotion by the canoes. Ghost-Keeper took a few steps and looked around one of the many tent corners. He grinned from ear to ear, and headed for the riverbank.

  “Now what?” Eric asked.

  The three of us followed the storyteller. A dozen Cree were lined up along the bank, yelling and waving at three approaching canoes. I saw the chief walking toward all the action, and I don’t know why, but he didn’t look happy. He pushed a few teenagers out of his way and then barked orders, which people seemed to ignore.

  “Stop!” I hissed.

  Eric froze in front of me and Anna bumped into my back.

  “Someone’s coming from downriver,” I said.

  Anna pushed past me so she could see. “It must be the trading party returning.”

  “Perfect,” I said.

  “Why is that perfect?” Anna asked.

  Eric laughed. “Because this is a terrific diversion. Everyone will be distracted with the return of the traders down by the water, and we can slip away.”

  We walked to the teepee and collected our gear. We tried hard to make it look like we were not in a hurry as we walked away from the camp. I felt bad not saying goodbye, but we needed them to think we were just going for a walk. If the chief suspected we had figured out a way home, he might send his men to stop us.

  When we were back in the bush and out of sight of the camp, we started hustling.

  “I sure hope Rachel and Léon are still at the stones,” Anna said, trying to catch her breath.

  I slowed down a bit too. “Don’t worry,” I said, trying to sound confident. “We’re all going home together.”

  Anna offered to carry Eric’s backpack for a while, and he accepted. He slipped it off his shoulders and passed it to her without stopping. Ten minutes later, we switched again. I shuffled my backpack off, letting Eric bounce with it through the forest.

  My heart wasn’t just beating fast because of the quick pace. There was still a chance that we hadn’t interpreted the symbols correctly. Or that we had already missed whatever astrological event was supposed to send us home.

  The thought of never seeing Sultana again—my Sultana—was unbearable. I already missed my parents, and my bed, and spying on Dr. Murray, and … and everything, really. We had to find Rachel, and we had to get home. The feeling of panic and my desire to leave gave me a fresh burst of energy. I picked up my tired feet and continued slogging toward the ancient stones.

  Another five minutes later, Eric blurted, “We made it!” He kept jogging until he was at the centre of the petroform.

  Anna followed him and threw her pack on the ground next to his. I examined the shadows around the stones, but it was hard to tell if we had missed the solstice or not.

  This was cutting it way too close, I thought.

  “Rats!” Anna said. “They are not here!”

  Rachel hadn’t been anywhere on the path, so she should have been here. But she wasn’t.

  “RACHEL!” Eric screamed.

  I cupped my hands around my mouth and joined him. “RACHEL! IT’S TIME TO GO!”

  Silence.

  I looked at the sun. Was it at its zenith?

  “What should we do?” Anna asked.

  Panic was taking a firm hold of me now.

  “We’re not leaving without her,” Eric said.

  “I know,” I said, “but we have to figure something out.”

  “Hey, there’s Léon,” Eric said, pointing toward the south.

  I searched for a glimpse of a smaller figure next to him—but he was alone.

  We rushed to meet him as he walked toward us.

  “Where is she?” I demanded. We didn’t have time for polite small talk—we had to find Rachel.

  He didn’t even bother asking us why we were back at the stones. “She has travelled through zee stones,” he said.

  “And why would she do that?” Eric challenged.

  “We were looking at some of zee symbols on zee stones and … and we discovered a way for you all to return home today.” I watched a bead of sweat run down Léon’s agitated face.

  Anna said what we were all thinking. “That does not sound like Rachel.”

  Léon’s eyes darted all over like he was watching a Ping-Pong game. “Rachel wanted me to fetch you … to send you through after ’er. Come, you must hurry. The time will run out soon.”

  “I do not believe you,” Anna snapped.

  “You’re a liar,” Eric shouted.

  “Non,” Léon said. “You must get into position now!”

  I glanced up at the sun high above us, and my heart sank. We only had a few minutes left to make a decision—leave without Rachel, and hope Léon was telling the truth, or look for Rachel and risk missing our chance altogether.

  Léon wiped his sweaty face and tried to compose himself. “Please. You must follow Rachel and go ’ome.”

  “Sure, sure,” Eric said. “You just want to get rid of us three.”

  This was nuts! We didn’t have time for a stupid debate.

  And then I had an idea.

  “Okay,” I said, trying hard to sound friendly. “You’re right. We’d better follow Rachel. We were just nervous because we didn’t want to abandon her here. That’s all.”

  I hoped I knew what I was doing.

  CHAPTER

  11

  LÉON GAVE US a smile that I knew was phony.

  I whispered in Anna’s ear, “Count to ten and have a tantrum. After I take care of him, we’ll spread out, find Rachel, then meet back here at the stones.”

  Anna looked at me like I was nuts.

  “Okay,” I said to Léon, before Anna could argue with me. “Let’s do this.”

  He paused, gave me a suspicious look and said, “I think you should be the first to go.” Léon pointed to the centre of the petroform.

  Uh-oh! I think he’s on to me. I took a few steps, then Anna yelled, “I AM NOT GOING ANYWHERE!”

