When Lightning Strikes (34 page)

“I have given up nothing as far as I’m concerned, because I have you.” She reached forward and pulled his lips to her own. He twined his fingers in the pendant that hung from her neck and she reached her hands up to encircle his.

An errant gust of wind began to blow gently as they stood there. No one seemed to notice until it grew to an unearthly strength a few moments later. Alarmed, the men began to look to one another. Without warning, a loud crack of thunder crashed over their heads and a bolt of lightning shot straight down from the sky in slow motion. Marco’s mouth fell open in wonder and the soldiers threw their arms up in fear. Thomas began to run forward to where they stood but the light was searing hot, blinding and seemed to hold some sort of magnetic polarity that would not allow them to come too close.

Dominic had pulled back from Sarah’s kiss as the wind suddenly began to circle them like a whirling mist from Hell. He grabbed her and tried to run, but his feet would not move. It was like some force was holding them firmly planted to the ground where they stood. He looked back and forth and up to the sky, trying to figure out what in God’s name was happening. He desperately tried to shield her body from the raw power of the searing bolt of lightning that dropped from the sky seconds later and he instinctively knew they were either about to die right here and now or the same magic that had brought Sarah to his time was about to send them back to where she had come from. He looked towards Marco and then towards the troupe and yelled, “Look after them, ami.”

Marco sensed what was happening and he nodded in understanding. How he was going to miss his friend. And yet he knew somehow that something more awaited Dominic in another place and time with Sarah Douglas by his side.

A second later they vanished without a trace.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

A slow drizzle of water was falling on his nose and face. Drip. Drip. Drip.

Dominic opened his eyes. He felt like a castle had collapsed on top of him. He tried to sit up and look around to see where in God’s name he was, but his head was spinning and he had to lie back down for a second.

Suddenly he sat up looking around and remembering what had happened.
Sarah
. Where was she? He looked to his left and saw her crumpled form lying next to him. He crawled over to her side and shook her gently. She did not respond at first, but a few moments later she opened her eyes and looked at him.

“Oww.
Christ, my head hurts.” She reached up and touched her forehead before losing consciousness again. He looked her over. At least she did not appear to be burned as she had the first time he found her like this.

He looked up above his head and saw the gnarled branches of the old tree. It was dark outside and the sky was clouded over. How in the name of J
e

su had they gotten back to the tree?
This
tree. They were a half-day’s ride from it a few moments earlier – before the lightning struck. Not to mention it had still been daylight. Now there was darkness. He looked around him and saw open fields and structures of some sort off in the distance. They were large, with glowing windows all over them! The rain was coming down harder now and he knew he needed to get them to a place of shelter.

There was one of the buildings just down at the bottom of the hill and he picked Sarah up and carried her towards it, hoping whoever inhabited the place would allow them shelter for the night. He was soaked to the skin now and water sluiced down his face and neck as he carried her. His shoulder had started bleeding again from carrying her weight. It ached like hell and his hand was even worse. He walked up the steps and lightly kicked at the door praying someone of a hospitable nature would answer.

Ariana Spencer heard a loud knocking sound at her front door. She opened it to find a tall, incredibly handsome and thoroughly soaked stranger with stunning silver-blue eyes standing there with her daughter lying in his arms. Without a word, she motioned him in and immediately guided him to the couch where he gently laid her down.

Ariana rushed to Sarah’s side, kneeling down. “Sarah. Sarah, baby! Oh, God, please wake up.”

Sarah’s eyes fluttered and she groaned slightly. “Dominic.”

Ariana turned to him. “Do
minic. Is that your name then?”

He nodded.
“Oui, mademoiselle. You are her maman?” He marveled at his luck – or perhaps it wasn’t luck at all. Rather fate.

Ariana looked at the bloodstain as it seeped through his shirt and her eyes widened. “Yes. I am. We need to call a doctor for your shoulder, I think.”

Dominic’s eyes widened. “No. NO doctor, sil vous plais.”

Sarah reached up and touched him. “It’ll be alright. I promise.” She sat up and looked at her mother. “Can this really be true? I’m home. Oh, God, I’m really back!” This was really weird. She was having a
Wizard of Oz
moment, but she was alive and she was home and she hadn’t been dreaming or crazy. She laid back down holding her head. “My head still hurts. But at least I don’t hurt anywhere else like last time.” Suddenly her eyes took on a frantic look. “How many days have I been gone? Did I miss the wedding?”

