Distant Dreams

by Jenny Lykins

She allowed herself a small smile. “My baby Faith is home.”

  A movement on the stairs caught Alec’s attention, and he turned to watch Faith descend like an angel gliding down from heaven.

  “Alec, no one told me you’d arrived.” She took his hands and offered a cheek for his kiss.

  Touching her was like stepping back in time. He was a youth of eighteen again, and she a sweet, serene girl of seventeen, so different from all the other giddy females of his acquaintance. He had loved her with the passion of first love. He would have moved mountains for her, but he could not budge his father’s will. How different their lives would have been if William had not imposed his business dealings upon them.

  All through dinner he marveled at how she had not changed one whit. Approaching thirty years of age, her porcelain skin looked as fresh and young as twelve years earlier. Her figure was as lithe and trim as Shaelyn’s.

  Just that fleeting thought of his wife sent an image of her flashing through his mind. The guilt that had quieted returned. He shoved it away and focused his attention on Faith, but for the remainder of the evening, when he least expected it, thoughts of his wife crept into his mind and he found himself wondering what she was doing.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Shaelyn kept her distance from Alec, which wasn’t all that hard to do. When he wasn’t working with Charles and Der Fuehrer in the Hawthorne Shipping offices, he was dancing attendance on Faith.

  Shae sighed and glanced at the clock on the marble mantel. She’d promised Molly to have lunch with her on the back terrace, and it was almost noon. She rose and checked the sleeping Samuel one more time. He’d improved dramatically since falling out of that rowboat at Shaelyn’s feet. Another day should see him well enough for her to move into the cottage. She needed to get away so she wouldn’t be constantly on guard to avoid Alec. And if she never saw Faith again it would be too soon.

  As if that hope had conjured her, the woman stood at the front door when Shaelyn came down the stairs. At the sight of her, Shaelyn made another contribution to her favorite charity under her breath. Her first instinct was to turn and retreat, but she had never been a coward and she wasn’t going to start now. She lifted her chin and continued down the stairs.

  Faith turned at the sound, obviously expecting Alec. When their eyes met, Shaelyn braced herself for a smug smile of triumph, but instead Faith seemed as uncomfortable as Shae. Hesitating at the bottom of the steps, she searched for something to say.

  “Well, isn’t this awkward,” she blurted, then gave herself a mental whack on the head.

  “Yes, isn’t it, though,” Faith agreed after an embarrassed pause.

  Shaelyn told herself to leave it alone. To excuse herself and go meet Molly on the terrace. But for some unfathomable reason, she didn’t.

  In her journalistic way, she assessed the woman before her in a matter of seconds.

  Dressed again in the height of fashion, Faith made Shaelyn feel like she was garbed in a feed sack compared to the form-fitting, corset-hugging contours of Faith’s navy riding habit. Surprisingly, Shae realized that Faith’s attitude had nothing to do with Shae feeling frumpy.

  Indeed, if anything, the woman facing her exuded an apology for any unpleasantness she might be causing.

  “There’s no need to feel awkward,” Shae found herself saying. “After all, I’m just a case of mistaken identity who means nothing to Alec.” When had she decided to be so magnanimous? Especially when just saying those words caused dull pinpricks to her heart. “And I thought he was an actor of sorts, playing a part.” Much like she was doing at the moment.

  Faith visibly relaxed and relief replaced the apology in her eyes.

  “Yes, Alec told me. But, truly, men are not always aware of a woman’s feelings, and I feared he had been rather…well, dull-witted about how you might feel now. After all, he is a wonderful person. Women have always thrown themselves at him.” Her eyes widened and the apology came back. “Not that I am inferring that you threw yourself at him. I only meant to say that he would be easy to fall in love with.”

  Shaelyn forced a smile and nodded. She knew exactly how easy it was to fall in love with him.

  Faith let out a nervous little giggle.

