"Let me guess," the man said, his accent just as thick as Kieran's. "We've a new visitor."
"Found her downstairs," Kieran said, a knowing tone in his voice that confused her a little. What were they talking about? Why were they talking about her like they knew who she was? "Along with a man – a thief she was chasing, so she says. He's in the cells now."
"Fascinating," the woman said, her eyes bright as she looked at Sarah. "Well, you're probably rather confused, aren't you?"
"You think?" Sarah asked, her irritation flaring finally. "Who are you? What's all this? Is this some kind of historical re-enactment?"
The woman laughed, exchanging a glance with the man beside her, who shook his head, smiling as he gestured for her to continue. "No, I'm afraid not. My name's Maria MacLeod. What's yours?"
"Sarah Elway," she said, suspicious of the repeated surname. Were these two family? "I'm a detective. That accent isn't Scottish."
"I'm from New York," Maria said, smiling. "At least, I was. Dunscaith Castle is my home now."
"Dunscaith Castle is a ruin," Sarah said, narrowing her eyes. "Why do you people keep talking like it's still standing?"
"Because it is," Maria said simply. "At least, it is now. I'd hazard a guess that you visited the ruin, yes?"
"How else would I have gotten here?"
"You went into the basement. You found a large empty room with a small door fit for maybe a child? You went through that doorway."
She frowned, thinking back to the room that DeBeers had fled through, the strangeness of it and the small door, the only way out other than the one she'd come in. She hadn't given it a second thought at the time but looking back… "Yeah. So what?"
"That particular door is imbued with a magic that none of us fully understand," Maria said calmly, for all the world as though she was explaining something as simple as what the weather was like outside. "It brought you back through time to the present day. The sixteenth century, to be precise. You're exactly where you were… but you're hundreds of years in the past."
Sarah took a deep breath, ready to argue.
But before she could speak, Maria raised a hand, a smile on her lips. "I know it sounds crazy. It took me a long time to figure out that I wasn't dreaming. But I assure you – you're not the first. You're actually the fourth woman to come through the gateway like this."
This woman was crazy. But the men around her were nodding along as though what she was saying made perfect sense.
"You don't have to believe me right away. But – well, you're a detective, you said? Examine the evidence for yourself." She gestured around the hall,
Sarah stared around her, her mind reeling at what she was seeing. She was definitely awake… this wasn't a dream. She knew what dreams felt like. Some kind of stress-induced hallucination? No – she was perfectly clear, thinking perfectly rationally. Was it possible this woman was telling the truth? That she'd somehow traveled through time? That would explain why she hadn't seen this building from the road… where all the tourists had gone…
"How?" she managed, feeling a little weak. As she swayed, she felt Kieran take her arm again… this time a reassuring gesture, steadying her. Maria gestured to the bench opposite her at the table and she sat down, entirely unsure of herself. Kieran poured her a cup of water and she sipped at it with shaking hands.
"We don't know how, not exactly," Maria said softly. "It certainly has something to do with that door… and possibly something to do with the woman who was responsible for building this castle. Her name was Scathach… but that's a long story, for another time. Suffice to say… the doorway is powerfully magical. It's also, I'm afraid, a one-way trip. There is no way back to our time."
"Our time?"
"Like I said – I'm from New York originally. I was an NYPD detective," she said, a smile playing about her lips. "Your accent… you're from Boston, I'm assuming. Boston PD?"
"Not exactly," Sarah managed, shaking her head. "I'm a private detective."
"Right. And you said you were chasing a thief?"
"DeBeers. Jewel thief. Wanted in about six different countries. Your guards have him," she added, looking up at Kieran. "Make sure they keep a close eye on him. He's escaped custody before."
"A single-minded woman," the man beside Maria said thoughtfully. He'd been studying her closely as they talked, and Maria gestured to him now, putting an affectionate hand on his forearm.
"This is my husband, Laird Cameron MacLeod. His family have held this castle for centuries."
