Family of the Fox

by F. M. Isaacs

  Slaves being whipped and tortured and forced onto a ship, families being herded into a burning barn, Nazi soldiers ripping babies from their Jewish mothers and smashing their heads in...

  “Oh, my God!” I screamed, wrenching my hand away. Tears flowed down my face, and I was shuddering uncontrollably. “Oh, God, oh, God, Dad...”

  Grandpa Ron removed his hands from his son. “What's wrong? What is it?”

  “It's...it's horrible in there! I can't...I can't...”

  “You picked all of that up from holding my hand? Wow, I–”

  I cut Grandpa Ron off completely. “Oh, no...Mom, do you have those kinds of memories too?”

  Nodding sadly, my mother placed her arm around me. “Dad started traveling much earlier than I, so he's got plenty more, but I have my share. And because I've peeked into Dad's brain, well, I have his too.” She cringed. “Don't look. It's too much for you.”

  “Are you okay, Corinne?” Grandpa Ron inquired. “I'm not sure how much you've seen, but...”

  “I'm fine. I'll...be fine.”

  But I wasn't sure if I would be. I knew all these atrocities had occurred throughout human history, but seeing them in essence firsthand was simply monstrous. The hideous images would probably never leave my head.

  Grandpa Ron tapped his son's shoulder gently. “I've seen it all by looking into his memories. I wish I had known that you could too, Corinne. I would have warned you.” He hung his head, stroking his son's hair. “Come back to us, Julian,” he murmured. “We need you.”

  “He's coming,” I said almost conversationally.

  Grandpa Ron studied me closely. “How do you know? Could you actually communicate with him?”

  Right on cue, Dad began to stir. When he opened his eyes, he beckoned to my mom.

  “Patricia,” he said lovingly. “This time our daughter saved me.”

  “You didn't bring us back, Dad?”

  But he shook his head “no” even before I finished my sentence. “I've never traveled in my sleep since the Tower of London episode. That was decades ago.”

  “She's a time traveler,” my mother replied.

  SCHOOL HAD STARTED hours ago. I asked my parents if I could try to travel back to when it started. Despite what Dad had mentioned about changing things, how harmful could it be if I was suddenly not absent anymore?

  “Oh, here we go,” Grandpa Ron smiled. “Maybe you wait on the traveling until your parents talk to you about it.”

  “I’m feeling much better. I'll take you,” Dad said, shrugging his shoulders. “I hate to do it, but it shouldn’t change much. It's safer than what we did before, at least.”

  Mom grew livid. “Yes, I have to say, Julian...You took her back to the Old West to sleep? Really?”

  Dad sat up in the bed, looking guilty. “Yes?”

  “Julian...just...” My mother shook her head in annoyance. “I have to see my patients. I might need to travel back a bit now too, thanks to Father Time here.” Mom disappeared. Dad winced.

  “Father Time. I like that,” my grandfather chuckled. “Corinne, will you be alright?”

  Dad's memories were still in my brain, but I was desperately trying to push them into a dark corner where I could lock them up. “I'll be okay,” I said unconvincingly.

  Grandpa Ron reached toward my head. “I can help you blur them a bit.”

  I wasn't sure how he would do that, but I attempted to be brave. “I'm fine.”

  He was gazing fixedly at me. “I'm here to help. Remember.”

  “I know,” I replied. I was fine. I'd be totally fine.

  “Thanks for everything, Dad,” my father said, casting me a worried glance.

  “Get her back to school, Julian. And don't change history in the process.” Grandpa Ron vanished without further comment.

  DAD TOOK ME BACK TO the beginning of the school day, even though, as he mentioned, we were changing history slightly by doing so. “The original history is that you're absent. Now you're not. We just have to hope that didn't result in some war or catastrophe further down the line.”

  I frowned. “I doubt that, Dad.”

  “And listen, I know it's exciting finding out you're a traveler, but please, I beg you. Don 't go anywhere until after we talk to you. Just wait until we're home tonight, okay?”

