Secrets of Time

by Zoe Matthews

  They both knew that wasn’t possible; she wouldn’t be willing to stay in the past because of her concern about her mother. He couldn’t travel to the future because he was supposed to take over Dr. Thomas’s office. Even if those circumstances hadn’t been there, he knew that his family had already changed history too much by bringing Kimberly, Nicky, Justin, and his parents back into the past. They had all agreed that while they loved the new members of their family, it wouldn’t be smart to keep bringing people back and forth through time. It’s just not how things were supposed to happen.

  Before he knew it, they were back at the ranch, and everyone was oohing over the fish Megan had caught. He also got a few jabs from his brothers that a girl was able to catch a bigger fish than he had been able to. He joked back good-naturedly and gave all the fish to Nicky, who proceeded to cut them into fillets and fried them up.

  Lunch seemed to fly by. Keegan wished time would slow down. He didn’t want to say goodbye to Megan. He tried telling himself to toughen up; he had only known her for a few days, even if it did feel like he had known her his whole life. He tried to act happy, to make the most of the last few hours with her, but he couldn’t help feeling more and more depressed as time passed.

  After everyone had finished their lunch and helped clean up, Patrick offered to take Megan out to what they had started to call “the portal.”

  “That would be great,” Megan responded to Patrick’s offer, glancing at Keegan before quickly looking away. “I’d like to be there with plenty of time to spare so I don’t miss it.”

  Keegan couldn’t help the words that came out. “Do you mind if I come, too?” He couldn’t even think of a good enough explanation for why he wanted to be there, except that he wanted to spend as much time with Megan as possible.

  “I don’t see why not,” Patrick responded after looking at Keegan for a moment with caution in his eyes. Keegan knew Patrick was worried Keegan would fall in love with Megan, just like he had when Kimberly had come to visit. It had happened again when Nicky came to help Kimberly with the birth of her twins; Shaun hadn’t been able to help falling for her. Patrick didn’t want to change history anymore by bringing yet another person back to the past.

  They all set out toward the circle of rocks, just past the garden of herbs. Apollo followed them, erratically barking and chasing things, but always come back to sniff Megan’s hand. None of them said anything which worried Keegan. Megan should have been nervous, but she wasn’t chatting like she normally did. Keegan couldn’t stop himself from grabbing Megan’s hand, to comfort her as much as himself. He couldn’t stand the thought of letting her go.

  When they arrived at the portal, Megan dropped Keegan’s hand, and called Apollo over, and clipped a leash onto his collar, wanting to make sure he stayed near her. She adjusted her backpack on her shoulders and mentally checked off everything she had with her the first time she went through the portal.

  “So how will we know when the portal is active?” she asked nervously.

  “I’m not sure,” Patrick responded. “This is a new experience for all of us,” he reminded her with a smile, trying to put her at ease.

  “Maybe we will feel the air vibrate, like the keys did when we touched them,” Keegan suggested.

  “That’s possible,” Patrick said hesitantly, then glanced up at the sky. “It’s about three o’clock.”

  After a moment of silence, Keegan turned to Megan. “I know it wasn’t planned, and it will probably be hard to explain everything when you get back home, but I am glad we were able to meet you.”

  “I’m glad too,” she said, tears starting to form.

  She jumped at him then, throwing her arms around his neck. Startled, he just stood there for a moment, conscious of Patrick’s eyes on him, a grim look on his face. He wrapped his arms around her for just a moment before she pulled away and wiped her eyes. She turned to Patrick and hugged him briefly as well. “Thank you for letting me stay at your ranch while I was here. I know it wasn’t easy for you.”

  Patrick didn’t know how to respond and shifted his large body uncomfortably. “It wasn’t a problem. You’d better try the portal now.”

  Taking a deep breath, and looking at Keegan one more time, she took a step forward, pulling Apollo with her. Keegan could barely stand to watch, yet he couldn’t take his eyes away as she stepped into the circle. He felt as if his heart was tearing in two.

