Gloucester
Modern Day
Roger searched Oliver’s Go Bag, something he’d done every morning the past week, ever since the scientist suggested they carry guns. He’d also switched out the duffle style bag to a large backpack like his, explaining that the backpack was less cumbersome.
“You’re not wearing or packing your armor?” Oliver asked.
“No.”
The night before they started their vigil by the outcropping Roger had brought out his plate and mail armor. He’d given a lot of thought to whether he should wear it on the off chance they were transported. He’d kept the armor polished and stored in a chest at home. Alex told him the pieces were quite valuable to museums and collectors, but he wouldn’t sell. The armor had been custom made for him in Italy. It was as much a part of him as his sword, a part of the man he was so long ago. He put his helm on and lowered the visor. Holding the breastplate to his chest, he checked himself out in front of the mirror. How invincible armor made a man feel.
I’m the original Iron Man.
He took time to relish the memory of how the sensation grew with the fastening of each piece: the greaves, the vambraces, the breastplate, the determined belief in victory with each tug of the gauntlets.
He put the breastplate down and removed the helm. Setting sentiment aside, he’d decided to leave it behind. If they traveled back, he’d need to use what the modern armies called guerilla tactics. He and Oliver would need to work in secret and stay out of sight as much as possible. They’d have to blend in with the environment and a shiny breastplate and noisy greaves presented too much of a risk. He wasn’t so foolish as to travel unarmed. He’d wear his freshly sharpened sword and carry a knife in his boot. He gave Olive an identical knife for his boot.
“Maps, compass, a little food, and dressings for minor injuries,” Roger said and gave one final check of his duffle, concerned he had all his supplies. The habit of double and triple checking important details began as a young knight.
Oliver bought two wine bags online that he called Bota Bags. They filled theirs with water. Roger had carried a similar bag for wine when on campaign. The Botas held a liter of water, which would suffice until they found a stream or river, should they succeed.
In a tiny pocket, on the inside of his waistband, Roger secreted Electra’s ring.
Oliver’s son, Leland, arrived, and they left for the outcropping.
Roger and Oliver stood by as Leland fired up the laser machine. As always, he brought his battery-powered iPod base and got his music going first.
The singer sang about getting over someone. Roger learned enough modern vernacular to know this was about the end of a relationship. Leland had a whole playlist loaded with similar songs. Roger preferred the love songs Stephen sang, but this man he liked.
“Who is this singing?” he asked.
“Toby Keith,” Leland said, working the machine’s settings.
“What do you call this music? There’s a lot of songs about people with broken hearts.”
“They call this country music. Sad stories are a cornerstone of the genre,” Oliver interjected.
“Can we listen to something else?” Roger asked. He didn’t feel like listening to more sad songs.
Leland reached over and tapped the iPod. “Here you go. This is straight out of your era Dad.”
Roger had to hear the first few bars to like it. He found himself swaying to the music. In the past, he’d never been a dancer, never been interested in learning. Electra enjoyed all kinds of dancing and made him take lessons with her. He refused to admit to her he had fun and looked forward to their weekly lessons.
“It’s called disco,” Oliver told him, bouncing in time to the beat. “This is a favorite song of mine, called Saturday Night Fever. The movie is brilliant. One day you must watch it with me.” He leaned over and said low, “I’ll share a secret with you. When I’m alone at home, sometimes I put my favorite songs on and sing along and dance around like the Tony Manero character.”
“You needn’t whisper, Dad. Everyone knows about your song and dance routine.”
“You don’t.”
“Sometimes when you think everyone has gone, we haven’t all left. I’ve had toast with thicker walls than that double-wide trailer, lab-slash-home of yours.” Leland smiled at his father. “All right, test time.” He flipped the switch on the machine. A blue-white gauzy light chased a red dot that appeared on the dark granite. The dot remained stationery while the blue-white tail pulsed. Leland gestured for Oliver and Roger to move to the outcropping. “You know the routine. Sit on either side of the laser’s path.”
When Leland concentrated on operating the machine, he was the spitting image of his father, only a younger, taller version. Leland even wore the same style horn-rimmed glasses as Oliver, although Oliver said he carried contact lenses as a precaution. He’d worried if they made it through the passage in time and someone saw the glasses, they’d demand an explanation as to what they were. Who knew where that might lead. As for the contacts, Roger shuddered watching Oliver display how he slipped them into his eyes. The idea of deliberately sticking a finger in your eye struck Roger as a grim solution for not wearing glasses.
“If caught, an Englishman travelling with a Frenchman while our countries are at war is going to be a far bigger problem than strange eyewear. They’ll imprison or kill me for the enemy they believe I am and imprison and likely torture you for being a traitor,” Roger had warned.
