Julian and Willow left the stables on their horses. Unlike his father’s horse, neither Golden Ember nor Scarlet Glow seemed to have the intellectual capacity to understand what he or Willow were saying. They seemed like any other animal he’d ever come across.
He tried to remember if he had seen his father’s horse, the black cat, or the barn owl over the past two centuries, but the days had blurred together. After a while, he’d stopped picking up on anything unless it was different.
“You were born in the future, weren’t you?” Julian asked Willow.
“Yes, I was born in the future. I’m only twenty-five. I’m not like Violet or the animals she changed into humans.” She didn’t bother glancing his way as she spoke. Her gaze was fixed on the reins in her hands, as if she was afraid if she let her gaze off of them, they would disappear and she’d fall off the mare.
“Scarlet Glow is a gentle horse,” he assured her. “She prefers to go at a leisurely pace. She provides a smoother ride than most. I’ve taken her out a couple of times. You can trust her.”
“I’m trying, but it’s a lot different to ride a horse than it is to be in a car, or even in a carriage,” she replied. “This thing has a mind of its own. If it wants to suddenly take off running, there’s nothing I can do to stop it.”
He tried to hide his amusement, but the grin found its way on his face anyway. “She won’t take off running. She hates to run. The worst you have to worry about is her coming to a stop and refusing to go.”
“If she does that, I can walk.”
“So there’s nothing to worry about. Try to relax and enjoy the ride to the bridge. The sun is out. You can see everything better today than you could yesterday when it was raining.”
“I’m as relaxed as I can get.”
She was? He had hoped his words had eased her nervousness, but apparently, they hadn’t. She was still clutching the reins as if her very life depended on it.
He urged his horse to close the distance between them and reached out to pull on her horse’s reins so it stopped. Willow let out a gasp and shot him a startled look.
“I apologize for scaring you,” he said. “I only wanted you to be able to take a moment to see the view.” He released the mare’s reins and gestured to the landscape around them. “It looks much better in the sunlight.”
Her grip on the reins didn’t relent, but she did finally take in the green grass and colorful flowers around them. The water from the moat was a nice sparkling blue color. With the clouds and rain, it had looked gray. Today, without a single cloud in sight, it seemed to reflect the blueness in the sky. It’d been a long time since he’d had his last sunny day, but he did recall thinking the colors outside were more prominent after the rain had passed.
“It is nice,” she said.
“Nice? That’s all you’re going to say about it?”
“Nice is a compliment.”
“It’s a meager compliment. Nice is something you say when something is just a little more than bland.”
She gave him a sympathetic smile. “Well, I’ve seen this in the future. I know what those trees and shrubs are going to look like when they’re fully grown. Everything is in its infant stages right now. You might think of it as a child that has yet to reach maturity. Children are cute, but it isn’t until they grow up that they become handsome or beautiful. It’s a shame I didn’t take a picture and bring it with me so you could see it. You’d be happy with the way things turned out.”
The reference to a picture made him think she had something other than a drawing or painting in mind, but even if she tried to explain it to him, he probably wouldn’t completely grasp what kind of picture she meant. The future had inventions he couldn’t even imagine.
“With all that said,” she continued, “this place is much better when it’s full of activity. In the future, it just seems to be sitting here, as if it’s waiting for something. Or someone.” She shrugged. “Maybe it was.”
Intrigued by the prospect, he asked, “Do you think it was waiting for you?”
“I wouldn’t be so egotistical as to suggest that.”
“Egotistical?” he interrupted before she could continue with her next thought.
“It means self-centered.”
“Ah. You mean, arrogant.”
Her eyes grew wide. “I prefer to think of it in nicer terms than arrogant, but yes, one might think of it that way.”
“Well, time didn’t move forward for me until you came here. This place could have been waiting for you to come here. You and I are the only two people who’ve ever been trapped here. We’re the only ones who see the magic.”
“There are three others, but they’re now animals.”
“Granted, that’s true, but if they did leave this property when time stopped for me, they weren’t able to return until you came here. You must be important for some reason.”
A worried frown crossed her face. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
“Why not?”
“Because it implies that I have something to do with the magic.”
“You do. And I do as well. You and I are the only ones who can’t leave.”
“Maybe we can leave today.”
“We might be able to, but there’s a reason why we weren’t able to leave yesterday or any of the other times we tried to leave.”
She paused then let out an exasperated sigh. “I hate the line of your reasoning, especially since I have no idea what to do about the magic on this property.”
“I don’t know what to do about it, either, but there might be something we can do together that we couldn’t do apart. Maybe there’s a reason you could enter this time. Whatever this thing with magic is about, it started with me on the first day it was June 17. Since then, time went on without me until you came here.”
“Yes, that makes the most sense.”
It did. He was sure that her coming here changed things in his favor. Whatever curse had been holding him to the same day had been broken. On impulse, he reached forward and put his hand over hers. “I haven’t had hope in a very long time. Now I do. I know you sacrificed much to come here. I don’t take that for granted. It makes me all the more grateful for you.”
A blush crept up her face, and he was struck by how lovely she looked. He had noticed how attractive she was before, but something about this moment seemed to make her even more so. He offered her a shy smile then removed his hand and straightened up on the horse.
