by Liz Bower
She gave him one last lick before lying down next to him, draping her legs across him. "That was amazing," he said, before kissing her forehead and wrapping his arm around her. They both fell into a satisfied sleep.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
April. That was supposed to be spring, right? As Jess walked down the lane, towards Alt Hall, it didn't feel like it. Frozen puddles crunched beneath her boots, the tops of the hedgerows laced with frost, which was starting to steam as the weak sun began to melt it. Hands encased in gloves, fingers twined with Rob’s, he gave her a squeeze. Looking up at him, she couldn't help but smile.
"I'd love to know what thought put that look on your face."
The smile spread even wider, and she squeezed his hand in return. Him. That's what had the goofy grin on her face, but she didn't want to tell him that, not yet. It had only been a week since they'd first fooled around together, after Matt and Emma's announcement. Even though this was the happiest she ever remembered being, she didn't want to tell him that. What if he thought that was too much pressure, or was getting too serious? Rob didn't do serious. Then again, she couldn't remember ever seeing him in a relationship with a woman. When she didn't tell him, he continued.
"Okay, let's see if I can keep it there then."
Tilting her head, she narrowed her eyes at him, wondering what he was up to.
"Jan called me, to let me know the funding came through for the next phase of the drop-in centre. That means we can start fixing the rooms into bedrooms, so I'll be going there this evening. I wondered if you wanted to come with me, because Jenny, the counsellor I told you about, she'll be there tonight too. So I thought you could help do some painting, get to know Jenny, discuss volunteering with her."
"Oh, my God," Jess said, before squealing. She jumped up and down in front of him, and he laughed at her excitement. Throwing herself at him, she hugged him tight and whispered into his ear, "Thank you."
"Get a room, you two."
Jess laughed at Emma's words, having said them to her and Matt, not long after they'd got together. Pressing a kiss to Rob's cheek, she fell into step beside Emma. Glancing over her shoulder, she relaxed as Matt and Rob chatted easily about something. As she looked ahead, she caught Emma's gaze fixed on her. "What?"
"You look happy."
Jess lifted a shoulder and said, "I am." She should’ve probably been more worried about what was happening. But since she had got together with Rob, she hadn't had any visions, and she was kind of hoping it was all over.
"So, you and Rob are happy? It's going well?"
"I guess so. I mean, it's only been a week."
Emma let out a heavy sigh at Jess's word.
"What is it?"
Emma shook her head. "It's nothing. I just remember those early days with Matt, that's all."
Jess glanced back at Matt and Rob, but they were deep in their own conversation. Matt looked happy enough to Jess. "Everything is all right between you two, isn't it?"
"Yes. I love him. It's just he keeps giving not-so-subtle hints about having kids. We've only just moved in together."
"You want kids, though, don't you? Jess asked.
Emma looked up at the sky, as a lone heron flew overhead, and let out another sigh. "I guess. I've never really given it much thought."
"So, you and Ben never talked about it?"
"God, no," Emma snorted. "Ben was still a kid himself. I spent more time worrying about him than thinking about our future. Good job, huh?"
Jess had never really given much thought to kids either, just assumed she'd have them at some point. She wondered what Rob felt about being a father, and then quickly dismissed that idea. It was far too early to be going down that line of thinking because they so weren't heading that way.
"But this is Matt," Jess said.
"I know."
"He's probably had, like, three girlfriends including you, and he's never lived with anyone before. Maybe he's just getting carried away." Jess realised what she'd said and tried to backtrack. "I mean, he's had girlfriends, just not that serious ..."
Emma put her hand on Jess's shoulder. "Jess, this is Matt, I know what you mean. And yeah, kids? Probably. But he's not even mentioned getting married first. I assume he wants to get married, and I'd like to do that before we talk about kids. I guess I'm old-fashioned that way. I know he freaked out at the idea of getting married at Altenbury Hall, and when he thought I was marrying James in my vision. But I thought he wanted to get married at some point. To be honest, I would have thought Matt would want to get married before having children. You know how he is about doing things in order."
"I guess."
"Gee, thanks, Jess. That's reassuring."
"I'm sorry, I'm just trying to remember if he's talked about marriage before." Jess had thought Matt and Emma had it all sorted. If these two had issues, what chance did she and Rob stand? Life was certainly simpler when you were single.
As if sensing her thoughts, she felt an arm snake around her waist. She gave Emma what she hoped was a reassuring smile. They fell silent when the boys caught up with them and they reached James's cottage.
James opened the door, and they all followed him inside. They removed layers of coats, scarves, gloves, and hats. After getting hot drinks for everyone, they finally all sat in the room James had converted into their office.
He'd obviously spent some time on local legends, Jess saw, as she glanced over the printouts he had tacked to the wall.
"Has anybody got anything new to add? Or even something that might be useful? Because so far, I've found nothing that seems even remotely linked."
Even if James hadn't stopped his pacing, jabbing a finger at the wall of printouts, Jess would have known how frustrated he was. His tone of voice said it all, and she knew he hated not being in control.
