A Bridge Through Time: (Time Travel) (14 page)

The ride on horses to the fair was enjoyable in spite of the low sky. The sides of the road were covered with bluebells, campion and wild daffodils and the air was fragrant with laurel and pine. Wood smoke from nearby farms and manure from horses that had gone before them permeated the air.

On arriving at the fair, Jane looked up at the low dark cloud cover.

“Those clouds look menacing,” she exclaimed, “even though the sun is out on the other side”

“Weather here can turn suddenly,” Jestyn replied. “We’re very used to it and have learned to enjoy the good parts when we have them. But you’re right, those clouds do look dark for so early in the morning. But let’s not be concerned by that and enjoy our day at the fair.

“The sun may yet come out as it often does. We are not far from home, in any case. There is to be a grand treat – a large roundabout is being installed. It was brought here from London for the fair at great expense and there will be many other diversions.”

“I'm anxious to see that roundabout. I love fairs. This roundabout you mentioned – is that a carousel?” Jane asked.

“Yes – it’s a carousel. They are very rare, so people will come from many miles away for the experience.”

“There’s an annual fair in Connecticut that I try not to miss,” said Jane “They make especially good cider and apple pies.” Jane was wearing a slate blue sarcenet riding habit and matching short cape from the clothes Lady Elizabeth had given her and it was very becoming. She wore a small blue bonnet with a wide band and bow that matched the gown and a small reticule.

“Nellie told me there’s a gypsy camp near the fair, Jestyn. Do you think we could go there after we go to the fair?”

“I should tell you to avoid that Roma camp but knowing you by now it will be futile, darling,” said Jestyn with a wide smile. He wished the hours they spent at the fair could be stretched out and the end of the day be far away.

“To see a real gypsy and have my fortune read by a gypsy from 1803? Not a chance I'll miss that, Jes,” Jane agreed. “I can hardly wait. But how do they allow her here, if they fear sorcery so much? Isn’t reading our fortune a form of sorcery?”

“She’s not the kind of witch they fear, that could damage their crops or turn their milk sour. But the Roma are often run out of towns, even so. They don’t advertise their presence too much, for that reason. But many people still do like to see into their future, so they don’t turn her in—unless,” he said with a laugh, “they don’t like the fate she predicted. But by that time the Roma camp has left. They don’t stay too long in one place. They live a rather carefree life, I think, camping under the stars, singing and dancing…”

“And sometimes run out of town?”

“That, too, unfortunately for them. When they camp in my land, I look the other way, so long as they stay out of trouble and don’t steal crops. I don’t see why people don’t like them on their land when they stay only a few weeks and keep to themselves.”

Jestyn tied their horses at the temporary stable and led Jane down the main walk through the fair.

Jane glanced lovingly at Jestyn. She had liked what he had said about the Roma. He was a kind, fair and sensitive man and she was so happy to have found him. Too bad that fate had dealt them a crushing blow by putting them in separate centuries. She would bet they were the only couple in history with such a problem.

She held on to his arm and whenever they were not alone they addressed each other formally. She was glad that because this was a public place she was able to go with Jestyn alone.

Aunt Florinda, in any case, had told them firmly she had to recover from her journey to Exeter and would not attend the fair until its second day.

“It must be a wondrous world, your world. I wish I could see you through a keyhole when you get back,” Jestyn said.

“I'm glad you didn't say
if
I get back.”

“I'm certain you will, darling. Don't think of that for now and enjoy the fair. Eventually the sun will come out today and will stay that way for the rest of the fair’s duration—I am still hopeful.”

“The fair will last a week?”

“Yes, and we'll come every day, if you want. We don't have much in the way of entertainment out here in the country, so a fair such as this is greatly appreciated.”

“I'm so glad to hear that,” Jane replied. “But I’m afraid I’ll be able to attend the fair only today even though I would love to come with you every day the fair’s in town. I can’t risk staying in your time too long. This fair is very entertaining, though. Look, Jes, they're setting up the roundabout! Shall we go see? Just see how beautiful those wooden horses are and so elaborate with their plumed headdresses!”

“I read about them recently,” said Jestyn as they neared the carrousel, “The reason they were first made was for soldiers’ practice. Wooden horses were placed in wheeled planks so that soldiers could practice slicing off heads as they swayed past the lines of the enemy!”

“What a horrible beginning to a beautiful contraption that now gives so much joy to children,” said Jane. “I loved carousels when I was a child.”

“What besides apple pies and cider do you have in the fairs that are held in your time?”

