Bitter Oath (New Atlantis) Read online

  What had possessed her to hide in that wardrobe when she heard footsteps approaching Rene’s bedroom door, she had no idea. Neither did she know what drove her to dive out of the wardrobe, and follow him into the bright light that had appeared in the room. It had all seemed preordained somehow, as if she was simply following her destiny, without the need of rational decision-making. ‘Following your heart’, Portia would have called it. And that was what she had done, as she saw the first man she had ever felt affection for disappearing into who-knew-where. She couldn’t let him go alone. Her destiny and his were somehow bound.

  Those had been the insane thoughts that had passed through her mind as she entered that blinding white-light that had hummed so loudly she thought her head would explode. For several terrible seconds, she had thought she had lost him. There was nothing there but her, and yet she couldn’t even see her feet beneath her. Then, she’d finished the step, and instead of the Persian carpet underfoot, there had been sandstone. And, instead of a bedroom at Foxmoor Manor, there was a vast, underground cavern filled with twinkling lights, and a massive stone doorway with ancient symbols engraved into it.

  But, for all the strangeness, there had been a sense of peace, too, because she could now see Rene, and he was holding onto her as if she truly mattered to him. His blue eyes had been wild when he looked at her. And he’d clung to her arm as her legs gave way under her. Shocked, horrified and distressed as he was, he didn’t reject her. Instead, he seemed protective of her, as if she was his responsibility now.

  When the beautiful goddess had come to her side, she had thought the familiarity between them meant they were lovers. But that had been cleared up later. The beautiful goddess was called Jane, and her husband was the handsome Portuguese man who had demanded answers from the shocked Rene.

  She didn’t remember much after that. Somehow, they had brought her up here to this garden, and for the first time she’d felt as if everything was going to be all right. The world would stop spinning off its axis, and right itself in time, just as Jane said it would. Then she would be able to make sense of it all.

  New Atlantis. Yes, it had the feel of a place with a name like that. And everyone here wore roman togas and classical gowns, just as they had in times gone by. It was a peaceful place with no jarring noise to agitate the mind.

  As she lazed with her companions like a lizard in the sun, she noticed three people heading their way along the white path between the colourful beds of flowers. One was a giant Nordic man, who was holding the hand of the beautiful, blonde woman at his side. The third was a small, oriental gentleman who seemed to be as calm as his surroundings.

  They all wore the classical costumes that she had seen everywhere since her arrival. Staring at the men’s legs and the woman’s calves seemed indecent, but no more than staring at a Grecian statue. And it was important that she remember what her grandfather had taught her about journeying to strange, unEnglish places: This was their world. Her customs didn’t apply here. She must adapt to her surroundings, while she observed their ways. Liv realised with a jolt that it would be refreshing to put aside her society’s strict mores for a time, and just go with what was acceptable to others.

  The three strangers slowed down as they reached Liv and her companions. The woman separated herself from the other two, and moved forward first.

  ‘Well met Rene, I see you accidentally brought us a visitor. Would you introduce us, please?’ The woman with white-blonde hair said, as she came to stand in front of Liv.

  ‘Certainly, Miss Livianna Mulgrave, may I introduce Cara and her husband Jac. They are both leaders of our community. And this is Chen,’ Rene indicated the oriental man with a graceful sweep of his hand, ‘another of our leaders.’

  ‘Well met, Livianna. I hope you are feeling better after your shock,’ said the man called Jac. He was frightening in his size and austerity, but seemed genuine in his greeting and concern.

  ‘Good day to you, sir. Yes, I am feeling better, thank you.’

  ‘Do you have any idea what happened to you?’ The blonde woman called Cara asked.

  ‘Happened? Well, I was hiding in the wardrobe in Rene’s room, because I heard someone approaching. It would have been scandalous for me to be found there, you see. So I hid. I saw Rene come in, and suddenly there was a brightly lit doorway of sparkling lights. I saw that Rene was going to enter the doorway, and before I could think better of it, I had launched myself after him. Foolish and unladylike, I know.

