A little hurt, William said, "I have no intention to close down my home. I also intend to pay all debts that I owe. This money is small when looked at the costs for all I spend. My problems with the king will pass and all will be the same as it was. The king is my friend. He is just making a point so others will not disobey him like I did. His punishment is not to hurt me, but so that others see his wrath."
Handy saying the first thing since we sat down, "Could you use my help talking to your friend today about the request to the king?"
"Yes. Yes, I would appreciate the company," William replied.
Firmly I stated, "We have things to do ourselves. We must go as a group to town today. John Handy what are you thinking?"
Handy just as firm stated, "I'm thinking that you are not my father and can not tell me what to do. I am also thinking that thanks to your decision to come here in the first place, William is having all these problems. We owe it to him to do anything to help him."
Now trapped into being more accommodating I said, "Then we will split up and take care of both missions in teams. Jeff should go with you. Is that what you want?"
"No. Do you think that I'm not competent to do this on my own?"
So I told him to go with William by himself. William apologized for being the subject of argument then suggested that we take a carriage to town today because proper women shouldn't ride horses. The actions of his guests reflect on his reputation.
William made sure that we had the money to pay the leather maker in full before we left the table.
The carriage was large and comfortable. The driver was polite and quiet. Once in town we went straight to the stable master Edmund and took him with us about two blocks to the leather maker. The leather maker seemed puzzled that Master Hamelton would pay in advance when his signature on a note could be used as money in the town of Hamelton. The business went fine but we still never found any way to help save this content man's life. We couldn't ask him because he surely didn't know himself what we were there for. After he left us Hanna wanted to take a good look at the town. We walked into every store in the town it seemed. We bought us all, including Handy, shoes because the ones we had looked too well made for this time. We also bought another set of clothes so we could wash what we were wearing. Not much else happened besides some interesting conversations with the townspeople. Our driver was waiting for us and took us back to the mansion.
William and Handy's carriage had not returned yet. We sat in the back garden rather bored waiting for them. We did decide that we had made a major mistake coming without the information regarding what we were to do there. We decided to travel back tomorrow afternoon and rethink this out from the future so we could understand what we were to do.
When William and Handy returned, William excused himself to his room. Handy sat to gloat that William's friend had been convinced to send a letter in William"s behalf to the king. He then asked if we accomplished anything. We told him how uneventful the day was. He started talking about how I had planned everything so badly. He kept saying, "William said..." this and, "William said..." that.
Jeff said rather mad and insulted, "What have you been telling William our business for? We promised not to do that."
Handy said boldly, "I think that I can decide when he needs more help than you vote that he deserves. Besides, we further need to help him as he makes an attempt to retrieve his lost follower in the Garden of Eden. We are going to guard the Hidden Six to await his return. For now I'm going to retire to my room. I will see you all at breakfast." He turned to leave the room with us all astonished over his statements.
I said, "We were planning to go home tomorrow. We can't stand guard over a house. And what is this about your room? We all sleep together."
He replied as he walked, "I frankly don't know or care what you do, but I am going to fulfill my promise to William. As far as the rooms, William says that the mansion is mostly empty and it is foolish to share. And I'm not planning on being a fool." He finished with his back disappearing up the staircase.
The four of us had no choice but to wait until Handy decided to be more reasonable. For the time it seemed best to let things play out and see what happened. Of course at this point I realized that Handy was having some abnormal problems, but I also knew that the door to discussion was closed as far as I could see. I would need to find an opening to talk to my best friend.
XII
We were woken the next morning by Handy's knock at the door and his voice shouting through. "We are having a meeting in the library," was all he said. He did not open the door nor wait for a response.
The four of us showed up in the library without our hair even combed. William was talking to all his guests including Handy. We were the last to arrive. William said that he was going to try to get to the Garden of Eden. Once there, he was going to try to come back and push the tunnel from the side to see if he could move the time he returns. That could put him before the loss of his missing follower and could convince him not to go. He said he wanted all his followers to come with him so he could use the increased mind power to move the tunnel. He said although he wanted the, group from California Island to join him, he didn't want to risk our health. He asked if Handy and I would guard the Hidden Six for him.
After the followers unanimously voted to go with him, he excused them and spoke to us. "Each time I've gone to the Garden of Eden since your first arrival, the pulling of the tunnel has been decreasing. I don't know how many more trips I can make. I do know that you have all been loyal friends and I wish you well. There will be no trouble guarding the Hidden Six, there never is, it is just a precaution I like to take.”
“ I would think it an honor if I could give my friends a few timely gifts." He reached behind a large armchair to retrieve gifts he had stowed previously. "For the ladies I have some wonderful diamond pendants, to accentuate their beauty. For Jeff, two jewel incrusted silver armbands that were worn by my grandfather as a gift from the royal family. For Chris and my good friend Handy, I give you some of my prize possessions. My set of swords. They will serve you well. These were made for me at my birth. The smaller one is the sword I used in youth to learn the weight and balancing of the weapon until I was big enough to handle the larger one.”
