Chapter 1 #2
The Collector…none of us knew his real name, or even what he truly looked like, since the times he’d appeared in Jerome he’d been wearing a magical disguise…
seemed hell-bent on gathering as many enchanted artifacts and talismans as he could.
Seth and I had found one such object back in 1884 Flagstaff and had brought it forward in time with us.
While I still thought we’d done the right thing, since it had been in the hands of a warlock who was using it to enhance his powers in a very public way, I also had to acknowledge that if I’d never brought the amulet here, then the Collector would probably have had no reason to turn his attention toward our tiny town.
Well, done was done, and we’d just have to deal with the aftermath as best we could.
At least it seemed as if he’d been banished for the time being, thanks to the combined magic of Angela and Connor, the McAllister prima and the Wilcox primus, and the clan elders…
along with a very welcome assist from Brianna McAllister and her significant other, Bill.
But because we certainly didn’t have access to the Collector’s cache of rare, magical objects, there was no way to send a message back in time to Seth’s parents to let them know he was happy and healthy and thriving.
An idea popped into my mind, one so outrageous, I knew I should just push it away and ignore it. We were safe here now, and the last thing I should be doing with our wedding only ten days away was to start stirring the pot.
“What is it?” Seth asked. He was frowning a little, but I thought that was probably because he knew what to expect when I got that kind of look on my face.
The same look that had gotten us into trouble more than once.
“Maybe we should go back and tell them,” I said, and Seth stared at me in consternation.
“Go back to 1926?”
I nodded.
“That’s impossible,” he replied. When his tone turned flat like that, I knew he was getting ready to dig his heels in.
But because I’d been expecting that kind of reaction, I refused to let myself get too discouraged.
“Why not?” I said. “It’s not like we haven’t traveled in time before.”
Seth paused then, his gaze quickly moving around the room, as if to make sure we couldn’t be overheard. But the other two couples in the dining room looked absorbed in their conversations, and it seemed pretty clear that they weren’t paying any attention to us.
“We did,” he replied, pitching his voice low so it couldn’t be overheard. “Without any real control, and with a lot of personal risk. Have you forgotten that the only reason we were able to get back here at all was because of the amulet and Ruby McAllister giving us a magical boost?”
No, I hadn’t forgotten. The amulet had been made by a long-ago warlock and possessed the ability to strengthen the magical gifts of whoever held it.
Even with it beefing up my time-travel talent, I still wouldn’t have had the ability to send Seth and me forward nearly a hundred years if it hadn’t been for Ruby joining her strength to ours and catapulting us forward in time.
But I’d been practicing these past few months.
Not traveling that far, of course, but sending myself forward and backward a day here, a week there.
All those jumps had worked flawlessly, which seemed to be a clear signal that I was starting to finally get some control over a talent I’d once looked upon as not much more than a liability.
My other talent, the one I’d inherited from my father and which allowed me to conceal my witch nature, had come in much more handy during Seth’s and my travels in time.
I hadn’t told Seth about my little experiments, mostly because I knew he’d think I was taking unnecessary risks when everything seemed calm and settled, and there was no reason for me to be anywhere except where…and when…I currently was.
Now, though…now it sure seemed as if I had a very good reason to put my recently honed skills to the test.
“No,” I told him. “But I really think I can do this. I’ve been practicing.”
At once, he sat up straighter, and those clear blue eyes might as well have been lasers boring right through me. “You’ve what?”
The last syllable came out louder than he’d probably intended, and he sent a worried look around before seeming to decide that no one else appeared to have noticed the minor outburst.
“I’ve been practicing,” I said quietly. “Nothing big, but it’s been enough to prove to myself that my control over my gift is a lot better than it once was.
For all I know, the exposure to the amulet helped permanently strengthen something about it, or maybe it was something about entwining my powers with Ruby’s to get us back to the current day.
Anyway, I really think we can go back to 1926 without too much trouble.
Wouldn’t you like that? Don’t you want to have another Christmas with your family, one where, even if you don’t want to tell them exactly what happened, you could at least let them know that you’re safe and everything is all right? ”
Another long pause, one during which I could see the way Seth swallowed, the way his eyes couldn’t quite meet mine. In that moment, I saw how badly he wanted to go…and how much he wrestled with himself for entertaining the notion…if even for a second or two.
Then he said, his tone flat again, “It’s too big a risk.”
