Timeless Heart by Karyn Gerrard Read Free Book Online

She would
keep him housebound, living for her pleasure and hers alone? Maybe
that is why she suggested they go to Halifax, even if it was a
short trip. Seeing him out among other people made him more real
somehow, and convinced her even more that he was indeed, from
another time, as fanciful as that was.
    Sandra glanced at the clock. She would be
calling Brian soon. She looked down the hall at the closed door of
the bedroom where Jerrod was relaxing and reading. Her trepidation
continued. What if Jerrod left? But where would he go? He was her
responsibility, and she did not know if she could handle it. The
thought of him leaving tied a tight, relentless cord around her
heart. She did not want him to go, ever.
    How could she feel this way after only a couple
of days? Perhaps it was her state of mind. She was reaching to save
herself from falling into the precipice. Examining her feelings was
difficult. They were close to the surface, raw, delicate, as if
they would shatter. That she desired him, there was no doubt. But
it was more. She wanted him to love her. Heal her.
    Oh crap.
     
    ****
    Jerrod spent part of the afternoon reading. He
and Sandra had gone to the local library that morning. Amazing,
there were so many books readily available. Beyond the sheer
numbers, the books themselves were marvels. They contained what
Sandra called photographs, which, unlike the crude stampings and
illustrations of 1821, gave color, light and exact countenance of
the subjects shown. It was something undreamed to him. There were
libraries in 1821, but they were very rare, and not for the general
public, as most did not know how to read at any rate. Only those in
academia had access to lending books.
    History did not interest him, what war and
when, much too depressing. He was fighting a case of the
blue-devils as it was, he did not need to exacerbate that by
reading about how the world was as wretched a place as he
remembered, or perhaps, worse.
    But the scientific advances percolated his
interest intensely. Something else he wanted to delve into was
music. If he had time that was. Sandra had played him all types of
music. A certain crooner, she called him Frank Sinatra, was
wonderful. She also put on that screeching nonsense, "Rock Music".
Apparently, Sandra liked it. He however, did not. But the classical
music! It was like sitting in a chamber, listening to the orchestra
in the very room with you. He couldn't keep track of all the
devices. She had music on an 'iPod' she called it. How could
hundreds of songs be on such a thing? She promised to show him how
it worked, when they had time.
    If he had time . Time. Bloody
hell.
    Jerrod closed the book, setting it on the bed
next to him. He put his arms behind his head and looked around the
room. His heart was aching. He wondered what his family was doing,
were they frantic over his disappearance? His mother was in
delicate health. And Vennor, he was only twenty four, could he step
up and take over the running of Pendern Hall? And Grace, his twenty
six year old sister, she was also in a delicate condition. Not her
health as such, but she was nursing a broken heart, her fiancé had
died of his wounds from the Battle of Waterloo. She had nursed him
for six long years, only to have him die in her arms. She had been
devastated. She still was. Grace needed him. They all needed him.
And due to circumstances he could not fathom nor explain, he had
been thrust into the future, ripped from his family, his life. Why?
This was futile, Sandra talking with her science friend, what was
the point? He knew, in the depths of his soul, he was never going
to see his family, ever again. In a startling moment of crystalline
horror he realized his entire family had been dead for at least a
century and a half.
    Jerrod turned over on his side and cried until
sleep finally overtook him.
     
    ****
     
    Sandra opened the bedroom door to glance in on
Jerrod, relieved that he was asleep. She really didn't want him