Aria swallowed and closed her hand tighter around the key. She didn’t think she should tell these two strangers any more than she already had.
She saw the house nestled within a stand of trees. It was made from timber and stone. Smoke rose from the chimney and candles lit the windows. It looked warm. She needed warmth.
“Are you sure it’s okay with your mother to take in a stranger?”
Will nodded, then glanced down at her hopping feet. “May I carry you before your feet get frostbitten?”
If he wasn’t a killer, he had a nice voice, soft and laced with concern and kindness.
“I think I can make it to the door,” she reassured him—and then tripped over her numb feet and headed straight for the ground.
Will’s hands came to her rescue. He caught her in the cradle of his arms before she hit the cold, hard ground. He stared down at her as if nothing else existed in the world but her.
She looked away, flushed by a possible killer!
Before she had time to tell him to put her down, he scooped her off her feet and carried her the rest of the way to the house.
“This may sound a little crazy,” Aria began, avoiding his gaze, “but what year is this supposed to be? Is it still 2024?”
He dipped his dark brow giving her a look that said exactly what she would have said if someone asked her what she just asked. “It is 1795, Miss.”
She didn’t move. She didn’t breathe. “17—no. Impossible.” She felt as if something inside her was rumbling, making her whole body shake. “No. It can’t be. It’s impossible. My family—” Her eyes filled with tears. “If this is real, how will I get back to the twenty-first century? My family needs me! Oh, I need to wake up. Sarah! Pinch me!”
“Miss, you need to remain calm,” Will reasoned. “No one is going to pinch you. We will find your family.”
Aria wanted to believe him—but she couldn’t. She didn’t know him. He’d never ever believe what had happened to her. She didn’t believe it. Best not to come off as a raving lunatic claiming unearthly things. “So cold.”
She felt Will draw her closer. She closed her eyes, safe for the first time since this madness began. And then a sword came down hard on Will’s blade. Will had a sword? She hadn’t noticed it before. She wanted to stay awake, but the world she didn’t know began to fade. Was she going somewhere else? Home?
She caught sight of something red before she fell unconscious from the freezing air. It was a man, though she couldn’t see his face. High on horseback, his shoulders under his woolen, red overcoat wide and straight. He’d been watching her from the trees. Now he was fighting Will. For her? He turned and for the briefest of moments he settled his gaze on her in Will’s arms. His eyes were the color of Caribbean waters filled with deadly creatures and fathomless secrets. He reached behind his back for a red feather-tipped arrow and then, bringing his bow up, he nocked his arrow, pulled his bowstring taut, and began to turn to someone to their left. He fired before his gaze reached whoever he was about to shoot.
Aria heard someone’s body thump on the ground, and then she didn’t see or hear anything else.
Chapter Three
Aria sat proppedup against a pillow in Sarah Gable’s bed. By the light in the window on the east wall, she could see that it was the day. She had opened her eyes to pain in her feet and fear in her heart. They wanted her to believe that what happened wasn’t a dream. She had somehow—no—she covered her head and shook it. Somehow, she had traveled back in time to 1795. She wanted to laugh but the urge to cry was stronger. Before she began to obsess again on how all this could even be possible, the bedroom door opened and a pretty young woman…Sarah, she remembered, stepped inside carrying a tray in both hands.
“Good morning, Miss,” Sarah greeted with a bright smile. “We were so happy to see you awake earlier.
“I was awake earlier?” She didn’t remem—oh, yes, she did remember. She tried to leave the bed and run away. This couldn’t be real. It had to be a cruel joke.
“My mother has never treated anyone with the cold sickness like yours. Your toes were slightly frost-bitten.”
Aria shivered. How long would it take for her insides to warm up? “You and your mother have my thanks for all your trouble.”
“You were no trouble, Miss. Mum’s only sorry that there’s no fruit to offer you.”
“Please call me Aria,” Aria offered as she accepted the tray from Will’s sister. There was what Aria suspected was porridge, along with slices of freshly baked bread and two small jars beside the plate. One with honey and the other with soft butter.
“Aria is a beautiful name.”
“So is Sarah,” Aria said, biting into her bread, slathered with both butter and honey.
“I’ve never heard of your name.”
“It means lion of God.” Aria stopped chewing and cast the younger hostess a slight side-smile. “It also means song or melody.”
Sarah smiled and then turned to the door when a knock came from the other side. “Come.”