Shattered Moments (33 page)

October 2010

Princeton, New Jersey

The bright light of the autumn afternoon changed to the golden glow of early evening, as the shadows lengthened along the linoleum floor and the harsh florescent bulbs lit the shadowy corners of the waiting room.  People came and went, some overjoyed at getting a good prognosis, and others devastated by the news softly conveyed by the sympathetic doctors.  Alec sat straight as a rod, his eyes fixated on some distant point behind the nurses’ station.  Valerie must have nodded off, but something woke her and she sat up, looking around in confusion.  The smell of hospital food filled the corridor as a smiling orderly wheeled around a food cart, handing out trays to people who were able to eat.  He nodded in greeting to Alec and Valerie, and walked right past Isaac’s room, which wasn’t a good sign. 

“Are you hungry?” Alec asked as his eyes followed the cart. 

“No, just thirsty,” Valerie replied, but made no move to get up.  Her legs felt like jelly, and she couldn’t even articulate what she was feeling without bursting into tears.  She had to admit that despite everything that happened, she’d still harbored a hope that things would somehow work out and they would return home.  Sure, there would be a lot of explaining to do, but within a few days everything would be back to normal again, and everyone would forget that they’d been gone for months with no explanation.  They would once again be in the bosom of their family, surrounded by the people who made life worth living, and safely returned to their rightful place in time.  They would no longer be in limbo. 

But she hadn’t really considered that they might be in hell.  Living the rest of their lives in the twenty-first century, torn from
everything and everyone; never knowing what happened to them, or able to let them know that they were all right was a thought that left her breathless with agony.  They would be lost in time, unable to go back, and equally unable to make a life for themselves in the here and now.  Valerie would never be able to go back to her family.  How could she?  The woman who left had been in her mid-twenties, but the woman who stared back at her from the mirror now was twenty years older, with tiny crow’s feet around her eyes, and strands of gray hair that became more abundant after the death of their daughter.  No, there was no going back for her, and then there was Alec…

If she felt hopeless, Alec probably felt even worse, and he was doing his best not to show it.  She could see it in the set of his shoulders and the grim look in his eyes.  He was scared.  Valerie sighed and got to her feet.  She walked to the bathroom, brushed her hair and splashed a little water into her face to revive herself.  The woman who gazed back at her looked terrified.  She could put on lipstick and pinch some color into her cheeks, but she couldn’t do anything about the desperate look in her eyes
, or the feeling of hopelessness gripping her chest like steel bars.  There was nothing worse than the death of hope.

It was nearly dark outside by the time the doctor came out to speak to them.  He was fairly young, although the look in his eyes was that of a much older man; a man who’d seen a lot of death.  Valerie noted the lines of
fatigue on his face, but instead of sitting down for a moment, he remained standing as he spoke to them.

“I’m sorry it took so long,” the doctor said as he ran a hand
through his unruly hair.  “We wanted to be sure.”

“Sure of what?” Valerie asked with trepidation.

“Sure that it wasn’t more than it appears to be.  It was a minor cardiac event, not a full-blown heart attack.  Of course, it could be a prelude to one, so we ran numerous tests to rule out that possibility.  Mr. Bloom is going to be just fine.  We will keep him overnight, but he can go home tomorrow.  He needs quiet and lots of rest for a few days, but otherwise, he can resume his normal life.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Alec said, the relief evident on his face.  “May we see him now?”

“Only for a few minutes.  We gave him a mild sedative.  He was agitated and kept talking about some watch he needed to get, but he was wearing a wristwatch when brought in,” the doctor added as he shrugged his shoulders in confusion.  “Anyhow, he’ll be a little drowsy, so it’s best to let him rest.”   

“Thank God,” Valerie breathed as she followed Alec down the hall.  Isaac looked deathly pale, his white hair in
disarray, eyes closed, and mouth somewhat slack.  Several machines beeped over his head, and an IV tube stretched from his right hand to the clear bag of glucose solution hanging off a metal rack just to the right of the bed.  The heart monitor beeped reassuringly as Valerie pulled up a chair and took Isaac’s left hand.  She didn’t expect him to open his eyes, but he did, looking straight at her; his lips twitching in an attempt at a smile.  Valerie opened her mouth to say something, but Isaac cut her off, his expression suddenly agitated.

