Soon more Scots arrived and they loaded up what little plunder they found and left in the direction of Balloch castle.
They took two time-jumpers with them. The men looked mostly alive.
In Johnne Cambell’s book there had been only one man left alive but here, now, there were two.
Again I hoped I hadn’t changed anything, but at least there was someone left to teach Johnne Cambell how to use the vessels. It gave me a little hope that the timeline hadn’t been changed too much.
But Magnus still wasn’t here.
I was so sure he would be.
We walked further from the scene to discuss. “Where could he be, Quentin?”
He shook his head and looked away.
“I mean this was it, right? The moment Reyes would want to dismantle — if he was going to interfere it would be during this battle, right?”
Beaty asked, “Mightn’t he be inside the castle, Queen Kaitlyn?”
I stared in that direction. “I don’t know.” I added, “I would need to go check.”
Beaty said, “I will go for ye, I can talk m’way intae any castle.”
Quentin said, “That’s my girl.”
She giggled sweetly.
I rolled my eyes.
Then I agreed because she was definitely the one with the most skills in this situation.
Sixteen - Magnus
Fraoch gave me one of his belts and a leather pouch so I dinna look so sparse and desperate. As we walked down the main thoroughfare we kept our heads down and dinna speak, wantin’ tae be unnoticed.
We passed a tavern, stepped inside, and after disagreein’ on it, decided tae let me do the speakin’. I had studied for a time in London and had lived with Kaitlyn, my English was competent, whereas Fraoch sounded like a highlander and might cause onlookers to wonder why he wasna fightin’ at the siege.
Of course I was wearin’ a kilt, there was no doubt I was Scottish, but at least I wasna in a uniform like Fraoch.
I ordered us some ale and some meat and bread. We ate quickly savin’ some for the beginning of our trip. Then we went tae the dock tae speak with the captain of the Bellona about passage North.
Fraoch told him he was carryin’ a message from the siege tae the port of Savannah and after negotiatin’ we were allowed on board.
As the ship slid from the dock, we went below deck, to sit on low benches, tryin’ nae tae be noticed or talked tae until the port was well behind us.
* * *
An hour later I climbed up tae the deck and stood on the port side watching the long low barrier islands of northern Florida slip past. I was searching for the familiar one and soon found it, Amelia Island, here in the year 1740.
It was untouched, white gleaming sand, the morning sun glinting on its dunes. Twas verra beautiful and I couldna wait tae tell Kaitlyn of it, lyin’ in wait for her almost two hundred years afore her birth.
I watched the ocean for the sharks that would be here, but found none, and laughed tae m’self that the sharks were too busy losin’ their teeth.
I felt light for the first time in days. I hadna been recaptured and was almost away from General Reyes. I would make my way tae Savannah, then tae Scotland, I was already en route. It would take nothin’ but time.
The north end of the island held a wooden fort.
Fraoch met me on the deck and I pointed toward it. “Dost ye ken the name of it?”
“Nae, has been held by the Spanish, but is now held by the English. I haena stayed there. Why are ye so interested in it?”
“Tis a beautiful island, see the grasses? They are sea oats, waving in the wind as we go by. I think the dunes would be full of turtles, have ye seen a turtle?”
“I haena until I came tae the colonies.”
“I haena seen many wondrous things until I came here.”
He shook his head. “Daena be goin’ back. Daena be thinking on it long, Og Maggy, ye are headed north, tae home. From our ship deck the islands of the New World look safe and invitin’, but daena forget the shores hold dangers.”
I nodded. “The Spanish.”
He added, “And the Timucua. Tis nae fit for a Highlander, too low.” He chuckled. “I am hungry, Og Maggy, and verra tired. We needs be eatin’ and settlin’ in. I am told the trip will be another eight hours.
* * *
The trip up the coast tae the port in Savannah did take a verra long day. We left sight of land for most of it and there was nae much tae do. I used the travel day tae sleep as I hadna had much since I was last in Scotland at least a week afore.
When I thought on it, tryin’ tae remember my last night sleepin’ in a real bed, twas with Kaitlyn, at Balloch castle, the night that she let me take her on the high walls.
I remembered her glowin’ against the night sky. She tried tae tell me she wasna important because of the stars above us, but what were they saying? ‘I will light your way, I will take ye home again.’ Kaitlyn. She might understand the future but I kent her importance in my present and I couldna think of anythin’ else but gettin’ tae her.
I thought about her, ridin’ on me, wrapped in her blanket, the linen of her shift bunched in my hands as I directed her movements, these were my recollections as I fell asleep in the dark hold of a English ship, in northeast Florida, the year, 1740, runnin’ from Reyes, the Spanish, and the English, all. But for now, I was in the lead.
Seventeen - Kaitlyn
In the dawn we walked toward Balloch castle, giving the Scots from the battlefield plenty of time to get there ahead of us with their spoils of war.
It made me cringe to think of the battlefield, all those men, jumping and not surviving. I wouldn’t go back there. I didn’t need to go back there. I had a vessel. Quentin had a vessel.
Though we needed to figure out what to do about the ATVs.
