The Messenger: Mortal Beloved Time Travel Romance, #1 (10 page)

I
smelled burnt sage
, lavender, and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

Our car was smashed off the edge of the parking garage with enough force that the front tires catapulted up and over the guard wire. My cookie flew through the air, just like Mama’s head that smacked the windshield and whiplashed backward.

From the back seat I could see the front of our car dangling: we balanced high in the air between the garage and the riverbank below it. I screamed.

Mama looked back at me, her head bleeding as she struggled with the seatbelt. “Hang on, Madeline!”

“Mama!”

Blood dripped down her forehead while she twisted like a pretzel and finally unbuckled her seatbelt. She crawled over the front seat into the back and leaned over me as the car wobbled.

Her hair brushed against my face as she worked like crazy to get me out of that booster seat. “Shh baby girl. It will be okay.”

I reached my hand up and pushed back her hair that touched her brow covered in sweat and blood.

“No matter what happens, I will never lose you.” Mama fumbled to unlock all the gizmos that strapped me in. She unsnapped two, but I couldn’t stop sobbing. “You’re my good girl, Maddie.” Mama wrangled the last buckle. “We’re almost out of here.”

That’s when we were rammed hard from behind again, and jolted forward.

I
woke up
, startled, and gazed into Samuel’s face as he squeezed my shoulder. “You cried out in your sleep.”

“Oh. A nightmare,” I said. Actually more like I just remembered a huge chunk of the accident. What was going on? Why now after all these years was I finally remembering?

“We need to leave now,” he said. “It’s past dawn, and we cannot be gone for long.”

I looked around. “Where’s Angeni?”

“With Elizabeth. She needs us to gather plants for her medicines.”

“Where?” I asked. “Back in her home?”

“No,” Samuel said.

I
was
outside the garrison’s walls for the first time since Elizabeth rescued me from the massacre. They probably lugged me through here, but I remembered nothing because I was drugged up and had a concussion. (
Note to self: don’t expect to remember much of anything following a major accident.)

Samuel led me down a narrow, trampled, earthen path that wound through fields where the grasses came up to my waist. They were yellowing, and dying from the cold weather. I reached out and touched some. They felt brittle in my hand, and snapped in my grip.

“How far are we going?” I asked.

“Only far enough to get what is needed for Angeni’s medicines,” he said.

The air was crisp, the sky overhead a perfect blue. I caught a glimpse of dark forests in the distance. I heard the faint roar of some kind of water and smelled a salty, ocean breeze. I felt peaceful out here: liberated from the confines of the garrison, free from anxiety and worries. Then my gaze fixed on Samuel’s back as he walked several yards in front of me.

“Hey Samuel,” I said. “You’re talking to me again.”

“It seems like I have to, or I will never experience a moment’s peace,” he said. “We have a small climb ahead of us.”

“Hey!”

He turned toward me.

His face was flushed, his hair loosened and curled around the collar of his opened white shirt. This moment segued from feeling great to feeling perfect. “I like being here,” I said. “With you.”

He turned away, but not before I saw him smile. “I like it, too.”

W
e walked silently through a lush
, dark, pine forest, while the sounds of cascading water drummed close by. Mist sifted through the canopy of pine needles above us. The occasional ray of sunlight danced on the forest’s floor illuminating acorns, fallen branches, and leaves that looked like jewels.

“What happened to your parents?” I asked.

“The woman who gave birth to me was shipped back to England soon after I was born,” Samuel said. “Her family did not approve that she had relations with a Native man.”

“So, did your dad raise you?”

“For a while.” He frowned. “But he was killed in a hunting accident when I was young.”

“I’m sorry. My mama disappeared when I was young, too.” On the outside Samuel and I couldn’t be more different. But in some ways, we were very much alike. Why couldn’t I have met him in my real life? Why did I have to meet him in this weird time travel thing?

I tripped, and my legs flew out from beneath me. I saw the ground rise up under my eyes. “Oh.” I reached my hand forward to break my fall.

But Samuel grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. He caught me and pulled me close to him. My heart beat quicker, and I was dizzy for a moment as my face pressed into his shoulder.

“Thank you.”

“I need to teach you how to walk on this land.” He released me. “Each step you make is an imprint. Choose where you step, as well as how hard your body weight comes down.”

I practiced choosing my steps until we approached, and stood too close to a cliff that overlooked a wide expanse of air. The view across it was another treacherous overhang with a choppy, white-watered river that lay hundreds of feet below.

I flashed to Mama’s head smacking the windshield as we dangled between earth and sky. “You go ahead. I’ll stay here,” I said. No way was I moving an inch further onto that cliff.

“Angeni said that if you made it this far, you could make it all the way. Scrape the bark from the tree next to the river, while I find the plants she wants.”

