“Uh yes,” he answered.
“About these vortex’s,” Samantha drew Tara’s attention back to her. “How do you find them?”
Tara shrugged her shoulders and flipped her long hair over her shoulder. “I haven’t a clue. My grandmother told me stories. She was from Ireland and she believed in the Sidhe, you know the fairy folk. I kind of thought she was losing it.” She twirled her index finger at her temple, giving the universal sign for crazy. “But since I started working here, the old woman may have known a thing or two.” She leaned forward on the desk. “It’s so weird. I think I saw John Pedder the other day.” They gave her blank look, so she added, “The guy that was playing chicken with the watertight doors; he got cut in half. But if you really want to see ghosts, the pool is the creepiest—”
“Tara,” Jerry interrupted. “It’s great to know that you are one of us. You know a...” H
e leaned close and whispered, “…sensitive.
We were hoping you’d do us a favor and let us take a look at
the
room
Gillian and Samantha stayed in last time
.”
“
I’d love to help, but
it’s
already booked.”
Gillian groaned. “We have to have the room. You don’t understand; it is a matter of life and death.”
Tara lifted her brows, but then her mouth burst into a smile. “Really?”
“Yes.” Samantha grounded out, her voice sounding as if she wanted to throttle the infuriating girl.
“Is t
here anything that you can do?”
Jerry asked smiling broadly.
Tara smiled back. She looked at the computer and brought up the reservation. “They haven’t arrived yet. I suppose I could let you go up there for now, but you have to promise me you will be out of there before three. That’s
the official
check in time.”
“That’s fine,” Gillian would take what she could and deal with the rest later.
“This is it?” Jerry said as he stepped into the stateroom. “I half expected ghosts to be going at it in the bed. I’m a little disappointed.”
Samantha nudged him with a shake of her head.
“What? It looks like an ordinary stateroom. Where’s the vortex?”
Gillian walked over to the picture that hung on the wall, the one that she had been drawn to before. She dropped her purse on the bed and studied the family that had taken their picture in front of a riverboat. She noticed the plaque that was below it, knowing it hadn’t been there before. It stated, photo by Henry C. Norman.
Samantha looked over her shoulder at the photo. “Gillian, the woman is you.”
“What?” Jerry walked over to take a look, too. “It looks like Gillian,” Jerry agreed. “And I’d say that’s Zachary, maybe Tyler but who’s the little girl?”
Gillian’s hand flew to her mouth. She stepped away and plopped down hard on the bed. “Why didn’t I see it before?” Her lips curved into a smile. She mentally thanked Mr. Norman for documenting that she had been there.
“Do you really think it’s you?” Samantha asked. “Wouldn’t you know if you took the photo?” Gillian’s gaze met hers and Samantha caught on. “You haven’t taken the photo yet, have you?”
“No and this means I still have a chance.” She looked around the room. “This is the connection. This is how Molly brought me back. Tara had mentioned that this room had artifacts from a riverboat. The desk has to be from the Ida Belle, maybe from the cabin Zachary had been in. That photo,” she nodded toward it, “is another connection. Maybe they act like a conduit sliding time in a way that I could step from this world and into Zachary’s.” She made her own assumptions, but Jerry seemed preoccupied and it drew her attention. “What’s wrong?”
“Do you hear something?” he asked.
They listened for a moment. “Sounds like scratching,” Gillian said.
Jerry followed the sound to the closet. He slid it open and Molly came bounding out nearly toppling him over to get to Gillian on the bed. “Whoa girl.” Gillian leaned back, taking the full impact of the excited mutt that insisted on licking her face. “You came back girl.” She rubbed her behind her ears.
“She brought something with her, too,” Jerry said as he pointed at the closet.
“Oh my,” Samantha moved beside him.
Gillian slid off the bed and Molly ran ahead, leaping into the closet and turning around to bark as if to say hurry up and follow. They didn’t have to be told twice.
Gillian recognized where they were immediately. They were aboard the Ida Belle. She glanced back to where the portal had been. The passage back to the
twenty-first
century was gone and like all the other times, Molly had disappeared.
Samantha’s eyes widened. "I feel like I'm swaying."
"You are," Gillian replied.
"The effects of the time travel?" Samantha held onto Jerry for support.
"No." She couldn’t keep from chuckling. "You're on a riverboat."
"Oh. I don’t know if I should be scared, amazed or just curious." Samantha chuckled.
"Maybe all of the above,” Gillian told her. “Come on, we have to find Captain Pike. I hope he remembers me and will help." Gillian headed toward what she hoped was the front of the ship. Samantha and Jerry followed close behind, carrying the luggage.
"How do you know the captain?" Jerry asked.
"He's the one that performed the marriage ceremony.”
The three found out from a passenger, that the captain was in his cabin changing his jacket. He had a little mishap. Someone spilled a drink on him.
Arriving at the captain's quarters, they didn't waste any
time. Gillian didn’t even knock but threw open the door and walked in. Jerry looked to Samantha with a shrug before he motioned for her to go in ahead of him.
Captain Pike whirled on them. "See here. What is this about?" Then his eyes wide
n in surprise. "You're…"
He pointed at Gillian. "You're supposed to be dead."
"Thank God, you do remember me. As you can see, I'm alive and well." She moved closer to the captain, who quickly took a step back but this didn’t deter her. "I'm sorry to have barged in on you, but it's vitally important that I— "
“Where have you been?” the captain interrupted having recovered from his initial fright of thinking he’d seen an apparition. “Zachary is being held for your murder
.”
"I know, I know. That is why I need to get off this ship."
