Charlemagne Time-Travel Series

India Baldwin, young widow and now a secretary in the Cheswick University History Department, must update her computer skills before her new boss arrives. Hank, boyfriend of Willie, India’s best friend since childhood, offers to help. But Hank has installed a secret program that, with just one slip on the keyboard, sends India to an 8th century battlefield. Rescued by the handsome Theuderic of Metz, India must travel with him and his men to meet Charles, king of the Franks (Charlemagne) at Agen, where he is preparing for the ill-fated Spanish Campaign. As she falls into love with Theu and becomes fond of his troop, especially Marcion, a mischievous noble from Lombardy and Hugo, a solemn, impoverished warrior who longs for a love of his own, India wrestles with the problem of whether she should reveal what she knows will happen in Spain, information that could change history. She knows it’s ethically wrong to do so, but she fears for Theu’s life and for her new friends. At Cologne, the commander of a Frankish garrison entrusts his daughter, Danise, and her chaperone, Sister Gertrude, to Theu’s care. It’s plain to India that Danise and Hugo have fallen in love at first sight. During a peaceful stop at Aachen, India and Theu become lovers and Hugo and Danise grow closer. Hugo tells India he hopes to win honors and riches in Spain, so he can marry Danise. Hearing this, India again agonizes over the ethics of revealing the future to Theu. Meanwhile, India’s friends, Willie and Hank, attempt to bring her back to her own time and they almost succeed. India knows they will try again. In Agen at last, India meets Charles, king of the Franks, and the great scholar, Alcuin. She speaks privately to Alcuin who warns that Charles has made up his mind and will not alter his plans to invade Spain. Oddly, Alcuin seems to understand India’s time-travel problem but avoids talking about it. Desperate to save her lover, India ignores her conscience and warns Theu what will happen. The Frankish army marches off to Spain and the women and clerics, left at Agen, can only wait and pray. Now, fear of what she’s done oppresses India. Did she make the wrong choice? Will Theu’s untimely knowledge cause him to behave differently than he otherwise would? If so, what will happen to the future?

Sent to New Mexico to retrieve materials from Hank Marsh, the computer genius who recently sent India Baldwin to the 8th century, archeologist Mike Bailey gets into a fight when Hank won’t hand over two disks and a notebook he stole from India. Knocked against the computer, Mike puts out a hand to steady himself and finds he’s being drawn into a terrible blackness. He lands hard, hits his head on a rock, and knows nothing more. It’s spring in Francia, A.D. 779, and Danise is rather unwillingly at the annual gathering of the Franks, where her father, Savarec, wants her to consider three candidates for her hand in marriage. She and her servant, Clothilde, find an unconscious man in the forest near the encampment. He opens his eyes and asks if Danise is an angel. From his confused words, she understands he cannot recall his name. Clothilde brings Savarec, Guntram, who’s one of his men, and Count Redmond. They carry him to Savarec’s tent and tend his wounds. As he regains consciousness and his wounds heal, the stranger questions Danise about where he is and what year it is. She can barely understand him, but he seems to understand her fairly well. He says he’s clever at languages, though he doesn’t know how he knows this. He’s horrified to learn where and when he is, but cannot recall what happened. A folding purse in his pocket contains a miniature portrait of him, the words “Connecticut Motor Vehicle Operator’s License,” and his name. Danise names him Michel, after the archangel. Savarec calls Danise to meet the candidates for her hand. Count Redmond is the kind young man who helped to move Michel from the forest. The other two men are the elderly Count Clodion and the flamboyant Count Autichar of Bavaria. Danise’s chaperone, the tart-tongued Sister Gertrude, does not approve of any of them. That very day, Autichar trades angry words with Charles, withdraws his offer for Danise’s hand, and departs from the camp. Clodion is annoyed because Danise’s dowry is not as large as he expected. She doesn’t care; she can only think of Michel. Redmond offers to teach Michel how to use Frankish weapons. The two quickly become friends. Meanwhile, Clodion keeps trying to fondle Danise and ignores her obvious distaste for him. Michel, recovered except for his memory, kisses Danise several times. Upset and guilty because she enjoyed it, she confesses that she loved Hugo, a poor nobleman who died during the Spanish Campaign last year. Michel collapses after a strenuous session with swords. He awakens in the middle of the night, his memory returned. He doesn’t think Hank will make any effort to retrieve him, so he’s probably stuck in the 8th century, and must make the best of it. He offers himself to Savarec as a man-at-arms, and is accepted Charles organizes a large hunt. During it, Clodion kidnaps Danise. Michel joins the search for her. She’s with Autichar, where Clodion left her. The two have formed a conspiracy with the Saxons against Charles. Redmond orders Michel to take Danise and ride for the camp, where she will be safe. During a storm they seek shelter in an abandoned hut and there they finally make love. Now Danise understands why she is so drawn to Michel. Some part of Hugo lives on in him, and she senses that he approves of her new love. Clodion is caught and exiled, but Autichar is still free. Savarec is ordered to capture Autichar, now in Saxony. Michel and Guntram go with him. In the battle with Autichar, the traitor escapes, but Savarec is killed. Michel takes the body home, but soon leaves again with Guntram, to continue the chase. During the next battle, Michel is suddenly returned to his own time. Everyone thinks a great beast of the forest has taken him. When Guntram tells Danise this, she insists on traveling to the site. Meanwhile, Mike Bailey has blackmailed Hank into making one more try, to attempt to catch Danise and bring her into the present day....

