The Time Witch - Part 5

Links: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Time Witch page

Recap: Shut in the Carnegie Library closet, Evangeline can’t find the door that leads to the past. And if she can’t go back, she can’t stop the handsome builder from turning into a skeleton—and ruining her plans to open a B&B Coffee House.

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Short on time? Scan the story and just read the Bold parts to get the gist of the story. Then come back later and read the whole thing!

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“Were you trapped?”

A volunteer fireman stood in the doorway, furrowed brow like he expected Evangeline to faint. She cringed, feeling foolish. She wasn’t the screaming type, but he’d startled her, and for a second, she thought she’d come face-to-face with a ghost.

Evangeline mumbled an apology.

The fireman brushed it off. He’d seen worse. “Good thing I heard you miss, ’cause you gotta get out now. We’re closing it all up for the night.”

“But… but,” Evangeline tried to explain, words failing her.

“You need some fresh air,” the volunteer decided. “Come along now.” He took her arm, gently guiding her out.

With a backward glance at the closet, Evangeline groaned. She felt stupid and silently vowed not to let it happen again. Her punishment was being treated like a child. The fireman guided her outside and walked her a safe distance away.

“You go home now,” the officer said.

She didn’t have the heart to tell him the library was her home. At least everyone doesn’t know me in sight, she thought. It was the only upside.

Watching the activity around the library, it didn’t seem like anyone was calling it a night. Evangeline tried to signal Danna, but the diversion had turned into a feeding frenzy of horny men vying for her attention.

No escaping to Danna’s apartment any time soon, she thought.

The atmosphere had shifted into party mode as more residents arrived. Evangeline had to step out of the way as a group of six came around the corner of the library.

They must have parked in the back, she thought. Plenty of room back there since they diverted the river. Shame that… Evangeline gasped, struck by an idea.

Perking up, she hurried around to the back of the library.

“How could I have imagined the river?” she asked no one. “I wouldn’t have remembered it or conjured it in a dream. I’m not that clever!”

Evangeline stared at the expanse of her property, trying to figure out where she’d come out of the mysterious tunnel. Unfortunately, it was too dark to get her bearings. 

“I just need a little light,” she said, scanning the parked cars and wishing someone would return to their vehicle. Even the brief glow from exiting taillights would help; however, she was the only one in the parking lot. 

The moon, though, shone brightly. Evangeline peered up as a cloud drifted across, dimming the intensity and casting shadows. She sighed, unable to catch a break.

A faint buzzing interrupted her pity party.

Evangeline spun around as a blue-green light sparkled all around her. The buzzing grew louder, accosting her ears. Before she could move or speak, the light wrapped around her body, disorienting her senses. She grabbed her ears, wincing, and sunk to the ground.

The whole world shifted. Pressure pinched at her flesh and tickled her nose. It’s not like last time! A convulsing darkness seeped toward her. It oozed around the blue-green light, all wiggling blackness.

“Oh!” Evangeline gasped, detecting tiny creatures within the dark patches. They had razor-sharp teeth. She kicked one away. “No!”

The light attacked the creatures, keeping them at bay. The buzzing screeched. A piercing, teeth-clenching pitch made her eyes water. She shut them and held her breath. Slowly, the buzzing diminished. Replacing it—a babbling brook.

Evangeline opened her eyes, startled to see daylight—and thankful that the darkness and its denizens were gone.

She pulled at one ear. It ached like she was at high altitude. Opening her jaw, she wiggled it to ease the pressure and stood, taking in the lovely rolling hills and glistening riverbed. “I’m back.”

“You again?” a familiar male voice asked, amused.

Evangeline turned to see the skeleton—well, the man who’d become the skeleton—looking full of life, once again the picture of health and vitality.

“Where did you go off to, lass?” His voice held the same lithe as before. Irish. “I swear you vanished right from my arms. Tell me true, are you a Sprite?”

