Lizzi Bizzi and the Red Witch

by Stefano Pastor

  «Dad, I want to go there».

  Moses looked at him incredulously. «There where?».

  «Where that child is. I want to go down there».

  Oh, how much he wanted it to be possible, that his son could have a life like that of Alan Freeman.

  «Why did it come back, dad? Why is it here now?».

  «As?».

  «They buried it because they would find it in the future. Instead we found it. But it’s the past, they have not built it yet».

  Moses sighed. «Let it go, Spencer. There is no answer to certain things».

  He threw the rest of the book into the fire and he stood up.

  «Come on, now, tomorrow, you have to get up early and get back to work».

  «Dad! Dad! What day is today?».

  Moses opened his eyes more exhausted than ever. He felt destroyed and out was still dark. «Wednesday, Spencer. Now sleep».

  «What year! What year is this?».

  He opened his eyes. He couldn’t understand Spencer’s strange excitement. «You know, the 1750s».

  Spencer smiled. «September 5, 1750!».

  «If you already know why you ask me?».

  «It’s the date that marks the clock!».

  He showed him proudly. The unknown numbers were blinking in the dark, and this even scared Moses further. «You didn’t bury it!».

  «Look, Daddy, look! The clock marks today’s date!».

  «So?».

  «How is it possible? If it has been buried in the future, how can it show the time backwards?».

  He had to trust Spencer, he didn’t know the numbers. «It’s a mystery, okay. However…».

  «It’s not a clock! This is what makes time move! That guy built it, you know? It was Alan! They have also rewarded him for doing so! Is this! Is this!».

  «All right, Spencer, that’s it. You can keep it, if you want. Just don’t show it to anyone please. Now sleep».

  Spencer sat down, clutching that clock to his heart.

  «I want to go there, Daddy», he murmured. «Let me go there».

  Then he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

  The next day they whipped him again, and it was horrible.

  Spencer did nothing but trouble, did not obey any of the orders given to him, always lost in his dreams. In the end Mrs. Hennessy gave him the right punishment, but she was too violent to the point that Pheby faced her and she got whipped too.

  When Moses came back out the field, he found Spencer on the bed in tears. His back was bloody, Pheby had not even had time to treat him.

  As he tried to wash it without hurting him, Spencer kept sobbing. «Let me go, Daddy. Let me go down there».

  Oh, Moses would do it, if only he knew how to do it. Yes, at that moment he would do anything.

  «I don’t want to», Spencer said. «I don’t want it. I don’t want it».

  He didn’t want that life, and he was right.

  «Do it, please, do it».

  Moses looked unbelievably Zeb, without realizing it.

  Zeb was strange that morning as they worked in the fields. «I didn’t understand much about what you said, but do it anyway. If Spencer wants to leave, let him free. Don’t force him to continue this life».

  «But…».

  Zeb didn’t really understand anything, otherwise he wouldn’t have said those things, Moses was certain. For sure he had heard of the North as well, and he imagined that Spencer would want to go there.

  «Anything is better than this life», Zeb continued. «Anything».

  «Miss Lily, can I talk to you?», Moses asked.

  The girl looked worried, she looked around. «Should you not be at work? What are you doing here?».

  «Your dad went to town, Miss Lily».

  «He will punish you the same if he finds out that you are not working».

  Moses lowered his eyes but didn’t move.

  «My mother?».

  «She’s in the kitchen with Pheby». He mastered up all his courage. «It’s for Spencer».

  The girl bowed her head. «I can’t do anything, you know. Mom doesn’t listen to me. Do you think I wouldn’t helped him if there was a way?».

  «He wants to leave, Miss Lily. He wants to go down there».

  The girl just made a grimace. There was no need to explain where it was down there.

  Moses pulled the strange watch out of his pocket. «Spencer says it’s this. This is what allowed him to go back. He says that marks today’s date».

  A wrinkle appeared on Miss Lily’s forehead. «You did not destroy it!».

  Moses bowed his head. «Please. Spencer can’t live like this much longer».

  Miss Lily took the watch and studied it carefully. «Even if it was, what should I do?».

  «I don’t know», Moses admitted.

  There were buttons above the numbers, and Miss Lily crushed them. The numbers changed.

  Miss Lily looked around and then went to the window.

  «It doesn’t work», she said. «Nothing happens».

  They stayed silent for a long time, then Miss Lily asked him: «What did you do with the capsule?».

  «I buried it, as Miss said».

  «Let’s go to get it back then. Do you remember where you buried it?».

  Moses nodded.

  «Bring it there, and bring Spencer too».

  «It’s the capsule, it must be».

  «What does it mean?».

  They were all there, in the new field, around that strange object. Moses and his son Spencer, Zeb and Miss Lily.

  She handled the clock. «This indicates the destination, or rather the arrival time, but alone is not enough. It’s the capsule the medium. No, it’s not a time capsule, it must be something different».

  «What does it mean?».

  «It could not have been by chance, it was sent here for a very specific task. So there must be a way to get it back».

  «What task?».

