Going Home

The sound of a door opening made them turn. Cinders rushed in. Tears streamed from her melancholy, green eyes. Her hair looked dishevelled.

‘I must go. Tamara told me they leave today. I may get there if I run. Such a rush. The boat’s only been moored a few weeks.’

‘Why bother, dear. It won’t make any difference.’

‘There's hope if I get there in time. I had a thought. Roland needn’t leave with Rosheen and the children. They have the other vessel to return on. He doesn’t have to sail. I’m going now.’ She dashed away.

Tatenai sighed. He loved his daughter, but . . .

‘I’m so worried about our Cinders,’ said his wife, Shiree. ‘Since that boat came to the island, everything has changed. Roland has stopped building his, and the four are going away earlier. Cinders has been doubly sad, her hopes have been dashed, and visits to the coast have increased.’

‘Roland is callous. I remember when she dumped her disloyal childhood love, then instantly clapped eyes on Roland when he arrived. His nature needs improvement. He hasn’t meant to be cruel, but Cinders' love for him borders on obsession. She goes, presents herself beautifully, bearing gifts and other items they need, totally besotted with Rosheen’s two children, her young cousins, and goes through life here in a dream, imagining herself still with Roland at the shore. Her love is inexplicable.’

‘Oh, husband. This time it’s real. She truly adores Roland. Remember how you were with me the first time we met? The world around us and time ceased to exist. You couldn’t leave here without me. I begged you to stay.’

‘It was folly of me to stay. It cost this village many innocent lives. The ones at the shore all died except your cousin Malchus. All because I didn’t return there. When my absence was noticed, they tortured Aunt Rua. The massacre that took place here. . .’ Tatenai frowned and looked down, shuddering under a huge burden of guilt.

‘I needed you. You saved me. I know you don’t regret us. Nobody, except we two and Malchus, knows the part we played in the massacre and everything else.’

‘But, I could have prevented it all. I will never regret having you in my life. But true love to the exclusion of sense and reason is doomed to fail, or at least, in our case, create irreparable havoc.’

‘I fear she'll suffer heartache forever.’ Shiree sighed. They had laughed when Cinders came home and declared that Roland and she would wed. He hated her at the time, but it didn’t stop Cinders from pursuing him. Tears rolled down Shiree’s cheeks, and she shook her head. ‘We despaired over her conviction, especially after Roland killed my cousin Malchus, Rosheen's husband. She knew all along he would do so; she knew his vengeful heart, and predicted his act of revenge. . . but still wondered about marriage. You were livid over the murder. My poor girl. What has she ever done to deserve such a knave in her life?

‘You would approve? It’s been so peaceful since I told him and his sister to leave. No more arguments, disrespect, or mayhem. I’ll be relieved when they’ve gone. Cinders can come back to earth and us.’

***

The Redemption was transported to the beach where Victoria and her father, Marcus, had left, hundreds of years before. This western English coastline had changed, though it still featured rugged cliffs and a rocky shoreline. Marcus and Victoria, his daughter, sailed away in their 35-foot. Sirius yacht, for their island.

Where they thought it to be, from memory, may have been wrong. It initially took two months, but a modern yacht should be able to complete the trip in a shorter time. Their idea of sailing together needed a reality check.

Aggravated by the cramped quarters, many facets of their plan seemed flawed. What to do once they found their Island of Greenhaven? What may change once they have completed their tasks, and when to leave for home again?

‘Until we find it,’ argued Marcus, ‘we can’t decide anything.’

‘I believe it’s there. It’s a gut feeling, but we’ve been waiting so long to do this task, we can’t possibly fail. Especially as we are doing it together.’

‘We have all the modern navigation tools. How can anything go wrong . . . except if it isn’t there.’ He frowned and sighed.

Talk was cheap. Plans on paper, easy to make. It may be his last trip. He felt it in his bones. He had trained a new manager, and farewelled everyone on the ranch, but this barely comforted him. Who can mould the future? They hadn’t been able to control the past. This fated trip together could lead to their doom.