“I’m happy to scrape the bark from any of those trees over there.” I pointed in the opposite direction of the cliff.

“But…” He frowned.

“I am not stepping one foot closer to that drop-off,” I said. “Heights are scary. People can fall and get seriously hurt.”

“You just fell and I caught you.”

“Not from a fall like that.” I pointed to the cliff’s precipice. “People lose their lives if they fall from that kind of height.” I backpedaled. “Don’t you get it? We’re not all strong and invincible. We are flesh and blood. People can disappear for good, forever. People you love will never be seen again. You will never share a meal, laugh about something silly, touch someone’s face, or even have a chance to tell them goodbye,” I said. “I’m not getting anywhere near that cliff.”

“Whatever you say, Madeline. Whatever you want.” He walked off.

I felt like I had ruined my perfect day. “Samuel, wait!” I took a few steps toward him.

Samuel whipped around, his eyes scanned the forest, and he pulled a knife from a sheath on his belt. “Get down. Now.”

I
dropped to the ground
, and crouched.

Samuel peered at the forest behind me. “Show yourself.”

Tobias popped out from behind a tree, about twenty yards away. “I did not want to move too suddenly,” he said. “I know, brother, that you do not like to be startled.”

Samuel put the knife back. He held his hand out to me and helped me stand. “Why are you here?”

I dusted the dirt off my skirt, and a wave of anxiety washed over me. I felt nervous, antsy. I’m not sure I cared why Tobias was here, because suddenly I didn’t want to be here.

“Angeni sent me. She wants the mushrooms,” Tobias said. “She doesn’t want you and Abigail coming back a second time. Too dangerous.”

Samuel frowned. “After I am done gathering the—”

“Where are the mushrooms?” I asked, as my throat tightened. My anxiety was kicking in. Not good.

“Close to the caves,” Tobias replied.

Samuel shook his head.

“How far away are the caves?” I asked.

“Minutes,” Tobias said.

“No,” Samuel said. “Abigail is not going to the caves.”

“Any heights involved?” I watched Samuel’s face turn to stone.

“Not like these cliffs,” Tobias said.

“Let’s go.”

“No! You wait here with me,” Samuel insisted. “Tobias can collect them on his own.”

Samuel was dreamy, strong, and complicated. But right now he was one more person telling me what I could, or could not do. I glared at him. “Thank you for your concern. But I’m not going to sit around here and wait for a panic attack.” I walked toward Tobias.

“I promise that I will not let her out of my sight,” Tobias said.

“Be quick about it.”

I could practically feel Samuel’s eyes pierce the back of my head like psychic daggers. Apparently, I hadn’t made him very happy today.

T
obias
and I walked a safe distance away from the cliffs and the river deep below it. “Thank you for accompanying me,” he said.

“I have to keep moving, or I’ll have a meltdown.”

“Meltdown?”

“Pressure, worries, old fears, you know?” I said and he nodded. But did he get it? Probably not. “How far away are the caves?”

He pointed to a large mound of rocks a short distance in front of us. “Did Samuel tell you about what happened to him in that river below?”

“No.”

“He only shares that story with people he trusts,” Tobias said. “Still many tribal people and colonists know it. I’m surprised you do not.”

Samuel didn’t trust me. Was I being too difficult? Again? “What happened to him?”

Tobias shrugged. “I will tell you, only if you promise to give me something in return.”

Like what? I didn’t have any money. Didn’t seem to have any luck. I’d happily hand him my corset, but I doubted he’d be into that. “I have nothing to give you.”

“Of course you do,” he said. “You have secrets.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I totally knew what he was talking about.

Tobias frowned. “Many colonists believe that Native babies have demons in them, so they created a test to determine which children were innocent. They stole the Native babies from their parents, and threw them in a river. The ‘pure’ babies would float. Those with the devil in their hearts would sink and drown.”

I shook my head. “That’s definitely urban legend.”

Tobias shook his head, confused. “When Samuel was six-months-old, his mother was forced to sail back to England without him. The colonists did not know if Samuel was a white baby or a Native baby,” Tobias said. “So they threw him in the waters of that river that rushes at the bottom of the cliffs below us. Then they watched to see whether he would sink or float.”

“You’re lying!” I said. “The colonists would never be that cruel.”

“You are indeed delusional if you think only one tribe of people is capable of cruelty.”

“I still don’t believe you.” We approached the caves.

“It does not matter what you believe. What matters is the truth. Now help me find the plants Angeni asked for.”

I was sick to my stomach. Colonists drowning Native babies were too grisly to imagine. Did they still do this? Did Elizabeth know that they did this? My hands shook as I helped Tobias dig the mushrooms up from the earth.

He collected them in a rough cloth sack.

“You’re Native. Were you thrown in the river?”

