Eternal Youth (32 page)

The bedroom was dark—they’d forgotten to light the lamp before going downstairs. Outside the open window, the moon was big and round and a cool breeze rushed into the room. Callie fell onto her bed, smashing her face into the pillow. “I don’t want to leave you.”

“It won’t be the last time we ever see each other,” Nailah answered, her weight sinking down onto the bed next to Callie.

“That’s a ridiculous thing to say,” Callie grumbled. “We aren’t ever going to see each other again.”

“If you take
anything
back to California with you,” Nailah said sternly, “remember to never say never. You fought my beliefs on the Bermuda Triangle and you fought your mom’s search for the fountain. Neither turned in your favor, did they?”

Callie mumbled something unintelligibly into her pillow, refusing to meet her best friend’s eye.

Nailah shoved her in the back. “
Did they
?”

“No. You were right. Mom was right.”

“So maybe you should never say never?” Nailah’s tone brokered no argument, so Callie just nodded. Nailah tugged on a lock of Callie’s hair and said, “If there’s a way out, there’s a way in. Logically, that must be true.”

Callie rolled over as Nailah left the bed to light the oil lamp. The flame flared on the nightstand between their beds, and the room lit up.

“I really will miss you,” Callie said softly, pushing herself up to lean against the wall. “I wish you were coming with me.”

“I know.” Nailah put the used match down on the small clay plate next to the lamp. She crossed the room and opened the top drawer of her bureau, then shuffled around inside for a moment before she pulled out a scarf.

“This is my favorite,” she said into the silence. She gripped both ends and held it up for Callie to see. It was extra-long and dark blue, shot through with golden thread. “I bought it that first day at Samantha’s.”

“I remember.”

Nailah padded over the stone floor in her bare feet and sat beside Callie on the bed. She lifted the scarf and draped it around Callie’s shoulders. “It’s a symbol of my life here—my
new
life. Take it back to California with you. To remember me by.”

“Nailah, no!” Callie shook her head and moved to take off the scarf. “You love this scarf.”

“But, I love you more. So, take it.” Nailah’s dark eyes were twinkling. She winked. “Wear it when you come back to see me.”

The next morning dawned dark and cloudy. A chill breeze accompanied the sound of the roosters crowing nearby as Callie awoke. She lay in the stillness of the house, struck by the reminder that it would be the last time she woke up in their home.

She couldn’t stop the tears, so she buried her face in the pillow and let them come. She would never see Nailah or Gran again. And the house—she really was attached to their little townhome and the beachfront view. There was a slowness to life in Aionia, a kind of ease that Callie had never known before ending up on the island. It was a far cry from the nomadic lifestyle she’d known, and by returning to the States, she knew she would be starting over once again.

Callie got ready for work in a fog, going through the motions without giving it much thought. Nobody said much at breakfast—Gran went all out with pancakes, eggs, fried potatoes, and some of the expensive bacon that they rarely bought.

But, Callie didn’t really taste it.

At work, even Gretta could tell something was amiss. They were sitting across from each other at Gretta’s desk, working in silence when the woman spoke up. “Callie, you’re very morose today.”

Callie was copying numbers from an account sheet into Gretta’s ledger. She paused and looked up, her pen poised over the yellow paper. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, silly girl.” Gretta laughed, tossing her long white braid over her shoulder. “Tell me what’s bothering you.”

Callie froze, her mind racing as she tried to come up with something that didn’t involve the words
dimension
or
escape
. Attempting to avert a telling silence, she blurted, “Boy trouble.”

“Oh!” Gretta’s eyebrows wiggled. “I assume we’re speaking of Alaric?”

“Yeah.” Callie flushed.

Gretta pulled her cat-eye glasses from her nose and let them dangle on the beaded thong around her neck, smiling. “He’s a handsome lad.”

Callie marked another number on the ledger, avoiding Gretta’s eyes. “He is.”

“You know, Callie, I’m aware you’re only seventeen—”

“Almost seventeen,” Callie corrected.

