Chapter 4: What Year Is It?

Ebony Winters POV:

I can not believe this was happening to me. I was thriving through suffering in silence, but I was still managing all on my own. Now, all I wanted to do was take a semblance of a bath. How was I supposed to know getting downright naked and then jumping into a crystal clear pool in the middle of a broken-down portion of buildings would lead me here? Did I practically travel from one place to another? I didn't think time travel was possible, but here I am.

As I watched the man, he dropped the long rope he held in his hands, which seemed tied to the horse's halter. He looked directly at me and started to walk in my direction. "If you swim over to me, I'll assist you," he called out to me.

Somehow, I knew he wasn't going to go away, as he kept calling out. I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to work this out. I had never shown myself to anyone before, so how was this going to work with me being naked in the middle of this lake or pond or whatever it was? I also didn't realize exactly how long I had been swimming, either, and it was getting pretty chilly out here. I knew it was getting late as I could feel the temperature starting to get cool.

Back where this all started, previously surrounded by all of those buildings, the days were temperature-controlled, and it was kept decently warm even in the evening hours. Whenever this is, or wherever I am now, it feels like I have to be out in the middle of nowhere. How else am I going to explain being surrounded by trees and having no sight of any buildings whatsoever?

What happened to my suburban life? Wait! Did I travel in time? What else can I use to explain all of this? Suddenly, I regretted following that inner voice of mine. As before, it always seemed to get me into trouble. I didn't always have an inner voice to communicate with. I've only had one since I turned 18. Does that mean anything?

"Where are your clothes?" The man called out this time. I didn't even realize he had stopped walking and was standing there on the shore, looking directly at me now.

"Ummm...," is all I managed to say. How was I going to explain to him that I didn't have any clothes on?

"If you come closer, I have a drape I can place over you to conceal you," he called out, saying this time.

This guy was persistent. I'll have to give him that. Suddenly, I felt a shiver, a cold chill that ran down my spine. I knew I didn't want to catch hypothermia, so I had better swim to shore. But how was I going to manage to do that and not be seen naked by a complete stranger?

"Miss? I understand if you are somehow frightened, however...," he said when he paused, looking around. "I don't see any clothing for you. If you are injured, I can provide you with proper medical treatment."

Wait, what year is it? I seriously wondered as this guy seemed to talk like he was from a different era or time frame, as no human around me even remotely talked the way he did. Something about this whole entire thing just didn't seem right, and I needed to get to the bottom of it fast. Was that an enchanted pool that I somehow jumped into?

'Swim,' said the inner voice inside my head.

Great, now it decides to chime in on the conversation somehow. I felt as if it wanted me to be seen by a random stranger in the middle of the woods. Well, what do I have to lose?

"A-all right, I'm c-coming," I called out to the man.

When I got a decent distance closer to him, I watched him take off his trench coat, gently holding it in his hands. He maneuvered it up so that he held it out, completely blocking my view of him.

"If it makes you feel any better, I will hold it out like this, and you could walk up to me. Then, once you are close enough, I will drape this around you," he said, trying to reassure me. I seriously needed to know what time frame I ended up in because I was no longer in the year 2152.

"Y-you won't p-peak, will you?" I called out to him, asking as I was still pretty reluctant to come out of the water and walk on shore.

"You have my word. I will not take a gander at you," he called out in return. Then he gently shook the cloak he held out in front of him.

He won't take a gander at me? That is not a word I have heard except in one of the books I read about older times. I got another one of those chills running down my spine and knew I wouldn't be able to stay in the water too much longer before I froze, so I agreed with my mind's voice and worked my way toward the shore.

When the water level was no longer deep enough to conceal me, I slowly crept on my hands and toes, carefully watching his every move. To my surprise, he was actually a gentleman. He didn't look at me the whole time. Once I got out of the water, I stood up and slowly walked up to him, my arms crossed right in front of my chest. When I reached him, I turned around and placed my back close to the cloak he held in his hands.

He seemed to know I was standing there and lightly draped the very heavy material over my shoulders. I even placed my arms into the sleeves so I could wrap the material around myself better, trying to keep myself hidden from any prying eyes.

"You must be a long way from home," he said, trying to be friendly to me as he placed his hands on the tops of my shoulders.

Having an actual conversation with someone made it feel unreal, as I had previously been unable to have regular discussions with anyone. That made it more difficult as I was unable to have an actual conversation without trouble.

"Don't worry about the delay, child," he said with a pleasant tone, taking his hands off my shoulders.

I closed my eyes briefly, inhaling deeply. I was very appreciative of the fact that somebody wanted to have a conversation with me. Nobody else ever wanted to have a conversation with me, so to say this was nice was an understatement. This was the first time in my life, and the total thrill of a century. The loss of my parents hurt, as I missed the closeness of having a simple conversation most of all. Suddenly, he turned to walk around me and heard a low rumble coming from my stomach. It was letting me know it was well past time for me to eat dinner.

"Have you not had your evening meal yet?" the man asked, stopping and turning back to face me. "I have fresh meat left over from the midday roast. You're welcome to it if you like."

Meal? I thought to myself. Why didn't he just call it having lunch? Instead, I nodded as I wrapped my arms around myself. Something was seriously wrong with this entire picture. I needed to figure out how I got here so I could get back to where I belonged. I don't understand how this time travel thing was remotely possible.

"When you're ready, we ride for the castle," he said next.