Elysian Fields
The sisters hugged, quietly crying as they did. Roger, Oliver, Richard, and Simon kept hold of the horses. Richard had given them three mounts as gifts from Baron Guiscard. Richard offered them an escort to the coast as well but Roger declined. They’d travel faster without one. He felt he and Oliver could handle any potential problems on the road. His theory being, if they ran into trouble, Oliver would act as a distraction and he’d be the muscle...definitely a risky theory.
Electra and Emily stepped apart. Simon wrapped his free arm around Emily and told Electra, “I will do all in my power to make her happy. Richard and I will try to send a message with news of our wedding. We hope the prince might have a means.”
Roger joined Electra. “Wedding?” they said in unison.
Electra took Emily’s hands in hers. “I’m so happy for you.” She turned to Simon. “But, you should’ve given me a hint you planned to propose. When did this happen?”
“Last night. Your sister came to me after the evening meal. She told me she wasn’t going to France. That she was staying behind to be with me, but I had to marry her.” A huge grin crossed Simon’s face. “She was quite insistent. I thought I’d best say yes. I suspect a fiery temper lurks within her.”
“You don’t know the half of it, Simon,” Electra said. “Thank you for loving her. She has the biggest heart in the world.” She gave Simon a hug and kiss before moving to Emily. “Congratulations, I wish I could be here to see it. I’ll give you one more kiss and that’s all otherwise I’ll cry again and you know how I disapprove of maudlin displays.” She kissed Emily and said, “We’ll send word too, if we can. Roger said maybe in the not too distant future we might meet in the lowlands somewhere or Italy,” Electra said, trying to sound upbeat.”
“I’m not done.” Simon removed a pouch he’d tied to his tunic and handed it to Roger. “This is yours.”
Roger opened it, turned the bag upside down and gave it a shake. Out fell the engagement ring Harold took from him in the dungeon. Roger grasped Simon’s hand. “I never thought to see this again. Thank you. Thank you.”
He dropped to one knee in front of Electra. “I had this the day of the picnic. I planned on proposing then. Now that I’ve found you, I won’t waste this second chance. Electra Abagail Crippen, the day I met you, you smiled at me and I knew my world was forever changed. From that moment on, you’d never be far from my thoughts and that wasn’t good enough. I’m a greedy man, marry me and be with me even more.”
“Stand up you crazy, handsome man.” She leaned close so no one would hear but him. “Of course, I’ll marry you. I thought you’d never ask.” She held her hand out for Roger to slip the ring on her finger. He’d picked an oval-shaped ruby surrounded by small marquis-shaped diamonds. “It’s beautiful.”
After more hugs and kisses all around, they finally said their goodbyes and rode south. By Electra’s reckoning, they were halfway to Bristol when the waterspout began to form past the bay. The narrow funnel cloud rose into a black massive cloud formation that spawned smaller spouts farther out. Fingers of lightning chased each other across the length of darkened sky.
“What do you think, Oliver?” Roger asked, seeing hope for the first time in weeks.
“If we can make it, I think we should go back and head for the outcropping. That’s a tornadic waterspout and she’s coming this way. It’s the best chance we’ve had since leaving Wales.”
Roger turned his horse around, looked at Electra who already had hers headed toward Gloucester, and said, “Ride like the wind.”
As they rode, the edge of the storm caught up with them. Cool wind whipped their clothes and the horse’s manes but the well-trained animals kept their heads down and didn’t spook when debris blew into their paths. The storm’s rain pelted them at a slant. Bitter cold, it stung Electra’s left cheek and flattened her hair. The day started warm when they left and she’d packed her cloak, which she regretted now.
Roger and Oliver both checked the storm’s progress every few minutes as it bore down on them. They reached the gates of Elysian Fields and stopped.
“We have to tell Emily. This is her chance home,” Electra said.
“Hurry,” Oliver looked at the sky. “We’ve got maybe fifteen minutes. Maybe.”
Emily and Simon had seen them arrive and ran out. Electra explained and Emily told her to go to the outcropping, she’d join them in a blink.
“Emily, you’ve got to come now,” Electra pleaded.
“Go,” Emily said.
Roger, Electra, and Oliver rode to the outcropping and waited.
