Timepiece (Hourglass 2)

“I’m sorry,” Nate said, gesturing with the bone. “It was an accident. We … we’re visitors from … out of … state?”

I groaned. This wasn’t going to end well.

The woman didn’t seem to hear or see him, but from the way her eyes moved, she did see the leg bone. From the way she dropped the mop and covered her mouth to stifle a scream, it must have appeared to be floating in midair. I rushed across the room and tapped her on the shoulder before she could run.

The dusty file boxes reappeared, and I heard a combined gasp from Dune and Nate.

The skeleton was upright and hanging from its hook, slightly more yellowed than it had been a few seconds ago in the rip from the past. It was missing a left leg bone.

The exact bone Nate still held in his hand. It looked brand new.

Chapter 16

“Can we just … regroup?” Em sat on the corner of my bed, staring at Dune, Nate, and me. “Number one, Lily pointed out to you that we needed to know what Jack’s ultimate goal is, so that we can better understand where to look for him.”

I nodded.

“Number two,” she continued, moving her attention to Dune, “you did a computer search, and there’s no information on Jack in any database anywhere.”

Dune nodded.

“And number three.” Em took a couple of deep breaths and looked at Nate, and then at each of us in turn. “Y’all looked through paper records at the college, and that led to you pulling a leg bone out of a ripple?”

Nate nodded and then patted the leg bone awkwardly. “I’d put it back, but … I don’t know how.”

“Why did you take it out of the rip with you in the first place?” Em asked in disbelief.

“We didn’t do it on purpose,” Nate assured her. “Don’t worry. It didn’t belong to anyone … who needed it.”

“It doesn’t matter why or how it happened, but it did,” I said. “I couldn’t tell Dad, because I didn’t want him to know I stole his key or what we were looking for, but I couldn’t leave the rest of the skeleton there, either. It’s evidence.”

“It’s creepy.” Em looked up at me. “And it’s a skeleton. In your closet. Your bedroom closet. I mean, the irony …”

I shut the closet door. “Back to regrouping.”

Em closed her eyes and dropped her head into her hands.

“You okay?” I asked her. “Want me to round you up some water or something?”

She peered up at me through her fingers. “How about your flask?”

“Trust me, that’s not the answer.”

“That’s the wisest thing I’ve heard you say in a while,” Michael said from the doorway. Em’s eyes opened wide, and I could see and feel her relief. It went all the way to her soul.

Dune tapped Nate on the arm. “We should head out. Liam’s going to know something’s up if he finds us all in Kaleb’s bedroom.”

“Wait.” After Nate dropped the bone on top of my dresser, I tossed him the key to the science storage area. “Can you get that back on Dad’s key ring?”

“Lickety-split.” He was gone before I could blink. Dune rolled his eyes and followed, but a little more slowly.

Michael threw his coat on my bed and sat down beside Em.

“Is that it?” He pointed at the bone.

“Yes.” I opened my closet door, turned on the light, and let him compare the color of the bones.

“Just so I have all this straight, when you went into the storage room, the skeleton was there. It was missing a leg bone,” Michael confirmed.