Changed by Time

by Zoe Matthews

  “So, you remember where you are from now?” he asked with confusion in his voice, but she could tell by his eyes that he already knew the answer to that question.

  “Well, to be honest, I have always remembered. I just haven’t told you because I knew you wouldn’t believe me.” She could tell he was getting frustrated, so she decided to get to the point. “I am from the future. Somehow, I was able to travel through time. I live in the year 2016, in a city called Denver in the United States.”

  Daniel looked down at his plate with a scowl on his face. “Do you think me such a fool?” he asked with what sounded an awful lot like anguish in his voice.

  Barbara’s heart fell. She wasn’t doing this right, wasn’t explaining things well. But how in the world should she have told someone she was from the future when they’d never heard of such a thing before?

  “Of course not. I am hoping you will be open-minded enough to hear the truth so I do not have to continue lying to you.” She reached down and grabbed her bag. “I can show you proof if you are willing to listen to me for a few moments longer.”

  Daniel looked at her back with distrust, but she could tell there was some curiosity in his eyes as well. He only nodded.

  “Thank you.” She reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. “Where I am from, everyone has one of these. We use it to communicate with each other.” She turned the phone on and laid it on the table so he could see the screen light up with the logo of her phone company. Once it was fully booted, he was able to see a picture of her and Megan. They had their arms around each other and Megan was smiling brightly. When she looked at the wallpaper of her daughter, she suddenly wanted to see her again.

  “This is my daughter, Megan. She is my life.”

  She felt herself starting to tear up as she realized that as much as she was enjoying her trip back through time, she missed Megan fiercely. She didn’t let herself stop, though, and started navigating the phone to show him different features, and what each would be able to do if she were in her own time. She was able to get into her photo gallery and show him pictures she had taken over the years. There were cars in some pictures and buildings in others. Everyone was dressed in pants, shorts, and t-shirts. It was glaringly obvious these were not taken in his time period.

  He stared in blank amazement, not responding once during her entire explanation. She decided she had shown him enough and left the phone next to him so he could look through it if he wanted to.

  Silence filled the room, and Barbara started to wonder if this had been a horrible idea. She forced herself to wait for him to speak.

  Finally, he looked at her, shock still pasted on his face. “You are telling me the truth, aren’t you?”

  Barbara nodded, but couldn’t bring herself to say anything.

  “How… how did you come to travel here?”

  “I’m still not exactly sure. I found this locket last week and somehow felt it bring me comfort. I guess you could say I felt I was connected to it somehow.” She didn’t want to show him the picture, as he had likely had enough shock already. “I was just closing my eyes, and holding onto the locket, trying to find strength to do… something difficult. When I opened my eyes, I was in your shed.”

  Daniel continued to stare at her, and she was glad the distrust had been in his eyes earlier was now gone. “You must return.”

  That sentence made her heart drop, even as she knew he was right. “I know. I guess I only wanted to get to know you a little better,” she admitted, not sure if she should tell him that or not. “And I also wanted to experience a little bit of your time.”

  His eyes softened. “I am honored to have been able to meet you. I only assume your daughter needs you. You have a whole world that you are no longer a part of. It would not be wise to stay away for long.”

  “I know.” Barbara held back a sigh. “I do have an idea of how to return, but I am not sure if it will work or not.”

  “The only way to find out it to try, is it not?” he asked, with his normal, kind gleam in his eyes.

  Barbara smiled at him, even as she wanted to cry at the thought of leaving him. “Yes, it is.”

  “You mention Megan. But you aren’t married? Are you a widow?” Daniel asked curiously.

  Barbara looked down at her plate. “No, I’m not a widow.”

  That was all she said, and she knew he would know that Megan was born out of wedlock, a huge taboo in his time. She waited for his discrimination, but he remained silent for a few minutes.

  “May I ask how old you are?”

  She nodded. “I’m 42.”

  “Why haven’t you married? Is there something wrong with the men in your time?”

  Barbara’s head jerked up at his words. She noticed a twinkle in his eyes. “I guess I just haven’t found the right one. Most of my time has been spent in raising Megan and supporting us financially.”

  “I would assume if you had married, supporting yourself and your daughter would have been easier.”

  “Things…are different in my time. It is common for women to remain single, yet raise a child on her own. It is also common for a woman to be the sole supporter of her family.”

  “I am guessing there are many things that are different in your time,” Daniel said as he gestured to her phone that was still sitting beside his plate.

  “I’m going to ask you the same question. How old are you?”

  Daniel grinned, as if knowing where the conversation was going. “I’m 45.”

  “And why haven’t you married? From what I do know of your time period, it was important for the oldest son of an estate such as yours to marry, so you would have an heir to take over when you're gone.”

