Terri stood at the fence and watched the squires put the horses through their paces. Mandy was sleeping in the infirmary, as was the man who'd been shot, Tristan. She felt like Alice from Alice in Wonderland and wondered how she'd fallen through the looking glass. Everything was beyond unreal. It was illogical, irrational, and impossible. Yet, here they were. To top it off, they weren't the first ones. Six people from the same year transported back sixteen hundred years.
"Kind of hard to make sense of it all isn't it?" the husky voice came from her left.
Terri turned slightly to see Kassidy joining her. She gave the dark haired girl a half smile. "That's putting it mildly."
"To be perfectly honest, I'm sort of surprised that you ended up here." Kass told the woman as they watched the horses prance and trot.
"As odd a question this is going to be...why is that?"
Kass shrugged. "Well, when we came through I had recently gotten out of an extraordinarily bad and violent relationship a few months prior. We were still running from him. He'd put me in the hospital twice and was a threat to my family. When the twins graduated I took them to England for a graduation present, but when we got back we'd have had to continue hiding." Kass took a moment. "We ended up here and our lives changed beyond what you would expect. No more running, no more fear. Similar for Dani. Her parents were real abusive. Hurt her bad. She's still recovering."
"She's the girl who doesn't speak?"
Kass nodded. "Yes. Her father wrapped a rope around her neck causing damage to her larynx. She's mute now. I can see why Mandy was sent. Her family's gone from what little she said before falling asleep. The father of her child is dead, and she was being hunted by a very bad man. Which leads me to you...why were you sent?"
"Why were your brother and sister sent?"
"Because I was all they had."
Terri stared at the ground. "Maybe it's because I had nothing there." she said quietly. "No family, no friends, no lover. The only thing I had was the medicine."
"What happened to your family Terri?" Kass asked softly.
Terri smiled wryly. "My parents, older brother, husband, and son were on a commuter jet flying from San Francisco to San Jose. They crashed. Everyone on board died. A year ago, almost exactly. I was supposed to be on board with them, but I'd gotten an emergency call to the hospital and had told them I'd meet them when I was done." Terri sighed as the pain rose and she stamped it back down. "Then there was no one there to meet."
"God Terri, I'm so sorry."
"I couldn't stay there. Even New York seemed too close. So I took a position there in England and locked it all away."
"Then you're right." Kass turned to the woman. "That's why you're here. And Terri, you can do good things here. With your training..."
"I have to go back Kassidy. I have to at least go back to the woods and see if there's a way back. I have to see if I head back up that hill through the trees if I'll find the car on the side of the road. If there'll even be a road there."
"I understand. Any one of the knights will take you if you ask them."
Terri nodded. "I'll wait a few days. Make sure Mandy is going to be okay. Then I'll go and check."
"Will you try to take her back?"
"If she wants to go. I don't think she will though." Terri smiled as a lovely chestnut snorted at the squires with spirit. "I have a feeling this is exactly where Mandy should be."&&&&&&
&&
Mandy awoke to see the girl Brianna sitting in a chair near her bed. "Hi." she whispered shyly. The dark haired girl was beautiful. It made Mandy feel frumpy next to her.
Bri smiled widely. "Hi! How are you feeling?"
"Better. Still a little tired."
"I'll bet." Bri leaned forward. "Terri says you're going to be okay. That's really good right? And she said your baby will be okay."
Mandy's hands automatically went to the swell of her belly. "Good. I was scared."
Bri patted the redhead's hand. "No reason to be scared. Everyone here is amazing. And I'm so happy to have someone here close to my own age who will know what I'm talking about. None of the girls here understand a word I'm saying when talking about music or stuff."
Mandy smiled now. "Are they nice?"
"Oh, yeah, everyone's nice...just like, clueless." Bri laughed. "How old are you?"
"I turn seventeen in a couple of days."
"That's awesome! I turn eighteen in two weeks." Bri shared. "I'm totally psyched about it. When's your baby due?"
"Not for another two months." Mandy murmured and rubbed her tummy. "Just stay in there." she whispered to her baby.
"We'll take good care of you Mandy. Promise." Bri placed her hands on the other girl's hands and felt the baby kick. "We'll take good care of both of you."