by Jennae Vale
“Thanks,” Dylan said. “Sara, don’t worry. If Edna can help you, she will.”
Sara’s lips turned up in a half-hearted smile. She turned her attention to finishing her dinner and thoughts of what meeting Edna would be like.
Chapter 2
The sun peaked through the curtains in Sara’s room as she stretched and yawned her way awake. She really wanted to snuggle back under the covers and hide from the world. All night long the doubts she was feeling about this journey kept her awake. What if Edna wouldn’t send her back and she never saw Logan again? What if she did go back but couldn’t find the castle where he lived and had to wander the countryside alone, searching for him? Where would she find food? And while she was out wandering the countryside, what if she scraped her knee and it got infected and she could no longer wander the countryside and therefore would never, ever find Logan? She tossed and turned, her brain flooding her with obsessive thoughts of all the things that could go wrong.
“Stop it, Sara!” She punched her pillow. She had to believe that everything would work out. Yes. She had to see Logan and nothing was going to get in her way. It was only the hope that she’d be with him soon that finally quieted the noise in her head and allowed her even a few hours of much needed rest.
A knock at the door surprised her. “Who’s there?”
“’Tis Edna. May I come in, dear?”
“Sure.” Sara was about to get up to let her in, but there was no need, Edna unlocked the door and let herself in. Sara was shivering with apprehension. This was the first time in her life that she’d ever met a witch. At least that she knew of.
“Good morning!” Edna’s cheery voice rang through the room. “I brought ye some breakfast and a pot of tea. If ye dinnae mind, I’ll join ye fer a cup. Ye look quite chilled, lass. Here wrap this around yer shoulders. She set the tray down and going to the chair by the fire grabbed the blanket that was draped across the top. She brought it to Sara and wrapped her in it.
The blanket was warm from the fireplace and Sara sighed audibly as it immediately took the chill away. Edna was busy plumping her pillows and making her comfortable. Sara hadn’t had the luxury of having anyone ever do that for her and even though it felt strange, it was also a very comforting feeling. She hadn’t really known her own mother and Edna was doing exactly what Sara imagined a mother would do for her daughter.
“Thank you,” she said. She felt like a princess, all propped up on her pillows as Edna set the tray of food on her lap. “Do you do this for all your guests?”
“Only the special ones,” Edna smiled warmly at her. “I hope ye’ll like what I’ve brought. ’Tis a traditional Scottish breakfast. Dinnae feel that ye need to eat anything that does not appeal to ye.”
Sara examined the tray. There were eggs, something that she thought must be bacon, even though it didn’t look anything like the bacon she was used to, sausage, baked beans and toast. She’d eat the eggs and the bacon and maybe even the sausage, but the beans were not something she liked.
Edna poured her a cup of tea and then one for herself. “So, I understand that ye wish to journey to the past. Is that correct?”
Sara almost choked on her toast as Edna got right to the point. “Yes. I was hoping you could help me.”
“Well, Sara, I can help ye, but I’m nae so sure I should.”
Disappointment welled up in Sara and her stomach did a flip flop. She put her fork down and stared at her food.
“Are ye alright? Ye dinnae look so well, lass.” Edna wore a concerned look.
“Why? Why wouldn’t you help me?” Sara stammered.
“’Tis generally the case that I have chosen the people who are matched and then when I facilitate the time travel, I’m fairly sure things will end happily. Not to say that there arenae any bumps in the road, but I’ve got a verra good record so far.”
Sara frowned and peeked at Edna from the corner of her eye.
“I hate to disappoint ye, my dear, but ye are the one who has made this match and ’tis nae good timing fer ye to go traipsing off to the past.”
“So, are you saying that I don’t stand a chance with Logan?”
“Nae. I would never say that. I’m saying that this is not the best time fer ye to travel. If ye do, things may nae work out the way ye wish. Do ye ken?”
Sara looked Edna straight in the eye, sitting up tall, shoulders back. “I have to try,” she simply stated. “Logan and I had a connection when he was in San Francisco. I could feel it and I know he did too. I have to find out if what I felt could turn into something more. Something real that could last a lifetime.”
“Sara, please think about this. I dinnae wish ye to have a broken heart and be all alone when it happens.”
