Not necessarily. Maybe Virginia had removed the bottle. Disappointment sank in as Rachel assumed that’s what happened, any thoughts to the contrary dwindling.
She found Virginia in the kitchen.
“Did you remove my water bottle from the attic?” Rachel asked, certain she would say yes.
“No, I didn’t,” Virginia answered.
“Are you sure?”
Her stepmother’s eyes narrowed. “I think I would remember. I don’t waste my time searching the house for your water bottles, for heaven’s sake. Besides, I know the attic is pretty much off limits to anyone but you...and your sister’s ghost that you like to talk to up there.”
Rachel might have resented that last remark had it not been true. She hadn’t realized Virginia had apparently been eavesdropping. “Maybe dad took the water bottle—you know, the day I fell and hit my head.”
“What on earth is this about, Rachel?” Virginia demanded.
She thought about spilling her guts, but opted against it, certain that Virginia would never believe the possibility of time travel existed. Rachel wasn’t sure she could accept it herself, had it not been for her amazing journey.
“I just remembered leaving the bottle on the windowsill up there,” she told her. “I looked for it, but it was gone.”
“Well your father didn’t take your water bottle,” Virginia said. “Edwin had enough to do carrying you down from the attic. That was about the only way you could get him up there. I think you probably just forgot where you put the bottle.”
“Yeah, maybe I did.” Rachel wasn’t buying it, though. Not when there was another possible explanation.
“Why don’t you just get another bottle?” her stepmother suggested. “There are plenty of them in the refrigerator. Unless I’m missing something about this particular water bottle?”
“No, it’s nothing. Never mind.”
Rachel quit while she was ahead and went to her room. She reconsidered the possibility that the concussion had caused short-term memory loss. If that were true, why did she remember every detail of her dream experience, including Brooke taking the bottled water?
Rachel lifted the clockwatch dangling from the chain around her neck. She opened the case, seeking any clues as how it had worked its magic on her.
She noted the date was June 30, 2011. It was four days after the tenth anniversary of Brooke’s death.
But what if I really had saved her from the accident? Shouldn’t Brooke have gotten past that point in time and be alive today?
What went wrong?
Panic took hold of Rachel. If she truly had broken through the time barrier, why had history apparently repeated itself?
Or had it?
* * *
Rachel got on her computer and went to the Lake Melrose newspaper archives. She typed in June 26, 2001+Brooke Crane+car accident. She pushed enter and held her breath, hoping it didn’t indicate Brooke had still died from injuries suffered after the car plowed into her.
The search read: No matching words found.
Rachel felt a ray of hope. Maybe Brooke wasn’t killed after all. Then she realized the news story would have come out the following day, dampening her optimism. She typed in the information for June 27, 2001.
Again nothing.
Same thing for June 28, 2001.
Rachel wanted to jump for joy. Brooke was not involved in a car accident this time around. Because I stopped it from happening!
Her excitement faded when Rachel realized something was still very wrong. Brooke was not a part of her life in 2011, at age twenty-six and counting...
Rachel typed the name Brooke Crane by itself in the archives search box to see if anything came up.
Something did come up that she was not expecting. Rachel stared in horror at the screen:
“On Saturday, July 3rd, 2001, an unknown assailant murdered sixteen-year-old Brooke Crane. Her battered and bruised body was found in an alley about a mile from her home. After being abducted from the Sunset Mall, the victim was bludgeoned to death...”
Oh no. This can’t be. There must be some mistake.
Rachel felt liked she’d been punched hard in the stomach. How was it possible that Brooke had been murdered? History could not change itself. Could it?
She typed in August 2001+Brooke Crane and an article confirmed what Rachel had already read:
“Brooke Crane, a gifted student at Lake Melrose High, was the victim of a vicious attack last month. Her killer is still unknown and at large...”
Rachel slumped back, tears flooding her eyes. Was this her fault? Had the antique watch sent her back in time to change history, but with the same deadly result—only much worse?
All Rachel could think of was she had to try and save Brooke again and hope that this time her sister really would live to see the future. But Rachel had no idea if the watch would cooperate or how she had gotten it to work before.
Just as challenging was getting anyone else to believe she had been given the power to travel through time.
CHAPTER TEN
Rachel was curious to see if the rewritten past had actually changed the present as far as her dad and stepmother were concerned.
She brought it up causally at the dinner table. “Dad, I’m still freaking out about the dream I had of saving Brooke from being hit by that car.”
Edwin stopped eating and frowned. “Rachel, the car accident was all in your head.” He paused. “You know that your sister was...murdered—”
She felt a chill, but wanted to hear more. “Murdered how?”
“I don’t want to go down that road again,” he said glumly.
“I need to know, Dad,” she insisted. “Guess I’m still a little confused after the concussion.”
When he hesitated, Virginia spoke up. “Brooke was taken from the mall and beaten to death. Is that what you wanted to know?”
Edwin frowned. “Virginia.”
“It’s okay,” Rachel said, even if it wasn’t now that she had to try to digest the changing story of her sister’s death. She wondered if everything she’d read was accurate as far as her dad and stepmother now believed. “And Brooke died on June 26th, ten years ago, right?”
