"I'm sorry," she said, "I didn't mean to embarrass you."
"I really don't like being the center of conversation. But it's not your fault at all."
"Then whose is it?"
"Well, mine, I guess. I brought my aunt here for this reunion without knowing all the details."
"Details such as you're the lost heir of the clan?"
"No, not lost. They knew where I was all along."
She let herself join his laughter at his words, and Maggie realized she hadn't introduced herself.
"I'm Maggie Hobbs," she smiled as she said it, "also from the States."
"Nice to meet you, Maggie. From where in the States?"
"New Jersey."
"New Jersey? Really?"
"Yes, the good old Garden State."
"I don't believe it! Me too!"
"Really?" she asked, "Where?"
"I live in Haddonfield."
Maggie sat back down on the wall. "I live in Winslow. Can you believe it? We're almost neighbors and have to travel more than a thousand miles to meet." She shook her head at the irony of coming all the way to Scotland and meeting someone who lived close by.
"How did you turn up here?" Alex asked.
"I'm a teacher, and this is the first summer I'm not going to school. So, I came here for the history. And," she added in a low, conspiring tone, "I've wanted to visit here ever since I read my first Scottish romance novel. And you?"
"As I mentioned, I brought my aunt Jean back to attend the gathering. You know, she played on my sympathies to come with her, but I think she had this 'rightful heir' thing planned all along."
"Are you?" Maggie raised her eyebrows in question.
"The rightful heir?" At her nod, he continued, "Apparently. My father was the eldest son and would have inherited. But he refused his inheritance and moved to the States in search of the woman of his dreams."
"That sounds romantic. Did he find her?"
"Yes, he did. He married my mother a year after arriving. Anyway, I guess if he had stayed, I would be the heir of the clan. But...."
"Does the real, I mean, the proclaimed heir know that you're not going to challenge him?"
"I think Uncle Calum realizes I'm no threat to him. I am here to enjoy the gathering and meet the clan. But I am definitely not enjoying the dress." Had he noticed her gaping at his legs again? How embarrassing!
"Dress?" she asked, forcing her eyes back up to his face. "Don't you call it a plaid?"
"They can call it anything they want to, but I call it too short and too damned drafty," He twisted the kilt at his waist and resettled his belt. He turned away from her and adjusted the long scabbard that hung from his belt and contained a sword. After another moment, he shifted again and pulled the sword from its cover. Alex placed it point down along his leg, resting it on his boot and holding onto its jewel-encrusted hilt. Then he sat on the wall next to her. "So, how long are you going to be here in Scotland?"
Maggie pushed her hair over her shoulders and sighed. "I'm nearly done. I have three more days in the Trossachs and Glasgow, four days in England, and then home. How about you?"
"We leave here at the end of the week and are spending a few days in Inverness. After that Edinburgh, and then home. By the way, do you have plans for dinner?" He extended the invitation without a moment's hesitation.
"Well, actually I do. My tour bus will pick me up, and I'll have dinner with the group." Not wanting to be rude and realizing that they would both be going back to the same area in New Jersey, she added, "Maybe we could get together when we're back home?"
"That sounds great. I just wish we had more time here." Sincere regret filled his voice. She heard it, felt it, and found herself hoping for the first time in their conversation that they would see each other again.
"Time?" A scratchy voice interrupted their conversation. Maggie never saw or heard Mairi's approach. Now, she stood directly in front of them, so close that they couldn't get up from the wall. Maggie felt the vibrations under and around her grow stronger. A buzzing sound, like a swarm of bees attacking a hive's enemy, surrounded them.
"Mairi, you startled me." Looking at Alex, she said, "Do you feel that?" She placed his hand under hers on the stones between their bodies. Even the stone wall beneath them carried the vibrations now.
"Feel what?" He frowned, obviously not feeling or hearing what she could.
"That pulsing and heat coming from the stones."
