Link To The Past

Chapter Three

The next morning it was the same routine. Abigail came in and helped Kristine get dressed. In those few moments together the two of them slowly began to ease up around each other. She didn't think that Kristine was a total nut case and Kristine didn't mind her coming in all the time.
"There now. That should do it." She took a deep breath as she finished helping Kristine put on the dress.
"Thanks, Abigail," she said while turning around, giving her a full view of the dress.
"I think pink looks very nice on you dear."
Kristine looked to her feet a bit and smiled. "I'm not used to dressing up, I mean in such pretty clothes like these." she thought up something fast not to make yourself look like an idiot but it seemed to have worked, for now, that is.
"Breakfast will be done shortly."
"Right."
Before Abigail was about to leave Kristine called out to her. "Abigail?"
"Yes, dear?"
"Am I a burden to the Martin family?"
"Heavens no!" she laughed a bit. "The Martins very much enjoy your company." She gave you one last smile before turning back around and leaving the room.
Still, the thought of her going back into time was unreal yet still real. Which was a funny thought as she smiled and laughed under her breath. The day was much hotter than the other days. Kristine longed to just jump in a great big pool of ice. The taste of ice cold water ran through her mind. Just then a small knock came to the door. It was Meg.
"Breakfast is ready. Would you like to join us?" she asked.
"Of course." Kristine smiled and walked with her to breakfast.

After breakfast, you decided to take a little stroll. The little ones seemed to be busy learning flashcards and chasing chickens. was back in the shed, possibly making another rocking chair. Thomas and Gabriel were off again somewhere so you thought of this as the perfect time to get away and explore.
Before reaching to the woods Kristine walked across a field. She felt a little bad though, for the dress. It was so pretty and yet she was somewhat getting the bottom of it dirty. But then she thought to herself. 'This is the seventeen hundreds. Everyone gets dirty.' As came to the very start of the woods a certain chill ran through your body. Everything looked so big, so exciting. Like it was calling your name and telling you to come and explore. The trees were tall and skinny. Some had lots of leaves others were almost bare. Large rocks sat by her feet as she walked over logs laying in the leaves. Everything here almost seemed perfect. No. It was perfect, but then a thought struck her. By the time she got back to her time...this will all be gone. Houses will be here. Parks, restaurants and gas stations. On the other hand, maybe it wouldn't. Maybe by some chance, it would still be here.
Just then Kristine slipped over a log that was pretty well hidden.
"Ooof!" she went down hard scratching her palms a bit and dirtying more of the dress. "Oh great!" she said out loud. But then she stopped to listen. Water. Moving fast.
A river! Or maybe some kind of waterfall. This excited Kristine even more so she got up ignoring the pain in her legs and followed the sound.
When she reached to where the sound was coming from it was almost as if her heart could jump right out and start jumping for glee. It was a waterfall she set her eyes on and a good sized one at that. Kristine ran to it as fast as she could without falling over again and then looked down. For some reason, the thought of falling a good fifty feet didn't bother her. Kristine looked to her left and then her right, just to see if anyone was coming or not. Again she found yourself smiling. Who would be out here in the seventeen century to be staring at a fourteen-year-old girl? People had better things to do during this time than go peeping. Kristine then stripped off her dress the only hard part was the corset, which she managed to loosen a bit but failed to take it off.
Kristine then took a deep breath and jumped.
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SPLASH!
The water felt refreshing. Nice and cold. It was perfect to go swimming in this kind of weather. A nice hot summer of July. As Kristine sank a bit going down she felt the bubbles roll up against her skin and her body felt as light as a feather. Kristine slowly rose to the top letting out a gasp for air. She took a deep breath then. The air for some reason smelled even cleaner then it did before.
As Kristine was enjoying her swim she heard a twig snap. She looked to where the sound had come and by her surprise, you saw Thomas standing there and probably looking more shocked then she did. His mouth slightly ajar and his arms raised a little as if that would help him find the right words to say. Finally, Kristine spoke. "What are you doing here?"
"I, uh, Was...practicing my hunting skills. Gabriel says I need to do better at my aiming, so I have been out here working on it. Sorry if I interrupted you. I'll be going now." As he was starting to leave Kristine told him to stop.
"Thomas. Why not join me. Have some fun."
"J-j-join you?" He stuttered on his words. "b-but..."
"Oh C'mon! it's a hot summer day. Take the time to relax and enjoy it." Kristine started getting out of the water, which probably made Thomas feel a bit uncomfortable because it seemed he was blushing a tad bit. As Kristine stood up from out of the water and her under-dress stuck to her skin, showing off her legs, but this was normal for her so she didn't realize it till after Thomas had made a comment about it while looking up, trying to be a gentleman.
"Um, Kristine...Your dress."
Kristine looked down and then realized that her bottom half was almost see through. The top part was better off because of that corset, which seemed even tighter now. "Oh! Sorry," she said. "it's just that, where I am from, it's okay to show a little skin." 'A little?' she thought. 'More like the whole real deal.' but it's not like she could just come out and say it like that.
"Really?" Thomas seemed a bit more at ease now seeing as he put his gaze back on her face.
"So, Thomas. Do you still want to go swimming?"
"No no. I'm quite alright, thank you. Maybe next time?"
Kristine slowly nodded her head. "Sure. Okay then. Guess I'll just go get the rest of my clothes up at the top of the waterfall." Before she could take another step, Thomas lightly tapped her shoulder.
"Let me get them."
"You sure?"
"Yes. it's the least I can do for walking up on you." he gave her a smile and went to get Kristine's clothes.

