Keeper of the Key

by Barbara Christopher

  “Can I use the medallion to get home and then return it to Becci?”

  No. It’s yours, not hers. From the day you were born, the Deity of Atlantis proclaimed you to be its Keeper.

  Caleb frowned. Deity? Atlantis? Keeper?

  Yes. Keeper. Chosen at birth. You are a descendent of Atlantis, as are Becci and Lilly. But greed denied you your right.

  My right for what?”

  You will learn when the time is right.

  Slowly he shifted his gaze to the door. Its edges glowed in a rainbow of colors. All he had to do was walk through the door with the medallion in his hand, and he would be back where he’d come from. The gold throbbed in his palm. He could go home.

  He took a step toward the door and stopped. “No. I don’t want to return to the past. If this is my destiny, then I will remain here.”

  There are lessons you must learn to be a keeper and guide.

  “If I am the keeper, then I can stay where I want.”

  No.

  “I don’t want to go back,” he repeated.

  You must.

  Caleb stared at the mirror as Rebecca’s image was replaced by the reflection of the rumpled bed. “Oh, Becci, how can I leave you?”

  A gnawing pain clawed at his chest. The hope of lasting love would vanish the moment he walked back in time. If only she could go with him, but he knew she wouldn’t be happy in his time. A woman’s role was much different today than in Rebecca’s day.

  “One more day. Please,” he pleaded. “Give me just one more day to love her.”

  “What are you mumbling about?” Becci called from the foot of the stairs.

  “Nothing, honey,” he replied. Caleb hurriedly pushed the gold and coins back into the pouch. Opening the top of the small trinket box, he slipped both the medallion and pouch of gold into it and returned the box to the spot where Becci had left it. Resetting the dresser handles, he scooted the front panel back in place and secured the secret compartment. He dusted the dresser and quickly crossed to the bed. He’d just tucked the sheet around his waist when Becci entered.

  “What are you up to?” Becci asked. The look in Caleb’s eyes told her something was wrong.

  “Nothing.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Caleb nodded and turned his gaze toward the window. She knew he was lying. Did he already regret making love to her? Her heart sank.

  Forcing a cheerful tone to her voice, she said, “I need to pick up some things at the store for tonight’s party. How would you like to suffer through a bit of culture shock today and tag along with me? It will give you something else to write about in your journal.”

  He caught her hand and lifted it to his lips. “As long as I’m with you, I’ll go anywhere.”

  “FASTEN YOUR SEAT belt,” Becci ordered. She grabbed hers and clicked it into position. Then pivoted toward Caleb and waited for him to secure his. He didn’t move.

  She chuckled as she watched him sit stiff-backed in the passenger seat.

  “Seat belt,” she repeated, jerking hers to show him what she meant. “It’s the law that you wear one any time the car is moving, whether you’re driving or just a passenger.”

  He still didn’t move.

  She unfastened her belt and scooted across the seat. She grabbed his leg just above his knee and squeezed gently. The muscles in his leg tensed. Leaning in front of him, she reached for his belt.

  He cupped his hand over her shoulder and eased her around. Mere inches separated them, and she kept her face turned away. She didn’t want to look into his eyes, and she wasn’t sure why.

  Caleb slipped his palm to the back of her neck, lifted her face to his, and smiled his crooked grin. “I can do it. I just wanted a kiss.”

  When their lips touched she felt him tremble. She pulled back so she could see his face. The fear was still in his eyes.

  “Are you afraid?”

  “No—yes. This is crazy, Becci. I’m thirty-four years old, and all this is impossible for me to believe and remain sane. It’s too much.” Caleb tugged her into his arms. “I want to believe everything I hear, see and feel.” He paused and outlined the contour of her jaw with one finger. “I’m trying, Becci. I really am.”

  “I know you are, but you’ll probably feel better if you don’t try to believe in it all. Just sit back and enjoy it.”

