Unexpected return, p.8
Unexpected Return, page 8
CHAPTER 15
THE PRESENTATION OF THE GIFT
Morning came and James woke up soon after the sun came up. As he lay there, his thoughts turned to Justine and he was excited to be able to spend the day with her. He sat on the edge of the bed and examined his surroundings. Much of what he saw he remembered from his days at the hospital. Then he recalled taking a shower and how good it felt. He definitely had to take one before he left for breakfast for that wasn’t something they had in the castle. He took off his clothes, went into the bathroom, figured out how to adjust the water temperature, and stepped into the shower. He just stood there and let the water run down his back. He found the soap and shampoo on the shelf in the shower and loved the lather each one created. He lost track of the time and heard a knock on the door.
“Is someone there? Who is it?”
“It is Gretchen, your highness. You have been in the shower for a very long time and I was beginning to worry about you.”
“Please forgive me, Gretchen. We do not have these at home and I was enjoying the warmth of the water. Maybe we can return home with one of these! I am finished now and will soon join you.”
“I am glad to know there is nothing wrong. Also, we have been summoned for breakfast in the house.”
“Thank you, Gretchen.”
James quickly finished in the bathroom, got dressed and joined Gretchen in the sitting area.
“What am I to do about my clothes? I can not wear this all week.”
“Arius thought you might need another set of clothes and I have brought them with me.” Gretchen handed him the clothes she had hidden under her robe.
“You think of everything, Gretchen. What would I do without you?” James walked back into the bedroom, put on the clean clothes and then returned to the sitting area. “Let us be off for breakfast. Should I make a plate for you, Gretchen, and bring it to you here?”
“Please do not be concerned with me. I will eat when I can.”
James left the apartment, walked down the stairs to the driveway and entered the house through the dining room doors. He found the family already seated at the table.
“Good morning, Dr. Ross, Mrs. Ross, and Justine. What a fine morning we are having today. Where is Luke?”
“Good morning, James. Please join us for breakfast,” Mrs. Ross said. “Luke is still in bed. He has a hard time waking up in the morning. Do you have any plans today?”
“Aye, Justine thought it a good idea to take a tour of Oxford today,” James replied as he sat down.
“Yes, Mom, I thought we could do the hop on hop off tour you told me about. And I wanted to visit the hospital where we first met.”
“It sounds like you have your day all planned out. I guess you and I will have to do the bus tour another time. I hope you two enjoy it.”
“This food looks wonderful. Is this meat bacon? I remember eating it at the hospital. It was rather tasty!” he said as he pointed to the bacon.
“I can’t believe you do not know what bacon is!” Mrs. Ross stated astonished. “You need to get out more often, it seems.”
“Mrs. Ross, we have meat like this bacon, but not prepared as this is. It is much different where I come from.”
Trying to change the subject, Justine mentioned the gift James had brought.
“Justine, thank you for this reminder. Dr. Ross, before I leave with Justine, I need to share with you the gift my father has sent.”
“That is really not necessary as I said before,” Dr. Ross threw in.
“My father would be very angry with me if I were not to deliver the gift to you. Please excuse me and I will return with the gift.” James got up from the table and walked outside.
“Gretchen, are you here?”
“I am, your highness.”
“May I please have the gift for Dr. Ross. I will deliver it to him now.”
Gretchen reached into an inner pocket in her robe and retrieved the small chest which housed the jewels the King had chosen. James took the chest and asked Gretchen to come into the house so she could advise him on his presentation. He didn’t want to say or do the wrong thing. He could not make any mistakes that might jeopardize the whereabouts of Wiltshire.
James walked in the door and up to Dr. Ross. “This small chest belonged to my grandfather and in turn my father. He placed the gift he chose for you inside. Please take this along with deep gratitude from my father. He wished he could present it to you in person but he was not able to travel at this time.”
“Very nice, young prince,” Gretchen said in approval.
James handed the chest to Dr. Ross and awaited his response.
“This chest is exquisite, James. These markings appear to be very old, but yet this chest looks like it’s hardly been used. Well, let’s take a look at what is inside.”
Dr. Ross opened the box carefully for he didn’t know what to expect. Once the lid was open, the jewels inside glowed in the light. He just sat there staring at its contents mouth open but no words coming out.
“Drew, what’s in the box?” Mrs. Ross asked. “You have a look of shock on your face.”
Dr. Ross handed the chest to her. When she glanced down, she almost dropped it after she saw what was inside.
“Mom, what’s wrong? Is it something awful?” Justine was surprised at her parents’ reaction to the contents of the chest. “May I see it?”
Her mom closed it and gave it to Justine. Justine handled it gingerly since she wasn’t sure what she would find especially after seeing how her parents had reacted. She opened it very slowly and peered inside.
“Wow, James! These are awesome! I bet they’re worth a fortune! This is the gift your father wants my dad to have?”
“Aye, my father chose them for Dr. Ross. Is it not enough?”
