The Quest of Time
Chapter 3
Lizzie woke up all stiffed, cramped and in pain. She looked around wondering where she was and what was she doing in the backseat of her car. Then all the events of the last night came crashing back to her. She hurriedly switched on her cell phone which still showed no signal.
"Dammit, what the hell is wrong with you", she yelled at her phone getting frustrated. She checked her watch and it was seven in the morning and it was bright enough to look around for help. She decided to look for highway again and try to find someone.
Lizzie grabbed her knapsack she had packed last night preparing herself for a long walk, she was not sure how far she had to walk before she could find help. She started towards the same path she took last night but suddenly she heard a distinct sound of horse hoofs. She looked around in the direction of the sound which was coming from the larger field through the shrubs. That made her hopeful and she ran towards the field. She saw a man riding a horse about hundred yards away in the grassland. Excitedly she started calling to the rider for help, jumping up and down, waving her hand high to catch his attention. She was not sure if the man could hear her, so she started running towards him still shouting.
Lizzie was scared to lose such an opportunity of getting help in the middle of nowhere. She was shouting on top of her lungs, even though she was tired and hungry, she was running fast forgetting all the pain she was feeling to catch the attention of this stranger. But he was too far and he was riding away from her. Suddenly the man shifted his weight and turned his horse around towards her direction. She sighed in relief and kneeled down on ground tired and thanked God for a trace of good luck after really crappy twelve hours.
The rider slowed his horse and Lizzie rose to talk to him. He slowly came towards her, and now she could see him properly, he was tall with dark hair and well built, maybe in his late twenties. The stranger slowly stepped down from his horse ten feet away from her, he looked puzzled as he walked towards her. He was staring at her like she was some kind of a freak, that made Lizzie uncomfortable, just the sheer intensity of his gaze made her want to run, but she was in trouble and had no other option than him. So, she mustered all her courage and walked towards him.
"Oh, thank God I found you. I really need your help, I'm in big trouble", she started off and he kept on staring at her bewildered.
She felt self-conscious by his attitude but she went on "I am sorry to bother you but I had an accident last night and I couldn't find cell phone reception here and my car is struck there in the mud. I am kind of trapped here. I'll really appreciate if I could use your phone to call for help". The man looked around and gazed her from top to bottom and rubbed his eyes as if not sure what he was looking at, this made her very uncomfortable.
Lizzie puzzled by this stranger's behaviour thought that he could not understand her because she was talking so fast. So, she repeated herself slowly and enunciating each word carefully "Listen, I had an accident, I crashed my car in the lake,", she pointed towards the car in the lake, hoping he would understand that "and I need your help."
The stranger followed his gaze to the car and gasped in shock "Dear Lord." He rubbed his eyes again and looked from Lizzie to the car and to Lizzie again. He walked towards the car with a surprised and confused look on his face.
Lizzie sighed in relief "So you do talk." She followed the man hoping that after seeing the accident scene he would help her.
The stranger looked uncomfortable when she followed him "Please forgive me Madam but I cannot tell if this is real or I am still at my bed dreaming." He apprehensively touched the car and quickly pulled his hand back, as if he got a shock. A second later, he touched it again and walked around the car, never letting his hand away from the cold metal.
"Join the club." Lizzie laughed ironically, here she was hoping it all to be a bad dream too. "But it's all real and I really need to use your cell phone to call for help."
"My cell phone?" The man repeated as if saying a foreign word.
"Yes, your cell phone." Lizzie took her own phone out and waved it on his face. "'Cause mine is not working right now."
The man was now engrossed in looking at the cell phone. Lizzie was feeling frustrated talking to the man, it was like talking to a kid with ADHD, his attention moving from her to the car to the phone. She pleaded to the man again "I am sorry Mister but I am in big trouble here and I need to call for help."
"Please forgive me Madam, I do not have what you are asking from me. I certainly wish to help you and it is my duty to help a lady in distress. I will assist you anyway possible", the man replied politely.
For the first-time Lizzie's focused at the man, not the dire situation she was in. He was wearing old fashioned clothes and shoes. Maybe he was coming from 18th or 19th century themed costume party. He spoke like an aristocrat with proper enunciation and accent. He was certainly still in character. She wondered if the man was crazy or she crashed a historical themed festival.
Lizzie tried a different approach "I can pay you, I have money."
The stranger grimaced hearing that as if offended by her suggestion "I do not help people for money lady."
"Ok, so don't take the money, at least let me use your phone then" Lizzie was losing her patience with him, the man was being difficult. She was having doubts about it and wanted to get away from him "If you don't have a cell phone, can you tell me where I could find the nearest phone or a petrol station or any freaking human civilization."
"As I said before, I do not have the thing which you are asking from me. I have never seen these things in my life." He said impatiently too. "If I may ask, what is that and that metal cage" the stranger asked curiously pointing at the phone and then at the car.
Lizzie got frustrated with his response and lost her cool "Alright, I had enough now. You don't have a cell phone and you have never seen one in your whole life as well. This is just bloody brilliant, simply marvellous. Of all the people I could come across in the middle of the forest at time of crisis, I had to find a crazy, lunatic who thinks the best time to make a joke is when someone is in damn big trouble".
"Excuse me, what did you say I am? Do you always talk to people like that?", the man said little taken aback by Lizzie's outburst.
