the world. They probably wouldn’t be able to, but I don’t want to read about it on Wikipedia. Was it getting cold?”
James said, “Starting to.”
“You going back?” He put out a hand and hefted James to his feet.
James said, “I don’t know, I think maybe I’ll wait for spring. Sean was telling me about getting the grain stores ready for the people and horses and I was thinking, you know? I got something I need to get done in Florida, probably. I used Hayley as an excuse and left.”
I said, “You can use me as an excuse any old day, and don’t feel bad. If any of them could reverse the situation they would in a minute.”
“Except Fraoch.”
I got to my feet and brushed sand off my skirts. “Yeah he’s a special breed of stubborn.”
I got in the house, took a long shower, put on some of my regular clothes, and came out to the chaos of Thanksgiving dinner being prepared. Zach was too frantic trying to make it perfect. Isla was crying. Archie and Ben were running like little mad men.
Beaty passed Isla to Emma for a round of rocking and I slumped into a stool at the kitchen island as a glass of Coke was placed in front of me. “Feels like Groundhog Day. Living this over and over — where are they?”
Zach said, “I don’t fucking know.” He spun around and set the timer, grabbed hot mitts and pulled a casserole dish of potatoes from the oven.
I watched Beaty and Emma trade off Isla while the atmosphere was chaotic and loud and tragic. “Does that baby ever stop crying?”
Quentin sat down. “Not really.”
Zach said, “Massive case of colic. Or despair. But probably colic. She’ll be over it soon, she’s what, eight weeks old?”
Quentin said, “Yeah, so young, but me on the other hand, I feel fifty.”
I asked, “No Lady Mairead? No idea when they’ll be back?”
“Nope we’re just trying to run things to keep it all rolling.”
We all watched Zach cook and finally Isla calmed a little. Emma pantomimed, shhhhhhhhhh! While she swung her gently back and forth and then in like thirty seconds Isla was deep asleep.
I said, “Seriously? Now she’s just asleep? Now that’s a drama queen.”
Nobody said anything. I added, “Poor baby, where’s your mom?”
Zach said, “When are you going back to Scotland?”
“Probably, tomorrow. I need to see mom first.”
“How about you, James?”
“Nah, you know, now that Magnus isn’t there, or about to be there, it kind of seems like ‘who are all these people?’ He’s the common factor right?” He shrugged. “You feel like that Hayley?”
I chugged some soda. “You know, kinda? Like he’s the reason for all of us to the there... I get what you mean. Even Fraoch is there because Magnus gathered him, yeah, I get it. And hey, you can always go back later. I’ll be there to protect you.”
He scoffed. “Yeah, yeah.”
Beaty’s pig snuffled around my barstool and looked up so cutely I had to lift him to my lap, though he was now getting too big to be a lap-sitter. Rubbing him under his chin he made sweet little grunting noises. “Who’s a good boy, are you a good boy?” I added, “I was thinking Katie’s birthday is next week, she might come back then? Don't answer, I’ll come back then to check.”
Emma blew hair from her forehead. "She might get here tonight though, there’s still time.”
Zach said, “I would set them a place, try and work some universe magic, but it might freak Archie out. He’s pretty freaked out. He sleeps in Beaty’s room with the pig and cries a lot.”
I watched Archie playing. “She’ll do everything in her power to get back here soon.”
Emma nodded, “I went and spoke to her parents yesterday.”
“What did you say?”
“I told them that Katie and Magnus were time travelers. That they were missing.”
“They believed you?”
“I had all our paperwork, some artifacts, and one of the vessels. I laid it all out and told them. They asked a lot of questions but seemed to believe me. They said it explained a lot.”
“I mean, I suppose, but only if you’re crazy. Like aliens might explain pyramids, but that doesn’t make it true.”
“Hayley are you arguing against time travel? You’re literally time traveling.”
“No, I’m just surprised they believed it.”
“I think it was a relief more than anything. They were worried about what ‘might be happening’ through the years. The money aspect seemed suspicious, but also there was no indication of it being