14
William and Rachel had spent almost an hour together, no one else, just the two of them. Now they were walking along the shore of the lake in anticipation of the return of Thomas and Sarah.
“Thomas must have rowed completely around the island. They have been gone for some time now.” Rachel was looking in the direction of either side of the island to see if the small boat with the silhouette of two figures was about to emerge.
“Tell me, Rachel, is it not odd for Thomas and Mrs. Bulow to be out alone? I mean to say, does Mr. Bulow approve? He seems like a temperamental man?”
Rachel was caught off guard by William’s straightforward question.
“Temperamental is an understatement. I personally think Matthew Bulow is certifiably criminal. He treats Sarah with so much disrespect, that the only time she is at peace is when she escapes him to spend time here with me.”
Rachel realized Sarah was not with her now or for the most part of other times she visited. She was with Thomas.
“William, I believe in true friendship, and the right of each and every one of us on this earth to be happy. All I know is when Sarah and Thomas are together, especially when Thomas takes Sarah row boating around that island in front of us, they both find happiness in the tranquility of the lake and in each other’s company. I have been happy to care for Sarah’s baby in the past, allowing her some time to be with someone like my brother, who, unlike her husband, treats her with the respect she deserves. Her husband spends so much time out on his fields, he is gone usually from sun-up to sundown, and I for one never had the nerve to mention to him that his wife enjoys being treated like a lady. To answer your question more directly: Mr. Bulow does not care or know what Sarah does with her time while she is with me.”
Just then the rowboat emerged from the left side of the island. Rachel had been on the rowboat with her brother many times, and she knew it was a twenty-minute ride to either side of the island, and another half hour around the island. Two hours was the usual time Thomas and Sarah spent on the lake together. Deep down Rachel knew her brother had strong feelings for Sarah, and she was sure Sarah felt the same for Thomas. She knew that many outings on the lake were longer than one would expect of a manand a married woman. Rachel felt that even if Thomas and Sarah were more intimate than anyone realized, then that was wonderful. They both deserved any happiness they could steal in their brief secluded rendezvous out on the lake.
William could sense that, based on the sensitivity of the matter and the way Rachel answered him, there was more between Thomas and Mrs. Bulow than just innocent boat outings. But this subject was not a concern to him; he realized his concern lay in finding a way back to his own time. He watched with Rachel.
Thomas was rowing the boat closer to shore. Rachel had walked a few steps ahead of him. All of a sudden William realized that he had allowed himself to think more about the plight of Thomas than his own. He looked upward to the sky and cupped both his hands over his forehead, and spoke with his hands still there but with eyes now lowered in Rachel’s direction.
“I need to get back to my family.”
Rachel turned away from the lake and toward William.
“I am sorry, William, did you say something?”
William began pulling his hands downward over his face, and with his fingers pulling on his cheeks, he repeated:
“I need to return to my family.”
William turned and commenced walking toward the house.
“Wait, William, where are you going? I would like you to meet Mrs. Bulow.” William turned to face Rachel.
“Rachel, I do not want to seem rude. I do appreciate everything you and your brother are doing for me. I am sure Mrs. Bulow has her own concerns that to her are worse than mine. At this time, she could not care less about meeting me.”
Rachel reacted with surprise, and her reaction conveyed to William she disapproved of his tone. William rolled his eyes as if to say he understood his tone was harsh.
“All I know is that I need to calculate how this time transfer phenomenon occurred to me, and if I can, I must reverse it so I can return to be with my own family.”
William did not wait for a reply from Rachel; instead he continued hastily toward the house.
By now Thomas had rowed the small boat to within one hundred yards of the shore, and he could see Rachel heading toward the wooden dock. Thomas could also see the figure of a man leading up the rolling hill in the direction of the house.
“That must be William.”
“Who?”
Sarah was caught off guard. Thomas had spoken the first words since they embarked back.
“William. He is someone Rachel and I met yesterday.”
“A stranger! Thomas, why is he still with you at your house, how do you know that he is not dangerous?”
“Sarah, I need you to keep a secret. William is lost here. He is staying with Rachel and me at the house.”
“Well, where did he come from?” Sarah asked as if to say the stranger’s place of origin must be known to him.
“I am not sure where exactly he came from. If I told you where he told us he is from, you would not believe me!”
“Thomas, stop being so dramatic. Where did he say he is from?”
“Listen, Sarah, please trust me on this one. I have told my staff he is a cousin of mine visiting with us. For now I would also like you to think of him that way.”
“Thomas, I do not see what all of this effort on your part is to cloak a stranger’s presence in make-believe, people already know you do not have any relatives in these parts.”
“Sarah, William has traveled from a great distance, and there is something peculiarly familiar about him. Once you see him, you will swear you have met my long-lost twin brother; he certainly can pass for a cousin.” As Thomas finished his words, Sarah’s face became startled at his comments.
“Thomas, you say you met this man yesterday and he resembles you?”
Thomas was wondering if Sarah knew anything in particular he had not told her himself regarding William.
“Yes, Rachel, and I met him yesterday, while visiting the Natural Caverns. You might say we rescued him. Why? What is it that you know besides what I have told you about William?”
Sarah looked away. Thomas had stopped rowing for some time now, and the small boat was drifting in the direction of the shore.
“Thomas, Matthew told me last evening when he returned from his…” Sarah stopped. She knew her speech was shaky. It was very difficult for her to verbalize her son’s name. She took a deep breath and found the strength to continue. “…his search for Daniel, that they had found a stranger who resembled you and that he was certain the stranger had something to do with Daniel’s disappearance. He told me the stranger escaped into an underground stream, most likely to his death.”
“Look Sarah, William and Matthew may have had a run-in with each other yesterday. I think that is very possible judging from the condition we found William in. William seems to be a good person who found himself at the wrong place at the wrong time. I will speak with him on my terms regarding Daniel. I for one do not think he had anything to do with the disappearance of…” Now it was Thomas’s turn to stop without completing his sentence. He glanced to appreciate the distance he was from his sister who now was waving at him to resume rowing in her direction. Thomas resumed rowing.
“The disappearance of our son, Sarah, our son.”