by Jane Stain
Intending to give her friend a ‘Why such a big deal?’ smile, Jessica hesitated.
Instead of the hurt and petulant look you would expect from someone whose party had been pooped, Lauren’s face was worried. And calculating. A very familiar look it was, since they had both been working a year in PenUlt’s research and development department: the look of an engineer pondering the repercussions of an unanticipated factor in a large plan.
Jessica shook her head to clear it. That was ridiculous. Lauren was just disappointed that she and Katherine hadn't gone along with her dress plans. She wanted old fashioned photos of the castle ruins, that was all.
And really, what would it cost to wear the grey shawl? Jessica held out her hands for it.
"Of course I’ll wear mine. Thank you for getting it for me. I'm sorry to seem so ungrateful. It's a nice gift."
That worried look on Lauren's face had softened a bit, just a tiny bit, but noticeable. She steeled her face and turned to Katherine with the blue shawl. And the practical shoes. But Katherine was already in line outside the tour office, chatting with a young couple who were probably on their honeymoon, the way they clung to each other.
Lauren resignedly threw the blue shawl back over her shoulder and tucked the shoes back under her arm as she got in line behind Jessica and Katherine, muttering so that hopefully only Jessica could hear.
"Let's just hope she doesn't fall on her face in those ridiculous high heels."
They bought their tickets and took a short bus ride, Lauren grumbling about Katherine to Jessica while Katherine studiously ignored them, talking to her new friends.
And then they arrived at the ruins, and Jessica's jaw dropped open. Lauren was right. This was like going to another world, a fantasy world where everyone lived in castles. The United Kingdom was smart not to destroy these ruins. She wasn't even inside yet and she was more enthralled than she'd ever been with a place.
The tour guide was good, telling them the history in living detail. Making it about the people who lived here and what their lives were like, rather than rattling off a boring list of names and dates. He was in the middle of a particularly animated speech in the castle’s old tumbledown courtyard when Lauren conspiratorially took Jessica's and Katherine’s hands and tugged them toward the gate to outside.
"Come on. Now’s our chance to get some pictures with only us in them and the castle in the background. Quick, while they're all distracted."
Jessica was glad to see Katherine take this in stride with good humor, only making a token show of resisting while smiling indulgently at Lauren — and winking at Jessica, making her steps take a staccato rhythm that felt like resistance, but going along.
They left the castle gate and headed over to a nearby clump of trees.
"Why are we going over there?" Jessica asked, vaguely wondering who mowed this huge lawn. Did someone drive out here with one of those lawn-mower trailers every weekend? "We’d have more time to take pictures if we just stayed right here."
Lauren walked faster and faster, and she leaned her shoulder with the blue shawl draped over it toward Katherine, who sighed and put it on while they rushed over toward what Jessica supposed would be called a grove.
Once they were under the shelter of the trees, Lauren let go of their hands.
“Your phone has the best camera, Jessica. Get it out. Here Katherine, let me help you straighten that shawl. It looks beautiful on you. There. That's better, isn't it?" She held out the shoes to Katherine. "Please, just put these on. The uneven ground out here with all the roots is more perilous than those stairs inside. We don't want you to get hurt."
Reluctantly but resignedly, Katherine sat down on a log and put the granny shoes on.
Lauren reached up under her voluminous leine and pulled a folded gunny sack out from under a leather garter. Jessica caught a glimpse of other small sacks tucked into the garter, too. Interesting.
"Here Katherine, for your heels."
At first, Katherine just looked at the shoes she had hooked on her two fingers.
Lauren glanced at Jessica’s camera.
Katherine sighed and put her heels in the nondescript sack, bunching it up into her hand and carrying it the way a wino carries a bottle.
Now that they were all decked out in the shawls, Lauren turned them back the way they had come.
Jessica gasped.
"I have to hand it to you, Lauren, that is a fabulous view of the castle through the trees."
Lauren nodded.
"I know, isn’t it though? Hey, before we take the pictures, let's go over here to the middle of the grove. I read about something there that I want to see before we forget to check it out."
Katherine raised her eyebrows at this, visibly impatient — but not rudely so.
Jessica nudged Katherine as they followed Lauren through the trees.
"Have you ever considered giving charm lessons? I'd love to know how you always manage to seem genial and friendly, even when you blatantly disagree with someone."
Katherine shrugged prettily, making her shawl sway.
Jessica clucked.
“You have to admit, that shawl has a cool effect on your appearance. Maybe Lauren’s onto something. In this setting with the trees and the castle and the general ambience of the place, these huge shawls look more normal than our street clothes would have.”
And then Lauren threw her arms around both of them and the whole world started spinning.
Chapter 2
The world kept on spinning and spinning. Had their breakfast been drugged? It was the only explanation Jessica could come up with. She felt woozy and off-balance and motion sick, with no explanation as to why.
They were going to have to lodge a complaint with the police, that was for sure. Someone needed to investigate and find out who was responsible and just what had been put in their food, in case they needed treatment. It had to be something that all three of them ate, because as Jessica floundered about there in the grove of trees with Lauren hugging her and Katherine together, she saw this wooziness in the other women's faces as well.