“
Almost
seventeen.” Gretta chuckled. “But, Aionia is your destiny now. You’re here, for good or bad. And you could do worse than settling down with a man like Alaric.”

“I agree.” Callie’s voice was so low that Gretta turned her head to hear better, and Callie wasn’t sure why she said what she said next. “I think I’m in love with him.”

Gretta’s hand crossed the top of the desk and gripped Callie’s. “You
think
?”

Callie shrugged.

“Did you know that I’m married, Calista?”

“No.”

“Well, I am. To a wonderful man. Nicholas. He was here for about fifty years before I came, and I met him on my first day. He was one of the soldiers who recovered our shipwreck.”

“That’s cool,” Callie said, and meant it.

“I was already fifty then,” Gretta went on. Her eyes weren’t on Callie anymore, but on memories that Callie couldn’t see. “He was much, much younger. But, we knew immediately that we were meant for each other. We’ve been together ever since.”

Callie thought of Gretta’s name on the title page of “A History of Aionia.” She had to have been on the island for a hundred lifetimes, and she’d spent it married to one man. “Wow.”

Gretta shrugged. “Honey, sometimes you just
know
. When two people are meant to be…they’re meant to be.”

“I don’t know,” Callie murmured, her pencil doodling a heart on the corner of the tablet. She thought of her upcoming escape. “I’m not sure if we both want the same things.”

Gretta just shook her head, a knowing grin fleeting across her lips. “It may feel that way, but I guarantee you do.”

Alaric showed up right after work, and Callie met him at the door with a kiss that was borderline desperate. Gretta’s words had rumbled around in her mind all day until she felt sure that it was the end of their relationship.

“I missed you, too,” Alaric said breathlessly when the kiss broke.

“Come in. Mom wants details.” Callie could feel that her face was beet red, but she couldn’t muster any worry over it. She just wanted to curl around Alaric and stay there forever—or at least until she left him forever.

Emma greeted him with a peck on the cheek. “Hello, Alaric. I have veggie enchiladas in the oven. Hope you’re hungry.”

His charming grin lit up the room. “I can’t wait.”

Nailah and Callie set the table as Gran and Emma laid out the enchilada fixings—salsa, sour cream, shredded cheese, and guacamole—and Alaric stirred the iced tea. To Callie, it felt like they were a family, which bothered her all the more to think that she was losing Gran and Nailah, and possibly Alaric, too. She took her seat at the table and began methodically filling her plate as she bit back tears. She’d been stupidly emotional lately.

After everyone’s plates were full, Emma spoke up. “Since Callie waited so long to tell me of this, I’m assuming you guys have come up with some kind of plan?”

Callie felt Alaric’s glance, but she didn’t look up from her food.

“The problem of a boat has already been solved,” Alaric answered. “I know one of the harbormasters. He always leaves his boat ready to sail at a moment’s notice. He doesn’t
know
we’re going to take it, per se…but, I think he’ll get over it.”

“What about the location of the tear?” Gran was pushing her food around on her plate. It didn’t appear that she’d eaten anything at all.

“We aren’t sure,” Nailah answered honestly. “Charlotte has been scouring all of the documents she’s gathered over the years and hasn’t found anything.”

“We’ll just have to take a leap of faith on it,” Callie murmured, sneaking a peek at Alaric.

He chewed a bit of enchilada, the flame of the pillar candle on the table twinkling in his pale eyes. The setting sun outside left shadows on his face. “Sometimes, you do have to do that.”

Emma took a deep breath, leveling her gaze on Callie. “What of this Charlotte person? Will she be meeting us later tonight?”

Callie nodded. “She’ll be here after the sun goes down.”

“The only thing we haven’t quite conquered is how to get past the soldiers,” Nailah said sheepishly. “They’re supposed to be stationed at all the ports—including the one where the boat is—but how do we get
to
the boat?”

