Time Dancers by Steve Cash Page B

kneading the bread. “Z, I want you to come back swiftly this time. There is no requirement for you to remain after you have done what you must do. And it is not because I live in fear of that evil one, the Fleur-du-Mal. I don’t give him a second thought and I don’t want you to give a second thought to worrying about us. We will be fine, I promise.” She stopped and turned to look at me directly. “Come back, Z, come back soon.” She paused and smiled again. “And I will make sure Jack keeps your mama’s glove oiled.”
    “That’s all I could ask,” I said, and started to leave, then turned back. “Don’t forget, Carolina, Opari carries one of these.” I held the Stone out in front of me.
    “I won’t forget, Z. Now go. And what did you say to me once at Union Station when you were leaving? What was the phrase… egi…egibiz… ?”
    “Egibizirik bilatu,” I finished. She was remarkable and she was my oldest friend. “I’ll be back soon, Carolina. I promise.”
         
    Things went smoothly and quickly at Union Station. Owen Bramley introduced me to Caleb, a black porter who was a friend of Owen’s and the first of several porters along our route who made sure we had everything we needed. Ray and Mitch were already on board and the train left exactly on time. Within minutes we were crossing the Mississippi and heading straight for the morning sun. By late afternoon we were approaching Champaign, Illinois, where we would be recoupled to another line and another train.
    Mitch and Ray had become friends the first moment they met in St. Louis. They spent the entire morning and most of the afternoon exploring what they had in common, sharing stories and anecdotes about places and characters they had known in the life on the riverfront and the streets of downtown St. Louis. Mitch was fascinated with the criminal past that Ray knew personally, and Ray wanted to know all about running a nightclub. I wasn’t really included or excluded, just ignored. Ray never mentioned why he left Carolina’s early and Mitch never brought it up. However, I didn’t mind the time alone, I welcomed it. I was still getting used to the idea of leaving St. Louis so soon and so suddenly. I watched the flat farmland pass by, corn and soybeans, one farm after another. I fell into a reverie of reliving the events from the day before, including Ciela’s feast. While I was smiling to myself, recalling the way Opari looked across the table, I remembered a single moment that I didn’t quite understand at the time. She was facing Ray and they were both excited, smiling, talking about something, when Ray suddenly dropped his smile and glanced at me. I think I turned to listen to Owen for a few seconds, then turned back and Ray was gone. He was absent the rest of the evening and I didn’t see him again until I boarded the train. Whatever had happened in that moment with Opari had affected all his actions since. Ray’s friendship meant too much to me to wait and guess. I had to find out what was wrong. Champaign, Illinois, was the place to do it.
    On a sidetrack several hundred yards from the station itself, our railcar was uncoupled. While we waited for the other train, I suggested Ray and I get some fried egg sandwiches from the café inside. Mitch agreed, saying he had business with the porter, Caleb, and to make sure we brought him three sandwiches instead of one, with fried potatoes, if possible.
    As Ray and I started down the long platform toward the station, we didn’t speak. Ray saw a bottle cap on the platform and picked it up, then tossed it down the tracks so hard and so well, I lost sight of it completely. But it wasn’t only skill that threw the bottle cap so far, it was anger. I saw it in his eyes.
    I stopped walking and held back. “What happened last night, Ray? What did Opari tell you?”
    Ray continued walking for another three paces, then stopped and turned slowly. There was a look on his face I will never forget