"I don't feel anything, Maggie." Alex looked back at Mairi. "Who are you?"
Before the old woman answered him, she placed one hand on both of them, on their shoulders.
"Time? Ye can have all the time ye need, lad. Remember, time will prove if a love be true."
Then, with a force completely at odds with the frailty of her figure, Mairi pushed them backward, through the arch.
Chapter 3
I'm blind!
Blinking against the complete darkness and fighting against the terror overwhelming her, Maggie's chest tightened. Unable to breathe, she reached up to rub her eyes, but her hands refused her mind's command to move.
Oh, God, blind and paralyzed. But how? A few... moments? minutes? hours? ago, she was sitting on that wall, talking to Alex. And now? Had she fallen and hit her head and done this to herself?
Just before utter and uncontrollable panic took over, she heard a voice: Mairi, the old fortune-teller from the festival. She struggled to call out to the woman, but her voice also failed her. She must have really banged her head hard because her hearing wasn't working well, either. Mairi's words weren't clear at all. She seemed to be mumbling about time. Time would prove... Time would prove what? A blinding flash of light roared through her darkness, and she could move once again.
* * *
"If love be true." Alex repeated aloud the words he just heard in that all-encompassing darkness. Finally able to move, he shielded his eyes against the brightness. Squinting, he raised his head and saw that he and Maggie were lying in a field. Scrambling to his feet, he reached down to help her stand.
"Are ye weel?"
"What did you say?" she asked. Her voice trembled as she accepted his help to stand.
"I said, 'Are ye weel?'"
He watched as her face scrunched up in an expression of complete confusion. Well, he wasn't feeling quite clear about this, either.
"Why are you talking like that?" she asked.
"Speaking how? I do not know yer meaning."
Her mouth hung open now, gaping in... surprise? Shock? What was her problem now? First, she seemed offended by his greeting when they first met and now... what?
"What is the problem?" he asked as he straightened, yet again, the damned plaid at his waist.
"Was it just an act? A line to pick up women?"
"A line? What are ye blabbering about?" He scratched his head. Obviously, their fall backward must have shaken them both. Maggie was making no sense at all.
"The one about being the missing heir of the clan? You are obviously Scottish, from here not America. I mean, you have such a strong brogue that I can hardly understand you!" She took a few steps away from him and crossed her arms over her chest, chin out in challenge.
"Are ye daft, woman? I told you, I am from New Jersey, just as ye are." He crossed his arms in a matching gesture.
"Look, no one I know in any part of New Jersey sounds like you do. If this is a game—try out an American accent and meet women—well, you can play by yourself." She grabbed her backpack off the ground, flung it over her left shoulder, and turned away from him.
That's when he noticed.
Everything was gone. The ruins, the tents from the festival, and all of the people. The only sounds in the air were the singing of some birds and rustling of the wind through the branches of the nearby trees. He spun around, looking up, down, through the trees, and off in the distance where the meadow seemed to end. Nothing. They were alone.
Maggie apparently noticed it at the same time because, as sh
e turned back to him, all of the color drained from her face and she swayed slightly. Alex grabbed for her and helped her to sit down in the grass; then he joined her on the ground.
"I don't think I understand what's going on here, Alex."
"Well, I am not sure I know anything more than ye do, but let's try to figure out what's going on."
Maggie reached into her backpack and pulled out a small bottle of water. After taking a swallow of it, she offered it to him. "Are you really from here? Is your accent real?" she whispered as he took the bottle from her grasp.
"Please believe me, Maggie. If ye are saying that I hae a brogue, I do not understaun. I canna hear it. I am hearing my words in the English I hae always spoken."
"Alex, you now have an accent as thick as the seer woman at the festival. You really can't hear it?"
"Nay, Maggie. 'Tis clearly English to me," he pointed to his ear and head with his free hand, "in here. I swear to ye—'tis no line to pick up women. What seer woman do ye mean?"