“You have to go,” he whispered.  “You have to go today.”

“You mean you want us to leave your house?” Valerie asked, confused.  The nurses had probably contacted Isaac’s sons, and perhaps he didn’t want his boys to find two strangers residing with their father.  It was understandable, but Valerie felt a pang of panic at the request.  Where would they go?  What would they do?

“No,” Isaac shook his head vehemently, trying to make her
understand.  “You have to go home.  You must go today.”

Valerie just squeezed Isaac’s hand, unsure of how to respond.  He was under the influence of medication, so it was normal to be somewhat muddled. 

“All right, Isaac, we’ll go,” she said soothingly so as not to upset him.  He seemed to be very agitated, as if he needed her to understand something.

“It’s in the study, in the top left drawer of my desk.  Destroy the notebook.”  Isaac was looking at Alec, who just nodded, although he appeared to be as confused as Valerie.

“Isaac, what’s in the study?” Valerie asked gently.

“The time-travel device.  It works.  I’ve tested it on myself several times already.  This is what’s brought this on.  I went back to see my wife.  I suppose it’s more than the old ticker could take.  I thought I’d be happy to see her again, but it opened up all the old wounds, and I felt as if I’d lost her all over again.”  He closed his eyes
once more, obviously tired.

“Isaac, we can’t just leave you this way,” Alec said, looking at the old man with undisguised affection.  “We’ll wait until you’re better and can come home.”

But Isaac just shook his head.  “My boys will be here within a few hours, and there’ll be hell to pay if they find out I’d been working on time travel again.  I’d promised their mother, and they knew about it.  If they see the device and the notebook, they might destroy it, thinking I was planning to use it for myself, which I did, technically,” he said with a rueful smile.  “I don’t want anything to go wrong for you.”

“Isaac, we can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for us,” Alec said
.

“You’ve done much for me too, dear boy.  I felt so lost after my wife died, but you gave me a purpose, and a respite from my solitude.”  He suddenly looked sheepish, a glimpse of his old self in the face of illness.  “I must confess that I completed the device about two weeks ago, I just didn’t want you to leave
yet.  I didn’t want to be all alone in that empty house again.  Forgive me.  I know how desperate you are to return home.  It was selfish of me.”

“Think nothing of it,” Valerie replied, patting his hand.  “We are happy to have been able to repay
you, even in this small way.  God bless you, Isaac.  We’ll remember you for the rest of our lives.”

“And I’ll remember you. Now, listen.  I tried to make the d
evice based on what you told me of Fred’s time-travel watch, but I wasn’t able to duplicate it exactly.  You can set the year and the coordinates, but you can’t set the day.  You won’t be able to return to the day you left, but you will be able to return to today’s date in the correct year.”

Valerie just nodded, the reality of what he was saying finally sinking in.  They could be home today.  TODAY!  Her heart began to pound with the realization that their ordeal might be truly over
, and they would be able to return to their proper time.  Oh, to see Louisa, Kit, and the children, and to hold Tom as he fell asleep tonight.  Valerie felt Alec’s excitement as she looked up at him.  They were going home. 

Valerie leaned in and kissed Isaac’s wrinkled cheek.  “We’ll miss you, Isaac, and thank you again.”

Isaac just smiled, his eyes already closing with fatigue.  Valerie waited until he fell asleep before letting go of his hand and rising to leave.

“Alec, there’s something I must do before we go,” she said, her tone brooking no argument.

Alec just nodded, having expected this from the start.  “All right, but you can’t speak to them.”

“Deal.”

October 1626

Jamestown, Virginia

The wood shivered beneath Cameron’s feet as the heavy rode chain attached to the anchor creaked and groaned in protest as it was slowly wound by the members of the anchor detail, raising the anchor at last.  It wasn’t long until the anchor was pulled alongside the hull, bumping against the wood and causing the ship to rock from side to side as it was hoisted to rest against the bow of the vessel for the duration of the voyage.  The sound of running feet and shouts of men reverberated all the way to the hold as the ship finally cast off from Jamestown, moving very slowly toward the open sea. 

