SANDRA TRAVELS THROUGH TIME
When she came round, Sarah found herself in a large room surrounded by staring faces.
"So she actually came through, I never thought it would work." The man stood over her as if he could not believe what he was seeing.
"Are you alright my dear?" A woman walked over to her and held out a hand.
"I think so. Where am I?" Sarah took the woman's hand and tried to get to her feet. Then the room spun around and she felt faint.
"Poor girl, she has gone through a great trauma. Take her to the bedroom and let her sleep. She is our special guest, and we must treat her with extra care. After all, it's not every day that someone travels across history to escape a war." The man watched as Sarah was carried from the room.
"What do you make of it Master Fanshaw?" An elderly man walked over to him, writing notes in a book.
"I think we have either broken through to one of the most stupendous events in human history. Or created a monster." The Reverend Fanshaw thought hard about his words as he walked around the room.
"A monster sir?" The other man found it hard to understand this.
"Yes sir, a monster. For how does the girl feel in all this? She might become resentful to us for ruining her life," said Mr Fanshaw.
"But we helped save the poor girl? From a terrible fate, at the hands of those Roundhead devils?" A woman pushed herself forward to confront the man.
"Yes, but remember, she never wanted any of it. She might sooner we have left her to die with the rest of her family, and pass on to a natural death? We must be on our guard, and remember we are guests in her new life."
When Sarah had recovered consciousness, she looked around the room. Had she really travelled to another time?
Sure enough, the room was different. The drapes and furniture were of a style not known to her, but was that enough? Tentatively she tried to get out of bed and walked around the room.
At least she was still in the old Manor House, that was something. As Sarah looked from the window, she recognised the lawns and hedgerows. Although some of the borders were new, planted with varieties she did not recognise. Maybe the world had changed so much, that foreign plants species were all the rage.
She also noticed that the fabrics she wore were finer, softer to the touch and smoother on her skin. Sarah walked around the room for a while rubbing the exotic fibres against her bottom, until the door came open.
"Oh Mistress, you should not be out of your bed yet!" The woman rushed in and tried to force her back beneath the sheets.
"Forgive me but I feel health and vitality flowing through me," laughed Sarah, as the woman fussed over her.
"Master Fanshaw will be truly cross with us all if we fail you in any way. And good health is my business. To attend to you and to comfort you."
Sarah did not argue with the woman but put up with her attention. She was brought food and piled with more blankets, but what Sarah really wanted was information.
"What is the new world like?" she asked the nursemaid.
"That sort of question is not for me to ask, but you must await the return of the Master, and all your queries will be tended. This is a matter of some importance and it is not for the members of the household staff to spoil the matter. No, it is best left to the Master."
Sarah could get no more out of her. She assumed that the Reverend Fanshaw had gone up to London to discuss her journey through time. After all, this was no small matter, the nurse was right about that.
Over the next few days, Sarah was allowed to rise from her bed and see the house and grounds.
She happened to spot a piece of paper, being used to light her fire, and from that found the date was 1745. A full one hundred years from the day she saw her family. The house had changed little, but for the fact that Wartime damaged had caused a great deal of rebuilding.
The stone-work in many places was brand new, she could see that. However, they had replaced it in exactly the same places. Some of the window mouldings were of a style she did not recognise, and the quality of the glass was much improved.
Sadness filled her heart as she walked around the walled garden and remembered the last days of the village before the final assault, but she was resolved to start her new life.
There were many questions going through her mind, and it was one of these Sarah was wrestling with when Mr Fanshaw found her in the garden.
"You look so well Sarah, I hope my staff have been looking after you, whilst I was away in London?"
"Mr Fanshaw, it is wonderful to see you. How is London?" Sarah was walking through the Yew Maze and turned to meet him.
"It is much changed since your day Miss Sarah."
"Sadly I never visited London in 1645."
"So you know the date?"
"Did you not think I would find out?"
"Yes, but in my heart, I wanted to keep you as my own English rose." The man looked down with some embarrassment.