On December 31, 1999, Gina is sent to make a last-minute repair to an old computer before the machine shuts down as the calendar turns to the year 2000. The next thing she knows, she’s falling through the air, watching mountains and forests go by and headed for a large stone building with a red tile roof. She lands on a man who’s lying in a bed – and there is no hole in the roof. The very surprised man, who says he’s Lord Dominick, asks if she’s a spy sent by Queen Fastrada. Gina obviously has no idea what he’s talking about. Dominick decides she’s lying or, possibly, she has been very sick, judging by the fact that her hair has been cut so short, most likely to save her strength. She learns she’s at Feldbruck, Dominick’s estate in Bavaria, and the year is A.D. 792. Soon she’s dressed in an ankle-length gown, helping the kindly chatelaine, Hedwiga, with household chores. Later, she sits on a stone bench in the garden, trying to figure out exactly what has happened to her. Dominick brings her a rose and begins questioning her, promising to protect her if she’s being forced to act against her will. The next day a visitor arrives. He’s Pepin, called Hunchback because of his crooked shoulder, and he’s the son of Charles, king of the Franks (Charlemagne) by his first wife. That marriage wasn’t blessed by a priest, so Pepin has been declared illegitimate. That evening Gina overhears Pepin telling Dominick about a plan by Bavarian nobles to remove Charles from the throne and elevate Pepin in his place. When Dominick says Charles will have to be killed to remove him, Pepin insists he will be sent to a monastery to live. He asks Dominick to join him. After Pepin leaves, Dominick says he is going to Regensburg to speak with Charles, and Gina must go, too. The next day, Gina climbs onto Dominick’s bed and tries to locate the hole that let her into his room. He finds her and demands an explanation. At last Gina reveals the truth. To her amazement, Dominick is willing to consider her fantastic tale. He suggests they search the attic, in case some sign of her entrance through the roof lingers there. They find nothing but a straw pallet on the bare floor, where Dominick makes love to her. It’s a revelation to Gina, whose past experiences were anything but tender. A week later, in Regensburg, Gina and Dominick set out to learn whatever they can about the conspiracy. Charles, king of the Franks is blond, tall, handsome and quite friendly. Gina likes him at once. His fourth queen, Fastrada, is gorgeous, with honey-gold hair, a perfect complexion, and deep blue eyes. But there’s discontent in her expression and her eyes are icy-cold when she sees Dominick. When Dominick leaves his house one night, Gina follows him to the cathedral. There the conspirators are meeting and the plot becomes clear. Gina and Dominick reveal the details to Charles, who orders all of the guilty nobles arrested – and Pepin, too. Those found guilty at the trial will be executed. Fastrada arranges to have Dominick implicated. Will Charles believe in his innocence? And will he order his own son killed? Will Gina be able to remain in Francia with the man she now loves more than life itself?