Part 5

Willow had been here almost a month and she had attended party after party. She was still no closer to figuring out why she was here. No one had come to terrorize her and no one was using strong magick. She felt wisps of magick but nothing like she felt when she had been forced here.

Tonight she was attending another boring party. This one was for a daughter of some Earl that was giving a piano recital. The girl was playing her heart out but it really wasn't the best. Willow felt sorry for her, but not sorry enough to suffer through another encore performance. She quietly excused herself and went outside to the garden.

Tomorrow night was August 30. Polly Nichols was going to be murdered by Jack the Ripper at around 3am which technically meant she died on the 31st. Should she go to the East End and try to interfere or let the murders happen on their own. Willow didn't know how much she should try to change the timeline. What if she was able to save Polly but Jack picked another victim? That would wipe out their descendants in one swipe.

Maybe she would go to the East End just to check things out. Maybe not stop the murders but maybe stop more from happening. There had been a day when a double murder happened. What if all of them were supposed to be a double murder and she had stopped the others from happening? God, time travel was way too confusing.

Willow had been thinking about just doing a spell and returning to her own time but she needed to find out why she had been sent here. She knew the magickal wave had been directed at her and not just a coincidence that she got trapped. The sound of polite clapping brought her out of her thoughts.

She went back into the concert room and joined in the applause. Albert saw her return and winked at her. He and Hannah made their way to her side. "Enough time has passed that we can make our polite goodbyes if you're ready."

GOD YES! Willow smiled with relief. "I am a little tired."

Hannah leaned in to whisper, "Not to mention bored."

Willow whispered back, "That, too."

Albert led them over to the Earl and his wife. "Please accept our apologies but we must return home. My wife and Miss Rosen are going to be handing out baskets for the church in the morning and I'm afraid we must call it an early night."

When they returned to the town house Willow retired early saying she really was tired. The Giles sent her curious glances and Willow was beginning to really feel guilty. She had been taking advantage of their generosity and she was starting to feel bad about it.

She couldn't get to sleep so she decided to sneak down to the library and get a book to read. Hopefully that would help her fall asleep. Grabbing her robe, she descended the stairs trying not to wake the others. Looking around the library nothing was peaking her interest. The wall sconce to the left of the last bookshelf had blown out. She debated about lighting it with magick but was afraid that one of the many servants might see her and the last thing she needed was for someone here to discover that she was a witch. So she went in search of matches.

Willow finally found some in Albert's desk. Reaching up to light the sconce she found that she was too short. Lifting the sconce from the bottom to bring it down to her level she heard what sounded like a door opening. She turned around to see who had entered the library when she noticed that one of the bookcases had moved to reveal another room. Oh how very gothic novel, Willow thought.

She concentrated and didn't feel any magick so she slowly entered the back room. The bookcase closed behind her and sealed her in the dark, with a flick of her wrist Willow lit the candles. She knew no one would see her here so she didn't feel bad about using her magick. The room was lined with books and there was a desk in the middle. Looking around the room at the books, Willow realized this is where HER Giles had come by his knowledge of all things mystical. There were ancient tomes that Willow recognized from Giles' collection. She suddenly smiled feeling right at home. She made a decision to tell Albert about how she came to be here. She wouldn't tell him about Sunnydale, Hellmouth or witchcraft. She didn't want to screw up in any way HER Giles coming to Sunnydale.

Feeling better about her decision to include Albert she went back upstairs and to bed. She would talk to Albert in the morning. She would leave it up to him whether he told Hannah or not since Willow had no idea if she knew about her husband's mystical side.

Willow rose early the next morning, she wanted to talk to Albert before she and Hannah left to do charity work. She saw Hannah outside in the garden but there was no sign of Albert. Hoping that he hadn't already left she caught sight of Beatrice.

"Excuse me Beatrice, I'm looking for Sir Albert have you seen him this morning?"

"Morning, miss. Sir Albert just came downstairs. He was going towards the library."

Willow smiled, "Thank you". She headed towards the library and tried to figure out how to start the conversation.

She knocked on the door and waited for an answer. "Come in".

She smiled when she saw Albert sitting at his desk writing. "I hope I'm not interrupting but may I speak with you for a moment?"

"Please, come in and have a seat. What can I do for you, Willow?"

Willow didn't take the seat, she was too nervous. Biting her lip and taking a deep breath, it was now or never.

"I haven't been quite truthful with you or Hannah in regard to my coming to England." She looked up to see his expression.

He wore a kind smile and nodded his head. "I knew that from the beginning. I'm glad you trust us enough now to tell us what is bothering you. We would like to honestly try to help you."

She relaxed a bit after that. "I wasn't going to burden you with my problems but last night I made a decision to tell you as much as I could."

"What made you decide last night that you could talk to me?"

OK, here comes the tricky part, Willow thought. "I couldn't sleep last night so I came down here to find a book to relax me." Looking right in his eyes she continued, "I accidentally moved the sconce."

She waited for the dawning knowledge and his reaction. "I see."

Great he was wearing a poker face. Well suck it up and go on. "I'm not from your time."

Well that got a reaction! "What do you mean you're from another time?"

"When I left my house in California the year was 2004."

"How is that possible?"

"Okay, you have books on vampires, demons and other mystical things and you have a problem with my being from another time?"

"Actually, those are my books." Willow turned to see Hannah behind her. Just goes to show that even she could be prejudiced. She never considered that the owner of the mystical books would be a female from this era. She just knew that her mouth was hanging open.