“What’s-his-name?” Dane asked.
“Shut up,” she said through tight lips.
“What was his name, dear?”
“It doesn’t matter now.” She waved away the discussion as if she were shooing a fly. “All that matters is getting back home.” She held out her hand for the time bender.
Jake paused a moment, looking thoughtful and still holding the bender. “Skye dear…” he began and she cringed. She hated when he started sentences with that. “You realize, of course, if you do go back, you have to return to the moment you left.”
“But…you’ll be dead then. You and Mom.”
“Then that’s our destiny.”
She had forgotten. Even though her father played with time, he was still a believer in fate and destiny. That everything happened for a reason.
Well, so did Skye. And she believed time traveling with Dane happened for a reason. It was all to get to the end game—saving her parents.
“Leave bending time to God. Okay?” He dropped the bender in her palm.
She held it a moment, staring at it, her eyes swimming.
“You have to promise me that, Skye.”
“I promise.” And the moment the two words were out of her mouth, she knew she didn’t mean it. She had to break the chain of events and change the course of time. No matter what happens.
“I have more work to finish up here before I leave,” he said then.
He kissed her on the cheek and hugged her. Skye hugged him hard, inhaling his tobacco and peppermint scent. When he released her, he turned to Dane.
“It’s been a pleasure.” Jake extended his hand for a shake.
Dane grasped it. “You may not think that someday.”
“Good luck. And, Skye, remember what I said. I’ll see you in the twenty-first century.”
“Right.”
One last hug and kiss and they were on their way. She stepped out of the chamber and paused outside the doorway, looking back. Her father was already at work, humming the nameless tune.
They headed down the tunnel corridor, Tia in the lead.
“Dane?”
“Yeah?”
“That really happened, right?”
“Yes, Skye. That really happened.”
“I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t time to check me into the local loony bin.”
He threw his arm around her shoulders. “Skye, dear, you were ready for the local loony bin a long time ago.”
She punched him hard in the ribs and he grunted, releasing her with a chuckle. Tia had been silent throughout the entire ordeal.
“Is she…?” Skye began.
“She’s fine,” he replied. “Don’t you get it? To her, seeing a man appear and disappear…is like seeing a god.”
He was right, of course. All this must have seemed strange and extraordinary to young Tia. Probably why she hadn’t uttered a word for the last few minutes or while they were talking to her dead father…who was actually still alive in his timeline. This is too much.
The tunnel ended abruptly at a concrete wall. Tia reached for one of the torches, standing on tiptoe. She wasn’t quite tall enough, though, and Dane easily reached up and slipped one from the bracket.
“A dead end?” Skye asked.
“No, not a dead end.” Dane held the torch up to the wall, moving it slowly to the left and it flickered when the air hit it.
“It is here.” The girl’s voice broke into Skye’s thoughts. “This door will lead you out of the tunnel.”
“Thank goodness,” Skye said. “This place gives me the creeps.”
“I don’t see any door,” Dane said, ignoring Skye. “Where is it?”
“Here.” Tia pointed to the long crack down one side of the wall. “Like the other. Help me push.”
“Hold this.” Dane handed the torch off to Skye.
He threw his shoulder into the concrete door and after minutes of grunting and pushing, the door gave way. That same sound of concrete scraping against floor told them it was moving. It opened up into darkness.
“Another tunnel?” he asked.
“One more, yes. But you’re nearly out,” Tia said. “Follow this straight and at the end will be the opening to the other side.”
“You’re not coming with us.”
“My journey ends here.” She bowed her head.
“Goodbye, Tia.” He took her hand, kissed the back of it. “It’s been a pleasure knowing you.”
Skye handed him the torch and gave Tia a warm embrace. “Thank you. For everything.”
“Oh, but it is I who thank both of you.” She stepped back, looking a little sad. “Farewell, friends.” She gave them a small wave before turning and heading the way they’d come.
“Well…it’s just you and me, doll.”
