Once they arrived in Edinburgh, they found an inn and settled in for a midday meal. They agreed to look for another seer at the merchants’ booths in the center of town. Hopefully, she would be able to direct them to the falls.
Brann had insisted on bringing a dozen guards, though the threat of Allie being taken captive had diminished now that Sam had admitted to his part in it.
Brann led the way into the vendors’ area, stopping to ask questions at each booth. “Have ye heard of any seers here?”
At about the sixth booth, he finally got an answer. “She’s over yonder. The old woman travels quickly. She willnae stay long, but she seems to be awaiting something or someone.”
Allie spun her head around and found her instantly.
It was the same woman she’d seen at the festival.
Allie decided to call her out on her fib. “I thought you said you weren’t a seer.”
The old woman fussed with the gray strands that had escaped her plait, a wide grin on her face. “I wasn’t a seer there. Only in Edinburgh. They cannot handle a seer in such a small area. I prefer to remain a mystery. ‘Tis the way of magic in Scotland. Ye are in special need of my assistance, but ye must promise no’ to reveal my secrets or I’ll no’ help ye.” She winked, something that caused Allie to notice why her gaze was so odd. She had one blue eye and one green.
Sam just stared at her, giving Allie a nudge. “Agreed,” he whispered.
Allie nodded, then said, “We need your help, so I’ll agree to keep your identity a secret.”
“Good,” she said, her eyes sparkling. “I see ye’ve met the person who was looking for ye.” She crossed her arms, taking Sam’s measure. “Ye need to get back. Whoever ye are, ye were no’ meant to be here. ‘Twas an accident that ye fell through.”
He glanced at Allie, who gave him a nod of hope, then turned back to the seer. “Just tell me how. I’m eager to get back to my family.”
She looked at Allie and said, “Take him to Leannan Falls. If he’s the only one in the water and he drops beneath the surface, he’ll go back.”
“Just like that?” Sam asked.
“Take this stone with ye just to be sure.” She reached into a small box and pulled out a stone, placing it in the palm of his hand. Small, clear, and polished, it nearly glowed in the sunlight. “Dinnae lose it.” She winked at him and moved over to talk to another customer.
Allie asked Brann, “Do you know where Leannan Falls is?”
“Nay. I’ll get directions from her when she’s finished.”
She squeezed Brann’s hand, then waited for the woman to finish. She hadn’t even had the opportunity to ask about her sisters.
The woman sensed their purpose, so she spoke directly to Brann. “Head south, ‘tis straight south for half of the hour, then follow the crooked path to the east. Ye’ll no’ miss it.”
She spun away from her before Allie could ask her important question, dismissing them with her hand.
She was tempted to wait her out, but Sam gave her an imploring look. The poor man was impatient to get back to his loved ones. They’d return once he was safely on his way home.
They headed back to where they’d left their horses, but a voice called to her from behind. “Allison Sutton?”
She spun around at the mention of her full name, praying one of her sisters had called to her, but in her heart she knew it wasn’t so. The voice wasn’t familiar. To her surprise, the seer was the one who’d spoken.
As Allie stared at her, waiting for her to explain, all the sounds at the festival diminished so that there were only two people there, as far as she was concerned. Allie and the seer, who said to her, “After he’s gone, come back to see me. Ye do belong here, and yer journey is no’ finished.”
Allie raced back to the woman and whispered, “My sisters?”
The woman shook her head and closed her eyes. “Send him back first.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
They arrived at Leannan Falls a short time later, pleased to find no one else in the area. Brann helped her dismount and she raced over to the edge, staring up at the top of the falls in wonder. The emotion roiling in his gut was more akin to fear.
“That’s it. This is the one we came through,” Allison declared, her head tipped back to take in the top of the waterfall.
“Do you think I need to jump in the way we did before?” he asked Allison.
“No,” she replied. “With that stone in your hand, I think it won’t matter. Go to the middle of the pool and duck under. If it doesn’t work, you can always climb to the top and jump.”
