Timestruck (7 page)

Sure, Gina thought cynically. It was the
angel in charge of computer explosions. Get hold of yourself, girl.
You don’t believe in all that mushy New Age stuff. There was
nothing supernatural about it. You made a mistake on the computer,
and you have to figure out a way to correct it so you can go back.
Nice as Feldbruck is, you don’t belong here.

Was it possible that the way for her to
return to her own time lay through Dominick’s room? It was the
place where she had entered the eighth century; might it also be
the place from which she could leave? Through the ceiling? But how?
She stared up at the ceiling, looking for a sign, a piece of
evidence. Then, for a moment or two, she wondered if there was
something about Dominick that had brought her to this particular
time and place.

“Gina?” From the doorway Ella regarded her
with a puzzled expression. “Are you coming? We still have to put
the sheets away in the linen room.”

“Yes, I’m finished.” Gina set down the last
book and rose from her knees. She paused long enough to glance
around at Dominick’s belongings once again, and shook her head. “I
have to stop thinking about him. No man is worth twisting myself
into knots, especially not a man from another century. If I have
any brain left at all after what has happened, I will concentrate
on getting out of here.”

“What did you say?” Ella asked.

“Just that I have to stop daydreaming and
begin thinking seriously about what I intend to do next,” Gina
answered.

“That’s always a good idea,” Ella said with a
laugh.

* * *

The evening meal was bread and cheese, washed
down with ale or wine. Gina didn’t care for the ale, but she did
like the wine. It tasted like slightly fizzy grape juice, and it
didn’t have much kick to it. She knew better than to ask for a cup
of hot tea, which was what she really wanted to drink. She
seriously doubted if the people gathered in the great hall knew
that China or India existed, so it was a pretty sure guess that
they wouldn’t know about tea.

Having imbibed three cups of wine for
whatever courage they would impart, Gina left the table soon after
Dominick did and followed him out of the hall to the garden.

The sun was low in the sky, casting a golden
light on the rustling tree leaves and sending long violet shadows
across the beds of herbs and flowers. The brisk wind that earlier
had made laying out the laundry difficult was now a gentle breeze.
The evening air was cool, yet with a hint of summer warmth to
come.

Gina saw Dominick bend to smell the lilies.
When he straightened, though he hadn’t looked in her direction, she
knew he was aware of her presence, just as she had known that
morning that he was in the garden.

“It’s my favorite time of day,” Dominick
said. “Work is finished until tomorrow, Feldbruck is at peace, and
soon the stars will begin to shine.”

“Were you born here?” she asked, coming to
stand beside him. “Have you lived here always? It seems to me you
love this place.”

“I do love it, perhaps because I won these
fields and woodlands by my own sword at a time when there was
nothing left except my sword that I dared to call mine. The first
time I rode through the gate, I felt as if I was coming home. What
Feldbruck is today I have built by my own effort and with the help
of the people who were living here when Charles granted the land to
me at the end of the Bavarian campaign.”

“You sound like a pioneer who ventured into a
new land to build a new life,” she said. “From what I have seen of
your people, they like and respect you, which means you are a good
landlord.” Then, before she lost her nerve, she launched into her
scheme to learn as much as she could from him, in hope of
discovering how to return to New York City. “Earlier today you said
you’d listen and keep my secrets if I wanted to talk.”

“So I will.” He faced her, the lowering sun
behind him turning his blond hair into a fiery halo. She couldn’t
see his expression, but his voice was gentle. “You may speak freely
to me. Shall we sit where we did this morning?”

“If you don’t mind, I’d rather walk. I’m a
bit nervous. I don’t usually talk about my past. It’s not a nice
story. In fact, it’s pretty awful.” He did not respond to what she
said. She began to walk down the gravel path, and Dominick fell
into step by her side. Because of what she already knew about him
from Hedwiga and Ella, the first part of her story wasn’t terribly
difficult to tell. She didn’t think he would be shocked by it. “My
parents weren’t married. I never knew either of them. I was told
that my mother was very young and my father deserted her as soon as
he learned I was on the way, so she gave me up for adoption.”

