Sonder Village

by Taylor Hobbs

  Bieito moved from Remy’s side to embrace María. “It is my fault,” he assured her. “You did nothing wrong.”

  “It isn’t your fault,” Remy said. “It’s Lino’s. He’s already been gone for hours. If we have any hope of finding him, we need to move fast.”

  María hiccupped, her tears still flowing fast down her cheeks. Her voice, however, was steady when she said, “Nobody is going anywhere until they explain to me what is going on.”

  Bieito swallowed.

  “She deserves to know,” Remy said.

  María looked back and forth between them, becoming more enraged. “Why have the two of you been keeping secrets about my husband?” She stared them down.

  After a beat of silence, Bieito broke first. “We think Lino may be involved with some dangerous men.”

  “Not maybe,” Remy corrected him. “Most definitely.”

  “What sort of men?”

  “Separatists,” Bieito said. “Those who want to go back to the old days of the Kingdom of Galicia. People who want independence from Spain.”

  María gasped. “Why on earth would you think Lino was involved in treason? He isn’t a soldier, he is a fisherman, for God’s sake! He has never ventured outside Ortigueira! He is a sweet and hardworking man, no matter how he has been acting lately. You must be mistaken.”

  “I know this is difficult,” Bieito said. “I didn’t want to accept it at first, either. But you cannot deny the gossip and grumbling throughout Ortigueira and even our small village. People have been angry for a long time. No one will come out and declare it, but there are many sympathizers in the area. My little brother is an idealist; he always has been. He is a man of action, not just talk. Remember how he wooed you until you agreed to marry him? Lino doesn’t give up. Now I fear he has latched onto some dangerous ideas and has not considered the consequences.”

  María shook her head. “He wouldn’t. He just wouldn’t. What would they want with him, anyway?”

  Remy jumped in. “Quite a lot, actually. Lino works at the largest and most important port in the area. If they are smuggling things in—supplies, weapons, food—it would work out quite well to have a man on the inside. Something spooked him today, though, if he didn’t show up for work, Bieito.”

  “I’ll find him.” Bieito’s face set into a grimace.

  “We’ll find him,” Remy corrected.

  “You will stay with María,” he said. “These are dangerous men.”

  “I will not.” Remy stared at him without blinking. “I know more about this than you could possibly imagine.” It was a risk, saying that, and internally Remy braced to be yanked out, but she had to level with Bieito. It must have been vague enough, however, to follow the “rules” set for Remy to be there, because she remained rooted in place. She let out a tentative sigh of relief.

  “Then where is my brother?”

  Bieito had a point. If I had read the history books more closely, I could tell you exactly where he is, Remy thought, cringing internally. Remy knew the outcome of the coup, but what good was that when Lino’s life was on the line, and Remy didn’t know his location? This was almost worse than not knowing anything at all about the revolution. Everyone else was navigating this blind, but Remy could see the train wreck coming, with no way to stop it.

  “I—I don’t know, exactly.”

  “Then you will stay here.”

  Remy drew her shoulders back, preparing for the inevitable argument. Bieito’s eyes blazed with as much passion as her own, and they were about to launch into a fight when the door opened. It was Bieito’s father, face drawn and white. “Did you hear? It has begun.”

  “What has begun?” Bieito asked, all readiness for the argument forgotten. “Did you find Lino?”

  “The uprising. I know you didn’t want me to do this, Bieito, and bring suspicion onto Lino, but when he didn’t come to work today…He is my son. I need to do everything I can to find him. I was asking all of the dockworkers if they had any idea where Lino had disappeared to, or who he could have been consorting with.”

  Bieito motioned impatiently. “Yes, yes, I understand, Father. What exactly did you find out?”

  “The port received word this afternoon. Two days ago, a colonel started an uprising in Lugo. We are ordered by the Spanish government to be on the lookout for any suspicious activity from boats in or out of the port. They don’t know how far this insurrection has spread and are preparing to send armed forces into our province as a precaution.”