The dizziness was so bad, Katherine was uncharacteristically grimacing. And Lauren… Lauren was… what. Was she smiling?
Oh, but if this is drug induced, I might be seeing things. No, I definitely am seeing things.
The landscape quavered and changed, making the trees shorter and the castle taller. In fact, the castle was more complete looking, not tumbledown at all.
Oh these were strong drugs, indeed.
When the dizziness at last passed, Jessica firmly tugged Lauren and Katherine through the trees back toward the tour bus, which had been parked west of both the grove and the castle.
“We need medical attention, right away. Who knows what substance we’ve been given. The tour guide is just going to have to cut it short and take us back to town. I know you went to a lot of trouble, Lauren, but…”
And then she relented. Just a little.
"Okay Lauren, here's my phone. You went to considerable expense to make sure we were dressed right, so go ahead and take your pictures. But be quick about it. We need to go back to the tour bus. I don't have any bars here, but the bus’s Wi-Fi should be enough to file a complaint against the hotel. Because obviously someone drugged our breakfast, and there needs to be an investigation into that."
Katherine's face was incredulous, most likely at the idea of staying here to take pictures before they went and made the report, but nevertheless she stayed and straightened out her shawl, then arranged her perfectly unmussed hair. Her face was a little green with nausea, but even that looked good on her.
"Yeah Lauren, hurry up and take the pictures. I agree with Jessica. We do need to file a report about this."
Lauren took Jessica's phone and snapped a few pictures, but her heart wasn't in it.
Jessica felt sorry for her friend.
"Smile, Katherine. Let's make these pictures good so Jessica has a nice keepsake of the trip. We shouldn't
let whoever drugged us ruin the whole thing. Let's not give them the satisfaction."
Katherine took out her compact and applied a bit of powder where she had shed some tears, then snapped the compact shut and smiled resolutely at Lauren.
"Jessica's right. Let's make these pictures the best ones ever. Come on, Lauren."
For the next few minutes, the three of them posed stiffly. But they found they felt better, and soon they were cavorting in their huge billowing shawls in front of the phone that Lauren propped up in the crook between a branch and its trunk.
"We'll just take one long video with the castle in the background, and I can edit it later," she explained with delight.
The three of them pretended to be peeking out from behind the trees at someone who was coming from a distance, and then they did one of the country dances Lauren remembered from her Renaissance Faire days. Once they got into it, they had fun, and by the end they were all laughing.
However, when Lauren faced the two of them and gave Jessica back her phone, even Jessica was beset with worry.
"It’s too quiet. How long have we been out here? You don't think the tour would have left without us, do you?"
At this, Katherine snapped into activity, whirling toward the tour bus with attitude.
"They better not have. Come on."
A freezing wind had come up out of nowhere during their playful antics, driving the clouds in over the sun, and Jessica was grateful for the grey shawl. She could see Katherine was glad she had her blue one too, because rather than take it off she had gathered it around her. They held the fronts of their shawls up like long dresses as the three of them jogged back toward the tour bus.
When they were closer but still couldn’t see the bus through the trees, Lauren slowed down to a walk.
Jessica slowed beside her.
"You have a side ache? Let me help you..." But Jessica’s offer trailed off.
Because Lauren didn't look like she was in pain. Rather, she was staring at the castle in open-mouthed awe.
"Look at it. Complete now, not tumbledown at all. The blocks are newer and stronger — and cleaner. There wasn't any drug in our breakfast, and there won't be any tour bus on the other side of these trees. We've come back in time just like Claire in Outlander, only we did so by means of a sacred grove rather than a ring of standing stones."
Katherine tsked and walked right on by Lauren in the direction of the tour bus.
"Okay Lauren, if you want to stay here and play castle, I won't stop you, but I'm going back to civilization."
Jessica smiled what she hoped was a warm smile at Lauren and added a little chuckle when she spoke to her.
"She really has been a good sport today. You can't expect her to play along too much. Come on, let's get on the bus and warm up. I'm so glad you got me this shawl, but it's not enough. I'm freezing!"
Jessica waited for her friend to smile in agreement, but she didn't. No, Lauren had worry on her face again, along with the calculating look of an engineer working out the solution to a complex problem.
Jessica took her friend by the arm and pulled her along as she jogged through the trees.
"I'm sure once we get warm things will be clearer. The solution will present itself."
Lauren came along listlessly.
Jessica jostled her arm a little was they hurried along, trying to snap Lauren out of it.
"It's not that bad. The police will take care of everything. The trail isn't that cold, only a few hours, so they should be able to figure out who did this to us. Cheer up."
But then they came out of the trees onto the dirt road to the castle and sure enough, the tour bus wasn't there. How could it have left them? Surely the tour guide had counted how many people he had on his tour and realized they were missing. They hadn’t been gone that long.
Jessica didn't usually get angry, but she was now. She whipped out her phone, hoping against hope that the spot where the bus had parked was a Wi-Fi hotspot. But no. She had no bars, no service.
Katherine had come to the same conclusion, holding her phone out and shrugging.