  ‘Then I found myself in a large cave, and Rene was understandably confounded by my presence. His friend Jane came to assist me, as my legs did not seem to want to work.’

  ‘Do you know where you are?’ asked the little man called Chen.

  ‘Why yes, Jane told me. I am in New Atlantis, an island that has risen from the sea. It is exceptionally beautiful.’

  She watched as everyone exchanged looks. There was something they had not told her – that was apparent. And they seemed afraid that whatever it was would disturb her greatly. Who was she to contradict them? But, at the moment, she felt oddly calm and accepting of her strange situation.

  ‘Have you ever wondered what it might be like to live in times gone by, Livianna? Or wondered what the world would be like in the future?’ Cara asked gently.

  ‘Why yes, I have often thought about that. Why?’ Liv felt Rene’s fingers tighten around her own, as if preparing her for what was to come next.

  ‘Would you think a place such as this belonged to the past or future?’ Cara went on.

  ‘What an odd question. I suppose I could see this being like the past. I imagine the future to be much noisier than this. I have seen some of the new discoveries, including James Watt’s ‘steam engine’. Very noisy contraptions. I imagine they will only get worse, as time goes along.’

  Everyone seemed to find her comments amusing, but there was no sense that they were laughing at her. Then Cara nodded her agreement. ‘Yes, for a long time the future was extremely noisy indeed. Then people discovered ways to have their advances without the noise.’

  ‘I’m sorry, are you suggesting that this is the future? A time past the noise?’ Liv couldn’t keep the wobble out of her voice.

  Cara exchanged looks with Jane, and when the girl beside her nodded briefly, Cara went on.

  ‘Yes, Livianna, that is exactly what I am suggesting. That light you walked through carried you across time. And that has created problems for us, firstly because of the shock such a shift may have on you, and secondly, what people might say when you go home.’

  ‘I will be going home? I can go… back?’ Liv’s voice was even more wobbly now, and she felt Rene squeeze her fingers again. The look of sadness on his face worried her.

  ‘Yes, you will go home. You have your life back there. But until we feel sure you are fully recovered from the shock, we will make you welcome here as our guest.’

  ‘But my family will wonder where I am…’

  ‘I can promise you that you will be back before they know you are missing. Time is different here.’

  ‘Like in fairy tales when someone visits the land of the fey, and are gone over night, but come back aged beyond recognition?’

  ‘Like that. But you will not have aged much. We will house you out of the city. Jane, do you know the villa next door to Maggie’s?’

  ‘Up the hill?’

  ‘Yes. The couple who lived there have recently moved to another community to be with their new child. If you will stay with Livianna until she settles in…’

  ‘I would like to…’ interrupted Rene, impatiently.

  ‘I was about to suggest you take up residence there as well. There is plenty of room.’

  ‘What about Julio?’ Jane asked, frowning.

  ‘He’ll remain at home, for the time being. You are, of course, free to go home whenever you want to. But we’ll be repeating the process we used during your transition, Jane. Little steps, so as not to overwhelm.’

  Jane nodded tho
ughtfully.

  ‘Your transition?’ Liv had to ask.

  ‘Yes. When I came here, it was unexpected. Most people are prepared for what is to come. You and I weren’t. It makes it seriously scary at times. But everyone was kind to me, and I took little steps until I became familiar with everything. Julio helped a lot.’

  ‘I do not want you to have to leave your husband to stay with me, Jane. That is too much to ask.’

  ‘No, it’ll be fine. I’ll sort Julio. I’d enjoy helping you learn about this place. No one, other than Luke and I, know what you’re going through. Well, some of the women from the Death Train… but their situation is quite different.’

  Liv nodded. ‘It sounds like I am staying awhile. Are you sure my family will not worry?’

  ‘Livy, do you know how you thought I’d drunk from the Fountain of Youth because your grandfather wrote about me sixty years before you met me?’

  She nodded, and looked around at all the faces of these strange people. They all seemed so worried.

