Time and Trouble Read Online Free Page B

want, Luke said. And then, you have to know how to let go of all the rest.
    Luke knew, and she would learn. He would teach her.
    Tension claws ungripped, let go their hold, so that the sun finally reached and warmed her, all the way through. The field blurred in a haze of contentment, colors dancing on motes of light. Maybe she could stand the rest of her life. Maybe she could even change it, save herself and Wesley, too. Something in her chest cavity stopped clawing at her. Relaxed, expanded, gave off warmth. The future unfurled, possible.
    And as if echoing the feeling, something glowed on the ground.
    Treasure. Of course. Today, right now, here with all the good magic and possibilities. A sign.
    When she looked again, the small flash was gone.
    On hands and knees she combed the tall grass, feeling mildly foolish and getting very muddy, knowing that she ’ d find a fragment of a beer bottle or taillight, if anything.
    Still, she wanted it. It didn ’ t matter what it had been, it mattered that it would become her touchstone and promise, a tangible reminder of that sudden sense of a future. Something her own to hold onto.
    She patted the ground with fingers held flat, searching, refusing to believe the gleam had been no more than a trick of the light.
    “ Lost a contact lens, mistress? ”
    She smiled as she continued exploring. “ What happened to staying in character? Medieval contact lenses? ”
    Luke stood above her, tall and radiant, the kestrel riding his right forearm.
    “ I saw something. Now I can ’ t find —” And then her palm grazed it and her fingers circled its cool solidity. “ Look, ” she whispered, holding out a heart-shaped wafer. She passed it to Luke, who now kneeled beside her.
    His kestrel cocked its head as if appraising the trinket ’ s worth. “ It ’ ll be pretty when it ’ s cleaned, ” Luke said. He rubbed it with his thumb. “ Gold, I think, and there ’ s a design cut into it. Like filigree, I think they call it. Pretty. You can wear it on a chain. It has the loop for it. ”
    “ You think somebody in your group dropped it? ”
    He shook his head. “ This is the first time we ’ ve been here, and this thing ’ s been around awhile. The design ’ s packed with dirt. It ’ s the rain. It pushes all kinds of things up. Besides, nobody but you ’ s been over on this side. ” He stood and held the charm to the light. “ Bet it ’ s been here a long time. ”
    Waiting for her to find it. She felt a thrill at the base of her throat, like a purr wanting to happen. “ An amulet, ” she whispered. “ A sign. I was so upset —”
    “ I know. ”
    “— because of —”
    “ I know. ”
    “— then I felt this hopefulness, and that very second, that ’ s when I saw it was there for me. Like I made it happen. Do I sound — do I seem crazy? ”
    “ Not a bit. ” He bowed, his hand cupping the trinket as if it were priceless treasure as he transferred it to her palm. “ Your token, m ’ lady. Might be we ’ re standing on a treasure trove, a pirate ’ s booty. We aren ’ t far from the coast, from where Sir Francis Drake himself landed. Maybe the rains split open a long-buried treasure chest of his, and there ’ s more. ”
    “ And you accuse me of having an overactive imagination. ” She slipped the heart into her jeans pocket, while Luke found a digging stick. She didn ’ t need more treasure. She had her amulet. But she didn ’ t want to dampen Luke ’ s pleasure in turning everything into an adventure. In the sunshine, the hair on his head and forearms became spun gold, hyper-real and fantastic at the same time. She watched him poke the ground, pull back tangled grasses with his stick, dig shallow trenches. His hopeful noises of discovery were followed by sighs and mutters.
    “ I was wrong, ” he eventually said, brushing perspiration from his forehead. “ No treasure, no pieces of eight, no gold —”
    “ No matter. ” It was better that there ’ d