Handy acquired the full sized sword, which left me with the smaller one. I did not mind because this was what I had thought was a large dagger that will later hang on my bedroom wall however much newer and untarnished. The swords came with their sheaths which were heavily inlayed with precious metals and gems.
“ And further I give one of these to each of you." He pulled out five fist sized black velvet bags and put one into each of our hands. "You said just one coin was worth a fortune in your time. Good luck to you all." He leaned back in his chair and smiled contently.
I, wanting to bite my tongue as I jingled my bag apparently holding gold coins. I said to William, "These are truly wonderful gifts, however they are really too expensive to give. And this is not our final good-bye, is it?"
"We never know which good-bye is the final one. And as far as the money, this is just a trifle in my time, and a fortune in yours, where do you think it has the most value?"
Well, that was not completely true; a bag of gold pieces was still not referred to as a “trifle” in William's time. Also a hand full of gold coins was not an outrageous fortune worth retiring in mine; however these were in perfect mint condition. They were a very rare find which museums and collectors would lust for.
With that understood, we walked with William to the Hidden Six. His band of about a dozen were standing in front of the house, I wish now I had thought to count them. Handy had asked William if he was sure that he did not need him on this trip.
William said, "I need you here my friend to wield that sword in my defense, should it be needed. If I do not return by nightfall, I will not return."
Handy took the same spot that John the Friar had been in several days before to guard the house. The r
est of our group also stayed outside the house.
I walked along with William as we went up stairs. "You are not coming back are you? That speech this morning was for us. You are all intending to stay in the Garden of Eden."
William gently took my arm and said, "Your friend would want to come with me and that is the wrong move for such a young man."
"I'm surprised that you lied to us. You had proven yourself such an honest man."
William said with a kind and humble smile, "And for those lies, I apologize. I also lied that things are going to turn back to the way they were for me. King Charles is not known for ever forgiving anyone who has proven himself untrustworthy. The king has recently imprisoned several good knights for supposed treason. It is rumored that a civil war is on the horizon. Soon both I and my property would be confiscated. This way at least the town of Hamelton can survive off my estate. These are the only lies I told you. They were necessary. Tell our friend Handy that I will not return and convey my apologies to him. Good-bye my friend. Did you see the sunrise this morning? For eternity I will be looking up at it. Think of me." With that and a twitch in the corner of his mouth he turned and joined the other men in the large room.
The men lay on the floor and prepared to travel. I sat at the top of the stairs and thought what a beautiful dagger was given me. I thought that I should return it to him now so he could take it with him. Then I remembered John the Friar's sword laying in the Garden of Eden. How clever William was, he could give away his prize possessions to us and still have them in the next world. I thought about why he had chosen that time to leave. He is in disfavor with the king. His band of followers were down to just the faithful. He just postponed the king to help support the town for several months. Upon his confirmed disappearance, his estate would revert back to the people of Hamelton and the town would flourish. He had all the angles covered. What a shame it is that 300 years after he is gone, the people of the town he loved so, will refer to him so badly.
William had said that a civil war was on the horizon, I thought how dumb I was not to have any knowledge of what was happening at that time in history. I thought how easy it would have been to smuggle a book of English history with me. During the time since I first went there I never thought of or asked about what was going on outside of Hamelton.
A flicker of light caught my attention. The men in the next room had a glow about them. Then for a moment, a transparency then the glow again. This repeated numerous times until the room was empty of all life. I sat and wanted to cry for them, but I knew that someplace they were alive. Very solemnly I walked down the stairs. Handy was standing guard outside the door.
"Let's go back to our own time, we are all done here now," I said as I walked past him.
"What?" Handy yelled.
I faced him and looked at him in the eyes and said, "I swear, on our friendship.... that William said to me he is not planning on coming back. We knew that before we came here. Now is the time to leave."
"He said he would be back before dark, and I will wait for him," Handy said with his teeth clenched together and his hand on the hilt of his sword.
Knowing that both he and I had promised William to wait until dark and guard the door I knew that Handy would not understand if I crossed William by not doing so. I sat down across the porch from where he was standing. The other friends excused themselves and went back to spend the day at the house. I realized that my friendship with Handy was easily worth spending the day in boredom to convince him to come back to the twentieth century with us. We did not say a word as he stood there as still as can be. I sat there digging holes in the dirt with my dagger. It was the same dagger that will hang in my room when I first sleep in the mansion. Its sheath had a belt so it could be worn and used as a small sword. I wondered why the sheath no longer existed in the twentieth century. Jeff did bring us some lunch. But that did not break the silence that Handy and I were facing.
Sunset came and went. The stars were out and night was surely upon us. Handy just stood there like a sentry at the palace gate. I had enough of this cold treatment from him. I had done nothing to hurt him. I had to confront him and make him come out of this depression.
