Witch's Wheel

by Abby L. Vandiver

  “Nothing,” Teagan said but then continued voicing his thoughts. “I was just wondering who helped with this. You know, if I hadn’t of been here. But I can always ask about that later.” Teagan grinned.

  “You are a strange lot,” Teddy said. “Here, I’ll grab one. You grab the other.”

  Teagan and Teddy ambled back up the stairs and took the back way through the kitchen and narrow hallway that led back up to the foyer to avoid the guests that were mingling in the living areas.

  “We’ll just leave them here,” Teddy nodded toward a corner near the door.

  “Uh. No. She wants them in the parlor there.” He nodded with his head. “We’ll put them there.”

  “Yes. I pegged you right, old boy,” Teddy said. “You are bossy.”

  “I’m going to mingle,” Teagan said after they unloaded the cases.

  “Enjoy,” Teddy said. “I’m off to the little boys’ room, I’ll catch up with you later. We can finish chatting.”

  Teagan sauntered into the living room. He didn’t have plans on mingling. He needed to find the sisters and see what the heck was going on, and keep an eye out for his grandmother. He saw Pastor Tim smiling and speaking with everyone. He acted as if he was the host.

  Scanning the room, he spotted his grandmother first. She was speaking with two other woman and glancing around to make sure the sisters weren’t close by to interfere, he walked over to her. He sidled up right behind her, he didn’t want to interrupt her interactions with her guests.

  “So, Olivia,” a woman with one hand wrapped around a flute of Champagne, the other hand with an hors d’oeuvres skewered on a stick. “Where is this grandson of yours that you’re always raving about?” the women looked around the room, “Is he off with the children that Pastor Tim brought?”

  “No,” Olivia said. “He’s spending the evening with a friend. A few boys he knows are having a sleepover.”

  “Yes. This is probably too fancy of a soiree for children to attend,” the woman said stuffing the appetizer in her mouth. “I never could understand why Pastor Tim always brought his children to your party.”

  “They’re not his children,” Olivia said. “And he brings them to encourage them. To inspire them. To show them that if they are motivated they can do great things.

  “Yes. Of course,” the woman said, a clump of food in her jaw.

  “And this certainly isn’t too much for my Teagan to handle,” Olivia said with pride brimming in her eyes. “Other than being the joy of my life he is quite capable.” She smiled and Teagan recognized it as her “polite” smile. “He is smart as a whip.”

  “Does he like wine?” the other woman asked.

  “Oh yes! Even at his young age he could be a sommelier.” Olivia put her head back and laughed. “But he’s not one to work for anyone else, he’ll surely run this place someday. And believe me, I have no doubt he’ll do a better job than I ever have.”

  As Teagan listened in on their conversation, he was awash with feelings of sadness and self-disappointment knowing he hadn’t lived up to his grandmother’s aspirations.

  “I’ve been around him,” one of the women was adding when he tuned back in. “He does have such a great disposition. Always smiling. And with what you’ve told me about him, Olivia, he’ll take this place to new heights.”

  “Well,” the first woman said putting the Champagne up to her mouth and draining her glass. “I can’t wait to watch him grow into the master of your estate.”

  “Excuse us, Olivia,” Calayiah said. “Do you mind if we borrow our guest?” She walked behind Olivia and grabbed Teagan’s arm.

  The sisters appeared out of nowhere. Their question caused Olivia to turn around and take notice of Teagan for the first time. She smiled at him, but Teagan wasn’t at all pleased that the sisters had given away his position. Still he did need to speak to them as well.

  “I didn’t see you there,” Olivia said. “Had you been standing there long?”

  Teagan pulled away from Calayiah’s grasp. “I wanted to speak to you, Mrs. Bales. I was just waiting, I didn’t want to interrupt your conversation.” He nodded to the two other ladies.

  “Oh,” she said. “Of course. First, though, did you get my wine upstairs and in the parlor for the courier?” She pointed a finger at him.

  “Yes. I did,” he said and smiled.

  “And where is Teddy?” She looked around the room. “I’d thought he would come and let me know mission completed.”

