‘I can’t believe I found you,’ Steven called as the roommates met on the beach. ‘I was convinced-’
He was interrupted as Mark hugged him hard. ‘I thought I died. I thought this was some sort of afterlife, some crazy hallucination-’ Mark stopped and held Steven at arm’s length. ‘You are really here, aren’t you?’
Steven handed him a balled-up piece of paper. Mark unfolded it: their August telephone bill. ‘What’s this?’ he asked curiously. ‘Why do you have our old phone bill?’
‘We are someplace. We aren’t dead and this isn’t a dream.’ Mark still looked confused, but Steven continued, ‘It was the tapestry, the cloth from the safe deposit box. I threw that phone bill into the air above it and watched it disappear.’
‘What? So, it’s some kind of transportation device, some hole in the universe? What is it? How did we and our phone bill get here?’ Mark was frustrated. ‘Steven, we live in Colorado, a long, long way from the sea: and here we are, at the ocean… an ocean. I don’t even know if there are other people around here.’
‘I don’t know how it works and I don’t know where it’s dropped us, but it’s sent us somewhere.’
‘Why?’
‘What do you mean, “why”?’
‘I mean why would it send us somewhere? What’s its purpose? Why would such a thing exist?’ Mark’s head began to ache again; he rubbed his temples.
‘I don’t know. Maybe it’s some experimental military transportation device they hid in our bank.’
Mark shot him a dubious look. ‘A hundred and thirty-five years ago?’
‘Maybe not. Maybe they did it six months ago and we didn’t know. Either way, I’m certain the answer isn’t going to come looking for us here.’
The first arrow struck the ground near Steven’s right foot. Without thinking, he jumped out of the way, then shouted, ‘What the hell is that?’ Before Mark could answer, a second arrow hit the sand only inches from the first.
‘Stand still,’ a voice called from the edge of the forest. ‘Do not try to run.’ Seeing Mark raise his hands in the air, Steven did the same, dropping Mark’s jacket to the sand.
‘We aren’t going to run,’ Mark shouted towards the treeline. ‘We’re lost here and need to borrow a phone. We’ll leave just as soon as we can call a cab.’
‘Speak Common,’ the hidden voice commanded, and accented the order with another arrow at their feet.
Steven looked at Mark. ‘I understand what he said. I mean, I can tell what he’s saying.’
‘So can I.’ Mark’s face modulated from fear to curiosity. ‘It’s not German and I recognise enough to know that it isn’t Russian. How can that be?’
Instead of responding, Steven turned his gaze towards the forest. Two men appeared from beneath the trees. ‘Holy shit, look at them,’ he whispered. ‘They look like something out of another time. Look at their clothes – and those weapons.’
They were dressed similarly: each wore boots, leggings made from some sort of fabric – cotton or wool, Mark guessed – and heavy cloth tunics belted around the waist. One wore a short dagger and carried what appeared to be a rapier, while the shorter of the two was armed with a longbow. Mark could clearly see it was nocked with an arrow and ready to fire. The three arrows at their feet indicated some skill; Mark suspected any escape attempt would mean certain death.
Garec and Sallax moved warily towards the two strangers. ‘I’ve never seen anything like them before,’ Garec whispered, keeping an arrow trained on the lighter-skinned man. ‘Look at those costumes they’re wearing.’
‘They don’t look like they’re from any tribe or territory I’ve ever come across,’ Sallax answered, ‘but I bet the next round they’re Malakasian.’
‘The dark-skinned one might be from the southern coast, but his clothing is absurd.’
‘His tunic is red. Maybe he’s royalty.’ The big man laughed ironically. ‘Do you think they’ve been sent here to infiltrate the Resistance?’
‘How could they expect to blend in looking like that?’ Garec asked. ‘Is Malagon that stupid?’
‘I’ve no idea,’ Sallax answered, ‘but Gilmour will know. Let’s get them back to Riverend.’
‘How?’ Garec began to look worried. ‘We’re not supposed to be out here ourselves. What if they alert someone?’
