Authors: Esther M. Soto
Doc chuckles at Will's frustration. “Well, that is a revelation. Don’t men open gals’ doors in the future, young lady?” Doc inquires with an amused expression. I guess I’ve passed the test and Doc also believes I’m telling the truth. The news about D-Day must have sunk in.
“Not really, Doc, turns out we can open our own doors, pay for our own dinners, and pretty much do everything by ourselves without any help from men,” I reply with a slight grin, not looking at Will. In honesty, I don’t want to know what he thinks of my answer to Doc.
“I highly doubt that, young lady, unless they figured out how to have babies without men in the future,” he scoffs as he shakes his head dismissively.
Uh oh. My expression says it all. My mouth slightly opens, and I shrug my shoulders. “Well…” I wince.
Doc’s grin vanishes and it is replaced by an astounded look. William stops moving.
“That’s impossible!” Doc is shocked and stunned, as both men pin me with accusing looks.
I take a deep breath and let it out in a quiet sigh. “Well…technically we can. We still need the
ingredient
, but not the
equipment.
”
They look at me as if I’ve grown two heads. I guess I better get used to that look. I shrug my shoulders, heading inside as I walk past them.
“Well,
this
I have to hear,” Doc mutters behind me.
We all sit in Doc’s office as I briefly—and vaguely—explain sperm banks and artificial insemination to Doc and Will. Both men sit in silence, speechless. Will also fills Doc in about my military background, and they clear up who did what to me. Will found me, brought me to the farmhouse, and Carol disrobed me while he called Doc. Doc returns my magazine, which I place in the pocket of my overalls.
I’m trying not to give too much away while politely answering their questions. I figure there’s no harm in revealing a few things. Again, I don’t give up too much information or address history. Especially about this war. As if reading my mind, Doc brings up the subject.
“We gather you know how this war will end, don’t we, Will?” His somber look lands in Will’s direction.
“Yes, I do, sir,” I say and don’t offer any further explanation.
Will looks at the ground, his head hung low, and the light tone of the conversation plunges as talk of war begins.
“Well, do we want to know how it ends?”
As if sensing my hesitation, Will chimes in after Doc. “You are afraid to tell us too much, aren’t you?” Will spares me. “Do we win? Can you at least tell us that?”
“If you can call it that. No one wins in war. Let’s just say it will be at great cost. Many lives will be lost, and thousands of innocent people will die.” Afraid they will continue to ask questions, I quickly add, “Please don’t ask me for details. I don’t know how this works. I have no clue how I ended up here so who knows what will happen if I say something that might affect the future somehow.” Frustrated, my words rush out. I’m losing patience with my present situation, and it shows. The lack of control and the not knowing what the hell is going on is catching up with me. I’m losing it. I need to keep it together.
“It’s all right, dear.” Doc tries to pacify me with an assuring look full of patience and compassion.
“So, what now?” I lean back and sit up straighter in my seat, mustering a professional tone.
Both men look awkwardly at each other. Either they have no clue or they still have doubts about me.
“You guys don’t believe me, do you?” I’m dumbfounded. After seeing my iPhone, all my belongings, D-Day, they still have doubts? I can’t blame them though. I'd be skeptical, too, I guess.
“It’s not that dear, it’s just…” Doc trails off. “Honestly, this is all as new for us as it is for you. We don’t even know where to begin helping you get home."
I straighten in my chair. “Well, luck will have it I'm a detective, so let’s start at the beginning.” I assert the lead. “Let’s go back to where I landed, or arrived. Will, can you drive us there? Maybe there’s a clue, something there that might indicate how I got here."
“Sure can,” Will replies as he shoots to his feet.
“Okay, let’s go. Doc, are you in?”
He pushes himself up from his chair. “Already in it, young lady, might as well come along for the ride,” he says, smiling my direction.
“All right, let’s do this.”
After twenty minutes on the road, we finally reach the farm. We drive past and continue down the dirt road, Doc following behind in his car. I’m anxious to see what we can find but mostly, I’m worried about finding nothing at all. Would that mean I’m stuck here forever? I can’t go there. Not yet.
