Courage of a Highlander

by Katy Baker

  Closing her eyes in delight, Kara held her hands out to the flames, enjoying the sensation of warmth on her cold fingers.

  “I’ll be back soon,” Aiden said, jumping down onto the beach once more.

  “Where are you going?” Kara asked.

  Aiden gave a wicked smile. “Didnae I say I’d bring ye breakfast? Stay here and try to keep out of trouble.”

  Kara inclined her head. “I’ll do my best.”

  Aiden nodded and then disappeared round a large boulder. Kara shuffled closer to the fire and soon found herself drowsing. Fractured images spun through her head: Michael Devereux. Irene MacAskill. The Key of Ages. But most of the images were of a tall, dark-haired man with eyes she could drown in. Those images sent a warmth right into her core.

  She came awake with a start. The fire was getting low so Kara added another branch. She had no idea how much time had passed. There was no sign of Aiden. Kara scrambled to her feet and hurried to the edge of the boulder, looking left and right down the beach. There was nobody in sight. Kara could have been the only person in the whole world. She felt panic begin to bubble in her belly and fought it down.

  No, she thought. He’ll be back soon. He gave his word. Then another, panicky voice replied, that didn’t stop him running out on you in the apartment, did it? What makes you think he can be trusted any more than anyone else? He’s only looking out for himself, just like everyone.

  She pressed her hand against her chest to try to still her suddenly thumping heart. Then she heard a scrabbling sound and Aiden climbed up onto the rock. His boots and plaid were wet and he was cradling something in the crook of his arm.

  At the sight of him Kara’s legs went wobbly with relief. Aiden saw her standing there and a look of concern flashed across his face.

  “Are ye well, lass?” he asked. “Ye look as if ye’ve seen a ghost.”

  Kara wiped a hand across her brow. “I’m fine. What have you got there?”

  “Breakfast. Highland style. Can ye find me a flattish stone I can lay these on?”

  Kara cast around and found what he was looking for, a flat stone about the size of a dinner plate. She put it down near the fire. Aiden crouched next to it then carefully placed the items he’d been cradling on the rock. Shrimps. Lots of them. He sprinkled bits of seaweed on top and then placed the stone in the fire, allowing the shrimps to fry in their own juices. In no time at all a delicious smell wafted out, making Kara’s stomach rumble all over again.

  “I trust ye like seafood?” Aiden asked.

  “You trust right,” Kara replied. “Especially seafood as fresh as this.”

  “None better,” Aiden said with pride. “When I was a boy I used to spend whole days exploring the coast, living on whatever I caught. Skye will show ye her bounty if ye know where to look.”

  He took the shrimps from the fire and laid several out on another, smaller rock for Kara to use as a plate. “Welcome to yer first Highland meal, lass.”

  There were no knives or forks, salt and pepper, or fancy sauces to go with the shrimps but even so it was possibly one of the best meals Kara had ever eaten. She’d never tasted seafood as fresh or as well-cooked. In no time at all she’d polished off her share and sat licking her fingers.

  “Wow,” she said. “That was delicious. Have you ever thought of moving to my time? You’d make an excellent chef. I know a dozen swanky hotels who’d snap you up.”

  Aiden licked his own fingers and then smiled. “I’m nay sure they’d ever get used to my ways, lass. What was it ye called me? An uncivilized barbarian?”

  “Well, maybe after that meal I need to reassess that statement.”

  She looked up and found him watching her. Their gazes locked and Kara felt a tremble inside. She cleared her throat and jumped to her feet. “Right. Hadn’t we better be going?”

  Kara poured some sand onto the fire to quench it, then they climbed the trail back to the clifftop. Now that she’d eaten she felt refreshed and a little more normal—whatever normal was these days. They took the path that led inland, towards the mountains. There was soft, springy turf underfoot and the trail was flat. The going was relatively easy and they made good time.

  The road was wide enough that they were able to walk side by side although Kara was pretty sure Aiden slowed his pace to account for her. Kara watched the landscape change as they walked. The coast was soon left behind and they entered an upland area of purple heather and peat bogs. Aiden picked their way with care, warning her about straying too far from the path as the peat bogs could be treacherous.