  Daniel nodded. “I guess I haven’t found the right one,” he said, repeating her words to him.

  For a moment, they both grinned at each other. She watched as he glanced at her lips and instantly knew he wanted to kiss her. She started to lean forward as an invitation, but he cleared his throat.

  “Let’s eat our breakfast.”

  Barbara agreed although she felt disappointed that he hadn’t kissed her. She knew she would need to leave soon, but she wanted to experience his kiss before she left. While they ate their breakfast, Daniel asked questions about her time, and Barbara answered with as much detail as she could manage. She did try to leave out mentioning any major historical events; she didn’t feel it was wise for him to know any of those. She enjoyed their breakfast and was glad that his humorous side had returned. They both sat, chatting and laughing long after breakfast was over.

  ****

  Daniel watched this amazing woman talk and laugh, and he didn’t know how he was ever going to let her go. He knew she wouldn’t be able to stay with him here; there was too much that was different about her, and the people in this area were not forgiving of people who didn’t look and act exactly like they should.

  Encouraging her to go back to her time was the right thing to do, even if he felt as though he could be sending his future along with her. Back to her time, he thought. What a crazy idea, and yet he believed her wholeheartedly. Everything she had told him made perfect sense, and he couldn’t deny that her ‘phone,’ as she called it, was far beyond anything he had ever seen before.

  “So, there she was, running out of the house dripping wet and entirely naked.” Barbara laughed with a smile at the memory of her daughter she was describing. “I chased her with a towel for about half a block before I finally caught up to her. She was a wild child.”

  “I can see how much you love her,” Daniel said, longing to reach out and touch her face as she smiled.

  “I do. I love her very much.” Her eyes looked sad. “I do miss her terribly. She is getting married soon, and I can’t miss her wedding.”

  They locked eyes at that sentence, and he could see she felt the same as he did. She knew she had to go home, but the fact brought her some sadness.

  “Pardon me, sir,” his butler, Henry said from the doorway of
the room. “I believe Laura is in need of your care. She is asking for you.”

  Daniel’s heart dropped. It was never good when Henry came to fetch him for Laura. Laura generally tried to hide how sick she was for as long as she could. It was when she asked for help that he worried the most.

  “Thank you,” he said to the butler, then he turned to Barbara. For the first time, he felt as though he wanted to bare his soul to a woman, to this woman. He wanted to let her in his heart and lean on her. “I must go check on my sister. I worried that going to the ball would be too much for her.”

  “I may be able to help. In my time, I work with herbs, and know a lot of their healing capabilities.”

  He nodded his agreement as he felt a little hope that Barbara could help. He hoped she may know something the doctors didn’t, but he didn’t want to get his hopes up too high yet. “Come with me.” He almost held out his hand to her, but stopped himself, as it wasn’t proper. He turned to lead the way to Laura’s room instead.

  Daniel knocked on his sister’s door briefly before entering, worry weighing him down. She had been sick so often, and each time it got worse and worse. How bad would it be this time?

  She was propped up against many pillows, and he could see she was extremely pale. She had a wet cloth lying on her forehead; she must have a fever again. Her maid was silently attending to her.

  He quietly walked into the room and sat on a chair by her bed. He took her hand gingerly as he heard Barbara walking up behind him. Laura shifted and opened her eyes to look at them.

  “How are you doing?” he asked her softly.

  “Oh, I’ve been better,” she sighed, and took the rag from her forehead to hand to Daniel. It was hot to the touch.

  He dipped it into the cool water again, rang it out, and gave it back to her. “Is it the same symptoms?”

  “Yes. A fever, swollen neck, tight chest. Everything is the same as last time.” She winced as she tried to swallow. He looked around for a glass and helped her drink some water. Even if the symptoms were the same, they seemed worse than before.

  “Miss Conway said she might be able to help.”

  Laura looked over his shoulder at Barbara. “What did you have in mind?” she asked weakly.

  “Well, I do know drinking lemon tea with honey in it should help relieve some of the symptoms. As for the fever, you can try drinking basil and pepper tea. If you would like to combine them, that should be fine as well. It sounds like you get these symptoms frequently?”

  Daniel made eye contact with a maid who was folding laundry in a corner. He nodded at her to let her know that he would like her to go to the kitchen and ask the cook to make the tea.

  “Yes, every few weeks or so,” Laura nodded. “And I still get very tired even when I don’t have the symptoms.”

  “Hmm…I have an idea of what it could be, but I’m not sure. I haven’t diagnosed it myself before.” Barbara sounded hesitant. Even though she had many experiences with sick people, she wasn’t a doctor or even a nurse. In her time, she was legally required to advise the person to see a doctor.

