Two young men were wading through the carnage, moving bodies aside and placing others into a rough, wooden cart. One had dark hair, one had light. For a moment, I thought it was Titus and Abram searching for me. But their voices didn’t match and once they turned toward me, even though they were backlit by the sun, I could see it wasn’t really them.
“You’ve found none alive?” the second man asked. His hair was red, shining brightly in the sun as he went about his task.
“Not yet,” the dark-haired boy replied, grabbing the arm of a fallen man and dragging him out of the way of the wheels. The bright haired man pushed it along, pausing to avoid the dead. They left the men wearing red coats on the ground and plucked up anyone wearing blue ones, their arms dangling lifelessly from the cart.
Whenever I tried to move, a pain streaked through my spine. It had been at least an hour since I landed. An hour I lay among the dead, among the crows, the smoke, the wind and leaves, and the silence that filled the spaces between.
I should have recovered by now.
What if I’m paralyzed?
I didn’t know if I should call out to them or not, and I lay there a few very long moments wondering what they might do if I did. But in the end, I needed help. In the end, they were the only two living souls around. I had to take the chance.
“Help!” I cried out weakly, trying to sit up and failing.
“Who is there? Show yourself!” one replied.
I raised my arm. It was the best I could do. “We’re on the way!” he yelled.
“I’ll just… wait right here.” Among the dead, wondering if Titus and Abram are included among them, or if I landed alone.
I knew I wasn’t back in my time. I didn’t know where I was or what war I’d landed in the middle of, but I never wanted to experience it again. Reminding myself that in our first jump, Titus had the misfortune to land in a bloated pile of dead plague victims, I told myself I’d be okay. I could survive this. The impact. The odor. The memory of the boy. The feeling of helplessness. Aloneness. Smallness.
The cart came closer, the front wheels squeaking under the weight of the dead. Both boys rushed to my side. The dark-haired boy sucked in a breath.
“What is she doing here? Captain’s going to have a fit,” the fiery one promised.
“You’d think she would have learned not to follow us by now. Maybe this will finally teach her, once and for all,” the dark-haired boy clucked, shaking his head.
“Please stop talking about me like I can’t hear you. I’m going to be fine, but I need help,” I gritted. “I can’t stand up.”
The dark-haired young man pursed his lips and wiped the sweat from his brow with a dingy sleeve. “Empty the cart. I’ll help you lift her.”
“Thank you,” I breathed. They placed the dead bodies back onto the soil and the dark-haired boy attempted to wipe some of the blood out of the cart’s bottom. Most of it had already soaked into the wood, but there were puddles where the seams were tightest.
The world spun as they lifted me up and gently positioned me in their cart.
“Not sure if you remember me. I’m William,” said the one with hair of fire, the one who gave the impassioned speech on my behalf. He shrugged off his blue coat and draped it over me. “Best to cover you up, Miss.”
“What?” Why would I remember him?
He took hold of the cart’s handles and lifted them up. Gravity pushed my body forward, farther into the cart. I tried not to cry as the cart bounced over the earth and rolled me through the sea of the dead.
“Miss?” he prodded gently, as the world faded away.
When I woke, I was laying on my back. A pale piece of canvas was draped overhead, the stiff fabric flapping in the cool breeze. I was in a tent. The pain I’d felt from impact was gone, replaced by a dull ache radiating throughout my muscles.
Stretching my arms and raising my head, I found I had total control of my limbs once again. I wiggled my toes and a knot formed in my throat. When my suit didn’t heal me as fast as it had the last two jumps, I thought that maybe it wouldn’t this time, or that it couldn’t.
An arm lifted the door flap and a young man ducked inside. “It’s me – William,” he offered cautiously. “I’m not sure if you remember me.”
“I do,” I replied, leaning on one elbow and sitting semi-upright. “Thank you for helping me.”
He removed his hat and worried the edge, spinning the triangular leather around and around. “Of course, Miss. I’ve just come to see if you are well.”
I gave him a slight smile. “I am. Thanks to you.”
William gave a sheepish smile.
Just then, the flap opened again and Asa stepped inside. He was so tall, he had to bend down just to fit inside. “William,” he announced darkly, erasing the young man’s smile. “You are dismissed. I don’t want to catch you near her again.”
William swallowed thickly and inclined his head at me. “Miss.” Turning around, he ducked his head and exited the tent.
“That was rude,” I chastised, instinctually reaching for one of my stakes and realizing I no longer had them.
“Don’t bother,” Asa intoned. “I’m not nearly as foolish as my brother.”
“Where is he?”
“You just missed him, actually. He mounted a horse and rode away just after dawn this morning. William told me where he found you. It’s quite possible he may have passed you by.” My stomach turned a somersault. I remembered the sound of a horse galloping fast over the ground, but had no idea it was Enoch.
“And Abram?”
“An ever-present thorn in my side, even when he is leaping through the centuries. I must admit that we made the mistake of underestimating his zeal. Though, I wish I had sired him.”
I pushed the quilt off my legs and swung them around, off the cot. My feet hit dry grass. “You’ve found him, though?”
“I’ve sent scouts to apprehend him. They’re following the trail of bodies he’s leaving as we speak. It seems that traveling through time makes a vampire rather ravenous.” Enoch’s eyes were warm despite their cool, green color. Asa’s warm brown ones, on the other hand, were cold.
“How do you know they’re his?”
He grinned. “I have my ways.”
“What year is it?”
“The year of our Lord, seventeen-hundred and seventy-seven. And to head your next question off at the pass, you landed in the colony of South Carolina. Those under my command are preparing to move, and you’ll be coming with us. I’ll ask you to please dress and meet me outside as soon as you are able. This tent will be taken down as soon as you step out of it.”
I stood up. If Asa hadn’t been blocking the door, I would have made a run for it.
“Do not think for a moment that I will treat you as softly as my brother does. I am in charge here. You will do as I say when I say it, or I will end you.” He glanced at something over my shoulder. “All the trappings you should require to appear like a lady in this time are hanging in the corner. Get dressed and join me outside. Do not bother trying to escape; I have a man posted at every corner of the tent. They’ve been ordered to shoot if you try anything, and they are very good at following orders.”