"Hey, what am I supposed to say. You are dressed up like you came from a 18th century costume party and you say you don't know what a cell phone or a car is. It means either you are crazy or you have a really bad sense of humour. Because I'm in big trouble here and it's no time to make jokes."
"I can most certainly assure you madam that I am not making humorous comments here."
"Ok, then at least tell me where I can find a pay phone or a nearest petrol station".
"What? I have no idea about where to find a station or any place which you are asking" the man said a little baffled.
"Okay, where is the nearest human population then?" Lizzie was annoyed, she didn't want to waste any more time with him.
The man answered "This is a private property you are trespassing, all these are my land. The nearest town is five miles to the north." He added hesitantly "But my house is couple of miles to east. I can assure you that you can get all the help there, at my house".
Lizzie did not like the idea of going anywhere with the man. He was clearly crazy or deluded and most of all the hesitation in his voice made her felt as he had some secret agenda which was altogether different from helping her. So, she said in a firm voice without any sign of fear, "Come to think about it, I don't really need your help. And no way in hell I'm going anywhere with you".
The stranger seemed a little taken aback by her sudden hostility. Lizzie sensed that the man was not used to hear no from people and would not take rejection lightly. She started to move away from him towards her car and sensed that he was following her angrily. Now, she felt a little fear from this unexpected stranger and was scared that he might try to harm her.
Lizzie got into her car and looking for her pepper spray and stun gun which she always carried with her. She found it inside her shoulder bag, she put it in her pocket. She came out of the car and faced the man trying not to show any fear on her face. She thought if she gave him her wallet and all her expensive things, he would leave her alone. Then she could run and look for the cops.
She stood up straight, trying to look taller than she was, "Please, leave me alone. You can have my wallet, watch, jewellery, anything you want. Hell, you can even take my car if you can take it out from the ditch. I'll leave quietly and promise I will not call the police. There is no need for anyone to get hurt."
She thought that she gave a good option to the man but he looked angry and embarrassed, "I am not a petty thief, Madam. How dare you think of me as such? I am here only to help you because you oddly look in trouble.".
Lizzie freaked out more, the stranger was in no mood to leave her alone. Only terrible things were running in her mind. She knew enough of the 'crazy psychopath murderers killing alone women in strange places' stories to be assured by his reply. She took out her pepper spray and stun gun and pointed it at him. She looked around, planning a way out of there, thinking about all the things she learned in her self-defense classes. She decided that she will give the man a fair warning and if worse comes to the worst, she can knock him down hard and run for her life.
Lizzie said with enough determination in her voice, still totally vigilant for any sudden movement from the man, "I gave you an option here, you can take anything and leave me peacefully. This is your first and last warning. I swear if you even think of hurting me, you will be very sorry because I will kill you".
The stranger looked scared by sudden change in her tone "I mean you no harm Madam. I was only trying to help you." He tried but failed miserably to stay calm and took couple of steps back "Is that some form of a weapon?" He pointed at her stun gun.
Lizzie was confused, how did he not know what that was. She put on a brave face "Oh yeah it is and you will be very sorry if I use it on you. I can certainly hurt you. Don't be fooled by seeing this small frame. I know kung-fu and karate, I can break your neck in a second. Also, people will be looking for me, so if you think you can rape me or murder me and dump my body in the woods, you are so wrong. If you survive from me, people most definitely will find you and throw you in the prison".
The man looked horrified with her statement and said with revolted expression, "What? Murder you, rape you? What are you talking about? Do I look like a criminal to you? I am an honourable man and never in my dream I would commit such a horrific act."
"Yeah, I can see how honourable you are by the way you are looking at me, not leaving me even after I explicitly asked you to leave. You look like a psychopath serial killer, an axe murder to me. If you have any sense of self-preservation you will leave before I hurt you".
"What are you? I am trying to help you here and you think I am some crazy axe murderer who likes to hurt strange woman. Do you always think worse of people?" the man questioned her sanity. That made Lizzie question her sanity too. For the first time, she clearly looked into his deep green eyes and knew it wasn't eyes of a psychopath killer; a psycho crazy lunatic maybe, but not a killer. She relaxed a little but still did not let go of her defensive posture.
She calmly said "I told you I don't need your help. I can manage by myself." But with those words she even let go of her defensive posture and let her arms fall to her sides, away from pointing to his chest but still holding the stun gun tightly in her hand.
The man also relaxed seeing Lizzie and calmly said, "Of course you can manage by yourself, as you are managing so well now. I am only saying you can get all the help at my house. It is nearer and you can come with me and find out I am not a criminal. I am only offering you help, not forcing you to take it or do anything else."
"And leave all my stuff here in the car?" she wasn't sure what to do next.
"What else can you do? Carry everything with you?" the man pointed.
"You've got a point. But to make it clear I don't trust you and if you play any tricks on me you will be sorry that you have ever been born" Lizzie threatened but finally agreed with him. She realized things could not get any worse or weird between them. So, she took a risk and consented to go with the man and decided to be cautious and vigilant.
"I promise not to hurt you or do anything to you. And I am true to my word" he assured her. Lizzie laughed thinking all the possible things he could do and was lying about, but seeing the serious expression on the man's face straightened herself and simply said, "Alright then, let's go. Lead the way".