Forever Ashley (21 page)

By now the smoke of battle was so thick that Ashley could
see only the heads of the British horses. Her eyes searched in vain for any
sign of Aaron, but she failed to find one. Oh, please, she prayed. Don’t let
him be lying wounded somewhere.

The volley of fire continued from the regulars, and Ashley
recoiled. Some of the colonists fell back a few feet to reload. She saw one at
the edge of the battle reload and fire, and then a shot from the British
regulars hit his gun barrel and broke it in two.

Ashley leaned out of the window and shouted a warning to a
militiaman sitting on the ground trying to reload his gun. Just as the man
glanced up at her, a British soldier ran his bayonet through him. Ashley
covered her eyes and moaned as the man slumped to the ground.

The British were firing so furiously and there was so much
confusion that Ashley felt faint. It was impossible to know the number of
colonists who fell at each volley, but the firing continued in all directions.

Then as suddenly as it had started, the colonists began to
drop back into formation. Ashley saw a British soldier fire one last volley at
Solomon Brown, who was stationed behind a wall. She gasped as the wall smoked after
it was hit.

Brown rose and fired into the solid column of regulars, then
beat a hasty retreat, using the wall as a shield. Suddenly the battle quieted.

A moment later Ashley heard the sound of a drummer, beating
the call to retreat.

The British ceased fire and began moving into columns. Once
formed, they fired a last volley for victory and gave three rousing cheers.

Ashley watched as the red-coated men moved forward to the
tune of fife and drum, marching in the direction of Concord.

The smoke began to clear and the cadence of drums dimmed as
Ashley slumped weakly against the windowsill.

The British would march on to Concord. The colonists would
regroup their forces and meet the redcoats again, but none of these men would
realize the repercussions of what had happened here on this green today.

The first battle of the Revolutionary War had been fired,
the first blood spilled in the fight for the colonies’ right to separate from
Britain. The upstart youngster, as the British termed the colonies, had begun to
stretch and grow, and America would never again be the same.

Ashley felt strange standing at the window staring down upon
a site where a battle had just been fought. It had lasted such a short time,
already it seemed unreal. Ever since she’d fallen through the roof of the Green
Dragon Tavern, time had meant nothing to her, just one inconceivable event
strung upon another.

“Ashley. ”

“Yes?” She whirled from the window, trying to locate the
whispered voice. For one crazy moment, she thought Aaron had called her name,
but that was impossible: He couldn’t be here.

Was she going completely mad? She closed her eyes and her
fingers came to her temples to still the sudden pounding. The abrupt pain was
like a hammer upon an anvil, beating relentlessly against her skull.

“Ashley."

At the sound of her name, she opened her eyes slowly,
squinting against the building pressure in her cranium. Once again she found
the room empty.

“I am losing my mind,” she murmured.

Suddenly the door burst open. She cried out when she saw
Aaron standing in the doorway, grinning at her. With tears in her eyes, she
threw herself into his arms.

"You’re all right!”

“A little singed, but unharmed.” Aaron gave a whoop of
victory as he swept her up into his arms, hugging her. “I may not be in your
history books, Ashley Wheeler, but I was there today!”

“I was so afraid—” His mouth closed over hers, muffling her
words. “I couldn’t find you anywhere!” she murmured against his lips.

“I was busy! We had eight dead and ten wounded at last
count. Once I had to grab a pistol and fire when a Tory rode in upon me and
refused to recognize my medical box.”

Throwing back his head, he began to laugh. The laughter
rolled out of him so long that Ashley thought he might be hysterical.

“We won! We won against those lobsterbacks!”

Ashley didn’t have the heart to tell him that the colonists
hadn’t actually “won,” though they had survived to fight again.

His mouth came back to hers, savoring the victory they
shared.

“I have to get you out of here to safety,” he murmured when
their lips finally parted. “The British may return.”

“They won’t. They’re on their way to Concord.”

He smiled at her indulgently as he hurried her toward the
door. “Mayhap, but I’m taking no chances.”

The townsfolk were beginning to recover from their shock.
They bustled around, trying to aid the wounded and comfort those whose loved
ones had paid the ultimate price for freedom.

