The Time Witch - Part 9

LINKS: The Beginning, Last Part (#8), Time Witch page

RECAP: Evangeline and Samuel discovered they were being spied on by hummingbirds controlled by a member of the Coven!

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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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“Hummingbird spies?”

Evangeline blinked several times, having never thought she’d whisper such a question. Still standing in Samuel’s embrace, trying to disguise their inspection of the Carnegie Library roof, it suddenly seemed like an unnecessary ruse. She stepped back from his strong arms.

“Dare we doubt such an oddity?” he asked.

“I don’t doubt that the Coven and the apothecary are one step ahead of us,” Evangeline grumbled. “They probably know more about what we’re doing than we do.”

Samuel got that joke. He was averaging one out of three since Evangeline’s quips relied heavily on a different time and place from his.

“Let’s avoid giving them more credit than they are due,” Samuel cautioned.

Evangeline heard, but she had questions. “If hummingbirds can read lips, we’re in trouble.”

A sense of movement fluttered above their heads.

“And if they dive-bomb and shit on us, I don’t care how cute they are,” Evangeline raised a hand over her head. “Feathers will fly.”

Samuel stifled a smile. “A threat, indeed.”

Pivoting, Evangeline fought the urge to track the birds’ flight path, but let her eyes slant toward the trees. The lurking woman had vanished. At least she wasn’t visible behind the nearest wooded area, and the trees weren’t wide enough to completely hide her body. She’d either gone deeper into the sparse woods or left the area. “I think the witch and her little spies took off.”

He bent over, bracing his hands on his thighs. “How could such a thing be possible?” 

Reaching out, she stopped short of touching him but felt terrible. “Is it all hitting you? Maybe you should sit down.”

“Hitting me… I would concur.” Samuel sighed and stood straight again. He studied the horizon, chest rising and falling with measured breaths.

Evangeline realized his world had changed, so suddenly, he’d need time to fully accept it. You, too, whispered the part of her mind that had her back. A lot had been thrown at both of them, and it threatened to overwhelm. Fear was not a friend. It tended to hide what mattered most. She realized Samuel had to feel the same and instinctively touched his arm.

He watched her fingers. They lingered on his sleeve, giving a slight pat to his forearm.

“I’m so sorry.” She felt the warmth of his arm and the solid muscles. “We’ve both been hit with a lot, and you’re taking it so well—how are you doing that—I’m kinda conditioned to accept the unusual. Family history. Too boring to explain at the moment, but I’m going to focus on what we know and try to figure out what we’re missing.”

“Do you always talk with such speed?” Samuel asked, a hint of a smile on his lips. A natural optimism came through despite the worry. “Or has speech evolved into a race against time?”

“Fair question.” She couldn’t help but mirror his smirk, even if it masked mounting distress. “A better question for us to consider is… how long has the coven been watching us?”

He shrugged. “Us? I’d hazard a guess that it is only you, perhaps, in your time, as well.”

“That’s even more disturbing.”

“I apologize,” he said with a slight bow of his head.

“Hold on,” Evangeline waved a hand to speak. “Now that I know your name…”

“And you reside in the future…”

She nodded, impressed that they’d silently shared their thoughts for the second time. “I’ll research Baxter Creek’s  history and you.”

“Perhaps speak with people in town? Any scandal or fantastical event would be on everyone’s lips. Unless… how far in the future do you reside?” He hunched his shoulders, better to see her face. “Your ways are so removed from ours.”

Evangeline glanced up at him. Frowned. She realized how bad it sounded. How callous to talk of his life like it was ancient history, even though it was to her. She tapped her chest. “Twenty-twenty-four.”

He took a step back.

Not really knowing how to properly apologize to a man who would be long dead in her time, Evangeline decided to prove it. She looked around for anymore spies or just someone walking a dog. Seeing no one nearby, she removed her cell phone and took his picture. Then, out of habit, she stepped to his side and smiled for a two-person selfie.

Change the history books, Evangeline thought; the first selfie was in 1910. She opened the pictures and showed him. “I know it’s a lot to process, but here’s some proof.”

He had no words.

“It’s a phone. You have telephones, right? And it’s a camera. You know, photographs?” She noticed his utter confusion. “It’s also like having a library in your hand, but I can’t show you that part. No cell towers.” Evangeline made a face when he didn’t get it. She quickly put the cell phone away.

“All in your pocket.” Samuel shook his head, marveling at the thing.

“I should go, and I’ll come back with more information. Maybe someone even knows about the Coven.” Evangeline headed for the back of the library. “I’m pretty sure I can return. I’ve come twice, so why not again?”

“Wait!” It all seemed to catch up to him. Outside of stalling her, though, he struggled with what to convey. He shook his head.

Evangeline wished she’d handled things better. “I’ll come back with answers.”

