by Bess McBride
“Oh, Colin,” I fretted. “I thought you were safely gone. How did you get down the hills without being seen?”
“I ken they were coming, thanks to ye, my love, and I stayed off the trail. The descent was taxing, especially carrying auld Donald, but we managed. I canna stay. I must get back.”
He bent to kiss me, tasting of woods and sweat. I clung to him for a moment before letting him go. Elinor had turned discreetly away.
“What do ye mean...if we manage to marry?” he whispered in my ear. “Of course we are going to wed. Dinna ye doubt it.”
He ran his fingers along the right side of my cheek before he turned away. I couldn’t bear to let him go, but I had no choice. Elinor and I followed Colin to the back door, where George waited for him with a dry jacket.
He quickly exchanged jackets, and with a last look in my direction, he turned and left. As I had only a short while ago, I ran into the garden, but whereas the English soldiers had taken the well-defined trail up the hill, Colin veered to the left and disappeared into the trees.
I had thought the next time I would see Colin was when he returned from Glasgow after sending the Jacobites on their way, but his unexpected early return—and departure—seemed much more poignant, and tears slipped down my face as I stared after him. And I worried about him even more than I had, given that at least thirty soldiers were now scouring the hills for rebels.
My chest hurt, and I turned toward the house. Elinor waited on the back steps, her expression equally anxious. I returned to the castle and slipped my arm around her waist. George closed the door behind us as we entered.
“It’s going to be okay,” I whispered. “Everything is going to be all right.”
“Do ye really believe so, Beth? I worry for both Colin and Stephen.”
“I know you do,” I said. We walked toward the drawing room, George preceding us to open the door.
“Tea, please, George,” I said. “Oh! Did Lord Anderson get anything to eat while he was here?”
George shook his head, allowing his expression to droop just a bit.
“Nay, mistress. He said he had no time but wished to see ye afore he left.”
“Where is the man he brought?”
“Mrs. Renwick and Mrs. Agnew are looking after him. They’ve settled him in a corner of the kitchen. Lord Anderson felt all he needed was food, drink and warmth.”
“Willna the soldiers be suspicious of a stranger when they return?” Elinor asked, sitting down on the sofa.
“I dinna think they will return today, and we will move Donald to the stables by morning. However, I will set one of the lads to watch out for the soldiers.”
“Is it warm enough in the stables?” I asked.
“Aye, mistress. His lairdship put in a fireplace some time ago. The stable lads are quite comfortable.”
I nodded and dropped down into a chair, suddenly exhausted. George left and returned shortly with the tea.
Thankfully, Elinor did not raise the question of my marriage to Colin again. I already felt guilty enough.
We spent the next hour largely silent, each of us lost in our own thoughts. I wondered how I would manage over the next many days until Colin returned, until I knew he was safe. And I wondered when Stephen and the other English soldiers would return. I hoped with all my heart that they came back empty handed. When I had awakened that morning, I believed that they would. Now, I was not so sure.
Chapter Sixteen
Elinor and I were just sitting down to breakfast the next morning, when one of the stable boys burst into the room, looking for George.
“They’re coming!” he hissed.
George froze for a moment before shooing the boy out.
“Get on to the stables and see to Donald. Remember, he works in the stables, and he has the grippe.”
The boy nodded and ran out. By now, I was on my feet and following him. George and Elinor brought up the rear.
“Where are they?” I asked the boy, who pointed toward the front door before turning for the kitchen, the closest exit to the stables.
George pulled the door open, and Elinor and I hurried outside.
A small sea of red, black and muddy uniforms appeared from the side of the castle, some breaking off to head for the kitchen entrance. Bedraggled and wet, the soldiers looked exhausted.
I waited on the steps and searched for Stephen. Hard to find in the mass of uniforms, I finally spotted his tall frame.
I froze.
Stephen led two soldiers toward the house, followed by Major Swift and Captain Whistler. The soldiers carried a makeshift litter. The body on the litter did not wear red and white.
