A Watch In Time – Chapter 2, Part 2

A WATCH IN TIME

A Full Length Short Story by Golden Keyes Parsons

Chapter Two – Part 2

Click here to start with Chapter One

(David  stared at his sister as he tossed the paper towel into the trash. “Sure you did.”)

“Believe me, I know how weird this sounds. But you were there too, with your injured hand. You were marching off to the Civil War with the Lone Star Guard, and I was helpless to stop you.” Tears pooled in her eyes. “I tried to explain the lost cause of the South to you, and you wouldn’t listen.” She shook her head. “You … you were marching to your death, and you wouldn’t listen to me.”

David patted her hand. “Hey, you’re really upset, aren’t you?” He stood. “Look at me. I’m fine. Nothing’s happened to me.”

“Hear what I’m saying. I really was in 1861.”

“Be reasonable, Sis. You put on a dress you found in that trunk, and imagined all of this. Or you fell asleep and dreamed it.”

“No, I put the dress on in 1861. The pages of the book were blank.” Lily grabbed her brother’s hand and pulled him out of his chair. “Come with me. I’ll show you.”

Dragging him through the dining room and across the hall into their mother’s bedroom, she pointed to the album that lay beside the open trunk. She picked it up and opened it, afraid of what she would see—printed pages.

Slamming the book shut, she shuddered. “They’re not blank anymore, but I don’t want to look at them right now. I was looking at this when I … oh, I don’t know what happened to me. I just know I was really there, and it was awful knowing what was going to happen—helpless to save you or anyone else.”

David laughed at her and looked at his watch. “Gotta go. The band has a gig tonight. Won’t be back until after midnight.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Will you be OK?”

“I’ll be fine. I need to get out of these clothes. But I’m telling you, David, it was real.”

David waved at her as he left the room. “Yeah, whatever. See ya later.”

Lily returned to her mother’s bedroom, and struggled to get the dress unbuttoned. Now I know why they had servants. This is impossible. She put on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and carefully folded the dress and crinolines. Wondering what else she might find in the trunk, she dug down through the garments, and felt along the sides and bottom of the trunk. She noticed a bulge.

Something was stitched into the cloth lining along the side of the trunk. That was not there in 1861. Removing the garments, she got hold of the bulge and pulled. The thin, fragile cloth ripped, and a small package wrapped in soft blue fabric, along with a folded piece of paper, fell into her hand. She opened the brittle paper. In faded ink written in beautiful script:

This simple gift,

Beloved, mine,

Will mark the days,

Measure the time.

Our love, forbidden,

Will one day be free.

Wait for me,

Beloved, I wait for thee.

The package was heavy. She turned back the delicate folds of the blue fabric and an ornate gold women’s pendant watch on a long gold braided chain lay in her hands.

Watch … watch! Was this what her mother was talking about? A timepiece? She turned it over in her hand. It didn’t look like an 1861 timepiece to her, more like the turn of the century. Clicking it open, she read the engraved message on the inside. “I wait for thee.”

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Join us next Friday for part 1 of chapter 3.

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