South Carolina
November 1784
A thin glaze of frost covered pines and their forlorn, leafless neighbors as Thomas Heyward rode steadily through the forest. He continually looked left and right, taking in every detail from the faint cry of a migrating bird wondering why its winter home was almost as cold as its summer, to the tiny prints of a fox who fled upon his approach.
A Vermont general had once called Heyward's horse 'Death' and for good reason. 'Death' stood taller than most of his kind, a strong, fierce, angry animal that rightly belonged in a cavalry charge from six hundred years ago. He snorted, creating a cloud of steam almost as pale as his hair and pawed at the ground.
The flaming asteroid, the brilliant light that lit up the eastern sky for the past three nights, finally flickered and died a little before dawn, but it would have been strange if he couldn't follow its path now. He could feel
something guiding him, pulling him towards...
what?
*******
John Preston paused to adjust the wads of cloth bound to his palms offering minimal protection from the biting wind. He closed dry, red fingers around the handle of an ax he appropriated from a nearby farm and carried it to a nearby sycamore which he'd just volunteered to become tonight's firewood. He brushed his knuckles along the trunk, clearing the frost away, and went to work.
Cassie would be inside the barn with Christina and the cat, which if nothing else was good company. He'd sometimes come in to find Cass holding it in both arms, nose buried in its fur as if in silent communion. Then it would turn and give him an impudent look, as if he was intruding, before closing its eyes and going back to sleep.
He chopped slowly, but steadily as the sun rose and the wind died off. Soon John began to sweat and loosened his coat, though he didn't dare remove it entirely. He grinned as the axe finally broke through and gave the tree a triumphant shove. It groaned, snapped at the base, and landed with a solid thump.
"You killed a tree. Congratulations."
John spun. "Tom!" He dropped his axe and stared up. "I...I was looking for you!"
Tom looked remote and not entirely pleased. "I forgot my frankincense and myrrh. I hope that's alright."
"Eh?" Preston stepped forward. "Are you alright?"
He lifted his head and looked around. "Where's the cat?"
John looked at where they called home and back. "How did you know about the...?"
"Right." Heyward nudged his horse towards the barn.
"Hey!" John clenched his fists. "Get back here! You're not leaving this time!" He lowered his head and charged.
Tom flicked his hand like at a fly, and Preston felt something solid hit him and knock him to the ground.
"Insolence," Heyward growled.
"You owe me an explanation, and I mean to have it!" John sprang to his feet and clenched his fists.
"I
owe you nothing." Then he seemed to change his mind: "It is too cold to argue. We can talk inside."
*******
Tom dismounted and opened the barn door. The first thing he saw was Cassie Preston. She narrowed her eyes, trying to make out his features, then her eyes widened. A child, their daughter no doubt, steadily crawled across the barn intent on seeing outside a crack in the wall.
"General?" Cassie began. "How come you here?"
He ignored her and instead addressed the orange lump by the fire. "Bast."
Sayonara! She lifted her head and closed her eyes in a smile.
"Why did you bring me here!?"
"I assure you General," Cass said. "We had no idea you were coming."
Now, now. Not in front of the children.
John closed the door after them and paused as Tom glared at the cat. "I'll take your horse." He reached for the reins.
Death bared his teeth and snapped.
"No," Tom said. "I'll do it."
"There's a ring in the wall over there." Preston wrapped his arm around his wife. "What are you doing here?"
Oh, I set a big ball of rock on fire. In space. Be sure to tell them that part. I was rather proud...
"I went for a walk," Tom said coldly.
"And you just happened upon a destroyed village?" Preston shook his head. "That's hard to believe."
"What happened here?"
"Indians. We were tracking them right before we met last time. There was one who looked more wolf than human, and..."
"He won't be bothering you anymore." Tom sat by the fire and communed with the flames.
"How do you ... Oh, I see." He released his wife. "Cass, will you get the general something to eat? We can spare a little."
"John?" She looked up into his eyes. "We...," she leaned close and whispered. "You haven't found anything else to hunt, have you?"
"It is alright, Colonel. I'm not hungry."
"Ga?" Christina heard a stranger's voice, lowered her head and crawled quickly towards them. "Ga ga ga ga ..."
"Chris!" Cassie rushed forward and grabbed her.
Heyward didn't look up. "And why are you here? Looking for me, you said. We did not part on good terms." He looked up. "We are
not on good terms."
Oh, stop being a baby.
"What a nice cat," Heyward added after a pause. "Can I hold it?" He flexed his hands like claws.
Bast hissed.
Preston folded his arms. "Tom, I've seen..." He shook his head and stared around. "I've seen impossible things. The Indian with the wolf face, you, Exeter..."
Now Tom perked up. "Jasen Exeter?"