“Country fairs have lots of things: livestock and food booths and games and all sorts of carnival rides! But we also have other kinds of fairs – fairs where the countries of the world can present expositions of their newest technology.”

“Tell me about this tech – what was that word?”

“Technology. It encompasses advances in many fields. First there will be the industrial revolution. I'm sure it's going on even now, all around you. A carousel like that one will move with electricity rather than with workers making it go around with that wheel.”

“I believe you would rather enjoy the fair than talk about your technology, from the look in your face,” Jestyn said with a laugh.

“We can talk about it another day, when my mind is not so full of this fair. Look at those huge cows with their sweet eyes. Oh, and look at those horses, so many of them! Are they to be auctioned?”

“Yes, later on. Perhaps we'll come back and witness it. Come, Jane, let's go down that lane where they're setting up refreshments. The smell of tarts and pies is making me hungry.”

Jane needed to rest and so Jestyn took her to a slope above the fair area where they could sit and eat their lunch, while still being able to look down at the activity.

After eating meat pies and elderberry wine, Jane and Jestyn relaxed on the grass.

“How nice the sun feels on my face. You were right that the sun would eventually come out! And that breeze. It's perfumed with heather and honeysuckle and lavender.” Jane looked down the hill at the teeming crowds

“Don’t trust the sun too much,” Jestyn said. “It’s liable to abandon us to those dark clouds that are now low in the horizon in the north.”

“I hope not!” Jane said and asked, “After our ride in the roundabout, do you think we could visit the gypsy tent? I saw that the Roma tents are near the fair but not
within
it.”

“Yes, they’re not allowed within the area of the fair but they’re near enough to get a few coins from the visitors. So you want your fortune read? What if it's something you don't like? Haven't you had enough of magic?” Jestyn asked with concern.

“It'll just be fun. I never believe what they tell me, anyhow.”

“All right, but don't say later that I didn't warn you,” Jestyn said and added, “I think we should go there now if we’re going at all because the weather might change suddenly. I don’t trust this sudden sun, not with dark clouds lurking in the north, bearing down. Come, Jane.”

He helped Jane up from the grassy slope and they walked down among yellow grass and wildflowers toward the gypsy camp.

As they entered the gypsy tent, Jane realized that the tent looked a lot larger in the inside than it did from the outside. Inside, it looked like its own little world, if a bit strange and surreal, candlelit and spooky. Pinned to one of the sides of the tent, here was a drawing of a hand with inscriptions on it like a road map

Jane looked around with interest as the gypsy, a short, dark-haired woman with a pale face and large black eyes rimmed with kohl, motioned her toward a small table and two mismatched chairs. The woman was dressed in a grubby green and red satin skirt of many folds and a red scarf, while a chain with coins hung across her forehead.

Looking Jane over with her piercing look, she motioned for Jane to sit at a chair at the dark table across from which hung a mirror. The small round table looked ancient and rickety. It was dark wood and was carved with scrolls, inscriptions and figures of flowers and birds.

CHAPTER 17

After she sat at the table, Jane looked around the tent. There was a sheepskin hanging from one of the sides of the tent above where Jestyn had been motioned to sit in the only other stool a little bit on the side from where Jane sat with the gypsy. On another of the sides was a sheepskin with an imprint of a Chinese scene and hooks that held a horn and a wine bag.

“Ye’ll cross me with the blunt, young sir?” asked the Roma woman.

“That I will,” said Jestyn, taking out a coin from his vest pocket. “Here it is.”

The woman put the coin in a stringed purse that hung from her skirt and turned again to Jane.

Without a word she motioned for Jane to place her right hand on the table. The woman’s hand was bony, cold and brittle and Jane almost recoiled at the touch as the woman turned Jane’s hand palm up.

For a while she gazed at Jane’s palm and then she glanced at the mirror opposite the table. Her large dark eyes, heavily rimmed in black kohl looked eerie under the light of the single candle on the table. There was a heavy smell of incense and tallow and a cloy scent that seemed to come from her hair.

There was a strange tapping noise but the woman did not seem to be aware of it.

Jane shivered. She glanced at Jestyn whose eyes were on her and smiled at him. Jane would have reached for Jestyn’s hand but she was afraid the woman would yell at her.

A few minutes went by as the Roma woman gazed at Jane’s palm, then gazed back and forth at the mirror. As this went on Jane became extremely uncomfortable as her hand was being held too tightly in the woman’s hand. She was about to tell the woman she had changed her mind when suddenly the woman removed Jane’s hand away with a jerky movement, startling Jane. The strange tapping noise stopped.

