Perilous Waters

by Diana Paz

  The lady was dead. But in her arms, the screaming baby declared its will to live with every fierce scream. Julia scooped the baby in her arms as a horrendous cracking sound drowned out even the baby’s terrible crying. She crouched, stopping to cast a force field around them. Her heart raced, fear and hopeless terror lacing each frantic beat in her chest.

  She coughed through her next few breaths, crouching around the small bundle and rushing past flames to the doorway as the cracking, splintering sound became so loud she felt sure the whole world was tearing out from under her. Heat scorched her arms as her force field flickered in and out of view. She forced herself to run faster, and once she had cleared the threshold she kept running until the intense heat of the fire didn’t make her feel as though she were being barbecued alive.

  Something clutched at her and she tried to wrench her arm free, coughing and choking on the black, sooty air filling her lungs.

  “You idiot,” Kaitlyn yelled, gripping her more tightly, her nails digging into Julia’s flesh. “Do you know what would have happened to us if you’d have died in there? We would be trapped in the past forever.” She shoved her back with a sound of blatant disgust. “Do you ever think of anyone but yourself?”

  Julia stumbled back. She couldn’t stop coughing. The baby wouldn’t stop screaming. The world wouldn’t slow down.

  “Is that a baby?” Angie whispered.

  Kaitlyn tugged both hands through her hair and spun around. “Moron. What did you plan on doing? Leaving it in the woods to be raised by wolves? Pirates are already storming the coast and we have to get out of here.”

  A new wave of fear washed over her as she looked at the shoreline. Pirates scrambled toward them like crabs.

  Julia held out her free hand. They needed to Voyage out of there.

  “No, Julia,” Angie said gently, her hand pressing against Julia’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. We can’t save the baby. We aren’t supposed to tamper with the world’s timeline.”

  “I can’t leave it,” she croaked, each word like blade in her windpipe.

  “You have to,” Angie said, her large, sorrowful eyes shining in the dim night.

  Julia swayed, feeling faint, but she held tight to the baby as pirates raced toward the town. Toward them.

  “Freeze time,” Kaitlyn said. “Or get ready to blast some pirates.”

  The girls took hold of her, but Julia couldn’t summon enough magic. She sank to the ground with the baby tight against her, breathing through charred lungs. Her stomach ached from coughing, her chest and throat felt torn apart.

  “She can’t do it,” Kaitlyn said, turning to Angie. “Voyage us back to our own time, Angie.”

  “She has to let go of the baby, otherwise we’ll bring it with us!”

  Kaitlyn spun around, shoving her hands forward and blasting an oncoming pirate. “These pirates are going to kill us, do you understand?”

  Angie’s lips parted. Julia could do little more than stare at the onslaught of men rushing toward them. They would never be able to blast that many people. If Angie didn’t Voyage them back, their magic would give out and they would die here.

  Kaitlyn blasted another, and another. The two men nearest her stepped back in horror. “The witches! The ones from the cave.”

  “They cursed our treasure,” another said.

  Kaitlyn blasted a second pirate, then a third. She grabbed their arms and tried to make them invisible, but cursed. “I’m out of magic.” Her furious gaze lit on Julia. “Unless Angie has enough to get us out of here, we’re all screwed.” She grasped their hands. “Voyage us, I don’t give a rat’s ass whether we have the baby, but get us the hell out of here.”

  “Let go of the baby,” Angie pleaded. “It’s wrong. It belongs in this timeline.”

  “Here on the ground?” Julia said, forcing the words past her burnt throat. “Do you have a heart at all? It can’t only be about the magic. We’re still people. This is still a person!”

  “You heard the Fates,” Angie said. “We’ve made enough mistakes already.”

  “I’m not leaving this baby to die,” Julia rasped. “No way.”

  Pirates shot at them and Angie threw up her hands, a force field appearing around them.

  “Don’t waste your magic on that,” Kaitlyn demanded. “Get us out of here!”

  “Julia, please,” Angie said through clenched teeth.

  “I won’t put it down,” she said, holding the baby tighter. “It will die.”

