Love Can Stop Time

Elizabeth awoke to a strange tapping noise. It sounded like someone tapping on your window, but Elizabeth’s room was at the top of a high tower so how could anyone be tapping on her window. She rolled over in the bed and opened her eyes. She looked at the golden wallpaper with fleur delis on the walls and knew that she wasn’t in her room. She then shot up from her laying position and looked at the room she was in. She was lying in a large four poster bed with red curtains on it. On top of her was a large red cotton comforter and a white silk sheet. She also noticed that she was in the same clothes that she had been captured in, a plain brown ridding dress and her ridding boots.

Then the tapping noise came again and then she noticed a large window that was about ten feet from the right side of the bed. There was another man standing there in strange clothing. Once he saw that Elizabeth had noticed him he hit a small button on the strange device on his wrist and the window opened and disappeared into the ceiling. The man walked into the room and stood in front of Elizabeth, who was still in the bed. “Good morning, Lady Elizabeth, I am Dr. Fitzgerald and I am here to tell you where you are and why you are here,” the man said as he sat in one of the many chairs that were in the room. “You are at a museum, which is where we show things that are from the past. We use a time machine, which is like magic, to bring things back from the past to show people of our time what it was like in the past. Now all we want you to do is live like you would back in your time, do the same activities. The only catch is that you have to do it in this room which means no horses or any other activity that you would normally do outside. We have for you an extensive collection of books for you to read and in the trunk there at the end of the bed you will find plenty of sewing and embroidery materials.”

Then he stood up and walked over to the left side of the bed and pointed to a button that Elizabeth hadn’t noticed before. “This will open up the wall and it leads directly to Lady Marie’s room. She can help you with any other questions that you have, she’s been here for awhile. There is also another button on the other side of the room, which will lead to Lady Isabella’s room. You are always welcome to visit the ladies at any time. Now, I will leave you to get dressed and to eat breakfast before the museum opens. You have about an hour.” Then Dr. Fitzgerald left the room and pressed the button that lowered the window from the ceiling again. After the window lowered it became black, probably for privacy.

Then Elizabeth jumped from the bed and pressed the button that lead to Lady Marie’s room. When the wall opened Elizabeth saw a girl that was about eighteen sitting on a chair in front of a mirror. The girl had long, wavy golden hair that was done in a long braid down her back. She was wearing a long blue gown with a brown leather belt and when the girl turned around Elizabeth saw that her eyes were light blue, almost like the color of ice. When the girl saw Elizabeth she jumped up from her chair and curtsied to Elizabeth. Elizabeth returned the curtsy and the girl then ran over and held Elizabeth’s hand.

“I am Lady Marie,” the girl said with a distinct French accent. “My father was a knight to Philippe Auguste, or as these people know him as King Philip II of France. I have been here for about two years; they brought me here after they took me from my room. Let us go to your room so we can get you dressed.” Marie walked over to the wall and pressed the button again so that it would open and when they stepped through the wall another girl was sitting on Elizabeth’s bed.

She looked to be about fourteen with long, straight black hair. When the girl got up Elizabeth was mesmerized by the girl’s dark brown eyes that looked almost black. She was wearing a scarlet colored gown with a golden belt. “Hello, I am Lady Isabella of the court of King Sancho VI and Queen Sancha of Navarre,” the girl said in her Spanish accent. “I do not believe I have had the honor of your name.” “My name is Lady Elizabeth,” Elizabeth said with pride. “Daughter of Sir William, friend of King Richard I of England.” “Well, it would seem that we are all from the same time,” Marie said as she sat on one of Elizabeth’s chairs. “King Philippe’s daughter, Princess Alys, was to marry King Richard I, but something scandalous happened before their marriage and it was called off and King Richard I married Berengaria of Navarre, whom is the daughter of King Sancho VI I believe. And, King Philippe traveled to Jerusalem with King Richard.”

“That is true,” Elizabeth said as she sat on her bed. “We are all connected but we did not know each other until this moment.” “Yes, but now we must get you dressed, before those barbarians come to stare at us again,” Isabella said. Marie nodded and went to Elizabeth’s closet and opened it. Inside were multiple gowns of all colors. Marie pulled out a forest green gown and a pair of brown leather slippers. After Elizabeth had gotten dressed Marie sat her down on a chair in front of the mirror and started to do her hair. Marie put it in a long braid down Elizabeth’s back and tied the end with a green ribbon.

“Now, the barbarians will be arriving shortly,” Isabella said as she moved back to her room. “They may tap on the window, but just ignore them. The best thing to do is to read or embroider, if you get scared or you need help just come and see one of us.” Elizabeth nodded as she watched Marie and Isabella went to their separate rooms. Elizabeth then went to her bookcase and looked for something to read. None of the books looked vaguely familiar. She stopped when she found a book by T.H. White called The Once and Future King. She picked it up and saw that it had a picture of a knight ridding his noble steed. It looked interesting so she sat on one of her chairs and began reading it.