Aaron and Ashley made their way down the street, trying to
reach the edge of town unnoticed. Aaron paused occasionally to kneel beside a
wounded man, quickly administering help before he moved on.

It took over forty minutes for them to reach the edge of
Lexington.

“We will take to the woods,” Aaron called as he took her
hand and they ran across the road. “’Twill be dark soon, and we can’t risk
running into a British patrol.”

“Where are we going?” Ashley called back.

He glanced back at her, smiling. “We are going to find a
place where we can be alone.”

Ashley frowned, feeling a sudden pang in her heart. Where
they could be alone—or where they could say good-bye?

Chapter
Fifteen

The barn had not been used for some time, but the hay was
dry and pleasantly fragrant. The late afternoon light filtered through the
cracks, and motes of dust floated through the air as Ashley and Aaron entered
the building’s cool interior.

“It’s not the Green Dragon,” Aaron apologized. “But it will
afford us a place to rest.”

After picking up a stick, Ashley poked at the mound of
straw, hoping there weren’t any mice and snakes hiding in it. The sound of tiny
feet scurrying into dark corners drew her back to Aaron’s side. “It’s okay, I
don’t mind.”

“We’ll spend the night here, then be on our way back to
Boston at early light.”

“Then what?”

Aaron sighed. “I know not what.”

Her eyes roamed about the interior of the barn, and she
sighed. Everything seemed surrealistic to her now. They were in danger of
capture by British soldiers; she had just witnessed the opening battle of the
Revolutionary War; and now she was about to huddle in a mice infested barn. She
would never complain of being bored again.

“The hay looks soft,” she said, sinking down upon it. She
lay back and closed her eyes, letting the scent of the hay wash over her. “I’m
hungry again.” The meat pies they had eaten earlier had barely satisfied her.

She opened her eyes to find Aaron smiling down at her.

“My hunger is of a different nature,” he confessed.

Offering him her hand, she pulled him down on the sweet
smelling hay beside her.

“You’re wearing your glasses again.”

“I’m trying too.” His mouth met hers, and they kissed, a
long, intimate kiss that said more than words ever could. Murmuring each
other’s name, the kiss grew deeper.

“Ah, but you are sweet,” Aaron whispered many long minutes
later.

Ashley smiled as she held him closer. “You didn’t think so
once.”

“Ahh, but I only portrayed indifference,” he confessed. “You
are a most winsome morsel, Ashley Wheeler.”

His hand caressed her face. As his mouth lowered to take
hers again, he whispered, “You are so beautiful.”

She laughed, wondering why he could make it sound so
believable. “When I think back to the day that I fell through the roof of the
Green Dragon—the looks on your faces…”

“It must have been quite amusing,” he agreed dryly.

“If you remember, you wanted to choke me,” she reminded.

“Only because I thought you were a spy.”

Her hand drifted across the front of his shirt resting
against the coarse linen. She loved the feel of his warmth...she loved his dark
energy, a force that only now was she beginning to know. Over the past few
hours, she had grown to believe that their lives were indelibly bound. How or
why, she couldn’t explain. Nor did she want to try; being there in his arms was
enough.

“I know in my heart that you are not real, Aaron, yet I have
never loved a man as I love you.”

Catching her hand to his mouth, he kissed it.

“I want you to stay with me forever,” she whispered.

“Even though you remain convinced that I am a figment of
your imagination?”

“Oh, Aaron, I don’t know what you are. I only know I have
never loved anyone as much as I love you.”

“Even Joel?”

The mention of Joel’s name jolted her.

“Aaron, I’m so confused,” she admitted softly. “I’m not sure
of anything anymore.” She knew only one thing: She wanted to spend what time
was left in his arms.

He wrapped his arms around her, and for too brief of a time,
the world belonged only to them.

Suddenly a light appeared—a very bright light, and Joel’s
voice came to her as clearly as if he were standing in the barn. Startled, she
tried to lift herself up to go to him, but her body refused to move.

His face wavered slightly out of focus, yet she could see
that concern, and...love...yes, love darkened his eyes. He spoke, but his words
were garbled, and she couldn’t understand what he was saying.

She tried to reach out to him and call his name, but her
arms were so heavy that she was powerless to lift them. She tried to speak, but
the words refused to form. Joel...Joel…Ashley...Ashley...

