by Zoe Matthews
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude. I’m still not sure what happened,” Barbara tried to explain, but Laura wouldn’t let her continue.
“Oh, don’t worry about it. It’s always nice having another face around. Let’s get you up to one of the guest rooms and let you get comfortable for the night. I will send up a meal for you. If you would like, I also have a gown you could borrow if you would like to wear something… more appropriate.”
“Oh, of course. I would appreciate that.” Barbara eyed Laura’s simple day dress.
Daniel could hear that Barbara was uncertain about the suggestion of wearing one of Laura’s dresses, but he trusted Laura to make sure she was at ease with whatever happened from this point on. He didn’t hear what Laura’s response was because they had started up the stairs.
Now that he was alone, he started to contemplate why this particular woman had such a strong effect on him. His mother had done everything she could before she died to introduce him to many women, but he had hated the “marriage market.” Most of the women he knew only cared to meet him because of his inheritance and title. He had been perfectly happy being single for as long as he had. He knew eventually he needed to marry so he could provide an heir to inherit his title.
Barbara was an entirely different type of woman than those he usually interacted with. He actually liked that she wasn’t dressed like all the other women he knew and that she didn’t hide her beautiful hair under a bonnet. He didn’t know what made her so different, but he would be sure to do everything in his power to find out.
Chapter 7
Barbara stretched in her bed without opening her eyes. She had slept deep, and by the amount of sun shining through the curtains, she had slept late, something she rarely did. She thought about the weird dream she had had. She’d been sitting in the gazebo and then she’d become dizzy. Suddenly, she found herself in a dirty old shed. A strange man had found her and invited her to stay in his home overnight.
Luckily, it was just a dream, although she had to admit, the man had been very attractive.
She stretched again before opening her eyes. The first thing she noticed was that she didn’t recognize the lacy curtains. Quickly, she jumped out of bed and felt dizzy from standing up too fast. After her vision cleared, she looked around frantically, as she realized her dream hadn’t been a dream at all. She instantly realized that the events of yesterday had actually happened. Was it possible that somehow she had traveled…through time? The man, who she now remembered had introduced himself as Daniel Gouldsmith, was dressed very strangely, almost as if he were an actor in a movie. She remembered that he wore brown pants that were ugly in color, that didn’t have a zipper. He had a butler and lived in a very fancy home on an estate.
His sister, Laura, had led her to this room and let her borrow a nightgown and a dress to wear. When she’d first met Laura, Barbara had immediately realized she wasn’t dressed appropriately in her flowered skirt and short-sleeved shirt. The dress Laura wore also looked like she was dressed as an actor for a movie. Laura had led her pretty quickly from a very fancy parlor, up a long flight of wide stairs and to the guest room she was now in, so Barbara hadn’t been able to see very much of the home, but what she did see had amazed her. Her own parents had been well-to-do, so she had grown up in a larger-than-average home, and she had been in other mansions when visiting friends of her parents. But she had never seen such an enormous home. Part of her hoped she would have some time to explore before she found her way back home.
She had accepted it as possible when Megan had told her she had traveled through time by stepping into a portal, even though she didn’t understand it. It was very obvious that Keegan was from an earlier time. Some of his family had even traveled through the same portal for a few days when their son had become sick and needed immediate medical care. It wasn’t very hard for her to accept that she was now in a different time period. The problem was that she had no idea how it had happened. One moment, she was sitting in the gazebo at the back of her shop, and the next, she was inside a small dirty shed.
She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She needed to accept what had happened: she’d traveled through time. What year she had actually traveled to, she didn’t know. All she knew was that she had to figure out what to do about it. Maybe the gazebo and the shed were connected somehow.
She thought about how Daniel had found her. When she had first arrived, and realized she was in a shed, she had tried to open the door, but it was stuck as if it had been warped from disuse. She had had to use all of her strength to pry it open. Even then, she had only been able to open it a few inches. As she looked out, she realized she didn’t recognize anything. She couldn’t see the neatly landscaped gardens Keegan had worked so hard on, the oak trees, the gazebo, or the white Victorian house. All she saw was a large vegetable garden with a brown house that she didn’t recognize in the distance. She had quickly closed the door and spent a long time trying to decide what to do. She tried to open the door again, but after realizing she couldn’t get it open any more than a few inches, she didn’t try again, accepting the fact that she was stuck in the shed.
She had realized she might need to spend the night in the shed, but didn’t want to lie on the dirt floor, so she had tried to move some garden tools off of a stack of burlap sacks so she could make a bed and ended up dropping some of them on the ground. That was when Daniel Gouldsmith had found her. He had been so kind and understanding. She was relieved he had jumped to the conclusion that she had amnesia. It was an easy way to excuse her confusion at everything around her, and why she didn’t know anyone here, even though she also knew that technically she wasn’t supposed to know what her name was. She had been glad she wouldn’t have to spend the night in the shed.