Roger and Oliver either stood or sat while Leland kept the laser on the rock. In between attempts, the two relaxed on blankets they’d laid out nearby.
“You never said how Leland will explain you disappearance to his mother or how your wife is taking this experiment,” Roger said.
“No explanation needed. We divorced years ago when Leland was small. She prefers a warmer climate and lives in Malta.”
“You must be a proud papa having a boy who takes after you so much.”
“I am. In your other life, were you married? Did you have children?”
Roger hesitated to discuss the matter. He hadn’t spoken of that part of his past with Electra. Not for fear she’d judge him, but he didn’t want her pity. She’d say it wasn’t his fault, but he could’ve done things differently. If he had, who knows what might’ve changed.
“Roger?”
Leland finished the session and came over to pour a cup of coffee from his thermos. “I’ve wondered that myself and didn’t have the courage to ask.”
“I was married for a time, and I had a son.”
“They must be in a panic over your disappearance,” Oliver said.
Roger shook his head. “No. They both died before I went on campaign. My son, Yves, was a sturdy little fellow. He was only two but strong as a lad twice his age. He climbed out of his crib one morning. The nurse didn’t hear him. He crawled up into the nursery’s window embrasure. My home sat on a cliff overlooking the sea. He slipped and fell to his death on the rocks below. My wife committed suicide shortly after.”
“I’m sorry.” Oliver’s eyes held no pity but male understanding of the guilt Roger carried. Guilt that he’d failed as a husband and father.
“I’d never given any credence to the possibility of love at first sight. Then I met Electra. I was at Esme’s and Stephen’s and they’d just announced their engagement. Glass of champagne in hand, she squeezed into the chair I was in and gave me a smile bright enough to put your lightning machine to shame. She made me a believer.”
“Then it’s all the more important I get you to Electra,” Leland said. “She’s a future filled with lost happiness.”
“Let’s try again.” Roger rose and went to the rock followed by Oliver.
Leland took another swallow of coffee and returned to the machine. “Ready, set, go.”
Roger was leaning back against the outcropping one minute and the next he was thrown to the side. He stumbled and flattened a hand on the rock, trying to stay upright. He banged an elbow as he fell onto one knee. His mouth watered like he’d bitten into a dozen lemons. He choked and managed to spit. Leland’s image blurred as Leland was hurled backward, and then it faded away. The ground around Roger rolled and pitched. The motion and dizziness that kept him off balance stopped as fast as it hit. He’d gone through this once before. Like then, recovery was quick. He smoothed his hair down, which, from experience, he knew would be sticking out, looking electrified. In front of him, Oliver rose to his knees, wobbled but managed to stay upright. The two of them used the outcropping for support as they stood. Roger reached over and smoothed Oliver’s hair.
“Did what I think happened, happen?” Oliver asked, seeing the empty spot where Leland and the machine had been.
Roger nodded.
Oliver spun, dancing like a bespectacled Rumpelstiltskin as he did and said too loud, “Yes. Finally. My life’s work is validated. Time travel exists.”
“Lower your voice. Let’s see if we’ve landed where we hoped. I’d hate to look over my shoulder and find some man-eating dinosaur crashing through the bushes.”
“We’re long past that era. I can tell from the plant life.”
“Good to know but still keep your voice down.”
“Give me a moment,” Oliver said and removed a piece of paper, a plastic sandwich bag, and a pen from his boot. He came around behind Roger, laid the paper on Roger’s back and began writing.
“What are you doing?”
“Leaving Leland a note letting him know we’re safe and headed toward the castle but the year is still unknown. I told him I’d either bury it in a shallow place at the bottom of the rock or stuffed in a crevice.”
He finished and found a crevice to stick the note into along with his eyeglasses. They hiked up the short slope to the road. No one came into sight for several minutes. Then came the sound of horses in the distance. Riders heading their way.
“Hide,” Roger said.
Oliver ducked behind a thick hedge while Roger lay flat on the ground at the base of an ancient oak. A party of knights wearing the same livery on their surcoats rode by talking loud and laughing as they did. Roger recognized the design. Alex and Shakira wore rings with intaglios of the same design: a white swan on a field of scarlet. It belonged to the Guiscard family. For the first time since Electra and Emily vanished, Roger felt some relief. Knights bearing the Guiscard heraldic symbol meant Elysian Fields, the family’s holding existed. The sisters would likely have sought shelter there. Rescue was within reach.
Roger stood and held a hand out to Oliver. “Welcome to the Middle Ages.”