Chapter Text
Now sheltered in the Italian streets, they tried to catch their breath. Cassandra was starting to feel heavy, but Eve didn't put her down, although she did let go of Jacob to hold the girl securely. She had already seemed fragile a few minutes ago because of her threatening tumor, and now that she was such a small child, Eve felt that anything could happen to her if she let go.
“We have to take the children to the Library,” Eve said.
“The reapers are interfering with the signal. I doubt we can contact Jenkins until we get rid of them.”
“We can't try anything with them here,” she repeated, pointing to the children.
“They're still the same Librarians as always.”
“Flynn,” Eve scolded him, “look at them. Ezekiel doesn't even seem to know how to walk.”
A reaper flew too close to them with its enormous dimensions. Jacob hid behind Eve, and Cassandra hugged her neck tighter.
“Miss, what was that?” asked Jacob.
“They're called reapers, but don't worry, they're temporary creatures, so they can't do anything to you,” she explained, trying harder than ever to appear calm.
“Actually, they'll probably try to attack...” Flynn fell silent after Eve glared at him.
“And you can just call me Eve,” she added, trying to ignore Flynn's unfinished comment.
“Okay, Miss Eve,” replied the boy, still a little scared and only half listening.
After sneaking around for a while, they reached the outskirts, far enough from the center to be able to call Jenkins.
“Uh-huh,” Eve nodded for the third time on the phone.
...
“And do you think it's reversible?”
...
“I hope so. I'll tell Flynn now.”
...
“We'll be there in fifteen minutes. Thanks, Jenkins,” the woman said before hanging up.
Flynn had Ezekiel on his back and was holding Jacob's hand. The girl was practically glued to Eve, sitting on a bench and swinging her feet.
“Jenkins says it depends on the device they used to rejuvenate them whether it will be possible to return them to their age or not. He's already looking for something.”
“Okay, what about the reapers?” Flynn's voice was almost drowned out by Cassandra's high-pitched tone.
With childlike innocence, not fully aware of the dangerous situation, she asked, “Was that Jenkins on the phone?”
“Yes,” Eve replied, and was about to answer Flynn when Cassandra interrupted again. “I want to go with Mr. Jenkins. I'm bored here.”
“In fifteen minutes we'll have a door to the Library,” she replied first to the girl and then returned to the conversation with the man. “He says that if we take what started the time paradox to the Library, the...”
Cassandra interrupted again. “Can we go with Mr. Jenkins now, please?”
“In fifteen minutes, Cassie,” Eve repeated with warm patience and tried to return to Flynn. “So we have to take that to the Library and the reapers will lose their anchor.”
It took them less than ten minutes to reach the door leading to the Library, plenty of time for Ezekiel to fall asleep while Flynn carried him on his back. Cassandra was back in Eve's arms, clutching her clothes at the waist, and Jacob waited obediently.
“When the door opens, we'll leave you with Jenkins,” Eve explained.
“The library man?” Jacob asked.
“Uh-huh,” she confirmed, and then asked Flynn, "Why does Cassie even want to go with Jenkins, but Jake doesn't even remember exactly who he is?
“They've partially moved in time,” he tried to deduce aloud. “His body doesn't know us yet, but his mind does. They're in a limbo between their younger selves and the ones we normally know. It's best not to question their memory until they regain their age.”
Little Cassie was starting to get impatient, even though they had only been there a few minutes. You could tell by the way she talked nonstop.
“How long until the door opens, Eve? I'm bored. Eve, your hair is pretty, I like it. Flynn's not so much...” etc.
“Eve...” the girl spoke again.
“Yes, Cassie?” she replied, and Flynn began to wonder how she could have so much patience.
“I'm hungry,” and for the first time, she fell silent.
“We'll have a door in no time, and you'll be able to eat something.”
“Tell that to Jenkins when we get there,” Flynn added. “I'm sure he'll love babysitting.”
Baird let out a chuckle at his sarcastic tone. They hadn't told the guard that he would have to stay alone with the children while they went back to sort things out, and he would most likely complain about it.
As if they had summoned it, as soon as they finished saying that, a door opened next to them in a building.
“Be careful not to trip,” he said to the boy.
“Sorry for the delay, adjusting the door properly with those creatures flying around has been tricky,” said the old man once they were in the Library, turning to look at them. He looked at them with some surprise; he knew they were children, but he hadn't expected them to be so young.
“Mr. Jenkins!” Cassie exclaimed. Eve set her down on the floor, and she ran toward him, hugging his leg and staying there, ignoring the man's frown and Eve's giggle.
“They're all yours, Jenkins,” the woman said.
“Colonel Baird,” he began to protest.
“We have to deal with the Reapers. It's not up for discussion,” she said firmly and turned to the boy who was still clinging to her. “We'll be back in a little while, okay?” She ruffled his hair affectionately, and he nodded without much conviction. “In the meantime, take care of Zeke.”
