Chapter 16
Bree emerged from the dark vortex and found herself standing on the basement floor. The black orb stood as sentinel on the bench.
Bree shook her head to get her mind organized and once she stopped vibrating, she held her injured arm still, and jogged to the stairs.
“Garrett, Laura,” she called, but there was no answer.
She called to her family again as she ran up the stairs and raced to the nursery’s open door. The room was empty. They must have gone into town. She shrugged and quickly made her way to her room.
She didn’t know how long she’d been gone in the present time, but her room looked exactly as she had left it.
She threw the white orb on her bed and stood in front of her dresser, trying to examine her arm.
The front and side were bruised but not so much that it would cause the amount of pain she felt.
It hurt when she tried to twist it around so she could see the back, so she turned and screwed her head around to see in the mirror.
A giant, thick black bruise ran from her shoulder to her elbow.
Gingerly, she felt it with her other hand, pushing and probing until she was satisfied nothing was broken except some skin on her elbow.
Going immediately to her chest of drawers, she used her good hand to pull out the bottom drawer and rummage through the books, papers, and journals there.
“Ah, there you are.” She picked up the green diary, the one her mother took with her the first time she time travelled and wrote in every day.
She sat on her bed, and carefully leaning against the pillows, she opened the book.
Finding the spot, she began reading. Princess Morla was a beautiful seventeen-year-old with her long brown hair and dark brown eyes, but her rudeness gave her a sour look when she learned of Patricia’s friendship with Garlain.
She went out of her way to separate them.
Using her title to make Garlain dance with her at the ball, sit with her at the dinner table and read to her by the fire.
He did all those things while Bree’s mother chatted with Aunt Di and Princess Leeta. Princess Leeta asked her to be kind to Morla as the girl thought herself to be in love with Sir Garlain. Of course, it was just a crush, and Leeta promised to speak to her sister about it that very night.
Bree skipped the part where her mother danced with Garlain the first time, and the days after where they spent every moment they could together. Those accounts were a bit too personal for Bree and they weren’t what she was looking for. She spied Morla’s name again and focused.
The day Garlain announced his betrothal with Patricia and asked the king for his blessings, Morla stated that Patricia would die.
Bree stared at the words on the page. She had remembered correctly: Morla had prophesized the future, she was a seer.
Everyone present that day was aghast, and the king berated Morla for her words. Leeta took Morla out of the hall and Patricia was left with a great sense of foreboding. Had Morla told the truth? Would she die?
Tears filled Bree’s eyes and tracked down her face, making the side of her nose itchy. As she scratched the offending itch, she wondered: if Morla hadn’t made that proclamation that day, would her mother still be alive? Had the fact that the princess said the words, made her premonition come true?
Bree’s mother did get sick and Garlain travelled with her to her time. Once the doctors discovered her pregnancy, she refused treatment.
Aunt Di and Uncle Mark travelled back to Pradwick Castle and relayed the news.
Aunt Di spent some time with Morla on that trip and deduced Morla had no meanness about her with her predictions; she was trying to help.
Yes, she thought she was in love with Garlain, but Leeta had made her see there was no future between her and Sir Garlain.
Not only was he too old for her, but his heart also belonged to someone else.
Morla’s own heart broke a little but she soon rallied, and she wanted nothing but happiness for Garlain.
But when she saw what would come to pass, she spoke without thinking.
Bree gazed out of the window and let out a heartfelt sigh.
Princess Morla did indeed have a talent for clairvoyance.
And that thought had Bree wondering if the princess knew she had gone back in time to see her father.
Was she the one who set all the traps? Was Morla trying to keep Bree from Garlain? If so, why?
She flipped through the rest of the diary and at the end, her mother’s last entry told how Garlain had promised, with Mark and Dianne’s help, to return to the present and take Bree home with him. He promised Patricia he would be a good father and love the child as he loved her.
Bree dropped the diary onto the bed. Garlain never fought for her. He let Dianne and Mark persuade him that living in what was the present then would be best for Bree. But as her father, he could have demanded that Mark and Dianne let her go back to the past with him.
Tears burned her eyes and she sobbed into her uninjured arm.
Maybe he didn’t really want Bree with him. A part of her could understand how having a small child would have been difficult especially in his time, but what about the promise he made to his wife? Didn’t that mean anything?
Maybe both he and Morla set the traps so Bree would turn around and never approach her father.
