Time Lord and His Lady

Chapter Ten: Torn Apart

My eyes snapped open then, and a gasp escaped my lips, filling my lungs with much-needed air as I looked up at the canopy of trees around me. They were still lush and green, and the scent that clung to the air was very much the same, although it was cleaner, somehow. Once my head began to stop spinning, I slowly pushed myself upwards, and took careful mental notes of my surroundings, but, suddenly, my head spun again, and I was wretchedly sick upon the ground beside me, causing a great amount of tremors within my body. I wrapped my arms around myself and just breathed some of the clean air for several moments, doing my best to wait for the lingering-on nausea to pass.

Once I realized the sickness had passed, I realized that I was still upon Ocracoke Island, but, when I turned around, I saw that John was nowhere to be seen, and I knew then that he had left me in truth, and as I dragged myself towards bodily the accursed stone. I felt all the emotions I'd been feeling for the past several weeks, months, and years up until that point bubble to the surface, and I felt an almighty, animalistic scream rip forth from my lips, as all the anguish I could feel within my body came crashing out, more tears making my vision go fuzzy as I gripped tightly onto the ground, cursing the stone before me with each moment I screamed at it.

Knowing that I could hardly remain in these woods for the rest of my life, I pushed myself to my feet and stumbled slightly, catching myself on another stone before I could go tumbling downwards upon the forest floor again. I was trembling, leading me to the direct conclusion that I had been out for some time, due to my legs refusing to cooperate immediately. Thankfully, my bag, always filled with my most prized possessions, was still hanging off my body, and I opened it, taking inventory to be sure that I'd not been robbed whilst passed out like an invalid.

The first-edition copy of The Tailor of Gloucester still lurked within its depths which I always read to Alexa and Ruthie whenever I was over at their house, alongside my brush, pocket mirror, compass, a small bag of corn nuts, my wallet (which was filled with cash, identification, and credit card that I had not been permitted to apply for until John and I married, and some photographs of everyone who mattered to me), my bottle of water, a book of matches, and my guide to native plants of Ocracoke Island.

I sighed, feeling a sense of relief as I folded up my bag and returned it to its swinging position, and my hand drew upwards to clutch at my necklace, but found that my neck was bare, and, quite suddenly, the world tilted on its axis. I felt the sensation of the cool wind picking up and felt it along every surface of my neck and collar bone, deliberately not thinking of how wonderful John's lips felt upon it. Shaking my head in an effort to clear it, I looked upon the forest floor for a glint of my necklace, and my heart ached when I didn't see it there.

Trembling, I hurried as fast as my legs would carry me towards the grove of trees, hoping to find my way back to the main road if I just kept going. However, as I ran through them and onto the path, I noticed how much rougher it appeared to be, and didn't look like many people had walked upon it. Shaking my head yet again, and coming to the conclusion that I just had to be seeing things, I kept on walking, finally finding the trees that seemed to lead to the entrance onto the road itself. However, as I stepped through the partition of trees, heart in my throat, I gasped aloud then, as they was nothing but more forest greeting me.

I stumbled backwards, shaking my head; this was completely and utterly impossible, and yet, I knew it wasn't, given that John himself had found himself in the same predicament a year ago. I found myself shaking, knowing instinctively what I had to do—I would have to navigate my way through potentially treacherous terrain, and find my way to Fraser's Ridge. There, armed with my photos, matches, identification, and the dates upon my money, I would likely be able to convince Jamie and Claire of my true identity. If I didn't, I would be unsafe and vulnerable to even more dangers a single woman could face in the 1700s, and I knew I couldn't possibly let that happen to me, no matter where I stood with John.