by Krista Wolf
Trekking back across the plantation field was a lot harder the second time around. Gone were sprawling, well-manicured lawns. Everything was disgustingly overgrown. Vines and brambles pulled at Melody’s bare feet.
“There,” she said as they neared the edge of the taller tree-line. “Right where I left it!”
The silver gate looked the same as it did when she’d entered. Without the mist hanging over everything, it was easy to spot.
“Listen,” she told Lucus as she swung it wide. “We’ll probably need to hitch a ride back into town.”
“Hitch?”
Oh man, she thought. This is going to be crazy for him.
She hadn’t actually thought about it until just now. There just hadn’t been time.
He’s 18th or 19th century! How’s he going to be able to adjust?
There was so many things Lucus needed to see. So much about the world — the bright, brand new world — he didn’t know anything about. Everything would be fascinating. Everything would be new. Rather than pity him, she actually envied him.
At first it’s going to be overwhelming.
She smiled back at the blacksmith. She’d show him. And it would be fun too.
“Through here,” Melody said, picking her way along the wooded path. The oppressive heat was back again, full force. So were the insects. Already her dress was nearly soaked through. “The road should be right up this way, and—”
She stopped mid-stride. Confused, Lucus fell in next to her.
Her car was still there!
The long black sedan sat idling quietly on the side of the road, exactly where it had been when she left it three days ago.
Lucus’s mouth dropped open. “What the—”
“It’s a car,” she said, just a little too slowly. Melody made a mental note to try not to sound condescending, or like an adult explaining something to a small child. “It’s… sort of like a carriage.”
“A carriage?”
“Yeah, but no horses,” Melody smiled. “This is our ride.”
Eventually Lucus nodded. Though wary, he seemed alright with it.
She wiped her brow dry with the back of one arm and led him toward the sedan. Laying one hand on the door handle, Melody chuckled.
“Just wait until you get a load of air conditioning…”
Lucus glanced back at her three separate times before climbing into the back of the car. Eventually she convinced him it was okay, and that he should scoot over to make room for her.
Melody sighed as she sank gratefully into the soft leather seat. Closing the door against the constant drone of buzzing insects, she shut her eyes for a second to let the cool air wash over her.
It was absolute heaven.
“Is everything alright, Ms. Larson?”
There was more than a little concern in the driver’s voice. She opened one eye, and saw that the partition was already down. The man behind the steering wheel had one hand inside his jacket, resting on something heavy. She knew without seeing it what it was.
“Everything is totally fine,” Melody said insistently. She nodded in the direction of his coat. “Please stop. No need for that.”
Slowly the man took his hand from his jacket. He was still looking Lucus up and down, though.
“This man is a guest,” she said loudly. “In fact, he saved my life!”
The driver paused for a moment, then seemed to relax. “Alright then”, the man said. He began carefully folding up his newspaper.
Newspaper…
Melody’s brow furrowed. She looked at the driver, and noticed he was the same big man as before. His suit, his jacket — even the newspaper, all of them were the same.
Her body shivered, and not from the air conditioning. Hesitantly she looked at the digital clock on the dashboard display. It was almost five-thirty.
“Ummm… Exactly how long have I been gone?”
She knew the answer before he even said it. The driver glanced calmly up at the clock, then back at her.
“About twenty-two minutes.”
All the hairs on the back of Melody’s neck stood straight up. She was chilled to the bone.
“Twenty-two minutes?”
“Give or take,” the driver said.
35
It was a tired, delirious ride back. Long, but also restful.
It began with the driver announcing their destination: he was to take them all the way back to the Blackstone. No plane, no airport — just a long, smooth ride north to where the Hallowed Order — and Xiomara — awaited their arrival.
Lucus was fascinated the whole way. At first the speed at which everything flashed by startled him, but as the miles rolled out behind them he quickly became accustomed to the ride.
“Relax,” Melody told him with a gentle smile. “We have a ways to go.”
He stared out the window for hours on end, watching the outside world whiz by like a wide-eyed child absorbing something brand new. Melody went over some things with him; cars, gasoline, the internal combustion engine… all of which he took in quietly without saying a word.
At night the streetlights came on, and those seemed to intrigue him most of all. Not the big glass buildings as they passed through cities, not even the giant trucks that rumbled alongside them. No, it was the near infinite number of lights — everywhere they looked, all night long — that seemed to make the biggest impression on Lucus.
Wait until he sees his first airplane, she thought to herself. Or footage of an astronaut walking on the moon...
There was just so much. So many things! But they would have to wait, at least for now. Bombarding him all at once with these things would probably be a bad idea. And besides, she hoped Xiomara would know what to do.
Since they were exhausted, the two of them slept for most of the trip. Melody fell asleep in Lucus’s arms, laid out comfortably in the climate-controlled luxury of the sedan’s back seat. They woke somewhere near Virginia, and noticed there had been a change of drivers. Fresh bottles of water had provided for them. Hot food, too.
“How can all of this be?” Lucus asked at one point. Melody was lying across his body, her head on his chest while playing with his hair. “How could so much have happened? So much, so quickly, and—”
She shushed him with a slender finger against his lips.
