Rosie had returned with two of the town elders: Minerva Lathrop, who was Maida’s great-aunt and the former proprietress of the Mudpuddle Bookstore & Cafe, and Zephyr Nightshade, a wizard who was a retired agent from the Society for the Protection of Natural Magic. They were joined by a rotund man wearing a white lab coat and a stethoscope around his neck. This was Primrose Court’s own Dr. Dvita.
“I’m sorry.” Rosie shrugged apologetically to the group while glancing at Will. “Will looked so pale. I was worried. I thought it couldn’t hurt to call in reinforcements.”
“I was already planning to bring a welcome basket, just not for another hour or two.” Minerva set the loaded basket she was carrying on the chaise beside Will. She plucked an official-looking letter out of her apron pocket. “I also have some mail to deliver. This is for you, my dear.” She handed the letter to Zani, smiling warmly.
“There he is!” Dr. Dvita clapped Will on the back. “I told you all he’d be fine. Remember the first time you ported, Maida?” The jolly doctor, who was also a tortoise shifter, slid his glasses up his beaklike nose and nodded at Maida. Will thought Dr. Dvita most resembled his tortoise form when he was smiling like this. “She was unconscious for several hours!”
Will didn’t think that was entirely fair of the doctor. Maida’s first time porting hadn’t exactly been voluntary. She’d been completely unaware of the world of magic, and her safety was at stake. He’d literally dragged her through the port kicking and screaming. All things considered, he thought she’d handled it well.
“Maida was a champ. And this was hardlymyfirst time porting,” Will mumbled. He peeked into the basket. Something somehow smelled both stinky and delicious, and he was still famished. Minerva and Zephyr had brought a spread of artisanal cheeses, some dried fruit, and an assortment of flatbreads and crackers. He wasn’t sure what to eat first. He reached out tentatively.
“Help yourself, Will. And be sure to take some cheese, too. I know you porters burn a lot of carbs, but you also need a little fat and protein to stabilize your system.” Minerva tutted, fussing with the cheeseboard and placing it on the table beside him.
Will did not need to be asked twice. He helped himself to a cracker and a hunk of cheese, which he washed down with a cup of sweet milky tea from Minerva’s thermos. The brew was still warm, but not too hot.
“So, tell me. How long has it been since they arrived?” Dr. Dvita blinked slowly. From his side chair, he quietly watched Will and Zani, glancing periodically at his pocket watch.
“Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes?” Maida answered.
Will turned to check on Zani. She was doing remarkably well for having ported for the first time. No physical symptoms whatsoever. Even the idea of time travel didn’t seem to trouble her as much as it did everyone else in the room. Something else had her full attention. He was surprised to see the Society’s seal on the letter she was turning over nervously in her hands.
In the corner, Will could see Rosie pacing, her finger on her watch. She kept darting glances in their direction. Looking up briefly, she addressed Zani directly. “Was Will holding a sign in the airport when he met you?”
“No.” Zani looked up, pulling her focus from the letter somewhat reluctantly. She tucked it into a pocket. “No sign. But he was pretty hard to miss. Why are you asking?”
“No reason.” Rosie smirked.
“Rosie.” Will’s eyes grew wide. “Who are you messaging on your T-watch right now?”
“You, Will. I’m talking to the other you at the airport.” Rosie winked. Her eyes sparkled at the extreme novelty of this situation.
His head swam a little.
Rosie came back to sit beside Zani, staring at her admiringly. “I already thought you were cool. But time travel? How did you guys do it?”
“It wasn’t me!” Zani held her hands up. “I’ve never time traveled, unless you count crossing the international date line. I’ve never even ported before today! To be honest, it’s freaking me out a bit that there’s two of me existing right now. It doesn’t seem right.”
“You wouldn’t want to meet yourself, then, Zani?” Zephyr Nightshade’s starry blue eyes twinkled with mischief. “I should like to meet myself. I could use a decent Dragon chess opponent.”
“Banish the thought, Zephyr! I can barely keep up with one of you. Not to mention we’d have no cheese left to sell to the customers.” Minerva gazed at the old wizard lovingly and swatted his hand away as he reached out for a hunk of cheese on the board next to Will. “Leave that for Will and Zani, Zippy. They need their strength!”
Will fidgeted excitedly with his teaspoon, stirring the tea into a vortex as he tried to put the events of this confusing afternoon back into order. Had he actually time traveled with Zani? All evidence suggested that was the case. According to his watch, he was currently tripping over the man who was trying to propose in the airport while simultaneously sitting here. And he couldn’t be more pleased about it.
He had time traveled. He, Will Porter, an ordinary porter, no more accomplished than any other of his kind, had experienced an anomaly. And he had to admit, it made him feel rather special. He sat up straighter and smeared some jam on a cracker.
Will had heard tales of time slips before. He’d even attended a few of Burnside Porter’s lectures before the Porting Academy had kicked the professor out. But as much as he’d wanted to believe time porting was within the realm of magical possibility, he had always chalked the idea up as a sort of speculative fiction. Stories for porter children, designed to scare them and keep them on the straight and narrow path. Right up there with wormholes and port loops. Temporal anomalies hadn’t actually happened to anyone he knew. They were folklore.
And yet, here he was at 3:30 pm. Again. It was only an hour’s difference, and certainly not intentional. But it was undeniable.
“I don’t think it was time travel so much as a timeslip,” Will said, fashioning a sandwich for himself with the jammy cracker and a bit more brie. “Not that I have any idea how or why it happened.” He bit down, savoring the sweetness of the raspberry jam with the creamy, indulgent brie. Minerva was right. This was just the thing.
“Isn’t that just a precursor of time travel?” Dr. Dvita lit his corncob pipe as he pondered. “I’m not sure I see the difference.” He took a long pull from the pipe, removed it, and exhaled, blowing smoke rings. They gathered in a small, mesmerizing orbit around his head before vanishing.
“Good question. Time travel seems more intentional to me. Time slips, I imagine, are more likely due to a glitch in the porting system,” Will posited. No matter if it was an accident. It still felt special. “From what I’ve read, they are brief, accidental, and inconsequential.”
“So, to be clear, you didn’t intend to time travel here?” Maida’s wild platinum hair shone in a crown around her head. “It was just a glitch?”
“Exactly.” Will took another bite of his jam cracker sandwich, and a thought suddenly occurred to him. “Although … Zani said she wished she was already here, and I wanted her to have a chance to rest up before being inundated.” Will glanced at the letter peeking out of Zani’s pocket. She was pinching the corner, folding and unfolding it and picking at it like an uncomfortable itch. Whatever was inside, she didn’t seem particularly eager to find out. More like she needed to get it over with.