“It won’t seem real after you depart.” Samuel pressed his lips together, wanting to say more, but he kept his concern to himself. “I must be caught up in a dream.”

She knew what he meant. “I know it doesn’t make sense, but I’ve got to believe I came here for a reason,” Evangeline said, offering the only thing she could—hope.

“Whatever is unfolding,” he began, so tentative it showed some of his vulnerability, “I am drawn to you. If I may be so bold, it appears to be mutual. We have a connection beyond the Coven. Beyond the apothecary. Beyond this madness. I shall hold fast to the most mysterious magic… the one that connects me to you.”

Evangeline’s heart melted. Again, with the words!

Squaring his shoulders, Samuel nodded, every ounce a gentleman. “Time will be our guide on that subject, I should think.” He held out his arm.

 Knowing it was a familiar gesture for a gentleman, Evangeline’s heart swelled, but she dared not touch him. Not if she wanted to go back to her Baxter Creek. One more touch and she might chuck it all. “Am I supposed to hold onto that?” she joked instead.

“Is it not a custom in your time?” He automatically tucked his elbow back toward his side. 

Evangeline shook her head. “Not so much.”

With a wary shake of his head, he kept a good foot of distance between them as he accompanied her to the departure spot at the back of the library. The creek greeted them, babbling along its lazy path, none the wiser to all the fuss and bother of the day. The sun, still high in the sky, cast a brilliance to everything it touched.

“What happened the last time I left?” Evangeline asked.

Samuel grinned, breaking free from some of the weight of all he’d learned and all he’d revealed. “You faded away. Right into thin air.”

“That was today, but how long ago?” 

“Perhaps an hour or more.” He shifted, curious. “How long for you?”

“Longer, more than half a day.” She frowned. “I’m not sure how this works. Time seems to be all twisted.”

Evangeline stepped toward the vanishing point, but Samuel caught her arm. He gave her a gentle yank, bringing her to him. Her hands came up and settled on his chest.

“My future, it seems, is in your hands.”

Samuel cupped her chin with one hand and touched his lips to hers. She leaned in, and the tenderness deepened. A need took over. Her lips parted, and his tongue caressed hers, fracturing all she knew into pieces. Pieces of dreams. Pieces of discovery. Salty. Sweet. So many different pieces of him and her and them, stirring a tiny promise of things to come.

Evangeline held on tighter, not wanting anything to break the moment, not even the hint of disaster. His broad hands wove into her hair, and she let him pull her head back, allowing more access. The kiss became a shudder. She pressed against him, feeling any hesitation leave his body. They fit perfectly together, encircled in a moment that might never end.

For the longest second, time slowed, stretching like taffy. The world around them grew quiet. Their connection strengthened, along with the kiss, until time pulled back against the emotion and returned to its usual pace. Forward momentum was subtly announced—if anyone cared to notice—by a frog’s hoarse croak. It hid in the long grass along the riverbank.

Samuel broke away first. Some propriety kicked in, but he couldn’t let her go. His forehead bent to hers, lingering, before reluctantly moving back. Eyes locked on hers, he allowed one finger to trace across her lower lip.

The blue-green tendrils tickled along her back, wrapping around to envelop her body. The lights pulled her forward in time. She sighed, dejected, as the buzzing replaced the babbling brook, and Samuel faded, replaced by the tight walls of the closet. It felt like stepping off a rocking boat onto dry land.

Evangeline stumbled into the closet door, finding the knob and opening it. Head reeling, still savoring the taste of him, she marveled at being in 1910 one second and then back home the next. Alone. The police and locals had left. The library was hushed, full of intense moonlight, vintage books, and an arresting stillness, as if someone were holding their breath.

“Are you here?” she asked the darkness. “Have you always been here? Waiting for me?”

Like a long-ago shadow, a shimmering light appeared before her—Samuel. Just a soft image that was there but not there. He hadn’t aged, but a heaviness shrouded his features. A determination sparked, crackling like a live wire. She saw his pain.

Twisted.

The word echoed in her mind more than in her ears. It drifted around her head accusingly.

Evangeline rushed toward him, but it was like running through fog. The ghostly image swirled all around her, prickling her skin. She jerked away from it—left, then right. The shocks were more surprising than harmful until a searing hunger seized her heart. She grabbed her chest and fell to her knees.

Ragged breaths escaped her lips. No, no, no. She barely pushed the thoughts out to the ghost, so crippling his attack. The pain radiated outward, and she struggled to whisper: “But you kissed me.” 

Samuel’s ghost surged upward. The apparition vanished through the ceiling with a guttural cry, releasing her body.

Evangeline crumpled onto the floor. Tears filled her eyes. She slowly moved into a sitting position. Every muscle complained, and her heart beat erratically. He hates me.

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