The gypsy, her large black eyes eerie above the light of the short smelly candle, leaned forward toward Jane and stared at her for a few moments. Jane pulled back in alarm.

“The lady's hand can't be read,” the Roma woman said, turning to Jestyn. With a shake of her long bony hand she motioned for Jane to move away from the table.

“Get away from the table, miss!” she yelled when Jane stayed frozen in place.

“
Why?”
asked Jestyn.

“Why?”
Jane’s voice came out as a croak and she shivered. She got up, crossed the small tent and got as close to Jestyn as she could. Jestyn put his arm protectively around her.

“Can't say why–just ain't there,” the woman said in a louder, more strident tone. “Nothin' to be seen—lady don’t cast a shadow in the mirror. Maybe I can read yourn young sir.”

The gypsy appeared now so upset that Jane doubted she would even be able to read Jestyn’s hand. Jestyn glanced at Jane.

“Let her read yours, Jes, I’m all right now.” Jane could tell the woman was anxious to earn her money.

Annoyed and shaking his head, Jestyn sat on the chair Jane had vacated and extended his hand. “Go ahead,” he told her. “Read my fortune.”

The woman extended her hand and Jestyn gave her a coin.

The woman then took a few moments to calm down, closing her eyes and whispering what appeared to be incantations – or gibberish – as Jestyn and Jane thought with a speaking glance to each other.

The woman took a deep audible breath, then took a hold of Jestyn's hand. She turned it over and peered at Jestyn’s palm for a few moments. Then she turned and glanced at the mirror opposite.

Jane wondered why the woman glanced so often at the mirror. Her movements were quicker now. She appeared to be doing everything faster so that she could get rid of them.

“Ye'll be takin' the journey then. And the road is dark – can't get there in the day.”

“What journey? What do you mean? And why can't it be taken in the day?” Jestyn asked. The woman leaned in closer to Jestyn. Jestyn pulled away from her.

“Can't say why, sir – jis’ dark – all I can see is the dark road. Nothin' more.” She became silent, her eyes closed for a few seconds and she rocked softly from side to side. The time she did this seemed interminable to Jane.

Jestyn broke the silence: “That doesn't explain much. Is it more money you want,” he asked, with a glance at Jane.

The woman came suddenly out of her trance and startled them with her sudden loud voice.

“No! It's time for you to go – leave!” She seemed frantic. She stood up and with her arms outstretched she motioned for them to leave, making shooing motions toward the entrance flap of the tent.

“Let's go, Jes, she looks terrified,” Jane whispered. “I don't like this, after all. You were right, we shouldn't have come. It just made me uncomfortable and afraid.”

Jane and Jestyn emerged from the gypsy’s tent and saw that the day had become darker and the clouds low and menacing.

They walked back to the fair area and in an attempt to lighten the heavy mood, Jestyn took Jane into a large tent where there was a puppet show. Halfway through the show and as they had finally relaxed enough to enjoy the puppet show, Jane turned her head slightly as she began to notice that people didn't sit near her. They were avoiding the seats in front of her, by her and in back of her – actually moving away from her.

“What’s going on, Jestyn?” Jane’s voice cracked with worry.

“These yokels are making me mad,” Jestyn whispered to Jane. “Come, Jane, let's go. It's not even a good show.”

“Why don't they want to be near me, Jestyn?”

“I don't know.”

But Jane could tell Jestyn just didn’t want to tell her the reason the townspeople didn’t want to sit near her.

“First the incident with the gypsy and now this, Jes,” Jane said sadly. “I thought that the puppet show would at least take my mind off that old gypsy and now it's made it even worse.”

“These people are still in medieval times, Jane,” Jestyn said soothingly. “They have the same customs and habits of their ancestors. People around here don't change too fast.”

“I feel – vulnerable, suddenly. I’m scared, Jes.”

“You’re with me, darling,” said Jestyn. “Don’t be afraid. I’m not concerned about those yokels.”

“Tell me why they didn’t want to sit by me, Jes,” Jane insisted.

“I think you’re right, my love. You
are
in danger here – each day more. Maybe it was wrong to come to the fair. I’ve been very selfish. I’m putting your life in danger.”

“Well, it was I who insisted in going to visit the gypsy woman. I shouldn’t have. It just made me feel afraid–and then those people avoiding all the seats around me–why were they doing that?”