After driving for about five minutes, Will pulls over by a field. The day is bright and sunny, and I can see the Shaw farmhouse in the distance. The roof of the house sticks out of the horizon where sky and land meet. If I didn’t know the house and barn outbuildings were out there, I wouldn’t even notice those tiny specks; with the bright sun, they look like some kind of mirage.
“Here we are,” Will says, the three of us getting out of the truck.
“This isn’t it.” We are parked by the dirt road, next to a field, but nowhere near the sea of tall grass and nothingness I remember.
“What do you mean?” Doc asks curiously. It takes me a moment to process what he says.
“I mean, this isn’t where I woke up. All I see is cornfields. There wasn’t any corn around where I woke up.”
Will clears up my confusion. “This is where I found you. I’m not sure where you woke up.” He walks over to some tire tracks at the edge of the road.
“Right here.” Will points at the ground as he kneels down, removing his fedora in the process. “You were lying right here, on your back.”
I kneel right next to Will and examine the ground carefully, hoping to find some clues. Anything at this point would help, but there’s nothing out of the ordinary. The tracks look old, the dirt already faded and dried up. The slight breeze brushes the cornstalks together softly, the sound similar to light rain, with occasional cricket chirps.
“There’s nothing here,” I say, rising back to my feet.
“Do you remember how far you walked, from which direction?” Doc asks. I close my eyes, and try to picture what I saw that day.
“Nothing. That’s the first thing I noticed. There was nothing. Just tall grass and a whole lot of nothing like a never-ending prairie field. I woke up disoriented and,” I try to think of the right word, “drained. I felt as if someone sucked all the energy out of me. That might be why I collapsed.”
“So, let’s say hypothetically you walked an hour,” Doc speculates. “Will, what’s out there,” he points away from the house, in all three directions, “an hour away on foot, would you say?”
“East or west would be neighboring farms. North…” Will’s expression is discomforting.
“What is it?” I ask. Doc and I exchange a look.
“Nothing,” Will replies almost in a whisper. “There’s nothing there.”
I take the lead once again. “Sounds like as good place as any to check out. Let's go.”
قلب
We opt to take the truck instead of walking, since Will claims there isn’t so much as a path that far out. Once the dirt road ends, we set out on foot. As I scan the area, there’s an eerie silence hanging over and all around us, aside from the sound of tall grass being caressed by the wind. And there’s nothing soothing about it. Dread fills the air, the sound reminding me of one of those prophecies in the Bible, maybe the one about the swarm of locusts. The thought sends a chill through my spine. William said this was part of their property, but to me, it feels like no-man’s land. I’m getting a very bad vibe.
Walking further into the open field, I bring my hands to the back of my head. I slowly spin all around, searching in every direction. Doc and Will watch me in suspense.
Then I stop. The clump of trees. “This is it.”
Will wastes no time displaying his 1940's chivalry mode. “Go ahead and return to the truck. Doc and I will take a look around.”
He seems worried, like whatever brought me here is going to show up and suck me right back. I stay in place, ignoring him.
“Ileana—” That’s it. I pin him with my death glare.
It is on!
“I don’t think so. With all due respect, I know this is your property and all, but this is about me. I’m capable of taking care of myself, as you somehow keep forgetting.”
Doc retreats to give us some room. Will approaches me slowly, his strong jaw clenched. I can tell he’s torn. He wants to help me, but somehow is afraid he won’t like what we’ll find.
“I just…” He reaches for me, and my heart picks up the pace, pounding inside my chest. Adrenaline is feeding my lust for this man. At a very inopportune time, I might add. Instinctively, I take a step back while I raise my hands up to stop his progress. He continues ahead until my palms press against his solid chest, feeling the hardness through his work shirt. He pins me with his beautiful blue eyes, now dark and intense.
“There’s something about this section of land. I don’t know what it is. It’s just empty land, dividing my dad and my uncle’s farms. They’ve tried planting corn and other things, but nothing ever grew.”
I’m rooted in place, unable to turn away, my gaze locked with his. My breaths are short and shallow, and my stomach coils at his touch. Blood rises up my neck, my ears burning. Will’s strong hands grip my upper arms, pulling me against him. The second he registers my reaction, he lets go and steps away apologetically.
Slowing down my breathing and regaining my composure, I take in the information he just shared.
“Do you know why nothing can grow?”
