The Storm

CHAPTER 1

There was a fierce storm going on in Chicago and the thunder seemed to roar endlessly. The lightning flashes were coming every few seconds lighting up the sky like the 4th of July. Frank, and his wife, Elaina were in their home office going over case reports from the past week. Suddenly, there was an extremely bright flash of lightning followed by a clap of thunder shaking the house, and flickering the lights.

Elaina screamed from the closeness of the lightning. "Damn! Did that hit the house or the stables?"

"I’ll go take a look." Frank got up from the desk, with Elaina following closely, to peer out the window. The lightning flashes made it easy to see if there was smoke anywhere outside. "Stables and barn look okay. It might have hit a tree close by."

"As long as it didn’t hit the horses or the buildings...I’m grateful," Elaina said, sitting back down on the couch.

"We know it didn’t hit the house, the lights are still on, and smoke alarms would be deafening us if it had caused a fire."

"That’s true. Come over here and sit with me. This storm has given me a weird feeling." Elaina put her arms around him after he sat down next to her.

"You’ve always loved to watch lightning. Tonight it’s the best show we ever had and you’re scared." Frank kissed her on the cheek, wrapping his arms around her.

"I’m not scared, I’m just…unsettled." Elaina cuddled as close as she could to him.

"Unsettled?" Frank laughed at the thought. "You seem to be settling pretty well next to me. I will protect you."

"Don’t make fun of me." Elaina elbowed him lightly in the ribs. "I loved it when we watched the lightning over the mountains in Montana. We would sit curled up together in the chair right in front of the balcony door and eat popcorn. It was our own fantastic light show, complete with soft music on the stereo."

"I loved that too. We should have done that tonight instead of paperwork." Frank nuzzled her neck.

"You seem to have something else on your mind now." Elaina turned to kiss him, but a knock at the front door interrupted her. "Who in their right mind would be out in this mess?" She walked to the front door and opened it. When she did, a woman collapsed in her arms. "FRANK!" she yelled.

Frank rush from the office, quickly noticing Elaina laying a strange woman on the floor. "Who is it?"

"I don’t know. I haven’t seen her face yet." Elaina removed the hooded cape from the woman, brushing aside the wet hair from her face. "I’ve never seen her before, have you?"

"No. Maybe she had car trouble," Frank stated.

"Take her in on the couch by the fireplace while I’ll go get some blankets for her." Elaina ran to retrieve the blankets for their unexpected guest. While passing Sarah’s room, she noticed the light on under the door. When she knocked she didn’t get an answer so she opened the door. Sarah was on her bed swaying to the music coming from her headphones. “Sarah, get those off during a storm it’s dangerous!” she said, pulling them off her head. We have company and I can use your help downstairs."

“Who is it?” Sarah asked, following her mother to the hall closet.

Elaina pulled out a couple of blankets and handed one to Sarah. “I have no idea who she is. She collapsed when I opened the door.”

“That’s really strange someone being out in this mess.”

They went back down, seeing Frank on the phone. She and Sarah put the blankets on the mystery woman while they waited for him to get off the phone.

“I called Daniel, so he can check out our guest." They could always count on Daniel. He had become more than a doctor to both he and Elaina.

"Why would anyone brave this storm when they could have stayed in the safety of their car?" Sarah wondered.

"I’ll go back up and get her some dry clothes," Elaina said.

When Elaina returned Frank left the room to give them privacy while she and Sarah began helping their guest by removing her wet clothes. The woman started to regain consciousness, she grew frightened by the unfamiliar surroundings and sight of two strangers stripping her of her clothes.

"Don’t be afraid. You’re safe here." Elaina tried to calm her. "Nobody will hurt you. We’re just trying to get you in some dry clothes." She waved Sarah away in hopes the woman would calm down a little.

The woman held the blankets tight to her to keep Elaina from removing her clothing. "Feyn da gohzee?" the woman asked. ("Where's my husband?") "Ismik ‘eyh?" (" What is your name?")                                                                                    

"Well, I see you speak Arabic. I hope I remember it enough to calm you down," Elaina said. "Ismee ("My name is.") Elaina Donovan. Ismik ‘eyh?" ("What is your name?")

