by Jadyn Chase
“I’ll do that.” I snatched my suitcase out of her hand. “Get in the car, you.”
She smirked, but her cheeks shone. I could only hope she blushed like that at my chivalrous gesture and not from the exertion of packing. “Are you trying to be my knight in shining armor?”
“I would hope, Allison,” I huffed, “that I have done more than just try to be one.”
“You are one.” She kissed me. “Don’t forget to turn off the modem, okay?”
“I won’t forget anything.” I pointed toward the car. “Now go sit in that car and do not move until I return.”
She grinned even wider. “I love it when you get commanding.”
She slunk off to the driver’s seat and wedged herself behind the wheel. I didn’t like her driving in her condition, but since I still hadn’t mastered that unique skill myself, I had to concede to her and her doctor’s assurance that she was perfectly safe.
I fetched a few more articles from the house. I paced from room to room checking everything before I locked the door.
I paused on the step to survey the building. In the months since I came to live with Allison, I began to consider this house my real home.
In a way, I felt disappointed to leave it again, even if eight months had passed since I left Dover. I no longer considered Dover my home. Anyway, I would be back here again soon, hopefully in time to welcome a little bundle of joy.
I returned to the car and took my appointed place in the passenger seat. I deposited the keys in Allison’s hand. “All set.”
18
Epilogue: Thomas
A fever of excitement gripped me when I stepped off the train in Dover. I never felt this way on our last trip. Everything looked the same. We even stayed in the same hotel, except this time, we got one room instead of two.
The landlady beamed at us. “Got married, did you? Well, isn’t that splendid! I just knew when I saw you here the last time that you two would make a handsome couple. I could have said, but I didn’t. I know when and where to hold my tongue. I knew better than to interfere.”
I didn’t bother to tell her that Allison and I were not, in fact, married. She didn’t need to know that and I learned when and where to keep my mouth shut, too.
She pottered off downstairs wagging her finger and cackling to herself. I cast a sidelong glance at Allison to see if the landlady’s comments offended her, but Allison only smiled.
She entered the room and eased herself down on the bed. She groaned under her own weight. “Ugh. Remind me never to fly again while pregnant. I swear I had to answer the same question a thousand times about whether I had a doctor’s clearance to fly. I never heard anything so ridiculous.”
I studied her. “Are you sure you’re all right, Allison? Are you sure you don’t want to check in with a doctor during our stay?”
Her head shot up and she leveled me with a look of pure, murderous hatred. “Don’t you start. I’m telling you for the last time that I’m fine. I’m pregnant, not diseased. I just need to lie down.”
She laid herself back against the pillows and shut her eyes. I couldn’t look at her anymore. She reminded me of some sort of mountain range. I starting to see things when I looked at her like this.
I crossed to the window and gazed down on the streets of Dover. Were they out there somewhere? Were my father and mother and brothers walking past this hotel right now?
Everywhere I looked, everywhere I went, I searched the crowds for their faces. They could be within inches of me at any given time and I wouldn’t know it. They could be staying in this very hotel.
The whole town vibrated with possibilities. I never felt this before. The very stones and walls whispered secrets into my ears. I wanted to jump and run and search and uncover everything at once. I wanted to get outside and start stopping people on the streets.
I thought I’d lose my mind staying inside another second, but as Allison kept reminding me, the reunion wasn’t until tomorrow night. I couldn’t bear the suspense. What if no one came? What if I got myself this worked up over nothing? What if I went home to Wichita the same way I did last time with nothing to show for it?
I pulled myself together. If I went home to Wichita, I would have Allison and the baby. Even if no one came to the reunion, I would still come out the winner.
Someone would come, though. Someone placed that advert. Even if this Alexander Lincoln Shelton turned out to be a contemporary relative named after my brother, I would still meet someone. Alexander. My younger brother. Could I really see him after all this time?
I never knew eight months could last such an eternity. How did I survive those months when I wasn’t sure I could survive the next twenty-four hours? I survived it by thinking I would never see them again. I could go through that again and end up with a wonderful life. I had everything to look forward to back in Wichita.
That thought made me glance toward Allison. Her head lolled to one side and her cheeks slackened. She was sound asleep.
I tiptoed out of the room and let myself down to the street. Now that I was here, I hesitated to go anywhere. People strode past me going in both directions, but I didn’t see anybody dressed like they just stepped out of 1840. Of course not. They’d been awake for eight months. Wherever they were, they would be doing their utmost to blend in.
I sauntered around town for hours before I retreated back to the hotel. I found Allison unpacking her suitcase. She spun around when I appeared. “Where have you been? You scared the crap out of me.”
I put my arms around her. “It’s all right. I just went for a walk to clear my head after the flight. You have nothing to worry about. I’m not going to turn into that dragon again just by walking around.”
Her head collapsed on my shoulder. “I’m a nervous wreck! I can’t believe we might actually meet up with your family after all this time.”
“It does seem fantastic, doesn’t it? I wonder if they’ll think me terribly American.”