True to her word, Emily and Simon came galloping over minutes later. They slid to the ground and Emily immediately began tugging on Simon’s arm. He wore a bewildered expression and didn’t budge. Instead, he looked to Roger, apparently for confirmation of what she’d told him.
“It’s true,” Roger said. “You must come now.”
Simon’s expression morphed into a mix of misgiving and disbelief. He shook his head and still refused to move, pulling against Emily’s efforts.
“Simon...” she urged.
He grabbed her by the shoulders. “You go with them. I don’t know what to believe, but if what you say is true, then that is where you belong. This future you describe, where legless people walk, where Stephen is happy, and there’s relief from pain, is right for you, but I suspect not for me.”
“Why?”
“I only know how to fight, how to be a knight. Are there knights in this future?”
She gave her head a little shake. “Not like here.”
“I didn’t think so. What am I to do there? I am a man of my time.”
“Roger and Stephen have made a new life for themselves.”
“They have my great admiration, but this is my world.” He shoved her hard toward the waiting party and started to move away from her. “Live the life you were meant to.”
The storm was directly over them now. Lightning flashed, striking a nearby tree. “Emily, you must come,” Electra called out.
Emily wrapped her arms around Simon’s neck. “Then I’m the woman for your time.” She turned to the group. “Go. Tell everyone I’m happy.”
Electra jumped and cringed as another bolt struck close. “Emily...” She started to reach out wanting to touch her sister one more time then pulled her hand back. “If we get back, I’ll bury a metal box at the foot of this rock with special things. Check for it,” Electra yelled.
The third strike hit the outcropping. Like the first time, Electra lost her balance and fell onto her knees. At some point, she reached for the stone, trying to steady herself. Roger clasped her wrist. Her vision blurred, but she had a fuzzy view of Emily and Simon getting thrown backward, then they were gone. The disorientation lasted a few seconds more, less than the first time. When it stopped, her stomach flip-flopped. “I feel like I’ve ridden a too-fast elevator up and down again and again.”
“Don’t try to stand. I have you,” Roger said. “Do you feel sick?”
“No, light-headed and a bit cotton-mouthed.” She paused and took a ragged breath. “It tastes like I’ve eaten a bad canned tomato, acidy and sharp. What about you?”
“That’s one way to describe it. To me, it tastes more like when I’ve been punched in the mouth and I’m bleeding. It’s iron like. Unpleasant.”
He gathered her closed and placed her palm on his chest. “Breathe with me until your system settles down.”
“Your heart is racing.”
“I know.” He inhaled deeply and slowly. “Feel it start to slow already?”
She nodded. “Oliver looks like he’s having trouble.”
Oliver was on his knees using the rock to climb to his feet but fell to the side and onto his back with his arms out. His hair stood on end as did Roger’s. Hers must be as well, since Roger was smoothing it down.
“Oliver, are you all right?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m fine or I will be.” He turned his head and said, “At least we’re back in modern times. I see my machine there.”
Roger followed his gaze and saw the black box he and Leland had hauled down. “Will you be able to get a read out on the year from it?”
“Once I’m on my feet.” Oliver rolled over and with the help of the rock as support, clambered awkwardly to his feet.
“I’m all right now,” Electra said and leaning on Roger got to her feet. “How are you?”
“A little shaken, a little stirred and happy as hell to be back,” Roger said.
It didn’t take Oliver long to determine they had arrived back a shockingly short time after they’d left.
“How can that be? We were gone almost five months,” Electra asked.
“It’s Mr. Einstein’s theory at work. We measure time as linear. Einstein alleged space time is curved. Therefore coming through the wormhole, you’d arrive close to when you departed,” Oliver explained.
“Weird.”
“I must say, I’ve never been a kumbaya, brotherhood of man sort but damnation!” Oliver threw his arms around Roger first, who staggered under the sudden embrace, then around Electra. “I am so relieved for the three of us to be home.”
“I am not sure that relieved is a big enough word,” Electra said, “but it will have to do.”
“I’m just happy we’re all safe,” Roger said. “Now you know your machine works, will you publish your findings?”
Oliver thought for a moment. “I don’t know. I’m not sure it’s such a good idea. I think the temptation to tamper is too great.”
“What if Leland wishes to go back?” Electra asked.
