Work Text:
Like it’s 1999
A little moon mood music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqe6TF2y8i4
~o0O@O0o~
When Elliot saw him in he field, at first he thought it was his own memory playing tricks on him.
But he knew too much not to doubt his doubt.
It was Colton - with wet hair.
Colton just as he was in 1999 and the last time Elliot saw him alive in 2000. 23 years ago.
He remembered Kat had said something about her mom recently ‘dreaming’ about Colton, and that Colton seemed to recognize Kat as an adult. He had to tell her. Letting Kat know was more important than following Colton and deciphering the how or why behind his going for a ‘swim’.
He’d seen Kat and Alice both in the barn by the house not long ago, so he headed there first. No dice. All the lights were out, quiet was pervasive.
Surely they weren’t down by the water themselves? The house looked quiet too, dark but for the light in Del’s bedroom, which seemed instructive enough.
Best to try the pond first then. Or at least survey the area in between. Maybe even catch a breath for a moment. He afforded himself that luxury so little.
But just as he was coming to the forest’s edge and caught a glimpse of them both, they dove into the water. Together. Holding hands.
It was beautiful - the two of them doing literally anything in concert together.
But immediately a fear set in. Could they go…together?
As far as he knew it had only happened one other time. And one had followed the other, separately.
It was the night Colton died.
Or maybe they said they'd also gone together for the funeral? But both times they'd just compounded the existing tragedies.
No.
This was a bad idea.
He should be there. But he’d never gone. He’d just been on either side in the origin time. No jet lag. He’d tried to follow Alice back that very first time, but it hadn’t worked so he’d assumed he couldn’t.
Then again, Alice had also tried and had the pond refuse her entry at times. So had Kat. For no particular or known reason.
Maybe he should try again.
He took a deep breath and set his glasses to the side. He hesitated as he did this wondering if he may need them, but as before assumed they’d be lost in the water anyway. Besides, his prescription hadn’t changed much since he was teen Elliot, so if his face hadn’t gotten much wider in 23 years, he could just borrow a pair from ‘himself’ in 1999.
Sure, that seemed reasonable.
So in he went in with little more thought. He’d seen Alice do it a million times. Well, a dozen or so anyway. There was a full moon overhead this time; the time he’d tried before it was waning gibbous.
He knew the water would be cold but not this cold. It took his breath away. Or he thought it did.
It was odd, he felt like he wasn’t breathing, but also wasn’t suffering for air. His feet felt tangled in …something, he knew not what. The water that had seemed fairly clear now felt crowded, but also deeper than he expected. Water surged, something brushed against his wrists. He tried to look around him but the bubbles, his nearsightedness, and something about the light changing prevented his seeing clearly.
He broke free of the tangles and swam up toward the light, expecting to find Kat and Alice when he broke through the water’s cusp.
But there was only Kat.
And a man with a gun. A very long gun. Aimed at her.
At his emergence from the water, both of them look at Elliot.
“What are you doing…here?” she asked.
“Following you.” He stammered through chattering teeth.
“I didn’t know you could.”
“Neither did I.”
“As I told the lady, this is private property.” The man with the long rifle said pointedly, drawing their attention back to him.
Him. Wow. Talk about déjà vu. Elliot had just seen this face in 2023, and now he was seeing him in…
Not 1999. Not unless this was a war reenactment. Elliot looked over the clothes behind the rifle, the man holding the gun. These were not clothes from 1999. And the gun didn’t look like it was from that decade either. Or even that century.
“Colton?” Elliot whispered.
“What did you say?”
Collecting himself, Elliot knew he needed to play the role. They could figure out the rest later. “So sorry, sir. We were fishing.”
“Clearly, dressed that way. I will give you time to return to the other side and …redress yourselves appropriately. But then you must leave. Where is your horse?”