Sam’s smile stretched from ear to ear. “Good idea,” he said. “My apologies, but I’m no’ waiting. Thank you both for your help, but I’m in a hurry to get home. I wish you luck.”
Without saying another word, he climbed into the water and trudged through the pool until he was in the middle. Once the water was deep enough, he spun around to look at them one last time.
Brann moved over to her side and grasped her hand, intertwining their fingers. She held his hand with a death grip as though she still feared the seer was wrong.
Sam held the stone up for them to see, then dipped his head under the water.
Just like that, he was gone.
Allison giggled, turning to Brann and saying, “It worked. I think it really worked.”
Something landed at the edge of the pool, nearly at her feet. Allison leaned down to pick it up from the water, surprised to see it was the stone the healer had given Sam.
She turned it over in her fingers, then held it up for Brann to see. “I think I’ll save it.”
Brann reached over to run his fingers through her wild waves, massaging the back of her neck. “Allie…”
Her gaze popped up to his. “You called me Allie, not Allison.” A small smile crept across her face as their eyes met. His gaze then lowered to the small rock she tossed from one palm to the other. Did she wish to use it?
“If ye still feel the need, then go ahead and go back.” Hell, but that was the most difficult statement he’d ever made in his life.
She frowned, confusion all over her face. “You don’t want me to stay?” He could see the smallest amount of moisture welling in the corners of her eyes.
He cupped her cheek and kissed her lips, drawing out the moment so it would live in his memory. Finally, he said, “I dinnae want ye to ever leave me, but I wish for yer happiness more than anything. If ye must go back to be happy, then I want ye to go back.”
Allison just stared at him, her jaw dropping open. Nothing came out for several moments, and he watched as various emotions crossed her features, her big heart and her quick mind driving her thoughts in multiple directions.
Love, confusion, sadness, regret, so many emotions appeared to cross her face.
“Allie, ‘tis all right. If ye feel ye must go back, I’ll understand.” His thumb brushed her cheek before he brought it across her lower lip, now trembling. “Please dinnae cry. I can tolerate anything but that.”
She gripped his hand and kissed his palm. “You do love me. Only a man who loves me would tell me to go back.”
He glanced up at the gray clouds in the sky, saying a quick prayer that she’d choose him, but knowing he needed to let her go if she did not. “Aye, I do love ye.”
She tossed the stone over her shoulder, and they both listened to it land with a resounding plop. Brann smiled and she threw her arms around his neck and said, “No. I’m staying here. I love you too much to leave you. No matter what happens with my sisters, I’ll stay here with you. I wish to hold our bairns in my arms someday.”
He buried his face in her neck and hugged her around the waist, hoping she wouldn’t see the tears in his eyes. When had he ever been this happy?
She pushed back from him and said, “But I would like to return to the seer. Maybe she knows something about my sisters. It makes sense that they came through also, but there’s no way of knowing where they landed. Maybe one of the
m is here. Maybe…”
He kissed her, suckling on her bottom lip for a second before he said, “Back to Edinburgh we go.”
***
They’d returned to the merchant’s area in Edinburgh, but to Allie’s dismay, the seer was no longer there. In tears, she searched every path, every road, and every tent. To no avail. The woman had disappeared.
“Come,” Brann said. “We’ll find an inn and spend the night here. Mayhap she’ll return in the morn. ‘Tis late.”
Allie’s heart was breaking, but she nodded and went along with him, simply because she had no other ideas. If the seer was gone, how could she ever find her sisters? She barely registered what was happening as Brann led her into an inn and made arrangements for their stay. They ate beef stew in the common room, then returned to their chamber. Allie glanced around the simple room, but she didn’t really care what it looked like. She just wanted the night to end so she could begin her search again in the morning.
Not wishing to upset Brann, who looked almost as concerned as she felt, she said, “I’m a bit tired. Do you mind if I go to sleep early?”
