Treasure So Rare (Women of Strength Time Travel Trilogy)

by Grace Brannigan

  Erik ran to her where she and William sat playing a game of soldiers on the deck. "Iliana, take William and get below until I assess the danger."

  Iliana quickly gathered William into her arms. He had passed his nine-month birthday only the day before. She could see how much taller he suddenly appeared, and with that he was growing quite heavy. She ducked into the narrow stairwell that led down to their cabin, and then she stood there, staring at the approaching creatures and saw them to be wer-dragons. She bit her lip. What if William, who was born in this world, was not able to cross to another time even if they did find the way back? It teased at her mind continuously. What if they were caught between times in a land where neither of them belonged? All she had were the abbess's words.

  ¤¤

  Six wer-dragons circled overhead. It reminded Erik of buzzards in the sky circling a dying animal before they swooped down to carry off the carcass.

  He watched them carefully. They flew close above the sails, the greenish scales on their bellies clearly seen. His man in the rigging had climbed down quickly, almost falling to the deck in his haste to put distance between himself and the wer-dragons.

  "What do they want, Cap'n?" asked Jock. "We're sitting targets if they decide to make a meal of us."

  Erik shook his head. "I don't think it's a meal they have in mind." He frowned. "It's almost as if they are searching..." he looked at the stairway leading down to the cabin and saw Iliana standing in the shadows. "Could they be looking for you?" he wondered.

  "Would they carry her and William off?" Jock asked. "I'll kill as many as I can before I allow that to happen."

  Erik grabbed Jock's arm before his friend could draw his blade. "Be still, Jock. Trust me -- we would be dead already if that was their intent."

  "At least they don't breathe fire," Jock muttered.

  Erik lifted a brow but did not reply. Jock's face grew white and he stared up at the dark dragons.

  Erik moved out onto the open deck. He looked up at the dragons. "What is it you want?" he called. Immediately one of the wer-dragons swooped even closer, then flew north-northwest. The others followed. They doubled back and repeated the pattern.

  Jock scratched his head. "It's almost as if --"

  "They want us to follow," Erik said. He squinted into the distance, nudged Jock. "Give me your spyglass." Jock pulled out his telescope and handed it to him.

  Erik stared into the distance where the dragons now circled, then circled back to the ship.

  "There's a white mist ahead," Erik muttered.

  "Captain, you're not thinking of sailing for it?" Jock asked.

  "Why do you think they followed us?" Erik asked, staring up at the wer-dragons.

  "I think they want to lure us into a trap."

  Erik smiled. "Maybe, but they haven't harmed us thus far, and they did defeat the fighter dragons." At Jock's blank look, Erik sighed. "A tale for another day." He handed Jock the telescope. "They could have burned us as we stood, and yet they have not. Change course."

  Jock looked at him, nodded, and then gave the order.

  The wer-dragons kept pace with them as the sails picked up the wind, skimming them very quickly over the sea and toward the swirling white mists.

  "Erik." Iliana came to stand beside him, and he put an arm around her, held her and William securely against him as the white mist came to meet them. Once engulfed in the mist, he expected it to be cold and damp, but the air grew warm and almost tropical.

  Almost immediately the mist began to thin. They looked back, just in time to see the wer-dragons fly back the way they had come. The mist dissipated immediately and the dragons disappeared.

  "I wonder where we are," Iliana said.

  "Land!"

  "Mountains," Erik said. "Could it be?"

  "Do you recognize where we are, Erik?" she asked.

  He nodded. "Jock?"

  "Aye, Cap'n. We are returned home."

  "The Catskill Mountains," Erik said. "We are home. Set sail for the harbor." Erik felt the rising excitement. Could it be so easy? He had returned home safely with Iliana and William.

  "Erik, for the first time I am scared."

  Erik indicated she should sit on the wood ledge. He sat the boy on his lap. "What worries you, Iliana? We have made it safely."

  "This is your time, Erik. How will you feel now that you are home and you have the responsibility of William and myself?"

