Free Timeless Moon by C. T. Adams, Cathy Clamp Page A

to get closer. Josette couldn't even bear to look in the rearview to see the images that the sounds hinted at before they disappeared into the distance —squealing tires, yelling, the angry rent of metal twisting and glass breaking. With a hard yank of the wheel, she moved off the main street onto an empty side street. But then Ellen's voice came from behind her, in a whispered singsong that she recognized. The girl was having a vision.
    "She can't die. The woman … blue sedan … must live. Baby … future —"
    It was a good opportunity to coach the girl on using her visions to help keep an important future on track. “T ell me what you're seeing, Ellen. Look around at the scenery and describe things." She scanned the area ahead. New architecture blended with old on the quiet street. There were a number of sidewalk cafes ahead with a few scattered patrons. She raised her voice and pushed magic into Ellen, causing the girl to gasp and thrash against the door. "I need to know! Where is she?"
    Josette passed through a yellow light and cursed under her breath when the SUV zoomed through the cold red in her wake. Glancing down at the speedometer, she realized she was already ten over the limit and was bound to become a danger to people soon.
    She needed to end this. She touched Ellen's arm, forced her way into the girl's vision until Josette was standing beside her on the street in a near future time. Yes, a different angle, an altered perspective, but it was this place; this time. The Ellen in the vision turned to her with awe plain on her face. But she was too far inside to separate her mind from that which was happening to her mind.
    Josette desperately tried to keep her attention on the task of driving while seeing her own car approaching from far down the street. But she couldn't look to the side until Ellen herself did. Not without losing her hold on reality. "Think! Tell me quick. What's on the street? What do you see? Turn your head and look around." More magic, filled with a subtle persuasion that shouldn't give her too much of a headache.
    The girl's head turned and it was enough. Josette saw the location just as Ellen spoke in the car. "Chairs —" The voice was reedy and thin and she started gasping for air. "Green … striped awning."
    Josette removed her hand, pulled herself away from the image, and looked as far into the distance as she could. There! She saw it: a caf é far up the street and yes, there was a blue sedan parked in front.
    Abruptly, anger filled her. She hated this, hated that the people in the SUV cared so little for the humans that they would risk them all just to get her. But she wasn't willing to go down that road easily, nor would she risk killing people that could alter the future.
    But maybe she didn't have to do either one.
    A slip of movement caught her eye five stoplights ahead, and she focused in with supernatural sight. A utility company was repairing a streetlight with a bucket lift truck, but nobody was in the basket yet. One man in a uniform was pouring coffee from a Thermos into a cup held by the another man.
    Yes. Perfect. But the timing would have to be exact.
    Another glance in the rearview. They were about half a block back and moving up fast. Josette reached out with her magic, pushed it out through the window of the rental, stretching … stretching, until she touched the cool metal of the truck ahead. She began to rock the track on its wheels, making it seem as though the truck were caught in a strange harsh crosswind. The men on the sidewalk began to back away as the shaking increased.
    She gunned the engine to increase the distance between the two vehicles and shot ahead, keeping her hold on the truck as they passed it by. Pulling on every reserve she had to allow herself to continue to drive, she yanked hard on the truck, tightening the noose on it Like an errant steer. With a snap of energy that took her breath away and nearly caused her to black out, the truck toppled