Garden of the Moon (11 page)

Never in all the time she’d known Sara had Julie seen her so driven, so obsessed with anything as she was with this idea that she could go back in time. Was this just a short reprieve? When Sara awoke, would she go back to living as she had before she’d collapsed? Would she once more start searching for an answer to a puzzle that had no answers?

***

The side of Sara’s bed dipped. Through the haze of sleep, she felt a strong hand cover hers and then squeeze it reassuringly. Peace, the first she’d felt in days, ebbed through her.

Warm breath caressed her cheek, and then a deep, gentle voice whispered in her ear. “You must sleep, and get well, my love. I need you to come back to me.”

She tried to open her eyes, but they felt like lead weights rested on them. Her voice wouldn’t work. Frustrated tears gathered behind her eyelids. Warm moisture trickled from beneath them and down her cheek.

“Please, don’t cry. It breaks my heart.” The voice quivered as though the speaker was trying to hold back painful emotions. A kiss fluttered across her skin, and the moisture was gone. “I know you tried, but don’t give up. You’ll find a way to come back to me. I know you will. But first, you must get well and stay well. You must eat and rest and stay strong.” A hand smoothed her forehead. “Now, sleep. Sleep, my love.”

Sara sighed and allowed herself to be lulled back into a deep sleep by the hand caressing her cheek.

***

In the next days, Sara often felt the touch of that hand and heard that loving voice urging her to get well. With each visit from the voice, she found new strength. Then another voice, a woman’s, had penetrated the fog in which Sara was enclosed and pressed her to swallow something that was sometimes bittersweet, sometimes salty. Whenever she thought about refusing it, that tender voice would fill her head…
You must get well, my love
.

In her cloudy state, she didn’t know why, but she knew she had to obey the voice.
She had to
. There was something she needed to do, something very important, and she had to get well to do it. What that something was, she couldn’t focus in on; she just knew it was urgent.

Gradually, as the days passed, the man’s voice came less often as did the woman with the funny tasting liquids. And slowly, Sara became more lucid, more aware of her surroundings.

She had no idea how long she’d been ill, but one morning, she woke up to sunshine pouring through her windows and bathing her face in warmth, birds sang in the trees outside and, although weak, she found herself feeling much better than she had in days. As she lay there, she shifted her gaze from the beautiful day outside the window to the painting above the mantel.

In her heart, she knew it had been his voice that had come to her and given her the strength to fight her way back. And she knew why. Now that she was well again, she had to renew her search for the key to going back to Jonathan’s time. But this time, she’d do it sensibly and not let it possess her every waking moment. She had to be well to go back to him.

Jonathan’s hand had stroked her brow and whispered love words to her. He had encouraged her to get well, and she would not let him down.

She smiled at Jonathan’s portrait. “Thank you.”

“Who you talkin’ to, Miss Sara?” Raina stood in the doorway, her brow furrowed, her hands clutching Sara’s breakfast tray. The woman’s sharp gaze scanned the empty room.

For a moment Sara had no answer. Then she grinned weakly. “You, Raina. I was thanking you for taking care of me. You did nurse me back to health, didn’t you?”

Raina set a tray containing a cup of steaming tea and a small bowl of Chloe’s special oatmeal slathered in sweet cream and warm honey on the bedside table. “Course I did. Me and Miss Julie. That girl fretted over you somethin’ fierce. I thought she’d be takin’ to her bed, too, and I was gonna be nursin’ both of you.” She clicked her tongue in typical Raina fashion.

Sara struggled to sit up, but Raina stopped her. “I want to sit up to eat.”

“Don’t you be doing too much right off. Here, let me help.” She leaned Sara forward then fluffed both her pillows and piled them behind her back and then tucked the eiderdown quilt close around her body. “Now, you just leans back, and I’ll put dis tray on your lap.”

Finding that, even if she wanted to, she wasn’t strong enough to protest, Sara did as she was told. She picked up the spoon.

“Now, you eats slow. Hear? You ain’t had solid food in you for a time. Gobblin’ down that food ain’t gonna do you no good.”

Sara nodded and took a half spoonful of oatmeal. As she slid it into her mouth, she glanced at Raina who was standing over her like a guard over a convict.

