“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t start apologizing.” Olivia slipped her arm around Willow’s waist. “This isn’t your fault. That Davis is a spawn of Satan! He’s determined to set an example with Mitchell and Anders. Some of the elders of the church are protesting. Mr. Edwards wired his lawyer cousin in Pennsylvania. We’re hoping he can get here in time to put a stop to this nonsense.”
“What about the sheriff? He’s known the reverend for years. Can’t he help them?”
“He tried, but Davis has the politicians working for him, too. After what happened at Harper’s Ferry, they want to keep this quiet and not risk Anders and Mitchell becoming martyrs the way John Brown did.”
A single thought formed inside Willow and tore at her. An overwhelming sense of dread filled her at the notion, but she had to know. “So they mean to hang them?”
Tears glittered in Olivia’s eyes. “There’s no doubt about it.”
“They shouldn’t hang for what I did.”
“They shouldn’t hang at all. Nobody should; not for standing up in the face of evil, amoral practices. Lord help us all. I feared one day our actions would be discovered, but I never thought the outcome would be such as this.”
“It doesn’t have to end like this.” Willow rose from the bed to look down at her. “If I turn myself in, Davis will let them go.”
Olivia shot up from the bed like a lightning bolt and reached for Willow. Indignation blazed from her. Her long, slender fingers cut into Willow’s upper arms in a viselike grip. “No! Do you hear me? You will not do any such thing!”
“But it’s my fault! I went to Davis’s plantation to get Big Nat, and I helped him go free. Don’t you see? Mr. Anders and Reverend Brown lives are threatened because of me. I have to make this right, Miss Olivia.”
“Child,” she said, cupping Willow’s cheek, “you can’t. If you surrender to Davis, they’ll just add another rope to the tree. They wouldn’t spare Anders and Mitchell’s lives because they have you. Please, promise me you’ll stay here and not do something as foolish that.”
“I feel wrong about hiding.” Willow moved out of Olivia’s grasp. “You and the reverend cared for me as if I were your own. What kind of person would I be if I sit back and do nothing while he suffers for my actions?” Guilt and frustration waged a war inside her. She spoke with earnest conviction. “Neither he nor Anders deserves this fate. Honestly, nor does anyone who’s ever liberated a person from bondage. Miss Olivia, surely you understand that putting my life above his or Anders is cowardly and hypocritical.”
“It’s neither.” Olivia pointed at the table. “Sit down and have your dinner. I’ll bring your water up to you after I feed the chickens.”
The resolute command grated on Willow’s nerve endings. She was so sick and tired of being told what to do!
When and where will my life belong to me?
The answer came easily.
Nineteen hundred and eighty-five
. The year, so far into the future, beckoned with endless promise. Thor’s handsome face and low, rumbling voice haunted her thoughts as much as the unpleasant turn of events, sending her, Anders and the reverend into captivity. Although hers was self-imposed, the situation was no less dreadful. She sighed and rubbed her temple.
Olivia’s watchful gaze remained on Willow until she sat and smoothed a napkin onto her lap. Soon after, the partition creaked close. Alone again, Willow tossed the napkin onto the plate. She dipped her pen into the vat of ink and concluded her letter to Thor. When Olivia returned to the secret room, the letter was sealed inside an envelope.
“Please ask Miss Eva to put this one with the others.”
“Of course.” Olivia slipped the envelope inside the pocket of her skirt. Her arms closed around Willow. “Never in all my years did I think you would have use of this hideaway. It pains me to leave you here alone.”
“It isn’t so bad,” Willow said, ending the hug. “I’m fine.”
“You’re worried as are we all. You must not fret. God’s plan will be followed.”
“I wish I knew what it was.”
Olivia gave her a faint smile. “So do I.”
* * *
The stack of open letters lay on the grass beside Thor. Whenever a gentle breeze blew, the pages rustled softly, and he reached down and pulled the century old stationery closer to him. The letter he held in his hand was the last one in the pile. His fingers trembled slightly as he moved to the second page. Inhaling a deep breath, he rubbed one hand over his face while the other one gripped Willow’s letter. His voice was hoarse and unsteady as he read the letter aloud.
“Then I’ll remember the warmth of your smile and the gentleness in your eyes, and I’ll know that you were real. My greatest wish is that wherever or whenever this letter finds you, it will find you well and content.
“We talked about the different roads a life can take. You called it destiny. Like so many things about you, I believe that to be true, too. Perhaps, my destiny has called me. I cannot permit Mr. Anders or Reverend Brown to suffer the consequences for my actions. I will surrender myself to Davis and accept my destiny.
“I’d rather die for my own actions than sit back and do nothing while Miss Olivia and Miss Eva lose their husbands. I cannot imagine living my life knowing that I did nothing to try to correct this. Maybe Davis will accept my surrender and maybe he will not. If it means death, then so be it.
“Miss Olivia has confused my ideals with those akin to a martyr. Nothing could be further from the truth. Guilt and despair gnaw at me. You mentioned that you might have saved my life, but what if I was not meant to live beyond that moment? Well, since then I have lived, and I have loved. Maybe now, I must settle my account for the precious days of life you spared for me. Forever yours, Willow Elkridge.”
Anguish fell on him like a dead weight. No wonder his great-grandfather never mentioned her. Willow was lynched before the child was old enough to know her. Hot tears filled his eyes and guilt pierced his soul. The promise her life held was dashed away, and it was all because of him. If he could find a way to get back there, he would make things right.
But how?
He glanced around the woods he knew so well. The remnants of the creek where they first met lay not twenty feet away. The branches that shaded him as he listened to her hum hung high in the sky. The world she inhabited was his world, but it was a world one hundred and twenty-five years in the past.
How in the hell am I supposed to help her?