"Layla Bay. Inta kallim arabee shway-ya?" ("Do you speak Egyptian Arabic?")

"Aywa." ("Yes")

"Bitit kalimee ingileezee?" ("Do you speak English?") Elaina hoped since her Arabic was rusty to say the least.

"Yes."

"Good, my Arabic is not too good. How did you get here?"

"I do not know. I was in Cairo with my husband and it was storming like it is here." Layla wrung her hands and looked directly at Elaina. "We were going to meet some friends at the museum. As we got to the door, there was this extremely bright light."  She paused to catch her breath. "Next thing I remember is being here. I do not know where here is."

"You are in the United States. Chicago, Illinois, to be exact," Elaina informed her, taking her hand to calm her.

Layla started to cry. "You believe me...do you not?" She saw Elaina was puzzled by her explanation.

When Sarah snickered, Elaina pointed for her to leave the room.

"It does sound a bit strange, but I see no reason for you to lie to me." Elaina turned and saw Frank standing by the stairs. "Excuse me. I won’t be long." She smiled and walked over to him. "Did you hear her story?"

"Yes I did and I find it hard to believe that you're falling for it." Frank whispered, watching the woman closely.

"You haven’t even met her and you have her branded a liar. Come, I’ll introduce you to her." Elaina took him by the arm while they walked over to her. "Layla Bay. This is my husband, Frank."

Layla looked up at Frank and gasped. She muttered something in Arabic that Elaina didn’t understand, before saying, "Da gohzee?" ("Your husband?")

"My husband...yes," Elaina repeated. "Is there something wrong, Layla?"

"No, I’m sorry. I’m just tired." Layla knew that if they didn’t believe her story as to how she got there, they would never believe that the man standing before her resembled her husband very strongly.

"Layla, when you first awakened you asked for your husband. Was your husband beside you when the bright light happened?" Elaina asked, watching the woman’s eyes.

"Yes, I was holding his arm because I was so afraid of the storm." Layla explained. "I know this is hard for you to believe. It is the same for me and I am the one who is living it," she said, tears forming again in her eyes. "What if he is outside in a different place and is hurt? Or he is back in Cairo still looking for me? How do I find him?" Layla was becoming agitated again.

"Frank, what if he is outside? We should try to look around for him," Elaina suggested.

"Excuse us one moment." Frank said to Layla.

Layla was surprised to hear his voice sound similar to her husband’s.

He pulled Elaina over to the hallway. "Please tell me you don’t believe this."

"Frank, I have been watching her eyes and her body language. I believe she’s telling the truth. You know I have a gift for knowing whose lying."

"I know. I just hope this isn’t the one time someone fools you," Frank said, worrying.

"I’m not afraid of her, Frank. I don’t think she was sent here to hurt us. I believe she's from where she said." Elaina told him, watching the woman looking around the room.

Layla started muttering in Arabic again and Elaina was having difficulty in translating her as fast as she spoke. Layla pointed to the newspaper she had picked up...specifically to the date. "Is this correct?" She finally asked in English.

"Yes it is. Why do you ask?" Frank wondered.

"It is the same day, but the year is 1935 in Cairo." She saw the surprised and confused looks on their faces.

"I’m sorry. I can’t believe a word she is saying. Are we to believe that a storm in 1935 brought her to the year 2001?" Frank scoffed at the idea. He walked away from Layla and Elaina, but she followed him.

"Frank, I’m going out to look around for her husband. You can either stay with her or help me look." Elaina said anger by his reactions.

"I’m not going to go out in this storm and neither are you. You were scared of it a few minutes ago. Now, you are hell bent on going out in it?"

"The storm has let up. I haven’t heard that much thunder except in the distance. If her husband is out there, he may be hurt and need medical attention." Elaina went to the closet and got her raincoat and hat. "One of us should stay with her. Since you don’t believe her husband is out there, then you can stay in here."

