I nodded.
“Do ye promise?”
“I promise.”
He kissed me sweetly.
We descended to the great hall to get some thick and crusty, rock-hard bread for breakfast. I wished desperately for some coffee, but wishes don’t work with the impossible.
We went to the stables. It was very, very ice cold outside. I was wrapped in two wool shawls, but my feet were ice cubes. We each got a horse. Problem was, I was afraid to ride by myself. And my horse reared unhappily, menacingly, whenever I tried to get near it.
Magnus would ride with me on his horse. We would lead mine.
We waited on the path, seated on Magnus’s horse, for his Uncle and his six men to join us. But after a short while only two men appeared over the hill. Magnus grunted. “Tis only Sean and Ewan.”
He turned our horse to meet them.
Ewan’s face was blackened blue, swollen, and scabbed. He wore an angry scowl. Thankfully, he kept his eyes averted from my face. Sean, big and burly and gregarious, spoke in Gaelic at great speed about something while Magnus’s face drew serious.
He explained to me, “The Earl canna attend ye tae the castle. He has been called away because of an uprising and canna afford tae spare the extra men. I am again with two. You have only two men tae go tae the castle with ye. And one of them is Ewan. I told the Earl I winna stand for him being in your company, but he has either forgotten or daena care.”
Sean spoke in English for my benefit. “It will be good Mags. Look at me, the Earl has made sure ye have the best men. We will take care of Kaitlyn for ye.”
Magnus scowled. “Sean — if anythin’ happens.”
“What could happen, Mags? Ewan is the favored nephew of the Earl of Breadalbane. You are my brother. We will protect your wife as our own.”
Magnus agreed, apprehensively. Ewan and Sean mounted horses and we all headed east toward Talsworth castle.
At first the dirt road was wide and flat and accommodating. Magnus and I rode beside Sean, and the two brothers talked and laughed a lot. Ewan rode behind, quiet and sullen. Then as time passed, the road became smaller, increasingly rutted, and more difficult to traverse. We rode in single file: Sean, then Ewan, then me and Magnus riding behind. We lost them occasionally and caught up. Or rode faster, passed them, and waited for them to catch up. The conversations between Sean and Magnus were hilarious. They told long stories unbelievable stories about adventures that would surely have killed them if the stories had been true.
Ewan was surly, but no one seemed concerned about it, as if it was simply his personality, and not the behavior of a rapist monster who should be in jail. I was very bitter and hated him a lot.
Occasionally we passed farms. The road broadened. The fields looked much like fields from my time. For a while the road turned around a loch. The air was colder. The wind blustered, but when we entered woods the air warmed a bit. Magnus said, “We are only an hour away now.” I wondered how he knew his way.
We had a moment alone and Magnus said, “I have been wantin’ tae ask ye somethin’.”
“That sounds serious.”
“Tis. I canna get it off my mind.”
I steeled myself for a big important something. “Okay, ask.”
“The other night, Chef Zach made Buffalo Wings. I have been thinking on them since. I saw a buffalo hide while I was in London once and canna figure about the wings.”
Luckily my head was turned so he couldn’t see my stifled laughter. “They’re actually chicken wings. The recipe came from a city, Buffalo, New York.”
“Ah. So the buffalo dinna have wings, makes more sense.”
“When we get home, I’ll take you to the Jacksonville Zoo, show you all the animals. But you saw a hide?”
“Och aye, a hide and some other treasures from the new world. They were on display at court.”
“Last night you told the Earl that you hadn’t been at court.”
“I haena discovered what side he will end up on. At times he has been on the side of the monarchy, but now that King William has passed I dinna ken he will be a Jacobite. If he thinks I have been a friend of the monarchy, he may well think my side has been decided. Tis dangerous tae have my side decided by someone else.”
“It sounds really complicated. I kind of wished I had paid attention in my history classes. Though this is British history, American history is different.”
“Och aye, perchance when we get home we ought tae do some learnin’ on it, see what side I ended on.”
“The past tense in that sentence kind of freaks me out.”
“I am the past. Tis nae sensible tae deny the truth.”