“Sounds like we need a diversion,” Emma said. Callie didn’t like the devious tone to her mother’s voice. Diversionary tactics had been used many times over the years they’d searched for the fountain, and it almost always involved Callie being the bait.

Callie rolled her eyes. “I’m going to be getting
on
the boat, Mom. I can’t be a diversion, too.”

“But, I can.” Nailah grinned. “Sounds like fun, so sign me up.”

“You have no idea what you’re offering.” Callie laughed for the first time since Alaric had arrived. “My mother’s diversions are
never
sane.”

“Okay, so here’s something I don’t understand,” Emma cut in, her face scrunched up in thought. “Time. How do we know our time frame without a clock?”

“Alaric figured that one out,” Callie said fondly, shooting him a tentative smile. “Tell her.”

“The first hour of the day,” Alaric told Emma. “So, we need a clock, right? Which conveniently don’t exist in Aionia.”

“Right.”

He held up a finger. “But…there is one. A clock.”

Emma’s eyes widened. “Where? In the government building?”

Alaric shook his head. “No. But, you’ve seen it before.”

Callie grinned at the confusion on her mother’s face.

“Where is it?” Emma asked again.

Callie clapped her hands excitedly. “It’s the stone circle near the fountain!”

“I figured it out not long after I arrived here,” Alaric explained with a shrug. “Of course, I knew about Stonehenge and how it was thought to be aligned astronomically. I assumed the circle here must have
some
meaning. I spent almost five years studying the thing before I realized it told time.”

Emma pressed a finger to her lips, eyebrows furrowed. “How accurately?”

“I don’t know for sure, without something to compare it to, but pretty accurate, I think.”

Callie’s mother nodded, an amused smile crossing her face. “The stars are aligning quite nicely.”

“Seems that way,” Alaric agreed.

Callie stared at him, her own mind in turmoil as she wondered if there was room in the stars for him.
The stars might be aligning against us.

“I
t’s not the best diversionary idea she’s ever had,” Callie said with a chuckle.

Nailah stared out over the water, her face stoic. “We work with what we’ve got.”

The sun had set hours before. They sat in the clearing with the stone circle while Alaric stood behind the largest rock, his eyes on the stars. Callie wasn’t sure what kind of talent it took to tell the time on a giant astronomical device, but he’d been quiet for some time.

Charlotte, and her daughter Amelia, were back home with Gran, waiting. Callie’s mom came with them to the clearing, and then hiked off to “see the fountain one last time.” Callie had just rolled her eyes.

“Be careful,” Callie warned Nailah. “Those soldiers are under strict orders. Let them hear you scream before they see you, or else they might kill you.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better, Calista.” There was a catch to Nailah’s laugh that made Callie wonder if the girl was just as nervous as she.

“Sorry.” Callie took Nailah’s hand, and they sat together, not speaking. She wasn’t sure how much time passed—the waves sloshed against the shore and the cool breeze shifted her dark hair around her shoulders.

“It’s almost time,” Alaric said quietly, his voice breaking through the silence of the clearing. “Where’s your mom?”

Callie let go of Nailah and stood, brushing the seat of her pants off. “I don’t know. I’ll go find her.”

“I’m here!” Emma hurried from the direction of the forest, her satchel banging against her hip and her ash-blonde hair blowing in the wind. Her cheeks were flushed, and Callie recognized the devious glint in her mother’s eye.

“Nice timing.” Callie eyed her warily, but didn’t question what she was doing. Emma just grinned and rested a hand on the top of her bag. “Is it midnight?”

Alaric nodded, shooting one more look at the sky. “Based on my calculations, yeah. It’s close.”

They took the path through the trees and back to the townhouse. Nobody said a word, but Callie clung to Alaric’s hand as if he were a life-raft. He still hadn’t said whether he was staying or going with her, and Callie was too scared to bring it up.

If it was their last day, she didn’t want to end it on a fight.

As they entered the apartment, Charlotte stood quickly and turned to face them over the couch. “Now?”