A STONE IN TIME
by Kim Allred
AJ Moore inched higher up the seaside cliff, ignoring the craggy rocks of the Oregon shoreline that glistened with salty spray. A horn from a nearby boat pierced the sound of the early morning surf, cutting through the screeching of the feeding gulls. She tuned out the warring cacophony, the mental connection with her favorite cliff circulating like a mystical chant. Grasping the familiar rock signaling the end of the climb, AJ heaved her straining body over the edge, satisfaction forcing a smile on her face. Her brazen act, daring a forbidden climb that ended on private property, quelled the rebellious demons that haunted her since her father’s death.
She wrapped her arms around her legs, bracing herself against the chilled morning air. She watched the sky brighten, the waves shimmering toward the shore as she breathed in the rich smell of salt, sea, and decayed fish. AJ loved alpine starts, the predawn setting of a climb, the sounds of the coast filling the air, encouraging signs of life. The ocean, the danger, and the strenuous exertion on her body brought an inner peace and a true sense of herself she could find no other way since the death of her father.
His unexpected death, a heart attack leading to a car accident, left her world tilted, sometimes past the point of recognition. Her grief had passed, but his irreplaceable loss had left her hollow. His job to guide her left unfinished.
Her family and friends couldn’t grasp why AJ had taken climbing lessons, and they would be mortified if they knew how frequently she climbed this wall. But somehow, this place brought her closer to her father. She closed her eyes and let the salty air fill her lungs, the warmth of the morning sun touch her shoulders, and the screams of the gulls penetrate her soul.
After a few moments of peaceful meditation, calmness restoring her inner core, she deliberated her descent. She peered out to the sea below, the view stretching for miles in both directions. To her surprise, a large patch of dense fog rolled in from across the distant waves, covering the sea. Fog could come and go quickly at the shore, yet there hadn’t been any hint of precipitation on her drive to the coast or during her climb.
Still somewhat amazed by the speed of the mist, she could only stare at the marvel, a scene she’d never witnessed before. Something from below caught her eye, materializing out of the fog. At first, she couldn’t make sense of what she saw, and she leaned forward and squinted. Tall masts pierced the veil of fog, some kind of ship making its way north.
A second later, AJ noticed the myriad ropes draped from the mast, moving gently with the surge of the ship. The sails were down, tied against the arms of the masts, and for a moment, she wondered what powered the ship. Then a ghostly figure appeared, standing on the deck, one hand braced against the tall mast, as if magically steering the ship by sheer touch alone. She blinked. The image faded into the mist.
The fog surged to the beach, riding the waves. It bolted up the cliff and smothered her like a heavy blanket. She remained sitting, her forehead wrinkled, perplexed at the rapidity of this fog. Something else nagged, more than the quickness of its arrival or the glimpse of the wraithlike ship. She couldn’t hear anything, not the waves hitting the shore, nor the gulls frenzied with morning feeding.
She closed her eyes, straining to hear a sound, goose bumps rising on her skin, although the temperature hadn’t changed. Discomfort wormed through her, not quite panic, more a sense of being out of place. She didn’t want to stand, no longer aware of the cliff’s edge, although it had been directly in front of her seconds before.
Without warning, she heard a horn in the distance, and her body arched toward the new warmth on her face. Her eyes popped open, and she shielded them with her arm, warding off the sudden glare from the reflection of sun on ocean. Accustomed to the light once more, she turned around, searching for the fog that had enveloped her moments before, but saw nothing. Not one sign the mist had ever been there.
She glanced out to sea, searching for the sailing vessel, but the ocean appeared deserted except for the gulls. No ship. The whole odd experience lasted no more than a minute or two. Where had the ship gone? There were no sails to power it, and even with a motor, it couldn’t have vanished from view. Her sense of calm shattered, she chided herself for losing her self-control over a strange bit of fog and what surely must have been a trick of her imagination. She shook herself. Her descent still lay ahead of her. Standing on shaky legs, she looked around once more, saw nothing of the mysterious fog or ship, and prepared the rope for the rappel down the wall.
#
The mist settled around the old house that sat fifty yards from the cliff. It rolled in like a freight train, yet tendrils of fog could be seen within the mist, transparent fingers drifting with no particular direction of movement, as if searching for something.
After a few minutes, the mist vanished. The sun once more shed warmth and light on the grasses and trees that landscaped the yard of the house and framed the woman sitting on the edge of the cliff, her short brown tresses stirring gently in the light breeze.
The tall man, dressed in a long black coat, his dark hair slicked back, appeared under a large spruce tree in the yard. He didn’t move when the woman at the top of the cliff turned to glance around. A sigh of relief shuddered through him, unseen in the shadows.
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A Stone in TimeA mystery ship, an ancient stone necklace, and a fated love no one could predict.
Eighteen months after the unexpected death of her father, AJ Moore’s life is back on track. The last step to full recovery relies on jumpstarting her stalled reporting career at the Baywood Herald. That one missing ingredient? Just a little thing called inspiration.
While rock-climbing the seaside cliffs of her Oregon hometown, AJ discovers a mysterious two-hundred year old sailing ship appearing through the fog. The mystery deepens when she can’t learn any more about the ship than the name of its single passenger, Captain Finn Murphy. So begins a fiery relationship that simultaneously warms her heart and angers her blood. But Captain Murphy isn’t the only man to drop into her life.
Ethan Hughes, a friend of her estranged brother, shares many of her own interests. More importantly, he reignites her illusive muse.
While AJ attempts to get to the bottom of the ship’s strange existence, Finn and Ethan seek the same ancient stone necklace that has been lost in time. No one is less prepared than AJ to realize that she alone holds the key that unlocks everything.
