The Time Mechanic

by Victoria Bastedo

  He moved into position and Jeremy saw him. If he’d hoped for recognition or that the serious expression on Jeremy’s face would alter at meeting his eyes he was disappointed. Jeremy merely angled his stride over to Mars’ direction. He walked up to him and stopped.

  “We need to talk,” he said.

  Mars kept his composure.

  “The girls are out back,” he replied.

  Jeremy’s eyes drifted for a second in the proper direction. Sadness crossed his face for an instant before he blinked it gone.

  “Them, too,” he said, his voice a little raspy. “Ffip was right. I need help from all of you.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight (In Which Jeremy Needs a Good Punch, and then a Good Kiss)

  Jeremy wouldn't let the argument go. Mars had decided, before entering the house with him and the girls that it was time to tell Jeremy that he wasn’t going about things the right way.

  “You’re not being fair to your followers,” Mars told him. “We’re willing to help make certain those fields are destroyed, Jeremy, but obviously it’s time to tell the authorities.”

  “Listen, Mars, I know this is hard,” Jeremy said, “but I’m the Time Mechanic and I think we need to be careful.”

  “But you’re not being careful, at all! You’re endangering us and you’ve been nearly murdered twice! We need to show the authorities the poison fields so they can be burned!”

  "No!" Jeremy insisted. "It's too late for that! Do you know what I discovered on my ride? The fields have already been harvested! The poison is hidden away now.”

  “Still, if you’re so certain there’s danger, we should inform Tonturin, don’t you think?”

  “We don’t want to just inform them, we want to save them!”

  “It’s a bit arrogant to assume that…”

  “That what, I know what to do to run this mission team? As if I thought I was the Time Mechanic or something?”

  “Either arrogance or lunacy!”

  “Then why are you still following me?”

  “Because I…”

  “Because you’re still being compelled, admit it, Mars! You’re being pushed to stay by my side in a way beyond your understanding!”

  “Even if we are being compelled we still have to try to do what’s right!”

  Jeremy’s pale face got red, he clenched his fists, and he roared.

  “Don’t you think I’m worried about failure too?” he bellowed. “Do you think I want to have this responsibility; that I wouldn’t prefer to hand it off to some authorities and let them deal with it? I’m the one chosen, and I have to decide what’s best! That’s why I’m the leader here and you’re the followers! But failure, and mistakes, those are on me, too!”

  “Still we could ask for some help!”

  Jeremy put his head in his hands and took a calming breath. Regaining his composure took several seconds. At last he lifted his gaze and went on arguing in a calmer tone of voice.

  “Think about it,” he said, “the authorities would never believe our story over a respected businessman like Serrin, especially without any proof! While we’re wasting time trying to talk to authorities our enemies will just go on with their plans! Even if the authorities listen to our warning enough to check out our story Serrin would just become aware of our movements. The authorities would return to their work and we’d be in a worse situation than now!”

  Mars said one thing before he was frustrated into silence.

  “You think you’re so logical,” he muttered.

  "But Jeremy," interrupted Kannikey, "I still don't understand what you want us to do?"

  Jeremy pulled a folded paper from his pocket and handed it to her.

  "I need you to get a sample of Surebelow and bring it back to me. I believe one bottle of it will be exhibited to show the investors what they’ve been producing. You’ll need to get close and steal it. Your stepfather is invited to this elegant event tonight, isn't he?" he asked.

  "Well, yes, of course he is. He's one of the major investors in Surebelow and this event is for only the wealthy and important. In fact, my inclusion at this event has been a sour note at the dinner table lately, whenever I’ve had the chance to get home. Lots of my stepfather’s yelling."

  "Why?" put in Ffip.

  "Because the man expects me to attend, and on my 'best behavior'.

  Ffip dimpled.

  "Is that so difficult?"

  "You have to understand what it’s like in that circle. The other girls my age all come dressed like princesses and hanging onto the arms of fancy men— I mean, sterling escorts. My mother is embarrassed because... well, no man cares to be my escort; my stepfather has been politely turned down by several men when he asked."

  Mars frowned.

  "Your stepfather expects to arrange an escort for you?"

  "He always does; and only the men that he prefers; they’re all way too old or they’re wealthy elitists or business owners."

  "So you refused to go with them in the past and now they’re offended?" asked Ffip with big eyes. “Is that why your stepfather’s been yelling at the dinner table?”

  Kannikey shook her head.

  "Not this time. No one wants to be associated with me. My reputation as a thief only impresses Time Mechanics, it seems."

  “Just go get ready, Mars,” Jeremy said, taking back control of the conversation.

  “Why don’t you go, if you’re so certain of what needs to be done!”

  “Kannikey needs an escort to this event. It will give her more freedom and you need to keep her safe while she’s stealing the Surebelow. Besides, I can’t very well go, can I? I thought all of you were insisting that I try to stay out of sight?”

  “You’re still not telling us anything pertinent!”

  “I’ve told you what needs to happen next!” Jeremy replied. He grabbed Mars up by the lapels. "You're going," he growled.

