Forever Young: Time Travel Romance

by Gloria Gay

  “Well, at least it gives us a little time,” Kate added when they looked at her with hope in their eyes. “But what can we do about Cortland taking over Lord Lanquest’s treatment, Demby? I’m certain it was Courtland’s men who were responsible for the attack on his lordship. He will soon have his physician covering Lord Lanquest with leeches and we will have to stand by and do nothing.”

  “There is something we can do,” Demby said.

  “What is that?”

  “His doctor has already sent their groom and the nurse to obtain a batch of leeches.

  “Once they bring the leeches to the estate, we can disappear them as fast as they produce them.”

  “Oh, Demby, what a wonderful plan,” Kate said excitedly, “but won’t Cortland prevent you?”

  “There are more of us than there are of them.”

  “Can you keep them from harming his lordship until Doctor Hendrick arrives? What do you think?” She asked them.

  “We’ll try, Miss Shallot, or at least delay Mr. Malky’s plans until Doctor Hendrick returns,” said Sam.

  “Let’s hope Doctor Hendrick makes good time,” said Kate, then added:

  “We better disperse. We don’t want Cortland or Lady Bunright to suspect our actions.”

  She told them to meet with her again at six in the afternoon in the priest’s secret room. She would send Romy to tell them when it was convenient, as they had to be on the lookout for Cortland’s spies.

  CHAPTER 29

  As Kate, had suspected, Cortland’s Doctor Senton and his assistant nurse, Mrs. Chantry, became very active soon after.

  From Sam and Demby she found out that Mrs. Chantry had brought out the jars containing the leeches they had bought at the apothecary’s, laying them in trays in Lanquest’s sitting-room.

  “As they required several objects from the estate, Cortland had forced one of Lanquest’s grooms to cater to anything Doctor Senton needed.

  Demby reported to Kate that once Lord Lanquest had been covered with leeches, Cortland and his doctor retired for their luncheon in the dining-room, leaving the nurse inside the bedroom and the groom Cortland had brought with him by the bedroom door to bar anyone from entering the room. Even Lady Donney had been turned away.

  ***

  “I fear for my nephew, Miss Shallot,” said Amy, her light blue eyes awash in tears. They do not allow me in the bedroom. Her frail hand holding a teacup trembled and she put the cup back on its saucer. What are they doing to him?”

  “They have covered him with leeches, Aunt. Leeches are beneficial for sucking out the infection. But I fear Cortland does not have good intentions.” Kate did not want to fill Amy with fear for her beloved nephew.

  “I wish Teddy had not left early the next morning of the ball,” she said. “He might have done something to prevent Cortland from taking these steps.”

  Kate didn’t think Teddy could have prevented Cortland from what he was intent in doing but said nothing.

  She did not want to worry Aunt Amy that she feared that by placing so many leeches at once they were weakening him. She feared the sweet old lady would not be able to take news that her beloved nephew could be harmed.

  “You are very fond of Teddy, aren’t you, Aunt?”

  “Yes,” Amy sighed. “I took care of him for the year that Augusta was confined to her bed with a strange malady. Teddy became very close to me for he was only six and had been suddenly deprived of his mother. Augusta could not even recognize him for most of that year.

  “No doctor ever found out what it was she had. Then after a year she started to regain her health and little by little through exercise and nutrition she was brought back from that awful year. We have been close ever since.

  “Teddy has assured me that if anything happened to my nephew, he would make sure to find a nice place for me to stay. He is a sweet young man, unlike his brother. They are as unlike as black from white.”

  “Let’s wait a while,” said Kate, patting the old lady’s arm. “I expect Doctor Hendrick back from London tonight. And Demby’s plan to ‘disappear’ leeches from Lord Lanquest’s body is a good one. We must give him time to figure out a way to execute it. He and Sam will not let anything happen to his lordship, Aunt.

  “Please sip your tea and have a scone with it. I noticed you hardly ate any lunch. You will not help your nephew if you become incapacitated from lack of nourishment.”