“If that happens, you’d be able to bring me back, right?” Sara didn’t wait for a reply. “I understand the risks involved in all of this, but I’m willing to take the chance. I truly believe Logan and I are supposed to be together, but if not, I’ll accept it as long as I can come back home to my brother.”
Edna tipped her head back, looking up to the ceiling as if the answers to all her questions might appear there.
Sara continued, “And I won’t be alone. I’ll have Helene. She’s my friend. She’ll help me. Please. I’ve come all this way. Please help me. Or at the very least, explain why this isn’t such a good time.” Sara’s desperation was evident in her voice.
“I dinnae wish to be a disappointment to ye, Sara, but I’ve been looking back to find Logan fer ye. I wanted to see if I could be of assistance. That’s why I wasnae there to greet ye last night. I’ve looked into the past and there are some things happening there that dinnae make it look possible fer ye to be successful in yer quest.”
Sara remembered Maggie’s words last night telling her Edna had a little problem to take care of. Now she knew for sure she was the problem. “But you’re a witch. Can’t you fix it for me?”
“I’m afraid not, my dear. As I’ve said, yer the one who made this match. I cannae interfere.” She placed a warm hand on Sara’s. “Let me think on it a while longer and I’ll let ye know later if I will send ye back.”
Edna rose and walked to the door. Sara’s heart was aching. She could not believe she came all this way, and would not get the chance to see Logan one last time. She watched Edna leave the room, wanting to leap from the bed and beg for her help, but instead she stared at the food, her appetite completely gone.
The door closed behind Edna. She was very aware of the fact that Sara had been saddened and disappointed by her visit. She was not a hard-hearted woman, but one who had to make hard decisions with regard to who should or should not travel across the bridge through time. She hadn’t made up her mind yet whether or not Sara would be one of them. Logan wasn’t making this easy for her. She’d been trying to look in on him and from what she’d seen and with no actual knowledge of what was happening, things didn’t appear to be working in Sara’s favor.
She made her way back downstairs where Maggie was waiting for her. Together they would come to a decision about Sara’s predicament.
“Is she okay?” Maggie asked.
“She’s nae happy. I can tell ye that much.” Edna paced in front of the fireplace and then plopped down in the chair opposite Maggie. “I hate to disappoint her, but I’m not so sure she should go back.”
“Is there no hope then?” Maggie appeared saddened by this news.
“There’s always hope, but this is not a match I can meddle in.”
Maggie appeared surprised by this announcement. “Dinnae look so shocked. All the matches that have been made have been because of my… interference, if you will. Even yers, Maggie, my love.” Edna was now disappointing two people, Sara and Maggie. Her niece was a hopeless romantic. She’d been in love with love since she first set eyes on Dylan Sinclair and it was clear she wanted Sara to have the same experience.
“I ken it, Auntie. I just thought perhaps there was something ye could do to help her.”
“Are ye sure ye cannae meddle, Auntie?”
“Nae. ’Tis just nae been the case in the past. I’m nae sure that it would work.” Edna fell silent and stared into the fire. Maggie had never seen her aunt at a loss for what to do.
“Ye can try though.” Maggie reached out to touch her hand. “’Tis obvious she is a determined lass. She came all this way to ask fer yer help.”
Maggie was manipulating her and it was working. Edna was feeling guilty. She could try to help her, but if things went wrong, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to fix them. She’d always had her finger on the pulse of every romance she’d helped with. She knew from beginning to end just how things were going to work. This, however, was new territory to her. She’d never had anyone come out of the blue to ask for her help and yet Sara had. She sat upstairs full of hope and Edna had dashed it all. Maybe Maggie was right. Maybe she should help.
“What are ye thinking?” Maggie asked, hope in her voice.
“I’m thinking I’ve got a lot of thinking to do,” Edna chuckled.
“So ye’ll help her?” Maggie leaped up from her chair, clasping her hands to her heart.
“I’ll try. Dinnae say anything to her just yet. I must be sure.”
“Alright.”
“Keep her busy today. I dinnae wish her to be moping about.”
Maggie nodded her agreement and Edna headed back to her office to meditate on Sara’s problem and to see if Logan’s circumstance would become any clearer to her.
