"When William is fed, we shall ride there."
"I don't mind setting sail." Jock looked upwards. "And I don't care if I never see another dragon the rest of my life."
"Don't talk badly of the dragons," Iliana said, feeding William bits of meat. "Mandrak cast his evil sorcery over them but a dragon saved our lives."
Jock looked doubtful but made no further comment.
It was decided they would ride to the seaport town while Jock rowed back to the ship and the Merry Maiden was brought round into the harbor.
Iliana had never been to the seaport town, but she knew vaguely of its existence. Now, as they entered the town, dusk had begun to settle. Torches lit the waterfront, and a celebration kept the town bustling. Happy faces, running children, food being cooked on open fire pits. It was certainly a festive air.
They were almost to the wooden docks where the Merry Maiden already waited, when three young men hailed them down. Erik leaned forward in his saddle and surveyed the happy troupe.
"What is it you celebrate?" he asked.
"The whole countryside celebrates," a young man said with a big grin, and it was apparent as he swayed on his feet that he'd imbibed more than his share of ale.
His companions, similarly unsteady on their feet, nodded vigorously. One man placed an arm across his mate's shoulder. "We are free men. It is a cause for all to celebrate. The fields are lush once more, the water flows freely to our crops, and no boys are marched off to war. Her ladyship has worked a miracle."
Erik laughed. "It is surely a cause to celebrate," he said, lifting a brow as he looked at Iliana.
The first young man waved his arm. "Come and join us, travelers."
"That is generous," Erik said, "but we have a ship that sails, and there is no time to delay."
The first young man raised a jug in the air. "On your return journey then," he called as they trotted away. "Upon your return."
"Let us hope there is no return journey," Iliana said softly.
"I agree, and it is time we set sail for home," said Erik. He dismounted at the bottom of the wide sturdy plank leading to the Merry Maiden. Jock and seaman Markin greeted them enthusiastically, Markin taking the reins of the destrier.
"Captain, you have been sore missed!" the man exclaimed.
"It is good to see you also, Markin, and looking in good health."
"Yes, Captain, still healing but I'm feeling right as rain."
"This is Iliana and my son William, but let us not linger. Handle him gently," Erik said to the young man as he led the destrier up the plank to the ship.
He took William in his arms, dropped a kiss on the sleeping boy's dark curls, then lifted a hand to Iliana. She dismounted slowly, a bit stiffly, and she was brought into his other arm. He hugged her, dropped a kiss on her nose.
Jock took the reins of Iliana's horse and a smile lit his face.
"Jock," Erik said, "In my arms I have all that I hold dear."
Jock's thick whiskers widened his cheeks as he smiled. "Aye, that I can see, Captain."
"Take the mare up before us. You have a separate holding area for her?" he asked.
"Aye," Jock said over his shoulder, rolling his eyes, "and let us hope the mare does not go into season on the journey back."
Erik laughed and tugged Iliana along with him. "Come, let me introduce you once again to The Merry Maiden and her crew."
¤¤
Iliana stood at the rail beside the man she loved. Today, she had seen yet another side to this fascinating man. Erik was a man who loved being a father. He took William about with him as they sailed, explaining to the child the workings of the ship.
No matter their future, Iliana felt content and loved. Some of the memories from her previous time on board the ship had returned, but not all. And then there was the story of her sword. In Erik's cabin he showed her his sword collection. Five swords, all flamberge rapiers, all similar in appearance to her own waved-blade rapier. He had collected them over time, and none of them had been created before the mid 1500's. A sliver of memory that had perhaps stayed with her.
They sailed west toward his homeland. Iliana was not sure what to expect, but by the third day she sensed something troubled Erik. He and Jock continuously consulted their maps and charts, and each time they came away looking less than reassured.
Finally, Iliana blurted, "Erik, you must tell me if we are lost at sea."
He looked up from the chart he was currently studying and gave her an affronted look. "Iliana, my dear, I assure you we are not lost."
