Trapped in Time Read online

  Just when John started to get worried about why the carriage was not in sight yet, it turned the corner and came down the long driveway. John’s heart made a little jump, and a feeling of excitement overcame him at the thought of seeing Mrs. Washington again. Dear God, what the hell was going on with him? He had only just left her side a few moments ago. He was acting like a teenage boy in love for the first time.

  The carriage pulled up, and John nudged the footman out of the way to open the door himself. He felt instantaneous relief when he saw Mrs. Washington sitting in the carriage with the rest of his family. Where else would she be? John scolded himself, finding himself exasperated for being so obsessed with their guest. He reached out to grab her hand and help her out of the carriage.

  “Mrs. Washington, I have a room prepared for you. The doctor should already be waiting in it.” Emma looked at him with relief in her eyes. John froze for a brief moment, marveling at their beauty. He could stare into them all day long.

  “Thank you. I am so very grateful for your help. All of your help,” Emma said, turning to the Evergreen ladies to make certain they understood that her gratitude was just as much for them as for John. It was obvious how much that meant to his mother and sister. They both lit up like evening stars. It triggered a warm feeling around his heart to see them so happy. Not many people treated his mother and sister kindly or with respect. He hated society for how they looked down on them simply because they were a little quirky. They both were kind and giving people, but those were attributes society could not care less about. In society, it was all about status, looks, and money. For Emma to be so kind to his mother and sister proved to him that the kindness he saw in her eyes was real. She was so different from the usual pretty ladies John had encountered before. But then, she was American, and they did things differently over there.

  “I shall take you to your room. Mother, would you please accompany us?”

  “Of course!” Lady Evergreen jostled through Lily and her daughter, excited to be of use. John wrapped his arm around Emma’s waist to help her walk. She didn’t protest, and he took it as a sign that she agreed it would be better if he helped her up the stairs.

  He could feel the warmth of her body under his hand and couldn’t help but catch a quick glimpse of her pink, full lips. He wondered what those beautiful lips would feel like if he kissed them…gently, so they would barely touch. He thought of his lips against her neck, while tightly pressing her soft body against his. Suddenly, he felt a wave of ecstatic heat rush through his body. It felt similar to what he felt shortly before battle, just in a different way. A very pleasant way. An arousing way…

  “John!” his mother said in a firm, loud tone that tore him from his thoughts. He realized that they had already arrived in Mrs. Washington’s room. He had been so distracted by his arousing thoughts, he hadn’t even noticed when they arrived here. Everybody was staring at him, most likely wondering why he was still holding Emma’s hand and gripping her around her waist.

  Holding her fist up to her mouth, Agnes cleared her throat to signal John to release her.

  “We shall give the doctor and Mrs. Washington some privacy now,” his mother said, probably for the second or third time.

  “Yes…yes, of course. My apologies.” John immediately let go of Emma. How embarrassing! What the bloody hell was he doing? He turned around and left the room, followed by his mother and Agnes. He tried to catch a last glimpse of her through the doorway, but Ackley had already closed the door behind them.

  Emma looked around the room. It was the most beautiful room she had ever stepped foot in. The walls were decorated with fine silk wallpaper, and everything had a light-blue theme to it. The fireplace was made of solid marble and had a huge oil painting of Evergreen Castle over it. The walls, the bed, the covers, the golden chairs…everything was simply beautiful. Exactly like in those period movies Emma’s mother used to watch all the time. Her room even had a little vanity with a mirror on it. What a dream! She and Lily had barely been able to catch their breaths the moment they turned onto the alley that led to Evergreen Castle, which stood there looking grand and noble, even in the gloomy rain.

