by B Button
“I love you, too.” And in the next breath, the next blink, I was gone.
*****
And I was back. Back in the clearing I’d landed in the first time I’d gone to Scotland. I sat up with a fuzzy head, but I knew exactly where I was and what had happened. The ache of missing my mother hit me immediately, but I held on to the hope that I’d see her in three months.
It took me some moments to gather myself, but soon I was up running towards Berna’s. She’d stopped traveling but she didn’t know if time was still hanging on to her in Scotland. She said things might not have caught up, yet.
Soon, I came upon the cabin. It was still there! As I approached, I could see that it had not worn well over my last year. Every part of it sagged. I flung open the door, only to find it empty of almost everything.
“Berna?” I called. But the answer was the type of silence that confirmed that no one had been around in a very long time. The shelves were still there, still strewn with leftover dried herbs and crustiness of other sorts.
It was impossible to tell how much time had passed here. The cabin had been in such condition that she could have been gone for only a year and it would have fallen to this. I looked around for one last sign of her, but she wasn’t anywhere to be found.
I remembered the stone in the fireplace. I hurried over and pulled at the loose, flat rock. Underneath was a yellowed and folded piece of parchment with my name written on it.
With anxious shaky fingers, I unfolded the note and read the few words she’d left me.
Kally – my time in yer Scotland is almost over. I know it. I will miss seeing ye again. At the writing of this note it has been three years since ye have been here. Good luck. Things have changed at the castle, but ye need to find the answers yourself. Be happy, lass. It’s the least I can offer ye. I believe there’s a happy ending in your future – even if your future is in the past.
Three years? But after that, how many? I hugged the note to my chest and then folded it and put it in my pocket.
There were no goats around, but the well still worked so I drank some clear water until I wasn’t thirsty and then I took off again. In a run. I made it to the boulder, glanced at it longingly and then all around. Wouldn’t it be perfect if Mac were here? But he wasn’t. No one was. I kept running.
It took much longer when no horses were involved. It was already becoming dark and I was hidden by the last hill before the castle. I flattened myself on my belly and peered over. I needed to calm down before I stormed it. It hadn’t changed all that much. The stables that had burned down had been replaced, but they didn’t look brand new. The bridge over the stream actually looked in better condition than it had the time I was here. And, everything was well-groomed and well taken care of. There were people walking around the grounds, the bridge and the courtyard, but from where I was I couldn’t recognize anyone.
As I watched the goings-on, I became frightened. Here I was again. Invading on these peoples’ lives, imposing on their very existence. I knew they liked me, I knew Mac loved me, but how fair was this, really? How much patience did they have?
I laughed. “Mom,” I said to the air. “We didn’t think about them, we didn’t talk about them. We only talked about us.”
It was selfish, but I didn’t care as much as I should have. I just wanted to see Mac. I stood, brushed myself off. I was ready.
But my next step was thwarted. From the other side of the grounds, I saw people I recognized. Or at least I thought I did. I was positive I was seeing Isla and her father riding toward the bridge.
Isla was still petite, but her head was covered by the hood of a cloak. I couldn’t tell how old she was, but from the way she sat on the horse, she didn’t seem that much older. Ivar Lennox had a salt and pepper braid, but he sat straight and strong as well. Darkness was coming on quickly, so I couldn’t get a good enough look to judge much of anything. The sight of them halted me cold. I did not want to announce my arrival at the same time they were visiting.
I also didn’t want to wait any longer.
I went back and forth for a long time, finally deciding that the night wasn’t going to be stormy or too cold for me wait outside. I could present myself when they left. Perhaps I could find Una first and get myself cleaned up and then find Mac.
And though I tried to stay awake, sometime during the night, on the bright green hill, I fell asleep.
*****
My dreams were vivid and full of images of Mac and his family, Berna, my mom, and my Lennox ancestors.
But I saw mostly the image of Mac. He was always there; somewhere, even if in the dream he didn’t see me. He’d call my name and his eyes would squint as they searched, always searched, never giving up.
“Kally?” Mac called in the dream. “Kally, lass, where are ye?”
“I’m here,” I said. I must have been talking in my sleep because my voice awakened me. For a moment I wasn’t sure where I was but I knew I was very cold and soaked to the bone.
“Mac,” I whispered to myself. “At least you will always be in my dreams.”
“Kally?”
I knew I wasn’t asleep anymore, but the voice was still there. I sat up quickly, a shot of adrenaline pulling me conscious.
“Mac?”
He was standing next to the bridge, looking in every direction.
“Oh my god.” I stood and hesitated only a second before I yelled.
“Mac!”
We saw each other and then both took off in a crazy sprint. When we met half-way, he pulled me into his arms and kissed my muddy lips.
“It is ye. It really is,” he said when we were done.
