She opened her mouth as if to ask further questions, but then snapped it shut again. Finally, she nodded. “All right. Thank you.”
Joseph clapped his hands together. “All right, then. It’s settled.” He stood. “I’ll go sort the horses. We leave within the hour.”
Chapter 8
Charlie was sure herbones were being rattled into pieces. She clung to the side of the cart and kept her mouth tight shut to keep her teeth from smashing together every time the wheels went over a pothole or a boulder, which was about every three seconds as far as Charlie could tell.
Joseph and Niall were sat on the bench up front, Joseph holding the reins of the two enormous horses who were pulling the cart, whilst she and Flora were seated in the back, amongst the belongings that Flora had packed up from the townhouse.
It was not a dignified way to travel, that’s for sure. When Niall had offered to take her to his estate, she’d expected a fancy car to pull up outside.
Which was a ridiculous thing to think, considering she was in 1699. But her brain, it seemed, had yet to process this fact.
1699.
How was this possible? It wasn’t. Of course it wasn’t.
And yet, here she was.
As they’d trundled through the streets of Edinburgh, Flora had made her put on a patched and faded cloak and pull the hood over her head. It was best, she explained, if anyone that saw them leaving thought she was a servant rather than the fake countess who’d appeared at the ball. If she was seen leaving with ‘Lord Niall’, it would only set tongues wagging all the more.
Lord Niall?she thought as they bounced along the rutted track.What does that mean? And who owns an Edinburgh townhouseandan estate in the country?
As the cart continued its jolting journey north, the city receded behind them, replaced by rolling hills and endless fields. The sight of it was both breathtaking and terrifying. Breathtaking because she had never seen such scenery, even in pictures or movies. Terrifying because it only confirmed her reality—that she was indeed far from her home, trapped in a time that wasn’t her own.
It was surreal. How did she end up in this situation? And, more importantly, how was she going to get out of it?
Home, she told herself.Just get home, back to Cardiff. Everything will be fine then, you’ll see.
She wasn’t entirely convinced by her own logic. Who was to say that she wouldn’t just end up in seventeenth century Cardiff? But right now, it was the only thing she had to cling to and cling to it she would. If she didn’t, she would likely lose her mind.
One thing she was sure of: she could not let her hosts know she’d traveled through time. There was no telling how they might react, but she knew it wouldn’t be good. So she kept her phone, her watch, and anything else that might give her away, safely out of sight.
After what seemed like an eternity of being jostled about, Joseph finally pulled the reins and the cart slowed to a stop. Charlie peeked out from beneath her hood and gasped at the sight before her.
The sprawling manor house glowed in the late afternoon sunlight, its stone facade warm and inviting. It was nestled amidst rolling green hills dotted with small stone houses with smoke coming from the chimneys and sheep in the fields.