  Kaitlyn grasped her by the shoulders. “That’s not our problem.”

  “What if I can’t Voyage us with you holding the baby?” Angie’s tone was less harsh, but no less forceful. “What if my power gives out?”

  “Try,” Julia said, her voice little more than a dry, crackled breath. “Ethan said we could bring things we could carry.”

  Angie’s lips parted but Kaitlyn said, “Give it up, Angie. You have to do it. I don’t really care what effect that kid has on the timeline, but Julia is not giving in and we’re out of time.”

  Angie hesitated, but with another glance at the oncoming pirates she took their arms and drew in her power. Julia felt her friends’ emotions rush over her. Anger. Seething, raging anger. She didn’t think she had ever felt anger so powerful coming from Angie before.

  “You’re too weak, Julia,” Kaitlyn said.

  Julia gasped as Kaitlyn forced herself into her mind and wrenched a stream of magic from her. Her eyes flashed white as the threads of time appeared before them.

  “I need your magic, Julia,” Angie said. “Kaitlyn has to keep the threads going.”

  Julia clenched her teeth together and forced her magic to build, but she didn’t have the strength to command it to do anything.

  “Rip the magic from her,” Kaitlyn said. “It’s more powerful if you use force, anyway.”

  From beyond her, Julia felt an invading presence. What little magic she had surrendered against Angie’s will. She felt a click in time, the moment when Angie found the correct thread and latched on. The onslaught of pirates became a black and white image of the past, swirling from sight as other images took its place. Slaves and farmworkers, Spanish soldiers and horse-drawn carriages.

  But the magic grew weaker and weaker. She felt the weight of the baby, and knew that Angie struggled to Voyage another entire human. Without being at full power, she might not be able to do it.

  Angie’s ghostlike voice flowed through Julia’s mind. I need… I need more…

  The baby squirmed in Julia’s arms at first, but soon became more and more tranquil… as if the magic had a calming effect on it. Meanwhile, each little wriggling movement caused a bubble of panic inside Julia to grow. All she could think about was holding the baby securely. If she loosened her grip while they were Voyaging… if somehow the baby slipped from her grasp, it would be left in some unknown time period, alone and at the mercy of being found by someone—if it was found by someone.

  “I-I can’t,” Angie cried amidst the swirling images of history whipping around them. Her fingers dug into Julia’s arm.

  Julia forced out every drop of magic she could summon, sending it all to Angie. All the while she clutched the increasingly tranquil baby.

  The meager trickle she offered wasn’t enough. With a sinking feeling she realized the whirling winds of time had slowed. Images of history that had before been spinning wildly now came to a stop. Color bled into the black and white world… and that meant Angie had stopped them sooner than she should have in their timeline.

  Angie let out a strangled whimper, releasing their arms as she slumped to the ground.

  Julia exhaled a shaky breath, gazing around at the darkened world. They stood in the same spot they had before. Except now, they were in some future part of history.

  But not future enough.

  She glanced down at the baby, who stared at the world with wide, blinking eyes.

  Kaitlyn looked down at it. “Oh. It’s a girl,” she said, readjusting a blank
et that had slipped loose. Her gaze lifted to meet Julia’s for a brief moment. She had never seen those flashing green eyes become so soft before. “You saved her life.”

  “I thought you were angry with me,” Julia said.

  “I was pissed.” She reached tentatively out to the tiny fist. Her voice gentled as the barest trace of a smile touched her lips. “It was a stupid thing to do.”

  “The mother said her name is Carmen,” Julia said.

  Kaitlyn ran her finger across the back of the baby’s balled up hand before abruptly withdrawing.

  She turned to Angie, as always hoping she had answers, but as Angie rose to her feet, her forehead had never looked so puckered. Her blond hair floated on a soft breeze as she vaguely shook her head. “I hope…” Angie fell silent for a moment before adding, “I don’t know what to hope. This isn’t supposed to happen. It’s all so wrong.” Her round, childlike eyes glistened with fear. “We aren’t supposed to meddle with fate like this. The baby might have been meant to die. W-w-what if the Fates become angry?”

