Inherit the Past

by Susan Finlay

  In a short time Tobias came back and sat next to Max. Max said, “Seems like there were more people here when I first came inside.”

  “You’re right. Gunter, Wilhem, and Ulla must have gone home. Tante Lotte said we’re going to have a family meeting soon. Well, your family is. I don’t know about Mom, Tante Lotte, and me.”

  “Who was Ulla, again?” Max asked. “Too many people to keep track of around here.”

  Tobias laughed. “She’s Konrad’s betrothed. I guess that will make her your sister-in-law. I don’t know if that’s what they call them, though. She lives at a farm near here.”

  Max filed that information away and continued to organize faces with names in his head. Commotion in the room drew Max’s attention. His mother and the two teen girls had come in from the kitchen. Monika walked over and stood near Max, but glanced toward the stairs. Max turned and saw Sofie and Lotte standing partway up the stairs, looking down at the living room, uncertainty written on their faces. He glanced back at his mother, who motioned for the women to come down and join them. Gerhard and one of his sons got up and returned with the wooden bench from around the kitchen table. Max looked around, feeling suddenly at odds.

  He compensated by standing up and giving a lopsided smile, making the women break into laughter, which defused the moment for him. Ryan and the two boys, whom Max now realized were his own half-brothers and Ryan’s uncles, sat down on the benches. Monika, Lotte, Anneliese, Gerhard, and Karl sat in the remaining chairs.

  Max eased himself down onto the rug near the fireplace and Tobias sat next to him, cross-legged. Sofie walked over to them.

  “Mom, come sit next to us,” Tobias said, patting the floor. She slowly sat down on the rug, then glanced shyly over at Max.

  Max’s heart pounded with nervous hope, like a teenager getting ready to ask a girl out on a date for the first time.

  Summoning nerve, Max leaned over Tobias and whispered in Sofie’s ear. “I’ve been thinking, and we really need to talk. Tonight or tomorrow, okay?”

  She stiffened and didn’t respond. Max’s heart sank, but he had to try again. “Won’t you talk to me? Please.”

  Sofie let out her breath slowly, and Max waited, hoping she would give in. Finally, pushing wisps of hair out of her eye, she smiled tentatively and whispered, “Yes, as long as you promise not to keep disappearing.”

  “Deal,” Max said.

  Monika began speaking to the room, in German, leaving Max desperate to figure out what was happening. Recognizing only a few words, now and then, he mostly watched people’s reactions, and listened to their tones of voice when they spoke.

  He whispered to Sofie, “I sure wish I had a magic translator. It sounds like this is quite an interesting ‘discussion’. You wouldn’t want to help me out here, would you?”

  Sofie smiled, and whispered, “I expect you are getting the gist of it just fine.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  “YOU ARE FROM the future?” Hanna asked in a shrill voice. “You cannot be serious.” Her eyes were wide with disbelief. “All of you?” She looked around the room, at Karl, Lotte, Anneliese, Ryan, Tobias, Sofie, and Max.

  “They are,” Monika said. “So am I, in a way. It is all rather complicated. My mother was transported to the future and she lived more of her life there than here. Birgitta was my mother’s sister and makes her my aunt.”

  Monika paused, watching her family as they tried to comprehend what she was telling them. She saw that Hanna’s expression was mirrored in the rest of her family’s faces. Even Sofie and Tobias looked stunned.

  Max tugged on Sofie’s sleeve. She turned and whispered something to him. Monika couldn’t hear, but assumed she’d said she would tell him later.

  “My father and Sofie’s grandfather were from the twenty-first century,” Monika said, “but they time traveled to this century sixty years ago. They got separated and only my father made it back to his time. A young woman, Margrit, accidentally followed him and ended up there, too. After that, he married her and they had me. Sofie’s grandfather eventually found a way back, but years later, as far as I know. We don’t know if we have created some sort of time paradox or not.”

  Konrad asked, “A what? What is a time par-a-dox?”

