If it was possible, Cat turned even more pale; there was no way she could tell Alasdair. She did not need him trying to prevent her from going home; he did not strike her at the type of man who would readily give up his child. This is a nightmare!
She had always wanted to have kids, but she had wanted to wait for the right man. Cat had not wanted to risk being a single parent. She knew how important parents were due to her lack of them, but…she just could not tell him. Plus, would it be fair to tell Alasdair, only to rip his child away to the future without notice? “Keith, I wish you were here…I really need some brotherly advice,” said Cat to herself. She never even noticed Elspeth’s book disappear from the other side of the room.
***
Alasdair was on the parapets again, reviewing the past few weeks. He had been more content during this time than during any other since becoming laird. His sister was well, his people were beginning to prosper, and he had a strong woman to warm his bed. Yes, the threat of conflict with the Camerons was ever present, but that threat would always exist. If they were not warring with the Camerons, they would be fighting with someone else. They had had issues with other nearby clans (most frequently the MacKinnons) in the past.
“Hello, brother,” said Ailsa as she joined him on the wall.
“What brings ye out here at this time of day. Should ye nae be idling away yer time with the other women?”
“Alasdair, ye know I would never idle away my time,” rebuffed his sister.
“Aye, I ken, I just delight in making ye angry.”
“Ye havenae made me angry, well nae yet anyways,” said Ailsa. Her tone held a hint of warning.
“At what are ye hinting?” asked Alasdair.
“I want to know what ye are planning to do about Catriona,” said Ailsa bluntly.
“What do ye mean ‘what I plan on doing about Catriona?’”
Ailsa sighed, “I mean, why do ye continue to let her sneak into yer room each night? She deserves better than that. Each week she stays here without word from her brother increases the chances she will need to stay permanently. Why do ye nae marry her? She obviously makes ye happy.”
Unsure how to respond to her frank speech, Alasdair became defensive, “I dinnae make her ‘sneak’ into my room each night.”
“Aye, ye do—which is truly silly at this point. Everyone knows what is going on between ye two. They all think she is going to be the next Lady MacLean. They are all starting to look to her example.”
“I havenae noticed…”
“Of course ye havenae noticed!” she interrupted. “While ye are busy with yer men, Catriona has helped me run things so well that nay one has needed to go to ye. Is that nae what ye would want in a wife?”
“Aye, but…”
Ailsa prevented him from finishing his sentence again, “I ken, ye havenae thought about it. But, just remember—ye deserve some happiness,” finished Ailsa as she kissed her brother on the cheek. She departed to leave him with his thoughts.
Alasdair had to admit the idea had some merit. Because of the precariousness of his clan in years past, Alasdair had never seriously considered a wife. He had not felt he had much to offer. But, Catriona seemed content with life here; she had not once complained. And Ailsa was right; Catriona seemed just as passionate as he to improve their situation. He would need to give the matter further thought.
***
Catriona stayed sitting on the floor for close to an hour. If she wanted to keep her predicament a secret, she would need to continue with her normal routine. As if in a haze, she left her room to head toward the kitchens. She had been learning their methods of food preservation and was helping the keep prepare for the coming winter months.
Knowing nutrition was often lacking in this era, Catriona had made it a point to try and preserve as many fruits and vegetables as possible. This was especially important for Ailsa. With her inability to process gluten, Cat would need to make sure there were plenty of options stored away.
Lainie knew Cat’s concern, so she often kept Cat abreast of when a certain type of food was able to be harvested. She had recently told Cat about some nearby blaeberries. Cat decided today would be a good day to check on the berries since she did not really feel like interacting with anyone and could use an escape.
With this new direction, Cat went in search of Branan. He would most likely agree to accompany her. Normally, she would ask Alasdair, but there was no way she could face him right now. She was worried she would let slip her current predicament.
While searching the lists for Branan, Cat was also careful to avoid Alasdair. She was relieved when she found the young guard without coming in contact with the laird. “Branan, are you very busy? Do you think I could steal you away for a little while? I want to gather some of those berries Lainie told me about.”
“For ye Lady Cat—anything,” replied Branan.
“Nay, ye stay here, I will go with her.” Of course—of course Alasdair would be right here! Catriona had not seen him when she approached; he had been well hidden behind another man.
“No, that’s okay. I don’t want to bother you,” said Cat in an attempt to abort her efforts and escape from Alasdair’s company as soon as possible.
“Nay, tis nothing. How long can looking at a few berries take? Besides, I could use a small snack,” responded Alasdair. Cat tried to think of another excuse, but failed. Even though she would look like an idiot, she briefly contemplated fleeing. However, before she could run, Alasdair took her arm to guide her toward her previously desired destination. Damn chivalry getting in the way of my cowardly flight!
Neither Catriona nor Alasdair spoke as they left for the berries—each was too deeply immersed in their own thoughts to notice the other’s silence. The blaeberries appeared remarkably similar to blueberries, only they did not grow in bunches. Curious, Cat popped one in her mouth. They pretty much tasted like blueberries too—just much more flavorful. Worried Alasdair may have wanted to come with her to take advantage of their solitude, Cat immediately set to work gathering the fruit. “Are you going to stand there looking pretty, or are you going to help?” asked Cat. She hoped this sounded close enough to her normal teasing. She did not want Alasdair to suspect her frazzled state of mind.