“And I’m ready to get the hell out of here.”
“Come on. Let’s get outside.”
He took her hand and led her through the darkness, the only light that of their one torch. Down the long tunnel they went which seemed an eternity, until they spotted the dot of daylight. Skye focused on that and didn’t stop staring at it until it grew larger and larger.
And finally, she stood in late afternoon sunshine and listened to the twitter of birds overhead. Dane snuffed out the torch in the dirt and tossed it aside. They stood there in the jungle in silence until finally Skye pulled out her father’s prototype.
“You sure?”
“Yes, but we’re not going back to the day we left.”
“But your father said—”
“I know what he said,” she snapped. “And I know what I have to do.”
“You think saving their lives will change anything?”
“I think it’s what I have to do.”
He was silent a moment and she could see him looking at her, but she refused to meet his gaze. “You’d risk altering the future by changing the past, then?”
“It’s what I have to do, Dane. I can’t go back to that day. I just can’t.”
He heaved a sigh then. “If that’s what you want to do…I won’t stop you.”
She met his gaze then, hope rising in her chest. “Really?”
“Yes, Skye. Really.”
“Thank you.” She blew out a shaky breath, turned on the time bender and handed it to Dane. “I want you to do it.”
He held is arm out to her and she slipped into his grasp. She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him on the cheek for luck.
Dane pushed the button.
The familiar blinding flash came as the time bender sent them tumbling through time.
Part Two:
A Tale of Two Times
Chapter Fourteen: Barren Wasteland
Skye didn’t know how long she was out, but when she finally came to, heat pressed all around her. Sunshine warmed her face, beating into her closed eyelids, while heat radiated from the ground. She was afraid to open her eyes for fear of what she might see. Only when she heard a familiar grunt did her eyes flutter open.
The first thing she saw was a crystal clear, blue sky. It melted into a richly red landscape with mountains on the horizon. Her surroundings felt alien yet familiar. Turning her head, she lay on the dirt-covered ground surrounded by cacti and other desert plants. How she missed landing on a cactus, she had no idea. The landscape looked familiar, felt familiar. It reminded her of Arizona. She and her parents had traveled to Phoenix on vacation once when she was a kid.
She rolled to her side and sat up, tucking her knees underneath her. Sweat tickled down her face and a headache raged, throbbing at the base of her skull. She rubbed her temples and paused when she saw sticky, dried blood on her arm.
A gasp escaped her. She felt nothing but a headache and couldn’t imagine what was bleeding. She looked down, saw her shirt covered in dust. Her arm had bloody scratches all over it. That was all, thankfully. She had escaped the time plunge mostly unscathed.
Her head snapped to the left at the sound of a groan. Dane lay fa
cedown next to her and struggled to get up. He was covered from head to toe in red dirt. Running a hand through his hair, he sat back on his heels and looked at her.
His gaze wandered over her entire body and paused at her bloodied arm. He reached for her hand and examined her wounds.
“I’m okay.” She was surprised by the hoarseness of her voice. “They’re just scratches.”
Her wrist slipped from his grasp and he dropped his hand to hang listlessly at his side, looking as though he had run a marathon. Exhaustion was evident in his face, sunburned on the left side only, and he had dark circles under his eyes.
How long had they been unconscious? She pressed her palms against her cheeks, felt the heat radiating and knew she must be sunburned as well. Upon closer inspection of her arms, she noted her usually pale skin had turned a scorching red.
“Are you all right, Dane?” Worry gnawed at her. “I think we’d better find some shade.”
“I’m fine,” he croaked. Though clearly he wasn’t.
She struggled to stand, the dusty earth like hot coals under her feet. She stooped to help him, wrapping her hand around his biceps to indicate she wanted to hoist him up. He wouldn’t budge.
“Dane?”
Her heart rammed against her chest, fear coursing through her tired veins. His despair was something she couldn’t wrap her mind around. Not Dane…not her Dane, the man who rode to her rescue, the man who was fearless in the face of death.
