Part 16 (1/2)

”Well, Abbey's future was in the desert. Maybe it has something to do with that?”

”Maybe...” The professor appeared lost in thought, studying the elevator b.u.t.tons.

Abbey pushed 'L'.

”He saw them,” said Dr. Ford as the elevator started its descent.

”Who saw who?” asked Abbey.

”Mantis saw Simon and Mark. They were breaking into his car.”

The elevator doors opened, revealing a row of faces lined up in the lobby awaiting the next ride to the upper floors of the hospital. Dr. Ford stepped out and set off at his lively pace. Abbey and Caleb scurried behind him and wove their way through the crowded hospital lobby. The small hand of the clock pointed to five, and the large hand to twelve.

”What do you mean breaking into his car?” hissed Abbey under her breath.

”Seems like your computer scientist Simon has the ability to go Luddite when he needs to. They must've found a coat hanger somewhere. Old Jags aren't alarmed, you know. They had the car door open when I looked out the window.”

”Why didn't Mantis freak?” said Caleb. ”Or go grab Mark?”

”Oh, he's a cool customer, Sylvain is. There must be nothing in his car that he doesn't want you to see. Or things he wants you to see. Either that, or he figures he's got the whole thing so tied down you could steal the Jag and it wouldn't make any difference. Let's go see what they found. As for Mark...maybe he figures he can pick him up later when there are fewer witnesses.”

”So, Mantis is Sylvain Salvador?” Abbey asked. ”Who's Quentin Steinam then?”

”That, young lady, is a good question,” said Dr. Ford.

A sense of gloom pervaded the SUV when they opened the doors. Mark looked like he hadn't moved. His seatbelt remained fastened and his arms were folded across his fleshy chest.

Simon had his elbow on the armrest and his feet on the center console, his eyebrows knit together. He removed his feet quickly from the console when Dr. Ford arrived.

Sanome leaned her head over the back seat and rested it on Simon's shoulder.

”Was your covert mission fruitful?” Dr. Ford asked.

Simon raised his eyebrow. ”You saw us, then? We didn't find much, just a bunch of doc.u.ments on Al-Ice and aeronautics.” Simon pointed to a piece of paper on his lap. ”I wrote some of it down, the t.i.tles and stuff. But it might be nothing. Maybe he's just planning to make an investment of some sort.”

Abbey held out her hand and Simon pa.s.sed her the paper.

Simon continued, ”It would all have been fine if we didn't find the map of Coventry Hill.” Simon cast a look at Mark, who sat woodenly staring straight ahead. ”It was a smaller version of the one you had on your wall, a photocopy that had been shrunken down,” Simon explained, looking at Dr. Ford. ”Except there were little X's all over it in a certain area and a spot marked in red. It was on the stream that runs down the hill, kind of partway up where it plateaus for a bit. It was marked with the letters 'BP'. Anyway, someone,” Simon jabbed a thumb at Mark, ”got quite excited about the map and wouldn't leave the car without it.”

”And did you?” Dr. Ford said.

”Did we what?”

”Leave the car without it?”

”Of course,” answered Simon. ”But it wasn't pretty. Mark just kept tracing his finger over the stream to the part that was marked in red.”

Mark continued to stare out the front window.

”Was Mantis with Mrs. Forrester?”

Dr. Ford nodded. ”He most certainly was.”

”What did you mean by all that lex pars-monine, whatever it was, stuff at the end there anyway?” Caleb said.

”Lex parsimoniae. Sylvain is pretty good at cooking up elaborate strategies to achieve his goals. He often tries to trick the stones in a way, to bend the rules a bit, but the stones tend, as a rule, to snap things back into place. They prefer simple, elegant solutions that require the fewest machinations. Parsimony-like an elastic band snapping back into place. Sometimes when you think you've outsmarted the stones, you haven't.”

”You're talking about them like they're alive,” said Abbey.

Dr. Ford nodded. ”That's because most witches believe they are living, made from the souls of the witches that sacrificed their lives to make them.”

Abbey s.h.i.+vered. ”Why did they do that?”

Dr. Ford slipped into the driver's seat and started the car. Everyone took their seats and they pulled slowly out of the parking lot. ”Because it was a bad time for witches. They were still trying to live out in the open then and their practices weren't accepted. They needed the divination of the stones. That was when the Guild was established. It's kind of like a secret society. But as new generations came along they became less interested in witching and more interested in modern life. But in order for you to see the stones, you must have a witch in your family tree.” Dr. Ford flipped on the turn signal to pull in to a strip mall. ”That's enough of a history lesson. We need to finish our talk about the rules and figure out what we're going to do tomorrow.” He edged into a narrow parking spot and turned off the engine, then opened the vehicle door, gesturing at the coffee shop in front of them.

”Let's have a snack and you can tell me everything that's happened in the last few days. Then we can meet tomorrow morning at my house to discuss the rest of the rules and come up with a plan. Absolutely no using the stones until then.”

”Dr. Ford, we don't have much time,” said Simon. ”We have to be home by six.”

”We better get going then.” Dr. Ford marched into the coffee shop.

The coffee shop was warm and smelled of cinnamon. Mark ripped into a pastrami sandwich, and as Abbey spooned her curried lentil soup into her mouth, she realized she was starving.

Abbey let her mind wander while Caleb and Simon talked about the s.p.a.ce trip; Sarah, the computer; the desert, bubble, and Livingstone Labs; the dark nothingness in Caleb's future; Mark's vision of killing someone and creating a paradox; and Jake Hammond and his potential role in the events to unfold.

Dr. Ford nodded and took careful notes in his small black-ringed notebook.

Abbey let the bits of her cinnamon bun icing melt on her tongue.

Caleb and Simon weren't telling Dr. Ford the whole story about Caleb's future, because they didn't know the whole story-or even the half really. The future Caleb had been adamant that she couldn't tell present Caleb, but perhaps she could tell Dr. Ford. She'd have to get him alone somehow. Tomorrow, perhaps. Or perhaps tonight getting out of the car. But what parts could she tell him?

Abbey looked listlessly at the piece of paper Simon had given her with the camel drawing. She found herself humming a song she'd learned in Brownies. ”Alice the camel has two humps... Alice the camel has two humps...” Alice, Al-Ice...the camel.

”So, tomorrow we have to go find out more about Jake Hammond,” Caleb concluded. ”That's all we've got to go on right now.”

Mark's voice cut across the table. He'd risen to his feet. ”It was you,” he said. Little bits of his second pastrami sandwich flew out of his mouth and onto the table. Abbey stared at the little bits of pink and green sandwich entrails on the checked tablecloth. ”It was you,” Mark repeated, much louder this time, his voice reaching a frightening pitch, his finger pointed at Dr. Ford. ”In my future. It was your voice that yelled, 'paradox' at me, after the splas.h.i.+ng, before the explosion. It was you.”

Chapter 12.

A Shadow in the Future

Shards of pastrami continued to emerge from Mark's mouth. Dr. Ford had placed his hands on his knees and withdrawn into the back of the booth they occupied.

Simon intervened. ”Okay, buddy, okay. Let's calm down. Maybe it was Dr. Ford's voice. That just means he was with you in your future, there to help you maybe.”