OverTime 03: Slipping (First 70 Chapters)

Chapter 49: Asylum (Lillabit)

"Ain't nobody's footprints out here but Lillabit's." Benj crouched to peek into the tent and address us. I could only see half of him past the privacy flap of oil-cloth, out in the pale almost-morning light.

"Are you sure?" I demanded. Yes, my experience with the "ghost" had half-felt like a dream. But it had half-felt real, too. And me ending up unconscious on the ground, just outside the tent, hadn't been anybody's imagination.

Other than insisting there was no ghost, Jacob had hardly spoken to me. I didn't mind his silence so much, considering that I was currently sitting in his lap, leaning into his broad chest. His head bent over me in part because of the low ridge of the dog tent and in part because he was concentrating on rubbing my feet to warm them.

Maybe I should have pointed out that the ground was frosty, not frozen. My feet would be just fine. But I wasn't stupid enough to reject a foot rub from a handsome cowboy.

I couldn't think of anywhere I'd rather be than snuggled up against even a silent husband. Especially as I tried to piece together what had happened to me. Ghosts probably didn't leave footprints, but I had to consider other options than the supernatural, right?

The sun hadn't even risen yet. Was Benj sure?

"Plenty of prints to choose from," he insisted. "Out here, and over to the side. They are bare lady feet. They're yours."

"But I didn't go to the side of the tent." I got that chill again, nothing to do with the temperature and everything to do with the weirdness. "Could they be Maddie's footprints?"

Jacob's warm, calloused hands stilled momentarily, and he shut his eyes and bowed his head even further. I don't think he was praying. I think he was just tired of my ghost talk.

"I know what I heard," I told him softly.

He sighed and opened his eyes again. His light-brown hair fell over his forehead and into one eye, making him look almost vulnerable. "Ain't no ghost."

"As I recall," noted Benj, "the lovely Dr. Sinclair stood right taller than you."

"Ain't no ghost," repeated Jacob more loudly, for his benefit. "Weren't Miss Sinclair." I had the feeling he wanted to add, Miss Sinclair is dead. If he didn't, it was out of deference to my feelings.

Still, I got what Benj was getting at. "Her feet were bigger than mine," I admitted. "We couldn't wear each other's shoes."

"So ain't it possible," suggested Benj, "that you weren't quite awake when you did the walkin'?"

"Yep." Jacob switched his attentions to my other foot.

"I suppose," I hedged, less convinced. If that mysterious presence outside the tent had been anyone, it had to have been Maddie. The voice had called me Lillabit, and I knew of no other female who used that name.

I'd never sleep-walked before... but there was a first time for everything.

"You're sure the footprints are the same size?" I asked.

"I am" Benj agreed. "And you got this little gap between the toes of yer left foot." He held up one hand, making the Live Long and Prosper sign from Star Trek.

Both Jacob and I studied that particular foot. Sure enough, while the toes of my right foot sat flush against each other, the third and fourth toes of my left foot divided slightly. It wasn't so obvious that I couldn't wear sandals, but I guessed it made my footprint unique. "I broke the middle toe once," I agreed. "So... I sleep-walked?"