I did look exactly like Katerine McTaber did many years ago. I could claim that I'm the twin sister. Except for that age difference.... I suppose I could age myself if I can find some clothes meant for older people, but during the days I was searching I had discovered that the medallion doesn't work on pregnant women. Which means I'd have to wait six months, give birth, then find clothes and age myself. And if I stayed as another person for six months my original self would be reported to the police as a missing person.
No, that idea was no good. If I wanted to do anything, I'd have to do it fast. Maybe I could go to Lord McTaber and claim that I'm, not the sister, but the sister's daughter--her niece. Now that I think of it, I could even say I'm Katerine's daughter. Yeah, she died in a car crash when she was three years old, but... Naaah. I'd never get away with it. There are fingerprints and all of that.
I could, however, go to Lord McTaber. He should be about eighty or even ninety, but if he was still alive, it just might be possible.
You'd be surprised how cheap a plane ticket to Ireland can be those days. A bigger problem was getting past Homeland Security. How could I give anyone two forms of ID? How could I even buy an airline ticket?
I couldn't, of course. I ended up renting a video camera, and recording myself making a speech. I mailed the DVD to Lord McTaber. Two weeks later--about as long as I could go before people would seriously start to think I was a missing person--I got a phone call from him.
"Hello?" I said.
"Hello. This is Lord McTaber. I understand you claim to be a long-lost relative of mine? Not many people have those eyes, you know."
"It's more complicated," I explained. "I can only demonstrate in person. I showed you the medallion on the DVD, but the only way I can prove it's not just special effects is to meet you."
"I'll be right over," he said.
"You're in Ireland. How long is 'right over'?"
"I'll be here in two days, and this had better be good."
We met at his hotel room.
"You look exactly like her," he said. "Exactly! It almost makes me think this silly story really could be true. I had hoped...."
"Hold on," I said. "I said I'm going to demonstrate. This will take a few minutes at most."
I got out the amulet and a T-shirt. The T-shirt was a novelty shirt in honor of the wearer's 60th birthday, with a bad joke on the back. I had tested it before (if you're pregnant, you change a bit but then change back) so I knew nobody had worn it.
I said "Put this on", made sure the amulet was touching the shirt, and slipped it over his head. He grabbed at his neck and said "I feel strange."
"You're getting younger," I said. "I can't make you so young nobody will recognize you, but you've just lost at least twenty years. It's amazing as a story, but now that you've had it happened to you, you do believe me, don't you?"
"I don't believe it," he said. "Joint pain better..." Suddenly he reached for his mouth and removed a set of dentures. "I think I just got some teeth back," he said. Then he realized he had a mustache on his face. "I'll have to cut this off," he said. "I forgot I had this 20 years ago. Well, kid, you've just shown me the best thing in the world. Now what's your story? I promise I'll listen to anything, after what you just did."
As some wrinkles disappeared from his skin, I told him just about everything. The amulet's rules. How I tried the amulet and didn't realize someone had used the clothes many, many, years ago. How I became a girl, and discovered who the girl was.
"So you're a guy?" he asked.
"Yup."
"And the baby you're carrying is my granddaughter reborn?"
"Well, she isn't born yet, so I can't say reborn, and I don't know if an exact duplicate counts as the same baby, but yes, pretty much."
"Well, what would you want me to do for you?"