  Mars considered knocking him down like he'd done the last time Jeremy had shoved him, but again he saw the burning in Jeremy's expression. Also, when he glanced to the side, he saw Kannikey grinning at him behind Jeremy’s shoulder. She knew he’d lost and he’d end up stuck at the boring event whether he wanted to go or not. He shook his head.

  "Fine," he grunted in return.

  Kannikey agreed to go home and inform her mother and stepfather that she was going to the event with them and had provided herself with an escort. Since Mars was a shop owner she thought they'd approve this once in the interest of family solidarity.

  After she left Mars sighed as he pulled his nicest outfit out from his wardrobe. He'd bought it to attend his sister's wedding a few months ago. His father said he'd spent too much on a fitted suit, but his mother understood that he wanted to honor his youngest sister, who, like him, had chosen to live outside the farming community. They were the only two out of the seven siblings to do so. She'd married a young lawyer just starting out. He got dressed in the suit and looked himself over in the mirror.

  He looked just the same as always, he thought. He was too tall, too broad and awkward when dressed like this.

  A gentle tap was heard at the bedroom door.

  “Mars, you wanted me to remind you when it came time for you to get going,” called in Ffip.

  “I’m ready and coming out,” he said with reluctance. He looked around his bedroom. It showed little evidence of the fact that two girls had been staying in it for several days instead of him; except it was tidier than usual and there was a jar of wildflowers on the dresser. The bed was made and the floor was swept. Even his big boots had been stored in the closet, and the clean clothes he’d haphazardly stacked on his dresser where now in the drawers. The girls were kind, he thought, both with a sweetness that began in their characters and then extended to their looks. It wasn’t right that there was no real place of safety for either one of them and they had to camp out here.

  If he felt fierce when he came out he softened it when Ffip told him he looked fine and ‘sterling’ in the suit.
He smiled into her eyes and then looked over her head and froze at the expression on Jeremy’s face.

  He couldn’t define it. It was as if Jeremy yearned for something he couldn’t have and then snapped off the light of strong emotion all in a second. The man’s mouth tightened and then released. His chest heaved and then he breathed out the feelings inside until he was just a shell of necessity.

  “Mars,” he said in a steady voice. “Thank you.”

  Mars didn’t bother saying he was angry to see the way Jeremy capitulated. He didn’t respond at all. He just walked over, moved Ffip a few inches out of the way by grasping her shoulders, and then punched Jeremy right in the face. He heard Ffip gasp and Jeremy’s body tumble to the floor behind him. The lantern lights flickered at his passage. He swung out the door without looking back and galloped away on Jeremy’s horse— which the man had prepared for him while he’d dressed.

  * * *

  After Mars slammed the door on his way out Jeremy sat up from the floor and rubbed his jaw.

  “Jeremy!” called Ffip, dropping to his side.

  “I’m all right.”

  “How could he hit you like that, after all you’ve been through?” she demanded.

  Jeremy stared at the anger in her voice. He couldn’t help that a note of selfishness entered into his mind. The truth was he felt three ways of jealous every time he saw the girls and Mars so cozy together. But it was also true that Mars’ punch, in a strange way, had made him feel better- as if he’d needed the numbness of desperation to be knocked out of him.

  “I thought you and Mars were such great friends now,” he said to Ffip.

  “Of course we’re friends,” she insisted. “Do you know what it’s like, Jeremy, to sit by a dying person’s bedside for days and not be able to do anything at all to help them? That sort of situation makes you bond quickly.”

  Jeremy instantly remembered back to when he was 15 and his parents were sick from the fever. Back then his teenaged friend, Mars, had come over and stood with him while he’d waited in the kitchen for the doctor to tell him something hopeful. It had meant a lot to have a friend there: it was true. He nodded with long- ago grief in his eyes but it was obvious that she was still frustrated by the current situation and didn’t know the direction of his thoughts.

  “Although I haven’t known all of you for long,” she went on, interrupting Jeremy’s thoughts, “I know both Mars and Kannikey well after having to watch you suffer the way you did, Jeremy! Even drugged so deeply unconscious you twisted and groaned in pain! Kannikey and I both cried on Mars’ shoulder, you wretch!”

  “Glad I missed it.”

  “Well, the least you could do is feel bad after putting us through that!”

  “I’m sorry all of you suffered,” he said in a dry voice. “But I didn’t poison myself!”

  “Oh, never mind. Can you get up?”

  “Of course.”

  “I don’t understand why he had to knock you down!” she fussed as he reached his feet. “He should know better! After all he’s bigger and stronger than you are, since you were sick.”

  “Don’t discount me. I’ve got a few punches that could take him by surprise.”

  “He shouldn’t have punched you at all! And he didn’t even look to see if you’d hit your head or something!”

  “Don’t worry. Mars will never actually kill me.”

  The small crinkle appeared between her eyebrows as she frowned.

  “Sometimes I wonder. What is it between you two, anyway, and why don’t you talk it out? You’re both good men of character and you obviously meant a lot to each other down the years.”

  Jeremy grimaced at her choice of words and then he grinned at her. “You said Mars and I squabble like wolf pups. Ladies talk out their differences. For men, sometimes, a punch in the face explains it all.”

