A Woman from the future

Midnight chase

Weeks passed by after Turner's visit to Ed, I half expected to leave the O'callaghan inn the next day but neither Ed nor Christine said anything of such, i didn't let that stop me from my continuous search of the time activator, Ed might be nice to me and Christine might have gotten fond of me so much that she threat me like her daughter but returning to my time line will always be the best option.

we always go to the town's church together on Sunday, the couples are religious, sometimes I wonder if my mom wasn't such an absentee maybe we would have had moment like this in my family.

though going together doesn't really give me the privilege of exploring the town further, but nonetheless, I have an idea of what some parts of the town looks like, which has aided my search a lot, but I'm yet to find the activator still, night after night I go into the cold pushing my fears aside to go in search of the activator.

in the early weeks I've had moments of doubt, moments I feel like the search might be pointless, but I encourage myself with the idea of stumbling across it someday, it always kept me going, but it's more than three weeks now.... and I am not that confident anymore, but I still head out every night, the possibility of finding it kept me up at night.

but the search might be impossible tonight, King Henry Wolfson's footman came in earlier in the evening to inform us that the King would be needing a place to stay the night here.

Henry wolfson is the current king of England,and hosting a king is something I have never been trained for, his footman informed us that the king was originally supposed to pass on to his estate in Camden town, but he is to have a meeting with the Duke of Edenbrook who happened to be in Hammersmith, this being the reason the King won't be able to make it to Camden on his carriage tonight.

Christine has been running around and so was I, Ed actually came out of his office to give us a hand, the more the merrier they say, we didn't know what food would interest the king especially when we learnt he is not coming alone, so Victoria went to the market to get groceries as Christine was too occupied to do that.

we cleaned, scented and tidied 4 rooms in total, one was exceptionally spacious with a parlor of its own, there is no doubt it will be offered to the king, I was going into one of the rooms when Mr Edward called out to me.

"Eliza, please tell Christine to meet me at my office, tell her I have to have this discussion with her before his majesty gets here" I nod in response, he turned to leave then.

I went in search of Christine it wasn't that hard to find her though considering there are 4 places to look for her at the moment " Mr Edward called for you, he said he has to speak with you before the king gets here, leave that I will take care of it" I gestured to the duster with her.

"thanks Eliza, I will be back before you know it, how is the silverware in the second room looking" she passed the duster to me.

"looking good, washed,cleaned and arranged"

she nodded, then left the room, I picked up from where she left off, picking pace as its almost dark, King Henry should be here in any moment.

When his carriage arrived around 8pm, I and Christine went forward to pay our respect and welcome him in, the king alighted from the carriage then, a tall man with white hair, I couldn't make out the colour of his eyes, the torch wasn't doing much, but he seems nice, he smiled gently when we bowed.

"good evening your majesty, it is such a great honour to host you here" I didn't even know when Edward got behind us.

"the honour is all mine, its a nice place you have here, no wonder the countess suggested your inn" he went inside.

Christine showed him to the big room, while I helped him settle in, there isn't much to carry anyway... which is sensible since he is heading for his estate.

earlier the footman mentioned that there will be three other people, but now that the king has arrived he is here alone with his coachman, I take it that's three people with the footman, but where was the fourth person?

as if hearing my question the king spoke just then "my son will be here soon, he had a personal thing to attend to at the duke's, he should be on his way here, so keep the food warm"

I smiled at him and bowed slightly, I excused myself to get him food, i can only wonder how long he has travelled for today.

After a while, Christine told me to retire for the day, the king has settled in and so as his footman and coachman "it's quite late, I'd see to the prince's needs when he arrives"

"it's fine, I can stay up a bit longer" I wanted to help Christine with everything, but another reason I insisted was because I might finally get a chance to go on my regular search, the guests has turned in earlier than expected, I can't blame them though, considering they might have had an hectic day in addition to the lengthy journey.... so it's possible to go out tonight, but would be harder if Christine was out.

"he should be here soon, I can handle him, you don't have to...." I didn't let her finish.

I took her hand "you are older than I am, so I'm stronger, moreover I might not even get to sleep now"

"have you been having difficulties sleeping lately?"

"that's not what I meant, naturally I might not sleep immediately, why don't you go in and let me finish this"

she stayed silent for a while before asking "are you sure?"

"yes I am now go" she squeezed my hands, for a moment there I can see she wanted to say something to me but she changed her mind at the last minute, she mouthed good night and went to their room.

mission accomplished, now I can sneak out, but the only problem is the Prince of lateness, when is this dude going to get here?, I decided to give him a little more time luckily he arrived not so long after.

I picked a torch and head out to meet him, his back was turned to me as he was tying his horse, he came alone.... what a reckless act, especially for a Prince.

"hi, the Prince I presume" he turned to face me then, my breath cut in my throat, despite holding a torch that wouldn't do much justice to his appearance, the features I can make out are heart stopping

he is quite tall, obviously got that from his father, black hair a bit tousled, definitely from his ride here, broad shoulders, bulky arms, not the scary bulky type but big enough to make any girl look twice.

"..... it, can I go in now?" his voice is unbelievable, husky and s****l at the same time, I already missed his words but I wouldn't ask him to repeat himself, I wouldn't want to embarrass myself, considering my unstable state.

"yes sure, follow me" I led the way, thankful that I know how to keep my cool when the need arises.

I led him to his room, handed him a cup of tea before proceeding to the kitchen, after a while I came back with his food, i placed it gently on the table though my heart was hammering all the while.

"that will be all, please leave" his word took me aback, now this man might look like a greek god but he is nothing like his father, he sounded harsh.

I said nothing and left his room immediately, what a d**c, Mr Grumpy is better than this snub monkey.

I hope he chokes on the chicken, I went back to my room and waited for a bit, after a while I went out, tiptoed past everyone's door and stepped into the chilly open, I took the right path, and cornered to the left street, the street leads to the second big market I haven't searched there before, every night I hit a new street or market in my search.

I was tieing my skirt when I heard someone move behind me, I looked back immediately, no one was there, there is no denying that I'm getting scared, maybe a penknife wouldn't have been a bad idea, I turned around 360 degrees style, I spotted no one, so I faced the market street and started walking fast, then I heard the footstep again, so I scram, while running I hit my foot on a rock I didn't see there, and I came stumbling down.

I wanted to cry out in pain, but that is not a good idea, I whimpered, I looked around frantically, then he emerged from behind a house, I really can't see what he looks like, but it's sure he is a man.

"look what we have here, the cotton ball Eliza" at least he knows who I am, that makes one of us, and it doesn't make me feel any better.

"where are you off to in a rush?" he laughed sinisterly "we could go together and have some fun while at it, what do you say?"

I tried standing up, but my foot was giving me an hard time, I pulled it along, trying to run from him despite the immense pain I was feeling.

"now don't shy away from me, I'd make sure you'd like it too, I've always had an eye for you, so this is you meeting an admirer, I just can't see a better way to meet than this, just you and me"

he kept on coming close, step by step, I was still trying to keep the gap between us, if the time activator is my Knight in shining armor in my time of distress, maybe it can find me now, I don't care if I find myself in 1605 tomorrow morning, all I want is to dissappear before this freak touches me.