Travels through Time, Part Seven
by Jamie

"Your friend is not coming with us?" Archie asked as they left Mrs. Rappaport's house.
"She is not my friend, she is just a co-worker," Amy stated.
"If you like, we can just go to the cobbler and that is all," Archie said.
"I want to see Plymouth. I want to see your favorite haunts and everything. We can also do the cobbler thing. I told Trudy that I would meet her at the milliner's at around 3 o'clock. That gives us half of the afternoon, all to ourselves," Amy said as she snuggled against his arm.
"Then we shall ëdo the cobbler thing' and I will show you Plymouth," Archie said to her as he smiled.
"Are you always this open and giving?" Amy asked him.
Archie gave a laugh, which seemed more like choking and replied, "Only to the people that I like."
"You mean that ëYou like me? You really, really like me?' " Amy said with mock seriousness in her voice. She knew he didn't get the Sally Fields quote from the Oscars. But, she could not resist giving the line.
They went to the cobbler and Amy was measured for a pair of boots. Instead of just getting her size. They made a tracing of the sole of her foot. Archie picked out black leather for the boots. Archie paid the cobbler extra to have them done before 3 o'clock. The boots that he picked out for her had a slight heel with ties to tighten or loosen that way it would be easier to get on and off.
Amy was amazed at how in control of things he was. This was very unlike the Archie of the series. Either Horatio had given Archie back his confidence or he liked her enough to give her the world. She did enjoy it. He had taste -- nothing too flashy or too plain. He seemed to know just what to get for her. Had he another woman in his life? Or did he?
Amy thanked the cobbler when it was time to leave the store. Amy said to Archie, "Being the son of an Earl comes in handy, doesn't it?"
"What do you mean?" Archie asked.
"I am sure you can't pay for all this stuff on a Lieutenant's pay. You must be getting some money from your father. Either that or you have a lady paying you for something," she said with a sly smile.
Archie stopped in his tracks. He was wounded at her accusations. Pain filled his face as he said, "I don't appreciate what you are implying. I have had other women in my life, but none who paid me for anything. As for my father, I get a subsidy from him. It makes up for where the Lieutenant's pay does not. What business is it of yours anyway?"
He stalked off and left her standing there. Amy was aware how wrong she had been. Here, Archie was being a gentleman and being nice to her. How did she repay him? She asked if he was a kept man. Talk about improper behavior. Amy knew she had to do something so he would forgive her. She ran up to him and called, "Archie, wait! Please, I didn't mean to imply. . ."
He stopped short and turned to her. The look in his blue eyes was not one of pain or hurt. It was not one of joy or understanding, it was one of anger.
"Archie, Lt. Kennedy, I know, you have a right to be angry with me. I would be hurt, too. Please, forgive me. Sometimes, my mouth gets the better of me. I am sorry I said the things I said," Amy pleaded.
"You should make sure that you have control over your mouth, Miss Bradley," Archie said bitterly.
"I know, I know. It is a fault of mine. How can one think before they speak if they don't think before they speak? I enjoy your company. You have done so much for me and look how I repay you. Please, Archie," Amy begged him.
Archie looked at her. She seemed to be truly sorry for what she had said. He didn't know what to make of this girl. Who was she? Where did she come from? It seemed that she just appeared on the street. Archie tried to remember when she saw her fall. He was looking on that side of the street, when all of a sudden, there was this blond woman fainting.
Amy said she was from America. Maybe that was the reason for her strange behavior and the words she used that he had never heard of before. Maybe they are used only in America. He looked into Amy's blue eyes. He knew that he could not stay mad at her for long.
"Miss Bradley, I -- I enjoy being with you, too. I am sorry if I was rash with you. I didn't mean to. . ."Archie apologized.
"You didn't do anything wrong. I did. If you still want to show me around town, I would love for you to show me," Amy said quietly.