  Julia’s heart pounded heavily at the realization of what she had done. She had messed with this baby’s fate, and now… she bit her lip. It had been the right thing to do, hadn’t it? It would have died there on the beach. How could she have done any different?

  The baby kicked its legs against the blankets. For someone so small, she was becoming extremely heavy. Julia switched her to her other arm before glancing around. “What era did we end up in?”

  Angie pulled her gaze from the baby, surveying their surroundings beneath the starlit sky. “Lampposts,” she murmured. “And cars. A classic Chevy. In Cuba, that could mean anything from the 1960’s to present day, really, what with the embargo having impacted the country for so long. Except…”

  “Except that Chevy is the only car on the whole street. And if this was our own time period, there would be more cars, wouldn’t there be?”

  Angie shook her head slowly. “Not necessarily. Because of the tension between the United States and Cuba, the entire country has become something of a time capsule. The only thing we know for sure is that we’re not that far off from our own time period. And that’s both good and bad.”

  Kaitlyn lifted a rumpled piece of newsprint from the gutter. “July 17, 1962.”

  “1962,” Angie echoed, taking the paper. “A few months before the Cuban Missile Crisis.”

  Julia didn’t know what that meant. The baby wriggled. Her arms ached from holding it so long. “How soon before you think you can time travel us again?”

  Angie pressed her lips together a moment. “Hard to say. But we have to keep out of sight until we have enough power to use our magic again. This isn’t far enough back in history for our presence to be easily explained away.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, three American girls and a baby showing up in Cuba without identification, without explanation, it would make the news. We can’t risk altering the past directly like that. Not without the buffer of a few centuries. If our pictures were to come out, for example—”

  “I get it,” Julia said. “Bad news.”

  “Let’s find somewhere more secluded.”

  They hurried through the streets, but the baby began making noises.

  “How do we keep it quiet?”

  Kaitlyn laughed humorlessly. “You can’t keep babies quiet.”

  The noises became cries. Julia tried holding it close but it only writhed against her, crying louder.

  “She probably needs food,” Kaitlyn stated flatly.

  The winding streets led to more houses. Finding somewhere more secluded wasn’t turning out to be easy, and the baby only grew louder by the second. “Are we going the right way?”

  “I don’t know that there is a right way,” Angie said, her voice taut.

  The babies incessant crying became a siren in the night. “Hush, hush,” Julia tried for a soothing voice. And for a moment, there was silence.

  “Thank goodness,” Angie said weakly.

  A sinking feeling hit the pit of Julia’s stomach as she watched the baby’s face scrunch up in the moonlight. Its mouth opened wide and its little fists shook with tiny rage. The baby was going to explode. “Nice baby! Nice baby!” But the baby’s little tongue curled back. It let out a wailing cry that made the other girls stop in their tracks and cover their ears.

  “Holy crap!” Her heart flew into a panic. She looked to the other girls. “It’s screaming like we’re killing it!”

  “Pat her back, or-or-or… sing it a lullaby it or something,” Angie said, her eyes wide.

  “Nothing’s going to make her stop except food,” Kaitlyn said. “That baby’s hungry.”

  Lights turned on in one house, and then another. The baby screamed louder, frantic now.

  “Kaitlyn, invisibility!”

  Kaitlyn grabbed them before letting out a soft curse. “I don’t have enough magic. I sent it all to you when you were trying to Voyage us through time.”

  “People are coming,” Angie groaned.

  “Hide!” Julia said, the baby’s yells blaring against her ears and making her want to scream, too.

  “How do we hide, idiot?” Kaitlyn snapped. “How can you possibly hide with a screaming baby?”

  “Isn’t there a silence spell or something? I don’t know! Can you think of a better idea?”

  Someone opened a window. “Calle ese bebe. ¿Qué carajo está pasando?”

  Angie circled the dirt road, her hands squeezing her skirt, her eyes enormous in her pale face. “Why did we end up in this timeline,” she murmured. “Why here. Why now.”

