[New Voices] Time Bent
Original speculative fiction. Carol was haunted by time. Because she travelled in it. Like a tourist. She didn't mind staying to the background. Until one day something bad was about to happen, and...
Speculative Fiction by S. H. Marpel
- - - -
TIME HAUNTED HER. IT didn't do what it was "supposed to" when she was around.
It ran forward, backwards, sideways. Sometimes time helped her solve her problems, sometimes it made them worse.
For a lovely young woman, you'd think there would be young men lined up to talk to her at any gathering. But she stayed away from them – perhaps to protect them from what was “haunting” her.
Two Ghost Hunters came to help her solve it. But she left with only the promise of returning “just in time” - and didn't
Or was this time-problem contagious? Were other people at risk because of her - or could she pass it onto her children?
Life didn't seem any more safe, just because you could bend time any way you wanted.
I
WHEN I SAW HER PICTURE in the briefing folder, I realized that I'd seen her before.
Several times.
Always in the backgrounds of pictures, the quiet places, the eddies of any gathering. Smiling, pleasant, but not some avid conversationalist gabbing away with anyone they met.
Dressed plainly, to avoid attention.
But she never seemed to age.
Of course, in women, this is usual. Men will get scarred and sun-burnt and develop a "chiseled" aspect to their face. Or gradually become more pudgy and rounded. Women seemed to be eternally young - until that one day where they “just appear” old, wrinkled, worn.
I seemed to remember this woman looking like this eternal youth when I was growing up, just a kid. Well, kinda remembered her – I thought so, anyway.
It's only now, that she was pointed out to be my next client, that I took a professional interest in her. And started connecting the dots.
If she is haunting me, then this is personal.
Or is she haunted by herself somehow - cursed to live life forever while all the people she meets, knows, and loves wither away and die?
- - - -
"WHAT'S THE GOOD IN this one - when Sal and Jude get different assignments from me?" I was petulant. Unlike me at all. That outburst itself was a curious aspect to chase down.
Sitting in the center of the Library, on its familiar mission-style furniture. Shelves extending themselves in all directions from this center. The couch I was sitting on - in the center as Sal and Jude had trained me to expect – let me sink into its dark leather cushions, framed by solid wood arms. The same soft cushions and color as the two side chairs that sat on the opposite side of that the coffee table in between.
Ben had left me with a folder and a stack of books. My next assignment.
Granger had left me with a plate of oatmeal-raisin cookies with nutmeg and cinnamon. (I think she's been comparing recipes with Hami.) And a tall, steaming carafe of spiced coffee with several mugs. That led me to believe I'd have company on this new assignment.
Then I'd read the line of who this project was assigned to - just me.
So I just spouted my frustrations out loud to no one - or so I'd thought.
Someone shimmered in, standing at one end of the coffee table. Long legs climbing up to what appeared to be a dancing leotard, while a short black jacket started at the curve of her hips. A jacket that opened to show more than just a hint of her femininity. That leotard was really a covering of tiny black feathers that hid all the details. To casual observation, anyway. And my eyes continued their sweep up to her face.
Harpy.
Smiling, she tucked her wings more closely into the tailored slits in her jacket back. Then walked toward me to drop into the couch at one end. And leaned forward to kiss my cheek.
I had to smile in turn. She knew how to cheer me up.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say someone was having their '7-year itch'."
I had to grin at that point. "Harpy, that's your particular species. Human males don't have that problem."
"But they do get lonely sometimes. You're missing your spirit guides."
"I guess that's obvious."
"So much so that I dropped everything to come see you."
"Everything?"
"Well, I was between projects, feeling a little bored, and what's better to do than tease you? So I jumped at the chance to have you to myself."
I chuckled at that. "Harpy, you know I love you - just as I love all the ladies in my life these days."
Harpy relaxed on the couch, her arm across the cushion behind me, legs crossed toward me, and leaning in to read the papers inside the open folder in my hands. "But somehow you are dissatisfied with your current and recent conditions." She nuzzled my neck with a light brush of her lips. "Maybe we should just take a few minutes for a quick 'vacation' at your cabin - or maybe a few hours or overnight in an exotic, remote, romantic setting would help. I know of some castles..."
