CHAPTER 16
“NOOOOO!” Cole cried out in anguish, his face in his hands. He couldn't bear to look up, he knew she wouldn't be there. “How could I be so stupid?” he kicked his foot into the dirt, “She was right there, why didn't I just reach out and grab her?” Cole slowly took his hands away from his face. Even though he knew she wouldn't be there he still felt a fresh wave of disappointment wash through him. As he looked around he was glad that at least he had ended up in a secluded place, there was no one to witness him falling apart. He knew he had to pull it together. It was so hard for him to keep going, he only had himself and his own heart to urge him on, no one else shared his burden.
He had ended up on the top of a hill. The grass was yellowing and there were trees scattered sparsely across a mass of golden rolling hills. As he peered down he saw a town in the distance. He wasn't sure if he should stop there or try and keep to himself. He didn't want to get tied into other people's affairs like he had the last time. Arlana would be his one and only focus. She held his heart and didn't even realize it. He felt a surge of jealousy rise up when he thought of the man who had come between him and Arlana when he had arrived at the Giordano's. He wondered who that man was to Arlana and he hoped she had not begun to give her heart to another. His heart flooded with anger when he thought of the bruises he saw on her face, he wished he could get his hands on whoever had caused them. “How could her father do this?!” Cole shouted out loud. For all he knew she could be married to another in this new life. As his eyes roamed the hills he waited for the pull, the pull that would guide him to his beloved. When he traveled into this time period he had left most of his supplies on the horse he was riding. All he now carried were his pictures, his Luckenbooth brooch, and the clothes on his back. He had no money or weapons. He felt the urge to go towards the town, maybe he could find a quick way to earn some money. A horse would surely get him where he was going faster than his feet would.