A Way (The Voyagers Book 1)

by Tara Lutz

  CHAPTER 31

  Gerald arrived back at the cabin, shut off the car engine, sprinted up the rickety porch steps, and slammed open the front door.

  “Dex!” He yelled, spotting his friend in the hallway, just outside the kitchen. “It’s her. You were right. We found them.”

  Gerald couldn’t contain his excitement, it reverberated through this body. He calmed himself and was disheartened when he noticed his oldest friend didn’t share his enthusiasm.

  “Did Jessie remember you?” Dex knew the answer. He didn’t need it confirmed.

  “No, but she will. She’ll remember both of us.” Gerald tried to sound more convincing than he felt. When his sister had looked at him, no recognition sparked in her eyes. “There’s something else. She was with Rebecca.”

  This extracted a reaction from Dex; he lifted one eyebrow in surprise. Gerald should’ve told him what he knew about Rebecca, but decided it could wait.

  “Rebecca Morehouse? Now that’s a surprise. I would never have guessed she was a voyager.” Dex turned and did his usual pacing across the kitchen. Gerald had long since figured out this was his way of thinking.

  “Jessie left with her and a couple of other kids, two guys.” Gerald continued the recap of his trip into town.

  Dex waved one of his hands in his direction, signaling for him to stop talking. Gerald entered the kitchen and sat on one of the mismatched chairs around the table. Moments passed before Dex spoke, again.

  “Rebecca must be one of the voyagers that has been sent to block her memory. She wasn’t close to us in 1885, but she saw us all together more than anyone else. She would know who to look for: you, me, maybe Peter.” He swung one of the chairs around and sat, his arms hanging over its back. “Who are the guys they were with? Did you recognize them?”

  Gerald shook his head. “Nope, I thought one of them might have looked familiar, but I can’t say positively that I saw him before. Neither of them seemed to know who I was, they were more interested in your car.”

  Dex tapped his fingers on the frame of the chair. Gerald leaned forward, his eyes wide with excitement. “Geez Dex, I forgot. Jessie, she was wearing the necklace. I’m sure it was the same one you gave her. That has to mean something.”

  “It’s a start,” Dex agreed, and pushed back from the table. “We have to get her to the island; the energy it possesses might help her remember. They’re going to do whatever they can to stop that from happening. We need to be careful, especially now that Rebecca knows that you’ve have found her.”

  It was Gerald that found Dex. He also decided to leave his designated protective family and spent the next realm searching for the answers, to all the questions, that had been hidden from him. There were rumors about Dex that had travelled through the voyagers. He had become powerful and was able to slip easily from realm to realm.

  It took Gerald almost a year to catch up with him. When he eventually did, they decided to search for Jessie, together. Even with the knowledge they gained, both of their past protectors were still one step ahead of them, keeping her concealed. It wasn’t until Dex figured out a way to open his own gateway, that they discovered an easier way to locate her. By not using their gateway, Dex could pass into any realm, undetected. This gave them the advantage they needed, to find her and search for Peter and Sammy, at the same time. Once they were reunited, the five could decide what to do about the gateway. They could close it forever or they could travel though it together, but spend their lives running from the voyagers, who worked so hard to keep them apart. Dex and Gerald knew they were breaking the voyager’s unspoken rule of not using the gateway for time travel. They had to keep their unauthorized trips a secret. If they were discovered they would have to wait even longer to reunite the five.

  The day before, Dex spotted Jessie and a little girl playing in the water across from the island. He was positive it was Sammy and asked Gerald to go into town, to find out for sure. That was when he spotted Jessie ambling, distracted, on the sidewalk. She was a year or two older than when he had last seen her, but it was Jessie. Dex was right and a conversation he overheard in the diner, confirmed that Sammy was with her.

  “Jessie actually said –‘my sister, Sammy?” Dex asked.

  “She did. She mentioned her more than once.” Gerald thought back to the chatter he witnessed between Jessie and her co-worker. Her eyes had the same brightness they had always held when she talked about her sister.

