The Highlander's Home (Searching for a Highlander Book 3)

by Bess McBride

  Dylan clucked in sympathy. He held the dagger in one hand and took my hand in the other. My heart pounded at its close proximity. I didn’t know whether to go or stay, whether to give up or fight for the man I loved.

  We climbed and climbed, and all the while, I was acutely aware of the dagger. The sound of cheerful voices and happy laughter grew louder as we neared the top of the tidal stack.

  “Dylan!” I tugged on his hand as we crested the tabletop. “Do you want to stay or go? You have to decide now!”

  “I can’t decide right now! Can’t we take a few minutes to think about it?”

  “No! I don’t want to think anymore. I don’t want to feel. I just want to go.” I reached for the dagger.

  “Debra!” The voice came not from Dylan but from the across the divide, from the mainland. In one motion, I swung around, the dagger in my hand.

  Iskair, astride his horse, called out to me again.

  “Debra!”

  “Oh noooo!” I cried out. The darkness grew darker still.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  I opened my eyes to daylight. A seagull flew overhead. I pushed myself upright and looked across the expanse to the mainland. The steel bridge leading to Dun Eistean told me all I needed to know. I had traveled forward in time. Iskair was not on the other side calling out to me.

  Dylan lay next to me, his eyes closed.

  Sobbing, gasping for air, I scrambled to my knees, searching our immediate surroundings for the dagger. Iskair had come back for me! I had to return to him.

  But I couldn’t find the dagger. I rolled Dylan over, looking beneath his body. I searched the sash of his great kilt, wondering if it was hidden within the folds.

  “Dylan!” I cried out, shaking his shoulder. “Dylan! Wake up! Help me find the dagger!”

  Dylan opened his eyes and looked at me with a bewildered expression.

  “Dylan! We traveled forward in time, but the dagger is missing! Help me find it!”

  I sat back on my knees, scanning the tabletop. I noticed that the tables were still in place near the ruins of the keep. A couple of heads popped out from the interior of the mound covering the keep, and I recognized them as students and the faculty member, Gerry.

  They climbed out of the keep and hurried toward us.

  “Oh no! Oh no! I can’t answer questions,” I sobbed. I hugged myself and rocked back and forth. “Please, Dylan, talk to them. I can’t.”

  Dylan pushed himself to a sitting position, scanning our surroundings as I had.

  “Where’s the dagger?” I moaned. “Iskair came back for me.”

  “I know, Debra. I saw that.”

  Our fellow archaeologists arrived at our sides, peppering us with questions. Through the roaring of grief in my ears, I heard them ask where we had been for the past few days, if we had fallen, why were we sporting sixteenth-century traditional Scottish dress, why did we not say we were leaving, and wasn’t better communication essential to our work.

  Dylan struggled to his feet and tried to answer their questions as best he could.

  “Aye, yes, we slipped on the wet grass just off the bridge here, both of us toppling. I am so verra sorry I did not have time to tell ye that Debra had an emergency, and I accompanied her.”

  I barely noted that he left the specific details of the emergency out. Through blurry eyes, even I could see that his Rover remained in the parking lot, so he probably hadn’t driven me anywhere. He didn’t explain why we hadn’t called someone or why we wore historical dress.

  “Has anyone found a dagger?” I asked, jumping up. “A silver dagger?”

  “Do you mean the one that is missing from the university?” one of the students asked, her wide eyes scanning my bodice and skirts.

  “Is it still missing?”

  They blinked at the odd desperation in my voice.

  “Yes, the university has been calling, trying to reach you, Dylan. And you too, Debra,” Gerry said. “I had to tell them that you two had disappeared. You should call the department right away.”

  “Aye, I will, Gerry. Thank you,” Dylan said.

  Gerry, a tall, slender bearded man in his thirties who had just joined the dig that year, nodded with a perplexed expression. He checked his watch.

  “Well, if you are all right, we were just at the point of digging out an artifact, so we will return to that.”

  Dylan looked at me. “In the keep?” he asked.