Joel!

Come on, sweetheart...Ash...

Ashley awoke with a start. Aaron was holding her, his hand
brushing her hair back from her face.

“Are you all right?”

Ashley struggled to clear her mind. “I think so.”

“You were calling out a name.”

“Joel?”

Aaron nodded gravely.

“I saw him...in a dream. It was so strange.” She closed her
eyes, trying to recapture his image. “He was here, and yet he wasn’t. I tried
to reach out to him, but I couldn’t.”

Sighing, Aaron drew her closer.

“It seemed so real,” she whispered.

“It will all be over very soon,” he promised softly.

“What will be over soon? Aaron, do you know what has been
happening to me?”

“I only know that I love you, Ashley.” Gathering her close
in his arms again, he held her as the shadows in the old barn deepened. She
clung to him with a desperation that matched his own. Turning onto her side,
she burrowed her face against his chest.

“What will I do without you?” she whispered.

When Ashley woke again it was morning. Opening her eyes, she
gazed at the loft and the high ceiling of the barn overhead. For a moment, she
couldn’t remember where she was or why she was there, then a delicious feeling
of happiness washed over her. Aaron.

She turned her head in the hay and gazed at him. He lay
sleeping, his lashes two dark crescents against his lean cheeks. After rolling
onto her side, she rested her head in her hand and reached out to touch him,
then hesitated. Like her, he was exhausted. She couldn’t bear to wake him. Yet
she longed to touch him, to assure herself that he was real. So few things
seemed real to her right now.

He was sleeping so soundly that when her fingertips traced
his strong jaw and the outline of his lips, he never moved. Suddenly, touching
him wasn’t enough. She scooted closer and leaned over him, pressing her lips to
his, tasting him.

“You are courting danger,” Aaron murmured.

“Maybe I like danger,” she teased.

His eyes opened and he studied her seriously for a long
moment. “I love you, Ashley.”

“I love you, Aaron.”

Sighing, she nestled back into his arms, listening to the
early morning sounds filtering through the cracks of the barn. “I wish we could
stay here forever,” she confessed.

“We are in constant danger. This barn won’t provide us
protection for very long.”

“I know.” She rolled onto her back, her gaze meeting his.
“What’s going to happen to us?”

“You do not know?” he teased.

“I only have this horrible feeling that I’m about to lose
you.”

He smoothed his hand over her hair absently. “You will never
lose me, love. Though we may be apart, I will forever hold you in my heart.”

“Oh, Aaron...I wish it could be different. I wish I could
stay here with you. We could get married, and once a week Paul and Rachel could
come over to have dinner with us.”

“And our children, all six of them, would have red hair and
blue eyes exactly like yours,” he predicted.

“Six children?”

“Mayhap six is too small a family. Ten might be more
appropriate. Five boys and five girls.”

Grinning, she thought about the chaos and happiness such a
large household would bring. “If I could stay, there would be so many things I
could help you accomplish. So many strides in medicine have been made.”

“I wish I could have access to a great quantity of your
miracles,” he confessed. “Many lives would be saved.”

“I wish I could provide them for you. I’d like to tell you
about all the modern wonders that have been invented in my time. Did you know
that ninety percent of all the scientists who have ever lived are alive in my
time?”

He smiled at her lovingly. “I did not know. ‘Tis difficult
to comprehend.”

“Yes...though I may never get back there.” A tinge of
sadness entered her voice now, an unspoken longing.

Aaron gathered her closer. “Do you wish to go back?”

Ashley was silent for a very long time, then she said
softly, “I have mixed feelings. I know that I don’t belong here. Part of me
knows I won’t ever belong here, yet another very important part of me can’t
bear to think of leaving you.”

For the first time in her life she understood that love
wasn’t taking, or even accepting; it was giving.

Aaron understood that land of love. He’d put himself in a
precarious position with the patriots by not killing her as he had been ordered
to do. He’d taken a wild gamble in choosing to protect her, even when he had
found it difficult to believe that she came from a different century. During
their time together, he’d protected her and taught her much about dedication to
a cause bigger than himself. And last night he’d taught her about tenderness
and love. He’d shown her that if a man and woman could share that, nothing else
mattered. Whatever the future held, she would never forget these hours in an
old barn with Aaron Kenneman on an April morning when the whole world was
changing.

