The River of Time Series Read online

  I thought back. She’d been wearing jeans and a leopard-print shirt. Best to steer clear of the clothing.… “She’s quite a bit shorter than I and—”

  “Thank the heavens,” Lady Rossi said, giggling. “How might we clothe two women so tall?”

  I sent a fake smile in her direction and went on. “She has long, blonde hair—”

  “Blonde?” Marcello repeated, clearly surprised. I’d inherited my father’s overtly Italian looks while my sis was all my mom, a Dane. No one would’ve guessed we were siblings.

  “Gold. The color of straw, long and straight. She has blue eyes and is quite pretty.”

  Luca and Pietro rose. “Permission to go in immediate search of this young maiden, sir,” said the first.

  The other knights erupted in laughter.

  Marcello smiled but then waved them down. “She was not there when we found her sister. You know that as well as I.”

  “Unless the Paratores somehow spirited her off,” said Pietro lowly.

  I looked down the table at him, alarm gathering in my chest. He was in his mid-twenties, classically Italian in looks, short, broad, with the deep shadow of an evening beard. He was not joking.

  Marcello met my eyes and shook his head slightly. “She was not there. I swear it upon my grave.”

  I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She wasn’t back at the tomb, I told myself. I didn’t leave her behind. There was no doubt in Marcello’s mind.

  Still, doubt lingered. “Might we…could we go in the morning? To be certain? I mean, we became separated. Mayhap she took another path, and even now, is there, trying to find shelter for the night.”

  “With castles within view? Why not beg shelter from us or even the Paratores?” Lady Rossi said, her voice ringing with the echo of judgment. “Assuming she knows nothing of them, of course,” she quickly amended.

  “This is a new land for us, far from home,” I said. “We were so lost, we became fearful of trusting anyone.”

  “Logical,” Marcello said, stabbing his chicken with his knife and placing it in his mouth.

  I stared at him for a moment and then looked down to my own utensils. Only a knife. Well, this’ll be tricky.… The Pre-Fork Era.

  “Tell us, Lady Betarrini,” Lord Forelli said. “Where do your family’s loyalties lie here in Toscana?”

  Several people nearby leaned in, studying me.

  I stared at him, blankly. What was he asking? Images from the battlefield filtered through my mind. This was clearly a loaded question. As in…declare-yourself-wrongly-and-you-will-die kind of loaded. We were in the fourteenth century, a time when Siena was a major power. But so was Florence. I remembered that much after all my summers in and around the two cities.

  “Come now, m’lady,” the man said. The entire table was silent. Only the men ate. “’Tis a simple question. Where do your loyalties lie? Be you Guelph or Ghibelline?”

  “Is this truly necessary?” Marcello interceded for me.

  “Indeed,” said his father.

  Guelph? Ghibelline? Dim recollections of lessons on Tuscan associations—or disassociations—with the Papacy cascaded through my mind. But I could not remember which was which, let alone guess who the Forellis might favor. Time to play the Dumb Girl card. I got all Jane Austen on him. Totally the wrong era, but it was all I had.…

  “I confess,” I said, fluttering lashes like my counterpart across the table, “I pay no attention to the politics of men.”

  Lord Forelli lifted his chin, studying me as if he knew I was trying to get out of answering his question. I ignored the heat of Marcello’s gaze. Was he buying it? Why did it bother me to think that he did? “But your family, surely they—”

  “Enough,” Marcello said. “Father, she is our guest.”

  “A guest we know precious little about. Might she not be as easily a spy for Florentines as well as a friend to the Sienese?”

  I’m sure my face showed my surprise. They thought I was a spy? And he was trying to trick me…this household had Siena written all over it. In the corner there was a fresco of a she-wolf suckling Remus and Romulus—Siena’s legendary symbol.

  “I fear my sister is in grave danger,” I said delicately, bringing a hand to the base of my throat—Oh, well done, Gabi!—“If the Paratores are as dangerous as it seems, if they have fallen to Florentine sympathies, I need to redouble my efforts to make certain she hasn’t fallen captive to them.”