  “Aye, something is buried in the stones of the keep. From the little that we can see, it appears to be metal, perhaps steel.”

  I gasped.

  “I would like to be there for that,” Dylan said.

  “Of course,” Gerry said. “It will be a tight fit, but I am sure we can manage one more.”

  “Two more!” I blurted out.

  Gerry shook his dark head. “I don’t think we can fit another body in there. Dylan, of course, as he is the lead archaeologist, but I don’t think I can displace either of these students because they are the ones who discovered the artifact. They were here.”

  If my heart weren’t racing so much, I would have given more thought to how much I disliked Gerry’s critical tone. If he had known where Dylan and I had been, he would have begged for our firsthand information.

  “Dylan,” I breathed.

  He understood my silent plea. “If we find something, Debra, we will bring it up.”

  “Well, if that is settled then, unless you would like to change clothing first?” Gerry asked Dylan.

  Dylan looked down at his great kilt. “Oh, this? No need.”

  Gerry quirked an eyebrow and swung away, clearly irritated with the pair of us. The students followed him.

  I turned to Dylan. “The dagger,” I whispered. “Do you think it’s the dagger? Would they have buried it again?”

  “It is likely that Ann and Cynthia would have told John to bury it, especially if they thought you wanted to return.”

  “I do! I do!”

  “I know you do, Debra. Come! Let’s go.”

  We hurried after the rest of the archaeologists. Dylan climbed down a short ladder into the ruins of the keep with the others, and I knelt on my knees to lean over the edge and peer in.

  Gerry looked up. “Debra, if you don’t mind, we could use the sunlight.”

  I saw that I was casting a shadow into the keep, and I pulled back. I ran around to the other side and peered in, but Gerry looked up again, even more irritated than before.

  “The sun is overhead. No matter which way you position yourself, you’re blocking some valuable sunlight.”

  “Sorry!” I said in a throaty voice.

  I pulled back and positioned myself in a cross-legged position, my skirts covering my legs. I stared at the mainland, willing Iskair to magically appear on the horizon like some romantic hero astride his horse.

  Iskair’s curly hair would blow in the wind. He would urge the horse across the bridge. The horse would balk at the depth of the crevice, but Iskair would masterfully maneuver him onto Dun Eistean. He would slide down off his horse, leaving it to graze on the now thick turf. By then I would be on my feet running toward him, and he would take me up into his arms and never let me go.

  I blinked. The cars in the parking lot did not resemble a handsome Scottish warrior on a horse. Grief hurt my throat, my chest.

  “Iskair,” I murmured quietly. “I love you.”

  I thought I heard a baritone voice in response, and I listened carefully.

  I love ye too, lass. Come back to me.

  I drew in a sharp breath. It could have just been the wind sweeping across the tabletop.

  Or it could have been the voices that I heard below. Dylan called up.

  “Debra! Come look!”

  I whipped around onto my stomach and leaned over the edge. Dylan held the dagger in his hand. There was no mistaking it. Tarnished now and dull, it was the same dagger.

  Gerry looked up as well. “There must have been a surfeit of medieval French dagge
rs on Dun Eistean. That speaks to a period of trading with the continent, perhaps visiting ships.”

  “Dylan!” I screeched. “You’re still here!”

  “Aye, it is definitely the women,” he said.

  I saw the bewildered expressions on the other archaeologists’ faces, but I didn’t care. I would probably never see them again, and I wasn’t in the mood to explain.

  “Are you ready?” he asked, looking up at me.

  “Yes, bring it up!”

  “Wait just a minute,” Gerry said. “What is going on here?”

  “Sorry, mate. I can’t explain right now!” Dylan said. He stowed the dagger at the back of his belt and climbed up the ladder.

  “Hold on there!” Gerry said.

  Dylan reached the top of the mound and looked at me.

  “Are you sure, Debra?”

  “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Gerry reach the top of the ladder, the students at his heels.

  “Hurry! Give it to me!” I said.

  Dylan grinned. The white flecks in his blue eyes danced.

