TIME TO REMEMBER: A NEW ADULT TIME TRAVELING ROMANCE (RAVENHURST SERIES)

by Lorraine Beaumont

  The Past Collides

  PRESENT DAY * RAVENHURST

  A cold gust of wind blew from the hidden opening in the wall. A lone-cloaked figure stood over the sleeping girl. A tray of leftover food was perched on her lap, her chin resting in her hand. It was not a peaceful slumber; she kept muttering something, but the words were unintelligible.

  This one was definitely a bit different from the other two. But what made her so special? The figure leaned forward to look at her more closely, wondering why she was the one. The girl started to move, making the tray rattle loudly in her lap. It was too loud.

  The figure swiftly ran back to the opening in the wall, and the invisible door shut. Raven opened her eyes in horror. The tray of lovely dishes was about the fall to the ground. “Shit!” Raven groaned out as she made a grab for the tray. Luckily, she somehow managed to keep it from falling. She felt sluggish; maybe the trip took more out of her than she thought. She rested her chin back in her hand, too tired to move to the bed. She fell back into a restless slumber, never once hearing the argument that was commencing only a short distance away.

  “I thought you gave her something!”

  “I did! If I hadn’t, she would have woken up when you practically inhaled her face.”

  “I did not inhale her face. I was looking at her.”

  “Really? Then why were you so close? Are your eyes not good?”

  “My eyes are fine, but you had better watch your tongue.”

  “My tongue? I was wondering if you were going to shove yours down her throat….”

  “You’re ridiculous. This conversation is over.”

  “It isn’t a conversation unless each person listens to one another.”

  “Oh, I am listening…. You talk so loud, it would be impossible not to.”

  “What did you say?”

  “I said nothing.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought you said.”

  They both walked slowly down the corridor, neither speaking as they made their way back…

  One smiled while the other frowned… both were thinking that this was going to be interesting…

  What comes around goes around

  AGE OF CHIVALRY * RAVENHURST

  YOUNG Milford paced back and forth across the battlements, his step faltering as he looked across the horizon. A rider was fast approaching the donjon, traveling with such great haste that dust billowed out from behind, blocking out all view from whence he came. Something was amiss. Milford took off, not wasting another moment, and quickly climbed from the battlements. He ran down through the interior of Ravenhurst, out the front doors before his master made it inside the walls. Catching his breath, he leaned forward and then after a few deep quick breaths he stood again to fix his disheveled appearance. After he fixed his clothing, he stood tall and proud awaiting his master’s arrival, just as a good squire should.

  Darias rode swiftly into the inner bailey, dust billowing in the air as he reined his horse to stop. The men stood idly by, looking.

  Milford’s mouth fell open. He stared in disbelief. What was happening?

  “Boy!” Darias called.

  A small boy ran forward and grabbed the reins to the massive horse as Darias dismounted. He looked towards Ravenhurst, seeing his squire standing perfectly still, all color drained from his face. He looked like he was seeing a ghost. Darias followed his line of vision to the back of his horse. He ignored Milford’s stare and lifted his arms in the air to help his newly acquired guest down.

  Marguerite was still fuming. How dare he leave her alone in the forest without even a fond farewell or an, “I’ll be back in a bit.” No, instead he left her high and dry with only her dire thoughts for company. After a good crying jag, she finally made herself leave the glen. Actually, she was tired of feeling sorry for herself. So off she went, trudging through the tall grass, her cloak dragging behind, pulling her shoulders with its weight. She was hot, tired, and hungry. She had cleaned out all the goodies she had taken, stuffing her face like a little pig. Depression did that to her.

  She was about to fall over from sheer exhaustion when she heard the distinct sound of thundering horse’s hooves barreling towards her from behind. Terror took hold; she didn’t bother to look. She grabbed up her skirts in her hands and took off running. Her feet pounded on the ground as she ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She was afraid it was the men from earlier.

