AVONDALE PACED IN HISstudy, waiting for Dr. Roberts to arrive. What on earth was taking him so long?
Blast! What a fool he'd been since she'd awakened. When he'd announced that they were in the year 1872, she'd gone still as stone, then anxious as a hunted fox. Her eyes were pools of fear, her every muscle tense as if she planned to bolt. She had tried to cover it and bluff, but he noticed. For a man famed for his finesse when dealing with delicate business matters, and for his eloquence when addressing the House of Lords, he could sometimes be quite clumsy when it came to mundane matters.
Not that there was anything mundane about this situation. He still did not know how to proceed. Should he keep trying to talk to her, reassure her? But what could he tell her? He didn’t know what was going on himself. Where she had come from or how. He only knew she thought it was the year 2022, and judging by the way she dressed and spoke and that object she called a phone, she might well be from the future. How she got here, he had no clue. But he had seen that weird lightning... that probably had something to do with it.
Should he go to her? But what if she wanted to be left alone? What if she had a severe headache and was in no condition to talk at the moment? Something told him she shouldn’t be alone, and he had learned to listen to his instincts.
Where was Dr. Roberts? He looked out the window again, impatient for the doctor's arrival, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement on the back lawn. A lone figure was running towards the gates at breakneck speed.
Olivia!
Damn! He was a damn obtuse fool. He dashed out of his study to pursue her. Of course she had run. If she didn’t believe him, she must have thought he was a lunatic. Even if she was willing to consider the idea that she’d somehow slipped into the past, she would need confirmation.
He ran fast after her. He had to catch her before she got into the forest where she could hide. Where she could get lost. It could take several hours and enormous effort to find her. She was fast and had a good head start, but he was faster, and his legs longer. Little by little, he gained on her. When he was about twenty yards behind her, he called out. She looked back. Horror twisted her features into a silent scream. She ran faster.
She wasn’t going to stop. She feared him, and was trying to escape from him.
“Olivia, stop!” he called again. “Let's talk for a moment. I mean you no harm.”
“Get away from me!”
“What have I done to make you scared of me?”
No answer. She just kept running. But she was tiring out. He suspected only fear had kept her running far beyond her capacity.
She was nearing the woods now. Redoubling his efforts, he increased his speed and lunged at her from behind. He wrapped his arms around her body and twisted in the air to cushion her fall. She screamed and fought, trying to break free as they hit the ground with a thud. She fell half on top of him with a strangled, forced exhalation. The fall knocked what little air he had from his lungs as well.
She gasped and tried to break free again, but she was breathing hard, scarcely able to keep going. He rolled over her to keep her down, his legs bracketing hers, his forearms braced on either side of her shoulders, and used his body to hold her down while he caught his breath enough to talk.
“Stop... running. We need... to talk. I am not... going... to hurt you.”
Still she struggled, pushing at him, but with little force. It was obvious she had surpassed the limit of her strength. He could have subdued her easily, but didn’t want to frighten her more. So he loosened his hold, lifting away from her to give her some room until she calmed down.
She stopped fighting. Her eyes went wide with fear as she gasped for air. Then those eyes filled with tears, and she choked back a sob. She closed her eyes and fought for composure, taking breaths in and out, and the sight of her in such distress undid him.
He held her closer while caressing her head. “Shh. Everything is going to be fine. I will help you. Please trust me.”
Little by little she recovered her composure, but remained silent and continued to lie unresisting beneath him. When she attempted to sit up, he let her go and sat up next to her on the grass.
“Tell me what you are thinking,” he urged.
She gave a brittle laugh. “I don’t know what I’m thinking, or what I should think.” She looked him straight in the eyes. “The funny thing is that I feel I can trust you, but the things you say make little sense.”
“I know. I have trouble believing them myself. But I see no other explanation. We will figure this out.” Standing up, he reached down a hand to her. “Come. I’ll take you to where I found you. We can walk there. It is not much farther from here. Let’s see what else we can find.”
Side by side they walked, circling the forest at first, then turning into a small lane that seemed to cut across a less heavily wooded area. She gave him sidelong glances as they walked and appeared ready to bolt again at the least provocation. He tried to look unthreatening and sincere, and he must be succeeding because she appeared to relax by infinitesimal degrees.
He pointed to a place where the lane curved and announced. “We are almost there. Up ahead, beyond that bend on the road, a little to the left is where I found you.”
"My car must be nearby then. I remember I didn't walk very far before passing out."
They rounded the bend and stepped away from the road. He kept looking at her, still afraid she would bolt again, and that’s how he noticed the moment she saw what she was looking for. She gave a little triumphant shout.
"There it is! The car."
And before he could react, she took off running towards it.
