by Kay Amory
“It’s been an incredible experience,” Pam said.
After this exchange of words the Fairy Queen rose from her throne and waved her wand over the two women. Then her form began to slowly dissolve in a white haze and Pam and Gwen found themselves alone in the old hall. They turned and headed for the entrance and made their way down the crumbling staircase.
Gwen and Pam were back in the autumn woods. A diffused daylight filtered through the green and gold trees.
“I thought I’d never wake up,” Gwen said, “I felt so tired.”
“I know, but here we are back in the woods,” Pam said.
“Look over there, Pam,” Gwen said and pointed to a clump of trees. “Don’t those trees look familiar to you?” The two women hurried over.
“This is our park,” Pam said.
“Yes, we sat here last night.”
“And now it’s high time we get home.”
“But what are we going to tell the kids?”
“I really don’t know.” The women left the park and walked down the street to where they had parked their cars.
“Our cars aren’t here,” Pam cried.
“This must be a no-parking-overnight zone,” Gwen said, “and they’ve towed them away.”
“I must rescue my babysitter,” Pam said. The two women went over to the bus stop to catch a bus to Pam’s house.
When they got there, Pam looked up in alarm. “The house is not the same color,” she said. “Yesterday it was green and now its beige.”
“Perhaps it’s a Halloween prank.”
“What, to paint a whole house?”
As they were speaking a neighbor of Pam’s stepped out of the house next door. “I don’t know her,” Pam whispered. “She’s not the same woman at all.”
“Perhaps she is visiting,” Gwen said.
“Let’s find out what is going on” Pam said and stepped up to the door of her house. But when she tried to insert her key, it would not fit.
“Better ring the bell,” Gwen said. After a couple of rings the door opened and Pam’s ex-husband Jim stood there looking disheveled and bewildered.
“My God, is it really you, Pam?” he said. “Where on earth have you been?”
“I’m sorry; I guess you took the baby-sitter home. And where is Jimmy?”
“He’s playing football as usual. I must say, Pam, you’ve got a nerve showing up here unannounced after all these years.”
“What do you mean?” Pam asked.
“Seven years ago you vanished without a trace and now you’re standing here looking like a tramp. Why did we never hear from you? The police were trying to find you for months. “
“Oh, my God! Can we please come in and I’ll try to explain.”
Jim finally looked behind Pam and noticed Gwen. “That must be your friend Gwen,” he said. “I remember she went missing at the same time. She too looks like a vagabond.”
Gwen stepped forward. “Yes, it’s me,” she said.
“Well, I guess the case is no longer unresolved,” Jim said.
Finally, when they were all sitting in the living room, Pam and Gwen tried to explain what happened to them, but nothing made any sense to Jim. He sighed and said, “Well, you’re back at last. What are we supposed to do now?”
“We want to see our children,” Pam said. “Where is Jimmy playing football?”
“At his junior high school,” Jim said. “He’s in grade seven now.”
“I can hardly believe it.”
“And what about Kevin, Jim?” Gwen asked. “Do you know anything about him?”
“I think he’s started college now.”
“I better get over to my house immediately,” Gwen said.
“I’ll drive you over,” Jim said. “But I’m waiting for my wife, Mandy, to get back. She should be here any moment.”
“Maybe we should both go over to Gwen’s,” Pam said. “Jim, for how long have you and your new wife been living here?”
“For about five years,” Jim said, “but the night you went missing, I came over to get the baby-sitter and to see to Jimmy. I’ve been here ever since.”
At that moment Mandy arrived and Jim introduced everyone. Mandy looked very surprised, but said nothing.
“Do you too want that ride now, Gwen?” Jim asked.
“Yes, please,” Gwen said.
“I’ll go with you,” Pam said. And then they all three got into Jim’s sedan.
“Seven years ago the police found your abandoned cars,” Jim said. “But no one could figure out how the two of you could simply disappear without a trace.”
“I know,” Gwen said, “It’s hard to believe.”