  One of her assailants tried to make a grab for her. She weaved and ducked, his hands barely missing her as she fell forward onto the ground. She heard the horse stop and a thud from someone jumping to the ground, running; eating up the distance between them quickly. She scrambled back to her feet, fear giving her a burst of energy. Her lungs were close to bursting, but she kept running until she was pulled up short; someone grabbed her cloak and jerked her backward, hard.

  Ready to fight she spun around and there he was once again, looking at her with those deep, black eyes, not saying a word. She was so mad; she could have spit right into his face. But then he walked forward, standing so close to her body that she could feel the heat coming from his. She held her ground, looking up at him, narrowing her eyes, daring him to say something. And then he did the worst thing imaginable; he picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She didn’t bother to fight this time. What would be the point? She would get her payback later, once she was standing on solid ground once more. That was before her body was beaten to death bouncing up and down on his beast of a horse. Her eyes were crossed by the time they stopped. She ran her tongue over her teeth, thinking for sure she chipped one from the slamming ride to… She lifted her eyes and saw where they were. Oh good Lord, not again. Everything began to turn black… she didn’t fight it this time. It was better than the alternative…

  Darias barely caught her before she hit the ground. Her body hung limply in his arms. He looked at Milford for some assistance, but his eyes were rolling back in his head as well. Luckily, Gaitland grabbed him before he fell on his face. What the hell was going on? He hoped it was not a sickness that had taken hold of them both. Looking back to his men, he saw the curious glances they gave one another, none getting too close. Darias shifted her in his arms while his men watched from the sidelines. If he didn’t get her out of there soon they would think she was the reason for Milford’s sudden fainting spell. The entire day had been nothing but a chaotic mess from the moment he awoke. Initially he left the glen to search out the group of marauders he heard the day before. He did not want to take the girl, for fear something may befall her if he encountered the group. He had her safety foremost in his mind, but he also did not want to have her interfere with what he intended to rid his land of the culprits once and for all. But when he went back to where he first heard them, they were nowhere in sight. The only signs they were even there was some flattened grass, which was not in keeping with the rest of the area. He scouted a little further out, but decided he better retrieve the girl so they could make it back to Ravenhurst before nightfall. He would send some of his men to scout the perimeter later.

  But when he returned for the girl, she was gone, and unlike the men she had left a very visible trail. He caught up to her quickly enough, but when he got close to catching her, she ran and ran. He did catch her, but when he looked at her face, it was bright red, and her eyes looked like they were about to pop from her head. He decided he could wait to talk with her, so he lifted her up easily, threw her up upon his horse, and climbed on. He squeezed his horse’s flanks and sent them off into a full gallop back towards Ravenhurst.

  Now Darias was tired; he didn’t have time to figure out what had gotten into everyone. It did not go unnoticed to him that his men gave him a wide berth as he bounded up the stairs through the front doors of Ravenhurst. He strode hurriedly through the great hall, paying little heed to his men’s exclamations from behind as he climbed the stairs to his bedchamber, completely oblivious that another watched from the shadows, with hatred burning in
their eyes.

  “Milford, lad, are you all right?” Gaitland questioned, a look of concern crossing his face.

  Milford came back to his senses slowly and pressed his thin shoulders back, adjusting his tunic. “Of course, I am,” he answered brusquely, looking past Gaitland, noting everything was as it should be in the bailey. People were carrying on with their daily activities as though nothing was amiss. Cautiously he turned and looked behind himself… just in case.

  “Are you sure?” Gaitland asked, narrowing his eyes. Milford was acting very strange, but then again, he always acted a bit strange.

  Milford blinked his eyes, fidgeting with his tunic. “Yes, yes, of course my lord. I am fine,” he said, squaring his shoulders and walked away. Then he stopped and turned back towards Gaitland. “I am truly fine,” he said once more before heading into the keep with his head hanging low, very low.

  “If you say so…” Gaitland wasn’t so sure.

