Last Knight: Thornton Brothers Time Travel (A Thornton Brothers Time Travel Romance Book 4)

by Cynthia Luhrs

  The servants were horrified when she asked to help clean, especially when she spilled the bucket. A housekeeper was provided for her dorm at school, and she’d always had a cleaning lady in the city, so that was another no-go.

  When she tried the stables, she was firmly shooed away. It was fine for a lady to talk to the animals and brush her favorite horse, but nothing more.

  So she’d taken to walking, as Christian did. He told her walking helped him think, and she’d found out from one of the guards that he liked to go riding at night. Now that was something she needed to add to her list. To become an accomplished horsewoman. She no longer worried about falling off every time she climbed on a horse, but she still couldn’t consider herself accomplished, especially when she saw the little kids riding, putting her to shame. Then again, she’d like to see any of them try and drive a car. Or navigate the subways.

  Ashley remembered when she was in London a year ago. She’d been on the tube and there’d been some guy talking to people. She could tell many of the passengers were annoyed, and she didn’t blame them. Morning tube time was like your own precious bubble of space, and you didn’t want to talk to anyone. The guy had said he was trying to change the culture. She couldn’t believe how arrogant he was to think such a thing. He had said he was from Oregon, and she wondered how he would like it if someone from another country came to Oregon and started telling him what to do to change his culture.

  With that in mind, she’d tried to be considerate. It wasn’t her place to change the culture or people, as much as some things bothered her, like Merrick being left in the woods to die. She had always believed in trying to gather all the facts before making decisions.

  The whole women’s rights thing was a big issue, but she knew it was going to take hundreds and hundreds of years before anything really changed, though she’d figured out, the way Christian talked, that he and his family seemed to be an anomaly. They treated their wives well, and it seemed the wives had a great deal of say. So maybe it was a generalization to say women didn’t have rights. Maybe women had figured out what women had always known. How to work within the confines of their lives to achieve their end goals.

  Cloak pulled tight, she walked past the garden behind the chapel, smiling at the sundial. A group of children were gathered in a circle, heads bent, talking in excited voices.

  “What do you have there?”

  One of the boys hid a piece of paper behind his back.

  “I’m not going to take it. I just want to see what it is.”

  The children shook their heads, and it was Merrick that spoke.

  “Nay, lady. ’Tis about the man in the cloak.”

  “What man?”

  The tallest boy grudgingly thrust the paper out at her. “That’s him, but we can’t read what it says.”

  “Will you tell us?” one of the girls asked.

  Ashley had wondered what they were doing, had figured they were up to no good. Had no idea they were studying what must’ve been some kind of a medieval poster, and was even more shocked they couldn’t read. Then again, a lot of people were illiterate. She thought Winterforth was different.

  “Give it here.”

  It was hard at first to make out the words, but after reading through silently a few times, she had it. As she read to them, the kernel of an idea sprouted. According to this, there was an unknown man who aided the poor. From what she read, it rather sounded like it was Robin Hood. But they called him the man of the cloak, and no one seemed to know who he was. If someone was in need, he helped. Widows, children sent to apprentice and learn a trade, young girls making good marriages—the man was a saint. Something niggled at her, but she pushed it away, focusing on an idea as she looked at the children.

  “Can any of you read?”

  They all shook their heads, and Merrick spoke up. “Nay, lady, we cannot.”

  Perhaps this was what she was meant to do with her time here.

  “Would you like to learn how to read?”

  Some of the children gaped at her, others looked at her with suspicion and disbelief, but a few smiled. One of the girls stepped forward with a shy smile and took her hand. “I would like very much to learn how to read.”

  Ashley knelt so she was at eye level with the girl. Growing up, Ashley hated it when an adult towered over her and spoke down to her like she was some little thing that didn’t matter. So whenever she encountered a child, she spoke to them like an adult, and on their level, eye to eye.

  “Then I shall teach you.”

  One of the guards, a scary-looking man she had seen take down several men during daily sparring sessions, took a few steps closer. When he spoke, his voice was quiet and calm, at odds with his size and looks.

  “Mayhap you would teach me my letters, lady?”

  Ashley kept her surprise to herself. For some reason, she had assumed most of the adults could read. Christian took good care of his people, so she’d assumed, but that was what she got for assuming.

  “Of course. I’d be happy to.”

  She looked around and found a twig then pointed to the boy most likely to have a plethora of weapons secreted away on his person.

  “Could you make a point at the end?”

  He nodded, pulled a knife from his shoe, and set to work. When he handed it back to her, she touched the point.

  “Thank you. I think I could use this to kill a wild beast if I had need.”

  The children laughed, and Ashley noticed another guard had come to join the scary-looking one.

  She decided she would start with something that would appeal to them all. Instead of starting with all of the ABCs, she thought she would start with a couple of words.

  So she smoothed the dirt with her foot and drew the letters for sword.

  With the stick, she pointed to the S.

  “Let’s start with one of your favorite things. A sword.”

  There was murmuring and nods all around.

  “This is the S.”