  “I will try, my dear, but I’m out of my mind with worry and food feels like sawdust in my throat.”

  Kate waited until Lady Donney forced herself to finish her small scone and a few dainty sips from the tea cup. Then she helped her up from the chair.

  “It is nearing the hour that I am to meet with Demby and Sam, Aunt. Perhaps you could lie down for a bit on my bed and try to take a nap. I shall wake you if there are any developments. But you must try to rest. There are dark circles under your eyes and it would not do for you to fall ill.”

  “You are right, my dear, a little nap would be very welcome. It was a wonderful day when you came into our lives. You are a source of strength for me.”

  “I would rather lie on the chaise,” she added, “for that bed is too large for me.”

  Kate helped her to the chaise. Once there, Romy removed Lady Donney’s shoes and placed a coverlet on her.

  They waited until the sweet old lady fell asleep. Then Kate and Romy removed to the sitting-room to wait for Demby and Sam.

  They had not heard from Lady Bunright. She must be very happy to have Courtland in charge of the estate now.

  Demby smiled broadly as he and Sam emerged from the back stairway into the secret priest’s room, where Kate was waiting for them.

  “Good news, Miss Shallot,” Demby said.

  “Tell me quick,” urged Kate.

  “We distracted the groom Mr. Malky had stationed at Lord Lanquest’s door while Mr. Malky and the nurse were having their meal. Once he was gone we entered his lordship’s bedroom with a bag and removed many of the leeches the doctor had placed on him.

  “We had barely turned the corner of the hallway when we heard Mr. Malky rushing back to the bedroom with the nurse. It looks like the groom went to the dining-room to alert Mr. Malky of what we had done. He probably told him how we had tricked him away from his lordship’s door.

  “It will take some time for the doctor to procure more leeches from the apothecary and meanwhile there are only half the leeches sucking away at his lordship.”

  “That’s wonderful, Demby. I do hope Doctor Hendrick will hurry back. I’m sure Malky will have more leeches brought to the estate. Thankfully, that will take some time.

  “Lady Donney told me that Doctor Hendrick does not object to leeches for treatment of wounds. He just objects to their using a great number of leeches to suck the blood from Lord Lanquest, and then they pretend they are helping him when they are leaving him so weak he will not withstand any treatment.”

  “I’d wager it would take them at the very least three or four hours to obtain more leeches, Miss Shallot.”

  “I would stay away from Mr. Malky, Demby. We don’t know what he will do when he finds out what you did. He is reputed to have a nasty temper, from what Lady Donney told me.”

  “I’ll hide out in the stables, Miss Shallot. Sam will let me know of any developments.”

  “Good. We just have to mark time until Doctor Hendrick returns from London.”

  CHAPTER 30

  “What is it, Romy? Something happened? You look…”

  “It’s Mister Cortland, miss!”

  “What about him, what’s happened! Tell me quick!”

  “He’s dead, Miss. Attacked in the docks!”

  “What? Cortland dead! That’s, incredible! Who told you, Romy?” Kate’s throat closed and she rasped the words.

  “Demby, miss. He’s down the hallway, wanting to talk to you.”

  Kate ran out the room with Romy in her wake.

  “What’s happened, Demby, tell me quick!” />
  “Mr. Cortland, Miss. The watch from the docks brought his body over. Lady Bunright had him placed on the table in the small dining-room. She’s there now and she’s crying her eyes off. Her daughters are there with her.

  “They say he had gone out to the apothecary to get more of them leeches and told his man to send a message to his mother that he would not be back right away because he had some other business in the docks to take care of.”

  “That was some business he had in the docks,” said Kate.

  Kate decided to stay away from Augusta during this time. The way Lady Bunright felt about Kate, any word of comfort on the death of her son would be ignored.

  In truth, she would be insincere if she didn’t feel relief that Cortland would not anymore be a danger to Michael. She had a low opinion of Cortland formed from what Michael had told her about him.

