by Tish Thawer
“Well, let’s go. I want to know what we’re up against.” Kennedy pulled her thick fur covering over her shoulders and walked out the door.
Caris reached for the small skin bag that previously carried their breakfast. Dumping out the crumbs, she replaced them with some stones and herbs she’d gathered earlier today, in case they needed to cast a spell once they arrived at the trees.
Trin placed a hand against her chest, letting the magic of the bone talisman she’d made earlier in the week radiate under her touch then followed her sisters outside. The night was chilly but not completely unbearable. Trin pulled her furs snug and tilted back her head, enjoying the stars as they twinkled against the black blanket upon which they lay. The sound of their footsteps were muffled against the thick layer of moss and pine needles that coated the ground. She followed Kennedy and Caris down the path they’d become accustom to, happy they’d each found their place within the tribe as she had.
“This way,” Kennedy motioned up the hill toward the garden.
The air smelled of cultivated dirt, and Trin smiled in appreciation of the organized rows of vegetables. The proficiency of the tribe was something she appreciated, not just from their current experience, but from her time spent here in the past. The gatherings and teachings she’d arranged as Katherine Hunniwell were some of her favorite memories from that particular lifetime.
“Down here,” Kennedy prompted as she veered down the hill on the other side of the garden. The path sloped slightly, leading them straight into a small grove of birch trees; their white trunks and yellowing leaves created a welcoming sight.
Shuffling the last few feet, Caris stopped and bent over. Placing her hands on her knees, she started to heave, struggling to calm her suddenly heavy breaths.
“Car, what is it?” Kennedy asked, rubbing her sister’s back.
“I’m not sure,” she gasped. “My chest just got tight all of a sudden, and it became hard to breathe.” She inhaled deeply and stood upright, arching her back while pressing a hand against her breastbone. “I’m okay now, let’s keep going.”
Kennedy eyed Trin, sending her next thought into her sister’s mind. “I think you better scan the area for magic. Whether it’s Ann or something lingering from the tribe, this place definitely has a pull.”
Trin nodded and obliged silently. “Show me now, the lay of the land. Magic fingers from a mysterious hand. Reveal to me the sight I need, to protect this land and us sisters three.”
Trin stepped in front of her sisters and held out her arm, blocking them from the path ahead. The forest shifted from dark to light, as if the landscape had just undergone an x-ray. Trin could now see streams of white energy pulsing from where each of the sisters stood, running along the ground as if marking a runway. Following the line that radiated from beneath her feet, Trin walked forward to the base of the adjoined cluster of trees. The three portals––and that was definitely what they were–– were exactly as Kennedy described them. Large trees connected at their bases, each split wide by the magic held within.
“They are portals,” Trin motioned Caris and Kennedy forward, “and each one holds a different magic, connecting them to a different time.” She followed the pulsing lights at her feet to the center tree, lifting her hand and pushing against the magic radiating from its core. Kennedy’s line led to the tree on the left, and Caris’s to the right. “I think we’re each supposed to go through our assigned one.”
Kennedy’s head snapped to Trin. “Assigned by who?”
“I’m not sure. It could be the magic of the tribe, or the Goddess giving us directions, or on the negative side of things, it could be Ann trying to pull us apart. I simply don’t know.”
“I’m not blindly walking into a time-shifting portal without knowing who the heck’s behind it.” Caris’s voice held an edge of panic, one which they all seemed to be sharing.
“I agree, and that’s not what I’m suggesting.” Trin reached for her sister’s hand, hoping to reassure her in this unsure situation.
“I think we should...” Kennedy’s words cut off and her eyes filled with terror as an invisibile force pulled her through her designated portal.
“No!” screamed Trin, reaching for her sister just as two small pops split the air, yanking her and Caris into their respective trees as well.
