WHERE I WAS GOING

By Jo

Ahnna and Alistair were driving back from Coffs where he'd had a doctor's check-up. His dizziness had left but he still got ferocious headaches from time to time. The doctor, after a thorough examination, reaffirmed that in his opinion, those would fade within the month.

"I really hope," Ahnna was saying as their car came around a wooded curve. Her sentence was cut short, however, by the sight of an overturned car lying just off the road. She sucked in a sharp breath. It was way too similar to what had happened that awful night when Joimus' station wagon had rolled over and over in the rain-soaked field. "Oh...no!" she breathed as Alistair pulled his car over to the side.

As he opened his door, he tensed and paused for a moment, holding onto the partially-rolled down window. A deep ache was quickly spreading across the back of his head.

Ahnna came around the car, touching his arm. "Darling?" she said worriedly.

"Just the usual," he smiled. "I'll be fine. Come, let's see if anybody's hurt."

He took her hand and together they approached the car. Neither of them had ever seen this particular vehicle before and as small as the Glen was, everybody was fairly well aware of what its residents drove. Going to the other side of the car, they found the driver's door wide open and a man lying nearby, face down in the tall grass. Ahnna gasped again and Alistair asked her to wait by the man's car while he knelt beside him. There were no visible injuries and the car itself was hardly damaged, just upside down. It didn't appear that it had impacted anything. Puzzled, Alistair's brow creased and he lay a hand on the man's shoulder. "Can you hear me?" he asked gently.

The man moaned and tried to push himself up with one arm, failed, and Alistair helped him turn over onto his back.

"Sid?" Ahnna said, shocked.

Alistair studied the man's face. "Could be," he said, "but I'm not entirely sure."

Bar's eyes fluttered open and he found himself looking up into a kindly face bending low over him. The last he remembered his half-brother had been leading him to a guest room. He heard Ahnna say 'Sid', though, and opened his mouth. "Sid," he repeated.

"See, he's saying he is Sid," Ahnna stated. She'd barely had any contact with the man, but knew she'd recognize him.

"N...no," Bar stammered. "Not Sid."

"You are not Sidney Harbor?" Alistair asked.

"Br...brother," Bar gasped, finding it tremendously hard to think.

"I somehow didn't think Sid had any relatives, other than his wife," Ahnna said.

"Half...half-br-brother." Bar closed his eyes, feeling utterly confused. "Where...where... what?"

"Your car flipped over," Alistair supplied. "Were you on your way to Sid's house?"

"On way?" Hadn't he already arrived? "I...I...was...there." He paused, resting a palm over his eyes. "I think."

"Are you injured?" Alistair continued. "Ahnna, call for the ambulance."

"No...wait," Bar said. "I...I don't feel...hurt. Wait."

"Can you sit up?" Alistair tried to help him.

Bar managed a seated position in the grass, feeling entirely disoriented. "I...I...was inside. Inside Sid's. Where...where is this?"

"You're fairly close to that," Alistair explained. "What caused your car to turn over?"

"My car?" Bar looked to his side, appalled at the sight of his rental car. "What happened to my car?"

"I was hoping you could tell us, Mister...Mister?"

"Harbor, Bar Harbor."

"Like the coastal town in Maine?"

"Yes," Bar nodded. "That's where I've come from."

"You came to visit Sid then? Does he know you're here?"

Bar nodded again. "I...I was in his house. Met Katherine. Yes, I was in his house. I know I was."

"Did you leave to go somewhere else?"

"No...I...."  Bar pressed both hands roughly to his face. "I don't remember! I don't...."

"Did you hit your head?" Alistair knew all too well how disorienting that was.

"I...no...I don't...doesn't hurt...no...I don't think so." It wasn't that his head hurt as though from an injury.  It just didn't feel...right. It felt, what was the word, scrambled. Yes, that was it. The inside of his head felt scrambled.

"We could drive you to Sid's," Alistair offered. "That is if you'd prefer to go there than have us call for medical assistance."

"I...I don't need that. No, I don't think I need that. I just...yes...would you take me there? I don't...yes...please?"

Sliding an arm under Bar's, Alistair helped him to his feet. Bar stared at him a while then blinked several times. "You...you're...?"

"Oh, forgive me! I'm Alistair Harris, Reverend Alistair Harris, and this is my wife, Ahnna."

"You...you live here...in the Glen?"

"Yes, we do, Mr. Harbor, just down the road a bit."

"Bar, please. Just Bar."

Alistair smiled despite the pain in the back of his head. "Here, let me help you to our car. I'm sure Sid must be worried about where you are."

"Yes," Bar agreed, "he probably is. I...I...I'm not sure how long I've been gone." Or where he might have been going. Or why.