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Abbie pushed her chair back, and Nica ran into her hold.
“I’m not scared anymore.” Her shivering within Abbie’s hold declared that a lie.
Jimi crowded close; his eyes wide open and focused on Nica. He was taking his cues from his big sister. Smart lad.
“While I’m away, your jobs will be to take care of each other, Yousef, Bran, and Robert,” Abbie said, pulling Jimi onto her lap. “Are you two up for that SB mission?”
They both nodded enthusiastically, glad to have something important to do.
“This is one of many adventures we’ll have together,” Abbie said. “Because we’ll be apart for a short while does not mean we’ll stop worrying about each other. But we must be brave and believe that we’ll be together again soon.”
She held her fist out and the two children joined her. “Who are we?”
“We’re the Standard Bearers!” Jimi shouted.
“What do we do?” she asked, a pleased grin widening her lips at his eager response.
“We help those in dire need,” both kids said.
“Who needs us to be brave right now?” she asked.
The children looked at each other and then Nica said, “Granny Chan.”
“Clever girl,” Abbie whispered and kissed her cheek and then her brother’s. “Imagine what an extraordinary thing we’re about to do to save her. We’re traveling into the past. You two and Robert will have to be here to guard Yousef, so when the time comes, he’ll be able to hold that hourglass to guide Judith, me, and her gran home. Can you do that for us?”
“Yes!” they shouted together.
“Then let’s go.”
Holding hands, they ran toward the kitchen to Jimi’s, “Yay!”
* * *
ABBIE AND HER FRIENDS and family gathered around Granny Chan’s kitchen island from where they assumed she had vanished. A sense of mutual excitement thrummed, heightening their tensions.
Judith had constructed a magical copy of the missing photo of Granny Chan’s younger self and Liwei. Alongside that were a bowl of water and a burning candle.
Crushed mint, rosemary, and fir—brewed into a spell oil to act as protection, clear away negativity, and improve clarity—now dotted the island’s four corners. That mixed-herb scent imbued the space with a witchy essence as if they stood around a bubbling cauldron in a dark forest.
Judith had also drawn a sigil using red ink on aged yellow paper. A call to the four cardinal direction guardians to guide them safely on their travel.
“Time to change clothes,” Judith said, “to fit the period we’ll be visiting.
“One sec.” Abbie fished out the folded piece of paper on which Robert had written Granny Chan and Wen Liwei’s London addresses from 1959. He’d also included notes about their activities on the day of Wen Liwei’s disappearance that Callum had mentioned.
All other items from this time, like their mobiles and Abbie’s exercise tracker, were on the counter beside Bran. Her children and Comet stood beside him, nervously watching the preparations. Nearby, Yousef held onto the pink hourglass and Robert had a small bell ready to ring, signaling it was time to start the ceremony.
Since Klaus refused to come with her, as a precaution, Abbie went to remove her ring in case her artifacts were not meant to travel through time.
The ring responded by merging with her flesh.
Settle down, she told it and gave up pulling at the ring. I’ll take you with me.
It resurfaced, but glowed with a red tint that hinted at annoyance.
Her Grimm cord was already inside her right arm. Since both items were now an integral part of her, she had no choice but to take them along. She hoped their merging with her would guard the items. Also, she felt comforted knowing these two powerful items would accompany her on this adventure.
Since you’re coming along, she told the ring, when the bell rings, build a shield around Judith and me to keep us protected during the journey.
The red tinge around the ring faded, and it thrummed its acceptance. Excellent. That should protect the hourglass, too, since she’d be carrying it.
“I’m ready,” Abbie said.
“What would you like to wear?” Judith asked.
Before Abbie could request pants and a shirt, Nica shouted out, “A red dress!”
That surprised Abbie. Nica’s clothing when she moved in with Abbie had been in subdued colors, so she’d assumed that’s what Nica preferred. The only clothes Abbie had bought for her since were school uniforms.
With a thoughtful frown, she nodded her acceptance of Nica’s choice. She wasn’t about to deny Nica her last wish before she left. She also made a mental note to buy some primary-color clothing for her the next time they went shopping.
