Highlander's Challenge

by Jo Barrett

  Elspeth appeared at his side, a worried frown on her face. “You didna eat much. Are you not well, Colin?”

  He turned and studied her closely. “Da didna summon me tae wed Aileen.” It was a statement, not a question.

  “Nay. ‘Tis I who wrote the letter, bidding you tae come home and do your duty.”

  Nodding, he moved to the far window and peered up at the stars. “Another vision. I should have known.” When his aunt saw something, she could not let it be. She felt duty bound to act, and often against his father’s advice.

  Colin looked over his shoulder. “Did Da know of your vision?”

  She wrung her hands together, her gaze darting about the room. “Aye. He knew.” Moving toward the hearth, she grasped the back of a chair firmly and lifted her head. “He didna want me tae summon you. He said I was a worrying auld woman.”

  “What did you see? I’ll have all of it. Now.” He didn’t hold much trust in his aunt’s visions, although they often came true. He preferred not to think that things were destined to be, were out of his control, but he would be a fool not to hear the tale.

  Her shoulders sagged as she exhaled deeply. “I canna see it all clearly. A wedding, of that I’m sure, but I dinnae know for certain if ‘tis Aileen. I only assumed ‘twas her because of your father’s wishes. But there is treachery and a fierce battle of which I canna see the outcome. ‘Twas the reason Douglas ordered me not tae summon you. He feared for your life and the future of the clan.”

  She turned to gaze upon his father. “But you are our only hope now. ‘Tis glad, I am, that I sent for you against his wishes.”

  “Aye. I’m glad as well.”

  Although he’d known what his future would hold most of his life, he always felt in command. He believed that his decisions and duty would lead him there, not some vision by a sweet old woman, and yet, she’d been in the right to summon him, for was likely he would have received her second missive too late.

  “Goodnight, Aunt.” He quietly left the room, feeling his future, the one he’d expected and planned for his entire life, dissolve amid the mist hanging over the loch.

  Chapter Seven

  Tuck looked in on Ian one last time after putting on her nearly dry clothes. She performed a quick check of his shoulder to be sure before she left. It looked no different, a relief considering the lack of medical supplies. He was strong, and he had Elspeth to take care of him. He would recover in time.

  Opening the window as quietly as possible, she stuck her head out into the cold night air. A few guards walked the battlements, and at least one stood by the gate. It wouldn’t be easy getting past them, but she had to try.

  She glanced back at Ian, and whispered, “Thanks for everything, Romeo.” And she meant that sincerely, although, when he woke up with a roaring hangover, courting her would be the furthest thing from his mind.

  Climbing onto the windowsill, Tuck took a deep breath. She popped a Gummy into her mouth then lunged for the vine. The large glossy leaves helped to cover her descent and provided just the sort of toeholds she needed.

  Close to the ground, she jumped, rolling as she hit to ease the impact. Using the shadows as cover, she made her way across the bailey then climbed the stairs to the outer wall, hoping she could scale the other side without killing herself.

  Stealthily, she crept up behind one of the guards, knocked him out then dragged him back into the stairwell. She checked to make sure the area was clear before easing over the edge at what she hoped was the lowest point on the wall. She’d done her share of free climbing, but on much rougher surfaces. The blasted wall was nearly smooth.

  “Where’s a good vine when you really need it?” she whispered.

  She eased over the edge and began her descent. Halfway down she lost her footing and fell a good ten feet. Cursing beneath her breath, she checked herself for damage.

  Thankfully, a sprained wrist seemed to be her only injury, but she could’ve broken her leg. Having a bone set was not fun. She’d had that delightful experience before, and she didn’t want to imagine it without major painkillers. Well, at least her wrist wouldn’t keep her from hiking to the clearing.