  The clouds rolled back and the sun shone although there was a bite in the air that suggested winter wasn’t far away. The scent of heather and peat filled her nostrils and she breathed the clean, fresh air deeply, savoring its feel in her lungs.

  To Kara’s surprise, she found herself beginning to relax. The near-panic that had filled her retreated and was replaced by something else, something she couldn’t quite put a name to. She felt calm. Almost peaceful. There was something about trekking through this landscape with Aiden that chased away all her thoughts, her worries, leaving only the crystal clear moment of right now.

  Aiden pointed things out as they walked: the names of flowers and plants, types of birds and their nesting habits, the names of abandoned settlements they passed through. Kara listened attentively, tucking it all away, and found herself watching Aiden as they traveled. He seemed utterly at home here. He moved with an economy of movement, a sort of languid grace that suggested he was used to long days of walking in this sort of terrain. His stormy blue eyes scanned the landscape, taking in everything, spotting things that Kara wouldn’t have noticed had she tripped over them: the red deer crouching in the heather, the tracks of a fox crossing the trail, a golden eagle riding the thermals high above them, a clutch of blue eggs that he collected for their supper.

  Dusk was falling when Aiden called a halt for the night. They were walking by the banks of a stream that gurgled along the base of a wooded valley and the temperature was rapidly dropping. For the last half an hour Aiden had been studying their trail intently, looking for something. Kara had watched him, bemused, as he stopped to check a piece of scuffed turf or the grazed bark of a tree. When she’d asked him about it he’d merely smiled and told her to wait.

  Now he went stock still, staring at the trail ahead. Then he gave a quick shout and dashed forward. Kara hurried after and found him around a bend in the stream, standing under an overhang leading to a cave in the hillside.

  Kara looked up and something on the far side of the valley caught her eye. A ring of standing stones stood high on the hillside, their silhouettes black against the sky.

  “What’s that?” she asked, pointing.

  Aiden followed her gaze and a look of unease passed across his face. “It’s called Cullmaggin. An ancient place that’s best avoided. Dinna worry, lass. Our path tomorrow willnae take us near it.”

  Kara squinted up at Cullmaggin. The stones looked like clawed fingers erupting from the ground, beckoning her closer...

  She shook her head at the foolish notion and turned her attention to the cave that Aiden had found. The floor inside was made of fine gravel that looked like it had been swept in by the stream and at the back was a neatly stacked pile of firewood and two pottery jugs.

  “What is this place?” Kara asked as she entered the small, dry space.

  “This is a waypoint,” Aiden replied. “A place for travelers to rest. With so few settlements in the uplands, these spots are a lifeline for travelers. There’s always some firewood, a water jug and, if we’re very lucky, a bit more than that. Whoever creates the waypoint leaves markers for other people to follow.”

  “So that’s what you were looking at?” Kara asked.

  “Aye. We’ll sleep warm and dry tonight, lass.”

  Kara looked around the rudimentary shelter. It looked downright uncomfortable to her but she didn’t say this to Aiden. “Great. I’m so exhausted I think I could slee
p standing up.”

  “I’m going to take a look around. I willnae be long.”

  Before she could reply he disappeared into the gathering dusk. Kara put her hands on her hips and looked around. She crossed to the back of the cave and inspected the jugs. One was full and sealed with wax but the other was empty. She took this down to the stream and filled it with the icy water, drinking her fill before returning to the cave.

  Next she inspected the woodpile and found flint and tinder wrapped in a pouch. Kara had been a girl scout in her youth and was no stranger to making a fire. She arranged the sticks neatly in a depression in the center of the cave, added kindling and then struck a spark. It was a long time since she’d done anything like this and she wasn’t as practiced as Aiden was so she was swearing and cursing under her breath by the time she managed to get a spark into the kindling. As a tiny plume of smoke rose up, she went onto her belly and blew gently on it, carefully coaxing it to life. She fed in smaller twigs, whilst simultaneously blowing on it and eventually the spark took, eating into the wood and soon becoming a bright blaze.