‘We kill them both and run,’ Sallax answered calmly, then added, ‘What language were they speaking? Did you recognise it?’
‘I don’t know. It certainly isn’t Malakasian.’
‘Lords, do you suppose they’ve developed some sort of spy tongue? Isn’t it enough that they’ve run our lives and our country for five generations? What do they need with a spy language?’ Sallax looked as if he were about to impale the strangers with his rapier.
‘Let’s wait. Gilmour will know who they are.’ Garec looked back along the beach. ‘Let’s get them out of here quickly, while we’re still alone.’
Steven and Mark still had their hands in the air as Sallax and Garec reached them. Sallax glared at Steven. ‘On your knees, spy,’ he ordered.
‘We told you we’re unarmed,’ Steven replied hesitantly, moving his hands in front of him in a gesture of supplication. ‘Just let us explain.’
‘We’re lost,’ Mark interjected, but he stopped as Sallax stabbed the point of his rapier against Steven’s chest.
‘Speak the common tongue, you rutting animals,’ he ordered, ‘or I will kill you both, right here.’
Mark looked at Steven, took a deep breath and tried to relax. ‘We’re lost,’ he answered. A look of surprise swept over his face and he nearly smiled at Garec. ‘I did it! I- I can talk to you!’
‘That’s better,’ Garec answered, gesturing to Mark to continue.
‘I don’t know how this happened,’ Mark went on, ‘but we were home and we found this cloth… actually he stole it-’ and then, thinking twice, he corrected himself, ‘well, no, he didn’t steal it, that was a joke… anyway, this cloth sent us here. We don’t know how and we don’t know why, but we are here, wherever here is, and we’d like to get back.’
‘You’re thieves then?’ Sallax asked.
‘No, no,’ Mark replied quickly. ‘I’m a teacher and he’s a banker. We’re from Colorado. Have you heard of Colorado?’
‘No. You’re lying,’ Garec said. ‘There is no such place as Coloredado.’
‘Colorado,’ Steven corrected, then immediately raised his hands in apology.
‘Yes there is,’ Mark said. ‘It’s where we come from. We have no idea how we’re talking with you right now. We’re afraid we’ve come to another time, another place, somewhere we never imagined we’d be, and somehow, we can speak with you. We don’t mean any harm. We’re peaceful. We just want to get back home.’
‘Liars, spies, thieves.’ Steven flinched as Sallax punctuated each word with short thrusts of his rapier. ‘I despise all of them. On your knees.’
Garec drew several leather strips from a pouch at his belt and firmly tied the strangers’ hands behind their backs. He picked up Mark’s sweater and jacket from the sand as Sallax ordered them up the beach towards the thick foliage of the coastal forest.
‘How did you do that?’ Steven asked under his breath.
‘I don’t know. I just relaxed my mind and the words came to me,’ Mark whispered back. ‘It’s not possible, though. I mean, suppose we’ve come back in time and this is early Europe. I don’t speak those languages… neither do you.’ He took several steps, looked back at their captors and added, ‘Listen to me. Back in time, what am I saying?’
‘Hey, at this point, all we can do is wait and see. When I saw the phone bill and those beer cans disappear into that tapestry, I knew this was something different from anything we could ever have imagined.’ Steven closed his eyes and tried to slow down his thoughts. Then it happened; a handful of foreign words took shape in his mind. ‘Where are we?’
Mark flashed him a quick grin. ‘That’s it. That’s how I did it.’
‘It’s none of your rutting concern where we are,’ Sallax answered, jabbing Steven in the lower back. ‘You just keep moving.’
Steven muttered, ‘Sorry I asked, I guess.’
Mark stifled a laugh. Steven felt better knowing they were together. It had taken every ounce of courage he could summon to step onto that tapestry, and when his foot had come down in the shallow inlet, Steven knew they really had uncovered something supernatural, something completely and utterly unexpected. Strangely, he was not as afraid as he’d expected to be – waiting all night on their porch, not knowing, had been more frightening; that had paralysed him with fear. Now, even with his life in danger, he was glad he had taken the risk.