Chapter Forty-One 

Present Day—Deep in the Carpathian Mountains

Charlotte woke coughing. Smoke filled the room and she could see flames. The tiny wooden building was on fire. She couldn't believe it. The man who'd tried to kill Melinda, put her in a coma, was dead. This was a simple accident, nothing more.

She was deep in the Carpathian Mountains, where she'd run to get away from all the craziness. On her hands and knees, Charlotte crawled for the door. It wouldn't open. Something was blocking it from the other side. She grabbed one of the scarves Lucy had made her and held it to her mouth to keep the smoke from filling her lungs. As she crawled in the opposite direction, she searched for the window. It was her only way out.

The sound of a raven calling came from her left. The bird seemed to be leading her to safety. Charlotte pushed up the window and rolled over the edge, landing in the snow. She breathed in, coughing, her battered lungs burning.

Charlotte sat in the internet cafe and checked her email. Her friend Jake was housesitting and said the police were trying to get in touch with her. When she called, the nice officer informed her Melinda had taken her own life.

Even though she knew there was no way both of her sisters had tried to kill themselves, Charlotte let the tears fall. She knew in her heart there was no way both of them had fallen to their deaths. But she didn't say any of this to the officer. She thanked him for telling her and ended the call, sniffling and blowing her nose.

There were enough bizarre happenings in this small town to make Charlotte certain there was more to this world than we could see and feel.

She would visit the one person she thought could give her some insight. The oldest woman in the village. Marielle was rumored to have the sight. Maybe she could tell Charlotte what had happened to Lucy and Melinda. She snorted. It wasn't like the cops had a clue.

Charlotte knocked on the bright blue door. Marielle opened the door, beckoning her in.

"I've been expecting you."

"Melinda is dead. At least, that's what the police officer told me. He said she was visiting some castle ruin and jumped to her death out of grief. I know my sister. She would not kill herself."

Charlotte wiped the tears from her eyes and blew her nose. She met the gypsy woman's wise eyes.

"Can you please tell me what happened to my sisters?"

The woman shuffled a worn deck of tarot cards. She laid them out in three rows of seven, from left to right.

"The top row is your past. The center row the present. And the bottom row is your future."

Marielle looked at the cards for a long time.

"You will find your sisters in England. But not this England."

"Melinda saw a painting in London. She swore it was of our sister Lucy. It was painted during the fourteenth century. Do you mean I can actually go back in time?"

"What is time? Time does not flow in a line. It is a circle. There are many possibilities if only you listen."

The woman gathered up the cards and put them away. She took Charlotte's hands in hers, looking at her palms.

"Be wary, child. Great danger awaits you. Look for the raven. He will guide your path. And the unicorn will bring great change to your life. Be ready."

Unicorns? Charlotte believed in a lot of things, things others called New Age or ridiculous. But even she didn't believe in unicorns.

"Thank you, Marielle. It's time for me to leave. To go home and prepare."

The little old gypsy lady kissed her on each cheek.

"Be strong, Charlotte. Your destiny awaits, if you have the courage to take it."

If Lucy had gone back in time, did the gypsy mean Melinda had found a way to go back too? Charlotte needed to research and prepare. She didn't know how she could go back, only that she must.

She grabbed her meager belongings and stuffed them into the back of the waiting taxi. While it made more sense to fly to England from Romania, she needed to go back to Holden Beach first. Tie up loose ends. Say goodbye to her childhood home and figure out a plan. Her sisters might call her flighty and free-spirited, but she had a knack for figuring things out.

She didn't have a will, and there was the house and cars to deal with. Charlotte pulled out a small notebook from her bag and started a list. The fact that Lucy never returned and now Melinda was missing told Charlotte once you ended up in the past, you were stuck. So she would take care of what she needed to and then catch a flight to England. And somehow she would find a way to travel through time and find her sisters. Though what if they ended up in different times?

"No!"

"Miss?"

"Sorry. I was talking to myself."

The driver nodded and went back to humming to himself. Lucy and Melinda had to be together. Fate couldn't be so cruel.