Touch of Eternity(21)

He would gladly see her—for a number of reasons. But most importantly, he needed to answer one question: What the hell was wrong with him?

Payton saw her stumble. Just like in his memory. She wobbled backward. He wanted to act, but he was paralyzed. He needed to move, to help her, but his body would simply not obey. Reaching out too late, he grabbed desperately for her falling body. Her scream penetrated his whole body. At the last second, he caught her arm. He saw her panic, the fear of death in her eyes. Green eyes, like emeralds, opened so wide with fear. He could feel her fingers slip through his hands. He tried to pull her back over the balustrade. Inch by inch, she slid out of his grasp, and with a sudden release, she lost her hold and fell into the depths.

His own tormented yell woke him, shaking from the nightmare. He sat in his bed, trembling. He had known it. The similarity was unbelievable—obviously more than a coincidence. He really was damned.



My neck crawled with a shivery feeling. I couldn’t believe I was betraying Alison and Roy. They hadn’t reacted that well the night before, when they found out I’d gotten a ride from Payton instead of taking the bus. Alison, in particular, seemed to know something was up. She kept prodding, despite my explanations. Who was this friend, she wanted to know, and how had I met him? She wondered if she should allow me to go on the tour the next day. It was an overnight trip, she pointed out, and she wasn’t sure she fully trusted me.

“Don’t you realize that we are responsible for your safety?” she asked. “We’d never forgive ourselves if something should happen to you.”

In the end, I managed to convince them that it wouldn’t happen again. I swore that I’d be fine on the two-day excursion, that they had nothing to fear.

So the next morning I got on the bus, waved out the window like a good girl, and waited until we were several miles down the road.

It was time to improvise.

“Oh no…” I moaned. I held my stomach with one hand and put the other hand in front of my mouth. “I feel like I’m going to be sick.”

I put a lot of effort into the show, making some realistic gagging sounds. A woman two seats in front of me looked around, alarmed, and called out to the driver to stop the bus.

Trying to look exhausted and weak, I put my head back against my seat. Another woman offered me something to drink and stroked my head. I ramped up the gagging sounds, and when the bus finally stopped, I hurried outside.

The driver, our tour guide, and the lady with the soda all followed right behind me.

“What shall we do?” Soda Lady wanted to know.

“Turn back,” the driver said drily.

“But we’ll miss the ferry!” the tour guide said.

“Yes, but I’d rather that than have her vomit all over my bus.”

Crying, I bent farther over the bush, which I was apparently going to throw up into any second now.

“Oh, please. I don’t want all of you to miss the ferry to the Isle of Harris because of me.” I tried to make my voice sound as sincere as possible. I looked sadly at the woman, and I could tell she didn’t want to wait for the next ferry.

“You certainly cannot come along on an overnight trip if you are feeling unwell,” said my tour guide. “What if you get worse?”

“No, of course. You should go without me. I’ll call home to get someone to come and pick me up.”

I rummaged around in my backpack.

My three guardians looked at each other slightly confused until Soda Lady nodded decisively.

“Do you want me to make the call to your parents, love?” she asked. “You’ll be better off at home resting, and we could still make it for the ferry in time.”

I opened up my phone and typed in a number. After a few seconds, my bank’s automatic account information system started talking to me.

“Welcome to…”

“Hello, Alison?” I put on my best I’m-not-feeling-well voice. “I’m so sorry to bother you. I started to feel sick on the bus, and I need to come home. Can you pick me up? I’m only at the next village.”

“To check your account balance, please press…”

“Thanks, Alison. I’m really sorry about this… I’m standing right by the main road… Yes, see you soon.”

I put the phone back in my bag.

“My host family is coming to get me. You can go on. I’ll be fine.”

“Is it really OK to leave you here?” the bus driver asked. He seemed worried that it might be against company policy.

“Sure, Alison will be here in about twenty minutes.” I held my hand in front of my mouth again and pulled out one last gagging fit, for good measure.