  “Well, in the future, there is speculation regarding time travel. No one knows for sure that it is possible, well, except for those of us who have been lucky, or unlucky, to have experienced it. A very famous scientist, Albert Einstein, not born yet, believed it was possible. He did research on the subject, but most people believe it is just fiction.”

  Monika’s children gaped at her as if she’d lost her mind.

  She hesitated, nearly losing her nerve. She took a deep breath and continued. “Anyway, there has been much discussion about whether time travel would create problems in history or in people’s lives. For instance, if you travel back in time and kill your grandfather before your father was even born, then you would never be born, so how could you go back in time and kill him?”

  Hanna looked at Gerhard. “Papa, what is wrong with her?”

  Gerhard clinched his jaw and glared at Hanna. “Do not be disrespectful to your mutter.”

  “But—”

  “Hanna. Your mutter speaks the truth. She told me about this when we first met nearly twenty years ago. When she showed me a photograph of her family, I knew it to be true. We burned it. We could not take the chance of it getting into the wrong hands.”

  “What is a photograph?” Henrik asked, his eyes wide with interest.

  “It is a piece of paper with the likenesses of people imprinted on it. Not simply a painting or drawing, but exact likenesses,” Gerhard said. “Most amazing, really, but one would be condemned as a witch if they possessed something like that here.”

  Monika felt dizzy. She couldn’t believe she was really having this discussion with her family. Her heart pounded in a haphazard fashion and she thought she might pass out.

  “So this is true?” Sigrid said, sounding disbelieving and impressed at the same time.

  “I am afraid so,” Monika said. She felt faint, yet forced herself to continue. “It is a burden for us all. I wanted to tell you, but our family could be in grave danger if this was known by others. I could be imprisoned or murdered. Do you understand? You must not speak of this with anyone, is that clear? Not even to Ulla, Gunter, and Wilhelm.”

  “What does it all mean?” Henrik asked thoughtfully. “Are ‘we’ then from this time or from the future?”

  “Well, I guess you are somewhat like me, having family in and from both centuries.”

  “Then in which century do we really belong?” Konrad asked.

  “I cannot answer that for certain.” She had asked herself that question on many occasions. She knew that she would soon have to discuss this same question with Max, and she was dreading that. “But for you, my children and my husband, you were all born here and lived your lives here. I think your lives are here.”

  Pausing to let that soak in for a moment, Monika continued, “One very difficult question that people in the future ask is: ‘Can you change history if you time travel into the past?’ No one knows the answer, and that makes this even more complicated.”

  Sofie said, “I don’t want to make things more confusing, but there is another theory that says if someone were to time travel, they would create an alternate time line, and alternate universe.”

  Monika nodded and said, “I can see that might happen,” but she worried that this conversation was already too much for her eighteenth century audience to fathom without more confusing theories.

  “I can understand why you kept this from us,” Hanna said, “but why could you not tell us about your other family?”

  “How could I?” Monika asked. “How could I explain leaving them? You would have thought me immoral and I could not bear that. Please do not hate me for this.”

  “Oh, Mutter,” Sigrid said. “We could never hate you.”

  All four
children got up and went to their mother and hugged her tightly, and Monika felt a huge wave of relief.

  When they sat back down, Hanna looked at Max, and then at her mother.

  “So Max is our brother?” Hanna said. “And we have another sister, too?”

  Monika nodded. “Max is your half-brother and his sister Diana is your half-sister.”

  Sigrid chimed in, “Does Diana have children?”

  “Yes,” Monika said. “My daughter Diana’s children, and even Max’s, were born after I left, though. I didn’t ever get to see them—at least not until now. You know, of course, that Ryan is Max’s son and that makes him your nephew. Ryan has a twin sister who didn’t come here with them.”

  “He’s our age,” Sigrid said, “but he’s our nephew?”

  Monika nodded. “I will find out more once I talk to Max. We have not yet had a chance to catch up. I only know what Lotte, Karl, and Sofie have told me.”