  He sighed and leaned back so she could fix his seat belt. If he believed himself crazy, then so was she. After all, she believed he was from another time.

  She snapped the belt into place and moved back to her spot. Drawing in a deep breath, she met his gaze. She really loved him so much it hurt.

  She refastened her seat belt, gave him a sassy wink and hit the gas, spinning the wheels in the gravel. The car headed down the drive. She slowed down at the end of the driveway, cast a quick glance at the traffic, and turned onto the busy highway.

  “Stop,” Caleb yelled just as the speedometer reached forty.

  Becci pulled the car to the shoulder and slammed on the brakes. “What’s wrong?”

  “That was a little fast, wasn’t it?”

  She laughed. “Not hardly, mister. Hold on to your hat. You are about to experience the ride of a life time.”

  Caleb held on to the padded armrest and closed his eyes. Becci tapped her fist thoughtfully against the steering wheel. If he stayed like that he wouldn’t see a blasted thing.

  “Relax, Caleb. I’m really a good driver, and I’m not driving another inch until you open your eyes. How do you expect to see anything with them closed?”

  “But—”

  “No buts. If you think this is fast, you ought to watch a Winston Cup Race. Most of the speeds average above one hundred, and even that is slow compared to some of the other races.”

  “You’re joking. At those speeds a trip that takes—took—me thirty or forty minutes by wagon can be accomplished in less than five minutes now?”

  “Yep. Look, Caleb, if you’ll just relax and trust me, I promise I’ll get you back in one piece. Deal?”

  “Deal,” he finally agreed.

  Five minutes later they were walking into a discount store. Caleb stopped just inside the entrance, and Becci laughed when he whirled around to watch the doors open for the next customer.

  She caught his sleeve and pulled him toward the row of baskets. “Stay close and don’t talk to any strangers.”

  Becci headed for housewares with Caleb close on her heels. The next time she looked around he had vanished. Panic bubbled up inside her. She raced down one aisle and then the next. He was nowhere in sight.

  Her panic increased. Where had he gone? How was she going to find him? And what was she going to do if he ended up getting arrested because someone thought he was looney tunes?

  Eighteen

  A BUZZER SOUNDED, and a disembodied voice announced that a salesclerk was needed in toys. Becci swung her cart toward the front of the store. She’d ask them to page Caleb and, hopefully, he would come to the front.

  She walked up to the customer service department and looked around impatiently while waiting for the line of people in front of her to finish their business.

  “May I help you?” the clerk finally asked.

  “I’ve gotten separated from the person with me. Can you page him?”

  “Sure,” the young woman said.

  Becci gave her Caleb’s name, and the woman immediately spouted it into the paging system. Five minutes later, Caleb and an employee sauntered up to the desk.

  “Hi, Becci. This is Stewart. He’s the manager out on the dock. I was helping him load a . . . truck.”

  “I turned my back for a second, and you vanished,” Becci snapped. “I’ve been frantic. I looked all over the store for you. I will never take you shopping again.” />
  “Mary Rebecca,” Caleb said with a soft firmness she recognized from the other times he’d been upset with her. “I’m sorry you’re angry, but I am not a child. I could have found my way back to Berclair Manor.”

  “I’m not angry,” she whispered. “I was scared. I thought I’d lost you.” The profoundness of her words startled her.

  “I’ll stay with you for as long as I can, Becci,” he whispered back.

  Becci stared at Caleb and realized they both knew his words held a double meaning. She nodded and headed for the check out.

  After they left the store, Caleb joked about the strange people and the new work inventions he’d seen. Things she’d grown up with and never thought about intrigued him. From his white knuckled grip as they drove a whopping forty miles an hour, to Caleb’s first experience getting fast food from a drive-in window, she hadn’t been able to stop laughing—except for the few minutes they’d been separated in the store. And he’d taken it all in stride.