“I think they may be starting to consider you a – a—”

“A witch?”

“Yes. That’s why you have to leave, my love. It would be selfish of me to keep you even one more day. You must leave as soon as possible. Tonight, I think. We have to think of your safety first.”

“I must learn to drive the carriage, Jes,” Jane said. “My feet cannot touch the ground, remember what it said in the journal instructions?” There was a tremor in her voice. Things had changed dramatically with their visit to the fair and now she must leave as soon as possible. Yet still she resisted.

What could happen to her in Greywick Hall, which was like a fortress? She was safe there and she could stay until tomorrow night.

“I know how to drive cars but not carriages,” Jane insisted. “You must show me how to do it with at least one lesson, Jes.”

“I’ll teach you tonight. You must leave at midnight, my love.”

“Tomorrow is good enough, Jes,” Jane insisted when he shook his head.

“I hope we are doing the right thing.”

Jane took Jestyn’s arm and they went to retrieve their horses from the makeshift corral of the fair. Jestyn paid the caretaker and they started on their way back to the house at a leisurely walk. Jane could not yet withstand a trot.

“We must concentrate on removing you from our time. You are in extreme danger now, my love,” Jestyn said sadly.

“I’m afraid, Jes,” Jane said.

“You are with me, darling,” Jestyn told her, “I will never let anyone harm you.”

Jestyn leaned over to Jane and kissed her lightly on the lips; he then pulled back.

“Each time I kiss you it’s better than the one before. But perhaps I shouldn't have.”

“Perhaps you should,” said Jane. She leaned toward him and kissed him in the mouth, as their horses stirred and nickered.

They continued on down the tree-lined lane toward Greywick Hall in silence. They were concerned with the incidents at the fair and the gypsy tent but were reluctant to discuss them anymore. When they reached a dark copse of trees Jestyn halted his horse and Jane did too, beside him.

Jestyn got down from his horse and pulled Jane down from her horse and they kissed again in the shelter of enormous trees. The sound of horses’ hooves startled them and they pulled apart.

“We have company,” said Jestyn looking down the lane. “Lord and Lady Millthorpe are coming our way. I'm afraid they saw us kissing.”

“Bothersome pair,” said Jane annoyed. “That woman dislikes me enough to fill a stadium as it is. And now she will like me even less. She looks like she would like to scratch my eyes out.” 

“Roswell, Wilma,” Jestyn greeted them. “Were you on your way to the fair?”

“We came looking for you,” said Wilma. “We went over to the house and were told you were here.”

“And you came all the way here to look for us? Whatever for?” asked Jane.”

“Well, now that we are here, perhaps we can escort you back to the house and we can have some tea,” said Wilma. There was a glint of disdain in her eyes as she stared at Jane.

“I’m afraid we just went out for a little exercise and were planning to return to the fair,” said Jestyn, with a glance at Jane.

“That’s right,” said Jane. And when before she had planned to return to the house, now that Wilma was insisting on it she decided she would linger. “We were planning to go right back. So you came all the way here for nothing.”

Jane decided she was not going to call Lady Millthorpe ‘my lady’ anymore. She was anything but a lady, more like a vicious snake, anyway.

“I'm afraid it would be advisable for you not to return to the fair, Miss Fielder,” said Lady Millthorpe, and added with a glance toward her husband, “Tell them, Roswell.”

Lord Millthorpe shook his head.

“
Tell
them, Roswell,” she insisted.

“We heard some disturbing things in the village, Jestyn,” he said, avoiding Jestyn’s eyes.

“Disturbing things?” asked Jane. “Whatever it is, my lord, we would like to hear what you have to say without all this hedging.”

“I don’t believe you should take this in such away, Miss Fielder,” said Wilma, “we are only trying to help…”

“Yes, I
know
how you are trying to help, Wilma,” Jane said and turned away from Lady Millthorpe with a dismissing shake of the head. Jestyn helped Jane back to her horse and then he remounted, too.

“Well, really…” Lady Millthorpe began.

All four of them turned to the lane as loud noises reached them. They were stunned to see a rabble of people marching down the lane toward them.

The throng soon reached them and Jane and Jestyn turned toward several people that from all directions seemed to be forming into a large menacing circle.

“Jestyn…” Jane said in alarm.

“I told you, but you wouldn’t believe me,” said Lady Millthorpe with a smirk of satisfaction, and added, “See?”

Jestyn took Jane’s arm. “Get behind me, Jane,” he said as he felt his own horse stir in alarm.