Her shoulders shook with laughter. “You could never seem American. You’ll always be a Victorian gentleman.”
We spent the evening in our room. We ate dinner in the hotel dining room and went straight back upstairs. We really were becoming the most unabashed homebodies, but I suppose domesticity will do that to anybody.
The next day dawned bright and cheery. I couldn’t sit still through breakfast. Today was the day. Tonight was the reunion. More than ever, I jumped at the slightest sound. I whipped around to stare every time anyone walked into the room. I expected at any moment that my family would leap out and surprise me.
They didn’t. Nothing happened. I dragged myself through a misery of anticipation until the sun went down. I couldn’t even summon the resolve to go out. I didn’t want to see anybody. I didn’t want to talk to anybody. I didn’t want to be alive if I couldn’t go to the reunion right this minute.
Allison went shopping. When she came back, she gasped when she saw me fully showered, dressed, and ready to go. “What are you doing? The reunion isn’t for another two hours.”
“I know.” I straightened my shirt cuffs. “I just want to be ready.”
She huffed and sat down at the table. “Well, now you can pace around and sweat in your suit instead.”
She flipped open her computer and went back to work. She completely ignored me and she was right. I spent the next hour and a half wearing a path in the carpet. I must have hiked a thousand miles between the door and the window. My heart ached from pounding so hard and I wasn’t even at the reunion yet.
Finally, at long last, she checked the time and closed her computer. She walked with excruciating slowness to her suitcase and got out the dress she planned to wear. She tended to a myriad of microscopic details before she went to take a shower.
Her detachment irritated me no end, but I held my peace. I checked the clock again and again in compulsive anxiety, but nothing I could do would make it move any faster. I swear it ticked over the minutes once every hour.
&nbs
p; She got out of the shower and dressed. Then she did her hair and put on her shoes. My palms sweated while she double- and triple-checked her handbag, her keys, her phone—everything.
I stood by the door and groaned. “Will you please hurry up, Allison? We don’t want to be late.”
“We won’t be late. If we leave right now, we’ll be early. You’re really going to have to calm down, Thomas. You’ll have yourself an anxiety attack.”
I restrained myself from making any biting comments back at her. She was right all over again, but I couldn’t quiet my apprehension. I would have run all the way to Dover Castle if I didn’t have a pregnant woman to escort.
Just when I thought I couldn’t bear the eternal waiting a moment longer, she swept the room with one last glance. “All right. Let’s go.”
We caught a cab to the Castle. Lamps lit the turrets. Cars lined the drive. People in evening dress walked up the steps to the entrance, but I didn’t recognize any of them.
I offered Allison my arm more to steady myself than to support her. We entered and made our way to the Great Armour Hall amid bubbling conversation and thrilled laughter on all sides. I peered into every face but found myself surrounded by strangers.
We emerged into the Hall packed with people. Could all these be Sheltons? Could these be Mary’s descendants and distant relatives from other branches of the family? All this time, I convinced myself that me and my brothers and parents were the only ones. I thought if anything happened to us the family would die.
Now I saw a living, breathing outpouring of humanity. They spoke in every dialect of English. Some wore Scottish kilts. I even spotted an Indian fellow in a bright yellow turban. Could he be a Shelton, too? I hardly dared believe it.
Allison patted my arm. I glanced down at her to see if anything was wrong. She didn’t look at me, but the most magnificent light shone out of her eyes. She pivoted me around.
There, across the room, I beheld a small cluster of people. To the untrained eye, they resembled any ordinary people. An elderly man stood by an old woman’s chair and rested his hand on her shoulder. A tall blonde fellow spoke to the elderly gentleman while a brown-haired chap conversed with the woman.
In front of my eyes, the whole party looked up. They all stared at me at once and my heart stood still. They were here. They made it.
The blonde man detached himself from the group. Yes, he really was coming toward me! He held out his arms and I didn’t see anymore. Tears welled up in my eyes. I couldn’t think why.
He advanced on me and clapped both hands on my shoulders. “Thomas, old boy! You made it!”
I couldn’t speak. My heart overflowed with every emotion imaginable. They were here. My brothers and parents were here. They had made it and so did I.
Tears streaked down my cheeks. The next thing I knew, my brother Alexander threw his arms around me and crushed me to his chest. He thumped me hard on the back and his body shook with laughter.
He pushed me back with a rough shake. “Well! Come on and tell us all about it. Who is this charming damsel with you?”
He faced Allison and offered his hand in a gallant gesture. I brushed my tears away as quickly as I dared. “Allison Moore, meet my brother, Alex.”
He bowed and kissed her knuckles. “Delighted to meet you.”
She beamed at him. “Thank you. You must all have had as harrowing a time as Thomas has.”
He showed all his teeth smiling. I would know that smile anywhere. “Quite so. Please…” He waved toward the others. “Let me introduce you.”
I floated three feet off the floor crossing the room to my mother’s chair. She rose to her feet and embraced me, which triggered another flood of tears. No one scoffed. She laid her hand on my cheek and kissed me. How good it felt to be near her again!
