Now and for Never by Lesley Livingston Page B

in this, remember. Maybe more. And she’s already proven herself as your homing beacon. Give her a chance to do it again.”
    â€œI don’t have much choice,” Clare grumbled.
    â€œAnd speaking of chances,” Milo said, tactfully ignoring Clare’s grumble, “don’t take any. Be. Careful.”
    â€œI will if you will.”
    â€œDeal.” He lifted her hand and then turned it over so that he could drop a kiss in the centre of her palm. Clare was torn between giggling and gasping at the sensation.
    â€œOy.” Piper took that inopportune moment to round the corner and interrupt them. “Break it up, you two. Sun’s finally going down. Time to head for the hill.”
    Clare and Milo followed her into the front room of the shop where Maggie and Al waited. Clare walked over to her aunt, who wordlessly folded her into a hug that was brief, fierce,businesslike, and heartfelt all at once. Then Maggie pushed Clare to arm’s length. “Right. Off you all go then. I’ll keep the candle in the window, so to speak.”
    â€œRight.” Clare nodded. “Just make sure the curtains don’t catch fire.”

8
    T he shadow of the tower on Glastonbury Tor moved across the summit’s scrubby turf, marking the passage of time like a giant sundial arrow.
    Clare had suggested they do the shimmering at the top, just in case her power needed an extra boost to get them back to where they were supposed to go. Where that was, Clare had repeatedly assured Allie, she hadn’t the freaking foggiest notion; moreover, she didn’t seem too bothered by that.
    Allie, for her part, was trying hard not to hyperventilate. She wanted this. She’d advocated for this. Raged and whined and gotten her very first brandy hangover for this. She could do this. She could.
    I can.
    â€œI’m ready.” She stalked over to where Clare stood talking to Milo. “Are you ready? We should get re—”
    â€œWe’re ready, Al.”
    â€œRight.”
    Clare turned back to Milo. “So tell me again how you’re going to figure out where to meet us?” She adjusted her bag, tightening the strap across her torso so that it nestled snugly against her side. “I mean, what if those first two pictures are the only ones you manage to retrieve from the memory card? And why didn’t I give you better instructions? I made a joke in the first picture! A lame joke.” She huffed in annoyance. “What was I thinking?”
    â€œYou were thinking, ‘According to the digital information stored on the memory card from my camera, this is what I wrote on the sign in the first picture,’” Milo said. “And so that’s what you wrote.”
    â€œBut—”
    â€œHe’s got you there,” Allie said.
    â€œBut—”
    â€œThat’s what you wrote, Clare.” Milo interrupted her protest. “No experimenting with changing the message, okay? I won’t be a happy mapmaker if I find myself in an alternate universe where apes rule the planet, or Mr. Spock has an evil goatee, or Superman’s spaceship landed in Russia instead of Kansas.”
    â€œOkay, okay!” Clare raised her hands in surrender. “I promise. No apes, no goatees, no Siberian crash landings. I’ll be a good little monkey.”
    â€œI know you will.” He glanced over at Allie. “And you’ll take care of my cousin while you’re at it.”
    â€œRight around the same time she’s taking care of me,” Clare said, sharing a sideways eye roll with Allie.
    Milo suddenly reached out and grabbed them both by the hands. “I love you guys. You know that, right?”
    Clare sputtered and turned fire-engine red. Allie saved her by punching Milo on the shoulder and snorting. “Dude.”
    Over by the Tor’s stone tower, Piper slumped into a nonchalant pose and ambled over, hands stuffed in the pockets of her