A Fall Through Time (Stacey and Shane Mcleod, #1) Read Online Free

can take the whole dang legion if that’s what he wants.”
    Stacey picked out a big horse and had a saddle on him in no time.  When Rodric noticed she sat astride a stallion and not a palfrey, he said, “Eric not be going to like this.” 
    “That’s tough,” Stacey said. “If we hurry he’ll never see us.”
    She was wrong.  He did see them, but the portcullis was up and they were through and on their way before he could stop them. The earl was watching and said to himself, she may think she has won this round; however, I will be ready for the next one. It was a beautiful day and Stacey was enjoying the freedom of a fast horse between her knees.  She was surprised to find a medieval saddle was similar to the western saddle, which she had grown up using.  When they reached the pristine meadow, it still looked as she remembered, and the rune stone was the vocal point of where she wanted to look.
    Stacey was running her fingers over the markings when Rodric asked, “Have ye seen stones like these before?” 
    “Oh, yes,” Stacey said. 
    “Where did ye see them?” he asked.
    “I don’t remember,” she said, guardedly.
    “Of course ye do. It be not necessary to lie to me, Stacey.”
    Stacey felt guilty about lying to Rodric, however, she knew she couldn’t tell him the truth, so she said, “I really don’t want to lie to anybody, but sometimes you don’t have a choice.” 
    “Mayhap when ye know me better, ye will trust me.”
    “Mayhap,” Stacey said. 
    Rodric smiled at her use of ‘mayhap.’ Stacey was walking around the stone when he asked, “What be this stone?”
    “It’s a Viking rune stone.”
    “Do ye understand the markings?” he asked. 
    “Yes, well, some of them.”
    “What do they say?” 
    “I can’t read it all.  This part says, ‘The hammer of Thor,’ and this says, ‘Valhalla.’ That’s all I can make out the stone is so weathered. I do know Valhalla is the Norse word for heaven.” 
    “How be it that ye know this much?”
    “I’ve studied the old Viking civilization and I’ve read the Anglo Saxon chronicles,” Stacey explained.  “Viking is an old Norse word meaning voyager or wanderer.  One of the first raids recorded was off the coast of Wessex, in the year seven-hundred-eighty-seven A.D.”
    “Yes, I know. I have read the chronicles of which ye speak. It be a collection of early historical text first assembled around eight-hundred-seventy A.D.”
    “Yes, your right. I believe, if memory serves the last battle between the Vikings and Anglo Saxons was the battle at Stamford Bridge, about 12 miles or so east of York, in the year 1066 A.D. You do know your English history, right?”
    “Yes, of course,” he said. “That be the year William of Normandy conquered England.” 
    “Yes it was,” Stacey said, “however, it might have been different if king Harold of the Saxons had not of had to fight and beat the Vikings, then immediately head south to fight William of Normandy in the south of England in ten-sixty-six A.D.  It was just too much for the Saxons.”
    “Ye know much of English history,” Rodric said, suspiciously.
    “That’s because I can read,” Stacey said, realizing she had said too much.
    “That be good; most women can not read at all.” 
    “That’s because your society prefers to keep women ignorant. I bet your mother reads, doesn’t she?” 
    “Yes, but my mother be a noble woman.” 
    “What about Lady Katherine?”
    “Yes, of course, she can read.  She be the wife of Sir Giles.  He be my brother’s second in command.”
    “How be it ye can read, Stacey? The truth please,” Rodric said. 
    Stacey was quiet for some time and then said, “I’m an archaeologist.” 
    “What be this archaeologist?” He asked, baffled by the word.
    “An archaeologist is a person that excavates studies and learns about ancient civilizations,” Stacey explained.
    “Be this what ye be doing in London?” he inquired.
    “Yes it