by Gloria Gay
They fell into a restless sleep.
A few minutes later they awoke, almost at the same time.
“I heard the sound of a raven,” said Jane, “I think that’s what awoke me. It reminded me of that time I walked behind a tour group in the White Tower. I felt Anne Boleyn’s pain at the time and her horrible sadness as the crows, milling along the turrets, foretold her death.
“Hold me close, Jes. I’m so afraid I won’t be able to stand not ever seeing you again. The night is scurrying away from us, anxious to kiss the treacherous dawn.”
Jestyn kissed Jane and she settled on his shoulder, his head leaning toward her hair. He kissed her head and held her fast to him, now and then pressing his lips on her forehead and her cheeks.
“Why couldn’t you have been someone I met at an art gallery or a cocktail party, my love?” Jane said as she cuddled against Jestyn’s side, her leg over his as his arm held her close.
“I will remember this night always,” said Jane, “and it will not be enough. It will never be enough. I want more, Jes, I want you always.”
Jestyn took Jane’s right hand and placed it over his heart. “When you are gone and I can no longer stand it, I will remember your hand over my heart and I will feel it again, as I feel your hand now, my love. I will feel your hand on my heart throughout my life whenever I place my hand over my heart.”
Jane’s voice trembled. “And I will do the same, Jestyn, each time I can’t bear not being with you I will place my hand over my heart. She took Jestyn’s hand and placed it over her heart as he had done with her hand.
“When the raven woke me I was dreaming that I was crying because I’m never going to see you again and when I opened my eyes I felt the tears sliding down my cheeks.”
Jane was now trembling, almost uncontrollably.
“We’re going to the cathedral tomorrow, remember, darling?” Jestyn said as he tried to take Jane’s thoughts away from their parting with their make-believe plans, for Jane was becoming frantic.
“Yes…the cathedral, if only in our minds. But I need to know where we’re going after the cathedral, my love,” Jane said, brushing tears off her face with a trembling hand.
“There’s a beautiful wooded area near the castle where I sometimes ride to,” Jestyn said. “We could ride there, in our thoughts, and take a picnic basket.”
“We’ll spend the whole day there?”
“This is the way I want to stay, my love,” said Jane, feeling the hopelessness of their love. “I want to stop time on this very second.”
Jestyn brought her head down to him and they made love again.
For the last time.
***
Nearing midnight, there was a loud knocking at Greywick's bedroom door.
“Mr. Greywick, sir! Mr. Greywick! Awake, sir! There’s trouble afoot!”
Jestyn rushed to the door and opened it just a slit, enough to see one of his footmen, the watchman, Casper, greatly excited.
“What is it? What’s all that loud banging?” Jestyn asked him.
“They're out, there, sir! There's a mob of them!”
“Stay there, Casper. I’ll be right out.”
“Yes, sir.”
Jestyn went to the window. He saw flickering lights here and there all over the garden and the drive in front.”
He went back to the door and opened it just a slit.
“What are they yelling, Casper?”
“It's Miss Fielder they're after, sir. I heard it again and again. ‘Bring her down’, they say, ‘Bring her down!’”
“My God, aren’t they ever going to stop? I thought we had at least suppressed it yesterday! Go downstairs and wake all the footmen and the stable grooms, Casper.”
“They’re already up, sir.”
“Then get them all ready for whatever happens,” Jestyn said grimly. Arm them with the swords from the hall. Here, let me give you the key to the gun cupboard and the ammunition.”
Casper rushed away, running down the stairs. Jestyn turned back to the bedroom where Jane was already up and getting dressed. She fumbled nervously with the buttons of her blouse and the zipper of her pants, her hands trembling visibly.
“Darling,” Jestyn said, his voice broken.
“They can't harm me if I'm with you!”
“They can harm you, my darling. They were screaming for your blood!”
“What do they mean by my blood?”
“They think that their ills will disappear if they bleed you.”
“Explain that to me.”
“I's too awful, darling,” Jestyn said as he hurriedly dressed and put on his boots.
“It's a long-held superstition that if a witch has harmed you she must be bled so that the harm will disappear. Nothing of the sort has happened in a century, but we can’t rely on that because it could happen again. You can see those townspeople are aroused—anything can happen when people become violent. And most of them aren’t even from around here.”
“What do they accuse me of?”
“Of making their calves die, their milk cows to go dry and illnesses in their family. Each of them will want to extract blood from you and take that blood back to where the harmed animal or person was and douse them with it!”
“They’re insane,” Jane said. “Jestyn, I have a foreboding,” she added, still pulling at her pants zipper which had stuck with her yanking. “I think fate has decreed we are not even to have a few more hours together. Fate resents that we cheated her by having stretched our time together.”
She tucked the pendant inside her top. “Those villagers…”
“Finish dressing, darling,” Jestyn’s voice broke as he took his pistol from a cabinet. “You must leave now! You’re in great danger. I’m going to get Cedric.”
As Jane finally unstuck the zipper of her pants and pulled it up, a loud noise made her look up at Jestyn in fear.
