An Earl In Time

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  When she and Julian had touched the cage, it glowed a mixture of pink and purple colors. The gazebo was pink in this time. The barrier keeping her and Julian here was pink and purple. Was there a connection between the colors and magical entrapments?

  “I think pink and purple indicate a curse,” she said. “It seems that every time we touch something that vibrates pink and purple colors, we can’t get past it. Or, in the case of the cage, open it. Those colors, or the magic associated with those colors, seem to be an obstacle to us.”

  “The fairy was affected, too.”

  “I don’t know if the fairy was affected because of that or the iron bars. Iron is a fairy’s weakness.”

  “Maybe it’s the iron and the colors pink and purple.”

  She thought over his statement and nodded. “Yes, there’s probably some truth in that. In the future, the gazebo is purple, but in this time, it’s pink. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.”

  “It could be a calling card.”

  Her eyebrows furrowed. “A calling card?”

  “We use them in this time to announce a social visit. It can let someone know you arrived in London or request a visit. Whoever, or whatever, is behind this magic doesn’t seem friendly. And in this case, the colors serve as an announcement of some kind.”

  Willow thought over what he said. “Can a name be a calling card?”

  His eyebrows furrowed. “You mean Violet?”

  “It makes sense, doesn’t it? The word ‘violet’ indicates a particular shade of purple. Violet was in charge of maintaining this place in the future with the cat, owl, and horse when they were in human form.”

  “We’d be wise to pay careful attention to anything pink or purple around us, including anyone who goes by the name of a color,” Julian said after a long moment.

  Yes, they would.

  He led her to her horse, and after he helped her get on the saddle, he went to his horse. She watched him, torn between the newfound feelings she was developing for him and her heartache over the poor fairy who was confined to a cage for what just might have been a very long time. Was it wrong to want to explore a romantic relationship while a fairy was in such despair?

  But what could they do about the fairy? There was no key, and they couldn’t open the door. They would have released her if they’d been able to. She didn’t think they would find any answers in those books. While the authors mentioned iron being a fairy’s weakness, she didn’t recall anything about getting a fairy out of a cage with iron bars.

  She sighed. Life wasn’t simple to begin with, but adding magic to it only complicated things more.

  Julian brought his horse over to her. “We’ll figure something out. I know it looks hopeless, but I don’t think it is. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from reading my grandfather’s journals, it’s that there is hope. He was sure things would be made right. The answers we’re looking for are somewhere. I don’t know if they’re in the journals, the books, or somewhere else around here, but they are here. I’m certain of it.”

  His confidence made her feel much better about leaving the fairy for now. They would get her out of the cage somehow.

  For the time being, it wouldn’t hurt to give her attention to Julian. Even though she and Julian weren’t having the sordid love affair the servants assumed they were, being here with him had given her a glimpse of what it might be like if she married him. And she liked it.

  She urged her horse to ride back to the stables with him.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Here it is,” Willow said later that day as she and Julian were reading in the library on the settee. She leaned toward him so he could see what she’d found.

  He turned to her.

  “It says that iron is the natural enemy of fairies,” Willow said. “It’s why children’s bedframes are often made of iron and why mothers leave something made of iron like scissors, a knife, or a fire tong near the cradle of an infant. The iron is thought to prevent a fairy from stealing the child and replacing it with a changeling.”

  Julian frowned. “Fairies aren’t evil, are they?” From reading his grandfather’s journals, he’d gotten the impression that fairies offered protection, rather than harm.

  “The myths around them indicate they can be good or evil.”

  Julian’s mind went back to the fairy in the gazebo. “I don’t get the feeling that the fairy we saw was evil. She seemed to be as much a prisoner here as we are.”

  Willow nodded. “I don’t think she’s evil, either, especially considering the pink and purple colors that were keeping us from releasing her. Maybe Violet trapped her in that cage and is keeping her there to serve her purpose.”

  Julian hadn’t considered that possibility. Perhaps he and Willow were being held here with the fairy for some dark purpose.

  “Anyway,” Willow continued as she glanced back at her book, “this is the first reference I remember coming across about fairies and iron. I’ll keep looking for more. I know there’s other things in this book about it. I just can’t remember exactly where. It’s not like there’s a chapter dedicated specifically to iron.”

  Julian released his breath and turned his attention back to the book he was reading on fairies and leprechauns. It was ironic if one thought about it. This whole time, he’d been looking forward to being able to pass from one day to the next. He hadn’t once bothered to consider what might happen if he did. He couldn’t help but think that whoever Violet was, she had something planned for him and Willow.

  But why? What made them so unique?

  He glanced at the desk where he’d left his grandfather’s journals and his notes about the things his grandfather had been doing. His grandfather had been obsessed with finding a fairy. He hadn’t come out and said why. It almost seemed like he was afraid to admit what was happening. Whatever it was, his grandfather seemed to think if he didn’t find that fairy, it was going to bring disaster to the family.

