Toni's Change of Pace
by Donna and Toni

Toni Albergo - now back to Fanara, since her divorce - could feel both her Italian and Celtic sides boiling, as she walked down the street. She'd be talking to herself aloud if it wouldn't look so crazy, but contented herself with thinking about all the wonderful
things she wished would befall her former boss; former as of about an hour ago. She'd gone to work this morning feeling somewhat calmer for the first time in months after the recent divorce, when she'd gotten the wonderful news that the boss's nephew, who'd just arrived in the family business, would be taking over the accounting manager position that she had worked so hard to get and improve!

With that on top of the anger she still felt at her ex-husband since she'd found him cheating on her and divorced him, she'd exploded, giving full vent to the volatile nature of both her tempers. She'd called her boss an ass that wouldn't know efficiency if it came up and punched him in the nose, gathered her few belongings quickly from her desk, and stalked out with barely a word to anyone.

After she had, she realized she had to do something to calm her raging soul before she ended up giving herself an ulcer dwelling on these two wonderful last events in her life. She stepped into the peaceful dimness of her local church, St. Margaret's, to try and attain at least a start to that calm. Her first stop was the confessional; maybe talking to one of the priests, as she often did, would help.

It was dark in the confessional. It always was. She waited patiently for the sound of the divider window to be slid open. A moment later, it did. "Bless you for coming, my child," said a man with a pleasant, but unfamiliar sounding voice. Remembering that there was supposed to be a new priest coming to serve at her parish, Toni assumed this must be him.

"Father, I'm having a few problems, and I have to get a handle on my reaction to them before I end up having to take Mylanta for the rest of my life. First of all, there's the matter of my ex-husband. I found him cheating on me, and that's why he's now my ex, but every time I think of him I get angry all over again. You have no idea how hard it is to avoid getting hold of one of my late father's old contacts
and putting a contract out on this guy! Then, just when I thought I was dealing okay with that, my boss this morning told me that his nephew was taking over the job I'd worked my fingers to the bone to get and straighten out, namely the top accounting manager of the firm! So I called him an ass and now I'm having contract thoughts about him too! I have to find some way to control my temper before it does me
physical harm, and I don't just mean going up to those two bas-uh, I mean guys, and letting them have it right in the nose! Or other places I can think of."

The thought of those two particular men writhing on the ground holding themselves in great pain brought an evil smile to her face. She knew she shouldn't be having those thoughts, especially in a House of God, but they deserved it, and she knew God would
understand! The priests of St Margaret's had also never failed to understand her; she hoped the same was true for this new one.

There was a moment of silence on the other side, then to her surprise, a funny sounding chuckle. "I shall pray that you learn to control your temper, my child," the man said. He gave her a relatively mild penance and then asked if she would wait in the confessional until he came out to talk to her.

Though it was a slightly strange request, she consented to do so; this new priest sounded nice, and he'd even laughed at the rather offensive things she'd said, instead of telling her she shouldn't think that way about her fellow man, etc, etc, like some of the Monsignors she'd heard about.

A few moments later, she heard him knock softly on the door she had come in. "Come out, my child," he said, opening the door slowly. As she stepped out into a completely different church than she had been in before, she stumbled, and the world wobbled for a moment around her.

"What the hell..." escaped her mouth before she could stop herself. Then, blushing as she realized the priest was standing right in front of her, she told him softly, "Sorry, Father, it's just that.....I mean, this was St. Margaret's, in Brooklyn NY, when I came
in! What happened?" She felt like she was in the middle of one of those science fiction novels she liked to read, as she looked around with wide eyes.

Father Alec steadied her, steering her gently to the nearest pew. "Sit down," he told her.

She did so, then realized that this man didn't even know her name. With that little bit of realization steadying her slightly, she held out her hand to him. "Toni Fanara, Father. And I'm very glad to meet such an understanding priest! At least I've always been lucky that way."

"I'm Father Alec, Toni. There is a lot I have to tell you. You aren't in Brooklyn any more, or even on Earth. We call this place Edan, and you, like the rest of us, have been brought here for a special reason. Here you can begin life anew, with a totally clean slate!" He squeezed her hand, watching her closely as she assimilated the news.

She once again looked around, as she thought of what he'd just said. A new life, in a new place....no ex husband or ex boss even in existence here! She mentally relegated them to a state of oblivion, the thought of them floating around in nothingness making her smile slightly, and resolved to herself that that was the way they would be to her, from now on. At the same time, she felt herself relax; maybe in this strange new place, she wouldn't need the Mylanta after all.

