Chapter 3
**************
Christine woke up another two times that night, and just as the
last night, the nightmares seemed to get worse as the night went
on. Sam spent two and half hours up on the third nightmare
rocking the little girl. He tried what had worked for Al before,
and although it seemed to calm the girl a bit, she was still
terrified.
"Sam, I need my lunchbox," she protested before she got
into the car, so it was back into the house to make a peanut
butter and jelly sandwich. Ten minutes later, they make it back
to the car, and barely got her to school on time. Sam was already
ten minutes late for work. Though he didnt care much at
this point. Christine was still having nightmares, she was still
going to disappear tomorrow, and he had no idea how to stop it.
Plus, the fatigue of the last two nights was beginning to catch
up with him and he didnt know if he could make it through
another day. He was used to at least an hour of sleep but he
hadnt even gotten that.
"You look like shit, Scott," was the greeting he got
from the same woman hed met when he first leapt in. He had
learned her name was Linda Hartman, and obviously she and Scott
were friends, if they were anything else, she didnt give
any clues.
"Well hello to you, too," he replied. She smiled.
"Youre late, but luckily I dont think anyone
noticed. Its slow this morning. Ill be glad to have
my day off tomorrow."
Sam perked up from the chart he was looking at when she said
shed be off tomorrow.
"Linda, can you do a favor for me?" he asked in his
best please voice.
She sighed. "I know that look, Scott. Its my day off.
What, the babysitter cant come tomorrow?"
Scott had already pulled this once or twice he guessed, but Linda
seemed concerned with Scotts well-being so he pushed
further on.
"Linda, I havent slept in over 48 hours-"
"God, Scott, no wonder you look so bad. Youre going to
make yourself sick you know," she scolded gently.
"Christine doesnt have school tomorrow and I was
wondering if you could watch her at least for awhile."
She looked at him, seeming to take in the circles under his eyes.
Finally she gave in. "Okay, Ill be by around 7:30,
okay?"
He breathed a sigh of relief. At least Christine wouldnt go
to school tomorrow. Hed deal with the rest later.
"Thank you."
She nodded. "Anytime for you, Scott. Remember that.
Weve been friends too long." She looked at him.
"You really look beat. If you want to catch a nap, Ill
cover for you an hour or so."
"You would?" he asked, so tired that her offer sounded
very tempting.
"Like I said, we have a slow day. I can fend off Patti for
awhile."
"Thanks, again," he said as he handed the chart in his
hands off to her.
"Whats tomorrow? A holiday?" she murmured to
herself as she watched him walk down the hall.
******************
The day was slow for awhile and although Sam had gotten an hour
of sleep, it didnt make much difference. He just worked
through the day hoping that during it he would get some clue as
to how he was to stop the person who was going to take Christine.
Al showed up at about 4 to tell him that Ziggy had found another
article on Christines disappearance. This one talked about
how someone spotted the girl at the supermarket with a woman that
matched the description of Cara Stevens, Christines mother.
Now Sam knew who he had to look for. Although Scott had hid most
everything that reminded him of his wife, a wedding picture still
remained on the fireplace. Sam had looked at it, realizing that
somewhere down the line the couple must have been very happy. It
made him wonder what went wrong.
When he got home from work, he picked up the picture again,
staring at the pretty black-haired woman in the photo.
"Picture perfect," he muttered as he walked back toward
TV room. There seemed no other way to describe the photo. It was
like the one that came with a picture frame.
Christine was falling asleep in front of the TV, so all Sam did
was take her upstairs and laid her in her bed. He had made her
get into her pajamas earlier so he just tucked her in, and,
almost as a reaction, pushed a brown curl off her forehead. She
was still so little. Four years old. He suddenly found himself
wondering if he _really_ did have children. If he even had a
wife. Did he? He didnt know. Being with Christine made him
wonder more than he ever did. But, just as always, his brain
couldnt supply him with any answers. He had been tempted to
ask Al, but knew even if he wanted, Al couldnt tell him.
And he probably wouldnt remember from leap to leap. As he
watched Christines sleeping form for a few minutes, he
found himself longing for a family that went beyond the one he
knew in Elk Ridge.
He walked into Scotts room, stopping in front of the bureau
and looked at a box that was placed on top of it. It was pushed
off to the side, like it was to be forgotten. He turned it an
inch to find the name "Cara" scrawled carelessly across
one side of it. Tempted, he opened it, finding photographs
mostly, but there were also a few other items mixed in as well.
And at the bottom was a ring box. Opening it he found a gold
wedding band inside. Scotts wedding ring.
Looking at the photographs all he could see was happiness, just
as he had seen in the wedding photo. There seemed to be no
warning signs here. But something had happened.
He placed the items back into their box, placing the ring on top.
He closed the lid, and returned it to its original place. It was
only a matter of time before Christine awoke again, screaming, so
he just went downstairs, almost jumping when Al greeted him.
"Dont do that," he said as he sat down on the
couch.
"Sam, we have to talk." His tone sounded a bit urgent.
Sam shielded his tired eyes from the light. "About
what?" he mumbled.
"The fact that, according to Ziggy, Scott - you - is going
to die late tomorrow afternoon."
********************
Sam practically jumped up at his sentence.
"What??"
Al punched the handlink, reading out the information as it came.
"You changed history, Sam. Christine doesnt disappear.
All Ziggy can tell you is that tomorrow afternoon at 4:34 p.m.
youre pronounced dead, from a gunshot wound to the chest.
Inflicted by a Cara Stevens."
"What??" Sam said again, trying to take in the new
information. "I get shot? How? Why?"
"Ziggy doesnt know. All she can say is that getting
Linda to watch Christine prevents her disappearance. Looks like
it doesnt stop Caras appearance in town, though.
Shes gotta be mad, Sam."
"About what? From all the pictures I can find, Scott and
Cara had a storybook marriage. They were happy, had a family. Al,
Im having a hard time following this."
Al shrugged. "No picture can tell the whole story, Sam. No
every marriage works out. Something _had_ to happen."
Sam sighed. "Does it really?"
Neither of them had an answer to the question.
*****************