Treasure So Rare (Women of Strength Time Travel Trilogy) (31 page)

"Erik." Iliana came to stand beside him, and he
put an arm around her, held her and William securely against him as the white
mist came to meet them. Once engulfed in the mist, he expected it to be cold
and damp, but the air grew warm and almost tropical.

Almost immediately the mist began to thin. They looked back,
just in time to see the wer-dragons fly back the way they had come. The mist
dissipated immediately and the dragons disappeared.

"I wonder where we are," Iliana said.

"Land!"

"Mountains," Erik said. "Could it be?"

"Do you recognize where we are, Erik?" she asked.

He nodded. "Jock?"

"Aye, Cap'n. We are returned home."

"The Catskill Mountains," Erik said. "We are
home. Set sail for the harbor." Erik felt the rising excitement. Could it
be so easy? He had returned home safely with Iliana and William.

"Erik, for the first time I am scared."

Erik indicated she should sit on the wood ledge. He sat the
boy on his lap. "What worries you, Iliana? We have made it safely."

"This is your time, Erik. How will you feel now that you
are home and you have the responsibility of William and myself?"

Erik smiled and leaned close, placing a tender kiss on her
mouth. Cupping her cheek, he said, "I recall what Sorenta told me back in
the other time. She said I would leave behind something I once loved dearly and
take with me something I never knew was mine. I left behind the old Rufus
LaTour, and I took with me two things I hoped for but never knew were mine, you
and William. My darling Iliana, all else will take care of itself."

She smiled and leaned against his shoulder. "You are
right. We will adjust to this new life, William and I."

As they rounded a slight bend in the harbor and the trees
gave way, Erik stared at the harbor before them. All the ships were small,
sleek and white, tiny, really, in comparison to his vessel.

A long dock was unoccupied and gently they docked into place
alongside the sturdy planking. They lowered the plank, and all the time Erik
and the crew looked around with wonder. How long, he wondered, had they been
gone? The hills were the same, but the town...he no longer recognized Catskill.
There were houses and tall buildings everywhere he looked...and the ships, mere
boats of a size and design that did not look familiar.

"Erik," said Iliana, "you are frowning."

He grinned. "Aye, the area is looking a mite different
than the last time we set into port." He looked up toward the hills and
pointed. "See those hills to the west, those are the same. That is our
destination."

"Your home?" Iliana asked, excited.

"Our home," he corrected gently. "Let us get
the horses unloaded." He looked at the activity in the harbor. People were
gathered, watching them, and as he looked closer at the garments of those
onlookers, he again felt the stirring of unease. "Iliana, I am hoping for
the best, however, although we landed in familiar territory, the year might not
be correct." Erik shrugged. "We are here and will make this our home
once more, no matter what we find."

"The horses are ready to unload," Jock said.
"What are your orders?"

"We shall ride straightaway to the mountains. If I can
find a stable to secure extra mounts, I will make arrangements. However, if we
do not return within two hours, sail out and set anchor on the river." He
turned to Iliana. "Are you ready?"

"Yes, Erik." She smiled. "Lead on."

And so amidst the obvious curiosity of a small crowd of
onlookers, Erik and Iliana mounted their horses with William in the saddle in
front of Erik, and they rode the hard surfaced streets. Following what he knew
about the lay of the mountains, Erik surmised it would take them three hours to
reach his home in the hills.

 They had not traveled fifteen minutes through the
machine-congested streets when Erik was hailed by an officer of the law. The
man wore a dark blue shirt and trousers and a shining badge upon his chest.

Erik rode up to the man.

"Sir, you're blocking vehicle traffic," the
officer said. "Please move to the roadside."

Erik was surprised to see behind them a long line of
contraptions which rolled like wagons but made no sound. "Thank you, sir,"
Erik replied.

"It would be safer, you know, if you all wore head
gear," the officer of the law said. "You folks participating in some
kind of Renaissance Fair?"

Iliana looked at Erik, then the man. "Yes," she
replied.

"We planned on taking the old route up North Mountain
to the Catskill Mountain House," Erik said. "Do you know of the
shortest route?"

