“Where are we?” she asked, almost afraid to know.
Caleb surveyed the valley before them, then finally, he turned and looked at her.
Softly, he said: “Nazareth.”
He paused, taking it all in.
“Judging from that village, we’re in the first century,” he said, turning and looking at her in awe, his eyes alight with excitement. “In fact, it looks like we might even be in the time of Christ.”
Chapter Two
Scarlet felt a tongue licking her face and opened her eyes to blinding sunlight. The tongue would not stop, and before she even looked over, she knew it was Ruth. She opened her eyes just enough to see that it was her: Ruth was leaning over, whining, and grew even more excited as Scarlet opened her eyes.
Scarlet felt a stab of pain as she tried to open her eyes further; struck by the blinding sunlight, her eyes teared up, more sensitive than ever. She had a bad headache, and peeled open her eyes just enough to she was lying on a cobblestone street somewhere. People rushed by, walking past her, and she could tell she was in the midst of a busy city. People hurried to and fro, bustling in every direction, and she could hear the din of a crowd in midday. As Ruth whined and whined, she sat there, trying to remember, trying to figure out where she was. But she had no idea.
Before Scarlet could get her mind around what had happened, she suddenly felt a foot prodding her in the ribs.
“Move on!” came a deep voice. “You can’t sleep here.”
Scarlet looked over and saw a Roman sandal near her face. She looked up, and saw a Roman soldier standing over her, dressed in a short tunic, a belt around his waist, from which hung a short sword. He wore a small brass helmet with feathers on it.
He leaned over and nudged her again with his foot. It hurt Scarlet’s stomach.
“Did you hear what I said? Move on, or I’m locking you up.”
Scarlet wanted to listen, but as she opened her eyes further, the sun hurt them so much, and she was so disoriented. She tried to get to her feet, but felt as if she were moving in slow motion.
The soldier leaned back to kick her hard in the ribs. Scarlet saw it coming, and braced herself, unable to react quickly enough.
Scarlet heard a snarl, and looked over to see Ruth, hair standing up on her back, lunge at the soldier. Ruth caught his ankle in mid-air, digging her sharp fangs into it with all she had.
The soldier screamed, and his screams filled the air as blood poured from his ankle. Ruth would not let go, shaking it with all she had, and the soldier’s expression, so haughty a moment before, now turned to one of fear.
He reached down, into his scabbard, and extracted his sword. He lifted it high and prepared to bring it down on Ruth’s back.
That was when Scarlet felt it. It was like a force taking over her body, as if another power, another entity, were inside her. Without realizing what she was doing, she suddenly burst into action. She couldn’t control it, and she didn’t understand what was happening.
Scarlet jumped to her feet, heart pounding with adrenaline, and managed to grab the soldier’s wrist in midair, just as he was bringing down his sword. She felt power coursing through her, a power she had never known, as she held his arm. Even with all his strength, he could not budge.
She squeezed his wrist, and managed to squeeze it hard enough that, as he looked down at her in shock, he finally dropped his sword. It landed on the cobblestone with a clang.
“It’s OK, Ruth,” Scarlet said softly, and Ruth gradually let go of her grip on his ankle.
Scarlet stood there, holding the soldier’s wrist, keeping him locked in her deadly embrace.
“Please, let me go,” he pleaded.
Scarlet felt the power coursing through her, felt that, if she wanted, she could really hurt him. But she didn’t want to. She just wanted to be left alone.
Slowly, Scarlet released her grip and let him go.
The soldier, fear in his eyes, looking as if he’d just encountered a demon, turned and ran away, not even bothering to retrieve his sword.
“Come on Ruth,” Scarlet said, sensing he might come back with more soldiers, and not wanting to stick around.
A moment later, the two of them ran into the thick crowd. They hurried through the narrow, twisting alleyways, until Scarlet found a nook in the shade. She knew the soldiers wouldn’t find them here, and she wanted a minute to regroup, to figure out where they were. Ruth panted beside her, as Scarlet caught her breath in the heat.
Scarlet was scared and amazed by her own powers. She knew something was different, but she didn’t fully understand what was happening to her; she also didn’t understand where everyone else was. It was so hot here, and she was in a crowded city she didn’t recognize. It looked nothing like the London she grew up in. She looked out and watched all the people busting by, wearing robes, togas, sandals, carrying large baskets of figs and dates on their heads and shoulders, some of them wearing turbans. She saw ancient, stone buildings, narrow twisting alleyways, cobblestone streets, and wondered where on earth she could be. This definitely was not Scotland. Everything here looked so primitive, she felt as if she had gone back thousands of years.
Scarlet looked everywhere, hoping for a glimpse of her mom and dad. She scrutinized every face that passed, hoping, willing, that one of them would stop and turn to her.
But they were nowhere. And with every passing face, she felt more and more alone.
Scarlet was beginning to feel a sense of panic. She didn’t understand how she could have come back alone. How could they have left her like that? Where could they be? Did they make it back, too? Didn’t they care enough to come and find her?
The longer Scarlet stood there, watching, waiting, the more the realization sank in. She was alone. Completely on her own, in a strange time and place. Even if they were back here, she had no idea where to look for them.
Scarlet looked down at her wrist, at the ancient bracelet with the dangling cross that had been given to her right before they left Scotland. As they’d stood there in the courtyard of that castle, one of those old men in the white robes had reached out and slipped it on her wrist. She thought it was very pretty, but she didn’t know what it was, or what it meant. She had a feeling that it might be some sort of clue, but had no idea what.
She felt Ruth rubbing up against her leg, and she knelt down, kissed her head, and hugged her. Ruth whined in her ear, licking her. At least she had Ruth. Ruth was like a sister to her, and Scarlet was so grateful she had made it back with her, and so grateful she had protected her from that soldier. There was no one she loved more.
As Scarlet thought back to that soldier, to their encounter, she realized her powers must run deeper than she thought. She couldn’t understand how she, as a small girl, had overpowered him. She felt that somehow she was changing, or had already changed, into something she had never been. She remembered, back in Scotland, her mom explaining it to her. But she still didn’t quite understand it.
She wished it would all just go away. She just wanted to be normal, wanted things to be normal, back to the way they were. She just wanted her mommy and daddy; she wanted to close her eyes and be back in Scotland, in that castle, with Sam, and Polly, and Aiden. She wanted to be back at their wedding ceremony; she wanted everything to be right in the world.
But when she opened her eyes, she was still here, all alone with Ruth in this strange city, this strange time. She didn’t know a soul. No one seemed friendly. And she had no idea where to go.
Finally, Scarlet couldn’t take it anymore. She had to move on. She couldn’t hide here, waiting forever. Wherever her mommy and daddy were, she figured, it was out there somewhere. She felt a hunger pang, and heard Ruth whining, and knew she was hungry, too. She had to be brave, she told herself. She had to go out there and try to find them – and try to find food for them both.