“In time, love,” she giggled. “I’ll show you everything, I promise. Everything.” She leaned in and kissed him. “Just not all at once.”
All at once…
How long had he been stuck there, Melody wondered? Trapped at Evermoore, time after time, forced to relive the same endless loop?
This is why you can’t read him, the little voice in her head told her. Imagine a thousand lifetimes, packed into a single mind.
The thought was chilling. Yet it explained everything; the fragments of repetitive thought, the never-ending stream of consciousness. Lucus’s brain had been wired to endure the same set of experiences, over and over again. With those pathways forever emblazoned — imprinted so deeply upon his mind — there was no way Melody could pick out anything else. Any other thoughts or feelings would be drowned out, like a whisper buried beneath the roar of an avalanche.
His mind would always be closed to her, his thoughts forever his own. No temptation. No slip ups.
It was everything she’d ever wanted.
They never stopped, not once while awake, but continued rolling endlessly down the main highways of the eastern seaboard. Finally, as the tall trees of upstate New York loomed on either side of them, they were at long last pulled into the shaded driveway of Blackstone Manor.
“We’re here,” Melody announced excitedly. The car rolled along the gravel to an unceremonious stop, and the two of them stretched their legs for the first time in almost a full day.
It took only a moment to notice her; Xiomara, standing at the threshold of the manor’s great double doors. She was wearing a yellow kaftan with bright blue flowers. Her arms were crossed over her chest.
>
“Come inside,” the old woman said. While Melody was sure she was speaking to her, the Head of Order seemed to have her eyes fixed only on Lucus. “We’ve got a lot to discuss.”
36
A warm fire crackled behind Xiomara as she sat behind her massive desk. Or maybe the desk wasn’t so massive as she was diminutive, Melody really didn’t know.
The Head of the Hallowed Order left them sitting in their chairs for a full two minutes, steepling her fingers and staring silently back at the both of them. It was the first time since she’d met the woman that Melody found her at a complete loss for words.
“How in the nine hells did this happen?” she finally demanded.
Melody gulped. “H—How did what happen?”
“This!” Xiomara shouted, indicating Lucus. “This this this!”
Melody glanced sideways, expecting to see Lucus squirming uncomfortably in his chair. Instead, he only sat quietly. Not moving. Not flinching.
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
“I rescued someone,” said Melody.
“Rescued?” Xiomara laughed. “Fucking rescued!” She stood up and began circling her desk. “Do you understand where this person is from, Larson? When he’s from?”
“I understand more than anybody,” Melody spat. For the first time, she was past being defensive. “And what about you? Did you understand what you were sending me into? Blindly, without telling me?”
Xiomara’s mouth twisted tightly. She said nothing.
“Of course you did,” Melody went on. “And yet you sent me anyway. And you sent someone else too! Another member of the Order who almost got me killed. Someone who—”
The African woman stopped pacing immediately and gestured for silence. On her face was an expression Melody had never seen before: confusion.
“Back up,” Xiomara ordered. “Someone else?”
“Yes. Another member with the same mission as mine. A pretty big blindside, don’t you think? I mean, at least if you’d warned me—”
“What the hell are you babbling about?”
Melody was angry now, more angry than she’d ever been with the Head of Order. She knew she was pushing a line. That part made her nervous, but it really couldn’t be helped.
“Hanham,” she snarled. “Eric Hanham.”
The room fell silent except for the crackle of the fire. When Melody looked back at Xiomara, she noticed the woman’s whole body had gone rigid.
“What did you just say?”
“You heard me,” said Melody. “Eric Hanham was there, screwing everything up for me. At first, I thought he was there to help.” She searched her memory. “Said he was sent by another officer… someone by the name of Aldwyn.”
Xiomara remained where she was, stock still. It wasn’t an act. She was at a complete loss right now.
“You knew all this already,” Melody theorized. Only now she wasn’t exactly so sure. “Right?”
The Head of Order took a deep breath, then let it out very slowly. As Melody and Lucus watched she walked over to the fire and turned her back on them.
“Eric Hanham,” she said in even tones, “was excommunicated. Banished from the Order long ago, for breaking rank and plotting against us.”
“Yeah,” sneered Melody, “well someone should probably tell him that.”
Xiomara reached back and clasped her hands behind her back. She looked stoic, like a statue. He body utterly motionless as she absorbed the heat from the fire.
“We always suspected he went after the egg on his own,” she went on. “Especially Aldwyn.” She paused before continuing. “Hanham disappeared decades ago.”
“D—Decades?”
“Yes. No one has heard from him since…” She paused, then turned back and shrugged. “Since sometime back in the 1980’s.”
Melody’s mind was spinning. She’d been gone three whole days at Evermoore. And yet here… only twenty-two minutes. Silently she did the math in her head.
And he’s been in there for decades…
It was too horrific to think about. Her heart dropped into her feet.
“Are you saying you ran into Eric Hanham?” Xiomara said, her voice suddenly deadly serious. “At Evermoore?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re sure you saw him?”