"No, sorry. Of course I'd enjoy spending time with you. But I have this assignment to spend my time on right now."
She pouted her lower lip as a tease. "I was thinking of something a bit more active than just 'spending time'."
I closed the folder and used that freed hand to pat her knee. "Yes, I know all too well how active you can get. I had several bruises for weeks from the last time, as I remember."
She leaned closer to me, looking into my eyes just inches away. "I just wanted to make sure you know that it's a standing offer."
I pulled my hand back to open the folder again and forced my eyes and head to turn toward those papers. "That thought alone should keep me going for awhile."
And tried to wipe the smile off my face to concentrate on the papers in the folder. Having someone that close, that familiar, and that enticing next to me was making it difficult. As well as the scent of wild roses and cedar she carried with her.
Harpy now cuddled right next to me, arm still around my shoulder. She turned her own eyes and head toward the folder, and used her other hand to close the front of her jacket - so I could focus on the folder contents better. Of course, that motion just distracted my eyes once again.
"So - what's Ben got for you this time?"
"Something interesting. A time bender."
"Is that like Tess - able to move around in time and space?"
"Somewhat. But she doesn't have those organic tesseracts floating around her. And it seems that time maybe haunting her - or the other way around. I seem to recall meeting her before. Or just maybe having seen her without ever being introduced."
"Is that her picture?"
"One of them. But look at the rest." I pulled them out and sat the folder flat and open on my lap, displaying the pictures side by side. "These photos are decades apart. She looks the same in all of them. Hasn't aged. She dresses so plain and simple that you hardly notice her in the photos. None of these photos have her in the foreground."
"Probably a good way to survive, if you're as long-lived as that."
"Or maybe she isn't living linear time like the rest of us - it says she's a time bender. So it might be that she is choosing which moments to appear in, and just spreading out a normal life-time over a long set of instances."
"Sounds like we'll have fun getting to the bottom of this."
I turned to Harpy. "Are you volunteering?"
She smiled, her perfect white teeth contrasting with her raven-black hair and eyes - small wonder so many men have been attracted to her through history.
I was almost lost for a moment, like listening to a siren.
Then she answered my question. "Only if you can keep your attention on the job at hand. I do have some free time right now. Unless we first need to give you a little 'refresher' in how harpies and humans..."
I shuffled the photos and papers into a rough order and closed the folder. "Well, having some time on a project with you is always welcome."
Looking over her closed jacket toward her legs where they touched mine, "Perhaps you might want to change into something a little less revealing - so at least I can keep my attention on the job at hand."
Harpy chuckled and sat away from me, crossing her legs in the opposite direction. A simple gesture gave her a black knit skirt that fell just over the top of her knee, but had an engaging slit at it's side. Also a black knit v-neck top underneath her jacket.
"Is this better for you, John?"
"How you girls do that is always fascinating to me. And you seem to have taken the stylings of both Sal and Jude in that outfit."
She pouted her lower lip again. "Everything has to be Sal and Jude?"
I leaned over and kissed her cheek. "No - just consider that I want to confirm a rain-check on your offer. Having you along would be great. After all, I could use some more Harpy mystery stories. You promised to tell me more about Ulysses..."
"...and I will, if you behave yourself - by being yourself. Not a stuffy writer or a boring cattle-farmer."
"Deal."
She stood at that, more of a smooth glide to vertical, and held out a hand. "Then it's time to get started."
I set the folder on the coffee table, and stood to take her petite hand in my wide one.
The room shimmered around us...
II
WE SHOWED UP ON AN outside terrace, running the length of a long home, where some sort of gathering or party was going on inside. We could see through the thin curtains inside, through nearly floor-to-ceiling windows. The terrace itself was built of old stones, large flagstones at the base, while flat field stone built the walls up to sitting height. Topping these were wide slate slabs that allowed flat seating.
The landscape dropped off gradually below, where a small orchard of dwarf fruit trees dotted the small yard - just before larger native oaks and hickories took over at their edge and climbed into the sky. The grass in the orchard was short, but not cropped close. This wasn't mowed like a lawn or sheared by sheep.