“In the end the police decided that foul play was probably involved.”
“How awful,” Pam said.
“And the boys grew up assuming their mothers were dead.”
When they got to Gwen’s house, it looked the same as it had done before. “
“I wonder if anyone is at home.” Gwen said. The two women went up to the door and Gwen rang the doorbell. “I won’t even try the key,” she said. “As its Sunday, I hope somebody might be there.” After a couple of rings, a sleepy looking woman opened the door. She looked at the two women suspiciously.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“Can I speak to Bob, please,” Gwen said. “I’m his ex-wife.”
“You’re his what?”
“You heard, his ex-wife”
“That’s impossible,” the woman said, “She’s been dead for years.”
Suddenly there were footsteps in the hallway and Bob appeared in the doorway in his pajamas. “What’s going on here?” he asked. Then he looked at the two women more closely. “Good heavens, is that you, Gwen?”
“It most certainly is.”
“Where on earth have you been?” Bob asked. So Gwen and Pam again tried to explain about their Halloween night.”
“I’ve never heard such baloney,” the woman in a bathrobe said. “Surely, Bob, you don’t believe this nonsense.”
Then she turned to Gwen and Pam and said, “Bob’s my fiancé. We’re getting married in the spring.”
“Yes, Lisa and I are engaged,” Bob said.
“Bob, can’t you see these two are on drugs? Please, get them out of here.”
Bob looked indecisive. “Perhaps you could call on Kevin at the University residence,” he said. “I’m sure he’ll be pleased to see you.”
“What, right now?” Pam said. “We’re still in our Halloween costumes. What do you think, Gwen?”
“They’re just old clothes now. All our green paint has rubbed off.”
“Well, I guess we must try and find our kids.”
So Pam and Gwen took a bus out to Campus and walked over to the student residence. Many of the students were in their rooms, rather hung-over after their Halloween parties. “Good thing it’s Sunday,” Gwen said. “This lot wouldn’t make it to class today.”
After asking around, the two women eventually found Kevin’s room. When they knocked and looked in through the open door they saw Kevin sitting at his desk, with an open textbook in front of him, looking groggy. “What do you want?” he asked, “I’m trying to study. I guess you’re collecting for a good cause or something.” Then a puzzled look came over his face. “Mom, is that you?” he asked.
“Yes, it’s me, Kevin,” Gwen said as she stepped forward into his room, “Oh, I’m so glad to see you.” Kevin got up and hugged his mother, but his eyes were full of questions.
“Where have you been all this time?” he asked. “Is that Pam with you now? Does Dad know you’re back? Where are you staying?”
“Not so fast, Kevin. I can’t possibly answer more than one question at a time,” Gwen said. After half an hour of explaining Kevin looked more relaxed, but his mother and Pam were exhausted.
“Let’s all go and have some lunch,” Pam suggested “and perhaps I can get hold of Jimmy afterwards.”
“Good idea,” said G
wen, “Kevin can you take us to the cafeteria?”
“Of course,” Kevin said. So the three of them went to the student cafeteria and had soup and sandwiches. Kevin got a few curious looks from his fellow students, but he just grinned at them. “My mom’s back,” he said to a friend who walked right by his table.
After lunch Pam went and made her phone call. She came back looking excited. “Jimmy’s on his way home,” she said.
“That’s wonderful,” Gwen said.
“I want to be off,” Pam said. “But what about you two?”
“Can I, come with you?” Gwen asked.
“Of course you can,” Pam said. “But what about Kevin?”
“I’d like to come too, if I may,” Kevin said. “I’m part of this whole business.”
“Yes, you are and I’m sure Jimmy will be pleased to see you.”
When they got back to Jimmy’s home, he was already on the lookout for them. He came bursting through the door and flung himself at his mother. “Oh Mom, I’m so glad you’re back,” he said and hugged Pam tightly.
“Let’s have a look at you,” Pam said and laughed. “Have you ever grown. You’re nearly as tall as I am.”