"Am I a prisoner here then Master Fanshaw?" Sandra wanted to know, turning to him sternly. The heat of the August sun beat down on them in the closed quarters of the Maze.
"No Miss Sarah you are not a prisoner, you are in fact, my guest. However, I must point out to you that you do owe a certain obligation to those who rescued you. I hope I am not speaking out of term, but it has to be said by someone." He waited for her reply, as they both looked down on the parched grass.
"Yes, I suspected that there would be a price to pay. Tell me some more about the magic?" They both walked through the garden on a friendlier note.
"What did you Father tell you of it?" asked Fanshaw.
"He rather dropped the facts upon me like a heavyweight. The news coming at the very last moment, as the Roundheads were banging on our door."
"I see, then it has all come as quite a shock to you? Are you afraid of it?"
"No not afraid. Startled, yes. I am more afraid of the uncertainty which surrounds my position here Sir."
"My dear lady, you face no threat from anyone here. There are no wars in England today. Although we still fight many wars abroad, our home is a lot safer than the last time you left it."
"What of this Magical Order? Father said something of it before parting?"
"Well, it is true to say that we are part of a Magical Order, but we obey only a Magical Order of things. We still worship the Lord Jesus in His Majesty."
"But Sir, what I participated in, was nothing less than Witchcraft!" She faced him with a startled look.
"You have to understand that our Order had to paint the Magical Craft as one of Devil worship for a simple reason. Sarah look out upon the village?"
They had reached a part of the garden, where the rest of the village lay before them. Sloping down in the valley to the river, it lay as the natural property of the Manor. Protected and cared for.
"These are simple folk. What would happen if such powerful gifts fell into their hands? Where would be the order in nature? Surely you know about the wicked temptations man faces, so you would understand that such power would become a weapon in his hands. Rest assured, that once a man had tasted such forbidden fruit, he would no longer see the wisdom in it, but would turn away from God." The man paused to let the facts sink in.
"You are right, Master Fanshaw. Wisdom is not wasted here. So what is my part in the Order?"
"We have an obligation to protect mankind throughout the ages. Now, there is a common link across the divide. Sometimes this is simply handed down, as the elders taught me. However, there are other ways of strengthening the bond, and yours is such a method."
"What possible wisdom can I give to one such as you Sir?" Sarah laughed.
"You bring with you the wisdom of your age. As the ages pass, something is always lost. By bringing someone through such a barrier, we retain some of the magic residing in that person."
"You will have to look hard to find such in me I fear."
"You only have to look upon your face to find the truth. Sarah, you stand out from the other girls here in the Manor. You have a natural power, they do not possess. You command yourself above their simple ways. You are not muddle-headed, as many girls your age, and can see problems clearly. For you only have to look to our conversation to see you have something they do not. No other girl in the village could converse with me this way."
"These are the things I have brought with me? Which were lost after the War?"
"Possible. However, they are gifts which will surely be lost unto other ages."
"Other ages?" Sarah stopped and looked at the man, for here lay her obligation.
"Yes, for Sarah we want you to go forth to other times." He looked into her eyes now, to show he meant it.
"Am I to find no peace, Sir? Are one hundred years not enough to endure?" She was clearly distressed now and walked back to the house.
"Do not think I do this thing lightly. For it grieves me to see one in such torment. In this case, the Order is correct."
"In what assumption?" she wanted to know.
"In that, once you have travelled to one time, you will want to travel to another. For this will become an addiction. One which shall haunt you for all your days."
"Then you curse me Master Fanshaw! Better I died in that Yew Maze with my family!" She pointed angrily at the Maze.
"I agree, but it was not I who besieged your house. Nor I who wished ill of the people of this village. Such a thing has happened, and we have to live with the consequences of it."
"Forgive me, Sir. I have spoken out of term, rudeness does not normally become me. Under the circumstances, I beg you to forgive me." She looked shamefaced at the ground.