  Emma was simply speechless. It didn’t help that John Evergreen had walked her through all of this glamour with his arm tight around her waist. There was a moment on the stairs when Emma could have sworn she caught him staring at her lips. If this were the twenty-first century, she would totally have asked John out on a date. Right then and there. Emma felt extremely attracted to him. She had been with men before and was familiar with the feeling of sexual attraction, but there was something else going on here. Her twenty-first-century analytical mind knew exactly what it was. She liked him a lot, which was crazy, considering she had literally just met this man. But how else could she interpret that tingly feeling she felt when he touched her? Sure, she had felt attracted to men before, but this, no…this was no feeling of attraction alone.

  Great. Things are already starting to go wrong.

  “Please sit down, Mrs. Washington,” Ackley instructed Emma kindly.

  Emma was trying to not pay attention to his wooden leg, but Lily didn’t show that kind of consideration. Ackley noticed her stare.

  “Ah, yes, that. Lost in the African war. But that is not a story suited for a lady and her maid.”

  Lily seemed embarrassed for staring now and looked away. He noticed that as well.

  “No need to feel embarrassed. I am far used to the looks. They are part of my life now. But that is enough talk about an old fool like me. What brought you all the way over here?” Ackley asked as he gently brushed Emma’s hair aside to look at her head wound. He then turned to Lily and said, “Would you be so kind as to hand me that bag over there?” He pointed to his bag on the wooden coffee table.

  Lily fetched it for him.

  “Now, this will sting a little.” He put some clear liquid on a piece of white cloth and held it on Emma’s head wound. It burned like hell, but much to Ackley’s surprise, Emma didn’t even flinch. Thanks to her father, she was well accustomed to the burning of alcohol on wounds. He was too cheap to spend three bucks on hydrogen peroxide and used his liquor instead. One time, Emma fell off her bicycle and came running into the house with wounds on her arms and knees. Daddy hadn’t even gotten up from the couch; he grabbed his liquor from the coffee table and just poured it onto Emma’s arm straight out of the bottle. Then he handed her the bottle to do her knees herself.

  “I see you American ladies are not only brave but also pretty tough when it comes to pain.” Ackley smiled at her warmly in reference to her attempt to chase the robbers.

  How was that even possible? One of the Evergreen ladies had to have already told the servants about the incident before they even reached the room. Fair enough, she could use their love for gossip to her advantage, now that she knew of it.

  “Mrs. Washington is truly amazing, isn’t she?” Lily said in overly dramatic admiration. It was probably an attempt to create a good picture of Emma in front of Ackley, who would most likely report to John Evergreen later on.

  “I could not agree more. Here, hold that down for a few minutes.” Ackley grabbed Emma’s hand and pressed it against the cloth on her wound. “I do not see any symptoms of head trauma. It is more of a superficial scratch. Did those cowards hurt you anywhere else?”

  Emma shook her head.

  “Good. It would be better to rest for the next few days. I can only imagine how disturbing the whole thing must have been for you, and we do not want you to suffer from mental trauma.”

  Emma felt ashamed again for faking the robbery, but then, she did get hit by a car and woke up in Victorian England, so there was certainly fodder for mental trauma.

  Ackley put his things away and sat down on the golden couch next to one of the two big windows. “Did you see what the robbers looked like?”

  “They were all wearing the same outfits. All black,” said Lily.

  “Did they say anything? Did th
ey have an accent?”

  “No,” Emma responded in a manner that sounded apologetic for not having more valuable information.

  “They took everything. The lady’s clothes, money, jewelry…it is all gone. What are we supposed to do now?” Lily sounded desperate.

  “Don’t worry. Your lady is in good hands now, I promise. The Evergreens are wonderful people and will take good care of you for as long as it is needed. In the meantime, we shall do everything we can to find those criminals and return your belongings to you.”

  “I don’t know how to thank you all.”

  “Oh, please, it is our duty to help others. If I may ask, what were you doing out here?”

  “I’m trying to establish roots in Europe and wanted to look at Evergreen Castle, but there must have been a mistake. I was informed that it was for sale?”

  “Well, it is not any of my business, but you are correct about that. The master listed it for sale many years ago but turns down every offer he receives. And there have been quite a few, if I may say so. I do not know why those agents even still list it.”

