Page 32 of Last Knight (Knights Through Time #7)

As Lucy told more stories, Charlotte touched her neck again.

Though her aunt had never been one for material possessions, for some reason the necklace was really important to her.

She remembered when her aunt went to Italy, attending mass at Easter in St. Peter’s Square.

The Pope gave his blessing, and it was said the objects that were there were also blessed.

Charlotte and both of her sisters had always believed the necklace brought good fortune until it was lost.

As they ate, they shared more stories about Aunt Pittypat. The ache unbearable, Charlotte knew she had waited long enough. “I’m going to feed the baby and then I’ll be back.”

“I can’t believe I’m sitting here talking to other time travelers.

It makes me feel like we’re all in a movie.

Everything that’s happened has been so surreal.

I know you’ve probably talked about it a million times, but would each of you tell me how you ended up here and how long it took all of you to feel like this was home?

” Ashley crossed her fingers as they answered, hoping she’d hear something that might help her with Christian.

Melinda groaned. “Better get comfortable, sugar. We’re going to be here the rest of the day.”

“And night,” Jennifer added. “Wait.” She jumped up. “Don’t start yet. I’m going to get my sketchpad and capture all of us together. It will take a while, but I’ll do a watercolor for each of us. To always remember this time.”

Elizabeth joined her. “I’ll help.”

Anna finished her story, and then it was the Merriweather sisters’ turn. Ashley liked their maiden name. It fit them. As they talked and laughed, her throat closed. So this was what it was like to have sisters.

The next night after dinner, they were back in the solar.

A fire crackled cozily in the hearth, which, of course, was big enough for all of them to stand next to each other.

There were tapestries on the walls and the floors were done in beautiful tiles.

When she’d asked, she’d been told they had come from Italy.

Christian wanted them after seeing them at the other castles.

They would’ve cost a fortune in New York.

Thinking of him made her feel sick. Ashley had tried to tell Christian but only ended up making things worse as he stomped out to the lists. She was thinking of enlisting the women’s help when Lucy gasped .

“I almost forgot, which is crazy, because this is way important. Since I’ve been here in the past, I’ve asked everyone. And no one, not a single soul, knew anything about a curse.”

Anna looked up from the yarn she was sorting for Lucy. “Do you think you made it up to help your future self?”

“Wouldn’t I remember if it had already happened?” Lucy looked at all of them as they debated how time travel and time worked.

Melinda held up her hands. “You guys are making my head hurt. We keep going in a circle.”

Anna dropped the ball of yarn she’d been holding for Lucy. “That’s it. Time isn’t linear. It’s layered, like circles stacked on top of each other. When we fall through time it becomes our new present, even if we are in the past. So we wouldn’t remember, because it’s happening now.”

Charlotte looked thoughtful as she tapped a finger to her lip. “You know, it makes sense. And it’s the best explanation I’ve heard so far.”

“Then you have to make sure the curse is strong enough that it will be repeated as the years pass.” Ashley couldn’t imagine believing in a curse, but then again, she had traveled through time, so who knew what else might be real?

Jennifer looked up from the easel, a smudge of charcoal on her hand. “Tell us the curse.”

They all got comfortable in the chairs, blankets on their laps as Lucy settled back in a chair next to the fire, tucking her feet under her dress. As she did, Ashley caught sight of brightly colored crocheted socks.

“Simon Grey was Lord Blackford, the castle was practically a ruin, and his family had owned it since the 1300s.”

“Homicidal jerk,” Melinda added.

Lucy grinned at her. “Well, that’s true, but if he hadn’t been such a whack job, I might not be here. Might not have met William.” They sat there for a moment thinking about what might or might not have happened if they hadn’t all fallen through time.

“The curse said when the last of the Grey line betrays the last of the Brandon line by foul deeds for the second time, the curse shall be lifted, and the castle owned no more by the Grey family. William is William Brandon, Lord Blackford, and I thought Simon was crazy for thinking I was a Brandon.”

“I’ve got chills,” Anna said. “So what was the second time?”

Charlotte’s girl brought tea, and when she left, Lucy continued.

“I think the second time was when Clement Grey, his ancestor, tried to kill me by drowning me in the cistern on top of Blackford. I was saved by a raven.”

A look passed between the sisters, and Ashley made a note to ask about the raven later. She was afraid that if she asked now, they’d go off on another tangent and she’d never hear all the time-travel stories. What would be a five-minute story to a New Yorker was an hour or more to a Southerner.

“And we know it worked,” Melinda said. “Because when I went to the castle, the people in the village said there hasn’t been a Lord Blackford since the 1500s.

And they were named Brandon, not Grey. The last Lord Blackford was named Winston Brandon, and he died in 1564. The castle went to the National Trust.”

Her hand trembled as she lifted the cup. “Winston was our dad’s name. Simon believed that if he killed me, he would be free of the financial drain of the castle and able to enjoy his money. Of course, at the time I didn’t know I was a Brandon because I was a Merriweather.”

“The jerk sent a hitman after Melinda and I,” Charlotte said. “And when we came through, it was twenty years after Lucy.”

“It’s true,” Lucy said. “I came through in 1307. And from all of our stories, I’m the only one who came through earlier than the rest of you.”

Anna wiped her eye. “It’s because William was meant for you and was waiting. You came through when you needed to. ”

Ashley sipped the tea, letting it warm her from inside. “You were either brave or crazy to go through with the fake wedding.”

“I know, right? But you know, he could be so charming, I swear that man could convince a tiger to go vegan. So I went along with it, thinking it was a way to end things on a good note. Who would’ve known the guy would drug the champagne? I still miss that sparkly blue shoe.”

“Well, I think it’s poetic justice that he came through time with you and was smashed to death on the rocks. Dead as a doornail,” Melinda said.

“You have to make sure you start rumors about this curse. Have your children and their children tell their descendants, and make sure it happens on the Grey side too.” Ashley took another sip of tea.

“Because could you imagine if somehow the curse was forgotten and lost over time? Would Lucy suddenly disappear?”

“I don’t think so,” Elizabeth said. “I think this is her new reality, and somehow it’s already done, so even if someone forgot it, she would find out another way or go back another way.”

Ashley held up her cup. “I think we need to switch to wine.”