“I’d hope he wouldn’t. He’s my only child and I’d fear for his safety and would do my best to discourage him. But at the end of the day, he’s an adult and the choice is his. We’ll see.”
Electra turned and went to the spot she saw Emily and Simon last. She dropped down and sat on the ground.
Roger sat next to her. “Want to talk?”
“I can’t wrap my head around losing Emily, around losing her in this way. Knowing she’s alive but in some kind of parallel world. She’s still here right now.”
“Electra—”
“You don’t understand. I mean she hasn’t left yet. She and Simon are where we left them. I can sense her.” Electra began humming the Abba song, Dancing Queen.
“What’s that song you’re humming?” Roger asked.
“Dancing Queen. Emily’s favorite musical is Mamma Mia, this is a song from it. I don’t know the words. But I know she’ll feel me humming it and know I’m here too.”
“If you believe that, then I believe that.”
“Thank you for not thinking me crazy.”
“Traveling through time tends to open one’s mind.”
They sat there for a while before Electra finally stopped.
“Why’d you stop?” Roger asked.
“She’s leaving. I’m ready to go too.”
****
Gloucester
Modern Day
After the initial excitement to have Electra back and the shock of Emily’s decision to remain behind, Electra and her parents decided to make a plan before notifying the police of her return. She knew she had to say something, but everyone felt it best to have a strategy in place to cover problems that were bound to arise. That evening Terrence called everyone involved.
Ian and Miranda, Alex and Shakira, Esme and Stephen weren’t directly involved but Terrence felt they’d be good additions to the conversation. The group agreed to meet the next day at Alex’s and Shakira’s house.
Ian and Alex. Electra had a lot of questions about them. On the boat from Wales, she confessed to Roger she knew Stephen had come through time. Roger, in turn, confessed he had as well and how he’d come through with Stephen. He told her about the battle and how he’d wounded him. When she first met Stephen he’d said his friends, Ian and Alex, came for him in the French hospital and brought him back to England. One day, when this business with the police was over and done, she would ask about his old friends. On that subject, she wondered how much Miranda, Shakira, and her sister Esme knew about their husbands.
“Make yourselves comfortable,” Shakira said as Electra, Roger, and her parents entered the Lancaster’s great room. Visitors entered their great room directly from the outside the way visitors to Elysian Fields did the great hall. “As you can see, everyone else has arrived. There’s a buffet in the dining room.”
Before marrying Alex, Shakira had been a successful London attorney. She wasn’t a criminal attorney, but she had a good idea how the investigators would proceed.
Shakira had the meeting catered. Shakira assured the group the caterers were asked to set a buffet up and leave. They’d return the next day to clear everything away. As much as Electra enjoyed cooking, she was happy not to have to worry about food today. Everyone filled a plate and settled in the drawing room.
“First things first,” Shakira said. “What do you intend to tell the investigators?”
“The truth,” Electra said.
“Good girl.” Shakira nibbled the end of an almond filled date. “A lie is difficult to bear. Hard to maintain and once you slip, the police are on you like dogs on a bone. You realize, of course, they’ll never believe you. Two sisters disappear. One returns with a story the other has stayed in medieval England. Good for the BBC, not so much for the local constabulary.”
“No one’s believed us so far. I’m sure the police won’t be different.”
“They’ll ask you to take a polygraph,” Shakira said. “I’d suggest you do.”
“I’ve no problem with that.” The possibility amused her. They’d ask. She pass. Then what? “What do you think they’ll do when I pass the test with ease?”
“Not sure. Whatever they do, if you at any time feel uncomfortable, tell them you want your attorney. I’ll be here. Call me and I’ll come down.”
A wave of panic flooded through Electra. What if she didn’t pass? What if something went wrong with the machine? Machines break. “What would happen if, for some reason, I didn’t pass?”
Shakira put her plate down and came and sat next to Electra. “I see hysteria building. You’re white as a ghost. If that were to happen, call me. Do your best to stay calm in front of the police. Ask to call your attorney and I’ll take it from there.”
“But what will they do? Will they arrest me?”
“No. A failed lie detector test is not enough to justify an arrest. It’s not admissible evidence in a trial. It will certainly pique the investigator’s interest in you even more but at that point, nothing dire will happen even if you do fail. Let’s not worry about what hasn’t happened.” Shakira smiled and returned to her chair.