  Apart from that, Cortland had threatened to toss her out of the house. Michael had told her Cortland was not only a threat to the estate but a bad example to his brother and sisters.

  How she just wished Hendrick would come back soon. But there were things she could do to improve Michael’s chances of survival until Hendrick returned.

  Kate asked Lady Donney to dismiss the doctor Cortland had assigned to Michael, for Michael could stand to lose any more blood.

  Michael was hovering between life and death and there was nothing Kate could do other than clean his wound and drip some nourishment into his mouth, most of which dribbled out. But she did it anyway, for any drops that he managed to swallow were beneficial.

  She had asked Sam if there was any ice to be had from anywhere in the estate and he had brought her some from slabs that had been saved from the pond and stored in an ice shed. Kate pressed pouches of the ice on Michael’s neck and forehead and under his arms to bring down the rising temperature.

  And then she heard Hendrick’s welcome voice outside in the hall.

  She opened the bedroom door wide and exclaimed a joyful welcome.

  “I was told of Cortland’s death, Miss Shallot,’ Hendrick said.

  “It was a shock to everyone, doctor, as it was so unexpected. His mother is devastated and she is holding a prayer session in the dining-room with her daughters. She has sent for the undertaker.”

  They went quickly to Michael’s room.

  After examining him, Hendrick turned to Kate.

  “I think the leeches did a lot of damage. He’s paler than before and appears weak. Cortland must have put twice the number of leeches allowed.”

  His eyes filled with tears as he gazed at his friend.

  He brought out the tea that his colleague had provided him with and dissolved into it the mixture from a little packet in his medicine bag.

  “This is what my friend has developed and had some success with,” he told Kate as Kate assisted him, her eyes filling with tears. “Let’s hope it will work on Michael.”

  After Michael took a few drops of the tea, they laid him back on his bed and waited for a while. Then after about five minutes, Hendrick again made him sip more of the tea. He did this about four times and to their astonishment, after taking another sip Michael coughed, then opened his eyes and looked at Kate.

  “Ka—Kate,” he said as he gazed at her.

  “You’re awake!” Kate held his hand and stroked it lovingly.

  Hendrick and Kate sat by Michael and conversed in quiet tones. Michael listened but was still too weak to talk.

  The doctor pulled Kate aside and asked her to help him clean the wound. After they had finished and Hendrick had bandaged the wound, he looked into Kate’s eyes.

  He did not need to say more. Kate knew that Michael would die without the proper medicine and treatment and there was nothing either of them could do. The infection had gone too deep.

  Behind Michael, Hendrick shook his head.

  “In my time, he would be cured in a matter of minutes with penicillin,” Kate whispered to Hendrick. “Antibiotics were developed during World War II. And since then they have saved hundreds of millions of lives.”

  “Penicillin,” Hendrick repeated. “What a wonderful world you come from, Miss Shallot, where people are saved with your incredible medicines!”

  “If I could find the way to go back, do you think Michael would go back with me, doctor?”

  “Have you no clue at all as to how you can go back?”

  “I only remember half of the psychic’s instructions. I can’t recall the second half, no matter how much I try. I didn’t listen to what she was saying to me, so enthralled by the magical canopy I was.”

  “Maybe it was as Michael once said, that she meant for me to not hear her last words,” she added.

  She went back to the bed and looked into Michael’s eyes where there was great sadness.

  “If I find a way…”

  “You cannot stay here?”

  “I don’t fit in your world, my love…”

  “If you can’t fit in my world, I shall fit in yours,” he said.

  Kate’s eyes filled with tears.

  Hendrick pulled Kate aside.

  “Think back, Miss Shallot. Perhaps you may yet be able to save my friend’s life. Imagine the scene reenacted. Make believe you are listening to the psychic woman as she says the words.

  “What is she saying?”

  Kate closed her eyes for a few moments. She had done this many times on her own and it had never worked before, so she was skeptic but she was willing to try it again.

  Then it suddenly dawned on her as she said the psychic’s words out loud:

  “You must touch the monkey tattoo once reflected on the mirror and once without a reflection!

