The Hands of Time (31 page)

“It’s quite all right, Charles.  It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I said, trying no
t
to laugh.  Uncle Thomas had more decorum
,
and didn’t come bounding into our room.  He waited patiently downstairs while we washed and dressed
,
and came down to greet him.  I could see the resemblance between him and Alec and thought he must have been a very handsome man in his day.  He was Alec’s father’s younger brother
,
and I put him somewhere at fifty-five.  I could see the easy affection between Alec and his Uncle
,
and thought that if Tomas’ wife was half as charming as him
,
we would get on just fine.  Lottie was waiting for us at home, having already prepared our rooms
,
and in the midst of cooking a feast to celebrate our arrival.  It was nice to see that we were so eagerly awaited. 

Uncle Thomas left us to have some breakfast and make ready
,
while he went out to supervise the unloading of cargo from
Morning Star
.  It would take several days and be stored
in
his warehouse at the docks.  I didn’t care about the ship or the cargo.  I just wanted a bit more time to rest.  Thankfully, the coach was comfortable and the ride
less than an hour
.  The plantation sat on several acres of lush farmland, the house large and solid amid the trees
that surrounded it.  It was white, with black wooden shutters
,
and a wraparound porch that begged for a couple of rocking chairs and a pitcher of cold lemonade. 

Lottie ran out to greet us and took possession of Finn before I even had a chance to get out of the carriage.  She presented him with a carved wooden horse on four wheels
,
that he would be able to roll around on the floor or pull behind him once he started walking.  Finn was in heaven
,
and I was grateful to her for her thoughtfulness.  Lottie seemed warm and earthy and I liked her right away.  I
’
m not sure what Alec said to Thomas, but no questions were asked
of
me
,
and I was welcomed with open
arms
. 

I was happy to finally go up to bed.  We were given comfortable rooms on the second floor, overlooking a lovely lake, its surface glittering in the moonlight.    It was nice to be surrounded by family
,
and I enjoyed watching Charlie looking at Alec with love and awe, thrilled to see his brother again after five long years.  Everyone drank a toast to Finlay’s memory
,
and I heard Lottie discreetly asking Alec if he’d heard from Rose.  Alec shook his head sadly, not wanting to be reminded of his sister.  I sat back surveying my surroundings.  Yet another phase of my life was about to begin and I was ready to face it as long as Alec and Finn were at my side.

Chapter
60

Present Day

“Would you like a cup of tea?”  Mr. Taylor asked conversationally
,
sitting down across from Louisa.

“No, I would like to know what happened, if you don’t mind.”  Louisa was still clutching the clock in her hands, afraid to let go of her only leverage. 

“All right.  No tea.”  Mr.  Taylor took off his glasses and polished them on his sweater
,
nearly driving Louisa to an act of violence.

“Will you please quit stalling and tell me?”  She didn’t mean to raise her voice at him, but she was losing her patience. 

“I have been fascinated with the concept of time travel ever since I was a little boy.  I didn’t have many friends
,
and I spent hours in my room playing with my knights and castles
;
staging elaborate battles
,
and wishing I could go back in time and be the hero I
could
never be in the present.  I was good at science
,
and I studied
physics
and chemistry
,
hoping to find a way to do the impossible.  It took me nearly thirty years, but I did it.  I built a prototype that was able to take me back to the past
,
by turning the hands of the clock to the desired year. 

I was beside myself with excitement, but the scientific community
didn’t
share my glee.  They said there was no way to test the time GPS without using a human being
,
and it was
far
too dangerous.  If they sent an animal, they
’
d have no way of knowing what happened to it
,
and there would be no way to bring it back.  I was dismissed out of hand and ridiculed as a dreamer.  No one really believed me, even though I had tried the GPS on myself
,
and had traveled back in time to the Crusades and the Roman Empire. 

I admit, my prototype had problems, but it did work.  I set out to build a new time travel device.  It had to be smaller, easier to carry and hide.  The cupid clock was big and heavy and not something you could just stroll around with.  It could also break easily and leave you stranded in the past.  I used the
time
travel
technology to build a much smaller timepiece
,
one that look
ed
like a regular watch.  I was even able to make it digital for more precise navigation.  The second
counter
could be used to select the month of the year.  My cupid became obsolete, but I couldn’t bear to destroy it, so I put it up on a high shelf where I could see it and remember that I had achieved my dream
;
even if other people did not believe me.  No one was ever interested in the clock
, so
I became careless, forgetting about it half the time. 

One day a young woman walked into the shop.  She was pretty and talkative
,
and I was interested to hear about her life in Hungary.  It was still behind the Iron Curtain in those days
,
and I wondered how she managed to get a
student
visa to come to England.  She was the daughter of some high
-
ranking official who pulled some strings to get
his daughter to study
abroad
.  I don’t know what
possessed
me, but I told her about my time machine, about my dream.  She was fascinated
,
and wanted to see the clock.  I was foolish enough to show her.  I suppose she didn’t believe me because she turned the hands before I had a chance to stop her. 