  “I am so very relieved because - ”

  “There you are.” Molly appeared in the hall from the back terrace. “I feared Samuel had taken a turn for the...oh, hello, Faith. I didn’t know you’d arrived.” Molly appeared to be oblivious as to how strange it was to find the wife and the fiancée chatting, but Shaelyn knew the young girl was sharper than she would ever allow these people to see. She played the part of an innocent, obedient female well.

  “Will you have lunch on the terrace with us? It is just too beautiful a day to stay inside,” Molly invited. Shaelyn wanted to choke her, but Faith shook her head.

  “I would love to, but Alec has invited me to go riding. We have so much to discuss, and I - ”

  Masculine footsteps thudded down the upstairs hall just before Alec appeared at the top of the stairs.

  “I’m sorry, Faith. I found my watch, but then Martin had a message...”

  His voice trailed off at the sight of Faith and Shaelyn facing each other. He looked as if he expected them to launch into a catfight at any moment. Shae didn’t bother to disabuse him of the notion.

  “Faith and I were just getting to know each other.” She allowed just enough of a smile to make him nervous.

  “Yes, Alec, we had just invited Faith to have lunch with us. Why do you not postpone your ride, and we can all have lunch together?”

  If glares had been daggers, Molly would be lying in a pool of blood on the floor, and Shaelyn and Alec would be wiping their blades on her skirts.

  “I think not, pest. We have plans to dine in town. But thank you for the invitation.” He slid his pocketwatch into his waistcoat and gave her a look that dared her to pursue the subject. She wisely remained silent.

  “Faith.” Alec offered her his arm, then guided her to the door. “If you’ll excuse us, ladies. Have a pleasant lunch.”

  When the door closed behind them, Molly turned to Shaelyn. A twinkle of mischief lit in the girl’s eyes before it disappeared into an innocent smile. Shaelyn wasn’t sure she wanted to know what was going on in that pretty little head of hers.

  *******

  The guest “cottage” could have housed a family of four comfortably. Shaelyn stood outside the house and stared, thinking how much she would have enjoyed this little place under different circumstances.

  Built of snowy white clapboard, it sat atop a sloping lawn overlooking the same panoramic view as Windward Cottage, like a mascot to the mighty sentinel. The sun sparkled off windows, a swing hung on the porch, quiet in the absence of a breeze, and twin chimneys jutted toward the sky from the rust-colored roof like a jaunty, pointed hat.

  She loved it before she ever stepped inside.

  Molly led the way to the front door, grumbling the whole time.

  “I still insist you needn’t do this, Shaelyn. There is no reason why you cannot stay at Windward.”

  They had already had this discussion, once during their lunch on the terrace, when Shaelyn announced she should leave while Alec was gone, once while Martin fetched the key, and again on the short walk to the cottage.

  It touched Shaelyn to know that Molly didn’t want her to go. At least someone in that house would miss her.

  “It will just be better this way. Trust me.”

  Molly didn’t argue further, but Shaelyn was sure she hadn’t heard the last of it yet.

  The inside of the cottage charmed Shaelyn the moment she stepped through the doors. Sunlight tumbled through sheer lacy curtains, and shades of green and blue pulled the ocean and sky right into the parlor. She could see herself spending hours at the small secretary, writing down her thoughts, or curling up on the blue damask sofa and reading long into the night.

  Molly marched through the room with little enthusiasm, obviously not want
ing to say or do anything that would encourage Shaelyn to stay.

  “The kitchen and dining room is back here, but of course you can either come to the house for meals or Margaret will bring them to you.”

  That was fine with Shaelyn. Kitchens of the 1830s and their odd contraptions looked just as foreign to her as microwaves, double ovens, and dishwashers would look to Molly.

  They went back into the roomy parlor and up a stairway that hugged the back wall.

  The upstairs opened into a huge bedroom that faced the water. Windows framed a view worthy of a seascape by a master artist. A door opened onto a small balcony over the porch.

  A summery, white eyelet bedspread covered the massive bed, and Shaelyn smiled to herself at the thought of Alec’s friend, Griffin, sleeping under something so feminine. A dark, heavily-carved armoire matching the bed stood against the pale green walls. A shaving stand with its pitcher and bowl stood by the windows, and several peach and green throw rugs dotted the hardwood floor.