  “Lugo. But that is days from here. Even if we leave now…”

  “Bieito, there is no guarantee that Lino is even in Lugo.” Where ever the hell that is, Remy added internally. “You can’t go running off to there. What if Lino is already at the next place they are planning on taking over? There is no way to know.”

  Bieito’s lip curled in disgust, and he slumped down into the chair closest to the fireplace. “I cannot believe he would do this to us. His family.” Turning to María, he said, “Most of all, I cannot believe Lino would do this to you.”

  María sighed, looking more resigned now that she knew the truth and the shock was beginning to pass. “I knew I married an optimist. It is what I love about him. Lino can make anything seem possible, if one wishes and tries hard enough.”

  “You shouldn’t wish for anything,” Remy said automatically. Three heads turned to stare at her. “Wishing is dangerous.”

  Bieito nodded, agreeing with her but for a different reason. “Wishing will not return Lino to us unharmed,” he said. “María, did Lino ever say where he went on his midnight walks? Have you noticed anything out of place in your bedroom?”

  She jumped up, grateful for something productive to do. “I will go look right now.”

  “Father, what other talk did you hear in the village about the coup?”

  While Bieito’s father launched into the gossip he had heard on the way home, Remy sat there silently, weighing her options. I can go back right now, and find the exact information they need, but I don’t know when I’ll be able to return. Tomorrow? A week from now? And what if something bad happens to Bieito while I’m gone? I just want to take him with me, to know that he is safe. Damn it, Lino! Why did you have to go and screw everything up?

  Looking at the somber faces of Bieito and his father as they discussed the overwhelming situation, Remy knew what she had to do. Shit. She had to roll the dice, hope that the time jump wouldn’t be too long, and that she would be able to get the information they needed before it was too late to find Lino.

  “I’m sorry about this, Bieito. I promise I’ll see you again as soon as I can. This will help in the long run.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “iPod! Internet! Cellphone! Facebook!” Remy closed her eyes and braced to be yanked out. Nothing happened. She tried again. “Obama! Microwave. Cable TV…” Bieito stared at her like she had sprouted a second head. “What the hell, this should be working. I’m breaking the rules! I’m talking about stuff I’m not supposed to talk about! That means I go nighty-night now and wake up in my village!” Remy shouted at the ceiling.

  Wide-eyed, Bieito’s father poured a glass of wine, handing it to Bieito, who then tried to hand it to Remy.

  “I don’t get it,” Remy whispered. “I’m not supposed to be stuck here. I need to get to my village and find out where Lino is. That’s why I’m here, to help.” What if I’m stuck here forever? The very real possibility that she could never return to her own time struck an icy fear through her limbs. I’ve been playing with fire. Remy thought she was in control, that she was special enough for the village to show her incredible things. But now, stuck here with no way back, Remy realized just how bad she had been played. “I don’t know what you want from me!” She threw her glass into the unlit fireplace, where it shattered against the sooty stones.

  María returned from the bedroom to find the two men watching Remy’s breakdown. “What did you two do to her?” she demanded. Both men sat
there, unable to move, mouths agape. What nobody could understand, however, was that Remy was currently fighting an internal battle with her greatest fear.

  Make the wish, a voice inside her insisted. You know it is foolproof. It is the only thing that will work.

  Remy hissed. “I won’t be forced into doing that,” she murmured, ignoring the stares around her.

  The rules of the game have changed. It has been unfair to you. Time to even the score.

  “It is never even. It will come with consequences.”

  But maybe not. You aren’t in your own time. It could work differently here.

  Remy began to pace around the room. “It is too great of a risk.”

  Lino is in trouble. You have the power to save him.

  Had this been the plan all along? To force Remy into making a wish, to upset the universal balance for some other, greater goal that was even bigger than she could understand?

  I have the power to change history in my hands. But should I? Remy felt it, deep in her gut, that a wish now could cause such an unbalance that it would ripple the consequences through space and time. It could alter her own reality in the future. Whatever the fallout would be from making such a request, Remy was sure it would be even greater than life or death.

