Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

The next day, they explored John’s home. At least she was able to wash her bra and hang it to dry before she went to sleep.

The bed was lumpy, and she dreamt bedbugs crawled over her, but other than that she slept well. When John told her he’d never lay a finger on her, at first she wanted to cry. Then she wanted to smack him, and finally, she accepted he wasn’t attracted to her like she was to him.

When she had a few moments alone, she threw her undies in the fire. The elastic was coming apart and there was a hole in the side. For the first time since she’d moved from diapers to underwear, Anna went without. Exhausted, she fell asleep in the afternoon and woke to the sound of a soft knock at the door.

“Supper is ready.”

She threw her hair up in a ponytail, tying it with the string she’d used on her braid.

“I’m famished.”

“Then we shall make haste.” Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, he took her hand and led her to the kitchens. He did what many could not. Confused her .

Anna could have kissed Emory. He served them a delicious hot meal. After he hemmed and hawed for a bit, the man finally agreed to eat with them in the kitchen. With the gaping hole in the roof of the hall it would have been like eating outside in a storm. Not to mention there weren’t any furnishings, so they would have been sitting on the cold stone floor. In the kitchen, there was a cozy fire in the hearth, they were inside, and she ate off an actual plate. Life was good.

Emory pushed back from the table. “I’ll see to the horses, my lord.”

“John. Not my lord . Not anymore.”

The man frowned, muttering.

“Thank you for supper, Emory. It was delicious.”

He beamed at her. Anna thought he was in a hurry to get away from them because he was uncomfortable with how casual John was. The steward had tried to call him my lord several times, and each time John corrected him. She could understand Emory. He was raised serving the Thornton family and would always think of John as Lord Blackmoor. John, though…he’d lost everything, and she thought the title reminded him of not only the things he had lost but the loss of his family. And ten whole years.

If she were still in modern-day Florida, there was no way Anna would’ve freed a man from prison. Let alone traveled with him across a country she was unfamiliar with. Here in medieval England, it seemed a perfectly normal thing to do. Her entire life she had been content to sit on the sidelines. To be invisible. Hiding in the corners.

When driving the speed limit, she was nervous when a cop passed her. Now she was a criminal. By the simple act of turning a key in a lock. Would the soldiers arrest her and throw her in the tower for what she had done? Worse, would she pay with her life for a decision made on impulse? Her incarceration certainly wouldn’t be all Martha Stewart, knitting ponchos and gathering salad greens .

Treason was serious stuff even in her time. It had to be worse here. Her stomach did flip-flops from thinking about being locked in one of the cells. During their travels, John explained you had to pay for accommodations. Pay for your food, blankets, basically for everything.

She had no money. Nor any jewels. If they locked her up, she would have nothing to offer. And someone without means would die quickly in the tower or face difficult choices. She heard the awful cries as they’d escaped. Anna swallowed, remembering the man she saw lying dead in his cell, eyes open and unseeing. He was dressed in rags, his leg shaking as vermin moved in the dim light. A shudder went through her.

“You are quiet this eve. It is aught amiss?”

“I’m usually quiet. But there seems to be something about you that makes me talk more.” And stand up for herself. Knowing he wasn’t interested in her made it easy to banter back and forth. Just once, couldn’t the hot guy fall for the mousy girl?

She tore the bread on the plate in front of her into small pieces. In the corner of the kitchen, a mouse sat up, whiskers twitching. Before she considered what she was doing, Anna threw him a tiny piece of bread. He grabbed it and scurried into a hole in the corner. She knew she was asking for trouble. Feeding a mouse. Where there was one there were probably hundreds. But he looked so cute and hungry that she couldn’t resist. Run across me while I sleep, though, and I’ll be getting a cat, Mr. Mouse.

“If this is you talking more, mistress. I would hate to see when you are silent.” John smiled. He was utterly charming even while he was obviously distracted. She hadn’t been the only one quiet tonight. Coming home must make him feel the full weight of his troubles bearing down on him.

“I’m just tired. It’s been a long journey.”

“I will send Emory for clothes for you tomorrow, and a bath. Would that please you?”

What would it be like if he turned the full impact of those kind brown eyes upon her and saw her truly for the first time? Part of her wanted to find out. But the other part…

“Very much. I’m afraid if I go too much longer, flies will start following me around.”

He grinned. “I would follow you, stench or not.”

If only. A girl could dream.

“I know you need to stay away from the tower. And I certainly understand, given the circumstances. But I must find a way back home. I have to believe since I fell through time in the Tower of London, that is where I must go to make my way home.”

“And if you cannot go home? Then…”

He seemed almost ready to tell her something and then changed his mind. She shrugged it off.

“I have to stay positive. There are those who need me at home. Depend upon me for their welfare.”

He opened his mouth to ask her a question when they heard a commotion in the hall.

John jumped to his feet, sword and dagger in hand.

“Is that any way to greet your brother?”