Page 20 of After 5
Pickles sat behind his semicircular workstation, hands flying over keyboards, dreads cut short Wiz Khalifa style. He glanced up and gave us a wide smile.
I sent him a finger wave.
Al shuffled us over to the giant screen that held center court in the room. A map displayed on the screen that normally flashed with multi-colored dots now only held a trail of red. Remnants of the travelers’ paths, and the people they connected with in the past, were indicated by red dots moving like ants across the map. All the teams had returned from fighting the brigands and saving the past from corruption.
He pushed a few buttons on a remote-control contraption he held in his palm. The map spun and focused on my home state and a location not too far from my Aint Elma’s farmhouse. A black dot blinked at me, indicating a brigand on the move.
I swallowed hard. “Is Mortas after my family?”
“I don’t think so,” Al said, choosing a pointer from the pocket on his lab coat. Al tapped at a place on the map. “There’s a clearing here.”
I studied a picture of my landing spot. When I traveled, my vessel needed about ten feet of secure area for landings and takeoffs. I had landed in tighter spots, but it wasn’t safe. The chance I could end up in a wall, or in a body of water, scared me to my core.
I preferred not to drown in the past. The town was about five hundred yards away from a secluded wooded area. I agreed it was the closest secure area.
“Jennifer, if you land here, the walk to the town will be close to half a mile.” Al tapped on the route to the town.
“Hold the front door,” Ace said, hands on hips. “I’m driving.”
“Jennifer should drive,” Al said to Ace. “Her outhouse is less likely to cause concern if seen.”
Ace huffed. He never liked traveling without his cozy vessel, but his photo booth wasn’t exactly something found in the middle of the woods; then again, most of the vessels weren’t, but when we had the option to blend in with our surroundings, we took it.
Pickles came over and added some insight to our mission. “Dis is a sleepy town. Not much going on here, so I’ve no idea why Mortas is d’ere.” The lyrical cadence of his Jamaican accent had a calming effect on me.
He squeezed the bridge of his nose. “I’m sensing another traveler has broken da time portal, but I believe it’s from a jump in da past.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“He means,” Ace said. “There’s activity from a past traveler who has jumped to this time mucking his vision.”
“There’s always the chance another traveler has been to this time,” Al added.
“Can you see the other traveler?” I asked.
“Sometimes I can, but it’s difficult for me ta see who it is until I’ve gone into da deep meditation. There’s no time for dat now, da portal is closing.”
“Is it hard to have so many visions?” I asked Pickles.
“If I remove my key, my mind has a vacation.” He tapped a finger against his temple, and the stack of leather bracelets he wore slid down his smooth, mocha skin.
“This is where the man in the newspaper clipping lives. The man who owns the sword.” I chewed my bottom lip. “I’m curious why Mortas wants the sword.”
“With the switcheroo games these Mafusos are playing, it bloody well could be any one of them.” Ace moved forward, examining the black blinking dot designated to Mortas.
“No. Dats Mortas. I see him clear as da bell.”
I considered the way Pickles envisioned the decisions of the destinations made by the travelers. “Can you see the time portal if you wear a different key?” I asked him.
“Das a good question. I’ve never worn another, but unless da key belonged to a seer, I do not believe I could see da portal.” He shook his dark curls. When he met my eyes, a glint of understanding for the reason behind my questions sparkled in his eyes. “It’s important to wear da key given to you by your ancestors. It holds energy from da wearers of da past. It’s da best key.”
“So, if someone didn’t have their key, they wouldn’t be able to use their extra gifts.”
“Most often, that is the case,” Al said.
And the reason Caiyan seeks his key. In my opinion, Caiyan’s gifts of tumbling locks and causing pain in another traveler wasn’t reason enough to quit our relationship and leave the WTF.
“It’s possible all has not been revealed, but maybe the answers you seek will present themselves.” Al gave me a grandfatherly pat on the back and motioned toward the exit. “Time to go.”
