Chapter 5(2010 A.D-Elizabeth & Charlie)
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Elizabeth was so glad to be out of that horrible man’s clutches and back on her legs that she almost skipped with joy before the reality of the situation hit home. She realised her hand was still on the necklace and figured she had been transported but the question was where and to which age. The rational part of her brain guessed future because of a number of weird looking items in the room, and that she had to come up with something, a plan to live in this new place but one look at the familiar panels of her old dining room and the familiar cut of the dining table and chairs reminded her of the fact that she could never go back to her own home, she could never meet her old friends or family. A mixture of guilt for getting Jonathan home, anger at him for killing her family, fear of what lay ahead, shame that she had felt relieved to have escaped drove all the rational thoughts away and she suddenly had difficulty breathing at first and then she broke down sobbing for what seemed like hours. She didn’t even realise till a man had entered the room and gently laid a hand on her.
She jumped with a start and didn’t know what to say at first. She just kept staring and Charlie who was feeling more and more uncomfortable with each passing minute. He finally asked, “ I can see you are upset, but I must ask you who you are and how you happened to come inside my house” Elizabeth decided to go with the truth, afterall what did it matter what this strange man with the strange accent thought of her... “I am Elizabeth Thacher born in 1802,daughter of lily and Martin Thacher. We were attacked by a Jonathan and his gang and my family was killed. I was fighting with Jonathan in an attempt to escape and the next thing I know I am here. I am not very sure of what exactly happened but I would be very glad if you would let me earn a living here till I find a proper place to stay.” Well she at-least told a part of the truth what he didn’t know he didn’t have to. According to her Charlie had heard enough already as he seemed to look like he had seen a ghost.
Charlie snapped his mouth shut as he suddenly realised he must look like an idiot with his mouth wide open. But her story was quite ridiculous after all, how could a girl in her late teens be born in1802? She definitely had to be lying, but her clothes, mannerisms and her accent seemed different and she actually seemed to believe she was from the 19th century. Well everything could be faked, but the distress in her eyes as opposed to the brave face she put on told him otherwise. He decided to ask a few questions before jumping to conclusions and sat down on a chair.
“Ok you must understand that it is hard for me to believe your story as it is the year 2010 as of now.” He saw her gasp though somehow he felt she had expected it. “So I am gonna ask you a few questions and you are gonna answer them.” He waited for her to accept though it wasn’t a question and continued...
“Which year were you in when you got attacked?”
“1819 sir”
“And you told the attacker was called Jonathan. So you knew him?”
“He posed as a traveller who needed care and shelter for a few days. So we had taken him in for the night, but turns out he was one of those bandits roaming around the country. Now I know how it might have been difficult for sheriff to catch these people. They don’t let anyone who has seen their faces alive. So no one to identify them” She said with a grimace.
“Could you please recall and tell me each and every event that occurred on that...tonight? Even small details matter.” Any sane person would not normally have just kicked this blatantly lying girl out of the house first thing, but he didn’t know he wanted to probe more into the life of this delusional girl more. He felt in some weird way she must be speaking the truth.
She told him all the details from when she woke in the middle of night to when she found herself in the present. She also told him about how she had her hands on the locket when she found herself here and about the letters that she had read. She fully expected him to laugh at her and call her names. She certainly would have if she were in his place. But he just looked at her locket for a long time without telling anything. He asked her to stay where she was and suddenly disappeared into the house.
Elizabeth had the time to actually look at her surroundings and she realised with a start that it was the same house that she used to live in, hence the familiar furnishings. Before long Charlie returned with a stack of letters and showed them to her. Now she was certainly shocked to realise that these were the same letters that she had read just a few days back. “So you actually believe me? I certainly find it hard to believe it myself” she said. “Could I take a look at the locket if you don’t mind?” He asked. She gave it to him and he gingerly stroked the locket. “It doesn’t work all the time. The first time I found it I tried stroking too.” She said with a slight smile. But soon the smile faded when she realised she could never go back without causing harm to rest of the family.
Charlie decided he had to consult Kathy about this and after giving the Elizabeth something to eat he went to call her. Kathy as always listened patiently and then decided to come a home as soon as possible so that she could decide if Elizabeth was genuinely from the past or not. Till then she could live in the guest house just outside the main house. <<Previous Next>>
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