As Kat and Elliot looked to each other to try to improv some acceptable response, it became unnecessary. A horse whinnied nearby. Very nearby, just behind them on the other side of the pond; a dark horse. But it was near enough to be believably in their company and seeming to speak for them. They slowly backed away and swam to the other side to join the horse, climbing onto dry land. To Elliot’s great relief the horse had a small lead tied around it, so he used it to guide the horse – or pretend to do so – in the other direction. The horse already seemed to know where it was going, a hell of a lot more than Elliot did. They went away from the man and the gun and kept walking, swiftly. Not looking back.
“I don’t think we landed on the shore we expected.” He said quietly.
“There’s really only two.”
Elliot gave a questioning glance.
“You’re not talking about the physical shore.”
“I am not.”
“Mom always said this was Dad’s family’s land. But how is he here?”
“Maybe the same slip Jacob made.”
“But he died. In 2000.”
“But where did he go until then? You said he recognized you – as an adult – the night of the Snow Moon.”
“He seemed to.”
“That might indicate 1999 Colton had seen you in 2023 – to know it was you. And if he could go forward…”
“He could also go back.”
“I saw him. In 2023.”
“You what?!”
“I came to the pond to tell you, but saw both you and Alice jumping.”
He stopped dead in his tracks then.
“Where is Alice?”
“I don’t know. She let go of my hand in the water. Or the pond made her. It must have taken her somewhere else.”
“Maybe she arrived back in 1999 and we’re …somewhere else. Further back.”
“I want to talk to him.”
“Colton? Not a chance. Whoever or wherever he is in his timeline, he doesn’t seem to recognize you now.”
“But I have to find out what he does know. Who he is now.”
“In time. First, we need to get our story straight.”
“Our story?”
“What we tell people until we can jump back in. We can’t go back tonight.”
“What?! Why not?”
“Because Colton or Colton’s ancestor who doesn’t know you was very gracious to let us exit stage right, but if we come back for seconds he may not be as gracious. Not right now anyway. We need to find a place for the night.”
“Overnight? NO. Absolutely not. We need to find Alice.”
“We can’t control where the pond sends us.”
“Clearly.”
“So even if we hightailed it back right now and jumped back in there’s no guarantee it would take us to her. It might send us both back to 2023. Or one of us to one time and one of us to another. For some reason, the pond wants us here. Both of us. Together.”
She tried to dismiss the worry about Alice and where she’d landed. But Alice had done this before, hadn’t she? She was the first to do it alone, she had been traveling through the pond longer than Kat. Did she like the idea of not knowing where she was or how she was faring? Of course not, especially after revelations about what may have happened to Jake. But Elliot had a point. For now they needed to play it safe, get back to the water when the time was right.
The time always had to be right.
Besides, if they didn’t stay, they wouldn’t know where they were.
“Together.” She said, accepting that something had afforded them this time.
“Together.” He said, not disguising his grin at the concept. Maybe 1999 wasn’t their era. 2023 was hit and miss. But whatever time this was? Maybe now. Maybe here. He’d see where the day – and night – took them.
They continued through the trees and fields until they found an abandoned shelter that seemed to be a stable - sturdy enough for one night.
“I wish there was an Elliot here.” He said.
“I thought there was.” She smirked.
He laughed. “No, I mean – someone on this side to provide us with …whatever we need. Clothes. A period appropriate time device.”
“YOU! You gave Alice clothes? And that beeping watch that was always going off at the worst times. Not just dry clothes for the funeral…”
“Guilty as charged, though the alarm setting was her doing to make sure she got back on time. For your benefit, really. 2023 you, anyway.”
“Thanks?”
“You’re welcome.”
“Now her 1999 questionable fashion sense makes SO much more sense.”
“Hey! I did my best. YOU try providing gender and time appropriate clothing for a guest you didn’t know was arriving on a whim.”
“That’s fair I suppose.”
They looked around the stable to pull together whatever was on hand. There were some blankets, laid aside for multiple horses that thankfully weren’t there, save for the dark horse that had come along at just the right time and sort of led them here. The blankets were torn and eaten by time and the outdoors, but they took the edge off the cold and the breeze that blew through the rough wooden slats. Some hay was all they had for insulation. They sat on a heap of loose hay side by side, warming and drying.
