Wild about the Witch

by Cassidy Cayman

  After she got her lunch out of all its packaging and slippery wrappers, she quite enjoyed it all, especially the lemonade. It had been late at night when she’d left her own time, mid-morning when she’d arrived in this one. Worn out from all the excitement and lulled by the hum of the train, she let her head rest against the cool window and closed her eyes, sure that she was too nervous to sleep, but wanting to rest a bit.

  “Inverness, miss.” A man gently shook her shoulder and moved on down the row.

  Catie yelped and jumped up, realizing the train had stopped and the passengers were filing out. She was in Scotland once more.

  On the platform, she stood and absorbed the familiar accents. It felt like she’d been in England forever, not just a month. That was where the familiarity ended however, as she got jostled along on the tide of arrivals. The sky was dark, but everything was brightly lit with electric lights. According to the map Lord Ashford gave her, circling both Inverness and her final destination, she still looked to be terribly far away. But seeing how far down London was on the map, and the fact that it was still the same day, lifted her spirits considerably. If she stopped sitting around worrying, perhaps she’d be at Castle on Hill before morning.

  Having to ignore Lord Ashford’s warning again, she asked someone how to find a taxi, and was pointed to a neat row of them. The first two she asked wouldn’t drive that far, but third time lucky, and she had just enough money for the fare.

  The driver kept asking her questions like where she was from and who she was visiting and she answered as politely as she could without encouraging further conversation.

  “Ye’re the first lass your age I’ve seen who wasna attached to some device or other,” he said amiably.

  “Yes, sir,” she agreed, not having any idea what he was talking about.

  It sounded sinister, though. Did she need to be attached to a device to survive in this time? He seemed surprised but not overly concerned. She kept her eyes trained out the window, hoping he’d stop talking to her. She was scared she’d somehow give it away that she didn’t belong, though she didn’t know how anyone could guess such a farfetched thing just by her ignorance. If anything, she could just plead sheltered farm life as she’d done in London.

  Once they left the busy streets of Inverness, the roads were darker and nearly empty so late at night as it was. Her nerves jumped around uncomfortably when she saw a sign welcoming them to Castle on Hill, and a few minutes later the driver pulled into a well-lit round driveway.

  “Here ye are, lass.”

  She gripped the door handle. They were in front of an inn, and she could see a restaurant and several other shops surrounding it, all closed for the night. It was too dark in the car to study her map, but this couldn’t possibly be right. Where was Castle Glen? Surely Castle on Hill meant just that? She didn’t know enough about this area, their clans always being at odds with one another, but she knew this wasn’t where she needed to be.

  The driver cleared his throat. It was late, and she knew he had to drive all the way back to Inverness. She was lucky he’d taken her this far at all.

  “I, er, needed to go to the castle,” she said, looking at the inn and not wanting to leave the car. “Is there still a castle around here?”

  He chuckled. “Aye, it’s twenty or thirty minutes from here, but it willna be open at this hour. Ye’ll need to visit it tomorrow. The inn there will have information about the tours.”

  “Please sir, that’s where I need to go. My brother lives there.” After she paid him, she wouldn’t have any money left to get a room for the night. Twenty or thirty minutes in these impossibly fast cars would be hours on foot.

  His amused chuckle turned into an annoyed frown. He held his hand over the back seat for his fare. “No one lives at that old castle,” he said. “It’s a tourist spot. Unless your brother’s the night watchman, he willna be up there at this hour. I suggest ye check into a room and call him.”

  Catie didn’t want to be shoved out of the car, so handed him his money and got out before he could grumble about the lack of a tip. She only had four pounds left, and knew from buying food on the train that wouldn’t get her much. Certainly not a room for the night. She would have loved to call Lachlan as the driver suggested, but she didn’t know how.

  There was a bench between two potted trees by the inn’s entrance and she sat down, pulling out her map to see if she stood a chance of walking to the castle. Alone. In the dark night of a strange and scary time.

