by Zoe Matthews
August 27, 1865
We have arrived in Denver, and Charles has gotten his business going very well. He does travel a lot which leaves me alone. I do wish we were able to have children. What a blessing it would be to have little hands and feet to keep me busy.
When I can, I travel with him. It is fascinating to see all of the different people and cities. Many of the cities and towns are just getting started, and the people who are helping to build them work so hard. I enjoy looking around in little shops that sold small items and gadgets for a little extra money. I always find the most interesting things. Last week, I found a gold key that somehow vibrates when I touch it. I thought I was going mad the first time I held it. Some strange and interesting things happen in those little towns.
Barbara thought for a moment. She had to be talking about the key she used to time travel. She hadn’t ever seen it, but Keegan had told her many stories about his family, and how Victoria had used two keys to time travel. He never mentioned how she got the second one, but those keys had brought love to each of his siblings. Eventually, they did bring harm as well though, as someone had found out about the keys, and wanted them for himself. He had almost killed Keegan’s niece trying to get them.
She leaned closer to the journal, and read the next entry.
October 11, 1865
I just received a letter from my mother in England. My father has passed. I cannot convey my grief at knowing he is gone. It has been years since I have been able to see any of my family. The funeral had already come and gone by the time I got the letter from my mother.
There was a break in the page, as if Victoria had stopped writing, only to come back later. The script was shaky and hurried, and was harder to read than before. She figured it was still written on the same day because there wasn’t another date written.
Something strange and amazing just happened. I was unable to continue writing earlier due to the grief I felt for my father. I sat clutching the gold key I found in a small town not far from Denver. I was just thinking about how much I wanted to be with my father in my home in England. I felt a tingling sensation all over, and when I opened my eyes I was in my childhood home. My mother was there talking to a maid.
I hid in a wardrobe, not knowing how to explain how I had gotten there. I don’t know how it happened, but I somehow traveled to England in just a few moments. After my mother left the room, I closed my eyes and thought about my home with Charles, and after feeling the tingling sensation again, I was back home. I don't know how to explain it, but I think that somehow the keys allowed me to travel across miles of land and ocean.
Barbara closed the book, and set it down in her lap. Victoria's description of how she’d first traveled with her key sounded a lot like what had happened to Barbara. She had been closing her eyes while thinking about the man in the locket, the man with whom she felt a strange connection. She had cleared her mind of everything but what kind of a man he might be, then she was in Daniel’s old shed.
Was time travel as simple as that? If she held the locket again and thought about home, would she be able to travel back to her time?
She gripped the locket tightly, closed her eyes and started to think about Megan. She pictured her daughter’s smile, her happy personality.
Then she opened her eyes as she realized she didn’t want to leave just yet. She didn’t know how she was supposed to act in this time period, but she did know she didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to get to know Daniel better. She couldn’t explain why she felt so connected to him, but maybe it was worth it to take some extra time to try to find out.
She sat there warring with herself, unable to come to a decision she felt good about. She jumped at a knock on her door. She had been so engrossed in her thoughts, she had forgotten the world around her for a moment.
“You may enter,” she said, hoping that was a more acceptable response than the way she’d responded the first time the maid had knocked.
The same maid as before entered, and curtsied. “Mr. Daniel has requested that you join him and his family for dinner.”
Barbara felt butterflies fill her stomach. Was it dinner time already? “Thank you. Please tell him that I will be glad to join him,” was all she was able to say after a moment.
The maid turned to go, and Barbara stopped her. “Wait. I don’t believe I ever got your name?” She felt bad never knowing how to address her.
“It is Eliza, ma’am.” The maid curtsied again and then left.
Barbara was able to make her own way down to the dining room, nerves filling her once again. She hadn’t any idea how dinner should go with Daniel and his family. She remembered that he had mentioned that not only did Laura live with him, but also his younger brother and his wife and children. What if she did or said something wrong?
She squared her shoulders. She would just have to be the best person she knew how to be and hope that was enough.
The door to the dining room was open, so she entered. Daniel was already seated at the head of the table with Laura on one side and another man and woman on the other. Barbara figured the other couple must be Daniel’s brother and his wife, although she couldn’t remember their names.
Daniel and the other man stood when she entered the room.
“Hello,” Daniel greeted her. He gestured towards an empty chair next to Laura. “You may be seated over there.”
Barbara smiled nervously and walked to the empty chair. She noticed that both men stayed standing until she sat down next to Laura. As she sat, she could feel Daniel's eyes boring into her, as if trying to decipher her true intentions and feelings.