“We could try to go into town for resources but – oddly enough I did not pack spare change. Although…” he felt in his back pocket. His wallet was there, all its contents intact somehow. Like the card in Kat’s pocket from '99, perhaps. If only he’d thought to pack matches or a whole blanket in there. No such luck.
“Well, even if you did, going into town may be too risky. I mean, I’d love to – to know where we are and what’s here – who’s here. But the more exposure we have the more risk we face. Our warm welcome back there wasn’t exactly risk free.”
“Yeah. I’d rather not find out how much damage a bullet from this period could do. Whatever time period this is.”
Kat smirked, but at the same time felt the same worry.
Looking past Elliot, she saw something familiar. A bit of brown amidst so much other brown wood and hay and dirt tinted elements, but she recognized it nonetheless.
“What on earth is that doing here?”
Elliot followed her line of sight and watched her cross the space to withdraw a leather bound book from the corner amongst discarded, empty burlap bags of feed.
“Boy, the Landrys of this time are badly organized if they’re leaving something so precious in an abandoned stable…”
She flipped it open to spy the dates, the pages, the printed elements like farmer's almanacs with moon forecasts tucked inside.
But there was nothing.
Nada.
Zero.
With haste she frantically flipped through it all. It was the same on every page.
Blank.
“Elliot…we’ve gone back too far.”
“What do you mean?”
“This book, I know it. I know this is the same one. The weight of it, the texture. But none of it is here. It’s empty.”
He stepped behind her, looking over her shoulder as she continued to flip through the pages, looking for something – anything.
“What should it contain?”
“Dates. Ages. Names.”
Elliot furrowed his brows, not following.
She continued, “Birthdates. Weddings.” She paused. “Deaths.”
“Like the front of family bibles.”
“Yes, exactly. We have one for the whole Landry line from the time we’ve been on this estate. From 1814. Elliot. It was started in 1814 and it’s empty.”
“Sometimes people do those things retroactively.”
“Not the Landrys.” She hesitated, recalling how long it took them to add Jacob’s name after his disappearance, but that was really just one outlying exception, wasn’t it? “We’re very thorough.”
“So thorough you found this prominent book in a stable at the edge of the estate?” He ran is hands through his hair. “Look, maybe it’s identical but not the same one. Purchased around the same time on the same day in the same vicinity.”
“Wow. Same time on the same day. Come on, Elliot. How often does that happen?”
“I find this a very interesting question coming from someone who has previously experienced the same day twice from two different standpoints – as both you now and yourself as a teen.”
“Well, I can fall through the pond, but somehow I don’t think that books take the same kind of walk through the woods.”
“I suppose Occam’s razor could apply here. The simplest answer of it being the same book may be the right one. So, we could be in …or somewhere near 1814.”
She put the book down and smelled the air. “Smells the same as 2023.”
He grinned. “I think you’ve been spending too much time in your mom’s barn if this smells contemporary to you.”
She smacked his arm playfully. “Oh really? Well you’re the one who delivered the calf. I think you’ve clocked far more barn hours than I have.”
“Oh you used to spend plenty of time in the barn. Up in the loft, with me.”
“I remember.”
“Do you? Sometimes I wonder.”
She crossed her arms. “Really. What is it you think I’ve forgotten?”
“Our first kiss.”
“How could I, you made me wait so long for it.”
He fully guffawed. “I made you wait so long for it?!”
“Yes! You did!”
“I knew it. You think our first kiss was in the field. As adults.”
She loosened her arms, toying with her hands. “No I don’t. I remember my own lived history, Elliot. I may not have known our ’99 Alice was my daughter, but I know what ’99 me did, and what she felt.”
He stepped closer to her. “Tell me then.”
She looked in his eyes. Did he really think she valued it so little? That she valued him so little?
