Page 24 of The Girl Out of Time
Whatever this was, it felt real, and she had to see.
She stepped through the passage.
Part 2
The False Heiress
Chapter 6
Emmeline shielded her eyes from the midday sun, shining in a clear blue sky. The heels of her shoes dug into the fine sand of the beach—the same beach near her cousin’s place, where she’d found the pendant. A light breeze blew, swaying tufts of long green grass and curling the ocean surface. A seagull cried above and sailed west, where the coastline rose into cliffs.
It made no sense.
She took a fistful of sand, watching it run through her fingers. The grating against her skin felt real; the wind and the warmth on her face felt real; everything felt too real to be a dream—and yet, it had to be.
But where had reality ended, and the dream begun? Had she lock-picked her way out of her cabin? The passage, surely, was already a part of the dream.
No use thinking about it now. She was here. Although, as locations went, a bit of a boring pick. She’d need to have a talk with herself when she woke up.
Unless the idea was to finally sneak into that pub dance.Hmm.Perhaps not such a bad location after all.
She turned in a circle, looking for the familiar path that led off the beach, but there were only the slight dunes and the grass.Thanks, dream.She’d head in the general direction, then—
A heap of dark clothing lying on the sand farther down the beach caught her eye. She approached it, breaking into a run when she realized the lump was a person, unmoving, lying on their stomach like a discarded ragdoll.
“Hello?” She dropped to her knees, the momentum almost sending her tumbling onto the man. Sand clung to his dark hair and wet clothes—dirtied white pants and a cutaway coat with brass buttons. The coat might have been a dark blue once, but was now caked in dirt, mud, and strange, dark brown stains. He didn’t respond. Emmeline glanced at the water and back to him.
Was he brought in by the sea?
She turned him over and gasped.
Leon.
“No, no, no!” She grabbed him by the frayed collar of his coat. “Leon! Leon, say something!”
A cascade of thoughts unleashed in her head. Why was he here, in her dreams? Why was he wearing a threadbare uniform? What happened to him? But none of it mattered at the moment because Leon …
Leon looked dead.
His skin was pale, lips tinted blue, and as she laid her hands on his chest, it didn’t rise. She glanced around in panic, but found no help and no answers. Her heart beat so fast. If only she could give him half of those heartbeats to bring the color back into his cheeks.
Think.Her mind flashed back to months ago, when they were still at home, preparing for the voyage to England. As she and Mother were picking what clothes to take with them, Brendon walked from room to room, reciting safety precautions from an old science book to anyone who would listen.
“Resuscitation methods,” he announced. “First off, stimulate the heart. For this, you might be required to maneuver the body into several positions and have a clear path to the person’s chest—”
“Brendon,” Mother admonished.
“Additionally, for drowning victims, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation—”
Emmeline grabbed Leon’s coat and, with some maneuvering, got it off him and tossed it aside. That left him in a worn-out shirt, plastered to his body—a strange style that opened only halfway down his chest. She didn’t know how to position him, but laying him on his back seemed good enough. She rose on her knees, folded her hands above his heart, and pressed hard.
Nothing.
“Come on.” Was trying to convince herself, or him? She repeated the motion, again and again and again, and somewhere during her futile attempts, all thoughts of this being a dream disappeared. The only thing that mattered was saving him.
“For drowning victims, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation—”
She held his chin, leaning his head back. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “This isn’t how I imagined it would happen.” And she covered his mouth with hers.