  “Oh.” Teagan lowered his voice and leaned in closer to her. “He went off to the restroom.”

  “Well, I’ll find him later,” she said and nodded. “And now, what was it that you wanted to speak to me about?”

  “I wanted to speak to you in private,” he said and looked at the other women that were gathered around.

  “Sure,” she said. “We can step into the parlor, if you’d like.” She gestured toward the front of the house.

  “Maybe he can catch up with you later,” Lybbestre said and touched Olivia’s arm. “We need to speak to him now. Is it okay if we used the library to talk?”

  “Oh sure. That’s fine” she said and smiled at the sisters. She patted Teagan’s arm. “We can get together later.”

  Chapter Eight

  Teagan exploded into the room, pushing the double door open with so much force that they slammed against the walls.

  He walked across the room, and turned to face the sisters as they came in. Calayiah through first, Lybbestre turned to shut the doors behind her.

  “What is going on here?” Teagan yelled. “Where the heck am I?”

  “Maybe you should keep y0ur voice down,” Lybbestre said. “You don’t want to draw attention to yourself.”

  Teagan turned back and looked at the door. Then back at the sisters. “No one can hear me in here, and don’t tell me what to do. You don’t know me. And you . . . You are the watch repair people.”

  Calayiah stuck her finger in her ear and wiggled it around. “You really should lower your voice. You could wake the dead.”

  “It seems the dead has already been awaken,” he said. “And not by me.” He raised his voice even louder. “Tell me what’s going on here. Who or what are you two?” He squinted his eyes. “What am I doing here?

  “We told you,” Calayiah said.

  “Told me what?” Teagan said. “You haven’t told me anything about this.” He waved his hand around the room.

  “Frankie! Calm down!” Calayiah said. “We explained everything to you back at the shop.”

  “Don’t call me Frankie.” He pointed a finger at Calayiah. “And you did not tell me anything about seeing my grandmother. Or how in the Sam Hill I got here. Back to 1995.”

  “We told you,” Calayiah said it again. “You just didn’t listen.”

  Teagan started shaking his head, he licked his lips, and pulling on his hair, he looked at Lybbestre. “What is she talking about?” he said. “She doesn’t know me. I’m a very good listener when someone is actually telling me something. And I’m also very short on patience.”

  “Well, we told you,” Calayiah said again. “And it’s either you didn’t listen, or,” she cocked her head to one side and pursed her lips. “You aren’t able to comprehend.”

  He looked to Libby again. Maybe he’d have more luck getting a sensible answer from her. “What is going on?”

  “What do you mean?” Lybbestre asked.

  “How did I get here, is what I mean,” Teagan said, he was starting to lose patience with the both of them.

  “Time travel,” Lybbestre said simply.

  “Time travel,” Calayiah repeated. “We told you that.”

  “Oh. No you didn’t,” Teagan said. “You never said a word about that. I would’ve remembered if you had said time travel to me.” He wagged his finger in the air. “Not that I would have believed it, but I would’ve remembered it.”

  “We told you we were going to use the balance wheel to fix you,” Calayiah said,
her face turning as red as her hair, frustrated at his confusion. “And then we told you what the balance wheel does.”

  “You said it regulates time.” Teagan said.

  Calayiah raised her eyebrows and put her hands on her hips. “See. We did tell you.”

  “You didn’t say anything about it regulating my time.”

  “Well whose time did you think we were talking about?” Calayiah said.

  “The watch’s time.”

  “Well, I don’t know why you thought that,” Calayiah said. “I remember specifically saying we would use it to fix you. I may have even said it twice.”

  “No, Sister. You only said it once,” Lybbestre said. “I distinctly remember.”

  “Well, I wasn’t sure,” Calayiah said, her voice calming down. “I do repeat myself quite often, and that, Sister, would have been worthy of repeating.”

  “Yes, it would have been,” Lybbestre said. “Especially considering his reaction.”

  “Hel-loooo!” Teagan waved his arms in the air. “Can we get back to how I got to 1995? Please!”

  “Oh my,” Calayiah let out a groan. “We’ve told you – time travel!”