  Everyone held their breath, watching Megan closely. After a moment, when nothing happened, Megan said, “maybe it’s too early.”

  She stepped out of the circle, then stepped back in again several times. After fifteen minutes or so, when nothing happened, the fear in her eyes turned to tears.

  Patrick, who was clearly trying not to show his frustration at the fact that it didn’t work, put his hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry it didn’t work. We can try again tomorrow.”

  Megan just nodded, tears streaming down her face. Patrick walked away, sensing he wouldn’t be much help to her. Megan looked over helplessly at Keegan, the pain clear in her eyes.

  As much as his heart hurt for her, there was a relief that flooded through him. She was staying in his time, at least for one more day. He walked over and put his arms around her in comfort.

  ****

  Megan sobbed into Keegan’s chest. She was so afraid she wouldn’t be able to see her mom again. She already missed her so much. What would it be like to never hug her mother again? What if she never saw Abby again? She didn’t know how long it took before she stopped crying, but eventually, she was able to calm down and relish the feeling of comfort Keegan gave her. He kept whispering soft words in her ear while he rubbed a gentle hand over her back.

  After some time, she pulled back, feeling slightly embarrassed. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” Keegan said, smiling softly at her. “It’s understandable to be upset.”

  “I think I need some time alone,” Megan softly whispered. She wanted to stay near the portal just in case it started to work. She also wanted to think through things. She could tell that Keegan was disappointed, but he seemed to understand and left her alone.

  “Just don’t stay here too long,” he cautioned as he looked at the sky. “It looks like a storm is coming.”

  As he was walking away, a thought hit Megan. She knew something had been missing from the plan they’d had, she just hadn’t known what. Daylight savings time. She couldn’t remember what year exactly it started, but she knew it hadn’t been started in 1902. That meant that in her time, she had time traveled around 3:00, but in 1902, she had arrived at around 2:00, which was standard time. She had tried to use the portal at the wrong time; that might be the reason why it hadn’t worked. She missed the opportunity by one hour.

  She wanted to shout after Keegan and tell him her thoughts, but hesitated, and then made an instant decision. She would spend her time keeping herself busy and not say anything to anyone about her thoughts about Daylight savings. Tomorrow she would try the portal on her own. If it didn’t work, then she would know that that wasn’t the problem and would try to come up with another idea.

  Megan enjoyed the evening with Keegan and his family. She listened as Richie and Jonathan reminded Keegan that he promised them that he would take them horseback riding while he was visiting, and they made plans to do so the next day right after lunch. Keegan invited her to go with them, but she declined. She wanted to stay near the portal.

  Later, after all the children were put to bed, she was able to hear Doug and Michelle’s story about how they traveled through time in order to see Nicky and meet her new husband. They told her how they weren’t planning on staying, but ended up being forced to when the keys were taken by the Irish Man.

  Megan asked them if they ever regretted that they were forced to stay, and both of them denied it. They were glad they were able to be near their children and grandchildren. Of course, there were many things that they missed, but they hadn’t been very close to their
own siblings, and their parents had already passed away.

  The next morning passed very slowly for Megan. She was very antsy and had a hard time sitting still. She finally asked Kimberly to assign her a job to do, and enjoyed spending a few hours helping to prepare their garden for the winter. Soon after lunch, she made an excuse that she wanted to spend some time in Keegan’s herb garden. As she bent over pulling some weeds that were starting to crowd some of the herbs, she watched as Keegan led three horses out of the large barn and started to saddle them up with the boys’ help. Megan could tell that Richie and Jonathan were very excited to be able to spend time with their uncle.

  She had kept her backpack with her all day, along with Apollo. Discreetly, she opened her pack and turned on her cellphone to see the time. Noting that it was close to 2:00, she slipped it back in the pack and zipped up the pocket. Calling Apollo to her, she clipped his leash on. She glanced at Keegan, part of her wishing she could tell him goodbye, but she talked herself out of it, rationalizing that the portal probably wasn’t going to work anyway.

