by Jane Stain
Luag was mid-charge at Donald when he heard the bagpipes.
Donald heard them too, because his face was stricken with urgent worry.
Accompanied by the rallying call of the pipes, Alasdair and his knights rode down from the western hills toward the northern wall of Aberdeen, moving through Donald’s horde of warriors as they did, scything them left and right, forming a wedge between the enemy and the walls, churning and spraying blood.
The tide had turned.
Donald’s nearest lackeys were urging on the ranks from the rear, shouting for them to go faster even as the ranks in the front died left and right at the onslaught of mounted man in chain armor.
Calling out to his lackeys, "Sound the retreat," Donald turned and fled like the coward he was.
His men cursed him, but they followed.
Luag was tempted to stand his ground and watch everyone run past him, giving them gloating looks. But he was no fool. Unlike the knights Alasdair led, he wore only wool: a Gaelic plaid and a Viking animal pattern.
He got on his horse and rode for the western hills, expecting to be followed and cut down.
Luag spotted the camp at the top of the hill and turned cautious, keeping the horse to the cover of the trees rather than ride out in the open where he could go faster. Was it friend or foe? Did he have any friends left?
The backside of the hill was devoid of trees, and whoever was up in this camp would've had a nice view of the battlefield. Had they only watched Aberdeen nearly fall but then triumph, or had they seen him challenging a despot? Would it matter?
He needed to know who was up there. He couldn't let them follow him and cut him down unawares. Far better to face them head on, so he kept up his relentless ride toward the camp.
Wait, was that Leif's plaid he saw over the tree? Luag’s stomach churned with excitement, both at the idea that his friend was up here and also the idea of seeing him again, having someone to come home to. He hurried his horse up the rest of the hill, and sure enough that was Leif’s plaid.
"Leif, are ye there?"
Luag's heart beat even faster than it had while he fought, he was so anxious to see a friendly face.
The plaid leapt about with the activity of people behind it. Was all well? Had attackers made their way up here and killed his friends?
Luag jumped down from his horse, gave it the command to graze, and ran through the trees toward the tent with his sword out, desperate to save the lives of whoever he could from the attackers.
The voice he heard melted his heart.
"Luag, could it be ye?"
And there she was, the only lass he had ever loved as a man loves a lass. The sunlight found its way to her fair hair and glinted off like gold. Her eyes sparkled like the waters of the sea under that same sunlight.
And then she was crushing him in her arms and he was kissing her.
She returned his kiss for a few ecstatic moments, then broke away, holding him at arms’ length and plainly searching him for blood. "I could hae killed ye when ye sent me off by myself. What were ye thinking?"
He loved it when she got just a bit cross with him. It made her eyes sparkle all the more, and her body move with exciting precision.
"It doesna matter. Aberdeen is safe…"
As he told her this, he became aware of Jessica and Lauren fidgeting in the tent away from his and Katherine's reunion. "Now the matter at hand is to find out if Leif and Taran are safe. Come, let us go doon—"
Jessica and Lauren both rushed out, looking worried but determined.
Lauren made the cutting gesture. "They will come here at the first opportunity. We hae strict orders tae stay and wait, though I suppose that does na include ye and Katherine."
Luag looked over at the lasses his dear friends Leif and Taran had married. "They are like brothers tae me, and sae ye are like sisters. We are family, and I wull bide here with ye."
Katherine had been clinging to his side, but now she moved away and went to stand with the other lasses. Common sense told him it was because he and she no longer had privacy, but from his time in the future at her home, he knew that wasn't it.
She put her arms around both the other lasses. "Luag, give us a charade tae entertain us while we wait, aye?"
The lasses had been slow to get into the game at first, but this was Lauren's favorite game, so she at least had jumped into it with vigor once he got started, winning ten of the twenty turns they had taken. She was currently up. The other lasses were guessing, and Luag was doing his best to let them win. They were the ones who needed the distraction.
He saw signs of a small party coming up the hill toward the camp before the lasses did. The trees moved just a bit, and birds took flight and called to each other. It was probably Leif and Taran, but until Luag was sure, he kept his weapon hand free and himself away from having a turn at Charades.
A good sign was that whoever was coming wasn't being aggressive about it. He would have known because of the birds flying away. However, Luag subtly moved himself between the lasses and those who approached.
It would do no good to warn the lasses an enemy might be approaching. None of them were warriors, and there was nowhere for them to take refuge. Their panic might ignite aggression in whoever approached.
He mustn't have hidden his intentions well enough though, because Lauren called him out on it. "Someone’s coming, are na they, Luag."
He held up his hands in the sign for remaining still and then signed to them, "‘Tis probably yer husbands, but till we ken for certies, please remain quiet and stay behind me sae that I can defend ye."
To his surprise, the lasses nodded in agreement and did as he said, waiting in silence for several more moments.
The sound of Leif’s smallpipes wafted up from below with the signal that meant "All is well."
Luag grabbed Katherine’s hand and went running to greet the rest of his family.
20
They had just finished picking up Jessica and Lauren's camp when it hit Katherine. It was time for her to go. What she had come to accomplish, she had done.