  Léon spun around and stared at Anna.

  “You do not ’ave a choice.” Léon said. He reached out, like he was going to push Anna into the centre—into the wormhole.

  But I was ready.

  With every ounce of strength I could muster, I jumped in the air and gave him a vicious karate chop across the back of the neck—just like in the movies. WHACK! Only he didn’t collapse onto his face like in the movies. I mean, sure he fell to his knees from the force of the blow, but he wasn’t unconscious. He stood up slowly and gave me his creepiest smile yet—a smile that said “now you really made me mad.”

  Eric said, “Uh-oh!”

  “RUN!” I screamed. “Stick to the plan!”

  Eric and Anna bolted for the trees on the west side of the petroform. I ran into the woods on the east. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Léon begin loping after me. I was pretty sure he had lied about Rachel travelling through the wormhole, which meant she had to be around the petroforms somewhere. But where? I figured we had about five minutes to find her before … Well, you know.

  Zigzagging left and right, I raced around the site, trying to lose Léon while trying to find Rachel at the same time. I ducked behind a tree and peeked around it. I’d lost him. He was nowhere in sight. Maybe my blow to his head had slowed hi
m down after all.

  I ran ahead, calling her name as loudly as I dared. “RACHEL!”

  We had to bring her home. It wouldn’t be right to leave her behind. But if we didn’t find her … could we risk staying behind? And what if Léon was tell-ing the truth?

  “RACHEL!” I heard Anna’s voice. “WHERE ARE YOU?”

  We were seriously running out of time.

  KA-KAWWW! A raven called out somewhere ahead of me.

  Come on, Rachel, where are you?

  The stupid raven cried out again. KA-KAWWW!

  Was that a warning call? Was it trying to tell me something? I tore through the forest in the direction of the eerie bird noise. Branches scratched at my face and arms as I bolted toward the raven.

  Rachel! I stopped dead in my tracks. She was lying behind a fallen tree. Her arms and legs were bound with a short length of homemade rope, and she had a leather gag in her mouth.

  “SHE’S OVER HERE!” I bellowed, not caring anymore about stupid Léon.

  I gently pulled the gag from her mouth. She was shaking, but still managed to talk. “I was so worried you guys would leave without me,” she whispered. “I thought I would be stuck here, with him, forever.”

  “We wouldn’t leave without you, Rach,” I assured her.

  Eric crashed through the trees. He froze when he saw Rachel, but then moved to help me untie the rope around her arms and legs. Together we assisted her to her feet and got her moving back in the direction of the pillars.

  Anna found us halfway. “Where is he?” she said.

  “He was chasing me,” I said, “but I think I lost him.”

  “If we’re lucky,” Eric said, trying to catch his breath, “he tripped on a log and bashed his head.”

  “And if we are unlucky,” Anna said, “he has run back to camp to fetch more men.”

  “We have to get in that wormhole before they come back,” I said.

  At the stones, we stuck to the original plan to send Anna and Rachel through first. Anna kept an arm around a still-shaky Rachel to steady her, while Eric and I waited for the shortcut to the future to open up.

  “He knew we were going to try to leave today,” Rachel said, sounding almost like herself again. “He wanted Anna and you guys to leave, but he wanted me to stay. He said I reminded him of Elyse, his sister.”

  “Yes,” Anna said, “but it is going to be okay now. We will all be home soon.”

  “What a sneak,” Eric said, pacing around the girls. “What a dirty rat.”

  The four of us waited for the sun to reach its zenith.

  A minute passed.

  And then another.

  “Please work this time,” Rachel mumbled. “Please take us home.”

  Thirty more seconds.

  “Did you hear that?” Eric asked.

  “Shhh!” Rachel hissed.

  This time we all heard it. It started like it had done in the cemetery, when Rachel vanished—with the faint sound of electricity. First a few quiet static snaps, like wires touching a car battery, and then louder charges, like from a lightning strike …

  And then they were gone. It was like someone took a movie screen and pushed the top and bottom together, while a movie was still playing. The girls collapsed into a single point of light and then vanished.

  Eric pumped his fist into the air. “Excellent!”

  “Thank goodness,” I said. “Now it’s our turn.”

  But before I could step into the centre, where Anna and Rachel had been, two powerful arms yanked me backward. I spun around and stared up into the face of a furious-looking Léon Leblanc.

  I glanced beside me for Eric, but he had his own problems. Two young men held his arms and he wasn’t going anywhere either.

  “Let me go!” I yelled. “We want to leave!”

  “Zee chief will decide your fate,” Léon snarled.

  “That’ll take too long, you idiot!” Eric screamed. “Let go of us right now. We’re running out of time.”

  “I would ’ave let you three leave,” Léon said. “I only wanted Rachel to stay.”

  Suddenly we heard a mob of people coming from the direction of the camp. First the pounding of feet reached us, followed by excited talking. The chief and what looked like the rest of the camp had followed us to the pillars. Most of the Cree stayed away from the triangle formed by the three stones. But the chief and several men walked right up to us.