Archie gave Amy a big hug. He wrapped his arms around her. It felt so right. He hardly knew this woman, why did she have this affect on him? Amy snuggled next to his chest, she was in Archie's arms. She wanted to stay like
this forever.
Amy thought about the women back in her time. This would be their
dream to end all dreams. Amy thought that some of them would rather it be
in the arms of Horatio, Edrington or Pellew, than to be in Archie's arms.
Maybe this was why she never met Mr. Right in the 20th Century. Her
Mr. Right was back at the turn of the 19th Century. She was just born too early. Funny, she always thought she was born too late. All the men she was ever interested in were younger than she. Even Archie was younger than she was.
Archie kissed Amy's head lightly and said, "Maybe we should do that walk."
Amy nodded to him. He took her to the docks and showed her the different ships that were in dock, he took her window shopping at the stores. He teased her by saying, "Maybe next time I will get you a little trinket from one of those stores. I do believe you have enough presents for today."
"But, Lt. Kennedy, the presents I received today were needed. I think a little trinket would be nice," Amy said to him.
"You think an evening frock was needed? I have a question for you, Miss Bradley. Why is it you call me by my Christian name some times and by my Sir name at other times?"
"Well, where I am from, we call people by their first names. I know it is proper in England to call people by their last names. I keep slipping up. Which would you rather call you, Archie or Lt. Kennedy?"
Archie gave a giggle, "Is that all it is? Here I thought you were coming on to me. I am sorry for jumping to conclusions. I know I got mad when you did that. I am sorry for that, Miss Bradley."
"You can call me by my first name, if you like. But, please don't add the Miss to it. Everyone in the Pellew house calls me Miss Amy. It is just plain Amy. They don't call Megan, Miss Megan or Marianne, Miss Marianne. I don't understand why they call me Miss Amy," Amy explained.
Archie smiled at her and said, "All right, Amy, you can call me Archie in private. But, I think to keep up appearances, we should keep to the Miss Bradley and Lt. Kennedy. We do have to mind appearances."
"What, do you think your name is Trudy?" Amy teased him.
"Humph!" Archie teased back as they both laughed.
The two of them had a small luncheon at an Inn called ëThe Spotted Hog', but could hardly get a word in edgewise. People came in and out of the Inn. Some were picking up their mail, while others were just there to socialize. Archie decided that they go for a walk in the park.
Amy decided that this was a good time to know more about this Archie Kennedy. Was he different from the C. S. Forester's, Archie? He sure seemed
to be.
"When did you become a Lieutenant, Archie?" Amy asked him.
"Before our last skirmish. Horatio helped me with my Lieutenant's examination. I do miss having him around to talk to. He is off on his own ship, the Renown."
"I am sure you will see him again."
"Yes, I will see him again. But, it won't be like the old times, where he stuck up for me when I needed it. I owe Horatio my life."
Amy had to ask, "How did he save your life?"
"I was stuck in a Spanish prison. That was a few years back. I was going a French ship, when -- well, the next thing I knew, I alone in the middle of the ocean, cast adrift. The Indy, the French ship, were both nowhere in sight. When I did see a ship, it belonged to the Spanish."
"Is that why you flinched when I said I would try to escape five times?"
"Well, yes, because I tried to escape from my captors five times before Horatio found me. At first, I thought he was a hallucination. Then, I thought I was the reason that he was not able to escape, himself. He told me that he would not leave without me. He truly is a great friend."
"You are lucky to have someone like him. I would love to hear about your skirmish. What was it like?" Amy asked.
"The Indy was slightly damaged in our last skirmish. Yet, we still won and took home some prize money. Do you know what prize money is?"
Amy nodded. She found out about that from the movies.
Archie continued, "Only a few people on our side were injured, but luckily, none were killed. Davey Jenkins got a splinter in his arm. He'll be all right. You should have seen the battle. The Spanish showed up on the larboard and Captain Pellew called beat to quarters. Do you know what beat to quarters means?"
"All hands to deck to take your battle stations?" Amy asked.