BLACKBROOK, NEW YORK
Present Day
“What the hell!” Jason yelled as what looked to be a disheveled Indian maiden materialized in the center of the sacred circle he’d just cast. He’d been attempting spell after spell to locate the girls for the past week, but then suddenly––before he could even intone his latest chant, a stranger popped into existence inside his very home.
Collapsing to the floor, the woman held up a hand. “J, it’s me.” Kennedy looked up and met his gaze, sucking in deep breaths as she adjusted to the wave of nausea time travelling had brought on.
“Oh my God, Kennedy, are you all right? Is Trin all right? Where’s Caris?” He raced to her side, kneeling down and placing a hand on her back while continuing to scan the room.
His frantic questions and rapid movements forced Kennedy to close her eyes as she fought the dizzy spell threatening to overtake her. “Give me a few, please.” She eased further onto the floor, rolling over until she was curled into a ball. “Time travelling sucks.”
Jason tried to hold his tongue, wanting to give her the space she needed, but unfortunately, time was not on their side––this, he could feel all the way to his bones. “Where have you been, and were Trin and Caris with you?”
“Yes. After we followed Ann through the portal in Maine, we ended up in the same area, just three-hundred years earlier.”
“Holy shit! Are Trin and Caris still stuck there, or are they following you back through?” Jason scanned the room again, hopeful the love of his life and her sister would appear in front of him at any given second.
A slight shiver shook Kennedy’s exhausted frame. “I don’t think they’re coming.”
Caris screamed as an invisible forced yanked her through the tree on the right and straight into the portal waiting within. Moments later, she snapped into existence and found herself in an all too familiar place. Large, crocodile tears streamed down her face as she looked around the small cabin where she and her sisters had been born and raised.
“Kara, is that you, my child?” Her mama’s voice sounded from the back room, bringing on another round of sobs and stalling any words she tried to form.
Her mother, alive and well, peeked out from around the corner and smiled, not even flinching at Caris’s odd garments or haphazard appearance, or the fact that she was at least fourteen years older than she should have been in this time. “I’ve been expecting you,” her mother stated, coming into full view and opening her arms wide.
Caris didn’t question how she’d known she’d be coming, or whether this was some kind of twisted time-dream replay, no, she simply ran into her mother’s waiting embrace and cried her heart out.
“There, there. Everything will be all right. You’re safe, and we have all night to get to work. We’ll get you back there, and in doing so, save your sister as well.”
Trin didn’t fight the invisible force tugging at her heart. She simply closed her eyes and let destiny pull her forward through the portal of the center tree.
Feeling a cool breeze upon her face, she opened her eyes and looked up at the Hunniwell house in its original state. Her husband’s voice echoed from within, and Trin watched as three silhouettes paced back-and-forth behind the windows on either side of the front door.
“They’ve been at it for awhile now,” Nadie’s soft voice drifted from just over her shoulder.
Trin took the time to really look at her beautiful friend and realized this version of the Indian maiden was from their current visit to their village, not the version true to this time. Trin’s attention snapped back to the front door as the original Nadie burst from the house and raced into the forest.
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“How did you get here?” Trin asked.
“I assume the same way you did. I was pulled through the center tree in the birch grove. It’s magic called to me and once I was close enough, I couldn’t stop myself,” Nadie explained. “I’m sorry. It’s why I’ve been missing. I’ve been stuck here, watching as history changes itself.”
Trin gasped. “What do you mean, changing itself?”
“I’m sure you remember, we were never caught by Mr. Hunniwell in our true time here. This is an alteration and one that may not end well for either of us.”
Trin looked back at the house just as a smack and a scream rang out from inside. Ann’s trying to get me killed, her subconscious supplied. “We have to do something! Will you help me?” Trin asked.
Nadie squared her shoulders and nodded in response. “Just tell me what to do.”
Chapter Twenty
BLACKBROOK, NEW YORK
Present Day
Changed and fully rested after a good nights’ sleep in her own bed, Kennedy joined Jason in their workspace downstairs. “Have you found a way to re-open the portal?” she asked, getting straight to the point.