“Aye, give me a bucket. But, I am nae pretty, I am handsome.”
“I think you need to work on your humbleness pretty-boy.”
“I think ye meant to say handsome-man.”
“Pretty-boy, handsome-man, whatever, it doesn’t matter, just get pickin’,” laughed Cat as she gave him the larger pail. Even though she had wanted to avoid him, she still found herself amused with their interaction. Relieved when Alasdair simply began to pick beside her, Cat let herself relax.
When the buckets were nearly full, Alasdair asked, “Catriona, have ye been happy here?” Uh oh, this sounds serious.
Deciding to be vague, Cat replied, “Everyone has been very kind.”
“That is nae an answer.”
“Well, yes, I have been happy enough. But, I would be happiest back home,” said Cat.
“Have ye thought about what ye will do if yer brother never comes looking for ye?” he asked.
Now Cat was really leery of the direction of this conversation. “If he had any clue about my whereabouts he would try and find me. But, you are right, I should probably start looking for a way to get home on my own.” Cat knew this was not what Alasdair meant, but decided to interpret his question the way she wanted.
“That isnae what I meant.” There was a long pause in which Cat solely directed her attention to the berries in front of her. She could not bring herself to make eye contact with the man. “What I meant to say is ye have a place here if ye want it.”
“That’s kind of you to say, but I could not stay as your guest here indefinitely. I would not want to be such a burden.”
“I dinnae mean as a guest.” Oh shit, I hope he’s not asking what I think he’s asking. “I mean ye could stay here as my
wife.”
Abort, abort, abort! This time Cat really did flee. She did not even grab the berries she had spent the last hour picking. Gah, I should have never come out here with him! Feeling trapped, Cat ran to her room. She needed that book to send her bask ASAP!
***
Keith was back at Cat’s apartment. Only this time he was taking her things out of what was to be her new residence. She had been missing for almost three months now. With no word on her whereabouts, the apartment complex wanted to relist her unit. Keith felt completely numb while packing her boxes in her truck. He just kept reliving her graduation day. He should have made her ride with him in the truck.
Keith grabbed the last box, once again the heaviest, filled with all of her books. As he lifted if into the back, the tape holding it together gave way, dumping books everyone. He was tempted to just leave them, but instead began to pick them up and then throw them haphazardly into the back. He thought he had finally picked up the last one, but then noticed one more book sitting precariously on the edge of a small ditch right outside of the surrounding woods. He rushed to grab the book before it fell, but moved a little too fast. The ground at the edge of the ditch was muddy, and his weight caused it to collapse—he rolled down the hill just as he grabbed the book.
Disoriented from the fall, Keith stayed lying on his back for a few moments. As he stood, something shiny caught his eye. Oh my god! It’s Cat’s graduation cap! He ran over to grab it. Thinking she may have fallen down here Keith ran further into the woods, looking for any additional signs of Cat. In a crazed manner he continued his search, paying attention to neither the time, nor the direction.
Keith only stopped when he heard a noise ahead that greatly disturbed him. It sounded like there were men fighting just a few feet ahead of him. Concerned they may somehow have been involved in Cat’s disappearance, he advanced slowly. But, as he came upon their location, he was only able to see the back of a man running away, leaving an injured man on the ground. He rushed to the man’s side, but it was too late.
***
Chapter 10
Of all of the possible reactions Alasdair had envisioned, he had not expected Catriona to simply run away at his offer. While he had not seriously considered marriage before his conversation with Ailsa, Catriona’s rejection still hurt. He tried to tell himself that she was not really rejecting him; she just did not yet want to consider she may never go home. Wanting to better explain his reasoning, he began to go after Catriona, but stopped short when he saw Niall racing toward him.
The man pulled his destrier to a quick halt. “Laird, Cailen was killed while out with one of the patrols.”
“Did ye kill the man that did it?” asked Alasdair. He was livid someone had dared such a vicious assault.
“Nay, but we have him with us. He says he isnae a Cameron. I thought ye would like to question him.”
“Aye. Where is he?”
“I rode ahead to find ye so ye could greet the party on their way into the keep.” Alasdair took Niall’s suggestion, leaving the guard as he sprinted in the direction of the castle.
***
Now Cat was truly panicked. She could not find the book anywhere! She always kept it in the same spot, and the only other people who were ever in here would never steal it. It was not as if the book would just disappear.
“Go fuck yourself!” The yelled expletive floated in through the window causing Cat to freeze in her tracks. Oh my god, it can’t be. Praying she was wrong, she ran to the window hoping disprove her fear. Just inside the castle walls was a man bound and kneeling before Alasdair, who appeared to be questioning the newcomer in a rather violent manner. The man was not wearing a kilt like most of the men surrounding him; instead, he wore a pair of pants suspiciously similar to blue jeans. Catriona ran faster than she ever had in her life.