“Those jewels are more than enough, James,” Dr. Ross replied. “Thank you for this thoughtful gift, but I can’t accept them. These are probably worth millions and should remain in your father’s possession. How did he come by them?”
“They have been in our family for generations. My father chose these to give to you. He will be most offended if you do not accept them.”
“I understand your predicament, trying to do what your father desires and knowing that I can’t take the gift. Maybe there is a compromise here. I will take two of the jewels and the rest you may return to your father with my thanks. He also must understand I will be questioned regarding the origin of these jewels when I have them appraised. I would rather have fewer of them to explain.”
“Dr. Ross, I do not know this word appraised. What does that mean?”
“You don’t know what appraised means?”
“Dad, he isn’t from here…he lives in the…countryside and probably has never had to get the jewels appraised.” Justine tried to smooth things over so her dad wouldn’t ask too many questions.
“I see, I think. Well, appraised means I need to talk to someone who knows the value of jewels and can tell me how much money I could exchange them for.”
“Ah, I understand. Thank you, Dr. Ross. I agree. I think it might be wise to talk to this person first and then we will decide if you will keep them all.”
“Agreed. But for now, I think it will be best if I store them in a safe place. I don’t want anything to happen to them.”
“James, those are beautiful. You must tell your father how grateful we are for his thoughtful gift.” Mrs. Ross didn’t want James to think they were offended by the rather generous gift.
“I will pass these thoughts on to my father.”
“Well, now that my dad has his present, I think it’s time for you and me to go on that tour we talked about,” Justine suggested trying to change the subject. “I’ll go get ready and meet you in the front hall.”
“I will be there.”
“What tour? Have I missed something? Guess I shouldn’t have slept in,” Luke admitted as he walked sleepily into the dining room.
“We will tell you later but for right now, just eat your breakfast,” Mrs. Ross suggested.
“I think I have forgotten something in the apartment. I will take my leave of you and will return shortly.”
James walked outside through the dining room door and looked around for Gretchen.
“Gretchen, are you here?”
“Yes, your highness.”
“Did you hear our conversation about the gift?”
“Aye. The King will be very disappointed to hear Dr. Ross would not accept it. I am glad you were able to talk to him about taking some of the jewels at least. But please, your highness, if you do not understand something, seek me out first and I will help you to find the answer. We do not want them to start asking too many questions.”
“Aye, you are right, as always. I am still learning about the future. There is so much to know in this time period and so many things I would like to take home with me. Right now, Justine and I are going on a tour of Oxford and I would like you to accompany us.”
“I must, your highness, for we do not know how far this tour will take you.”
“That is true. I had forgotten about that. We need to go inside for we are to meet Justine in the house.”
James and Gretchen entered the house and waited for Justine in the front hall.
CHAPTER 16
THE BUS TOUR
Justine came down the stairs and met James in the front hall. Together they started their walk to the bus stop where they could board the Tour bus.
“This is going to be so neat. I’m looking forward to seeing the town and some of the historic sites in it. And I’m so glad we get to do this together. I really didn’t want to go with my mom. She would have been a chatter box regarding all the history we would see.”
“Chatter box?”
“Oh sorry, that means someone who talks too much.”
“My mother would be the same. My mother is always educating us on our heritage. Justine, what is this thing you call a bus?”
“Oh, wow. I keep forgetting you don’t know about all this stuff. Just keep asking questions and I’ll try to answer. Do you remember the van we took back to Stonehenge from the hospital?
“Aye.”
“It’s like that only bigger. It has more seats. It’s called a double decker because it has two layers, or decks, for seats. The bottom layer is closed and the top layer has no covering, or roof. You will see people getting on and off the bus, but I think we will stay on the whole time so we can hear about everything before we decide to get off anywhere.”
“Thank you for helping me understand. You helped me a lot at the hospital.”
“I do remember some of that. I’m surprised I just remembered about the van we took back to Stonehenge. Is Gretchen with us?”
“I am, Justine. Prince James and I must not be too far apart while he is here.”
“Then you will be able to tour Oxford, too. Maybe that will help when you are seeking something in our time.”
As the bus approached the stop James grabbed Justine and jumped backwards.
“What’s going on?” Justine yelled.
“I was saving you from that large beast that was heading toward us!”
“James,” Justine said quietly, “that is the bus.”
“That is very large!”
“Yes, it is. Take my hand and we will climb on board.”
James put his hand in hers and he followed her onto the bus. He approached it slowly not knowing what to expect, and then walked up the steps with her to the top of the bus. She led him to one of the open seats and they sat down.
“This is most unusual! But I like sitting on the top. You can see much from up here.”
“Yes, you can. Okay, I need you to listen to me so I can give you some more instructions on what to do now.”
“Aye, I am listening.”
Justine picked up some headphones and gave them to James.
“These are called headphones. In order to hear what the guide has to say, you need to put these on your head over your ears.”