“No, I don’t, but I know who might.”
We hear Doc’s voice in the distance, yelling, “Will! Over here!”
Will and I run through grass so tall it reaches my waist and Will’s hips. We find him in a small clearing, and my brain cannot make sense of what I’m looking at.
“What the hell?” Will says. I’m surprised; I’ve never heard him curse.
Doc is standing in front of us, his eyes fixated on the ground. As we follow his gaze, we see it. It’s a perfect circle of flattened grass, the center blackened. They both turn and stare at me as if I can provide some insight.
“Don’t look at me, you two. I have no clue what is going on…” I finally look around and realize where I am. The clump of trees is located closer, at the angle that I remember. “Oh yeah. This is definitely where I woke up.” I shoot Doc a look, and then, as if he read my mind, we enter the flattened circle and crouch down next to the middle section.
“Okay. Let’s see what we got.” I kneel down in front of the stain, making sure not to disturb the evidence. “So was this my entry point?” I ask, looking through my overalls for a pen or an evidence bag—something to touch the grass with and not taint the evidence.
What am I doing?
Shaking my head, I reach out and touch the burnt spot on the ground. “It’s cold to the touch and looks odd. Not a perfect circle, grass seems intact.” I motion with my hand at the unusual shape. “What you do you think, Col—” I glance up to find Doc and Will, once again, staring at me as if I’ve grown two heads.
And it hits me. Tommy. I’m working this like a case, and here I am trying to bounce ideas off him, as we always do. An invisible force squeezes my heart, sending painful shots throughout my system. I hopelessly glance at Doc and Will.
Why am I so lost without him?
I can do this. I need to do it. Swallowing thickly, I get my bearings back.
“Doc, what do you make of this?” I tilt my chin to the marked spot.
Doc’s eyes widen and he pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Well, if the grass was on fire it wouldn’t still be in one piece.” He yanks a blackened piece off the ground and shows it to me.
Will stands next to us, pushing his fedora back and then bending down, large hands resting on his knees. “It is in one piece,” he adds, brow furrowed in curiosity.
I pull a part of the burnt grass up and bring it to my nose. It smells like smoked wood, not burned. Pinching it through my fingers, I find that the black coating stains them while the blade of grass is perfectly preserved.
“It’s not burnt.” I catch Doc watching my inspection of the grass.
“What do you remember exactly?” Doc asks me, rising to his feet.
I get off my haunches and join him. “Walking, then this white light exploding under my feet, then boom. Next thing I remember, I’m sprawled on my back looking up at the sky.”
“Fascinating.” Doc’s mind is working as he circles the mark while tapping his index finger against his lips. “Anything else, Ileana?”
“Yeah, the feeling.” Both men’s eyes dart to me in question. “I can’t explain it. It was like being summoned…” I pause, trying to find words to describe it but failing miserably. “It wasn’t physical, more like a compulsion. This humming that I could not only hear but feel, making me move toward
something
.” I shake my head, unable to concretely convey what went on that day.
“Fascinating,” Doc says, unable to contain the excitement in his voice as he continues to walk around the circle.
“Stop saying that, Doc. What are you thinking?” I ask, rubbing my forehead in frustration.
“Stand inside the spot, Ileana,” he orders.
I step inside and Doc nods. “
Hmm
. That’s not quite right.” He points down. “Now sit inside it.”
“What are you getting at, Doc?” Will takes the words out of my mouth. Doc just motions downward with his hands, wanting me to sit.
“Fine.” The second I do, I see what he’s doing. “Bingo.”
The mark fits my sitting position to a T. I’ll be damned. I get up and step out of the flattened mark when something catches my eye farther ahead. I walk away from Will and Doc, heading right to the spot as if it’s calling my name.
“Where are you going?” Will calls after me.
I can’t answer. I can’t look away. I head straight for it.
“Oh
no, no, no
. Shit.” I must have said it aloud, because Doc and Will are hot on my heels, asking me what’s wrong. I step into the blackened circle in the grass, this one about a foot larger than mine. What’s wrong? Jesus, how do I break this to them? Doc and Will reach me and finally look down to the ground to see what I’ve been staring at.
If my instincts are correct, which they usually are, this was my suspect. He’s here, trapped in 1944, with me.