“You don’t know that for sure,” I replied.
Now he did look directly at me, and the worry in his face was so clear, I guessed even the people sitting across the room could have picked it up.
Luckily, they still weren’t paying any attention to us.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were practicing?”
The words were spoken simply, without a hint of accusation. He didn’t seem to be angry, just worried.
“Because I didn’t want to upset you,” I said. “And I was doing very small jumps, the kind that wouldn’t have caused much of a problem even if I’d gotten stuck when I landed. That didn’t happen, though. So I know I have a lot more control now than I did even six months ago.”
Because he didn’t say anything right away, I knew he was wrestling with his thoughts, coming up with all the reasons why this was a crazy idea…and doing his best to ignore the ones, maybe stronger, that were telling him he should go back to give his parents some peace of mind.
When he spoke, I could tell he’d already made the decision but wasn’t going to voice it out loud until he’d hammered out a few pertinent points.
“How do you plan to do this?” he asked. “Because if we just appear in the middle of the mercantile, people are going to ask questions.”
“Not a problem,” I said calmly. “We can use the old mine shaft to come and go — it wasn’t in use even in 1926, so we shouldn’t bump into anyone there.
And we can try to find some period-correct clothes in the vintage shop in Cottonwood, but if they don’t have anything that’ll work, then I’ll see what I can find on eBay and Etsy and find out if they can overnight it here. ”
Too bad we hadn’t departed from the 1920s during our last time jump, or I wouldn’t have had to worry about clothes at all.
However, since we’d come here from 1947, those outfits wouldn’t work.
We’d hung onto them and gone to a couple of vintage dances in Prescott — it turned out that Seth picked up swing and the Lindy hop pretty quickly — but they’d be just as out of place in 1926 Jerome as they were in the present day.
Maybe more so, since at least in our current time, vintage clothing seemed to be a style choice that never went completely away.
Now Seth was smiling just a little. “It sounds like you’ve thought of everything.”
“I don’t know about ‘everything,’” I said. “But I really think we can make this work. And because we’re moving around in time, we have all the flexibility in the world. We can go to Christmas in 1926 and be back here for our own celebration without anyone noticing.”
At least, that was the optimal scenario.
If I really screwed up, I might not be able to pinpoint things exactly.
Missing our wedding would be the worst outcome, of course, but there was also the rehearsal dinner and Christmas Eve at my parents’ house, and all the million and one social commitments that always cropped up during the holidays.
One good thing was that Seth and I had hired extra help — well, a bunch of McAllister cousins — to watch the store, so there wouldn’t be too much problem about us being MIA at the height of the busiest shopping season.
And Rachel had also volunteered to check in and make sure everything was running smoothly.
She’d officially retired after she handed over the reins of McAllister Mercantile to Seth and me, but I knew she’d be only too happy to lend her expertise if necessary.
As far as I could tell, we had all the bases covered. The only thing that remained was the go-ahead from Seth.
He seemed to still be pondering my plan about buying a vintage wardrobe for our trip in time.
Sure, it would be expensive, but we had the money.
The store was doing well, the bungalow had been paid off for more than a hundred years, and everyone in our respective witch clans got a monthly stipend to help pad things.
Dropping even a grand on getting us outfitted wouldn’t begin to make a dent.
“It’ll be fun,” I said, and reached across the table so I could place my hand on top of his. Months had passed since he’d last worked in the mines, but those fingers were still as strong as ever and slightly callused, probably from all the hauling and stacking he did in the store’s stockroom.
A reluctant grin plucked at his lips. “I didn’t think it was about ‘fun,’” he said. “I thought it was about getting some closure with my parents.”
“Well, that, too,” I allowed. “But when I was in 1926, it was summer, and hot without a single air conditioner in sight. I’d like to experience past Jerome at Christmas and see if it was as magical then as it is now.”
He shifted his hand slightly so he could entwine his fingers with mine. “Oh, it’ll be magical,” he said.
“Does that mean we’re going?”
A silence again, although he didn’t try to pull his hand away. If anything, his fingers tightened a little — not enough to hurt, of course, but just enough to signal that he had no intention of letting go.
“Yes,” he said, and his voice was almost heavy. “I need to do this.”
I smiled across the table at him…and also sent out a little prayer to the universe that this Christmas adventure would work out the way we’d planned.