She was so engrossed in the book that she didn’t notice the window become clear again and a herd of people beginning to enter the museum. She didn’t notice until someone began tapping on her window again. She stopped reading and looked towards the mirror and her eyes widened in horror. There were hundreds of people outside of her room and many of them were staring at her. Her breath started to quicken and her heart began to race. Then she remember that Isabella had said that there would be people, ‘barbarians’ she called them, looking in at her. So Elizabeth calmed down and went back to her reading. About mid-day a small hole in the ceiling opened and a strange silver pole came down with a plate of chicken and baked potatoes. The pole sat the plate down on a table underneath it and went back up into the ceiling which closed once the pole was gone.

Elizabeth stopped reading and picked up a fork and began to eat. After she was done eating the strange silver pole came down again and took the plate away. Then Elizabeth went to the trunk that was in front of her bed and pulled out a piece of blue satin, green, blue, and pink thread, an embroidery hoop, and a needle. She placed the hoop on the fabric and began to embroider small blue and pink flowers into the fabric. She did this until the silver pole came back, by then all the visitors had left and Elizabeth had decided to eat her evening meal with Marie. Elizabeth picked up her plate of corn beef and potatoes and walked over to the wall that lead to Marie’s room.

She pressed the button and the wall opened. “Good evening, Lady Marie,” Elizabeth said as she walked into the room. “Would you mind if I ate my evening meal with you?” “Not at all Lady Elizabeth,” Marie said as she pulled up another chair to her small table where she was eating. “Maybe we should invite Lady Isabella to eat with us.”
“Yes, let us,” Elizabeth said as she rose from the table to walk with Marie to Isabella’s room. When they entered Isabella’s room they saw that she was lying in her bed, she hadn’t even touched her food. Marie walked over to Isabella’s bed and looked at the young girl’s face, it was tearstained and her eyes were puffy.

“Poor girl,” Marie said as she brushed Isabella‘s black hair from her face. “She has only been here for about a month. She is too young to be here, she must miss her family terribly. She said she was taken right after her older brother Alejandro’s death. They were still in mourning when they took her while she was visiting her brother’s grave. She will not eat if someone is not watching her and she cries every night. She may seem tough on the outside but inside she is very fragile.”

“Tomorrow I shall visit her at lunch and talk with her,” Elizabeth said as she gazed at the sad girl. Elizabeth felt ashamed of herself, this girl had spent over a month mourning over the death of her brother and the loss of her family when she got kidnapped, but Elizabeth had only cried over her father for a few moments and hadn’t cried otherwise. “I will join you tomorrow while you are eating with Isabella,” Marie said as she walked towards the wall that lead to Elizabeth’s room. They both went back to Marie’s room and ate their evening meal. While they were eating they talked about their homes. Elizabeth told Marie about her father’s death and her engagement to Sir Eric. When she told Marie about this Marie told her of her engagement to Sir Jean-Pierre, who wasn’t as old as Sir Eric but he was still twenty years her senior. They laughed at the pompous old men like they wouldn’t have been able to at home.

After they were finished eating Marie went to read her Bible and Elizabeth went back to her room to say her evening prayers. After she said her prayers Elizabeth went to bed and dreamed of her father. She dreamed of how things were before he went away, the horseback rides, the games they played, and the parties that they went to and held. Elizabeth woke up the next morning with unshed tears still in her eyes, even when she dreamed Elizabeth couldn’t cry any more about her father. Elizabeth got up and put on a white gown and went to Isabella’s room to see how she was doing.

When she got there she saw that Isabella was already dressed and was reading a copy of a book named Don Quixote. When Isabella noticed Elizabeth in the room she got up from her chair and curtsied. “What can I do for you Lady Elizabeth?” Isabella asked as she put her book down. “Lady Marie and I would like you to join us for breakfast in my room,” Elizabeth said. Isabella nodded and picked up her porridge on her way to Elizabeth’s room. Then Elizabeth went over to Marie’s room and offered the same invitation which Marie accepted.

That’s how they spent the next month. They would eat all their meals together and Isabella looked healthier everyday. She also seemed to be generally happier. The only time they weren’t together was when the visitors were there. They all seemed different everyday, except for one boy that Elizabeth saw almost everyday. He was tall and looked to be around eighteen. He had lean muscle on him and he had shaggy black hair that stopped just above his eyes. His eyes were emerald green and had a kind look to them. He seemed to come every morning directly to Elizabeth’s room and watched her until everyone else left. Elizabeth wondered who the boy was and then decided that right before everyone left she would ask the boy who he was and why he watched her everyday.