It was reassuring to see Xandra looking well, though there was still the faintest sign of the bruise on her face which told Laura that this Monday was straight after Xandra arrived. Good. Laura had come through the tunnel late on Friday October 2nd and, less than twenty-four hours later, she had arrived on the Monday. So confusing. She wished she knew in which year Xandra had arrived. Catherine looked much the same; Laura even recognized the dress she was wearing. Could it still be 1814? So many years had passed since she had lived here, years spent in a world of cars, not horses; computers, not quills; yet it seemed it might still be 1814 here. How very odd. She must remember to look dates up on the internet calendars before she came again, if she knew the day and the date she could work out the year.
Suddenly her stomach lurched. Adam had just walked past the open door carrying what looked like a rolled-up rug on his shoulder. Nothing had changed there either. Of course, now she knew…
A minute later, Adam walked through the door and towards her. Now she could stare at him all she wanted. Now she didn’t have to look down demurely. Laura felt her mind jumble with her body.
It was the look on Xandra’s face that caught her attention next. She was clearly smitten. Laura had never seen Xandra look like this before. Xandra recovered herself quickly; it was unlikely anyone else had noticed, though Adam would, he missed nothing.
Catherine leapt up. “Adam, where have you been? We were so worried.”
“Indubitably,” said his father.
“Forgive me,” was all Adam replied.
Oh, I do, I do, thought Laura. If only you knew.
“Fire, fire!” yelled Jack.
Adam went to the bell pull and it seemed that the footman had been waiting outside for he appeared immediately. “Lay a fire in the hearth, Johnson, and light it before dinner. Is there a fire in the dining room?”
“No, sir.”
“Lay and light one after you have brought more tea here.” The footman looked uncomfortable. “A small fire will do fine,” he said quietly.
Adam sauntered over to Jack who had slumped on the floral sofa by the window. “Come on, Jack, take a little tea and then repair to your room to rest before dinner. I shall be doing just that.”
“You interfering…” Jack tried to think of a suitably insulting word but couldn’t manage it. Instead he drew his feet up to his chest and toppled over on the sofa, closed his eyes, and within minutes was snoring. Adam looked out into the hall and called Johnson. “When you’ve attended to the fire and the tea, Johnson, call Jones, then together carry Mr Jack to his bed.”
The fire was lit, more tea brought and enjoyed, and an explanation given by Adam of his absence. Laura watched the company’s reactions. Xandra was clearly evaluating it and finding it inadequate – just as she herself had always done. Mr Leigh-Fox’s eyes were glazed – as if no explanation was expected – he merely murmured, “As always, Adam, as always.” Laura turned those few words over in her mind. She had invariably assumed they had meant he was unimpressed by Adam’s behaviour but found it inevitable, but could they mean that he knew? Dear Catherine – she just looked adoringly at her fine, big brother and said how wonderful it was to have the Tree of Life returned. The old Indian rug – had Jack attempted to sell that too? While everyone’s attention was taken by the removal of Jack, Laura knew that if ever there was time to take a piece of cake it was now. But as she stared at the lovely caraway seed cake, she felt sick, and she remembered how when Adam had first kissed her she had been unable to eat properly for a week. So many years had passed but still his very presence held so much power.
Adam took his leave and said he would return for dinner. Laura followed him upstairs, and watched as he lay down on his bed and closed his eyes. He’d probably had no sleep for days what with sorting out Jack and whoever he’d retrieved the rug from. Then she climbed carefully on to the old, great bed, which had once belonged to a Spanish bishop, aching for him to discern she was there. She'd never liked to ask why he had a Spanish bed. The feather mattress was soft, sensuous, and his. Eventually she slept alongside him, supremely happy for what she knew would be just a few moments in time.