  Teagan plopped down into the wine-colored, leather desk chair. He closed his eyes and counted to ten. When he opened them, they stood looking at him as if they were the ones confused.

  “That’s not possible,” Teagan said, he tried to keep his tone even. “You can’t travel in time.”

  “Yet, here we are,” Calayiah said.

  Teagan turned toward Lybbestre. “Libby?”

  She tucked her head and batting her squinted eyes, looked up at him. “Yet, here we are.”

  “What the . . .” He hopped up from his chair, his face contorted, and walked over to the fireplace and back again. He balanced himself on the back of the chair. “So what you are saying is that the balance wheel, which regulates time, on my grandmother’s watch,” he emphasized, “brought me here.”

  “Yes, by way of the escape wheel. It transfers the energy needed to the balance wheel,” Lybbestre said. “Remember I told you that?”

  “Right,” Calayiah said. “So then you know,” Calayiah pointed to Teagan, “the balance wheel regulates the time.” She nodded. “And, of course we couldn’t have done it without the escape wheel.”

  Teagan listened to the two with his mouth opened. As the last of Calayiah’s words came out of her mouth, they both looked to him.

  “And you explained that this was going to happen when you said something about the speed of light?” Teagan said flabbergasted. “That mumbo jumbo about time slowing down?”

  “Or stopping,” Calayiah said. “Yes, that’s exactly what we’re saying.”

  “It’s part of Einstein’s theory of relativity,” Lybbestre said.

  “That’s what we used,” Calayiah said, she was very proud of that fact. “Einstein’s theory.”

  “Not to burst your bubble, Layah,” Teagan began. “But you must not know much about that theory.” Teagan went back and sat down. “Because if I recall correctly, the faster an object goes the greater its mass increases. I would’ve blown up. Exploded.” He made the gesture with his hand. “Or something.”

  “You didn’t though.”

  “Because I didn’t travel through time.”

  “Yes you did,” Calayiah said.

  He shook his head. “I don’t believe it.”

  “You don’t believe that you’re here?” Calayiah asked. “How could you not believe you’re here?”

  “In time travel. I don’t believe in time travel.”

  “Okaaay,” Calayiah said. “Let’s just say we used . . .” She hunched her shoulders. “Magic. That’s easy enough to believe in.”

  “I don’t believe in that either.”

  “How about witches?” Calayiah said showing the same frustration in her voice that Teagan had earlier. “What if we told you that we’re witches, and we could use those wheels in your grandmother’s watch to get back to her?”

  “We call them witch’s wheels,” Lybbestre said.

  “Because you’re witches?” Teagan said flatly.

  “Yes!” Calayiah said. “You believe in those?”

  Teagan sucked his tongue. “No.”

  “Well, I’m clean out of explanations,” Calayiah said exasperated. She held up her hands and plopped down in one of the upholstered chairs. “So why don’t you, Mr. Frank Frank, explain to us how you got here.”

  “I don’t have an explanation. I don’t know how I got here, or why I would be here,” Teagan said.

  “You’re here because we brought you here,” Lybbestre said.

  “To help you,” Calayiah said.

  “You did hire us, you know,” Lybbestre said.

  “I don’t deal with people like you,” Teagan said. He swiped a finger over his twitching eye.

  “And what kind of people are we?” Calayiah asked.

  “Crazy!”

  “You sure have changed from the person you’re grandmother describes, Frank,” Calayiah said.

  “Stop calling me that!” Teagan lowered his eyes and studied the floor, he was at a loss for words. He swiped his hand across his forehead and started to pace. Calayiah’s words had stung. His grandmother had always said he was kind – her shining star. Even at the party, she spoke glowingly about him.

  But he wasn’t that person anymore, and it showed as he spoke to these two women. Swinging around toward Calayiah he revved up his rant. “All I did was ask you to repair my grandmother’s watch. And, it’s ‘describ-ed,’” he emphasized his use of the word in past tense. “Not describes. My grandmother is dead.”

  “She looked fine to me,” Calayiah said.

