Cassie

I ran. I dove. And I caught Tobias's unconscious hawk body just before it hit the ground.

"Did he just faint?" Karen asked. "I didn't even know birds could faint."

"He'll be fine!" I said, before anyone could panic. I could feel Tobias breathing.

"Rachel and Marco are going to die?" Jake asked, panicking.

"Yes, but only temporarily." The male Helmet said with a disapproving look at the female. "Once they're back here, they'll be perfectly fine and go on to live their lives as though nothing has happened."

"Oh," Jake said, relieved. "Well, I guess that's not so bad then."

"But what if they DON'T die?" I asked. "They could be there for decades. . ."

"Oh, no," the male reassured us. "Time moves much faster there. They've already been there several days by now. One of your years would be equal to 100 years where they are."

"Oh, thank God," In my relief I clutched Tobias to my chest a little too tightly. He awoke with what could only be described as a squawk.

What's going on?

"You had a little fall," I said gently.

Oh. Cassie?

"Yes?"

Could you put me down now?

I laughed. "Oh, sure."

I was bending over to put Tobias on the ground when there was a flash of bright light and suddenly Marco was falling through the air right in front of me.

"Marco!" Jake exclaimed.

Marco hit the ground and gasped. He looked around wildly, then touched his face, chest, legs as if to make sure he was all there. I wondered what his death had been like.

His eyes met mine. "Where. . .? How?"

Then there was another flash and Rachel hit the ground right next to him.

Marco turned to look at her. Rachel stared at the ground for a few seconds, then looked up. Her face registered shock when she saw me. She did the whole looking-around-wildly-and-checking-body-parts thing.

Then she saw Marco.

I felt like I was intruding, like I wasn't supposed to say anything. I guess everyone else felt the same, because no one spoke, not Jake, Tobias, Ax, Karen, or the Helmets.

She looked at him with big, confused eyes. They stared at each other for what seemed like forever but must really have been only a few minutes.

Then Rachel burst into tears.

It was then I rushed forward. "Oh, Rachel," I said and hugged her, crazy colonial dress and all.

Jake walked up too, and held out a hand to help Marco up. Marco took it, and Jake pulled him to his feet.

"What happened?" Marco asked. "How did we get here?"

"Marco, man. . .you died."

"I died?"

"Yeah. . .that's what brought you back."

"Oh." Marco shook his head. "It didn't hurt. I thought it would hurt, you know?"

Jake nodded. "I remember."

"Why were we there?" Marco asked.

Jake looked at the Helmets. "It's a long story. But you're both back, so. . .so it's ok." He looked at Rachel, who was still sobbing into my shoulder. "Isn't it?"

Marco nodded. He, too, was watching Rachel. "Yeah. It's ok."

I saw the way he watched her. What had happened to them there? Why was brave, strong, fearless Rachel sobbing like the world had ended?

I saw Tobias, they way he hadn't said anything. His hawk face was expressionless, as always, so I had no idea what he was thinking.

And I saw Jake. Jake caught my eye and I could see that he, too, was confused and curious, and I thought we might be having the same problem: we could think of no way to ask the questions we had.

Rachel was suddenly done crying. She gently pushed me away from her, stood up and brushed herself off.

"I need to get out of these clothes." She said, and began walking towards the barn.

The female Helmet looked like she was about to say something, but the male shook his head. I guess he could sense that this was not the time for memory harvesting. From the looks of things, I didn't think she'd be getting anything from Rachel or Marco right now anyway.

Marco was watching Rachel as she walked away.

"So," he said. "What did we miss?"

Not nearly as much as it looks like we did. Tobias finally spoke.

Marco laughed. It sounded hollow. "Yeah," he admitted. "You're probably right there. I'm putting my foot down this time. Absolutely no more field trips through time. They never turn out well. I'm always getting chased by a Tyrannosaurus Rex or blown apart by a cannon, or. . ."

Jake and I leaned in a little closer. What had started as a feeble joke was about to give some explanation as to what had happened to Marco and Rachel.

"Or shot by some crazy colonist." Marco finished.

Oh.

Rachel came out of the barn, dressed in fresh clothes and perfectly groomed. Not a trace of the dirt remained from where she had been sitting on the ground.

"So what did we miss?" She asked calmly. Karen held out the. . .thing. . .as an explanation. Rachel took it.

"It looks like Mickey Mouse." She said.

Marco reached out to try and take it from her. He had his hand on one of the "ears" of the Mickey Mouse when she tried to snatch it back. She had one "ear". He had the other. They both tugged, and both of the ears pulled apart from the main circle.

There was a small explosion and another flash of light (I was really getting sick of those) and Rachel and Marco were both blown back several feet.

"Oh great." Jake said as he rushed towards Marco. I went after Rachel.

I was pulling her to her feet. "What happened?" she muttered.

"Never mind, Rachel, just get up. . ."

"Rachel?" She said. "Why are you calling me. . .?"

Then she got a look at Marco several yards away. A panicked look flashed in her eyes. She looked down at herself.

Then, at the exact same moment, Marco and Rachel began to scream. . .