"Mairi, from the festival. She said she has the sight."
"The old woman who was wi' us in the ruins?"
Maggie just shook her head and looked around at the empty field. "Where is she? Where is... everything?"
After he took a swig from the bottle and handed it back to her, tapping her on the shoulder with the bottle to gain her attention, he said, "We should probably move closer to the woods. We're out in the open here, and I do not hae any idea of what's going on. Let's get under some cover and then we can talk. Can ye walk over to those trees?"
At her nod, he helped Maggie back to her feet. His legs still felt wobbly, and his head was still spinning slightly. After standing for a few moments, he guided her to the edge of the field where the woods began. They used some large boulders as seats as they both surveyed the area.
"So, what's the last thing you remember?" she asked. The color was finally returning to her cheeks and she didn't look ready to faint anymore. Thank God. He was a wimp when it came to crying or fainting women.
"'Tis as I said before, I remember talking to that old woman while we were sitting on the wall. She was rambling on about something." He rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand and tried to clear his memory. "Time. She was saying something about the power of time. Does that make any sense to ye?"
"I remember sitting and talking to you. And I remember Mairi, too. Did she put her hand on your shoulder? I can kind of see her resting her hand on my shoulder... and pushing me backward? This doesn't make any sense at all." Maggie shook her head in confusion.
"She did push me backward!" Alex jumped up and started to pace. He always felt better if he could pace. "I remember losing my balance and grabbing for the sword to steady myself. The sword... Hae ye seen it?" With a hand on his forehead to shield his eyes, he scanned the field where they had been, looking for the laird's sword. The sunlight would reflect off the polished metal, making it easy to spot. "I do not see it."
Alex ran out onto the field and looked for the claymore. "I flung it back o'er my head as I fell," he called out to Maggie as he walked quickly back to her. "I can remember thinking that I hoped no one was close by as I released my grip on it." He touched the empty scabbard on his belt.
"Okay," Maggie started, "we were sitting on the wall, Mairi pushed us backward, and we fell, landing where?"
"I do not hae any idea where. What do ye remember about the fall? Did ye hear or feel anything?" Alex probed, trying to come up with some plausible explanation of what had happened.
"I thought that I was blind—the darkness was that complete. I tried to move, and I couldn't. Breathing was even difficult, but that might have been because I was terrified." She shivered and blushed a little at her admission. "I tried to scream, but nothing came out. I heard Mairi, but her words weren't clear. Something like 'Time will prove.' How does that compare with your experience?"
"Ye hae pretty much described what I went through, too," Alex agreed. "And I heard, 'If love be true.' Now what can 'Time will prove if love be true' mean? 'Tis nonsense to me, how about ye?"
"It sounds like a proverb or old saying. Well, any suggestions about what we do now?" Maggie asked, still eyeing him suspiciously. He wished he could hear the accent she was hearing. Maybe then he could understand her misgivings.
"I guess, if ye are feeling up to it, we could try finding someone. Head in a direction and look for signs of civilization?"
"Sounds fine to me," Maggie said. "Maybe we can find someone who can explain what's going on and how we got to wherever this is."
Alex grabbed her hand and then paused to look at the sun. "'Tis the east. Let's head in that direction for a bit and see where it leads us."
* * *
Maggie took advantage of Alex's leading to try to collect her very scrambled thoughts. She knew that Mairi had said some strange things to her both during her "reading" and before they fell off the wall. She smiled to herself and hoped Alex didn't see it. This strange situation was no laughing matter, but falling off the wall just struck her in a funny way. What had happened to them? And, more importantly, what about him? Was he telling the truth about being from America? The accent sounded as authentic as any she'd head on her tour. None of this made sense.
Well, until they met up with people, she'd have no way of even guessing where they were and how they got there. But, at least, she wasn't alone. Although they had just met and she'd not liked some of his mannerisms, she felt very comfortable with Alex. Even holding his hand while they walked felt somehow familiar and reassuring. She realized that they were slowing, and she looked around.