Melody nodded mechanically. “More than saw him.” Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the amethyst pendant and dangled it from its broken chain. “The whole time I was there, he kept trying to take this.”
Xiomara glanced at the Heart of Isolomara, then back to Lucus. She seemed to be trying to determine something.
Melody was still livid. “Are you saying you didn’t know he—”
“No,” the old woman said quickly. “Of course not. We would’ve never risked you had we known.”
“But you suspected?”
Xiomara sighed heavily, then sank back into her chair. “Aldwyn did,” she shrugged.
“Then he’s an asshole,” Melody snapped.
“Was,” said Xiomara. There was an underlying sadness to her reply. “Aldwyn died years ago.”
Another stretch of silence followed, somber and melancholy.
“Now you know why I had to bring Lucus back,” said Melody. “Trapped in there, for all that time. It’s a wonder he didn’t go insane.”
Xiomara cleared her throat. “I still don’t know how you did it,” she said simply, “but this man doesn’t belong here.”
“Bullshit.”
“He’s from a different time, Ms. Larson. A different place.”
“And if it weren’t for this man,” Melody said, throwing her own words back at her, “I’d be stuck there, at Evermoore. Forever, probably. Just like Eric.”
Xiomara turned her attention to Lucus, as if considering him for the first time. Her expression was mostly impassive. She was perturbed by his existence, Melody knew, but she could tell the old woman was also intrigued. She’d surprised her with something completely and totally unexpected. In that one regard, Melody could sense she’d gained a certain measure of her respect.
“You know you could’ve told me what I’d be walking into,” said Melody. “That the plantation was trapped in time, its occupants from two and three centuries ago.” She pulled at her mud-streaked dress. “Hell, you dressed me for a cotillion for fuck’s sake! Told me I was going to a ball, and—”
“It doesn’t work that way,” Xiomara interrupted. “If you’d known, things would’ve been different for you. It had to be the way it was.”
Melody stared down at her bare, filthy feet. She suddenly wanted a shower. A hot shower. The hottest shower she ever—
“Now,” said Xiomara, “if you’re all done pissing and moaning about your dress and your shoes…”
She stood and leaned forward, planting her tiny fists on her desk. Melody could see every deep-set line etched into the woman’s wizened face. Their eyes met, and Xiomara’s expression was utterly solemn.
“Please fucking tell me you brought back the egg…”
37
It was the one thing she’d been dreading the whole ride home. Beneath the pride at having survived Evermoore… at having saved Lucus — and saved herself — the ultimate failure of her mission tainted every other accomplishment.
You had one job.
Xiomara’s gaze hardened. She knew.
One task…
Melody wanted to look away — wanted to avert her eyes as she tried to explain away her failure. Anything out of her mouth would sound like an excuse. Anything she said would fall woefully short of explaining—
THUMP!
She looked down at the same time Xiomara did. Lucus had pulled something from inside his shirt and planted it on the desk. His dirt-caked, blood-stained hand was still wrapped around it:
A beautifully crafted, gold-chased, ivory jeweled egg.
Xiomara’s expression was rapturous. Her eyes went wide with inexplicable glee.
“We brought back La
dy Neveux’s egg,” said Lucus. “Just as you asked.”
It was the first time he’d spoken since they arrived. Slowly Melody turned to face her lover, absolutely incredulous. If Xiomara had been paying attention to her expression, she’d realize Melody was just as shocked as she was.
Her eyes never left the egg though.
“You…” The old woman’s voice cracked as she spoke. “You did it?”
“She did,” said Lucus.
Carefully he placed the object in the Head of Order’s outstretched, reverent grasp. When he finally released it, Xiomara’s hands were shaking.
“T—This…” She could barely contain her emotion. “This is…” She blinked twice, then looked up at Melody. “Do you have any idea what this means?”
“No,” she shrugged. “But I’m hoping it was worth it.”
Xiomara took the egg back to her side of the desk and stood it on end. Very slowly, she began turning it, examining it from all angles. Her face was a mask of unbridled euphoria. Melody had never seen anything like it.
“It really is beautiful,” Melody noted. “I can’t believe how delicate and—”
She gasped as the top of the egg suddenly popped open. Xiomara’s fingers were moving deftly over the surface, pressing a series of jewels and hidden buttons that were invisible to the naked eye.
“What the—”
The sides of the egg folded downward, tiny hinges collapsing in upon themselves as the egg peeled open from the inside out. Jewels popped off, clattering to the desk. Piece of gold filigree twisted downward, bending and curling.
“You’re destroying it!”
The Head of Order had forgotten them entirely — it was like they weren’t even there. She continued the elaborate opening of the egg until its contents were finally revealed: an opaque, frosted white orb. About the size of a ping-pong ball.
Xiomara turned the egg upside down and shook it, until the orb fell into her hand. Then, unceremoniously, she tossed Lady Neveux’s egg over her shoulder. It hit the floor with a loud CRACK! Jagged shards of broken ivory and tiny gemstones scattered everywhere.