"Yes, but he's changed. He's...huge. I don't even know how to describe him. Almost like a bear - he must be seven feet now? He's working with Governor Moultrie. I don't know what they're up to, but he..." John glanced at Cassie. "...they must be stopped. I think...I think you know what's going on."
Heyward nodded slightly. "Yes."
"Then I need to know!"
"All you need to know is they're more than you can handle. I gave you your life once. Now take it and go far away."
"That's not good enough! This is my state!
Our state. We need to deal with the governor!"
"South Carolina is not my concern." Tom glared at Bast. "Not one word."
John looked back and forth between the pair. "I don't believe that, Tom! I think you..." He stared at Cassie. He couldn't very well order her out of the room. "I think you...can do things."
Bast perked up and watched him closely.
"When we fought, you... Look! I want to know who or what you are, what Exeter is, and how to deal with them!"
"Exeter is the governor's puppet...as you were before him," Tom glared. "Why would I want to help you? You've spent your entire adult life fighting me. You asked to go to war? I sent you and you complained. I pulled you out of the war? You complained. I made sure you made it home to see
her," he pointed at Cassie, "and you didn't care for how I did it."
Heyward stood. "I warned you, Colonel. I told you in no uncertain terms that Rutledge was up to no good, and you argued with me, then tried to run me down afterwards! Is that why you killed Anne? You couldn't get to me, so you killed h..."
"For the last time, I didn't kill her!"
"All your life you've either created the problem or found a way to make it worse. Why the devil would I want to help you?" He spun away.
"He...he didn't kill her," Cassie said softly.
"I would expect you to take his side, Mrs. Preston," Tom said. "However,"
"General Exeter did."
All eyes turned to her. She lowered her gaze and cuddled Christina.
"How do you know that?" John asked quietly.
"I...before my..." Cassie looked up at Tom, then away. "Johnny, before you ... came home, I was trying to help."
"Go on.."
"I'm sorry! I only made things worse. We wouldn't be here if I hadn't gone snooping."
"Snooping!?"
"Spying, Colonel," Tom said, staring at her.
"Spying?!?"
"What did you find out?"
"I found papers. He sent...Exeter...to follow John. In case John refused to arrest you, he was to kill you."
She's telling the truth.
Heyward glared at Bast and nodded to the far side of the barn. They walked away.
"Spying?" John repeated. "Is that why....Why?"
Tears rolled down her cheeks and he pulled her close. "I'm sorry, Johnny. I thought....I thought if I could find out what the governor was at, I could help you."
"Help me what? Cassie!" He lifted her chin. "What then, you went through his papers?"
She nodded. "There's more. He hired someone to kill Congress. I think he plans to take over while everyone's confused."
"There isn't much we can do about that from here." John stroked her face. "That was dangerous! What were you thinking?"
"I knew the governor troubled you, the Patriots League, all of it. I don't know how Carolina was years ago, but it's different now. I can...could see it on their faces. Something was wrong, and if I could find out what..."
"Cassie..." He sighed and hugged her again.
*******
"You knew?" Tom asked softly, turning to face the orange tabby.
I'm a cat, she slurped her forearm lazily.
"You could have said something."
I didn't know until I came here, and you didn't seem up to talking.
Tom shook his head. "I hate this place."
She smiled again, eyes closed.
You know how to go home. You know how to return to... what's her name: Jess?
"Jess?" He convulsed, somewhere between a snort and a snob. "My home's gone, remember? Our 'brother' killed it."
Not yet, he hasn't. Bast flicked her gaze at the Prestons.
You can save your world. And their's for that matter.
He turned his back. "I feel like I'm being manipulated..."
Guided.
"
Manipulated. Used. Why me? Why should I be the one to deal with him?"
How many girlfriends do you have to let die before you accept your destiny!?
He snarled and spun, but she was gone.
"Tom?" John beckoned from the fire. He walked over. "Now do you believe me?"
"Yes."
"Then it's my turn." He sat down. "I want that explanation."
"What explanation?"
"Let's start with
what are you?"
"What am I?" He sat down, hard. "I wish I knew. I..." He closed his eyes. "I wish Jess was here."
They exchanged looks. "Who?"
"Jessie. Jessica. If I don't kill Black, then she'll die. They'll all die. And for some reason it'll be my fault."
Cassie nodded. "There was always a rumor that you had a girlfriend before..."
John interrupted her. "Tom, slow down! Who's Black?"
Heyward shook his head. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"After the past month or so I'm likely to believe about anything."
Tom opened his eyes. "I've lived with this for twelve years. It wasn't so bad at first, but as time passed, and things grew worse. Some days I thought I'd explode."
They waited patiently. Finally he looked up from the fire.
"My name
is Thomas Heyward....and I was born on the 5th day of April, in the year one thousand,
nine hundred twenty one..."