  Erik smiled and leaned close, placing a tender kiss on her mouth. Cupping her cheek, he said, "I recall what Sorenta told me back in the other time. She said I would leave behind something I once loved dearly and take with me something I never knew was mine. I left behind the old Rufus LaTour, and I took with me two things I hoped for but never knew were mine, you and William. My darling Iliana, all else will take care of itself."

  She smiled and leaned against his shoulder. "You are right. We will adjust to this new life, William and I."

  As they rounded a slight bend in the harbor and the trees gave way, Erik stared at the harbor before them. All the ships were small, sleek and white, tiny, really, in comparison to his vessel.

  A long dock was unoccupied and gently they docked into place alongside the sturdy planking. They lowered the plank, and all the time Erik and the crew looked around with wonder. How long, he wondered, had they been gone? The hills were the same, but the town...he no longer recognized Catskill. There were houses and tall buildings everywhere he looked...and the ships, mere boats of a size and design that did not look familiar.

  "Erik," said Iliana, "you are frowning."

  He grinned. "Aye, the area is looking a mite different than the last time we set into port." He looked up toward the hills and pointed. "See those hills to the west, those are the same. That is our destination."

  "Your home?" Iliana asked, excited.

  "Our home," he corrected gently. "Let us get the horses unloaded." He looked at the activity in the harbor. People were gathered, watching them, and as he looked closer at the garments of those onlookers, he again felt the stirring of unease. "Iliana, I am hoping for the best, however, although we landed in familiar territory, the year might not be correct." Erik shrugged. "We are here and will make this our home once more, no matter what we find."

  "The horses are ready to unload," Jock said. "What are your orders?"

  "We shall ride straightaway to the mountains. If I can find a stable to secure extra mounts, I will make arrangements. However, if we do not return within two hours, sail out and set anchor on the river." He turned to Iliana. "Are you ready?"

  "Yes, Erik." She smiled. "Lead on."

  And so amidst the obvious curiosity of a small crowd of onlookers, Erik and Iliana mounted their horses with William in the saddle in front of Erik, and they rode the hard surfaced streets. Following what he knew about the lay of the mountains, Erik surmised it would take them three hours to reach his home in the hills.

  They had not traveled fifteen minutes through the machine-congested streets when Erik was hailed by an officer of the law. The man wore a dark blue shirt and trousers and a shining badge upon his chest.

  Erik rode up to the man.

  "Sir, you're blocking vehicle traffic," the officer said. "Please move to the roadside."

  Erik was surprised to see behind them a long line of contraptions which rolled like wagons but made no sound. "Thank you, sir," Erik replied.

  "It would be safer, you know, if you all wore head gear," the officer of the law said. "You folks participating in some kind of Renaissance Fair?"

  Iliana looked at Erik, then the man. "Yes," she replied.

  "We planned on taking the old route up North Mountain to the Catskill Mountain House," Erik said. "Do you know of the shortest route?"

  "You want to go to the Mountain House site?" The officer scratched his head, directing the contraptions to go past them. "You're aware that's state land and you can't ride horses on the actual site?"

  "Haines Corner," Erik said.

  "Oh
-- you mean Haines Falls," the officer stated. "You can take the old horse trails, but it would be quicker to stay on this road and follow it all the way up through the Kaaterskill Clove to Haines Falls."

  "Thank you," said Erik.

  They moved the horses past the houses and stores.

  Erik frowned even more. "Haines Corners is now Haines Falls. Our route will change, Iliana. If this hard surfaced road will take us directly to Haines Cor -- Falls, it will surely be an easier and quicker journey."

  As they trotted on the dirt path beside the road, Erik marveled at what lay around them. The contraptions with four wheels moved past them quickly. As another hour passed and the mountains drew closer, they passed open fields and more sparsely populated areas which felt more familiar. The road began to wind sharply as the terrain grew steeper.

  "Iliana, we must be prepared for whatever we may find," he said cautiously.

  She smiled at him. "Erik, it matters not. Where you go, William and I go. Together."

  As they continued up the steep road, Erik recognized the numerous waterfalls as they passed through the clove.