Ariana shook her head. “No. You’ve only been gone an hour or so. How many days passed where you came from?” She said it as if it were as commonplace as the sunrise.

Sarah wanted to shake her. “I don’t know. A few days? A week, maybe? It’s been a whirlwind and I’ve lost track. How could you have done such a thing? Do you know what I have been through?”

Ariana looked her in the eyes. “I would say that maybe I do. Was it worth it?”

Sarah looked at Dominic and then back at her mother. “Yes. You knew this would happen, didn’t you?”

Ariana sat in silence. “I told you love knows no time. When and where did you find him?”

Dominic stepped forward then. “I do not like to be treated as if I do not exist. I can answer for myself. My name is Dominic du Barbaronne. I was born in the year of our Lord 1335 in North France. I am Romany. I am a juggler, trained with knives and a healer. What more do you wish to know?”

Ariana smiled. “I think that will do for now. Let’s take you upstairs and help you clean up. If it’s not too serious, we can take you to the doctor in the morning. If it’s as bad as it looks from all the blood on your shirt, then we’ll have to go to the emergency room tonight.” Dominic shot her a look of disdain. He was
not
going to see one of these doctors Sarah had spoken of.

Ariana raised her eyebrow at his expression. She reached out and gently patted his uninjured arm as she turned to Sarah. “How did he get hurt?”

“You don’t want to know. Well…maybe you do, but I’ll tell you later. Let’s help him upstairs and show him how the bathtub works.”

It took considerable time to get Dominic set up in the tub because he was fascinated by everything he saw and had to be dragged away from it. He looked like a child seeing the world for the first time and Sarah supposed it was almost like that for him right about now. But at last he was soaking and she had a few moments alone with her mother. She closed the bathroom door that was part of her bedroom suite and stepped back out into the bedroom.

She plunked down on the bed. “So. How am I going to tell David? And what about all the guests? And what about dad? He’s Jaques’ business partner for God’s sake! What am I going to do? And Candace! Oh, God I’m so embarrassed. How will I explain this to everyone?”

“The same way I had to do when it was my time…you’ll tell them that you have had a change of heart and that it just isn’t right.”

“Wait a minute. What do you mean ‘the same way you had to do’?” Her brows knit together as she looked at Ariana as if she were nuts.

Ariana didn’t blink an eye.
“Exactly what I said. And don’t worry about your father. He will understand – probably better than anyone.”

Sarah sat there in silence for a
moment  before comprehension dawned in her eyes. “You mean to tell me
dad
came from…” she shook her head as her words trailed off.

“Your father, Lord Spencer Douglas disappeared from his keep on November 2, 1487 – in his own time, that is.”

Sarah’s eyes widened as Ariana continued. “Sarah. He already knew this might happen. Why do you think he chose to go out tonight and leave us alone in the house?”

She sat there in silence for a long time as it all
sunk in. “Well then, I suppose we’ll somehow get through this. Grandma must have pulled this same trick on you. That’s why you have the galbi, isn’t it?” She forced a smile.

Ariana hugged her close. “You still have the coin?”

Sarah nodded twining her fingers in the necklace. “It was his. He gave it away and…well, it’s a long story.”

Ariana nodded.
“One act of kindness. You can tell me all about it tomorrow. And perhaps I will tell you how your father once owned the coin as well.”

Sarah’s eyes widened as Ariana spoke again. “Sarah, don’t worry. I promise
, you will do just fine. And so will he.” She smiled. “He’s quite a gorgeous man, you know.”

Sarah smirked back at her. “Yeah, I suppose he is. I hated him at first you know. He was such a swaggering jackass!” She laughed out loud.

Ariana’s eyes twinkled in reminiscence. “Oh, I’m sure he was.”

“Mom.
I have something to tell you.” She touched the galbi, still hanging from her neck. “I’m already married to him.” She looked at the floor. “We were hand-fasted in the custom of that time.”

Ariana raised her eyebrows. “You were only there for a
few days!” She sighed. “Well then. You’d better go check on your
husband
and I suppose we should get him to an ER to see a doctor. He needs a tetanus shot and he probably needs stitches!”

“No doctors just yet mother. He’s not too fond of the idea. He’s a healer himself. And I think if we can get him the herbs he needs, he can probably tend to himself. I’m guessing we won’t be able to keep him from sewing up the lovely gashes in the shoulder and hand either.” She blew out a long breath. “I agree about the tetanus shot though. Those are sword wounds. I don’t know what he’ll think the first time he rides in a car, but I suppose we’ll deal with it when the time comes too.”

