by Mary May
“Bruce, I cannot imagine what you’re feeling right now. But the good news is none of it has to happen this way. This tragedy can be stopped. He lifts his head, looking me straight in the eye.
“How?” he questions. I glance over to Eli, who looks out at the sinking sun.
We have run out of time to discuss a plan. We decide to meet later after everyone has gone to bed. But before we leave the barn, I pull Eli to a stop. He has said something to Bruce that caught my attention. I know I wasn’t meant to hear the conversation. He has pulled the older man off to side to talk to him.
“Do you mean what you said to Bruce? About God?” He looks surprised for a moment; then he glances up at the night sky that is starting to fill with stars.
“What else could it possibly be? If we are really searching for answers, we have to consider the most logical.” He pauses, looking at me intently. I try not to squirm under his direct gaze. “Tell me what you think this all means? What theories have you tried?”
“I don’t know. I do know that we have the advantage; we just have to figure out the best way to use it.”
Walking back into the house with Eli, I ask him if he has any ideas how to use our “advantage.” Nodding, he stops again on the front steps.
“I have a couple of ideas, but I haven’t thought them all the way through yet. What about you? Any thoughts on it?”
“Oh, I have plenty of thoughts, just not any that would be considered helpful. I still vote that we hide Jesse somewhere until the day he is supposed to die passes.”
Eli shakes his head. “That would most likely only change the date of his death. We need to find a way to make sure that Robert will never come after him.”
I snort at the thought of Robert suddenly growing a conscience. “How are we going to do that? Show him his future like in A Christmas Carol?” Eli grabs me, hugging me so tight he smashes my nose into his chest.
“Shelby! You are a genius!”
“Huh? What are you talking about?” is my muffled reply. Taking my hand, he pulls me back to the barn.
“We will do exactly that! We will show him how he ends up if he goes through
with his plan. We have everything we need, two ghosts and his twin brother. It’s perfect!” Over the next hour we hash out the details as much as we can without the others present. The next morning, we bring Bruce, Jesse and Martha in on the plan.
Of course, we have to tell them how the story A Christmas Carol goes.
“So, what do you think? Do you think it will convince your brother to leave Jesse alone?” Grinning, Bruce nods his head. “I don’t see how it wouldn’t. When are we doing this?” After debating, the plan is to “show” Robert his future the night of the Spring Dance.
“We can’t stay here until then,” I point out. “We’re only supposed to be passing through.” Jesse looks at me then over to Eli. “She’s right. Staying any longer would arouse more suspicion. Besides, we have to let the living Jesse and Martha in on the plan as well.”
“So where do we stay? We can’t stay in town. You have said a hundred times we need to keep our presence low key.” I know before he says it what Eli is going to say. It is the only place that makes sense.
Back to the cave!
CHAPTER 11
Fortunately, it is much easier getting back to town this time since Bruce is in on our situation. It takes us less than ten minutes to get ready to leave the next morning, less than that to explain to Robert and his mother why we need go. Then we are on our way back to the cave. I can’t suppress the sigh of relief that escapes when I watch the Mitchell house fade from our view. I wonder if it will ever feel like my house again when we get back to our time. Feeling the tears start to burn in my eyes at the thought, I make myself pay attention to what Eli is saying.
“I’m thinking the best way to get a message to the living Jesse and Martha is for you to go pay them a visit.” I am happy Eli is thinking ahead, because I haven’t even thought about how to reach Jesse or Martha. I really need to keep my head in the game!
“All right. I can track Jesse down right after I drop you two off at the cave. Are you sure you will be ok there? I don’t mind paying for you to stay somewhere else. It don’t seem fittin’ for a lady to have to sleep in a cave like a bear.” I smile as I assure Bruce that I will be fine. In fact, I am sure that I will sleep better knowing the worst thing to come at me in my sleep would be a bear!
The cave-condo looks exactly like we left it. I was worried some woodland creature might have moved in since we had made it so homey. We have some time to kill while Bruce is finding Jesse, so we get busy rebuilding our nest. Two hours later I sigh as I flop down on my bed of leaves and pine straw.