  And she went on, drawing and pointing to each letter, then having each one repeat what she’d done. She didn’t know how much time had passed until the two guards stood tall.

  “My lord,” the scary one said.

  “Mistress Ashley. What are you doing?”

  Of course, he looked amazing. He wore a soft gray tunic and hose, the tunic beautifully embroidered. When she’d asked him why he didn’t dress more ornately, he said he did when he went to court, but at home he preferred a simple tunic and hose—easier to fight in.

  “I’m teaching the children and a few of your guards to read.”

  He blinked at her. “Aye, ’tis a good thing.” Then he looked at the children. “Listen to your mistress and do as she bids.”

  A chorus of “ayes” answered him. Christian looked to both his guards.

  “You may learn as well, if it does not interfere with your duties.”

  “Thank you, my lord.”

  Ashley dusted her hands on her skirts. “I want you all to practice drawing these letters in the dirt. Get a stick, sharpen the end, and practice the letters for sword. Now, how do we spell it again?”

  As one they spelled the word, pointing to the letters. Ashley felt like a proud mama, watching her child take its first steps.

  Christian offered his arm, and she walked with him as he talked about his day.

  “I thought everyone here could read?”

  “Nay. Why do they need to know their letters?”

  So nobility was educated, the masses were not. She opened her mouth but then shut it. Different times. So she would teach those who wished to learn and change her tiny corner of the world for the better.

  He asked her about the reading, and she went on to explain to him how she had felt useless.

  “You’re so full of life. Don’t you find it exhausting?”

  “Me? I would’ve never described myself that way.”

  Christian tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “You are full of passion and life
. You bring the sun to Winterforth.”

  “It’s very nice of you to say.” Ashley stopped him in the chapel garden. “There’s something I need to say.”

  He waited, a brow arched.

  “The other day, I was looking for you, to tell you about Merrick.”

  “Aye. The boy is doing well.”

  “Before that. I came to the solar, and I…I know it’s rude to eavesdrop, but…I heard your steward say people think I’m your mistress. And that I should go.”

  Christian rubbed his chin. “Aye, you should not listen at doors. My steward is an old man. You are here under my protection. There is nothing untoward between us. The people here care a great deal for you; many have said so. They do not see you as such—if anything…”

  “What?”

  “They see you as Lady Winterforth.”

  “Oh.” So not going there. “What about me leaving?”

  “Your home is here.”

  “But your fiancée is here. Though where is she? I haven’t seen her except at supper.” Which she’d been fixing herself a plate in the kitchen and eating in her room so she didn’t have to look at them together. Coward.

  “Helen and her chaperone are keeping to their chamber. The girl is tired from her journey.”

  “Oh. I see.”

  Christian stared into the distance. “You love to read?”

  “I do. When I was a child, I brought home armfuls of books every week from our library. So when I saw them discussing the man in the cloak, and found out they couldn’t read, I figured I would teach them.”

  “The man in the cloak?”

  They had walked to the meadow, where the stable master was working with one of the new horses. Christian leaned against the fence.

  “Yes. He apparently goes around doing good deeds.”

  Christian was acting weird. “Don’t you approve of him?”

  “I do, but others might not.”

  He touched her cheek. “You have been outside too long and are cold. We shall go in.”

  Inside, Christian led her down a passageway she hadn’t been down before.

  “Where we going?”

  He opened a door to a room filled with odds and ends.

  “I will have the men clean out this room. You could use it to show the children and others their letters. Would that please you?”

  “Very much.” Ashley touched the smooth walls that were a dingy white. She turned to look at him. “Could we paint two of the walls a dark color?”

  “Aye, why?”

  “I saw someone using chalk the other day. If we painted the walls a dark color, they could write on the walls with the chalk, and then we could clean it off every day. Outside we can use the dirt to draw in, but paper is expensive, I don’t want to waste it.”

  Christian nodded. “It shall be done. You shall have as much chalk as you desire. But why two walls?”

  “I’ll write the letters and the words on one wall, and they can practice on the other wall. When we are done for the day, one of the children will wash the walls and fetch more chalk as needed. That child may have one of the jam pastries.”

  Christian grinned. “They will be lining up to do your bidding.”

  He was standing so close that she thought she could count his eyelashes. The air grew heavy, and it was that moment of anticipation, when she thought he was going to kiss her. But he was engaged, his fiancée somewhere in the castle, and there was no way she would be called a home wrecker. Ashley quickly stepped back.

  “Thank you. I’m going to go find a few of the children to start carrying everything out of the room.”

  He looked hurt. “I will send servants to aid you.” Christian stopped in the doorway. “If I could change things…”

  “Don’t.”

  She lingered in the room until she was sure he was gone. This wouldn’t do. He’d been more charming than ever. She couldn’t stand him being so nice, and she definitely wasn’t letting him kiss her and break her already cracked heart.

  Ashley looked through the stuff in the room, pulling out a few stools the children could sit on and a table that was missing one leg. She’d ask if it could be fixed so she could use it in the room.

  “I’ve got it.”