“I’m twelve now,” Jimmy said.
“Yes, I know,” Pam said.
“But where have you been all this time?”
“That’s a long story.”
“Why did you and Gwen disappear?”
“That’s hard to explain,” Gwen said.
Jimmy finally looked up and noticed Kevin standing behind his mother and Gwen.
“Hi Kevin,” Jimmy said looking shy, “I haven’t seen you for a while.”
“I’ve been busy with my studies. I think it’s fantastic that both our moms are back.”
“So do I,” Jimmy said. “You know, Mom, during the time the police were searching for you and Gwen, Kevin and I saw quite a lot of each other.”
“That’s good to know,” Pam said.
“But why did we never hear from you?” Jimmy asked. “You didn’t even send us a postcard in all that time.”
“I’m so sorry, Jimmy, but it simply wasn’t possible,” Pam said.
“Why not?”
“Give us some time and we’ll try to explain,” Pam said.
Soon Jim and Mandy joined them out on the porch and asked everyone in for tea. Over cookies and mugs of hot tea Pam and Gwen told their story again and then they all discussed what to do. Finally they came up with a plan which would take them quite some time to implement.
Over the next couple of months Pam and Gwen both found new jobs in town. The local police closed their missing persons file and the officer in charge of the case shook his head and said, “Well, I never!”
Pam and Gwen moved into a small bungalow together and the boys came to visit on weekends. There were no more problems. Often they all had dinner together on Sundays and chatted around the dinner table. Pam and Gwen were eager to hear about everything their sons were doing. Jimmy loved playing football at school and Kevin, who no longer delivered newspapers, wrote articles for the student newspaper instead. Nobody ever quite understood where Gwen and Pam had been, but in the end it didn’t matter. They were all together again.
But one Sunday at dinnertime Jimmy said, “Mom, I really don’t see why you had to leave. I think I would have preferred to live with you and Gwen and Kevin.”
“I’m sorry that it didn’t work out that way,” Pam said.
“After you left, during the time the police were looking for you,” Jimmy continued, “Kevin used to come over for sleep-overs on the weekend.” Jimmy looked at Kevin across the table and Kevin smiled and nodded.
“Yes, we’d all watch the news together to see if there were any new developments,” Kevin said.
“We’re sorry for what you both went through,” Gwen said. “But we’re back now and we won’t go away again.” Both Jimmy and Kevin looked reassured.
Sometimes when Pam and Gwen were alone together in the evening, they remembered their special Halloween night. At one time Gwen asked, “What made you paint those snakes on our arms and faces, Pam?”
“I don’t know. It was just a sudden impulse.”
“It’s a funny thing about snakes,” Gwen said. “People are often afraid of them.”
“But they’re magic. They shed their skins and come out all shiny and new,”
“Just like us,” Gwen said.
“Have you read any of those old fairy tales where people accidentally enter fairyland and stay for one night, only to come back and find that seven years have gone by?”
“I think I remember some tales of that kind.” Gwen got up and walked restlessly around the room. Then she asked, “Do you think that’s what happened to us?”
“I can’t think of a better explanation.”
“And what about those snake symbols on the wall and the Queen’s staff with the snake circling around it?”
“She said herself that those are the ancient symbols of the healer. Why, you can sometimes still see them outside pharmacies and clinics. I’m sure you’ve noticed that. And the snake with its tail in its mouth is a symbol for infinity, for coming full circle, if you like.”
“Well, I guess we’ve come full circle now.”
“Yes and everybody knows that time is a great healer.”
“And now our lives are just perfect.”
“But of course, we will never forget the Fairy Queen and the night we spent together in her realm.”
Back in the ancient hills, in the middle of her beautiful woods, the Fairy Queen smiled to herself. She sat on her throne in the big hall of her castle and she knew that she had come to the rescue of two hapless women who had found their way to her. She had circled her wand and used her serpent magic to heal the lives of these women. And so she played a magic trick with time that mortals can never understand, but which they sometimes fall into at Halloween.