Even in August, the grass along the riverbank was lush and green and fragrant. Tiger lilies nodded gracefully beneath a windblown spray from the waterfall. There, the two lovers lay themselves down.
Nikki didn’t think Silver Thorn had ever appeared more magnificent than he did now—so strong and proud and handsome. His hair shone in the sunlight like polished onyx; his eyes glittered like stars. He resembled a bronze statue come to life.
But no bloodless statue could have loved her as he did then. Only a man, this man, could hold her so tenderly, so possessively—branding her with his hot kisses, adoring her with every breath, each caress, with whispered words and every beat of his heart.
Her own heart soared with the blessing of their love, even as it broke at the thought of leaving him. Her tears bathed him, and her kisses blotted them away. Through misty eyes, she memorized every cherished feature. With trembling fingertips, she worshiped his warm, hard body. When at length he was poised above her, she whispered, “Come into me, my love. I want to be filled with you so thoroughly that I cannot tell where your body begins or mine ends.”
“I will always be one with you, my beloved,” he replied huskily. “You are a part of me, and I of you. Time and distance alone can never sever what we share.”
He entered her slowly, reverently; their eyes locked as their bodies united. The sweet sensation of being so intimately joined overwhelmed them both. Wrapped in splendor, they rode the winds of passion on wings of ecstasy, losing themselves in a world where nothing or no one else existed.
All too soon, reality intruded. Silently, they rose and dressed. Silver Thorn had to assist her with the buttons on her dress, for Nikki’s fingers were shaking too badly to manage them on her own. Then it was time. The moment they both dreaded could be withheld no longer.
Silver Thorn held out his hand to her. “Come,” he said solemnly. “Once before, in this very place, I asked you to trust me. I ask it again. Trust me, my love.”
Reluctantly, she placed her palm in his. “If you don’t come for me, I’ll never forgive you.” Her words caught on a sob.
He led her to a spot nearer the falls than where she’d appeared originally. When she commented on this, he explained, “The sun and the moon are in different places now than they were before. I am trying to take that into account.”
There was a rocky path leading through the water to the base of the falls. He pulled her along behind him, holding tightly to her hand. “Step carefully, little goose. The rocks are slippery.”
They stopped at the foot of the cascade, and he handed her the amulet. “When you reach your time, drop the charm into the water. When I see it appear, I will know that you have made it back into your own world without mishap.”
“What happens if I forget to drop it? Do I come back here?” she asked almost hopefully.
“If you do not release it, I will not be able to retrieve it so that I may later use it to come to you,” he told her somberly. “The amulet has been endowed with great powers. Without it I may truly never find you or our son again.”
“I’ll drop it,” she vowed, frightened anew by his dire prediction. “The moment I am in my time, I’ll let loose of it.”
There, in the mist, with the thunder of the waterfall in their ears and the sun forming a bright rainbow above their heads, he claimed one last kiss. Their lips clung, loath to part, and she felt his agony as well as hers. “The pain in my heart is killing me,” she murmured. “I feel as if I’m about to die.”
He nodded, his gaze too bright, as if he were holding back tears of his own. Silver eyes held fast to those of violet, and he began to chant. A tingling began within her. He must have felt it through her palm, for he released her hand. When she tried to grab hold again, he shook his head, but let the very tips of his fingers hover just below hers.
Her vision clouded. She wobbled dizzily. She felt herself falling, spinning, as if she were being sucked into the heart of the falls. As she cried out, she heard him call to her as if from a great distance, “Go in joy and love, my dearest heart. And wait for me. I will come.”
As Silver Thorn watched, his big heart aching, Neeake faded into the mist. It was if the cascading water swallowed her up, absorbing her into its midst. She was gone. His beloved. His wife. The most wondrous thing in his life. Gone. He blinked hard to no avail. The tears fell. Silver Thorn sank to his knees, his dark head bowed to his chest. There, with the water pounding down around him, he wept—and prayed that he would someday soon be reunited with his wife and child.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Nikki sputtered and thrashed and finally found her footing. Gasping for air, she clung to the rock at the foot of the falls, waiting for the dizziness to pass. For several seconds, she couldn’t even raise her head—didn’t really want to. In her heart, she knew what she would find, and she couldn’t help wanting to put off reality for just a little while longer.