I blinked the water out of my eyes. Rain was coming down in a steady drizzle. My hair was drenched and my face felt like it was covered in mud. I couldn’t have looked like anything but terrifying. But it didn’t matter.
“Mac,” I said desperately.
He loosened his grip. “I’ve missed ye so much.”
“How old are you?” I demanded. He looked older, but not by much. It was the question, above everything else, that I had to have answered.
“Twenty and two. And are ye eighteen?” He wasn’t as fresh faced, but slightly more mature. His shoulders were slightly broader and the very beginnings of laugh lines were forming around his amazing eyes. But they were still the same Duncan blue. His long hair was pulled back in a braid and it seemed darker.
“Yes.”
“Ye are lovely and just like I remembered.” He looked at me with those eyes. He inspected me from top to bottom without, somehow, looking away from my own eyes.
“It rained,” I said stupidly.
“Aye, it did.”
“I’m … oh, Mac.” I threw myself at him and he lifted me again. He held tight and returned another kiss. There was something different to his kiss, something more mature, more peaceful; and he savored it just as much as I did. There was also a familiarity, something like home, something soft that transformed into more, something possessive. I finally pulled back. “I’ve missed you more than you know.”
“No, I think I ken weel enough.”
We were both now soaked and muddy.
“I’m sorry,” I said. I got you all dirty and you’re dressed so nicely.” He was dressed up, in what I assumed was his nicest kilt and plaid, at least it was before I’d gotten a hold of him.
He huffed away my comment and then held me tighter. Those few first moments of shock were now over. We were both real and the year(s) that had passed were reduced to a split second. He put his arms around me and held me tightly. “We have a lot to catch up on. Let’s go inside and let everyone ken ye’re here.”
“Wait,” I said as I pulled away. Moisture dripped down the sides of my face and my arms. Really, I was drenched. “No, I have to look at you for a minute.”
“Then, I’ll look at ye, too.”
“You’re a grown man!” I fingered the bite-mark scars on his arm.
“And, ye’re a grown wo
man.”
“But you’re twenty-two. I’m only eighteen. Am I too young?”
Mac pulled me to him again and whispered in my ear. “Ye’ll never be either too young or too old, Kally. My love for ye has nothing to do wi’ yer age. Am I too old for ye?” He kissed that spot under my ear that was now surely muddy.
“Never.”
“Weel, then.” He loosened his hug slightly. “Let’s go in.”
“Wait, I have to know about everyone. What do I need to be prepared for?”
“My father is happy and has his health still. Una is fine, though she’s had some trouble with her knees – she fights them something terrible, though, and usually wins.”
“I bet. Corc? Ian?”
“Corc is older. He’s a fighter, too, but he’s definitely older. Ian is well, fine. Maisie, their children, all fine.”
I hadn’t noticed that the sun had come out and we were suddenly drying and warming, the mud turning into dried-on dirt.
“Come, let’s go in,” he said impatiently.
“Wait, wait. I have to know about Isla. What about the … the marriage? The feud over the land?”
Mac’s face fell. He let go of me and looked away from my eyes.
“Mac, just tell me. What is it?”
“Lass.”
“Mac, this is worse than whatever the truth is. Tell me.”
“The feud is resolved. The wedding is today.”
Why wouldn’t the earth open and swallow me whole? No, no, it can’t be. How cruel was this? Why had he held me so close, kissed me, why?
“Oh.” I reached for my pendant.
He reached for my fingers and pulled them away. I looked up at his blue eyes that twinkled mischievously. “Isla is marrying a man named Porter McBride. We are hosting the wedding. All is well. No more feud. That’s been long over. Ye can thank Isla for part of that. She refused to marry me, no matter what anyone said or did.”
The tears flowed down my cheeks, turning the dirt back into mud. “You were teasing me?” I wanted to punch him so hard that he bruised.
“Aye, but now I dinna think it was a good idea,” he said, rightfully shamed. He wrapped his arm around me and kissed the muddy tears on my face. “I love ye, Kally. All time will never take that away. I waited. I would have waited forever. Ye see, ye and I are getting married today, too.”
“What? I don’t understand.”
"I knew ye would be here this day. Weel, we thought last night. That’s why I’m out here looking for ye. But we’re getting married, mud and all, today.”
“How did you know?”
“Come along, I’ll show ye.”
In a haze of disbelief, relief and leftover anguish from the thought that he was marrying Isla, I took his hand and went with him toward the castle. I inspected him, the beginning of what I was sure of hours of inspection. He was beautiful. The six years had been good to him. I couldn’t wait … well, I just couldn’t wait.
“Och, I almost forgot.” Mac stopped.
“What?”
“I had to explain yer time travel to everyone. It was the only way, really. It was strange you leaving again right before we were to be married.”
“How did that go?”
“Interesting. But they’ve had some time to try to understand. Besides . . . well, come in and I’ll explain better.”