Gina paused, frowning a little. The words she
was speaking were slightly different in Frankish, so the tale
didn’t seem quite as stark and unpleasant as it did in English.
Dominick’s reaction helped to explain the difference.

“That is a situation common to Francia, as
well as to your homeland,” he said. “Here in Francia, children
whose parents cannot raise them are usually given as oblates to
convents or monasteries, to be trained into the religious life as
they grow up. Occasionally, childless couples will adopt children,
usually the offspring of deceased relatives. There are some
unwanted children, fortunately not many, who are simply abandoned,
left to fend for themselves.”

“Well, I was adopted by a couple who had no
children of their own,” Gina said. “For the first three years of my
life I guess I was among the wanted children. I’m sorry to say I
have no memory of that time. When I was not quite four, both of my
adoptive parents were killed in a car accident.”

“They were riding in a cart?” Dominick asked,
looking puzzled. “Why weren’t they on horseback? Were they
farmers?”

“No, they – they lived in the city. It’s
difficult to explain. Let’s just say the cart overturned. I was
only slightly injured, but I was left an orphan, with no other
family, so I was put into a foster home.”

“Fostering is not unknown in Francia,”
Dominick said, nodding his understanding. “Often nobles send their
sons to live in each others’ households for a time. The custom
helps to build friendships, so the nobles don’t fight among
themselves as frequently as they once did. Then there is the palace
school, where intelligent boys can be sent to learn their letters
and counting. That’s a kind of fostering, too, with Charles as the
foster father. Nor is it unknown for him to take in the orphaned
offspring of his nobles and raise them with his own children.”

“That isn’t the kind of foster home I’m
talking about,” Gina said. “The government paid people to take me
in. Actually, I was moved around quite often. Some of the foster
families I was sent to were kind enough. It really wasn’t their
fault if I had the feeling I ought to be somewhere else. Then there
were the other foster parents, the ones who never should have been
given a child to care for.”

Perhaps it was the edge of bitterness in her
voice that made Dominick pause on his way along the path and look
hard at her. “Were you beaten?”

“Oh, yes. Often.” She couldn’t repress the
anger or the emotional fatigue that drained her whenever she
recalled those unhappy days. The reaction came from years of going
over and over that period of her life, wondering what she had done
wrong. She had never found a satisfactory answer. “Beatings and
worse. Some of the other children were as nasty as the grownups.
Especially the bigger boys.” She paused, gritting her teeth at the
memory.

“Anyone who mistreats a person who is smaller
or weaker is a coward,” Dominick declared. “Was there no one to
whom you could complain?”

“I was too afraid. While I was still little,
I hoped someone would notice the bruises and help me. But no one
ever did, and after a while I lost hope. As soon as I was old
enough, I began living on my own. I worked at a part-time job while
I was in high school. I’ve been supporting myself since I was
sixteen.”

She was a little surprised at herself for
revealing so much emotion. She had learned early in life that men
weren’t interested in how she felt. Dominick’s understanding
response startled her.

“It is a terrible thing to be unable to
trust,” he said softly. “To know that you are alone and
unloved.”

Though he didn’t comment about the details of
her story that did not fit into his Frankish world, Gina reminded
herself to speak more carefully in the future. She slammed the door
shut on the emotions that were threatening to break out into tears,
so she could launch into her fact-finding mission.

“You know about being left alone, don’t you?”
she asked very deliberately.

“It is no secret that I have been declared
illegitimate.” Dominick’s voice turned cooler. “I assume that is
what you have been trying to learn from me by recounting your own
story. I wonder why you did not simply ask. I also wonder what else
you are determined to discover. However, you have eliminated one
possibility I was considering.”

“What possibility? What are you talking
about?”

“I was wondering if someone you love was
being threatened.”