A motion out of the corner of my eye drew my attention back to the terrace. I saw a young woman over to the side, wearing a loose blouse, tan knee-length skirt, and light brown hair pulled back with a dark wide ribbon or a narrow bandeau. Simple, understated. As was her make-up. She could just as easily pass for one of the domestic help as a guest.
When she saw us appear, she smiled and started walking over to us. Within a few steps, she was in conversation distance.
"John - and Harpy. Thanks for coming. I'm so glad we could meet here. Oh - as you've probably read, my name is Carol."
"You've been expecting us?" I asked.
"Short answer: yes. I wouldn't say I was looking forward to meeting you any more than looking backward. But don't expect me to keep my tenses straight. Time bending gives me grammar problems. All this moving can confuse my language describing things. I've found its often better to just observe rather than comment about what I see.
"But you're a time traveler."
"More a time tourist. If we wanted to put a name on it. I haven't seen anyone else do what I do, although I'm always looking for someone in my travels like me. The trick is it's a bit like using a needle in a haystack to find another needle. Even a magnetic one would have a very hard time. Or so I think right now."
"When did you notice this unique ability?"
"When I was a kid, sometime in my teenage years. At first I just wanted to be able to go back to hand myself something I'd forgotten, but would need later. That might seem confusing at first, and it was. But it was exciting, and I became adventurous. Later, I found I could simply travel to a place and then move forward and backward in time there. So I worked out jobs or vacations where I could travel physically around the globe, and then move backward as I wanted. Or forward to see the possibilities. And all that was fine until I found out how lonely it was."
"Because you always traveled by yourself?"
She nodded, sighed, and looked off to where the sky started above the trees.
After a few moments, she turned back to us.
"Harpy? I think you'll want to go visit a fellow inside who goes by the name of 'Judge'. he's over by the piano right now, but will be moving to the fireplace after that and will appreciate a drink - bourbon, neat. He loves stories of history as it really took place."
Harpy just stood there, looking at each of us, an eyebrow raised.
I understood. "It's fine, Harpy. She's just saying that you personally will want to meet this guy - and doesn't want you to miss out on that moment. I'll be OK here."
Carol put her hand on Harpy's shoulder. "And if we end up going anywhere, we'll be here when you get back."
Harpy shook her head and smiled. "Good thing I like bourbon, too. I suppose the bar is open and near those French doors over there?"
Carol nodded. Harpy smiled, turned, and glided into the party inside.
"How did you know?" I asked.
"When I'm with people, I can kinda 'see' their own timeline. And so, match it up with other incidents from other people around me. That 'Judge' can be tedious, as he's a bit of a womanizer. And his ' real history' stories bore me the second or third time I hear them. Harpy would love to set someone straight on how history really happened, and won't put up with someone who's frisky - unless they are interesting enough to dally with."
"Timeline match-making?"
She smiled. "I never thought of it that way before. I kinda sensed she was getting bored with the technical end we were talking about. Plus, I'm not your usual ghost who's trying to throw fireballs at you, or push you off cliffs, or drop the floor out beneath you. So her 'guard' duties weren't required."
"You're not a ghost at all."
Carol smiled. "No, a very live human girl, but I am haunted. Probably self-haunted, like that Meri goddess you just wrote about."
I closed my surprised mouth and smiled. "Been keeping up with my stories?"
"Once I knew you were on my timeline, it didn't take much. And I moved to a time where I could find a lot of your books, and then it was just catching up with your output." At that, her smile turned into a grin. "Yes, you've got a lot of books to write ahead of you, some I liked more than others. And I think I can help you with a hole you left - about an evil force that's affecting the supply-and-demand aspects of ghosting. You have so far dropped trying to find out who was sending those fireballs at you - beyond just firing them back."
That made me take a mental note. She was right. Another reason I needed to get back with Sal and Jude again. After I consulted with Ben.
Carol took my arm. "You are about to ask me something. I don't mean to hog the conversation. It's just that I don't get to talk about this very much."
"And why they sent me to you, because I write people's stories."
"It's your ability to listen without reacting or judging." She squeezed my arm in appreciation.
