Time Pieces
Chapter One - Send in the Cavalry
"'What is the use of a book, without pictures or conversations?'" Alice.
Allison Fisher grunted as she attempted to turn the doorknob. The door jamb must have swelled from the summer heat and was now giving the twenty-something year old a hard time.
"All," she grunted as she pushed against the door. "I want is to get inside."
Her hand was raw from turning the knob so hard and her grip was shot. Cursing, she tried the door with her left hand but still found that it wouldn't budge. Allison sighed in frustration and in one last resort slammed her entire weight against the wooden paneling while turning the knob and flew into the room and landed in a heap on the floor.
"Finally," she mumbled as she rose up to gather her things from the hallway. She deposited her luggage by the bed and collapsed onto it in exhaustion. Allison's heart was racing from the activity so she placed her hand on it to try to calm down. Taking deep breaths she began to relax.
England was strange. The accents were strange. The cars were strange. Even the estate Allison and her mother were staying in was strange. She may have never stayed in anything nicer than a Holiday Inn but this place took the cake. It wasn't just fancy, it was regal. The original owner, Alice Kingsleigh, had left it to her mother-in-law to care for while she traveled the world for their trading company. The mother-in-law apparently was quite extravagant and made the manor to appear in her image. Alice, however, must have preferred simpler things as her room, the room Allison currently resided in, was plain and unpretentious.
How did such a place fall into the hands of the Fishers? After being passed down generation to generation for close to one hundred and fifty years the deed fell into the hands of Allison's father and after passing away himself, he willed it to his only daughter. Her mother unfortunately quickly took control of the property and decided for the both of them that it would be best to sell it and use the profits for personal pleasure.
"This is a new house, a new car, college completely paid for, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity Allison," she had said when she first birthed the idea. Now they had to meet with someone from the bank to get the estate appraised before putting it on the market. Mrs. Fisher was fully confident it would sell in a heartbeat. Who wouldn't want a manor in the English country? Avarice wasn't very appealing in Allison's opinion, and unfortunately, her mother was the very definition of greed.
"Allison, the appraiser is here," her mother's head appeared in the doorway. "I'll be busy dealing with him so why don't you go entertain yourself somewhere else hmm? Maybe check out the attic or a couple of rooms?"
Allison sighed, "The attic sounds good."
"Great, just stay out of way okay? I really need this to sell!"
'Except that it's supposed to be mine.' Allison thought darkly.
"Yeah, I'll stay out of your way," she groaned.
Her mother quickly became stern and cold. "Don't give me that tone Allison Fisher, you want this just as much as I do so don't ruin it for the both of us!"
'Quit including me.' Fuming to herself Allison gave a curt nod.
Her mother disappeared from the doorway and Allison exhaled loudly before getting off the bed. Hopefully there'd be something interesting up in the attic to pass the Time with.
. . . . .
There was nothing interesting in the attic to pass the Time with. There were crates still nailed shut and wooden chests scattered around but nothing too terribly exciting. At least nothing from the surface. Allison was sure there'd be something fascinating in the wooden chests but she felt as if she was imposing on someone else's life. Maybe technically she was but Alice Kingsleigh wasn't around anymore to tell her so.
Pulling open the first chest she came across she found nothing but piles of old, worn books. Again, nothing exciting about a pile of musty, dusty books. Trying a different chest she discovered nothing but old photographs. Slightly interesting but Allison wanted something fun and stimulating not faded pictures. Third time's the charm so she opened a third chest and came across clothes.
Dress up! She could play dress up like she used to when she was a kid. This could have the potential to be fun and stimulating. Searching through the chest she brought out a fishtailed tiered purple dress with off-shoulder short sleeves. The front tiers were made of purple silk and still managed to shine in the light. Allison promptly undressed down to her underwear and slipped the dress on. It surprisingly fit perfect except for being a few inches too short. No harm, it'd just show off Allison's new red striped socks. Next she fished around for a pair of boots and cheered when she found them. She prayed they would fit as well as the dress and again to her surprise they did. It was almost as if she had been meant to wear them. She clicked her heels after lacing them up and tying a knot. Again she searched for anything else and found a pair of aged, holey gloves. One glove had the tips of the fingers eaten away while the other was missing the entire hand. They still managed to reach her elbows though.
Standing up to her new full height thanks to the boots, she spun around so that the dress would flare up and giggled when it did. Searching for a mirror, she found one underneath a dusty sheet and at once tore it off. Allison smiled at her reflection. She never really considered herself beautiful until now. Maybe she had been born during the wrong Time period. She played around with her hair before letting it fall back to her shoulders. Making a face she turned her back to her reflection and was caught by surprise to see a white rabbit in a waistcoat staring up at her.
It sniffed the air and put a paw on the ground towards her. Allison inhaled sharply, afraid to scare it but still unsure about the waistcoat. Who dressed their rabbits up? Maybe it belonged to the appraiser, but that would be unprofessional to bring a pet to a job site. So, who did it belong to?
She voiced the question. "And just who do you belong to?" Her voice was sweet and baby-like to avoid scaring the timid animal. Allison bent down and placed her hands on her knees to get a better look. The rabbit sniffed the air once more and out of nowhere leaped towards her. Allison shrieked in surprise and stepped back but ran into the mirror and tripped. She fell hard onto stone floor and was unconscious instantly.
Who knew how much Time had passed now.