“No,” Tobias said.

“Why not?”

“Because my father is very powerful, and has strong alliances with the colonist leaders.”

Samuel interrupted us and helped us finish all the digging, scraping, and collecting. We were all silent. The mood had turned sour.

T
he trip
back to the garrison was completely different than the journey out. Samuel didn’t talk to me. He and Tobias shared a few words in their Wampanoag language. Frankly, they were both too serious, and I wanted to bolt far away from them to process everything I just heard.

As soon as we were back inside the garrison’s gates, I thanked Samuel and Tobias coolly, and walked away from them as quickly as possible. I needed to talk with the only sensible person in this whole place: Angeni.

W
e sat
next to each other in her hut while I helped her prepare the herbs to dry. “The colonists would never do something that awful.” I wrapped some plants with thick twine and hung them to dry on rough hooks snagged onto the ceiling. “They are not barbarians.”

“For once Tobias spoke the truth,” she said.

“It’s just not possible.”

“I witnessed it, Madeline. A small group of colonists gathered on the shore. The Reverend Wilkins himself tossed Samuel into the waters.”

My hand flew to my chest. “That’s awful!” My eyes welled. The thought of Samuel not being here because of the colonists’ cruel and hateful superstitions—it made my head spin, and my heart sink. “I don’t believe for one second only “pure” babies floated. That’s insane. How did Samuel manage to live?”

“A Messenger sent word to Samuel’s father about what the colonial radicals were planning. He traveled great distances to be there at that place and at that time. He appeared out of nowhere, jumped into the river, fought the currents, and rescued him. In the eyes of the colonists—Samuel floated for enough time that he was considered pure,” Angeni said.

She knelt next to a bench covered in furs, reached underneath it, and pulled out some clothing. I saw buckskin pants and shirts. I saw a fierce necklace made of shells, bones, and white feathers.

“His father took him until he was killed. Then the Wampanoag tribal elders and chief asked me if I would raise him,” Angeni said.

“Why you?”

“I was childless, but wanted to be a mother. And I knew since Samuel was very young, that he had a gift for healing. I could help teach him.”

“But that must have completely changed your life?”

She nodded. “It did. We didn’t completely fit in with either the Wampanoag people, or the colonists. We lived away from people, on the outskirts of Native villages and colonial settlements. When King Philip’s war broke out, Elizabeth and a few other friends insisted Samuel and I seek refuge, here, at the garrison.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said. “For everything the both of you have been through.”

“Sometimes life requires you to make uncomfortable decisions. Do things you never expected. I have had much joy raising Samuel. Although he would never let me do something like this,” she said. “Come here.”

I went to her.

“Try this on.” She draped that gorgeous necklace over my head.

“Is it for me?” I was dying to run and find a mirror, or anything shiny enough to see its reflection.

Angeni patted it, and a look of contentment shone on her face.

“No, Madeline. This is mine. It is part of my bloodline, my totem. I believe in time you will get your own symbol fitting for a Messenger.”

“What is a Messenger?” I asked, looked around the room for anything reflective, as I had to see this necklace.

Angeni handed me a metallic cup. I squinted at the necklace that adorned my neck. It was so fierce, and it made me feel brave and powerful.

“Some souls are so close to the Great Spirit, that they can travel between time and worlds,” Angeni said. “Most of these people do not even realize they do this. They think they simply have colorful dreams, imaginary friends, or hear voices when no one is talking directly to them. Others accuse these folk of being impractical. Say they are too sensitive, nervous, or flighty in nature.”

“That sounds like me,” I said.

“
It is you,
Madeline. That is why I am training you.” Angeni kissed me on the cheek, gently took the necklace from me, and returned it under the bench.

Everyone told me I was too sensitive, too much of a dreamer. Now, all those things I hated helped to make me a time traveler. “Why does the world need Messengers?” I asked.

“Because there will always be superstitions, anger, dread, and fear of the other,” she said. “And some messages not only change lives but can save some. Time to check on Elizabeth. I did not tell her I sent you outside for the herbs. She only knows you were helping me.”

“Oh. So, I shouldn’t tell her I left the garrison?”

“You decide. She loves you, but she can be a little overprotective.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Someday you will feel the same way,” Angeni said. “And since you would not get close to the cliffs today, I want you to practice the Sa-Ta-Na-Ma chant. And do something that makes you feel a little scared. Messengers grow their courage like herbs in a garden. The seeds are planted. The soil watered, the leaves pinched as the plants grow. A Messenger’s skill and courage are not handed to them. They work for it.”

“Okay,” I said a little embarrassed that I’d been slacking.

I was half ways back to Elizabeth’s house when I realized: I saw Angeni before either Samuel or Tobias did. How in the world did she know I didn’t get near those cliffs?