The Traveller

On the afternoon of New Year's Eve, he had taken her to bed and made love to her with a passion that she had never known and then afterwards for some strange reason he had checked his backpack. Jean wanted to cry but knew she had to stay strong, she had an inkling of what was about to happen, he had tried to warn her, but she'd had two years of happiness and knew that this was his destiny.

As the evening drew to a close, she found him pacing the farmyard, constantly looking at the sky and the hill as though he could sense something that she could not see or feel.

She went out to him and took his hand, waiting until he registered that she was there and looked at her. 'Go and get your pack,' she told him, 'I'll come with you.'

It was as though he was fighting an internal battle, the urge to stay against the greater urge to climb that damned hill she thought as she forced him to retrieve his backpack. Rugged up and with his pack on his back they ascended the hill together, hand in hand. Inside the treeline, they were sheltered from the wind and he switched on his torch until they came out into the clearing, brilliantly lit by moonlight.

According to Jeans watch, it was five minutes to midnight, the sky clear and bright with stars as she hoped that this was all a false alarm. Suddenly the moon seemed to disappear as it was covered by clouds and the wind picked up. Adam took her hand, leading her over to the shelter that she had been convinced was not there that morning when she had first met him. They had seconds to spare before the heavens opened and rain flooded down, the first crash of thunder booming overhead. It only seemed to last for a few minutes but in that time the glade had been lit by flashes of lightning and then two strikes which seemed to hit the same spot in the clearing.

And then it was gone, and the sky was clear, and she could feel a vibration through her boots. Adam stood and walked out into the clearing, holding his hand out to her as she joined him and took it. She was just about to put her torch on when a faint glow started in the pool, growing in strength until its fluorescent light illuminated the area.

Adam turned and kissed her, 'Come with me?' He asked her, but she shook her head and he seemed reticent to leave.

'You have to go, Adam, it's your destiny, not mine. You know where I am, come and see me,' she said as she let go of his hand and pushed him toward the pool, watching as he climbed onto the rock's, bent and dipped his fingers into the water. The flash took her by surprise, and she turned her head away from it and closed her eyes, when she opened them and turned back, Adam was gone as was his pack and the shelter. The clearing looking as it always had done.

Stoically, she dried her tears as she switched on her torch and set off back towards the farm.

It was the sunlight bursting into the clearing that brought Adam awake as he unzipped his sleeping bad and got up and stretched. Looking around the clearing he was elated to see that it looked exactly as it had years before, his washed clothes still hanging over the branches where he had placed them. That was a good sign he thought, at least it looked like he was back in the correct timeline, but outside of the woods, had time moved on?

Washing and dressing he took down his shelter and packed everything away making sure that the hollow and clearing looked as pristine as it had when he had first arrived. As he climbed the slope, he went over and took one last look at the headstone, surprised to see that it had changed one more.

'In Memory of Sarah and Adam'

'Reunited at Last'

His first stop was to be the farm to apologise to Sam if she still lived there and would speak to him and then into the village to pick up some provisions before heading out on the open road once more. At the farm, everything looked strangely familiar, there were more buildings now and things looked modernised, but it was still the farm that held happy memories of Jean.

He still wondered if time had moved on in his absence and as he approached the farm, he noticed a young woman working in the yard as he leant on the gate and called out to her. 'Hi, I don't suppose you know a young girl called Sam?' he asked.

She turned in his direction as he got his first look at her, strangely she seemed to be a mixture of Sam, Annie and Jean and with her blonde hair cascading down her back, was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.

'Are you Adam, the man that has been camping up in the woods, Sam has never stopped talking about you?' She asked with a warm smile.

'Yeah, is Sam about, I was just heading off and wanted to say goodbye,' he told her, relieved because he appeared to be back at the point that he had disappeared.

'Oh, that's a shame,' the young woman said, 'She's just out with mum, she said you were looking for work, but if you're leaving.'

Adam felt disconsolate at the prospect of not saying goodbye to Sam. He found it strange, sure that she had never mentioned that she had a sister, having made it sound as though she was an only child. 'Do you mind if I wait around until she returns?' He asked.