“When you’s done, Miss Julie is gonna have you carried down to the veranda so’s you can get some air and put some color in dem cheeks.”

The thought of being able to feel the sun’s warmth on her skin again made Sara want to wolf down her food, but with Raina’s stern gaze taking in her every movement, she didn’t dare. Instead, she forced herself to eat at a measured pace.

***

Samuel carried Sara through the front door and onto the veranda. The warm sun caressed her face. She took a deep breath. Coming into the sunshine and being able to breath fresh air again was like being reborn. Samuel deposited her gently onto the chaise that he’d brought out earlier under Raina’s watchful eye. Julie arranged the folds of Sara’s nightdress around her legs, and then covered them with a light blanket.

“You’re looking better already.” Julie sat in the rocker beside Sara. “You gave us quite a scare.”

Sara took Julie’s hand. “I’m sorry. I was being so foolish. All I could think of was—” She looked at their clasped hands. “Well, no need to tell you what I was doing.” She raised her gaze to her friend. “Raina told me that you’ve been taking very good care of Harrogate while I was ill. Thank you.”

Julie smiled. “You’ve allowed me to think of this as my home. I could do no less.”

“It is your home, Julie. It will be your home as long as you want it to be.” Julie began to fidget, and it wasn’t embarrassment because of Sara’s praise or her promise of a home. Something else was bothering her. “What’s wrong? What’s got you worried?”

“You.” Julie looked away, then back at Sara. “You were very ill, Sara. You almost— You have to promise me that you won’t do what you did before and make yourself ill again.”

Shaking her head firmly, Sara took Julie’s hand. “You have my promise that I won’t be so foolish again.” Despite her promise, Julie had to understand that Sara would not be giving up on her quest to return to Jonathan. “But I will continue to try and find the secret to going back to him.”

Like a flower wilting under a scorching sun, Julie’s shoulders sagged. “This is crazy. Going back in time is not possible, any more than going forward is. You have to give this up, Sara, before it consumes you again.”

It was hard to ignore the pain in Julie’s eyes, but Sara couldn’t do as her friend asked. The love she felt for Jonathan was far stronger than her love for her friend. “All I can promise is that I will not allow it to obsess me again.” She squeezed Julie’s fingers in an attempt to show her the importance of what she was about to say. “While I was ill, he came to me and begged me to get well. I know that it was because of him and his love that I fought my way out of that fog. He asked me to return to him. I fully intend to do just that, no matter what it takes.”

***

As the days passed, Sara became stronger and stronger, and little by little, she improved physically until she was once more herself. At the same time, she was aware of either Raina’s or Julie’s watchful gaze following her around the house. Since the day on the veranda she and Julie hadn’t spoken of Jonathan or her search for the key to going back to him, but Sara knew it was not far from her friend’s mind. And when she couldn’t be around, Julie had enlisted Raina in what she came to think of as the
Sara watch
.

Without a word and making a very bad attempt at trying to look innocuous, either Raina or Julie hovered about making sure Sara didn’t do anything that would make her ill again. They encouraged second helpings at dinner, suggested early bedtimes, and checked in on her before either of them retired for the night. While Sara found their concern endearing, she also found it annoying. It reminded her of being back in New Orleans with her overprotective mother standing guard over her virtue. But even their watchfulness could not dampen Sara’s determination to be with Jonathan again.

Knowing her room proved to be the one place relatively free of Raina’s and Julie’s anxiety, she took refuge there. Settled on the chaise lounge Raina had directed Samuel to bring back up from the veranda and put in Sara’s room for the afternoon naps the maid and Julie insisted upon, Sara settled back and closed her eyes. Not having entirely regained all of her stamina yet, it took only moments for her to feel the shroud of sleep enclose her.

***

The face of a woman with brown curls framing her not-so-handsome face gazed down at Sara. The woman’s wide, brown eyes reflected rage unlike any Sara had ever seen.

Katherine Grayson
.

Aware that this was nothing more than a dream, Sara struggled to rouse herself from sleep and in doing so from this nightmare, but she couldn’t.

“What do you want?” Sara’s voice trembled with the terror that had claimed her entire body.