  Before she could work up her Ferguson warrior fierceness, a woman in a knee length dress stuck her head out. “Are ye all right, miss? Are ye needing to check in?” She came over and stood in front of Catie, and looking up at her from her sad perch, Catie could see she was a kind looking, motherly type. “Come inside, lass,” she urged, looking back at the door with worry. “I’ve got a load of historical re-enactors in the bar and need to keep an eye on their shenanigans.”

  “I dinna have enough money for a room, and the driver wouldna take me to my brother.”

  “Who’s your brother, love?” She patted Catie’s shoulder and took a step back toward the door.

  “Lachlan Ferguson,” she said.

  The woman’s face lifted with astonishment before falling into bewilderment. “Did he know ye were coming?” she asked.

  Catie sighed with relief. This lady acted as if she knew who Lachlan was, which could only be a good thing. “No, it’s a surprise visit.”

  “Ah, bad luck, that,” she said, whipping around at a large cheer and then a crash from the inn. “Bloody historians,” she muttered. “I’ll send my son out for ye,” she promised before she flew back inside.

  Catie wasn’t sure what to make of her new information. It seemed Lachlan at least existed in this time, but what was bad luck? Before she had time to think about it, a lanky lad around her age, maybe a couple years older, came out, looked around, and then smiled when he saw her. He came forward at an alarming pace and stopped close to the bench.

  When she looked into the lad’s grinning face, she felt something she never felt before, almost like she’d missed a step and landed with a jolt, causing her heart to pound a little harder for a second. He had a rugged, outdoorsy look to him, very broad in the shoulders, with shaggy ginger hair and freckles smattered across his straight nose and strong cheekbones. Even in the dim light she could see his eyes were spring grass green, and friendly.

  He wore the dark blue trousers everyone seemed to wear and a black shirt, like the one she wore, simple and boxy, and it stretched against his chest. Catie felt her cheeks go hot and she couldn’t imagine what her hair must look like after the long day.

  “Lachlan’s your brother, then?” he asked, tilting his head to study her.

  She didn’t look anything like her brothers, and she hoped he didn’t think she was lying. She blushed harder when she thought he might find her lacking if he did believe her. Being plain while having two gorgeous siblings was like being a dusty brown moth amongst butterflies.

  “I thought he lived at the castle, but the driver said no one lives up there,” she said. “And then he left.”

  “He’s an idiot, then.” He held out his hand. “I’m Shane. My brothers and I work up there.”

  She took his hand and he pumped it up and down before letting it drop. “Ye do? So Lachlan does live there?”

  “Aye, and aye. With Miss Sinclair, my boss. Wait a tick and I’ll drive ye up there right now.”

  “Oh, I couldna put ye out,” she said automatically, wanting to kick herself after the words were out.

  Shane shook his head and held up a finger. “One second.”

  A few minutes later he pulled around in his car, much smaller than the taxi, and a bit messy inside. When she got in, he reached down by her feet and chucked a crumpled bag into the backseat, his hand brushing her leg. When he leaned across her she noticed his hair smelled lovely, like nothing she’d ever smelled before. She was glad it was dark, because she in
explicably blushed again.

  “Sorry, that’s my slob brothers always eating in the car. I’ve two brothers, Danny who’s younger, and Thomas, who’s older.” He studied her some more and she felt awkward and uncomfortable, wanting to make conversation, but not knowing where to begin. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine she was in a drawing room and this wasn’t strange at all.

  “Ah, that’s nice. I’m the youngest. I haven’t seen Lachlan in some time.”

  “Ye do know they’re on vacation, right?” he asked. Her eyes flew open and she swung her head to look at him. He smiled sympathetically. “Rotten timing for a surprise.”

  “He’s not there now?” she asked.

  “They’re on some island. I forget which. Be back in a few days or a week.” He didn’t seem concerned about it one way or another.

  “But what will I do until they return?” she asked.

  “Mel’s there,” he said. “She’ll get you sorted.”