'Not at all, I'm Sarah by the way,' she said, shaking his hand.

While he waited, he gave her a hand around the yard, helping her with chores, exactly as he had done for the past two years.

'You can get me some animal feed out if you will, it's in the......'

'It's ok, I know where it is,' he said absentmindedly, going to the shed where it was kept and hoisting a couple of bags onto his shoulder while Sarah stared at him strangely.

He could hear a voice coming up the lane, smiling because there was no mistaking who it was as Sam got closer.

'Hi Sarah,' she called and then rushed into the farmyard when she spotted him, but her face turning to one of despondency and close to tears when she saw his rucksack.

'You can't go, Adam, you promised that you would stay,' she cried as she hugged him.

Sarah looked on slightly puzzled, Sam was friendly with everyone, but she had never seen her act like this with someone who really, was a stranger.

'I can't stay here forever,' he was saying when he heard another voice behind him.

'Is this your friend Sam?' The woman asked and then gave a startled gasp as he turned around.

'Hello Jean,' he said hesitantly.

The two of them stared at each other, silence seeming to descend on the farmyard as her bags of shopping fell from her hands. She wanted to run to him, to have him hold her in his arms and to kiss her, but the sight of Sarah staring at them strangely kept her rooted to the spot.

'Perhaps he has to go, Sam,' Jean was saying, 'You can't keep him a prisoner here.'

Her words were trying to get rid of him but her face told him that she wanted him to stay, she looked afraid, like a deer caught in the headlights and with her daughters so close, there was nothing they could say to each other. They stood apart, like two gunslingers facing each other until they were interrupted by the sound of a tractor returning, her husband and Sam and Sarah's father driving into the yard.

The man came over and held out his hand, 'You must be Adam, Sam said you were looking for work.' He shook Adams hand with a firm grip and seemed a friendly sort, 'If you're still interested, we could certainly do with some help at this time of year, ever worked on a farm before?'

Adam nodded, 'Yes sir, I've worked on a farm for the last two years.' He glanced in Jean's direction as he replied.

'Well then, you can start tomorrow if you want, there's a bit of a flat attached to the house, you can sleep in there if that's ok and then take your meals with us,' Jean's husband told him.

'If it's ok with you sir, I'll carry on sleeping in the woods and come down each day, I don't want to put anyone out,' his eyes were constantly flitting across to Jean and not going un-noticed by Sarah.

After he had set off to return to the woods, this time escorted by Sam, Sarah completed her chores, but she was worried and mystified. She could have sworn that her mother and the young man knew each other. Sam had said he had only been here for a week at the most, not enough time to get to know her mother and yet the look on their faces said an all lot more. She wondered now if her mother had been having an affair, surely not, there was too much work on the farm for her to go missing regularly.

Sarah was highly suspicious when after tea, her mother packed some of the leftovers up and announced that she was going to take them up to the young man, 'He must be famished,' she said, 'It's the least I can do if he's going to be working for us.'

Sarah would have liked to have followed her and Sam was adamant that she needed to accompany her mother, both of them disappointed when their father reminded them that there were still chores to get finished.

Adam had set up camp again and it was only as evening approached that he remembered he had no food. He considered going down to the farm and begging some when his thoughts were interrupted as someone came down into the clearing.

Jean was alone as she made her way towards him, placing the bag she carried on the ground.

'Hello Adam,' she said as she moved even closer, looking curiously at him, 'My God, you don't look a day older.'

'I'm not,' he said, 'It's probably only twenty-four hours since I last saw you,' he added with a chuckle. 'You still look gorgeous, how have things been?

'Rubbish,' she said, 'Look at me, I'm a middle-aged woman.'

'Not to me,' he replied, 'You're still the one I fell in love with,' he continued, advancing even closer to her.

Jean had not meant to, but she could not help herself as she found herself in his arms and their lips came together.