"Maybe if we wait, another bus will come. But I don’t want to be out here in the cold, and it’s getting late in the day. Let's start walking."
Evidently Lauren agreed with this proposal, because she nodded sagely and fell in beside Katherine as they all walked out on the dirt road toward the highway.
Jessica got her phone out again. Out of sheer habit, she opened the browser on her phone, intending to check Google Earth for just how far it was back to town, and while she was at it, were there any restaurants or pubs along the road where they might call a cab? She hadn't noticed on the way here, being too invested in the argument the three of them were having. No, she had barely even enjoyed the sites of the Highlands.
Jessica sighed. She still didn’t have any bars on her phone. Of course not, out here in the middle of nowhere. A sinking feeling took her. They had been walking a few minutes and still hadn't made it to the highway, let alone to any signs of civilization.
And then Lauren grabbed their hands.
"Run!"
Rather than follow the road, Lauren dragged them running into the trees, and there was such urgency in her voice when she screamed for them to run that Jessica went along without missing a beat.
But Katherine dug her new sensible shoes into the dirt road, struggling to wrench her hand free of Lauren’s grasp.
"Cut it out. This isn’t fun anymore. Don't you get it?"
Lauren was struggling even harder to hold onto Katherine's hand.
What on Earth?
And then commanding male voices boomed out not too far behind them on the road from the castle, accompanied by hoof beats.
"We mean ye nay harm."
"We just want tae talk with ye."
"Aye, bide awhile and tell us what ye know o' the brewing battle."
What these voices said was innocuous enough — but that last question? The content alone sent shivers all over Jessica's skin, but that wasn't all. There was such an air of command in those voices, part of her longed to stop and obey their commands. Answer their questions. Do anything they asked of her! This scared her more than anything.
Katherine heard the voices too, because all three of them were running again. They went westward as fast as their feet could carry them, away from the castle and the road and the voices.
"Keep going,” Lauren breathed as they ran. “These trees are too thick for them to follow on horseback."
The three of them ran all-out through the woods, their shawls getting caught on twigs and their feet stumbling on rocks and roots. Only their linked hands saved them. Jessica hadn't thought she had it in her to run a five-minute mile, but that was her estimate of what they had done when at last they all stopped, panting and leaning against some sturdy trees.
"There's a village west of here," said Lauren between deep breaths. "We should go that way."
Jessica and Katherine both vigorously shook their heads yes.
Katherine's eyes were wild as she took hold of her blonde head with both hands and held it, her shawl trembling along with her body.
"How did you know we needed to run? You said ‘Run’ before we heard those voices. And how did you know the bus wouldn’t be there? What’s going on?"
Lauren trained her excited gaze on both of them.
"I've already told you what's going on. So far, you don't believe me, but you will when we get to the village. Nothing I say will sink in until you believe me, so let's just get to the village. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can begin enjoying this adventure."
Katherine didn’t quite roll her eyes.
“Lead the way.”
Smiling huge, Lauren did.
“You’ll see. This will be fun!”
The trees thinned out, and before long they were climbing a craggy mountain. They hadn’t gone up far before Katherine tossed aside the bag with her heels in it so she could grab a handhold when one present
ed itself.
Jessica didn't blame her. This was like climbing stairs.
"You can let go of our hands now, Lauren. We’re not going to wander off."
But Lauren kept a firm grip on their hands. The enthusiasm on her face was tinged with worry at the mention of her letting go.
"No I can’t,” said Lauren. “They’ll find us if I let go. Find you, anyway. Just a little bit farther. Please hurry. We want there to be some daylight left when we reach the village. Otherwise, we’ll have no chance at all of anyone taking us in, three strangers arriving after dark. I'd say our chances were slim as it is, but we have Katherine."
The climb was brutally challenging, and soon even Katherine of the oh-so-toned legs was complaining.
"Tell me again why we couldn't take the road? That would have to be easier than this."
Lauren gave Katherine a hand up onto the next rock.
"They'll be patrolling the roads now that they've seen us. We have to avoid them."
Jessica was on the verge of demanding to know just who these commanding men were when they crested the top of a foothill and could see down into a shallow valley below, where stood a village.
At first, she was ecstatic. Rescue! Civilization! A taxi back to their hotel!
But then she looked closer, and her body shivered in fear, her mouth went dry, and finally her knees gave out and she sat down hard on a rock. The pain of her landing served as the proverbial pinch to make sure she wasn't dreaming. Never in a dream had she bitten her tongue, nor tasted the distinct metallic tang of blood in her mouth. No, this was not a dream. This was real.
Lauren wasn't having them on. They really had time traveled.
Because even from a distance, Jessica could see this was no modern village. Most obviously, there wasn't a paved road in sight, neither a car nor a truck. Not even a bicycle. There weren't any power lines. The village was surrounded by farms, and it had silos for the harvest. Barley, if she wasn't mistaken.
Hm, now that she looked closer, there was some tech here. Very low-tech, the kind available in the Middle Ages. A mill sat beside the stream, a water-wheel mill for grinding grain. And the people didn't till the fields themselves. No, they had cattle yoked to their plows.