Patterns of Time

“...two girls, best of friends, killed one day by a train while walking over a bridge.”

“That’s frightful. How did it happen?” Misty leaned forward. Now they were getting somewhere.

“One, the one with the white blonde hair, Jamie, got her foot stuck in one of the boards. Her friend, Krissy, I think, tried to help her... I was too far away, I couldn’t have helped...Oh, Miss Heaven, it’s so dreadful. I could hear her shrieking for her friend to help her, and the train came closer... and then she pushed Krissy off the bridge, screaming that she had much more to live for.”

Misty was silent, trying to give the distraught woman in front of her time. “And then the train hit, didn’t it?” she asked softly. “Did Krissy survive?”

The woman shrugged. “I don’t know. Some say yes, terrible fall though it must have been... the poor child must have broken every bone in her body from the fall- they say she was in a coma after being dead for an hour.”

“And then?” Misty prompted.

“Well, some say she died. Others insist she woke up, but not really. They say she’s somewhere in a loony bin. The rumours are that she stares off in to space like she doesn’t know anyone is there, and never speaks. They also believe that she is aware of people but just doesn’t want to respond to them. But no one knows for sure.” 

“And... Jamie?” Something in the deepest recesses of her memory stirred, but did not wake.

“Ah, a gruesome sight...” The woman shivered. “She was decapitated by the train... they found her hand near Krissy’s body. Awful. She rests in Cloud 9 cemetery.”

“Do you know the girls’ last names?”

“It was Krissy Hallowell. The other girl’s I don’t remember, I’m afraid.”

“Well, thank you for this information Miss Carnigan.”

Misty walked back to her white suburban, turned a last time to wave and got in, setting her notepad next to her on the seat. Then she took out the cell and dialled. “The one’s name is Krissy Hallowell and the other’s Jamie. No, she didn’t tell me her last name, but I think I remember it. Caldwell.” She was silent as realisation dawned. This would be her last assignment! Somehow, she didn’t feel as happy as she should feel. “Will you take on Krissy, I’ll do Jamie. Yes, I... remember... the address... 103-West Park Ave.”

Misty arrived at Jamie’s house a few minutes later. She walked up to the house and knocked on the door. She waited a while until an older woman open the door. “Hello?” she said, “Can I help you?”

“Mrs... Caldwell?” Misty asked, heart beating wildly for no apparent reason.

“Sorry, I believe you got the wrong house. Mrs. Caldwell moved out a few years back because of a tragic accident.”

“Could you tell me where she lives now?”

“I am sorry. No one knows where she is now. I think she got married again, after…”

“After the death of her daughter? What happened to her husband, please?”

“ Well, it really isn’t my place to say, but her husband killed himself after the accident.”

“May I ask...” something caught in her throat, “May I ask how?”

“It was quite tragic- he drove his car off into the lake and drowned himself. Miss, are you alright? Knew them well, the Caldwells, did you?”

Misty nodded. “Yes... sorry. Would you take my number, please, and tell me if you happen to hear anything more? Thank you.” She hurried back to her car, but it was a long time before she felt calm enough to drive away.

She remembered everything now... her life before that fateful day, the laughter on her friend’s face as they joked... Oh, she knew they shouldn’t have gone to the rail tracks. She knew it was dangerous. But had that ever held off either of them? No, of course not! The two of them had always been the first to sign up for adventure, whatever the risk, whatever the cost.

Her phone rang, an incessant, unnerving sound. “Yes?”

“I’ve found out everything you can find out, the exact when, the where... but not the how. This one’s going to be difficult, Misty.”

“Don’t worry. I think I can remember the how. It all makes sense now. Come on, let’s get going. I’ll meet you at the bridge.”

“The date’s the twenty-first of May, 1999. The time’s 17:34”

“Ok, I’ll be there.”

* * *

She stood a little way off, watching the tracks. Somehow, she had expected everything to be more... dramatic. Maybe a goodbye or a last drink with the crew. At least the weather playing havoc. Some wind buffeting her hair and dress would have been nice. Well, that was it, then. Would be it. After thirty years, it felt strange to be about to return into the body of a sixteen year old. Flame stood next to her.

“What is it like, having memories?” he asked.

“Strange. Painful. It is strange to think that I went on for thirty years, not knowing who I was, and somehow painful that I could possibly forget all that- but, maybe it was to the best.” She was silent for a moment. “What is the time?”

“Seventeen thirty. I suppose that means good bye then, doesn’t it?” He looked at her with his dark brown eyes, deer’s eyes, she had always called them in her mind. There was something in them that had always made her wonder... but no, every guardian was as purged of emotion as they were of their memories. It would have been too dangerous, having memories that distracted them, having emotions. And yet...

“I suppose so, yes. Goodbye, and good luck.”