  "This is very familiar to me," he said. When they finally reached the summit, there were once more buildings and stores where he recalled only forest to have been.

  "We shall go to our house," Erik said, tightening his arm around William as the boy's head bobbed in sleep. "In truth, I do not know if the house is still standing. We may have returned in a future time. Everything I expected to see is no longer here. Up ahead I see the same stream, so we can water the horses." They crossed a small wooden bridge and Erik and Iliana's horses drank from the stream.

  Erik took the opportunity to observe their surroundings in detail. The small village he recalled was gone. In its place a large field, neatly shorn, lay to his right. His and Darien's house should have been right in this area, but now there was merely an overgrown and wooded area where the house had stood. Erik looked at Iliana, knowing the trust she had placed in him. He had traveled so far to find her, and then in returning, he began to doubt his wisdom in traveling to this place. What odds would a betting man place on him getting back to the correct time and place after the journey he'd already traveled?

  "Tell me," Iliana said quietly.

  Erik sighed. "Nothing is as I expected. The house where we once lived is gone, and even the foundation is lost beneath an overgrown forest. All is changed."

  A small vehicle with wheels stopped to the side of the road as they climbed from the stream bed to the road surface.

  "What beautiful horses!" exclaimed a woman's voice.

  Erik looked at her. She wore trousers cut short above her knees, a blouse that left her arms bare and her hair was scraped back from her face and tied behind her head. She appeared young, perhaps younger than twenty years. Again, he wondered what world he had come back to.

  "I love your horses. Are they from Darien's and Elise's farm?"

  "What!" Erik roared.

  The young girl quickly backed toward her vehicle and tried to jump back inside.

  Erik put out his hand. "Ma'am, I am sorry, truly, I did not mean to frighten you."

  "Yes, certainly Erik did not mean to frighten you," Iliana said soothingly, watching the excitement on Erik's face. "It's just that we have been searching a long time for -- for Darien."

  Carefully, Erik said, "Darien Remington?"

  Warily, the girl nodded her head yes.

  Erik grinned at Iliana. "Darien and Elise," he said. "My brother and sister-in-law."

  "You're Darien's brother?" The young girl studied him closely. "Actually, you do look like him."

  "Where may I find him?" Erik asked, trying to keep his voice even.

  "Follow this road to the base of the mountain. Just before you go up the hill, their farm is on the right. It's about a five-minute ride." She looked at him again, then at Iliana and William. "Actually, your little boy looks a lot like Isabeau."

  "Thank you, Ma'am, I am indebted to you." Erik helped Iliana remount her horse, and she took William up before her, and then he all but jumped into his own saddle. He saluted the young woman and they rode in the direction she had indicated.

  "Erik, we have arrived in the future with your brother?" Iliana asked breathlessly.

  "I just hope he is not eighty years old," Erik exclaimed. Seeing the wooden sign ahead, he cut across a field and they cantered toward the house and barns half concealed in the woods.

  A young lady stood in the stone road behind the house, speaking with a tall dark-haired man. As they approached, Erik saw her look their way and then hurry into the house.

  In the next moment, the door reopened and a man stepped out.

  "Darien!" Erik roared, his joy knowing no bounds.

  ¤¤

  Iliana bit her lip to keep the tears at bay. She and Erik had dismounted, a young boy had appeared and led their horses to the stables. Iliana shifted William to her other hip and watched the joyful reunion of the Remington brothers. Indeed, they did look very much alike.

  Erik grabbed his brother's arm and pulled him toward Iliana. "Darien, this is Iliana, the woman I love."

  Darien looked at her, one brow raised, and Iliana saw the same sparkle she had seen in Erik's eyes.

  "I am pleased to make your acquaintance," she said.

  Darien began, "You found your black-haired --

  "Yes," interrupted Erik. "I found Iliana." He put his arm around her. "And this is William, my son."

  "Your son?" Iliana saw Darien's surprise and then he smiled, and she relaxed.