Barbara decided to get dressed and saw a pale blue dress with undergarments laid out on a chair. This must be the dress Laura had offered to lend her. She smiled at the memory of the evening before; Laura had been very welcoming. She hadn’t asked any questions, but had seemed to instinctively know that Barbara wouldn’t be able to answer many of them anyway. She suspected that both Laura and Daniel were eventually going to ask questions. What was she going to tell them?
It took several tries, but she was eventually able to figure out how to put the undergarments on, then the dress. She was trying to tighten the ribbons on the back when there was a knock on her door.
“Um…” What was she supposed to say? Who’s there? Come in? Making a quick decision, she walked to the door, and opened it slightly, not wanting anyone to see that she was struggling with her dress. A woman in a black and white uniform was standing there with a tray of tea.
“Hello, miss. I brought you some tea. Oh my, did you put on your garments by yourself?”
The young woman seemed shocked, and Barbara felt her cheeks redden as she realized she had no idea how to live in this era.
“Well, I tried,” was all she could think to say. She opened the door to let the maid in, then shut it. The maid set the tray down on a nearby table and walked up behind her to tighten the bodice.
“Well, you certainly got further than most young women would be able to.” She chuckled, then stopped short. “Oh, I apologize, it is not my place to say anything.”
Barbara didn’t respond. She didn’t know how she was supposed to act or what to say, so she just remained silent as the maid helped her tie her sash, then led her to a chair in front of a mirror where she combed her hair and twisted it into a loose bun at the top of her head. Barbara enjoyed sipping on the tea as the maid did her magic.
When Barbara looked into the mirror after the maid was done with her hair, she was surprised to see an entirely different woman looking back at her. She felt stiff and formal and didn’t care for it. The maid had swept her hair into a bun, allowing a few strands to curl around her face. Her gaze went to the dress she was wearing. She usually only wore dresses when she absolutely had to. They seemed to remind her of the prom night all
of those years ago. She found comfort in the chemise she wore under the gown. She had also kept on her own underwear. She was only glad she wasn’t expected to wear a corset. She knew she wouldn’t be comfortable in one of those.
The gown was cinched right under her bosom, and flowed down to her feet in waves. It was a soft blue, one of her favorite colors. She was given a white shawl to drape over her arms, which she would have preferred to do without. She would likely only wear it if she was walking outside from one place to another.
“There, miss. That should be everything you need. Can I get you anything, or would like to go down to the dining room for breakfast?”
Barbara’s stomach seemed to answer for her. “Breakfast would be fabulous.”
Only then did she realized she didn’t know where she was supposed to eat. “Would you mind showing me the way?” she asked hesitantly.
“Of course, miss.” The maid turned to open the door when Barbara stopped her.
“Um…could you please tell me what year it is?” She wasn’t sure if she should even ask that question at all, but figured if she should ask anyone, it might as well be a maid. After all, maids weren’t supposed to question the people they helped, and she needed to know if her suspicions were true that she had traveled through time.
“It is 1816, miss,” the maid said after a brief look of confusion.
“Thank you,” Barbara responded, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. But inside she was panicking.
The maid had confirmed that she really had traveled through time. What was she going to do? She had no idea how it had happened. What if she wasn’t able to figure that out? Was she going to be stuck in 1816 forever? She had traveled much farther back than she had first guessed, two hundred years exactly. She knew she was going to need to be very careful about what she said and did. She couldn’t let anyone know that she was from their future. She only hoped that if anyone did ask questions, she would be able to hide the truth behind her amnesia story.
She remembered telling Daniel her name and then allowing him to think she had amnesia. From her own medical knowledge, she knew most people who suffered from amnesia also couldn’t remember their own names. She only hoped Daniel, or anyone else who lived in this vast home, knew about amnesia symptoms. She was deeply afraid that if anyone did find out that she was from the future, they would either accuse of lying or being a witch, or something worse.
The maid led Barbara down the hall and then the same set of stairs she had climbed the night before. She took a deep breath and did her best to look calm. Barbara’s heart fluttered at the thought of seeing Daniel again. Would he be eating breakfast, too?
The maid let Barbara into the dining room, which had a long wooden table running the length of the room. It was easily big enough to sit at least twenty people. Barbara’s heart fell as she realized that no one else was there and there were no place settings. She must have slept in past everyone’s normal meal time.
“I will let the cook know you are ready for breakfast,” the maid said with a small curtsy and then left Barbara alone.
