Part 2
Nearly 3 months passed before the strange woman returned. James had almost forgotten about her, save for the magical chest of food she left for him. The daily large meals had done wonders for getting him back to a healthy weight, and he no longer looked years younger than he should have from the malnutrition. James was returning to his house for lunch when she surprised him again.
“James?” a voice called from the house as he was about to open the back door. He drew his knife.
“Who’s there? This is my house!” James called out. He opened the door slowly and saw the woman already sitting at the dining table. He sighed and put away the knife. “Oh, it’s you.”
“I apologize for the delay James, but nothing could have prevented it. I have made inquiries and found discrepancies. But first, you are leaving. Well more specifically, you are moving.”
“I’m what?”
“Have you ever heard of Palisade Bay?”
“I think my Father mentioned he had a friend there, but that was years ago.”
“Yes, the Innkeeper, Harrod Bearskin. The arrangements have been made, I have already moved all the heirlooms in this house there, all that is left is you.” she said, rising from her seat. “So come along then, it is a few weeks to get there.”
“Wait, what’s going on?”
“Political trickery is afoot in the city of thieves, James. Noblemen are vying to steal this house, and the circumstances surrounding your family’s death are beyond suspicious. You are going somewhere safe and remote, understood?”
“But this is my home!” James protested. “I shouldn’t have to leave my home! It’s all I have left!” James began to cry. “It’s my only memories of my parents.”
The woman kindly placed her hand on his shoulder. “I know it is not fair, James”, she began, smiling sadly. “It should have been different. Honour their memories by continuing to live. Take a few minutes to walk the house one last time. We leave at noon.”
James walked the empty darkened halls of the ruined mansion, thinking of his parents. He found himself in his Father’s study, but the bookshelves were now bare. This is what that woman must have meant, that the heirlooms were moved. A thought came and he opened his father’s desk, and reached to the back. It was right where he left it, his mother’s pendant. He never got the chance to tell her where he hid it, he thought to himself. Resolving to remember only the good times he had here, he returned to the dining room where the woman waited for him. Who was she though?
“The pendant, of course.” she said when she noticed it in his hand, then smiled. “A wise choice. Leave behind your regrets with this place, James. Let us leave.” She turned and walked toward the front of the house, where the nailed up door suddenly decayed and collapsed. “Come along, this house is beginning to collapse.”
As James and the woman walked down the street, the rest of the house, as if it had been suspended in time for years, suddenly rotted and collapsed all at once, unleashing a huge cloud of dust. Hearing the shouts behind him, James turned to look and was shocked to see it was just a pile of rubble. He moved to turn back but the woman stopped him, grabbing his shoulder and just shaking her head. They continued along the streets of the city and left through the North gate. James found it odd how everyone seemed to be giving them a wide berth, but saved his questions until they made it out of the city.
“Why didn’t anyone go near us back in the city?” he finally asked, once they were well into the woods.
“Because they did not wish to see me. The wish to not see me extends into a desire to avoid you, which means they do not move closer to you, without even realizing it.” she answered, smiling again. Seeing him about to ask another question, she raised her hand to stop him. “Who I am is not important James, I am a friend, that is all you need to know.”
“Fine. I remember you said something was wrong though. What’d you mean by that?” James finally asked after a few minutes silence.
“Hm. It is difficult to explain. You were supposed to have a happy childhood and have a sibling. You were not supposed to be an orphan at 9, living in a decaying mansion.”
“How’d you know that?” James asked, narrowing his eyes. “You been spying on me or something?”
The woman raised an eyebrow. “Not quite right, but not quite wrong. The natural flow of time had become contaminated in Port Nautitis so I went to correct it.”
“You some kind of mage?”
She smiled and laughed at the question. “Yes, I suppose I am. My specialty is a very unique form of magic, time magic.”
“Never heard of time magic.”
“Not many people have. Best kept that way, of course. I think you can guess why?”
“Think so. Cause I reckon if you could have, you would have went and saved my parents instead of doing this, am I wrong?” James asked, chewing on an apple he picked off a tree. “No sense wasting all this time on a starving orphan if you can just prevent the tragedy, right?”
“Such a bright young boy.” she said, smiling. It seems despite the hardship he can still be who he’s meant to be, she thought.
“Had nothing to do but read after my parents died. You saw all the books my father had.”
They walked in silence for the rest of the day, James content to let the strange woman be. Long after sunset, they were passing an abandoned farm on the edge of the woods when she stopped suddenly, causing James to bump into her.
“James, do you feel that?” she asked him, narrowing her eyes.
“Well, something feels off about that farm. Like I’m looking at an upside down painting?” he answered, slightly puzzled. “Yeah I don’t like the feel of the buildings there.”
“So even you noticed it. James, wait right here and do not move until I return.” she said, her feet rising from the ground. “No matter what you will have heard, the only correct outcome will be to have remained here. Understood?”
“Why are you talking all weird?” James asked, but she didn’t answer. Instead, she floated off to the darkened farm, like a ghost in the night. Seeing no alternative, he walked to the side of the road, sat down, and leaned against the fence. “Good luck, lady.” he said.