He went off, hiding somewhere, hoping to find the demon, bad spirit, or whatever else it was that had caused a ripple in history before it could cause the same ripple again. Misty watched as Jamie and Krissy approached, laughing, joking. She watched as Jamie’s foot got stuck in one of the gaps in the bridge. She heard the train approach, heard the girls’ panicky voices.

She set into motion slowly, deliberately. She was halfway across the bridge when time stood still. A man appeared.

“Oh, mister, please help us.” Jamie’s voice was unreal in the stillness of timelessness.

“I cannot.”

Krissy took in her surroundings for the first time, noticed for the first time that something was different... Eyes narrowing, she asked: “Who are you?”

“Let’s just leave that aside for the moment. I am here to give you the choice of life over death. If you accept, you shall be helped to save your friend’s life.”

“And if I decline?”

“Then you both shall die, or be so close to death that it does not make a difference.”

“So there is no choice.”

The man smiled a mirthless smile. “Oh, but there is. You can always choose, you just might not like the options.”

Krissy nodded. “What is the price?”

“You learn quickly,” the man observed, “the price is thirty years of your time.”

The girl considered. “Thirty years against the weight of a life... fair enough. What will I have to do?”

“You’ll just have to leave here with me now. You’ll be trained in my profession, and after thirty years, you can come back to your life.”

“And Jamie?”

“She shall be saved.”

“People will wonder where I’ve gone.”

“Don’t worry, they’ll be provided with an explanation.”

The girl hesitated for another moment, sighed, laid her hand in the man’s, and looked a last time at her friend.

“Do not mourn. You shall forget your former life. It makes things easier. When you return, you’ll remember everything.”

And Misty remembered, as she walked down the bridge towards her friend, towards the man, towards herself. They turned away and disappeared into time. The man reappeared at her side, walking with her the last few steps.

He nodded curtly at her. “Thank you for a job well done, Krissy.”

“It is not over yet. We have not found the creature responsible for this.”

“That is because he does not exist anymore. You destroyed him in one of your former missions. You are now able to help your friend where before the curse of the creature prevented it.”

“Why? What is so special about us that he wanted us dead?”

“Misty, you are special, because you are strong, and fight till the end. And Jamie... well, you shall see the future, so it would not do to tell you.” He smiled, and for the first time, she could see his face clearly. His deer’s eyes twinkled at her. “But one thing I can tell you: our paths shall cross once again. Now it is time.”

Krissy took up her place tugging at her friend, waiting for the magical workings to set in that would change her body back to that of a sixteen year old. She had learnt a lot in these thirty years. Time was purely a matter of perception, as magical, as mystical as the work with it may seem. Humans, with the correct training, could bend it to their will the same way others bent iron to their will. She had let time dance to her will, living largely outside time, though she carried her own time within herself. She had saved countless people from the bad intentions of other creatures outside time, had ensured that countless historical events took their way as was best. Now to return back into her old life seemed to be both blissfully uneventful and frightfully boring by comparison.

Time came rushing back into the void that had been created for them with the screech of train brakes. Krissy tugged desperately at her friend, her heart beating wildly with fear. With a crack of bone, the leg came loose, and Jamie hurdled them both over the bridge with the almost inhuman strength of true fear.

* * *

“Krissy! Will you look at this?” Jamie danced around her friend, showing off the leg that at last was free of the splint.

Krissy clapped her hands and laughed with joy. “Now don’t forget you’re still supposed to be gentle with it...” she cautioned, “but now that you’re fully mobile, would you care to push me out of the sun, please.”

Jamie stopped her Indian dance around her friend immediately. “I’m sorry. I forgot.”

Krissy smiled, a warm, gentle smile. “Don’t worry, I’ve been on these legs for longer than you think; it’s good to get a rest. Anyhow, the doctors think, another two or three sessions of surgery, and they’ll have me as good as dancing again. By the way, have you heard, my parents have arranged for us to have our very own private teacher- got to keep up with school work,” she cracked a lopsided grin, “some nerdy guy who probably knows everything better...”

“Yes, I know. Awful name, too. Devon Watson.”

“Someone talking about me?” A young man with a toothy grin and gentle deer’s eyes leaned into the room. “I was on the lookout for these girls I have to teach... you don’t happen to know them, do you?”

* * *

Standing ovation for the governess Jamie Caldwell. “So this was why she was so important?” Krissy whispered.

“No, but it is a good start, don’t you think, Misty?” He still sometimes called her that, even after all these years.

“Yes, it is. I’m happy. I don’t think she’d have been the same if we hadn’t had that accident.”

Devon smiled his mysterious smile. “Maybe that was the point of it all.”

Krissy considered. She had never asked, but sometimes, she still wondered. “Devon, what was it you had to serve thirty years for?”

“Suicide,” he said, softly, the word almost lost amidst the thunder of clapping. “I didn’t see any sense in my life anymore... until I found out how to be a hero. And until I found you.”