  “You heard me say that?” she asked.

  “I did.”

  “Well anyway, what sense does that make?” she asked.

  Odd how people reacted to confrontations, Jeremy thought. If Mars were standing this close, glaring at him, he’d even up the score. But with Ffip he just wanted to… He decided to act. After all he was the Time Mechanic and might not live as long a life as he’d expected to live before. He leaned forward and wrapped his arm behind her waist. She stumbled in the hallway and he steadied her before pulling her even closer. Looking down into her eyes he wished that being the Time Mechanic meant he could actually slow down seconds and make them more important. The touch of her skin as his hand caressed her cheek made his awareness sharpen and then turn over. He was dizzy until his lips met hers.

  Fiasca had never reacted to his touch like this. She’d pecked his mouth and then pushed him away playfully. She’d fidgeted as if his arm had been a heavy coat draped over her on a steamy day. But Ffip froze and then melted into him, kissing ever deeper until the rest of the world ceased to exist between them. Indeed he wondered if she was dizzy too when after a long while he realized he was holding her up. He smiled against her lips and then pulled away. Her eyes blinked slowly, bemused.

  “Hey,” he chuckled. “Are you forgetting to breathe?”

  Her thin nostrils pulled in air but she didn’t speak as he caressed her face again.

  “You see,” he whispered. “Sometimes actions are a better way to talk than using words.”

  Since there was no one around they were free to kiss uninterrupted. For the first time he could understand propriety and why young men and women shouldn’t be left too long in a house alone. He grinned into her lips again, liking the idea she’d proposed earlier. He felt like a wolf at this moment. The next time he paused she managed to find a few words.

  “Jeremy,” she said, “Be good. Only kissing, all right?”

  It was hard not to laugh. She’d picked up on his mood, all right.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he murmured. There was nothing else he could do tonight to complete his mission. Since he had to wait for the others to get back, he might as well pass the time in the best way possible. Only kissing was just fine with him.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine (In Which Jeremy Gains Back His First Helper)

  Mars had paid to have some flower arrangements delivered, decorations to brighten his shop in preparation for the upcoming festival. He stopped on the way to Kannikey’s house and picked some fresh-looking flowers to take. The twilight was just creating a line of black silhouettes in the evening sky as he got down from Jeremy’s horse and led it into the fancy barn at the side of her house. There were several carriages to choose from like Kannikey had said. The biggest carriage was waiting in the drive for the group it was soon to carry to come outside and climb aboard. A team of four gleaming horses stood in their line. A stable boy stepped out of the barn and held the lead horse’s head. Mars nodded at him and then straightened his coat and ran his fingers through his hair. He decided he was as ready as he could be considering that he’d never had an evening quite like this one.

  He went up to the pillared front door and knocked. In a few seconds the door was opened by that same important little man that Mars had manhandled before. His cheeks reddened, but whether it was because the butler was well-trained to show no surprise or because the man didn’t recognize him, the fellow merely bowed and said ‘Good evening, Sir,’ before allowing him entrance and taking his coat.

  “Good evening,” Mars said in reply.

  “The young Miss hasn’t come down yet,” the butler informed him.

  “Ah.”

  “But the Master and Madam are in the front parlor. Please follow me.”

  “Thank you.”

  When Mars was shown into the front parlor two very formal parents turned to greet him. He knew who Kannikey’s stepfather was; there were few shopkeepers in Tonturin who didn’t, in fact, he’d even met the man before in a community business meeting. He was a distinguished- looking fellow, trim, dark-haired with a spray of pepper on the sides, and with an alert face. The man had narrowed eyes when Mars s
tood before him to be introduced, but then he relaxed.

  “Ah, yes,” he said. “I recognize you. You own that shop by the fountain court.”

  Mars inclined his head.

  “Good evening, Sir.”

  “Please call me Stedland.”

  “Thank you. I’m Mars.”

  “And this is my wife. Shenna.”

  Mars bowed a bit.

  “How do you do, Madam,” he said.

  He straightened and looked into Kannikey’s mother’s face. He saw welcome in the woman’s eyes. She showed not a bit of age, in fact, she looked barely older than Kannikey. But Kannikey had told him that she’d been young when she’d had her, at seventeen.

  “So Stedland knows you?” Shenna said. “I’m glad! Kannikey told us nothing about you other than you’d asked her if you could escort her this evening and she thought we’d approve of you!”

  He smiled. She was in her early forties but she was the sort of woman that would always be beautiful.

  “I hope I don’t disappoint, Ma’am,” he said.

  “And how do you know Kannikey?” she asked.

  “Through a mutual acquaintance,” he replied. “I’ve only met your daughter recently.”

  The woman giggled.

  “But you were impressed with her?” she asked.

  Mars noticed that Kannikey’s stepfather was back to staring at him with narrowed eyes. The man offered him a crystal goblet of some strong drink. He accepted the golden liquid and took in a healthy swallow.

  “I was very impressed,” he agreed. “Your daughter is a delightful mixture of intelligence and a straight-forward manner that isn’t seen every day.”