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The cookie Eva held to her mouth fell from her hand as she stumbled to catch it, just barely before it fell on the floor. Regaining her composure, she surveyed Isabella from head to toe for the second time.
“Say it again?” Her dagger-like eyes shifted into glimmering sun beams as her pupils dilated, now staring closely at her brother.
“Yes, I know it sounds crazy, but she is from 1882.”
“1881,” Isabella corrected him almost in a whisper, realizing how insane they both sounded.
“So, you’re saying she time traveled to the twenty-first century from 1881?” Eva closed her eyes, took in a deep breath and held it.
That indeed made her sound like a ninny. Liam and Isabella looked at each other, then shifted their gaze back to Eva who still had her eyes closed, then back at each other. The anticipation felt like forever.
“Ok, I believe you,” Eva suddenly said, letting out all the air.
“Really?!” They both shouted with a dazed look on their faces.
“Sure, why not.” Eva shrugged her shoulders. “My brother is known for his lack of belief. For him to make such a claim can only mean that he has already exhausted all possible and viable options. And according to the latest studies, it’s not that impossible anymore toharness the power of quantum mechanics to place humongous objects, like planets and stars, into a state of superposition.”
All Isabella heard were mumbled words which made no sense. They both stared at Eva with half-shut eyes and wrinkled foreheads. Eva rolled her eyes as if she was talking to little children. “In other words, time travel is now considered possible.”
Isabella clapped her hands in excitement that made her jump to her feet. “I knew it!” Her hands still pointed in the air, she slowly sat back down. “I never lost faith in this world with all its intelligent people and marvelous inventions! What machine do we use to get me back in time?” She looked at Eva with puppy eyes. Eva rubbed the back of her neck. “I don’t want to be the messenger of bad news, but time travel won’t be possible in any of our lifetimes.”
Eva might as well have landed a punch right into her face. It would have had the exact same effect as the words she had just delivered. A clump of painful frustration formed in Isabella’s throat. “But didn’t you just say that time travel is now possible?”
“In theory. Thanks to quantum physics, science is at the precipice of understanding that. However, our knowledge of it is still in its infancy. Possible does not mean feasible. It will take years to understand the very basics of it, yet alone build a working prototype of a time traveling machine.” Eva noticed how Isabella’s face turned into a frown. “But if I were to surmise common sense then it’s obviously possible if you traveled all the way here.”
Isabella clenched her teeth. This was terrible. For a moment it seemed like there was hope. For the first time since she’d traveled here, someone seemed to understand what was happening to her. But in the end, life was simply mocking her yet again. Her disappointment was scribbled all over her face with huge, bold marker ink. Liam put an arm around her shoulders to comfort her. “We will find a way.” Then he shifted his attention to his sister. “Eva, don’t you know anybody who could help?”
Eva rubbed her chin. “It depends. How comfortable are you to try a more, shall I say, unconventional approach?” Isabella felt Liam’s hand rubbing gently up and down the side of her arm. It felt wonderful. Every spot where his hand touched lit on fire.
“I’m sitting here talking with you about time travel. Me. Your brother. Who doesn’t even believe in the weather forecast.” Eva glanced over to Isabella.
“Ok. But I warned you. Don’t you get all mad at me like you did on your birthday two years ago.”
Liam started massaging his temple in annoyance with the hand that was not holding Isabella. “You called a stripper for me. To my office! I had to pay her two hundred bucks just to get her to leave without taking her clothes off.” Eva crossed her arms and lifted her chin in defiance.
“Well, she liked you. I thought it would loosen you up a bit. The army had turned you from a warm, funny person to a grumpy, empty shell.” Isabella didn’t believe her ears. Liam? Grumpy? That couldn’t be further from the truth.
“I went to war, Eva, not Disneyland.“
“Well, I thought the warm touch of a woman might wake you up again.” The way they argued, there was no doubt that they were siblings—who cared deeply for one another. In their own way, that is. They exchanged pouting looks. “But I see you didn’t need my help after all.” Eva’s gaze met Isabella’s eyes, then she gave her a grin. Isabella moved in her seat, trying to look away, while Liam instantly moved his arm.
“It’s not like that.”
“Mmmhmm… It’s like you’re your old self again, little brother,” Eva smirked at them both. But before Liam or Isabella could protest again, she got up. “That’s it for today. I hate to kick you both out, but I have to leave in five minutes. I have to give a lecture about Astrophysics at UPenn.” Isabella and Liam got up as well. This was so very abrupt. Eva was truly unique.
“I thought you were going to help us,” Liam asked on their way out.
“I will. Come back tomorrow. At 10 AM, sharp.”
Those were Eva’s last words before she closed the front door behind them. They both stood there for a moment, trying to process what had just happened. Liam took the first step walking toward his car. Isabella soon followed. “I told you she’s crazy. That’s my sister by the way. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if you forgot.”
Isabella chuckled. “She’s different. I like her. A lot.”
“She’s quite annoying, and hard to deal with at times.” His eyebrows perked. “Actually, all the time,” he shook his head. Isabella gave him a smirk.
“As I said, I like her.”
“Why am I not surprised, Miss Astley?” He gave her a cheeky smile that made her return the favor.