  “Ha!” she cried, punching the air. “Take that, Aiden Harris!”

  She was surprised by how such a simple act of making a fire gave her so much pleasure. Back home she’d never thought twice about it, just taken it for granted as she lit a match or pressed the ignition button on her gas cooker.

  There was a rustle and Kara spun just as Aiden stepped inside. He paused as he took in the merrily burning fire.

  “How did ye do that?”

  Kara placed her hands on her hips. “I’m not completely useless you know.”

  Aiden held up his hands. “I wouldnae dream of suggesting ye were. I’m just a little...surprised is all, ye being a city lass and all.”

  “Well this city lass won ‘best girl scout’ two years in a row I’ll have you know.”

  “Aye? Well, I’m glad of it.”

  He moved to the back of the cave and took out the wrapped bundle he’d placed there, carefully uncovering a clutch of eggs he’d collected earlier as they moved through the heather. Kara folded into a cross-legged position as Aiden found a flat stone and placed it into the fire. When it was hot enough he cracked the eggs onto it and began to cook them gently.

  Kara propped her chin on her hand and watched him. “Where did you learn all this?”

  He glanced up at her. “From my father and Uncle Jamie mostly. Uncle Jamie used to take me on long expeditions when I was a lad. We’d spend days out in the wilds, living on what we could catch. The king’s guard taught me more. When ye are constantly moving ye soon learn that a hot meal might not be as forthcoming as ye might wish. Ye learn to take what ye can, when ye can.”

  Kara cocked her head. “King’s guard? You mean you’re a soldier?”

  Aiden shifted uncomfortably and Kara got the impression he didn’t really want to talk about it. “Aye, something like that.”

  She changed the subject. “Did you find anything when you were scouting?”

  “Nay, lass. There is not a soul for miles nor any sign of dangerous animals. We should be fine here tonight.”

  “And tomorrow we’ll reach Dun Arnwick?”

  “Aye, providing the weather holds.”

  Kara swallowed a sudden feeling of unease. She would meet Aiden’s family. She’d never been good at meeting families. Somehow she always managed to say something stupid and make an idiot of herself. This time though, her whole future hung on the help Aiden’s family might be able to give her.

  “Tell me about them,” Kara said. “Your family, I mean.”

  Aiden tipped the fried eggs onto two large leaves to use as plates and passed one to Kara. She took it gratefully and tucked in. The eggs were delicious, although she would give her back teeth for a dollop of ketchup and some salt. And a fork. A fork would be great. Eating fried eggs with her fingers was decidedly tricky.

  “There’s nay much to tell,” Aiden replied, sitting back and tucking into his own meal. “There’s my mother and father and my younger sister, Beth. I think ye will get on with her—she’s as opinionated as ye are.”

  “Opinionated?” Kara said. “I’m not opinionated!”

  Aiden just grinned. “Then there is my Uncle Jamie – my parents took him in when he was a boy so he’s not a blood relative. Annis is the housekeeper who is more like a surrogate aunt and my ma’s closest friend. Old Dougie is the steward. Then there is the extended clan. Everyone in Dun Arnwick is related to somebody else in some way. When I was a lad I couldnae get up to anything without my parents finding out about it. Ye could say I was brought up by the whole clan.”

  “That sounds nice,” Kara whispered. How different it sounded to her own upbringing. There had only been her and her parents, then only her and her mom after her father had died. Although she and her mom had been very close, her mom had always been busy. Always chasing a story. Always on the hunt for the next lead. In a lot of ways it had been a lonely life.

  Am I any different? Kara thought suddenly. Am I lonely because I choose to be?

  “Yer turn, lass,” Aiden said, screwing up his leaf-plate and tossing it into the fire. “Tell me something about yerself.”

  “What do you want to know?” Kara asked, a sudden wariness making her tone sharp. She wasn’t used to people asking questions and even less used to answering them. But fair was fair.

