Link To The Past

Chapter Twenty-One

Kristine woke up the next morning to the sound of birds singing. There were no gunshots, no screams of men or women. As she rolled over on to her other side, facing away from the wall she noticed Thomas was gone. With a little panic she sat up in her bed, about ready to jump out and call out Thomas's name, but before she could do that Thomas came walking in with his hands full with clothes. "Oh, so you're finally up? Here, these are for you." He handed her the clothes. "Good morning by the way. You slept well last night, I hope."
Kristine picked some sleep from her eyes and yawned. "Only because you were with me." She held out the dress before her. It was a pretty navy blue cotton dress with long puffy sleeve and frills at the bottom. "Where did you manage to get this?"
Thomas cleared his throat. "I got it from one of the women here in town. She caught word of you and wanted to pass these down to you. She told me the dress was just sitting in her closet."
Kristine smiled. "You'll have to point her out to me so I can tell her thank you." Thomas nodded. "By the way," said Kristine. "What's the month?"
"October fourteenth."
"And if it's been three years, that makes it 1782." Again Thomas nodded. For a few seconds, Kristine pondered in thought and then suddenly smiled. "Eleven more months," she said more to herself than to Thomas.
"Eleven more months of what?" Thomas asked.
Kristine looked up at, the little smile on her face. "Next year on September third, the war will end."
Thomas looked as if he was about to call BS on this and stupidly remembered that she knew all about this war. "Are you sure? That's less than a year." he was so excited he almost jumped up and down like a happy child at Christmas. "Get dressed," he told her. "I'll show you around town."

Kristine slipped off her pajamas and put on wool socks, her boots, the slip and then the corset. Luckily for her, this corset was manageable to be put on by herself and she quickly tied the back. Lastly, she put on the blue dress, surprised by how well I fit her. She tried to examine her attire from the small mirror hanging on the wall but it wasn't much use. She did, however, manage to get a good look at her face and tried to gussy up. The bruise on her face from last night was painfully obvious and the sight of it brought back the pain. That didn't matter, though. She was safe now and with Thomas again. Kristine ran her fingers through her hair a bit before heading out of the room where Thomas was waiting for her just down the hall and talking to Gabriel.
"Ah, the Sleeping Beauty awakes," said Gabriel. He had some bread in his hands and offered her some but she gratefully declined. She wasn't up to eating yet. "Has Thomas taken care of that bruise on your face yet, little sister?"
A little taken back by Gabriel's comment about 'little sister', Kristine looked over at Thomas who was blushing. "What do you mean, Gabriel?" she asked, looking back at him.
"Well, it's only natural that you and Thomas will marry one day, so I might as well get used to seeing you as my little sister." he then looked to Thomas who was almost redder than a tomato now. "By the way, little brother, have you asked for fathers blessing?" he teased. As Kristine blushed, Thomas pushed his brother away. "Go finish your breakfast somewhere else." When Gabriel was gone and probably still laughing, Thomas turned to Kristine and held out his hand. "Walk with me?" Even though he never had to ask, Kristine gladly took his hand and walked outside with him.

The town was busy cleaning things up from last nights terror. All the British soldiers were dead and Kristine couldn't help but feel sorry for them. She walked by a few homes and even an old tavern that had been hit by one of the bombs. "It could have been way worse," Thomas told her. "We got extremely lucky; Kristine believed that.
"We should help them." Kristine offered the idea.
Although this was a generous offer Thomas shook his head. "You just back home. Take it easy."
Kristine smiled. "You just said home."
It took a few seconds for this to process through Thomas's brain and then understood what he had said. "Do you see it as home?"
Kristine nodded. "You know I do." she hugged his arm slightly as they continued to walk down the dirt path.
For the last year a thought had been nagging at the back of Thomas's mind: would Kristine prefer staying here in the past or going back to the future? Was a choice like that even possible? Would they even be able to spend their lives together? Whatever happened, Thomas made up his mind and told himself that whatever Kristine chose, he would choose also. "Which do you prefer?" Thomas asked her.
"Of what?"
"The past? Or the future?"
Knowing where Thomas was getting at, Kristine thought for a minute, the silence coming between them. "Oh, well, I'd go with whatever choice you'd choose."
Thomas smiled, almost laughing. "Well, it just so happens that I think the same. I'll go wherever you want to go."
Kristine enjoyed the simple pleasures here in the past: the view of the towns, the countryside, the people, everything. She liked the fact that the people here were more patient with things. They learned to take it easy; they were more prone to helping others, and in a way, they were more kind, especially in the manner in which they spoke. Gentle yet hard working was the best way Kristine would describe the people and places here. Finally, she decided on her answer. "I'll stay here with you if I can."
"If you can," Thomas repeated. "That's what I was afraid of."
"How do you mean?" she asked him.
"Eleven months from now, when the war is over, what if you just disappear again and never come back that time around?" What Thomas was saying made sense. There was no telling when she would get sucked back to her time. She could be gone by tomorrow, or perhaps she would stay here for the next five years of her life. The possibilities and questions were endless. "This way," Thomas pulled her off the path and into the trees. "I want to show you something."