Tears misted her eyes as she clung to him, trying to free
herself of the ominous sense of impending doom.

“We must go now,” Aaron said.

“No.” Her arms tightened more securely around him.

“We must, Ashley.”

“Why? The British—”

“We must return to Boston. There will be more opportunity
for escape there, should it become necessary.”

She knew he was right. Boston would have strengthened its
fortification against the British troops. They would both be safer there, but
she wondered how they would make it back without being taken prisoner. British
troops would dominate the road for the next several days. How could they hope
to avoid discovery while traveling the fifteen or so miles back to Boston?

They held each other, trying to hold back the reality that
awaited them outside the barn. It suddenly occurred to her that the same
qualities she admired in Aaron, she’d complained about in Joel. Every time a
patient had taken him from her, she’d whined like a spoiled child. She realized
now that at least Joel had always returned to her. There had never been
anything between them nearly so large and threatening as a war.

Moving toward the door, Aaron suddenly held out his arm
warningly.

“What’s wrong?” she whispered.

Cocking his head, Aaron listened to the jangle of bridles as
horsemen approached.

Ashley grasped his hand. “Is it the British?”

“Get back,” Aaron whispered, moving her into the shadows.

After returning to the door alone, Aaron peered out through
the crack.

“Is it the British?” Ashley asked again.

The muscle in Aaron’s jaw worked tightly as he viewed the
company of redcoats riding toward the barn.

He glanced around to see if there was another exit. He
quickly located a matching set of weathered doors on the opposite end, but he
frowned when he saw that the bottom edges were firmly implanted in the dirt and
debris that the wind had swept in.

“Quickly,” he whispered. “Into the loft.”

Aaron tested the ladder, then motioned Ashley to proceed
ahead of him. They scrambled up the ladder and disappeared into the shadows as
the riders grew nearer. Crouching against the far wall, they held their breath
as the soldiers entered the barn a minute later.

“Looks decent enough for a few hours’ rest,” one of the
soldiers commented.

“I say we ride on. The horses can last for several more
hours,” the man with him said.

‘The horses may, but I can’t.” The first man’s eyes surveyed
the barn’s dark interior. “We’ll bed down here for the day.”

“As you say. Anything is better than the open country where
those rebel dogs can creep upon us.”

Ashley and Aaron could hear the jingle of bridles and
saddles being removed from mounts and tossed aside. By the sounds, Aaron could
tell that it was a small patrol, not more than six or seven men.

Ashley glanced anxiously at Aaron as the soldiers tied their
horses inside the barn, then closed the door. They couldn’t crouch this way all
day without being discovered.

Aaron shook his head, lifting his finger to his lips to
silence her.

They listened as the soldiers made preparations for their
morning meal. When the meager fare had been eaten, they rolled up in blankets,
and far sooner than Ashley expected, deep, resonant snores began to fill the
air.

Aaron nudged her, moving her farther back into the shadows.

“What do we do now?” she whispered.

Pressing his mouth to her ear, he whispered, “We do nothing.
They will only sleep a few hours. They will sleep too light for us to attempt
an escape. We must wait until they leave.”

Ashley nodded mutely.

Taking her hand, they lay down again.

The morning wore on. Ashley lay with her head on Aaron’s
chest, counting the swallows that flew in and out of the old loft.

By noon heat was building inside the loft, making it
uncomfortably warm. By mid-afternoon, Ashley was about to despair of the
soldiers ever waking up when suddenly something spooked the horses.

Three of the soldiers sprang to their feet, trying to orient
themselves. When the horses shied again, the other men bolted to their feet.

Taking advantage of the momentary confusion, Ashley and Aaron
inched silently across the floor of the loft.

Peering down between the cracks, they saw the British trying
to quiet their horses.

“Must have been a mouse,” one man grunted in a voice still
deep from sleep.

“How long have we slept?”

“Long enough. It is past noon, ’twould be my guess.”

The men knelt and began to roll up their blankets.

Something suddenly ran up inside Ashley’s skirt, and she
froze. Clutching Aaron’s hand, she mouthed a silent scream as the mouse darted
back out.