  ***

  The chamber door scraped loudly across the stone floor as Darias kicked it closed with his booted foot. He laid the girl on his bed and walked back to the door to lower the bolt into place. It was a drafty chamber, but it had a hearth, a crude table in the corner for writing missives, and a chair. He had plenty of furs on his bed to keep the chill at bay and a trunk at the bottom filled with his personal belongings. It was enough. But as he looked at the girl passed out on his bed, he wondered what she would think. Would it be enough for her as well?

  Sitting down on the bottom of the bed he leaned over and removed his boots. The stone floor was cold under his bare feet. Standing up, he walked over and poured water into a basin to wash the dirt from the day off as much as he could. Once he was reasonably clean he removed the rest of his clothing and walked over to the bed. Reaching out he lifted up her small foot, tugged off her boot, tossing it to the floor, and did the same to her other foot. Next, he removed her strange cloak, the one she continually pulled items from the inside. Lifting it in the air, he noted the heft. Shaking his head, he tossed it onto the floor, too tired to worry about such trifles right now. He lifted one of the furs on the bed and climbed in, laying his head down next to hers.

  For a few minutes, he simply lay there staring sightlessly up at the ceiling. Sighing heavily, he leaned up on his elbow and braced his head in his hand, looking down at her. The rise of fall of her chest seemed normal. Lifting his hand, he pushed her tangled mass of hair away from her face. The light was receding but there was enough to see by still. Her face was dirty, and contrasted with two very distinct lines that trailed down both of her cheeks from her eyes. He knew they were from tears. His heart fluttered. Dropping onto his back and raked his hands over his face. He did not like this feeling, not one bit. It must be sleep deprivation, making him feel this way. He had slept with many women, but had never let one share his actual bed. Once more, he leaned up, looking down at the girl beside him now and had to admit that he really did not mind sharing with her. He wondered what she would do if he inspected her as she did him while he was supposedly unconscious. He smiled to himself, dropped onto his back, and closed his eyes. Sleep came much faster than it had in a very long time.

  A new day, another dawning

  PRESENT DAY * RAVENHURST

  THE sun rose higher into the sky, bringing morning in its wake, accompanied by chirping birds and gusts of wind rattling the windows. Raven opened her eyes, not from the sun, or the chirping birds, or the rattling windows, but rather from a putrid smell. She opened her eyes wider and looked at the tray of leftover food beside her. It smelled nasty. Her stomach roiled. She had a crick in her neck and was frankly surprised she was still in the chair. The lovely bed was neatly made and looked so comfy. She couldn’t believe she missed out sleeping on that… she sighed. Oh well, there was always tonight. Her stomach roiled again. Oh no, did she have the flu? By the smell of the food on the tray beside her, she wouldn’t be surprised if she had food poisoning. It would be just her luck… her stomach did another weird clench. She sprang from the chair and ran directly into the bathroom.

  An hour later, she pushed open the bathroom door, a small towel covering the front of her body. Steam rolled out from behind her as she walked back into the bedroom. She stopped in mid-step. The room was spotless. No smelly tray of bad food and her clothes were all off the floor, folded nicely. She made a face. “Oops.” So much for her cleaning up before the maids showed. Oh well, maybe they had seen worse….right. She finished drying off and quickly pulled on her robe.

  The heavy silk curtains were pulled back, exposing a huge bank of windows. They almost touched the floor and gave a lovely view of the horizon. She tugged her belt tighter and walked closer. The view completely messed with her equilibrium, she felt like she was floating in the clouds. Down below was a manicured garden with graveled footpaths leading further back into hidden hedgerows. A huge tiered fountain bubbled over in front of the opening. Maybe she could check that out later, do some investigating, and see where the paths went. In the distance she could see the top part of a large glassed building. It was probably a hot house or something like that. She had a lot to do inside of the house but maybe later she could take a break, get some fresh air, and check that out, too. Turning away from the windows, she padded over to the mirror, looked at herself as she lifted her moisturizer off the vanity, and spread a nice glop of La Mer cream on her face (some stuff you just can’t skimp on). “Not bad Raven.” Frankly, she was surprised she didn’t look too bad, especially since she spent the night in a chair. She fingered her hair; it was already starting to dry and curl up all over her head… great. If she didn’t blow it out soon, she would look like freaking Shirley Temple. Sure, the little toe tapper was cute and all, but if she possibly ran into HD today, she wanted to look better than plain ol’ cute; she wanted to look hot. Well, as hot as she could, considering she was really more warm than hot anyway.