“Jestyn, what was that noise? It sounded like a rock crashing through a window!”
“It was a rock – crashing through the big hall window!”
“Oh my God, Jestyn, there's a throng of people with torches down there!” said Jane. She had run to the window and opened it. “Listen to what they’re shouting!”
“We have to get out of here, fast, Jane,” Jestyn hurriedly took his sword from a cabinet and tucked it in the sword sheath he had tied to his breeches. “We have to get to the stables through the back. Come!”
The loud shouts were nearer to the house now:
“Grab her by 'er throat afore she kills our Jared, Will, once we're in the house.” Some man yelled out.
Then there was another loud crash coming from inside the house, and then another and another.
“We want the witch! Git the witch down here, Greywick, and get out of the way!”
“Get back, Jane. They mustn't see you!”
Jane was already dressed and she had gone to the window again.
“They’re calling me a witch, just as they did at the fair.”
“I think it was Mrs. Claye, that superstitious fool, who helped that obnoxious Wilma Millthorpe,” said Jestyn, “for I see both her sons and that idiot husband of hers.”
“What do they want? What are they going to do?” Jane’s voice trembled and fear thrummed through her body. She looked down through a slit in the drapes. Her heart was pounding like a hammer.
The crowd was very large and they were all angrily shouting. Several of them were throwing stones at the house and one of them aimed close enough at the window where Jane was so that she pulled away in fear but still looked down through the slit in the side of the drapes.
The mob now had a bonfire going on the flagstone drive that circled the front garden and someone was holding up Jane's purse high in the air. They opened it wide and two of the men took objects from it while another held it open.
“It must have been Mrs. Claye who arranged with someone here to give them your purse, Jane. The lock in the armoire where your hand bag was has be
en broken. I’ll have her prosecuted as a thief!”
“Jes, am I going to be able to escape them?” Jane was terrified now.
“I'm going to get you out of here – come, Jane, let's go… there's no time to lose!”
“Jestyn!” Cedric rushed up the stairs and burst into the room. “Someone crashed a large stone through Lady Mellingway’s bedroom. She and Lorraine are terrified. The mob is yelling for us to give up Jane!”
Jestyn pulled Jane away from the window and led her along the upstairs corridor.
“I know, Ced,” he told his brother, and added “We have to get Jane out of here tonight. Have Billy bring the carriage around to the back—”
“I already did – he’s getting it ready. I’ve also sent word to the magistrate to send his soldiers.”
“They won’t get here in time, Ced. We must get Jane over the bridge ourselves – now!”
Another crash of a rock thrown through another window on the stair landing made all three of them go to a side window and look out.
“Give 'em back here. Give back the rest of the witch's things or ye'll be cursed too by 'em!” Someone yelled out.
Instinctively, Jane felt the stone pendant inside her blouse, thankful she had had the presence of mind to keep the stone close to her at all times.
The few people who had grabbed at the items in Jane’s purse gave them back to the ringleader. He took them, held them up and showed them to the crowd. He passed them around so that people could hold them in turn.
A man managed to push the buttons by chance that turn the video on in the cell phone. Everyone crowded around in horror as the images appeared on the small screen in full color. The man gave it back to the ringleader, recoiling from it as from a snake.
A few of the townspeople leaned in to view the video, listening to the song with horror on their faces. The ringleader then tossed the cell phone into the bonfire.
“Back to the devil whe'rn she come from!”
“See here!”
The man shouted to the crowd, holding the airline ticket with the picture of the 747 jet. The mob passed it around and viewed it under the torch lights.
Cries of fear came from the crowd as they examined the objects that had been in Jane's purse.
A man took hold of the flashlight and pressing the button lit it up and put it high up so everyone could see.
“Throw the witch's things in the fire, don't be touchin' 'em,” said an old woman. “She'll gi' ye the curse, she will!”
CHAPTER 21
“Follow in your horse, Cedric, with my horse alongside. I’m going to guide the carriage and pass the reins to Jane once we reach Mystic Bridge. I’ll need your help to jump out of the carriage and to my horse!”
“Some of them are coming up the stairs Jes, hurry! Cedric said. “Let’s go through the small staircase in the north wing. The mob’s already taken the back stairs!”
“Run, Jane!” Jestyn grabbed Jane by the arm and they ran along the length of the upstairs gallery, while Casper and Billy stayed back to keep the crowd at bay so Jane and Jestyn could go down the servants’ stairs in the back with Cedric closely following.
They glanced briefly back and saw half a dozen men scampering up the stairs followed by Calway, Jestyn's head stable groom, and several of his grooms.
“I locked the front door but these men slipped through, sir!” Calway yelled to Cedric.
Three footmen wrestled with a man at the first stair landing while Cedric kicked one who then fell down the stairs. Calway punched another one who also fell down the stairs and landed on top of the other one.
Even in the back stairs, some of the rioters had managed to slip in. Jestyn grabbed by the throat a man who had gotten a hold of Jane and was trying to drag her while Jane struggled in the large man's grip.
“Get away from me, you creep!” Jane yelled breathlessly.