Once everyone was seated, Daniel was the first to speak. “I have to apologize for my absence today. I had some unexpected work to attend to. I had hoped to spend some time helping you find your home. I trust you have been comfortable and taken care of?” He asked the question kindly, and Barbara appreciated his concern.
“Yes, your staff has been very accommodating,” she replied, and reminded herself to sit straight in the chair, trying to mirror the way Laura sat next to her.
“I have to apologize as well,” Laura said with a tired smile. “I would have been of more help, but I haven’t been feeling my best as of late.”
Barbara looked at her and noticed she did seem paler than she should have and there were bags under her eyes.
“It’s not a problem at all. I wouldn’t want to make you feel worse out of obligation to entertain me,” Barbara said honestly, hoping that there wasn’t anything seriously wrong with Laura.
“Well, now that everyone has apologized to the guest, can we eat?” The other man commented with a smile, but she could tell he was annoyed.
“Edward!” Laura hissed under her breath.
“Yes, let’s eat,” Daniel said after looking at his brother disapprovingly.
Daniel signaled to the same young girl who had served her breakfast and who was standing at the other end of the table as if waiting for instructions. When she saw Daniel’s signal, she left the room.
“I supposed introductions still need to be made. This is my brother and his wife, Edward and Isabella Gouldsmith,” he said as he gestured to them both. “And this is Barbara Conway.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Barbara said, and dipped her head, although she wasn’t sure if it was necessary or not. She felt Edward didn’t approve of her for some reason.
“Indeed,” was all Edward said.
His wife seemed kinder and laid a hand on Edward’s arm as she said, “Yes, it is nice to have a new face around here.”
Barbara smiled gratefully at her as big platters of food were brought in. Her stomach grumbled as the enticing smell filled her senses. There was a roasted chicken with potatoes, carrots, beans and thick slices of bread. The young girl walked around and filled everyone’s goblets with a white wine.
Barbara wasn’t sure how to handle this one; she didn’t drink alcohol. Even the smell of it sent her back to the night Jason h
ad taken advantage of her. She started to see flashbacks of him above her, smelling the beer on his breath.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in through her mouth. She knew she could not have a meltdown here. Over the course of the years, she had gotten good at suppressing the anxiety that would show up whenever something triggered a memory. She fell back on everything she had practiced and was able to calm herself down quickly.
She opened her eyes, did not look at the wine, and focused on the meal that was being served onto her plate. She glanced up to see if anyone had noticed her reaction and saw Daniel staring at her intently, questions clearly in his eyes. She averted her gaze and looked back down at her meal.
The maids were soon done serving. Daniel bowed his head and everyone followed suit as he gave a blessing on the food. After everyone said amen, Barbara suddenly noticed that there were several sets of silverware around her plate. She had no idea which one to start with. Barbara decided to wait and see what fork Laura would start with. Laura picked up the small fork, but only after Daniel had put the first bite into his mouth. Once she saw Laura pick up the small fork, she picked up her own, and started eating her chicken. It was some of the best food she had ever eaten. The chicken was tender, juicy and full of flavor. She savored several bites as everyone ate in silence.
Daniel spoke again after a few minutes. “Barbara, I would like to offer our home to you until we are able to find whoever you were staying with. Hopefully, as the time passes, some of your memory will return.”
Barbara looked at him with surprise. She may have been a bit bold before in assuming that she had already been given permission to stay as long as she needed. It hadn’t occurred to her she could have been sent on her way when she didn’t have anywhere to go. She was about to say, “Thank you” when Edward started talking through his teeth to Daniel.
“We don't know the first thing about this woman. You found her rummaging through our old storage shed. She is probably some beggar off the streets. Why should we dress and feed her? She will never leave!”
Daniel looked sharply over at him. “She is a woman who needs our help. We are capable of helping her, and so we shall,” he said in a definitive voice.
Edward scowled at him angrily, then turned back to his meal to eat in silence.
Barbara could only whisper, “Thank you.” She hoped she was able to show her gratitude through the gaze she sent over to Daniel.
She had only been around Daniel for a few minutes, but each moment she spent with him only seemed to make their connection grow stronger. She felt in that moment that she could never go back to 2016, and be perfectly happy right next to him, except she would need to leave Megan behind.
To get her mind off Daniel, she turned to Isabella. “Daniel told me you and Edward have two children.”
Isabelle smiled. “We do. Two beautiful boys.”
“Where are they now?” Barbara asked innocently. She knew she made an error when all four adults looked at her.
“In the nursery, of course,” Edward said with a pointed look at Daniel.