Jason wiped his brow then continued to crush herbs beneath his pestle. “No. Not yet.”
Kennedy dropped her head and joined him, silently organizing all the oils and candles he’d laid out to anoint. There wasn’t much else to say; they had a job to do and they both knew it. She understood that while he was happy she’d returned safely, the fright of what could be happening to Trin and Caris temporarily overshadowed that joy.
“Could you hand me some of that peridot?” Jason asked.
Kennedy reached for the tiny glass bottle and smiled at the beautiful green stones held within. She removed the miniature cork stopper and shook out a small handful into her palm. “Peridot,” she peered into his mortar, “combined with Anise. Smart!”
“Thanks. I’m hoping the peridot will do its job to destroy the negative magic I can feel emanating from the energy of the portal, and the anise should help us focus our astral bodies during the trip back.”
“Excuse me?”
“What? Did you expect me to just sit here, waiting to see if Trin and Caris eventually pop up? You know I can’t do that.” Jason released the pestle, it’s loud clank punctuating his frustration. “I thought it would be wise to send our astral bodies through first to see where we’re going to end up and if Trin and Caris are even close by. I wasn’t planning to just step through into the unknown.”
Kennedy held up her hands. “Like I said, it’s smart. I’m just surprised you want to go. I thought the level-headed Officer Hardy would choose to stay behind and maintain a secure perimeter for when we all returned.”
Jason stopped, mid-step and stood silently at the point where the portal’s magic still pulsed in the air. “I just can’t sit here and do nothing.”
“Then don’t. Go back to Maine, see if you can find Ann in this time––hell, I’ll go back with you, but jumping straight through another portal doesn’t seem like the best idea.” Kennedy shook her head. “I’m sorry, Jason, but I really think we should both stay here.”
Jason’s chest rumbled as he tossed the contents of his mortar onto the ground, scattering the peridot shards across the floor. “Fine. We’ll stay here.”
IPSWICH, MASSACHUESETTS
1685
“Now, Kara. It’s time.”
Caris, grown and transplanted back to her childhood home, followed her mama’s instructions and tossed the olive branch onto the ritual fire they’d built at their sacred space in the woods. Sparks shot into the air, drifting up into the night sky.
“Repeat after me,” her mother directed. “Time is mine, fluid and true; transport me back to the world of new. Please reunite my sisters and me, as I will it, So Mote It Be.”
Caris repeated the chant three times and gasped when a shimmering green orb took shape above the fire. Through it, they could see her current home and standing within it, Kennedy and Jason. Caris turned to her mama with tears in her eyes. “I wish we had more time.”
Her mother hugged her tightly and kissed her wet cheeks. “So do I, sweet girl, so do I. But you must go. This is the only way, and remember what I told you.”
Caris nodded, and after blowing a kiss to the woman who’d meant the most to her in the entire world, she leaped into the portal, emerging on the other side into a plume of green dust.
BLACKBROOK, NEW YORK
Present Day
Lifting her foot, Caris plucked crushed shards of peridot from the rough underside of her moccasin and squealed when Jason and Kennedy swept her up into a massive group hug.
“You’re safe! Thank the Goddess,” Kennedy whispered as they held each other tight.
“Yes. I’m fine, but Trin is not. We have to go back!” Caris pulled from their embrace with tears in her eyes.
“What do you mean? What’s happening to her?” Jason demanded.
“Ann has trapped her in her past life in Maine––the original one, and has altered the timeline which has put her in danger.”
“How do you know all this? Is that where your tree took you too?” Kennedy asked.
“No.” Caris shook her head. “The only reason I know is because of ...” Caris swallowed past the lump in her throat, “Mama. She saw it all.”
Kennedy’s small but confident frame shuddered, requiring Jason to catch her before she collapsed to the floor. “You were sent back to Mama?”
Caris nodded. “Yes. She said that she’d seen all of this unfold in her visions, and that we were the only ones who could save Trin. You, me, and Jason.”