Jane stepped hard on the man's foot and at that moment Jestyn punched the man in the face.
Jestyn managed to pull Jane away from the massive man. He grabbed her hand and they ran to the door.
“Take Miss Fielder out of here, sir,” Calway yelled. “Casper and me and the others’ll keep ‘em busy!”
Jane and Jestyn managed to make it to the back door as Calway and the footmen and some of the grooms from the stable stayed back fighting the men in the room and the stairs. All of the male servants, a few dozen men which also included the gardeners, were now pushing back the townspeople.
“We've one chance only, Jane,” said Jestyn breathlessly. “My curricle with the horses is ready, but you must run as fast as you can or they'll gain on us!”
“What about Cedric, will he be all right?”
“It's not Cedric they, want, Jane, it's you! He'll be all right,” Jestyn told her breathlessly. “He’ll be following the carriage on his horse and when we near the bridge he’ll come abreast of me so that I can mount the horse he’s leading alongside when I jump out of the carriage. You’re going to manage the carriage over the bridge, my love. You’re a smart woman. I have no doubt you will be able to do it even if you’ve never done it before. Do you have the pendant stone with you?”
“Yes, it’s here, inside my blouse.”
“Put it outside your blouse, Jane. Remember, hold the pendant with your right hand. I will hand the reins to you, so you will be holding the reins with your left hand as you cross the bridge.”
Jestyn helped Jane board the driver’s seat of the carriage and they took off.
“Jestyn, they're riding after us in horses!”
“Don't look back, Jane! We can make it if we keep up this pace. Just look at my hands, see how I hold the reins!”
For a while Jane observed Jestyn as he led the horses.
“We’re nearing the bridge, Jane. I’m going to be handing the reins to you soon. Get ready!”
“I will never see you again if I go!”
“Darling, they'll kill you if they grab you! You must do it, there’s no other way. I'd rather not be with you than to put you in danger. You must go! It's the only way you'll live!”
“Jestyn, they're getting very near!”
“Cedric is riding along now, thank God,” said Jestyn.
“We're almost there, my love, hang on tight,” he yelled. “I can see the bridge in the distance, under the light of the moon.”
Two men on horses had reached the carriage, overtaking Cedric and riding ahead of him. They now pulled at Jane from the passenger seat next to the driver’s seat. Jane was holding on to the seat with all her strength, her arms locked around it as one of the men tried to pull her down. He had gotten a hold of her jeans jacket and was trying to drag her out of the carriage.
Cedric then pulled up to the man and swung his sword on the man’s other arm, making a bloody slash. The man yelled out, his arm turning blood red as he let go of Jane. His horse went wildly to the side, throwing the man off to the side of the lane, where he fell in a bleeding lump.
Jane yelled out thanks to Cedric as shots rang out in the air. A bullet grazed one of the horses and the horse staggered.
“Grab the reins now, Jane,” Jestyn said. “One of the horses was grazed by a bullet but he’s still running. I must get down now to make the carriage lighter. I'll jump right before you enter the bridge.”
“Hold the reins firmly!” Jestyn yelled.
Jane held the pendant as Jestyn had advised and took a tight hold of the reins with her left hand as Jestyn had advised. Her whole body shook. Cedric was still riding alongside, but some of the townspeople had pulled back when they saw the rider that had tried to pull Jane out, bleeding by the road. But there were still a large number of them closing in on the carriage, although Cedric was doing all he could to ward them off.
“We're almost there, Jane! I’m going to jump soon!”
Jane could hardly see through her tears.
“My god, Jestyn! They're gaining on us!”
The carriage was surrounded and one of the men tried to gra
b the reins from Jane’s hand as Jestyn struggled with him. The men were yelling furiously as one of them kept yanking at the reins and spooking the horses.
“We're nearing the spot, Jane!” Jestyn kissed Jane’s cheek. Are you ready? NOW!”
“Good-bye, my darling!”
“Good-bye, my love!”
Jestyn jumped onto the horse Cedric had pulled alongside the driver’s seat. Jestyn and Cedric followed the carriage until the carriage entered the Mystic Bridge with Jane holding the reins.
Jane felt a bolt of lightning and then everything went black.
***
“Jane...Jane…”
Jane heard Cybil’s voice as if it were coming through a tunnel and came back to consciousness as she felt a hand shake her shoulder softly.
Jane became aware of muscle aches along her shoulders and down her back. She realized she was lying in front of the portrait.
“What happened to you, Jane?” Cybil asked, helping Jane up from her prone position.
“I don’t…don’t know.”
“You fainted right in front of me,” Cybil told her. “One moment you were there and the next moment you were lying at my feet. You gave me quite a scare!”
CHAPTER 22
London, One Year Later
The anniversary of her escape from the past was hard on Jane. Cybil had offered to spend the day with her, for Jane had told Cybil all that had happened when she had fainted. Cybil was astounded that Jane had spent more than two weeks in the past during the few seconds she had lain before Jestyn’s portrait when she had fainted at Cybil’s feet.