  Could it be possible that his grandfather had succeeded and that the fairy in the gazebo was the one he found?

  No, that didn’t seem right. That fairy was trapped in a cage that glowed pink and purple colors when he or Willow touched it. That had to be a fairy Violet had imprisoned. So had his grandfather found another one and brought it here? If so, was it also caged?

  His gaze went to Willow. Her head was bowed over the book in her lap. Though he realized there were more important things to give his attention to, he took the moment to stare at her.

  It was a pleasure just to watch her. The pleasure went beyond physical desire. Perhaps this was the beginning of love.

  He wondered if this was what Francis felt when he looked at Lady Kimberly. Julian had thought Lady Kimberly was a kind lady, but nothing ever stirred up within him when she was around. There was something, however, that seemed to affect him when he was with Willow, and the more time he spent with her, the stronger the feeling became.

  Willow glanced up from the book and turned her gaze in his direction. Eyes wide, she asked, “Is there something you found while reading?”

  Face warm, he shook his head. “I was just taking a break. I’ll get back to reading now.”

  Without waiting for her to respond, he forced his attention back to the book in front of him. He didn’t consider himself to be shy around ladies. He’d talked and danced with plenty of them in London.

  But none of them were Willow.

  Ignoring the thought, he forced himself to read the words in front of him. He had promised the fairy he would search for a way to release her. The answer was somewhere. If it wasn’t in a book or a journal, then it was somewhere within reach.

  If we are able to free the fairy and ourselves from the curse binding us here, will Willow return to her time?

  He stopped reading the book. He didn’t like thinking that Willow might return to her time. Magic had brought her here, and it was continuing to keep her here. What if she had the option to go back to the future? Would she take it
?

  He didn’t suppose it was possible for him to go with her if she had to go back. That thing in the hallway had only worked one way. Was it possible that she would choose to stay here with him? And if she could choose, would she? He was tempted to ask her about it. He even opened his mouth to ask. But, in the end, he turned his attention back to the book and continued to read.

  ***

  “I wonder if there are any other places touched by magic on this property,” Willow said that evening after dinner.

  This time, Julian was sitting at the desk with the candle next to him. She was sitting on the settee next to the candelabra. The book was open in front of her, but her gaze was directed at the window. He followed her gaze but didn’t see anything but the outline of the grass and trees in the moonlight.

  She looked at him. “I didn’t see the entire property in the future. I only went for a walk around the manor. I don’t recall seeing anything else that was purple. But if I did, it wouldn’t stand out if it was small, would it?” Without waiting for him to respond, she added, “There were the purple nails!”

  “Nails?”

  “Yes, the ones holding the sheet that covered the mirror that turned out to be a portal between our times. But that was something evident, too. I noticed the sheet the first time I was in that hallway.” She paused, her expression thoughtful. “I searched all through this enormous house when I was in the future, and I don’t recall anything pink or purple except for the nails.”

  “There were never nails holding up a sheet over that portal in all the years I’ve been here.”

  “The sheet was meant for someone in the future to discover. I have no idea if it was there all along or if Violet waited to put it there when I was due to arrive. Though, if I recall right, the nails were old. If they were old, then that sheet had been there the entire time. I think everyone else ignored it. The only reason I removed it was because I was stuck on this property and got bored.”

  “Or maybe you were able to remove the sheet because you signaled the end of the title.”

  Her gaze returned to him. “Is a title really that important in England?”

  “It’s a gentleman’s legacy. It’s the one thing he has to give to those who come after him.”

  “I wonder why Greg Westmore wasn’t trapped here since he was the last man to hold the title. The lawyer only told me a little about him. I never even knew Greg, but I briefly remember the lawyer saying he was the last earl of the estate. I didn’t know what that meant at the time. Being the earl of anything didn’t make any sense to me. All I understood was that I was the next in line to inherit this estate. Greg did have a child. I think it was a boy, but the child died shortly after birth. After that, he and his wife divorced, and he never remarried. That’s all the lawyer told me about him.” She winced. “I’m sorry.”

  He wondered if things would end up the same way if the coachman managed to get the missive to Francis. He hoped the course of history would be different now. If Julian wasn’t going to have children, then he hoped Francis would live to marry Lady Kimberly. If they married, it was very possible they’d have children. Perhaps the family line would continue through them.

  That was, of course, if the world beyond this property still existed. Without someone coming here, it was impossible to know what was happening beyond the moat.

  Since Willow turned her attention back to her book, Julian forced his gaze to the book he was reading. He finished the page he was on and turned it. His eyes widened in surprise. It was a map similar to the ones his grandfather had drawn. He brought the candle closer to the page and studied it. He recognized the general location of the Irish cities, but there were some areas marked on the page that indicated possible fairy septs. He was sure he’d seen one of these areas drawn in detail in one of his grandfather’s journals.

  He sorted through the journals until he found the one that contained the maps his grandfather had made. He sorted through each page in the journal until he noticed the one that matched the map in the book. Well, it wasn’t an exact replica, but it was close.

