“Yes, my love. I wouldn’t have taken us out if I’d thought we’d run into a storm.”
Emily had halted her horse several strides behind them and pulled her phone from the saddlebag. “Roger’s right. Looks like we got lucky,” she said, holding her reins and the phone in one hand and tapping the screen with finger. “A thunderstorm off Bristol is hanging over the bay but thankfully it’s not moving this way. The BBC predicted it to move south and for once they were right. I’m leery of riding Lola if bad weather threatens, sometimes she’s spooked by thunder.”
Lola was a young Arabian and hot-blooded under saddle. Roger never cared for the breed, too high-strung in his opinion. They had pretty faces and good conformation, that couldn’t be argued, but he wouldn’t take one into battle. Conquerant was a 17 hands high Flanders horse. Thick set, with powerful legs and back, the stallion possessed a fearless and strong constitution.
“What are you smirking at?” Electra asked.
“Your sister. She managed to find a horse as skittish as she is.”
“She’s cautious is all.”
“Please, she’s like a bee caught in a bell jar.”
“Shh, here she comes.”
“What are you two whispering about?” Emily stroked Lola’s neck to no avail. The horse continued her equine jig as the far off thunder rumbled.
“Just ahead. I have a surprise set up,” Roger said as he trotted toward Elysian Fields again.
He led them to an open field where the sunlight was bright and the ground flat. The cafe staff had laid everything out on a red and white checked tablecloth from the restaurant. A platter held cheeses and fruit arranged around chunks of the baguette. The champagne sat chilling in a silver bucket with two flutes at the side. He’d share a flute with Electra.
“Damn,” he muttered, they’d forgotten the flowers.
Everyone dismounted and tied the horses to an oak tree with low hanging branches.
“It’s lovely. You are such a romantic,” Electra said, kissing him on the cheek.
Emily gave him a sheepish look. “Tell the truth, Roger. You planned for this to be enjoyed by just the two of you. I’m the proverbial third wheel, aren’t I?”
Only a lout with a complete lack of chivalry would answer truthfully. “Don’t be silly. What man...” he tipped his head at her, “especially a Frenchman, wouldn’t be delighted to have two charming ladies at his side?”
“You’re sweet to say that,” Emily said. “Is there some sort of all occasion book Frenchmen work out of that tells them what to say to women? If not, you should consider writing one. You’d make a fortune.”
“Thank you—I think.”
Electra turned to Emily. “Want to pick some flowers?”
Emily nodded.
Electra emptied a wicker basket that held honey and butter while Emily took the sharp meat knife from the platter. “We’ll be back in a flash,” Electra said.
“Where are you going?”
“We passed a blanket of wildflowers not far back. I thought we’d gather a bunch for our table.”
“Where exactly is this spot that’s not far back?” He asked, anxious to pour the champagne and his heart out and propose.
“By that granite outcropping.”
Roger reached for the basket. “You can’t go there. That’s not Alex’s land. It’s part of the acreage he donated to Dr. Gordon’s group.”
Electra held tight to the basket. “So? It’s not like Gordon is going to know we were there. What harm are we causing picking a few flowers? None.”
“His knowing is not the point. It’s the principle. You’ve no right to go traipsing about on his property without permission.” This was a thorny issue for him. In her defense, Electra didn’t know that. Over the years, Roger had had his share of trespassers and poachers on his land. He’d never have given poachers permission to cross his land, but the trespassers, had they asked, he’d have let cross.
“Since you’re determined to do this, hurry up and get away from there,” he told Electra. “I’ll open the champagne and have a glass ready for you.”
“We’ll work double fast,” Emily added and the two jogged off.
He’d opened the champagne and was in the process of pouring when Electra’s panicked scream came from the spot near the outcropping.
“Roger!”
He dropped the bottle and ran.
Gone. Both sisters were gone. The basket with a handful of flowers inside lay on the ground.
“Electra,” he called out. “Emily.”
He ran in a widening spiral hoping to find them. When he didn’t, he returned and checked the scattered patches where the flowers grew for a clue. He looked for any sign someone had come along and taken them by force. Perhaps one of Dr. Gordon’s crew had hustled them back to the trailer that served as their lab. Perhaps they demanded an explanation for what the women were doing.
He was grasping at straws and knew it. Anyone of the Gordon group could clearly see the women were picking flowers. Taking them off to their camp was heavy-handed especially for a bunch of scientists. Nor were there any footprints other than those left by Electra and Emily’s riding boots.
What the devil could’ve happened to them? People don’t just vanish without a clue.
He climbed to the top of the outcropping and called out again. Only the rustling of the breeze through the trees and the low roll of thunder from the storm miles away could be heard.
Chapter Two
Roger felt the policeman’s eyes burning into his back as he walked over to Ian. “He didn’t say it, he didn’t have to, but he clearly thinks I’ve done some harm to Electra and Emily.”
“Can you blame him?” Ian asked.
Roger could only shake his head at the logical suspicion. Anyone hearing the story would think the worst. Two women in his company simply disappear and he had no information to offer as to why, or how it happened, or where they went.
