69. Blurred Lines.

 “I told you, Abe, it only goes back about ten minutes.” They were furiously power-walking down the street with a very confused Celine a few steps behind, who weakly directed their journey as they went.

Ava was positively frantic with anticipation; she could barely see straight. Her world was literally blurred. She knew only one thing -- could only think of one thing -- that she was finally going to see Allie again. Cece knew the way.

But of course Abe just wanted to know about the watch. “So it goes forward, too?” he asked.

Ava barely registered his question. “Yes, but just until the actual present. Left or right?” They stood at a crosswalk. Cece nervously pointed to the left. She looked pale -- ill, even -- but Ava didn’t care.

“So that’s how you--”

“YES!” she cried. “That’s how I just ‘appeared’ in front of you, okay? And no, I don’t know how, and yes, I’m sure we lost them -- I made it look like we went the other way! Straight here?” Ava glared at Celine impatiently.

But Cece froze there, a look of panic in her eye. Then she knelt forward...and loudly threw up. “What did you do to me?” she whimpered.

68. The Reappearing Act.

Abe watched the door close behind Celine as she entered the bistro with her strange visitors. He turned to Ava to ask her what they should do when she suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him roughly down the block and into a cobblestoned alley, shadowed against the setting sun. “What’re you doing?” he protested. He didn’t understand. Didn’t she want Cece to take them to her sister?

“Wait here!” she hissed with a ferocity that suggested she didn’t believe he would listen.

“What else would I do?” he asked in irritation.

Ava pinched the bridge of her nose. “Trust me,” she said, “something very stupid.” Then she left him there, sprinting back around the corner towards the restaurant.

“Ava, wait!”  But she didn’t wait. And Abe didn’t want to wait, either. What on earth had she meant by--

He yelped in shock when Ava was suddenly there, in front of him, holding a frightened-looking Celine by the arm. They’d just appeared! Out of nowhere! “What--” But Ava held a finger to her lips.

“Just wait,” she whispered breathlessly. After a long beat she peered around the corner, then looked back at Abe gleefully. “I think we lost them!”

67. Winding the clock.

​“We don’t have a gun,” Abe lied. “How do you suggest--” But Ava just held up the pocket watch. “What exactly do you plan on doing with that?”

“Two of the timepieces are fixed!” she cried, but quieted to a whisper when a passing woman in a bright red scarf gave her a strange look. “Maybe this is partially fixed, too. We don’t know how it works!” She felt a rush as she held the watch in her palm, despite the fact that she still didn’t know quite what to do. Almost absentmindedly, she wound it backward two clicks.

“What exactly do you plan on doing with that?” he asked again. Ava rolled her eyes. “Abe--”

But then she froze, unable to keep from staring at the woman walking by -- in a bright red scarf. The same woman who had given her a funny look just seconds ago. The same woman who had already passed by...going in the same direction. Abe, still glaring in irritation, didn’t notice the woman at all. He was completely unaware.

Ava grinned. And wound the watch backwards again.

66. Out To Lunch.

“What do you reckon?” Abe asked. He and Ava stared through the window of the bistro, trying to read the conversation they were barred from. Cece sat with the three men at a table near the back corner, but she had none of the confident swagger from before. None of the snarl. She had shrunken down in her seat, hunched over and fidgeting, constantly checking over her shoulder towards the two of them.

The man kept up a genial demeanor that didn’t match this at all. If she couldn’t have seen Cece, Ava would have just thought a sweet old man was out having lunch with his friends.

Suddenly, Cece burst into some kind of exclamation, slamming her hands on the table and standing up angrily -- but one look from the muscle men and she sat back down, hunching over again as if trying to hide.

Ava would have left Cece there if she had the option. But Cece knew where Allie was, and whatever was going on in there, she had a bad feeling they weren't going to just let her leave. “Abe,” she said slowly, wrinkling her nose in annoyance as she realized what she spoke out loud: “We’re going to have to get her out of there ourselves.”

65. Just Celine.

 “Cece’s kind of in the middle of something,” Ava said to the old man. “Right?” She turned to give their compatriot a dirty look, but was surprised to see Cece had blanched in apparent fear.

The old man just smiled wistfully. “I am sorry to interrupt, but we have some urgent business to attend to." He puffed his pipe and adjusted his bow tie as he turned, looking positively jaunty as he crossed the street towards the bistro. They didn’t have time to consider leaving him, however, because two very tall, very brawny-looking men approached with scowls as soon as the thought crossed Ava's mind. 

Abe gulped and glanced at her. “I guess we’re going to the bistro.”

“No,” said one of the men. He pushed Celine forward. “Just her.”

“But--” Ava stopped short when she heard the sound of a pistol being cocked. One of the men’s hand was hidden in his jacket, and he gave a little halfway-grin.

“Just Celine.”