“It was the night I left.”
A breath caught in his lungs.
“Brady was running late. He was supposed to pick me up and I’d already packed. I’d fought with Mom and stormed out of the house expecting him to be there soon but it took him forever, so I went across the yard and up into the loft, to you.”
“Keep going.” He said, stepping close enough now to run a hand through her tangled wet hair.
“I felt so conflicted. I didn’t really want to go, to leave everything I knew, even if it was broken. I didn’t want to leave her behind. I said…I said such awful things, Elliot. I didn’t mean them. I was just trying to get her to admit she wanted me to stay. That she needed me to stay. But she wouldn’t. I guess she was too hurt that my bags were packed and it was happening – she was losing her last family member one more different way. So I wanted to see you. I had to see you. So….I…”
She set her hand on his waist, pulled him a little nearer. Warmth in this cold stable.
“I found you, watching the moon again. Keeping watch on the stars with your telescope. No full moon or special moon ever escaped your notice. So I knew you’d be there. And there you were, handsome as ever in the moonlight…”
“Handsome? You thought I was handsome?”
“I wanted to hear someone say it. Someone that I knew would mean it. I thought maybe it would be you. I wanted it to be you.”
“Say what?”
“So I hardly gave you a chance to say a word to me. I just walked in and interrupted you. And the minute I knew I had your attention, I kissed you.”
“Yes.”
“And it surprised me.”
“What surprised you?”
“How easy it was. How natural it felt. Honest. Unforced. Familiar, even though I was doing it for the first time with you.”
“I felt that way too.”
“Then we were interrupted. We could hear Brady’s car pull up outside. I didn’t want to stop but …”
“You had to.”
“No. I pulled back to give you a chance. To tell me.”
“Tell you what?”
“To stay.”
“Kat. My god I wanted to. You don’t know how I wanted to. You must have felt it in the way I kissed you.”
“I did. So I didn’t know why you wouldn’t say it.”
“Because I knew. By then Alice had already had at least a dozen visits and told me she was your future daughter. Your daughter with Brady, not me. That you had just split up with him in her future timeline and you were back in Port Haven. That I was there too, as her science teacher. I knew our future. I knew your future. And I didn’t think I could change it or interfere, no matter how badly I wanted to. She had come back to try to save Jacob, and she couldn’t. So I had to let you make whatever decision you were going to make without my influence."
“El. You were the only good thing I had left.”
“You can’t mean that. You still had your mother then. And you had Brady.”
“Mom was a shell of her former self. And Brady, he was just a chance. He saw me when mom seemed to stop looking my way.”
“But I saw you too.”
“I know. And you were the only one who seemed to see me clearly. But I realized it too late. As I packed and thought about how far I’d be from you, that you wouldn’t be a part of my day or week anymore once I moved to the States for school, I didn’t want to pack anymore.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I didn’t know how. I rehearsed the words in my mind, but once I saw you I just wanted to hold you, to feel you. I felt foolish for even wanting to ask for anything more from you. You’d already stayed close by and held my hand the night Dad died in the accident, helped us search for Jacob, stood by all of us as our world blossomed and crumbled. I felt I’d already used up all of my ‘get out of jail free’ cards with you. How could I possibly ask you for more?”
“Because it wasn’t an imposition to give you what I already wanted to give you. To be who I wanted to be to you.”
“Who did you want to be to me?”
He wasn’t sure how he’d restrained himself this long, but he was very done restraining himself now. His mouth flew to hers and picked up where the other kiss had left off when they were younger. This much of their history – now – was unwritten.
This was deeper than the kiss in the field in their more recent shared history, which she’d also started. Now the third time may be the charm, and he was showing her that he was unafraid to initiate himself. His eagerness was met with hers as she backed him up against the wall, enveloping him.
“You should get out of these wet clothes. Let them dry.” She whispered between kisses, unbuttoning his shirt.
“I could say the same for you.” He reasoned, the cold chill he’d felt before firmly being replaced with a warm hope. Finally.