  “Yes,” Lybbestre said and nodded. “We know that she’s dead. And yes, we are going to repair your watch.”

  “That’s not telling me what this is about, or what it has to do with repairing my grandmother’s watch.”

  “Because it always helps us to fix what’s broken if we know what happened to it.”

  “It stopped ticking,” Teagan said sarcastically. “That’s what happened to it. “The balance wheel, or whatever you call it stopped ticking.” He flapped his arms. “Didn’t you say that’s what made it keep time?”

  “Yes,” Lybbestre said.

  “Then that’s it. It’s broken. Fix it. But for now, you’d better get me back to my time.” He shook his head. “My time . . . This sounds crazy. Just . . . Just get me back to my party. To the party where I’m supposed to give a speech in honor of my dead grandmother. I want out of here. Now!”

  “But there’s a party going on outside that door,” Calayiah sulking said and pointed. “One we’re missing.”

  “To. My. Party.” Teagan leaned over close to Calayiah’s face. “Do you understand, Layah? The one I was on my way to right before I stopped at your shop.”

  “You can’t go back yet,” Lybbestre said calmly. “You haven’t finished what you need to do here.”

  Teagan raised an eyebrow. “And what exactly am I supposed to do here?”

  “You’ll know when the time is right,” Lybbestre said.

  “And we told you we’d fix the watch,” Calayiah said. “And we will, and fix you, too. We can’t leave until we do that, right? But don’t worry, we’ll be with you every step of the way.”

  “Every step of the way?” Teagan flapped his hands down to his sides. “I don’t need help repairing the watch. I hired you to do it.”

  “We’re also here to fix you, I told you,” Calayiah said emphasizing the words. “Remember? We’re with you every step of the way to do that.”

  “Yeah, you keep saying you’re going to fix me.”

  “I told you I repeat myself a lot,” Calayiah said.

  “So what am I supposed to do here that will fix me?” Teagan asked.

  “You’ll know when -” Lybbestre started to say.

  “When the time is right,” Teagan finished her sentence. “Now you’re repeating yourself.�
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  “Well it’s true,” Calayiah said. “You’re here for a reason.”

  Teagan looked up at the portrait of his grandmother over the fireplace, then swiveled around in his chair and gazed out of the window. After a few moments he turned and looked back at the sisters. “You’re right,” he said and stood up. “I think I may just be here for a reason, one that doesn’t have anything to do with me.” He looked at the two of them. “Because there is nothing wrong with me.” He started to walk toward the door.

  “You can’t save your grandmother,” Lybbestre said stopping him in his tracks.

  Teagan turned back to her. “What? What do you mean?”

  “We know what you have planned,” Calayiah said. “And it’s a no-no.” She wiggled her finger at him.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

  “You know exactly what we’re talking about,” Lybbestre said.

  “You want to save your grandmother,” Calayiah said.

  “What are you talking about,” Teagan feigned understanding.

  “I know that’s what you’re thinking,” Lybbestre said. “That you’ll keep her from what befell her in the wine cellar the night she died. But there is something you must know,” Lybbestre said.

  “Other than you two are witches.” Teagan pursed his lips. “In the literal sense of the word.”

  “Yes,” Calayiah said. “Other than that.”

  “What is it?”

  “You can’t change anything that’s going to happen here today,” Lybbestre warned. “Not one thing.”

  “And why not?” Teagan asked. “Why can’t I tell her? Why can’t I save her life?” Teagan felt a tear well up in his eyes.

  “Because that’s not the reason that you’re here,” Lybbestre said.

  “And she wouldn’t understand what you’re trying to do,” Calayiah said and walked up to him. “How would you feel if someone told you that you were going to die today?” Calayiah said and placed her finger in Teagan’s chest and gave it a push. “She’ll think something is wrong with you. She’d probably put you out. You know she is a no nonsense type of woman.”

  “She was a no nonsense woman.” Teagan corrected her words, but knowing Calayiah was exactly right about how his grandmother had been. Changing the subject, he eyed the two. “How do you know my grandmother, anyway?” he asked. “And why doesn’t she recognize me?”