  “And Karl and Birgitta are our grandparents?” Henrik asked. “Didn’t Birgitta die? I heard someone say she was murdered.”

  “Well, Karl is your grandfather, and Birgitta is my aunt, your great-aunt, as well as my step-mother and your step-grandmother,” Monika said. She paused again and watched their faces, as they sat in silence, looking stunned, confused, and intrigued all at the same time.

  “Birgitta was recently murdered. I don’t know what happened or who did it. I hope we’ll find out more, soon.”

  They talked for a while longer, and Monika tried to answer the many questions they had about her previous life. She told them about her other family, and that she’d owned a garden/landscape shop in California until her husband decided he wanted to move to Santa Fe, New Mexico.

  Hanna interrupted and asked where Califor-nya was and then where New Meck-sico was. Monika tried the best she could to explain to her family where those places were. Unfortunately when she mentioned cactus in her explanation, Sigrid then wanted to know what ‘cactus’ were. Trying to remain patient, realizing how foreign all this was to her family, she explained about cactus living in deserts and having thorn-like needles all over the plants as protection. Everyone was amazed and amused by her description of such unusual plants. Monika, needing to keep moving forward before her nerve failed her, returned to her story and told them that when her other family moved, she wasn’t happy living in Santa Fe. Everything in her life had changed. She’d tried to find new interests—started working with herbs and medicinal remedies. But she remained unhappy and her marriage had become strained. Her husband suggested she go to Germany and spend a couple of months with her German parents. That’s when she and her father had found a cave and accidentally time traveled.

  Konrad apparently was intrigued by the idea of herbs and medicinal remedies. Monika promised they would talk more of it at another time.

  Finally, Gerhard said, “Enough for now. Your mutter is fatigued. Off to bed now, children. ‘Tis been a long and trying day and ‘tis not done yet. Your mutter needs to talk with Max yet.”

  After saying their goodnights, the children walked over to Ryan and Anneliese and hugged each of them. Moments later, they all dashed up the stairs.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  AS MAX WATCHED Monika’s children leaving the room, he continued to struggle with the concept of them suddenly being his sisters and brothers. Knowing the situation, and some German, he’d somewhat followed the rest of the conversation. Sofie had told him she would translate the rest for him tomorrow.

  He turned his attention back to his mother, his brows creasing as he studied her momentarily before retreating into his thoughts. He knew he shouldn’t blame her for making a life for herself. On a logical level, at least. On an emotional level, that was another story, and it was especially difficult to remain rational after all the turmoil and surprises of past few weeks. A few things she’d said he figured he must have misunderstood. He’d just have to wait and talk with Sofie about those, assuming they were back on speaking terms.

  Monika cleared her throat, and Max jumped, suddenly aware of her standing in front of him.

  “Perhaps you will join me for an evening stroll, Max?”

  He gave Sofie a quick glance.

  “Go on,” Sofie said. “We’ll talk tomorrow when we’re rested.”

  He nodded. She didn’t sound angry anymore. Facing his mother, he took a deep breath and said, “Sure. I’d like that, Mom.”

  Some of the worry lines on Monika’s face dissolved and she responded with a slight smile. When they reached the door, she stopped and turned. Looking at Gerhard, Karl, and Lotte, she said something in German. Max wasn’t sure, but he thought it was, “We may be gone awhile. Don’t wait up.”

  With that, Monika opened the heavy front door and walked out onto the porch and into the darkness. She paused and stared up at the stars. Max looked, too. Millions of stars being visible at night had become a familiar sight, one of the perks of arriving in this century. Modern cities of his time were too lit up. A crescent moon completed the portrait and provided enough additional light to stroll by. Perfect! He picked out the Big Dipper and Little Dipper. As a little boy, he’d loved to watch the stars with his parents when they went on camping and fishing trips.

