In those first days, alone except for Tris, she had made several visits with Jimmy Nymagee's wife, Sara. The power of the Dreamtime was strong in her family.
Usually only the men were allowed to sit under the stars at night, building the fires, chanting the ancient messages connecting them to those other lives. But Elyse was allowed to watch from the edge of their circle.
Afterward she felt at peace, and content, more of her questions about those other times and places having been answered. It helped her to understand and accept her special gift that Zamora had first told her about.
Zach's bitterness over the betrayal that had exiled Alex Barrington to this land so many years ago ended at Fraser Island.
She knew the rest of the story. A servant girl had been forced to lie to the court about what she'd witnessed between the father and the brothers. After Jerrold was lost at Fraser Island, Charles Barrington disappeared. The courts in England had been petitioned on Zach's behalf and a decision had been handed down. With no heirs, the Barrington title, Fair View, Barrington Shipping, all passed to Zach.
He had promised Elyse that his pirating days were over. Now that he controlled Barrington Shipping, he could practice another form of resistance to the Crown, one within the bounds of the law.
Elyse had sent letters to her grandmother explaining everything and promising they would visit her. She was anxious about how Regina had taken the news of her 'marriage', in fact, to the man who'd abducted her. But when Lady Regina wrote back, she'd been more concerned with receiving an invitation to visit the land'down under'. She and Ceddy would be arriving sometime in the spring for an extended visit that was also a belated celebration. They'd married shortly after receiving Elyse's letter.
About time, Elyse had thought, delighted that Ceddy was now officially part of the family. And by the time the older couple arrived, they would officially be great-grandparents. She laid her hand over the growing firmness at her stomach.
As far as she could determine with everything that had happened, she had conceived aboardRevenge, when both could no longer deny the truth of their past life together. The child was now part of this new life together.
She loved the feel of the child within her. A son, Sara had assured her, he was an affirmation of life, this life. In a way she supposed that made all life unending. But she silently wondered if this son of theirs would understand their secret.
Would he have a lifeline on his hand or would he, as they had, be part of some past life? And what of the future?
Elyse could accept whatever it offered, for she knew that, when this life as they knew it ended, she and Zach would find each other again.
She approached the gardens at the west side of the house, and hesitated as she saw a shadow move along the side of the house. She couldn't see it clearly. Then it lengthened and came toward her.
Zach stepped from the darkness into the soft glow of light that spilled from the windows. Usually, he let her go alone to the meeting place of Jingo's people, but tonight he'd waited for her.
"Did you travel with the dreamers tonight?" He greeted her tenderly, his arm slipping around her waist. In spite of his teasing, she knew that he respected the ancient culture of these people who were so closely bound to the land at Resolute, just as he was.
"Only for a little while." She smiled up at him. "I wanted to be with you." She shivered faintly. The night air had turned cool, the different scents of this place that she, drifted on the evening breeze.
Zach's arms tightened around her as they stopped in the garden beside a large eucalyptus tree, the leaves fragrant with that uniquely pungent smell. He pulled her back against him, his hands sliding from her shoulders, down where their child lay within her.
"Are you keeping my son warm?"
Elyse laid her head back against his shoulder, sighing as his mouth slipped down the side of her neck to the top of her shoulder. Heat spread through her, settling below where the babe rested.
"Our son is nice and warm." She laughed softly as through the soft fabric of her dress, Zach's hands closed over her disappearing hipbones. He pulled her back against him.
Could she ask him now, when she knew he would promise almost anything?
"Zach?" She called him that because it was his name, in this life.
"Hmmm?" he murmured against the back of her neck, inhaling the sweetness of her unbound hair.
"Come with me next time."
Silence.
Until now, he had let her go alone when she felt the need to understand more about the other lives. But always with that silence afterward. Was it the same now?
"I'll go."
She let out a slow breath and turned in his arms.
"You're certain?" she asked.
He laid a hand at her cheek, his thumb brushing her lips.