Allison shook hands graciously with all and sundry. She got into a conversation with my father while Alexander and my brother William flanked me. “But where is James? I don’t see him here?”
“He didn’t make it,” Alex told me. “None of us has seen him.”
I gasped. “We must find him. He could be in real danger.”
“You don’t have to tell me,” William interjected. “We all have tales of destruction and mayhem since we woke up.”
I stared at them, astonished. “You, too?”
Alex nodded. “I don’t understand it. How are we supposed to integrate into this time when we keep changing into those….?” He stopped.
William and I waited, but he didn’t say the word. No one had to say it. We would all just as soon forget it.
I touched Alex’s arm. “I have to tell you something. It happened to me, too, but then something changed. I was walking down the…..”
My father cut in at that moment. He grabbed my arm. “Come here, boy. I need your confirmation. Allison here is telling me about some of your adventures back in America. Is it true you nearly got your head blown off for running around the streets in a dressing gown and nothing else?”
He towed me away from my brothers. I never got a chance to tell them how getting attacked by those hooligans cured me. I didn’t get to tell them that I never had to worry about the dragon again. I could smash my thumb with a hammer like any flesh and blood man.
The evening passed in a mind-blowing whirl of excitement and rushed conversation. Everyone wanted to know everything that happened to us from the moment I woke up in the Castle. I got into lengthy discussions with each of them about all the insanity of modern life, the queer customs, the bizarre advances. By the end of the night, I got into a heated debate with my brother William over whether Apple or Microsoft was better. Whatever next!
My mother broke in and tugged me aside. “Excuse me, Thomas, dear. I must speak to you in private.”
She marched me a few paces away. People of every description still surrounded us, but no one could hear us. No one even tried to eavesdrop. They were all too consumed with their own engagements.
“What is it, Mother? Are you quite settled in this modern era now?”
“You don’t worry about me,” she returned. “It’s not me I want to talk to you about.”
“What is it, then?” I thought she might have some terrible news for me.
“I want to know when you plan to make Allison your wife. She’s far advanced in her time. You should marry her. She told me you two are living outside of wedlock. It really will not do, Thomas. I wonder you can think of it.”
I blinked at her in astonishment. Was that her only concern? When I found the voice to speak, I willed myself to remain calm. “It isn’t my idea, Mother. Allison herself doesn’t want to get married. You should know by now these moderns don’t hold the same opinion of it that we do. She wants to live like this and it casts no dispersion on her character or her propriety to do so.”
“I understand all that,” Mother replied. “I know these modern times operate on different social rules, but it’s incumbent on us to hold the moral high ground. If you can’t….”
I held up my hand for silence. “Stop right there, Mother. I don’t speak to your experience since you woke up, but speaking strictly for myself, I have learned to defer to Allison’s judgement on these matters. If she says she doesn’t want to get married and to live out of wedlock, I prefer to bow to her wishes. I have dedicated myself to doing things her way since she knows not only her own mind but these modern conditions so much better than I do. If she sees fit to marry me in the future, I will jump at the chance. Until then, I am privileged to share my life with her and I look forward to welcoming our child. Now then, Mother, unless you have any objection to Allison herself—which I really don’t see how you could—that concludes this matter.”
“Of course I have no objection to Allison herself. She’s a charming, delightful, intelligent, considerate girl. I just….”
I waved my hand to the side. “That is all, Mother. I’ll thank you not to trouble her or me about this again.”
Fortunately for us both, Allison
touched my elbow at exactly that moment. “I’m tired. I’m going back to the hotel. You can stay if you want to.”
“Not at all.” I whirled around. “By all means, let’s go.”
Alex rushed up to my side. “You must keep in touch with me. We can catch up in the next week before you go back to America.”
“Absolutely.” The five of us flew into a frenzy of exchanging every contact detail under the sun. The process took nearly half an hour.
When I escorted Allison outside, a crystal clear sky full of stars wavered over the southern ocean. We both stopped to inhale the salt air the way we had so many times before. Allison’s hand glided into my elbow and she hugged me close. “That was wonderful. We couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.”
“All except James,” I remarked. “I wonder where he is.”
“I’m sure he’ll turn up eventually.” She gave my arm another squeeze. “I was thinking….”
“Yes? What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking maybe we should move here—to England, I mean.”
I whirled around to gasp at her. “Allison! You’re not serious!”
“I’m totally serious. I think we should move here so we can be close to your family. What do we really have in Wichita, anyway, besides each other? We’ve spent all this time alone and now your parents and two of your brothers are here, too. We should move here.”
“But what about your job at the university?” I asked. “What about……?”
She turned her clear eyes up to my face. “What about what? The job is the only thing holding me there and I can get another similar one here. I’m an expert on Dover and English history. Besides, I want to do something outside the university for a change. I want to be at home with the baby. Maybe I’ll do research online.”
I blinked at her in wonder. “Do you really mean this, Allison?”
“I really mean it.” Her arm glided around my waist and she pulled me close. “This is where we belong. We can get an agent to sell the house. We never have to go back to the States.”