“I don’t know what you mean. I don’t love
anyone, so there’s no one whose safety I’d worry about. Why did you
think so?”

“Gina, I want to know who sent you to
Feldbruck, and why. Was it Fastrada? If it was, you must tell me. I
am trying to help you.”

“I never heard of anyone named Fastrada until
you mentioned her earlier today. Dominick, everything I’ve just
said to you is the truth.”

“It may be. I hope it is. But I don’t believe
you have told me your entire truth.”

“My life has taught me to be cautious,” she
said.

“I understand. If Fastrada has sent you, she
chose her agent well.” His hand touched her cheek, his fingertips
stroking gently across her skin until he held the nape of her
neck.

Gina reminded herself with unusual
forcefulness that she did not like men, and for good reason. But
she had to admit to herself that she did rather like Dominick. She
enjoyed a quick mental vision of him with sword in hand, defending
her against some of the cruel bullies of her childhood. She
wondered what his reaction would be if she told him everything
about herself.

While she was considering doing just that,
Dominick leaned forward and placed his mouth on hers. Gina was so
startled that she gasped and opened her lips. Dominick held the
back of her head a little more firmly and kissed her a bit
harder.

There was no force involved. There was only
Dominick’s warm mouth on hers, his tongue teasing along the edge of
her lips, and his fingers splaying into her short hair. He wasn’t
holding her tightly. She could have wrenched her head away, could
have protested what he was doing. That she stayed where she was and
allowed him to continue kissing her was an amazement to her own
mind.

When he finally drew back and she saw the
light in his silvery-gray eyes, she began to tremble. To her horror
she wanted him to kiss her again, this time with his arms around
her and her body close to his. For a woman who had firmly and
permanently rejected the idea of a man’s intimate embrace, the
spark of desire that Dominick engendered in her soul was
terrifying.

“Who are you?” Dominick asked, his voice just
above a whisper.

“I told you this morning,” she said,
attempting icy reserve and failing miserably, “I am Gina
McCain.”

“No,” he insisted, still using the same soft
voice. “Except for the fact that you are an orphan and were
unkindly treated during your youth, you have told me nothing
important.”

“My childhood may not be important to you,”
she exclaimed, “but it is to me!”

“You become evasive whenever I mention the
reason why you are at Feldbruck,” he said. “Perhaps if I answer
your questions, you will be willing to respond more fully to mine.
What do you want to know?”

“Are you serious?” she inquired.

“Completely. Be forewarned, though. I will
not reveal any secret I am sworn to keep, nor will I betray any
oath I have taken. But I have nothing to hide.” He paused, folding
his arms across his wide chest, watching her as if he expected her
to do something wild and foolish. “I am waiting for your first
question.”

“Why were you ruled a bastard?” she asked,
careful not to reveal who had been talking to her. She harbored a
strong suspicion that, in spite of his kindness, Dominick didn’t
trust her at all, and she didn’t want to get Hedwiga or Ella into
trouble for gossiping with her. “What is this strange new rule the
pope has proclaimed?”

“There are few Franks who don’t know the
answers to those questions.”

“I am not a Frank. I’ve told you so several
times already. Explain the new rule to me.”

“It’s simple enough,” he said. “The rule has
three parts. The Church has ordained that no marriage is legal
unless it is blessed by a priest. Children born of marriages not so
blessed are illegitimate. Bastards cannot inherit.” His voice was
flat, betraying no emotion.

“If they made a rule,” Gina said after a
moment of thought, “it must mean there were a lot of unblessed
marriages.”

“That is so. It was the old Frankish way,”
Dominick responded. “By tradition, the two families agreed to the
marriage, the man and woman stated before witnesses that they
wanted to live together, and there was a feast to celebrate the
union. The next day the bride received her
morgangabe
.”

“A morning gift, after the wedding night,”
Gina translated the last word to be sure she understood it
correctly.

“Exactly. We called the arrangement
friedelehe
, and all Franks accepted it.”

“Common-law marriage,” Gina said.