Xolani and the Starclock (working title)

4

Lilla promptly took the lead. She kept her eyes focused straight ahead of her from the parking space across the green bricks of the main street, of what the otherworlders called their 'gather,' to the thin road of flat red stones leading them past the gardens (where all manner of strange things grew).

The first bunch of gather-dwellers they passed paid Xolani little mind, but the ones loitering outside of the lavender strip, by the small markets and renters, turned mean eyes on her. It was no matter that she was accompanied by one of their own. Huemans were still foreigners, and if it weren't for the emergence of the doors, their worlds might never have intersected. Some otherworlders resented the intrusion of hueman visitors, but in truth, it was no different in the city. Otherworlders were often on the receiving end of the same suspicion and hostility. It would likely be that way for awhile.

“There's a shop two buildings down I want to visit,” Lilla noted, slowing her pace slightly. A moment later, she stepped forward to a slight doorway pressed between two buildings squished next to one another. Producing a key, she opened the small red door, and stepped to the side to make way for Xolani. She locked the door behind them immediately once Xolani was inside. Without a word, Lilla continued forward and ascended a small flight of stairs to a green door at the top of the landing. There, Lilla wrapped three times and folded her arms over her chest.

“Where are we?” Xolani asked from several steps below her.

“Just a pitstop. There's something I need to check on. It's only wise that you be present, too.”

“So, you had no plans to get breakfast?”

“I absolutely have plans to get-”

The door creaked open, interrupting Lilla mid-delivery into her thoughts.

“Lilla, dear. What brings you 'round?” A small man, bald but for the tuft of corkscrew curls at the top of his crown, asked. He patted his indigo worksuit, which buttoned from neck to navel, like he'd forgotten something, then, apparently remembering, relaxed his hands. His large, round eyes slid to Xolani curiously.

“I was hoping I might enjoy the benefit of your expertise, Udo.”

“Certainly. Please come in, both of you.”

Xolani nodded at his gracious gesture, her eyes surveying the room when she entered, scoping the varied clocks on the walls of the small shop. It was a cozy space, but there was no visible stock to be seen in the lobby. She gave the shopkeeper a pleasant smile when his eyes met hers a second time.

“You're a lovely one,” he said, returning her smile. “Come. I have Kahri syrup and water brewing.”

Xolani and Lilla followed Udo past the burnished brown counter at the front of the shop to a small room where a table was set up between two walls of well-stocked book shelves in the back.

Meeting Lilla's eyes briefly, he closed the door behind them before taking his own seat. A square in the ceiling opened above them seconds later and lowered itself to the middle of the table. Udo reached for the pot at its center. Lilla gathered the cups and passed one to Xolani and Udo.

“There is comfort where there is water,” Udo said, repeating one of the old sayings. “Flavored water counts, too,” he added with a wink, pouring a bit of the pot's caramel-colored brew into the cups of his guests.

“I hope this will take the edge off,” he half-whispered to Lilla. “Your vibration isn't itself.”

“We're in trouble, Udo,” she admitted, lowering her head and pausing to gather herself.

“What sort of trouble,” he asked, a crease taking his brow. He addressed both of them, looking first to Lilla and then Xolani. Xolani raised the cup to her lips, understanding immediately what he meant by “taking the edge off” when the brew slid over her bottom lip and pleasantly numbed it.

“Our home was ransacked and whoever did it was on their way to Emile's room. I heard them rush to the back stairwell when I opened the front door. Emile was there, Udo. If I hadn't come home on time...”

Udo covered her hand with his own. “Everyone is safe?”

“Yes.”

“Then all is well. What do you think they were looking for?”

Lilla met his eyes for a moment then broke the gaze. Biting her lower lip, she reached upwards to unlatch a hidden pocket in the puffed sleeve of her dress. She retrieved a square of folded purple cloth and unwrapped it, revealing a small clock at its middle with starburst rays shooting up from its center.

Udo's eyes stretched wide catching sight of the timepiece, but the emotion at their center wasn't one of awe. “Wrap it back up, Lilla. Quickly,” he urged.

“Do you know this clock?” Xolani asked him, her mouth, and, as she thought of it, the rest of her almost completely numb. Raising a brow, she set the tea cup down, half-spent.

“I know it,” he told her, lifting the tea cup to his mouth and sipping deeply. “And, I don't know how Lilla came into possession of it, but I am not surprised she is being pursued now.”

“Why would someone pursue us for this trinket, Udo?”

Udo swallowed another sip of the brew, drawing out the time before he met her eyes, and set the tea cup down.

“I know it opens doors, Udo,” Lilla prodded. “I know it holds some sway over time. But, so do the elder clocks. I don't see anyone trying to steal those.”

“You've used it?” Udo asked, his tone decidedly grimmer.

“Emile tinkered with it before I took hold of it,” Lilla answered. She folded her hands before her in a gesture of worry, sensing the bad news on the tip of her old friend's tongue.

“They can use her then, if they want.”

“Who is they?” Xolani asked, a wrinkle creasing her brow, her index finger drawing an invisible line on the side of her tea cup.

“The clockmakers that made it,” Udo replied, locking eyes with her.

*

Udo produced a handkerchief and dabbed it against his coppery forehead. He folded it neatly and returned it to one of his uniform's smaller pockets.

“Who are they?” Lilla asked him softly.

“Or better asked,” Udo corrected. “What does it actually do?”

Lilla set her expression, waiting for the answer. “It is the better question,” she deferred.

“The clock influences evolution by manipulating time. It can change the period that certain electromagnetic influences are set upon the inhabitants of a gather, and even other worlds. It's a kind of pattern-shifter.” he finished, frowning.

Xolani lifted the teacup again, cocking her head while the thoughts coalesced in her mind. “So... It can influence weather, mood, planetary shifts... That sort of thing?”

“It can absolutely do those things, and it can be used to greatly influence the minds of those its focused upon.”

“Why would anyone make such a thing?” Lilla asked, clearly disturbed.

“Why, indeed,” Udo replied.

“It makes sense that these clockmakers are the pursuers in question.”.

“That is highly unlikely,” Udo answered.

“Why?”

“Because they have long transitioned to the next realm.”

“Then who?”

“Who, indeed?”

*

More than an hour passed before Lilla or Xolani noticed. When the fact captured their attention, their discussion with Udo had to be brought to a swift close.

Lilla's regret at having to part from her old friend was palpable, but they both knew they'd see one another again. Udo assured her of it and sent her on her way with a warm, familial embrace (slipping a bottle of Kahri syrup into her hands discreetly).

The woodwoman and Xolani exited through the back, at Udo's insistence, and rented a box-roller when they reached the ground level.