  Miss Lily didn’t answer, she continued to look at the fake watch she held, then walked, getting nervous. She began a strange conversation, which confused Moses. «Why? I hate my life, this is not my world! Do you think it’s easy to be a woman, always having to say yes? If there is a world where negroes are at the same level as whites, is it not possible that women in the same world are equal to men? I want to go down there! I desperately want to go over there, I don’t want anything else».

  She had tears in her eyes, and Moses couldn’t quite understand.

  She continued: «It’s not for me. It’s not me who came to pick up. To save. They don’t want me. I’ll have to stay here forever».

  Time was running, Master Hennessy could also be back early, Moses was getting more and more agitated. «Spencer, Miss Lily, what must Spencer do?».

  Miss Lily pointed at the object. «He needs to get in there. Do you think you can, Spencer?».

  Moses crippled. «In there? To go where?».

  There was a strange light in the child’s eyes. «I can go there? Where Alan is? In that new world?».

  Miss Lily shook her head. «No, it’s impossible».

  «What does that mean then?», Moses asked, seeing the disappointment on the face of his son.

  «Even if we could send him over there, what would we achieve?», Miss Lily asked. «The capsule was buried. He wouldn’t be able to breath, there would be no one to free him».

  «Then it’s all worthless!», Moses exclaimed.

  She smiled. «No, not really. It is no coincidence that it’s here, but a very specific choice. That’s the purpose of the content, to make us understand. We know exactly when the capsule will open again. They told us, they left us a message. On December 15, 2250, at noon. That’s when they will have the opening ceremony».

  Moses felt his heart in his throat. «But we can’t know if it will happen! We have no idea how the world will be then! If it will still exist! They might have forgotten it! It may no longer matter. There may be no one to open it anymore».

  «
Yeah, it could happen», Miss Lily admitted.

  «Spencer might die choking in there, even if it worked!».

  «It could, yes».

  «Let me go, Daddy, please».

  Spencer begged him. Moses knelt in front of his son. «Do you know what it means? You could die there. You will certainly die».

  «I don’t want to live here, Daddy. Please».

  What life waited for him? Spencer wouldn’t have made it, Moses was sure. He was a child full of dreams and illusions. They would have annihilated him, completely.

  Spencer slipped off his hands and reached the capsule. «Look, I fit in!».

  It was not easy, the capsule was tight for him too. But Spencer was so small that he managed to get in. He struggled to speak, crushed as he was. «You see? I’m fine».

  «Yes, it’s made for him», Miss Lily said sadly.

  Moses shivered. How much air could there be in there? How much could he resist before choking? Five minutes, ten?

  «It’s madness!», Moses cried.

  «I don’t want to live here!», Spencer shouted.

  What would be his life, knowing that he had killed his own son? Because this was the heart of the problem: they could never know if it had succeeded or not.

  «What do we have to do?», he asked Miss Lily.

  She pressed the keys and the numbers on the clock that changed. Then he leaned over the capsule and passed the object to Spencer. «Keep it tight».

  Her voice also trembled. «Now close it. And bury it where you found it».

  Moses’ heart went crazy. Bury Spencer, alive? His mind was against it, with all its strength.

  «Why? What’s the need?».

  «That’s where it started, three centuries in the future. Here one day the school will be built, where you have seen it. And this is where the capsule will finally open».

  «But…».

  «Hurry up before daddy comes back. He doesn’t have to find out what we did».

  Moses loved him, loved him a lot. He loved him so much to let him free. Even though he was risking his life, even though he only pursued a dream. He told him. «I love you, Spencer».

  «Me too, Daddy. I love you and mom».

  Then he closed the capsule and sealed it.

  They dropped it into the hole, he and Zeb, then buried it completely. Moses couldn’t stop crying, the reason was screaming in his head at that moment that Spencer was dying choking. But there was also a hope, a slight illusion that the child was no longer there, that he had reached a better world.

  They remained silent for a long time, around that pile of ground, almost as if they were at a funeral.

  «Did he leave?», Moses finally asked Miss Lily.

  She didn’t answer.

  «We can look at it, check it. We’re still in time».

  How many minutes had passed, four or five? Was there still air in the capsule?

  She shook her head. «We can’t know how long it will take».

  Moses was going crazy. «If it didn’t work? If Spencer is dying right now?».

  «I don’t believe…».

  «I can’t do it!», Moses shouted, and asked Zeb, «Help me get him out».

  They dug and dug. They even dug too much, but without finding anything. The capsule was gone, it had disappeared, and with the capsule his son was gone too.

  Moses had his heart in his throat, he felt a mix of joy and despair, fear and hope. He turned to Miss Lily an unbelieving look.

  «We’ve done it? We ready did it?».

  The girl laughed.

  Moses couldn’t share his happiness, he only had one thought in mind. He cried. «How will I tell Pheby?».

  «Get it out! Open that damned capsule!».

  «You calm down, Mr. Freeman, it’s not time yet. Three minutes to go».

  The old one couldn’t wait. In the middle of the room there was a metal plate all engraved. Two dates stand out on everything. The capsule was there, under that plate, but no one had ever seen it before, it had never been lifted.

  The old man walked around the room torturing his hands. He looked at the crowd that filled the big room and read his own tension in their eyes. Everyone was ready, the medical team just waited to intervene.