With that established, there were a couple of other things she had to get settled. Looking at her first friend in this place, she asked, "Okay....but I have to find a place to live and a job, if I want to keep it. Do you know of any apartments for rent and any places that are looking for competent accountants?"

Again the priest chuckled. "Housing is no problem here. There are still many homes empty and waiting for newcomers such as yourself. Or if you like, you can take a room at the hotel. As for a job, perhaps I can introduce you to our Mayor. Perhaps he would be in need of a good accountant!"

The young woman nodded. "Great. Until you have a chance to make the introductions, can you give me directions to this hotel you spoke of, and recommend a good cab company for me to call to take me there?" With any luck at all, the $20 she had in her wallet would stretch to get her that far; hopefully, the hotel would bill her for the room costs and not ask for it up front.

"No cabs," Father Alec said with that strange chuckle of his as he assisted her to her feet. "Ever ride a horse?"

Her eyes widened. "Well, yes...it's been awhile, but I haven't forgotten how. Father...you're not telling me that I've been sort of tossed back in time to a pre industrial society, are you?" Thoughts of H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine" flooded her mind.

"Something like that," he told her as he escorted her out of the Mission. Toni gasped as she stepped out into what looked to be a street from an Old West town! There were even cowboys riding around! A young woman dressed in a dress that looked to be straight out of the mid 1800's came walking up to them.

"Good day to ye, Father," she said with a soft Scottish accent, looking at the new lady with curiosity while she waited for an introduction.

"Good day to you too, Faith. This is Toni, she is new. Toni, this is Faith MacDonald. She and her two sisters live in the house over there," he said, pointing to a nearby house.

The latest resident of Edan smiled and started to reach out her hand to shake hands with the other woman, then figured that if this really was a time past, women didn't do those things then.  Instead, she just said, "Pleased to meet you, Ms. MacDonald."

"Ms.?" she said, a confused look on the young Scotswoman's face. The newcomer's accent was a little difficult for her to understand. "I just came over to invite the good Father here to come to me house for a bit of tea.  Would you like some too? Afterwards, we can take you around the town and get ye settled in."

Blushing slightly as she realized they would only have had Miss and Mrs. in this time as well, the Brooklynite told her gracious hostess, "I'd like that very much, Miss MacDonald; thank you," correcting herself this time around and hoping it would fix things a little. She must seem weird enough in her jeans, sweater, sneakers and
jacket, she didn't want to alienate her new neighbors even more.

As they walked from the Mission towards the MacDonald home, a man came riding past them on a beautiful black horse. "Buono giorno, Signorina Faith, Padre Alec. Is this beautiful young woman new in town?" When Toni looked up to tell him she was indeed new, she gasped. Except for having darker hair, he looked like he was the priest's twin brother!

Covering her surprise as she figured that was the case, she smiled, "I am, sir; your brother was kind enough to volunteer to explain things to me. While I'm still in kind of a daze about it, I haven't found anything to dislike about my 'situation'. I'm Toni
Fanara, by the way."

"Brother?" he said, and then chuckled the exact same way the priest always did as he realized why she thought that was the case. Jumping down from the horse, he reached out and kissed the back of her hand. "Salvatore Giuliano at your service. Welcome to Edan."

It had been a long time since anyone had done that to her, and she tried not to show her surprise as she replied, "Thank you, Mr. Giuliano. You wouldn't happen to know if there are any vacancies at the hotel, would you? The good Father wasn't sure, and I have to find lodgings, then a job to pay for them."

"If not, there is always room at my villa for such a beautiful woman such as yourself," he said teasingly, making the priest roll his eyes.

Toni laughed softly; this man was certainly a flirt, but she'd known lots of those in her lifetime. "I'll be sure and keep that in mind, most definitely. For now, Miss MacDonald has invited me kindly to have some tea at her house, so we're going over there for a little while first. What a beautiful animal! What's his name?" The horse, as
most animals she came in contact with did, was having a favorable reaction to her, nuzzling her hands as he searched for treats, and she was laughing and petting his nose. She loved all animals, but horses had always been her favorites.

Salvatore told her the horse's name, and promised that he would see her again soon. "He is very Italian," Faith giggled as he mounted and rode away.

"Sicilian," Father Alec corrected. "You," he said with his finger touching Toni's nose. "Be careful. He was serious about what he offered."

She looked at the well meaning priest and grinned. "I know he was, Father. You see, I'm half Sicilian myself, so I'm very well acquainted with the type." With that made clear, the little group continued on to Faith's house and their tea.