Out of Time

by Loretta Livingstone

  She threw her head back and pealed with very un-nun-like laughter.

  “Marion, I adore tea. And I haven’t tasted it for nigh on thirty years. At first, I wondered how I would ever survive without it. But as you see, here I am.”

  “You know? How? And how do you know about my time?”

  She took my hands. “Your rings, my dear. They are 20th century, yes? Nothing like that is made in this age. Your rings are from the future.”

  “But how do you know these things?”

  “There is another clue,” she said, pointing at my shawl. “May I take this?”

  I clutched it to myself nervously. “Sister Ursel said not to remove it.”

  “Ah, yes, but you needn’t worry about me. That’s why she fetched me, you see.”

  She gently peeled the shawl from my shoulders and pointed to my vaccination mark. Then, she rolled up the sleeve of her habit and showed me her own arm. Sure enough, dimpling the skin was a small round scar. “Safest not to let anyone see that. It may be taken for a witch’s mark,” she said seriously.

  I sat there stunned and gawping. This tall abbess – from my time? I couldn’t believe it.

  “Surely you don’t think you are the only one who has ever wandered too close to that old tree? I was in my twenties, studying to be a doctor. They needed me here. It only ever brings people through when there’s a need.”

  “But you’re still here,” I wailed. “You didn’t get back. How do you know I will?”

  “I chose to stay. They needed me so. It was meant to be, child. We must need you for some purpose yet to be unravelled, then you may choose to stay or go. But you have no choice, truthfully. I had no family. You belong with your family. You will return to them, but for now, you are here. You may as well enjoy the time; when it is right, you will get back.” She looked at me calmly. “Now, we just have to find out why you’re here, and what to do with you until we know. For now, we’ll have to pretend you’ve need of shelter and we’ve taken you in, maybe as a lay sister. It’s all right.” She laughed at my horrified expression. “You won’t have to be a nun, just help out a little. Stand up, Marion, dear, let me take a closer look at you.”

  I stood obediently, and she walked around me, tapping her chin with her finger, deep in thought. “Hmm. Yes, the timing has worked very well. There have been others…”

  “Others?” I spluttered.

  “Well, of course, dear, but only a very few. And some of them have been quite unsuitably dressed. It has been very difficult to explain them away. But you, Marion, unless anyone were to look too closely, blend in fairly well. Is that the style these days? Very nice. Comfortable, too, I should imagine. Of course, the top is nowhere near modest enough, but if we keep that nice shawl wrapped around you…” She put her head on one side, considering. “Yes, if we wrap it just so, I think it will do.”

  She tugged gently at the waistband of my dress. “Ah, elastic. Yes, I remember it. Wonderful stuff. Now, we don’t know how long you’re here for, but I think we may need to hide that and your underwear if you’re still here tonight.” She paused for a moment. “I suppose it can be concealed beneath a shift.”

  “My underwear?”

  “Oh yes. Elastic?” I nodded. “Bra? Panties? Slip? Nobody wears anything like that in these times. Still, let’s see. You may not be here long enough to worry about that. Just do as Sister Ursel instructed and keep that shawl tied tightly over your top. Also keep your head covered with it. Your hairstyle, you know, would be remarked on.”

  “Sister Ursel knows?” What was it with these time-travelling nuns?

  Abbess Hildegarde looked at me indulgently. “Well, I had to explain my knowledge of healing to someone. Ursel is older than I and knows how to keep secrets. She is widely recognised as a healer in these parts. That’s due in no little wise to what I taught her added to the skills she already had. Ursel won’t tell. And she is teaching Sister Etheldreda. That girl is very quick to work things out. I shall bring her into the secret if need be, but for now, the fewer who know, the better.”

  I sat down again, still feeling rather shaky, and took a cautious sip of whatever it was Sister Ursel had brought me. It actually tasted quite pleasant. I think it may have had some wine in it, certainly some herbs and honey. It was like nothing I had tasted before but, yes, it really was rather nice. I sipped some more. Hildegarde smiled approvingly.

  “That’s right, drink it up. It will do you good.”

