He could feel her now, her warmth, her incredible softness, knowing but not thinking about just how very small she was, but then she kissed him, and all of his semi-thoughts fell away in the face of a hunger he had not fully realized was there. They kissed and groped at one another until they dropped as one to the rock ledge. They lay side by side, mouths touching hungrily, his hands searching her body, until almost by luck, they found her small breasts. He felt her stiffen for the briefest moment and take a deep breath, but then she relaxed once more and pulled him closer, and then he lost himself in her spell. It wasn’t until she placed a bold hand between his legs that he realized that he was naked beside her. The shock and pleasure of her touch seemed to rouse him from the magical spell and he had another moment of hesitation, but her insistent stroking quickly drove away any thoughts of restraint. Instinctively he moved, guided by her warmth, and entered her. She cried out softly, as much in pleasure as in pain, but Matt blinked and gazed down into her face, wanting and needing her, but also ashamed. With great effort he forced himself up and away from her body.
“No...” she whispered, reaching for him. She desperately wanted to reassure him, to take away the look of despair and doubt on his face. But he stood shakily nevertheless, and willed his body, which was still on fire, to turn away from the girl.
“Matthew,” Ellyn whispered as he struggled away from her. He turned at her voice and gazed down at her perfect body. He wavered a moment and then his own desire overwhelmed him and then fell on her once more. It was over for them both very quickly; for her with pain and just a hint of pleasure, but for him it was a release of such intense pressure that it left him weak and shaking. She watched him closely as he came down from the heights. At first his face was serene and he looked at her with such love that she knew this moment was worth anything, but then he face hardened and changed, and a look of disgust and self-loathing swept over it. His entire body stiffened up again, as the image of millions of dead women rushed back to him. The crushing grief and despair of the memory consumed him; hitting him with such force that he scrambled away from Ellyn until his back hit the barn wall.
The girl rose slightly, surprised and dismayed, not fully understanding his pain. All she wanted was to give him happiness and pleasure. She moved toward him, full of sympathy, but stopped suddenly as he started to cry. He wept hard, in great racking sobs. In all her young life she’d never seen anyone; man or woman cry like that, and it moved her greatly. Just then the sun popped over the horizon and caught the barn, the man and his grief, in its golden light, and Ellyn felt her own eye’s tearing up. She moved to her knees wanting desperately to comfort him, but before she could even stand, he leaped to his feet with the speed only the strangers seemed to possess. Once on his feet, the Major cried out like a man possessed, and swung first an elbow, then a fist into the rotting boards of the barn wall. The old building did not stand a chance against his sorrow and fury. He spun and kicked, swinging and hitting the wall with such force that his knuckles began to bleed. The barn groaned under the onslaught.
Frozen in place, Ellyn watched it all with stunned fascination, and then as suddenly as a spring shower, he stopped. He seemed to calm, but then he raised his face to the heavens and screamed at the top of his lungs. Ellyn jumped at the sound as Matt staggered away from the barn and toward the river. He wavered a moment before once more falling to his knees. His breathing was coming in large, deep gasps but he was no longer crying. He just sat resting, breathing heavily from his exertions.
Ellyn stood and ran to him and crushed his head to her bare, flat stomach, before falling down to kneel beside him. They kissed and held each other. After a long minute they pulled apart and gazed deeply at one another. They were still staring, each entranced by the intimacy of the moment, when the sounds of hurried footsteps grew louder, and though they were both naked neither made a move to end the embrace. At least a dozen men, some soldiers and some huscarls that manned the town wall, rounded the corner. They all immediately slid to a halt as they caught sight of the two early morning lovers. Neither Matt nor Ellyn made a move to cover their nakedness; instead they looked calmly back at the men gawking at them. Everyone remained stunned for several long seconds then a loud groan filled the air. Matt frowned as everything went quiet once more, then suddenly the groans returned, louder than ever, and without warning the barn collapsed in a great roar of noise, startlingly loud in the still morning air.