Cameron crouched low behind a large crate and rested his back against the wall of the hold to keep his balance.  A small bundle of food lay at his feet, his only possession in the world
besides the knife Jenny had given him, and her ring which hung on a string around his neck.  He had to last at least two days before allowing himself to be found on board.  That was his only chance.  If discovered within the next few hours, he would be forced to swim back to shore, but once the vessel was in the Atlantic, that would no longer be an option.  He’d been on board since last night, having boarded the
Mary Celeste
while the crew was loading the last of the cargo.  It’d been easy enough to hide his face behind a large cask that he’d hoisted onto his shoulder and carried up the ramp and down into the hold.  He never came back out, and squatted behind this crate in the furthest and darkest corner of the crowded space. 

The
hold was full of crates, caskets and sacks of tobacco bound for Europe; the cargo wedged in to utilize almost every inch of the space.  He hoped the heavy crate wouldn’t suddenly shift and pin him to the wall, but that was unlikely.  The hold smelled of spices, wood, and mildew, but thankfully, not of human misery.  This vessel had not been used to transport human cargo.  Cameron would have known, since the smell of people held captive below decks for months left a lingering stench, one that couldn’t be washed away by sea water or even lye soap.  There were no manacles attached to the walls, or tiny holes bored into the ceiling to allow air to flow into the stinking space.  At least he wasn’t at the mercy of slavers.

Time seemed to stand still as impenetrable darkness enveloped Cameron and made him drowsy, but he had to stay alert and keep to his hiding place.  His stomach growled with hunger, but he banished thoughts of food from his mind.  His meager supplies had to last him for as long as possible, for the further they got from Jame
stown, the better his chances, slim as they might be.  He knew the risks.

Cameron sat down, wrapped his arms around his knees and leaned his head against the rough wood of the wall.  He’d been living rough for many weeks, hiding by day and hunting by night
, permitting himself to make a fire only in the dead of night when he was sure no one was about, and it was safe to cook his kill and enjoy a few hours of sleep warmed by the embers of the dying flames.  He was sure the search for him had been called off a while ago, but he couldn’t afford to be seen by anyone until he was ready to try and stow away on one of the England-bound vessels.  He had no idea what day, or even what month it was, but it was getting much colder during the night, and the multicolored leaves that reminded him of autumn in Scotland were drifting down to cover the earth in a soft blanket and signaling the approach of winter.  He had to get on board a ship before they stopped sailing for the winter, or he’d be trapped in Virginia through the winter, and he might not survive. 

Cameron closed his eyes and pictured Jenny’s face as she had been the day they wed.  She’d been so happy and so sad all at once, torn by her desire to be with him and devastated by losing him, possibly forever.  She didn’t believe he could get back home, but he’d promised to send for her, and he would
, just as soon as he managed to get out of this godforsaken colony and get back home where he could pick up the thread of his former life. 

Thinking of Jenny gave him the courage to do what he must, but it also pained him to
acknowledge that he might never see her again, or his home.  The success of this venture depended entirely on the nature of the captain and the timing of the sailing.  Even if the captain proved to be a sympathetic man and allowed him to live, he could very easily have him shipped right back to Virginia as soon as they reached Europe, which is why it was imperative to make sure that no more vessels were leaving for the New World by the time the ship docked in England.  Even if thrown in jail, Cameron would have some time before sailing resumed in the spring to make his escape, if such a thing were indeed possible, but he had to try.  It was his only chance.

Cameron’s stomach growled again
, and he allowed himself a small piece of bread and a piece of cheese he’d stolen from an isolated farmhouse a few miles outside of town.  He left a few rabbit skins as payment, hoping that was sufficient.  He couldn’t take any rabbit or possum on board since the meat would quickly go rancid and make him sick, but the bread and cheese could last for a few days at least.  Cameron savored his meal, took a sip of water from a wooden bottle he’d carved for just that purpose, and settled in for the wait.  There seemed to be much less activity on deck, so maybe it was night, and the crew had retired to their quarters.  He didn’t expect anyone to come searching the hold in the dead of night, so Cameron allowed himself to stretch out behind the crate and get some sleep.  He needed rest and a few hours of oblivion.