“Okay.” Frankly, it didn’t seem like that big of a deal anymore – the least of my worries, really. I was pleased that it was no longer a secret.
“Ah, lass.” Mac pulled me close for another kiss.
“Do you think we should wait a bit, get to know each other again?” I asked.
“No. No, I dinna think that at all. We’re marrying today if I have to tie yer wrists and put ye on a horse.”
I laughed. “Let’s go.”
We had a wedding or two to get to, after all.
We hurried over the bridge and through the courtyard and into the castle. They were all there and I didn’t even try to stop the tears as I greeted each of them.
“Corc,” I said. He was grayer but still the same.
“Lass, happy to see ye. I ken ye’d be back someday.”
“Thanks for . . . everything.”
He nodded and kissed my hand.
“Laird,” I said. He looked better now than when I’d left, less tormented.
“That will soon be Da if ye ken what’s good for ye. Welcome home.”
I swallowed the tears as I hugged him.
“Una.” I pulled her into a tight hug, too.
“No clocks to fix today, lass. Best to ye.” She hadn’t changed one bit.
“Ian, Maisie.”
“Kally,” Ian said as he pulled me into a hug. “Best to ye both.” His voice cracked and when he pulled back I saw tears in his eyes.
“I’ve missed you.”
“We’ve missed ye.”
“Aye, we have,” Maisie said, smiling.
“Thanks. Me too,” I said. They looked a little older but not much.
Isla was next. I didn’t know what else to say except, “Isla, I’m so happy for you.”
Isla looked at me oddly. “I’ve heard of ye lass, but I dinna think we’ve ever met. Ye seem so familiar though.”
I laughed. I looked nothing like Isla Lennox, but perhaps it was some of the magic of time travel that made her thick I looked familiar.
Porter McBride, my many times great-grandfather was blonde and gorgeous. I looked nothing like him either, but he seemed like a nice enough man. And he obviously loved Isla very much.
Ivar Lennox offered me a quick nod but had no words.
“Mac, I still don’t understand, how did you know I was coming?” I said when we reached what I thought was the end of the line.
“Kally,” a voice said from behind.
I turned and standing there, next to Una and in a beautiful dress, with her hair tied in a ribbon was my mom.
“No! I mean Mom!” I ran to her and dirtied her lovely gown with my full body hug. “I don’t understand. How?”
“Berna tried to manipulate things a bit. She couldn’t give me details, but she found someone who helped her. She knew I wouldn’t be leaving until a few months after you, but she made it so I’d arrive a day earlier. She wasn’t sure if she could get it done, so we didn’t tell you. I got here two days ago, and I arrived in the courtyard. Berna had told Una about me so she knew who I was. She found me and we’ve been preparing for two weddings since that moment. Oh, by the way, I approve.” She winked at Mac.
This couldn’t be happening. How was it possible? But it was happening. It was real. I hugged her again. “Oh, mom, it’s perfect.”
“Yes, I agree. Now, one thing.” She reached for my pendant.
Mac, Ian, Brian Duncan, Corc and Una jumped forward. “No!” they yelled.
Mom pulled the pendant from around my neck and handed it to Mac.
“Please put this someplace safe.”
“I dinna understand,” Mac said. “I thought that would send her back.”
“If this is removed during the first ten days of traveling, she can’t go anywhere until she wears it again for at least a year. A little something else Berna shared with me.” Mom put her mouth next to my ear. “And when you left, Porter’s name appeared on the family tree. Apparently, your decision was behind everything.”
“I don’t understand,” I said again.
But I should have realized that understanding wasn’t as important as just accepting.
“Me either.” Mom shrugged and pulled off her own necklace. “But we’re both here for awhile.”
“That’s a start,” Mac said, as he closed his fingers around my necklace and then kissed my muddy lips.
“Let’s get the four of you married. I think it’s time, don’t ye, Kally?” the laird said.
“Yes, it’s time.” And wasn’t it though? No matter “when” it was.
*****
Seriously, everything was perfect. Everything. We cleaned
up first, getting rid of most of the mud, and then had a small and quick ceremony by the creek. I’d remembered the ring, and the carved horse was in my pocket, too. There was all day eating and celebrating. I walked around in a state of pure bliss, and it seemed like Mac kept his eyes on me and his lips mostly attached to mine. I was fine with that.
And, really, just so you know, the wedding night was better than anticipated and even more perfect than everything else.
Somehow, some way, time had done magic tricks and placed everyone where it seemed they were supposed to be. I didn’t know how long Mom would stay, but I hoped for awhile. I believed that the laird hoped for the same thing, but I didn’t push anyone on the subject.
At once, and in sync, we had combined time and lives, all with the promise of love and happiness.
I didn’t think I’d ever understand what happened to me; why I’d traveled through time - why I was a time sneak. But I knew that the life I’d been given was real and happy, and I was grateful for every passing hour.
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