  "A nephew and a new sister-in-law," Darien said. "I can't wait to hear this tale. Welcome Iliana and William." He threw his arm around Erik's neck. "My God, I thought never to see you again. How --"

  "Later," Erik said. "Even I do not believe our luck." He looked at the women exiting the house. "And Elise," he said fondly. He looked at the blonde-haired lady behind Elise. "And is this my niece Isabeau?"

  "Rufus!" Elise exclaimed.

  Iliana stared as the dark-haired woman embraced Erik, noted her beautiful face, her body with child.

  Their eyes met.

  Shaking, Iliana put William down on the ground. She swayed, her legs suddenly wobbly.

  "Lily!" Elise exclaimed in alarm.

  For Iliana, all went black.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The voices were in more than her head. They were around her. Iliana came awake with a start, feeling groggy, staring at the faces above her. "Erik -- William?" she asked, a note of panic slicing through her.

  "We are here," Erik said. He sat at her side, his face white, his hand enclosing her own.

  "By all the saints," Iliana said, trying to push back the tears, "I remember. I remember it all."

  "What is it you remember, love?" Erik asked.

  Iliana felt a quaking inside as her memory was suddenly and fully in place. "I remember who I am, Erik."

  "Perhaps this should be left for later," Elise said. "Let Lily rest."

  Iliana struggled to sit upright and Erik put an arm around her shoulders, putting pillows behind her on the settee where she had been placed.

  "No, it must be said now." Iliana gripped his hand. "I apologize for such an introduction." She put a hand to her head, taking a deep breath. She looked at Elise, then at Erik.

  "This is my time, Erik. This is where I am from. We came back to my time, just as the abbess said I could. I just did not know it until I saw Elise."

  "How much do you remember?" Elise asked gently.

  Iliana felt the tears well in her eyes and spill down her cheeks. "Everything."

  "Lily," Elise said. "We never knew what happened to you. You just disappeared one day."

  Iliana nodded, looking into Erik's face. "Yes, my real name is Lily. Four years ago my family died in a horrific fire. A fire that was caused by my carelessness." She gulped back tears clogging her throat. "When my parents died, I fell into a deep depression." Iliana drew in a breath of air, another, but Elise spoke, look
ing confused.

  "But Lily, the fire marshal ruled the fire began in the breaker box. It was caused by old wiring."

  Iliana just stared at her, hardly able to take in what she'd just said.

  Elise nodded and came to kneel beside her. She took her hand. "Lily, I've known your family for ten years. We used to hike together with the historical society. You tried to get your father to upgrade the electric on his old Victorian house, but he refused. It wasn't your fault."

  "But -- but we had candles in Halloween pumpkins," Iliana said faintly.

  Elise shook her head. "No, Lily." She frowned. "Now that I remember, no one knew where you were when the final investigation was complete."

  Elise stood up with help from Darien. "I came to know Lily when she used to give demonstrations on jewelry making at the local school. It was her passion."

  Iliana looked at Erik and then down at William as he sat on the floor, staring at her with wide green eyes. "Ma, Ma, Ma," he said into the silence. She began to laugh, joy mixed with a tinge of old sadness. "Oh, William, finally you say 'Ma, Ma." All you have said is 'Da, Da.'"

  Erik picked up the boy and held him in one arm. "And why not?" he said proudly.

  "And on that note," said Darien, "this is my daughter Isabeau, and her husband Pierce."

  Iliana smiled at the beautiful young woman, also pregnant, and her handsome husband. "I met you once, Isabeau, many years ago," Iliana said. "I am pleased to meet you again, and also your husband Pierce." Iliana hesitated, then looked at Erik. "Erik can share with you how we came to be here."

  For some reason they all began to laugh, as if she'd just told a joke.

  "Lily, we will all share with you our own time travel stories," said Elise. Wide-eyed, Iliana stared as each of them nodded.

  "Though from the little I've heard, it sounds like yours and Erik's story may be the most interesting of all," said Darien.

  Epilogue

  Darien stared at his brother Rufus -- Erik, he reminded himself. "I hope I shall get used to your name in time," he said ruefully.