Time Guards - The Italian Quest

Chapter VII

Once again Viola felt like her body was weightless but this time she felt herself hurtle downwards the moment she pressed the dial on her watch. Part of her mind feared that she might crash into something but the feeling kept going. Then she felt her feet land on solid ground, with a sigh of relief, and her ears popped. Unlike last time she remained standing but she felt as if a mighty gale had just pushed into her.

"Are you alright?" she heard Kristen asking her. Viola nodded and looked up, they were standing in an empty alleyway, crates up turned against a brick wall.

"French from now on, if you don't mind," said Constance, sweeping out of the alleyway and onto the street. Viola nodded confidently but secretly doubted herself slightly. She followed Constance and Kristen onto the street and supressed a gasp. Wearing period costume was one thing but actually standing on a street that looked like it belonged in a history book was another.

On either side of the street were multi-storey buildings, with colourful shopping displays and banners. The pavement was lined with trees, some of the people leaned against them, others were working whilst some were just enjoying the walk. There were also gas lights on the street, or boulevard as Viola assumed it was properly called, and benches. The road in the middle was quite empty apart from one car and a few horse drawn carriages.

Constance had obviously taken them to a respectable and expensive part of town, most of the people wore similar clothes to Viola, Kristen or Constance and looked very clean. From all corners Viola could hear the French language and the noise and smell of cars was almost non-existent in complete contrast to what Viola thought cities were like. Birds hummed in the trees and the clip-clop of horses was like a regular beat of the city. There were even church bells in the distance which Viola assumed was Notre Dame, the great Gothic Cathedral of Paris.

Kristen and Constance waited for Viola whilst she looked around the street before the three of them started walking down the boulevard which was only a few minutes away from the restaurant. As they walked Viola looked at the people around her, catching bits of their conversations and watching what they were doing. After a few minutes she realised that they were watching her too. She questioned Kristen and Constance about this who both gave grave faces. Kristen whispered in English,

"It's because you aren't white." Viola swallowed, she looked down at her tan skin and sighed. She now understood why Constance was wearing a prosthetic arm.

Soon however they arrived outside the restaurant. Constance walked straight up to a woman waiting outside of it and they both kissed each other on the cheek. As they greeted each other, Viola studied the woman who must be Bernadette St. Pierre. She was a tall, pretty woman who looked about twenty, with brown, curly hair and dark eyes.

"It is very good to see you again," said Bernadette in a strong French accent. She was speaking French and Viola was very glad that she understood everything Bernadette said.

"As it is to see you," said Constance, "I brought some friends, as you asked."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Kristen.

"All will be explained," said Constance with an impish smile, she turned to Bernadette, "This is Kristen Fredriksen," he coughed, "Sorry, Viscount Kristen Fredricksen of Denmark," said Constance in a slightly irritated voice.

Kristen gave a satisfied smile and then Constance continued, "And this is Viola Wilson, it's her first trip. Kristen is a Time Guard but Viola isn't."

"She will still be a help if she wants to join us," said Bernadette, she shook both of their hands and said, "Viola is a very pretty name. May I introduce Julius Alessandri." She gestured to a young man standing next to her, he looked about Constance's age with short dark hair and an playful smile. He was wearing a similar suit to Kristen's but his looked more expensive. Julius shook their hands and said to Constance,