Baird picked up the sleepy Ezekiel, who had just begun to wake up, from Flynn and carefully handed him to Jake, who held him as if that task were his top priority.
Flynn stretched dramatically as he freed himself from the weight, and they crossed back over to Sicily.
In the annex, Jenkins snorted and was glad he didn't have grandchildren.
“Could you let go of me, Miss Cillian?” he asked, trying to imitate the colonel's patience.
“Nope!” replied the girl with a smile so radiant that for a moment the man thought it was fine.
Then he noticed Jake. “Mr. Stone...”
“I'm nine years old,” said the boy without moving.
“Jacob,” he agreed before Cassandra interrupted.
“I like ‘Miss Cillian.’”
“Well, in that case, I'll continue to call you that. As I was saying, Jacob, bring Ezekiel over, and I'll treat your knees too.”
Jacob had wounds on his legs, which was normal for a boy his age, but the bandage covering them was half off. It must have happened while they were fleeing that village, but he hadn't said anything for fear of causing trouble.
Snorting and with Cassandra still clinging to him, Jenkins went to get the first-aid kit.
Back in the Sicilian village, the librarian and guardian had been quite successful in dodging reapers and mobsters. They even found the source of the temporal rift: some rocks from Tanzania that must have been enchanted several decades ago and, when put together, had caused a slight collision in time.
“We should take the rocks to the Library,” said Flynn as he picked up a rock slightly smaller than a rugby ball and an intense blue color from the warehouse floor. “As soon as we cut the link, the reapers will disappear and those guys will be left without their source of magical energy.”
“I'll call Jenkins to open a door here,” she replied.
“How do you think he's doing?”
Eve shrugged as the phone began to ring and commented with amusement, “I hope he's doing well, otherwise I don't know what we'll find when we get back... Hello, Jenkins?”
...
“No, no, as soon as the door is ready, we'll come back. We've already found everything.”
...
Eve stifled a laugh. “Was that Cassie?”
...
“Yes, yes, we'll take over from you.”
...
She gave one last smile and hung up.
“The rappers are still interfering, but it won't take too long to adjust the door,” she said, this time speaking to Flynn, who had leaned the stone against a box next to him.
“As soon as we get back, the only problem will be returning everyone to their original age.”
“Well, the beard doesn't look bad on you,” she said with a mischievous smile.
“Neither does the long hair on you,” he replied, intending to flirt, but Eve seemed to remember something serious, so he stopped.
“When we crossed the arch, you saw something, right?”
Flynn frowned and crossed his arms, weighing up what had happened. Before he and Eve crossed over, Jacob had already tried to move the lever and, contrary to what everyone believed, he had apparently succeeded. When Flynn had been able to observe the device up close, the indicator showed 193 years ahead, yet physically they seemed to have aged only a couple of years. It didn't make any sense, but he was sure of what he had seen.
“Maybe it was months, not years,” she tried to reason.
“No, no, I assure you it was set to take us almost two centuries.”
They looked at each other with concern mixed with incomprehension, but the long-awaited door opened and Jenkins' voice interrupted them.
“...you can keep them for the rest of the time.”
Almost simultaneously, in the library, Jenkins had seen the only remaining adults (although he sometimes doubted whether Flynn deserved that label) leave for Sicily. After treating young Jacob's knee and entertaining Miss Cillian with some pencils and a little chocolate, the only loose end was Mr. Jones (or now rather “little Zeke”). The boy didn't want to go to sleep, which would have been Jenkins' preferred option, but he didn't seem to want anything in particular either, nor did he complain or whine. He just looked around with an almost strange curiosity. So the old man let him explore on his own. He could barely walk, so Jenkins could keep an eye on him, and if he crawled too far away, the other boy would bring him back to the center. There was a moment of calm in which he was able to investigate how to return them to their natural age until the sound of the phone brought back their restlessness.
"Finally, Colonel Baird, I thought you had run away with Mr. Carsen to get away from these three exhausting individuals. Will you be long in returning?
...
“Okay, I'll adjust it right away...”
Cassandra interrupted him, standing up to speak into the phone. “Was that Eve? Hi, Eve!” Jenkins regained control of the phone.
...
“Yes, it was her,” the man replied heavily, “and as I was saying, give me five minutes to adjust the door, the interference is still noticeable. And I hope you'll take full care of the children when you return.”
...
“In that case, I'll hurry with that door... Mr. Jones! How did you get that? The scrapbook is not a toy.”
When Jenkins had put the book back in its place, he returned to the phone, but by then Baird had already hung up, so he got to work on the magic door while occasionally answering questions from the children.
His patience was slowly wearing thin, but he held out just long enough to get the location ready.
“Is Miss Eve coming back soon?” Jake wanted to know.
“Yes, they should be coming through this door any minute now,” replied the adult, "and when they return, you can stay with them for the rest of the time.
Eve and Flynn came in carrying several rocks (at least Eve was carrying several, as the Librarian was carrying only one and looked just as tired), and Jenkins was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.