Jess stood and faced James, speaking directly to him. "I think we might be descended from Romans." Clearly, that got everyone's attention, as the room fell silent after her declaration.
"We can't be," Matt said. "I'd know if we were. I've researched the history of Altenchester, right back past Roman times."
"Yes, I know you have, but you've never researched our family in relation to the Romans. You've never researched us back to when the Romans were here. Has anybody looked back further than the 1700s into our family, before Alt Hall was built?" The question was met with silence and shakes of heads.
"I don't know for sure. I need to try and find some more records, as I've only found one obscure mention to a Roman soldier. And it sounded a little sordid, so I guess our family wouldn't have advertised the link. Plus, if it is true, then my last vision makes more sense."
Matt stopped chewing on his fingernail when she mentioned that. "It does. In the vision, you were where the Roman fort was. It was built just at the top of the lane, so how you described it matches its location. The prisoner mentioned sins of the fathers, which would imply a family connection. But who was the prisoner?"
Jess looked around, but the faces staring back at her were blank. They had no more idea than she had, and she'd seen the man.
"Maybe that's what we should be looking into now," Jess said.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Rob checked his watch and tried to get Jess's attention. Tapping his fingers on his knee, he waited for her to finish talking. When she finally did, he stood. "Jess, if you still want to help out at the centre, we really should leave now."
"I do. We need to leave you guys to it, but if you think of anything else, let me know."
Rob shrugged on his coat as James pulled Jess into a bear hug, which lifted her off her feet. Leaning down, James said something in her ear, before she hit him on the chest and James glared at Rob. Another brother not happy with him?
At least Matt was starting to come round after their chat. If it had been anyone but Matt, Rob would have been insulted, but he understood he was just looking out for his sister. But Rob had told Matt he had no plans of going anywhere soon—he was in
it for the long haul. He just needed to make sure Jess knew that too. As soon as they rounded the side of the cottage, he took Jess's hand in his.
She smiled up at him, the happiness rolling off her making him feel like he was doing something right. He would do anything to keep that look on her face because he hadn't seen enough of it before the last week.
He listened to her chatter excitedly about the drop-in centre. Rob smiled but answered her questions, until she stopped walking as they reached the top of the lane. Pulling on her hand, she didn't move, and he turned to ask her what was wrong. That was when he noticed her eyes were open but had rolled back in her head, revealing the whites of her eyes. Her body went limp, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his body to keep her upright.
"Jess?" Shit, what's wrong with her? She'd been fine five minutes before, but he couldn't get her to answer him, or stand up on her own. Glancing up and down the lane, he confirmed what he already knew—they were alone. Alone, and he had no idea how to help her.
***
Jess couldn't contain her excitement over visiting the drop-in centre and finally meeting Jenny. Wanting to know as much as she could beforehand, she questioned Rob about the location of the centre, about Jenny, about anything she could think of. Just as she was about to ask another question, she felt a coldness wrap around her. Not a cold from the frost—this was different.
She stopped at the top of the lane, as the light of the day faded to black. The only light, a flare of orange, off to her left. She glanced to her right to grab hold of Rob's hand again, but he had gone. She was alone.
From her left, she heard the shuffle of many feet. Slowly, she turned her head towards the sound and sucked in a sharp breath. From the bright glare of the flaming torches, she could see the arched opening in the wall, where soldiers marched out from underneath. They all wore the same uniform, a red dress with a leather-type corset over their chests with flaps hanging over their thighs.
Walking in unison, carrying short swords, they never glanced her way as they filed past. It was as though they couldn't see her standing next to them, but even so, she took a step back as one soldier passed close to her. He was carrying what looked like a horn. As he walked past her, she saw it was woven from branches, flowers and grapes spilling out of it, hanging over the opening. But she forgot all about it when she saw two soldiers who were dressed differently than the rest.
They wore a mail shirt over their tunics and woollen trousers. In one hand, they each held what looked like a spear, and were hauling a man between them. Her breath stopped when she recognised who they were dragging along.
At the sound of her breath catching, he looked up, straight at her. His black eyes bore through her as he opened his mouth to reveal his fang-like teeth.
"Struggle in vain thy will, as once again I shall conquer thee all. Mine time will come, thee shall see."
He spat the words in her direction then let out a cackle. But the soldiers never stopped, dragging him right past her, ignoring his words of threat. More soldiers in red followed behind him and she heard the words again, gradually fading the farther away he was drawn.
As the words dropped to a murmur, she watched the train of soldiers march towards the River Alten. They were travelling through nothing but fields, which didn't make sense, as they were heading straight for where Alt Hall should’ve been.
Stepping forward to follow, she stumbled as the sight before her disappeared. Replaced instead with bright daylight. Dazzled, she closed her eyes, strong arms holding her up.
"Jess?"
She heard her name whispered in her ear. She shuddered as she recognised Rob's voice and felt his breath blow across her ear. "Rob." Turning in his arms, she looked up into his face; his forehead wrinkled with worry. She placed her hand against his cheek, and it felt hot beneath her cold fingers. His gaze roamed over her face.
"What?"
"You were ... you were gone but still here. You couldn't hear me, couldn't see me. What happened?"
