Keith Laumer - The Other Side of Time

He sat astride the great war-horse, in the early morning, looking across the field toward the mist-obscured heights where the enemy waited. The chain-mail coif and hauberk weighed heavy on him; and there was another weight within him: a sense of a thing undone, a duty forgotten, of something valuable betrayed.

The mist clears, my lord, Trumpington spoke at his side. Will you attack?

He looked up at the sun, burning through the mist. He thought of the green vales of home, and the sense grew in him that death waited here on this obscure field.

No. Ill not unsheathe Balingore this day, he said at last.

My lordis all well with you? There was concern in the young squires voice.

He nodded curtly. Then he turned and rode back through the silent, staring ranks of his panoplied host.

At Mollys place, the jukebox was breaking its heart over a faithless woman, but there was nobody listening but a few conchs sitting out on the rickety porch under the yellow bug lights, nursing beers and catching the breeze moving in off the gulf. It was after nine P.M. and the heat of the day was gone from the beach, and the surf coming up on the sand sounded lonesome and far away, like an old mans memories.

I took a stool at the bar and Molly put a bottle of wine in front of me, with the seal still intact.

Johnny, it happened again today, she said. I found a platter I swear I broke last month, right there in the sink, not a chip out of it. And the whiskey stock is differentstuff I never ordered there, and not a sign of the Red Labeland you know I know my stock. And three heads of cabbage, fresh yesterdayrotten in the cooler!

Soyour last order was mixed upand the vegetables werent as fresh as they looked, I said.

And toadstools growing in the corners? she said. I guess thats natural too? You know bettern that, John Curlon! And how about this? She brought a heavy cut-glass cup up from behind the bar. It was about one-quart capacity, rounded on the bottom, with a short stem.

This was here when I came in this evening. Its worth money. Howd it get here?

Impulse shopping, I suggested.

Dont kid me, Johnny. Theres something happeningsomething that scares me! Its like the world was shifting right under my feet! And its not just here! I see things all aroundlittle thingslike trees are in different places than they used to beand a magazine I started reading; when I came back to itthere wasnt any such story in the book!

I patted her hand and she caught my fingers. Johnnytell me whats happeningwhat to do! Im not losing my mind, am I?

Youre fine, Molly. The glass was probably the gift of some secret admirer. And everybody loses things sometimes, or remembers things a little differently than they really were. Youll probably find your story in another magazine. You just got mixed up. I tried to make it sound convincing, but its hard to do when youre not sure yourself.

And Johnnywhat about you? Molly was still holding my hand. Have you talked to them yet?

Who? I asked.

She gave me a hot look from a pair of eyes that had probably been heartbreakers back before the Key West sun had bleached the fire out of them. Dont act like you dont know what I mean! There was another one in today asking for youa new guy, one I never saw before.

Ohthem. No, I havent had time

Johnny! Smarten up! You cant buck that crowd. Theyll smash you so flat you could slide under the linoleum without making a bump.

Dont worry about me, Molly

Sure, grin! Johnny Curlon, six foot three of bone and muscle, the fellow with the bullet-proof hide! Listen, Johnny! That Jakesys a mean oneespecially since they put the wire in his jaw. Hell chop you into cutbait she broke off. But I guess you know all that. I guess nothing I can say is going to change you. She turned and picked a Remy Martin bottle from the back bar.

Like you said, its just a glass. Might as well use it. She poured brandy into the chalice and I picked it up and looked into the glint of amber light inside it. The glass was cool and smooth and heavy against my palms

Seated in my great chair, I looked down at the narrow, treacherous face of him I had loved so well, saw hope leap up in those crafty eyes.

My lord kind, he started, and shuffled toward me on his knees, dragging the chains that he bore. I know not why I was cajoled to embark on such rude folly. Twas but a fit of madness, meaning naught

Three times ere now have you sought my throne and crown, I cried, not for his ears alone, but for all those who might murmur against that which I knew must be. Three times have I pardoned thee, lavished anew my favor on thee, raised thee up before loyal men.

Heavens grace descend on thy Majesty for thy great mercy, the glib voice babbled, and even in that moment I saw the hunger in his eyes. This time, I swear

Swear not, thou who are forsworn! I commanded him. Rather think on thy soul, to tarnish it no more in these thy final hours!

And I saw fear dawn at last, driving out the hunger and all else save lust for life itself. And I knew that lust to be foredoomed.

Mercy, brother, he gasped, and raised his manacled hands to me as to a god. Mercy, out of memory of past joys shared! Mercy, for love of our mother, the sainted Lady Eleanor

Foul not the name of her who loved thee! I shouted, hardening my heart against the vision of her face, pale under the hand of approaching death, swearing me to the eternal protection of him who knelt before me.

He wept as they bore him away, wept and swore his true allegiance and love for me. And later in my chambers, drugged with wine, I wept, hearing again and ever again the jail of the headsmans ax.

They told me that at the end, he found his manhood, and walked to the block with his head held high, as befits the son of kings. And with his last words, he forgave me.

Oh, he forgave me

A voice was calling my name. I blinked and saw Mollys face as through a haze of distance.

Johnnywhat is it?

I shook my head and the hallucination faded. I dont know, I said. Not getting enough sleep, maybe.

Your face, she said. When you took the glass in your hands and held it up like that, you lookedlike a stranger

Maybe it reminded me of something.

Its getting to you too, isnt it, Johnny?

Maybe. I drank the brandy off in a gulp.

The best thing for you would be to go away, she said softly. You know that.

And if they dont?

You cant have everything, I said.

She looked at me and sighed.

I guess I knew all along youd go your own way, Johnny, she said.

I felt her eyes following me as I pushed through the screen door and out into the cool evening air.

A heavy fog had rolled in from the gulf, and down at the pier the big mere lamps were shining through the mist like a bridge out into nowhere. At the end of it, my boat floated in fog. She was a sweet forty-footer, almost paid for, riding low in the water with full loads in her four hundred-gallon tanks. The pair of 480 Supermarine Chryslers under her hatches were old, but in top condition; Id rebuilt them myself. Theyd always gotten me where I was going, and back again.

I went up past the gear locker by the pole and two men separated themselves from the shadows and stepped out to block my way. One of them was the big ex-pug, the one they call Jakesy. The other was a foxy little bird in racetrack clothes. He flipped a cigarette away and pinched the knot in his tie and shook out his cuffs like a card shark getting set for a fast shuffle.

This here is Mr. Renata, Curlon, Jakesy said. Somebody had hit him in the throat once and his voice was a foghorn whisper. He came down from Palm special to talk to ya.