  Jumping to her feet, she hurried toward the woods before the guard woke up or was found. She made her way east, avoiding the rutted road, with particular care. She didn’t relish the idea of running into any MacKenzies. Not after her close call with a claymore. They wouldn’t be so easy to beat by herself, especially with only one good hand. If only she had her gun, she’d feel like the odds were more in her favor.

  “No sense wishing for the impossible. But then I’m living the impossible,” she grumbled as she retrieved her knife from her calf. The cord-wrapped handle fit her palm perfectly, giving her a small sense of comfort.

  Moving deeper into the woods, the cold crisp scent of the forest teased her nose, and she took a deep cleansing breath. It was so similar to the one in her time, she could barely tell the difference. Tuck had noticed the day she and Jenny stepped off the boat that the pollution and bustle of the modern world had barely touched the isle. At least some things hadn’t changed over the centuries. She remembered how odd she’d felt when she’d drove off the ferry. How the island had called to her, touched her in some way. Strange, how it was even stronger here in this century.

  Shaking off the weird thoughts, she trudged forward. All this time travel stuff was making her batty. She needed to get back to her own time and find Jenny. Imagining the island was some magical place calling to her like a siren was beyond absurd. She had a career in the twenty-first century, and it had nothing to do with quaint little Scottish isles or overbearing Highlanders with lion eyes that made her want to do things she’d never wanted to do before.

  She scowled as she moved swiftly between the trees. The big overgrown ape was not on her agenda. “No way, no how,” she grumbled.

  Nearly an hour later, she sank to the ground against a large tree trunk, the weight of failure too heavy to bear any longer. She tilted her knife so that the compass caught the moonlight. With a disgusted nod, she rested it in her lap.

  She’d found the right clearing, but nothing happened. She laid her head back against the trunk and considered devouring her entire stash of Gummy Bears. Her wrist ached, her ribs hurt, her fingertips burned from her climb on the wall, and she was bone tired.

  What now? The field had been her best shot. She thought if she found the exact spot where she’d appeared there would be some sort of portal for her to step through. Then poof, she’d be zapped back to Jenny. It was the only idea she could come up with. Clicking her heels three times and wishing she were home didn’t sound like much of a plan.

  Her only other option was to recreate everything that had happened just before she found herself in the field. But having someone knock her upside the head didn’t hold much appeal. She hurt in enough places as it was.

  “Jenny said something about a stream,” she whispered.

  She shook her head at the lunacy of it all. What was she thinking? She wasn’t a water sprite, for crying out loud. She was a soldier, lost in time, with little idea as to how to get home.

  The night sounds grew around her as she rested, reminding her of other cold nights spent among the bushes, and hating every minute of it. And dang it, she was freezing her butt off. She fumed, cursing herself for taking the assignment in the first place. Somehow she’d let that loony scientist get to her. Jenny had seeded her mind with all sorts of fairytales, surely the catalyst to this insane trip.

  A sardonic grin slipped over her mouth. Shame Jenny hadn’t fallen into that stupid fountain with her. At least then she’d know whom her client needed protection from. Ian and his wooing. If that sixteenth century womanizer so much as grinned at Jenny, she’d have been down for the count.

  A twig snapped, stiffening every muscle in her body. Thoughts of Jenny were quickly relegated to the back of her mind. She listened as blood pumped faster through her veins, but all was still. Her heart pounding in h
er chest was the only sound she heard. Even the creatures of the forest had fallen silent. Something wasn’t right. Focusing on her surroundings, she cataloged every shadow.

  There. Alongside a fallen tree, several yards away, was something that didn’t belong. It was a man, of that she was certain from the outline of his body against the faint shafts of moonlight, but was he a MacLean or a MacKenzie? She waited for him to make a move, something to give away his reason for being there.

  As the night sounds slowly returned, she took careful note of each one, mentally identifying their source. All belonged in the forest except for her and the unknown man.

  Waiting, she nibbled a few Gummies until another man joined him. After a discussion she could barely hear nor understand, they started to move. Crouching down along the undergrowth, they headed west.

