Rowen and Kento were in separate cells.  Rowen was stretched out on his cot and with his eyes closed.  Of course she would be married.  It would have been too easy.  Kento had been babbling nonstop about being hanged.

 

"Are you having fun irritating me?”  Rowen asked.

 

"We're gonna swing from the nearest tree, Rowen!”  Kento answered.  "No one's gonna believe we're from the 21st century and the prick that threw us in here obviously has the money to back up whatever he says."

 

"If you're gonna complain, see if you can ramble us out of this prison."

 

"Duh, brainiac.  Let's just blast out of here with our armors.  It'll be..."

 

Voices approached.

 

"Mrs. Brandon, you know your husband will not be happy about his," the man said.

 

"Mr. Haverty, they will be gone before he gets home.  They were lost.  Pierce was just being stubborn."

 

The magistrate and Alexandra came in.  Rowen jumped up from his spot.  He certainly wasn't expecting to see her again.  She smiled at them and turned back to the magistrate.

 

"I'm glad to see you treated them well, Mr. Haverty."

 

The magistrate answered, "They are awaiting trial."

 

Alexa pulls something out of her small handbag.  She hands Haverty a slip of paper.  He reads it and looks at her, shaking his head.

 

"I'll leave it to you to explain to your husband."

 

Alexa gave him smile.  "Thank you very much."

 

Haverty pulled out his ring of keys.  He unlocked the door of the cells, letting his convicts out.

 

"Gentlemen, you are free to go."

 

Kento cheered.  "Woohoo!!!  We are free, we are FREE!!!  God, I hate prison."

 

"Thank you, madam," Rowen said.  "How are we to repay you?"

 

"I wasn't looking for any kind of repayment.  Now, if you'll follow me."

 

Leaving the jail, Alexa drove them in her carriage back to her house.  The butler promptly opened the door when she knocked.  He eyed the two men that followed her indoors.  Alexa told him to show them upstairs.  Going in the kitchen, Alexa ordered the cook to prepare a meal for her guests.  Nigel returned while she was making sure everything was in order.

 

"My lady, I don't like those men here without your husband being here."

 

"I understand, but it's alright, Nigel.  They're just passing through.  They're leaving tomorrow."

 

Nigel hesitated.  "Whatever you say, madam."

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

"Man, I am hungry!!"  Kento said.

 

"Yeah, it has been a while since we've eaten."

 

"You know, dude, I think that lady likes you."

 

"Pssh.  Yeah, right."

 

"Look, I might not have women falling at my feet like they do Sage, but I've seen enough women to know when one is attracted.  She is certainly attracted to you."

 

"She's married, Kento."

 

"So??"

 

"I don't know about you, but I respect the marriage arrangement, no matter how beautiful the wife is."

 

"You like her, don't you?"

 

Rowen didn't answer.  There was a knock on the door.  Rowen opened it to find the butler standing there.

 

“My lady has had a dinner prepared of you are hungry.”

 

“Heck yeah,” Kento said.

 

They followed the butler to the dining room.  Kento used every bit of willpower he could muster to keep from attacking the long table.  There were platters of sliced meat, cheese, raw vegetables, breads, and various desserts.

 

Alexandra came in the dining room.  She smiled at their reaction.

 

“Please, help yourself,” she said.

 

Kento was reaching for food before he even sat down.  Rowen pulled Alexandra’s chair out for her.

 

“Kento, calm down,” he scolded.

 

Alexandra laughed.  “It’s alright.  My husband is always gone, so I never have anyone to entertain.”

 

“Where is your husband anyway?”

 

“He left for Philadelphia right after he had you two detained.”

 

“Why did you save us?”  Rowen asked.  The question had been plaguing his mind.

 

“My husband is very well off amongst his peers.  We have been victims of poachers and thieves on our land.  You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.  We don’t know you.  My husband feared that if he released you on the spot, you could have gone to others and the raids on our property would be resumed.  I stepped in after he left because you don’t look like the kind of men my husband should have thrown in prison.  Now let me ask you a question.  Where are you from?”

 

Rowen and Kento looked at each other.  Kento resumed eating.  He was going to let Rowen take care of it.

 

“In what sense, madam?”

 

“Where do you live?  Wait, no.  Where are you trying to get to?”

 

He had to tell her.  There was no way around it.  “The year 2002.”

 

Alexandra looked at him.  Her mind was trying to process the numbers.  “Excuse me?”

 

Kento spoke up.  “We’re from the year 2002.  Two-zero-zero-two.”

 

“Are you serious?” she looked at each of them.  They didn’t respond.  They were serious.  “This is 1752.”

 

Rowen closed his eyes.  What happened in 1752?  Nothing…yet.  The French and Indian War would begin in two years.

 

“How did you end up here?”  Alexandra asked.

 

“It’s a long story,” Rowen said.

 

“I’ve got all night.”

 

Rowen explained about going hiking with Kento and three others, finding the cave and the blue pool.

 

Alexandra asked, “Where are your friends?”

 

“Oh, crap!”  Kento said.  “They’re still in the cave!”

 

“First thing tomorrow, we’ll go and check it out.”

 

“They’ve been there a while, though,” Rowen said.

 

“Alright then, we’ll go tonight,” Alexa replied.  “I’m warning you, though.  It’s going to be very dark.”

 

Nigel drove them to the clearing, lanterns hanging from the carriage.  The moon ended up being full.

 

“Wait!  There it is!”  Kento exclaimed.  Without waiting for a response from anyone or even waiting for the carriage to stop, Kento jumped out.  Nigel stopped the carriage.  Kento was already at the mouth of the cave by the time Rowen jumped out.  “Hey guys!”  Kento called into the cave.  He ran to the pool.  He didn’t see them.  He turned to Rowen.  Just as soon as he saw Rowen appear at the entrance, the blue light flashed, then went out completely.

 

“Kento?”  Rowen asked.  No answer.  “Hey, Kento!  If you’re hiding in here, it’s not funny!”  No answer.  Rowen poked his way into the pitch blackness of the cave.  There was no Kento, there was no light, and there was no pool.  Oh, my God.  He left and I’m stuck here.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Kento stood in the cave.  Rowen didn’t make it.  The light died out.  Maybe one of the other guys would have an idea.  He ran out of the cave.  He spotted this three other friends picking up their stuff by the stream.

 

“Guys!!”

 

“Kento!” they all exclaimed in unison.

 

“Sorry it took so long to get back!  We got arrested and we were sitting in jail and this really pretty lady helped us get out and she took us to her house and gave us this really big dinner!”

 

Sage said.  “You haven’t been gone but a minute.  We just got back.”

 

“We’ve been gone for about five hours.”

 

“I swear, only a minute has gone by.”

 

“Where’s Rowen, Kento?”  Ryo asked.

 

Kento answered softly.  “He didn’t make it.”

 

“You left Rowen??”  Cye said.

 

“I’m sorry, guys.  I thought he was behind me.  I waited for him, but that thing zapped be back here before he came.”

 

Sage asked.  “What year was it there?”

 

Kento thought.  What year did that lady say?  He was so busy shoving food in his mouth he didn’t really hear her.  “She said something like 1752 or 62 or something like that.”

 

“At least it’s not cavemen,” Cye added.