  “We have to find out where they live,” Dex said, catapulting Gerald’s mind back to the kitchen. “We can’t sneak around for long in a town as small as this; busy body locals will eventually notice us.” He was always planning their next move.

  “I could go back in the morning. Their house can’t be far from where I first saw her walking.” Gerald hoped he was on the right track, but they both knew Jessie could walk for hours, with only her imagination to guide her.

  Dex smiled. “We’re closer than we’ve ever been. We have to be cautious. The more voyagers who are alerted to us being here, the harder it will be to get to Jessie and Sammy. The last thing we want to do is put them in danger.”

  Gerald didn’t want to discredit Dex. The parents he remembered would never hurt Jessie or Sammy, even if their precious gateway was at risk. He was optimistic that hadn’t changed.

  They talked late into the night, going through all the scenarios they thought would work to their advantage. With a small time frame to work within, Gerald could tell Dex was nervous, and he did nothing to hide his own fear.

  *******

  Early Saturday morning, Gerald headed back into town to resume his search, this time, with a more specific destination in mind. Without having a clue where his sister’s house was, he parked the less conspicuous car that he borrowed from the garage, a block over from the sidewalk he had first encountered Jessie. Dex managed to amass a small fortune over the years he had been travelling, providing them with a nice selection of vehicles. There were many more things Gerald still wanted to learn from him, but their top priority at that moment, was convincing Jessie of the truth that had become their life.

  He started his search in the most obvious place, the street the diner was situated on. He wandered in and out of the stores that lined the main street, glancing numerous times in the direction of the restaurant. After fifteen minutes, of standing across from the restaurant, Gerald still hadn’t caught a glimpse of Jessie. He ambled farther down the street and ended up on a cul-de-sac, lined with quiet residential homes. There was little activity for a weekend morning. The clouds started to weep right before he left the cottage and the rain was keeping the majority of the town’s population indoors. He was startled to hear a voice call out behind him. It stabbed the base of his brain.

  “Is he with you?” Gerald spun around and came face to face with Rebecca. She stepped out from behind a lush tree, as if she had been waiting for him to walk by.

  After Gerald watched his friend disappear through the gateway, so much had changed in his life. Jessie had completely forgotten Dex ever existed and she was quickly befriended by her Rebecca Morehouse. It was strange to see his sister’s former rival sitting at their kitchen table sipping tea, or to hear her laughter drift through their house. He didn’t trust her. Then one night, he heard her talking to his father and learned the ulterior motive his father had for sending Dex away and erasing Jessie’s memory. Gerald left the next day through the gateway, without telling anyone.

  “Hello, Rebecca,” he responded, coldly. “I can’t really say it’s nice to see you.”

  “It’s Becky, now. Answer the question. Is he with you?” She took a step back from him and the animosity that shot from his eyes.

  He saw no reason to deny it. “He is.”

  “You two have no idea the damage you could be doing.” She shook her head in frustration and turned her mouth up into a grin that resembled a rabid dog baring her teeth. “Do you really want to take away the freedom enjoyed by so many souls? The privilege of b
eing able to relive their lives with the people they love?”

  “The damage we’re doing? You and the rest of the voyagers have lied to all of us. You filled our heads with stories of soul mates and bordering souls, and then hid us from each other, keeping US away from the people WE love. How can we be sure that the story of the five is even true? Maybe it was all a hoax, dreamed up by you and your protectors, so you could have Dex all to yourself.”

  The rain started again. To stop it from dripping down his face, Gerald pushed his hair off his forehead. Rebecca stood as still as a statue, never breaking her stare. The accusation drew a sinister laugh out of her throat.

  “If I wanted Dex, I could have him. I prefer my men to have a backbone, not one that cries over a little brat like Jessie for generations.” Then under her breath, “I will never forgive my father for giving me the job of being responsible for that annoying girl.”

  She didn’t know that he witnessed the conversation she had with his former protector so long ago, that he was closer to the truth than she wanted to admit.