“I guess since I’m here, I’m the past too. Oh man, what if I looked myself up, and I’m in the history books? That’s super freaky.”
“I canna bear the thought of ye ending here, mo reul-iuil. Let us please talk of other things.”
“Okay, buffalo wings then, that’s really what you’ve been thinking about?”
“And ice cream and pasta and—“
“Chocolate and coffee.”
“Aye, coffee.”
* * *
Finally we reached the end of the forest. At a low stone wall, beside a large oak tree, we all came to a halt.
Magnus said, “You will need tae ride alone now.”
“Yeah, sure, okay.”
Magnus dropped from his horse and I slid into his arms. Who was going to do this for me?
Magnus said, “I will wait here, until nine. If you arna returned I will come get ye. In the odd chance I find myself scaling walls, while ye find ye’self escapin’, return tae this spot. I will leave ye a message here, just under this rock, see?” He pushed aside a bush that stood at the inside corner of the wall.
“Also, see this tree?” He pointed up at the branches.
“And then look back at the castle, see the line of the wall there, note the size?”
I said, “Worst case scenario. I’ll get back here.”
“And ye journey. Just go, I will follow.”
I started to say no, but stopped. “Okay, worst case, I come here by myself and I journey home, by myself.”
“Worst case,” he agreed. He held my horse, talked calmly to it in Gaelic, and heaved me from behind up into the seat. Harder than before because I was wearing thirty pounds of wool clothing.
Sean joked, “Not much use for horse riding in the West Indies?”
Magnus adjusted a buckle. “Their horses are smaller and faster. They are called Mustangs. Kaitlyn is quite adept at driving them. But these speak Gaelic and are higher than she is used tae.”
“Ah, perhaps our new relations could ship one tae me. I should like tae add it tae my stables.”
Magnus helped me shove my foot into the stirrups, impossible to see under my skirt. I was definitely incompetent. Anyone could see. “I’ll have my father send a Mustang along with the sugar for the Earl.”
Next Magnus spoke to Ewan, his words loud, guttural, and angry. Ewan answered his words short and snarling. Sean aimed his horse between them, parting them, and pulled alongside me. He said something in Gaelic, short and clipped like a bark that caused Ewan to quiet with a scowl.
Magnus handed my reigns to Sean and patted me on the thigh. “I will be here when ye return. Be safe, mo reul-iuil.”
I nodded and Sean, Ewan, and I turned and trotted out of the forest toward looming Talsworth leaving Magnus. He stood forlorn watching me go. He had my vessel, the only way to return to my century. And I was headed the opposite direction. I was terrified, no matter what I said yesterday. The last thing I wanted to do was live here eating rabbits.
Chapter 25
A wide road led up to the large castle, actually much more like a palace, sprawling, majestic. A light stone facade, it was double in scale of Balloch. With many windows, a real estate agent’s dream. And I was way more frightened. Our horses kicked up a cloud of dust up a drive to the front. I held tight to the saddle because they were leading me far fa
ster than I wanted to go. I listed to the side occasionally and tried desperately to hang on. Sean spoke with guards, settled on a place to tie our horses, and held out his arms for me to slide into.
This was a huge mistake. I knew I was a foreigner in a strange land, but I was also on a dangerous mission. I could barely speak the language and I had never seen any of this before. I took a deep breath and tried to get on top of my rising panic.
I concentrated on my guard, Sean and Ewan, both so big, hulking, broad-shouldered that I felt protected walking between them. Even though Ewan was a terrifying monster. At least it wasn’t directed at me anymore, but that was barely a comfort. I seriously didn’t know how I was dealing with him — this was such a scary situation I couldn’t worry about the man that attempted to rape me yesterday? Though he was inches away?
I felt disconnected from myself, watching from the outside. Possibly the fear was causing a psychotic episode. Fuck, were there therapists here? My hands shook. My breath was ragged. I tried to be Haley’s voice of reason, Who’s going to go up there and be a badass? Me. Who’s going to rescue Lady Mairead, steal a time-traveling vessel, escape, and reunite with her husband in the woods in. . . I couldn’t continue because it was such total bullshit.
