Ch. 7
We walked into Ms. Leslie's house. Danny's arm was tightly wrapped around my waist. We didn't want to let go of each other. We were both nervous. Emily walked ahead of us, as if to shield us from Ms. Leslie. It didn't work too well.
As soon as we were in the house, we could smell the fresh baked cookies. They were chocolate chip. My mouth was watering already. I could see the look in Danny's eyes. I could tell he wanted some too.
Ms. Leslie led us into the kitchen. I could see on the table four plates with two cookies each on them. I also saw four glasses of milk. On the counter, there was a whole plate of cookies. Before we could even think about sitting down, she started with the hugs. Emily was first.
"It's good to see you, Emily."
"You too, Ms. Leslie."
Ms. Leslie pushed past Emily and came right to me. She was like my grandmother. That's what made this whole situation so hard.
"Alyssa, my dear, how are you? Are you feeling ok?"
She hugged me, too. I could smell her perfume. It was faint, but it always reminded me of the good times I had at her house.
"I'm ok, Ms. Leslie. Nothing to worry about here. I would like you to meet someone."
She took one look at Danny, and her eyes got wide.
"Ms. Leslie this…"
She cut me off before I could say anything. She clasped her hands over her mouth. She was in shock. She knew exactly who Danny was. I don't know how, but she did. She immediately reached in to give him a hug.
"Oh my God, Danny Walker. It's so good to see you. You haven't changed a bit."
Danny was confused. In all reality, Danny should be older than Ms. Leslie. But, he wasn't.
"It's nice to meet you, ma'am."
Danny had decided to return her hug. It freaked him out a little that she was so open with him like that, but he never forgot his manners. When an elder hugged you, and talked to you like that, you never once backed down from it.
"I'm sorry. You guys must be so confused. Here sit down. Let's talk. Shall we?"
We all sat down. Ms. Leslie was at the head of the table, Danny was on one side, but was sitting close to me, I was at the other end of the table, and Emily sat between me and Ms. Leslie.
"I didn't mean to bake so many cookies, but I thought there would be six of you."
Six of us? Who else would have come? We didn't involve anyone else in this. At least, not that I knew of. Emily and I gave each other puzzled looks. I didn't notice at the time, but Danny shook his head at her. It was like he wasn't wanting to bring something up.
I took a bite of one of my cookies. It was delicious. It was like heaven had entered my mouth, and didn't want to leave. They were moist.
Danny looked at Ms. Leslie, and had immediately begun conversation.
"So, ma'am…"
She cut him off.
"Oh no, son, call me Ms. Leslie. It would be better that way."
Danny was a little shocked. It was hard for him to fathom calling someone he had just met by their name, but he continued.
"Okay, Ms. Leslie. How do you know about me in particular?"
She gave him a big smile. She got up, and went into her living room to get something. When she had returned, she had a picture in her hand. It was of Danny and the other pilots in their uniforms.
She handed it to Danny, and he looked at it with sad eyes.
"My father sent that while you guys were stationed in Pearl. He wanted us to know who he was with. Just in case. I'm assuming you all know about us. You wouldn't be here if you didn't."
Emily and I were taken aback. It was like Ms. Leslie had a sixth sense. How did she know we knew all this information? I was surprised to be learning these secrets of this woman I had known for so long.
Danny was the first to speak.
"Yes, ma'am. We know a lot. Emily here is the one who did most of the research."
Emily blushed. She wasn't used to somebody bragging on her. I squeezed Danny's hand in appreciation, and gave him a small smile.
"Well. I can start with you, Danny. It would make the most sense to start there."
We were all baffled. What did she mean? We weren't sure, but we waited anxiously.
"You see. My father's side of the family, we all have these abilities. When we see someone we care about and know they are meant to be with someone not from this time, we get them to meet somehow. It's kind of hard to explain. Danny, I'm sure you're wondering why you disappeared from history, but not from that photograph."
We all nodded our heads. We all wanted to know.
"We change what we think needs to be changed. That particular photograph, I knew I, and you all, would be the only ones to see it. My father also knew that. That's why it was never changed. When my father sent that picture, he also sent us a letter. He explained to my mother what had to be done. Of course, my mother, wouldn't live long enough to help you, Alyssa."
I blushed. She was right. Ms. Leslie was 75 years old. I was only 25. There was no way her mother would have lived long enough.
"When you 'died', Danny, you were actually supposed to die in my father's place. He needed to help you, though. The only way he could do that was for him to die in the crash instead. He had to help you get here without anybody knowing. You were his last. He sent you here to be with Alyssa. You two were meant to be."
We both blushed at that. Of course, we already knew that.
"So, what about me, then? How do I come into the picture? Why did I have to go back in time?"
I couldn't help but to ask. It was true, though. Why did we both have to time travel?
"You see; Danny was sent here early for a reason. He had to heal, and had to be given the time to do so. Yes, Danny really was dying, but Dad knew exactly how to prevent that. Sending him here, to this time, with all the technology, he knew Danny would be completely safe. He also knew that Danny needed time to heal before meeting you. Now you, Alyssa, were sent back in time to set things in motion. Danny had to fall in love with you then, that way, when he woke up here, he would know exactly what to do. He would know exactly where to find you. If you weren't sent back, neither one of you would know anything about the other. It would be rough to know each other the way you two do."
Danny and I smiled at her. Emily was listening intently. She was engulfed in the story. Danny and I both knew all that was true. If one of us didn't travel, the other would never know the whole entire truth. We would think each other was crazy.
"So, what about the items that were sent back with us? Why are those significant?"
She smiled. There was an answer for everything.
"Well, sometimes things go wrong. The items you were most attached to when you traveled, or before you traveled, would help bring back memories just in case. Like the ring for you, Alyssa, or the photograph for you, Danny."
We nodded our heads. That made a lot of sense. I was satisfied with everything I had heard so far, except for why that book had disappeared.
Ms. Leslie saw the concern on my face. She knew exactly what I was thinking about.
"Alyssa, dear, that book never existed. It was something I had to come up with to cast the spell on you. I knew you would buy it right away. And, Danny, yours was your dog tags. Don't you worry, though, I have those here."
I was in shock. How did she have Danny's dog tags? Unless, somehow, her father had managed to get them in with his stuff right before he left for good.
Ms. Leslie walked to her bedroom. We could hear her rummaging around. We were all silent. None of us really knew what to say, but I could feel a peace coming over the table. For the first time, in almost a week, we had finally had real answers. I could tell all of us were satisfied. The only real question that remained was, what did she mean by six of us?
Ms. Leslie had returned and held out her hand to Danny. I could see the dog tags in her grip. They brought back some good memories for me.
"Here you go, son. Now where were we?"
The rest of the afternoon was normal conversation. We had finally gotten most of the answers we wanted, and everyone was happy. When we got to the car I couldn't help but ask the question we all wanted to know the answer to.
"What the hell did she mean that she expected six of us?"