  Now that Dad was safe and had I learned of my own ability, my low opinion of time travel had changed. How was I not to try it out? History stretched before me! But after my 1860s experience plus the new memories that haunted me, I was nervous. The best thing to do was wait.

  “I promise. Thanks for the ride, Dad.” Okay, it wasn't quite a ride. He'd teleported me to the woods by the school.

  “See you in the future!” He was gone, and it was all I could do to force myself into the dreary school building.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Getting through my last day of high school was a chore. First period, I took the final exam in Health, which I didn't need to study for. Mrs. Quinn had given us the answers to the test last week, and the material was pretty basic.

  But all day I felt like I had two people inside of me. Part of me was depressed. Dad's memories were so clear and real in my head that they sickened me. Maybe I should have accepted Grandpa Ron's help after all.

  Yet the other part of me was in shock at my self-discovery. Corinne Greene, time traveler extraordinaire, could also heal the sick and fill the world with flowers!

  I also desperately wanted to spend time with Allen, this man who I was falling for, a person who could transform anything at will... It seemed like it had been ages since I’d seen him last, and I actually pined for him. It was pretty embarrassing.

  As I wandered through the hall before last period, two girls strode past me, laughing to each other. They had been nasty to me in the past, so naturally I assumed they were making fun of me now. But I didn't care, because I could do things these girls couldn't dream of! I was more powerful than they could imagine!

  I burst out in a proud giggle, and the girls eyed me curiously. “What the hell?” one said under her breath. They poked at each other, tittering at their own private joke, and sauntered off.

  I watched them go, wishing Allen would turn them into worms. Or rats. Or mosquitoes.

  I giggled again, feeling very self-satisfied. “I’m incredible!” I mur-mured under my breath. “So amazing...”

  ...Soldiers getting shot in a battlefield, one lone red-headed nurse trying to help until she was shot down too...the blood...

  Dad's memories insinuated their way into my momentary excitement. “Go away!” I clasped my hands against my head tightly, trying to drive them out, but the horror remained. “I have to get past this,” I told myself. “Just...think of other things...” Falteringly, I continued down the hall.

  It was fairly obvious that today was the last day of school, as evidenced by the hyperactivity of the students. Kids were flinging papers around, and I had to wade through a pool of them to get to my locker. Sal, one of the most ill-tempered janitors ever, came by and wheeled a garbage can next to me.

  “Trash in the trash, young lady.”

  I checked around me to see who Sal was talking to. But he was definitely aiming his accusation straight at me.

  “I didn't throw any of these papers!” I protested.

  “I don't see anyone else here.” Which was true. The actual perpetrators had already cleared out, probably due to the arrival of Sal and his garbage can of doom.

  The bell rang, and I panicked. “That's because everyone's in class, and now I'm going to be late!”

  “Pick it up.”

  Angrily, I started sorting through the papers to prove they weren't mine. Of course, none of them happened to have anyone else's name on them either.

  I couldn't be late to AP Western Civilization on the last day. Mrs. Thames was the meanest, strictest teacher ever, and if I was one second late, she would probably keep me from graduating.

  “Stop dreaming and start cleaning,�
�� grumbled Sal.

  But I could travel back so I’d be on time...

  Dad's voice wavered in my head. “Don't travel until we talk to you...”

  “A minute or two can't hurt,” I uttered aloud, attempting to convince myself. It wasn't as though I was going back a century into a dangerous time I knew nothing about.

  “What did you say?” asked the janitor.

  With a wry smile, I tossed the last of the papers into the trash. I so wanted to have Allen turn the man into a garbage can, but I bet Allen was too nice of a guy to consider it.

  Complaining under his breath about “pain-in-the-ass kids”, Sal rolled his garbage can away. I slammed shut my locker, incensed that he had made me late for no reason.

  But I would fix that.

  I entered the girls’ bathroom and went into a stall. Toilet paper was strewn on the floor and brand-new graffiti lined the walls. “SAL WILL GET YOU”, read one of the better comments. Truer words had never been written. Even if they were on a bathroom wall.