They woke up on the morning of their fourth week and carefully checked their location. Victoria swore she spotted a speck of land.

‘Whoopee,’ said Marcus. ‘We are still heading in the right direction. Not returning home again by mistake.’

‘Oh, please. There’s been no storm. We’ve constantly checked our heading. When we’re closer, we will know.’

The hours passed as they tacked closer. The land seemed to have the signature mountains of their Island. Marcus inhaled the sea air and visualised himself on the craft’s deck, which they had been on all those years before. He gasped. ‘I believe you’re right. It’s the same.’ His excitement came back. Could they redeem themselves?

Feelings of anticipation took over like the current that carried them ever closer to the shore.

‘Look there,’ said Victoria. ‘I see a pier. Someone lives here?’ She sounded doubtful.

‘There’s a boat moored there.’

‘Great. We can moor there too. Don’t need to inflate our dinghy.’

‘Oh look, people are walking towards us.’

‘How nice. Coming to greet us . . . we hope.’ They waved.

Once they arrived, Marcus secured their vessel. Some tidily dressed men carried guns. They marched over the wooden boards towards them. One directed his pistol at Marcus’s head.

‘Don’t tell me. You’re lost?’ said the gun holder sarcastically.

Neither of them knew what to say. The truth was not an option.

A young man stepped forward, grinning. ‘Victoria! You’re here, at last, my lovely. Missed me, did you? How long has it been?’ He grabbed her hand. ‘Meet my fellow scientists.’

Victoria stared. The men studied the dark-haired beauty.

‘Thom Taylor. Rutger’s University. You took Arts and Media, and I studied the Sciences.’ He winked.

‘Yes,’ she faltered. ‘I remember you now.’

Marcus looked from Thom to Victoria. He detected nonrecognition from her.

‘This is my father, Marcus Trent. Dad, meet Thom.’

The man with the pointed gun looked unconvinced. ‘You’ll follow us and be detained until we can establish exactly who you both are and why you are here.”

Thom gripped Victoria’s hand. “You must have heard of Victoria Trent. A brilliant honours student who became a great artist. I’m amazed she came to see me.'

Despite Thom’s cheerful greeting, Marcus didn’t feel safe as the dour men led them away. They were escorted into a building, searched for weapons, and locked in a small barred cell.

‘We’ll bring you food. You’ll be questioned in the morning.’

Victoria looked around. ‘Where is my privacy?’ she demanded. ‘Unbelievable. It’s worse than being on the yacht.'

The men left, slamming the outer door.

By lunchtime, their stomachs growled. Thom surprised them with a lunch tray. He had a huge smile, but became serious after unlocking their cell, popping the tray down, and relocking it.

‘Cameras,’ he whispered, jerking his head slightly to his right.

‘The campus had so many students; how could you remember me?’ said Victoria.

Marcus munched on his salad roll.

‘I never forgot the prettiest girl. My crush. Followed you on Facebook for years. What I said earlier are the rehearsed lines if we ever met.’

‘I can’t say I’m flattered. You didn’t harass me like the other guys. You stalked me.’

‘N-no. I didn’t. It’s just that I was too shy. We shared nerd–dom. We isolated ourselves and studied. Not meeting you has been my biggest regret. I’m so happy you’re here.’

Victoria pursed her lips.

Marcus took over. ‘Where is here? Clearly, we got lost.’

Thom sighed. ‘Unfortunately, no one will believe you. One of the reasons we are here is that this island is of interest geographically, scientifically, and geodesically. When we study oceanography and the cardinal and intercardinal points of this island, we question its existence. Yet here it is.’

‘Woe!’ said Victoria. ‘Our coming here is meant to be.’

Thom’s eyes opened wide. ‘So, you believe we were supposed to meet? I’m a scientist, remember. Don’t believe in starry-eyed stuff.’

‘After the way you greeted us, I’d believe anything!’ Marcus bit into his roll savagely.

‘Anthropologically,’ said Victoria, “who lived here?’

‘The indigenous people are dead. Their deserted village is nearby.’