  Léon shook his head. “For years I prayed my little sister was well. Elyse was zee only person I truly missed from my old life. Zen when Rachel arrived … well, it was like I ’ad my little sister back. I was so ’appy she was sent ’ere …”

  “No one sent her, you dummy,” Eric said. “We told you, everything was an accident. And we’re only here to bring the girls back.”

  “Do not lie to me!” Léon screamed.

  That didn’t sound good at all.

  A large Cree man we didn’t recognize stepped forward and spoke to the chief. He must have been away on one of the hunting parties. He had twice as many bear claws and decorations adorning his body as the chief. I blinked and realized: this was the real chief. Raven-Feather may have been a backup chief, or an assistant chief, but this guy was the actual chief.

  Barks-Like-An-Otter pushed her way through the small crowd and ran to the large man. He scooped her up with one powerful arm and hugged her close. Barks-Like-An-Otter pointed a finger at Eric, and then at me, and started jabbering in Cree. The man’s eyes widened, and he gave her a tight hug before he set her down on the grass again.

  Léon began sweating like crazy and tried to get the attention of the men near him. But before he could finish whatever he wanted to say, the chief shouted at the men holding Eric.

  They immediately let go of his wrists and backed off.

  Léon started to whine, but the chief pushed him away from me. Then the chief grabbed both of my shoulders and held me at arm’s length. He stared at me for a few seconds, yanked me close, and gave me a bear hug that squeezed the air from my lungs.

  Léon continued complaining in Cree, but no one paid him any attention.

  The chief pointed at Barks-Like-An-Otter (she was obviously his daughter) and bobbed his head repeatedly while mumbling to me in Cree. I had no idea what he was saying, but it seemed like he was thanking me. He took three giant strides backward and indicated with his hands that we were free to leave through the stones if we wanted to.

  Yes, we wanted to.

  I was ecstatic! I could have given everyone there—except Léon, of course—a hug. I was that relieved. But we didn’t have a second to spare. We needed to dive into that wormhole before it slammed shut again. I nodded my thanks to the chief, gave everyone a quick goodbye wave and joined Eric in the centre of the pillars.

  I glanced at the sky, hoping the sun was still at its max. My legs threatened to collapse under me.

  Were we too late?

  “Wait!” I heard Eric say. “I think it’s …”

  I turned to face him, but he had already started to vanish. Something pulled and twisted at my body, and then I spiralled down a void until I either blacked out or fell asleep—I’m not really sure which.

  •

  “Cody!” a voice said.

  “Come on, wake up.” A different voice now, with a pleasant German accent. Here we go again, I thought.

  “Hey, we made it!” That was definitely Eric.

  I turned my head and groaned. “Are we back in Sultana?”

  “Yup,” Eric said. “And now it’s time to tell Bruno the good news.”

  I finally opened my eyes. Eric, Rachel, and Anna were on their knees, smiling down at me. The sun was still high in the sky, and I guessed it was late afternoon. I sat up and looked around quickly. Pillars, gravestones, trees, grass—excellent! I smiled. We were in Sultana.

  I dug out Bruno’s cell phone, turned it on and waited for the time and day to appear.

  “What day was it,” I said, “when we fell into the wormhole here
?”

  “Tuesday,” Rachel said.

  Anna nodded.

  “Then we’ve got a problem,” I said. “A big problem. It’s Thursday now.” I showed everyone the display.

  Eric scratched his head. “How the heck are we going to explain where we were for two days?”

  “We could be honest,” Anna said, “and tell the world what we have experienced.”

  “Nobody is going to believe us,” Rachel said, “except your dad, of course.”

  We debated our options for a few more minutes, but no one had any new ideas.

  Finally, I said, “Why don’t I call home and see what’s going on?”

  “Might as well get it over with,” Eric said.

  I dialled my house, and after one ring my mom answered.

  “Hi, Mom,” I said. “It’s me. We’re back.”

  “Oh, thank heavens,” she cried. “We were all so worried about you kids. Did you find that girl?”

  “Uhhm, yes.”

  “That’s tremendous, Cody. Dr. Wassler told us all about it. I’m so proud of you and Eric and Rachel for helping search the forest for her. I just wish you would have called first. Your father is furious. We never imagined you’d get lost too. You can just be thankful the nights are warm.”

  “Yeah, I am,” I mumbled.

  “Search parties are still out looking for you,” she rambled. “And you know what? They never found a trace. It was like you all just vanished. It was horrible for me and Mrs. Summers. Anyway, Dr. Wassler is right here. Hold on …”

  A few seconds later, Bruno was on the phone. “I am so very pleased to hear you are back,” he said, fighting to control his emotions.

  “And we’re all happy to be back,” I said, assuring him Anna was with me too.

  “Thank you again,” he said (much louder than he needed to, by the way), “for searching the forest for my daughter when she wandered away from the cemetery and got lost.”

  I was starting to catch on now, so I said, “You never told anyone about the stones, eh?”

  “That is correct. We will drive over to the cemetery now to pick you all up.” He laughed awkwardly, and then added, “Be prepared to answer many questions.”

  My friends had been leaning in, attempting to hear what was happening on the other end of the line.