"Then what troubles you and Jock?"
He pointed at the chart. "This is our course when we arrived here." He traced with his finger a path from a land mass and across the sea to England. "Here, in the Sargasso Sea we were sucked into the whirlpool vortex." He moved his finger closer to England. "We emerged here."
"And we sail the same course?" she asked.
"Aye, but we have been on the sea three days and when we arrived, it only took half a day." He frowned. "As a seaman I know it is logically impossible to traverse the sea in that amount of time."
Iliana bit her lip. "There is no vortex?"
"All I know for certain is it's all different this time."
"The Abbess said that which I once shunned I may now embrace. She stated I had the power to return from whence I came. Perhaps we are not meant to return to your time, but to my time."
Erik caught his breath. "How do we do that?" he asked.
Iliana lifted her shoulders and looked up at the cloudless sky. "I remember a dream of falling from the sky, but I never fell to the ground."
They both looked toward the blue sky.
¤¤
Four more days they rode the seas. It was midday through the fourth day that the dark winged creature appeared in the sky. One of the sailors in the rigging called out the winged creature's fast approach and almost fell to the deck in his fright.
Erik ran to where she and William sat playing a game of soldiers on the deck. "Iliana, take William and get below while I assess any danger."
Iliana quickly gathered William into her arms and ducked into the narrow stairwell that led down to their cabin.
Erik was reminded of a big buzzard as the dragon flew just above the sails, the greenish scales on its belly clearly seen.
"What can it want?" asked Jock. "We're sitting targets if it decides to make a meal of us."
Erik shook his head. "It's almost as if it is searching..." he looked at the stairway leading down to the cabin and saw Iliana standing in the shadows. "Could they be looking for you?" he wondered.
"Would it carry her and the child off?" Jock asked. "I'll kill it before I allow that to happen."
Erik moved out onto the open deck. He looked up at the dragon. "What is it you want?" he called. The dragon turned and flew north-northwest. It doubled back and repeated the pattern.
Jock scratched his head. "It's almost as if --"
"It wants us to follow," Erik said. He squinted into the distance, nudged Jock. "Give me your spyglass." Jock pulled out his telescope and handed it to him.
Erik stared into the distance where the dragon now circled in the sky.
"There's a white mist ahead," Erik muttered. "We'll need to adjust course."
"Captain, you're not thinking of sailing for it?" Jock asked. "It may lure us into a trap."
"Change course."
Jock looked at him, nodded, and then gave the order.
The dragon kept pace with them as the sails picked up the wind, skimming them very quickly over the sea and toward the swirling white mists.
"Erik." Iliana came to stand beside him, and he put an arm around her, held her and William securely against him as the white mist came to meet them. Once engulfed in the mist, he expected it to be cold and damp, but the air grew warm and almost tropical.
Almost immediately the mist began to thin. They looked back, just in time to see the dragon fly back the way it had come. The mist cleared and the drago
n was gone.
"Land!" came the cry from the rigging.
"Mountains," Erik said. "Could it be?"
"Do you recognize where we are, Erik?" she asked.
He nodded. "Jock?"
"Aye, Cap'n. We are returned home."
"The Catskill Mountains," Erik said. "We are home. Set sail for the harbor." Erik wondered could it be so easy? He had returned home safely with Iliana and William.
"Erik, for the first time I am scared."
Erik indicated she should sit on a wood ledge. He sat the boy on his lap. "What worries you, Iliana? We have made it safely."
"This is your time, Erik. How will you feel now that you are home and you have the responsibility of William and myself?"
Erik smiled and leaned close, placing a tender kiss on her mouth. Cupping her cheek, he said, "I recall what Sorenta told me back in the other time. She said I would leave behind something I once loved dearly and take with me something I never knew was mine. I left behind the old Erik and I took with me two things I hoped for but never knew were mine, you and William. My darling Iliana, all else will take care of itself."