The two lovers looked first at the barn, and then at each other.
“I believe ye may have awakened Aunt Eldreena,” Ellyn said, coughing from the dust. Matt nodded solemnly and then everyone burst out laughing. Ellyn hugged Matt fiercely and kissed his cheeks, his eyes, and his mouth. The men, seeing no danger, left discreetly and shortly thereafter Matt made love to his new woman, but this time he took extra care to satisfy her needs, which he did with much skill. When they finally dressed they both felt wonderfully better, and moved past the ruined barn with high amusement. Ellyn’s Aunt, however, was not nearly so amused.
After they’d split apart, Matt initially went to the ship, which was still an enigma and quickly becoming a lost cause. They could find no reason for the engines to be offline and the growing frustration threatened to become a serious mental block for Matt and the crew. Sergeant Blish was now spending the majority of his time with the Skawp ship and he was unaccustomed to prolonged snags with anything mechanical. He, Turnbull and Wells were making very little progress, and none of them could stand their commander’s happy demeanor and smiling face for long. Matt only worked with them for about an hour before Blish chased him off, but not without a smile and a good deal of envy.
So Matt went to the mess tent where Rice, Osage, and Guon had set up their impromptu school. The student body had now tripled since its inception. In attendance were many peasants, and a few noblemen, if fact three of the new students were older than any of their teachers. Father Gillian and the monk Padstone were also in attendance every day, in fact they never actually left the encampment anymore, and slept on cots in Rice’s tent, following Master Leoforic’s example. The entire group was now thoroughly committed to learning, and sucked up any and all knowledge like a forest fire sucked oxygen. Padstone, since he was much more scholar than monk, was especially feverish and Rice had to be very careful not to let the man’s unrelenting questions steer them off the lesson plan. Not a day passed without the old monk’s entire worldview being either cracked or shattered by some tidbit of knowledge discovered within the classroom. It took a tough, solid mind to take that kind of beating and remain excited, enthusiastic and sane.
But it was only in search of the Lady Ellyn that Matt stepped into the tent. He spotted her immediately, and was surprised to find her Aunt Eldreena sitting next to her dutifully in class. The girl beamed at him from the first, obviously out of her mind with happiness, but her Aunt just shook her head and waved a bony finger at him.
“Sorry for the interruption Doctor,” Matt said, everyone eyeing him closely. “May I watch...perhaps help?”
Word of the morning’s interlude had spread like a cholera epidemic, first through the town and then through the American camp. Gordon was well aware of his friend’s interlude with the Lady Ellyn. By now there were a fair number of soldiers who’d been lucky enough to spend some intimate time with a local girl; Matt however, was the first to be with one of the noblewomen. Rice frowned at the Major, but motioned for him to sit, but before he could Eldreena was up and moving past him.
“I’d speak with ye,” she said like a command, much to the horror of Ellyn, and the amusement of the soldiers present. Matt gulped and followed the old woman out of the tent and a good hundred feet from its canvas walls.
“The Lady Ellyn’s bin walkin’ on air all de morn long,” Eldreena started scornfully.
“As have I,” Matt replied happily.
“Yah, I’m sure ye have...but wot’s to become of it. Her father’s na gonna be happy ‘bout it, and I’m na sure I be
neither.”
Matt shrugged. “I’m not sure what’s to become of it,” he began truthfully. If the ship was suddenly repaired he’d be gone. There was no doubt to that, though in the past week he was beginning to question his will to fly to the stars and avenge mankind.
“Well, ye best be a thinkin’ on it. We be leavin’ soon for our home at Bridgwater. Sir Oldalf’s duty here is done, and he has his own worries and lands to tend,” the old woman scolded.
The news hit Matt like a good punch to the stomach. He was so concerned about his own farewell it never crossed his mind that Ellyn may be the one to leave. His smile dropped from his face, and Eldreena, old though she was, could still tell when a man was in love, and her face softened a bit.