“Did that wallet retain everything from our time? Any…items that might come in handy right now?”
He grinned at her question. This was really happening, but sadly – as with the clothes – he had not had time to prepare.
“I don’t carry condoms in my wallet. Sorry. I can start, once we’re back, if you like…”
“Guess we’ll have to do without them this time.”
Well, that certainly didn’t reduce his heartrate.
He rolled them against the wall so that her back was against the wooden slats now. He let her finish her task of unbuttoning his shirt and removing it, while he returned the favor and pulled her sweater over her head, letting it interrupt their kisses just long enough for it to clear her face and hair before returning his mouth to hers. With both of their clothes over the ledge of the wall now, he pulled her in closer – chest to chest. God she felt good. She already fit him like a puzzle piece, just the right height. Like they were made for each other.
She unfastened his belt.
“Kat.”
“Are you ok with this?”
“Am I? Are you?”
“Like you said, we’re stuck here for now. Might as well make use of the time. Body heat is one of the fastest ways to warm up.”
No denying that. His hands went to the button and zipper on her jeans too. Each took over for themselves to step out of their denim with haste while still avoiding stopping their taste of each other’s lips, the clothes thankfully loosening without much resistance for how recent their swim was.
“Wait…” he choked out.
What now?
“Let me make the blankets a little more conducive…” he began as he stepped back to smooth out the blankets, layer them so any holes from moths and time weren’t allowing through any of the straw.
Elliot and his stupid perfection. Even now.
“El, it’s fine.” She chided, backing him up into the pile, climbing on top of him, tugging at the waistband of his briefs as she went, revealing him fully to her.
“You’re sure?” he checked, one last time.
“I’m very sure.” she smiled.
She freed herself of her last two water drenched items herself and cast them to the side to dry in a heap before resting her skin fully against his, a deep breath escaping him. No more hesitation, if she was ready, he was more than ready.
He pulled her tighter to him, aligning his body with hers. Her hands cradled the back of his head as she pulled his kiss harder to hers. She bent a knee to take a little weight off him, but also open to him, to place him just so at her entrance. She moved her hand to grasp him, hoping her hands were warm enough, now that her circulation was in overdrive. The way he gasped as she put her hand on him was delicious. It only made her that much more deliberate and eager. She let her body rub against his just a bit, back and forth to get him wet just as he was drying off. The effect it had on him was immediate, he had to let his mouth go from hers to breathe and attempt to gather any oxygen, she felt him twitch in her hand that held him flush against her.
She was tired of waiting. Hadn’t they both waited long enough?
She slid her body down over the tip of him at first, just introducing his body to hers, making sure the position was good for both of them. The moan that escaped him told her it was. She lowered herself more. His mouth returned to hers, thirsty and driven. His hands flew to her hips rocking her onto him as he threw his head back, sinking into her. Yes. He wanted to keep tugging and pulling and thrusting underneath her, but he also needed something else.
His left hand found hers, weaving their fingers together.
“I love you.” He said again, but in such a different context and place this time.
“I love you too,” she breathed in return, overdue. “I’m sorry I didn’t say it sooner.”
He scoffed. “Technically we are earlier than any other interaction we’ve had in this moment.”
“I like that viewpoint,” she smirked, sinking deeper still over him, taking him in to the hilt. Another moan escaped him, deeper and vibrating in his chest, flush with hers.
“You have no idea what you do to me.”
“I think I’m getting some idea right now.”
She slowly picked up her pace and he rolled her over, their hands still fastened together. He wanted to release with her, but he also wanted to take his time. Both things being true and fighting within his body. She seemed to sense the tug of war.
“Go as fast or as slow as you want this time.” She encouraged, swiping away hair that had fallen into his line of sight. The mere invitation was almost enough to send him over, but the real catapult were those last two words: This. Time.
This wasn’t an exception. This was a beginning.
“Inside or outside?” he asked.