  “Then let her go, Rebecca. You can both go your separate ways and let Dex and Jessie, all of us, be happy. The way it was before we learned about the stupid gateway, and all that comes with it.”

  Her face relaxed in consideration, but quickly hardened again. “Are you really considering risking everything you’ve enjoyed as a voyager because you feel bad that we made the decision to separate those two? You’d have the gateway closed and trap us all to a single life?”

  Rebecca stomped towards him and grabbed the front of his shirt. She was so close to him that Gerald could see the raindrops hanging off her eye lashes. A horrible sensation slithered across his damp skin. There were the souls that you couldn’t imagine living without and then there were the ones you wished you had never encountered. Rebecca was the latter.

  “What happened to you? You used to be the risky one. Now you’re just a pussy, like Dex.”

  “Get off me,” he snarled. He removed her hands and shoved her away from him. “It’s too late. We found her, and we’ll find Sammy and Peter.”

  He wasn’t ready to play the other card yet, that they had found Sammy too. As far as Rebecca knew, he only saw Jessie at the diner.

  “I’m going to fix what should have never happened. It wasn’t right what you all did, to my sister and my best friend. What you did to all of us. We never had a choice.”

  He saw her flinch and her eyes quickly flicker to the left. They returned to his face before he could be sure of what she was trying not to look at. The look she gave him made Gerald want to get away from her as quickly as he could. He didn’t let his disgust betray him and stayed planted firmly in front of her, watching for her tells.

  “Don’t forget Gerald, she has no idea who you are. She forgets Dex, but she knows me. She trusts me. Who do you think she’s going to believe? A creepy stranger and the guy that follows him around like a lost puppy, or her friends and family?”

  Gerald closed the space between them and she had to strain her neck to look up at him.

  “You sound almost scared, Becky.” He spit her name from his mouth like it was a bad word. “That’s right, you saw the necklace too.”

  “What, that ugly rock? All I have to do is tell her that it looks like something she found in the trash and she’ll never put it on again,” she stated triumphantly, her uneasy eyes betraying her sureness.

  “For someone claiming to know Jessie, you have no idea who she is.”

  He walked past her, deciding against going further down the street. He needed to get back to Dex. He had the information he was searching for. He saw it in Rebecca’s eyes. Gerald knew where his sisters lived.

  CHAPTER 32

  Rain pounded against the roof, nearly drowning out the rapping on the front door. Jessie and Sammy were sitting in the living room, in their pajamas, eating cereal in front of the television set their father had surprised his family with. The novelty of watching the black and white figures on the screen still hadn’t worn off; all of the stories gave Jessie ideas. She didn’t look away when Sammy jumped off the couch to answer the door, but when she heard her, usually friendly sister, give a disappointed, “oh it’s you,” she went to see who was there. Dripping all over their floor, looking like a drowned rat, was Becky.

  “Hey Becky,” Jessie said, a puzzled expression on her face. “What are you doing? Did you walk over here?”

  Becky was known to show up at her door unannounced, but rarely so early in the morning, or during a downpour. Only then, did Jessie notice that her friend looked like she had just seen a ghost.

  “Yah, what are you doing here?” Sammy hadn’t lost the edge to her voice.

  “Sammy, don’t be rude. Go grab Becky a towel.” Jessie urged.

  Sammy rolled her eyes and unwillingly climbed the stairs to fulfill the request. Her sister had never warmed to Becky. A part of Jessie understood why, the other part reminded her that Becky was her closest friend.

  Becky bent over to untie her shoes and was kicking them off when a towel came flying down the stairs, bouncing off her head.

  “Hey you little brat!” exclaimed Becky. Spitting out the same word she used to describe Jessie, only a few minutes ago on the street.

  “Ok, you two,” Jessie sighed. This was not how she had expected to spend the rainy morning, refereeing her friend and younger sister. She picked up the towel and handed it to Becky.

