When All is Null and Void

Chapter Eleven

 "Caleb?" Alexander's sharp pointer finger pressed against Caleb's cheekbone. "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to wake up. I can't have another casualty on my watch."

The concern in Alexander's voice actually forced Caleb to his knees. "Another?" he practically hissed, as the world swayed around him. "What does that mean?" Blood wasn't dribbling down his face, but as Caleb ran a hand over his forehead, bits of gravel fell away. He winced.

"Oh good, you're up," Alexander replied. "I thought a little fear might fix it all. And hey, I was right." Alexander seemed almost ready to give himself a pat on the back. Caleb stood on shaky legs. His glasses were crooked, and one of the temples sat on the wrong side of his ear.

"Is that what it's like every time?" The world came to a gentle calm, no longer twisting and twirling.

"Do I look like I passed out?" Alexander asked.

"I'm going to take that as a no, then," Caleb grumbled. He swatted the dust from his pants, but a spot of mud caked his left knee. "Where are we?"

Alexander pointed to a tree. "That," he said, with a grandness that far surpassed the deserving of a tree, "is Bessie. I planted her in 1882."

"You named a tree Bessie?" Caleb glanced from the trunk to the limbs far above his head, forgetting for a moment that Alexander hadn't answered his question. The tree looked more like a Tabitha to him than a Bessie--not that he would say that out loud.

"I was young and naive back then." Alexander's reply was flippant, and suddenly he was walking down the gravel road, and Caleb hadn't taken his eyes off the tree. He had to jog to catch up.

"So we're in the 1800s?" Caleb asked when he was back to Alexander's side.

His mentor laughed as if Caleb had actually cracked a joke. "Nope! We're currently in the year 2014." His sentence was punctuated by their rounding of a corner, and a large house came into view. It was off a paved road, but the only other houses Caleb could see were maybe half a mile down the road. Alexander crossed the road without looking either way and walked up to the front door.

"So why'd you show me the tree?" Caleb asked as Alexander fiddled a key into the lock.

"Should I not have?" He stopped unlocking the door and looked at Caleb as if this were a very important bit of information that could possibly destroy his reputation.

"No—I just..."

He tried to follow Alexander into the house when the door opened, but his mentor threw out a hand with a shouted, "No!" which wasn't mean-sounding but was very sudden and quite alarming. Caleb's foot halted in the air.

"I have to invite you in first," Alexander said, his hand still against Caleb's chest.

"Like vampires?" Caleb asked.

"Yes exac—well, no not really. I have to invite you in first, or else you'll never be able to Hopinside. It's a Timewalker safety protocol. No one wants anyone Hopping into their house while showering. This keeps the serial killers out, too. I haven't heard of that kind of thing, though." He glanced at Caleb. "Neither have you, obviously."

"No, definitely haven't," Caleb replied. "So you showed me Bessie because we couldn't Hop directly in?" He couldn't believe he was talking about a tree as if she--it--were a living, breathing person.

"I just thought you'd like the scenic view before we jumped into business, is all." Alexander stepped aside and with a flourishing of hands said, "Caleb Carlisle, please come in."