  “Why did he list it for sale but has never accepted any offers on it?” Emma asked curiously.

  “That is something you would have to ask the master. It is not my estate, so it is not for me to say.”

  “Of course.” What an honorable, faithful servant Ackley was. If that was even the right word to describe his position here. He seemed to be more than just that to the kind family who lived here. Emma wanted to talk to him about the medicine and the use of pharmacies in Victorian England, but that would have to wait. For now, she was more than happy that 1881 seemed to know about the importance of disinfecting wounds. Infections had killed more people in this era than cancer and war combined.

  “Well, I shall let you rest now.”

  He gathered his things and opened the door but turned around one last time.

  “If you need anything, and I mean anything, just ask for Ackley.”

  What a kind man. Emma really appreciated it. “Thank you. I will.”

  Ackley nodded in satisfaction and closed the door behind him. Emma and Lily waited for a few seconds, listening to his footsteps disappear in the distance before Lily came running to Emma, who was still sitting on the chair next to the fireplace.

  “This is going better than I could have ever imagined,” Lily whispered joyfully.

  “What?” Emma said way too loudly. Lily tried to cover Emma’s mouth with her hand, but Emma swatted her hand away like it was an annoying fly. “How can you say that? We were supposed to be at Lord Blackwell’s castle. Not here! The whole thing is not going according to plan at all.”

  “You cannot be at Blackwell’s. Not with his family out of town. Without a female invitation or companion, your reputation would be ruined. And I am just a servant; I do not count.”

  “Ohhh.” Lily was right. How could she have forgotten about the whole reputation thing? It was all those novels and movies ever talked about. She had to be more careful to not think every mistake could simply be pushed to the side with the excuse of being American.

  “On top of that, did you see the way Lord Evergreen was looking at you?”

  “Lily, no. I told you I wouldn’t hurt a nice—”

  “I know, I know. You shan't hurt a nice man.” Lily rolled her eyes. “But Evergreen is so taken with you, it would make things so easy.”

  “It would. Maybe he is not as nice as he pretends to be?” Was she really hoping now that Evergreen was a jerk, so she could marry him instead?

  “Evergreen? I do not want to lie to you, Emma. I know him from the brothels.”

  “WHAT?” Emma shouted.

  Lily tried putting her hand on Emma’s mouth again, but just like before, Emma removed it—though she got the message and lowered her voice.

  “What do you mean, you know him from the brothels?” Emma felt her heart sink like a lost ship on the wide open. Was she so wrong about Evergreen? Was he just another man with a fake smile and a cheating heart? But why did it bother her so much? Just a minute ago, she wanted him to be a jerk, or had at least pretended that she did. Lily studied Emma’s facial expression for a second.

  “Calm down. Not in the way you think. What I meant is that I do not want to lie to you about him not being a fine fellow. He is one of the finest. I know him from the brothels because he goes looking for his drunken veterans there from time to time. The whores call him the shining knight, and I probably do not have to explain to you why they call him that.”

  Emma felt relieved. He wasn’t like all these other lusting cheaters. But that also meant that she couldn’t change her course from Blackwell to Evergreen. Her relief turned to disappointment. She would not make a fool out of Evergreen and ruin him for that special woman who was waiting for him out there somewhere. A woman who would not vanish back into the future—or fake robberies.

  “One way or the other, Evergreen was a blessing. Even if you do not marry him, it will make things so much easier with Blackwell. Do you see? Now they are rivals for your affection. I must say, I did not think you could really pull this off, but Emma, you did it!”

  Emma understood every word Lily said loud and clear. Evergreen’s involvement made her more of an interest to Blackwell and helped her case immensely. But still, the whole thing made her feel awful. Was she supposed to use poor Lord Evergreen now as a steppingstone to Lord Blackwell?