She hadn't stayed long, both of them knowing that what had happened in the past had to stay there, one part of her wanted him to leave, so that she could try and forget about him once more, the other part of her wanted him to stay, she had lost him once, she didn't want to lose him again.

Adam reported for work the next morning, the jobs he was set to do being only slightly different than what he had previously done. He worked hard and were possible, he and Jean tried to avoid each other but it was difficult when they worked in close proximity and he had his meals with them each evening before returning to his campsite. When she wasn't at school, Sam was a constant companion, following him around whenever she could. She knew she had been correct; Adam was making a perfect brother.

As that summer passed and winter started to set in, the family was adamant that he move into the flat, 'You'll catch your death up there lad,' Douglas, Jean's husband had said, 'And I don't want to lose a good worker.'

Even Sarah had begun to take a shine to him, she watched him often, he was certainly a grafter, content to do any job asked of him. There were still times when she felt that there was much unsaid between Adam and her mother, but there had never been any impropriety, not so much as a sniff. She had taken to nipping into the flat at the end of the day, chatting about things that only the young understood. Most times she was accompanied by Sam, who seemed to see herself as Adams guardian and so it was nice when occasionally she got him all to herself.

He was settling down one evening, Sarah and Sam had left a couple of hours earlier and it was getting late when he was sure he heard the flat door open as Sarah came into the room.

'What brings you back?' He had started to say when suddenly she had clamped her lips against his and kissed him.

Adam was startled momentarily but then kissed her back as their mouths pressed together and he pulled her tight against him.

'I want you!' She whispered.

Slowly they had undressed each other until he had lifted her and carried her across to the bed, Adam stroking her smooth soft flesh as their kisses grew more passionate. His hand moved upwards as he cupped her pert breast and fondled it, rolling her nipple between finger and thumb while his other hand gripped her buttocks pulling her firmly against his erection. Sarah had rolled him on top of her, 'Make love to me Adam, please,' she had begged as she opened her legs wide and fumbled for his shaft.

Their lovemaking was sensual and exciting as he penetrated her quim, making her gasp with surprise and pleasure when he filled her. He fucked her with slow measured thrusts, watching as she writhed beneath him, bending forwards, his mouth found her tits and nipples as he lavished them with kisses making her moan out loud while she stroked his hair. As her arousal mounted, she became more frantic, 'I'm so close Adam, please cum in me, I want to feel you cum inside me.'

His momentum increased as he fucked her fanny, her legs wrapping around him as she pulled him into her with each thrust until she screamed her release and he felt his cock twitch as he ejaculated inside her, his groan echoing around the room. They lay together spent, their limbs entangled together as the warmth from the stove in the corner, dried the sweat on their bodies. He barely caught her words as she dozed in his arms, 'Please say you'll stay forever.'

As winter turned into spring, it was obvious to everyone that Adam and Sarah were becoming an item, spending more and more time together. Whilst he still used the flat, he had taken to spending some evenings back up on top of the hill and in amongst the trees.

Jean could not miss what was happening, on the one hand, she felt happy for her daughter but remembered what she had felt like when Adam had suddenly gone from her life, and on the other hand, she was jealous.

For whatever reason, she decided one evening that she was going to take Adam some supper up to his encampment, unaware that as she set off up the hill, Sarah was following her at a respectable distance. Adam had welcomed Jean as they sat and chatted and she shared the supper she had prepared, Sarah stood in amongst the trees, watched carefully, she had been wrong, nothing untoward had taken place. Her mother stood, looking like she was about to leave as Sarah turned, ready to make her way home when to her horror, her mother threw her arms around Adams's neck and kissed him.

Sarah was trembling, that wasn't a quick goodnight kiss, that was a full-on kiss of passion, the tears welling up in her eyes as she turned and fled, she had been right all along, Adam and her mother were having an affair.

When Adam arrived for work the next morning, everything appeared normal at first until Jean corned him once her husband had disappeared. 'Have you seen Sarah?' She asked, 'She hasn't turned up this morning and her bed hasn't been slept in.'