When Laura awoke, she was alone and it was dark except for the light from the moon. What was she doing on this bed? Wasn’t it Adam’s? Why was she wearing trousers? Where was Adam? Other questions raced through her mind before she remembered she could not be seen. That set off another set of questions. What had happened to her? What had she got strapped round her waist making it difficult to turn over? She sat up and pulled the bag towards her front. She unzipped it. Ah yes, zips, something was coming back. She read the notes inside. They were in her handwriting; they were true. She had even written down why she was here. It was to ensure Xandra had arrived safely and was enjoying her life in the nineteenth century.
Her memory prompted, she tottered towards the door. She’d woken up with such a shock. How much time had she wasted by sleeping? Carefully, she inched open the bedroom door. Peering over the gallery banister towards the dim light below she noticed that trays of dishes were being removed from the dining room. Then Catherine and Alexandra came out into the hall, pretended to warm their hands on the candelabrum and scuttled into the sitting room, pulling their shawls around their shoulders tightly. Laura had never moved so fast – she had to follow them through before they closed the door.
“I’m so pleased The Tree of Life is back, Alexandra. Isn’t it strange the way it suddenly appeared again?”
“Don’t you think it was Adam who brought it back?”
Catherine pondered for a moment. “I cannot think why it had been removed. Why would anyone remove a rug? It’s true it’s very valuable; brought from India. I find this a most odd occurrence. I do believe these strange happenings contributed to Laura leaving for America.”
“What strange happenings?”
Catherine sighed loudly and sat on the sofa, close to the fire. “Oh Jack is always going missing, though Adam just calls them his ‘jolly japes’. Adam bought Laura a beautiful diamond necklace and she only had it a short while before it went missing too. She told Adam; he got very angry and then he went missing. Soon after, she just left. Then her ship sank and all were lost. Adam will never be the same again. When he discovered she was sailing for America, he rode like the wind to stop her, but it was too late. It’s a tragic tale and I cannot help Adam to forget her.”
Laura’s tears streamed down her face. That’s not how she would tell what happened. There was so much more to it than that. The day before she left she thought her suspicions were confirmed when she discovered him visiting a chit of a girl in the town. But she must leave her thoughts in order to follow what Alexandra was saying.
“Perhaps it is right for him to hold her in his memory. What has gone before and what may lie ahead are small matters compared to what lies within. There should be nothing that festers.”
Was Xandra turning into a philosopher? That wasn’t the plan. Laura wiped a tear with the paper hanky that had been stuffed up her sleeve.
“How wise you are, Alexandra. We must help him cherish her memory and remember the love they had together. He blames himself ceaselessly for her loss.”
Laura’s tears were unstoppable. If only she had known then how much he’d cared. Her tears turned to sobbing and the yearning she felt for Adam was unendurable. She would never be able to hold him, never know the joy of that smile, the one he kept only for her, and never be able to tell him that she loved him more than life itself. She would follow him, hold him, kiss him, lie beside him always. She would give up her new existence and let her lifeblood drain from her and live as a bystander and a witness to his sorrow. With a wrench she forced herself to declare aloud ‘No’. It was wrong – so very wrong. She had found a way to make amends and she must not lose sight of her mission.
“Catherine, do you find it inordinately cold in here?”
“Oh I thought it was just me. I felt a strange chill, like a wave of cold winds…�
�
“What a superb picture you paint, Catherine,” said Alexandra laughing gently. “I shall have to put that in my journal.”
Catherine laughed too. “A wave of cold winds? But it is true. See, even the fire gutters."
Undeterred, Laura took out her camera; she wanted to remember this moment for ever. She stood by the window and composed the shot carefully. Only Alexandra must be in the picture. She clicked. The camera flashed and Catherine screamed. As Adam hurried in, Laura could not resist the opportunity to catch him on camera too. Flash.
“Lightning. That’s all it is Catherine. Do not fret.” Adam crossed to the window, looked out and did not look at all convinced. He turned, puzzled over the phenomenon, then decided to distract both himself and the girls by putting another log on the fire and sat in his favourite armchair nearby.
Laura curled up at his feet; something she had never done before, and, had anybody been able to see her, they would have commented on her gentle radiance.
