Time Nomads by James Axler
Time Nomads by James Axler
Chapter One
MILDRED WYETH WAS at the most wonderful party of her life. The only dark spot was a nagging headache that lurked somewhere behind her eyes, giving occasional stabs of pain that left her feeling oddly weak and disoriented.
Everyone was there.
Martin and Coretta both smiled at her as she walked by and into the parlor where the buffet was laid out. Andrew and Jesse were involved in a heated discussion, both in danger of spilling their plates of gumbo on the carpet. They saw Mildred and grinned sheepishly, parting to allow her through.
Ralph was helping himself to some potato salad. “Can I serve you, Mildred?” he asked.
“No, thanks. I’ll just pick a little.”
“Sure?”
“Sure. Is it true that Jack and Bobby are coming along later?”
He nodded. “Surely is. Just about the biggest gathering we’ve seen. Your pa around?”
“Out in the garden with Mom.”
“That’s a pretty pistol you got there, Mildred. Not looking for trouble, are you? Not here, among friends?”
“It’s a ZKR 551, Reverend. Six-shot blaster, chambered to take a standard Smith amp; Wesson .38.”
“That the one you used in the Olympics? It looks kind of different.”
For a moment Mildred was puzzled. “Guess it does, at that.”
Through the window, she could see a couple singing by the barbecue, a tall, good-looking man and an attractive girl, their voices blending perfectly.
“Who’re they?” she asked.
Ralph had moved away, and a crew cut white teenager answered her. “That’s John and Buffy. They’re going around with Bobby, playing at all his whistle-stops. They’re cool.”
Mildred strolled through the open doors, savoring the fresh air, catching the scent of orchids, hearing cicadas in the bushes. The garden was familiar and yet had features that she didn’t quite recognize. Parts were bigger, and some of the angles at the corners seemed different.
She glimpsed her mother near a small ornamental fountain. She waved to her but got no response.
For a moment Mildred felt a strange, painful sensation, as though something had stirred deep within her brain, like a tiny metal orb revolving in the frontal lobe above the eyes. It was sharp enough to make her wince.
She closed her eyes, then jumped as someone laid a hand on her shoulder.
“Sorry, Millie.”
Uncle Josh, her father’s younger brother, was the only one who ever called her Millie. Like her father, Josh was a minister.
“It’s all right. Goodness, it’s cold. I feel frozen. Really frozen.”
For some reason, that seemed to be funny, and she smiled broadly. But her uncle didn’t react. “Your father wants to speak to you, Millie. Out in the corner, under the magnolia.”
That had always been his favorite place before
“Before,” she murmured.
“Over there.” Uncle Josh pointed. “With some new friends.”
“I didn’t know he had any new friends. Who are they?”
Her uncle shook his head slowly. “Can’t say I cotton to them too much, Millie. Over there. Four men and a lady.”
“I’ll go look.”
The light seemed dimmer, but she could make out the short dark curls on top of her father’s head, just visible above the back of the striped chair. And she could also see the five strangers that Josh had mentioned to her.
The girl caught her eye first. She was very tall, close to six feet, with a mane of the most wonderful hair that Mildred had ever seen. The deep, fiery crimson seemed to glow in the dim evening light. She half turned and smiled at Mildred, revealing eyes the color of melting emeralds. She was dressed in khaki overalls, tucked into dark blue leather Western boots, which had silver points chiseled into the toes, and silver spread-winged falcons embroidered on the sides. Next to her was a well-built man with a mop of black curly hair. He stood a couple of inches over six feet, and was broad-shouldered. He also turned at Mildred’s approach and she saw, with no surprise at all, that he had a patch over his left eye. The man wore a long coat of dark leather with a white fur trim, and a white silk scarf was looped around his neck.