  “Why were ye at the warehouse? Ye say ye didnae know anything about the Key of Ages but ye still havenae explained why ye were looking into Devereux in the first place.”

  Kara set aside her plate and glanced out into the gathering gloom. How to explain? She gathered her thoughts for a moment and then looked back at Aiden. He was watching her steadily, the firelight dancing in his eyes.

  “Michael Devereux is a bad man. There are rumors of things he’s done—terrible things—including racketeering, extortion, beatings. Even murder. But nobody was ever able to nail him. The police would build a case for it to fall apart when a witness disappeared or an alibi was suddenly produced from nowhere. I’m an investigative reporter. It’s my job to stop these people. To bring their crimes into the light of day.”

  “Why?” Aiden asked.

  “Why what?”

  “Why do ye do such things? Surely it’s the province of yer law keepers to stop these men. Why put yer life in danger?”

  “I...” Kara floundered for words. How could she explain? How could she make him understand that relentless tug she felt inside herself? That her instincts always drove her? How could she explain that she had no control over it? That it was a drive that would never let her rest because there was always the next story. Always the next bad guy to bring down? That it was the only way she knew to fill the hole inside herself?

  “I...I...” she opened her mouth and then shut it again.

  For the first time she realized she felt different. That tugging sensation was gone. That relentless yearning had fallen silent.

  She ought to be burning with desperation to get home. She ought to be hungry to get back so she could take down Devereux. But she wasn’t. Instead of that insatiable fire in her belly, she felt calm. No, wait. That wasn’t it. She felt...she scrabbled around in her brain trying to find a word to describe the feeling. It had been so long since she’d experienced anything like it that it took her a while. Then she had it and her mouth formed a little O of surprise.

  She felt at peace.

  “I don’t really know why I do it,” she said at last. “It’s just something I do. It’s like something pushes me, whether I want to or not. Do you know what I mean?”

  His blue eyes fixed on hers and she saw a shadow of sorrow in them. “Aye, lass,” he breathed. “I know exactly what ye mean.”

  Then, before Kara could reply, he gathered up a stick and hunched over the fire, precluding further conversation.

  Chapter 6

  Aiden reached his hands towards the fire, savoring the warmth that bled into his stiff fingers. It was going to be a
cold night and they’d need the fire if they were going to pass it in even a modicum of comfort. Aiden would have dearly loved to have found an isolated croft where they could have slept in the barn—Kara deserved a finer introduction to his country than sleeping in a cave —but it seemed fate was not on his side and this was the best he could offer.

  He glanced at her. Her cheeks were rosy from the fire and her hair was spilling over her shoulders and framing her face in a way that accentuated her beauty. It was a careless sort of beauty, as though she was either unaware of it or didn’t care. Either way, the sight of her sent Aiden’s pulse racing in a way that made him decidedly uneasy. He picked up a twig and began idly shredding it. Anything to keep his mind off the flame-haired beauty sitting not four paces away.

  Suddenly Kara let out an enormous yawn.

  “Sorry,” she mumbled. “Don’t know where that came from.”

  “It’s been a long day,” Aiden replied. “Why dinna ye get some sleep? Dinna worry, ye’ll be perfectly safe. I’ll sleep across the entrance.”

  Kara nodded then lay down, head cradled on her arms. In moments her eyes drifted closed and her breathing evened out, a little wisp of hair rising and falling with each breath.

  Aiden glanced out of the entrance. Darkness had fallen and he was night-blinded by the firelight so could see nothing beyond its light. He didn’t think any wild animals would venture near with the scent of two humans so strong in the area but he would take no chances. What he wouldn’t give for his claymore but that had been taken by the police in the twenty-first century. He had to content himself with a stout branch as his only weapon.

  He shuffled backwards to lean against the wall of the cave and stretch his legs out in front of him. He was exhausted. His limbs felt heavy and awkward and the bruises he’d suffered at the hands of Devereux’s thugs sent a dull ache throbbing through his body. He glanced at Kara who looked peaceful in sleep.