She curled up on her bed and let the racking sobs free.
A soft knock on the door sounded and Bree sniffed, wiped her eyes, and sat up.
“Bree?” Laura asked. “Are you in there?”
“The door’s open.” She bawled.
Laura opened the door and pushed it back half shut behind her. She was next to Bree in an instant, wrapping her arms around her. The comforting scent of lavender soap comforted Bree and she stopped sobbing.
“Shh, I’m here now,” Laura said. “What’s wrong?” She squeezed and Bree flinched.
Laura sat back and as she used her fingers to gently check Bree’s head and neck, she asked, “Are you hurt?”
Her hands slid down Bree’s arms and Bree flinched again.
“You are hurt.” She moved to Bree’s side and picking up Bree’s arm by her wrist, she took a closer look at her arm. “Oh, my, that looks broken. I’ll call that lovely Doctor Carrie.”
Bree sniffed again. “No, don’t, it’s not broken. That’s not why I’m upset.”
“Why then?”
“My father never wanted me.”
Moving to the dresser, Laura plucked some tissues out the box and handed them to Bree. “Why do you say that?”
Bree noisily blew her nose. “He promised Mom he would come back for me, but he never did.”
“I’m sorry. Did you meet him? What was he like?”
“I haven’t met him, and I don’t know if I want to now.”
“But that’s why you went back, isn’t it?”
Bree wiped the last wetness from her eyes and thought of her time in the past. Horland’s image emerged through her sadness. A small smile played at the corners of her mouth.
“Why are you smiling? Are you glad you never got the chance to meet your father?”
“No, yes, oh, I don’t know. I did meet someone though.”
Laura grinned. “Who?”
“A knight.”
“Isn’t your father a knight?”
“Yeah, and this knight is Garlain’s friend.” She frowned. “At least he used to be his friend.”
“His friend? You have lost your heart to a man old enough to be your father?”
“What? No. He’s maybe four or five years older than me is all.”
“So Garlain is more like a father to him?”
“No, they’d been friends since they were children.”
Laura shook her head frantically. “You are not making sense, Briana.”
Garrett knocked and pushed the door open wider. “Hey Bree, what are you doing back so soon? Did you meet your father?”
Laura shot him a be-quiet look. “No, she didn’t and now she isn’t making any sense at all.”
Bree laughed. “I know I sound insane but as it happens, I landed in the past all right, but only a couple of years after Mom and Dad went to Mom’s time. When I tried to tell the knight, I was Garlain and Patricia’s daughter, he didn’t believe me.” Bree screwed up her nose. “He thought I was crazy.”
Laura hummed. “So, the knight and all the people of that time think Garlain was only gone for about two years and they would expect Garlain’s daughter to be about one-year-old. Then you turn up as an adult saying you are Garlain’s daughter.”
Bree bit her bottom lip and nodded.
Garrett tilted his head to the side. “That would have been awkward, but it still doesn’t answer why didn’t you see your father?”
“He’s hiding in some old ruins with one of the princesses and we were close, but I fell into a ridiculously deep trap and had to use the orb to get out.”
“What sort of trap?”
“They could have been animal traps I suppose, but I really think they were set for humans.”
“Nice place,” Garrett said. “Are you going back then?”
“I don’t know.” Horland once again made his appearance in her mind, and the thought of never seeing him again had her chest aching. “I’ve got a bit of thinking to do about that.”
Laura hadn’t said anything; instead, she was looking out the window. Bree followed her gaze. The sun was shining and the blue sky, dotted with white fluffy clouds, was huge.
“When?” Garrett asked.
“Wait,” Laura said. “So Garlain is still young and he’s probably still grieving. As far as he’s concerned, you’re still a child of five or six.”
“I was six when he left,” Bree said.
“Right. So, he also doesn’t know about your Aunt Di and Uncle Mark’s accident. He would still be thinking they will bring him back for you.”
Bree scrunched up the tissues and rubbed her nose. She was right. “Of course. You’re so smart, Laura, why didn’t I think of that?”
“You’re too close and too emotional. I’ve never seen your emotions so close to the surface before. Tell us about your knight.”
“He’s not my knight, but he’s handsome as anything and brave and funny and clever and kind.”
“Sounds like you’ve fallen for the guy,” Garrett said, eyeing Bree intently.
“I’m not in love with him, I just like him, is all.”