Barbara picked a chair and sat, trying to be conscious of her posture. While she waited, she tried to remember everything she knew about this time period. There wasn’t a lot to remember. Her interests in books were more adventure and science fiction. She had read Pride and Prejudice when she was a girl, and although she remembered the story line, she couldn’t remember much of how the characters had lived. Was that book even from this time period? She couldn’t remember.
A young girl brought in several plates filled with fruit, porridge, and toast. Barbara was astonished as the maid placed the food in front of her. She couldn’t possibly eat all of this. She was used to eating a piece of toast and maybe a boiled egg for breakfast, with a bit of fruit. She smiled her thanks at the girl, who gave her a curtsy, before starting to eat. The food was delicious, although a bit bland. Barbara ate what she could, then sat back and wondered what she should do next. Part of her wanted to carry the empty plates back to the kitchen. She always cleaned up after herself. But she knew that she should just leave them on the table. Besides, she didn’t even know where the kitchen was located.
She desperately wanted to explore the big house, but she knew she shouldn’t wander around unattended. Deciding that it would be best to make her way back to her room, she left the dining room and breathed a sigh of relief when she was able to find her way back.
It’s better this way, she told herself. Fewer opportunities for me to mess up.
Chapter 8
Safely back in her room, she noticed that it had a small sitting area. She sat down on a cushioned chair and grasped her locket. That was when she remembered that she had grasped the locket in the same way when she was sitting in the gazebo. Did the locket have something to do with traveling through time? She had thought about that moment when her whole life had changed over and over again since she’d woken up that morning. She had been sitting in the gazebo in the early afternoon, clutching the locket around her neck. She had closed her eyes and was thinking about the man in the picture. She had imagined him in detail and had felt closer to him than ever. Then she’d grown dizzy and when she opened her eyes she was no longer in the gazebo.
She slipped the locket off her neck and opened it. She again carefully studied the small photo. Surprise and shock spread over her. She now looked exactly like the woman, with her dark hair in the bun the maid had arranged with some hair framing her face. But she knew that had to be a coincidence.
She had to admit that the man looked very similar to Daniel. He had the shaggy light brown hair and mustache. But how could that be? She’d found the locket in Keegan’s attic. She knew that most of the items in the attic had belonged to Victoria. Maybe Victoria had known this woman and man. It all had to be a coincidence.
Sighing, she slipped the locket around her neck and looked around the room. She had been sitting in it for a while already, but it was still bright outside, and Barbara could tell she still had most of the day ahead of her.
She saw her bag which she had dumped in a corner the night before. Remembering Megan’s joke about how she could survive on an island by herself as long as she had her purse with her, she chuckled.
It’s worth a shot, she told herself.
She retrieved her bag and started to look through it. She pulled out her phone, which was still on, but she could see it didn’t have any service or the internet. Not surprising. She turned it off to conserve the battery.
She pulled everything out and laid them on a desk. The first thing her hand touched was the envelope of the notes and photos from George Manning. It was a stark reminder of the mess she’d left behind. Pulling it out, she set it aside. She found her wallet, hand sanitizer, Chapstick, a mini container of mints, a small bag of trail mix, some pens and a notebook. These were things she used on a daily basis. Digging deeper, she found Kleenexes, a change of clothing (a pair of yoga pants and shirt), her tablet, and a small solar powered battery. She was about to put everything back in her bag when she noticed it still felt heavy, like there was something else had been buried in the bottom. She unzipped one of her rarely used pockets and was pleasantly surprised to find Victoria’s journal. She had forgotten that she had decided to hold on to the book in order to read it at a later time.
Now seemed like the perfect time.
She kept the journal out, but put everything else back in her bag. She knew she needed to find a hiding place for it. It wouldn’t be a good idea if someone found the bag and looked through it. Everything in it would let anyone who might find it know that she was from the future. It took a few minutes, but she finally found the perfect hiding place; in the back of a large wardrobe behind what she assumed were old dresses.
Picking up the journal, she settled into a chair and started reading on the first page.
March 13, 1865
I really have married the most spectacular man. He has shown me the plans of the house he is building for u
s in Denver. It looks exactly like my home in England where I grew up. It will naturally be a little smaller, which is fine with me. I can’t remember how many times I got lost in that big home growing up.
Charles also promised me a gazebo in the back, which I have always wanted. He has told me it will take several years to complete the home, so for now, we will rent a house in town. I am so grateful for such a wonderful man, and the means to do that which we so desire.
Barbara smiled. That would be a fun story to print and frame to show in their shop. Her customers would love to know the history behind the house. She was puzzled about Victoria writing about marrying a man named Charles until she remembered that Victoria had been married twice, and Charles had been her first husband. Victoria had married Collins later in life. Collins had been Victoria and Charles’ butler and was known by his last name. Even after he and Victoria married, he still went by Collins. Turning the page, she kept reading.