“Well, this feels strangely familiar.”
Laughing, Eli sits on his bed. “It does feel like we are back at square one, doesn’t it?”
I nod in agreement. It has only been five days, well, counting today, and I have a feeling we will still be here when we wake up tomorrow so I’m going to call it six days. It has without a doubt been the longest five days of my life! “The cave is the same but I feel different…older somehow. Does that make sense?” I ask.
“Yeah, it does. I feel the same way. It’s hard to believe this is just the fifth day that we have been here. Feels much longer than that.”
“No kidding.” I lie back, staring up at the ceiling of the cave. I guess I must have made a sad sound or something because Eli reaches over and takes my hand.
“Shelby…it’s going to be ok. We will save Jesse and the others; then we will be sent back home.” I roll my head over to look into his eyes.
“You say that like you really believe it.” I whisper.
“I do,” he insists.
“How?” I question. “How can you possibly be so certain that it will work out like you said?”
“Because it’s the only thing that makes any sense to me. We stop a senseless death, well, three senseless deaths, and then we go back home. Anything else just doesn’t make any sense.”
I shake my head. “But what if you’re wrong. What if…” A warm finger against my lips silences my protests.
“Don’t say it… Wait until after we have stopped Jesse’s murder. Wait until we have done what we were sent back to do…then you can ask what if.” I stare up into his eyes, waiting for him to remove his finger from my mouth. Instead he starts tracing my lips with his forefinger.
“Eli?”
“Shhh… just stop talking for two minutes…please,” he begs.
“Why?” I feel my heart start to jackhammer around in my chest as he lowers his head close, stopping when his lips are a mere fraction of an inch away from mine.
“Because I’m going to kiss you.”
For once, my ever-speaking mouth is struck speechless as Eli gently touches his lips to mine. Neither of us closes our eyes; we stare at one another. He kisses me softly before cupping my jaw and drawing me in deeper. I feel myself float on a tidal wave of sensations, one of which is guilt. I place my hand on his chest and push him away gently. “I’m sorry…I can’t…” I whisper.
“Why not? It’s just a kiss, Shelby.”
I scoot away and sit up, running my fingers through my hair, as I try to explain what I am feeling. “Listen, Jesse is…”
“Jesse is with Martha, Shelby! Both the living and the dead version! Can you not understand that?” Getting to his feet, Eli starts to walk out of the cave.
“Can you not understand that I wasn’t finished speaking? I was going to say Jesse is supposed to hang in less than two days and I don’t want my mind all hung up over a relationship with you.” He stops but continues to stare out into the dark woods beyond the glow of our campfire.
“It was just a kiss, Shelby, not a marriage proposal.”
“I know that, but it was likely a start of something, right? Unless you just go around kissing girls for the heck of it.” That finally made him turn around.
“I don’t do that. But it s
eems like Jesse is always in the way one way or another.”
I get up and walk over to where he is standing. “Eli, I won’t say that I don’t have feelings for Jesse. We have been through a lot together. But how realistic are they? As you pointed out, he is with Martha and even if he wasn’t, he is either a ghost in the future or two hundred years in my past. I’m not against long distance relationships, but that’s a bit much.”
“So what are you saying? Are you saying that you want to be with me?”
I shake my head. “I’m saying I really need to keep my head clear right now. I do like you, Eli. I like you a lot, probably more than a lot. But right now isn’t the time to start anything between us.”
He stares down at me for what seems like forever before he nods and gives me a small smile. “So…someday?” he asks hopefully.
Returning his smile, I nod. “Definitely!”
Less than an hour later we hear footsteps on the path and soon we hear voices. I hope my face doesn’t betray what has happened between Eli and me. The last thing I need is for Jesse or Bruce, for that matter, to start teasing me. I know Martha wouldn’t, but I don’t want her to know either. Putting my hands on my already warm cheeks, I will my body to behave and not rat me out.