Once Judith finished crafting her garment-altering spell, Abbie slid her hands over her pretty new short-sleeve dress with its high scoop neckline that had a tiny V center. The dress felt tight on top and flounced out past her waist to below her knees.
Her trainers had transformed into matching low-heeled shoes, while Judith had tied Abbie’s hair into a high ponytail with a big silky bow. She assumed it must match her dress.
“Nice,” she said with an appreciative smile. “Can you give me someplace to stash a few first aid supplies, a small torch, a pocket knife, and this sheet of paper?”
“Will pockets do?” Judith asked. “I’d rather we didn’t carry anything we might forget.”
Abbie nodded.
“Good.” Judith waved her pinched fingers along Abbie’s sides until two slash openings emerged on the dress by Abbie’s hips.
She slid her hands in and discovered generous pockets filled with the items she’d wanted. She tucked Robert’s note inside one and said, “Perfect.”
Judith wore a black sleeveless outfit. Her signature purple streak along the edges of her straight chin-length hair was MIA. Instead, her ebony locks had shrunk into a curlier style that cupped her head a la Audrey Hepburn and finished with a cute black pillbox hat.
Yousef let loose an appreciative wolf whistle, which earned him a glare from Bran.
Abbie decided there was something to be said for vintage fashion styles.
Judith then produced two pairs of flashy Catseye sunglasses, which made the men grin and the children giggle. While Judith had chosen a plain black frame for herself, she’d fashioned Abbie’s in red with small white polka dots.
“You two belong in the film Grease,” Bran said, his admiring glance lingering on Judith.
Robert raised his eyebrow with interest while Yousef chuckled.
Judith pointedly ignored all of them.
“Shall we start?” Abbie asked, eager to get on with this journey. As each layer of clothing and accessory draped her, her pulse hammered as if she were about to press down on Shahay’s accelerator—always a dangerous proposition.
“Not yet.” Judith’s thoughtful gaze turned to Comet. “Shall we take the broom?”
Comet straightened up and flew toward the counter. At Abbie’s raised hand, the broom crashed to a stop on the island’s other side.
“Why?” Abbie asked, spearing the witch’s broom with a discouraging frown. Comet didn’t inspire her with confidence.
“If we take Comet, we can ride her and be invisible,” Judith said in a reasonable tone. “She’s an easy and fast mode of travel.”
“The fewer of us that travel into the past,” Abbie argued, “the easier it will be to coordinate returning. We’ll also have Granny Chan with us on the return trip, and all three of us won’t fit on Comet.”
The broom handle instantly extended another two feet, eloquently expressing her enthusiasm for this change of plans.
“Every bit of Comet is magical,” Judith said. “Meanwhile, my magic may not work since, technically, I wouldn’t have been born yet. If there’s trouble, Comet could come in handy. I haven’t experimented to find out all she’s capable of doing, but Gran said she’s powerful and would do exactly as I commanded once I accepted her.”
Catching and holding Abbie’s gaze, Judith added softly, “I want Gran to know I’ve now accepted her gift, with no reservations.”
The unspoken plea in Judith’s gaze won Abbie over more than all her other sound arguments. Her friend wanted to show her gran how sorry she was for their last quarrel.
Love is more powerful than magic. Something Abbie’s mum often said when Abbie was growing up. They might need all the help they could get, so she nodded in agreement.
That was all Comet needed to swoop over the counter to their side, her bristles barely missing getting singed by the candle. Once she was behind the women, she went horizontal and slid under Abbie and Judith’s bottoms.
Before Abbie could protest, she was five feet off the ground, hanging onto the broom handle with one hand and clutching the hourglass to her chest.
Robert’s bell chimed, and Judith began her incantation. The ring’s shield sprang up around Abbie, Judith, and the broom. The air grew thick with energy and stank of herbs strongly enough to make Abbie want to gag.
Anxious now to quit the room, she made her travel wish while focusing on the photo lying flat on the counter below them, and then she began the motion of turning the hourglass over. A streak of white light shot across the room from one hourglass to the other.
Yousef started and held out his arm, the hourglass standing upright on his palm. That hourglass lifted to hover over his flat palm and turned over in sync with Abbie’s motion.
While the hourglasses were only half turned, the light thread connecting them twisted and separated into twin white and pink threads. Then a powerful pull began at Abbie’s back and a deafening whoosh sounded behind her. She glanced back and spotted a portal opening.