  We sat there quietly for a few moments as I drank. She was right. It did seem to help calm me a little. My heart didn’t seem to be pounding quite so hard and the trembling inside me had eased.

  My mug drained, the Abbess became serious. “Now, to business. Would you mind if I had a look in that bag of yours? I may replace it with a basket, I think. It’s quite ornate. It will be provoking rumours of theft or something. Do you mind?”

  I held it out obediently, and she rummaged inside.

  “What in the world is this?” She held out my mobile phone.

  “Abbess, if you don’t mind me asking, when was your time?”

  “The mid-1970s. I used to be called Doreen.” She sighed reminiscently. “It was quite a good time. We did have some wonderful music. Sometimes, one wearies of all this chanting. But there! It is a small price to pay. I just thank the good Lord I wasn’t wearing a mini or bell-bottoms when I fell through. That would have caused quite a commotion. Happily, I’d opted to wear a maxi dress that day. It didn’t quite fit this era, but it caused considerably less confusion than the other options. Wearing those, I don’t know what would have happened to me. Can you imagine their faces?” She threw back her head, and the room rang with a peal of such merriment. I liked this woman.

  “So what is it?” She fiddled with it, pressing the buttons.

  I took it from her quickly before she could switch it on. “It’s a way of communicating. It’s a phone, but not like you would have known.”

  “Ah, I see.” She nodded. “Like a walkie-talkie?”

  “Something like that.”

  She rummaged again and held out my satnav.

  “Now, that is a way of finding your directions when driving. It talks to you.”

  Her eyes sparkled with amusement. “It does? And men actually listen? In my day, they never took directions from anyone.”

  “Not much has changed there, then. They listen to technology, but they still don’t listen to their wives.” I grinned, remembering the many times Tom hadn’t followed my directions and had got himself lost.

  Suddenly, there was a commotion outside and a peremptory hammering upon the door. Abbess Hildegarde opened it hurriedly to find a group of men, her indignant porteress standing flushed and furious beside them, arms akimbo.

  “Sister Berthe?” Hildegarde raised an enquiring eyebrow.

  One of the men started to speak at the same time as Sister Berthe squawked indignantly, “Mother Abbess, they refused to remove their swords. I’ve told them they can’t come into the Abbey armed!”

  As Berthe spluttered in indignation, the man, evidently the spokesman of the group, glared murderously. He was tall with a neatly trimmed black beard and a hawkish face, lean and well-muscled. He looked capable of cruelty but at the moment was showing signs of strain. Turning on the porteress, he swore violently. “Shut your mouth, crone.” The other men crowded behind him all talking at once.

  “Silence!” Hildegarde held up her hand, and they ceased immediately. There was something to be said for authority here. “Sister Berthe? What is happening? Why this disturbance?”

  As Sister Berthe opened her mouth to speak, the black-bearded man clamped an arm around her, holding his hand against her mouth. Hildegarde’s eyes blazed with fury. “I apologise for silencing this clucking old hen.” Berthe’s eyes bulged with anger against his muffling hand. “But our need is most urgent, Abbess. Will, bring Jo…er, Jankin forward please.”

  A fair-haired young giant and another man lifted a sort of stretcher
before the Abbess. On it lay a greatly distressed, elegantly dressed man in his early to mid-twenties, with a graze on his head, his face bloated, eyes swollen shut, and a tinge of blue beginning to form around his mouth. He gasped for breath, his chest making a distressing noise.

  “Abbess, we need your infirmaress urgently but not in the infirmary. Have you a private chamber?”

  Hildegarde seemed to sum up the situation in a heartbeat. “Follow me, and Sister Felicia,” to a nun who, hearing the clamour, had run to them, eyes wide with fear, “fetch Sister Ursel! Run!” She snapped her fingers at the young nun, who turned and fled through the cloisters, her veil streaming behind her like a large bird

  Their spokesman indicated the man on the stretcher. “It’s Jankin, here. We don’t know what’s happened to him. One moment all was well; the next he fell from his horse. He had hit his head a short while earlier but, apart from this graze, it did not seem to cause him serious hurt. He appeared well enough after. And look! See his face. What ails him, Abbess? Can you do aught for him?”