  “Give me your hand,” he said. When I thought he would offer me the hilt of the dagger, he closed both of our hands over the hilt.

  The world swirled before us, the wind picked up and a curtain of darkness blocked out the light.

  “Debra,” someone said near my ear. I opened my eyes to see not Dylan’s blue eyes but Iskair’s warm caramel eyes near my face as I lay on the ground. The keep towered over us.

  “Iskair!” I cried out, reaching for him as he knelt by my side.

  “Ye came back to me,” he said in a strangled voice, pulling me into his arms. “I was foolish to leave ye, and when I realized that my cursed pride had come between us, I raced back, but ye vanished before my eyes. I have never seen the likes of it.”

  “The dagger,” I murmured, my face buried against his chest

  “Aye! We buried the dagger in the walls of the keep—John, Ann, Torq, Cynthia and I. They told me ye might look there first.”

  “How long have I been gone?”

  “A week. A lifetime! I almost gave up hope of yer return, but Cynthia told me it could take longer. I thought I heard yer voice moments ago. Ye said ye loved me.”

  “That was me. I heard you too!”

  I pulled back and looked over his shoulder. The stronghold was quiet, devoid of people.

  “Where is everyone?”

  “They have gone home to Ardmore Castle. I waited for ye here.”

  “Alone?”

  “Alone with my hopes.”

  Iskair bent his head and kissed me then, a deep, passionate kiss designed to draw out my soul...and it did. I gave myself up to Iskair’s love, showing him that he was the only man I had ever truly loved or ever would.

  A moan from behind me startled me, and I pulled away from Iskair and looked over my shoulder. Dylan rolled onto his back and opened his eyes.

  “Dylan!” I cried out. “Oh no! What did I do?”

  Iskair lifted a winged eyebrow.

  “I was about to ask ye the same. What am I to think of his return?”

  I scrambled onto my knees and looked at Dylan.

  “Why did you grab my hand?”

  Dylan turned his head toward us. He smiled wryly.

  “I’m changed,” he said. “I don’t think I could be content back there again. Everyone I have grown close to is here in the sixteenth century. I suspect this is where I belong.”

  Iskair heaved a heavy sigh. “Dylan, dinna expect me to turn my back on Debra again—only to have ye take her for yer own once again. I intend to marry her. I will no give her up again. If ye came back wi Debra hoping to have her for yerself, I will fight for her.”

  Dylan’s eyes widened, and he rolled into a sitting position. I turned to stare at Iskair.

  “Oh, no, Iskair,” Dylan said, his hands up. “No need to fight. Debra and I ended our relationship a long time ago. I care for her, but she is not mine to fight for. She loves you. I accept that.”

  “Well, ye canna have Cynthia. Torq would no like that.”

  “I may have been unclear. It’s hard to be clear about my reasons for returning when I’m acting only on instinct. My many times great-grandfather and grandmother are here. Everyone who means anything to me is here, including Cynthia and Debra, and I am not afraid to claim affection for both women. I suspect I am supposed to be here.”

  Iskair narrowed his dark eyebrows and studied Dylan. “Then let me be clear. If ye are staying, ye will find a lass of yer own.” Iskair wasn’t asking.

  “Aye, Iskair, I will find a lass of my own,” Dylan said with a grin.

  I thought I had the perfect girl for him—a spunky maid who worked at Ardmore Castle.

  Epilogue

  “So ye are married,” Murdo Macaulay said to Iskair, grasping his hand.

  Though I was a stranger, and Iskair had a lot of reputation to salvage among the Morrisons who didn’t trust him, celebration rang out as we finished our vows before the priest in the great hall of Ardmore Castle. Having just returned to their home, the people were ready for a party.

  “I never thought to see the day,” Murdo continued, grinning.

  “Nor I,” Iskair said. “I thank ye for coming to the wedding.” Iskair kept a hand on my waist.

  “Well, I could no miss yer ceremony. I ken I must take my leave though. Some will see through my disguise soon enough. Be well, cousin.”

  “And ye,” Iskair said to the big man hiding in the black cloak on a warm June evening.