  Once she found an outlet she plugged in her dryer and blew out her hair, which didn’t take too long since it was already mostly dry. The fluffed out layers fell around her face. She raked her hand through it and walked over to dig in her luggage, looking for something to wear. By the time she was finished digging, all of her clothes were on the bottom of the bed or strewn across the chair beside the bed. Standing back she crossed her arms looking at the mess. Now her room was a disaster zone…again. “Apparently I am a pig,” she muttered, trying to figure out where all of her stuff was. She could never find anything when she wanted it. She glanced over at the big dresser, wondering if she could put her clothes in it. It looked big enough to hold all of her stuff. That way she could separate out everything and it wouldn’t take so long to find an outfit every time she needed to get dressed. The problem was she wasn’t sure if she was allowed to since it was a house and not a hotel. Hotels always had dressers to use but most of them ended up smelling like old funky shoes, so Raven had usually kept her clothes in her luggage the entire time. With that thought in mind, she walked over and opened one of the large drawers. It was empty. She leaned in, smelt it, and then pulled her head back out. Not too bad, a bit musty but a couple squirts of perfume would fix that. She shut the drawer and made a mental note to check with one of the maids.

  Fifteen minutes later and she finally found her favorite jeans. They fit just right and didn’t suffocate her when she wore them, plus they did make her butt look good. Hmm… she tapped her finger on her chin, looking at the outfit she picked out. Could she go comfy casual… look like she wasn’t trying too hard to impress the hottie downstairs, which of course she was, but he didn’t need to know that. Besides, she had a lot of rooms to go through and heels were not going to cut it. But should she really wear jeans on her first day on the job? Probably not. With a sigh of defeat, she pulled out a pair of high-waist, wide-leg, black trousers with a thin, patent leather belt and a crisp, white, pinstriped blouse with three quarter-length sleeves. She decided on minimal jewelry and chose a pair of dangling, crystal circlet earrings, and her chunk
y watch. Last but not least, she crammed her feet back into her Chanel flats. She tossed her hair up casually and stabbed some hair clips through it to hold it in a loose bun. She pulled some pieces out to frame her face and decided to go light on the makeup. A swipe of hint o’berry gloss, Kohl eyeliner, a dusting of candlelight finishing powder, mascara, and a spritz of Burberry perfume and she was ready for the day.

  Granted, the morning was almost over, but who cared? Beauty took time.

  Grabbing up her camera, folio pad, iPad, iPod shuffle, and with one last glance in the mirror, she set off to catalogue the house.

  ***

  Reed ran his hands over his face and pushed away from the desk, ignoring the stack of papers on top waiting for his signature. He hadn’t slept worth a damn last night, and now all he wanted was some distance from the task. Pushing away from his desk he stood and walked across the carpeted floor, his Italian loafers barely making a sound. Pulling back one of the heavy lined silk draperies he looked out into the garden.

  The tiered cast fountain bubbled over, splashing down the sides from one basin to another, into a pool at its base. Little birds played in the water, their wings fluttering as they dove in and out. Soon, all the birds would fly away for winter, and the fountain would be drained until spring came once again. He wondered if that would even come to pass now. Footsteps sounded out in the foyer, getting louder as they drew closer. Taking a breath he closed his eyes for a moment. When he could no longer hear her footsteps, he knew she had come into the room, her clomping coming to an end once she hit the carpet. Schooling his features, he released the curtain, and turned around slowly.

  Raven had her camera wrapped around her wrist, having already taken a few pictures of the house’s contents and still had not even put a dent in the inventory. She needed to start writing some of the descriptions down, but forgot her pen in her room. Halfway to the desk she pulled up short. Heat rushed to her face as he turned giving her a questioning look. She noticed he didn’t look like he was in the mood for company. Crap.