"What do you think?" Pam asked.
About what? I turned to locate her.
Murdo stood with his hands on his hips, watching Jennifer poke at something in a corner.
"Spooked yet?" Pam prodded.
"No." Running over lug-headed sex fiends on the road is far more exciting. I should have looked under his kilt when I had the chance. Then I'd know whether Jennifer lied tomorrow.
"I hoped for more myself." Pam's chin shot upward.
Don't we all? Regardless of what we hoped for. I slid my gaze across the murky ceiling.
The room grew very cold like a frigid gasp curled around me.
Finally, a ghost!
A whisper of footfalls grinding dirt into the floor of the hallway drummed toward the door.
Is this it? Our grand spook?
Annie burst through the doorway and paused, gripping the doorframe with one hand. "I must apologize but I'm needed upstairs. Can you finish the tour on your own?" She pointed down the hall. "Take a left at the end and follow that corridor. It'll guide you directly up the stairs." Annie disappeared.
So much for a tour guide.
Pam shrugged at me.
Murdo blinked passively over Pam's shoulder and turned back to whatever Jennifer toyed with on the floor.
"I guess we don't have a choice." Pam rolled her eyes. "Well let's hope for the best. I'd hate to get lost down here like that Phantom Piper you told us about."
Lost beneath Edinburgh playing the bagpipes.
A chill skittered down my spine.
What a way to die. I crossed my arms, rubbing them to produce heat. "It's getting cold in here."
Pam stepped away. "I think it's stifling. Old and musty."
Ludicrous. The temperature had to be at least fifty degrees. I rubbed my arms harder.
Murdo glanced sideways at me with his eyes pinched into speculative slits.
Why the curiosity? Or has he finally come to his senses and decided Peanut-butter Legs isn't worth the effort?
Footfalls thundered down the passageway behind us.
What is the docent doing? Back and forth. She needed to either guide us or leave.
Gooseflesh prickled along the length of my arms no matter how hard I rubbed though.
Sunshine never sounded so good.
The footfalls tapped a loud beat.
I turned to the doorway. "Annie?"
Nothing moved in the shadows. The footsteps still approached though.
Maybe something is wrong with the tour guide. "Annie?" I stepped toward the door.
A hand grabbed me from behind, pulling, setting the world spinning.
Chapter 4
Wide Druid-blue eyes gazed up at Murdo. I lost my breath, then, found the unruly molecules that tried to elude me. Fluctuating temperatures indicated shifts in electromagnetic radiation, he reasoned. Fairy movement. Most likely fey working with Seers. And the blonde rubbed her arms. Obviously chilled. The drop in temperatures a sign…Something is happening. "'Tis freezing where you stand." I studied the doorway. "Don't go out there alone."
My words sounded foolish. But twenty-first-century humans simply don't understand the powers of Seers.
She rubbed her arms frantically. "Aren't you cold, Murdo?" Her sweet maiden lips trembled beside my chest where she frowned.
None of this is a good sign.
She spun to the door, arms whipping out, hands poised ready to react, legs firmly planted beneath her. "What do you want?" she shouted.
Elemental or Seer. Naught is there save for the post and lintel, stone masonry, and a dark void. The spirit had definitely come for Katie.
"What's the matter, Katie?" Pam barked from behind me.
"No," Katie yelled and sprang into motion, lunging for the doorway.
Gods' jest. The lass pushed something over her head. Something invisible.
She flew back toward me and fell at my boots, arms scrabbling behind her for a handhold like the jointed legs of a crab.
Guinevere screeched an ear-piercing wail of a banshee.
If the ceilings held, it would be miraculous. I grabbed beneath Katie's arms and hoisted her upward as the blaring female's cacophony ricocheted off the stone walls.
I searched Katie's disturbed blue gaze focused on the doorway. "What is it?"
She shoved her heels around, trying to regain her footing. "Stop laughing, you bastard," she snarled.
Not at me. There has to be an intruder. Or spirit. In the empty doorway.
A sudden quiet moment consumed the mind-numbing reality of the dark subterranean world.
"No," Katie screeched, reached out, seemingly blocking a blow with her forearm.