Catriona’s feet did not even seem to touch the stone beneath her as she flew down the stairs; she pushed anyone in her path out of the way. Reaching the landing, she hiked her skirt up and sprinted to the gathering of men. She was forced to manhandle her way through to the center. She arrived just as Alasdair was once again pulling back his arm to deliver another ferocious blow. She threw herself in front of the fist, successfully misdirecting most of the strike by using her arms as a shield. “Alasdair stop!”
“What are ye doing woman? I could have killed ye!” roared Alasdair. “Now move!”
“NO!”
“Get out of the way!”
“Alasdair listen to me. I don’t know what happened, but I do know who this man is. This is Keith!” This sentence managed to break through Alasdair’s rage, finally causing him to quit his assault.
“Yer brother?”
“Yes.”
“It doesnae matter. He killed Cailen and I need to find out why.”
“Cailen’s dead?” asked Cat, completely shocked. She had never really interacted with the old man once she came back, but she never would have wanted this for the man.
“Aye.”
“Keith would never kill anybody. Did you even see him do it?” she asked.
“Nay, Niall found him over Cailen’s body.”
Cat’s gaze searched out Niall’s, but did not find it. “Finding Keith there doesn’t mean he killed him. Where is Niall. Let’s ask him what he saw.”
“Are ye questioning me lass?”
“Of course I’m questioning you! I find you beating the crap out of my brother—whom I thought I might never see again—based on some bogus charges with no proof, and you expect me to just sit back and let you dole out the punishment? Sorry Mac, that just ain’t my style.”
“He killed one of my men!”
“You don’t know that. Why don’t we wait for Niall to tell us what happened? Look, there he is now!”
“NIALL!” roared Alasdair.
“Aye?” asked the man, running to his laird’s side.
“Ye said this man killed Cailen, is this true?”
“Aye,” said Niall.
“But did you actually see it?” asked Catriona.
“Well, nay, but he was standing over Cailen’s body when I found him.”
“Ugh, that means nothing! Why don’t you try asking Keith,” suggested Cat.
“I did.”
“And just what did you ask him?” questioned Cat.
“I asked him why he killed Cailen,” responded Alasdair.
“Yeah, then I told him what he could do with himself when he didn’t like my answer,” interjected Keith. Cat was surprised he had stayed silent so long. She had been avoiding looking at him for fear of bursting into tears before this whole matter was resolved. But, she could not stop herself from turning to look at him when she heard him ask, “Cat, is that really you?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
“God, I thought you were dead.”
“More like not even born...” she muttered.
“What?” asked Keith.
“Never mind, I’ll explain everything to you later, after we get this spectacle settled.” Bringing the conversation back on track she asked, “Now, what happened that led you to be hovering over Cailen’s body?”
Keith explained how his search for Cat had brought him to the scene of Cailen’s murder. He had not even been there a moment before Niall found him and accused him of the terrible deed.
Having heard Keith’s story, Alasdair then began to question Niall further. Since no one had actually seen the attack, and since Keith had had no weapons on him, Alasdair released him. It made far more sense that a Cameron would have done this, not a man searching for his sister.
The matter now resolved, Keith addressed his sister. “I had begun to fear you were dead!” exclaimed Keith as he wrapped his sister in a bone-crushing hug. “But how is it you’ve been living in the woods in Massachusetts this whole time? Are these men keeping you hostage?”
“No, Keith, they’re not, but I need to explain some things to you. Come with me.” Cat dragged her brother away from the crowd for
privacy. “Keith, I need to know something. Did you see an old book at some point with Celtic scrollwork around the edge of the cover?”
“Yes I did, but what does that have to do with anything?” he asked.
“Okay, this is going to sound crazy, but please hear me through,” Cat then told Keith her own story. He did not believe her tale of time travel at first. In fact, he argued the same fact about language that she did, but after a while, she was finally able to convince him.
“But then, how did I get here?” asked Keith.
“I think that was my fault. This morning, I was very upset. I was talking to myself and wished you were here to give me some advice. I forgot the book was in the room with me; I think I accidentally wished you back into the past.”
“Jesus Cat, what did you get us into?” asked her brother, dragging his hand down his face.
“Hey, I didn’t ask to come here, and I only accidentally brought you here,” defended Cat.
“What happened that made you ask for my advice?” inquired Keith.
Of course he would focus on the one detail I don’t really want to talk about right now. “We can talk about that later,” she replied.
“Or, we can talk about it now. It’s gotta be something big if the magic book determined it was important enough to drag me six hundred years into the past!”
“Well, um…”
“Just spit it out Cat.”
“I’m pregnant.”
Keith sighed and rubbed his temples. “Let me guess, Mr. Big-and-Brawny over there is the father?”
“Yes, but don’t tell him! He doesn’t know yet. I don’t even know if I’m going to tell him.”
“Cat, what were you thinking?”
“I wasn’t thinking—obviously! Look, we can talk about this later, but for right now, let’s just let things calm down.”
Oddly enough, things calmed down rather quickly. Cat had at first thought people might still blame Keith for Cailen’s death. But, everyone in the castle had grown to trust Catriona, so they were willing to extend that trust to her brother. It probably also helped that Keith had such a charming personality. He had always been one of the people that could instantly get people to like him.
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