Just in Time: Portals of Time (29 page)

“Is something wrong?”

“Dad says a lady should always enter first.”

“How sweet.” She hadn’t known about this particular etiquette.

She and Cody went through the doorway.

The room was similar to those she’d seen on the chips for young boys. There was a poster of a male in short leggings and a shirt that was too small for his torso, with number thirty-three on it. She remembered similar men on the video box at Jess’s. They threw balls and tackled whoever caught them. She thought the game exceptionally violent and often winced when she watched a play or two.

One side of the room held shelves of books, as in Dr. Lansing’s office. And pictures. She crossed to them. They weren’t 3D, and they didn’t move like the holograms of her time, but they were similarly used as reminders of people. She scanned them, and her heart tightened in her chest at the beautiful woman inside the frame. Her hair was as blond as Jon’s, and her eyes smiled. In one, she was laughing with Cody. In another, holding Jon close against her. A final one, kissing Dr. Lansing. For a moment Celeste stared at their embrace and found her hand touching her lips. When Celeste turned, she saw Jon staring at her. “Is this your mother, Jon?”

He nodded, and the knob at his neck bobbed. The bleak expression on his face made it difficult to look at him.

“She’s very beautiful.”

He didn’t say anything. Neither did Cody.

“Will you tell me about her sometime?”

Averting his gaze, Jon stared down at his shoes. She put a hand on his shoulder. Her skin felt scorched. So much was emanating from every pore in his body. It was a kind of pain Celeste had never experienced. She couldn’t help but drain some of the negative emotion from him. She felt weakened by it, but he brightened a bit.

“It’s all right, Jon, if you don’t want to talk about her.”

“I do.” This from Cody. “I wanna talk about her, but I don’t remember much ’cause I was two when she died.”

“Does your father or sister speak of her?”

Finally, Jon said, “Nobody talks much about her anymore. We did at first.”

“If you want to tell me about her, I’d love to know what she was like.”

He nodded. To change the subject, Celeste wandered over to the bed. The covering was decorated with hats of some kind. A protective helmet with glossy decals on it. A cap. A big, wide-brimmed one; she had no idea what it was. Glancing off to the side, she saw the real things on a high shelf.

“I have a hat collection.” Jon’s tone was shy.

Because of the Domes, Celeste’s society had no need for head coverings. “Will you tell me where they come from sometime?”

“Yeah, sure. If you stay around. Patty’s leaving.” Ah, the boy felt her loss, too.

Cody tugged on Celeste’s hand. “Come on, my turn.”

His room was more cluttered. On a big table sat a large, square box with water and…oh, my, he had flish in it. Real live flish. She’d only seen some replicas in Zoolawn. Crossing to the glass box, she stared at the little creatures moving and darting and coming up to the exterior. Her hand went to the glass. All those colors—orange, yellow, black and white.

“You like fish, Ms. Hart?” Cody asked.

“Indeed, I do.”

“Cody snuck some frogs from outside to put in there, but one escaped.” Jon giggled.

“What makes you laugh?”

“It ended up in Dad’s bed.”

Again Cody grinned. “Boy, was he mad.”

Celeste laughed with them. The thought of Dr. Lansing pulling back sleeping covers and finding a slimy, jumping stoad in it did seem funny.

They examined more of Cody’s space, then walked out into an open area on this floor with a video box, a second computer and books. The children called it a playroom though it wasn’t self-contained. “Do you like to read?” she asked them.

“Yeah, sure.” This from Jon.

“I don’t know all the words yet.” Cody grinned.

“Maybe we can read together before sleep time.”

They bypassed Madison’s room because Celeste preferred the girl to show it herself, then ended up in front of Dr. Lansing’s private space.

“Maybe we shouldn’t go in—” Before she could finish, Cody burst open the double doors and raced in. Again, Jon waited for her to enter before him.

Once inside, Celeste noted a huge bed, which appeared soft, even if it wasn’t a conformer. On it was a cover with subtle greens all mixed together. It matched the color of a stripe around the middle of the walls. The floor was covered with wood.

She breathed in the scent of the room, and her skin tingled. Sometimes, the very space she occupied sent a wave of images through her, as they had at Craig Krueger’s small dwelling. Briefly, she closed her eyes and could practically see Alex Lansing in here. Feel the texture of his clothes, see the contours of his body. Hear him breathe. A vision of naked shoulders swam before her eyes. Forcefully, she shook off the myriad feelings. Uncomfortably stirred by all the sensations, she eased them all out of Alex Lansing’s masculine domain as quickly as she could.