  You don’t have to wish to save him, the voice reminded her. Just to find him.

  Just his location. That couldn’t be that bad, right? It seemed a far lesser request than wishing that Lino would return home, alive, this very instant. Information was all she was after. There would be no messing with the absolutes of life and death. This was not comparable to her brother and her beloved dog, or wishing for the creation of life inside of her. This exchange was more modest. Maybe it would be worth the consequences.

  At least it would give them a place to start. Whatever happened after the wish would be up to Remy’s actions in order to influence the future. Remy was sure she would eventually be punished, but the fallout would be significantly smaller with a simpler request.

  Remy took a deep breath and stopped pacing. She turned to face her audience. “I wish we could find Lino.” Finite. Clear. No going back now.

  “I know, mi amor,” Bieito said, crossing the room to her. “I wish we could find him, too.”

  “No, that isn’t what I mean.” How could Remy make him understand? Make him see what she had just sacrificed, and hope he would still love her after all the pieces landed?

  “I need some air,” Remy said, and excused herself. Her knees were shaking, and the words “I wish” still lingered on her tongue. There was always a compulsion to say it again after she let it all out. It felt so good to be that uninhibited, even for a moment. Such a rush to make her mouth form the words that always caused immediate change, whether for good or bad.

  Now standing outside, she watched as the villagers clustered in small groups, talking in hushed tones. People split off and ran to join other gossipers, spreading what they knew. Most looked proud, but afraid. They were Galicians, through and through, just like the people of Ortigueira that Remy had gotten to know in her own time. They were proud of their land and heritage. It was just that, like most average people, they had all been too cautious to do anything to take it back. Now that the colonel had started it for them, Galicians all proclaimed their love for their country, and felt validated enough to whisper that maybe the coup wasn’t a bad thing after all.

  Whispers hadn’t been enough for Lino. As futile as Remy knew this coup was, she couldn’t help but admire Lino’s courage to actually fight for what he believed in. Granted, it pulled the rest of the family into a minefield to deal with it and try to save him, but at least Lino had acted.

  Remy felt a chill pass over her skin and looked around to see what could have caused it. Isabella was staring at her from across the square, with murder in her eyes. I should have known, my biggest fan. Unable to help herself, Remy gave her a little wave and a wry smile. Yep, I’m back. Deal with it, lady.

  To her surprise, instead of running away to spread nasty rumors about Remy, Isabella strode forward until the two women were almost nose-to-nose. Remy cocked an eyebrow, unwilling to deal with Isabella’s attitude right now when she had Lino’s life to worry about. “Can I help you?” Remy asked.

  “Most women I know wouldn’t dare show their faces again after causing such a scene at my poor cousin’s wedding. And here you are, still wearing the same clothes, even! Such a display…You should be ashamed! Are all American women as barbaric and rude as you?”

  “I don’t know,” Remy responded. “I would ask you the same thing, but so far you’re the only Galician woman I’ve met who has a stick stuck up her butt, so I’m thinking it isn’t a regional thing.”

  Isabella’s hand flew to her mouth and she stepped back. Once she had gathered her wits enough about her, she didn’t bother keeping her voice down while she said, “You stay away from Bieito. He deserves better than you.”

  “Honestly, Isabella, we have bigger things to worry about right now. I think your people’s coup tops that list. And since I know you’re the biggest gossip in the village, you’d better have useful intel for me.”

  “Like I would tell you anything!”

  “Listen, if you really care about Bieito—truly care—then you’ll tell me whatever you know.”

  Isabella sniffed. “I care a great deal more for him than you.”

  “Then prove it. What have you heard? Anything about Lino?”

  “Lino? What does he have to do—oh!” Isabella looked like she had just been given a juicy treat.

  “If you won’t tell me, then you need to tell your cousin. María is beside herself with worry that something has happened to him.”