"Thanks."
Carol started us walking along the stone terrace, where the lights of the rooms and the moon over head in a clear sky were showing us a long terrace path ahead.
I enjoyed her hand on my arm. "Oh, I remember now - have you tried taking someone with you?"
She smiled. "And now that you've asked, I can tell you. Yes. Since you've asked, it's become a great hobby of mine. Also, showing up at odd moments to bring you people or things. By the time we finish your project, I'll then have a pendant like your own. But that's a bit ahead of our plot, and I don't want to have to say 'spoiler alert' all the time."
She looked down at the stones as we crossed them. Then gripped my arm firmly.
I tripped on raised part of a flagstone, and her touch stabilized me.
I stopped us, and looked into her smiling face. "Thanks. Seems to have its uses, this foresight-hindsight stuff."
"The only limit seems to be looking up my own death, which I haven't found yet. I know where the trails diverge, but you haven't introduced me to Betty at this point. Oh, sorry. There I go again."
"Trails, you call them."
"Yes." She looked out toward the horizon again. "Sorry. I have to go - and can't take you with me this time. See you soon, back at your cabin. Oh, can I borrow your pendant?"
I took it from around my neck and handed it to her.
Then she kissed me on my cheek, and disappeared.
- - - -
HARPY CAME UP FROM behind me just then.
"That Judge was quite interesting. At least he was open to having his 'facts' corrected. But I nearly broke his finger the third time he tried to pat my backside. He'll have a bruise to remember me by - and a difficult time explaining as it heals how his middle finger is so stiff he can't bend it. And that will give him some embarrassing conversations. I took his 'accident' as an excuse to come check on you again."
She looked around. "Where's Carol?"
"I have an idea that she wasn't somehow able to make it back 'right away' to this specific point on our time-trail. She was able to give me a clue, though."
I took Harpy's arm, despite her puzzled expression. Then touched her own pendant with my hand (which she didn't mind at all) and the terrace disappeared...
III
THE CABINS WERE A WELCOME sight again. No Carol, though.
We were outside the center cabin. It was dark now, and I didn't leave any lights on, other than the bright moon, the only other illumination came from the solar footpath lights I kept by each set of steps.
I turned to Harpy. "Would you mind getting some 'take-out' from Hami's for us? And do give her my love. I know she's been helping us quite a bit these days, but I haven't had time to come see her and tell her myself."
Harpy moved to me and curved her arm around my waist. "You sure I just shouldn't take you with me?"
I looked into her black eyes and smiling face. "No, but thanks. Carol said she'd meet us here, and I don't want to miss her."
Harpy kissed me on the cheek. "That's a place holder - remember, you asked for a rain-check."
Then she stepped back and shimmered out, leaving only a warm sensation from where her hand last held my arm, and that touch on my cheek.
Walking over to my cabin on the end, I opened up the screen door, and swung open the heavy inner door, then stopped. From the moonlight coming in the window, I could see one of those turquoise and gold pendants was hanging off that inner door knob. I picked it up. And it seemed very familiar to me. The tight weave of its neck-loop - one that didn't have a knot or clasp to hold it together. Something only Tess could do. This was the same pendant I'd just loaned to Carol a few minutes ago.
Then I smelled something in the air. There was a feminine scent in the room - not Harpy's rose-and-cedar. Something of lilac. I reached over and flicked on the overhead lights. A form was on my couch-bunk, under the bed covers from toe to head.
As I stepped toward the bed, the form moved, and a tousled head appeared from underneath the top quilt.
It was Carol. Her face was cut in a dozen places, and had some bruises starting to get dark on her. One side of her mouth was already swelling. She tried to smile out of the other side, and winced. Then fainted back on the pillow.
So I grabbed my pendant and called for Betty.
- - - -
HARPY WAS BACK NOT too long after Betty arrived. And I met her at the center cabin, waiting on the steps instead of the sitting in either of the chairs on that porch.
I stood when I noticed Harpy shimmering in.
She was loaded down with food and drink containers in plastic bags, and was all smiles until she saw my worried face.
I just moved toward her and helped her with the packages, leading us toward the center cabin's door.