We were halfway up the wide steps to the imposing door, when from it stepped a man — dressed like out of an antique painting that would be titled ‘Our Forefathers’, powdered hair, breeches and a fitted coat, older, handsome, a broad smile across his face as if he expected us. Did he know we were coming?
“Welcome! Is this a surprise? I see there, Sean Campbell, son of my fair wife. Are thee well Sean? To what do I owe this pleasure?” He was British, so at least he was easier to understand.
Though his face smiled, it didn’t rise to his eyes.
From above me on the stairs he sized me up and down, took in the look of Ewan’s bludgeoned face, appraised Sean, and settled back on me with a questioning look.
Sean said, “Lord Delapointe, I have the honor of presenting my newly arriv’d sister, Kaitlyn Campbell, wife of Magnus Campbell, we are—“
“Kaitlyn Campbell! Well, well, a daughter!” He magnanimously swept down the steps and clasped my hands in both of his. “I am thrilled. And what a beauty.” He swept my hands out and appraised me awkwardly. I blushed and looked away. I was in way over my head. I glanced at Sean who interrupted, “Madame Campbell is here tae speak with Lady Mairead.”
He arched his brow, “Ah! Well, Mairead has just been taken to bed with an ill-defined ache and plans to stay there until the morrow. But when she hears of your arrival, Kaitlyn, I am sure she will rally. Please, come in, come in. But not all of you, just Kaitlyn. We don’t want to over-press Mairead’s health.”
Sean’s brow furrowed, “Nae, I am tae attend Madame Campbell into the castle. I have some messages for Lady Mairead as well. The Earl has asked me tae give them tae her directly.” Sean leveled his gaze and stood firm.
“Ah, yes yes,” said Lord Delapointe. “Fine, as a son of Mairead, you are always welcome.” Then he added, “And you Ewan, I do love to hear a battle tale and your face has a history about it. Come.” Sean and Ewan exchanged a glance. Sean lightly held my elbow guiding me up the stairs following Lord Delapointe into the interior halls.
I whispered to Sean, “Have you been here before?”
Lord Delapointe interjected, “The Campbell clan has refused us the honor of their visits until now. Lady Mairead feels the slight quite acutely, I assure you.”
I glanced behind me, Ewan was scanning left and right as we followed the passageways. The interior rooms we passed through were best described as opulent.
I asked, “Will you send a message to Lady Mairead that I’m here? My business is urgent.”
“Certainly.” He brought us to two guards standing in front of large closed doors. The guards opened the doors for him with a bow. The room we entered was amazing, lush and expensive-looking, with sweeping ceilings, gorgeous art, marble sculptures, ornate furniture, and exquisite rugs. I forced myself not to gape.
A small sitting area, a few chairs, a couch, and small tables were set at one end of the room near the fire. He offered us seats. “This is my cabinet. I hope you don’t mind. My public rooms are too large for the type of conversation we will be having.”
The two guards followed us into the room and now stood guarding the inside.
Lord Delapointe settled himself into a chair, sitting back comfortably. He had loads of charm, and a smile that looked overly practiced. His cold eyes chilled me all the way through.
I sat on the small settee to his left, Sean sat on the chair to my left. Ewan stood behind Sean facing the fire.
“Will your cousin not sit?”
“My cousin is more comfortable outdoors than in, always has been.”
“Fine fine,” said Lord Delapointe. His eyes studied the side of Ewan’s ravaged face.
There was literally so much going on here, I felt sure someone more adept, Lady Mairead for instance, or Oprah, would be able to figure out the nuances of the conversation. But the tiny pauses were beyond me. It felt very, very dangerous.
Sean and Ewan wouldn’t have come though unless they thought it was safe. Sean’s expression remained at ease so I was probably overreacting. Yet the guards were literally in the room with us.
“I really need to speak to Lady Mairead, please. Will you tell her I’m here?”
He leaned back languidly with a malevolent smile. “Where is your accent from? I’m having trouble placing it?”
“I grew up in the West Indies.”
“And where did you meet my stepson, Magnus?”
“In London, about three months ago, we wed soon after.”
