Voynich Shift - Pars Duorum (COMPLETED)

Part VI - Cornucaprae, 1:1, 2:14 - Missing The Deadline

Arthur carried Abrina into his shop, set her down on a couch in the back, and raced to the front of the store to close the blinds over the windows and the door. Turning on his work desk's lamp, Arthur knelt down next to Abrina and gently patted the woman's face. "Abrina?"

"Wha?" The woman's eyes flitted open and she sat up abruptly. "Oh my! Is the moon still up?"

"Huh?"

"Damn it, is the full moon still in the sky?"

"Uh, I don't know," Arthur replied with his head cocked at an angle like the RCA dog. "Why?"

"Can you just check!?!!" Abrina commanded. Her voice was frantic.

"Fine!" Arthur stormed across the shop and eased open the blinds. "Yeah, she's still up there, but looks like it might be going behind the trees soon."

"And where is the, uh, pocket watch?"

Arthur turned. "On my work bench."

Abrina stumbled over and lifted the mechanical object. She held it under the lamp. "What did you do to my poor Horologium!?!!"

Arthur narrowed his eyes. "What did I do to it? I fixed it," he said sharply.

"Well, I hope it still works, for both our sakes."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Arthur placed his hands on his hips. "Are you doubtin' my skills?"

"We don't have time to argue about your mechanical prowess, Arthur, we need to be able to shift...or we're both dead!"

"Junior, are you okay in there!?!!" yelled a voice from outside in the street.

"They've found us," Abrina said and pointed at the door.

"Nah, that sounds like Captain Bob. He owns the feed and seed store. In fact, our two families have been acquainted for years." Arthur slid up next to the window and lifted one of the slats on the wooden blinds. He swallowed hard. "Uh, okay that's not good. It looks like half the town out there and they're armed...and it is Bob. He's right there in the front with Ms. Maybelle, she owns the bakery. Jesus, they all have black eyes and that little old woman, she's holding a repeating rifle."

"This version of Earth is infested like the last one I shifted in to. I would say it is even worse."

"Infested?"

"Yes, now is there a backdoor or an exit somewhere?" Abrina asked, worry now present in her voice.

"No." Releasing the blinds, Arthur slid down the wall in despair and sat down on the floor. "What are we going to do?"

"We're going to have to run out the front door."

Arthur glanced up at Abrina. "Run? Lady, you can barely walk."

"I know, but I have to try. We just need to be able to avoid being shot or captured by those creatures until we can shift. It takes nine seconds..."

"In one second we'd be dead. Why nine?"

"Well, for the Horologium to sync the reverberation patterns of the Core moon and this Earth's, it needs nine seconds."

"Fine, whatever that means...look Abrina, did you see how fast they are? We can't outrun them!"

"Junior! Come on out or we are coming in!" Bob commanded from outside. "We know you are trapped! Now, toss out the shift device, first!"

Arthur placed his hands against each side of his head. "I think I'm about to go crazy!"

Abrina walked over and grabbed the door's deadbolt. She extended a hand to the young man seated on the floor and wore a soft, reassuring smile. "Come with me. We have to try, at least."