CHAPTER 4

Morning came too early, and with it, the discovery that it most certainly wasn't a dream. The panic finally settled in and Tianna spent the first hours of light alternating between crying and pacing her small space. She banned Thanlos from coming in, though he tried to offer her comforting words from the doorway, and later slid a plate with eggs and toasted bread beneath the door. She could hear the disappointment and worry in his voice but she still insisted he leave her be. She cried until she had no tears left and then fell into a fitful sleep with dreams where Bigfoot and pirates chased her through the mountains.

When she awoke the second time, she felt numb once more. This time, it had nothing to do with Thanlos but with exhausting other emotions. She retrieved the plate that had been offered and picked at the cold eggs and toast. Then, she re-braided her thick black hair and braved the rest of the apartment to find Thanlos gone.

After caring for her immediate needs, she carried her plate and fork to the wash basin she had seen Thanalos use the night before. A small chunk of white soap sat next to it, so she cleaned the dishes, then dried them with a strip of cloth she found nearby. It didn't take long to find their spot and she put them away and wandered toward the sitting area. The fire in the old stove had died down substantially but the temperature of the apartment was pleasant. A cup of something sat upon the table in front of the settee. She sniffed it and discovered, to her amazement, coffee. It was left for her, probably because cups didn't fit under the door and she had lost her mind every time he tried to open it. She carried the cup to the stove and set it on top of one of the burners, hoping to heat the liquid to at least reasonable temperature. Then she made her way to the windows.

Morning and daylight had wrought a significant change on the square. Men, dressed similarly to Thanlos if not a bit rougher, unloaded a horse drawn cart in front of the building across the way. Another shop, perhaps. Several more strode around going about their business. Women, too, had ventured out. They were easily distinguished by the long skirts and bound up hair beneath a wide variety of hats. She watched them for a time, fascinated, as they went about their errands.

Somewhere in the lower building a door opened, followed by the sounds of soft voices. She recognized Thanlos' gentle tones immediately, but the other, another man, was unfamiliar. She rolled her eyes at herself. Of course it was unfamiliar. Thanlos obviously ran some sort of shop on the edge of the village square, and he lived above it.

She felt safe in the private living space, so she meandered back to the stove and tested the coffee. It was warm enough to drink so she hunted the cupboards for anything that looked like sugar. She found it after searching several tins with markings she couldn't read. It would have been perfect to have cream to go with it but she didn't see anything resembling a fridge in the apartment, so she settled for what was available and pulled one of the chairs to the window to watch the square.

The horses reminded her of Ellie, whom she had left outside of the stand of trees at home. Smart mare, not wanting to face the monster. She should have listened to the horse. She wasn't too worried about Ellie though. She hadn't tied her, so, after some time when Tianna didn't return, she would have simply made her way home. Horses were good at that. What she did worry about was Carlos. What did he do when she didn't return? He must be worried sick. And all of the animals...no, she shook her head. Carlos would make sure the animals were taken care of. She had to focus on finding a way out of her situation.

It was mid-day when Thanlos pulled down the stairs and made his way into the apartment. His dark eyes met hers and relief flashed across his face, making her feel a little guilty about how she had acted that morning. He carried several packages wrapped in brown paper and a few sacks with indistinguishable lumps inside and made his way to the dining table. Three or four of the packages, he set aside, but two of the larger ones at the bottom he brought over to her. She looked at him quizzically, but he simply gestured for her to open them.

She sat in her chair by the window and pulled the string binding. The paper fell away to reveal yards of dusty brown fabric. She picked up the edges and it fell into place revealing a dress similar to those she had seen the women of the square wearing. The second package contained what she surmised were undergarments and a small brown hat. She stared at the items for a long time.

“I can't accept these,” she told Thanlos at last. “I'm not staying. I need to find my way back home. I've got to get back to that arch in the forest.”

He, of course, didn't understand and simply watched her. He had pulled several items from one of the other packages - bread and cheese, it looked like - and was in the process of preparing some form of food.

Tianna rose from her seat, pointed to the clothes and shook her head.

Thanlos frowned.

She tried explaining again how she needed to get back. She told him about her ranch and how she had to get to town and find a temporary job so she could care for her father’s legacy. She talked for a long while, tears of frustration streaming down her face. When she finally finished, Thanlos approached her, a hand out to offer comfort, but she backed away quickly, pulling herself out of touching range. Whenever he touched her, she felt too complacent.

He looked hurt but dropped his hand and didn't push farther. He did, however, point to the clothing he had brought her and then out the window.

She caught his meaning easily. She couldn't go out dressed as she was.

She sighed and rubbed her face. Maybe he was right. If women here were still restricted to dresses, it probably was not the type of place where she wanted to stand out. In Earth's history, terrible things had happened to women who stood out.

“Okay, you win,” she told him. Then, getting an idea, she grabbed the paper from the top package and mimed writing something on it.

Thanlos' eyes lit and he hurried away from her to pull something off a shelf in the dining room. He returned with a bottle of ink and quill. Oh boy.

Carefully, she moved the clothing off of the table, flattened out the paper, and then slowly, and with a fair amount of dripping, drew a decent facsimile of a map including the village and the forest with the best impression of the arch she could. When she finished, she looked up at him, and then pointed at the arch.

“I need to go back,” she told him.

Understanding flashed in his eyes, but he quickly shook his head. He took the quill from her and drew a circle with rays emanating from it and a crescent. The sun and moon. Then he crossed out the sun and pointed out the window.

He was right. It would get dark too soon, and with monsters and who knew what else lurking in this world, it was best to follow his advice. Hope filled Tianna. He hadn't said no outright, only that this was not a safe time to go.

She took the quill and drew a new sun.

“Tomorrow?”

He shook his head again and seemed to think about it for a long moment. Then, he picked up the quill and made a series of drawings. The first was the crescent moon he had drawn already. He drew a line of progressively fatter moons until, at last, he drew a compete circle. The full moon. This one he tapped and looked at her.

He wanted her to wait until the full moon. She had no idea how long that would be, and she most definitely couldn't afford the time. She shook her head and tapped her sun once more.

Thanlos was adamant, though, and, reading her frustration, he pursed his lips and then drew something more. It took a long while for Tianna to figure out what it was. Thanlos had beautiful printing and his representation of the sun and moon were nearly perfect, but it appeared his talent ended when trying to represent anything more realistic than that. The caricature was something like what a child would draw but she soon recognized the familiar form. Bigfoot. Thanlos tapped his picture of the creature, tapped the full moon, and then crossed Bigfoot out.

The creatures didn't come out during the full moon? That seemed implausible. Then again, this whole thing seemed implausible, and she certainly wouldn't find her way back to the area without him. Nor would she want to chance going alone if she didn't have to. Who knew if Bigfoot was the only monster out there in this place? As desperate as she was to get home, it wouldn't help anyone if she was killed before she could. She had never faced death as clearly as she had when Bigfoot came after her and she certainly didn't want to repeat the experience.

She sighed, tapped the full moon, and nodded her acceptance.

Thanlos nodded in return, gestured to the clothing once more, and then capped the ink bottle and returned to his task in the dining room.

Alright. Time to pretend to fit in.