The name rang a distant bell – she thought she could remember the tour guide talking about the castle's history on the bus. Impossible, she thought faintly… but it was getting harder and harder not to think of herself as having traveled through time. Was it possible? Was she having some kind of dissociative episode? "Okay," she said, blinking. "Nice to meet you?" Was she meant to bow? She hadn't felt this far out of her depth in years… decades, even.
Kieran rumbled laughter from behind her, and she saw Cameron hiding a smile.
"You're welcome in Castle Dunscaith, Sarah Elway. There'll be some adjustment to be done, I'm sure, but know that you're safe here for as long as you chose to remain. We'll organize guest quarters for you, of course, and some more – appropriate clothing."
She frowned, looking down at her outfit. Jeans, a pair of sturdy boots, and a rain jacket… what exactly was inappropriate about her outfit? Then again… she glanced around the hallway, a little unnerved by how many women she saw in gowns and dresses. She definitely stuck out like a sore thumb. "I have clothing in my bag on the bus…"
Maria sighed. "I'm afraid there's no going back, Sarah. What you have with you… that's all you'll ever have of your old life. It'll take some getting used to."
She blinked, not quite able to grasp what Maria was telling her. It felt like most of her mind hadn't quite caught up with her body – her instincts were telling her to keep chasing DeBeers, and she didn't feel especially present for this conversation, not with more important work. "I – I need to get hold of DeBeers," she said, trying to hang onto something that would keep her anchored. "He stole a fortune's worth of diamonds…"
"Kieran, would you show our guest to her quarters?" Laird Cameron said gently. "Once you're settled, Sarah, we can talk more."
"But –" She hesitated, but she didn't want to give Kieran any more excuses to pick her up and carry her. "Okay," she said finally, shrugging a little. "I – thank you?" She was probably being unforgivably rude, she thought distantly as Kieran led her away toward the door they'd come in through. She was probably supposed to bow and curtsy to a Lord – or a Laird – or whatever. But none of that felt real. The only thing that felt real was her mounting frustration at not being able to get hold of DeBeers… knowing that somehow, he'd managed to slip through her fingers yet again.
This time was a little different, of course. She didn't know any detectives who'd had a perp time travel to escape them.
They climbed the staircase in the entrance hall and moved along a little hallway lit by the pleasant glow of lanterns. There were a couple of women dressed in long cotton gowns with aprons and bonnets on at the end of the hall, and they both peered at Sarah with keen interest even as they bobbed identical little curtseys and scurried away. Kieran gestured her through a door at the end of the hall, and she stared through the doorway, unwilling to go in.
"The bed's freshly made," Kieran explained. "If you need anything, call for one of the servants."
"I need to find DeBeers," she said, gritting her teeth impatiently. "You don't understand how clever he is. He'll find a way to escape –"
"My guards are looking after him," Kieran said firmly. "Don't fret. You need some rest."
"I need to catch –"
"You need to rest," Kieran overrode her firmly, his eyes flashing.
She gritted her teeth. She was beginning to suspect that this man might rival her for stubbornness.
"Now, don't make me post a guard on your doo
r, Miss Elway."
"Fine," she said finally through gritted teeth, trying to control her temper. "Thank you. I'll – I'll just settle in then, shall I?"
He nodded, gave her a little bow … then she firmly closed the door in his face. A few seconds passed, then she heard the sound of footsteps disappearing down the hallway. Well, good. Sarah hesitated, peering around the little room she'd been assigned. It was chilly, but a freshly lit fire in the grate was doing its best to banish that chill. But what was she supposed to do? Unpack her pockets? She fidgeted with her jacket, sat on the edge of the bed, adorned with a rather soft, warm-looking quilt. It looked comfortable, at least.
But she didn't want to stay here. Didn't want to settle into this bizarre little medieval hotel room. She wanted to get hold of DeBeers – to drag him kicking and screaming back to civilization and get him locked away in jail where he belonged. If that meant going back through the magic gateway, then so be it. She still wasn't sure where all of this factored in – this crazy world she'd found herself in, this collection of strangely dressed people she still wasn't quite convinced weren't just a bunch of well-trained actors playing a joke on her – but she knew that it was going to take a lot more than a bit of time travel – real or fictional – to stop her from getting her mark.