What did she see?
"What is it, Katie?" Pam shouted.
Katie had to stop reacting. Trick the Seer. If she didn't look though, she won't react to the spirit. I grabbed the blonde's stiff shoulders and crushed her gaze into my chest. "There's naught there, lass."
Katie squirmed, the hardness of her head fighting my grip. "He's got a knife."
And that would matter? I scanned the doorway for a person or a hint of a glinting dirk.
Why would I expect to suddenly see the apparition? The Seer had only come for Katie.
She stilled in my arms.
Yet, her thundering heart hammered. I could try to explain. Ease her fears. But a woman of her time isn't ready to believe in Post-Modern alchemical notions. Not with Truth hounding her in an astral projection.
The air warmed about us.
Probably more the heat from the fear in the chamber than an actual rise in temperature. But a rise in temperature would note the visitation's end. "Is he gone?" I scanned the doorway.
"I couldn't possibly know. I can't see," she droned into my shirt.
Of course she can't. But better to hang onto her with a spirit afoot given her reaction. I loosened my hold enough to permit her to peer over her shoulder.
Katie scanned the whole room where I held her.
Probably uncertain whether to sigh or grab a weapon.
"He's gone," she announced.
The other females descended upon us. Their three crowns bobbed beneath my chin as the other maidens's arms grabbed Katie.
"What was it?" Guinevere simpered.
"Yes, tell us what you saw," Pam commanded.
Out of the three, the masculine maiden had the most sensible way about her. All business. Very much a Brother in behavior.
"A large man in big black boots," Katie gasped. "He laughed at us, shaking a knife over his shoulder. He was going to kill us."
"I didn't see him," Guinevere finally managed to speak plainly.
As if any of us had. "None of us did." I maintained my hold on the frightened blonde maiden.
Katie shot me a bitter scowl.
Not good. Her pinched glare of betrayal isn't the prize I expected. I'd have to salvage the little friendship we had, to gain access to her uncle's foundry. "I'm not saying you didn't, lass."
"Just what are you saying?" Katie snarled.
Her disgusted mask wasn't the best she had worn either. "You saw him. We didn't." That should have been obvious.
"A g-ghost?" Guinevere stuttered.
Chalking all this up to period fascination is best. At least, until I could decide what the Seer was doing in contacting a Centurian female. The unlearned aren't important along the timeline. Whatever the spirit wanted meant Katie was important in history. How so? I slid my arms away from the scowling lass.
She tugged at her shirt, straightening the fabric around all those curves I should have been thinking about moments before, when they pressed into my chest.
She stepped rearward into the gaping Guinevere. "It must have been."
"Rubbish." Pam snorted.
"You sound oddly British." Katie calmly smoothed down her hair.
Guinevere latched onto Katie's elbow, donning a sickly mask. "It's so unscientific. I know. But tell me again. I want to know. No. I need to know."
"
No you don't. Let's get out of here." Katie dragged the clinging Guinevere to the door.
"I'm not going anywhere until you explain." Guinevere fought to stand steadfast.
"Come on." Pam shoved Guinevere from behind. "I'll see you down the hall. I guess we won't get any sleep in that haunted Culcreuch Castle tonight."
****
No way am I sleeping in Culcreuch Castle, Katie snarled to herself, standing there waiting in the doorway as my buddies hoofed it down the Vault's hallway to safety. But to stay meant to risk seeing that ghost again. I didn't want to see Mr. Boots again. So, good-bye, Mr. Boots. I took a step.
Blue-and-green tartan appeared at my side.
"I'll see you out of here," Murdo boomed.
Argue after fighting an apparition? No way. I made for my retreating girlfriends who slipped into deepening shadow.
Cold air billowed into the corridor.
Not again. "Murdo." I glanced around our elbows.
"Aye?" he asked.
Stone walls and black doorways whisked by though. He obviously had no intention of stopping and looking for spooks. Maybe he knew what was happening. Felt the temperature rise. "It's getting cold again."
He grabbed my arm with one swift movement and pulled me forward. "Hurry."