  Julia blinked at a house in front of her. A piece of metal formed a decoration on the wall. It looked familiar… but why?

  Angie stopped circling. She approached, her gaze steady as her hands lifted and she took Julia by the shoulders. “Just… listen. Kaitlyn is right. The baby needs food. She needs to be taken care of. The Fates led us to this time and place, and even though we don’t know why, we have to trust them.”

  Julia paused in her bouncing motions, which weren’t making the baby feel any better, anyway. She watched Angie, her brows knitting together.

  “You saved the baby’s life,” Angie continued softly. “That’s as much as you, or any of us, can do. We have to leave the rest up to the Fates.”

  She backed out of Angie’s soft hold. “What are you saying?”

  “We’ve already changed history by our actions,” Angie said. “We can’t risk making it worse by letting ourselves be seen here in this timeline as well.”

  Horror crept over her. “You want me to leave the baby here? Just abandon it?”

  “What were you going to do,” Kaitlyn scoffed. “Raise her as your own?”

  “No! But, like, take it to protective services or something.”

  A door opened. Someone stood on his front porch. Someone else leaned out a window.

  “We don’t have enough magic to take the baby any further. We don’t even have enough magic to hide ourselves,” Angie whispered fervently. “You saved her life. That has to be enough. She would have died and now she’ll live. Aren’t you happy with that? What more can we do?”

  Kaitlyn glanced down at the baby before meeting Julia’s eyes with a hard, unflinching gaze. “Pick a doorstep.”

  “M-me? Why not you guys?”

  Kaitlyn almost looked sympathetic for a moment. “It was your idea to save the kid.”

  She looked to Angie, but found no help there, either, though she gave Julia’s shoulder a gentle pat. “This baby’s fate is in your hands. It has been since the moment you lifted her from the fire. Do you understand?”

  Julia nodded, feeling lost. Dread overwhelmed her at the thought of what she was being asked to do. Choose a stranger and hope he or she wouldn’t hurt or mistreat this baby. She looked down at the furious little face. It was alive. Any life it had was better than no life at all.

  She swallowed, hoping that was true.


  “¿Quién está allí?”

  “Hurry,” Angie whispered.

  Julia spun around. It was impossible to think. If only the Fates would shine a light down on the house that would take the best care of her. If only there were some clear answer.

  She scuffled forward, ignoring Angie’s insistence that she hurry. The house with the metallic decoration on the wall that seemed familiar… it had toys strewn all over the porch. Other children. Would that mean the family was loving? That they gave their children toys? Did it mean they already had too many mouths to feed?

  Where had she seen that metal thing on the wall before?

  The man’s voice boomed through the darkness, angrier this time. Julia’s heart leapt into her throat. She raced up to the house, placing the baby on the front step as she banged on the door.

  “Cómo vas a dejar ese bebé allí, botada como basura,” the man yelled. “Qué barbaridad.”

  She banged harder, waiting until lights came on. Her heart rose up and lodged in her throat. The man ran up the lawn. She glanced down at the baby a final time, and something struck her. Protect. She crouched down, holding her hands over the miserable little bundle and whispered the word again, coating the baby in white light. How long did Protect last, anyway? She had no idea. Maybe this was pointless, but it seemed better than nothing.

  She froze as the man who had been yelling at her crossed his yard and approached. He wore a loose fitting button up shirt, short sleeved and untucked. His dark, glossy hair was cropped short and combed neatly to one side.

  Julia shivered, realizing how she must look abandoning a baby like this. “C-C-Carmen,” she managed to choke out, pointing at the baby as she sidestepped through the yard. “Carmen. That’s her name.” Why hadn’t she paid more attention in Spanish class? Why hadn’t her mother just taught her Spanish when she was little? Name… name… “Nombre!” she cried, pointing wildly to the baby again. “Nombre Carmen. Baby, the baby’s name is Carmen.”

  The man just stared at her and she bounded past him, racing away from the house. She couldn’t help looking behind her to see what he did, watching as the man hesitated, like he was unsure whether to check on the baby or chase after her.