“I leave it to the forest now. Come, Ed, Misfit, let’s retire to the aerie. Murphy will wait for a sign.”
They left, and Murphy stood watching the snow fall on the freshly packed earth. He saw a small disturbance in the center of his grave. He fell to his stomach and watched as a shoot moved out of the soil and the seedling curled upward. The plant was fertilized by his bones and Mia’s blood. Soon the small tree grew thick and tall. An elm had ended his life. His remains gave another elm new life. This circle of life pleased the land. Murphy stood up, and he felt the power of the land move upwards from his feet into his body. It felt like a thousand energon cubes had exploded inside him. His steely gray eyes glowed. Gone was the blue mist of the ghost. Instead, Murphy glowed with the deep green of the forest. He took a moment to thank the earth before he sped to the aerie to tell them what had happened.
Those memories gave him the truth. He and Mia not only knew each other in the future but there was a bond between them that she fought hard to keep. Why? Who was he but a poor farmer who didn’t live much past his thirty-fifth year. But this woman didn’t see him that way. He erred, and she forgave him, just like Mother Nature forgave his taking of her beloved trees. The high entity of the forest gave him power. Wherever nature had a foothold, be it a lush forest or a scraggly plant that pushed up between the cracks of a sidewalk, he could regain his power. But that was in the future… or was it?
Murphy knelt down and called out, “Keeper of the flora and fauna, I, Stephen Murphy, ask for your forgiveness and promise to replace the trees I took to build my house and barn tenfold. Please bestow upon your humble servant the power of the earth so I may protect those who fight for this planet.”
A crackle of footfalls on the forest floor alerted Murphy to someone coming. He looked up to see a beautiful woman walking towards him. She wore robes made of light, and in the deep pleats, moss and fungi grew. Her hair resembled a spring willow’s branches, and she wore a circlet of daisies. “Hello, Stephen,” she said. “This meeting is unexpected.”
“There is devilment about. Time has been changed. I must help reinstate it, but I need the power to move far from my remains. A power I don’t have yet, but you will bestow upon me in eighteen years.”
“You’ve always had the ability to leave this place but, yes, not the power to regenerate your strength. Why would I do this?”
“Sariel asked.”
“Oh. Does he know that you’re in this predicament?”
“I doubt it.”
“Explain…”
Murphy explained what he knew.
“And you trust this hoyden?”
“Yes.”
“Mia Cooper, the girl that screams in graveyards?” Mother Nature confirmed.
“Yes.”
“A child with a woman’s memory. A sensitive with no access to her genetic powers.”
“She has no way of defending herself on her quest to reset time. I’ve always had her back.”
“And her heart. I’m not sure we should continue this pairing. It may end with you in the Dark World.”
“I know the rules. I will not take advantage.”
She stood still and listened to the silence of the woods. It was as if her children had all stopped moving, awaiting her decision. “Children, talk to me. Does this man deserve our gifts?” she asked.
Murphy felt the wind as it moved, freeing the trees of their paralysis. The birds and beasts of the hollow gave their requested testament. He watched the everchanging visage under the circlet, looking for a favorable expression.
“I will give you power until the next full moon, Stephen. At that time, I will take it away until you’ve earned it properly. If you and this screaming child succeed, then all will be as it was. If not, you’ll have some difficult decisions to make.”
“Thank you,” Murphy said.
“How strange is it that only you and she remember the future…” Mother Nature questioned before fading away.
Chapter Four
Mia sat in the back of the Town Car beside a very quiet Wyatt Wayne. Nordin had convinced the Coopers that two weeks of concentrated study would determine whether Mia was indeed a prodigy or not. Either way, it would be an educational experience for the young woman, and the cost was being picked up by a local enthusiast.
“My wife and I will use this time to prepare for my Wyoming dig,” Charles told Nordin. “This couldn’t have come at a better time.”
Nordin kept to himself the disgust he felt for these people. Who left a twelve-year-old’s well-being in the charge of two dirty old men? Not that they were dirty old men, but what if they had been?
“I’ve been thinking about the order in which you need to interview these people,” Wyatt said.
“Interview?” Mia questioned.
“Accuse, interact, whatever you have to do to see who made the wish,” he clarified.
“Yes. Aside from the locations we need to travel to, I thought I’d approach the females first. I originally crossed Audrey off in my mind because she has a wonderful marriage and a beautiful baby, but what if she didn’t realize that by being twenty years younger that everything under twenty years would no longer be. My godfather Ralph is always saying, ‘If I was your age, Mia, I’d treat my skin better.’ I doubt he wants to be twelve nor wishes to go back in time. He just wants younger skin.”
“Vanity is a powerful sin,” Wyatt told her. “We should see her soon. It may make a lot of the travel unnecessary if you’re right.”
“If my memory hasn’t been corrupted, Audrey