She looked for an opportunity to get Lauren alone, and while Jessica checked how well the men had packed the camp stuff onto Luag's horse, she got it.
Taran and Leif were filling Luag in on their side of the battle.
"People on the wall, who saw Donald’s army coming, alerted us in time."
"Aye, we all grabbed two stones each and ran ower there."
“Every man in the militia can lay claim tae having hit maire than one MacDonald sympathizer."
Katherine met Lauren’s eye and inclined her head down the hill to where their seats had been arranged for watching the battle.
Looking very curious, Lauren raised an eyebrow and followed her there. “What is it?”
Katherine gazed down and watched Aberdeen’s people clean up the debris of the battle. “Is there a way ye can help me get away withoot being noticed?"
Lauren took hold of Katherine’s shoulder and pulled her around to see Lauren’s frown. "Why?"
Katherine caught herself looking up the hill to watch Luag.
His face was glorious as he loudly related his end of the battle to his adopted brothers. "‘Twas Uncle who backed down from the fight. I was victorious. My only regret is na ending him when I had the chance, but ye saw him retreat."
Leif clapped him on the back. "The men on the wall saw it."
Taran reached out and embraced forearms with Luag. "Ye did well, and we all thank ye for it, howsoever, ye should hae come home with Katherine."
Luag looked up and met Katherine's eyes then.
She almost lost her resolve to go home.
His look was so loving, so inviting. It told her that any minute now, he would ask her to be his wife — and that he was certain she would say yes.
But he didn't do it at this moment, and so she escaped. No, he went back to his conversation about the battle.
That gave Katherine her chance to escape him. Keepin
g her eyes on him the entire time —memorizing his face, the way he moved, the cadence of his voice— she made her appeal. "Lauren, I canna bide in this time. ‘Tis verra happy I am for ye, being able tae adapt, tae love living here in 1411, but it is na for me. I need tae go. Verra soon, he wull ask me tae stay. I canna hurt him by saying nay, and I will na ask him tae come home with me. He was miserable in our time."
Lauren hugged Katherine, and while they were still holding each other tight, whispered, "Aye, I wull distract them while ye go on doon tae the inn and get yerself a room. We gae home tae Inverurie this verra day. Kelsey said she would contact us all this night."
Katherine squeezed Lauren's hands. "Just in case, I think I'd better get a room in a different inn."
Lauren pulled away with a sad smile. "Aye, ye hae the right o’ it."
Sure enough, that night Katherine found herself in the Dunskey Castle dream. A new woman was there, someone Katherine didn't know, but who obviously knew Kelsey and Lauren well.
Kelsey met Katherine's eyes. "Katherine, this is Sarah. Sarah, this is Katherine."
Sarah threw up her hands in exasperation but spared a brief "Hi Katherine" before turning back to Kelsey. "I'm telling you, Michael doesn’t need to be at Celtic University. Why can't you get him to check in somewhere else? I love my job here and it's going so well, but having him here is too much of a distraction."
Kelsey held up her hand for quiet. "I thought I could keep you here for this, but obviously I can't. I'll talk to you later."
Sarah’s exasperation was almost comical as she faded out of the dream.
"Sorry about that," Kelsey said, giving Katherine an apologetic smile that attempted to hide her amusement at Sarah’s predicament. "I understand you want to go home to the future."
"Thank you," Katherine told her. "Yes, I do. Right away. As soon as possible. Did Lauren tell you why, or does it matter?"
Kelsey wrinkled her nose in a fair imitation of Katherine's most effective facial expression for sales, making Katherine chuckle a bit. "Yes, Lauren explained everything. It's raised my opinion of you considerably, you selflessly taking yourself out of Luag's life before you can hurt his feelings too much by saying no. I will arrange for Roland Cheyne to meet you first thing in the morning.”
Katherine gasped. “You know him?”
Kelsey lowered her chin. “We do now. The future made quite an impression on him, and he has reached out to us. But he will not come into Aberdeen to meet you, ye ken. Meet him back up on that hill west of town."
Scotland was unfairly beautiful in the morning. The sun was out for once, glistening on the dewy grass and thistles, highlighting the purple Heather out in the fields and the grey stones at the top of the mountains. Just the right amount of thundercloud lurked behind those mountains, rumbling majestically.
Katherine drank in the scenery while she could.
A small part of her, the selfish part, kept expecting Luag to appear. Her selfish mind even worked out a scene the two of them would play out when he did.
"Katherine, ye mean the waurld tae me. Wherever ye go, I wish tae follow. I dinna care if that means leaving my waurld and all that is familiar tae me. Yer love will be enough. Ye are enough for me. Let’s make a family together."
She embraced him then, and they shared one of those kisses that made her toes curl.
But Katherine knew that was the selfish part of her thinking, so she only looked for him ten of the thirty times she wanted to, hoping to catch sight of him following her, urgent to catch up with her before she left. He had to know she was leaving. Lauren would've told him by now. But realistically, Luag was halfway back to Inverurie now, already thinking about how to train the militia for the next battle that would surely come.
If she had learned anything from reading that book about Inverurie's history, it was that battle after battle with each other was the story of Scotland's life. If only she could convince them that the English were their true enemies.