  “I wish we could have stayed out all day. Maybe I’ll give you a driving lesson tomorrow, but only if you promise not to go off without me,” she said as they arrived back home. The muscles around her heart tightened. She shoved the car into park and turned in her seat to face Caleb. “I don’t want you to leave. I love you.”

  She wasn’t sure what made her say it, but she hadn’t been able to hold her tongue. He wore his crooked grin, but there was no laughter in his eyes.

  “I didn’t want to love you, Becci, but I do. It’s not right to care so much knowing there’s no future in it. But I’ll be gone before dark tomorrow. Not because I want to. Because I have to.”

  Caleb saw the tears glistening in her eyes at his words, but he made no effort to comfort her because he knew he couldn’t. Instead, he shoved open the door and slid out of the car. With hurried steps, he headed toward the lake without looking back. He couldn’t stand to see her cry. He should have left before her heart became involved. Before his heart became involved.

  Becci leaned her head against the car window and watched him walk away. They had tonight and maybe part of tomorrow, and she couldn’t believe that they had to share tonight with a group of people. She wished she could cancel the party, but it was too late. She also realized she had to keep the house so Caleb could come back to her if he could find a way to do so. If she couldn’t get the Ascomp grant, she’d find another way.

  JACOBS OPENED THE shed door, and Caleb glanced up and shut the journal he’d been writing in. He returned it to his saddlebags along with the two other journals that outlined his life. Writing them had been Rebecca’s idea. She’d said his life had been interesting enough that someday someone would write his story. He’d thought that notion foolish, but he found writing down his thoughts comforting.

  “Whatcha’ up to?” Jacobs asked. He tipped his bottle up and gulped down a long swig. “Writin’ about yore evening with the filly?”

  “That’s none of your business.”

  “Shore it is. I ain’t never seen you that mad a’fore. I heard tell you was a man with a temper, but until yesterdee, I didn’t believe it.”

  “Believe it, and believe this, too. I killed a man once for lying with my woman, and I’ll kill you if you come anywhere near Becci. Now, get out. I’ve got to get ready for the party.”

  “That Ascott feller, is he gonna be at this here party?”

  “Yes.” Caleb shrugged into his shirt and buttoned it. “I’ll bring you a plate over after all the festivities are finished, and we’ll make plans to return to Raleigh. I promised I’d get you back to Raleigh, and I’m a man of my word. Be prepared to leave tomorrow afternoon,” he said as he tugged on his pants.

  “You found the gold?”

  Caleb retrieved his saddlebags and slung them over his shoulder. “I found the medallion, and that’s all we need. We’ll take nothing that isn’t ours to take, understand?”

  “Maybe I’s don’t want to go back. That Ascott feller, he told me there’s a place close to here that offers anything a man has a notion to do fer a price. And if I don’t go back, I might be able to find me some of that there gold stashed in the house.”

  Caleb stared at Jacobs as the drunk’s words finally registered. He’d mentioned Ascott twice. When had he spoken to the man?

  “You don’t have a choice, Jacobs. When the time comes, we’ll go to the spot where I think the transfer should take place. You had better pray it works.”

  Jacobs nodded and said, “I’ll be ready.” He wiped his fist across his mouth then opened the door. “I’ll watch for ya to bring my vittles, too.”

  Caleb crossed to the window and watched the drunk turn toward the lake. Then he went back to the cot and pulled out his journal again. He would have to write out the instructions for opening the hidden compartments in all the furniture before he went to the party. That way, after he was gone, Becci could find the rest of the gold and save the manor. Hopefully, there would be enough gold that it would give Becci the happiness and financial security she sought. Especially if Rebecca had hidden more gold in the secret compartments of the other furniture he’d made.

  Caleb drew a rough diagram of each piece. After writing the instructions, he shoved the book into his saddlebags and slid them back under his bunk. He pulled out the boots he would wear to the party and a cloth. He had an hour to kill before it was time to go to the house.