He cleared his throat. “We should go to the bridge and see if we can finally leave. Do you feel comfortable enough on the horse to keep going?”
She offered a nod, and since he had nothing else to say to ease the sudden awkwardness that had fallen between them, he urged his horse to resume the leisurely pace it’d been using just moments before.
When they arrived at the bridge, they came to a stop. He took a deep breath and released it. “Well, this is it. I’ll help you down from the horse.”
He got off of his horse and went to her.
“Aren’t you worried that Golden Ember will run off?” Willow asked him.
“Golden Ember is a good horse,” he replied. “He doesn’t go anywhere without me. Scarlet Glow is just as well mannered.” He held his hands up to her.
She released the reins then took his hands. She started to lean forward and ended up slipping, so he hurried to catch her before she fell to the ground.
She grunted but managed to steady her footing in short time. “Thanks,” she muttered as she straightened the bottom of her riding outfit where the fabric had wound around her boots.
Noting how red her face was, he said, “Don’t be embarrassed. That could happen to anyone who isn’t used to getting off a horse.” And he certainly hadn’t minded it. She was just as soft and curvy as she looked.
“Yeah, I guess.” She straightened up. “This never happens with a car.”
“Next time, you’ll do better.”
She grimaced. “One can only hope. I still wish I could ride like you do. You look more secure in the saddle.”
He had no idea if he was more secure or not since he’d never ridden in a sidesaddle, but his mother had seemed to manage it fine. Willow was probably just experiencing a wave of apprehension about it because this was new to her. Once she got used to it, he bet she’d enjoy it.
“I’m here with you,” he assured her. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you.” He took the reins to both horses. “I’ll follow you.”
Willow glanced at the bridge. “I don’t know if I should get my hopes up or not.” She lifted the hem of her riding outfit and walked to it. “We’ll be disappointed if we’re still trapped here.”
He followed her. “I won’t be all that pleased about it, but I’m too relieved to be in a new day to care all that much about being stuck here.” Though, he was sure that given the passing of enough days, he’d start to care.
“I don’t like being stuck anywhere,” she said. “I like knowing I can come and go as I want.”
He considered asking her if she was upset with being stuck here in the past with him but decided against it. It wouldn’t change anything. There was no way for her to return to her own time. She might as well get used to being here.
She reached the center of the bridge and glanced back at him. “Wish me luck.”
“I wish you luck,” he replied.
She shot him a surprised look. “You’re supposed to say, ‘Good luck’.”
“Oh. Good luck.”
She seemed satisfied with that, and he found himself smiling. Ever since he’d met her, she had demonstrated an odd way of talking at times, but he surmised that had to do with the fact that she was from the future. Language was one of those things that changed with time. At least they both spoke English, so he could understand most of what she said. It was all the better that she was enjoyable to be around.
Next to him, his horse let out a neigh as if it could read his mind. He frowned and studied his stallion. Golden Ember couldn’t possibly read his mind. Willow had said nothing about animals reading minds, nor did she say this particular horse had been in the future with her. No. Golden Ember was just a regular horse. He relaxed and turned his attention back to her.
She put her hand up to the space where the invisible barrier had been yesterday. A wave of pink and purple colors rippled from her hand. She let out a frustrated groan. So, she was unable to get across the bridge. He couldn’t say he was surprised.
Sure he was going to end up with the same result, he led the horses up to the spot next to her and put his hand up to the barrier. The same colors rippled out around him and traveled the length of the moat. He tried other areas, and the same thing happened. As before, he was unable to penetrate the barrier anywhere.
“So much for luck,” Willow said.
“At least the servants can come and go,” he told her. “They can bring things for us as we need them, and I have more than enough money since Francis is investing some of it for me. He’s good when it comes to investing. We won’t lack anything.” Since that didn’t seem to completely make her feel better, he added, “Maybe there’s something in those books and journals my grandfather left behind to let us know how to get out of here.”
That brought a newfound hope to her eyes. “All right.”
“We’ll study what my grandfather left behind after we have lunch,” he said. “And don’t forget the three animals in the stables. They might be a link to something, too.”
“Yes, that’s true. There has to be a reason why they’re here.”
Since there was nothing else to do at the bridge, he helped her onto the saddle of her horse then hopped up on his horse.
She let out a disgusted grunt, and he turned his gaze to her. “What is it?” he asked.
“I couldn’t help but notice how easy you made getting on your horse look,” she replied.
He grinned. “I’ve been riding since I was a lad. When you’ve been doing this for years, you don’t even think about it. You’ll get used to it.”
He thought he heard her mutter, “Not without pants I won’t,” but since she was focused on staying on the horse, he decided not to reply in case he distracted her and she lost confidence.
She was willing to keep riding, and that was what mattered. Over the centuries, he had wanted to give up, but he kept trudging through the days. One right after another until he was sure he was going to lose his sanity. But he hadn’t lost his sanity. He was still here, and that time in his life had finally—mercifully—passed. Like the rain once it stopped, things were better. He had no doubt that Willow would adjust to being in this time. Eventually, riding a horse, even in a sidesaddle, would be something she’d do without thinking about it.