  “Lily, I beg you, please don’t use Lord Evergreen for this charade in any way. He is a nice man, and I don’t want him to get hurt.” Not to mention that Emma had to be careful around Evergreen herself. She felt so attracted to him that if this were the twenty-first century, there was no way she wouldn’t make a move on him.

  “Emma, I am not asking you to hurt him. We shall just use him a little bit to speed things up with Blackwell.”

  “It doesn’t feel right, Lily. This family has been so kind to us. I almost feel like we should just take our lies and the trouble we might cause and leave right now.” Maybe that was better than to lose all self-respect for herself. Lily seemed to sense Emma’s struggle and lovingly put an arm around her shoulders. It was sincere. She clearly felt for her.

  “I know how you feel, Emma. You are a kind soul, but what are we supposed to do if we leave now? Go back to the slums of London to whore around for a piece of bread? Beg at Lord Blackwell’s door to take us in? If we do that, your reputation will be ruined, and he will not be able to ask for your hand in marriage.”

  Emma hated it, but Lily was right. They had no other choice now but to stay here until Lord Blackwell’s family returned from London so Emma could stay at the Blackwell estate without losing her reputation.

  “You’re right. I just don’t like how things played out.”

  “I know…but things happen for a reason, and I am certain that Evergreen has a role in all of this. He will play his part to help us with Blackwell. Even if it is just to make Blackwell worry he could lose you to Evergreen. Men hate that sort of thing.”

  Emma seemed to have forgotten that it was Lily’s job to know what men wanted.

  “Alright, but I won’t give him false hope or lead him on.” Emma had no choice anyway. If she ever wanted to make it back home, she had to follow through with this charade. And now she had Lily to think of as well. She couldn’t just send her back to her horrific life as a poor prostitute. She would simply stay away from Lord Evergreen as much as she could. Not only for his sake but for hers as well. She liked him way too much already.

  “Do you still have my phone?”

  “Yes, it is right here.” Lily pulled it out from under her skirt and handed it to Emma. She stared at it like it was the only connection she had left of her home. Well, it was her only connection of home. Everything else, including her purse, Lily had traded for things they needed to make Emma look like a lady. Emma surveyed the room to find a good spot to hide it. After inspecting a few potential places, she decided to put it inside one of the chairs’ seat cush
ions. Even a detailed room cleaning would not reveal her phone in there.

  Suddenly, they heard a noise from behind the door that was on the left of Emma’s bed. Lily and Emma both froze. Was somebody listening to them? Lily went over to the door and opened it forcefully, but instead of catching a spy, Lily revealed a maid who was pouring water into a bathtub. She stopped in her tracks once she noticed Emma and Lily.

  “Excuse me, my lady, I did not mean to disturb you. Lord Evergreen asked me to prepare a hot bath for you, in case you felt like taking one.”

  Emma wanted to fall to her knees. She had a bathroom! Emma had not showered or bathed since before she got here, well over a week ago. Poverty didn’t come with bathtubs. At best, it came with a washbasin and a little cloth. No soap, of course. It was awful. But now, standing in this beautiful bathroom, Emma felt like luck had traveled to late Victorian England with her. Thinking about it, had she traveled just another hundred years back, she would have been in a time period of severe hygienic neglect. People before the nineteenth century had only bathed every other month or so. All those fancy dresses and majestic palaces had been filled with horribly smelly people. God, it had been so bad, people had worn flea traps under their clothes to catch those little suckers in action.

  Emma’s bathroom even had an early version of a normal toilet. For days, Emma had been using a metal pot as a toilet because she refused to use the wooden bench with a hole in it that was shared by the whole street Lily lived on. Yes, the entire damn street!

  No, she would not go back there. She would do whatever was necessary to make it back home—or at least find a way for her and Lily out of poverty. Thanks to the Evergreens, Emma and the whole time-travel nightmare had turned a hundred and eighty degrees. She walked over to the bathtub and dipped her hand into the hot, soapy water. This was more of a dream. Emma felt excitement for the first time since she was woken up by the homeless man who tried to rob her a hundred years before she was born.