Terry Crippen left his crying wife, Janet, and came over. A dignified country gentleman with close-cut gray hair and piercing blue eyes, he stood almost nose-to-nose with Roger.
“Janet and I have accepted you into our family like a son. But should it come to light that you are responsible for any injury to my daughters, I will do to you what was done to them. My dear wife hasn’t a strong heart. If her condition suffers because of something you’ve done, trust that it will not go unaddressed.”
“I swear to you on my very soul, I did nothing to bring their disappearance about and am as mystified as you over this.” Roger pulled the engagement ring from his pocket. “Terry, I love Electra. I thought that was apparent.” He opened the box. “I planned on proposing to her today.”
“I would find more consolation in that, if men and women didn’t kill the ones they love with some frequency.”
Roger put the box back in his pocket. “I told you I lost my young son many years ago. I told you I somehow lived through it. But I thought you understood that I will never get over it, ever. You never get over the loss of a child. Believe me, I wouldn’t wish that agony on my worst enemy. Surely you know that.”
Terry stood silent for a moment. Roger thought he was weighing the anguish Roger had shared with him against the fear Electra and Emily might’ve met the same dark fate. One Roger might’ve perpetrated. “I want to believe you.”
“Is there anything more I can say to reassure you and Janet?”
Terry looked over at his wife, wiping her eyes with a shaky hand. “No.”
Two police canine units and four additional officers had arrived and joined the two who responded to Roger’s distressed call. The lead officer, the one who had interviewed Roger, deployed them so they could conduct a grid search, on foot. The canine details would man each flank. Janet had provided scarves from each woman for the dogs to scent key on.
Terry and Janet told the officer they wished to be part of the search. The officer agreed and they joined the men working the grid.
Roge
r turned to Ian. “You believe me, don’t you? Improbable as it sounds, they truly vanished. I can’t offer a reason. There’s a term people of this time use–otherworldly. It’s like something otherworldly has happened to them.”
“I do believe you, but unlike most here, I’ve been party to some highly unusual occurrences in my life...or rather, lifetimes,” he corrected himself.
Roger watched Terry Crippen consoling his sobbing wife. Her shoulders continued to violently shake. Pain and anguish deafens one to soft words, as he well knew. “I need to join the search. I can cover a lot of ground on Conquerant. You say Owen and his son are coming from the stable to take the other two horses?”
“He should be here shortly,” Ian said. “You might not want to go too far. Alex is en route and he told me he needed to speak with you, urgently.”
“I think the search is far more important than anything he has to talk about now.”
Ian’s brows lifted a notch. “If he is going to tell you what I suspect he plans to, you need to hear him out.”
“What will the police and Terry think if I don’t go with them right away?”
“Frankly, they can’t think much worse of you at the moment. A few minutes delay in going with them won’t make things much worse.”
Roger grunted his agreement. But he couldn’t stand by any longer waiting for Alex, listening to the search party beat the shrubbery. The canine officers and their dogs were already out of sight. The rest of the officers would be in a couple of minutes.
“Tell Alex I’ll speak to him later. I have to go,” he said and started toward Conquerant.
“Roger—” Esme, Electra’s younger sister, called out.
She and her husband Stephen and his seeing-eye dog, Sammy, stepped around the messy remains of what was supposed to be a picnic. He and Stephen were once mortal enemies. Now Stephen was his employer and closest friend.
“Hi, thank you for coming but you needn’t have. We have a large contingent here, including canine units.” Stephen was a proud man and strove to be independent. Roger didn’t want to deny him the opportunity to lend a hand, but how much help could a blind man lend?
“Don’t be silly. They’re my sisters. Of course, we’re going to help. We’ve no intention of sitting home at a time like this. Sammy is smart as a whip, he’s familiar with Electra’s and Emily’s scent, and he’s as strong a nose as the coppers dogs,” Stephen said.
“I don’t doubt it.” Roger took Esme by the elbow and led her away a few feet, out of earshot of Stephen. “I know he means well and I really appreciate the offer, but we must be realistic. We need eyes to look for clues.”
“Not to worry. In addition to Sammy, you know we ride in these woods all the time. I’ll be his eyes as we hunt on foot.”
Stephen came to where they stood whispering. “I have four of five senses, which is more than enough to aid in searching..including keen hearing.”
“I wasn’t trying to insult you,” Roger said. “I’d love your help.”
“Where do you want us to start?” Ian asked, joining them. Roger hadn’t seen him arrive and was surprised to see him. He’d met Ian only a few times. He was an old friend of Stephen’s from his days as a knight. Ian and Alex had also come forward in time but under different circumstances than Roger and Stephen.
The woods between the picnic area and the ruin had the thinnest forest growth and would be best for Stephen to walk. “Toward the ruin,” Roger told her.
Chapter Three
England
Date Unknown
After a wobbly effort, Electra got to her feet and brushed herself off. “What just happened?”
Emily used the outcropping for support as she stood. “I haven’t clue. I’m still feeling lightheaded though. How about you?”
“Before I fell, I lost my balance and was dizzy for a few seconds, like I was on a carnival ride.” She licked her lips and spit. “Sorry, but my mouth tastes like the inside of a tin can.”