“In.” she said firmly, her hands fixing him against her and underscoring the decision.
And that did it. He was off to the races, moving against her like he was chasing every kiss they’d missed over 20 years. As he started to go off, her body echoed his, contracting around him, beckoning him over the edge while also keeping him on that cliff for a long while, his breath warming her neck with every last thrust. As soon as that last squeeze had completed, he returned to her lips, kissing her again and again, rolling her back over on top of him even though that meant her body released him – and that shift setting the two of them into a fit of giggles. They stayed like that for a long while – her using him as a life size body pillow, him caressing her arm.
“If I had known time travel would put you in the mood I would have don’t this so much sooner.”
“You didn’t even know you could join me until today.”
“Fair. But I would have jumped in so many more times.”
“We will.”
He raised the hand he was holding to his lips and kissed it.
“I don’t want to rush this, and I know we can’t hurry back, but we should probably try the water again before sunrise. They’ll be less likely to be keeping watch at the pond overnight.”
“Whoever ‘they’ are. It seemed so much like him. The voice, the stature.”
“Maybe it is, but we can’t assume. Alice got introduced as a teen, and her age helped her blend in and explain why she wasn’t in control of her own time, her transportation, etc. As an adult in 1999 you mostly stayed out of sight, except for the last few times with your dad. But as adults, both of us may not be able to blend in so well here, this far back. And anyone who sees us will assume we’re together.”
“Well, we are. Now.” She smiled.
“Be that as it may,” he said, kissing her hand again, then her lips. “In whatever time period this is, they’ll likely assume we’re married. But we don’t have rings or anything to drive that home and we can’t risk anything happening where we may get separated the way you and Alice already have been this time. So, let's stay as far out of sight as we can and avoid people at all costs.”
“I suppose we should probably also put our clothes back on soon just in case anyone happens out this far into the woods. The town was much more spread out then from what I recall from our history lessons…”
“Yes, it was.”
“But we can’t bank on no one happening by this area. Should we sleep in shifts?”
“We could…but I do think we’re far enough away from the house and main roads for us to avoid more immediate attention for just a night. Alice fell asleep in the loft the first time she jumped through, and we returned to the pond in the morning.”
“That’s where she was all night? Sleeping in 1999?”
“Give her a little grace – it was her first time jumping – falling – through. She didn’t have a sense of the pond’s rules yet, she was beat from an emotionally charged introduction to two of her family members she’d never met and knew hadn’t made it to her time, and also just met her mom as a teenager. It was a lot.”
“My first time back was pretty overwhelming too.”
“When was your first time back?”
“I’m…not quite sure. She was there, I followed her through. Jacob was there, Dad was there. So, sometime in the fall of ’99. But nothing especially big happened that time – it was just seeing them both again, after such a long time – playing ball in the yard. I can’t begin to tell you what it was like, seeing them untouched by it all.”
“I can only imagine.” He kissed her temple, a kiss of comfort. “You’re probably right that we should get dressed for now, but then we can return to this.”
She drank from his lips again before rising to reclaim her clothes, as did he, before they kept their word to return to the pile, resettle back into their positions, but with a blanket over them this time. Their jackets continued to dry on the wall.
They continued the night much the same way. She filled him in on her earlier trips through, before he’d known she was also making revisitations to the past. He shared some of his early interactions with Alice, wondering through her own wonderland of time and filling him in both intentionally and inadvertently with each trip back.
“I don’t know how you managed to handle all that information while not telling anyone else in 1999 or letting it influence you.”
“Oh it definitely influenced me. It made me lean into some things, away from others. You already know how badly I wanted to tell you what was going on with Alice, but I had no way to prove or verify it for you the way she did. And once everything set off with Jacob….”
“It just made it impossible.”
“Yeah.”
She cuddled into his shoulder. “I’m just glad we both know now. There’s nothing else you’ve been holding back or keeping from me, is there?”
“No. You?”
“Nothing.”