“Dane, you’re scaring me.” Her voice warbled, unsteady.
“I’m all right, Skye. I’m just tired.”
Kneeling at his side, she slipped her arm around his sweaty shoulders. “Come on, now.”
“This jump took a lot out of me.” He grasped her hand in his, giving her a gentle squeeze. “Don’t worry, Skye.”
Every moment they were exposed to the cruel, bright sun was another moment she and Dane burned to a near crisp.
“Let’s find some shade.”
As she helped him to his feet, his shoulders slumped. He was not the same man she knew before they used the time bender this last time. Thinking of the time bender, she wondered where it was. Dane no longer had it in his hand. Looking around, she saw it on the ground, glinting in the afternoon sun. Picking it up, she slipped it into the pocket of her pants.
“Skye.” His voice sounded rough reminding her of sandpaper. “I can’t—”
“Oh, yes, you can,” she interrupted, voice firm. “Don’t you dare give up on me, Dane Fortune. Do you hear me? I won’t let you.”
She tucked her shoulder under his armpit, as if she could take on his entire weight. She kept her eyes on the ground, watching every shuffled step over the parched earth. The skin on her cheekbones felt taut and brittle, like it could crack if she smiled. His arms, neck and chest, where his tunic opened, were beet red.
As they trudged along in the oppressive heat, she kept expecting to see a concrete road appear. The landscape didn’t seem very different from her twenty-first-century world and she felt as though she was home.
“Skye, wait.”
He stopped and looked up, squinting against the bright sun and exhaling an exacerbated breath. Almost as if he was cursing the bright orb in the sky. Then his head drooped, his chin fell to his chest, as though he couldn’t go on.
“I feel like I’m on fire,” he said.
“Me, too.”
It was like standing on a bed of hot coals and it took all her willpower and strength not to dance about. Instead, she forced herself to stand still, the heat searing through the soles of her shoes, her arm around Dane’s waist while she patiently waited.
The caw of a bird made her look up and she saw a huge buzzard circling overhead. A cold chill ran through her, a vast contrast to the high temperature. Her mouth felt like sandpaper and she couldn’t swallow without tasting dirt. She surveyed the rocky landscape. Dirt and rocks and desert surrounded them. And she hated it. She loathed that they had ended up here.
“We should keep going,” she urged.
“I can’t.”
Horrified, she looked at him. How could he say that? After everything they had been through? How could he be so ready to give up?
“I’m tired. Leave me here and go. I’m slowing you down.”
“All right, that’s it. I’m not leaving you. Besides, where would I go? There’s no place to go. So stop being a pain in the ass.” No way would she travel through this craziness alone.
“So I’m a pain in the ass?” he asked innocently, and the old smile crept up the corners of his parched lips.
“You know you are. Anyway, I’m not going to leave you here. Now let’s get out of the sun before we bake anymore.”
“Right.”
He reluctantly agreed. She took another step, nearly dragging him with her, when a rumble in the distance stopped her. If she didn’t know better, she’d think that sounded like horses. On the horizon, Skye could see a cloud of dust billowing up from the ground. Relief flooded her when she realized it was a horse-drawn, covered wagon headed their way.
Emotions tumbled end over end—everything from relief to fear to joy. She hoped it would be someone who could help them.
“What is it?” Dane craned his neck to see.
“A wagon,” she breathed. “An old-fashioned covered wagon, by God.”
“Really?”
“I can’t believe it, Dane. We’re saved!”
“Now hold on.” His gaze swung back to her. “We have no idea who they are or what they’re capable of.”
“Please,” she scoffed. “After everything we’ve been through, you’re worried about that now? We need to get out of the sun. You look like a tomato.”