“Mine is watering like crazy.” Emily reached up and smoothed Electra’s hair. “You should see your hair. It looks like you stuck your finger in a light socket.”
Electra ran her hand over Emily’s. “Yours too.”
A tree near the outcropping now cast them in shadow, the branches thick with leaves, hid the sun. The long dead tree had been split and barren when they were picking flowers. Electra pointed. “That tree.”
Emily looked and asked, “What about it?”
“It’s alive.”
“Things are too strange for my taste. Forget the wildflowers, I’m going back to the picnic spot and tell Roger about our weird experience.” Electra started that way.
Emily followed.
The picnic area was a short distance, twenty-five yards at the most. But when Electra came to the edge of the clearing and in sight of the area, the spot was covered with forest undergrowth and fallen branches. She knew these woods. She’d walked them and ridden them all her life and she knew this was where they left Roger and the picnic spread. “What the....”
Emily had joined her but left her side and went to where the horses had been tied. “El...where are the horses?”
“Where’s Roger and all the picnic stuff? No way would he have taken the horses and left us here.” Electra told herself not to panic. “I’m sure this is where we left him. I mean, I’m not crazy, this is the spot.”
“If you’re crazy, then it’s catchy because I guarantee this is the right place.”
Electra investigated the area where the blanket had been laid out with the food platters. She wasn’t sure what to look for but hoped she’d find clue. People didn’t just up and disappear and no way had Roger taken off.
“Do you think Roger’s playing a joke?” Emily asked, circling the picnic spot.
“No. No way would he play a joke that stood a chance of scaring us. He’s too protective.”
“I didn’t think so, but I had to ask. I hoped this was a joke in bad taste.”
The two walked around for a few minutes more, neither speaking.
Electra looked under the shrubbery she knew wasn’t there when they dismounted.
“What are you looking for?”
“Some clue, anything that helps us to know what is going on. Have you noticed how different the bushes and trees are from when we stopped and how overgrown it is now? There was a clearing here and now there isn’t,” Electra said and took note of the lack of hoofprints and footprints where there should’ve been several. “I’m calling Roger.” She pulled her cell phone from the pocket of her riding jacket. “I’m getting a no service message. I’m going back to the outcropping.”
“Why?”
“Walking around here until we’re blue in the face isn’t helping. Retracing our steps can’t hurt.”
At the outcropping, she immediately started to climb the large boulder. Her riding boots made it difficult. One side of the rock was flat with no crevices or protruding shelves to gain a foothold. The side that had enough to wedge her foot into or onto offered little surface for the stiff-toed boots to find purchase. Sheer determination got her close to the top.
Emily stood at the base of the outcropping. “See anything good?” When Electra didn’t answer, Emily repeated, “El, do you see anything?”
Electra hadn’t answered because what she saw didn’t make sense.
“El?”
“I see the Old Roman Road.”
“Of course you would. Do you see anything useful?”
“You need to see this. Are you able to climb up across from me?”
“I think so.” Emily had the same issue with her riding boots but managed to come parallel with Electra. When she did, her eyes widened. “It’s...it’s...dirt. What happened to the paving?” She fixed worried eyes on Electra. “What is going on here?”
Electra shook her head as stumped as Emily. “This is all too weird for me.” She took her cell phone out again. “I’m still getting a no service message.” She held the phone hi
gher and turned it the opposite direction. “Same thing.”
A low rumble was faint in the distance. “Is that from the storm?”
“Probably,” Electra said.
“Those beastly dark clouds are still hovering over the bay. I hope the storm didn’t switch directions and start this way.” She unclipped her cell phone from a holder on her belt. “I don’t know what’s wrong with your phone. Mine should work. I’m going to see if the storm is coming toward us and then I’ll call Roger.”
Emily cocked her head and moved her phone around. “I’m getting a no service message too. I’ve never had trouble with cell service anywhere in this area. How can we both have no bars?”
“Let’s start walking,” Electra suggested and started down.
Emily did the same. “You want to go back the way we came? It’s shorter to Esme and Stephen’s place. Or, do you want to stay on the road?”
“The road is the way Roger will come looking for us and the road is safer, just in case the storm is headed to us. We shouldn’t be in the woods with lightning going off.”
They walked at a fast pace for fifteen minutes. They came to where a service road built during World War II intersected with the Old Roman Road. Instead mature oaks and alder dotted what should’ve been the single-lane service road. Gone too was the old sign indicating the direction of the wartime airfield abandoned in 1946.
“I’m afraid, El. Nothing is what or where it should be. Things are the same but different.”
“I’m afraid too. I don’t understand any of this. Like you said, it’s all the same in the main, but the details are all wrong. It’s as though we’re part of an artist’s rendition of this place, but he erased Roger and the horses, and the picnic part. Instead he drew in foliage and kept us.”
Emily tried her cell phone again with no luck. “Maybe we should wait here. I’m certain Roger will come for us. He’s probably already headed this way. Don’t you think?”
Electra didn’t want to tell her what she feared. She had no idea what was happening to them or what they needed to do, but in her heart, she feared if he was coming, he’d be there by now.
In Time for You Page 2