“Oh, Thorn!” she sobbed. “Oh, Thorn! Why, my darling? Why?”
Over the splash of the falls, a voice called, “Hey, lady! Are you okay? You’re not supposed to be out there you know. If the park authorities see you, they’ll give you a ticket.”
Nikki’s head jerked up. She focused blearily toward the riverbank and the direction of the caller. A group of four teenagers, two girls and two boys, lined the bank, all watching her anxiously. “I . . . I’m all right,” she croaked. “I got dizzy and I guess I fell in.”
“You need some help?” one boy asked. “We can wade out and get you.”
Nikki nodded weakly. “Yes. Please.”
It was then she remembered the pendant, still clutched tightly in her hand. Slowly, she opened her fingers and let it fall watching as it plunged below the surface. The rush of water caught it immediately, thrusting it against the rock. It hit twice before lodging in a crevice. There it stuck, shimmering up at her through the surging current.
She was still staring at it forlornly when the two boys reached her. “You sure you’re okay?” the shorter one questioned. “You didn’t hit your head or anything?”
Nikki turned, and mustered a weak smile. “I don’t think I did. Nothing hurts.” Except my heart, she added silently.
“You’re lucky you didn’t drown,” the other teen said. “Especially with that backpack strapped to you.”
Nikki nodded. “I just hope it’s as waterproof as my nephew claims it is.”
With a boy on each side of her, holding her elbows, Nikki waded slowly to shore. There, she sank down on the grassy bank and heaved a weary sigh. “Thanks, fellas. I’ll be okay on my own now.”
She wanted to be alone, to collect her thoughts, to mourn her loss, to try to figure out if she’d landed in the right place and time. She’d already guessed that she was back in the same park, at the same waterfall. At least she assumed so.
“You sure?” one of the girls questioned. “We can stay with you while the guys go for help. Or we can walk you up to the gift shop, if you want.”
“There are rest rooms up there, aren’t there?” Nikki recalled.
“Yeah, rest rooms and a snack bar,” the second girl said. “You really should get out of that wet dress. Maybe buy a T-shirt or something to change into.”
“I have jeans and a shirt in my pack, if they didn’t get soaked, too,” Nikki told them.
She plucked at the clinging cloth of her gray dress, one Mrs. Galloway had given her, the one Silver Thorn had helped her remove the sleeves from the day she’d been picking berries. Bittersweet memories flooded through her, making tears brim in her eyes. Hastily, she blinked them back. Now was not the time to give in to her misery, not with other people around to wonder and ask questions she wasn’t prepared to answer.
She sighed again and pushed herself slowly to her feet. “That rest room and some dry clothes are sounding better by the minute,” she admitted. “And I really wouldn’t mind it if you’d tag along. I’m still a little wobbly.”
“You’re not diabetic or anything
, are you?” the taller boy asked. “I mean, that dizzy spell and all. I was wondering if you need to take some medication or something.”
“No.” Nikki gave a slight shake of her head. “Nothing like that. I . . . I think I’m pregnant.” Her voice broke. By sheer will, she pulled herself together and added, “I haven’t had much to eat today, either. That’s probably what made me so shaky. I’ll get some juice or something at the snack shop and be just fine.”
When they reached the gift shop-snack bar, Nikki thanked her escorts and tried to pay them for their efforts. They refused, saying, “Just chalk it up to our good deed for the week. Robby here is an Eagle Scout. Maybe he’ll get a ribbon for it or something.”
Nikki nodded. “I hope so. You all deserve a reward for being so kind. You’re a great group of kids. I hope your parents and teachers appreciate what they’ve got.”
She waved them on their way, assuring them once more that she could fend for herself now. If only she could make herself believe that blatant lie!