  I covered my eyes with my hands. Concentrating deeply, I whispered, “Go ten minutes back. Ten minutes back...”

  Like last time, I felt like my world suddenly changed. My body jolted, and then...

  “AAAA!!” Blood-curdling screams rocked me. I dropped my hands to find that I now shared the stall with another girl.

  “What the hell are you doing?” she screamed in fury. Apparently she had not yet done what she came in for, and her pants were still on, thank God. “Get out!” She shoved me backwards into the door. The impact forced it open, which sent me across the room and into the counter.

  “Eww...oh, my God, what are you doing in there?” echoed another girl who stood brushing her hair. Meanwhile, my stall-mate ran shrieking out of the bathroom.

  Rubbing what was sure to be a bruise, I sulked off to class, my face scarlet. At least I wasn't late.

  ALLEN WAS WAITING FOR me at the edge of the woods after school. Dismissing the day's bathroom disaster, I ran to him in a flurry. “Guess what? You'll never guess! I'm a time traveler! Just like Daniel!”

  I think he was impressed. I wasn't quite sure. His reaction was a halting, “Wow, that's...”

  Of course I didn't let him finish. I had to keep talking. “I'm not going to travel again until my parents talk to me about it, but after that, I can take you all over time!”

  I didn't tell him about my Old West escapade. I guess I was ashamed about how terrified I’d been through most of it. But more than that, it was something I had shared only with my father. The experience was ours alone, and dredging it up would also unearth Dad's memories. I couldn't allow my mind to sort through them again.

  Allen was uncomfortably quiet. He looked around the woods, tapping his foot on the ground. He glanced into the sky, then back down at me. “Promise me you'll never take me back,” he pleaded in a plaintive voice. There was suddenly a vulnerability surrounding him which I had never picked up before.

  “To where you came from?”

  He made a curt nod.

  “Why would I do that?” I stuttered, appalled that he would think that I'd do such a thing.

  Shuffling his foot through the dirt, he insisted, “Just promise me.”

  “I...I promise.”

  He let out a breath. “Good. Now,” he grabbed my hand and half-skipped us into a small clearing in the woods. “I have some plans for us today. You did so well in a four-legged form, I think you're ready to try something different.”

  This time, a wave of anticipation ran through me. I wasn't scared. I felt adventurous and alive!

  And, strangely enough, I trusted Allen with my life.

  “Go ahead,” I said, clapping my hands together. “What will you make me today?”

  He smiled. “A snake.”

  “Oh!” I gasped as I became blinding light once again. I had no problem with snakes, although they weren't my favorite animal. But to become one? Well, I was going to find out what it would be like in the very next second!

  I now hugged the earth. My figure had thinned and stretched, and the most unsettling sensation came over me. I was limbless.

  My brain fought to use appendages that weren’t there. No arms! No legs! I can’t move them...

  Once I got over this initial shock, I found that my new body was lithe and muscular, and I was able to twist it into all kinds of knots and contortions.

  My acrobatics kept Allen well-entertained. “It feels like you're a living piece of rope when you're a snake. Like it?”

  It's...mind-blowing, honestly. I feel weird not having arms and legs!

  “You'll get used to it too. Instead of tying yourself into knots, move around a bit.”

  I did. It wasn't as hard as I had expected. The snake body was made to slither, and I found I could go pretty fast.

  “Can I pick you up, Corinne? I want to move you out of the open. We don't want you ending up as hawk food or worse.”

  Good idea, I answered with a shiver. What could be worse than end-ing up as someone’s meal, though?

  He scooped me up. My head and tail dangled over the sides of his hands, and then he ran his finger down my back, making me shudder. Feeling his skin bump along my scales was a very odd sensation.

  “Look at that tongue!” he cried merrily.

  Yes, without knowing it, I was stretching out my forked tongue. It was...telling me things. Somehow it sensed a nearby group of sparrows, and rotting leaves...

  “It's how snakes smell,” Allen explained, coiling me around his hands. He ventured into the safety of the trees and set me down on a warm, sunny rock.