“Hey, I’m glad to see you two made it out of the Mitchells ok.” Jesse quickly looks over to Bruce to see if he has offended him, but as usual the older man has an easy grin on his face.
“Don’t worry about it, Jesse. I know what you meant. At this rate I may change my last name and call them The Mitchells myself!” Eli and I have already discussed whether we should mention the ghostly Jesse and Martha to the living Jesse and Martha. They have more than enough on their plates without adding the extra pressure of accidently seeing their own ghosts! But in the end we knew we would most likely need the help of both the living and the dead, so we know we better tell them. It doesn’t escape me that only in my life does one need to consider these things.
Eli nods to Jesse and Martha before speaking. I know he is about to tell them about their ghostly selves. Maybe they should sit down first.
“Okay, Jesse, Martha, we recently found out something that you are going to find…well, unsettling, to say the least. Apparently we were not the only ones to get sucked up in the tornado that landed us in your time. Your ghosts did, too. They have stayed hidden from us because they are concerned about what might happen if they ran into you. Before you ask, we have no idea what would happen if anything. We just want you to be aware that they are here.” I watch their reactions carefully. Other than looking around a little bit, they take it really well. I guess they are getting used to crazy stuff coming out of our mouths, so really what’s one more?
“We brought you a few supplies to make your stay more comfortable.” Bruce stepped outside then set a couple of burlap bags down on the floor of the cave. “I hate to say this, but staying here until you go back to wherever it was you came from is probably the best idea.”
Eli and I both nod in agreement. “We had already come to that decision ourselves,” Eli answers. I watch as Jesse wanders around the camp for a minute before he walks out of the cave. I look at Martha, who actually nods her head for me to go follow him. I am not sure if that is the best idea, but she nods again, so I follow him and find him standing in the darkness. With the faint glow from the fire I can see that he looks a little lost. I walk over and lay my hand on his arm.
“Jesse? Are you okay?”
He glances down at my hand lying on his arm. As I start to pull it away, he reaches for it, holding it loosely in his own. “I never said thank you. You and Eli came all the way back two hundred years to save my life and I don’t think I’ve said thank you.”
Smiling, I pat the hand that is holding mine. “It’s ok, Jesse; you don’t have to say it and we didn’t exactly volunteer for this assignment.” I look down at my hand held loosely in his. You may find this hard to believe, but you and I are actually pretty good friends in my time.”
He chuckles. “I don’t find that too hard to believe, Shelby. You’re alright once a person has a chance to get used to you.”
I shake my head, rolling my eyes at him. “Gee, thanks.”
He smiles before looking back up at the stars. “Am I different? Than the me you knew in your time?” he asks softly. I wondered if he would ever ask me this. For once I was ready.
“Yes, but as you told me, you had over two hundred years to grow and mature to become the you that you are in the future.” I laugh as the absurdity of what I just said hits me. “I sound kind of crazy, huh?”
He grins. “Just a little bit. But this is a crazy kind of thing, so I guess if you think of it like that, you sound perfectly normal.” We stand in silence for a few minutes before I ask him how he thinks Martha is doing.
“She seems fine. She is busy making wedding plans…” He suddenly trails off and I bet he just remembered that is also the day he is supposed to die.
“Hey, it’s ok. We are going to stop it. Your wedding day will be only that… I promise.”
He runs his fingers through his hair, for once looking a little worried. “How can you be so sure?”
I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t know, but I guess because I don’t think we were sent back here to fail. I think something or someone bigger than all of us has a plan.”
“Do you think God sent you back?” he asks.
Once more I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t know…maybe. I mean this wasn’t by accident. So, it makes you wonder about who is really in control, you know?” I gaze up at the inky black sky with its billions upon billions of stars and seriously wonder just who is up there.
“So, the dance is after the wedding, correct?”
We are back in the cave and I am having a hard time keeping my timeline straight. Jesse nods. “Yes, it’s a week after the wedding.” I notice he still has a hard time talking about his wedding day. Poor guy! I send him a reassuring smile; then I pay attention to what Eli is saying.
