Pure Blood (Time Spirit Trilogy, #3) (8 page)

Chapter
Eleven

Yorkshire, England – 1820AD

The birds in the trees were a full-blown
chorus. Gemma listened to their sweet sound and felt a smile pull
at her lips. It was the first one she’d managed all day. Upon
leaving London, Gemma had been well equipped with enough supplies
to last her two weeks. Emilie had been more than generous. Gemma
had left the smelly city and headed into the countryside in high
spirits. She had made it to the Clayton estate easily and after a
good night’s rest had headed north like Emilie suggested.

The next few days had flown by in a flurry of
excited anticipation as people in each village had recognized her
description of the lanky man and pointed her in the right
direction. She had traveled with speed, the only thing slowing her
being the need to rest her horse. She had cooked over campfires and
star gazed until sleep captured her. Each morning she had awoken
with fresh vigor, knowing today would be the day, but it was now
the eighth morning and the village she had just passed had not seen
Nathaniel. Her nights were getting longer as fears of her extended
stay strayed unwelcomed through her mind. Worries of what Harrison
and Gabe might be thinking and fears that her parents might
suddenly call on her began to fester in the corners of her brain.
But the darkest question of all was, “What if I don’t find
Nathaniel?”

As she sauntered through the forest she
wondered if she was on the right path and a meaty discourse was
raging in her brain.

You said a week, Gem. If you didn’t find him
in a week…

Her features crumpled with frustration.

But all this work for nothing. I can’t give
up now! Surely I’ve gained on him!

Rubbing her grimy face, she kept her horse
moving, hoping to leave behind her argument, but she had no such
luck. After another mile she was nearly ready to shoot herself over
the indecision.

It’s over, Gem. Just go home. Just…

A loud cry filled the forest, an explosion of
pained fear that silenced the birds and had Gemma spurring her
horse forward. Seconds later she was pulling her sword free as she
took in the scene of five men attacking an unarmed wanderer. Two
were rifling through his belongings while the other three tore at
his clothing and punched him senseless. Gemma’s presence was soon
noted and the man closest to her licked his lips and approached her
with a sneer. Dropping from her horse she knocked him to the ground
in one swift movement.

A sharp punch to her jaw made her senses
ring, but a knee to the man’s groin had him stunned enough to push
him away. Jumping smoothly to her feet, she dispensed him with a
kick to the head and moved to aide the victim.

Blades flashed. Fists flew. The air was
filled with groans and curses. Gemma’s system roared with
adrenaline as she watched the five men stumble away in fear of the
feisty tigress.

Sheathing her sword, she knelt to the ground
and tried to pull the man over. He resisted her with more strength
than she had anticipated, his hand clinging to his necklace with a
vice like grip that Gemma decided was not worth the battle after a
couple of attempts.

“Just relax and let me look at you.” She kept
her voice gentle, yet commanding. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

After a little more persuasion, his posture
loosened and she was able to turn his body and get a decent look at
him. He had a gash to his forehead and deep facial bruising.

“I think your nose is broken.” Pulling in her
breath, she placed her thumbs on the crooked cartilage. “I’m sorry,
but this may hurt.” With a quick jerk she righted the injury and
winced at the man’s pained expression.

Rising slowly from the forest floor, he
pinched the bridge of his nose and dropped his head between his
knees.

“Do you have any other injuries?”

“None that I want you assessing thank you
very much.”

Gemma smiled. She waited in silence as the
man drew in a few deep breaths. Finally lifting his head, he opened
his eyes. He gazed at her intently for a moment before his eyes
lightened with recognition.

“We meet again.”

“Hello, Nathaniel.”

* * * *

The horses were easily retrieved and the duo
walked their beasts to the nearby stream. Gemma stroked her mare’s
mane as it drank.

“I must say, I never I thought I’d be seeing
you again, much less watching you save my life so easily.”

“Well, I owed you one.” Gemma shot him a
wink.

He grinned back at her.

“You’ve been looking for me, haven’t
you?”