Jason looked between the girls. “How am I supposed to help? I was going to stay here and return to Maine to try and find Ann in this time like we’d discussed.”
“Oh, we’re returning to Maine, it’s the only way to access the portals again. But you have to come back with us,” Caris demanded. “Mama saw it. You’re the only person who can set the timeline straight.”
Jason took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders. “I’ll do whatever it takes.” He hugged Caris and Kennedy, then they all dispersed to their individual rooms, rushing to pack for their impromptu trip back to Maine. Kennedy, and now Caris, knew exactly where the split-tree portals were located, and with any luck, they’d make it there before nightfall.
Jason sat in the back of the Jeep, silent and understandably focused. He had prepared by dressing to match the girls in the native clothes they provided, and tried to remain serious as they’d marked up his face with tribal paint. He looked like an Indian warrior with feathers stuck in his hair and a machete at his side. “Do we know where this portal will spit us out exactly?” he asked, finally breaking the silence.
“Yes, it will place us outside the Hunniwell house in Trin’s original lifetime there,” Caris stated, but said nothing more.
His personal firearm sat in his lap, unloaded of course, but the cold metal provided an anchor for him as he ran his thumb up and down the barrel. “Did your mother explain how I’m supposed to fix the timeline?” he asked.
“Yes. But your gun won’t help you.” Caris lifted her eyes to the rearview mirror and shook her head. Clearly, she didn’t want to talk about this now, and Jason supposed there was no point. He’d said it himself; he’d do whatever was necessary to save Trin and knew the girls would too.
“Did Mama say if Ann was there, and if we’ll encounter her then, or does that happen back here, at home?” Kennedy asked.
“She didn’t say. Only that we had to restore the timeline in order to save Trin. Now enough with the questions, I don’t know everything so stop asking.” Caris reached for the knob on the radio, turning the volume up and bringing their conversation to an end.
Chapter Twenty-One
Kennedy was bounced awake and found herself back where all this had started––Scarborough, Maine. Caris was driving down the hidden path that would once again lead them to the back of the current Hunniw
ell property. “Wow. That didn’t take long.” She sat up, rubbing her eyes.
The Jeep was quiet as Caris whispered to her sister, “After we park, it should be just a quick jaunt over the river and through the woods to...”
“Grandmother’s house we go?” Kennedy teased.
“Haha,” Caris replied dryly.
Kennedy laughed and turned back to wake Jason.
“I’m awake,” he stated flatly, determination shining in his eyes.
They rolled to a stop and parked the Jeep in the same place as they had before. After assembling the few items they’d planned to take along, Caris locked the rest of their belongings inside and hid the keys under a nearby rock. “What? I don’t want to risk losing my keys in 1703.” She shrugged in answer to her sister’s questioning gaze.
“Good idea,” Jason added. “Now let’s just hope we don’t get lost in 1703.”
Kennedy stayed quiet and the mood remained somber as they started their trek back towards the river. It was strange seeing the same terrain they’d just left not more than two days ago in such a modern and manicured state. She hoped things hadn’t changed so much that they couldn’t find their way back to portals, but if what Caris said was true, their Mama still saw the trees standing in the same location today. Kennedy sighed and looked ahead at her sister leading the way. The idea of Caris getting to spend time with their long-passed mother pulled at every emotion she carried within her: love, heart-ache, envy, anger. If only her path had lead to the right tree instead of the left. A smile lifted her lips as a random thought drifted to the the forefront of her mind. Maybe after all this is over, I can use the right portal and go back to see Mama myself. Thunder rolled as she finished the thought.
“Come on, we’re almost there. It’s just up over this hill and down the path,” Caris explained. Jason nodded and gripped the weapon at his side. He was nervous, and rightfully so, Caris thought. It was going to be hard to explain that his sole purpose here was to kill a man in cold blood. Caris shook her head and trudged on, carrying the weight of the future with her.