Chapter Thirty-Nine 

Lucy breezed into the solar, a crochet hook and yarn in her hands. "Where are the men?"

"They're out in the stables. James said they needed to discuss horses."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "They'll be out there all day."

Melinda couldn't stop looking at her sister. She was still pretty; it was just startling to see her twenty years older. Melinda kept expecting her to look the same as when she'd disappeared less than a year ago. In time, she'd get used to the change and no longer notice.

"You look good with silver hair."

Lucy touched her hair and laughed. "And the wrinkles around my eyes?"

"Laugh lines are always beautiful."

They sat in front of the fire, eating lunch. While Melinda had less than a year of her life to catch Lucy up on, Lucy shared twenty years worth of news. Talk about a lot happening.

"Thank goodness I saw the merchant at the market wearing one of your scarves. Have you been teaching everyone to crochet?"

"I've taught a few of the serving girls. Just think, my scarf is what brought you to me. Though you would've made your way to Blackford and found me eventually."

"I'm not sure. The man described you—well, let's just say he said you were older and had silver hair. I would have thought it was someone else."

"You were going to call me old. Go ahead and say it."

"It's a lot to take in."

"Who would've ever thought we'd be living in a castle?"

"I still can't believe you have five children. And went through childbirth at home, not in a hospital. And without drugs."

"At the time I couldn't believe it either. You should have heard me screaming. But if I were back home, I would've been one of those women other pregnant women hated. All of my pregnancies were easy. I was sick for the first month and that was it. Otherwise I felt great. When I went into labor, the midwife came, I pushed five or six times, and out came baby."

"Some of those pregnant woman, like that awful Caroline Smith with the fake boobs, would've strung you up by your toes."

Lucy's eyes filled with tears. "What are we going to do about Charlotte? By now she's gotten the news you're missing or presumed dead. She'll think she's lost us both, and she doesn't even have Aunt Pittypat anymore."

"She knows about the painting. I told her when I found it. We can hide a letter, but if we do, we need to make sure we seal it in wax or something to protect it."

"I'm so happy you're here, Mellie. The only thing that would make me happier would be if Charlotte were here too. Could you see her in medieval England?"

"She'd have everyone doing yoga at sunrise, meditating in the afternoon, and giving up meat."

"I'm not sure she'd survive without her high-powered blender."

They laughed, and Melinda felt her throat close up. She'd been so lost without her sister, missed her so very much. It was wonderful to be reunited, and yet bittersweet, for now she and Charlotte were separated by an ocean of time. It was hard to let go.

"So…what's the deal with James?"

Melinda scooted her chair closer to Lucy. She leaned in, and Lucy leaned in too, so close their heads almost touched.

"He's wonderful. Actually asks what I think. Listens."

"I always hated that about Carl. It was like he couldn't see past your looks. What happened to James?"

"He's enemies with some family named Bolton in the south. He said it happened during a battle. From how awful the scars are, I think they did it on purpose."

"He's still handsome."

"The scars don't bother me at all. Half the time I don't even notice them." She looked up to see Lucy looking at her, a skeptical look on her face.

"Really. I see him for who he is on the inside. A good man with a strong personal code. Someone who cares about me as a person, not an object or possession. And someone who would risk everything to save me. I love him with all my heart."

She told Lucy about James saving her from bandits and saving her from almost drowning. And then she told Lucy how she'd saved him.

"You should've seen his face when I made him do a piggyback. He said he was humiliated."

"That huge man on your back? How did you even take a step? He must outweigh you by a hundred pounds."

She and Lucy burst into giggles.

"I felt like I had an elephant on my back. That man is solid muscle. But I knew I had to get him out of there. So I put one foot in front of the other and tried to focus on not falling over. Maybe the core exercises Charlotte made me learn helped."

Lucy touched her stomach. "I do planks every morning, but never when the servants are around. William would have stomped and bellowed around for a week if he'd been saved by a woman."

"James was so angry at first. I think his pride was damaged more than anything else. He'd never been rescued by a woman before." She snorted. "I don't think he'd ever been rescued, period."

"They definitely believe the whole ‘me man, you woman' thing."

She and Lucy talked through the afternoon, so happy to be together again. One of the servants knocked on the door.

"Lady Blackford? Lord Blackford is in the hall with Lord Falconburg and the men."

"We will join them presently."

Lucy put the crochet away in a basket by her feet. "We better go down before they start gnawing on the tables."

Melinda took Lucy's arm in hers. "I'm starved. What's for dinner?"

"I'm not sure. We've been so busy catching up, I told cook to come up with whatever. After dinner, we need to put our heads together and write down what we know about traveling through time. Charlotte needs to know. Anything that can help her get back to us."

"But we have to be really careful. We don't want the wrong people finding a letter. Think of all the havoc someone could cause by coming back and assassinating a king."

"Let's just hope Charlotte doesn't come back more than twenty years from now. I'll be a granny or dead by then."

"No you won't. Lucy Merriweather, you are to stay around for a very long time. I didn't travel over seven hundred years so you could join Aunt Pittypat in the great beyond. I forbid it."

Melinda clapped a hand over her mouth. "What if Charlotte comes back and it's before we're here?"

"Mellie, don't even think it."