  “That’s it! That’s what Madame Enlia said – Once without reflection!”

  Kate put her foot up on a stool nearby. She touched the monkey tattoo in back of her knee, on her calf, and felt a sizzling sensation throughout her body.

  Kate looked down and saw that her body was slowly disappearing, from her feet up.

  She put her foot down and went to Michael’s side. She reached for his hands as he reached for hers.

  Michael sat up in the bed and embraced Kate. Her tears mingled with his as they held tightly to each other.

  Kate looked down and saw that the lower half of their bodies was disappearing in the magic mist.

  She looked up as a blaze of light enveloped them.

  “Look, Michael—see that? It’s the magical canopy!”

  A loud sound exploded and they were enveloped in a mist as they twirled upward, under the magical golden canopy until they disappeared together, above the forest top.

  ***

  Kate opened her eyes and realized she was in Michael’s arms still as they sat slumped— somewhere. She sighed with relief and cuddled closer to him.

  There was loud music around—music as from a parade and people around them were yelling and pressing against them. They were in the stoop of a building.

  Kate had a horrible headache and felt breathless.

  “Michael, wake up!”

  Michael opened his eyes. He looked at Kate and pressed her closer to him.

  “We’re alive—and together, thank God,” she said. She looked at herself. “And we didn’t lose our clothes!”

  Michael glanced around. “Where are we?”

  “It looks like a parade. The Macy’s parade! We’re in New York—the United States, she said with a grin as she looked around, “in a doorway stoop.” Kate stood up, leaned out and looked at the sign. “It’s a bar. Come, Michael, we must go inside,” she told him. “Your wound is bleeding. We need help—right away!”

  “Help me carry my friend inside, please!” she said to a large man who was nearby. Two men answered her plea and together they carried Michael into the bar. Kate asked the bar man to call an ambulance.

  Inside the ambulance, Michael was connected to an IV and the orderly attached an oxygen mask to his face.

  “You called just in time, miss,” he said, turning
to Kate. “We’ll have him ship shape in no time. That’s a nasty wound and it’s beginning to fester.

  “You better hang on to his ID,” he added.

  “His ID?” Kate asked.

  The man handed Kate a passport.

  She opened it and saw Michael’s photograph with a British address.

  She shook her head and smiled as she showed Michael his passport.

  “That Madame Enlia!” she exclaimed in wonder.

  The ambulance man glanced at their clothes.

  “Coming from a costume party?” He asked.

  “Yes,” Kate said with a wide smile. “A costume party.”

  “And we came just in time,” Kate repeated the lovely words and sighed deeply. She leaned down and kissed Michael’s forehead.

  “You’re going to be all right, my love,” she whispered in his ear.

  “I’m with you,” he replied. “I’ll always be all right if I’m with you.”

  “You won’t miss Arcadia?”

  “I would miss you more,” he said weakly. He closed his eyes and there was a smile on his lips.

  His beautiful mouth, thought Kate, as tears streamed down her cheeks and fell on his face.

  She had found her love, in a faraway land, separated by two hundred years.

  -The End -

  About the Author

  Author Gloria Gay’s debut novel, First Season, earned a four-star review from Romantic Times Book Review. Boroughs Publishing Group published her Regency historical romances, Scandal at Almack’s and Lovely Little Liar.

  Gloria recently published, with Kindle Direct, a new edition of Canceled Courtship under the title, Kissed In The Dark, a new edition of First Season under the title, Love In A Dangerous Season, a new edition of Forced Offer under the title The Road To Winterhill, and a new edition of Known to All under the title, Fate Is A Stranger, as well as the new Regency, Enchanted Summer.

  She ventured into time travel romance with A Bridge Through Time, and this novel, Forever Young is her second time-travel romance.

  Gloria and her husband Enrique, an architect, have three grown children and six grand-children and they are lucky to have them all living near them in San Diego, California. She can be reached at gloriagay.com, if you would like to be included in her mailing list for future books.