  Megan quickly walked towards the circle of rocks with Apollo at her side. When she reached the edge of the circle, Apollo started nipping and yelping at the portal. Megan clutched his leash and held her breath as she reached her hand toward it. She could feel the energy in the air as her hand got closer. It was active! She could go home. Looking over her shoulder at Keegan who was still saddling up the horses, she noticed that he was looking at her. She waved her hand at him and then turned away. Afraid the portal would stop working at any minute, she pulled Apollo with her and stepped into the circle of rocks. Just like before, a flash of light blinded her and she felt as if she was falling, just like she had done just days before.

  ****

  Keegan gasped when he saw Megan step into the circle of rocks and then disappeared right before his eyes. He blinked his eyes a few times, wondering if he was seeing things, but she was no longer there. He looked at Richie who was beside him as he helped saddle one of the horses. Neither boy seemed to notice that Megan had just disappeared.

  “Take the reins, Richie,” Keegan ordered the boy.

  He took off running towards the portal, his mind instantly replaying the entire morning. He knew something was going on in Megan’s mind the moment he woke up. She was being very quiet, not chattering like she usually did. She seemed to avoid him, spending the morning with Kimberly and Michelle in the garden. He tried to tell himself to not take it personally, that he was reading into things. After all, he had only known Megan for a few days, and he really didn’t know her. Although he had to admit to himself that he felt like he did know her. There was a connection between them that he hadn’t figured out yet.

  When he reached the portal, he instantly knew that she had figured out how to get the portal to work, but for some reason hadn’t told anyone. He also knew that he wasn’t ready to let her go yet. He thrust his hand into the circle and could feel a strange vibration. It was still active! Making an instant decision, he stepped into the portal and was blinded by a flashing light.

  Chapter 15

  Megan landed on the ground with a thump and was breathless for a moment before she broke into a laugh, as she looked around. She instantly recognized the path, the trees, and the field she had first disappeared in. It had worked; she was back in her own time. She saw Apollo, who was as happy as ever, completely oblivious to the fact he had just traveled through more than one hundred years of time. Then, surprise coursed through her as she realized someone appeared beside her. It was Keegan!

  “Keegan! What are you doing here?” She asked, surprise clouded all other thoughts.

  “.. I…I saw you disappearing. I... had to follow you,” was all Keegan could get out. His breath was coming hard and fast, and there was a frantic look in his eyes. “Is this your time?”

  “Yes, this is where I was before I traveled to your ranch,” Megan responded with a grin.

  Happiness started to fill her as she realized that Keegan was in her time. He had followed her. She had known he was sad to see her go, but it was incredibly flattering to think he had jumped into the portal with her. She wondered if that meant he felt just as strongly for her as she did for him.

  Keegan seemed speechless as he looked around at the forest of trees, undoubtedly thinking of how different everything looked compared to his own time. He looked at her. “You obviously figured out what activates the portal.”

  “Well, I wasn’t sure. I really didn’t think it would work. I forgot about Daylight savings.”

  “What’s daylight savings?” Keegan asked as he continued to look around.

  “I’ll explain it to you later. Let’s just say that my time is actually an hour behind your time at the moment. The portal won’t activate again until tomorrow,” Megan said, thinking simple, straightforward sentences would probably be the best way to communicate with him for the time being. “We can come back tomorrow so you can get back to your time.”

  “What? No!” Keegan protested as he managed to shakily stand on his feet. He started to walk around, looking at the herbs and trees more closely.

  “You don’t want to go back home?” she hedged.

  “Not yet. I…I want to…” Keegan stumbled over his words, clearly shaken by this whole experience.

  Hope filled Megan’s heart. She loved the idea that she would get to spend at least a few more days with him. “Okay, let’s go to my place before we do anything else. We will need to hike down to my car. Hopefully, it will still be there,” Megan said, pointing down the path she had taken.

