Chapter Four
John stared down at her hands – so small that he could wrap them easily in his own. His thumb slowly stroked across them, pink and soft: a lady’s hands, he thought, but more than that they were a life line and he grasped them as a drowning man would grasp a rope thrown to save him. A colourful band encircled her wrist. He’d noticed it before but had not been able to examine it closely. It was a bracelet, he supposed, but unlike any he had seen before. The material was neither fabric nor metal and engraved along its length were the words help for heroes.
“Who are the heroes you seek to help by wearing this token?” he asked quietly without raising his face to hers.
“British armed forces – men or women who have been killed or injured while serving the country.”
“The country is at war? Who with? The French?” The question was asked idly.
“The French! We haven’t been at war with the French since Napoleonic times. They’re our allies now.”
He lifted his eyes and looked at her.
“And you, Miss Hale, are you my ally? Is that what you mean when you say you believe me?”
“I don’t know what I believe, Mr Thornton, but… I have never seen a man more lost and I want to help you find them – your family.”
“Even if my family are in a different time.”
MJ sighed. She must be mad.
“Even then.”
The relief on his face was tangible. MJ watched it spread across his face, from his eyes to his lips that curved into the softest of smiles.
“Thank you, Miss Hale. I have no idea how I can repay your kindness.”
MJ brushed his thanks aside.
“It’s OK. No thanks needed.”
“OK? What is this ‘OK’?”
“It means that it is alright.”
“Thank you. Understanding the speech here is as difficult as learning Latin was at school.”
She smiled then. It was like the sun coming out; her skin glowed and her eyes sparkled and for the first time he realised that despite her odd clothes and strange forward manner and speech what a very pretty women Miss Hale was. He mentally shook himself. If he were to discover what had happened to him he should not be thinking how attractive she was.
“How do we go about this, then, Miss Hale?”
“Well, first we spring you from this place and then we have to bring you up to date – you may be a 19th century man but this is the 21st world.”
*******
He stared at the clothes on the bed, strangely familiar yet so very different.
“Mr Thornton, you get dressed while I get your discharge information. I hope I got the right sizes - I had to guess things.”
“I am sure they will be most satisfactory…” His voice trailed off.
“What’s wrong? If it is the money, you can pay me back when you can.”
John felt himself flush.
“No, it is not the money, though it offends me to take your charity. It is just…”
“Just what?”
“I do not know how to speak of it with a young lady – it is embarrassing.”