  The Abbess looked closely at him, then straightened, a grave look on her face. “I’m not sure. We shall see what we can do. Please, come with me.” She set off through the cloisters, the men following her.

  I stood there for a moment, then grabbed my bag and set off after them. I’d seen this before.

  Abbess Hildegarde opened the door to a large well-furnished chamber, as Sister Ursel came bustling to meet them. The men laid Jankin tenderly on the bed, and Ursel bent to examine him, then stood, a look of worry on her face. “He hit his head you say? Yet, this is not caused by a head wound. I’ve only seen it once before. Has something stung him, do you know?”

  Their leader scratched his chin and looked thoughtful. “Stung? Why yes, a while ago. But–”

  Ursel interrupted him. “Wasp or bee?”

  “I forget. Is it of great matter? Anyone else see it, lads?”

  There was a general shuffling, but none of them spoke up.

  “Oh, get out of my way. Men! Useless great knaves,” she muttered under her breath, as she removed his mantle. “Now, help me get his tunic off.”

  They did her bidding, easing it off him as gently as they could.

  Ursel examined him, unlacing the neck of his shirt. “Yes, here is the sting. Here is the bee too, look.” A dead bee fell from the shirt, tumbling onto the bed beside its victim. “Now, I need to get rid of this sting. And I need to think. Out! Out!” She clapped her hands and drove the men from the room, then gently eased out the sting, being careful to avoid getting more poison into her patient’s ailing body.

  Hildegarde looked at her gravely. “Can you do anything?”

  “Mayhap, but the last person I saw taken like this died. Nothing I could do.”

  I stepped into the gap between them, speaking in low tones. “I think I might be able to help. At least, I can try. But you need to keep them out.” I nodded at the men, who were still milling anxiously in the doorway.

  “Out, gentlemen. Out! Out! Out!” Hildegarde clapped her hands at them as though they were recalcitrant infants. Taken by surprise, they stepped backwards involuntarily. Hildegarde shut the door and dropped the sneck into place.

  I feverishly rummaged in my bag for Shannon’s spare adrenaline. It had to be there. Why couldn’t I find it? Calm down and start again, I told myself. Slowing my scrabbling hands down, I forced myself to go methodically through my bag. There it was. Gasping with relief, I grabbed it. “Sit him up,” I instructed. Ursel looked bewildered. “Just do it.”

  They didn’t argue but got behind him and raised him to an upright position. I held the epinephrine pen in my fist, swung my arm and jabbed him in the thigh with it.

  Hildegarde and Ursel stood there staring, their mouths perfect Os of astonishment.

  Holding my breath, I gently rubbed the injection site until the swelling started to go down. It probably took less than three minutes, but it felt like an hour. That awful rasping noise he’d been making eased. He really needed to have proper medical attention, but I couldn’t very well take him back to the tree and disappear with him. I had to hope he would be okay. “That’s all I can do, the rest is up to God. It may work. If not…” I shrugged.

  Abbess Hildegarde looked around, then thrust my bag at me. “Put that away quickly,” she muttered, striding to the door. “God be praised, gentlemen, we have a miracle. He is recovering. I’ll leave you with Sister Ursel.” She turned to me, “Marion, with me now, if you please.”

  I didn’t need telling twice. I clutched my bag to me, scrunching it up as tightly as I could so they didn’t get much of a look at it. We had not got as far as transferring my belongings to the basket Hildegarde had produced.

  I needn’t have bothered. No one noticed me. All eyes were on Jankin as they surged into the chamber behind us.

  “Sister Etheldreda.” Hildegarde gestured to the nun I’d seen previously, who was coming towards the infirmary. “Walk with me.” They spoke quietly together as they headed towards Hildegarde’s chamber, with me scurrying behind. As we reached the door, Etheldreda hurried off. The Abbess almost pushed me into her room and closed the door.

  “Quickly, we haven’t much time. Tell me all you know about what happened. This seems to be an allergic reaction. I haven’t seen one, but the symptoms seem to indicate that.”

  I nodded. “Yes, it seems he is allergic to bee stings. If it happens again he probably will die without this.” I held up the epinephrine. Hildegarde took it from me and examined it.