~
Early the following morning, Laura reluctantly left behind the joy of sleeping alongside Adam. She ought to go. But first she wanted to take one last look at Alexandra. They would never converse again – Laura blinked as a tear welled up. The only way Alexandra would be heard across the centuries was through her writing.
Carefully opening Alexandra’s door, she tiptoed over to the writing slope on the chest of drawers by the window. Laura felt safer tiptoeing; she was so close to the sleeping girl who might have been her best friend. There was the journal. Only two entries, barely legible – there were so many ink splodges. Clearly Alexandra was having trouble with a quill, but they confirmed what Laura longed to know. The first came straight to the point: she found life in “Foxhills” fascinating. The second told of her hopes: later next week, she looked forward to riding with Adam and Catherine. She counted the number of times Adam had been mentioned. Nine.
Laura would allow herself to go home now. She could return to her own little cottage and know that Alexandra was safe and happy. She might even be able to get a kitten at last; she had so longed for one. All she had planned was proceeding. Well, not quite all. There was the little matter of Adam needing to forget her and start thinking about Alexandra. That wouldn’t take long and she must not, not, not resent it. There was still the problem of Jack.
She tiptoed out of Alexandra’s room and made her way to the door at the back of the house where she had first entered. There, peering through the window, was Billy Beggar. He was still in his old greatcoat but he stood erect and was clean-shaven. She was short of time; if she didn’t leave now, she would miss the coach. Indeed, perhaps he had come on the overnight coach, if there was such a thing, and it would be used to go back to Canterbury. She must hurry. How could she distract him and slip out of the door unnoticed?
Billy started hammering on the door, then he stepped back and looked up. Alexandra was leaning out of her bedroom window. “Who are you? What do you want?” she called.
“Laura? Is that you?” Billy’s face was radiant.
“No. Laura is no longer here. What do you want?”
“Work. I have a note addressed to Adam Leigh-Fox, Esquire.”
“Wait there and I will call the footman,” said Alexandra.
As the footman opened the door, Laura slipped out, and Billy Beggar stepped in.
She must concentrate on returning to the seventy-seven steps. Where were her directions? While she searched in her bag, she tried to recite what was in her diary for the following day. What day was that? Never mind – get to the steps. She went around to the front of the house and sat on the steps. Steps. Where were the steps? Everything was slipping away, as if she had just awoken from a dream. Steps. Keep saying that word. Seventy-seven of them.
Hide in Time ~ Anna Faversham
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
1814
“A horse of my own?”
“You’ll need a horse, Alexandra,” Catherine called out merrily as she ran to the stables. “And it will be important for you to choose one you like while we still have some to choose from.” Catherine laughed and looked over her shoulder at Alexandra hurrying to catch her up. “Adam will help you. He’s so knowledgeable about horses.”
Bally butterflies again, thought Alexandra.
Catherine led the way into the stables where Adam, wearing his riding-coat, was talking to his groom.
“Adam, will you help? Alexandra’s here to select a horse.”
Adam turned and looked at Alexandra. His eyes flicked from her face to her toes and back again before he said, “Your clothes are not the most appropriate, Alexandra. Be sure to visit the town and purchase something that will enable a little more movement and comfort in the saddle.”
So matter-of-fact. Yet his eyes had said much more than that.
“We have an account; Catherine is known there.”
“May we use the carriage, Adam? We were planning to visit on Thursday to seek out all that Alexandra needs,” Catherine’s eyes appealed successfully.
Adam looked across to the man standing beside his trusted deaf-mute groom, “Billy, tomorrow the ladies need the carriage. See that it is cleaned and ready for them. Half past one in the afternoon will probably suit them fine?” He turned to smile at the two girls and catch their agreement.
“Laura, it is you!” exclaimed Billy.
“No, I am Alexandra. Laura is no longer here.”
“But I have seen you before, I know I have. You are Laura. Or you look just like her.”