It seemed like forever before the driver neared close enough to see them. She waved him down, hoping he’d stop. He was a weathered man, wearing a sweat-stained cowboy hat with an oversized brim to shade his face. His dirty work shirt had the sleeves rolled to his elbows; his pants were tucked neatly into a pair of dusty, black boots. He wore leather gloves and held the reins loosely in his hands.
“Whoa,” he called to the horses.
The horses and wagon came to a halt. The stranger had a bulge of tobacco in the pouch of his cheek. His skin was bronzed by wind and sun, his face leathery and wrinkled. He tipped his hat.
“Hidey,” he greeted. He gave them a wary look.
“Hello.” Skye flashed her best smile, hoping he didn’t notice they were both half-dead.
“You folks ain’t from here, I’d guess.”
“Just passing through,” she replied.
He looked around, as if searching for some mode of transportation. His steely gaze landed back on her.
“Our horse became lame,” she explained. “We had to put her down.”
“Nice one,” Dane said under his breath.
“Where ya’ll headed?”
Bloody hell. Skye had no idea how to answer. As she searched her feeble brain for a suitable response, he continued.
“Nearest town is about half a day’s ride from here. On foot I’d say you ain’t gonna make it. Not in this heat. I’m Ben Williams, the sheriff around here. Are you two in some kind of trouble with the law?”
“Oh, no.” Skye shook her head. “We were—”
“Skye,” Dane said weakly. “I feel dizzy and sick.”
“Please, sheriff. I need to get my…uh…cousin out of this heat. We’re both terribly sunburned. If you could just take us to the nearest town—”
“I’ve just come from the nearest town,” he interrupted. “Ya’ll look bad off, though, so I best take ya to the house. Clarabelle will know what to do with you. Get in.” He thumbed to the back of the wagon.
“Thank you. You may have saved our lives.”
“There ain’t no may about it, girlie.”
As Skye helped Dane climb into the back, she knew the stranger was right.
* * *
The wagon jostled them to and fro. Skye couldn’t complain; it was a free lift
. She sat with her legs folded under her, keeping an eye on Dane. He groaned, his head lolling from side to side. She placed her hand on his searing skin.
“Dane, my God,” she breathed.
She needed something—anything—to make his ride more comfortable. She spotted a large ten-pound bag of flour and dragged it toward him.
“Lift your head,” she ordered.
When he struggled to lift his head, she slid her arm under his neck. Afterward, she realized there was no way she could scoot the flour to him.
“Move up.”
He slid toward it, wincing in pain. He rested his head with a loud, exasperated sigh.
“Are you finished ordering me around?”
“No. I’m going to take care of you.”
“I don’t need a nurse.”
He squeezed his eyes shut and moaned, clutching his abdomen and rolling to his side.
“Uh-huh,” she replied. “Whatever. You need rest and water and I’m going to make sure you get it.”
“That’s very nice of you, Skye,” he muttered through cracked lips.
It was the last thing he said before passing out.
* * *
As the sun set on the horizon, the wagon came to a jarring halt. Skye’s head snapped up. Her neck ached from her chin being on her chest and she rubbed at her nape. Blinking, she made out her surroundings, remembering the kindness of the stranger. Dane was still unconscious, probably a good thing. The stranger appeared at the back of the wagon.
“Pa!”
A shriek of delight rose up behind him and a young girl appeared at his side. Her hair was like a blonde halo, her skin pale white and her eyes a bright blue. She wore a long gingham dress as she ran toward her father.
“You’re back!”
“Lara, go get your brother,” he ordered, scowling at the girl.
His daughter had paused to stare into the wagon. Their gazes met and Skye gave the girl a bright smile.
“Hello, there,” Skye greeted.
“Lara, now.”
Lara twirled on her boot heel and bounded back into the house, her blonde curls bouncing behind her. Skye noticed the house. It was simple, yet quite homey. She could smell the aroma of bread baking, saw the lantern light flickering in the windows. Lara spoke animatedly to an older girl, taller than she but with the same blonde hair, who wiped her hands on a towel and looked up to gaze out the window.
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