“Yes, and I have to say, you’ve been very
challenging to find.”

The glimmer in his eye faded and silence
reigned. Gemma ran her fingers over the sleek coat of her horse,
forcing her lips shut. She watched the turmoil of emotion rolling
across his face like breaking waves. Suddenly it cleared and he
looked at her.

“Why are you here?”

“Because you need my help… and I need
yours.”

“How so?” His eyes were probing and Gemma
felt the weight of her knowledge. She gazed back at him, unsure how
much to share. Swallowing down the lump in her throat, she decided
to throw all caution to the wind and go for the one hundred
percent, foolproof truth.

“I know where Helena is.”

His face stilled. “You’ve seen Helena?” His
eyes stared at her with such open hope she almost didn’t want to
say the next line.

“You can’t reach her, Nathaniel, well not
physically anyway.”

His brows furrowed. A deep sadness settled
into the crevasses of his face. Gemma couldn’t hold in her
sigh.

“Here, why don’t you let me clean that wound
and I’ll tell you all about it.”

Taking her horse’s reins, she led the mare to
a clearing and began a quick collection of firewood. It didn’t take
long to get a fire roaring. Gemma heated water over the flames,
added some healing herbs and dipped the rag into the mixture. As
she washed and dressed his wound then prepared him something to
eat, Gemma told him what Helena really was and her theory on why
she had to leave him.

“I have a son?” Nathaniel leaned back against
the tree, his astonished features morphing to an expression of soft
marshmallow.

Gemma felt her eyes grow moist as she studied
him.

“His name’s Harrison Nathan Granger and he’s…
amazing.”

Nathaniel glanced at her and smiled.

“He looks a lot like you actually. Scarily
so.”

“You called me Harrison the first time we
met. I’ve often wondered about that. How old is he now?”

“He turned 18 a couple of months ago.”

Nathaniel shook his head and grinned.

“I wish I could meet him.”

“Me too. He’s… he would make you really
proud.”

He nodded then turned his gaze back to the
stream. His features leveled out to a wistful sadness.

“She did the right thing… leaving here. This
future you speak of sounds remarkable.”

“I’m surprised you can accept this all so
easily.”

“Helena was a very mysterious woman.” His
eyes glimmered. “I could spend a lifetime trying to understand
her.” He shook his head with a grin. “Certain things she did, or
knew, make so much more sense to me now. I can’t believe she was
willing to give it all up for me.”

“I get the impression she would have done
anything for you. Putting your child’s future before her own was a
huge sacrifice.”

“How does she fare?”

“Not well.” Gemma frowned. “She blames
herself for everything you’re going through. The murder
accusations, your… death.”

“My death?”

“Well, not anymore.” Gemma smiled lightly
trying to take the punch out of her truth.

“So you just… changed history?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Hm.” His head tipped in contemplation.
“Remarkable.”

“I’m not done though.” Gemma nibbled on her
cheek. “I need your help to keep changing it. You see Helena needs
to know you forgive her. She’s never… gotten over you.”

“But you said she’s… married.”

Gemma noted the distinct edge to Nathaniel’s
voice. She softened her own to compensate. “She is and she loves
Bryan, but… not like she loves you.”

It was a sad reality. Gemma knew the art of
moving on was a hard one to master. Helen had done her best to give
Harrison a normal life, but she had paid a significant price.

“She’s the most amazing woman I’ve ever
encountered, such strength, such passion. She was my life. If only
she had told me the truth.”

Gemma hugged her knees and rocked forward. “I
think she wanted to, but was afraid.”

“I would have still loved her.”

“I know… and I think she knew that too. I’m
guessing she didn’t tell you, because she knew you’d be able to
convince her to stay. She probably stole away in the dark, because
one look at your face would have annihilated her will. It was the
only way she could be strong.”

Nathaniel could only swallow and shake his
head. Gemma allowed the silence to linger, giving him time to
process the bombshell of information. She averted her gaze,
choosing to admire the horses instead. Her thoughts lingered on
Helen as she waited, wondering how she would cope with this change
in history.

