Across Time Part 10

Jessie sat back, pinching the bridge of her nose. "It's mind boggling.

That stuff'll really make your head spin if you think about it for too long."

"You said you have been looking for a purpose, Jessie, a reason to do something important that you're pa.s.sionate about. Answering this call might be the very thing you've been searching for. There are no coincidences in life my dear."

"G.o.d, to have a purpose, a reason to get up in the morning . . .

what a gift."

"Not a gift, Jessie, but a path, a way. Those of us who are able to find our purpose find a happiness unlike anything the rest of the world experiences. Each one of us has a destiny. If you can unveil yours, you have found your life's path, and you can begin your journey in earnest.

Too many of us spend the bulk of our lives on the wrong path going nowhere except wrong turns and dead ends."

Jessie had been on that road. "I'll bet you and your people believe this is one of the reasons why alcohol and drug abuse is so prevalent."

Ceara smiled. "No. We believe it is the reason. So many of us are on the wrong path we self-medicate in order to dull the pain and disappointment of where we are."

Running her hands through her hair, Jessie sighed. "I've sure been there. I am so tired of being lost."

"The good news is you don't have to be. Someone is reaching out to you. I can tell you that those people in your dreams must be part of your soul's memory."

"So now what? What do I need to do?"

68 *69.

Ceara stared at the candle for a long time. When she spoke, she did not look up. "You need to go back through the seam."

Jessie inhaled slowly. This didn't surprise her, but her breath caught anyway. "Why?"

"How else are you going to find out what it is they need if you don't go back?"

"What if I never remember?"

Ceara shrugged. "Jessie, whoever is trying to get your attention believes you can remember. The very fact that you've been through once already means you have what it takes. You have to believe that you have it as well. They do."

Before Jessie could answer, her eyes caught sight of the clock.

They'd been talking for over an hour. Her parents were sure to think the worst. "I really appreciate your help, Ceara, but I better get going.

My folks will worry. We have some . . . trust issues."

Ceara glanced up at her now. "Aren't you trustworthy?"

Jessie leveled her gaze into those light blue eyes staring back at her.

"I am now."

Ceara rose, wrapping her scarf around her again. "Good. When might you return?"

"Here?"

Ceara shook her head. "There."

Jessie stared into those eyes and felt as if she could see hundreds of years into the past. "I'll go back, but don't I need to research or at least know something about where I'll be sending me?"

Ceara shook her head. "The soul knows what needs to be done, if you allow it. That's part of our time's greatest dilemma: we try to solve everything by listening to our minds or our hearts, neither of which are very old or very wise."

Jessie followed Ceara out onto the deck. The air was markedly cooler since she'd come on board.

"Jessie, I realize how scary this must be for you, but somewhere in your past, you were brave enough to slip through the Sacred Place. You are there in your past and you are reaching out to yourself in this time.

You were a brave being once. Be brave now."

70 *71.

Jessie sighed. "That's a head-shaker, you know? To think that I used to be someone else and that someone is knocking on my door.

Weird."

"Indeed. Weirder than you can imagine."

"This Sacred Place. It exists in all times?"

Ceara nodded. "It is believed by Shamans of many different cultures that the seams in time are everywhere and in every time. Many Native Americans believe it; tribes of the Aborigines believe it; Amazonian people believe it, and many, many more cultures feel that the power of our souls comes from the lives we've led."

Jessie stared up at the moon and sighed loudly. "Who do you think I saw in those forests in my dream?"

Ceara stared up at the moon also before returning her gaze to Jessie.

The wind whipped her scarves around her neck. "If the forests you saw were oak groves, and the woman was trying to reach them because she thought they would protect her, then I would imagine the people who are trying to contact you are Druids. They were most known for their sacred wors.h.i.+p in the oak groves of Britain and Wales."

"Druids?" Jessie pondered this a moment before starting across the plank to the pier. "You mean-like Merlin?"

Ceara nodded as she tried to catch the many colorful layers whipping all about her. "The Druids are certainly not the only ones who can send their souls on a journey, nor are they the only people who have these Sacred Places. Quite a few have been unearthed, all throughout Europe, Africa and Australia."

"Like Stonehenge?"

"Among others. The seams, as you know by now, are not obvious.

That is the beauty of them. They are hidden until they're needed, and they can be anywhere and everywhere. They can be in the sacred groves, in the coves on beaches, and in Victorian inns. Just know that you're not alone. If you concentrate really hard, I'll be there. Most questers do not journey by themselves. Nor shall you."

"Quester? Is that what I am?"

"That, and so much more, my dear. You have before you a decision that will alter the direction of your life forever. By returning to find out *

70 *71.

what it is they want, you are choosing the life of a quester. With that choice comes a great many dangers and responsibilities."

As Jessie started down Main Street, she felt one burden lifting while another settled comfortably on her shoulders. Like a beautiful new jacket, it felt as if it was made just for her.

Suddenly, life in Oregon had taken on a whole new meaning.