It took Evangeline a minute to process the word. She was pretty sure he didn’t mean a soda drink. “A what?”

“Sprite… a wee creature found deep in the forest. A fairy,” he added. 

“We’re not deep in a forest, so I’m not a wee creature.” Evangeline had to admit, however, that she felt like something magical.

She checked out the surroundings, noting all the differences between his world and hers. From the time of day to the landscape, nothing seemed to line up except the library.

“Sorry,” she said. “I can’t explain my vanishing act.”

Evangeline would rather focus on the actual mystery—him. Was he a man, a skeleton, a ghost, or all three?

“Can’t you or won’t you explain yourself to me?” he asked, sounding stern, but his expression told a different tale.

Not knowing if it was safe to tell a ghost he was a ghost, like the dangers of waking a sleepwalker, Evangeline felt compelled to play along. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know… one day.”

“A fair offer, I’ll wager.” He chuckled. “Far be it for me to pry into a lady’s affairs. I’ll be wanting to know why you came back, though.”

With a sly glance at him, taking in a muscular physique due to hard work, she noticed he was still wearing the same clothes she’d seen on the skeleton.

“Unless I’m being too forward.” He looked away, perhaps sensing he’d overstepped.

“No,” she cleared her throat. “That’s not it at all… I need to know if I can trust you.”

He laughed at the idea. Trust, apparently, wasn’t something he usually had to earn. “Aye, you can trust me.”

Taking a step toward him—one that made his chin come up—Evangeline lowered her voice and whispered, “I need to change the future.”

The instantaneous burst of laughter sounded so jolly and good-hearted that Evangeline tried not to take offense. Her hands drifted up to her hips, however, and a steely determination settled over her features.

He instantly sobered. “There now,” he said with a grin still on his lips. “I meant no offense and will be having none of your temper, yet how could I not find the humor? So serious you are and then to talk of such things. As if you could wield time itself.”

Evangeline relaxed her stance. “That wasn’t exactly what I meant.” Was it?

“You are unlike any lady I’ve met.”

“I guarantee you, I’m unlike any lady you’ll ever meet.” Evangeline had a good idea of what she’d be up against in this time.

This time? Yes, this time. I’m in another time, she admitted to herself. Another time. Same place.

Evangeline felt the firm ground under her feet and the sun on her face. The scent of magnolia blossoms filled the air, but she didn’t need the surroundings to convince her. Time travel is possible, she admitted, at least for me.

The revelation held a deeper meaning. It tugged at a memory of her parents. Their secrets might not stay secret from me much longer, she guessed and put a hand on her heart.

He misread the gesture as some kind of amends. “As you wish, we will not speak of it, but allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Samuel Covington-York, at your service.” He gave her a slight bow, pulling the cap from his waistband and flourishing it with a grin.

Evangeline was instantly charmed, but she suddenly knew how to situate herself better in this place. “Excuse me, but I need to prove something to myself.”

“What proof will you be needing?” He seemed willing to come to her aid if he could only understand what she wanted. 

“It might not make sense,” she said, “but just go with me on this, okay?”

He nodded in agreement, even if his lips twitched. “Where shall we go?”

“I need to find something that I recognize.” Evangeline considered the options, seeing nothing in the meadow or along the horizon. “A landmark.”

Watching her with a curious tilt of his head, Samuel rubbed the close-cut beard on his chin. “By all measure, you are making sense to yourself, yet I remain in the dark. Care to enlighten me?”

“The parking lot’s back here with a row of homes to the south.” Evangeline turned to an empty glen. “They’re Craftsman bungalows, so they must have been built during the 1920s, too early. Oh! The park. Do you have a park?”

Evangeline didn’t wait for an answer. She headed around the building.

“What’s on the other side of your library?” She hoped the park’s gazebo would be visible once she got around the building.

“Founders Square, you’ll be thinking?” Samuel followed a respectable distance behind. Clearly, he feared the need for smelling salts, so he didn’t let her get too far ahead.