Ariana nodded and walked to the door. “You know…I love you Sarah.”

Sarah stared at the floor for a moment and then looked back up at Ariana. “I love you too, mom. I suppose I should be mad at you, but somehow after the way everything turned out, I just can’t be.”

Ariana nodded, “We can talk more tomorrow.” She hugged Sarah before she closed the door. ‘

Sarah walked to the bathroom and found Dominic still sitting in the tub, his eyes closed. She quickly disrobed and slid into the water beside him. It had seemed like forever since she had been in his arms in the way she wanted to be right now.

He opened one blue eye. “I see you have come back to attend me?”

“YOU had better settle down. You have bled a lot and you need to rest.”

“I will rest, but not until after you take a bath with me. The blood has staunched.” He pulled back a towel he’d used to apply pressure and sure enough, it was no longer bleeding.

“Mon dieu, this is is sorcery! Hot water comes from this small shining object here.” He pointed to the faucet. He seemed to be oblivious to any pain he was feeling.

She laughed. “Yes, it does. And there are so many things like that – so many wonders here that you won’t believe it. You won’t have time for
me
with all the exploring you will be doing for awhile.”

“I will always have time for you, Sarah. Love knows no time. Remember?” He kissed her softly as she settled next to him in the warm sudsy water.  “As for the exploring, I would like to do some of that right now.” His lips found the side of her neck as his uninjured hand slid down
the wet length of her stomach.

“Does your side still pain you much?” he asked. She shook her head. “No. It’s a lot better…I mean it’s still blistered and sore, but I can’t believe the difference. Whatever that stuff is you put on it, it’s pretty amazing. Thank God I didn’t get burned again coming back, though!” He nodded and slid his hand toward the juncture of her thighs.

She slapped him away. “Not yet! We need to bandage you up or you’ll start bleeding again. Now stop being such an animal!”

“Oh, have we not trod upon this path before, cherie? What animal was it you called me the first time we spoke?
A furet? No it was a skonk.” He laughed out loud as she threw a handful of bubbles at him. “As I recall you also told me I needed a bath. I suppose you brought me all the way here to see to it that I took one properly.”

She helped lather up his wide back and carefully rinsed his shoulder, as he scowled in silence. He was dreading dipping his sliced hand in. He took a deep breath and gently submerged his palm, then turned on the faucet to run clean water over the gash. The water hitting the open wounds burned like every fire conjured in hell itself, but they had to be cleaned. He stood up and grabbed a towel from the rod on the wall. She watched the water sluicing down his body and had to shake herself back to her senses because she really needed to help him finish cleaning up and get bandaged all the way before they could go to bed for the night.

“Come over here and let me fix up your boo-boos,” she said as she walked to the medicine cabinet.

“Boo-boos?”
He wrinkled his brow.

“Never mind.
It’s just a cute name. You’ll learn after you watch tv for awhile.”

She poured peroxide into his shoulder and hand. He
flinched and scowled like he wanted to scream. “Damnation woman, what is that? Liquid brimstone? Look at it bubbling forth! It pains me much worse than the bath water.”

“It’s one of the antiseptics I told you about. It will keep you from getting an infection until we see if you need a doctor in the morning.”

“I think I like my goldenseal root and coneflowers better…and passionflower. They cease the pain – not create it, as you have seen. That is what is in the salve that I put on your burn. And as for your doctor, the answer is
no
.” And just as she’d anticipated, he insisted that she get him a needle and thread so he could stitch up his own shoulder and hand. She rubbed some benzocaine ointment for toothache on the skin, and after he’d finished, she applied some antibiotic cream and bandaged the wounds with some clean gauze. She had to admit, he’d really actually done a damned good job…as good as any doctor would have! The only thing they didn’t have was a tetanus shot, but she would try to convince him to get one of those tomorrow. That would be an adventure all its own!

She handed him two ibuprofens and a small glass of water and instructed him how to swallow them for pain relief. Then she led him from the bathroom and back into the bedroom.

He eyed her bed in wonder. Was this really where she slept? He sat down on the soft mattress and touched the white comforter. He sighed. How in God’s name was he ever going to manage to survive here in her world? He supposed that if she had been brave enough to manage in his primitive surroundings and was even willing to stay there with him, he would somehow learn to live here with her. He was never going back. That he was sure of.