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THAT NIGHT I planned my return to the white tower where I would continue my research. There was very little to pack, my backpack being the sum total of my luggage. I placed the crumpled ball of paper that had been my letter to Edgar inside the backpack with the travel glasses. The white tower had plenty of food and clothes. As long as I passed through security, I should be all right.
My thoughts bounced back and forth between getting to see Valcas again and wondering what Enta meant earlier that morning when she’d said “another Hall lost to me.” Who did Enta mean? Lost how? I paced the bedroom, trying to figure out the most polite way of asking this question. The timing felt wrong. Enta was still grieving. I decided that I could ask her my question later, once she and I both had time to heal.
When I was settled in bed underneath one of Enta’s handmade quilts, I heard a soft knocking at the door.
“Come in,” I called from the bed.
Enta entered, carrying a portable gas lamp in one hand and a small trinket box in the other.
“I’m sorry to bother you, Calla. I want to give you something before you leave tomorrow. I’m going to be staying somewhere else tonight. I need some time away from the house.”
“I understand.” I accepted the glossy carved wooden box and opened it to find a miniature telescope inside a fitted silk lining. “This is very beautiful. Thank you.”
“No, thank you. It’s something I probably should have given you earlier. I’m sure you’ll figure out why. Have a safe journey.”
Enta retreated and shut the door before I could form a coherent question about the significance of the gift. I got out of bed and groped around in the dark for the candle lamp that I’d already snuffed out for the night. I fumbled around until I was able to light a match which I used to light the lamp. I frantically searched the first floor and the barn for Enta, wondering why she’d left without any explanation about the gift. She was nowhere to be found. I ran back up to my room and fished the travel glasses out of my backpack.
“Enta? Enta, where are you? Hello?”
No answer.
“Why is she all of a sudden being so evasive again?” I groaned. “Would it have killed her to tell me what the gift is or what it does? And why couldn’t two genius inventors figure out how to add something useful to the travel glasses, like a ringer or a voice inbox?”
Frustrated, I stuffed the travel glasses in my backpack, snuffed the candle lamp and went back to bed.
***
I TOOK A DEEP, CALMING breath before clearing my throat. “My name is Calla Winston, friend of Shirlyn Hall and student—no, former student—of the inventor Edgar Hall. I am here to see Valcas to discuss our shared interests in time travel.”
Enta’s pig responded, this time with an unsatisfied grunt, to the fourth repetition of my scripted introductory lines. I gave the pig a tentative look.
“Too formal? You don’t think they’re going to buy it, huh?”
I dropped into a cross-legged position on a fresh pile of hay next to where I’d been pacing. Shirlyn wouldn’t be there with me this time to explain my arrival. I would be an uninvited stranger. Sure, I could tell the guards that Valcas asked me to come back and visit again, but no one would remember that. Our stories wouldn’t match, so no one would believe me. I was also stalling because I was nervous about seeing Valcas again.
“He may not warm up to me so quickly or grow attached to me this time, and for some reason that bothers me,” I admitted aloud as I drew the pony out of the barn and onto the dew-covered grass. My heart fluttered, then sank. This time, he might not show any interest in me at all.
“I guess we’ll find out soon,” I whispered to the pony once we settled into a comfortable trot.
I slipped on the travel glasses. The sky transformed from pink to white to black.
***
THE EXPERIENCE OF FLYING again lifted my spirits. As I waited for the swarms of guards in their Estrel-Flyers to materialize, I securely placed the travel glasses in my sweatshirt pocket. A 360-degree survey of the sky confirmed that it was daytime; there were no moons. Before long, a familiar shout beckoned me to identify myself. The voice was less threatening than I’d remembered from last time, but it still boomed with authority. I prepared to clearly speak my introduction into the microphone of the flyer as the security team continued to approach. I took a deep breath.
“My name is Calla Win—”
“It’s her! The girl has returned!”
Another, gentler amplified voice called out, “I will go back to inform young Mr. Hall, as he will want preparations to be made. He will want to be here to welcome you to the tower, Miss Winston.”
“I don’t understand,” I called out. “How did you know I was coming here?”
“Please follow us to the tower, Miss Winston.”