Harpy held her questions until we were inside.
"OK, John, bring me up to date. It hasn't been fifteen minutes and you're already in trouble somehow."
"It's Carol. She was in my cabin when I got there. And looks like she's been in some serious scrape. Betty's with her now."
Harpy took my arm and had me sit in one of the ladder-back chairs by that solid wood center table. Then she pulled out a jug of sweet tea, and poured us both a paper cup full. Only then she sat in her own chair nearby.
"Must have been pretty bad-looking. You don't get this concerned easily."
"I'd be more concerned if I didn't know how good Betty is at healing. I just came over here to get out of their way."
Harpy frowned. "OK, it gets weirder. When I got to Hami's, she already had almost everything cooked, just getting out the paper-ware to package it all. She said she'd gotten a request-note from you for her to please cook up a meal for six. It was signed by Carol - and Hami knew who that was already."
A noise of hard-soled feet sounded on the cabin porch outside. Sal then opened the door of the main cabin and came in quickly, followed by Jude. They both had looks of concern on their faces. But when they saw me, Harpy and the packages of food, they relaxed - somewhat.
Sal came over to my other side, pulled a chair up next to me and sat. She put her arm around my shoulder. Jude started unpacking all the bags, as otherwise she wasn't going to be able to see anything from that side of the table. I knew how Jude thinks. Practical, if racy.
The chairs on our side of the table were already filled up by me and two other Ghost Hunter gals.
I smiled at her, though. "Thanks, Jude."
And she only smiled back, swallowing any wisecrack for a later time - and a more appropriate one.
Sal patted my shoulder on her side. "Betty sent word to us. Not many details other than she was treating someone named Carol in your cabin and you could use our help."
I put one corner of my mouth up in a wry smile. "And the mystery continues. I didn't have time to tell Betty anything. She just put her palm on Carol's forehead to feel it, and then pushed me out my own cabin door."
Harpy interrupted. "Carol is John's latest assigned project. Somehow Hami knew her – although a few minutes before, Carol didn't know where Hami's saloon-restaurant was.
Sal moved her hand from my shoulder down to take my hand. "OK, John, would you bring us up to date?"
"Carol is a human who is haunted by her own time-traveling abilities. And by meeting me, she put herself into some sort of physical trouble. But now has fulfilled her own prophecy that I'd introduce her to Betty. She also found her way here - when a few minutes ago told me that she had to physically travel to a location first before she could time-travel." I paused then, as the thought just came to me, "Not too strange there - she 'borrowed' my pendant just before I last saw her - that same pendant was hanging on my door just before I discovered her in a poor condition. I then called for Betty with it."
I sat back in my chair, tired somehow. All I was thinking about was compressed time-sequences running back to front. I could only imagine how Carol could make sense of all this.
Betty came in at that point, a worried look on her own face. "She's gone. I thought to come here - that maybe she'd reappear - but..."
IV
A FEW MINUTES LATER, Carol did reappear - all scratches and bruises gone, her skirt and blouse neat, not a hair out of place.
Betty had already sat down. Carol walked over to take the last chair, which was next to her. She reached over to Betty and took her hand.
"I'm sorry Betty. That was a bit rude of me – after all you've done and helped me with. This might explain it." She held up her hand and opened it - several tesseracts in different colors started flying about, settling in to circle around Carol's head.
Carol was all smiles at this and turned her upraised hand palm out toward us, to stop any questions. "Just to answer all you want to ask me – first, I'm not leaving here any time soon. After I left the time-stream where I was with John and Harpy, I did some side trips. Lots of them. I didn't foresee getting into such trouble as I did. Just because I can travel in time doesn't mean I can tell my own future. Now I can see some improved choices ahead. But no, I didn't see that accident until I was in it - and then my only solution was to show back up at John's cabin."
She reached for the tea container and an empty cup to pour one for herself. "How I knew about Betty and Hami was from your books, John. Same as knowing about your pendant and how it could solve my own space-time problems." Carol reached into her blouse front and pulled out her own gold-streaked turquoise pendant.