Balloch looked a lot the same, imposing and old, though smaller than it would be in a couple hundred years. Quentin joked, “That’s odd, it’s smaller than the castle I know, younger looking, and the walls are standing. It’s almost like going back in time.”
Beaty removed her parka saying, “I do like the warmth of it verra much, Quenny.”
He said, “I’ll keep it warm for you, Beaty.”
I said, “You guys like each other so much, it’s really sweet.” I sighed. “But back to business, find out what you can of Reyes, is he dead, dying? Oh, and be careful of the Campbell men.”
She said, “Och, I ken of the Campbell men, I have been wary of them since I was a verra young lass.” Quentin groaned.
“Tis okay, Quenny, I will be back in a couple of hours. I will find out what I can of King Magnus.”
And Hayley and Quentin and I stood in the forest and watched her walk up to the front gate of Balloch.
* * *
Quentin wouldn’t move from watching the gate. Hayley and I were tired of standing so we leaned together under a tree and listened to Quentin as he fretted. “Why isn’t she back yet? Do you think we should go for her?”
“I’m thinking about how many times, inside that castle, I was kept waiting for someone to come talk to me. She’s well within that and maybe she’s eating something, maybe she’s waiting for the right person to speak to. Don’t worry, she’ll come out. She’s a Campbell woman, it’s not like she’s an alien or anything.”
“They weren’t aliens.” He said it without turning to me.
“I know, they were humans. Humans who were time-traveling and — do you think they’re the ones who invented it?”
“I don’t know, but their gear looked unfamiliar and futuristic and I’ve been three hundred years in the future, so it’s beyond that.”
I gulped. “Quentin, we killed four of them, their guards. If we hadn’t done that, would they all have been killed? If the Scottish men came on them when the guards were alive, I think the guards would have held them off. Did we cause their death? Did we set this whole thing into motion, the kings in the future, the wars? I didn’t show you the imag
es of what the future looked like, but it was like a Mad Max movie but worse.”
I was talking to his back because he couldn’t take his eyes off the castle.
He groaned.
And then we were both quiet.
Finally he said, “I don’t know. When you read the book before was there a mention of the ATV vehicles?”
“I don’t think so, but I did skim the section of the battle because I’m a huge dumbass.” I plucked some grass poking up through rocky ground. “We might have caused the humans from the future to die at the hands of these Scots and set this whole timeline into some weird disarray, and here we are, 21st century people, and our lives might have been determined by something we ourselves did in the 16th century. My head hurts.”
Hayley said, “My head hurts and I’m barely following.”
Quentin said, “You just said the 16th century, I’d also like to point out that you are terrible at keeping secrets.”
“Crap.” I slumped against the tree.
“Why isn’t she back yet?”
“Quentin, what if Magnus isn’t here?”
He turned, briefly, kindly, to say, “Then he isn’t here. That’s all it means. He’s somewhere else. I know it. He isn’t dead, Katie, General Reyes didn’t want him dead, so Magnus is just somewhere else.”
I thought for a moment then said, “Yeah, you’re right, yeah. I mean, maybe we’re wrong. Maybe this wasn’t why General Reyes wanted him. Maybe it had nothing to do with this moment in time.” I joked, “Back here in 100 BC…”
“Nice try,” Quentin joked, “I don’t see any dinosaurs.”
I sighed dramatically.
“Where will I look next?”
Hayley said, “Maybe he’s not the one who’s lost. Maybe you’re supposed to sit tight where he, by the way, knows you are supposed to be: that future house, taking care of his future affair-baby, and wait for him to come home. I mean, I know you don’t like waiting, you want to be proactive, but there was a moment there where we were really lost in the past and we had to kill some aliens—”
“People, men and women, just people.”
“Does it make you feel better to say that?”
“No, worse but—”
Quentin interrupted. “I gave the order. We had to get a vessel or we were going to die. So I gave the order. I’m the commander, I did that. You need to separate that from this. Those men were all dead anyway, hundreds of years before you were born. You just got them dead with bullets instead of swords. I think you should stop dwelling on it but if you can’t, then blame me. I can take it.”
“Thanks Quentin, I appreciate it, that makes me feel better.”
“That’s what commanding officers are for.”
I scrounged for some food in my leather pouch and passed out something that was a little like a protein bar but wrapped in future-plastic and plainly marked because it was military-grade, provided by Hammond.
Hayley said, “Yeah, so my point is if Magnus isn’t here, you need to wait for him. Do you guys have a plan in place for if you’re separated?”
“Not really, usually there are too many variables to have a plan, but the last thing he said to me was to always know that he loved me and to be strong, to not go weak. Because he had to fight Reyes.”
“Exactly, if he’s not here you’ll have to go back to the future and wait for him, and be strong. While he fights Nick, that total douchebag asshole motherfucking cocksucker.”
I laughed a little.
Then added, “He wasn’t fighting though.”
Quentin said, “He couldn’t. He couldn’t fight with us there, one or all of us would have ended up dead. He could only submit until we got away to safety. Now he knows we’re safe and he can fight. Hayley is right.”
“Okay,” I said, “If he’s not here I’ll go back and wait for him. Here’s a protein bar.” I passed one to Quentin and one to Hayley and we waited to hear what Beaty would find out.