  “What do you think it could be?” Daniel encouraged her.

  There was silence for a moment before Barbara admitted, “Pneumonia. Some people get it and then it goes away on its own, but others get it over and over again, and it can get worse each time.”

  “What can we do to keep it from coming back?” Daniel asked. He hadn’t heard of pneumonia before. Was this something discovered after his time? He had heard of people getting bad colds and ending up dying from it. Was this going to be his sister’s fate?

  “There is nothing I can do myself. She needs a strong antibiotic and a doctor’s care.”

  Daniel’s heart dropped. Was his sister meant to live like this for the rest of her life? How much longer could she live like this? “What is a…antibiotic?”

  “Strong medicine that helps the body get rid of pneumonia. Laura’s body has bacteria in her lungs that is causing pneumonia. Antibiotics kill the bacteria.”

  Daniel had no idea what Barbara was talking about, but he could also tell she was familiar with why Laura was sick.

  “There’s got to be something we can do,” Daniel said with frustration as he started to pace the room.

  There was another pregnant pause before Barbara spoke again. “We could go to my time. I know of someone who should be able to help.”

  Daniel immediately understood what she meant. She was suggesting they bring Laura into the future. He simultaneously felt hope and fear. He would do anything to help heal his sister, but how safe was it? What if something went wrong, and it made Laura worse, not better?

  He looked up at Laura, who had drifted to sleep at some point during the conversation. He wondered what she would think about it.

  “Is it safe?” Daniel asked quietly. “Time travel?”

  “I think so. I can’t be positive. I don’t have a lot of knowledge on it myself, but I do know someone whose family traveled back and forth in time several times. They didn’t run into problems.”

  “Let me think about it a moment?” Daniel requested.

  “Of course.” Barbara quietly left the room and shut the door behind her.

  He brought Laura’s hand up to his lips. What should he do?

  Chapter 12

  “What else do you propose we do? Barbara knows some people who can help.” Daniel could normally hide his frustration, but he struggled to do so when he talked to Edward.

  “I don’t trust her. How can you be so blind? She doesn't remember where she is from, she has stayed in our home longer than we ever expected, and now she swoops in with promises of fixing something multiple doctors haven’t been able to?” Edward's voice was laced with ridicule.

  “You haven’t ever given her a chance. You have never had a decent conversation with her. I trust her. She wants to help,” Daniel insisted. “I will be with Laura the entire time. She will be safe.”

  Edward just looked at him with hard eyes. Daniel sighed. “I am the head of this estate and this family, so it is my decision to make. We will be leaving in the next few hours.” He hated using his position to control the situation- especially when Edward wanted to be the earl so badly. He knew his brother resented him.

  Daniel turned to leave, but stopped at the door. “We should be back within the week. If I do not return within six months’ time, declare me dead. The estate will be yours.”

  He strode off before Edward had a chance to say anything. He wasn’t sure why he had said that. He was glad he would be able to stay with Barbara a little longer, but still did not plan on staying with her for longer than Laura needed. Maybe he wanted to be with Barbara more than he realized. Edward had no idea that he was planning on taking Laura to the future for help. The less his brother knew about his plans, the better. Then, if something did happen to them that would make them have to stay in Barbara’s time, Edward would know what to do.

  He slowed his pace when he reached Laura’s room, where he knew Barbara was explaining to Laura what their plan was. He opened the door slowly, not sure how Laura would take this idea of traveling to the future.

  Laura seemed a little unsure and looked to Daniel for advice the moment she saw him. “Are you sure about this?”

  “This is our best option. I am positive Barbara is telling the truth and it is worth a try.” He didn’t want to make promises, but he hoped with everything inside him that this would help heal her. “I didn’t tell Edward where we are going exactly. I figured it would be better if he didn’t know.”

  Laura nodded in agreement. “I guess we are going to the future then.”

  She barked a short laugh of shock, which sent her into a coughing fit. Barbara and Daniel stayed with her until it had passed, and Barbara held out a glass of tea to help soothe her throat.

  “We’d better leave soon. She will only get worse,” Barbara said, eyes serious.

  Daniel nodded. He looked at Laura. “Are you ready?”

&nbs
p; “As ready as one could expect.”

  He bent down and picked her up. She had a shawl around her shoulders, which she pulled tight around her shoulders to help keep herself warm.

  Barbara bent down to pick up her bag and slung it over her shoulder.

  How could things have changed so much from when he’d woken up this morning? He shook his head, and let Barbara lead him out of the house and towards the shed.

  ****

  Barbara looked at Daniel, who was holding a very pale Laura in his arms, wrapped tightly in a quilt. It was hard to see in the dim lighting of the shed, but she could sense that he was nervous.