I jumped up and stood with my face staring right at his. "He is not coming back. I told you he said so. He apologized for lying to you. Now cut this crap and let"s get the hell out of here!" I yelled at him.
He took a step toward me while taking a tight grasp on the hilt of his sword. He said slow and carefully through tight lips, "You can leave if your word means nothing to you."
"My word! Like you kept yours about staying together as a team. And as far as staying here, its past night fall. He's dead or gone. Either way I'm leaving."
As I was speaking, Handy first pulled his weapon out half way then whipped it fully out toward my direction. I fell backward over a plant as his sword whizzed past me and shattered a window of the house. I fumbled backward as he recovered his balance and lifted the sword over his head.
"Your word!" he yelled, approaching me, "You said she was mine, and you took her."
The blade came down at me but the aim was unquestionably off as would be expected from someone using a sword for the first time. As I rolled over and put distance between us I stumbled to my feet and unsheathed my smaller weapon. I held it in front of myself firmly to detour the possibility of yet another attack. Looking at Handy, weapon to weapon, I knew my size and strength would have a good chance against him even without possessing my dagger. He walked toward me with his sword above his left shoulder and both hands on it preparing for another swing. I knew I didn't want to be in this fight and I was not sure if he was really trying to hit me. I had a sudden desire to throw my dagger into the wall of the house to show a sign of peace. Without really thinking about the full consequences, I heaved the dagger at the house. Unfortunately the effect would have been better had the thing stuck into the wood to show superiority of skill, but perhaps the "ting" sound that it made as it bounced made him notice the act more. He froze as he stared at me. I dropped my hands to my sides. Tears came to his eyes. The sword seemed heavy in his arms. I walked to him and hugged him as tight as I could. The sword fell to the ground behind him like a hovering item that just realized gravity. He sobbed on my shoulder for some time. I must admit I cried for him too.
After several attempts to talk through his breathless gasps he indicated he wanted to sit down by gesturing toward the ground near a wall. We sat against the wall and just looked at the shadows the moon made as the gentle wind shook the leaves of the trees around us. There were several shooting stars in the sky, it must be August I thought.
"I'm sorry. I wanted to kill you," he said. I smiled at him and said, "It's a good thing you haven't learned to use that thing yet." We both laughed at that.
He told me that he felt like the fifth member on a double date. Putting that together with the words he shouted at me when he was attempting to kill me, I told him that I had not, was not, and would not date or sleep with Hanna. He apologized for having made a wrong assumption and changed the subject. I know Handy well enough that he probably didn't believe what I said. At least we were talking and I was sure that mutual trust would come in time. We sat for about an hour chatting about good times when we were very younger. This seemed a safe subject for both of us at the time.
We went back to the mansion. As we left sight of the Hidden Six, Handy looked back at it and lifted his hand as if making a toast to William. I lifted my hand and made an invisible toast to William also.
XIII
When I woke up the next morning, I remembered to look to make certain Handy's sleeping body in the bed next to me, was still there. The time was early and the sun was barely up. I wanted to get out of that place as soon as I could. I first woke Jeff then Handy. I asked Jeff, not wanting to be seen near Hanna in front of Handy, to get the girls ready. Once ready, we five sneaked over to John the Friar's room.
John the Friar was obviously not there because he left
with William. I opened the curtain to bring light into the dark room. For the first time I felt free to look around the room in this time of history before I left it. I looked above the bed at the large cross that hung prominently there. Next to the bed was a table with a large drawer in it. Looking in the drawer with Cindy complaining that I had no right to pry, I saw a set of books. They were all named "Quest for Paradise." These are the books I will read over 300 years from now.
For the detailed oriented, you may have noticed that there was 1 original book and 3 copies in modern time in the library. But William had said John makes 5 copies of the original, thus 6 books made. What happened to the other 2 books? I never knew. Maybe they were stolen, burned, misplaced or fell apart because of age. Perhaps they are sitting in a garage sale someplace. Some questions are never answered.
We took our positions on the floor and prepared to travel. All went well until we found ourselves in the limbo stage. The negative feeling from Handy shocked us all. He was so full of hate for all of us that we unintentionally backed our bodies away from him; this seemed to anger him more. Our bodies crowded together in fear. Handy felt that we were ganging up against him and retreated into depression. At last the tunnel sucked us up, putting an end to that horrible and frightening feeling.
Everyone awoke around the same time. We all knew what had just happened but no one wanted to react to it. Handy looked around at us with his eye lids half shut. I was so glad that we had him back in our own time so we could help him.
But my thoughts were not correct. The weapons were not on the walls of my room. I was stunned. The idea of being stuck in the Garden of Eden was not what I wanted. I looked around with my head jerking back and forth as I looked at the room. The cross was not over the bed as it was just a moment before. The furnishings on the wall were unfamiliar to me. I stood up and looked at the same bed that seemed to have always been and will be in this room. I looked out the window into the garden. There were men putting away their tree trimming equipment for the evening. None of this was familiar to either of the two time periods I had been to before.
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