"Why are we stopping? We couldn't have walked more than a half mile."
"Maggie, sshhhh. Do not ye hear it?" Alex whispered.
At first, the only sound she could hear was their breathing. That's when she noticed that the birds had stopped singing around them. She tilted her head back slightly and listened intently. Rumbles of thunder came from off in the distance, growing louder and closer.
"Thunder? A storm is coming this way?"
"No, Maggie, 'tis no' a storm. It sounds like a stampeding herd."
Maggie swallowed convulsively, her throat beginning to tighten as the fear built in her blood. "A stampede? But where is it coming from?"
Vibrations swelled and pulsed in the ground under her feet and her heart pounded to the same beat. She and Alex both turned to try to get a bearing on the direction of the sound when a flock of birds scattered into the air, frightened from the trees in the distance, off to their left.
The tension and terror and thunder in the air made it impossible for her to make her feet move. She looked over at Alex and watched as he tried to draw his missing sword against whatever was coming at them. The sounds grew louder and more terrifying until she fought to release the screams trapped inside of her. And then she could see, rampaging toward them, unbelievable images straight out of Scotland's past. The far past!
Chapter 4
Nothing that she'd ever read or seen could have prepared Maggie for what she saw now. Coming through the trees, racing toward them were huge, hairy, dirty warriors on huge, menacing, snorting horses. Enormous swords and knives were drawn, gleaming dangerously in the bright afternoon sun. The line of horses stopped for an instant after breaking through the trees, and then ominously moved forward until Maggie could feel the hot, moist breath of the horses on her face. In no way did they resemble the romantic images she'd produced in her mind when reading about the ancient and daring Scots.
Maggie stood as still as stone, not even daring to take too deep a breath. Using their legs to exert control on the horses, the entire group of men sat, weapons ready, while they examined the two outsiders. The expressions on their faces remained unchanged while they completely perused Maggie and Alex from head to toe and then back again.
Alex finally broke the stalemate with a question. At least it sounded like a question. Maggie turned quickly, surprised at the unfamiliar language that came out of Alex's mo
uth. Now, in addition to the deeper, fuller, brogue, he was speaking in a different language!
Unfortunately, in her surprise, she turned too quickly and the gigantic black stallion in front of her nudged her shoulder in response. She lost her balance and ended up sprawled in the dirt with her skirts up around her thighs. Without moving from their stonelike poses, the warriors leered at her exposed legs and snickered.
Alex didn't look over at her. He continued staring at the man who seemed to be the leader of the group. Alex stood straighter, looked more menacing than before, and, with even angrier words, made another demand to the men's leader.
The large, red-haired ruffian yelled out again, jumped off his mount, and swaggered over to Alex, placing his large dirk back into its scabbard as he walked. She still couldn't understand the words as he grabbed Alex by the shoulders and turned him back and forth, as if trying to get a closer look at his features.
"Brodie," the man said and then continued again in what she was pretty sure now was Gaelic. Finally, a word she understood: a name. Alex choked out a response, definitely not a good sign. Her stomach tightened and her discomfort grew. Why didn't Alex speak in English? Why did he continue to carry on this conversation with these... men?
Unless.
Unless he was part of whatever was going on? Damn him! He swore he didn't know any more than she did. What was she supposed to believe now? What was going on?
The leader of the group had paused in the conversation and spit in the dirt as though the talk had turned distasteful. She watched, still frozen on the ground, truly fearful to move, as Alex pulled free of the big man's hold. Striding over to Maggie, he offered her a hand. In one smooth motion, he pulled her up to stand next to him. She brushed the dirt off her skirt and straightened her blouse and bodice.
Alex ran both hands through his hair and looked thoroughly confused. She turned to him and whispered, "Alex, tell me what is going on. I thought you said you weren't part of this."
A Love Through Time Page 3