Stephen stopped and looked up at me. He didn’t look at Elinor. He looked at me. His despondent expression warned me.
“No!” I shrieked, running down the stairs. I reached the litter and grabbed hold of Colin. Somewhere behind me, Elinor cried out.
“No!” I screamed. His eyes were closed. I grabbed his wrist.
“I am so sorry, Beth, so very sorry.”
I was barely aware of the other officers’ presence near me.
I could find no pulse.
“Nasty accident, that,” Major Swift said as he passed me to enter the house. “I believe the boy was quite mad.”
“My heartfelt condolences, madam,” Captain Whistler said. “One of the Jacobites attacked Lord Anderson. Quite mad indeed. Most peculiar.”
Colin’s damp and dirty face lay in repose. With my own heart pounding, I pressed my face against his blood-stained chest. I heard nothing.
Colin was dead. Dead. I didn’t care how. I didn’t care who had killed him. All I knew was that he was dead.
“I am so sorry, Beth,” Stephen said again. “Take him inside, boys.”
Stephen pulled me from Colin’s body and wrapped an arm around my shoulders when I would have returned to Colin’s side.
Tears spilled down my face.
“How? What happened?” I asked hoarsely. My throat closed, threatening to choke me.
Mrs. Agnew appeared in the doorway.
“No! My poor bairn!” she cried out. “My wee bairn.” Tears streamed down her face, and she cupped Colin’s face with her hands before George pulled her from him. He stared helplessly as the soldiers moved past him with the litter.
With tears sliding down her face, Mrs. Agnew followed the men inside, and I could hear her directing them to take Colin to the drawing room. Elinor followed, her shoulders heaving as she sobbed.
I swung around to Stephen. He pressed a hand to his side. His jacket was open, and I saw blood on his white shirt. But I could only think about Colin.
“What happened?” I ground out. “What happened?”
Stephen looked over my shoulder. The soldiers were out of sight, and he lowered his voice.
“I am not quite sure what happened, or why Colin was not miles distant. I led the soldiers toward where the Jacobites had been encamped and where I was attacked, assuming they were gone. I heard a shout, and Colin appeared out of the mist, chasing the boy who had attacked me. Brandishing a sword, the boy ran at us, and Colin, thinking perhaps to save the boy’s life, grappled with him. In doing so, the boy mortally injured Colin, piercing him through the heart.
“While I tended to Colin, the men gave chase to the boy, but he disappeared. The soldiers returned within hours, having found nothing. I convinced Major Swift that the search would not succeed, and given that they were miserable in the foul weather, they agreed to abandon the search.
“Come, let us go inside. You are wet,” he continued.
I hadn’t noticed. I let Stephen lead me inside to the drawing room.
Mrs. Agnew had spread out a length of plaid on the sofa in defiance of the soldiers, and Colin had been settled there. Elinor knelt on the floor by his side. She looked up as we entered, tears streaming down her face.
“Thank you,” Stephen said to the soldiers, effectively dismissing them.
The two young men filed ou
t, and I moved swiftly to Colin’s side. Poor Elinor had no choice but to let me in. I wasn’t competing. He was mine, and I loved him desperately. I ignored the murmurs behind me, concerning food and drink for the officers in the great room, and for the men below stairs, as well as Mrs. Agnew’s broken response as she hurried from the room. I ignored Stephen’s comforting platitudes as he took the sobbing Elinor into his arms. I ignored my own thudding heart when I took Colin’s hand and pressed it to my cheek as if I could awaken him.
“Colin,” I whispered. I was magical. I could make him come back to life. My love was enough. I had traveled two hundred fifty years in time! I could fix this!
I released his cold hand to lay it across his stomach, and I cupped his face in my palms, bending close to whisper near his ear.
“Don’t leave me here, Colin. Please don’t leave me. I want you to live. Please wake up!”
But Colin didn’t wake up. I wanted to shake him.
