Free Twilight by Meg Cabot Page A

happened.” I didn’t wait for him to respond, but just plunged ahead. “Paul’s figured out a way to go back through time, and he’s going to go back to the day Jesse died and save his life.”
    There was a long pause. Then Father Dominic said, “Susannah. Where are you?”
    I looked around. I was standing in Paul’s kitchen, using the wall-mounted phone I had found there. I’d asked Dr. Slaski’s attendant after I’d left his patient, if I could use the phone. He’d told me to go right ahead.
    “I’m at Paul’s house,” I said. “Father Dominic, did you hear me? Paul’s figured out a way to keep Jesse from dying.”
    “Well,” Father Dominic said, “That’s wonderful news. But shouldn’t you be in school? It’s only just a little past one o’clock—”
    “Father D.!” I practically screamed. “You don’t understand! If Paul keeps Jesse from dying, then Jesse and I will never meet !”
    “Hmmm.” Father Dominic took his sweet time to consider what I’d said. “Altering the course of history is never a good idea, I suppose. Look what happened in that film. What was it? Oh, yes. Back to the Future .”
    “ Father Dominic .” I was practically crying with frustration. “Please, this isn’t a movie. It’s my life. You’ve got to help me. You’ve got to come back here and help me stop him. He won’t listen to me. I know he won’t. But he might listen to you….”
    “Well, I couldn’t possibly come back now, Susannah,” Father Dominic said. “The monsignor isn’t—well, the, er, hot dog appeared to be lodged in his throat for longer than anyone thought… Susannah, did you say Paul’s figured out a way to travel through time ?”
    “Yes,” I said from between gritted teeth. I was beginning to regret having kept Father Dominic in the dark about so much of what I’d learned from Paul during our Wednesday afternoons together.
    “Goodness,” Father Dominic said. “How interesting. And how do you suppose he does that?”
    “All he needs is something old,” I said. “Something belonging to the person, you know, he wants to travel back to see. The person has to be a ghost, a ghost that he’s met. And then he just has to stand in a place he knows that person will be—in his head, you know—and he’s there.”
    “Good heavens,” Father Dominic said. “Do you know what this means, Susannah?”
    “Yes,” I said miserably. “It means that I’m going to move to Carmel, and there isn’t going to be anybody haunting my bedroom because Jesse will never have been killed there.”
    “No,” Father Dominic said. “Well, I mean, yes, I suppose it does mean that. But more important, it means we could prevent the deaths of all of the ghosts we encounter, just by popping back through time and—”
    “We can’t,” I interrupted flatly. “Unless we want to end up with six months left to live, like Paul’s grandfather. It isn’t like shifting to the spirit plane. Your whole body goes…and, I guess, suffers the consequences. But Paul’s just planning the one trip.”
    “Yes,” Father Dominic said, sounding distant—more distant than San Francisco, anyway. “Yes, I see.”
    “Father Dominic!” I cried. I was losing him… and not just because our phone connection wasn’t the best. “You’ve got to stop him!”
    “But why should I, Susannah?” Father Dominic asked. “What Paul plans on doing is quite generous, actually.”
    “ Generous ?” I cried. “What’s so generous about it?”
    “He’s giving Jesse another chance at life,” Father Dominic said. “And, from what you say, risking his own life in the process. I’d say it’s quite noble of him, actually.”
    “Noble!” I couldn’t believe my ears. “Father Dom, I can assure you, Paul’s motives are far from noble. He’s only doing it…”
    “Yes?” Father Dominic was suddenly all ears.
    But how can you explain to a priest that a guy is trying to off your boyfriend so he can get into your