She vanished
before my very
eyes, leaving the clock set to 3:43.  I knew where she
’
d gone and I was going to follow her and bring her back, but I thought too long and the hunt for her had begun.  The police would want to know where she
’
d been and I would have a lot of questions to answer.  I might have even been charged with a crime, even though I didn
’
t send her to the past.  She was the one who turned the hands. 

Eventually, the trail went cold
,
and after a time people forgot about Erzsebet.  There wasn’t a day that I didn’t think of her
,
and I eventually went to look for her.  I couldn’t bring her back, but I could find out what happened to her.  By the time I got there, she
’
d married Thomas Whitfield
,
who owned that castle on
the
hill
,
and was pregnant with her first child.  She seemed happy enough
,
and I left her where she was without ever revealing my presence to her.  Knowing she found love and family
alleviated
my guilt a little. 

I should have destroyed the clock, but I
couldn’t
bring myself to destroy my creation.  I just left it sitting there on the shelf, thinking that lightning didn
’
t strike in the same place twice.  Thirty years went by before your sister walked into my shop.  She was just looking for
souvenirs
,
and I thought nothing of it as I
went into the back room to make a cup of tea.  How could I have known that she
’
d take down the clock and turn the hands?  No one was ever interested in that ugly clock that always showed the wrong time, until her. 

By the time I came out she was gone
,
and I saw the clock set to 4:05.  She
’
d gone to the
seventeenth century,
and I was too much of a coward to go bring her back.  After what happened to Erzsebet
,
I was afraid that the two stories would be linked and people would find out that I withheld the truth all those years ago.  I just kept quiet and waited for it to go away, hoping that Valerie would fare no worse than Erzsebet.”

The old man looked at Louisa over his glasses, his eyes begging for her understanding.  She was speechless.  He
’
d known what happened to her sister all along
,
and not only didn’t tell anyone, but left her there alone and helpless to make a life for herself with no chance of coming back. 

“Do you know what happened to her once she got there?” asked Louisa, her voice shaking with emotion.

“I went to check on her after about a month.  She had gone up to the castle and met Erzsebet’s grandsons
,
Alexander and Finlay.  They took her in and promptly fell head over heels in love with her.  She is a pretty girl, your sister.  I saw her at a Midsummer Night Ball
.  S
he was the life of the party, dancing and flirting, driving the brothers mad with lust.  She saw me, but didn’t recognize me.  She even laughed at my wig.”  He looked a little offended by that and Luisa wanted to strangle the man.

“Did you ever find out what happened after?”

“I didn’t go back again, but I know my English history.  We all learn about the
Gunpowder
Plot
,
and still celebrate Guy Fawkes Day.  Valerie’s husband was a devout Catholic
who
became involved with the conspirators, helping them obtain gunpowder.  He was arrested for treason and tortured.  Finlay Whitfield died of his injuries before they had a chance to execute him.  Your sister had a spare brother
,
and I assume she married him next.  He would have taken care of her.”

That bit of reasoning fit very neatly into what Louisa already knew.  Valerie had
married
Finlay, who died leaving her pregnant with his child, hence the name Finlay.  She must have married Alexander, retaining the name Whitfield and had another child with him.  At some point
,
they traveled to America where she had her portrait painted by Joseph Blackburn. 

Valerie had obviously figured out it was the clock that
functioned
as a time travel device
,
and had either found the same clock
somewhere
along the way, or just asked the artist to include it in the painting to send a clue to the present
;
hoping against hope that Louisa might somehow, somewhere
,
come across the painting and make the connection.  She felt suddenly exhausted.  Guessing was one thing, but knowing what happened left her drained.  She wasn’t sure how to feel.  On the one hand she wanted to get her sister back, but on the other hand, Valerie had obviously found a life she never expected
,
and she would not return to the present without her children or her husband.  Did she love him
,
or did she marry him simply to
have protection and a father for her son?  She would never know, but judging by the serene look in her sister’s eyes, it was safe to say that she was content with her lot. 

Louisa put down the clock and rose to leave.

“No one will believe you anyway,” the old man said to her back.  “Go back home and forget any of this ever happened.  It’s best for everyone.”  Louisa walked out of the shop without looking back. 

Epilogue

May 1608

Alec fastened Finn’s sapphire necklace around my throat
,
and bent down to kiss my neck, his lips warm and soft agai
n
st my skin. 
“Go on, Valerie.  It
is
time.” 

“This is just a
colossal
waste of time
Alec;
no one will ever see it.”  I felt a sudden reluctance
, but
Alec gave me a gentle push towards the door.