  ‘After I met you that day in June 1810, I walked through that light back to 1749, and I met your grandfather in St Lawrence as he came off the boat. Then I walked through it again to the following Spring, and travelled with your grandfather for several months. Then, when I found what I had gone to find, I walked back through the light to here. Six months later, I Jumped, that’s what we call it. I Jumped to you on 1 July 1810. If I had wanted to, I could have Jumped to that very day I first met you. So, even though I had traversed many years, and journeyed with your grandfather several months, it would have appeared to you as if no time had passed at all. Does that make sense?’

  Liv was astonished to realize it did, and she nodded confidently. Now she understood why Rene had looked to have aged when she saw him again after only a few weeks, and how he could be ignorant of the earthworm in her time, when he’d supposedly dug it up himself sixty years earlier. She imagined her understanding would evaporate shortly, but, for the moment, her clarity gave her confidence.

  ‘Good. So now you can see what we mean when we say you can stay here for as long as you need to, and then return to just when you left. Well, ten minutes later than you left, to be precise.’ Cara gave a little laugh. ‘That is how it will work.’

  ‘Yes, I do see. Thank you. I am grateful for this opportunity, and for the hospitality you have extended to this unexpected guest.’ She smiled at the beautiful blonde lady again. There was something very reassuring about her calm presence. Even though she wasn’t very old, Liv felt as if she was talking to someone as wise as her grandfather.

  After the three leaders had gone, she, Rene and Jane remained sitting on the garden bench for a little while longer. They were all lost in their separate thoughts. Jane seemed intent, Rene sad, and she… well she was befuddled and euphoric. There was something incredibly freeing about stepping out of your life for as long as she wanted to, and then slipping back into it again, with no guilty worries for those she had left behind. They need never know she had been gone. And the rules she had been forced to live by all her life could be put aside, for a time. Although she did not know what rules they lived by here in the future, if the clothing was anything to go by, they were much less rigid than what she’d left behind. Women seemed to be treated as equals. A woman who looked younger than she did held a position of authority here. How strange was that!

  Finally, Jane climbed to her feet, and suggested they should go. Obediently, Liv rose. When Rene stood to join them, she couldn’t help feeling a surge of excitement. The idea that he was to be part of her life while she was here, living in the same house, with no father looking on with critical eye, was blissfully appealing. To get to know this mysterious stranger, without the strictures of her time, was a gift. This was the kind of adventure her grandfather told her about. They type of adventure she had always wanted to experience. That Rene was part of it only made it that much more thrilling.

  When they led her around the building and introduced her to the moving pathway, she had her first real sense that she was no longer in her own time. With intense concentration, she watched as the white moving belts carried them along at a fast walking speed. When they started to add their own steps to the pace, it was absurdly dislocating to watch the scenery pass twice as fast as it should. She giggled, and took Rene’s arm so that she would not fall. Jane walked on the belt that ran alongside theirs and chattered away about the house she would be living in and her next door neighbour, Maggie, who was a gifted artist, and her new husband, Travis, who was an artist, too.

  The moving pathway took them across several circular canals, and the land on either side of the canals seemed to serve different purposes. She didn’t ask about it, and her companions didn’t explain. By mutual agreement, they kept information about this new world to a minimum.

  Within half an hour, they had left the city behind, and had reached the coast. They left the moving pathway, and began to follow stationary pathway up the side of a cliff, where a line of beautiful villas in the Greco-Roman style dotted its edge. Half way up, Jane turned in to one of the more elaborate residences. Even Rene and Jane seemed impressed.

  ‘Beats our little place,’ Jane commented, as they walked into the atrium, and got their first look at the ocean beyond the floor to ceiling glass windows that opened onto a vine covered patio.

  ‘My one bedroom unit tends to pale into insignificance next to this, too,’ Rene said with a laugh, as he took in the parlour that was as large as the one at Foxmoor Manor, and yet infinitely more comfortable. The monochrome cream rugs beneath their feet felt as thick and cushiony as grass, and extended all the way to the white walls. The furnishings were large and well stuffed, and looked far more comfortable than anything they had at home. Extending off to the left, what looked like a kind of kitchen opened directly onto the parlour, and a table made of white wood with four chairs surrounding it, filled the gap between kitchen and parlour.