Multiple questions jumped into my head as I complied with the guard’s order. How were they able to recognize me by name? I shouldn’t even be a memory to Valcas, let alone his guards. Preparations? Did I travel to the wrong time?
It looked like the right place. The white tower gleamed brightly as I approached, led by the flock of guards. A tall dark figure became visible below, smiling and waving enthusiastically. Valcas stood at the foot of the tower in formal dress. His jewel-encrusted cloak, emblazoned by the light exuding from the tower, flowed to the ground and glittered several feet behind him.
Half expecting the scene to open up into a ballroom of blaring trumpets and a procession of color guard, I felt a familiar fear. Oh, please, no. I craned my neck and squinted, trying to see the color of Valcas’ eyes. I breathed a sigh of relief as I got near enough to see that they were the same bright green as when I’d left the white tower—the jeweled eyes that preoccupied my thoughts when I wasn’t mourning over Edgar or worrying about what my life would be now that he was gone.
I dismounted the tan and white Estrel-Flyer and cautiously approached Valcas. My own eyes roved back and forth between the unmistakable look of devotion he wore on his face and the massive bouquet of roses he held in the hand that was not reaching for me. How could he possibly remember me? When I was within a foot or two away from him, he leaped out and welcomed me with a huge hug, crushing the bouquet of roses against my back.
“You’ve returned, and here it is just two weeks later. Not that I could have waited much longer.” He grinned.
My understanding of past individuals’ memory loss shattered. I stared at Valcas, unable to speak even after my lungs expanded again when he freed me from his embrace.
“Calla, you are speechless.” Valcas’ smile was radiant. He recognized me. He remembered.
“Why are you dressed like that?” I asked.
“We just had an impromptu ceremonial gathering here at the tower,” he replied. “It lasted a lot longer than anticipated. My guards have been on the lookout for your arrival so that I could be here to welcome you back.”
I managed a polite nod even though I felt that I had no control over myself or my emotions. I’d been so upset thinking that Valcas would not remember me. Now it was even more disturbing that he did. It was all so confusing, so unexpectedly terrifying. Still wary, I let him continue making small talk while I tried to figure out what to do next.
“Did your business go well? I’m sorry—you look out of sorts. Excuse my ignorance, but I can’t seem to remember the nature of the pressing matter.”
“A funeral,” I choked out. “I left here earlier because my friend was sick. He didn’t get any better.” I bit my lower lip to keep it from trembling.
Valcas took my hand in his, tenderly replying, “I apologize, dearest. I was so intent on celebrating your return that I wasn’t even thinking—” He furrowed his brow and the corners of his lips pulled into a slight frown. “I feel terrible for not remembering something like that. At least now I have some idea why you don’t seem very excited to see me. Come, follow me. I have the ideal place for you to relax and forget about all of this unpleasantness.”
I returned his invitation with a dark look of confusion. I didn’t want to forget about Edgar. Who was he to decide when I was done grieving?
“I mean— if you’d like that. Forget it. Sorry. You must be fatigued from travel and grief. Would you like me to show you to the rooms that have been prepared for you?”
“Sure.” I shrugged. “Thank you.” Maybe he was right. It wouldn’t hurt to unwind. I was more than cranky, and I wasn’t being very pleasant to the person who, earlier that morning, I’d been both excited and nervous about seeing.
Valcas and I entered the tower and walked past the area of doors where I expected him to stop in front of one of the guest suites. We didn’t stop walking until we reached the doors farther down the hallway, the doors that led to the rooms inside of the main house.
Astonished, I asked, “I’ll be staying inside the main house instead of in one of the offsite guest suites?”
“Of course.” He smiled. “We’re much too closely acquainted for that.” Handing over the unusually large bouquet, he added, “These, my dearest, are for you.”
I tentatively accepted the bouquet of fragrant roses. Shirlyn had been so upset about being put up in a guest suite instead of in the main house even though she was Valcas’ first cousin. What was I to him?
“How closely acquainted are we?” I asked.
Valcas laughed, evidently amused, as he opened a white door and gestured for me to follow him into my very own suite of rooms inside the main house. I stayed in the hallway, waiting for an answer to my question. He took in my puzzled expression with a serious frown.
“You haven’t changed your mind, have you?”
“Changed my mind about what?”
“About our engagement.”