Meanwhile,

Warren and Guillaume had appeared in a field.
In fact, it was the same field Warren had appeared in earlier (say, 800 years earlier or so). This fact was confirmed when Guillaume exclaimed: "Hey! Ah ray-cog-nase zis field!"
It was further confirmed by the sound of anti-aircraft guns roaring in the distance.
Warren and Guillaume had appeared in a field on the edge of the Ardennes forest. The year was 1944.
"Guillaume! We're not safe out here - we need to find cover fast!" Warren shouted.
"Coveare?" Guillaume asked. "From what?"
A moment later a shell exploded nearby, sending up a spray of rock and shrapnel. "Aha! Warren, are these the guns you were telling me about? They will make us invincible against the English scum!"
"Well, yes, but... only if they don't kill us first!"
"Well, there is nobody here Warren, surely zese guns will be a cinch to steal!"
Moments later Warren and Guillaume were surrounded by a troupe of soldiers grasping an assortment of rifles, pistols, submachine guns, blankies, and other assorted weaponabilia.
The smallest and pimpliest of these (soldiers, that is, not guns or blankies) spoke up. "Who arrre you, and vat are you doing on my land?"
"Eet's nat your land, yeu pimply shrimp, it's ma land!" Guillaume replied stubbornly.
"Ha!" The pimply soldier laughed in reply. "Not zince the glorious German army took it over two years ago, you ignorant frog!"
Guillaume grabbed the soldier by the front of his uniform. "You will give it back to me!" He growled. A dozen guns were immediately trained on the Frenchman's head. Warren leant forward and grabbed hold of Guillaume's free arm. "Uh, Guillaume, you might want to let this nice man go." He said in a gentle voice. "And maybe soon, before you get shot?"
"Neveare!" Guillaume replied stubbornly.

POP!

A moment later, a crowd of German soldiers were pointing their weapons at... nothing. Oh, and their lieutenant was missing.


***


Jennie was bemused. She had never been somewhere with green soil and orange sky before. And the trees were all purple. She felt like she was in a C.S. Lewis novel.

A man was standing near one of the purple trees. She wandered over. It was Acolyte Steven! He was studying the largest of the purple trees with considerable interest.
"Steven!" Jennie cried out enthusiastically. "Good to see you, man! Have you any idea where we are?"
Steven looked at Jennie a little slowly, like he was just waking up. "Oh, Jennie. You're here too. Yes, I know where we are. It's called the Thin Place."
"What - the Thin Place - what's that?"
Steven smiled. "It's nowhere, really. A place not bound by time. It exists everywhere, and nowhere, all at once. People only ever get here by accident - well, so they say. I had a fair idea this would happen if I bashed the Twister against something solid - and Sven's good old Scandinavian noggin worked wonders."
"Can you get us out?" Jennie asked.
"Out! You've got Great Expectations! Nobody ever told me how to get out of here, only in! And anyway, why would we want to leave?" Steven replied. "While we're here, we don't age a day! We're immortal, Jennie!"
"Well, that might be the case," Jennie replied, "But it seems awful boring here."
"Ah, Jennie, that's where you're wrong. For this here is The Tree." Steven smiled knowingly, patting the trunk of the large purple tree, which as Jennie looked closely at it seemed to grow in size.
"Right." Jennie deadpanned. "And The Tree does what, exactly?"
"Well, I haven't quite worked it out yet, but it is said that if a person makes contact with the soul of The Tree, they can travel time at will. Oh, and they also learn how to make the perfect pavlova."
"Intriguing." Jennie smiled, as she moved closer to the tree to study it with Steven.


***


After several days, Skylar had decided that French prisons weren't really that pleasant.


Looking Back : : Moving Forward