  Lady Rossi coughed. Did I imagine that she muttered something about wishing we had both gone to the Paratores?

  “Lord Forelli, I beg for your aid,” I said, setting down my knife, no longer hungry. “Might your men help me search for Evangelia, come morning? I won’t be able to sleep, my concern is so great.” I was getting seriously good at talking their lingo.

  The tall, thin Lord Foraboschi leaned forward, weaving his fingers together and studying me with clever eyes. “What of your mother, Lady Betarrini? Why such care for your sister, when it was your mother the two of you came to our country seeking?”

  I hesitated. I thought of Mom, so far away, and tears came easily. “I fear she is lost to me for good,” I said, in little more than a whisper. The tears welled so deep that Marcello and Luca half rose from their chairs. What was such action? Guys in my time didn’t freak out at the sight of tears.

  Lady Rossi wiped her mouth on the tablecloth—something I’d seen them all do—and leaned back, catlike eyes upon me. She was on to me. As was Lord Foraboschi—I could tell by the lines on his forehead. But I was on a roll.

  I rose and looked to Lord Forelli. “I beg your pardon, m’lord. I fear the day has taxed me and I must retire.” Where did I get such phrasing? It surprised me that it came so easily. I turned in a rush and swept between the two long tables toward the exit, all eyes on me.

  “Lady Betarrini,” boomed the elder lord, his voice echoing around the chamber.

  I paused, collected myself, and then turned to face him. Marcello and Luca still stood, staring after me, but I consciously turned my eyes to Lord Forelli.

  “We shall aid you in your quest. Take your rest. Come sunup, our men will set out and report to you come evening. They are most thorough.”

  “It is as you say,” I said, keeping my voice level. “They are most thorough. If they were not, I would not have escaped with my life this day. But I confess that I cannot rest while Lia—Evangelia—is missing. I beg you to allow me to join them in searching for my sister.”

  The lord’s face twisted in astonishment at my request. Then, after a breath, Fortino leaned over and whispered in his father’s ear. Lord Forelli straightened and looked hard at me. “I grant you permission, m’lady, even though I believe it foolhardy. Be advised that while Marcello and his men won the day, it was but one battle in a long war with our neighbors. I can promise no rescue if you are captured. Or, indeed, if your sister is already in their foul hands.”

  “I understand.” I bobbed in a quick curtsy, as I’d seen others do. “Thank you, m’lord.”

  He waved me off, and I turned and fled the room. As I shut the heavy door, I heard conversation erupt around all three tables. It mattered not that they were rife with gossip about me—rife? who said a word like rife? What was happening to me?—the important part was that we’d set off tomorrow, in search of Lia. That was, if I didn’t wake up from this dream before then. And if I didn’t find her, perhaps I could slip back to the tomb and try my hand atop the print.… Maybe it was coincidence that the time shift had only happened when we’d both placed our hands on the prints. Maybe it just had been the right moment, the right time of day.… Maybe Lia hadn’t leaped through time at all.

  I was nearly across the courtyard when he took my arm and whirled me around. I gasped and then honestly brought my hand to my chest, nearly scared out of my mind. “Marcello.
I mean, er, Lord Marcello. What is it? You’re hurting me.”

  He grimaced as if sorry, instantly dropping his hand. “Sir is my title. There is no lord here but my father.”

  But I’d heard the others refer to him as m’lord. It was all very confusing.…

  “What do you think you are doing? To enter those woods again is foolhardy. My father does not jest when he speaks of the danger from the Paratores.”

  “And I relieved him—and you—of any responsibility. I fully comprehend your warning.”

  I resumed walking, leaving him behind me, but he hurried ahead and faced me, halting me again. He was even more frightfully handsome in the deep shadows, torchlight upon one side of his face. “Mayhap it’s different among the Normans. These people, the Paratores”—he spit out the name like it burned his mouth with poison—“are unscrupulous.”

  “Again, I understand your warning. It is my life, m’lord. Allow me to live it as I see fit.”

  “But that is just it! I endeavor to aid you in living it.”