"I saw him again."
"Who?"
"The prisoner." Jess looked around her, at the hedgerows on either side of the lane. At Alt Farm, off to the right and the church, in the distance, to the left. Glanced up at the sky at the cry of the crow, black against the blue sky. "He was right here. They were leading him to the river."
"Who were?"
"Soldiers. Hundreds and hundreds of soldiers, and they were dragging him towards the river. The prisoner saw me and said that we were struggling in vain. That his time would come, and he would conquer us all. I don't understand what he means. I thought they were ..." She took a deep breath as she started to shiver uncontrollably. "I thought they were taking him to the river to drown him."
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Jess dropped onto the sofa, and Rob wrapped a blanket around her. As he walked past her to leave the living room, she grabbed his arm. "Don't go."
Taking her hand in his, he ran his thumb over her knuckles, as he smiled down at her. "I'm not going anywhere. I just wanted you to rest while I call Matt. We should tell him about your vision. And Jenny. I should call her, let her know we won't be able to make it."
Jess twisted around to face him and rose up onto her knees. "No, Rob, I still want to go."
"I don't think you should. You need to rest after that. You're in shock, I think, with the way you were shaking afterwards. Just ... stay here, please."
"Rob, I'm fine. I still want to go. This is as important to me as it is to you."
He huffed out a breath and pursed his lips at her. "I'll tell her we'll be late, but hopefully still be able to make it. No promises."
Jess smiled up at him, knowing Rob didn't break the promises he made. They were going though; she'd make sure of it.
As she watched Rob leave the room, sliding his mobile out of his jeans pocket, she let her head fall back against the sofa. Was she in shock? It didn't feel like she was. She'd been scared; she would admit that. What if Rob hadn't been there? If she had been alone when she'd had the vision, what would have happened to her?
Rob had said it was like she wasn't there, even as he held her upright in his arms. A vague recollection of Emma having a vision down by the river came to mind. Matt had found her just as the vision had ended, caught her in his arms. A shudder ran through her at the thought of being alone, and she pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders.
With her head back against the cushion, she closed her eyes, but when she did all she could see was the prisoner's grotesque face. Not quite a man, yet not a beast either.
Opening her eyes to dismiss the image, she wondered who he was. What he was. Because he seemed to know who she was. At the least, he knew her family, as though there was some history between them. Rubbing her finger and thumb over her eyes, she lifted her head and rolled her shoulders.
She'd lost count of the number of hours she'd spent researching her family history, and there was no mention of a family feud or even a dispute. The Altenburys had always been well liked in Altenchester and the surrounding villages. They had brought jobs to the local families. And, in the early days of their family, provided a place for village life to centre around.
But the way the stranger had spoken to her had been with a sense of hatred. Her hands turned clammy, her heart beating faster at the thought of meeting him again. What if he could hurt her in one of her visions? If he managed to escape the soldiers, would he come looking for her? Looking for revenge? She jumped as a hand landed on her shoulder.
"Hey, it's only me."
Looking up at Rob, she let out a nervous laugh, not wanting him to know how scared she was of seeing the stranger again. "Did you speak to Matt and Jenny?" She leaned against him as he sat next to her and draped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her even closer.
"Yes. I had to convince Matt you were fine with me, and he didn't need to come round right away. I think Emma was actually the one to convince him. Jenny said she would be late herself and, if we coul
d, to meet her at two o'clock."
Jess nodded, taking his free hand in hers, threading their fingers together.
He lowered his head so he could look her straight in the eye. "We don't have to go if you don't feel up to it. I'll still stay here with you. If we don't go, I can just go another day."
She shook her head vehemently. "No, I want to go. I refuse to stop doing what I want to because of that ... that man. He doesn't get a say in our lives." And with that declaration, she pressed her lips to his.
After they had eaten a hurriedly made sandwich, Rob drove them to his house so he could pick up some supplies. When they had arrived at the drop-in centre, Jenny was already painting one of the back rooms. Rob decided to help in there too, so he could keep an eye on Jess while she and Jenny chatted.
This vision had him more worried than the others. In those, she'd woken up in bed, with remnants of the vision brought with her, like mud or feathers. But this last one? They had just been walking up the lane; it had happened in the middle of the day. She had been chatting away to him one minute, and the next she had gone, but not really. He couldn't understand it. Holding her in his arms, while she hadn't actually been there, had been so strange.
A snort escaped him at that thought. Talk about an understatement. Twisting his fingers into the hair at the back of his neck, he pulled on it, hard. Because he felt helpless. He couldn't protect her from the visions, couldn't stop them. What if she got hurt from the next one, or worse?
"Jenny's done for the day, so we can go home if you want."
A smile twitched at his lips at her words, wondering if she realised what she'd said. Probably not, he was getting carried away. "Sure, I'll just finish up this bit."
They were the last ones to leave, so after he had cleared away his painting equipment, he locked up the doors to the centre. Glancing up, he saw how dark the sky had become. Clouds? Flicking up the collar of his coat, he threaded his fingers through Jess's. He pulled her close as they walked quickly back towards where he had left the car.