Katherine threw back her head and laughed. The sound echoed around the room, chilling Sara to the bone. Continuing to glower down at Sara, Katherine pointed toward the bedroom wall.

Despite the paralyzing dread gripping her, Sara turned her gaze in that direction. What she saw made her heart cease beating for a moment. Knots of fear coiled tightly in her stomach. Numbing terror covered her like an icy mourning shroud.

On the wall, in letters that appeared to be written in blood, had appeared a bone-chilling message.

Return to him and die
!

Chapter 9

Sara bolted upright, eyes wide, heart racing. Quickly, she swung her gaze to the wall where the blood writing had been. It was as it had always been, covered in flowered wallpaper. The only marks on it were the kiss of the rays of the afternoon sun. Nothing else.

Gradually, her heartbeat slowed, and the fear that had invaded every nerve in her body ebbed. It had been a bad dream. Nothing more. She swung her legs over the edge of the chaise lounge and felt the reassuring firmness of the floor beneath her feet.

A light tapping sounded on the door. “Yes?”

The door opened slowly, and Julie peeked around it. “You’re awake.” She stepped inside and then stopped abruptly. “Are you okay?”

Sara frowned. “I really wish you and Raina would stop worrying over me like a dog with a bone. I’m fine.”

Julie didn’t look convinced. “You don’t look fine. You look peaked.”

“I just woke up. I doubt I look like the bell of the ball.” Though she tried, she couldn’t keep the knots of irritation tying up her nerves from coloring her tone. “In fact, I feel so fine, I’m going for a walk by the river.” She stood, slid Maddy’s diary off the night table and stuffed it in her pocket for later reading, then swept past Julie and out the door.

Julie followed close behind. “But, do you—”

Sara stopped and turned on her friend. “Alone.”

Looking abashed, Julie hung back and let Sara proceed down the stairs and out the front door.

***

The day couldn’t have been more beautiful. The sun glittered like a bright gem in a clear blue sky, not a cloud in sight. Sara luxuriated in the caress of a gentle breeze blowing on her sun-warmed skin. Beside the road, the lazy Mississippi slipped by on its way to the Gulf of Mexico, its muddy waters lapping the shoreline as it flowed slowly south to the Delta.

Despite the beauty and serenity of the day, Sara felt very guilty about snapping at Julie. She was mindful that, had it not been for her friend, Harrogate would have been ignored during Sara’s illness and that Julie had her best interests at heart, but if she was ever to figure out how to get back to Jonathan, she had to have time alone to think. With Raina and Julie hovering over her every minute of the day, that had become a near impossibility. Sara made a mental note to apologize when she returned to the house.

As she walked along the river bank, her thoughts monopolized by her quest, Sara suddenly got the unmistakable feeling someone was following her. She stopped and turned to find…no one. Squinting against the bright sunlight, she scanned the trees and bushes, but still saw nothing except bees busily pollinating wildflowers and the gentle sway of the roadside foliage in the breeze.

She shook her head. “Your imagination is getting out of control, Sara Wade.”

But after all that had happened lately, she couldn’t be too hard on herself. It wasn’t every day that paintings replaced themselves and messages written in blood appeared and disappeared seemingly at will on one’s bedroom wall. Or that one was catapulted fifty years into the past.

Dismissing her misgivings, she patted her skirt pocket to make sure Maddy’s diary still resided safely within its folds and continued on along the river bank. Up ahead, a fallen tree extended out over the water and was shaded by the wide-spread limbs of a majestic water oak. Enough of the trunk still rested on land to ensure stability, and two of the limbs provided a perfect place for someone to sit and read in the shade without being disturbed. Since it was close to high noon and the heat of the day was at its most intense, the River Road saw little traffic, so her chances of finally finding some peace and quiet were very good.

Sara gathered her skirts and settled herself within the embrace of the two Y-shaped vertical limbs. Her feet dangled over the muddy waters. Allowing the child in her to emerge, she swung her feet. The tree swayed gracefully in response. A bird sitting in the far reaches of the branches that extended over the water squawked and took flight. Evidently he too was looking for privacy. She smiled and leaned back against the branch that served as a backrest.