“That’s enough, Billy.” Adam rounded on Billy and Alexandra thought he was going to lash him with his riding crop, so vehemently did he roar. “You’ll mind your place or not work here at all. This is Miss Mulberry, a guest of the Leigh-Fox family. Miss Laura Yager has left us and you are not to mention her name.” Adam paced back and forth before he cracked the crop against one of the stalls and said, “Now muck out the stables this instant. I never want to see them looking like this again.”
Catherine pulled Alexandra’s skirt and tugged her arm. Alexandra followed her hint and stepped outside.
“That man arrived with a note asking Adam for a job and that his name was Billy. He couldn’t remember his last name. It was in Laura’s handwriting; I saw it. It’s unnerved Adam.”
“I saw him when he first arrived but his note cannot have been in Laura’s handwriting surely? Didn’t you say she was shipwrecked and all were drowned?”
Catherine lowered her eyes. “We had lost all hope that she might have been saved. Adam had made extensive enquiries, then you arrived, with a letter from some unknown person who knew him well. You even look like her but she was shorter.”
“Oh, I see,” said Alexandra, “and now this confused man is piling on the agony.”
Catherine blinked then began diffidently, “Your speech is quite unlike Laura’s; indeed, it is different from anyone’s I have ever heard. You are rather unusual, Alexandra, though I love you for it.” Alexandra laughed gently. “Your voice is so soothing too. I’m sure you will be good for Adam.”
From around the back of the main stables, Billy led two horses into the yard and Catherine’s attention turned equestrian. “Have you ridden much, Alexandra?”
Alexandra couldn’t remember if she’d ridden at all but she felt very comfortable in the stables and she moved closer to rub the horses’ heads. An apple wouldn’t go amiss, she thought. “I cannot be sure, Catherine. I don’t remember. A little perhaps.”
Adam’s groom, William, led two saddled horses out. One was a large chestnut stallion and the other a smaller, dappled grey mare. The little grey whinnied with pleasure on seeing Catherine and the stallion pawed the ground and threw his head with joy. Alexandra knew she could ride. The sight of these two apposite animals, clearly bonded to their riders, awoke within her an eagerness to ride with the wind in her hair.
Adam stood beside his horse and said with a grin, “Meet Aesculus Hippocastanum.”
Alexandra noticed th
at the colour of Adam’s hair was an exact match for the darker shade of the horse’s neck near the mane.
“Horse Chestnut,” she said surprising herself for her deduction.
“Esky to his friends,” said Catherine watching Adam produce a carrot from his pocket for each horse.
Alexandra walked towards Billy and the two horses he was leading from the stables. It was clear that Catherine and Adam were happy for her to choose. Adam handed Esky’s reins to his groom, and followed Alexandra. “Two very different horses, Alexandra, both with spirit, so if you are not used to controlling a horse, take it gently at first, I beg you.”
“Until I feel confident I shall be very careful to ride only when accompanied, Adam.”
She looked at the two horses and instantly warmed to the smaller black horse with white socks.
“Holly,” said Adam. “The stallion is the faster but has a mind of his own if not very firmly handled but Holly is a delight. She loves difficult terrain. Hills and vales are no trouble to her and she can hold her own against the stallion in this locality. She also gallops as if she knows she is a work of art. A good temperament.”
“Holly.” Alexandra had decided.
Adam’s eyes grew wider as he looked at her and he shifted his shoulders as if he’d experienced a shiver. “Saddle Holly, Billy. Right away.” He handed Billy two carrots.
Catherine and Adam exchanged glances and even the mute groom seemed uncomfortable. She’d chosen Laura’s horse. She couldn’t undo that now. Surely they’d known it was the most likely choice. Feeling the significance of the silence, Alexandra followed Billy around to Holly’s stable and reappeared mounted. Their stunned faces told Laura something more was wrong. Adam roared at Billy, “Fool man, where’s the ladies’ saddle? You can’t expect her to ride like that!”
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