“But if I put those over my ears, it will make it hard to hear. How will I hear anything?”
“Trust me, James, it will work. Here, let me show you with the ones I will wear.”
Justine put her headphones on and showed James how to put them over the ears. James took his, and put them on.
“See, that wasn’t so hard.”
“What did you say? I told you I would not be able to hear.”
“Just wait.”
So, James waited and all of a sudden, he heard a loud voice. He looked all around and couldn’t see anyone talking. Then he grabbed the headphones, took them off very quickly, and looked around again. Justine realized what James was doing and she pointed to the headphones.
“The sound, voice, is coming from these,” and she pointed to the headphones on her head.
“But where is the person who is speaking?”
“It’s kind of like Gretchen sometimes; you can hear her but you can’t see her. Just listen and the person will tell you all about Oxford. Now, put them back on.”
James put his headphones back on and immediately removed them again.
“This person must talk softer. He is very loud!”
“Oh, sorry! Do you see this on the headphone? It will make the voice louder or softer.”
“Thank you.”
So, James turned the knob and lowered the sound coming from his headphones. Then he settled back into his seat and started listening to the voice of the guide. As they traveled on the bus, Justine would help James by pointing to the places being described. Toward the end of the tour, the guide announced the hospital would be the next stop.
“James, take off your headphones. We’ll be getting off here. The hospital is at the next stop.”
James removed his headphones and waited for Justine to instruct him what to do next. She took his hand and together they disembarked from the bus. There, in front of them, was the hospital where they had spent a week together over a year ago. Memories of their time together began to flash through James’ head for his memories were much more vivid than Justine’s.
“Before we go in, I need to know if we did anything we shouldn’t have.”
“I know you do not remember all of this, but our time here was one I will never forget. This is where we had our first kiss but that is all. I would not dishonor you by doing more.”
“Thank you, James. I’m sure that would be something I would remember, I think. Anyway, can you show me where we kissed?”
“There is a cemetery behind the hospital with a small church there. We must walk there first. But before we go, Gretchen are you here with us?”
“Aye, your highness, I am here.”
“I knew you must not be far away as I have not lost my memory of home. But I needed to check.”
“Please believe me, I would not allow you to go very far away from me.”
“That is good. Now, let us go find the church.”
The three walked around to the back of the hospital and across a street. James looked around and then saw a familiar sight, the sign for the Headington Cemetery.
“This is it, the place where people are buried after they die. You called it a cemetery. We have some in my time, but many royals are buried in the church. Come.”
James took her hand and led her to the chapel located on the grounds of the cemetery.
As they neared the door to the chapel, Justine stopped. “I remember this,” she gasped. Then she looked at James intently, “I remember this! We went inside and sat on one of the pews and that’s where you kissed me! Oh, wow! This is so exciting! We really did spend time together last summer! I remember!! The surgery, the cafeteria, the walks around the hospital…we wore scrubs because we didn’t have any other clothes to wear, and this chapel.”
They walked into the chapel together, down the aisle to the front pew and sat down. She sat there in silence for a moment trying to recall this moment in her mind. Then, as before, James turned to her, cradled her face in his hands and kissed her gently. Immediately, Justine put her hands around his neck and held him close.
“This was the part of that walk I loved the best,” she whispered in his ear.
“Me, too.”
She straightened up, turned toward the front of the chapel, and sighed.
“What now?” she whispered. She scooted closer to him, grabbed his hand placed it in her lap and repeated. “What now? You live in the 16th century and I live here, in the 21st century. I don’t want to let you go home. I can’t lose you again and have you haunt me in my dreams. That was torture!” She paused for a minute. “I already suggested this but, I can go back to Wiltshire with you! I really would love to see your family again, especially your sisters. And we don’t have to say good bye to each other. At least not right away. What do you think of that idea?”
James sat and continued to look forward. “I must talk to Gretchen outside. I will return.”
James got up and walked out the door leaving Justine sitting by herself on the pew. Did she just ruin everything? Was their relationship over now? This was not an easy remedy to their situation, but she was willing to try. Now, she just had to wait to see what James was going to say after talking to Gretchen.
It seemed like she had been waiting for hours when James finally returned. He walked in with Gretchen and sat down beside her. At first, he didn’t say anything. Then, he finally spoke.
“Justine, after talking to Gretchen, I would like to invite you to return to Wiltshire with me.”
Justine couldn’t contain her excitement. She jumped up off the pew, spun around and yelled, “Yes, I get to return to Wiltshire!”
James immediately grabbed her arm, pulled her back down to the pew, and covered her mouth with his hand. “What are you doing?” he whispered. “We are trying to keep everything a secret and you just yelled so everyone could hear you!”
“There’s no one here. And besides, Wiltshire is still a county in England. I want you to know how excited I am that you asked me to return with you. This will be such a fantastic trip, especially since I remember so much about the first one now.”