‘The only village?’ asked Marcus.

‘Yes.’

Marcus and Victoria didn’t say anything as they looked at each other knowingly.

‘So why do you feel free explaining everything if our arrival has alarmed everyone so much?” said Marcus.

'Because neither of you will be leaving,' said Thom.

'But I have to go back. I’ve got my life, career, family.' She pursed her lips and clenched her fists.

Thom consoled them and advised them to stick with the story of getting lost.

During separate interrogations, they maintained this stance. A father-daughter trip gone horribly wrong through a lack of experience. No questions were answered, and Thom was blasted for divulging what he had.

Their accommodation had one bedroom. Marcus rolled his eyes when told he could sleep on the couch. It had a separate bathroom and a small kitchen, but main meals were provided in the communal cafeteria.

Thom came to visit and asked to take Victoria for a walk. Marcus shrugged his shoulders. He knew Victoria could take care of herself. Once outside . . .

‘I had to take you out to warn you that the place is bugged. I want to help you, but we’ll have to be careful. If we act like close friends, we’ll be left alone.’

‘I’m sorry if we got you into trouble.’

‘It’s ok. I want to help. You can trust me.’

‘We have to trust someone. The truth will be troublesome.’

‘So, there is a reason you came here!’

‘Yes. I’ve planned this for years, decades . . . what I’m about to tell you will sound like hocus-pocus.’

‘I’d prefer to believe our future is written in the stars.’ He held her hand, his blue eyes intense.

She ignored him. ‘It’s not that, I’m afraid.’

She told him that she and her father had lived many lives. His face clouded over with disbelief. When she explained about a curse and how their mission was to reverse it, his eyes bored into hers, and his mouth gaped.

‘I know you believe this,’ he said, ‘but it’s impossible.’

‘You will have discovered that two distinct cultures lived in the nearby village.’

‘Correct, go on.’

‘The inhabitants died suddenly, poisoned by the water supply.’

‘I didn’t know that, but they did perish.”

‘There are the remains of two ocean-going canoe-type vessels.’

‘True. And a small unfinished one.’

Victoria looked blank. ‘Unfinished? . . . One family built a cottage in the woods away from the village.’

‘True . . . you have been here before.’

‘That’s what I’m telling you. Hundreds of years ago, Dad and I both lived here. We were cursed from birth but, like you, disbelieved it. The curse was unjust. Now, we have finally returned to reverse it.’

‘What else can you tell me about the island?’

‘I remember a swing bridge over a river, inland from here.’

‘Yes, the remains of it. Obviously, you’ve been here, but hundreds of years ago?’

‘You have to believe us. We want to do the job we set out to do and then leave.’

‘I will help, but you must play it cool. Lull everyone into thinking all is good, poor lost souls that you claim to be. We’ll talk again. You can be my long-lost love, ok?’

‘Is this a bribe?’

‘No, of course not. I want to help because I believe in you, as best I can. Let’s go back.’

Victoria couldn’t tell Marcus about their discussion indoors.

‘Dad, come with me. It’s lovely here. I want to show you something. . .’

She told him what they had discussed, well away from bugs and prying eyes.

‘He wants to help. We can trust him, but we have to be quiet. For now, Thom’s my boyfriend.’

‘Didn’t take him long!’ Marcus scoffed.

‘It’s our excuse for being together. To make plans.’

Later, Thom wanted to begin preparing.

‘So, what is it you need to do?’

Marcus related that initially they were ordered to leave the Island, but instead of returning to the shore to reverse the curse from the beginning, they were time-warped back to the village where they relived their last fateful days, playing into the hands of the living death awaiting them. They needed to find the hut, find the letter, find the bone dice, and finally reverse the spell.

‘Spell?’ said Thom. ‘This sounds more like magic-mumbo-jumbo.’

‘Humour us, please. It can’t hurt to do this,’ said Victoria.

‘A barbed wire fence is around the village’s dwellings, including the one in the woods.” Thom ran his hands through his hair.

‘Wire cutters,’ said Marcus, ‘and the key to unlock our yacht so we can leave.”