His gait didn't stretch to the absolute limit though. He seemed to know my shorter legs were no match for his stride.
Additional heavy footfalls joined ours.
Not the ghost. "I hear him. God! He's coming." I threw a foot forward.
Faster.
Pam and Jennifer turned the corner ahead.
At least the girls are home free.
"I don't hear anything," Murdo timbered.
Did he imply I'm nuts again? Like when a woman hears her car make a sound and no man ever believes her because the damn car never makes the sound around a man. "He is coming."
A tall burly man burst from a black doorway to the right, blocking my path. "Halt," the phantom bellowed, raising a dirk over his shoulder. "I'll have my rent now, lass."
Crap. What do I do? Nobody can see him. Can he hurt anyone with that knife?
Murdo pulled my elbow onward.
Right toward the razor-sharp edge.
"Come, lass." He tugged.
The dagger fell toward Murdo's shoulder.
"Look out." I shoved Murdo aside.
Murdo quickly regained his footing and spun to face me. "What is it?"
"Can't you see?" The blackguard raised his blade to plunge it at Murdo again. "He's got a dirk."
Murdo studied the space beyond us.
Why? Could he see it now?
He spun back, grabbing my elbows, shaking his head. "No one's there, Katie."
The chuckling ghost stepped toward Murdo. "Think you can get away with my money, do you? How can I put what's been broken back together again? Do you think you can do a better job of it? "
Hell. Somebody had to do something. Like me. I grabbed the hilt of Murdo's sword, pulling, unsheathing the ringing metal.
The sword stopped.
Stuck. Is there no mercy in life? I jerked the solid hilt.
The ringing blade slipped free.
Thank goodness. I thrust the blade before me.
Dim light danced upon the bent blade.
The man grinned, stepping forward regardless of the sword. "And just what do you think you're doing with that?"
The bastard actually chortled. "Go away." I jabbed the bent sword at him.
"You plan to use a bent weapon? I would have expected you to straighten it first." The ghostly man laughed at the ceiling.
As if he knew I could repair metal objects.
Murdo's hands snaked around my waist.
Touching me. Holding me! "What are you doing?" I twisted my upper body and hips to escape.
To save his ass. Somebody had to since nobody could see the ghost.
Murdo rammed my nose into the fibers of his shirt, locking me against his iron chest. "Eyes shut," he commanded.
Not such a bad idea since he smelled like fiery cinnamon. But the ghost didn't look friendly enough to ignore. I shoved my head back into Murdo's firm palm.
The palm vanished.
A warm hand peeled my fingers from the sword's hard hilt. "Give me my sword."
What is he up to? I studied Murdo's stern gaze.
The ghost's knife hovered over his shoulder.
What if that knife could do some kind of damage? "No," I shouted, struggling for freedom. "Murdo, you can't see him."
"Give me the sword, Katie." Murdo kept worming his fingers between mine and the hard hilt.
"He's behind you." I should have added idiot.
"Close your eyes, Lass. Trust me." Murdo stared down at me with a steady gaze. "Eyes shut. He isn't here. Nor is his dirk."
Right. Trust a man? But Murdo's blue gaze insisted.
Could a ghost hurt anyone? Could the apparition's blade cut anything? No. I had to be sane here. Ignore the phantom. I blocked the image of a hand wielding a knife over Murdo's shoulder by clamping my eyes tightly shut.
"That's a good lass. Keep your eyes shut and hand over my sword."
Well, he was taking over. I guess I could just let him this one time. And forgive myself if anything happened because I didn't stand up to him. "Don't die," I mumbled, released the sword to Murdo's hungry fingers, and sank my nose into his spicy cinnamon-scented shirt. "Don't let me die either, Murdo."
I'm going to die. Or pay. Somehow. Trust is so overrated.
The ghoul's laughter continued to ring down the corridor. Following the beat of Murdo's drumming heart. But nothing drove away the fading heckling.
"Now match my steps," he commanded. "I'll guide you out of here. No peeking."
What else could I do trapped like this? Trust Murdo. Stupid girls made the mistake of trusting men though. But this isn't about sex. And I can handle a bit of rescuing at the moment.