  She was going to act like a brat. Do all the things that she had seen her friends do that made guys lose interest. She picked up a cloth-covered bundle, and old, tattered ribbons fell out. Ashley grinned. She would enlist the little girls from her class to help. It was going to be perfect.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The next morning, Ashley practically jumped out of bed, washed, and was waiting for Gwen to help her dress. The girl blinked at her.

  “You’re up early.”

  “Am I? Lots to do. Can’t waste the day.”

  Gwen looked at her as if she was losing it, but didn’t say a word. Once Ashley was dressed, she basically inhaled a bowl of porridge—or as she still called it, oatmeal—then took her place in the hall.

  Where were they? A giggle sounded, and Ashley saw them. The three cute little girls were squatting down in between two of the tables that had been pushed back against the walls.

  Soon enough, the garrison soldiers stomped into the hall, dark expressions on their faces. Ashley put a finger to her lips and the girls stopped giggling.

  Christian stomped into the hall, bellowing.

  “What is the meaning of this?” He brandished his sword, which now sported a pale pink ribbon around the hilt.

  The men held up their swords, all tied with pretty ribbons. Ashley knew that bundle of tattered ribbons would come in handy. Those girls would make excellent spies.

  Christian saw her and narrowed his eyes. A squeal escaped from one of the girls, and soon all three of them were shrieking and giggling. That was it—she lost it, laughing so hard that she wiped tears from her eyes. The men glared at them and grumbled as they removed the ribbons. Quinn and the scary guard—she blanked on his name—touched the ribbons and left them on their swords.

  The girls snatched up the ribbons then froze, like baby rabbits hoping the hawk would keep flying and ignore them.

  “What is the meaning of this?” Christian flicked the ribbon as if it were a dead thing.

  Ashley straightened her spine. “We thought all of you would like them, that it would be pretty.”

  She purposely tried to look sad, wiping the smile from her face.

  “Don’t you like them? The girls and I worked so hard to pick out the perfect ribbons for each of you.”

  A couple of the guards looked sheepish and held out their hands to put the ribbons back. And the scary-looking one—that’s right, Bryce—touched the ribbon on his blade.

  Christian scratched his head. “’Tis rather fetching. I shall leave it. Will that please the lot of you?”

  “Yes, my lord.” The little angels said together, giving him their most innocent smiles. The ones Ashley knew they used right before they did something awful to the little boys of the castle. She covered her mouth with her hand as Christian and the other guards stalked out of the hall.

  “To the lists, before we all turn into women.”

  Okay, so that didn’t go as she’d planned. Ashley tapped a finger against her lip, thinking. A servant passed by wearing a length of rope as a belt around his hose. Of course—why hadn’t she thought of it before?

  “Girls? Might you know where we could get rope?”

  Quinn spoke up. “Rope, mistress?”

  “Yes, I need it for my lessons.”

  He looked dubious, but nodded. “Follow me.”

  Ashley gathered the girls close, whispering, “Meet me in the classroom and I will tell you what we do next.”

  The little girls ran from the hall as Ashley followed her guard. Once he had the rope, she led him to the classroom.

  “Perfect. Now I need it cut into four pieces about this long.”

  Quinn shrugged and cut the rope. The girls had slipped in, and inched closer to the table, watchin
g, so full of curiosity that Ashley thought they would burst. When he left they gathered around, touching the rope.

  “What is it for, mistress?”

  “Are we going to tie someone up?”

  Another said. “Nay, we will trip them.”

  She grinned, making a note to stay on the good side of these bloodthirsty kids.

  “We’re going to jump rope.”

  There were blank looks all around. Ashley took one of the lengths of rope.

  “Back up.”

  She gave it a couple of twirls, and after a few false starts—she wasn’t used to jumping rope wearing a long dress—she got the hang of it. Like riding a bike. She threw in a few twists and crosses as the little girls cheered. When she stopped she was panting, sweat dripping down her ribcage.

  “Would you like to learn?”

  “Aye,” they all said.

  “Then this is what we shall do.”

  The next morning, Ashley and the girls were the first ones up. They’d eaten and hurried out to the lists. She had them practice some more, and hoped they’d at least get a few turns before the men came out to practice. She knew jump ropes had been found in ancient Egypt, Australia, and China. She didn’t think it had hit Europe until somewhere around the 1600s or so, but she wasn’t really sure. In the overall history of the world, what was a few hundred years? It wasn’t like she was going to start a jump rope craze.

  She and the girls had tied the leftover ribbons around the ends of the rope so it wouldn’t chafe their hands as they jumped.

  “Remember, elbows close to your sides and make small circles when you turn the rope, like I showed you yesterday.” She demonstrated with her wrists.

  The girls practiced making circles with their hands and the rope, but not jumping yet.

  “Good. Now make sure you’re looking straight ahead, and don’t jump really high, just enough for the rope to go under your feet. It should hit the ground as it goes under. Ready?”

  Ashley thought she saw white-blond hair at the window above, but when she looked again the face was gone. Refusing to think about the impending nuptials, she showed the girls how to add a cross.