Thomas really was such a gentleman, unlike those other boys from the twenty-first century he respected Kristine and at the same time, she thought it was so cute how he looked the way he did just a few seconds ago, young and innocent.
He then came back down with all of her things.
"Here you are." he then turned around. "I'll wait right here just like this until you're ready."
Kristine got as far as slipping on the dress till she could no longer do any more by herself. Abigail was the one to help her with that part.
"Umm, Thomas?"
Still having his back towards her he said. "Yes?"
"I need help."
He then turned back around facing you, looking a tab bit flushed and confused. "W-what do you mean?"
"I mean I need help putting the rest of this dress on." Kristine turned around, grabbing her long brown hair and putting it up front. "can you button me up?" she asked.
Thomas cleared his throat before walking up to her and taking the first button and looping it with the fabric on the opposite side. Slowly one-by-one he buttoned her up.
"Alright. I am done."
Kristine gave Thomas a big smile as she turned around and said thank you.
He blushed a bit and then turned his face, trying to hide it. "You're welcome," he said.
"Well I guess we should be getting back now, shouldn't we. Dinner should be ready soon, right?" (in case you don't know, Dinner was considered lunch back then and all that stuff.)
"Yes, you're right. Let's go."

The two of them walked side-by-side the rest of the way back to the house. Before fully leaving the woods Kristine stood to back at it. "Thomas, wait!"
"What is it? Is there something you forgot? Because I will go back and get it if you want."
"No it's nothing like that...it's just...it's just..."
"It's just what?"
"It's just something Gabriel said to me before."
Thomas sighed and put his hands on his hip. "Did he say anything to hurt your feelings. Older brother or not, he will not treat a guest and certainly not a young lady such as you-" but before he could finish you hushed him with your index finger.
"It's alright Thomas. Really."
"Really?" he then said after you removed your finger.
"Really really," you told him.
"Well, then what is wrong."
You took a deep breath. "He said something about you."
"Me?"
"He said you were...fond of me. Is that true?"
Thomas then looked white in the face. "he said that?"
"He sure did. So, is it true?"
"Well You are a very pretty girl and I try very hard to be respectful and act like a gentleman in front of you. I guess I just do not want to mess anything up or have you think I'm rude."
Kristine laughed. "Thomas, you are by far the nicest boy I have ever met."
"Really?" his face lit up some.
"Really really."
"Good. I'm glad. So, in that case, I presume it's okay to tell you that I am fond of you?"
Kristine smiled again. "And I am very fond of you Mr. Thomas." he gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Let's go back now. I think I hear the bell ringing." Kristine took Thomas's hand walked back to the house to eat dinner.