When they reached the first floor, Mrs. Kramer was in the foyer, shrugging into an outer garment of knitted material. “I’m leaving. Dinner’s on the counter in the kitchen. You don’t have to wait for Maddy. She called to say she won’t be home till seven.”

“Thank you for all this, Mrs. Kramer.” At least Celeste knew the mechanics of serving and cleaning up a meal. Alisha was right to make them learn this keeping of the house.

“Let’s eat,” Cody said as he ran into the kitchen. Jon followed more sedately. The sustenance was set out on the counter, and the boys served themselves. Celeste took small portions.

Sitting down at the table, she picked up the knife and fork. Cut the meat. Put it in her mouth. “Hmm.” The cheesy chicken was tasty, the potatoes fluffy. She tried the round green things, and her nose wrinkled at their taste.

“We don’t like brussel sprouts, either,” Cody said, catching her reaction to them.

“But Dad says we have to eat them,” the boy continued. “We could give them to a dog if we had one. I want a puppy for my birthday next month.”

Her mind raced to keep up with him. Birthdays were an odd custom to her, because in her time, children came out of produceries and were never actually born. And what would it be like to have a drog in the home? How could she encourage Dr. Lansing to obtain one?

When they’d finished their meal, each boy brought his eating plate, utensils and drinking cup to the sink. Jon rinsed them in real water again—here she wouldn’t be able to conserve it as they had at the Cromwell’s. Then he put the plates in the washer of dishes. Celeste copied their actions, made the table clean and stored the rest of the food in the oven for Maddy, as Mrs. Kramer had instructed.

“What shall we do now?”

“Read to me?” Cody asked.

They went upstairs and she smiled as she watched Cody jump each step with two feet. He made a game of everything.

“I’m gonna go to my room,” Jon said. “I have to study for exams.”

She and Cody settled in the playroom, and he went to the book shelving—they were all over the home—and picked out a tome.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
She was unacquainted with the story.

“Dad keeps saying he’s gonna read this with me but never gets around to it. Maddy read Jon and me the first Harry Potter book.”

She began the strange tale and was fascinated by the wizards and all sorts of odd creatures that she didn’t think even existed. On the soft couch, as she read, Cody inched over by degrees and cuddled into her.

Celeste’s heart brimmed with emotion. There was nothing in her past that compared to the feeling of having a little boy sitting so close to her.
Motherhood
must be wonderful during these times.

They’d read four sections, called chapters, when she heard from below, “Hel-lo.”

“We’re up here, Mad,” Cody called out.

In minutes, Madison Lansing appeared in the doorway. The girl was seventeen, but she looked older. She was tall and graceful, wore long hair with light-colored streaks in it, around a heart-shaped face. Her eyes were a dark blue.

“Hi, I’m Madison. Dad said the boys had somebody new tonight.”

Standing, Celeste crossed to her. “I’m Celeste Hart.” Purposefully, she held out her hand so she could read the girl.

Madison hesitated, then shook it.

Bombarded by Madison’s feelings, Celeste had to grab the end of the desk to keep herself from stumbling backwards. Her own shoulders slumped, and her neck ached. Along with anxiety and sadness in this child was an overwhelming sense of weariness. Maddy Lansing was exhausted.

After Maddy excused herself, Celeste helped Cody into bed, checked on Jon, then went to the first floor and out of inside to sit on the porch. Seating herself on what she’d learned at Jess’s was called a swing, she looked up at the stars. Their beauty usually calmed her, but her heart was full of conflicting emotions. The connection she felt with these children was strong already. And a yearning to ease their life—as well as their overworked father’s—was stunning.

Alisha would be angry if she knew Celeste’s line of thinking. Celeste wasn’t here to do any of those things. Instead, she’d been assigned a task to complete, and her actions wouldn’t ease the burdens of this already troubled family. Instead, what she had to do would increase them exponentially.

Closing her eyes, she forced herself to recall Rhea’s announcement of what Celeste’s work here would entail:
Whereas Dorian is to save the life of Jess Cromwell and insure his research continues, Celeste, you must destroy the life’s work of Alex Lansing.