First Knight: Thornton Brothers Time Travel (A Thornton Brothers Time Travel Romance Book 3) Read Online Free Page A

wake-up call?” Mark looked hopeful. He was really good-looking, but she’d already heard how he’d dated every single girl at the site and in the village. Absolutely not the guy for her.
    “I’ve got an alarm on my phone. Thanks anyway.”
    Back in her tent, she climbed into the narrow cot with a sigh of relief. Too tired to read, she lay there, letting her body relax. The faint sound of bagpipes drifted in on the breeze.
    “Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not a Thornton,” Jennifer whispered as she blew out the candle.

Chapter Six

    As the mill on the estate came into view, Edward heard a scream.
    “Brom. You and two of the men with me; send the rest home.”
    A woman came running toward them, and he galloped to her. She was wringing her hands and weeping, so he could not understand her words.
    “Mistress, cease your weeping. Tell me what is amiss.”
    She took a few breaths and blew her nose on her sleeve. “My boy. He was on the wheel when he slipped and fell in. He cannot swim and there is no sign of him. I fear he is drowned.”
    His skin clammy, he was finding it difficult to draw breath. Everything seemed brighter and louder as he slid off his horse.
    Brom put a hand on his arm. A look passed between them. “’Tis hot this day. Shall I go in after the lad, my lord?”
    Relieved, Edward nodded. “As you will.”
    His captain quickly stripped off his clothes and dove in as Edward stood on the bank wringing his hands like the woman next to him. At least he wasn’t weeping.
    Brom broke the surface, took a breath, and dove under once more. Edward touched the woman’s arm. “Calm yourself, madam. We will find your boy.”
    Two heads appeared. Brom held the lad in his arms as he swam to the bank, and tossed the child to Edward. The child was pale and unmoving. No, it could not be. He rolled the boy to his side, roughly pounding him on the back until the lad retched up water. He opened his eyes, gasping and coughing up more water until he was exhausted from his efforts.
    The woman fell to her knees. “Thanks be to you both. You saved my son. May the Lord bless you and keep you.”
    The miller ran to the woman, dusting his hands off on his pants. “What’s happened?” He saw the boy and fell to his knees, holding him close. “What have I told you about sitting on the wheel when you cannot swim?”
    “Forgive me, Da.”
    Edward watched the man’s emotions as he pulled his only son to him, and something deep within shuddered and broke. He wanted sons of his own. Lads he would be proud of. Knights bearing his name through the centuries, Somerforth filled with laughter and family. All this time he had been waiting for a woman who did not exist. Not for him. ’Twas time to marry and forget this future-girl foolishness. He was a dolt.
    A girl carrying a covered basket came over the hill, touching her hair.
    “Is John dead?” She peered at him. “He cannot swim, yet he sits on the wheel.” She kicked at her brother. “Fool.”
    “My daughter, my lord.”  
    The girl made a small curtsy as she blushed and looked at her feet. Edward could not have said what color her eyes were, nor if her face were pleasing, as she never looked up at him.
    Mayhap Brom had it right: he needed a biddable girl to take for a wife. “Do you like cherries?”
    “Do you, my lord?”
    “Aye, very much. They are now growing plump and ripe in the castle gardens.”
    “Then I do as well.” She blushed again, shuffling her feet in the grass.
    Edward rifled in his saddlebags, coming out with a small pouch. “For you.”
    The girl opened the pouch and pulled out a cherry as her sire beamed. “I thank you, my lord.”
    The husband and wife thanked him until he stopped them, or he would never make it home this day. The boy had regained some of his color, and stared longingly at Edward’s sword.
    “You are a good lad to try and fix the wheel, but mayhap you should learn to swim, aye?”
    “Yes, my lord.” The boy grinned and