Frank grabbed her arm, getting her full attention. "I’m your husband tonight, not your subordinate. Don’t give me orders."

"I’m sorry, Love. Call Sarah down here. She can stay with her and we can both go out. I believe her whether you do or not.”

"Wait right here. I’ll get the communication radios for us." Frank went to the office and returned with them. He put Elaina’s on her head and adjusted it for her.

Sarah was coming down the stairs and Frank was getting his raincoat.

“Layla, this is our daughter Sarah. She will be stay with you while we go look for you husband,” Elaina said. “Sarah this is Layla Bay.” Elaina went back over with Frank.

He then turned the security lights on outside. They lit up the yard as if it was daylight. "You and Cody did a good job putting the lights in the right spots," she said when they walked out the front door.

 “I’ll tell him you said that,” Frank said. “You look in the front, I’ll take the back and then we’ll meet at the stables.”

 

Layla was explaining to Sarah how she came to be there. Sarah was like her mother in the sense she could tell when most people were lying. Her brother Derek was more like Frank and rarely believed anything that couldn’t be proven to him. "I’m not being a good host, would you like something to drink?"

"Aywa, mayya. Sorry, yes, water would be fine," Layla apologized, not speaking English.

“What is your language?” Sarah asked.

“Egyptian Arabic. I guess your parents haven’t taught it to you.”

“No, I guess they didn’t think we needed to learn it yet. Maybe you can teach me a little while you’re here,” Sarah said. “I’ll go get that glass of water for you.”

When Sarah returned she not only brought a pitcher of ice water but a few cookies.”  

“Shukran. That means Thank you," Layla explained.

“Shukran. What would be ‘you’re welcome’?” Sarah wondered.

"Afwan," Layla answered.

“I need to get a pen and paper so I can write these words down,” Sarah said. She went over to a small table with drawers and retrieved a table and pen.

“Do you know why your Parents know the language but you have not learned?”

“They traveled a lot in their work, Sarah answered, sitting down next to her on the couch.

Outside, Frank and Elaina were continuing the search. He was heading into the barn and she was going in the stables. The search would have been quicker if their ranch hands had not been gone on vacation this week.

Elaina turned the lights on causing the horses to start making sounds having been disturbed. “Oh, quite down, I’m looking for someone.”

Most of the horses seemed to obey except her horse Sahara. She kicked at her door until Elaina peered in seeing a body curled in the corner.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner you had a guest,” she joked, petting the horse before going to check on the other stranger. She tried to awaken him only not to receive a response.

"Frank, I’ve found him. He’s in the stables...out cold." Elaina said over the radio.

"I’ll be right there," Frank said, running out of the barn.

"He’s coming around; I’m going to turn this off for a few minutes, so I can concentrate on him." Elaina didn’t want to frighten or confuse the man with the new technology.

Frank entered the stables finding them still in Sahara’s stall. When she heard Frank talking to Sahara she moved and for the first time Frank looked into the face of the stranger.

"Frank, meet your twin in the world."

Frank was mesmerized by the man looking up at him.

"Ardeth Bay, meet Frank Donovan."

Ardeth stared at Frank as if trying to remember him. "Donovan?" Ardeth asked, before passing out.

Elaina checked his pulse. “I guess seeing you was too much for him.”

Frank picked him up and carried him to the house. Elaina went ahead of him to open the doors and yell for Layla and Sarah.

Layla hurried into the kitchen following Sarah. Sarah gasped when she saw the man’s face after Frank set him in a chair. He was coming to again.

"Ardeth!" Layla said, knelling next to him. She wrapped herself around him, hugging him tight. "Hubee, ana fikr ana dayi inta!" ("My love, I thought I had lost you!")

"Daddy, is he related to you?” Sarah wondered.

“I would think so,” Elaina commented first.

“It was like looking in the mirror, except for the tats on his face,” Frank said, still wondering why and how this couple arrived at their home. Not to mention then fact the man was his double.