Chapter 8

Posted: August 31, 2006 - 04:32:02 pm

I introduced Brenda to Ben first, and then Courtney later on a Thursday. She seemed to like them, and thought they had an interesting home. A weekend get together was out of the question. Brenda had to work weekends, to give lectures to young children. Weekends were a busy time for her.

Brenda and I started doing things with both Ben and Courtney, going out as a pair of couples. Ben decided to move things along at a faster rate than I would have. What he did was to start asking, 'What's your favorite period in history?'

I said I liked two different periods: the old wild west, and the days of knights. Courtney went with turn of the 20th century, around 1900. Ben replied he liked several periods but his favorite was a toss up between the 1600's and also the specific historical era of the Age of Sail, roughly: 1571 to 1863, when the greatest ships were powered just by the wind. Brenda got into it and decided she would love to have lived around 1780, in either Boston, or London. The lady's dresses of that time were simply fantastic.

"Brenda, we are going to a costume party in a few days. It is 'period costume', of the time you are interested in. Would you care to go along?" Ben asked.

I was instantly suspicious, but Brenda's eyes lit up.

"Oh, yes! I can probably get the day off," her expression fell. "But I have nothing to wear," I laughed when she said that.

"That's not a problem. We have costumes of varying sizes. Well, access to them anyway," Ben replied with a way of his hand.

Courtney and Brenda disappeared into the kitchen, to make a salad for our meal. I looked at Ben.

"What do you think you're doing?" I hissed at him.

"Calm down, Scott. I am going to introduce Brenda to our world. I am going to take her to an English Ball, thrown by a Lord of that period, who doted on his wife. It will be easy to get invitations. What better way to let her confront the concept of 'talents'?" he asked reasonably.

"Well, I don't know. What if she freaks out? I'm not sure this is the right time or venue to do this," I said worriedly.

Ben chuckled. "You were supposed to win her over, Scott. I think you have fallen for her, as hard or harder than she has for you. Remember the big picture, Scott. Don't lose sight of it," Ben finished with a gentle warning.

"Yeah, I like her a lot. You said to go out and win her over, but that's a two-edged sword. I could never just lead her on. I respect her too much," I replied.

"Yes. Just remember why we started this," he said. "Here come the ladies," he added, and that stopped the conversation.

The girls put us to work helping to move everything outdoors, as it was still nice. They had decided on yet another outdoor eating adventure. Brenda was talking about the supposed costume ball, not knowing it was the real thing. I felt torn between warning her, and surprising her. She was an adventuresome person, I remembered. She should take it without too great of a kick-up.

Tom went into the house, and was gone for a few minutes. When he came back out, he told Courtney he had moved a few costumes out of storage. He said he had put them on the bed. The girls could try them on and choose an outfit, after they ate.

"You would wait until I stuffed myself before you mentioned that, wouldn't you," Courtney muttered in a dire voice.

We all laughed.

After the meal, we men would be put to clearing the debris. The girls disappeared into the house. After a goodly amount of time, both of the women returned. They were transformed into 18th century woman of high fashion. They were breath taking, really. It was a shame that some of that had been lost in today's standards. Ah, well. Fashion takes its toll.

"This could get uncomfortable," Brenda was saying as the girls returned from changing.

"How so?" I asked curiously.

"Did you know they have something called foundation garments, which are not conducive to breathing?" Brenda said a bit breathily.

"Well, just don't tighten them so tightly," I answered with a brilliant smile.

"Well, I can think of something to correct it. Just build in a bra, and disguise it to look 'period'. As for trying to squeeze my waist smaller, forget it," Courtney stated calmly.

The time for leaving for the ball was fast approaching. We were all dressed in our 'period' finest. I felt awkward, to say the least. Courtney and Ben carried it off like they were old hands at it. For all I knew, they were.

"Ok, Brenda, now comes the tricky part," Ben said.

"What do you mean? We do have invitations, don't we?" she asked, suddenly nervous.

"Oh, yes. The invitations are very real, and so is the party," Ben said, looking intently at Brenda.

"What do you mean? It's a costume party," Brenda said a bit confused.

"Allow me to demonstrate," Ben said.

With that, he moved us from 'here and now', to 'London of 1789'. We were in a different house, in a totally different location and time! I was still in awe over what he could do.

Brenda gasped. She looked around everywhere, wide-eyed at everything. She started to speak more than once, but nothing came out. She just looked and looked... then she fainted! I caught her just before she hit the ground. I carried her to a bedroom. I lay her on a bed, as we all gathered around her.

Five minutes later, she awakened. She was still wide-eyed, though. She looked at all of us, but didn't say anything. Courtney had told us to wait. We were to let her assimilate, before we tried to tell her anything.

"Can someone please tell me what's going on, and how you did this?" she whispered.

"We both seem to be with some very talented men, Brenda. My Ben can do several things, one of which is to move through time and space. Yes, he moved us to 1789 London. He has spent some time here already, establishing a house and making it ready for his use.

"Your man has the ability to 'remote view', and do a bit of telekinesis," Courtney continued, "which leaves you and I out of this club of theirs. Well, me, anyway. It seems you might have a strong 'talent', yourself. This is Ben's way of introducing you to the concept and possibilities of having a 'talent'," Courtney said gently.