“It’s working.” She flashed her friends a triumphant grin when a movement by the window drew her attention.
Bran was peering out into the back garden. Her brother then streaked outside, suggesting trouble. Could the same person who had interrupted Granny Chan and murdered Mr. Brown be back to cause trouble?
Abbie shouted, “Robert, check on Bran.”
Uncertain if they should stop this spell in case Bran needed their help, she halted the hourglass turning in mid-motion.
Judith shouted in her ear, “We have to go!” There was torment in her voice.
Two opposing thoughts clashed within Abbie’s mind. Judith was right, and her friend did still care deeply for Bran. Yet, their role now had to be to help Granny Chan. Abbie understood how difficult that choice must have been to make, because she, too, was torn. Agreeing with Judith felt like a betrayal of Bran, her kids, and the rest of her friends.
“Now we’ve started,” Judith shouted to be heard above the whooshing sound as the cavern behind them expanded, “we must keep going. Abbie, I know you don’t want to leave your family, but I need your help to save Gran. Please. She has no one but us.”
Judith’s plea wove straight into Abbie’s heart, where a hole had grown the day her friends died without her to help them. Over and above Robert and Yousef, Bran and her kids had Kali, Abbie’s parents, and even Callum to help them if needed. Judith and Granny Chan had no one but her to turn to. It was a plea from a friend that Abbie couldn’t turn her back on.
Never again.
Besides, interrupting the time spell mid-cast might endanger everyone, and then Abbie may help no one.
Embracing the sorrow in her heart at leaving those she loved to fend for themselves, Abbie surrendered her resistance to the inevitable and nodded acceptance to Judith’s heartfelt request. Taking a deep breath, she completed the motion of turning over the hourglass.
Before they could turn around to face the portal, it sucked Abbie, Judith, and Comet into it backward. The kitchen view ahead faded. A scream sounded and Abbie’s heart skipped in terror. She squinted into what brief view remained of the kitchen. Were those her children by the window, standing on a chair? Robert must be beside them, for three figures stood riveted by whatever was happening outside.
Yousef was the only one who stayed put. He’d grabbed the hourglass once it started to turn over, and it rocked him as he clung to it. Abbie had the same problem with the hourglass in her grip, which was vibrating so much that she trembled.
Judith leaned over from behind her to clamp her arm around Abbie’s waist, holding her in place on the wildly wavering broom. She then bent to the right and guided the broom to turn around and face the direction of the portal’s pull.
“Thank you,” Judith shouted, leaning into Abbie.
“Robert and Yousef will keep Bran and the kids safe,” Abbie yelled back, though she couldn’t help gazing rearward again. The kitchen was gone.
Comet now actively headed into the lighted tunnel that relentlessly towed them forward. They sped up. Then a boom sounded at their back and a bright, hot flash from their rear flung them forward ever faster into an opening ahead.
Abbie’s scream became lodged in her throat as they punched through another portal and straight into a dark, narrow alleyway. Flying through a dark corridor, they sailed a handful of feet above a hard pavement. Comet fought the fierce push from their rear—her bristles widening to spread out like a shield at their rear.
Something slammed into them and sent her and Judith tumbling off the broom onto the hard ground. She rolled over several people who cushioned her fall.
“Oh,” “ah,” “ouch,” and “ow,” resounded until they all came to a halt on the ground. Could have been her shield’s protection, but Abbie didn’t feel any bruises or scratches. Then she noted a whiff of an oddly familiar aftershave.
“Bran?” she said in shock.
“What happened, Abbie-girl?” he asked. “Did you cancel your trip?”
“No,” she said, “and I’m glad you’re alive.”
Someone beside them moaned in pain, and an arm lashed out, striking Abbie’s fist. The hourglass she’d been clutching during that tumultuous flight slipped out of her grasp and dropped to the ground in a tinkle of crushed glass.
“No!” Abbie cried out in panic and reached out. When her fingers found the hourglass, they went through the now non-existent glass barrier that had kept the sand confined. She scrambled up, but it was too dark to see.