“Colin,” I said more forcefully. “I came here for you. There is no doubt in my mind that I came here to be with you. Don’t you dare leave me.”
I felt hands on my shoulders, and I shrugged out of them.
“Beth,” Stephen said softly, removing his hands. “He does not sleep. He would awaken if he could...for you. He died in my arms. I know how much he loved you.”
I fought against the pitiful sobs that would rob me of strength. I wasn’t going to dissolve into a useless puddle. I had to do something. I was a twenty-first century woman! Didn’t I know enough to save him? Couldn’t I bring him back to life?
I grabbed his wrist again, hoping, praying that I’d been wrong about his pulse. I felt nothing.
Against my will, my shoulders started to shake, but I held my tears in.
“His last words were of you, Beth,” Stephen said, kneeling down and wrapping an arm around me.
“What did he say?” I whispered through a strangled throat.
“He told me to tell you he loved you. His final words have a cruel tone to them, but I do not think he meant them to be.”
“Tell me,” I said.
“He said, ‘Tell Beth to go home.’”
My heart sank. What awful words to hear at that moment, and yet that was probably what I would try to do. If I could.
“I agree with him. It is for your own sake, Beth, that you return to America. And Elinor must hasten for Edinburgh. Colin has no living heirs. I believe his property reverts to Elinor’s father. However, Colin may now be associated with the Jacobites. I am uncertain what Major Swift will put in his report, but the fact of the matter is, Colin was up in the hills with the rebels. I do not wish either of you to be implicated in this matter.”
“But he tried to stop the lad from killing one of ye!” Elinor exclaimed.
“I argued the same, but I do not think Major Swift was convinced,” Stephen said. “We did tell the major and the captain that Colin had gone to Edinburgh. They questioned that statement. I could offer nothing.”
He looked over his shoulder toward Elinor.
“Though I believe your father inherits the lands and the castle, they may be forfeited to the Crown for what Major Swift may state was an act of treason.”
I didn’t care about the castle. I didn’t care about the Crown. I just wanted Colin to come back to me.
Go home, Beth. His last words stung.
I slipped out of Stephen’s arm and leaned in to kiss Colin’s lips, no longer warm, but cold. And I gasped.
Go home, Beth, he had said.
Yes! Home! If I went home, if I tried to go home, then I could possibly return. If I could travel back in time, then maybe I could come back to the time when I first met Colin. Before he was killed. And I could warn him.
I jumped up, almost knocking Stephen over.
“George!” I shouted. The old man, obviously hovering nearby, came almost instantly.
“Get the doctor,” I said. “Captain Jones has opened his wounds.” George nodded and hurried away.
I turned to Stephen, who had risen, and Elinor, who stared at me with her mouth open.
“Yes, I will go home,” I said, “on the first boat. But right now, I need to take a walk...to clear my head.”
“I will accompany ye, Beth. Ye should not be alone at the moment,” Elinor said.
“No!” I snapped. “No,” I said more gently. “I just need to walk a bit to clear my head. Not far.”
“Let her go, Elinor. There can be no harm.”
“Right!” I said with renewed vigor. I bent to kiss Colin again. “I’ll be back,” I whispered in his ear.
I straightened, turned, smiled brightly, raised a hand in farewell and hurried past Stephen and Elinor to reach the front door. I wrenched it open and ran down the steps before anyone could stop me. Pulling my skirts to my knees, I ran as fast as I could down the drive and away from the castle. I didn’t stop to look around. I didn’t stop to say good-bye. I was coming back. I would see it again.
My heart thudded, and my breathing grew ragged as I ran. Rain continued to drizzle, and the back of my skirts dragged in the mud, but I didn’t care.
How much further was the river? I slowed to a trot, hating myself for not having the strength to continue at a run.
Just when I thought I might have to stop to catch my breath, the river came into view, higher than when last I’d seen it, because of the rain. I ran across the bridge and down the muddy path, past where Colin and I had stopped. I wanted to return to the same spot where I’d first seen him, where I had traveled through time.