She snapped her fingers. “Founder’s Square, yes! I’m new to town, but you can’t go anywhere without seeing the lovely gazebo and the statue of… don’t tell me… Gordon Melville Thomas!”

A scoff of disbelief interrupted the impromptu pop quiz as a lady with a parasol overheard their conversation. She stood beside a two-wheel buggy on the dirt road in front of the library. A regal, pained expression clouded her features. She wore a pale yellow dress that matched her hair, pulled up in a tasteful coiffure with ringlets on one side. The dress also accentuated her waist while it hid the rest of her figure. “A statue of Gordon Melville Thomas? I dare say you’ll be starting a flurry of gossip and won’t Gordy be heady with the notion.”

Evangeline froze, gawking at the woman—the lady—whose appearance broke the illusion that only she and Samuel were locked in the quirky time twist. The disappointment struck hard.

How stupid, Evangeline thought. He lives in Baxter Creek, a town full of people… even nasty ones.

“Dash it!” The sight of the refined woman caused Samuel’s outburst. He stopped in his tracks but recovered faster than Evangeline. He advanced toward the lady with care, manners kicking in to make the proper introductions. “Allow me to present Lenora Livingston.”

The lady curtsied ever so slightly. “My pleasure, Miss… ?”

Samuel was at a loss, having yet to ask for a name.

“Moss,” Evangeline offered, but her attention was elsewhere. “Evangeline Moss.”

The gazebo stood out in the center of the square. Seeing the familiar landmark did Evangeline’s heart good… until she noticed the quad. Only a scattering of homes were visible. All the stores forming the actual square around Founder’s Square were missing.

Or yet to be built, Evangeline realized. A place out of time? Out of MY time. If she’d had any doubt, it vanished.

“Have you put the poor creature to work?” Lenora scrunched up her dainty nose as she took in Evangeline’s attire: faded blue jeans and a light sweater over a tank top. It showed off her lean, athletic build. “I’m sure one of your young men must want his dungarees back. They don’t seem to fit her.”

“I hadn’t noticed,” he coughed, giving the impression that her clothes were one of the first things he’d noticed.

“Oh!” Evangeline glanced down at her outfit, mortified at how it must look to them and more than a little annoyed that the lady would point it out.

She took a minute to reassess Lenora. Why is a complete stranger getting personal? Evangeline pondered, missing any good reason. Is it because of him? Her eyes shot to Samuel.

Caught staring at her body, Samuel’s eyes widened, and he quickly averted his gaze.

Evangeline realized they were both waiting for her to explain. Well, maybe just Samuel. Lenora seemed happy to mentally pick apart her outfit. The jeans were like leggings, with an equally form-fitting sweater set. Luckily, she was wearing flats. They might run her out of town if they’d seen her toenails—cotton candy pink. She quickly slipped off her sweater to tie it around her waist, but Lenora gasped.

“What did I do?” Evangeline asked, looking down at herself. The tank top showed off a toned torso and blue bra straps. “Oh, my bad! Sorry. Forgot I was wearing this shirt.”

My bad? Lenora mouthed the two words to Samuel.

Evangeline slipped the sweater back on, buttoning it all the way up. “I’m from the city, and… you know how folks are in the city.”

“What do we know?” Samuel asked, amused.

“We’re different.” Evangeline crossed the dirt road, deciding to quit talking. Conversation held too many pitfalls.

Lenora made a fluttering sound that could have been a laugh. “You are a puzzle, my dear.”

Stopping in her tracks, Evangeline spun back around to face them. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t asked before. “What year is it?”

“It is 1910,” Samuel offered, more than a little concerned.

“Nineteen. Ten?” The year stuck in Evangeline’s throat, even though she’d expected it. After all, she was well aware that her Carnegie Library broke ground in late 1909. She just never expected to visit it during construction.

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