“I do forgive her, though there’s hardly a
need. Her reasons were virtuous.”

Gemma’s head whipped around with the quiet
statement.

“I love her so much. I’d do anything for
her.”

A smile grew on Gemma’s face as she felt her
belly ignite. “That’s what I was hoping you’d say.”

Nathaniel’s head shot up, his eyes narrowing.
“You have a plan?”

She nodded. “How do you feel about
sailing?”

Nathaniel’s eyebrows rose then dropped as
understanding dawned.

“They’ll just keep hunting you if you stay
here,” Gemma quickly justified. “There’s a passenger ship leaving
from Liverpool in a few days time. It’s the closest port to where
we are. If we leave today, we should be able to make it.”

“Where’s it bound?”

“New York.”

“You want me to go to America?”

Gemma nodded with a hopeful grin.

“And what am I supposed to do there?”

“Write a letter.”

* * * *

It took them three days to reach Liverpool.
Gemma tried not to push Nathaniel too hard. They rode at a slow
amble and stopped early in the day to set up camp. They spent their
evenings talking of Helen and Harrison. Nathaniel remembered every
detail of his time with his “morning star” and Gemma relished his
intoxicating stories. She tried to stay casual about her feelings
for Harrison, but Nathaniel’s passion was inspiring and she had
soon shared all her secret dreams and fears over the relationship.
Nathaniel listened with a patient smile. He reminded her so much of
Harrison sometimes she found it hard to breathe and ached to see
her boyfriend again.

The sound of seagulls filled the harbor.
Gemma glanced up at the greedy birds circling the docks and nearly
bumped into a cart overflowing with merchandise. She apologized
with a blush and kept moving. The atmosphere was a stark contrast
to the quiet ambience of the countryside and Gemma’s senses were
struggling to digest it. Staying on full alert, she concentrated on
getting her horse to the end of the dock without injuring anybody.
Thankfully they found the ship quickly.

The
Albion
was moored at the end of
the pier, sitting on the ocean top with majestic stature. Gemma
felt a morose sadness settle on her shoulders as she watched people
boarding with their bundles and thought about having to say goodbye
to Nathaniel.

She tied the horses while Nathaniel sought
passage. He returned sometime later with his bundle and a resigned
smile.

“We sail within the hour.”

“I hope it’s smooth for you.” She shone him a
smile, before getting down to business. “Now, you remember what you
need to do?”

“Yes, I need to make my way to St. Augustine
and make sure my correspondence is buried in the cemetery of the
cathedral.”

Gemma nodded.

“I’ll dig it up when I get back and make sure
I pass it on to Helena.”

His eyes grew sad.

“I know.” Gemma placed her hand on his
shoulder. “I wish you could see her again too.”

They gazed at each other in silence. There
was nothing left to say. Gemma filled the awkward dumbness by
reaching forward and wrapping Nathaniel in a warm embrace.

“I will miss you, Mr. Clayton.”

He squeezed her middle and whispered a soft
endearment in her ear before dropping his arms and striding down
the pier. Gemma watched him and waved once more when he
boarded.

Blinking at her tears she moved from the dock
in search of a quiet corner to hide in. Exhaustion seized her as
she stepped into an alcove and leaned her head against the grimy
wall. The tears she had been fighting surged forward in a torrent
and she covered her face and wept.

Chapter
Twelve

Liverpool, England – 1820AD

Gemma waited until her tears dried up before
stepping out of the alcove and watching the
Albion
set sail
for America. She prayed for its safe passage and hoped with a
passion that Nathaniel would stay true to his word. She also hoped
he might find happiness in his new life and that he would die a
contented man. He was leaving everything he knew behind to complete
this one mission. His sacrifice deserved a reward.

Dabbing her cheeks, she wandered to the
outskirts of town and made sure she was well hidden before taking a
deep breath and heading home.

* * * *

St Augustine, Florida – 2011AD

Harrison gathered her into an embrace before
she got a scrap of clothing on. He didn’t care. He clung to her as
if she had come back from the dead.