He shook his head, kissed her quickly on the lips, and said, “I’m going to check on the horses. I dinnae always trust these places with my horse. Star is special.”
She managed to nod, but as soon as he left, she fell onto the bed and let herself sob. Before she knew it, she was fast asleep.
***
Brann crept down the stairs, not knowing exactly what he was to do, but he had to try something. After watching Sam just disappear in front of them, it had struck him, hard, that Allison could have disappeared just as easily.
She truly was from the future, and yet she’d chosen to stay with him.
This beautiful, feisty lass from a far-off century had come into his world and saved both of his brothers, perhaps even part of his family’s land, and she’d taught him how to love fully, holding nothing back.
He had to find her sisters. If they were truly in Edinburgh, he would find them. Fate had to be on their side.
A sudden image in his mind of his mother caught him. “Mama? Ye wanted me to accept her. Can ye no’ help me find her sisters?” Daft, he was turning daft over a lass. He shook himself and whispered, “Just lead the way, Mama.”
He wandered down the street until he reached another inn, which he entered. He glanced around the inn’s dining hall for anything unusual, but nothing stood out to him. After asking the innkeeper to look out for two lasses who spoke with a strange accent, he continued on his way. The same search at two more taverns yielded the same lack of results, but he kept going, searching the streets as he went.
He started to lose hope. “Mama? I could use a wee bit of help here.”
But what he saw at the fourth inn made him pause. Two young, brown-haired lasses sat at a table, whispering furiously, while two men stood guard. At least, they appeared to be guarding the women.
Brann stepped inside the establishment and found a table not far from the group, ordering an ale from the serving lass, who gave him a saucy come-hither look that he ignored. He watched the two lasses, trying to overhear their talk to determine if they shared Allison’s strange accent, until one of the guards moved closer to him. The man wore an unfamiliar plaid, but there was no mistaking the glare he gave Brann as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Stop yer staring. She belongs to me,” he growled.
Brann did not recognize him, but he did notice something that almost caused him to yell so loudly it would have echoed off the farthest peak in the Highlands.
The two lasses had turned to him when the guard spoke, and their blue eyes were the same unusual shade as Allison’s. What names had she called her sisters?
The Highlander reached for him just as he shouted, “Hannah and Caroline Sutton? I know where Allison is.”
The two ladies leaped from their seats, one knocking the chair over from her exuberance. “Allie? You know where Allie is?”
Aye, there was no denying it. It was the same exact accent, the same eyes, the same hope he’d seen in Allie’s gaze.
***
Allie thought she heard a sound at the door. Brann awakened her with a kiss a short time later, though it seemed like she’d slept three days away. It was still dark out, and he surprised her by holding his hand out to her and beckoning her out of the bed.
“What? Where are we going?”
“Just trust me. We willnae be long.”
“Did you find the seer?”
“Nay,” he whispered, not saying anything more, just squeezing her hand.
She sighed and followed him down the creaky staircase, hoping they weren’t bothering anyone. The inn wasn’t well lit so she clung to his shoulder as she followed him down the stairs and out the door.
The warm breeze hit her first. Medieval Scotland was a wonderful place, even in the dark of night. She rested her head on his shoulder, no longer caring where they were going.
She loved him and trusted him completely.
They strolled in the quiet of the night toward Edinburgh Castle. Brann tugged her to a stop when they reached a cobblestone courtyard lit up with torches, almost a park-like setting. Tucking her in close, he kissed the top of her head, then cupped her cheeks and said, “Remember that I love ye.”
She had no idea what brought this on, but she followed his lead as he turned her toward the center of the courtyard.
She saw nothing. Scowling, she turned back toward him to demand an explanation, but he just tipped his head and smiled at her.
A voice called out in the night. “Allie?”
Another voice echoed the first. “Allie, is it you?”
She knew those voices. She spun around, fearing all the while her senses deceived her. This was something she’d wanted so much she worried it was another dream.
Even in the dark, she recognized Caroline’s lithe form running toward her, Hannah’s voice coming from behind her. “Finally!”