  I studied him for a long moment. He ran his hand through his curly hair, hair that was pulled back with a leather band but came loose as my own so often did. Who died and made him my guardian? Sheesh, I was all for the chivalrous knight thing, but this was getting to be a bit much.…

  “Lady Gabriella, we will make far better time without you,” he said carefully, dragging his eyes to meet mine.

  So it was my lousy sidesaddle technique that made him hesitate. I almost laughed aloud. “I’ll fare better tomorrow—”

  “Tomorrow?” he asked blankly.

  “Yes, tomorrow.” I frowned. “As in…the day after tonight?”

  “Ahh, we say, ‘on the morrow.’”

  “On the morrow, then,” I amended in irritation. “You will send a maid to awaken me?”

  “I cannot promise that,” he said with a small shake of his head. It wasn’t that he didn’t think he could find anyone up to the task, I decided. He intended to use my weariness against me.

  “Fine. I will be in the courtyard at sunrise,” I said, stepping forward to tap him on the chest. “With or without your aid.”

  With that, I turned and rushed the remaining steps across the courtyard and through the door. I let it slam behind me, then hurried down the dark corridor, the thick candle at the end now sputtering, melted down, and through the door to my room. I set the latch and slid a bar through two hoops—their form of a dead bolt, I guessed.

  It was then that I looked behind me. A maid had been there, had turned down my bed—little more than a straw mattress with woolen blankets—and lit a candle. I was grateful. This room would’ve been really lonely and more than a little scary without it.

  I hurried over to the bed and climbed in, pulling the covers up to my chin and staring at the flickering candle that waved in the slight breeze coming through my tiny, high windows. There was no pillow, so I bunched together a portion of the blanket and laid my head down on it, still staring at the golden flame glowing in bright blue at its center.

  I wanted to forget Marcello’s lingering gaze, the dagger glances of Lady Rossi, and the curious looks of everyone else. I wanted to be home. Now.

  I glanced up to the crucifix above me, then back to the flame. “I know I’ve never been a praying sort of person, God,” I whispered. “But I’m hoping You can hear me, lost in this time warp. Please, please, please take me home. Let me wake up in the apartment, with the avocado-green carpet and seventies fridge. Let me hear Lia talking in her sleep. Let me find Mom making eggs at the stove, demanding that I eat just a bite. That’s all I want, Lord. To be home. Take me home.”

  I hesitated. “Not home home,” I clarified, hoping He didn’t misunderstand me and think heaven. “I mean home.” I sighed. “You know what I mean. Right?”

  I sighed again, suddenly bone weary. And with that, somehow, when I thought it was going to be impossible, I was asleep.

  CHAPTER 4

  I was dreaming that I lived on a farm. It was not yet light, but the animals were stirring. A rooster heralded the morning for the third time, and my heart skipped a beat. It all came rushing back. I hoped to open my eyes to my own day—literally. Had it happened? Had it all been a terrible, crazy dream?

  The rooster crowed again, and yet I couldn’t get the gumption to open my eyes. Fingers splayed, I ran my hands across the covers and groaned.

  The rough woolen weave of my blankets from last night.

  I threw back the blanket and sat up rubbing my face. Slowly, I allowed my eyes to blink open.

  I was still there. Or then. I was still in the past. Lost in time. I shook my head, hands on my mouth, and looked up at the crucifix, then over to the window, where the sky was stained with the deep purple of dawn. If only it had been my mom who had been taken back in time. She would be delirious with joy. She spent half her days lost in a bygone era anyway—why not lose her entire self into this curious time vortex? Only she would have been whining about not landing in the time of the Etruscans.…

  Someone knocked at my door, and I jumped, my hands immediately running through my hair. Was it Marcello, here to wake me up for the search? I went to the door and opened it a crack. A maid arrived with a pitcher of water in a basin. “For your morning washing, m’lady,” she said, lifting them when she saw my hesitation.

  So he isn’t as bent on leaving me behind as he pretended.