‘You seem sincere, but I’m not happy about you leaving. Victoria, is that what you want?’

She looked at her father. ‘I know you stayed on the island before. You could only help me by staying behind. History proves it. You need to stay this time too. Sorry, Dad.’ Her eyes pleaded.

Thom put his arm around her protectively. ‘I’ll get what you need. Stash what you want to grab when you leave.’

The wire cutters got them into the wood, and they searched for the hut. Ivy and shrubs camouflaged it. The door hung off its hinges, broken and rotten, no pristine gingerbread house. They pushed the door ajar and crept inside. Cobwebs, spiders, and nature had taken over.

‘I believe you lived here hundreds of years ago,’ said Thom, rolling his eyes.

‘Actually, we didn’t,’ said Marcus

‘Are you so sure?’ Victoria picked up an old slingshot and an ancient rag doll. ‘I think we lived here with the children.’

Marcus shook his head. ‘We never got here, remember.’ He tried to prise out a loose hearthstone. It came out, and he reached inside the cavity and withdrew a pouch. He tipped out five bone dice with engravings and a letter with words written on it.

‘How did you know about that?’ said Thom, his eyes wide.

She opened a chest. ‘Atishoo! Oh, wow! These falling-apart clothes are mine. We did live here.’

Marcus looked rattled. ‘Can you please focus? Who cares about that.’

‘But, don’t you see? If we lived here but didn’t, it means this island is where two alternate timelines converge. What do you think, Thom?’

‘I don’t know.’ Thom had watched as Marcus arranged the five dice in a line with the engraved skulls uppermost. Marcus read out the words on the sheet. Thom looked from him to Victoria. Marcus recited the poem of doom. In the end, he held the dice together in a line and turned them once, twice, thrice. All the doves faced upwards. ‘That should do it.’

The bone dice crumbled to dust.

‘What was that?’ Thom’s mouth gaped.

Silence descended. No insect or bird sounds. Then it started; the earth beneath them vibrated, then shook. The three looked at each other.

‘I don’t like this,’ said Victoria.

‘I think you should both leave the island. Who knows what will happen? I’ll have to stay.’ said Marcus.

‘What about the others?’ she said.

‘They’ll fend for themselves,’ said Thom. ‘There is the boat and a plane they can use. What will you do, Marcus?’

‘There is a village in the hills. I know the bridge is broken, but I’ll swim if I have to.’

Thom opened his eyes in surprise. ‘Were you ever going to tell me about it?’

‘Victoria will explain. We need to go. I’ll be fine.’

She clung to him. ‘I’ll never forget this. I love you. I hope you find what you are looking for.’

He kissed her on the cheek and hugged her. ‘I made a promise to get you home. Off you go. Thom will get you there.’

‘Thanks, Marcus,’ said Thom. ‘We’re off.’

Marcus took the wire cutters and marched in the opposite direction. The ground still rolled. He cut through the next wire fence.

On he went. Past the field of wildflowers that waved a welcome, to where the swing bridge had detached at the far end . . . except it stood intact, as sturdy as ever. He faltered for a moment before tearing across it as fast as he could.

‘Cinders,’ he muttered. ‘Please, God.’

The ground remained still, with the air alive with chirps, tweets, and buzzing insects. He followed a path . . . He felt deja vu, like he had drifted back in time. He noticed in surprise that his clothing had reverted to what he had worn so long ago . . . as Roland. Up the zig-zag track, through the woods, he sweated and puffed. Late afternoon arrived. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, creating dappled patterns of light. As he neared the village, he stopped in surprise. Someone he knew ran towards him.

Could it be? It reminded him of the ‘Brigadoon’ story Victoria had starred in at High School.

Marcus’ beloved redhead threw herself into his arms. ‘You came back!’ She had been crying.

‘I ran all the way, Cinders. You have always been the love of my lives. I missed you.’ He gave her an enormous hug.

‘I can’t believe you’re here.' Her eyes filled with tears. ‘Don’t ever leave me again.’

“Never, my love. I promise.’