"As I see it, you need to be staying on; we're heading into town.”
The captain shook his head. "He is also being held for the attempted murder of his housekeeper. She's not doing well. However, she has been holding on to life these past days.”
"Where is this woman?" Jerry stepped forward.
"Who might you be?" he asked suspiciously.
"I'm Dr. Jerry Avery. I might be of some help to this woman. I brought my medical bag with me." Jerry lifted the bag for the captain to see.
"There's no helping that woman. She was stabbed in the gut. She won't be surviving such a wound."
"I'd like to try," Jerry was insistent.
The captain sighed. "I guess it wouldn’t hurt for you to try your doctoring on the woman."
Captain Pike turned the Ida Belle toward land. He asked one of his men to escort Jerry and Samantha to where Dora was being looked after.
"I'll be making the trip back in two days, be ready then to come back aboard," the captain instructed his man.
"Yes sir." The young man answered.
Jerry smiled assuredly
at Gillian before he left the Ida Belle. Samantha gave Gillian a hug. "If it can be done, Jerry will save her
.”
Gillian hoped that Samantha was right or their attempt to save Zachary would be lost since Dora was their only hope of finding out what really happened.
"Are you ready to go?" The captain looked at Gillian. “It’s no secret. Zachary claimed the body found by the river wasn’t you, but no one believed him.”
“That’s why I’m here.” Gillian squinted against the sun. "I'm ready. Let's make this boat fly."
The captain chuckled. "The Ida Belle is no bird, Mrs. Creighton, but I'll surely push her to the limits."
Gillian paced most of the trip. She couldn't sit still. She was worried she would be too late. The captain was sure the sentencing was today. She had to be there before that happened.
Finally, they docked and the captain wished her Godspeed. She remembered where the courtroom was located from her last visit into town with Zachary.
No one gave her a second glance as she quickly made her way. When she finally reached the building, she straightened her dress and took a deep breath and exhaled. She then opened the door and entered.
It took her a moment for her eyes to adjust. The courtroom was not very big, but it was crammed with people. Some were standing against the wall and in the aisles. Gillian worked her way to the front. Her eyes caught sight of Zachary sitting next to Ellery at the front table.
"Will the defendant please rise?" The judge looked at Zachary and waited.
Zachary rose from his seat and stood tall and straight, his shoulders squared as he waited to hear his sentence.
"Zachary, the jury has come to a decision . . ."
Gillian moved her way around one of the spectators. "Your honor, may I say something before you proceed?"
All eyes riveted toward her
,
stunned into silence. Someone whispered her name and the
cou
rtroom immediately buzzed with
speculations. She kept her eyes on Zachary, who in return looked at her with disbelief. God, she had forgotten how blue his eyes were.
She heard Tyler's voice above all the commotion. "Aunt Gillian, you're back."
With the mention of her name, the voices rose until she couldn’t hear what the judge was saying.
He pounded his gavel four times before there was order in the court again. "Please approach the bench, young lady." Gillian walked to the front of the room. She felt uneasy, knowing all eyes were on her.
Judge Turloff waited until she stood before him. "What is your name young lady?"
She straightened her shoulders and answered. "Gillian Creighton
.”
"You'll swear this under oath?"
"Yes, your honor."
"Please turn around and face the people of the court," Judge Turloff asked Gillian, kindly. The judge addressed Josephine Locke. "Is this woman, Gillian Creighton?"
Josephine’s hand flew to her mouth. “What have I done?”
"We're waiting?" Judge Turloff boomed.
Josephine glan
ced at Zachary then to Gillian.
"Yes," Josephine barely answered above a whisper, but it was quite loud enough for everyone to hear.
Judge Turloff looked at Zachary. "Is this your wife?"
Zachary searched Gillian's face, confusion evident in his wide blue eyes. Gillian knew he had questions. They thought they would never see each other again and yet here she stood. It felt like a dream to her. She could only imagine what he must feel. "Yes, sir.” Zachary’s voice was husky with a quiet intensity that brought all eyes around to meet his. “The beautiful woman standing before you is my wife."
Judge Turloff hit his gavel down on the desk with a loud thump. "This case is dismissed on the groun
ds that Gillian Creighton…"
He pointed to her
,
“
…
obviously was not murdered."
Arthur Mann jumped to his feet. "What about the attempted murder of Dora? Surely you don't plan on letting this man go." Arthur pointed to Zachary.
Ellery was on his feet also. "Looking at how this case has been twisted into lies. I move to have this also thrown out of court."
Judge Turloff looked as if he would have liked to, but Gillian knew ethically he couldn’t. "I will postpone testimony over Dora Chandler, until we have gone over all the evidence with a fine tooth comb." He looked at Arthur Mann. "If you cannot prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Zachary is the attacker, I will release him. Is that understood?”
Arthur nodded.
"Good. Now in the matter of the woman found by the river, we need to find out her true identity, so we can notify her family." Then the judge looked at Zachary. "Until such notice, I will have to ask you to stay with us a while longer."
"But, Judge Turloff . . . " Ellery began, but the Judge raised his hand
,
halting the flow of words.
"What I say stands. Do not argue with me." He looked at the restless crowd in the courtroom. "Court adjourned." He hit the gavel to the desk and rose from his seat.
Everyone at once started to leave, but Gillian stood where she was and watched the sheriff take Zachary away.
Lotti, Ellery and Tyler were beside her in seconds, all of them at once, asking questions. It would have been comical, if the situation at hand hadn’t been so dire.
"One at a time." Gillian tried to calm them.
"How did you manage to find your way back?" Ellery was the one to speak first.