His body nudged me forward.
Like an odd steady dance. I countered with a back step.
His arm secured my safely where his musculature wrapped snuggly around my back.
Some first dance. At least I didn't have to wear girlie shoes.
But the heckling laughter closed in again.
Eyes shut. Forget the noise. I tucked my nose beneath Murdo's scratchy tartan and breathed.
An invigorating perfume of outdoors combined with a footlocker. Warm and male. I hadn't smelled that combination since…I worked at the stables back in Kentucky during highschool. And met that really cuddly mile of tanned muscles. Todd. He should still be in Hell for jacking with girls the way he managed to lure them into the barn. Get their clothes off. Probably just to goad me into doing the same because he knew I could see his sex games.
"Now we'll take the steps one at a time." Murdo's chest rumbled with each of his words.
Steps? We'd already reached the stairs? What a short dance. Maybe good. Maybe not so much the way his muscles strained all around me. Massaging me. Nicely. Yes. Good. I needed to get away from my saviour's warm fuzzy smell and kneading musculature.
One at a time, we ascended each step until the surrounding air warmed. And he guided me out of the frigid Vaults.
Cold. Tombs. Where things should be left to rest. God. Who thought of taking a diversion through the Scottish version of catacombs? But we climbed back to the surface. To the sunny sky. And oh how am I ready to see the blue spritzed with white clouds. "It's warming up now."
"Aye. Eyes tight. We're almost out of here."
So much for a dance to remember. At least he hadn't groped me. Maybe the man wasn't so bad. Or I'm losing my mind.
"Last step," he warned. "Down the hall. The door's but three steps away."
A door squealed.
"Through the door," he timbered.
The door screeched in reply, then thudded.
Interesting combination of sounds. Like don't then done. What a girl says to a jerk then realizes how everything she'd experienced wa
sn't a nightmare but in the past, an irretrievable part of her life. So terminally done.
Murdo's arm loosened around my back, slipping away. "Come now, Katie. I think we're safe."
Fine then. I opened my eyes.
Pam, Jennifer, Annie, and Murdo circled me with conspiratorial gazes.
"What happened?" Annie demanded.
Pam blinked suspiciously.
As if I made everything up. "Well, this man stomped through the hall with a dirk and tried to attack us."
"Och!" Annie waved a dismissive hand at me. "Mr. Boots is notorious for harassing tourists. Some people are more receptive to him. He breathes down guests' necks or attacks them. I haven't seen him myself. I think Tim staves him off. It pays to have a friendly spirit afoot."
"You left us down there with that ghost?" Jennifer piped. "What kind of racket are you people running here?"
Annie turned to Jennifer. "He can't hurt you. Spirits can only scare you."
The woman obviously hasn't seen the ghost. "Tell that to Mr. Boots."
Pam smirked. "Isn't that what we came for, Katie?"
And that's the gratitude I got for defending them all? "I didn't think I'd actually see a ghost? Does anybody ever? Not to mention Mr. Boots is evil." I pushed through the wall of their elbows and headed for the door.
Daylight welcomed through the doorway's flanking window.
Wonderful warmth. Ghosts seemed to prefer darkness. The opposite of sunlight. How was I going to sleep at Culcreuch Castle in the cold darkness? But we are leaving. Mr. Boots probably wouldn't join us in the car.
Footsteps heatedly pursued me to the door.
Mr. Boots or whoever could keep the Vaults. I pushed the whining hatch wide.
Noisy hinges. Even the blasted door begged to leave. Who wouldn't? And here comes all of my friends. Instead of letting go, I held it like a good girl, politely manning the exit.
The blue Agila glinted in the noon sunlight.
Stupid clown car.
Pam's purple shirt broke into sunlight. Jennifer still looked pallid at her heels. Murdo shot me a concerned glance.
Whatever. I made for the stupid clown car.
After squeezing into the blasted cracker box for weeks like Moe, Larry, and Curly, it shouldn't bother me anymore. But the car lacked a clown color. Orange would do.
10 Timeless Heroes; A Time Travel Romance Boxed Set Page 82