We Fall Like Rain

All's Fair In Love And War

The next day, Kalen was up, walking around the church with Maggie.
He glanced at the many books on the altar or on stands dotted around the hall.
One, of course, was what he gathered to be the bible. Some, however, were books on healing or medicine. He couldn't read them, they were all beautifully handwritten in very old English.
One read:
'Fæder ure şu şe eart on heofonum,
si şin nama gehalgod.
to becume şin rice,
gewurşe ğin willa,
on eorğan swa swa on heofonum.
urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us todæg,
and forgyf us ure gyltas,
swa swa we forgyfağ urum gyltendum.
and ne gelæd şu us on costnunge,
ac alys us of yfele soşlice.'

"The lords prayer." Maggie said, glancing over Kalen's shoulder.
"How could you possibly know that?" He asked grinning.
"Because you're reading a prayer book, and it's the first page."
He grunted and closed the book gently.
"What year even is it?" He asked as Maggie took a seat on a pew.
"By the looks of things, it's still Saxon England. Year, not too sure."

A nun came through the door, carrying a pile of parchment paper.
"Why don't we ask." Maggie said getting up and walking towards the nun.
"Hello, let me get those for you sister..."
"Sigeburg, and thank you."
She was young, with fair skin and brown eyes.

She gave Maggie half of the pile and they set it down on the altar.
"Just a quick question, you wouldn't happen to know what the date is, would you?"
"Tuesday, 25th." She replied.
"Of..."
"Of September."
Maggie scratched her head.
"And, the year?"
"You don't know what year it is?"
"Nope, we had a bad... fall."
"The year of our Lord, 1142."

Maggie went silent for long enough that Sigeburg looked worried.
"Is everything alright?"
"Where are we, exactly?"
"...Somerset."
"Right... Thanks." Maggie grabbed Kalen's arm and they sat back down in a pew.
She was shaking slightly.

"What so bad about this year?" Kalen whispered, holding her hand.
"Not year, decade." She looked him in the eyes and thought for a second. "I mean, it's not terrible, we just need to keep our heads down, especially you."
"Maggie, just tell me already." He was getting nervous now.

"Its The Anarchy. A war that lasted from 1135 to 1153. We are right in the middle of it."
"Right... We just need to find out what we did that made us move in time, and do it again. Can't be that hard."
"Easier said than done. Let me talk to Charlie about it."

Charlie was in Thalia's room when they found her. She sat in the same wooden chair with the same vacant expression on her face, her eyes fixed on Thalia's chest, as it rose and fell in a steady breathing pace.

"Charlie." Maggie said as she entered the room just ahead of Kalen. "How do you think we moved?"
Charlie looked up to face them, her eyebrows knitted into a tight frown.
"What year is it?"
"1142." Maggie said with slight optimism.
Charlie gave a nod then shook her head.
"Honestly, I haven't the slightest idea. Maybe we were in the right place at the right time and ran into another wormhole."

"But then the other people we were with would have come through with us, right." Kalen questioned, the optimism fading from Maggie's face slightly.
"Oh yeah... Let's just, take it all in stride. Kalen and I will take a look around, see if there's anything out of place, an anomaly or something." Maggie said, dragging Kalen through the door with her.

Maggie and Kalen split up, she decided to look inside and question the monks, whilst Kalen searched the grounds and where they all woke up.

He thought it was fun at first, for a second. Then when his friends got taken, he just wanted to get them back and home.
Looking at it all though, in the light of a new day, he found it all rather exciting. As long as they kept together, they'd be fine. They had to be.
Charlie was struggling, that much was obvious. She wouldn't talk about it, he knew better than to ask. After all, there was a time for jokes and a time for seriousness.

"How's Lia?" It was Niki who made him focus. She was stood by a tree at the end of the cemetery. In a few steps, they were next to each other.

"She's getting better, her fever broke in the night. Just resting now."
"Good."
"What are you doing out here?"
"Needed some fresh air."
"You have seen anything out of place, have you?"
"Yeah, us."
"Very funny, I mean, objects or something weird"
"No, nothing out of the ordinary, not for this time, anyway."

Kalen looked up at the sky and took a deep breath. If Maggie found nothing, what would they do?
"We're not going home, are we?" Niki whispered, tearing a leaf she held in her hand.
"We'll get there. We have to, I haven't finished watching the last season of 'Friends' and I need to know happens."
She gave a small laugh and brought him into a hug.
"I'm sorry I haven't been myself lately." Niki said into his ear.
"You don't have to be sorry for anything, Niki." He closed his eyes for a moment, breathing her in. Her hair smelt like flowers and maybe a bit of dirt. After all, they had hardly had the resources for a shower in the Viking village.

He opened his eyes and let her go. She smiled at him and he couldn't help but smile back.
"I guess I have a certain History student to apologise to. I haven't exactly been the approachable type these last few weeks." Niki said as she made her way back towards the church. He promised to himself as he watched her go, that he would get her home.

Kalen turned and searched the grounds for about an hour before he begrudgingly came to the conclusion, there was nothing to be found.