Chapter 7 | A Time Portal

   It was mid-afternoon the following day when the Romans were getting ready to leave. They camped all over the hillfort starting from outside our house down to the village. 

    Marcus and the men that rode with him in the front of the procession Yesterday were nowhere to be seen. They seemed to be his close buddies. They kept him company throughout his meet and greet with the villagers during the feast. And yet they didn't care to say a word to me. Most of his family, except for his mom, grandparents, and one sister, didn't seem to care about talking to me or my family. In fact, his brothers' wives gave me hostile looks.

    My clueless dad, of course, went ahead and showed them a chest full of preserved human and animal heads embalmed in cedar oil. There were a few paintings on the roundhouse walls that made me cringe. My dad and my brothers were posing in those paintings next to their horses that had severed human heads attached to their necks. 

    "I wouldn't give them away even for their weight in gold." He told the Romans proudly.

    They looked at each other with unamused faces and subtle eye-rolling. Although they hadn't said anything condescending, the look on their faces spoke volumes about the way they felt about my father and my people.

    Iona and I decided to take a walk into the forest with my supposedly best friend, Cara, that Iona introduced me to at the bonfire. 

    The river followed its course into the lush green forest with colossal trees and split into ravines and shallow creeks all along. We walked over the bluffs before Iona and Cara started climbing a tree. 

    "Come on Allena! This is your favorite view," called out Iona.

    I was terrified. I never climbed anything this tall with not much to hold on to while scaling it. I started slowly while my heart was thumping imagining another possible head injury. 

    Before I knew it, my hands and feet took over, not giving me much time to plan my next footing. I was sitting next to Iona and Cara in less than a minute. 

    The view from the top was amazing indeed; I, however, did not want to look down. The gushing ravine and steep bluffs made me nervous from this height. 

    "We should head back before those people leave," said Cara, "They might get upset if they don't get to see you before leaving."

    "Marcus must have left already. If he doesn't care to let me know before leaving, I don't think I care about those people either." I was trying to hide my disappointment.

    "Neill was looking for you when you were with father and the guests," said Iona, "Did you try to talk to him again?"

    "No, I can't remember him at all." What a nice way to get over someone, I thought to myself.

    "Good! You should ignore him if he approaches you. He probably wants you now, ten days before you become someone else's wife," said Iona.

    Wife! Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine getting married at 21. To make it worse, Allena was only 19. 

    Jonathan and I made wedding plans for after he finished his PhD, which was four or five years later. We chose New Orleans as the venue. I wanted to get married under the tree of life but he argued because he wanted it in the French Quarter. 

    My eyes moistened as I thought about all the wonderful things I had to argue with my Jon about.

    I decided to climb down the tree before one of the girls saw me cry. I was growing fond of Iona but still did not feel comfortable enough to cry in front of her. 

    It was surprising how fast and confident I was when going down the tree. I was scared but my body was not; it was a weird experience. 

    I jumped from a lower branch onto the ground and out of nowhere, there appeared a horse within inches of my body before coming to an abrupt stop.

    "Watch out." Marcus's voice was mixed anger and shock.

    His friends' horses followed right behind him, whinnying loudly and lifting feet off the ground because of a sudden stop. He gave me a fierce look and took off. His friends also looked at me the same way and they were all gone the next moment.

    "How rude, he should have watched out too!" Cara grumbled.

    "Well, he did. I would have been trampled to death by now if he didn't." I felt shaky.

    "Are you okay?" Iona wrapped her arm around my shoulder and asked softly.

    "His horse is so tall and looks so mean. I would have been scared even if it wasn't a sudden encounter." I admitted.

    Iona laughed.

    "What nonsense!" said Cara laughingly.

    I looked at them wondering what was so funny.

    "You don't know how good you are with horses. You won the trick riding trophy five years in a row," Iona was holding her stomach now laughing, "Scared of seeing a horse so close she says."

    "And yet I fell down from the horse!" I sneered at myself.

    "It was a disturbing sight that caught you off guard. You were blinded by jealousy. That seductive looking girlfriend of his, she climbed from her horse into his lap and they were in a heated make-out session exactly when you saw them. She had her arms wrapped around him like an octopus, and he was laughing and tickling her while showering too many kisses. I would be forever heartbroken if I saw Kegan do something like that with one of those stupid fangirls he got." Iona's voice sounded furious at this hypothetical scenario.

    "I felt jealous last night too. The way he mentioned her is disturbing. I feel like I am meddling with two lovers. Let's go! I don't want to think about him anymore." I quickly marched away from them.

    Cara and Iona were giggling again.

    "Your direction sense still sucks," said Cara chuckling. 

    I felt relieved to find that everyone was gone by the time we returned, including our relatives.

    "Allena, we need to talk about your manners!" 

    My mom was yelling at me. I only saw her soft side until now.

    "We returned when we saw Marcus and his friends returning," I said.

    "Marcus told us that you asked them not to wait for you. His parents and grandparents were taken aback by your behavior."

    Argh! That asshole!

    "You can ask Iona what happened. He tried to trample me with his horse," I left them gaping and walked into my room feeling annoyed. 

    I found Selma in my room, packing almost all my clothes.

    "What's happening?" I asked her.