Inside the rest room, Nikki stared at the image reflected back at her in the mirror. God! She looked like a hag! Her dress was sopping. Her hair was straggling in dripping strands around her face. Her eyes were swollen from crying and had dark circles beneath them. Her cheeks were hollow. . . . Wait a minute! Nikki blinked and looked again. No, she wasn’t imagining things. Her cheeks were sunken, and she actually had prominent cheekbones again, for the first time in years. And a clean, crisp jawline. And collarbones that showed! And an honest-to-goodness waistline!
Had she not been so thoroughly miserable, Nikki would have been delighted at the thinner aspects of her new self. But the red eyes told their own tale. As did the sorrow lurking in their violet depths. Her hands drifted from her waist to her stomach, lingering there as she uttered a quick, fervent prayer that she still carried Silver Thorn’s baby. That was one of the primary things she would have to determine for her own peace of mind.
But there were others things to tend to more immediately. Quickly, she dug her clothes out of her backpack, grateful to find them dry, and changed into them. The jeans bagged dreadfully, and she had to rig a belt for them by using the lacing from her doeskin dress. Though she’d left her damp panties on, her bra was too wet to wear. Fortunately, the T-shirt was roomy enough to bunch into a knot at her waist and pooch the fabric out to hide the fact that she wore nothing beneath it. Deftly, she replaited her frazzled French braid and started to work on her face. A whisk of blemish cream, a touch of light shadow on her lids, a flick of mascara, and a dab of lip gloss, and she’d done the best she could to prepare herself to face the modern world.
Upon exiting the rest room, Nikki passed the door of the gift shop. Outside was a newspaper rack. Her gaze caught on the date—August 10, 1996. Nikki let out a deep breath. They’d done it! She was back in her own time, on the exact date she had calculated it should be, after having been gone for a little over two months.
Then her eye caught a poster in the shop window, and her breath snagged again, this time in dismay. Her picture, photocopied in black-and-white, stared back at her from the poster, with her name in big block letters and the word “Missing” at the top. A description followed: Twenty-nine years old; teacher; five feet, three-inches; one-hundred-forty pounds; dark hair; violet eyes. Disappeared on or about June 4, 1996. Car found abandoned in parking lot of nature park. Any information, contact sheriff’s department immediately.
Nikki gaped at the poster as shock waves rippled through her. Somehow, caught up in her own troubles, she’d momentarily forgotten what her family must be going through. Now it hit her anew, with full force. Her car had been found. She was still missing, after two months. Her parents must be frantic! No ... by now they must surely think she was dead, abducted and killed by some maniac and buried in some remote ravine or woods.
“Oh, my God!” she gasped. “I’ve got to let them know I’m alive. I’ve got to contact them immediately! I’ve got to get home!”
Her mind in a whirl, Nikki raced for the parking lot, searching for her keys as she ran. Just as quickly, she skidded to a stop. Her car! Her car had been found . . . and probably towed away! She scanned the lot with frenzied haste, trying to remember where she’d parked. There! By that tree with the drooping branches. She’d thought it would provide enough shade that her car wouldn’t be so hot when she got back to it. Obviously, someone else had the same idea. A black Oldsmobile was parked where her little red Toyota should have been.
“Damn!” Her shoulders slumped. “Of course, it’s gone! They wouldn’t just leave it here. But where is it? At home? In an impound lot? Where?”
She had half a mind to call the sheriff’s department and ask, when it dawned on her that they’d surely ask where she’d been all this time. And what would she say to that? She could imagine it now. Well, officer, it’s like this. I found this charm, and the next thing I knew I was back in 1813, talking with Tecumseh’s brother. One thing led to another. We got married; I got pregnant, and then he sent me back so the Prophet wouldn’t kill me. Oh, yeah! That would go over real big! They’d lock her in a rubber room for the rest of her natural life!
“I’ve got to think about this,” she reasoned aloud. “I can’t do anything impulsive or I’ll just make things worse, though it’s hard to see how they could get much worse than they are now.”