  «Doesn’t matter, open it».

  «We can’t risk it, Mr. Freeman. It may not have come yet».

  The cubicle could be empty, there could be nothing in there. Or the capsule could be empty, containing only old books. It could only be a legend. Or it was already too late.

  Mr. Freeman felt worse. His wife smiled at him. «Calm down, don’t get upset. Think about your heart. It will be all right, you will see».

  They were also waiting for it, all of them. But for Mr. Freeman was more important than for anyone else.

  «Now!», shouted one of the doctors, checking the clock.

  It was exactly 12.00 on December 15, 2250.

  Four of them grabbed the plate and raised it. A first groan went through the room. The capsule was there. It seemed to be intact, as if it had just been buried. There was no dust on its surface.

  They pulled it out and immediately they started to open it. There was a hiss and a click. Then a voice shouted, «He’s here!».

  Mr. Freeman’s heart stopped for a moment.

  «He’s a boy!», the screams continued. «He’s alive! He is still alive!».

  His wife tried to sit him down, but Mr. Freeman ignored her. He was pale as a dead man.

  «Oxygen, soon! He needs oxygen!».

  They had overturned the capsule, they were pulling him out. He was skinny, almost a skeleton, dressed in rags. His back was full of wounds, some were still bleeding.

  «Oh my God», said Mr. Freeman.

  «He’s fine! Step back, let him breathe. You have to treat these wounds soon!».

  Spencer opened his eyes, saw all the people around him and he was scared. There were so many people, so many, and all of them were watching him. He didn’t understand their words, they spoke a strange language. He shuddered.

  They moved away to allow an old man to reach him. A white old man who smiled.

  «You’re Spencer, right? Uncle Spencer?».

  The child just managed to stutter: «Master…».

  The old man embraced him and kissed him on his forehead. He did hurt his injured back, but Spencer didn’t complain.

  «There is no master», murmured the old man. «We are your family, your whole family. So many years we were waiting for you. That I am preparing for this meeting».

  Spencer’s mouth opened, because that man was a white man, and he looked around. There were so many blacks, but also white people. And many of the black people had a lighter skin, like the children the masters gave to the slaves.

  «Who are you, mas… sir?».

  The old man smiled. «My name is Alan Freeman».

  Spencer shook his head because he didn’t believe it, and the man said, «Alan Freeman IV. I’ve always been waiting for this moment since I was born. I knew it would have been me to do it».

  «What?».

  «Open the capsule. I always hoped you were there, that you were still alive».

  «Why?».

  «We all descended by them, by Moses and Pheby. All those you see here now are their descendants. Your family. We’ve always known your story, we’ve known it for centuries. Your courage is a legend».

  The child was woozy. «Me?».

  «Moses and Pheby had two more children after your departure, and told them the story. And those children told it to their children. The story of a brave child who wanted freedom, who was willing to do anything to reach it. It’s because of you that we get the name we chose, Freeman».

  Spencer tried to think. «Alan Freeman is dead?».

  «Many years ago, yes, it was my great grandfather. I have his name. He knew your story too. And he understood that he would be the one to do it, the time had come. He would have saved you. It was a genius, you know? A great inventor. It’s because of him that o
ur family is rich, he made extraordinary discoveries. But not the time journey, that he never made public, that discovery died with him. He only used it once, to get you here. Only that one time».

  «Why?».

  «Because it was important, because it had already happened. Because he knew he could do it. Because you deserved it, Uncle Spencer. He used the time capsule, without anyone noticing it. He put his device inside and send it back. He sent it back only for you, so that you could use it».

  The child closed his eyes for a moment. He was afraid to ask that question. «Am I free?».

  The old man laughed. «Of course you are free, Spencer Freeman. You’re free to do whatever you want. And you are not alone, you will never be alone, we are here for you, we wanted nothing more than to meet you».

  Then he opened his eyes and saw dozens and dozens of smiling faces around him. Faces unfamiliar, yet he was no longer afraid of them, neither the whites nor the blacks.

  «We must treat the wounds, Mr. Freeman», one of the doctors said, but Spencer struggled to get up.

  He needed to see, to know the strange world that was waiting for him.

  They made themselves aside to let him through, as if he was someone famous.

  It was a very large room, and Spencer recognized it, it was also in those drawings in the book. That was the school. He was in Alan Freeman’s school, where the capsule had been buried.

  There was a gigantic window in front of him, and Spencer stepped forward. He kept looking at it in amazement.

  There were colors, lots of colors he was not used to. Strange objects flew. Others ran at crazy speed on weird gray roads. And the houses! The houses were so high that they touched the sky, and they were so many, as far as the eye could see.

  Was that the future?

  The old man put his hand on his shoulder. «You did it, Uncle Spencer, your father would be proud of you».

  Dad was dead, and even mom. Zeb and Miss Lily had died. They had been dead for hundreds of years now. Spencer started crying.

  «This is the life you dreamed, Uncle Spencer. A dream that was our strength, which made us become what we are. This is the life you fought for, young man».

  Even the old man was crying.

  «Another life», he murmured.

  February 2011

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