"You want to go to the Mountain House site?" The
officer scratched his head, directing the contraptions to go past them.
"You're aware that's state land and you can't ride horses on the actual
site?"

"Haines Corner," Erik said.

"Oh -- you mean Haines Falls," the officer stated.
"You can take the old horse trails, but it would be quicker to stay on
this road and follow it all the way up through the Kaaterskill Clove to Haines
Falls."

"Thank you," said Erik.

They moved the horses past the houses and stores.

Erik frowned even more. "Haines Corners is now Haines
Falls. Our route will change, Iliana. If this hard surfaced road will take us
directly to Haines Cor -- Falls, it will surely be an easier and quicker
journey."

As they trotted on the dirt path beside the road, Erik
marveled at what lay around them. The contraptions with four wheels moved past
them quickly. As another hour passed and the mountains drew closer, they passed
open fields and more sparsely populated areas which felt more familiar. The
road began to wind sharply as the terrain grew steeper.

"Iliana, we must be prepared for whatever we may
find," he said cautiously.

She smiled at him. "Erik, it matters not. Where you go,
William and I go. Together."

As they continued up the steep road, Erik recognized the
numerous waterfalls as they passed through the clove.

"This is very familiar to me," he said. When they
finally reached the summit, there were once more buildings and stores where he
recalled only forest to have been.

"We shall go to our house," Erik said, tightening
his arm around William as the boy's head bobbed in sleep. "In truth, I do
not know if the house is still standing. We may have returned in a future time.
Everything I expected to see is no longer here. Up ahead I see the same stream,
so we can water the horses." They crossed a small wooden bridge and Erik
and Iliana's horses drank from the stream.

Erik took the opportunity to observe their surroundings in
detail. The small village he recalled was gone. In its place a large field,
neatly shorn, lay to his right. His and Darien's house should have been right
in this area, but now there was merely an overgrown and wooded area where the
house had stood. Erik looked at Iliana, knowing the trust she had placed in
him. He had traveled so far to find her, and then in returning, he began to
doubt his wisdom in traveling to this place. What odds would a betting man
place on him getting back to the correct time and place after the journey he'd
already traveled?

"Tell me," Iliana said quietly.

Erik sighed. "Nothing is as I expected. The house where
we once lived is gone, and even the foundation is lost beneath an overgrown forest.
All is changed."

A small vehicle with wheels stopped to the side of the road
as they climbed from the stream bed to the road surface.

"What beautiful horses!" exclaimed a woman's
voice.

Erik looked at her. She wore trousers cut short above her
knees, a blouse that left her arms bare and her hair was scraped back from her
face and tied behind her head. She appeared young, perhaps younger than twenty
years. Again, he wondered what world he had come back to.

"I love your horses. Are they from Darien's and Elise's
farm?"

"What!" Erik roared.

The young girl quickly backed toward her vehicle and tried
to jump back inside.

Erik put out his hand. "Ma'am, I am sorry, truly, I did
not mean to frighten you."

"Yes, certainly Erik did not mean to frighten
you," Iliana said soothingly, watching the excitement on Erik's face.
"It's just that we have been searching a long time for -- for
Darien."

Carefully, Erik said, "Darien Remington?"

Warily, the girl nodded her head yes.

Erik grinned at Iliana. "Darien and Elise," he
said. "My brother and sister-in-law."

"You're Darien's brother?" The young girl studied
him closely. "Actually, you do look like him."

"Where may I find him?" Erik asked, trying to keep
his voice even.

"Follow this road to the base of the mountain. Just
before you go up the hill, their farm is on the right. It's about a five-minute
ride." She looked at him again, then at Iliana and William.
"Actually, your little boy looks a lot like Isabeau."

"Thank you, Ma'am, I am indebted to you." Erik
helped Iliana remount her horse, and she took William up before her, and then
he all but jumped into his own saddle. He saluted the young woman and they rode
in the direction she had indicated.

"Erik, we have arrived in the future with your
brother?" Iliana asked breathlessly.