  “Hmm. I seem to remember hearing about this. It was still in the research stage back then, I think. Certainly, I’ve never seen one. There’s a use-by date on the side.” She studied it and grinned. “July 2006. I don’t think that will help much, will it? Might it last a little longer, though?” She considered, head on one side, eyes creased in thought.

  I took it from her gently. “Abbess, it only lasts for one injection. You cannot use it twice.”

  She sighed. “I thought it was too good to be true. I’ve learnt much about herbs since I’ve been here. Unfortunately, I have yet to find a herb which might do anything similar to this. Never mind. The most important thing at the moment is what to do about you. There’s no time to waste and no time to explain, but I very much fear your presence here has put you in grave danger.”

  A sudden scratching at the door made me jump. Etheldreda came in with a bundle. The Abbess took it from her and turned to me.

  “Quick. No time to waste. Take off your dress and put this on.” She thrust a habit into my hands. “I’ll take care of your gown.” Hildegarde took my dress as I stepped out of it and gave it to Etheldreda, who left the room quietly. Hildegarde helped me into the unfamiliar garb of a nun, fingers flying as she fastened it around me. “Now, in here. Make haste!” She pushed aside a cupboard, revealing a hidden door which she opened, motioning me to step inside. I found myself in a small, dark cell. “It used to be a punishment cell a long time ago. Not many people remember it now. Stay still, and whatever you do, don’t make any noise!” She kindled a small horn lantern, pushed it into my hands and shut the door hurriedly. I was left alone in the dark.

  I hate confined spaces, and I’m not over fond of the dark either. I don’t mind it too much as long as it isn’t pitch black, but the darkness inside this cell was inky, apart from the small circle illuminated by my lamp. I couldn’t see anything beyond the area just around me. Holding out my lamp, I tried to penetrate the heavy darkness which seemed to press against my eyes. To my right, I could make out a wall. I took a careless step forward and banged my shin on something low to the ground. Holding the lantern lower, I found some kind of bed with a mattress stuffed with straw or something. I sat gingerly, hoping there were no bugs in it. Raising my lantern, I tried to make out more of the room, but the light was so dim, I gave up. Sitting there, afraid to move in case I made a noise, I tried to quell the tide of panic welling up in me. The blackness was so thick it seemed to threaten to extingu
ish my small glimmer of light. Terrified in case it went out, I concentrated on the space in front of me which I knew to be the door. If I looked really hard, I imagined I could see a thin sliver of light coming from the edge. I kept my eyes on that and stayed there, still, mute with fear.

  A commotion in the room beyond made me jump. Loud voices, clanking weapons, and then Hildegarde’s calm voice. “Please be seated, gentlemen. What can I do for you?”

  A harsh voice – the spokesman, the one I had noticed. “Abbess, do you know who J…Jankin is?”

  “I am not sure. Will you tell me?”

  “Safer you know nothing. And safer by far if you forget anything you’ve seen today.”

  Hildegarde’s voice showed no trace of fear.

  “How can I forget something which never happened to someone I have never met?”

  “And what of your women? The sisters?”

  “Most of my sisters have seen nothing. They are sheltered young women; indeed, they rarely leave the confines of the Abbey. You have nothing to fear from their tongues, my lord.”

  “What about the old one. The infirmaress? She saw everything.”

  “My lord, we are nuns, women of God. We do not gossip. We do not involve ourselves with worldly things. We are here to serve the Lord. We pray; we nurse; we work. We do little else. We mix little with those from the outside.”

  “Very well, so be it. Be sure your daughter nuns do not remember anything they have seen. Now, about the young woman who entered the infirmary with you.”

  I felt myself go cold. An involuntary shiver ran through me at the menace in the voice.

  “Ah, yes. She was merely here delivering a message. She has gone now. She saw very little.” The calm voice was assured. “I believe she lives some way off, and I am very sure she understood nothing of what she saw.”

  Part of me was shocked. This woman was an abbess. Yet I supposed she was telling a version of the truth.

  “So you say, Abbess, but I think it behoves us to make sure of that. And before we go, I think we will just take a look around to make sure she didn’t linger. One of my men will remain with you while we search.”