Light flared beside her and then Judith swore as her torch highlighted the damaged hourglass. On breaking, it had scattered the white sand across the filthy alley. Even as Abbie gathered a few grains of that sand, a stray wind blew the rest away into the darkness.
“At least my magic still works,” Judith said as her large torch, which couldn’t possibly have fit in her skirt pocket, roamed over the others who had unexpectedly joined them.
Bran and a middle-aged woman were in this alleyway. The lady had a red spreading stain on her sleeve identifying a fresh wound.
“Who are you?” Abbie asked and extended a hand to help the stranger up.
The woman accepted her offer and heaved herself up.
“I found her trespassing,” Bran said, rising to his feet and checking out the area with a frown. Then he added in a nervous tone, “Where are we?”
“Not home,” Abbie affirmed, squinting to see the edges around where Judith’s light shone. She wrinkled her nose as the next breeze blew in a whiff of refuse. “By that stench, I’d say you and your captive have joined us in London.”
“London?” the woman said, cradling an arm. “How can that be?”
“Hold still.” Abbie pushed the woman’s mid-length sleeve up to check on her injury. “A scratch, but a deep one.”
She gave the broken hourglass to Bran, who took it and offered a regretful, “Sorry to have crashed your party, Abbie-girl. Literally.”
She shrugged and tore a strip off her slip. “We’ll need to make that trip to Grandma Ruby after all if we hope to return home.”
Using the torn cloth, Abbie brushed the dirt off her patient’s arm. Then, extracting two plasters, she used them to staunch the bleeding and protect the wounds. “Didn’t expect to use these so soon. You’ll have to treat these scratches with antiseptic later.”
“What did you mean, we’re in London?” The woman sounded shocked. “How?”
“First, what were you doing in my gran’s back garden?” Judith asked, stepping forward.
The woman glanced at her with trepidation. “Sorry about that. I came to retrieve a scarf.”
“Was it a pink one?” Abbie asked, studying her. With a dragon motif? This woman didn’t fit the figure she’d seen in Figg’s memory. Though she’d only seen her back, the lady speaking to the immortal had been shorter and slimmer.
“How did you know?” the woman asked, glancing at Abbie with surprise.
“Who are you?” Judith asked again, cutting to the chase.
The stranger glanced from Judith to Abbie, giving their outfits careful study. “I’ve seen photos of my mum in dresses like those,” she said with a tentative smile. “Were you both off to a vintage party?”
At their pointed silence, she sighed and finally said, “I’m ... I’m Amanda Channing.”
Abbie reached out and clamped her right hand over the woman’s closest arm, which, unfortunately, was her wounded one.
Amanda Channing cringed. “Ow.”
Abbie loosened her hold and asked her cord, “What’s her name?”
Amanda Channing Beckwith, the cord responded in Abbie’s mind.
“Who said that?” the woman asked, looking around.
Correction, the cord had broadcast to all present. Great. This woman was learning more about their business than was safe. Especially for someone with that surname.
“Is it true?” Abbie asked, more shaken by the cord’s revelation than its penchant for broadcasting its answers. Was this woman related to the man who wanted to take away Abbie’s kids? Could this week get any worse? “Are you related to Councilman Beckwith?”
The lady pressed her lips tight. At her audience’s continued stony silence and stares, she reluctantly nodded. “I’m his wife.”
Judith and Bran took a startled step back as Abbie dropped the woman’s arm and did the same. Like synchronized swimmers, they couldn’t have done it better if they’d practiced this move a dozen times.
Their retreat left Mrs. Beckwith standing alone, clutching her purse and her wounded arm. Comet, who’d been standing up against the alley wall behind Mrs. Beckwith, now leaned her handle forward as if ready to knock out the lady if required.
Mrs. Beckwith’s worried gaze focused on Abbie, suggesting she recognized her. How? They’d never met. Had her husband described Abbie so well, or had he taken a surveillance photo of her and shown it to his wife? She wouldn’t put that past him. The last time they met, he’d seemed to know too much about Abbie and her family.
So, this was the councilman’s wife. Beckwith was a powerful, bigoted politician, at least according to Callum. Beckwith had threatened to take Abbie’s children away last autumn simply because Nica and Jimi were of Indian descent.
The stinking, wet alleyway felt dirtier with this woman in it.