  Before she could decide what this meant, they were pulling into a long winding drive. Everything went so fast in this time. The mammoth castle loomed against the dark night, looking dreary and forbidding. She never saw it in her own time, but had heard plenty of stories about the terrible Glens.

  He maneuvered the car down a side track, past a vegetable garden and up an incline, finally pulling into a large open area at the back. One lone light shone at the door, and all the windows were dark.

  “I dinna want to be any trouble,” she said.

  He grinned cheekily. “Too late for that. Come on.” He bounded from the car and ran up to a ground floor window, jumping up and hitting the pane with his hand. “Oi, Mellie, wake up,” he said, jumping up and tapping it again. “Open up, I’ve got something for ye.”

  What was he doing, was he mad? Catie stopped following him and slunk back to the car. This was all so inappropriate, but as Shane looked over at her with his confident smile, she laughed at his exuberance, slapping her hand over her mouth. Was she mad as well?

  A light flicked on behind the shuttered window, and then another closer to the door a moment later. The door flew open and a tall, willowy girl stepped out, her wavy brown hair tumbling around her shoulders and tangling in the collar of her dressing gown.

  “This had better be good, Shane Brodie,” she said menacingly. “If you’re trying to bonk some unsuspecting lass in the barn, you needn’t wake me to do it.”

  He jogged back to where Catie huddled by the car and took her hand, pulling her into the light. She smiled nervously at Mellie, who gave her a cursory glance before turning back to Shane, hand on her hip.

  “This is Catie,” he said, pushing her forward a little more. “Catie Ferguson, Lachlan’s sister, up for a surprise visit.”

  Mellie gripped the door frame and gave Catie her full attention. “No bloody way,” she breathed, eyes wide. “You’d better come inside.”

  It was clear straight away that Mellie knew she was from another time, with the way she gave her meaningful looks and tried to get Shane to leave. He seemed happy where he was, and it took Mellie pushing him out the door after he drank a glass of cider and ate a sandwich she hurriedly threw together, to get him to go.

  “Thank ye for bringing me here,” Catie said, stepping outside with him. “It was verra nice meeting ye.” She was sorry to see him leave, even though it was scandalous that he’d stayed at all.

  “I’ll see ye tomorrow,” he said, tilting his head down the hill toward the barn. “I work here, remember?”

  She hadn’t remembered, but was delighted to get to see him again. “What do ye do?” she asked.

  “I help take care of the animals. Do ye like goats?” he asked. “We’ve just got them, and they’re quite small yet. And we’ve got a few sheep left, though sheep are unlucky around here. There’s a pig now as well, but Danny deals with her, as she hates the sight of me for some reason.”

  “I love goats,” she said, wanting to tell him how she followed the goatherds around at her aunt’s farm. Mellie cleared her throat loudly behind her and she felt terribly rude and forward, and all sorts of wrong things.

  Shane grinned at her, completely unaware of all her transgressions. “See ye tomorrow, then.”

  Mellie pulled her back inside. “Just no,” she said. “Shane’s a bit of a letch, best leave him be. Now, tell me everything.”

  They stayed up well into the night, and Catie found herself having a wonderful time and stuffed herself full of the food Mellie kept placing before her. At first it seemed strange that she would so readily accept everything Catie told her, but she realized Mellie must know the truth about Lachlan.

  She wanted to ask about the fearsome witch, but didn’t want to offend or cause Mellie to say something that might later get her in trouble. After all, Piper Sinclair was the owner of this castle, and Mellie’s employer. She must keep a tight rein on her powers, to be accepted by the townspeople. Shane and his mother hadn’t seemed scared of her, either. Catie wondered if they all might be under a spell, but they seemed in control of their faculties from what she’d seen so far.

  “Lachlan is going to freak out when he sees you,” Mellie said, after she told her story of how she got there, only leaving out the part where she feared for his safety.

  “Is he all right?” she asked tentatively. “Well, I mean?”

  Mellie nodded. “Do you mean the sickness when he first got here? He hasn’t had it at all that I know of. He doesn’t even wear the amulet anymore.”