“Ye best be thinkin’,” she added and turned to go.
“What should I do?” He asked abruptly, confused. He knew that it might be for the best if Ellyn were to leave...things were getting very complicated. But he also realized that he had only one real desire in this new world, and that was to be with the young woman from Bridgwater.
“I canna tell ye dat son,” Eldreena replied with a slight smile, feeling the man’s panic. “I kin say dat de Lady be trustin’ ye like no other, an’ she will fall hard if’n ye let her down. Mayhap de Lady Merwinna kin come up with an idea or two...she be a smart Lady...dat she is.”
Matt thought about it a moment then smiled at the small, wrinkled, old woman next to him. He bent and kissed her hand. “Thank you,” he said as humbly as he could. Eldreena smiled at him, and her eyes sparkled as brightly as any a young maiden’s
“Ye kin thank me by makin’ the Lady Ellyn happy...dat be ‘nough,” she answered and then with a bit of mischief Matt didn’t know she had she patted his hand.
“Course if’n I was younger, I’d be pushin’ her into the mud to get to ye...” she said with a cackle and then headed back to the classroom still laughing loudly.
Matt watched her go, then after only a few seconds of deliberation, set out to find the Lady Merwinna. He had a decision to make and wanted to solve this problem before General Peebles and the rest returned. After a bit of a search, he found her knitting with her ladies in a gazebo by the river. The flattened barn was not a hundred yards away in the background. Her ladies smiled and twittered behind their knitting as he approached, but the Lady Merwinna remained dignified, though her eyes were shining.
“Good Morn, Mayjor Thane...” she said as he walked up. “Are ye here to repair the barn?”
Matt felt a rush of blood to his face, and the ladies around him laughed all the harder.
“Well, no ma’am,” he stammered. “I was wondering if I might have a word alone with you.”
“Ye’d like to be alone with me?” Merwinna asked playfully. The ladies twittered again.
“Yes ma’am.”
“Be gone hens,” she said imperiously to her ladies. “This young gentleman wishes to speak with me, though mayhap we should do it away from the gazebo...” The ladies laughter grew as they left for the Manor Hall. When they were alone, the Lady Merwinna studied her new companion closely, and with such a keen eye that it made Matt blush all the more. Despite this morning’s interlude, he was far from used to having women about. He’d forgotten how shrewd they were at picking up even the smallest emotional signals.
“Speak,” the noblewoman finally said.
Matt had no idea where to begin. “The Lady Eldreena suggested I come to you. She has much faith in your wisdom,” he began simply.
“About wot?” she asked, though she had a good idea.
“Well,” he continued, surprised at his own nervousness and embarrassment. He thought he was well past such foolishness. “She tells me that the Lady Ellyn and her father will be leaving to go to Bridgwater soon...and I thought maybe you could figure a way for her to stay at Athelney.”
The Lady Merwinna was thoughtful a moment. “There be ways, but why?”
“Because, I’ve fallen in love with her,” Matt blurted out before he knew what he was saying, or feeling. It couldn’t be true, after all he’d known the Lady Ellyn for less than a week, but he felt it nonetheless. Was it true? Could it be true? And if so, just what did it mean?
The Lady Merwinna watched the confusion play out across the man’s face. She raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Methinks I can help ye,” she replied moving closer, “but first I wold know some things Mayjor Thane.”
“Of course,” he said thinking her curiosity would extend to bits and pieces of his own personal life and his new found love for Ellyn.
“Who be ye men really? That ye have royal blood is easy to see. Ye all have the size, strength and manner of Kings, but who ye be and why have ye come to these lands...I’d like the truth on that matter.”
Matt was taken by surprise, but found a new respect for the sharp woman by his side. She stared back at him craftily and with sudden insight Matt realized who really ran the county of Somerset. Merwinna nodded at his realization, smiling knowingly as if reading his mind. And so he told her without hesitation of his entire life, and how he and his fellow soldiers had suddenly appeared in these lands. To her credit she listened without a word or question, and though she understood most of what was said, some of the story sounded much like a fairytale to her, while other parts were completely nonsensical.