“Can you get the supplies we need without any help?”
The man considers Eli’s question for a moment before answering. “I think so. If I need help, I will get Cletus.”
“All right, but don’t tell him what’s going on. Remember the fewer people that know, the better.”
Bruce nods as he gets to his feet. “I will see you all in the morning. I better be heading back to the house. I feel like I need to keep an eye on that brother of mine.” We all say good night; then we go back to making our plans. I for one can’t believe we will be able to pull something like this off, but Eli seems to have all the confidence in the world that we can. Shortly after Bruce leaves, Jesse and Eli continue to talk about the plan or what I call our Hail Mary plan, because if this doesn’t work we will have exposed ourselves with no way out. I lie down in my nest, listening, as they seem to talk forever. The drone of their voices lulls me to sleep.
I’m walking through a field of wildflowers. They are so bright and beautiful! The sun is warm and a soft breeze whispers across the flowers, making them sway. The sky is the most perfect shade of blue I have ever seen. This place is so lovely surely it must be heaven. I watch as a monarch butterfly dances from one flower to the other doing whatever it is that butterflies do. I sigh with contentment as I sit down in the middle of all this beauty. Lifting my face toward the sun, I feel its rays warm my skin. I want to stay here forever. I hear a horse neigh and looking across the pasture I see my Noble galloping toward me. Oh! I have forgotten how beautiful he is! Flaxen mane and flowing long tail is held high as he races toward me. As he draws closer, I can see he isn’t running toward something…no…he is running from something. I can now see the terror in his big brown eyes and the bloody froth dripping from his mouth. Flanks are coated in sweat and lather. I quickly get to my feet. Raising my arms high, I try to stop him…to comfort him. Just as he gets to where I am standing, he explodes! I’m covered in bits and pieces of him! Screaming, I try to wipe off all that remains of
my beautiful horse. Now the field is barren…dry and cracked with deep crevices where the earth has split open from the lack of rain. I see a large crack start to widen. It slowly grows wider and wider as I back away from it. The faster I try to get away from it, the faster the crack widens. I finally step back one more time and slam up against a rock wall. I have nowhere to go! I try to claw my way up the side of the wall but I can’t. I turn and face the crack as it slowly inches toward my feet. I stand on my tip toes, trying to stay above ground for as long as possible. Finally, I feel the earth give way under my feet. I start to plummet to a sure death! But right at the last second, I feel a hand grab my arm, holding me suspended over the dark void. Looking up, I see Bruce smiling at me. Then I watch in horror as his face changes and it’s Robert holding me. But it’s dead Robert…rotting Robert. I feel the skin on his hand start to slide off as my weight pulls at it. I frantically claw at his arm and hand, trying to find something to hold on to, but then I hear a snap and I’m falling, holding Robert’s putrid arm in my hand as I scream!”
“Shelby! Shelby! Wake up! You’re having a nightmare!” I feel Eli’s hands shaking me as I struggle to turn loose from the horrible dream. I finally blink my eyes and stare straight into his. “Hey… it’s ok. It was just a dream.” Unable to stop myself I slide my arms around his neck, holding him in a death grip. He pats my back and just holds me until the worst of the dream has passed away. A little bit later he asks if I want to talk about it.
Rubbing my arms, I whisper. “No. Not ever. Thank you.” Wrapping my arms around my legs, I try to stop the shivering. I wonder if I will ever get the sneering image of dead Robert out of my head. Why would I dream something so bizarre and horrifying? Eli throws more wood on the fire, sending up a shower of sparks. It reminds me of when I had found Jesse’s body. He took me to the cabin and held me for hours, keeping me warm by the fire. If we save him from being murdered, he won’t have any reason to be haunting my barn anymore. I will lose my friend forever. How sad is it that I would even think that? How selfish can I be? I can feel Eli studying me from his side of the cave. He doesn’t say anything, but I’m sure he can tell I’m having some troubling thoughts. We sit in silence, each one lost in our heads until the sky starts to turn pink in the East, signaling the start of another day.
