out of time | william ransom

five

"Claire..." the young girl whines from her horse to the woman behind her, dragging out her name.

"Yes, Savannah?" Claire asks in her usual motherly tone, rolling her eyes at girl infront of her before looking to her husband, each holding back a smile.

"My ass hurts." Savannah whines before putting her head down to rest on Gregory, her horse who Jamie ever so graciously gave to her.

At her crude words, everyone laughs. Savannah had only continuously proven a statement she made when they first met, that anything foul Claire had said she had definitely said worse. Jamie had muttered some latin prayer under his breath before looking to his wife next to him on the wagon.

"Brianna doesn't swear as much as the lassie, right?" He asked hopefully.

"Soldiers don't even swear as much as her Jamie." Claire laughed out.

"Oi! Are you guys talking shit about me? Be honest. Ian, are they talking about me?" The girl lifted her head up and looked back to fake pout at the couple, who had she'd grown to see as step-in parents, and then to Ian, her best friend in this time.

Claire and Jamie laughed and moved onto a conversation of their own. Ian, on the other hand did not respond, seeming to be lost in thought. Savannah tilted her head at her friend before clumsily leading Gregory to walk closer to Ian and his horse.

"Ian? Hey? Is everything alright?" She asked lightly tapping him on his shoulder. The action shook the man out of his trance, causing him to look at the young girl next to him.

"Aye, I am well. Dinnae fash." Ian said in the most unconvincing tone manageable.

"Oh, so we're lying now. What's up buttercup? Why are you so spacey today?" Savannah asked, trying to pry in the nicest way she knew how.

"Why did you call me a buttercup? And what is 'spacey'?" Ian asked, clearly trying to change the topic.

"Figure of speech, and they're sayings- wait a minute! Don't topic switch, what's wrong?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

"It's nothing." Ian brushed her off, beginning to fiddle with the reigns on his horse.

"Yeah, sure, okay." Savannah gave him a look and then backed off, she'll get him to talk, not right now but soon.

The four continued on, Savannah and Ian on horses leading the way for Claire and Jamie on the wagon. They carried on riding throughout the day before it started to get dark, deciding to make camp. Jamie and Claire set up tents and a fire, Ian went to hunt for dinner, and Savannah just decided to wander aimlessly through out the woods.

She hummed to herself songs from her time, wishing had her phone so she could play spotify, she had the perfect playlist for a situation like this. She didn't remember all the songs exactly, but she remembered most of them consisting of Hozier, Lana, and Her's. About ten minutes into her walk she passed a small patch of flowers, she decided to pick a small bouquet for Claire as a small gesture of appreciation for everything the woman has done for her the past month and change. Though Savannah had little to no knowledge on flowers or meanings of them, she never heard anything bad about clovers and carnations, which were right infront of her.  Picking a decent handful, and grinning to herself she turned on her heel and walked back to camp with a skip in her step.

"Oh good, you're back. I thought I was gonna have to send Ian after you." Claire said in relief at the sight of the girl approaching.

"I'm like Columbus, minus the pillaging and slavery and all that. I always know where I am." Savannah said turning up her nose in fake cockiness.

"Yes, and I'm the queen of England." Claire snorted out, expecting to Savannah to laugh but the girl just looked at her with her jaw slightly dropped.

"What's that face for?" The older woman said, concerned, approaching the girl infront of her.

"I hate to be the one to tell you this, I really do, but Queen Elizabeth died last year. Now her stupid son and the witch are king and queen. Very sad time for England right now." Savannah said putting her head down.

"Oh, wow. I didn't even think about that. What's wrong with Charles?" Claire asked genuinely intrigued with the British Monarchy's affairs since she left 1968.

"What isn't wrong with Charles? Going back to 'you're the queen of England' statement, you are much more like Princess Diana, Claire." Savannah grabbed the woman's hand and dragged her to the rocks by the fire to sit and give the spiel about everything that happened and get her up to speed, 2023 speed at least.

When the sun set over the trees to the west, the quartet surrounded a small fire enjoying a small dinner consisting of rabbit, or Bugs Bunny, according to Savannah who claimed to be vegan when she found what was being served. Jamie begun to recall old stories of battles he fought, things he did as a typical boy, and other ventures he forgone. Claire would add a comment here and there, lightly humbling her husband whenever embellishments were added to these tales. Ian was still as dazed and confused as he was earlier, constantly scanning the tree line looking- no, waiting for someone. At this point, Claire and Jamie had ceased their chatter and were sending eachother knowing looks, Savannah stared at her friend understanding the paranoia he feels. Also knowing that if he didn't get a grip soon, this would eat away at him until he really lost it. She glanced over at the couple, nodding towards Ian, suggesting one of them go talk to him. Before Jamie could say anything to his nephew, Ian stood up and began to shout at nothing.

Jamie eventually got him to calm down, in that time, Claire and Savannah had brought the fire to just small embers so there was no risk of a fire starting while they slept. Once Savannah bid the others a quick goodnight, she laid in her makeshift tent and pondered. She found herself doing this a lot lately, the quiet ambiance of the forest during their travels paired with the small chatter was not enough of noise for the girl to silence her thoughts. She began to miss the noise coming from the sorority houses by her apartment, her noisy upstairs neighbor, the ambulances going by late at night, and overall just the noise of the future.

With a small sigh, Savannah rolled on to her side and began to drift off, wondering what the next day would bring.

an:
word count: 1128
i suck. i know. i said it was gonna be a week and it's been a month, my fault bruh. my brain juices haven't been flowing properly and i keep thinking of ideas for how i want future chapters to go without getting around to finishing the chapters i'm on. anyways i hope y'all liked, i'll get the next one up as soon as i can.