They heard a rustling then, outside the stable. Both of them sat up straight, looking at each other, noiselessly.
There was humming. They couldn’t quite make out the tune.
But Kat knew the voice. So did Elliot.
Footsteps entered the stable, hesitating as she saw the jackets.
She whispered, “Mom?”
“Alice!” Kat rose to greet her, hugging her as if she hadn’t seen her in years. Technically, she hadn’t.
As Alice hugged her back, she saw him over her mother’s shoulder.
“Elliot?!” she looked him over, hardly believing her eyes. “How?!”
He gave a semi-bashful grin, no real explanation to offer.
“I’m not sure. I followed you both through, but only she and I arrived. Where did you go?”
“Forward. And I’m not sure how much I should say.”
“You’ve rarely been reticent before. I’m a big boy now, I can handle it.” Elliot encouraged, though admittedly he wasn’t sure himself he was really ready for whatever foresights she may share again.
“I just met my brother.” Alice said to her mom. “And he looks just like you, Elliot. You in 1999.”
Kat and Elliot looked at each other, with a mix of shock and knowing.
Well, they say it only takes one time. Now he just hoped that one time wasn’t the last. Maybe he should have taken his time instead of giving in so quickly. But then who knows what state Alice may have found them in. Of course, there was no guarantee that this time had been the time.
Elliot rose and took Kat’s hand. “Are you ok?”
“Together.” She said, full of meaning and question.
He took her other hand also. “Together.”
They kissed simply, meaningfully. Alice didn’t mind it now. She knew who Elliot was, how he’d been there for her and her mom over decades, in ways no one else had been or could be. He deserved her. As much as she loved her father, there was no denying this was the better match. This was a new era.
“Alice, when you came through was anyone there? Did anyone see you?”
“No, it was empty. But somehow I had a feeling you were here. Then I saw the horse outside…” she gestured. “Did you see anyone?”
Kat and Elliot looked at each other. Better to say it now.
“We think we saw Colton.”
“Colton?! Here? Now?”
“He didn’t seem to recognize either of us, so we’re not sure. It may just be an ancestor who favors him.”
“Strongly.” Kat underscored.
“But he had a rifle, Alice. He warned us this was private property.”
“Already? I thought this was sometime before 1814.”
Kat grabbed the book from the corner.
“I think so too. The book is empty.” She said, handing it to Alice, who leafed through the pages looking as perplexed as she had when she found it.
“Then we may be sometime around the war of 1812. Was the estate ever used for military purposes?” Alice asked.
Kat looked to Elliot.
“Look, just because I’m the teacher among us…”
Alice smirked.
“I can’t say for certain if the farm itself was involved, but yes, Port Haven was Fort Haven around that time. The person who looked like Colton to us may not have just been guarding a homestead, he may have been guarding a basecamp.”
“Maybe we should head back as soon as it’s dark. All three of us.”
“What if I stay?”
“Alice!” Kat and Elliot said in unison.
“I just got here! I don’t think I was sent just to bump into you two, lovebirds.” She said with a grin that belied her support. Kat blushed.
“But none of us can blend in easily here, Alice.” Elliot reminded her. “It was easier for you in 1999. You knew the music, you knew the family history. It was just a few decades earlier and you had the link of your mom to that time period. We’re all shooting from the hip here. None of us knows what – or who - we might encounter, but we’ve already seen the barrel of one gun today. No matter how stubborn you Landry women are I’m not too eager to see another historic rifle again soon outside of a museum.”
“Elliot is right. We should at least try to stay together. There’s no guarantee all three of us can go back at the same time…”
“Wherever ‘back’ is…” Alice complained.
“Exactly. So since there’s so much we don’t know this time…”
“Including how it let him through…”
“We should stick together as a team so we have the highest likelihood of helping each other on both sides of the pond. Whatever happens.”
“I really wish we had an Elliot here.”
“That’s what he said.”
“Gosh, it’s so nice to be needed.” He said with heavy sarcasm.