“Your sister died on July 3, 2001,” her father said. “I’m sorry some of these facts have slipped your mind. I’m sure it will all come back to you in time.”
Virginia put a napkin to her lips. “Does any of this have to do with the bottled water you were obsessing over?”
“What bottled water?” Edwin looked confused.
“It was nothing,” Rachel said quickly, and ate some peas.
“Maybe she suffered some sort of neurological damage when she hit her head,” Virginia said.
Rachel sneered. “My head is fine, thank you.” She wouldn’t put it past her stepmother to want to put her in a mental institution, if she gave her a good enough excuse. Then there would be no further competition for her dad’s affection, apart from Nana.
No way can I mention the subject of time travel or tell them I changed the family’s history as far as Brooke was concerned.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Edwin stared at Rachel.
She forced a weak smile. “Yes, I’m fine. I know Brooke died on July 3, 2001 after being...bludgeoned to death. And that her killer was never caught—”
Rachel hoped she hadn’t overstepped her knowledge, considering she had not checked the newspaper after August 2001 up till now to see if the murderer had ever been apprehended. If that was something she should have known she could be in more hot water.
But Edwin gave her a look of satisfaction. “That’s right, honey. God rest your sister’s soul. If there’s any justice, her killer got what was coming to him, even if the authorities have never arrested anyone for the crime.”
Rachel hated to think that someone had murdered Brooke, but only after she had been spared her first date with death. For that Rachel could only blame herself. Or that stupid antique clockwatch.
I have to go back and give Brooke another chance at life.
* * *
In the attic, Rachel stood where she had before, the chain around her neck, while looking at the clockwatch. She had somehow expected on willpower alone that the date on it would read June 28, 2001, or ten years ago to the day. But instead it was dated June 28, 2011.
Why won’t it change so I can go back again?
Never mind the fact that Rachel couldn’t control what might happen to her in the present should she go back in time. Including hitting her head again.
It was worth the risk in trying to avert her sister’s latest tragedy in the past. Meaning the future could change again. Only this time hopefully with Brooke alive in 2011!
Problem was the watch wasn’t cooperating.
Rachel remembered that the music was playing when she went back in time. She pushed in the button on the pendant and the musical automation began. She closed her eyes, expecting at any moment she would be whisked through time and space to this date ten years ago.
After several minutes, Rachel opened her eyes and looked at the date on the watch. It had not changed. She was still in her own time.
She felt frustrated, having never wanted something to happen so badly. As impossible as it seemed, Rachel was certain she had found a way to break the time barrier and be with her dead sister and mother. And it wasn’t all in her head. The change in the way Brooke died proved it. While Rachel hadn’t exactly bonded with her mom the first time around, at least she and Brooke had found the opportunity to be true sisters again before it was too late.
In the process, she had dealt Brooke an even crueler fate...at the hands of a vicious killer.
I’d rather put things back as they were than have to live with that. Do you hear me watch? Give me the chance to either save Brooke or spare her from being murdered.
If history was any example, Rachel had five days or less to try and figure out how to go back and save Brooke again. Should she fail, all hope would be lost and Rachel would never know what might have been.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Brooke sat by herself on the Greyhound bus, looking out the window as old farmhouses and fields whizzed by. It was Wednesday, the day after her unbelievable experience with her little sister from the future. She’d wanted to tell someone what had happened. But who could she tell? No one would believe that a sixteen-year-old version of Rachel had mysteriously come back in time to save Brooke from death at the hands of an out of control driver.
Even their mother, who came face to face with Rachel, would not believe her own eyes and instincts. Not when it went against everything that was supposed to be true about the past, present, and future being totally separate entities—with no chance of crisscrossing between them.
Yet that was exactly what had happened, much to Brooke’s shock. She still didn’t know how Rachel had managed to accomplish the feat with that mysterious watch. Or why her life had been spared as a result. Maybe it wasn’t supposed to make sense. What did clearly register was that there was an even stronger bond between her and Rachel than Brooke could ever have imagined, forged through time and eternal sibling love.
With that knowledge and a new zest for life, Brooke decided impromptu to spend a couple of days at her grandmother’s house. This had surprised her parents, especially after she had steadfastly rejected accompanying Rachel to spend the summer with Nana. They had been only too happy to lift her grounding for what Brooke’s dad and mom saw as a grown up choice of better utilizing her time.
Who was she to argue? If only they knew the whole story.
Brooke saw the short visit as a chance to see her sister again as a six-year-old. She would cherish the memories, knowing Rachel would someday grow up to become a beautiful, determined, time traveling, life saving teenager Brooke could be proud of.
* * *
Holding a cigarette between trembling fingers, Catherine Crane sat in the breakfast room. A steaming cup of coffee before her went untouched. She was home alone. The girls were visiting their grandmother and Edwin was away on a business trip. Perhaps it was better that she dealt with this by herself. At least until there was no other choice.