Sarah gave it five or ten minutes — just in case Kieran was waiting for her to sneak out of her room. Then, with a steely glint of determination in her eyes, she got to her feet and slipped out of the room, moving quietly down the silent hallway. Wherever DeBeers was, she was going to find him.
She wasn't giving up on her quarry now. No way.
Chapter 5
Unfortunately, in the end she didn't make it very far. She stole along the hallway to the great set of stairs that led down to the entrance hall, drawing a few confused stares from servants who were clearly not used to seeing women in modern dress around the place. She headed down the stairs, mindful not to fall and break her face like she almost had back in the ruin – God, that already felt so long ago – and headed toward the huge doors where she dimly remembered the guards had been taking DeBeers. He was out there, somewhere – at least, she hoped he was. Wherever they'd restrained him, she hoped they'd checked the knots twice.
But she couldn't help but stop in surprise when she slipped through the enormous double doors. The grey sky above her was familiar, as was the salty tang of the sea air in her nose… she remembered all of that well enough from where the tour bus had pulled up. She was in Scotland, sure enough. But everything else around her… that had changed completely. Gone were the trees and scrub that decorated the landscape. Instead, she found herself staring around an enclosed courtyard, great walls cordoning it off from the outside world. Sure enough, she could see trees above the battlements, stretching off beyond the wall… but here in the courtyard, the ground was paved over with stones, dimly familiar… had some patches of the courtyard survived?
She realized with a jolt that she was thinking as though what she'd been told was true, as though she really had traveled back in time to the castle before it had become a ruin. But that was impossible. Wasn't it? If it was… what other explanation was there for what she was seeing? A wide courtyard, low buildings over to one side that seemed to be stables… as she watched, a man dressed in similar armor to Kieran's lead a saddled horse through the open doors there. There were several sets of stairs set in the walls, and more guards standing atop them, gazing out across the landscape around the castle.
The castle… she took a few stumbling steps back, turning to crane her neck up at the building. Sure enough, here it stood… enormous, reaching up into the sky, stone walls with narrow windows set in each story. At least three floors, maybe more – it was hard to tell from out here. She stared up at it in shock, remembering dimly the way the tour guide had described the impressive structure that had once stood in this place…
And was now standing there again. At least… it was from her perspective.
A sudden wave of dizziness hit her hard and she stumbled, half-falling into a sitting position on the steps of the castle as she struggled suddenly to catch her breath. The familiar panic set in, and she automatically defaulted to taking slow, shallow breaths, focusing mindfully on her inhalations and exhalations to stop herself from panicking. She'd had her asthma under control for years now, and rarely even needed her inhaler… when she felt an attack coming on, she knew how to calm it with her mind, how to reassure her panicking body that she was getting plenty of air, that everything would be okay. The narrowing of her airways was a little alarming, yes, but easy enough to deal with. All she needed to do was focus… to remember that she was okay, that she was safe….
But was she safe, really? She'd traveled through time. That was becoming harder and harder to deny… here she was, stuck in medieval Scotland, a castle behind her and a courtyard full of medieval guards in front of her. Why on Earth was she pursuing DeBeers? What would be the point of catching him if his crimes wouldn't even have been committed for another several hundred years? She found herself laughing dizzily, feeling eerily close to madness… but the thought of DeBeers was comforting, bizarrely. He was here too, wasn't he? He, too, had traveled through that bizarre gate, he'd know exactly how she was feeling… the two of them were stuck here together. Why was that so oddly comforting? He was a criminal, a villain, her worst enemy…
"So, you've settled in well, then?"
That was familiar voice from behind her… she cringed, turning to see what she already knew she'd see. The imposing figure of Kieran, even taller from the top of the steps to the castle, his arms folded across his chest and a distinctly unimpressed expression on his face. She offered him a hopeful smile, but it was clear from his expression that she wasn't going to have much luck charming her way out of this situation. Ah, well. Worth a shot.