  Catie didn’t know what to make of that and sighed. At least her brother was in good health. But was he in his right mind? Would he recognize her when he saw her? Mellie went on to tell her what she already knew, that they wouldn’t be home for a week.

  “We’ll ramble around the village and have a good time until they get home. I have classes in the morning, but we can get you some more clothes tomorrow afternoon.”

  “What do ye study?” Catie asked, not wanting to admit she only had four pounds.

  “Nursing. I’m almost finished, but honestly, I’m not sure I even want to do it anymore.”

  “What will ye do instead?” she asked.

  Mellie shrugged, seeming unconcerned. “Work here. Maybe start a business. I don’t know.”

  “Will ye get married?”

  “Sure, but not for years and years. And I want an American or someone from London, so I’ll have to travel eventually, I suppose. I still can’t believe you’re only seventeen and they were trying to marry you off.” Mellie offered her a slice of cake, but Catie was bursting at the seams. “Shame about your fortune, though.”

  “It isna as if I had it long enough to regret it overmuch,” Catie said, deciding to come clean about her poverty. “In fact, I only have 4 pounds left, so I’ll have to make do with what I have.”

  “Not to worry. Piper’s got accounts at all the shops.” Mellie led her to a room close to her own on the ground floor. “If you’d rather something bigger, you can go upstairs, but I find it creepy up there when no one’s home.”

  “This is lovely, thank ye. But willna Piper, er Miss Sinclair, be angry if I spend her money?”

  “She’ll be angry if you don’t,” Mellie assured her. “And she’ll bring the hammer down on me for letting you run around in the same pair of jeans for a week.”

  Catie didn’t want Mellie to get in trouble because of her, so agreed to get new clothes the next day. The room she was given was cozy and warm, with the most comfortable bed she’d ever slept on. That, combined with making two lovely new friends, and she fell asleep with a smile on her face.

  ***

  Modern life was brilliant. Everyone was friendly, especially when they found out who she was. Apparently Lachlan was quite beloved and popular, which didn’t make any sense at all. He was respected and feared in their own little part of the Highlands. It was Quinn who was beloved and popular.

  She had a whole new wardrobe of jeans and t-shirts and one long dress they found in the second hand shop.
Catie was growing more comfortable in the jeans, but flatly refused to wear short skirts, and the long, blue dress was a comfort to her after the bustle of a twenty-first century day, no matter how much fun she had.

  And she was having fun. Mellie got her a phone, and showed her how to use it, entering in her own number and the number of the castle. When Shane saw it the next day, he asked for her number and immediately called her. She stared down at her buzzing phone, not sure if she should answer it while he stood right in front of her. Fortunately, he ended the call and reached for her phone, tapped at it and handed it back.

  “There, now. I’m going to hound ye mercilessly.”

  She looked at her contacts and saw that he added himself as Future Husband. Her face flamed as she recalled Mellie telling her Shane was a ruthless flirt and had already broken some of the village girls’ hearts. She hadn’t come to this time for romance, she’d had quite enough of that in her own, and she quickly got her blush under control. She put the phone in her pocket as if his little trick had no effect on her whatsoever.

  Still, she had one of the best afternoons of her life as he showed her all around the grounds. They walked a fair bit, then he drove her up and down the hills in one of the tiny open cars that were kept for trips to the outer reaches of the property.

  She got to hold the adorable baby goats, which were being raised for their fine wool, and fed the ducks at the lake. Being back in the open air, surrounded by fields and hills and livestock, made her see the toll London had taken on her without her even realizing it. As much as she loved all the finery of city life, the jewels and gowns and carriages, she was meant to be on a farm. It was where she felt she could be herself.

  Shane was flirtatious, and even went so far as to grab her hand once or twice, but she thought that might be more the way things were in this time than impropriety. If he noticed her pursed lips or furrowed brow, he always stopped his raucous jokes. She felt a kinship with him as well, because his parents wanted him to go to college for computer programming, but he really wanted to keep working with the animals, maybe raise his own one day.