  Murdo and his two companions moved away and left by the front door, nodding to John and Torq along the way. Kenny and Euan watched them go with narrowed eyes, hands on the hilts of their swords. Andrew stood with them, his hand on his new sword.

  “Well, that worked out,” I said to Iskair.

  “Aye, I ken so. Many in the clan still dinna trust me. My cousin’s presence would no help my cause.”

  “I wish we could tell them about you, what you did all those years.”

  “There is no point, lass. It only matters that ye ken, as well as John, Torq and their wives. Rob and Catherine know, Kenny and Euan. Ye told Dylan. It occurs to me that there are actually few who dinna ken.”

  I smiled. Iskair, always handsome, looked particularly dashing in his new great kilt of muted red scarlet. He had worn a black velvet jacket and new shirt for the ceremony.

  Catherine had taken it upon herself to work up a beautiful dress for my wedding from her old wedding dress. The embroidered ivory bodice over a lovely emerald-green skirt glittered under the candlelight.

  I searched her out from across the room, Rob at her side, and she beamed at me approvingly. I hoped that one day I would be able to tell her the truth about me, to explain the Constantinople caper, but that time was not yet. As I had said before, the secret of time traveling wasn’t just mine to keep.

  Ale and whisky started flowing, and the room grew exponentially louder. Musicians played on a dais in the corner. It seemed that John had found enough musicians among those living at Dun Eistean and in the surrounding area to put together a quartet. Mrs. Mackay had ensured that most things of value in the castle had been hidden from the Macleods, including some instruments.

  Sarah and Archibald played with the older children allowed to stay up for the festivities. The babies were all in bed, attended to by Mrs. Glick.

  Dugald and the prisoners had been shipped out to the mainland, courtesy of an old seafaring trading partner of John’s. None of that branch of Macleods had ever lived in Scotland’s mainland, and I was glad to see them gone. Angus’s nephew had taken over leadership of the clan, but he seemed indisposed to warfare, so it appeared as if a period of peace had begun between the Macleods, Macaulays and Morrisons. I certainly hoped so.

  “Is that Dylan dancing with young Igrid?” Iskair asked.

  I looked over at the couple laughing and dancing. I had known Igrid was
right for Dylan. The maid hadn’t really batted an eyelash when she found out that we had traveled through time. She and Dylan had bonded instantly, and I hadn’t been surprised.

  I watched Ann and Cynthia cross over to their husbands, and I looked up at mine—surely the handsomest of all.

  He bent his head to kiss me, and I rose up on tiptoe to meet him. Though there were still lies left to tell other people, given that I was a time traveler, there were no secrets between us any longer. He knew that I loved him more than any other person in the world, and I knew that he would love me forever.

  I had no idea what the future held, but with Iskair at my side, I was ready to face it. We would face it together.

  Books by Bess McBride

  Time Travel Romance

  The Earl Finds a Bride

  (Book One of the Fairy Tales Across Time series)

  A Ship Through Time

  The Highlander’s Stronghold

  (Book One of the Searching for a Highlander series)

  The Highlander’s Keep

  (Book Two of the Searching for a Highlander series)

  My Laird’s Castle

  (Book One of the My Laird’s Castle series)

  My Laird’s Love

  (Book Two of the My Laird’s Castle series)

  My Laird’s Heart

  (Book Three of the My Laird’s Castle series)

  Caving in to You

  (Book One of the Love in the Old West series)

  A Home in Your Heart

  (Book Two of the Love in the Old West series)

  Forever Beside You in Time

  Moonlight Wishes in Time

  (Book One of the Moonlight Wishes in Time series)

  Under an English Moon

  (Book Two of the Moonlight Wishes in Time series)

  Following You Through Time

  (Book Three of the Moonlight Wishes in Time series)

  A Train Through Time

  (Book One of the Train Through Time series)

  Together Forever Across Time

  (Book Two of the Train Through Time series)

  A Smile in Time

  (Book Three of the Train Through Time series)

  Finding You in Time