“Ah, see, this is wonderful. Magnus was here, not long ago, visiting his mother, and he did not mention it. Tis a pity. I would have celebrated with him. And where is he now?” His voice had gone vague and disinterested, as if he really wanted to know, but was keeping his voice measured so as not to let me know how very much he wanted to know.
He was a super-villain and I was very much hoping for Batman to appear.
Or Magnus.
But this was a very dangerous place for Magnus. Heck, it was dangerous for me. I just hadn’t realized it until I heard the slithery voice of my step-father-in-law.
“That’s why I’m here, I haven’t seen him since just after our wedding. I was hoping Lady Mairead would know how to find him.” I added, “The Earl is worried about him.”
“Ah, his uncle. Yes. The Earl is worried about his nephew. Why didn’t he attend his niece on this visit? Oh, that’s right, the uprisings. He’s on the right side, the Earl, at least, though his methods are not quite as thorough as I would have wanted.”
He stood and walked to the back of his chair. “I’ll go and tell Lady Mairead you’re here. See if she will accompany us at dinner. Make yourself at home.” He swept from the room.
Sean said, “We canna stay for dinner—“ He glanced at the door, the guards were still stationed there.
“I have to see Lady Mairead before we go.”
Sean nodded. “Dost ye agree Ewan?”
“Aye.”
“Okay, we wait for dinner. Hopefully tis good, I’m famish’d.” And just like that the two men went completely blank, staring into space. Me, on the other hand. — I was about to fidget out of the room with nerves. I wanted to go on Facebook or Instagram. Scroll through my friends’ pages, look at their photos. Hayley, Zach, Emma, even Michael took cool photos. Quentin’s were weird; he liked guns, cars.
I opened my bag and glanced down in it. I had a wallet with some IDs and credit cards, my phone, keys, some Midol, and tampons stuffed in the side pocket. I would probably start my period day after tomorrow, great. Hopefully not in the 1700s where underpants were nonexistent. I clicked the bag closed again with a sigh. There was literally nothing in there that would help. I tried to go as blank as Sean and Ewan.
Finally, after more than an hour, L
ord Delapointe breezed back in. “Mairead is just thrilled you’re here. She’s promised to do her best to come to dinner. We’ll leave her a place.” He offered me an arm to escort me out of the room and through the castle to his great hall. He stopped along the way to show me tapestries, sculptures, and paintings of note. I paused dutifully and admired, but my heart and mind weren’t in it. I was too creeped out by holding his arm to be able to concentrate.
I had now been in two castles. One felt like what my mother would have called ‘old money,’ a phrase used to be complimentary. And one felt like ‘new money,’ a term used to be insulting. Lord Delapointe’s Talsworth Castle was ostentatious, overly done, and too lavish. Balloch castle had been cold and fortress-like, simpler, yet felt important and historic. I supposed it was all very historic from my point of reference. How many times had I said something was from ‘the Middle Ages’? I had often put a good portion of the past into that one time period, the twelfth century, fifteenth, eighteenth, it had never dawned on me that I should care what happened when. I never thought it would be applicable. It was all just a lot of very, very old.
Except for the long dimensions and sweeping ceiling, Lord Delapointe’s dining room was the complete opposite of the Earl’s. A long table, but covered with a table cloth. Thirty or more chairs only six places set. Five at one end and at the long, far away other end of the table, one setting. The table settings looked expensive — glassware, silverware, and china. Lord Delapointe had me sit at his left. Sean beside me. Scanning the room as we took our seats. Ewan sat across from me and Lord Delapointe sat at the head of the table, quite fussily I might add, “Well, isn’t this exquisite? A family dinner.” He looked down the table at the conspicuously empty chair with the full dinner setting in front of it and I knew with certainty that Lady Mairead would not be joining us. Was she imprisoned or just gone?
Ewan was flanked by two of Lord Delapointe’s men. Sean and Ewan exchanged a look and a small nod.
We exchanged niceties while we waited for our food. Sean ordered beers from a server and passed them to me and Ewan. He seemed at ease, but always scanning the room. I wished I could get him to just call off the meal, stand up, and take me away. But a pit of dread had settled in my stomach.
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