"Girls, good morning. If you could, please try to be quiet in here my husband is working on reports." Missus Tavington greeted Jordan and Jula at the door of the private chamber she and the colonel shared.
"Sure." replied Jordan replied. "Anyway, good morning.
May I ask how did the meeting with Lord Cornwallis fare?" The lady asked, picking a whimpering Braden up from his cradle to rock him back and forth.
"Awkward." Jula replied.
Mary frowned and pressed,"What did he want to know?"
"Oh, just where we were from, how we got here.." Jordan replied, trying to sound as casual as possible.
"And what did you tell him?"
"Not much. Just that we were loyal and that we couldn't exactly tell him where we were from because the situation is complicated."
"Really?" Mary cocked an eyebrow. "How complicated might it be?"
"Um..."
Jula stared at her sister.
"Well, maybe you'll believe us..."
"Yes?"
Jordan took a deep breath.
"Milady, we're from the next millenium. The two-thousands."
"Really now…" Missus Tavington hid her surprise with a practiced expression of only mildest alarm. "And how do you explain such a possibility?"
Jula inhaled, expecting Tavington to look up from his work, but the officer was too preoccupied, muttering curses under his breath at a crumpled piece of parchment in his hand.
"Hold on." Jordan hastily interjected and ran off to the room where she and her sister had stayed the night before to retrieve her cell phone from her duffle bag.
"Here." she said re-entering the Tavingtons' chamber. "Look at this."
Jordan held out her cell phone with an expression of triumphant relief.
Missus Tavington gasped softly as she took the small electronic device from Jordan and held it in her hand.
"What is this?"
"It's a cellular phone." replied Jula. "We use them to talk with people. Unfortunately, it won't work here though. There's no service. But I'll explain that later."
"What's are you lot muttering on about?" Col. Tavington suddenly spoke up, pulling his attention away from the paperwork occupying his attention. "Can't bloody hear my own thoughts-"
"William, you may want to come here and look at this."
"Look at what, Mary?" he asked exasperatedly, getting slowly up from his desk.
The lady held out the phone to him and he took it from her, eyes wide, his left eyebrow raised in curiosity.
"What does this mean?" he asked.
"Sir, you were right in suspecting us." Jordan murmured quietly . "We're not exactly from here. Well, we are, but we're from the future; the next millenium, actually."
"My god.." Col. Tavington whispered softly.
"We are loyal, though." Jula added.
"I don't…what? How-what the hell kind of bullocks have you set astir now?!"
"Colonel, we know what will happen in this war." Jordan cut in.
"The end results, you mean?" Missus Tavington inquired, attempting to deter the colonel's rapidly growing upset.
"Yes." Jula replied.
"You won't like what happens." Jordan whispered.
Mary's brow furrowed with concern.
"Thankfully, I have my history book with me." Jordan reasoned quickly to ease some of the lady's anxiety.
"What do you mean?" Col. Tavington asked tensely. "You pop out of nowhere and suddenly you have all the answers?" He snapped. "Not the least suspicious lot of dullards, are you?"
Biting down the remark, Jordan met Tavington's gaze and answered with quirky smile.
"Colonel, I believe we may be of some very valuable use to you."