"Yes, very good. I, myself, was all ready at my battle station near the cannons. Captain called for us to get ready and fire on the Spanish ship. I had one of my men, Davey Jenkins, light the lynstock and fire."
"What is a lynstock?"
"You don't know what a lynstock is? That is the thing we use to light the fuse on the cannon."
Amy smiled embarrassingly. She knew there were things in everyday life that she had no idea what they were. She knew she should know them. She wondered how she could get around that little problem.
Archie continued his story, "My crew blew a hole in the Spanish ship, but since it was above the water line, it did not sink the ship or cripple her. The Spanish did, however, surrender their ship to us. They didn't want to be sunk. Plus, if the ship was sunk, I would be able to get you these nice things with the prize money I won."
"Prize money? Why didn't you tell me it was prize money?"
"You didn't ask."
"Yes, I did," Amy said as she playfully hit him against the arm.
Archie laughed as he held his arm. They found a bench and took a seat.
Amy asked him, "How did Davey Jenkins get hurt?"
"The splinter? Davey was in the way of enemy fire. When the Spanish shot back at us, Davey did not jump back fast enough and got hit with debris. His arm will be right as reign pretty soon. I missed being hit by inches."
"You could have been hurt or even killed. What would happen if you lost a limb?" Amy asked in a concerned voice.
"I used to worry about that. I joined the Navy for adventure. Well, I got that and more. Along the way, came death and destruction. You have to take a blind eye to such things. You can't think of them," Archie said in a melancholy tone.
Amy was concerned that she made him feel sad and put her hand on his. Archie looked down at her hand and held it in his and squeezed. She gave a startled gasp. It felt like a bolt of electricity ran down her arm.
"Archie. . ." Amy was about to say something when he put his finger to her lips and said, "Shhh. . ."
Archie leaned over and kissed Amy on the lips. As he pulled her closer to him, Amy nervously put her hands against his chest to push him away.
"We should not do this. You, yourself said you can not get involved with someone who is not nobility. I am only a servant. I can't get involved with you. Please, beg my pardon, but as much as I would like to but, . . . I just can't. Please, I have to go," Amy flew up and started to make a dash, when Archie stopped her.
"Amy, will I get to see you again?" He asked.
"I suppose so."
"I promise not to be so forward in the future. If you don't want to accept the dress. I will understand."
"I love the dress. I do want it, but. . ."
"Then, you shall have it. I don't want anything in return except that you be my friend. You are my friend, are you not?"
"I guess so."
"Good. Good day to you, it has been lovely taking a walk with such a lovely lady as you."
"Thank you for everything. I will see you again, perhaps. Hope you have a nice day, Archie, " Amy said as she walked into the milliner's shop.
Trudy, who was waiting, said, "I see you have finally made it. I have been talking to the shopkeeper about you. I discussed the dresses you are getting and the colors. We thought these two hats would be nice. What do you think? Would you like to look around for yourself?"
"Yes, that would be nice," Amy said in a distant tone.
"Where is your Lt. Kennedy?" Trudy asked.
"I told him I had to meet you and we parted ways," Amy said as she looked at a hat that looked like the one that Emma Thompson wore in Sense and Sensibility. Amy liked it, but it just wasn't right for her dress.
Amy looked over the two hats that Trudy had picked out and they were nice. She might have picked the one hat, if Trudy had not picked it out first. Then Amy laid her eyes on a simple straw bonnet with a wide ivory ribbon on it. She tried it on and thought, this is the one, it has the simple elegance she had been looking for.
She wondered what Archie would think about her in this bonnet, would he like it? She sighed in despair. She could not fall for Archie, nor he with she. What if she was to go back to her own time? To fall in love and lose it, would be
far worse than falling in love in the first place. Amy thought that she could so easily fall in love with Archie.
Amy decided that it would be best if she stayed at the Pellew house. She would stay busy with the children, that way, she would not have time to think about the illustrious Archie Kennedy.