  Two smaller bedrooms opened off of the large one, furnished just as nicely, but with a view of the woods instead of the ocean.

  “Molly, this is so wonderful. No wonder Griffin always stays here.”

  Her little sister-in-law gave her an unenthusiastic half-smile. “It can be terribly eerie here at night.”

  “Great.” Shaelyn saw through Molly’s ploy. “I love a good haunted house.”

  Molly plopped onto the bed, looking for all the world like a pouting six year old. The girl always seemed so wise beyond her years, Shaelyn had to remind herself that she was only seventeen.

  “I don’t know why you must move out. You and Alec were getting on so well. You were meant for each other. My blind Aunt Sophia could see that.”

  Shaelyn studied the view and tried to muster up a convincing voice to deny Molly’s words, but the girl went on.

  “What happened between you, Shaelyn? What happened before Samuel came?”

  Shae watched the play of light on the water, watched the waves swell and ebb, mirroring what her emotions had done since the moment she’d arrived. Suddenly she was tired of denying who she was.

  “I told him where I’m from.” When she finally turned around, Molly just looked at her as if she’d uttered a non sequitur.

  “You are from Louisiana. So is Griffin. Alec would not find fault with that. Or are you not truly from there?”

  Shaelyn rounded the bed and sat opposite Molly on the eyelet cover. She looked her straight in the eye.

  “I’m from Louisiana, just as I told Alec.” She held Molly’s gaze. “But I was born in the year 1968.”

  Molly cocked her head, a question in her eyes, obviously trying to make some sort of sense with that number. Shaelyn clarified it for her.

  “One hundred and thirty-eight years in the future. When I left my time it was 1999.”

  Molly shook her head, still not understanding. Shaelyn couldn’t blame her. The concept was beyond imagination, even in the year before the twenty-first century.

  “I’m from the future, Molly. I don’t know how or why, but somehow I traveled back through time. I’m from a world nearly a hundred and seventy years from now.”

  If Shaelyn gave her even the slightest hint of a smile, Molly might never believe that Shaelyn was serious. They stared at each other, and Shaelyn willed her to read the truth in her eyes.

  “How?” Molly asked, still shaking her head. At least she hadn’t lowered those terrible shutters over her eyes and shut her out like Alec had.

  Shae held up her left hand and studied the sparkle of green and white fire.

  “It sounds crazy. The whole thing sounds crazy, for that matter, but I think this ring had something to do with it.”

  “Great Aunt Eleanor’s ring? What has that to do with anything?” Molly still shook her head, looking more confused than ever.

  “I found it on the floor of an old ship. It was wedged between the floorboards. When I put it on to remember to give it to the captain, just as it slipped over my knuckle the ship lurched really hard. I thought my dizziness was from banging my head on the bulkhead, but I believe now that that was when I traveled to 1830. Everything seemed newer then, and I haven’t been dizzy since. And I can’t get the darned thing off, even though it slid on without a problem.”

  Molly’s head continued to shake slowly back and forth, but more in a way of trying to assimilate the information rather than deny it. Shaelyn could tell that the girl was trying her best to believe her.

  “If you are from the future, what is it like?” She sounded dreamy, like a child questioning a fairytale, wanting to believe yet skeptical of its truth.

  Shaelyn’s first impulse was to tell her about all the obvious things, like airplanes, cars, TV, radio, men walking on the moon. But that would be more than even the most open-minded person could believe.

  “Well, there are a lot more people. Everywhere. And, of course, we dress differently. We’re a lot more casual. Women’s dresses are comfortable, shorter, with a lot less fabric to haul around. We wear trousers as much or more than dresses. In fact, I had on a pair when I was on the ship.”

  A little more interest sparked in Molly’s eyes, but she said nothing.

  “Several diseases have cures or vaccines. Smallpox has been eradicated. Measles, mumps, polio, typhus all have vaccines so most people never get those diseases. If Samuel had been sick in my time, they probably would have given him a shot and then started - ”

  “A shot! They would have killed him?” Molly’s eyes widened in horror. Shaelyn smiled.