She smiled and leaned against his shoulder. "We will adjust to this new life, William and I."
As they rounded a slight bend in the harbor and the trees gave way, Erik stared at the harbor before them. All the ships were small, sleek and white, tiny, really, in comparison to his vessel.
A long dock was unoccupied and gently they docked into place alongside the sturdy planking. They lowered the plank but Erik wondered how long had they been gone? The hills were the same, but the town...he no longer recognized Catskill or the strange sleek boats in the harbor.
"Erik," said Iliana, "you are frowning."
"The area is looking a mite different than the last time we set into port." He looked up toward the hills. "But the hills to the west, those are the same. That is our destination."
"Your home?" Iliana asked, excited.
"Our home," he corrected gently.
They unloaded the horses, and he noted the people gathered, their garments strange to him. "We ride straightaway to the mountains. Jock, if we do not return within two hours, sail out and set anchor on the river."
Erik and Iliana mounted their horses with William in the saddle in front of Erik, and they rode the hard surfaced streets. Following what he knew about the lay of the mountains he knew it would take them several hours.
As they trotted on the dirt path beside the road, Erik marveled at what lay around them. Contraptions with four wheels moved past them quickly. As another hour passed and the mountains drew closer, they passed open fields and more sparsely populated areas which felt more familiar.
"This is very familiar," he said. "We shall go to our house." They crossed a small wooden bridge and Erik and Iliana's horses drank from the stream.
The small village was gone. Where his and Darien's house had been was now an overgrown and wooded area. Erik looked at Iliana, knowing the trust she had placed in him. He had traveled so far to find her, and then in returning, he began to doubt his wisdom in traveling to this place. What odds would a betting man place on him getting back to the correct time and place after the journey he'd already traveled?
"Tell me," Iliana said quietly.
Erik sighed. "Nothing is as I expected."
A small vehicle with wheels stopped to the side of the road as they climbed from the stream bed to the road surface.
"What beautiful horses!" exclaimed a woman's voice.
Erik looked at her. She wore trousers cut short above her knees, a blouse that left her arms bare and her hair was scraped back from her face and tied behind her head.
"I love your horses. Are they from Darien's and Elise's farm?"
"What!" Erik roared.
The young girl quickly backed toward her vehicle.
Erik put out his hand. "Ma'am, I am sorry, truly, I did not mean to frighten you."
"Yes, Erik did not mean to frighten you," Iliana said soothingly. "We have been searching for Darien."
Carefully, Erik said, "Darien Remington?"
Warily, the girl nodded her head yes.
Erik grinned at Iliana. "My brother and sister-in-law."
"You're Darien's brother?" The young girl studied him closely. "Actually, you do look like him."
"Where can I find him?" Erik asked.
She pointed up the side road. "Up that hill and their farm is on the right."
"Thank you, Ma'am."
They remounted, Iliana took William up before her, and Erik all but jumped into his saddle. He saluted the young woman and they rode off.
"We have arrived in the future with your brother," Iliana asked breathlessly.
"I just hope he is not eighty years old," Erik exclaimed. Seeing the wooden sign Remington, he cut across a field and they cantered toward the house and barns in the woods.
A young lady stood in the stone road behind the house, speaking with a tall dark-haired man. Erik saw her look their way and hurry into the house.
The door opened and a man stepped out.
"Darien!" Erik roared.
They dismounted and a young lady came to lead their horses to the stables. Iliana shifted William to her other hip and watched the joyful reunion of the Remington brothers.
"Darien, this is Iliana, the woman I love."
Iliana saw the same sparkle in Darien's eyes as she'd seen in Erik's.
"I am pleased to make your acquaintance," she said.
Erik put his arm around her. "And this is William, my son."
"Your son?" Iliana saw Darien's surprise and then he smiled. "A nephew and a new sister-in-law," he said. "I can't wait to hear this tale. Welcome." He threw his arm around Erik's neck. "My God, I thought never to see you again."