Retracing her steps, Nikki hesitated at the door of the snack bar. What if they recognized her? A patron exited, swinging the glass doors wide. Nikki caught her reflection in the glass. It startled her anew to see how thin she appeared compared to the way she’d looked before. Her glance darted to the poster, and she almost laughed. “The least they could have done was give the police a decent picture of me!” she grumbled. No, anyone seeing that picture of a chunky, apple-cheeked teacher would never know that woman and Nikki were one and the same person. Still, just to be certain, Nikki donned her sunglasses before entering the store.
Inside, she bought a Coke and a package of cupcakes and found a chair at a small table near the window. “Okay, kiddo. Think this through,” she commanded herself silently. “Fact: You have no transportation. You need transportation. So, whom do you call?”
Her gaze swung to the phone hanging just outside the building, visible through the window. “Not the authorities,” she decided. “Not until I can come up with a plausible excuse for a two-month absence and worrying my family to death.”
She pondered if she even dared call her parents yet. What if their phone were being tapped? They did that sometimes in the movies when someone had been kidnapped. It was probably a silly notion, but it might be better to exercise caution anyway, just in case. Besides, her mom would go spastic, and Nikki wasn’t ready to deal with that yet, anymore than she was ready to deal with the police.
So that left her brothers. Again, Nikki hesitated. As much as she loved them, she didn’t trust them not to notify her parents immediately, even if she told them not to. And as soon as her parents knew, so would the authorities. Who, then? Who could she call?
“Sheree!” Her best friend’s name leapt into her brain, and Nikki wondered why she hadn’t thought of her in the first place. They’d been friends forever. Sheree was loyal, dependable, and a self-admitted sucker for anyone in trouble. She even jokingly referred to herself as a Saint Bernard in disguise. And Sheree could keep a secret when she had to. She’d guarded plenty of Nikki’s confidences in the past, just as Nikki had done for her.
Nikki didn’t have to call the information operator. She knew Sheree’s number by heart. But she did place the call collect. “Please don’t let me get that blasted answering machine!” she prayed, waiting for the phone to ring.
Her plea was answered. Sheree picked up on the third ring. “Hello?”
Nikki heard the operator ask Sheree if she would accept a collect call from a Nichole Swan. She also heard Sheree’s quick gasp. “Nichole? You’re sure, operator? Yes! Yes! I accept!” Then, “Nikki? Nikki? Is that really you?”
>
“It’s me, Sheree. I need . . .”
Sheree interrupted, shrieking into Nikki’s ear. “Where are you? Where have you been? God, girl, how could you worry us all like this? Do you know we thought you were dead?”
“Sheree! If you’ll just shut up and let me get a word in edgewise, I’ll explain.”
Sheree quit talking so suddenly, Nikki wondered if they’d been disconnected. “Are you still there?” Nikki queried.
“And waiting with baited breath,” came the irate answer.
“First, I haven’t been murdered or maimed, thank you very much for inquiring,” Nikki said mockingly. “I can’t explain everything on the phone, but I need your help.”
“What kind of help, if I’m allowed to ask?” Sheree was obviously still miffed.
“Can you come get me? I’m sort of stranded here without my car.”
“Stranded where?”
“At the park. At the caves.”
“The same place your car was found?”
“Yes. It’s obviously been towed away or something. I have no idea where it is now.”
“It’s parked in your Dad’s barn lot,” Sheree informed her. “Nikki? Haven’t you called you mom and dad yet? Girl, they’re absolutely distraught!”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t just yet. And I want your word that you won’t call and tell them, either. I don’t want them to find out over the phone. I want to tell them what happened in person. In private. Which reminds me. Am I correct in assuming that the police have been looking for me?”
“You bet your sweet butt they have!” Sheree declared heatedly. “There’s been a manhunt . . . excuse me, a woman-hunt . . . the likes of which hasn’t been seen since that tiger escaped from the circus last summer. Where in God’s green acres have you been?”
“Later,” Nikki promised. “I just want your promise that you won’t notify any of my family or the authorities until we have a chance to talk.” At the prolonged silence on the other end of the line, she added, “Please, Sheree? It’s vital.”
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