When her doctor found a spot on her lung during a routine X-ray last week, Catherine had hoped for the best, but prepared for the worst. After all, her mother and sister had died of cancer at an early age. Yesterday it was confirmed: she had inoperable lung cancer.
Catherine took a drag on the cigarette, followed by a nasty cough. She hated it was this habit that would likely kill her before she reached forty-two years of age. She had tried to quit for years, but always went back to smoking as her comfort zone when times were tough. Now she would pay the ultimate price and there was little she could do about it.
The hardest part would be never seeing her little girl grow up. Brooke was nearly grown and could fend for herself in the world. But what would become of Rachel? Would Edwin be there for her when she needed him most?
Catherine wiped away the tears staining her cheeks. Life could be so unfair. She wondered if death would be any better.
* * *
“Rachel!” Brooke spotted her right away, her thick pigtails and huge smile a welcome sight.
“Brooke!” Rachel waved and ran through the crowd into Brooke’s waiting arms.
“I missed you,” Brooke cried, more than she could possibly explain.
“Missed you, too.”
Brooke hugged her again before finally pulling away. Immediately she sized up the thin, pretty little girl compared to the tall, shapelier, attractive teenager she would become.
“I could use a hug, too,” said the raspy voice.
Brooke turned to her grandmother. Lola Crane was in her early seventies and had a light brown complexion. Her curly short hair was white. She walked with a slight limp after having a hip replacement. She had been a widow for nearly two decades.
Brooke embraced her warmly. “Hi, Nana.”
“It’s good to see you, child.” Lola fixed her with curious raven eyes. “I didn’t expect to see you this summer.”
Brooke smiled awkwardly. “I didn’t expect to be here.” She glanced at Rachel. “Guess I just decided it might be nice to get away from home and spend some time with my little sister and grandmother.”
“You’re always welcome, just like Rachel,” Lola said. “And since your stay will be so short, we’d better get going so we can make the most of it.”
“Nana says we can go for ice cream on the way home, Brooke.” Rachel giggled. “Do you want some?”
Brooke grinned and took her hand. “What do you think?”
“I think you do.”
“Then let’s go!” Brooke could barely stop staring at Rachel, while wondering if her older version had made it back home safely.
I hope so. I’d hate to think Rachel had endangered her own future somehow by giving me one.
For now, Brooke turned her attention back to the present day Rachel, who was suddenly growing up faster than she’d ever thought possible.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“How did my sister die?” Rachel asked Duncan as they sat in his car. It was an innocent enough question, but there was a lot riding on his answer. She had to know if the whole world—or just her own—had altered memories of the past all based on her trip back in time. The other possibility was that it was she who had lost her way somehow and confused what was real and what was not.
“Is this a test?”
“Yes, it’s a test,” she told him. They had talked about it often enough. Rachel feared Duncan would no longer remember if he too had unwittingly become a part of whatever forces were at work here.
Duncan held his chin and pretended to think about it. “She died in a car accident. Are you ready to change your story or what?”
“No, I’m not.” Rachel hugged him joyously and kissed his mouth. At least someone’s on the same wavelength as me, if not my dad and stepmom.
Duncan touched his lips. “I’ll take
a hug and kiss from you anytime. Especially if all I have to do is answer an easy question. But why did you ask me about your sister?”
Rachel sighed, not quite sure what to say. “Because some really weird things are going on.”
“Such as?”
“I don’t really know how to explain it.”
He looked at her curiously. “Does it have anything to do with you hitting your head?”
“Yes and no,” she said mysteriously.
“So tell me what this is all about.”
Rachel hoped she wasn’t creating even more problems for herself by delving into the subject matter. But Duncan was her boyfriend and she needed to confide in someone she could trust who might possibly be able to help her understand what was happening. “As a science fanatic, what do you think about the possibility of time travel?”
Duncan lifted a brow. “I think it’s fun to speculate. And it might even be possible, if you believe in quantum gravity theory. Why?”
Here goes. “What if I told you I traveled back in time and it probably has little to do with that theory?”
He stared at her thoughtfully. “You’re joking, right?”
She took the clockwatch out of her purse and showed it to him.
“What’s this?”
“What does it look like?” she responded evenly.
“An antique gold pocket clockwatch,” he told her.
“It’s much more than that...” She swallowed. “The watch has time traveling powers.”
Duncan gave her that look again, like she was off her rocker.
Rachel told her incredible tale, as she had once before. Only this time she was not chalking it up to a mere dream.
“So you’re saying you really saw me as a kid?” There was definite skepticism in Duncan’s tone.
She didn’t blame him one bit for doubting her, all things considered. “Yeah, I did,” she maintained.
“And what makes you think this clockwatch actually sent you back in time rather than you simply dreamt the whole thing?”
“Because the newspaper article I dug up online says that Brooke was murdered after being taken from a mall, rather than killed in a car accident like the one I saved her from. The murder also happened a week later than the day I’d always been told she died, which happens to be the day I found myself back in time. And now my dad and stepmom insist that Brooke was murdered ten years ago. When I suggested otherwise, they totally freaked.”
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