Roger went back to the buffet table and filled a dessert plate with French pastries. Worry over her desire to open a bistro reared its ugly head. Electra had tossed and turned half the night filled with all the negative gossip that was sure to follow her. Who’d come to her restaurant? When that worry faded, fear of being thought a murderer plagued her.
She felt stupid asking but she wanted to know. “Shakira, even if I pass the poly, is there a chance I can be booked for murder? I mean, with my crazy story and Emily missing, will they come after me for killing her?”
Roger put the forkful of Napoleon down. “I wonder. They all but accused me of murdering them.”
“I’m sure they’ll suspect you. They’ve no evidence to book you though. No body. No blood. No murder weapon. No motive.”
“Would it help if I talk to the police as well? They can put me on the polygraph too,” Oliver offered. “I’d be able to confirm her story.”
“Steady on.” That voice. A steel curtain coming down. Alex had spoken at last. “They’re already looking crosswise at Roger because he was there the day the women disappeared. You trotting in there with a tale of slipping back and forth through time brings him into it again.”
Oliver flushed red from his shirt collar to his hairline. “I’m not a fool. I’m a well-respected scientist. I know how to speak to the investigators without implicating anyone.”
“I don’t mean to insult you,” Alex said. “I’m—”
Shakira laid her hand on her husband’s and gently explained, “Oliver, no one doubts your intelligence. But the investigators are experts at interrogation. You are not an expert at giving testimony and that is how you have to look at any statement you give the police. If for some reason this matter winds up in court, any statement to the police is subject to harsh cross-examination. Alex didn’t intend to criticize your intelligence, but I can’t say the same for a prosecutor. Plus, this particular statement, to the police, is just someone else telling the same lie. It doesn’t help Electra.”
Another terrible thought popped into Electra’s head, adding fuel to her worries. “I don’t mean to sound callous but this is going to be a media circus locally, does anyone have an idea how we can avoid it? I don’t need it and my parents certainly don’t need the media sitting on their lawn.”
“I’ll take care of that,” Ian spoke up. “I can make some calls to make sure no information is leaked regarding the case.”
Electra smiled to herself. This was a modern day version of comte-prince favor playing out. Ian played polo with several influential men in both government and business. He’d call them. They’d call the investigator’s bosses—and so it goes.
“Thank you, Ian. I really appreciate it.”
“I’d like to leave the area for a few weeks until this thing dies down with the police. Perhaps a B&B in France,” Electra said. “Do you think that’d be all right?” she asked Shakira.
“I imagine the investigators will want you to stay in country. When do you plan to go to the police? I’d suggest the sooner the better.”
“Tomorrow.”
****
Electra froze on the steps of the police station. She couldn’t stop her hands from shaking. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
Janet Crippen quickly led her daughter around to the side of the building and out of sight of the entry doors and parking lot.
Roger and Terrence followed.
Electra bent over an open trash container and retched several times. She’d eaten a small bowl of berries and yoghurt that morning but nothing came up. She straightened, closed her eyes, and tried to calm her breathing from the puppy-like pants of her failed attempts at vomiting.
When her breathing finally evened out, her mom handed her a bottle of water. “Drink.”
“You’re not alone. We’ll be right there, in the lobby,” her father said. “They’re not going to arrest you. Shakira told you they don’t have the grounds to warrant an arrest.”
Electra began to hyperventilate again and ran to the rubbish bin but didn’t start retching. “They’re going to accuse me of killing Emily. I know it. I just know it.”
“I am going to sit with you,” Roger said. “I will hold your hand the entire time. I’ll happily toss it back to them that they’ve played fast and loose with accusations. First me, now you.”
“Please don’t aggravate them, Roger,” Terrence said. “There’s been no love lost between our two countries for the past thousand years. You don’t need to stir this pot with your French self.”
Roger huffed.
Electra took a few more minutes to compose herself and then the four went inside and met with the investigators handling hers and Emily’s disappearance.
Her parents waited in the lobby. Roger sat with her during the questioning. After a lengthy and emotionally taxing interview, she was allowed to leave.
“You’re pale,” her mother said, standing.
“I’m tired,” Electra said. “But, it wasn’t as terrible as I thought. It pretty much went the way Shakira predicted.”