  ‘You can have the master bedroom Liv, as you are the guest. If this is the same as Maggie’s place next door, you’ll have the same kind of incredible view from your bedroom window as here. I bags the second bedroom, and you get the studio, Frenchie,’ Jane announced happily, fully engaged with her new, short term lifestyle.

  ‘Frenchie?’ Liv said with shock.

  ‘Her nickname for me. I’m French Canadian. The story I told your father was not far from the truth. But my father was no aristocrat escaping the French Revolution, and he had no other children but me. My mother was Obejwe.’

  ‘Canadian? What is that?’

  ‘It is what the territory above the United States will come to be called a century after your time. There will be a few wars before that happens though.’

  ‘It is hard to credit. You know the future. Will King George III remain monarch for much longer?’

  ‘Let me see,’ Rene became thoughtful as they walked down the hall to the bedrooms. ‘I think 1811 is when George IV will be made Regent, until the mad king’s death in 1820… do not quote me on that. I do not have a download that extends into that period. What about you, Jane?’

  ‘Nope, no idea. But your clothes remind me of Jane Austin movies I’ve seen.’

  ‘Jane who?’ Liv asked

  ‘Jane Austin. Wrote romantic novels in your time that were very popular’

  ‘I am afraid I have never heard of her.’

  ‘She didn’t write under her real name, if I recall. Does Sense and Sensibility sound familiar? Pride and Prejudice?’

  Liv shook her head apologetically. ‘I am not well read in the literary field. I am a Natural Historian.’

  ‘That’s okay. I might dig up the movies while you’re here. You can tell me how accurate they are.’

  ‘Movies?’

  ‘Janey, slow down. Too much information. Liv, she will explain movies to you another day. Here is the master bedroom. Wow, the view is spectacular. Look, there is a storm coming in.’

  They all moved to the window, and looked out at the
grey ocean. On the horizon heavy, black clouds brewed. Liv felt a little frightened at the idea of being so exposed when such a storm hit. What if the windows couldn’t hold back the wind and rain?

  To distract herself from such a worrying thought, she turned away from the view, and took in the room. More thick, cream rugs covered the floor. And an unposted bed so wide it had room for four people, dominated the space. A series of white-wood doors ran along one wall, and when Jane opened the centre door, she realised it led to a laundry.

  ‘You are about to get an education, which can’t be put off until tomorrow. Rene, go make us some lunch. I think Liv will feel more comfortable hearing about what’s in here without you being present.’

  Liv was shocked how readily Rene took direction. What man in her time would put up with such orders, especially when he was told to do a woman’s work? Make lunch indeed! She would let Jane show her this laundry, and then she would go and make the meal for them all. Cook had insisted that all the girls learn how to run a kitchen and cook the basics. No one knew how many servants the girls would have at their disposal once they married.

  ‘Come,’ Jane beckoned with her hand, and Liv followed her cautiously into the room. ‘Okay, now this is a bath. You would be familiar with that, I assume. Did you have water from taps in your time?’

  Liv looked at the huge bowl set low to the ground. It was unlike any bath she had ever seen. It would take more buckets to fill than she could imagine. As she watched, Jane turned a spigot and water started to pour into the bowl. The water steamed.

  ‘Oh, my heavens!’ she gasped.

  ‘One for hot and another for cold. That way you can have it just the right temperature. Mostly, we use baths to relax in. To get clean, we use the shower.’

  ‘Shower? Like rain?’ She followed Jane to a cubicle with more spigots and something Jane called “buttons”. ‘We shower every day. You can select the type of shower you would like. If you want water pouring over you like a waterfall, you press this button,’ she pointed to one of the small squares. ‘If you want a light mist coming from all directions, you press this one. And there are lots more. I would suggest you stick to mist until you get used to it. This is a soap dispenser. See?’ She pressed another “button”, and liquid shot out at them. It smelled like hyacinth.