"Yes, even I do not believe our luck." He looked at the women exiting the house. "And Elise," he said fondly. He looked at the blonde-haired young lady behind Elise. "And is this my niece Isabeau?"
"Rufus!" Elise exclaimed.
Erik began to laugh. "It is Erik now."
Iliana stared as the dark-haired woman embraced Erik, noted her beautiful face, her body with child.
Their eyes met. Shaking, Iliana put William down on the ground, her legs suddenly wobbly.
"Lily!" Elise exclaimed.
For Iliana, all went black.
Chapter Fourteen
The voices were around her. Iliana came awake with a start and stared at the faces above her. "Erik -- William?" she asked, a note of panic slicing through her.
Erik sat at her side and grabbed her hand. William sat beside her.
Iliana tried to push back the tears, "I remember who I am."
"Perhaps this should be left for later," Elise said. "Let Lily rest."
Iliana struggled to sit upright and Erik put pillows behind her on the settee where she had been placed.
"It must be said now." She put a hand to her head, taking a deep breath. She looked at Elise, then at Erik. "This is my time -- this is where I am from. We came back to my time, just as the abbess said I could. I just did not know it until I saw Elise."
"Lily," Elise said. "We never knew what happened to you."
"Yes, my real name is Lily. Three years ago my family died in a horrific fire. A fire caused by my carelessness." She gulped back tears clogging her throat. "When my parents died, I fell into a deep depression." Iliana drew in a breath of air, another, but Elise spoke, looking confused.
"But Lily, the fire marshal ruled the fire was caused by old wiring."
Iliana stared at her, hardly able to take in what she'd just said.
Elise came to her side. "Lily, you tried to get your father to upgrade the electric on his old Victorian house, but he refused. It wasn't your fault."
"But -- but we had candles for the Halloween pumpkins," Iliana said faintly.
Elise shook her head. "No, Lily." She frowned. "Now that I remember, no one knew where you were when the final investigation was complete." Elise looked
at Erik. "I came to know Lily when she used to give demonstrations on jewelry making at the local school. It was her passion."
Iliana looked at Erik and then down at William as he sat on the floor, staring at her with wide green eyes. "Ma, Ma, Ma," he said and she laughed.
"Oh, William, finally you say Ma, Ma." All you have said is Da, Da."
Erik picked up his son. "And why not?" he said proudly.
"And on that note," said Darien, "this is my daughter Isabeau, and her husband Pierce."
Iliana smiled at the beautiful young woman, also pregnant, and her handsome husband. "I met you once, Isabeau, many years ago," Iliana said. "I am pleased to meet you again and your husband Pierce." Iliana hesitated, then looked at Erik. "Erik can share with you how we came to be here."
For some reason they all began to laugh.
"Lily, we will all share with you our own time travel stories," said Elise. Wide-eyed, Iliana stared as each of them nodded.
"Though from the little I've heard, it sounds like yours and Erik's story may be the most interesting of all," said Darien.
Epilogue
Darien stared at his brother -- Erik, he reminded himself. "I hope I shall get used to your name in time," he said ruefully.
Erik turned his attention to the mountains. "It is good to be home," he said.
Darien sat forward. "Erik, I have given this thought -- I know you are intent on burning those life tapestries, as Iliana calls them, but I think you should reconsider. Did you ever think it might provide a clue to your past?"
Erik looked at him with narrowed eyes, his jaw tight. "That is something long gone and dead."
"Look at it and if you decide to burn it, so be it."
Erik came to his feet abruptly. "And will it show me how our father abandoned my mother?"
"In this era they talk about closure, and maybe that is what you can find."
"Damnation, I will get it and be done with it," Erik growled, "if only to stop your henpecking." And he strode across the deck and into the house. When he returned with the tapestry he walked to a flat area of the lawn, unrolled it and stepped back. "There," he said.
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