"What's 'remote viewing' mean? I understand telekinesis, but I don't think I have ever heard of 'remote viewing'? And traveling in time? Isn't that impossible? Are we really, truly, back in time?" Brenda was full of questions.

"Yes, I can move through time, and move people and objects as well. As for your boyfriend's abilities? He can see any person, anywhere in the world, from wherever he is. He can view them, and their surrounding area.

"We are still trying to determine the 'remote viewing' range around the person he is viewing. He seems to be limited to a twenty-foot radius from the person he is watching. If he moves his 'point of view' further than that from his subject, it breaks the connection," Ben said.

I had been watching Brenda ever since she woke up, concerned. I had never seen anyone faint, before. She was full of questions. She didn't seem as frightened as I had originally thought might be the case. I mean, we did sort of blind-side her, and move her without warning her.

"How many people know you can do this?" Brenda asked curiously.

"Very few. Just Scott, Courtney, two others in England... and now, you," Ben responded

"I still can't believe it! I'm really in England of 1789?" Brenda asked, almost babbling.

"Yes, we are really here/then. London, to be exact. Now... I have gotten us here a little early, to allow you to get used to these facts. I have already made arrangements for a carriage to take us to the ball. The ball is being given by Count Gregor Malokovski. He is a distant cousin to the Czar of Russia. That means he is also related to the royal family, here in England.

"He absolutely dotes on his English wife, and does anything he can to please her. That makes him a most considerate person, when you take in the societal customs of this time period. Please, do not mention anything concerning the future to anyone, here. We try to impact time as little as possible, when we are 'time diving'. We do not want to create problems by changing the past," Ben stated.

Courtney took Brenda aside and had a talk about the way things were done in this time and Ben approached me. I was still a bit shaken by Brenda's first reaction.

"Well! Part one seems to have gone off fairly well," he said to me.

"You mean, except for her fainting? Yeah, it sure did," I replied sarcastically.

He waved that away dismissively.

"A minor reaction, considering what could have happened. Hysterics, denial, withdrawal, anger, fear. Fainting is probably a good way to initially counteract the first shock of the situation. Everyone deals with things in their own way," Ben stated, trying to calm me.

I nodded reluctantly. I understood what he had done, and why. I didn't have to like it, though.

A short time later we were in a carriage that was being drawn by two matched white horses. Kerosene lamps were lit on the four corners of the carriage. It was enclosed, to protect the occupants from the elements.

We arrived after about 30 minutes. It had been a leisurely drive from the house that Ben had bought. Ben's house was in well set up, but the house we arrived at was even more magnificent. It was well lit, and was bustling with people. Music could be heard coming from inside the house. Live music, of course, by musicians hired for the occasion.

We presented ourselves at the door. Ben produced the invitation and it was carefully checked, and we were allowed to enter. Courtney blended right in, as her accent was 'proper', to the locals. Ben, Brenda, and I, however, were a different matter. I also thought that our two women were the most beautiful women at the party. Face it, they had two hundred more years of evolution behind them; and both were good looking, to begin with.

A waltz started, and Ben invited Courtney to dance. They went twirling off on the floor, with about twenty other dancers. We watched for a moment, then I asked if she cared to try.

"Yes," she said shyly.

I held my hand right forearm out, as I had seen several men do. She placed her hand on top of it. I escorted her to the floor, and thanked god I was a quick study. Brenda said she and Courtney had practiced the waltz, and one other dance, together. I was not much of a dancer, but waltz steps are simple and repetitive. It was actually hard to look bad, when doing this dance.

After the waltz was over, the four of us gathered together as a group on the side, and we men went to get the ladies drinks. By the time we returned with the drinks, another couple was in conversation with Courtney. Brenda was listening, and acted a bit shy.

"Ah, you must be the husbands. How do you do? I am Lord Ashton Avery-Symthe. This is my wife, Lady Ann Avery-Symthe. A pleasure," Lord Avery-Symthe said.

I watched Ben for my cue. He bowed slightly to them both, and I copied him, though a bit awkwardly.

"I understand you're both from the colonies? What brings you to London?" Lord Avery-Symthe asked.

"Business prospects, and a bit of traveling. I wanted to bring Courtney back to England for a visit. We convinced our two friends to come along to serve as companions, and to see some of Europe with us," Ben responded.

"I was just about to comment that Courtney bears a remarkable resemblance to a member of our family. I wondered if she was related. Apparently not. Still it was a pleasure. I hope you enjoy your stay," he remarked, then left with his wife in tow.

"Damn, another Avery-Symthe. I seem to keep running into your family when I am over here, Courtney. Doesn't matter what time period I am in, either. I seem fated, somehow," Ben said and chuckled.

"Well, how did you like the London of 1789?" Courtney asked Brenda.

We were back in our present, and at Ben's place. We had spent a couple hours at the party dancing, and fending off several curious people. New faces were a treat to this crowd. It seemed that everyone wanted to see who 'the new ones' were.

"I liked it just fine, I am just wondering one thing," Brenda said slowly.

"What's that?" Ben asked curiously.

"Why tell me and show me all this? You have kept it secret, so you must have a reason," Brenda responded.

Oh, boy! Game time!

Oh, boy! Game time!