As she walked out on what had been a battlefield the day before, the sun continued to rise, glinting off the occasional weapon dropped in the heat of battle —or more likely in the heat of retreat. Aye battle was Scotland's history, and the Scottish men got their grit from it. They wouldn't be as attractive without it, was the sad truth. Without battle, Scottish men from history would look just like American men from her time.
These conflicting thoughts warbled through her mind as she surveyed the green meadow and surrounding grey mountains with their angry storm cloud background for the last time. Best to think of this past year as a vacation. A few pictures couldn't hurt, out here were no one else could see her, right? She got out her phone and took a panoramic video that she could pull stills from later, featuring Aberdeen in its medieval state with nary a neon sign in site.
Because after all, these mountains and meadows were preserved in her time, weren’t they. If she wanted to, she could visit them.
She had helped to ensure that.
It was almost as good as being with Luag.
Yes. Yes, it was. She was firm with herself on this, because the alternative was tears, and that was the last thing she needed right before returning home and having to face her responsible job. The CEOs of survival supply companies wouldn’t buy from a blubbering fool.
She heard a twig snap behind her, and her heart raced.
Now that he was right behind her, all her resolve to let him go disappeared.
Maybe Kelsey would help them visit each other. It would be the longest distance relationship she'd ever heard of, but… She couldn't be gone from her job for more than a weekend, but…
Her conscience told her this was ridiculous. What if you have children? Are you going to bring them back here to visit their father, modern children who would be in constant peril from not knowing how to live in these times?
But she ignored her conscience. Filled with hope, passion and an amount of desire she'd never known before, Katherine turned to welcome Luag into her arms.
But it was only Roland.
Deflated, she mustered the best smile she could to greet him.
Maybe reading minds was his druid gift, because he smiled at her in sympathy. "I'm here tae help ye go home tae yer time. I wull na be coming with ye, ye ken. I will open up a portal and ye wull just step through. I wull put ye inside yer apartment."
Katherine said anything she could think of to disguise her disappointment that it wasn't Luag. "Ye can open a portal right intae my apartment?"
He smiled like someone who had the keys to the Mercedes factory. "Here in a sacred grove that still exists thanks tae yer help, aye, I can."
"Ye have na been in my apartment. What's tae stop other druids from opening up portals there?"
"Aye, but ye hae been in yer apartment, and I hae touched ye. Only one other druid has done sae, aye? Kelsey is the only other druid who could dae sae, if she had the ability tae open portals, which she does na. Yet."
Katherine relaxed. It was comforting, the idea that Kelsey would still be in her life. That meant Jessica and Lauren could help her keep tabs on Luag in her dreams. It would be enough.
She gave Roland a smile of thanks. "I'm ready. Take me tae this sacred grove o’ yers and get me home."
Her apartment smelled so stale, she ran and opened all the windows, muttering to herself about fresh air and pollution. She didn't own any plants, and she would have to change that during the trip she would make to the farmers market this evening.
It was the same time here as it had been in 1411: six in the morning on what promised to be a scorching July day, even in this beach town.
She texted her boss. "I'm back. I'll be in today, but later. Need to do some personal errands. See you this afternoon." She called her salon and arranged for the full treatment: hair, skin, and nails. Next, she went to her closet and found something that had been dry cleaned and was classic, so being more than a year old wouldn't be an issue.
With her Brooks Brothers suit safely in her garment
bag and wearing shorts and a cute tank top, she went downstairs to the café for her ritual morning nonfat cinnamon latte.
Oh good, Lupe was here.
And slightly cross. "You said I'd see you on Tuesday, Chica. Where did you have breakfast yesterday and the day before?" But Lupe's smile betrayed her amusement.
Katherine went behind the counter to embrace her favorite barista. "I missed you too. I had some things I had to take care of, so I went away for a few days. But now I truly am home. The next time I go away, I'll tell you ahead of time, okay?"
"Okay," Lupe told her with a wink while she got started on Katherine’s latte, "and by the way, this is my brother, Ignacio. I think you two have met already. Sorry about that."
Ignacio was the man who had kicked Luag out. He smiled at Katherine. "No hard feelings, I hope." He held out his hand.
She shook it. "No hard feelings. I'm glad to meet you, Ignacio."
She took her latte over to her favorite table and plugged in her phone to charge while she slurped. It tasted like home.
21
Fortified with protein and caffeine, Katherine ordered an Uber to her salon. It would be here in half an hour. Might as well better familiarize herself with PenUlt's new products. She could personally attest to how good the backpack was, but she hadn't had time to test the cell phone earrings. She put them in and called Kelsey, using the number she'd found on Celtic University's website.
"Kelsey MacGregor."
"Hi Kelsey, it's Katherine."
"I'm so glad you made it home, but can we chat some other time? This thing with Sarah and Michael is taking up all my time today. Sorry."
"No problem," Katherine told Kelsey, tapping her earring to disconnect the call. Wow, these earrings worked great!
Inexplicably, Lupe gasped at the sound of the door opening. The barista was so level headed, this caused Katherine to look away from the latte she was savoring, having only a few swallows left.