“I have not!” Will was beginning to feel a bit defensive.
“Is it possible that friends or colleagues might have collaborated to play a prank on you?”
“Nope.” Will shook his head.
“Okay, this last one is very important.” Burnside looked up with a grave expression. “Are you positive you set your clocks correctly?”
“Enough, already!” Will exclaimed indignantly. “I’m sure it happened. As sure as can be. I wouldn’t be here if I weren’t sure!”
Burnside slid the notebook back into his apron pocket.
“I’m sorry, but I have to make sure your story checks out, Will. Many a porter have gotten confused when traveling through different time zones.” He patted Will’s hand. “It happens to the best of us.”
Will drew his hand away. “I am not confused, nor was I traveling through multiple time zones. I simply arrived at my destination an entire hour before I left.”
“Listen.” Burnside studied Will intently. “I believe something happened. But I still say it will not happen again on your way home, or on your way anywhere else today, no matter how hard you try.”
“Why not? If I did it once, I should be able to do it again!” Will jutted his chin out defiantly.
Burnside slurped his tea again. “You’d think so, Will. But then you’d be mistaken.” He leaned in closer to whisper his next tidbit of advice. “I can tell you don’t possess a catalyst at present. I’m afraid you will not get very far without a stone.”
“A stone?” Will plucked a third donut from the box. “What sort of stone?”
“An exceptionally rare and special stone. One of the rarest stones on the planet,” Burnside said. “Celestial sapphire. Not found in any gem shops or jewelry stores. There’s only a few of them in the deepest of the deep blue seas. Good luck getting your hands on one.” Burnside’s lip curled back as he laughed, exposing his veritable jewel box of golden and silver teeth. It wasn’t the precious metals that held Will’s gaze. He was now fixated on the otherworldly glow of Burnside’s sparkling blue fang.
“Like that stone you’ve got right there?” Will pointed at Burnside’s face.
Burnside clapped a hand over his mouth. When he lowered it, he took another long gulp of his drink. “Funny thing. I sometimes forget the thing is there,” Burnside admitted. “Other times I’m not sure if I’ve got it, or it’s got me.” He rubbed a finger over the tooth.
“Where did you get it?” Will asked.
“It’s a family thing. A gift for my servitude to the royal family in the land where my family is from. It’s been passed down my line for many generations.” Burnside closed his mouth and pursed his lips. He stared off into the distance. Will wondered if he was done talking. But then a moment later Burnside spoke again, more quietly this time. “My stone has granted me unprecedented freedom to live my life nonsequentially, in whatever place or time I choose. But that freedom has not come without a cost.”
“What land are you from?” Will asked. It had never occurred to him to ask. He’d suspected that Burnside was some sort of shifter, as all porters were halflings of some sort. Burnside showed no signs of being part Fae, like Will. And Will had never gotten a witch vibe from him, either. Some kind of shifter, then? From where? There was nothing about Burnside’s accent or appearance to suggest his origin.
“That’s neither here nor there.” Burnside waved away Will’s question. “My father was from Brooklyn.”
“Hmmm.” Will studied the man, wanting to press for more information but sensing that now was not the time. “So what do you think happened to me? Why did I slip?”
Burnside sighed and folded his arms across his chest. “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t you tell me what happened, and I’ll do what I can to help you figure that out?”
Will had the oddest sense that Burnside was growing uncomfortable with the question. It felt a bit like a game of twenty questions, where one participant of the conversation knew far more than the other, but couldn’t share that information. Nevertheless, he described the time slip to Burnside.
“It was cold,” Will explained. “And hard. I didn’t sink into the nothingness like I normally do. I slid across some type of surface.It was almost like everything was frozen.”
“Right!? They don’t call it a timeslipfor nothing!” Burnside slapped the table enthusiastically. Hard enough for one of the elves to glare at him and tsk. “Sorry. Sorry!” He hunched his ears up to his shoulders and held his hands up. “I got carried away.”
“It was so cold and slippery,” Will recounted. “I was afraid I would lose my bearing. In fact, I nearly dropped the thread. I was moving so fast.”
“How did you slow down?”
“Snow plow.” Will waved a hand dismissively at his feet. “I learned how to do it as a kid.”
“And it worked?” Burnside looked impressed.
“Obviously.” Will gestured to himself. “I’m here now, aren’t I?”
“I suppose you are,” Burnside acknowledged begrudgingly. He checked his watch again anxiously. It wasn’t merely to check the time. Will could tell his action was compulsive. Burnside reached out to touch him.