"I'm worried about DeBeers," she said, shaking her head. "Where are you holding him?"
"None of your business."
"It's actually absolutely my business," she said, feeling irritation flare in her chest again despite her chagrin at having been caught sneaking out… sneaking out? What was she, a prisoner? A teenager again, forced to obey the rules? "He's my mark. I've got to –"
"I won't warn you again," Kieran said, his voice low and cold – but frightening, too. The voice of a man who was used to being obeyed by people much more menacing than Sarah. "The man is in our custody. He's our business now. You'd do well to rest." His expression softened just a little. "You've been through a great deal. I wouldn't be surprised if you were feeling the results of the journey through."
"I'm fine," she insisted… though the dizzy spell that had made her sit on the steps so suddenly wasn't far from her mind, and she bit her lip. "A little tired, maybe –"
"Back to your room," Kieran said firmly. But he extended a hand to her and helped her up.
She couldn't help but smile a little. She had a suspicion he was a little softer than he let on. Easy enough to play the role of the big tough guard captain, especially with a frame as powerful as his… but she could tell by the gentle way he helped her to his feet that his bark was a lot worse than his bite.
Still, she found vexation flaring up in her when they reached her room to find another guardsman standing outside it, gaze fixed straight ahead, a sword at his hip. Sarah looked up at Kieran, who avoided her gaze. "Seriously? You posted a guard?"
"As soon as I saw you leave your room against instruction," Kieran said briskly. "Now, I hope you'll rest this afternoon. A servant will fetch you down for dinner when it's served."
"Great," she said drily as he turned on his heel and strode away down the corridor. The guard he'd left posted at her door appeared to be under instruction not to speak to her – no matter how she tried to catch his eyes, he stared determinedly past her, only stepping in her way when she tried to follow Kieran down the hallway. "Cool. Love to be a prisoner in a medieval castle. Definitely my wildest fantasy."
As resentful as she felt
about being physically restrained to her room, she had to admit a guilty sigh of relief when she settled down on the bed. Not that she'd admit it to Kieran even under pain of death, but she was feeling pretty exhausted. Could it be that the travel through the door had taken it out of her somehow? It hadn't been that tiring a day otherwise… a lot of sitting around on a bus, and a couple of slow-paced strolls around historical sites… definitely no reason to feel as tired as she did. After a moment's hesitation, she pulled back the soft quilt of the bed and slid into it. Maybe just a quick lie-down… to settle her nerves, make sure the worst of her asthma had abated…
She fell quickly into a deep and dreamless sleep that lasted a great deal longer than she'd expected. When she awoke, it was to realize with a start that the light was all but gone from the sky, and through her window she could see the night closing in. Surprised and a little disoriented, she sat up, running her hand through her tangled hair and swallowing hard, her mouth feeling dry. There was a jug of water on the bedside table and she poured herself a cup of it, feeling oddly unmoored in the sleepy post-nap state she found herself in.
Well, that ruled out the possibility that this was a dream… dreams could be pretty believable, but she'd never experienced a dream in which she'd fallen asleep and then woken back up without also waking from the dream itself. It was possible she was hallucinating, of course… but that didn't feel believable, either. Everything was so clear, so consistent… and it wasn't as though anything else strange was happening. Surely she'd hallucinate magic and mystery… not just a fairly realistic — from her limited knowledge, at least — medieval castle.
So, for the time being, she supposed, she'd just have to proceed with the assumption that she really had traveled through time. That she was sitting in a bed on the second floor of an honest-to-God medieval castle… that she was well and truly in the past. Her heartbeat picked up at the very thought and she peered around her room, freshly fascinated. Was it really possible? The thought quickly grew overwhelming, and she pushed back the quilt, getting to her feet, trying to anchor herself in her body to avoid getting overwhelmed by the thought of where she was. When she was. No – she'd focus on other things, for now.
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