There were concepts she just couldn’t grasp about the twenty-first century having lived her entire life in the ninth. He told her all about his time, of cars, airplanes, and how anywhere in the world was no more than a few hours away. He told of computers, and the internet, cell phones, which allowed you to talk or even see anyone in the world instantly. He told her of television, of airplanes, submarines and space flight. He told her about man’s first trip to Mars, the space station and commercial space planes that were just beginning to take everyday people into orbit. He told of the many sports people played, of restaurants and downloading music, of streaming news and movie theaters. He tried to describe just how many people populated the Earth. He did an admirable job and the vision was before her and then he told her how everything was destroyed, everyone was killed...all of them, starting with the women and children and then finally the men. He told how they’d made Eve in a lab, without a mother’s body for protection and what the little girl meant to them all. And he told her of their final hope, their trip back through time.
“They’re out there even now you know...the Skawps,” he added looking up into the sky. She followed his eyes and spotted the half moon, then shivered. “They’re a much older species, millions of years older. From what we know of them, they learn and adapt much more slowly than we do, but they are out there, somewhere in space, waiting...waiting to destroy us.”
The Lady Merwinna was silent for a long time, children ran past laughing and playing in the sunshine, and she tried for a moment to imagine everything, everyone gone. It was a horrible thought and she shuddered again. All dead, even the Danes, she thought with wonder and a bit of nausea. She thought how unbelievable it must have been to go through something so utterly awful; it was truly unimaginable. Eve scampered by with her many new friends and spotted Matt sitting in the gazebo. She skipped over and climbed into his lap. He kissed her gently on the head before she began to squirm to get down, without another word she ran off screaming in pleasure, racing after the other children. His eyes followed the young girl until she was out of sight, and when he looked back at the Lady Merwinna the tears in her eyes surprised him.
“Ye all love Eve vary much,” she said, more a statement than a question. Matt nodded.
“She’s my daughter. She’s a daughter to us all. We all love her...we’ll always have that in common. We fought and bled, buried our friends and loved ones together, and we all love Eve. We are connected in a way I’m not sure you or anyone can imagine. I’d give my life for any of these men. I’d give my life for Eve, and Lady Merwinna, I would give my life for Ellyn.”
“Please call me Merwinna,” she said and believed him complete
ly. She could sense no guile in the man by her side. “I be glad for this talk, Matt Thane. Ye have cleared up many things in my mind. I will do wot I can for ye and the Lady Ellyn.”
“Thank you,” Matt said and looked directly into her kindly eyes. She smiled at him, and he rose to leave.
“There be one more thing I must say,” she added as he stepped out of the gazebo, and he turned to look at her. “I’m glad ye were delivered to us and na our enemies.”
Matt smiled. “I’m glad too...hopefully they will leave us alone to teach and grow with all of you.”
She nodded understanding. “Tis a hope...tis na likely.”
He walked slowly, contentedly, back to the ship until Corporal Cheun ran up to him. At first Matt assumed the General was returning, but the Corporal dispelled that thought by reporting that one of Corporal Garraty’s bugs spotted approximately fifty horsemen approaching from the southeast. They ran together to the command tent.
“Get the General on the GBF,” he said to the private manning the communications gear.
“He’s already on Sir.” Matt nodded, and ordered Cheun to fetch the Lady Merwinna.
“General,” he said into the mic. “We have visitors coming...what’s your ETA?”
“We’ve just got underway. All the Hummers are on the move. We’re returning at all possible speed. Stay calm Major, we’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” Peebles added swearing softly. The trucks containing the bulk of the men would be a few minutes behind. He tapped into Garraty’s signal and saw on his face plate an aerial view of tiny horsemen riding along in two neat rows, and he swore again.
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