  “No, they wouldn’t have shot him. They would have given him a shot, or rather an injection, through his skin, of medication. Then they probably would have given him some medicine to swallow, and it would have cured the pneumonia. Hardly anyone dies of pneumonia anymore.”

  Molly nodded, obviously considering this information. Shaelyn searched for more believable things to tell her.

  “Engineering has advanced so that buildings have gotten bigger and taller. We call the tall ones skyscrapers because they look like they’re scraping the sky.”

  “What about transportation?” Molly asked. “Is it true that the steam engine will replace the horse and carriage?”

  Shaelyn searched her mind for an elusive piece of trivia that tickled at her memory. What was it about a contest between a horse and a steam engine?

  “Oh yes! I remember now. Sometime this year, in the autumn, I think, there will be a race between a horse and the first steam locomotive built in the United States. I think they call it the Tom Thumb. Anyway, they’ll race to Baltimore, but the steam engine will have mechanical problems and never finish the race.”

  “Oh.” Molly’s face fell.

  “But steam does replace the horse,” Shaelyn assured her. “They use the locomotives anyway, and by the late 1800s they develop what they call a horseless carriage that people use for transportation. They even measure the engine’s power in horse power.”

  “Have you ridden in one of those carriages?” Molly’s eyes were as wide as a six year old’s on Christmas morning. Shaelyn had to bite her cheek to keep from laughing at the question.

  “By the 1950s nearly every family had a car. That’s what we call them. Cars. They used to be called automobiles, but hardly anyone calls them that now. By the 1990s, in the U.S., nearly every working adult owns one. Except in the large cities, then they have mass transportation, like buses, which is a big version of a car that seats probably fifty or sixty people. They also have trains.” She’d save the concept of subways for later.

  Molly just stared at her in wonder.

  Shaelyn searched for something else awe-inspiring yet conceivable.

  “Shopping!” she blurted. “Shopping is really different. Hardly anyone has their clothes made. We have huge stores filled with racks of ready-made clothes. In fact, you can find nearly anything you can possibly think of in a store of one kind or another. And grocery shopping is different. We have what we call su
permarkets, and they’re filled with every kind of canned and fresh and boxed food you can think of. The meat is already butchered any way you want it. We have every kind of fresh fruit or vegetable all year long.”

  “How do you do that in the winter? Don’t tell me you don’t have winter anymore.”

  Shaelyn laughed. It felt so good to talk about it. “No, we still have winter, though some people think that they aren’t as cold as they used to be. We get the fresh produce by importing it from areas that have a growing season opposite ours, or a tropical climate, like California or Hawaii.”

  “Hawaii?”

  “The Sandwich Islands. They’re called Hawaii now, short for the Hawaiian Islands. They’re also one of the fifty United States.”

  “America has fifty states then?”

  Shaelyn nodded. If she didn’t watch out, every word out of her mouth could turn into another topic of discussion. Maybe she should stop while she had the chance.

  “Anyway, Alec didn’t believe me when I told him where I’m from and how I got here. I didn’t really expect him to. It’s just better that I stay here at the cottage, especially now that Faith is here.”

  “But did you tell Alec what you’ve told me? About the steam engine and the stores and the skyscrapers?”

  Shaelyn shook her head, her chest tightening at the thought of Alec’s shuttered gaze.

  “He didn’t ask. And there’s no reason he should have. If someone came to me in 1999 and told me they were from the year 2170, I’d be making them an appointment with the nearest psychiatrist.”

  “The nearest what?”

  Shaelyn cringed. She was definitely going to have to watch what she said.

  “A doctor who specializes in mental illness. Like the insane.”

  “But you are not insane.”

  “Thank you.” She reached out and patted Molly’s hand. “I’m not asking you to believe me. I just got tired of avoiding the truth. Now,” she stood, letting Molly off the hook from saying whether she believed her, “let’s get me settled while your brother is still out of the house.”