  To investigate or not to investigate?

  Elspeth’s sweet smile popped into her head.

  She had to follow them. MacLean may not want her help, but she wasn’t going to stand by and do nothing.

  A soft chuckle tickled her throat. Want her help? Hell, he didn’t need her help. She remembered, all too well, the sight of him battling the ambushers. His skill with a claymore was far better than any she had ever seen. She wondered if he was as adept with a knife.

  Expert swordsman or no, she couldn’t risk any of the MacLean clan getting hurt if she could stop it. Her trip back to Jenny would have to wait, as if she had a choice since she was clueless as to how to get back in the first place.

  Stretching out her legs, getting the blood circulating again, she paralleled the men’s progress, her knife clutched in her hand. She needed to be ready for anything.

  In the distance, she detected the soft squeak of leather and the faint jangle of harness. Almost imperceptible, but there nonetheless. Whoever these new players were, they were making their way through the woods as stealthily as possible on horseback.

  Geez, doesn’t anyone ever sleep at night in the sixteenth century?

  The two men moved closer to the horses, hiding and shifting in the shadows, but never moving into an attack position. Only watching. She hadn’t seen so much covert activity since the army, but who were the bad guys and who were the good guys?

  She continued to parallel the two men as they moved closer to the others, wishing she knew which side they were on. Putting them out of action would be a snap, but she didn’t dare take the risk. They may be on recon duty for MacLean, and as far as she was concerned, the MacLeans were the good guys.

  Okay, so she had a soft spot for a few of them, like Elspeth and Ian, although he wasn’t a real MacLean, but not Colin MacLean. No siree, she did not care a whit about that man.

  Still, she couldn’t let anything happen to him either. It was obvious how much Elspeth loved the big ape. The thought of his sweet aunt hurting because he’d gone and gotten himself killed or something simply wasn’t acceptable.

  Shaking her head, she couldn’t believe how soft she’d gotten in so short a time. With a silent sigh, she crouched low in the brush as one of the horsemen dismounted and studied the ground.

  A tracker. But whom was he tracking? Her or these two bozos lurking in the bushes beside her?

  The man stood as the moon slipped from behind a bank of clouds. The dark strands brushing his shoulders appeared blue-black in the meager light.

  She sucked in a silent breath. Colin.

  Although nothing more than a silhouette, he did something to her, and she hated it.

  He pointed in the direction of the clearing. “She’s gone that way,” he said softly, then mounted his horse.

  He was looking for her. A small spurt of pleasure shot through her, but died quickly. Had she lost her mind? He wasn’t tracking her for some romantic midnight rendezvous. The ogre was no doubt ticked because she’d escaped.

  He and his posse started to move again. She glanced at the two men hidden in the shadows, then back to her former jailer.

  Should she nab these two spies or should she just slip away and let him deal with them himself? If he’d managed to locate her trail so easily, and she knew darn well she’d done a good job of covering her tracks, it wouldn’t be long before he realized he was being watched.

  But he wouldn’t be out here at all with two unknowns circling him, if I hadn’t decided to take off in the first place .

  She stifled a curse and carefully made her way to the nearest spy. Honor could really ruin a girl’s day.

  Slapping her hand over one man’s mouth, she promptly knocked him out and laid him on the ground. She moved on to the other one and knocked him out as well, but he managed to make more noise than the other.

  “Colin,” one of his men whispered harshly, pointing to the small hedge disguising her presence.

  Her luck was running thinner by the minute. She wouldn’t be able to sneak off and leave the goodies behind now.

  Eyeing them through the bush, she noted each of his men had a hand on a weapon. The way things were going for her lately, they’d pin her to a tree with their dirks first, then ask questions later.

  With a defeated sigh, she silently sheathed her knife at her calf and stood up very slowly.

  “Out for an evening stroll, fellas?”