Together they searched the outbuildings, Adam checking the flat that he used but there was no sign of the young woman. They were both starting to panic when the sound of the outside telephone bell startled them both, Jean rushing indoors to answer it. When she returned, she was as white as a sheet, 'She's at my mother's, Sarah saw us kiss last night.'

They both spent the day on autopilot, her mother requesting that she and Adam pay her a visit after tea. She had told her husband that her mother had not been feeling too good and that Sarah had gone to keep an eye on her. She was going to visit after their meal, and she was taking Adam to introduce him. The journey down was sombre, very little being said by either of them.

As they walked through the village, he could see the cottage up ahead, the type that you see on the front of tins of biscuits or chocolates and typified the quaint English countryside. Jean opened the front door and entered as he followed her in and she led him into the lounge, the elderly woman getting up from her chair, 'Hello Adam,' she said, 'I have been waiting a long time for you!'

Both Jean and Sarah watched astonished as Adam and Annie held each other tightly, he looked into her face as he stroked her hair and then her cheek, both of them had tears in their eyes as he kissed her gently and spoke into her ear.

To Sarah, this was not two strangers meeting, this was two lovers coming together after many years apart. She was on her feet now, wanting an explanation; it was as though there was a secret that she was not privy to and she had a million questions she wanted to ask, feeling that her grandmother had already met him.

'You have been having an affair with him,' she accused her mother, 'And what about you gran, you don't kiss someone like that when you have never met them before. How could you mum, you knew I was falling in love with him. Did you know about this gran, have you been keeping their secret?'

'Sit down Sarah, I have a story to tell you,' Annie said, waiting for her granddaughter to retake her seat.

'Did you know that I was born in Crompton Hall, as was your mother,' she told the young woman. She described how when she was twenty, she had met a young man, a man she had come across in the wood at the top of the hill and how she had fallen in love with him. He had tried to tell her he had come from the future, but she hadn't believed him at first, but slowly, as things he told her came true, she started to trust him. They had spent two years together she had said, until that fateful day when he left, and she had never seen him again until now.

'It was my own fault, he wanted me to go with him, but I was too much a coward and then he disappeared. I was there on that day when he went, his name was Adam, and he doesn't look a day older than the last time I saw him,' she finished, a tear rolling down her cheek as Adam lifted her hand and kissed it.

All the time she had been speaking she had been fiddling with a pendant around her neck, twirling it between her fingers as she spoke.

Sarah was looking between her grandmother and Adam, 'That's impossible, it can't happen, he must just look similar to someone you knew,' she said.

Before she could say any more Jean spoke, and now it was Annie's turn to look on amazed.

'It was 1973 and I was eighteen years old. I had gone up to "Adams Wood" and the pool there to relax when suddenly a young man appeared in the water opposite me. One minute I was alone, the next he was there.'

She went on to explain how she had befriended him and how together they had worked on the farm.

'He told me something one day that nobody could possibly know unless you could see into the future.

'Anyway, he told me to put a bet at the bookmakers and he was correct, and I won a lot of money.

'By the way Adam, I gave the money to Mr and Mrs Timpson so that they could retire. When mum sold the big house, I took on the farm and the old couple needed the money more than I did.'

Sarah looked at Adam, noticing the smile on his face and the memories in his eyes as he and her mother shared a secret.

'So, to cut a long story short, just like your grandmother, I fell in love with that young man and we had two years together.

'I was there on the night that he went and if I'd asked, he would have stayed, but he was trying to get back to someone, a young girl called Sam because she had befriended him and he didn't want to disappoint her, his name was Adam.'

Sarah was close to tears, 'It's just not possible, how could he have been away for years, if he had been with you gran, he would be your age. And the same with you mum, but he's not, he's only my age.'

It was at that point that Adam interrupted, 'As strange as it sounds Sarah, it's true, that's why I came to the farm that day, to apologise to Sam for being away so long.'

Turning to Annie he was inquisitive as he asked, 'What is that your twirling between your fingers, it seems familiar.'

Annie stopped and held it up so that he could see, 'It's a silver thruppence, I got it from my mother.'