  Isabella seemed to be weighing her options. “I’ll help,” she said. “But I will be the one to deliver the news to Bieito. Not you.” The woman twitched with anticipation, having been given the information to put two and two together.

  Remy sighed. “Whatever you want. I don’t really care as long as he gets told.” Though personally, she wondered at the glee in which Isabella seemed to be taking at possibly giving devastating news. Was Isabella punishing Bieito as well as Remy? Or did she just take perverse joy in starting drama?

  Isabella reminded Remy a little bit of Anita, and the thought of that comparison to her former friend made Remy’s stomach queasy. How had she put up with Anita’s insatiable need for gossip all these years? Even going so far as to spread personal news about Remy. And I forgave her for it! Remy had always been the one to forgive Anita for her inappropriate comments and boundary stomping. If she had met Anita today instead of fifteen years ago, would she really expect them to be friends? No, Remy realized, and she felt a little less guilty about taking Anita’s rental car.

  If Isabella is the one with Lino’s location, then this will be the most roundabout wish-granting ever. Maybe dealing with Isabella would be the price for the wish. But Remy wasn’t naive enough to think that the entire fallout from her wish would be dragging Isabella into her personal life. This was only the start, and it would only get worse from here.

  “Are you going to invite me in?” Isabella asked. “Just a moment; you don’t live here.” Then, like a queen, Isabella sidestepped around Remy and let herself into the cottage.

  The murmur of conversation ceased when Isabella appeared in the doorway. María’s eyes were red as she looked up from the close circle she made with Bieito and Afonso, their heads bent close together.

  “Oh, my lovely cousin!” Isabella said, sweeping her arms wide and running forward to embrace the shell-shocked woman. “I came as soon as I heard the terrible news. Lino is missing!”

  “How did you—”

  But Isabella had already let go of María and turned her attention to Bieito. She grasped him by the shoulders and kissed him on both cheeks. “Terrible, terrible!”

  Bieito wiggled out from underneath her claw-like grip and turned to Remy, question and confusion written all over his face.

  Is
abella continued to babble. “Never in my life would I have thought one of our own would turn criminal!”

  “Now just a minute—” Bieito’s father tried to interrupt.

  “None of this started until she got here.” Isabella pointed a finger at Remy. “Bad luck or bad influence? We can never know with outsiders—”

  “Isabella, be quiet!” María snapped, the force of her words greater than her small figure. Remy was willing to bet money that María had never used that tone on anyone in her life. “If you have something useful to say, then say it. Otherwise, get out.”

  “Strong words from a woman whose husband is committing treason,” Isabella said.

  “You have no proof of that,” Remy pointed out. They all knew the truth, but Isabella was just speculating, seeing if she could get a rise out of the family. However, much to Remy’s surprise, Isabella did have useful information.

  “Well, if he wasn’t committing treason, then why did Juan see him riding his horse through Ortigueira, galloping as though the devil himself was chasing him?”

  “Which way was he heading?” Bieito’s gaze could have burned a hole right through Isabella as he stared at her, which Remy was gratified to see made the woman squirm.

  “West,” Isabella said.

  “Toward Lugo?” Remy asked Bieito.

  “Or the many other towns along the way.”

  “At least someone saw Lino alive this morning.” Remy knew her words were cold comfort. Evidence of Lino’s involvement was mounting.

  “Fleeing the area and going toward the colonel,” he pointed out.

  “We can track him. Somebody else will have seen something.” Remy laid a hand on Bieito’s arm, noticing that Isabella couldn’t take her eyes off their contact. Remy rubbed it with comforting strokes.

  “Yes, Bieito,” Isabella said, voice raised to an uncomfortable pitch. She looked desperate to get back into Bieito’s good graces. “I will ask around. With everyone’s tongues wagging, we will find what Lino knew, where he is heading, and who his accomplices are. But for the life of me, I cannot figure out why these rough men would desecrate the back of the main house before disappearing. What purpose could that have served?”