  “Do you want some hot chocolate? I was just going to make some,” Jessie asked, moving towards the kitchen at the back of the house.

  “How about some tea instead?” Becky suggested, following her.

  “Sure, I guess. I think my mom has some of that stuff she tries to force us to drink around here somewhere.”

  “Hey Jessie, did anyone else come by here this morning? Like someone claiming to have the wrong address or something?”

  Becky sat down at the kitchen table, while Jessie filled a kettle with water, to prepare the promised hot beverage. Becky knew how Dex worked; that was the reason for her impromptu visit. After she recognized Gerald the night before, she anticipated one of them would try to find Jessie again, as soon as possible. Her inkling was confirmed when she saw Gerald skulking down the street. They were closer than any of the voyagers thought. If Dex had found Jessie, he was on the verge of finding her annoying sister too. Becky had warned them that keeping the sisters together in this realm would be a problem. She was used to them not listening to her and was happy to prove them wrong, again.

  Jessie moved a chair up to the counter, to get a better look in the cupboard above the stove. Pushing spice jars aside, she reached in and grabbed a box of what she thought was the wretched tea. She read the package; the brand was unfamiliar.

  “How’s this?” Jessie twisted around to show the box to Becky, who was glaring impatiently, waiting for her to answer the question.

  “That’s it exactly.” Becky’s mouth twisted into a smile that made Jessie feel uncomfortable, the way she did in the car before the dance. “So was anyone here before I showed up?” Her foot tapped heavily on the floor, shaking the table.

  “I don’t think so. Not that I know of, but I only got up about half an hour ago and my parents left early this morning, to get groceries. Sammy was up before me, but she didn’t mention anything. Why?”

  Becky’s behaviour was strange. The events that occurred in the diner, and then at the shack, were still fresh in Jessie’s mind.

  “No reason…..,” her voice dropped away.

  Jessie placed the two steaming cups of sour tea on the table and sat across from her friend. The smell wafting from the mugs, and sitting there with Becky, made her feel like this had happened before. She wanted her friend to leave and never come back.

  “Does this have anything to do with the guy that was at the diner, last night?”

  The question made Becky’s hand quiver. Jessie waited to see if she would use his name again, the one she never mentioned to her. The c
up rattled and Becky gripped it tighter, to stop it from trembling.

  “No. I told you, I don’t know him.” Becky took a sip, her lips grazing the side of the cup.

  “There was just some weird sales guy that came to our door this morning. So, do you think you’ll go out with William again?” Subject closed and changed, Becky was good at that. “Drink your tea before it gets cold,” she added.

  “I do,” Jessie smiled. “I had fun. We were talking about going out to the lake sometime this weekend, if the weather clears up. You and Will should come.” Jessie started to play with the stone hanging around her neck. The steam on the tea had dissipated, taking with it the rancid scent and Jessie’s uneasiness towards her friend.

  “Sure, but I should get going. I was on my way to Will’s before this rain started soaking me.” Becky stood up from the table, her eyes never leaving the necklace. “You should take that thing off. It looks like something your mother won as a prize at the fair.”

  Jessie frowned at the suggestion, still rubbing the yellow bobble.

  “I like it. It goes with my eyes.” She wanted to add that she would never take it off, but thought it might sound a bit extreme.

  “Suit yourself, but it’s ugly.” Becky flashed her one of her sweeter than sugar, evil smiles, walked to the door, and grabbed her still dripping coat off the banister.

  “I’ll let you know about the lake,” Jessie promised, but Becky had already shut the door behind her. Sammy appeared on the threshold of the living room.

  “I don’t like her, Jessie, I think your necklace is pretty. I would never take it off,” Sammy said in a meek voice.

  Jessie smiled, “thanks, Sammy.” She followed her back to the television; both of their breakfast bowls, full of soggy cereal, long forgotten on the coffee table.

  CHAPTER 33

  “She’s so infuriating, Dex. Exactly like how she was back then.” Gerald stormed into the cottage after probably driving too fast to get back there.