She took off at a dead run toward her sisters, launching herself at the two of them with a squeal. Within seconds the three of them were jumping up and down like five-year-olds, hugging each other, crying, mumbling, and carrying on as though they’d never been apart.
She stopped, grabbed each sister by the hand, and turned back to Brann, just then realizing that he’d gone off to search for them while she’d slept, knowing full well he might yet lose her to them.
Their gazes locked together, and she smiled, trying to pour all her love into it. He smiled back at her, then said, “I couldn’t watch you like that. What you did for me and Taran, I had to try to do the same for you.”
Caroline said, “You’re keeping him, right? He searched all over for us.”
“He’s gorgeous,” Hannah said. “I can’t believe each of us met someone here! I’m already married and Caroline will be soon. You’re going to marry him and stay with us, right, Allie?”
Allie couldn’t believe her ears. “Hannah, you’re already married?”
“Yes,” she pulled back from her sisters and waved to a man behind her. “Meet my husband, Tristan.” A tall, handsome man came forward, nodding to her. In the excitement of the reunion with her sisters, she hadn’t even noticed the two hulking men standing behind them.
Caroline wasn’t to be outdone. “Meet my husband-to-be, Callum MacMoran.” The brawny Highlander smiled at Allie.
“Greetings to you both.” Then she glanced from one sister to the other and squealed. “I can’t believe this!” She tugged Brann forward. “Yes, we’re marrying. I guess you’ve already met him, but this is Brann MacKay, Chieftain of the MacKays.”
Caroline said, “Callum is Laird of the MacMorans.”
“And Tristan is Lord of Saxford Castle.”
Brann’s eyes widened. “How is he English when ye all came from Scotland?”
Callum bellowed out a laugh and clapped Tristan on the back. “True, he’s English, but he’s no’ a bad English.”
“How did you end up in Engl
and, Hannah?” Allie asked.
“I don’t know. I woke up on the shore off Saxford Castle without any memory at all. Where did you land?”
“In a faerie pool on MacKay land. I walked until I found a bunch of men fighting Black Brann.” She pointed her thumb toward him over her shoulder.
Callum let out a low whistle. “I’ve heard of yer skills, Black Brann.” He nodded with appreciation. “Also heard ye were bested by a lass. Was Allie the one?”
Brann pointed his finger back at her. “Aye, she kicked me in the bollocks.”
The group broke into gales of laughter.
“Allie, I can’t believe it,” Hannah shouted.
“You never would have done that in Maine,” Caroline managed to get out between chuckles.
“Wait until you hear the whole story.”
“Oh yeah? I bet you weren’t taken back to a medieval castle and locked up, just like a common criminal.” Caroline crossed her arms and pursed her lips, shooting an aggrieved look at her betrothed.
“I dinnae exactly lock ye up. I just said ye couldnae leave. I thought ye belonged to my enemy.”
Hannah pointed to Tristan. “Well, he wanted me to pretend to be a whore.”
“Not quite the complete truth, lass. I can explain,” Tristan muttered. Turning to Brann, he asked, “Did she truly kick you in the bollocks?”
“A wee lass like that?” Callum added with a chuckle. “No wonder word got all the way to here in Edinburgh.”
Brann shrugged and nodded. “Dinnae look so innocent, ye two. Ye couldnae ignore the feisty travelers any more than I could.”
“Feisty?” Caroline repeated with a dangerous edge to her voice.
Callum cast her a sly grin and said, “Ye were a fiery hellion. Sounds like yer sisters are the same way.”
“I was not,” Caroline’s retort rang out over the others. But she had her arms around her betrothed, and her actions belied her words.
“Allie? You think she’s feisty?” Hannah asked, staring at Brann in disbelief. “I never thought I’d hear anyone call her that.”
Brann quirked his brow and turned to face Allison. “Something new, lass?”
Falling for the Chieftain: A Time Travel Romance (Enchanted Falls Trilogy, Book 3) Page 17