  “Okay, I'm going to join you,” he announced, and he became a snake. And I'm also going to join you on this rock. I’d enjoy sunning myself.

  Oh, come, by all means.

  He slithered up beside me, and I was impressed by how well he moved as a snake. He likely had been one before. I probably would have done it myself if I could change.

  He curled his body protectively around mine. Interestingly, it wasn't awkward at all. It felt nice and comforting. I think we both dozed for a while.

  Want to go exploring? he asked after a time.

  Honestly, I didn’t want to leave our place on the rock. The sun soaking into my scaly body was so soothing. Plus, I didn't have to worry about skin cancer or wearing sunblock.

  We're cold-blooded, so that's how we stay warm, and that's why you're enjoying it so much. But come on and slither around with me. When we need to, I'll find us more sun.

  Following Allen through the debris on the woods floor was like participating in both an obstacle course and a treasure hunt. I couldn't imagine what I'd uncover next with each twist through the leaf litter. Who knew there were so many creatures that lived under the leaves?

  Mm. That was good, Allen said.

  Oh, no! Did you eat something?

  I forgot how good crickets taste when you're a snake.

  Oh, that's awful. Poor cricket!

  You're too good of a person. You're also not very practical. It's nature again, Corinne. We're animals in nature here. We're snakes. Snakes eat crickets, among other things. I sense a nice juicy field mouse over there by that bush...

  Don't you dare! Yet I was getting hungry, and it horrified me that the idea of crunching into a mouse and swallowing it whole was rather appealing.

  Time to change back?

  Yes, I agreed reluctantly. I really didn't want to kill anything.

  As we walked back toward my yard, human once more, Allen asked where I'd like to meet him tomorrow. It wasn't even a question of if I wanted to – I simply would, and I think he knew that.

  “Are these 'meetings' going to be a daily thing?” I replied snidely.

  He didn't hesitate in the least. “If you want them to be. Now where should we go?”

  “Somewhere where no one is... Hey, you know the courtyard at school?”

  “Oh, the one with the rabbits and the flowers?”

  “Yes, in the middle of the s
chool. Meet me there around noon. I'm

  sure the building will be open.”

  “Okay.”

  BEFORE MY PARENTS GOT home, I got online and read about Central City on the Colorado Tourism website. An early history section contained several old pictures of the town. The buildings, the hotel, and the bank where Dad was attacked were all there, sepia-toned but real. The information even made mention of Doc Vervain, which sent shivers through me. He died in 1874. He passed away so many years ago, and yet, through the miracle of time travel, I had met him.

  Again this led my mind back to my father lying helpless, Grandpa Ron's hand touching his son's head...The images...

  Oh, poor Dad. Poor, poor Dad... I could only hope Mom's adventures by herself weren't as bad, but I made a resolution never to look. I didn't want to know.

  “The memories of a time traveler are even worse than a soldier who's been at war.”

  I couldn't stand the pain in Dad's words. I had to get my thoughts on something else.

  I went back to look at the family tree once more. Yanking it free sent several other books to the floor. Grumbling, I stopped to pick them up, and there was our own copy of The Sad Little Peahen that we had all read as kids. I was surprised Mom had saved it. The cover was marred and the leaves were dog-eared, but, as I flipped through the colorful pages, the story of Hannah and her angry wizard-father Aldous remained bright in my mind.

  Putting it back on the shelf, I fished up two stamp albums and another children's book of fairy tales and replaced them as well. Then I sat down and perused the tree.

  Yes, now more things made sense. Uncle Jonas' dates were right, although I wasn't sure how one would notate a person dying twice. But that wasn't yet a problem, fortunately.

  My thoughts turned to George. The man had always seemed slightly off, mysterious, and somewhat melancholy. If he was the man on the tree and he'd been born in 1822, then I could only imagine how lonely his life must be. And he obviously mourned his great-grandmother Lisette, which was why he always called me “Corinne Lisette”. It gave him joy, and who was I to take that away from him?