  I opened the door wider. She introduced herself—Giacinta—and set down the basin, lifted the pitcher nestled inside, and poured the cool water for me to wash. Then she went to the hallway and retrieved two dresses, shaking them out and then laying them across the bed. They were gorgeous—elegant gowns, one with seed pearls embroidered into the bodice. “Lord Marcello asked me to bring these to you, as well as these underclothes,” she said. “They’re a tad outdated for a noblewoman. They once belonged to Lady Forelli. She, too, was uncommonly tall.”

  Marcello’s mother. I paused, wondering if it was wise to ask, then, “If you please, what happened to Lady Forelli?”

  Giacinta groaned and shook her head. “Ach, she died of the fevers three, no, four years ago now.” She made the sign of the cross as if warding off evil spirits in mentioning the dead. “Tragic, really. Lord Forelli has never been the same. Then he suffered his spell a year past.…” She stopped, seeming to recognize she was sharing too much.

  I let the subject go, then turned to getting ready for the day. Giacinta helped me into my dress and did her best to put up my hair. She stepped back and studied me, cocking her head and then widening her eyes. “Take care, m’lady. You are far more beautiful than Lady Rossi and already you draw Lord Marcello’s eye. His intended is a viper.”

  Like I didn’t totally get that. But there was no explaining that I was soon outta here, so, like, no worries and all.… “Grazie,” I said instead. Mom always said that a simple thank you covered a lot of bases.

  Another maid came in, carrying a ceramic plate with a round loaf and small wedge of cheese atop it. “From Cook,” Giacinta said. “If you truly intend to join the men today, you need to make haste and break your fast.”

  It struck me then. Could Marcello be going through the motions, just looking for a way to leave me behind with an excuse? Hey, I tried.…

  I tore the small loaf in half and eagerly bit into it. “Grazie,” I mumbled again, mouth half-full of the delicious, yeasty bread. It felt odd having the girl wait on me. She was nearly my age. Lia’s age anyway. Lia. Maybe we’d find her today, and I wouldn’t be alone in this madness. I grabbed the other half of the bread, stuffed the wedge of cheese into it and strode out the door.

  “M’lady, it isn’t safe, what you are doing,” cautioned Giacinta, behind me. But I ignored her. I wasn’t about to miss this. The chance to find my sister. Or even find my way out of this nightmare.

 
The men were filing out of the Great Hall, led by the senior Lord Forelli, whose frown said he clearly disapproved of my presence, even though he had given me permission to join them.

  I caught sight of Lady Rossi then, trailing after Marcello, a lady-in-waiting at her side. Apparently she wanted her man to be thinking of her as he left the castle.

  She paused when she saw me, then hurried over to me. “Surely you don’t truly intend to ride with the men. You shall slow them down.”

  “And then, so I shall,” I said brusquely. It was too early in the morning to think about what the perfect response would be.

  “It is not good for a lady’s reputation,” she said lowly, turning to face me and keeping her voice down. She touched my arm. “To travel alone, with a company of men. I beg of you to take care.”

  I looked down at her at an angle and tried to don an expression that said I cared, at least a little bit. “Come with us, then, m’lady, if you care to guard my reputation.”

  Her eyebrows lifted in surprise, and she actually took a partial step away from me, as if I were suddenly hot like a stove burner. “No,” the girl sniffed. “I think not. I enjoy a ride now and then. But anything that smells of danger—nay, I shall leave that to my intended.”

  I smiled and couldn’t resist waggling my eyebrows. “Then, that is where you and I are different. I enjoy a bit of adventure. Good day, Lady Rossi.”

  I strode away from her, barely able to control my grin. If only I had been in jeans, I would’ve seriously strutted away. I tried to do my best, considering I had the gown on and all. It was so much easier for guys. Then and now.

  I moved across the courtyard, and Marcello caught sight of me, hesitated, then said, “Lady Betarrini, I ask you again…please, remain here today.”

  I took several steps past him and then looked back over my shoulder. “Where’s my mount?”

  He shook his head and strode ahead, clearly irritated. But after a few steps, he waved to the groomsmen, and the gelding I had ridden yesterday—could a girl say yesterday when it was almost seven centuries in the past?—was brought forward.