"I just hope he is not eighty years old," Erik
exclaimed. Seeing the wooden sign ahead, he cut across a field and they
cantered toward the house and barns half concealed in the woods.

A young lady stood in the stone road behind the house,
speaking with a tall dark-haired man. As they approached, Erik saw her look
their way and then hurry into the house.

In the next moment, the door reopened and a man stepped out.

"Darien!" Erik roared, his joy knowing no bounds.

¤¤

 Iliana bit her lip to keep the tears at bay. She and Erik
had dismounted, a young boy had appeared and led their horses to the stables.
Iliana shifted William to her other hip and watched the joyful reunion of the
Remington brothers. Indeed, they did look very much alike.

Erik grabbed his brother's arm and pulled him toward Iliana.
"Darien, this is Iliana, the woman I love."

Darien looked at her, one brow raised, and Iliana saw the
same sparkle she had seen in Erik's eyes.

"I am pleased to make your acquaintance," she
said.

Darien began, "You found your black-haired --

"Yes," interrupted Erik. "I found
Iliana." He put his arm around her. "And this is William, my
son."

"Your son?" Iliana saw Darien's surprise and then
he smiled, and she relaxed.

"A nephew and a new sister-in-law," Darien said.
"I can't wait to hear this tale. Welcome Iliana and William." He threw
his arm around Erik's neck. "My God, I thought never to see you again. How
--"

"Later," Erik said. "Even I do not believe
our luck." He looked at the women exiting the house. "And
Elise," he said fondly. He looked at the blonde-haired lady behind Elise.
"And is this my niece Isabeau?"

"Rufus!" Elise exclaimed.

Iliana stared as the dark-haired woman embraced Erik, noted
her beautiful face, her body with child.

Their eyes met.

Shaking, Iliana put William down on the ground. She swayed,
her legs suddenly wobbly.

"Lily!" Elise exclaimed in alarm.

For Iliana, all went black.

The voices were in more than her head. They were around her.
Iliana came awake with a start, feeling groggy, staring at the faces above her.
"Erik -- William?" she asked, a note of panic slicing through her.

"We are here," Erik said. He sat at her side, his
face white, his hand enclosing her own.

"By all the saints," Iliana said, trying to push
back the tears, "I remember. I remember it all."

"What is it you remember, love?" Erik asked.

Iliana felt a quaking inside as her memory was suddenly and
fully in place. "I remember who I am, Erik."

"Perhaps this should be left for later," Elise
said. "Let Lily rest."

 Iliana struggled to sit upright and Erik put an arm around
her shoulders, putting pillows behind her on the settee where she had been
placed.

"No, it must be said now." Iliana gripped his
hand. "I apologize for such an introduction." She put a hand to her
head, taking a deep breath. She looked at Elise, then at Erik.

"This is my time, Erik. This is where I am from. We
came back to my time, just as the abbess said I could. I just did not know it
until I saw Elise."

"How much do you remember?" Elise asked gently.

Iliana felt the tears well in her eyes and spill down her
cheeks. "Everything."

"Lily," Elise said. "We never knew what
happened to you. You just disappeared one day."

Iliana nodded, looking into Erik's face. "Yes, my real
name is Lily. Four years ago my family died in a horrific fire. A fire that was
caused by my carelessness." She gulped back tears clogging her throat.
"When my parents died, I fell into a deep depression." Iliana drew in
a breath of air, another, but Elise spoke, looking confused.

"But Lily, the fire marshal ruled the fire began in the
breaker box. It was caused by old wiring."

Iliana just stared at her, hardly able to take in what she'd
just said.

Elise nodded and came to kneel beside her. She took her
hand. "Lily, I've known your family for ten years. We used to hike
together with the historical society. You tried to get your father to upgrade
the electric on his old Victorian house, but he refused. It wasn't your
fault."

"But -- but we had candles in Halloween pumpkins,"
Iliana said faintly.

Elise shook her head. "No, Lily." She frowned.
"Now that I remember, no one knew where you were when the final
investigation was complete."

Elise stood up with help from Darien. "I came to know
Lily when she used to give demonstrations on jewelry making at the local
school. It was her passion."