He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “Don’t give up hope. We will figure this out.”
“Why are you saying, ‘we?’ It’s not your family; not your problem.”
“I want to help.”
Freya took a deep breath. “Well, I can’t let you. It’s too dangerous.”
“Knowing the time period, I’d say it’s too dangerous for a woman to go alone. I’m sorry about the patriarchy of the time, but it was a fact of life back then. Maybe I can don a white wig and pretend to be a judge.”
“Oh… I hadn’t thought of that. Wait. Are you sure? I doubt you can communicate in Old English, even if you’re from Great Britain.”
“True, but perhaps Great-aunt Elspeth can coach me.”
“Can she coach you to speak as they did two hundred years before she was born?”
“Oh, right. That might not be possible.”
“I don’t think I could stand it if you were stuck there too!” As she said it, she realized the ambiguity of her feelings. She didn’t want to be separated from him. Not by time or by an ocean. Theybelonged together. Yet, she’d never forgive herself if she put him in unnecessary danger.
Devon pulled her close and kissed her with purpose. The long, deep, tender kiss had her trembling in his arms.
When he released her lips, he looked deeply into her eyes. “Freya, if only I didn’t live in England…”
She smiled sadly and gazed into his eyes. “I know what you mean.”
Devon gently stroked her hair and pulled her close, tucking her head under his chin. “But I’d stay here for you…”
She sighed. “Man, I want to jump your bones right now.”
He chuckled. “Cuddling is good too.” After a long pause, he shifted to find her lips and kissed her with all the pent-up passion he had felt for what seemed like a hundred years.
Her breathing slowed and deepened. She let her hand slip from his waist to the bulging area below.
“Freya,” he whispered. “I suddenly want to get horizontal.”
“Let’s do it. It might be our last chance.”
Devon looked into her eyes and nodded. They both rushed upstairs to Freya’s bedroom.
8
“So, here’s what I think would work best,” Devon said the next morning over breakfast. “If we go at night, we’re less likely to have to communicate with anyone. A modern power tool should break through wooden doors and even iron bars, if we have enough time. A battery-operated angle grinder should do it. We must bring a weapon, though, just in case we run into trouble.”
“We?”
“I’m coming with you. Don’t even think about going without me.”
“But a weapon? No! What if we accidentally kill off someone important by killing their ancestor?”
“True. A stun-gun, then. We could probably dodge a musket ball and stun an attacker at the same time.”
“Okay. That might work. At least we wouldn’t kill anybody. Do you have a taser?”
“No. Do they require a permit here?”
“I can probably drive to New Hampshire and buy anything I want. They have very lax weaponry laws as opposed to those inMassachusetts. Our state has very strict laws. I could probably get one at a New Hampshire gun show.”
“I’m not used to state governments being so drastically different. In England, gun laws are strictly enforced, countrywide. You Yanks, however, can pick and choose your laws by choosing what state to live in.”