  “Your car? We have to take your car?” His eyes looked panicked. “That’s another word for automobile, right?”

  “Well, yes. Walking to my apartment would take a very long time, and it wouldn’t be safe,” Megan explained.

  Keegan just nodded his head and clearly made an effort to calm down a little. “Shall we get started then?”

  “Yes, let’s start walking. I’d like to get to my car as soon as possible so I can call my mom,” Megan responded as she led the way down the trail.

  Keegan seemed to calm down as they walked, and Megan imagined it was due to the fact that the mountain was like his ranch in some ways, at least. The hike down didn’t take as long as Megan had expected since they practically ran down the path. Megan was eager to get home and get in touch with her mother. Keegan was already used to walking trails like this, so he didn’t tire as easily as some people in her time would have.

  As soon as they walked off the hiking trail and into the parking lot, she started searching for her car. She was relieved to see no one had tried to break into her car while it had been parked there for so long. She walked over to it and pulled her keys out of her backpack. She unlocked the door and set her backpack down to rummage through it for her cell phone. She tried, unsuccessfully, to turn it on which she thought was strange since she had just used it to check the time before she went through the portal. The battery was dead. She sighed and looked over at Keegan who was watching her uncertainly.

  “My phone is dead, so I can’t call my mom.”

  “It’s… dead?” he asked, confused.

  “Yes, that just means it is out of battery,” she explained, then laughed when the blank look on his face showed her that her explanation had only confused him more. “The battery is what helps my phone work. I can fix it when we get home,” she tried to explain simply and then changed the subject. She would show him how cell phones worked later. “Come on. Let’s get to my place.”

  After letting Apollo into the backseat, she showed Keegan how to buckle his seatbelt which seemed to make him uncomfortable. He kept pulling at the strap on his shoulder as if it was bothering him. She started the car, doing her best to keep her smile to herself, and began to drive carefully home.

  Keegan sat rigidly and gripped the handle on the door the first few minutes as they had to drive on a bumpy dirt road before they got back on the pavement. After a while on the smooth road, howeve
r, Keegan relaxed a little but still seemed nervous about how fast they were going.

  Once she was on the freeway, she looked at Keegan. “I’d slow down, but it is dangerous to drive slower than the rest of the drivers around us.”

  “How does everyone avoid crashing into each other?” Keegan asked, his voice shaking as he looked around at all the vehicles that were whizzing past them.

  Megan hesitated, then decided to give him a simple answer. “Practice.” Then she grinned at him. She was so happy that she had been able to return to her time. And she was very excited that Keegan was sitting beside her.

  They eventually arrived at her apartment. Megan pulled into her parking space while Keegan fumbled with his seatbelt. “How do you get this thing off?” he said, panic rising in his voice again.

  Megan chuckled. “It’s okay, look.”

  She pushed the button to release the seatbelt and showed him how to open the door. He got out quickly and strode over to the sidewalk as if wanting to get as far away from her car as quickly as possible.

  Megan chuckled again and let Apollo and herself out of the car. She led the way to her apartment and unlocked the door. She watched Keegan carefully, wanting to take in his reaction to her apartment.

  He looked around with curiosity, but also maintained his distance as if he was afraid everything was going to come to life on him. Trying to ease his tension, she gave him a tour of her little apartment, explaining what everything was along the way.

  “I live in what is called a studio apartment. It is basically one large room where I prepare meals and sleep.”

  “It looks larger than the small cabin I stay in at the ranch,” Keegan commented.

  “It’s actually quite a bit smaller than most apartments in my time. I chose it because the rent is cheaper and there is only one of me, well besides Apollo,” Megan said as she grinned at him. She continued the one-room tour. “This is my living room, where I relax. I make the sofa into a bed and that is where I sleep. This is a television. It has moving pictures on it that tell different stories,” Megan said, trying to explain.