  God, fresh air out here felt wonderful on his face. The house had seemed stuffy—hot and smothering. Sleeping indoors was going to prove difficult after spending much of his time outdoors. Maybe he could sleep on the front porch. He shook his head at this line of thought, thinking himself an idiot. Here, he’d been griping for weeks about having to sleep outside, and now that he had decent indoor lodging, he wanted to sleep outside. Good grief.

  As he walked beside his mother, fireflies flittered around them, entertaining him with their flickers of light. They were mesmerizing. His kids would have loved watching them when they were little, but California didn’t have fireflies. Hell, it didn’t have many stars, either, at least not that you could see with city lights blazing.

  Max didn’t know where they were going. He strolled alongside his mother, waiting for her to speak. He wasn’t sure how far they’d walked when Monika abruptly turned off the dirt road that wound through their farm land. In the distance, Max saw shadows of cows, sheep, and pigs, looking like ghosts in the dark.

  Soon they came upon a quaint garden, obviously cultivated and with a stone path ambling through it. The garden was filled with flowers, aromatic and delicate, some growing close to the ground, others tall and willowy, swaying in a gentle breeze. In the center of the garden stood a trellis-type arbor supporting a well-worn wooden bench. In places moss was taking hold, revealing age.

  “Oh, Mom, this is lovely. As I recall, you used to love English gardens. You had your heart set on having one of your own someday. It seems you now have one. I can see why. It’s enchanting and peaceful.” His father had preferred sterile gardens—beds of river rock, evergreen bushes, and hedges, all trim and tidy kept up by the hired gardener. No benches cluttering the yard. His father had preferred golf courses.

  Monika smiled and sat down, patting the seat next to her.

  Max sat, stiff and formal, as an awkward silence fell between them.

  She finally broke the silence. “Max, I thought I would never see you again. I wanted to run to you and hug you the minute you arrived, but—”

  “But you didn’t,” Max finished for her. Even in the dim light, Max saw that this pained his mother.

  “I couldn’t. I had to explain things to them first.”

  “Yeah, they’re more important. I get that.”

  “That’s not true. You and Diana and your father are every bit as important.”

  “You have four grandchildren. Did you know that?” Max asked.

  “Yes, Gramps, Sofie, and Tobias told me. But you are right, there is much I don’t know about all of you. Just like there is much you don’t know about me. Certainly, you didn’t think time stood still because we were separated.”

  Max didn’t answer. He knew logically that she
had as much right to a life as he and Diana and their father did. He just couldn’t quite accept it emotionally.

  “Gerhard and the kids seem fond of you,” she said. “Gerhard, Gramps, and the boys told us you handled yourself very well, considering the pain you suffered from your injury.”

  Max sighed.

  “I like your Sofie, too. She seems like a good match for you.”

  Max brooded. “We aren’t married. In fact, we met on the day we were catapulted into the dark ages.”

  “Well, I know that, too. She and Tobias filled me in. I understand, though, that you are romantically involved. Is that not so?”

  Max shrugged.

  “What happened between you and Jenny?”

  “She left me for another man. The kids don’t know that, so please don’t repeat that. She’s still their mother and it would hurt them to know. We’ve been divorced for almost two years.”

  “I am sorry, Max.”

  He was quiet again, and Monika gave him a questioning look. “I’ve talked with your son. I’m eager to get better acquainted. He’s a smart boy. What’s his sister like? Tell me about your daughter.”

  He wanted to and yet he was still angry with his mother. Suddenly, without thinking, he snapped, “Why don’t you come back with me and meet her for yourself? Oh, forgive me, Frau Hoffmann, I forgot that you can’t leave your real family.”

  Monika tensed.

  “Max, can’t you put yourself in my place? What if you are stuck here? Will you stop living your life? Will you stop loving your daughter?”

  Max winced. She had a point. When he thought he was dying, he’d told Ryan to make a life for himself here with Anneliese—if she was the woman he wanted. And he was willing to stay here and live with Sofie if it came to that. Would I forget Lisa? Would I stop loving her? Of course he wouldn’t.