Description: Lois meets an old woman that has some unbelievable things to tell her.
TOC /
Chapter 1 /
Chapter 2__________
Previously ...
"Clark …" she smiled, gently and looked down at the rings on her fourth finger. "He's different. He's a year older than me, but still looks thirty. And being with him, living close to him … his life force seems to have kept me … like this." Lane looked up and shrugged.
"Clark?" Lois asked. She seemed to be asking a lot of single word questions, and repeating what Lane said, but this seemed to be the most important question of them all. She held her breath and waited for the answer.
__________
Chapter 3"Clark. How to explain Clark?" Lane smiled, shyly, looking down into her lap. Another thing proving that this couldn't possibly be a future version of her. "He's … well, he's just everything." She looked up and met Lois' eyes. Lois was stunned by the love shining there.
She gulped. For a moment she was overcome with jealousy. This woman, whoever she was, had clearly found her soul mate. Lois didn't believe in true love, or even in plain love, never mind marriage. Her parents were the living proof. Yet this woman was claiming that Lois would marry, and that man would be … well, it seemed like he was Mr Perfect. Lane loved this … Clark … with every fibre of her being. Lois could see this in her eyes. Plus he apparently looked thirty when he was really ninety-eight.
"You love him very much?" It was both a statement and a question.
"Yes." Lane nodded and a tear rolled down her cheek. "He's my everything."
"Wow, I guess you consider yourself very lucky then."
"I thank God every day for sending Clark to me." Lane's eyes bored into hers. Lois shivered and got the feeling that Lane meant that sentence almost literally.
"How … how can he look only thirty?" This was just another proof that Lane was delusional. Nice … odd … but delusional.
"Clark is … different from other men. He's kind, generous, trustworthy, sweet …" Lane shook her head as she spoke. "But he's also
physically different. He's … super."
"Super? What the heck does that mean?"
"You'll find out. In about-"
A large clatter had Lois and Lane turning to look into the bistro. A small waitress was standing with an empty tray dangling from one hand and the other held against her forehead in embarrassment. Plates, cups and glasses were strewn all over the floor at her feet. Some customers were even clapping in jest.
Lois turned back to Lane. For some reason she was desperate to know how Lane's sentence was going to end.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't really say any more. In fact I should really have avoided speaking to you altogether so that the time-line isn't disrupted. But I've learned, over the years and multiple time travel adventures, that time isn't so easy to change. Tempus hasn't yet learned that, even though he's made dozens of attempts, and been thwarted every time."
Lois leaned forward and rested her chin on her hand. While this woman was clearly reality challenged, she was also fascinating.
"Even so, I don't think I should say much more. And I don't want to leave Tempus alone for much longer. He's particularly wily and devious and somehow always manages to escape from whatever prison he's put in."
"You don’t think you should say much more?" Lois exclaimed. "You've hardly said anything, and what you have said is pretty ridiculous and unbelievable. I want to know what you mean about 'super'. I want to know how many years till I meet this perfect man. I want to know why you are doing this?" Lois took in some deep breaths and tried to calm herself. "And where is this Clark, then? If he's so perfect then how come you got yourself kidnapped? And why would this Tempest-"
"Tempus," interjected Lane.
"-want to destroy your life? What kind of delusional person would want to ruin apparent perfection?"
Lane laughed. "I'm sorry, Lois. I've really confused you, haven't I?" She shook her head. "Jumping in without checking the water level again. I didn't think at all, just strode over here, popped myself down at your table and …" She sighed. "You should just forget this ever happened, Lois. Finish your coffee." She lifted her hand and indicated in the direction of the nearly empty cup. "I'll be off now." Lois watched as Lane stood and moved away from the table. "See you in seventy years … or so," she laughed and then headed for the alley.
Lois stared at the mouthful of coffee still in her cup.
Lane was clearly the delusional one. Tempus … from the future … wanted to ruin her perfect life. Life with a 'super' man. A man who looked a third his age. It was a fantasy. A dream. A delusion.
Thankfully Lane hadn't seemed schizophrenic or psychotic, so her delusions weren’t hurting anyone.
Except the man in the alley! Lois swivelled in her chair suddenly. She'd heard a man call out, but Lane had been the one to exit the alleyway. And she claimed to have 'dealt with him'. That was a metaphor for … do away with, bump off, get rid of … kill.
Maybe Lane
was dangerous.
Lois stood on shaky feet. There could be a dead man in the alley. And she'd let the killer get away. And Lane had been so clever that she'd given Lois reams of dis-information so that the police would just go around in circles in their investigation.
And Lois had played straight into her plan.
On the other hand ...
If Lane was telling the truth then … there was a time machine in that alley.
Either way, she needed to investigate the alley.
She turned back to the table, lifted her cup, downed the final mouthful, then leapt over the barrier rather than walk around it.
A low, whirring sound began and Lois knew she was about to miss her opportunity. She ran into the alley and saw a large sled, reminiscent of H. G. Wells The Time Machine, beginning to shimmer. Sitting in one seat was Lane, next to her, slumped over and tied up, was a middle aged, dark haired man. She sprinted into the darkness of the alley, which was rapidly brightening with the light show coming from the sled. Lane looked up and caught Lois gaze. Lane began to shake her head and mouth 'no', but Lois continued to sprint. She reached out with her arm and felt it connect with something.
A moment later she found herself on the dark alley floor. She pushed herself up and glanced around. There was no sign of the time machine, or the older Lois. She blinked and frowned, looking round and round. When she began to feel dizzy she halted her spiralling and raised her hands to her forehead. The dizziness increased and a pain began at the back of her head then spread over to her eyes. She collapsed to the ground and cried out, a thousand images burning into her mind, before losing consciousness.
__________
Here are the
comments. Only one more part to go... for now.