  MacLean vaulted down from his horse and stomped toward her. As he churned the earth beneath his heavy feet, the musty smell of the forest teased her nose. She kept the hedge between them, knowing full well from the look on his face that he was not a happy man.

  “You’ve caused me enough grief for one day, woman. I suggest you hold your tongue.”

  She crossed her arms, hiding her wince at her injured wrist. “Ah, gee. And here I thought you’d be happy to see me.”

  His low growl rumbled through the tense night air, sending waves of electricity coursing down her spine.

  Not good. Not—good—at—all.

  Colin’s jaw clenched so tightly, he was certain he’d cracked one of his back teeth. He was too damn happy to see her alive and well with the moonlight kissing her creamy skin, and that galled him to no end.

  He snagged her by the arm and jerked her through the bushes. She didn’t bother to struggle, making him pause. Why did she risk her capture? Why did she not simply make off in another direction as they passed? She’d obviously circled back on him and he’d not known it.

  Holding her against his chest, steeling himself against the pleasure it brought, he looked into her eyes nearly black in the dim light.

  “Why did you not run?” he asked, his voice low but firm.

  The corner of her mouth quirked up. “What, and miss all the fun?”

  He lowered his face closer, barely stopping before he tasted her. “I want a real answer.”

  Her tongue darted out and dampened her lips, leaving them glistening. A sweet, quivering breath caressed his skin as she stared up at him, her expression warm. White-hot heat surged through his body and pooled in his groin.

  He wanted her…and no other woman.

  A low moan split the tense silence. For a moment he thought the sound had come from him, until he noticed his men rushing through the hedge behind him.

  “There are two men here,” Michael, the youngest of his guard, called.

  She tilted up her chin, her look much cooler than before, but just as tempting. “I bring you a present and this is the thanks I get?”

  Pulling his gaze away, he looked toward his men.

  “They’re not wearing any crest. I dinnae think they’re MacKenzies,” Michael said.

  All eyes focused on the unsettling female at his side.

  “What do you know of them?” he asked, jerking her slightly.

  “They were following you, so I followed them. Once I realized who they were following, I decided you might want to talk to them.”

  “Aye.” Abruptly releasing her, not willing to openly credit her for her sound reasoning, he spun on his heels and faced the captives. “Who are you, and what are you doing on MacLean land?”

 
“Our boat sank in the loch and we washed ashore. We were lookin’ for a safe place tae camp for the night, when one of yer men attacked us.”

  “Oh, brother,” Tuck muttered. “I got the jump on you, you moron.”

  Colin shot her a look.

  She folded her arms and shrugged with a smirk so lissome, he nearly smiled. God, help him, he was beginning to actually like the woman!

  He quickly turned back to the captives before he made a complete fool of himself. “I’ll ask you again and I suggest you answer truthfully this time. Who are you, and what are you doing on MacLean land?”

  Their gazes darted about, nervously taking in his well-armed men, but they said nothing more.

  Colin motioned in the direction of the castle. “Take them back tae the keep. We’ll finish this there.” Looking at the female thorn in his side, he said, “You will ride with me.”

  Holding up her hand, she shook her head and backed away. “Oh, no, Sasquatch. You got your little present, now I’ll be on my way.”

  She ducked to the side as quick as a hare, but he was quicker. He caught her by the collar of her odd coat before she could disappear into the shadows.

  “You’ll be going back tae the keep, whether you like it or no.”

  “I suggest you let me go, if you don’t want to be embarrassed in front of your men,” she said with a snarl.

  Whirling her around, he pinned her to his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around her. “You can ride astride, or you can ride with your backside in the air, but you are going.”

  She looked beyond his shoulder at his men awaiting their next order. They hadn’t been over pleased with this hunt. Someone had started a foolish rumor that she was a kelpie or some such nonsense. That she would bewitch them and take their souls. He’d never heard so much grumbling in his life, and these his best men. But they would cut her down, of that he had no doubt.