Chapter 6 - Evelyn’s Body Was Not Frozen
Medical examination happened with Evelyn’s consent.
That distinction mattered.
She refused hospital initially.
Ethan arranged private physician and independent specialists.
Results:
Biological age approximately mid-twenties.
No signs of decades-long immobility.
Normal muscle condition inconsistent with 130 years of stasis.
No unusual radiation.
No implanted devices.
Genetic ancestry consistent with Mercer family samples from preserved hair in museum archive? That would be extraordinary. They used Ethan? Maybe not direct line. Better family descendant mitochondrial? Elias descendants maybe Margaret? Let's avoid too much.
Dental work:
nineteenth-century gold foil technique.
Dress fibers:
late Victorian manufacturing methods.
A healed childhood fracture visible in Evelyn’s left wrist matched letter written by Elias in 1882 describing daughter’s riding accident.
Evidence for identity accumulated.
But most important finding:
Cells showed no extreme aging.
Not rejuvenated.
As if little biological time passed.
That ruled against conventional suspended animation.
If she had been physically sitting unconscious for 130 years, muscles, bones, metabolism would show effects.
She had experienced perhaps hours.
Evelyn herself estimated:
1896 → immediate 1974.
1974 → immediate 2026.
From her perspective, less than a day between jumps.
That was major payoff.
She was not preserved through years.
She skipped them.
Where?
Unknown.
Lucas described “closed temporal displacement.”
Ethan rejected jargon.
“Meaning?”
“Her body may have followed a shorter path through time than house did.”
“Can you prove that?”
“No.”
Good.
Then Evelyn remembered Second Bell.
In 1896, assistant trapped was named Thomas Reed.
Not family.
Electrical technician.
History said Thomas disappeared same night Evelyn “drowned.”
His body never found.
Ethan checked old newspapers.
Thomas Reed listed as missing.
Mercer family suppressed laboratory connection.
So Evelyn may not have been only person displaced.
“Did Thomas appear in 1974?”
Margaret said no.
“Today?”
No.
Then Lucas showed field logs.
Two distinct energy signatures appeared when Node B broke today.
One strong.
One weak.
Evelyn emerged from strong.
Weak continued beneath house.
Something else remained connected.
Possibly Thomas.
Or an object.
Evelyn became terrified.
“My father said two people couldn’t pass together.”
“Why?”
“He didn’t know.”
Then Elias notebook found in lab.
Page dated October 2, 1896:
If dual bodies enter resonant closure, phase may split. One may anchor while other remains between returns.
Between returns.
Ethan looked at Evelyn.
“Thomas may still be there.”
Evelyn whispered:
“Then he’s been waiting no time at all.”
That was haunting.
If Thomas experienced same skipped time, he might emerge believing still 1896.
But Lucas warned.
Weak signature moved toward primary chamber, not Node B.
September resonance could release.
This turned deadline into rescue possibility.
But it also created temptation.
Charles Bennett had wanted reopen field for science.
Lucas claimed he wanted rescue.
How to tell difference?
Ethan established one rule:
“No activation without independent team and Evelyn’s consent.”
Lucas hated delay.
“That could cost Thomas his only chance.”
Ethan answered:
“Urgency doesn’t give you permission.”
A lesson inherited from every prior family scandal.
May you like
Evelyn looked at Ethan.
For first time since arriving, she smiled faintly.