It wasn’t too much further, and I dropped to my knees when I reached the spot. Without thought, I bent over, cupped water into my hands and splashed it on my face.
Nothing! I looked up. The world didn’t swirl in blackness before my eyes. The mountains before me looked as misty and green as ever.
“Oh, nooooo,” I moaned. “Noooo.”
I scooped up more water and threw it onto my face, almost slapping my cheeks as I patted at them. My cheeks started to tingle, and an onslaught of dizziness hit me. The stream disappeared, the mountains vanished and blackness descended.
Chapter Seventeen
“Are you all right, dear?” a woman’s voice broke through the darkness. “Hello?”
I opened my eyes to see that I was lying on my side, facing the stream. I pushed myself upright with effort, feeling a bit groggy.
I looked up at the silver-haired woman with the pack on her back. Yes! I was back. Her companion, the same tall senior gentleman she had been with, eyed me with concern.
“Yes,” I said with a nod. “I was just a little warm.”
I looked over their shoulders toward the road. The bus was parked in the pullout.
I was back!
“Yes, it is a bit hot out here today, surprising for the Highlands,” he said. “Are you hiking or...” He looked up toward the bus and cars parked in the pullout, then back to me, his gaze sliding over the dress I still wore.
I smoothed my brown silk skirts.
“No, I’m on a bus tour. That’s us up there.” I looked toward the bus. If I could come back, then I could return to save Colin’s life.
“Oh, they’re quite close. That’s all right then,” the woman said. “Be sure and drink some water when you return to the bus.”
“Yes, I will,” I said. “Thank you.”
She and her companion moved off, and I turned back to the stream, cupping water in my hands to splash on my face. I couldn’t get back soon enough.
Nothing happened the first time, and I splashed more water on my face.
“Please, please, please,” I whispered. “Please.”
My cheeks started to tingle, and the blackness descended.
****
“Lass! Lass! Can ye wake?”
I heard the baritone voice as if from within a dream.
Colin!
“Lass! Are ye injured? Taken ill? Is there aught wrong wi ye?”
Arms slipped under my back, lift
ing me, and my head lolled against the plaid on Colin’s chest. I opened my eyes with effort, groggy again.
Colin’s handsome face looked down at me with concerned slate-blue eyes. His curly hair hung over part of his face, and his beard grew thick. His beard! The one he had shaved off for me.
“Colin!” I said aloud this time. “You’re alive!”
I pulled his face to mine and kissed him with all my might. His lips, now warm, stiffened for an instant before he kissed me back. He pulled me tightly to him, and I reveled in his embrace.
“You’re alive!” I said again, breaking away for air.
Colin, instead of smiling, stared down at me as if in a daze.
He cleared his throat.
“I dinna ken who ye are, lass, but ye seem to ken me well enough. Is it yer habit to go about the countryside kissing strangers?”
I smiled widely with affection.
Of course! Of course Colin didn’t know who I was. In my panic, I’d given little thought to how he might react on seeing me again—or for the first time—but here he was, eyeing me as if I were a stranger.
“No, not really. Just you. I do ken you well, Colin. You just don’t remember.”
Colin didn’t exactly throw me out of his lap but continued to stare at me, his head tilted in that way I loved so much, his dark brows drawn together as if he could somehow understand what I was saying.
“I have never seen ye before, madam, I assure ye of that. I would remember.”
I wanted to kiss him again, but I had a feeling he might resist this time, and I couldn’t bear it if he did. I straightened in his arms and turned to look at him.
“Listen to me carefully, Colin. I come from the future, from the twenty-first century. I met you about a month ago—the first time I traveled through time. We...we fell in love. But you were killed by a young boy, a Jacobite rebel, I think his name is Samuel, when you tried to stop him from attacking English soldiers. I traveled back to my own time and then returned to try to stop that from happening again.”
I shouldn’t have been surprised when Colin set me from him and jumped to his feet. He stared down at me from his considerable height. This time though, he did not reach out to help me to my feet.