That damned movie made everything seem so simple! A little suggestion here and a punch in the mouth there, and bam, the future’s taken care of. The guy made out at the dance, kissed the girl, and everything turned out just damned peachy in the end.
Where is Willow’s happy ending, dammit?
Shit! Where is mine?
He gathered, folded, and stuffed the letters inside their proper envelopes. His hands did the mindless tasks while his thoughts spun, seeking resolution. In the movie, the kid had a fancy car and a tank full of plutonium that sent him back in time. Maybe Thor had a time travel device, too. Maybe he triggered something. That had to be it!
“But what?”
“Thor?”
He turned sharply. His father’s face frowned with concern. Thor waved at Bo and released the air he’d been holding. For a second there, he didn’t recognize his father’s voice. It sounded an awful lot like Anders.
“You’ve had the letters for quite some time.” Bo sat on the grass beside him. “Did you find what you were looking for?”
“Yes and no. It’s not what I expected.”
“What’s not?” Bo pointed at the envelopes clutched in Thor’s hand. “Do you mind?”
He handed all the letters except the last one he read to his father. “The pages are faded, but her handwriting is easy enough to read. Eva did a fine job of hiding them.”
“They weren’t always there, you know,” Bo said slowly. “I searched that closet and banged on the walls like you wouldn’t believe. There was nothing there. Then today the board was loose. What do you make of that?”
Thor didn’t know what to say, and then the voice of his older brother rumbled behind them. “Maybe it means that time is parallel. Check the date on those letters. I’ll bet she didn’t start writing them until after we started looking around the cabin.”
“You mean it’s October nineteenth for Willow, too?” Thor opened the last letter and read the date. His heart raced with excitement. He jumped to his feet.
Cal stepped back. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Just answer the question! Is the date the same for her, too?”
“Yeah, that’s what I think it means.” Cal’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Why?”
Thor thrust the letter under his brother’s nose. “Look at the date. She wrote the letter today. The nineteenth!”
Cal nodded. “Yeah, so?”
“That means there’s still time to stop her.”
“Stop her from what?”
Thor’s excitement warred with exasperation at Cal’s slow ability to understand him. “She says here that she’s gonna turn herself over to that planter and his people. They’re holding Anders and the reverend for helping Big Nat escape. They’re determined to hang them and Willow’s just as determined that they don’t stand trial for the stuff we did. If she turns herself in, they’ll kill her, but if I can figure out how to get back there, I can talk some sense into her and stop it from happening!”
As he folded the letter and put it inside the pocket of his jeans, his family stared at him in wonder.
“How are you planning to do that?” his brother asked.
“However I can. Look, I still don’t know how or why I went back in the first place, but I know Pop finding these letters today wasn’t just a coincidence. She and I talked about destiny. She thinks she knows what hers is, but she’s wrong.”
“Now hold on there.” Cal blocked his path. “You can’t just go running back in time half cocked and thinking with the wrong head—”
“This isn’t about sex.”
“I was out of line. Sorry. You know what I mean, take some things into consideration. Maybe Willow’s destiny is for her to die for her beliefs. You must be careful, tampering with history, little brother. So far, we’re still here, but if you do the wrong thing, you could wipe out the entire family.”
“I don’t plan to let Grandpa Anders swing from a noose.”
“What are you planning to do?”
“I haven’t thought it all through yet, but I’ll figure it out. The first thing I gotta do is get back there.”
“Slow down.” Bo rose from the grass. “Listen to your brother. I read some of those letters. You made a big impression on her. Let’s suppose you save them all and Willow comes back with you. What happens then?”
“That’s something she and I will decide.”
“Family is important, Thor. Never forget that.” Bo moved to stand just inches from his son. “Like I told you before and I’m sure you know now from personal experience that Anders is a strong man whose family meant the world to him. He loved them and for him, love was stronger than pride. Your life changed a good deal when you couldn’t throw ball anymore. Everything you dreamed of and wanted was gone.
“Like you, Anders suffered a big setback when he didn’t find gold in the hills like he thought he would. The life he planned for Eva and their children wouldn’t be the one he dreamed of. He did not fulfill the promises he made to her when she agreed to leave New York and her family, and that pained him deeply. That old watch changed him and came to symbolize a different way of life for him, Eva, and their small family.
“Don’t go meddling in the past and in Willow’s life if you can’t accept that dreams don’t always come true. You may get there in time to save her, and you may not. If you’re not willing to face the consequences and to be careful, stay here.”
Bo’s words seeped deep inside Thor, right to his core. Everything his father said was true. Dreams hung on a whim sometimes, but like the engraving on the watch said—love lasts forever.
“I’m willing, Pop,” he said, his expression solemn.
“But do you know how to go back there?” Cal asked.
The answer seemed to be on the tip of Thor’s tongue. He closed his eyes briefly. The key to unlock the past seemed to hang on the other side of a door inside Thor’s mind. If he could just push the door open, he would know what to do. He squeezed his eyes tight. Blood pounded his forehead. The answer was right there.
“The watch!” he cried, opening his eyes. “Pop, it’s the timepiece! The gold watch you gave me the first night we were here. I stayed up all night, fixing it. The next morning, I took it with me when I went for a walk. Then I took a nap and woke up in the past! I gotta find that watch!”
“Wait, Thor.” Bo dug inside his pocket and pulled out the antique timekeeper. He handed it to his son. “There was a letter inside that wall for me, too. It told me just how important this old watch is.”
Thor threw his arms around his father and hugged him tight. “Thanks, Pop!” When he released his father, he looked at his brother. “Drop me off where the Browns’ place used to be. I’ll show you the way. That’s where Willow is, and that’s where I need to be.”
“Pop, you drive,” Cal said. “I’m going with him.”