  He placed the journal right beside the book and marked the similarities and differences. South of Dublin were mountains. While the map mentioned possible fairy septs, the book didn’t go further than that. His grandfather, however, had gone into more detail. It labeled the septs by name. Julian turned the page in the journal and saw that the next map focused in on one mountain in particular with a series of forests and rivers. His grandfather had given names to the forests and rivers that did not match anything he found in the book. Julian bet each forest was given a particular name that designated a specific family of fairies.

  Julian recalled reading the entries about the trips his grandfather had taken to Ireland. His father had mentioned that Julian’s grandfather loved to hike through the mountains. His father had also said Julian’s grandmother had become increasingly upset with Julian’s grandfather as time went on. His father had told Julian that she had termed the trips as “endless pursuits that led to nothing”. Given the fact that Julian’s grandfather had spent twenty-seven years doing this, Julian could understand why, but after seeing the fairy in the gazebo, he suspected his grandfather was desperate to save someone, or something, he loved.

  There had to be something that linked his grandfather with Violet, if one could assume Violet hadn’t aged any more than the three animals in the stables had. Could magic keep someone immortal?

  The book did say that fairies could live for centuries, possibly even a thousand or so years. They aged much slower than humans. Was it possible Violet was a fairy?

  He looked over at Willow. “Can fairies become human?”

  “No, they can’t become human, but according to some legends, they can masquerade as one.” Willow straightened up in the settee. “Violet can’t be a fairy. If she was, why not just work her magic directly on me and send me here? Why wait for me to walk through a magical mirror? Violet needed the help of the cat, owl, and horse to maintain the place. She was unable to do all of it on her own. And, we shouldn’t forget, she brought a fairy here and trapped it in a cage. A fairy wouldn’t have to go through all of this trouble when she could do the work herself. Whoever Violet is, she needed help to accomplish her goals. Whatever those goals are.”

  Whatever those goals were, it involved him and Willow. And for some reason, they had to be here on this property and in this time.

  “My grandfather must have known something about the fairy in the gazebo, or he knew Violet intended to bring the fairy here,” Julian said. “He spent almost thirty years searching for a fairy. He took a lot of trips to Ireland and made journals full of maps. Most of the things I’m finding are maps. I think he finally found a group of fairy families in the mountains just south of Dublin.”

  “Do you think he actually found a fairy to help him?”

  “Let me check something before I answer that question.”

  He turned the page of the journal. He hadn’t seen it at the time, but it just occurred to him that the following pages in the journal right in front of him were maps of the same mountain but from different perspectives. He hadn’t gone through this entire journal yet, but as he flipped through it, he noticed his grandfather had marked areas where he had expected to find fairies, but those areas were crossed out. Fairies, it seemed, were extremely difficult to find.

  Considering how one was hidden in a gazebo, invisible to the human eye, Julian could understand his grandfather’s frustration. Without the help of the cat and owl, he and Willow wouldn’t have even suspected the fairy was there.

  He came toward the end of the journal and saw that the last few pages were blank. Surprised, he went to the last entry his grandfather had made. It was another map. The area his grandfather drew this time was a group of trees that were intersected by two different rivers. His grandfather had marked an arrow at the intersection.

  There was nothing crossed out on this particular page. Julian checked the date on the last e
ntry. His grandfather had made it four years before his death.

  “I think he found the fairy he was looking for,” Julian told Willow.

  She set the book aside and hurried over to him. “Where did he put it?”

  “I haven’t found anything about that,” he said. Afraid she’d be disappointed, he added, “I still haven’t gone through the last journal. There might be something in it about what happened. I’ve been going through these journals in the order he wrote them. At first, his focus was on finding out everything he could about Ireland and the folklore over there. Then, he spent years drawing maps and traveling there. He filled up three journals’ worth of maps. Then suddenly, he stopped. This is the last map he drew.”

  He moved the candle so that he could put the journal in front of her.

  She leaned toward him, and he suddenly wondered what she would have done if he had kissed her earlier that day when they were at the gazebo. Would she had welcomed it? She hadn’t pulled away from him when he kept holding her hand after they left the gazebo.

  “I suppose the arrow indicates where he probably found the fairy,” she said.

  He forced his attention back to the map and cleared his throat. “I think so. He had arrows on the other maps, but those were crossed out.”

  “They were?” Before he could respond, she turned to the previous page in the journal.

  He rose to his feet so he could get a better look at the page she was looking at. He pointed to the arrow that was among all the trees he had drawn. “He thought he could find one here, but the cross he marked through the spot he was looking at indicates he didn’t. He made this map six months before he made this one.” He turned the page to the last map his grandfather had done.

  “I didn’t notice that he posted dates in the lower corner of the pages.” She turned to the previous pages and studied the dates. “They vary. Some are a year apart, and others are only months apart.”

  “Yes. I’m sure that’s why my grandmother ended up going to London and taking my father and uncle with her.”