Guardians of Time Read Online Free Page A

didn’t say anything because it would be
unfair of me to ask anyone to sacrifice the opportunity to go home,
but it would relieve my mind very much to know you were here
holding the fort.”
    Peter puffed out his cheeks and released a
breath but didn’t answer.
    “Speak, Peter,” Callum said.
    Anna had spent enough time with Peter over
the last year to know that the command was necessary. It wasn’t so
much that his upper lip was British stiff. He was perfectly
talkative when it came to work or an investigation he was
conducting for Callum. But he was one of those men who had a
particularly hard time conveying to anyone else what he was
feeling. For him, showing no emotion and speaking little was
ingrained.
    He managed it this time, at least to Callum.
“Yeah, I’ll stay. I’m glad to stay. I was dreading going back
almost as much as Bridget, though I didn’t realize it until right
now.” He turned to Darren. “Call my parents. Let them know I’m
alive.”
    “I’ll tell them you’re working undercover in
Botswana,” Darren said.
    Peter nodded. “That will make sense to
them.” He blew out another breath and looked around at his friends.
“Good luck.”
    “The sooner you get off this bus,” David
said, with a smile splitting his face, “the sooner we can get this
show on the road.”
    Peter followed the path Bridget had taken,
and David hit the intercom so the people on the second level could
hear him too.
    “Folks, in a minute we’ll be on our way.
Just as a reminder of what’s going to happen so nobody is
surprised: the road winds down the hill, and then it will
straighten out and head directly towards the bottom of the cliff.
Jane’s going to get going as fast as this old bus can travel on a
gravel road. We plan to hit the cliff wall at speed, and Jane has
promised not to put her foot on the brake.” He cleared his throat.
“I’d like everybody to fasten their seat belts. The ride might get
a bit bumpy.”
    He paused, releasing the button and studying
the faces in front of him. Then he activated the intercom again.
“If this doesn’t work, I’m sorry. It’s been an honor.”
    And with that abrupt comment, he turned
around and placed both hands on the dash in front of him.
    Anna knew her brother. His voice had been
thick with emotion there at the end, and he’d cut off any further
speech because he didn’t want anyone else to know how he was
feeling. As Jane shifted into first gear and started down the hill,
Anna met her mother’s eyes. Mom was clutching Papa’s hand the same
way Anna was holding Math’s.
    They didn’t speak as the bus safely
navigated the first two switchbacks, and then the bus started down
the straight stretch, picking up speed and jostling everyone as it
went. The bus wasn’t designed for gravel roads, even one hardened
and smoothed as this one had been. Rain pounded on the roof and ran
in rivulets down the windows, at a slant because the wind was
whipping too and the bus was going fast.
    “Mother of God,” Math said.
    “I can’t let David do this alone.” Abruptly,
Anna unbuckled her seatbelt and staggered towards the front of the
bus. She steadied herself with one hand on the metal bar that ran
from floor to ceiling behind the driver’s seat and grabbed for
David’s arm with the other.
    “Anna! What are you doing?” The tears were
gone from David’s voice. Now he just sounded horrified.
    “We started this together. We’re going to
finish it the same way.” Anna glared at David, daring him to send
her back to her seat.
    “All right.” David brought his hand off the
dash and clasped her left hand with his right. “Together.”
    They both stared out the front window as the
cliff rose up before them.
    “David.” Jane’s voice was all fear and
warning.
    “Keep that pedal to the floor,” David
ordered.
    A hundred feet. Fifty feet. People in
the back of the bus and on the upper level, where they had a better
view, were openly screaming now. Some were