    She looked excited. 

    "You won't be returning with us after the wedding, so I am just making sure you don't leave anything behind." 

    She dropped the skirt that she was folding and came rushing to hug me. 

    "I am so happy that everything went smoothly and that Marcus is so handsome. He will fall in love with you. You just have to be patient."

    I tried to push the thoughts of Marcus away. I wished I could see him again, but he was gone. 

    I wanted to be mad at him for what he said last night. I also fancied cupping that face and kissing him slowly. 

    Ah! I wanted to do so many things to him and with him. I didn't know where these feelings of longing were coming from. I barely knew him.

    "Aww, you miss him!" Selma asked me sweetly.

    "What's the rush with packing? The wedding is ten days away." I evaded her eyes.

    "The wedding will be in their fortress, not where they currently live. It will take a week for us to get there, even with the fittest horses."

    "I am so excited, Allena. We will be crossing the ocean." Selma squealed like a child.

     I decided to go to the druid today instead of waiting until tomorrow. I needed answers before we started our week-long journey. 

    I snuck out of my room and went down to the village as quickly as possible. The druid looked like he had already expected my visit. He took me to a secluded area so that the other druids were out of earshot.

    "You know about me, don't you?" I went straight to the point.

    "I just know that you are not Allena," he said.

     How? I was close to having a meltdown with the witch and druid playing word games with me.  

    "Oh stop with this code language already! I know you are from the future." I blurted out without thinking if he knew that I was from the future.

    He remained silent.

    "I am not leaving until I get all my answers today," I announced firmly.

    "How can you be sure that I am from the future?" He asked.

    I wasn't really sure. I was just guessing and pretending to be certain.  

    "That concoction for the headache that you gave me, that's just ibuprofen dissolved in water, isn't it?" I asked without answering his question.

    And he didn't answer my question.

    "Selma told me that you study time travel. Tell me what happened to me?" I asked.

    "I have no idea what happened to you. This is my original body unlike yours. And yes, I am no druid, and I have no magical powers. I just heal by bringing the knowledge of modern medicine with me," he said carefully.

    "Can real druids identify a ghost if they see one? They should have suspected something during the engagement ceremony, right?"

    I was terrified of ghosts and horror movies. The last thing I wanted was to be one.

    "I don't really understand how you are able to possess Allena's body. I am a time traveler, not a scientist of some abstract supernatural phenomenon." He looked around to make sure that no one was listening to our conversation.

    "Why did you choose to come to this Iron Age? To lead a druid life?"

    "I am a doctor," he said.

    "Like Doctor Who?" I smirked.

    "I like to heal people. The average life span of people from this era is less than 40. It gives me joy helping them live longer."

    "How do you do it?"

    "Do what? Time travel?" I nodded.

    "I just know how to identify an Einstein-Rosen Bridge."

    "A what?"

    "A wormhole, or a portal," he added, "Come on! Haven't you heard Einstein-Rosen Bridge in Thor? Natalie Portman's whole research is about that."

    "Who thinks about a wormhole when there is Chris Hemsworth." I rolled my eyes.

    "Your Marcus looks no less though. And he is real, not an actor," he chuckled.

    I was annoyed at the mention of his name. I looked for a change of topic.      

    "Are we in Ireland?"

    "No, this is Cornwall. You were close."

    "And this is around 200 BC?"

    "Impressive! You know your history. This is 225 BC, a few years before Hannibal strikes and the Second Punic War starts."

    Oh boy!

    "Why do they have to be at war all the time?"

    "Oh, the Roman Republic was never at peace. They were ambitious and wanted to impose their predominance everywhere they went and were constantly battling."  

    "Iona said I am some sort of a champion of horseback riding. And I was able to climb a tree that was literally 150 feet tall. Any idea how? You think I can also ride a horse like Allena?"

    "It is probably muscle memory. You won't be able to drive a car though. Because your mind knows how to, but your body doesn't. You will most likely hit on gas when you intend to brake." he said.

    "I am not worried about driving a car here. I have to know how to ride a horse if we are riding to Rome."

    "Not Rome. Marcus's fortress is in modern-day Milan. And you will be riding through France and Switzerland for days. You will have to cross the English Channel before that."

    I suddenly remembered the trinket that the sorceress gave me. I showed it to him and asked him if he knew what it was.

    "She said it will glow and vibrate." 

    "Yes, it is a one-way portal to this specific time. It will create one if you want to come back from the twenty-first century," he looked at it with curiosity.

    "How do I go back?"

    "I don't know," he shrugged, "Maybe you can go back as Allena."

    "Does time run faster here than in Chicago?"

    "Yes. If you go to the Stone Age, it runs even faster."

    "Selma told me about druids living a longer life by going back in time. But won't they age faster there?"

    "I am only 41 but I look 65 years old because I am using my body to travel. The druids know how to leave their bodies and enter the astral plane. So they live for say, 50 years in the past, but their original body in the present wakes up looking only a few years older."

    Wow! My head was trying hard to wrap around this information. My mind went blank and I couldn't think of any other questions.

    "I will leave now before it gets dark. I appreciate your help today. If you find out anything about Allena or how to work the trinket, please send a word to me even when I am at Marcus's place."