Eighteen - Magnus
Twas dawn when the ship was nearin’ the Savannah port. I leaned against the rail with Fraoch and watched the coastline slide by. “Have ye been here afore?”
He said, “Aye, twas the port where I came in. The men on the boat were sick from the scurvy. Dost ye ken of it, Og Maggy?”
“Aye, I ken of it.”
“Twill be the death of men tae nae see the land for a long time. I hope ye be strong enough. I wouldna want tae cross again but I ken now what lies here and tis naethin’ but certain death. At the fort we had men sick and dyin’ all around us, and from that misery we were tae get ourselves up and take arms against the Spanish.”
I scowled.
“I ken ye daena understand my leavin’ my men, but I tell ye, Og Maggy, I heard a commander say we had been brought tae the colonies because we were merciless and we could live through any deprivation havin’ grown up in the highlands. He also said, I heard it with m’own ears, that we daena need tae be fed. We just had tae be told tae fight and we would kill. How is that tae be seen, Og Maggy?”
“I have been there, the last man tae rule over me had me fight for his entertainment.”
“Aye, then ye ken what I speak of.”
“I do.”
“Did ye win?” He chuckled, his eyes lighting mischievously.
“Aye, daena I look like I won?”
“Ye are alive but ye daena look like much tae kill for sport.”
I laughed. “You are the first tae think it of me. Aye, I killed every man he asked me tae kill. I was a verra good son for a time.”
“Your father?”
“My father.” I shook my head and joked, “He was nae a good father.”
“Och, he sounds verra unlikable. My father, Auld Fraoch, died three years ago. Twas why I left. I daena like the idea of home without him in it, but now I have seen the world and I can return. I would rather be near a home that reminds me of him instead of a cruel land such as this.”
“I have just lost the man who was most like a father tae me, Uncle Baldie. He was a good man.”
“Did he raise arms against the MacDonalds?” We passed wide marshes as our ship slid up the river tae the Savannah port.
“Aye,” I said, “and I think yer father battled a Campbell in his day as well.”
Fraoch said, “That he did.”
Nineteen - Kaitlyn
Beaty approached from behind, just about scaring the shit out of us.
After we recovered, Quentin hugged her gratefully. “Why didn’t you come back directly?”
“I kent I was bein’ followed.”
“I have guns! I’m your husband!”
“Och,” she batted him on the shoulder, “I ken how tae lose a Campbell man who is followin’ me. I have been a maiden for many long years.”
Quentin ran his hand around on his head frustrated and murmured under his breath about her not coming straight back, but I had more important questions. “Was he there?”
“Nae, the men in the castle haena seen any Campbell men that are strangers. There was a great deal goin’ on and the men were discussin’ everywhere what tae do. I found the woman who seemed tae ken a great deal and listened tae the story she told. She said there was a battle and she said there were two vile beasts that had been captured and were imprisoned under the castle.”
“I wish we could rescue them, poor guys, this is kind of our fault—”
“Katie, it was my call.”
“Right, it was kinda your fault. I still wish we could rescue them.”
“We can’t. One of them needs to be there to tell them how to work the vessels. We can’t screw that up or we screw everything else.”
“We might have already.” My thumb freaking hurt from where I was chewing my nail to the quick. A little drop of angry blood on my tongue from it. “What about Reyes? Did you find out anything about him?”
“I asked if they had been visited by Spaniards and was told there had been one, an envoy tae the king, but she thought he was gone
a’ready.”
“No one else knew anything? He wasn’t there injured somewhere?”
“Nae.” She noticed my face was white and fearful. “Twill be a’right, Queen Kaitlyn, Quenny killed him, I am sure of it. Tis why he isna around the castle now. He is dead in the woods somewhere and we winna have trouble from him again.”
“I hope you’re right.” I stared off at the distance. “And no Magnus?”
“Nae.”
“Quentin what should we do? Wait for tomorrow? From the looks of it it’s pretty late in the day.”
Beaty said, “Aye, tis growin’ verra dark…”
Hayley said, “It would be nice to get in a warm place with a—” She stopped herself. “You know, we need to find out about Magnus, if we go back now we won’t know… we should stay another night at least.”
Beaty asked, “Out here in the woods with the spirits and fae again, Quenny?”
“Aye, Beaty, one more night out here in the woods.”
Twenty - Magnus
The port of Savannah was busier than the one at St Johns. There were three ships anchored and wooden crates and barrels lined the shore. Fraoch and I spoke tae a few men, tried a first ship, and then found passage for us both on the second ship, the Deptford.
The crew was shorthanded. Men died comin’ across and men planned tae stay ashore tae make their living. They needed men tae work the ship on the return tae England. In exchange we would have provisions and a bit of paltry earnings, so when we arrived in London, Fraoch and I would be able tae buy passage tae Scotland.
I was starin’ down a road that would take a fair many months from my life. Without Kaitlyn. Without home. Without Chef Zach’s cookin’. But I couldna think of a way back tae them without this stretch of road. I kent I was too weakened tae fight my way intae the fortress, and Reyes was likely gone a’ready anyways.
Under the Same Sky Page 7