“Are they going to have you take a polygraph?” her father asked.
Electra nodded. “I don’t mind. I’ll take a hundred. I told the truth. They’ll never believe it. At the end of the day, they’ll look at the poly and think I’m delusional. At least, I hope that’s the conclusion they come to.”
“What’s your read on how they took her story?” her father asked Roger.
“They think she’s a stone, cold liar.”
Terrence gave Electra a squeeze. “Did they ask if she killed Emily?”
“I think they’re saving that for the poly.”
“When is it?”
“In an hour. This is just a break while they set up.”
They walked to a local tea shop and returned at the designated hour. Once more her parents sat in the lobby, this time joined by Roger who wasn’t allowed in the interview room where the polygrapher worked.
An hour later, Electra came out.
Roger jumped up and met her before the door closed behind her. “Well?”
Electra shrugged. “I would’ve thought I passed. I told the truth, but they don’t tell you whether you passed or not.”
“Then why are you in doubt?” Roger asked.
“They want me to take another. Tomorrow. They’re bringing in a man from Scotland Yard.”
Roger hugged her and kissed the top of her head. “They asked if you murdered Emily, didn’t they?”
She nodded. “Several times. They framed the question different ways, but it was still, did you murder your sister?”
The next day the Scotland Yard polygrapher came and went. His questions were basically the same. Had the local constabulary bothered to ask, Electra would’ve told them that for all the gravitas given investigators from Scotland Yard, their man wasn’t so special as far as she was concerned. The local chaps questioning was as thorough.
After the Scotland Yard man dismissed Electra, Roger asked, “Are we done here?”
“For now,” Detective Inspector Harlow, the lead local investigator said.
“Do you think I murdered my sister?” Electra bluntly asked.
“I’m favoring no, which goes against the tide of everyone else in criminal division. That said, I also don’t believe for a second, that your sister is wandering the shire in 1357.”
“Fair enough, detective,” Electra said.
She and Roger turned to leave and as they did, Harlow said, “I’m retiring soon, Ms. Crippen. If I ever write a book, I’m putting this case in it.”
“What are you waiting for?”
“I’m waiting to see how this ends.”
****
The local investigators gave her permission to leave the area and she spent the next month at a friend’s place in Norfolk. Roger was busy working for Stephen but visited often. Whoever Ian called, they were successful and very little information went out regarding the case. Journalists for area news outlets lost interest within days and Electra’s family was left alone.
Roger and Electra married in a small and private civil ceremony as soon as she returned from Norfolk. They moved from Gloucestershire to Oxfordshire, where Electra got a job as a sous chef in a Michelin-star restaurant. To avoid any problems from residual notoriety, she worked under the name Abagail Marchand.
Electra, Roger, Esme, and Stephen had spent the afternoon riding, enjoying the brisk late October weather. A clear, sunny day with a breeze that carried a hint of invigorating cold brought a world of color to the woods. Besides the pleasure of the ride, they’d come to share the moment with Electra. She’d promised to bury a memory box for Emily. Today was the perfect day weather-wise to return to the outcropping.
Everyone had contributed to the waterproof metal box. They’d included two solar-chargeable cellphones with pictures of Esme and Stephen’s wedding, pictures of Emily’s parents and Electra and Roger’s wedding, personal recordings, an iPod with playlists of Stephen singing, a small disposable camera in case a phone failed, a bottle of antibiotics, and aspirin.
“Why the aspirin?” Roger had asked her when she packed the box.
“Emily gets headaches when she worries. Can you think of anything else?”
Roger went into the kitchen and came back with a large, unopened Cadbury fruit and nut bar. He handed it to Electra.
“A chocolate bar?”
“Who doesn’t love chocolate? It’ll be centuries until England gets it in country. This bar’s got Simon’s name written all over it.”
“In it goes.”
Roger leaned back against the table where Electra worked packing and gathered her to him. “How’s your French coming?”
“Tres bien, je pense.”
“Speak and translate as well.”
“I said, very well, I think.”
“Go on. Tell me more.”
“Je t’aime de tout mon coeur. I love you with all my heart. Mon amant qui voyage a travers le temps pour moi. My lover who travels through time for me.
“For you I’d do it thousand times a thousand more.”
“Embasse-moi. Kiss me, my time-traveling lover.”