Too late, Barbara remembered that titled people in England didn’t eat with their children. Most likely, they had a governess or nanny who helped raise the children. It was something she didn’t understand. She had enjoyed raising Megan on her own. One of the reasons she couldn’t agree to give her daughter up for adoption like her parents had wanted her to do was because she’d wanted to be the one to raise her.
“What are their names?” Barbara asked, trying to get the attention off of her question.
“William is four years old and Thomas is almost two,” Isabel answered.
One of the maids brought in a basket of bread and Barbara decided not to ask any more questions.
Chapter 9
Barbara sighed as the sun hit her face. After having breakfast alone again, she knew she didn’t want to wait around in her room all day today. She had decided to walk the grounds, see more of the garden, and think more about her theory of how she had been able to travel here to this time.
It was a beautiful day; there were only a few wispy clouds in the sky. There was a light wind and the sun wasn’t too hot.
She decided she would walk the perimeter of the estate first, then move on to the gardens. It was a beautiful home, but it was very large.
Barbara couldn’t imagine living in a home this size, even if she did have help to clean for her. It just seemed as if it would get lonely. Even though there were six people permanently living in the home, plus all the maids and a butler, she hadn’t seen or heard anyone while walking from her room to the dining room, and then to the back doors. She found it interesting that she hadn’t even seen Edward’s two children.
She turned the corner to the side of the house and saw a white wrap-around porch that was similar to Keegan’s home. Now that she thought of it, the color of the brick was similar, too. She continued to the front of the house and saw that the design mirrored the design of Keegan’s home. The biggest difference was the size- this house was almost three times the size of Keegan’s.
She turned around and started toward the back of the house again, toward the gardens. As she walked, she went over what she knew about Keegan’s home. The house used to be owned by Victoria, and as far as Barbara knew she had been the only owner until her death. Barbara wondered if Victoria had really liked this style of home, or if the two houses were connected somehow. She shook her head wryly. Knowing if the houses had some connection didn’t change anything.
She decided to think of something else and immediately thought of Laura. She had seemed very tired last night at dinner. She had eaten about half of what she’d put on her plate, then excused herself. She had swayed when she stood up, and Daniel had been quick to jump up and help escort her to her room. Barbara could tell this wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for Laura by the reactions of Edward and Isabelle.
She thought through the symptoms she had witnessed and tried to think of any herbs that might help that would have been available in 1816. Laura had shown fatigue and dizziness and was quite pale. Barbara could think of a number of things off the top of her head, but couldn’t be sure on any of them without asking Laura more questions, but that seemed to be bad manners in this time period. She only hoped that whatever was causing these symptoms in Laura wasn’t too serious.
She was so lost in thought, she didn’t hear someone come up behind her. When that someone cleared his throat, she jumped in fright at gave a little shriek.
“I am so sorry; I didn’t mean to frighten you,” Daniel said, reaching for her, but he caught himself before taking her hand to comfort her. She wished he hadn’t.
“That’s all right. I should be paying more attention to what is around me,” Barbara responded.
“Do you mind if I join you?” he asked, and the hope in his eyes made her stomach tingle.
“Not at all. I wasn’t going anywhere in particular.” She turned to continue walking, and Daniel fell in step with her.
“Your gardens are beautiful,” Barbara commented after they walked together in silence for a few moments.
“Thank you,” Daniel responded. “It’s been a very wet and cold winter, but now that it’s starting to warm up, the gardens should really perk up.”
“Can you tell me a little about your…estate?”
“I inherited the house and all the surrounding land from my father. It’s been in my family since the 1600s.”
“What is your title?”
“I’m an earl. Most of the people who live around here help farm this land. I have about one hundred tenants working for me.”
“What do you grow?”
“Oh, the usual things: vegetables, fruit, food for the animals like the cattle and sheep.”
Daniel continued to talk, explaining how things were run on his land. To Barbara, it sounded like running a small country. All the people who lived on his land contributed in some way to all the jobs that needed to get done.
; “You must be very busy,” Barbara finally commented.
“Yes, I am. I do have help from Edward, though.” Daniel changed the subject. “Have you been able to remember anything else about what happened a couple of days ago?”
She sensed some tension in his question and hoped that wasn’t because he wanted her to leave soon. She knew Edward wanted her gone as soon as possible.
“I wish I could say yes, but unfortunately I haven’t figured anything out yet,” she said honestly. She wasn’t sure what it was about Daniel that made it hard for her to lie to him.
“I can send a note to all the estates in this area; maybe there is someone looking for you,” Daniel suggested.
Barbara wanted to ask him not to; she didn’t want to get any information out to strangers that there was an odd woman traveling alone with no escort. She knew that was frowned upon in this society. But she said nothing.