The second she saw her parents on the porch swing, Jessie knew she was in for it. Bad enough they had prejudged Tanner, but she was also nearly an hour later than she'd told them she'd be. They were sure to think the worst, and there was little she could do to change that. She wasn't even sure she wanted to try.

"Where have you been?" her mother demanded the moment Jessie's foot hit the bottom step. What could she say? Gee, Mom, I went to see a fortuneteller who told me I needed to go back in time again to see why I'm needed? What do I mean by again? Well, apparently I've been there before, but am too stupid to remember.

Yeah. That'd do it. The men in little white suits would come. Well, it wouldn't be the first time they'd s.h.i.+pped her off for repairs. The rehab center she'd been a.s.signed to after the World's Biggest Drug Bust, though not employing white suit wearers, was, nonetheless, the same sort of prison. After two weeks there, if she hadn't mental issues to begin with, she could easily have picked up some. Those kids were whacked. Loonie Tunes. Nutjobs. She had managed to convince her parents to take her out two weeks early, and her Dad had made some arrangement with the judge that let her leave the state.

Well, part of the truth was preferable to none of it, so Jessie sat on the top stair and faced the firing squad. "Tanner introduced me to the town psychic and I was visiting her. Sorry I'm so late, but she's really cool, and not at all like everyone thinks. She knows a lot."

Either she had momentarily stunned them into silence, or they weren't really up to an explanation in the first place. Jessie could hear the rifles load.

"Honestly, Jess, did you intentionally seek out the exact kind of boy *

72 *73.

who got you into all your drug troubles in the first place?"

Jessie stared at her father. He hadn't heard a word she'd said. "I wasn't with Tanner, Dad. I was hanging with Madame Ceara, the psychic."

Reena motioned for Jessie to move closer. Jessie rose, knowing what was coming; another smelling test. G.o.d, would they ever tire of hanging on so tightly to their distrust and suspicions? Reena rose and put her face into Jessie's hair. Backing away as if struck, she looked at Rick with so much pain and disappointment, Jessie thought she was going to cry.

"Oh, Jessie."

"What? I didn't do anything!"

Rick rose. When he smelled his daughter's head, he crumpled back into the swing, shaking his head and sighing. "We'd really rather you told us the truth, honey."

Oh yeah, now there was a great idea.

Reena added, "Remember what the therapist said."

Jessie winced inside. Dr. Dolsby had more loose nuts than a Ford Pinto. "Think what you want. You will anyway. I didn't do anything wrong except visit some people you don't like the looks of. Is that a crime?"

"Honey, we can smell the incense in your hair, on your clothes. As much as you think we are, we're not stupid. We know why people use incense."

Jessie backed away from her mother, but remained standing. "Oh, that's right. Dopers have completely cornered the market on incense burning. Don't you think psychics use them all the time?"

Reena held her hand out to Rick to help him out of the swing.

"We're so very disappointed in you, honey. We so wanted Oregon to be a fresh start-"

"But by the looks of it, you've fallen back into the same old patterns of lies and hanging out with-"

"You don't know them and have no right to judge them."

"We're not judging anyone, honey, but we're not going to turn a blind eye to your actions, either. We have a responsibility to both you and your brother, and it would be irresponsible of us to ignore the *

72 *73.

obvious. We thought you were going to start with a clean slate."

"I'm trying! But what am I supposed to do when you judge my friends before you even get to know them?"

"We met your friend, Jessie, and he is obviously not the kind of kid we want you hanging around."

"If you send me to another rehab, I swear to G.o.d, you will never see me again."

Rick looked as if she'd slapped him, so Jessie pressed her advantage.

"Why can't you believe me? Because Tanner wears black leather and has a piercing, you automatically think he's a stoner? And by talking to him, you think I've fallen back into my old, evil ways? Why can't you just believe me for once? Would that be so hard?"

"Jess, you have to admit, your story is pretty weak."

"Then ask her! Ask Madame Ceara tomorrow if I was with her and if she was burning incense! She'll tell you the truth. Maybe you'll believe her."

Rick and Reena looked at each other and shrugged. Disappointment and frustration hung in the air like smog. "Don't bluff if there's nothing behind it, Jessie, because it will only make matters worse. You know how we feel about lying."

Jessie wanted to pull her hair out. "I'm not bluffing. Ask her."

"We'll do that. In the meantime, you're not to leave the grounds.

If you think, for one second, that your father and I up and moved our lives so you could bring ruin back into it, you are sadly mistaken."

"I'm clean, Mom. I have been for a really long time. I'll even take a drug test if you want."

Reena folded her arms. "We just might do that. Now, your brother's been waiting and-"

Shaking her head, Jessie opened the front door, leaving the rest of her mother's words to hang limply and unheard in the air. Yes, she'd broken their trust months ago, but she'd spent a lot of time trying to heal those wounds and gain it back again.

Grabbing a pint of ice cream and two spoons, Jessie headed for Daniel's room, where he sat reading a giant Harry Potter tome. "Hey, sport."

74 *75.

Daniel did not smile when he looked up from his book. "Mom and Dad are really mad."

Jessie sat on his bed and handed him a spoon. "I know."

"They're worried."

"Are you?"