  A little earlier, Lilly had brought the clothes and shoes to him so he could dress in the shed and stay out of her sister Maude’s way. According to Lilly, her sister didn’t want anyone near the kitchen—not even Lilly.

  Becci would expect him to be in the parlor before the first guests arrived. Maybe he would get the chance to tell her about the gold he’d left in the trinket box.

  CALEB MADE IT TO the house in plenty of time only to find that Maude had lifted her ban on outsiders helping. Lilly had promptly ushered him into the kitchen to help. Now he stood a step behind Becci as she greeted and introduced herself to the new arrivals and totally ignored him.

  He battled the curse that threatened to erupt. It hurt for her to act as if he wasn’t even there while she blushed at the casual compliments every man who entered made. She even let them hold her hand a fraction longer than necessary.

  She was so beautiful and more nervous than he’d ever seen her. Each time someone knocked or rang the bell, she moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue, gently patted the upsweep of her hair, and wrung her hands before she opened the door.

  He wanted to pull her into his arms and tell her everything would be all right. He knew it would. Especially now that he’d found the gold hidden in the dresser.

  Even minus the medallion, there should be plenty for her to pay off all her debts and live on until the nursery got a foothold. She would be fine after he left.

  Left.

  The thought gnawed at his gut. He was leaving.

  Why had he been brought to this time period? And why, after he’d been given a taste of love, did he have to go back? It wasn’t right. And what if Becci was carrying his child?

  He felt himself pale. He’d been so wrapped up in loving her that he hadn’t considered she might get pregnant. He couldn’t leave without knowing. He couldn’t—wouldn’t—leave his child to suffer the way he had.

  Slipping his arm around Becci’s waist, he pulled her closer. She tensed at the intimacy but didn’t move away, and relief seeped through him. He nodded at the new arrivals and extended his hand.

  “I’m Caleb Harrison, and this is Becci Berclair. We are the host and hostess. We’re happy you could make it tonight.”

  Oops. Big mistake. He felt her back stiffen. Not once tonight had she introduced him as the host.

  Becci gave the new arrivals a typed letter explaining her plans for the house and waited until they were out of sight before she whirled arou
nd. He braced himself for her anger, but her green eyes were sparkling with excitement.

  “I’m sorry, Caleb. You should have moved up sooner. I’m just so nervous. This means so much to me.”

  Caleb brushed a kiss to her temple. “Relax, Miss Berclair. You are a great hostess.”

  Becci smiled up at him. “And you make a great host, Mr. Harrison.”

  He bowed and took a step backward. “Maybe I should go to the kitchen and see if Lilly and Maude need my help.”

  Becci caught his shirtsleeve before he could turn away and stepped closer, saying, “No. I need you beside me.”

  “Are you expecting anyone else?” he asked.

  “Michael said to expect around twenty-five people, but I think I’ve already greeted more than that,” she answered.

  “I counted thirty-three, and that doesn’t include Lilly, her sister, or us, so why don’t we join the others?” Caleb caught her hand, placed it in the crook of his arm, and guided her toward the living room.

  Becci held his arm tighter than necessary. She didn’t want him to let go of her. She tried to tell herself that it had nothing to do with his leaving, but she knew it had everything to do with it.

  When they reached the doorway, Caleb eyed the room where people stood in clusters and dancers twirled about in the center of the floor. He’d gotten angry when Ascott showed up an hour early and started ordering the caterers to push the furniture back against the walls so people could dance. He had to admit, however, that it was a terrific idea.

  He grinned when Becci winked at him and crooked her finger, motioning for him to follow her into the room. Music drifted through the house and seeped into every corner. The songs weren’t familiar, and the dancing had changed, but the thought of holding Becci in his arms had Caleb’s mind drifting back to the night they’d spent together.

  “Caleb, why don’t you mingle while I check on Aunt Lilly?” Becci suggested and, without waiting for an answer, disappeared into the crowd.