Taking a sip of tea, she looked over all our faces. "Again, I'm sorry - just getting used to all this myself, even after all my 'touristing'. I actually thought I was going crazy because of that 'self-haunting' as John described it. And no, I can't really tell anyone their own future. That makes anything I say into a self-fulfilling prophecy or worse. What I've seen and done or will see/will do really has to remain my own private story at this point."
She looked at me. "Sorry John. There are other stories I can tell you, but not all of them, and none that haven't already 'happened'."
I had to interrupt. "But what about those 'tessies' you have now?"
Carol glanced up at them and chuckled, almost laughed. "I'd read about Tess from your books, and got curious enough to ask Ben about her. After all, she's the only human I'd ever read of who had the same abilities – or more – than I did. And without having to invent a machine to do their traveling. She showed up at the Library right after I asked Ben about her. It seems I'm some distant relative of hers from another space-time continuum. Ben handed me my own pendant about that point, and we went off to practice."
She gestured above her head at the hovering and circling bits of colored lights. "These are the result. It turns out that Tess's ability is partially genetic. But don't ask me how genetics can cross space-time - way beyond my pay grade. Ben is now busy expanding the Library - since this has just given him an excuse to compile a huge set of additional references from his multi-verse resources. And Tess has gone to check her family to see if any of them have manifested and don't know it."
Sal smiled and nodded.
Jude winked at Harpy, who blushed a little.
I was smiling on my own. "Jude, I caught the gist of that joke."
Sal just shook her head. "And we've been over this, Jude - like speaking to someone in a language no one else can understand. If you can't say your joke out loud, perhaps you shouldn't say it at all."
Betty put her hand on Jude's. "Well, I thought it was funny, anyway - would you like me to repeat it for everyone?"
Then Jude actually blushed. And we all laughed.
I turned again to Carol. "So what's next for you? I seem to be out of a job with solving your haunting problem, and you've given me a very mysterious story to somehow write from all this."
She smiled at me. "Yes, it didn't take much for you to solve this one. Mainly you just had to show up. And trust me with your pendant. But the great part is - and I can't tell you this other than in very broad terms - you've now enabled me to cross the Lazurai healing and transmuting abilities of Betty with the time-shifting abilities of Tess.
And all that means is that I've got a lot of training to do. I'm enrolled in your Ghost Hunter Academy and also Rochelle's nurse-training program. Somewhere in there, I'll be apprenticing with Tess, as well as meeting Star and Sylvie to learn from them as much as I can – to help on their moon project, I think. Mysti has already came by, letting me know that I'll be in one of her advanced classes at the Academy."
I shook my head. "Sounds like you have a full dance card, then."
She grinned back. "But just think of all the stories that are lining up for you."
Then she looked at everyone else. "Now, ladies, I have to apologize for one more social faux pas - this great meal that Hami cooked up for us by special request has been getting cold. Ready to dig in? I think we all have something to celebrate."
- - - -
ONCE THE PARTY WAS over, all the dishes cleaned up, everyone but Carol departed. She walked me back to my cabin, with an arm around my waist.
"Thanks again, John. I'm sorry this has been such a disjointed book for you to write."
"I think my readers will forgive this one."
"Maybe in hindsight. Too many Easter Eggs and obscure references in it, I'm afraid."
"That's why there are lists of my other books in the backs of them." I joked.
She stopped us, just in front of my cabin. "But I owe you one more thing that has to be in this story."
I just waited. Patient.
"Where it all started unraveling for me was also where it all came back together. The moral of this story is in the old phrase, 'Seek and you will find, ask and you'll receive, knock and the door opens.' All I originally asked for was a do-over for a single time. But you know the punchline."
"Be careful of what you ask for."
Smiling, she nodded and then wrapped her arms around my neck for a long kiss. I held her close to keep our balance.
She stood back after that. "Such a good student. I'll come visit you after I get through with all my own training. And then we can have some real fun."
She walked off a few steps, her hand around her own pendant. Then stopped, and turned back to face me.
"Just keep a few spots open on your own dance card for me, will you?"
I nodded and smiled.
She grinned and shimmered out of my sight...
Another short story from the Ghost Hunter’s Primer.