For All Of Time

Chapter 4

I was still mad by the time I reached the door where Lillian was waiting for me.

"Why are you all huffy?" Lillian asked.

"No reason," I assured her. I didn't want her worrying about some rude guy I was never going to see again. I think we already both had a lot on our plates to worry about anyway.

"Well come on then! We have some shopping to do," Lillian links her arms with mine and starts dragging me down the street.

"Oh, and Elizabeth invited us for tea tomorrow so we can get you a nice outfit for that as well!"

"You really don't have to," I tell her, cringing at the idea of having to wear a fancy dress.

"Nonsense! A lady should always look her best."

I don't know how many stores we hit up but Lillian must have bought me more than enough dresses, hats, and shoes. I wasn't even sure how long I would even be here.

My feet were starting to get sore from all the walking and shopping and I had hoped we would finish soon.

My prayers were all but answered when I saw a bookstore across the street.

"Lillian? Would it be okay if we took a look in the bookstore?"

Lillian wrinkled her nose. "How about you go to the bookstore while I grab a couple things in the dress store next door? Unless you wanted to look there too?"

I quickly shook my head. "No, I'm good."

Lillian and I both crossed the street and before we parted ways, she handed me a few coins.

"Buy yourself a book or something. You deserve it after letting me drag you around town to shop."

"I really couldn't." I try to hand the coins back to her.

"Don't even try it. As your spirit guide you are taking what I'm offering you. Besides if you're really worried about money, which you shouldn't be, by the way, considering how wealthy my family is, we can find you some sort of job. Something respectable. After all you're supposed to be 'high class' so I would prefer it if you didn't work at all."

"Thanks Lillian," I tell her, heading into the bookstore.

It wasn't a particularly large bookstore but it wasn't extremely small either. There were several rows of books, mostly non-fiction. I quickly made my way over to the fiction books and looked around at the options.

While there were so many good books to choose from, I picked out Romeo and Juliet, Pride and Prejudice, and Wuthering Heights. Even though I had read them all before numerous times, they were my favorites and always reliable for a good read.

Of course, me being the clumsy person that I am, I tripped over the edge of the bookshelf as I turned the corner and dropped all of my books. I bent down to pick them up, when someone beat me to it.

I stand up to thank the person who had picked up my books for me when I met a pair of gorgeous green eyes. Eyes that belong to a particularly rude person.

"You have got to be kidding me," I growl.

"I kid you not." The boy, who's name I still don't know, has a condescending look on his face. "You need to watch where you are going. I'm getting quite tired of being used as a bowling pin."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "It was an accident. You think I'd be anywhere near you if I had a choice? Besides, how about you watch where you're going." I cross my arms.

"I'm not the one tripping all over the place like a newborn calf."

"Do you always have to be so rude?" I reach over to him to grab my books out of his hands.

The boy brings his arms just high enough that the books were out of my reach. I hadn't noticed how tall he actually was until now.

"Wuthering Heights...Pride and Prejudice...Romeo and Juliet. Boring picks don't you think?"

"No, I don't think." I grab a hold of his arm and use all of my strength to pull it down. His arm barely budges but it lowers enough that I can grab the books. "They're my favorites."

"Why? There are so many more books out there that are far more interesting."

"Says you."

"Well I am usually correct."

"You are so infuriating!" I leave him at the bookshelf and walk over to the front to purchase the three books and quickly walk out of the bookstore before the boy has a chance to say anything else.

Luckily, I see Lillian coming out of one of the nearby shops just as I exit.

"All done?" She asks me.

"Yup. You?"

"I suppose this will do for now. We can just go shopping again some other time. Besides, I'm famished!"

We spend the rest of the day making small talk before I go to bed early and break open my copy of Pride and Prejudice. The book I had purchased seemed so old fashioned compared to any copy I could find back home and I wished I could somehow take it with me.

Wait...maybe I can.

I walk down the stairs, excited by my idea and find Lillian sitting in the parlour room drinking tea.

"Everything alright, dear?"

"Yes. But I had an idea and I wasn't sure if it would work?"

"What idea?"

"Okay, so I'm from the future, so I was thinking. If there are pictures or momentos like this book that I wanted to 'take back' with me when I go home, maybe I could put them all in a box or something to be saved until the year 2005?"

Lillian thinks for a moment before her eyes light up. "Brilliant! Perhaps we could place it in a safety box at the bank and you could come visit to retrieve it. Or the box could be passed down to my children until 2005 and they could send it to you?"

"I like the second option," I nod. "Maybe I could write down my address or something so whoever has the box in 2005 can send it?"

"Perfect! I have an old chest I was going to throw out that you could use and I'll get Anna to bring you some paper. Oh! And you can take your dresses! They're so pretty that all of the other girls in your town will be so jealous!"

I wasn't about to burst her bubble by telling her that nobody from my time wears dresses like that so I just smiled at her. I quickly wrote down the address while Lillian and Anna somehow managed to move the chest into my room so I could start filling it with whatever things I came across during my time here.