"Oh dear lord, this has become such a disaster!"
"I know. Poor Pat won't get to go home again."
I landed on the ground floor to these comments after seven in the morning and more coming from the direction of the kitchen. I yawned and stretched my limbs for a second time since waking up – in my own bed – and the tight muscles in my body finally loosened up with a shot of pain. I groaned and tried to massage my muscles all over to make it go away.
I finally walked into the dining room, where I spotted my hostesses sitting at the table with a newspaper between them.
"Mornin'," I yawned, covering my mouth with my hands instantly.
Mother and daughter looked up at me with sad smiles. "Good morning," they said at the same time.
Iris added, "We were just saying how you should probably stay here for some more days."
I nodded. "I thought as much. I should probably go in to work now."
"And maybe explain your absence yesterday."
"Meh, they already know. The whole town knows."
"Oh, that's not what I mean."
I saw Mrs White leave the dining room and go into the kitchen as I sat on Iris's other side at the table. "What do you mean?"
"You know. About how you weren't the one who committed the murder?"
A pang of shock shot through my chest. "WHAT?!"
My friend shook her head and handed me the paper. As I read the headline article, she went on:
"The coroner found the death to be between eight and ten last night. You were back home by nine, max. You should've found the body around that time. Unless you went in through the backdoor and straight to bed and not noticed the smell of rot in between."
I groaned again. "I forgot about that! But, how should I explain that I found it last night when I went down to get a drink of water?! No one can know that I can travel through the past or they'll all be at my front door, demanding justice!" I paused as a memory from last night filtered through my harassed brain. "Well, I actually wanted to do just that and see who actually killed that guy and how."
I heard a gasp from Iris. "And you went?! What did you find?!" she whisper-yelled.
I sighed and slumped over the paper. "That my magic no longer works!"
"What do you mean?!"
I shrugged. "I couldn't go. But, you know what happened instead?"
"What?"
"I gave up and went to bed – and then, I awoke in this house fifty years ago!"
"No way!" She almost giggled, but controlled herself.
"I know!" Realising that my voice rose to an uncomfortable high, I lowered it again. "I know. It's just... I don't know. I couldn't get back because now, apparently, I can't simply think-work the magic. I'm telling you, Iris, something is interfering with my magic!"
She crinkled her nose. "Like a bad signal on a windy day?"
I shrugged again. "Something like that. When I gave up trying to think-work, I went out to do some exploring to see if I could come back any other way. I was walking across the street outside this house – the direction that leads on to the library – but then, that's as far as I got."
"To the library?"
"No. Somewhere in the middle. I think this part of the town was abandoned at that particular point of time."
"Really?"
"Yes! I mean, this house was there and all, but it was boarded up and not a soul around. Of course, considering it was midnight and all, but still. There were street lamps, though, so I could see my way about – without any tools and comfortable clothes at my disposal."
She put a hand on her mouth in concern. "Oh dear. You went in your nightie?"
"Yes. Alas. I didn't have my phone with me. I mean, I didn't prepare for it. Anyway, I stopped for a bit to see where exactly I was and I saw a car coming in my direction on the road. I was on the sidewalk, safely out of the way. And I was pretty sure there was no one around me or even on the other side of the road.
"But then, I saw that side – the other side – once more and there was a man! A figure in a hooded jacket or something, facing me!"
Iris gasped again. "Did you see his face?"
I thought about it. "Actually, no. I didn't. I actually didn't see anything except that jacket or sweater and some trousers or pants or something."
She nodded with a frown. "Well, I don't see what we can do about it."
"Me neither." I straightened up from where I'd leaned onto the table towards Iris at some point during my story-telling and drew in a deep breath and let it out. "It was scary, though. Especially when I looked back and saw the car actually heading right at me!"
"Whoa! And then, what happened?!"
I shrugged for a third time that same morning. "I don't know. I just woke up here."
"Gosh! I knew something was wrong as soon as I saw your face just now! You looked like you couldn't sleep a wink!"
For a few minutes after that, there was silence between us. I could hear Mrs White walking in from the back door and hoped she hadn't overheard any of what we spoke. Not that I didn't trust her; I just didn't need a lot of people knowing my secret.
~*~
Iris offered to drop me to the school I taught for just a day – and boy, was that a nightmare!
"I hope you're doing fine."
After escaping the crowd that had literally ambushed me as soon as I stepped into the front gate, someone told me I was called into the office. I was glad of it, since that meant I could escape the constant barrage of questions that were thrown at me. Blast the media – they had ways to make you and destroy you!
Now, I was in the quiet office of Principal Reynolds, hunched over my chair as he stared at me with genuine concern in his eyes. The man was pushing forty, had a wife and daughter, who had all moved into Elton Queen about ten years ago, now very much part of the town.
Finally, I looked up and gave him a wary smile. "I'll be," I answered. I could still hear the murmur of voices through the thick oak door of the principal's office.
Dr Reynolds released a sigh of relief. "Well then, you can as much time as you can before going to your class. I'm sure the students won't hurt if you don't go in for one hour."
He had a friendly laugh on his lips which instantly went to bring tears to my eyes for some reason, but I sniffed and willed them to dry up.
"Yea, I hope so," I said. "Tenth Grade is a mature enough age. They can study on their own."
He laughed aloud now. "Well, you've always been like that, haven't you—hate exams and everything conventional."
That brought some of my energy back and I sucked in a breath. "Well, every convention regarding school is... I don't know, stupid," I said. "It's silly, how people take these bunch of marks based on a bunch of silly questions!"
His eyes sparkled. "Well, I hope you came up with some sort of a solution then."
I nodded. "I actually do have an idea, sir. I just need to form it better and see how it can be implemented, you know."
He nodded, too. "I understand."
I cleared my throat and went to stand up. "Okay, I feel much better now. I think I should go." I glanced at the clock above the door. "I'll be just five minutes late. I'll be going now."
He nodded again. "Sure."
With a smile, I made my way confidently out of the principal's office and headed out of the office to the staircase. There was nobody about and ones who were, were quietly minding their own business. Even if they turned to stare at me, I didn't know because I forced myself not to bother.
'That was weird, though,' I thought as I walked up the staircase all the way to the third floor. 'The way I couldn't go back to the past... and then, suddenly, I could!' An involuntarily shiver ran down my spine and I moved to compose myself. 'Maybe I should try it again; maybe I'm doing something wrong. And how did I suddenly end up in the 1950s of this town without even thinking about it?'
Even as I puzzled over this, at the back of my mind, I knew there was something going on that I didn't know or follow. Then, there was that strange hooded fellow – if he was even human, that is – who appeared out of nowhere...
'Maybe it was all just a dream. Maybe I didn't really go anywhere in the middle of the night.'
But, I knew this was not true, because if it were, then what would explain the black bags under my eyes, an indication of sleeplessness?