All she’d seen so far told her that there may be something that would stand in the way of Sara and Logan being together and it wasn’t something that Edna could fix. She hated feeling this way. She always knew what to do. It might not always be the right thing, but she always had a direction to head in and eventually things worked out. Now she sat here feeling as though there was a brick wall between her and what she was trying to see in the sixteenth century. All her years of working with the MacKenzies were not helping her now. This was a whole new ball of wax.
Edna sparked the fire in the hearth and sat in front of it. Staring into the flames, she called to Logan, but instead of his answering her, she saw a vague, cloudy image of him outside of a crofter’s cottage. It must be close to Breaghacraig, but she couldn’t be sure. A woman came out of the cottage. Again, she was quite blurry to Edna’s eyes and she couldn’t tell her age. Logan seemed to take her hand and they engaged in conversation for quite some time. Then a man came from the house and chased him off. Logan turned to leave, but first said something to the woman and the man before turning and striding off. The vision cleared and Edna felt no better off than she had before. What was going on there? She had set her intention to find out if Logan was ready for love, but all she’d seen so far were these fuzzy images. She wasn’t even sure if it was truly Logan she was seeing and if it was, who were the woman and the man? So many questions with no answers. How could she possibly send Sara back when she wasn’t sure what would transpire? She’d told Maggie she’d think about it, but so far nothing she’d seen was making her choice any easier. Perhaps she could try again a little later and see what she could see.
Edna made up her mind that was what she’d do and in the meantime, she’d come up with a way to follow Sara into the past, if she decided to let her go.
The tour of Glendaloch had its benefits, not the least of which was stopping the obsessive thoughts swirling around and around in her head. Sara was grateful that Maggie had decided to show her around the little village. It was quite quaint and, just like The Thistle & Hive, exactly what she’d pictured. She loved it here. It was so unlike San Francisco, but of course it would be. This was a tiny little place, with far fewer people. There were no fancy coffee shops on every corner, no traffic, no crowded sidewalks. It was peaceful here and she felt like this was just what she needed in her life at this point in time. Less chaos, less loneliness – or so she hoped.
“Are ye enjoying the tour, or are ye ready to get back to the inn?” Maggie put a hand on Sara’s arm, bringing her to a halt.
“This has been wonderful, Maggie. Thanks so much for doing this. I’m sure you have other things you should be doing. We can go back to the inn if you like.” Sara didn’t wish to monopolize Maggie’s time, especially since she had a job to do and had taken time away from it to show her around town.
“I don’t mind at all, but ye seem to have drifted off on me. What are ye thinking of?”
They started walking again and Sara realized that she had indeed become very quiet, once again obsessing about Logan. “I’m sorry. I was just thinking about Logan. I wonder where he is and what he’s doing.” She glanced over at Maggie who was listening intently.
“What will ye do if Auntie decides she cannae allow ye to cross the bridge?”
“I don’t know. I guess I hadn’t thought there was any chance she wouldn’t. I know she has her doubts, but I think I can convince her.” Her heart ached to be with Logan. She hadn’t known him long, but unlike the other men who’d come and gone in her life, he touched her deeply in that short time. He had a deep sense of loyalty and honor, which she admired and he’d exhibited by accompanying Dougall to the future just to be sure his friend could be happy. This was not a trait she’d ever witnessed in any man she knew in her own time. She smiled as she remembered how he had done his best to dance with her in her living room the night they’d all had too much tequila to drink. He’d shown her that he respected her opinion when she voiced her thoughts to Dougall about how he should treat Helene. He’d been by her side almost the entire time he’d been in San Francisco and they were never at a loss for words with each other. Sara really believed in her heart of hearts that if he’d stayed there longer a romance would have blossomed into something amazing. The way he’d gazed into her eyes when they said goodbye that day at the marina, left her feeling that there was so much left unsaid. There was no doubt in her mind. Logan was the one. When Sara made up her mind to get something she wanted, there was no stopping her. Maybe Edna didn’t get that about her, but she would convince her that she was more than ready to journey back in time to get her man. So what if Edna hadn’t arranged the match. Sara had and that’s all that mattered. She was going to make this work no matter what. All she had to do was make sure Edna would let her go back. Sara was pretty sure she would, because there was no way she was going to take no for an answer. “What’s down there?” She pointed to the end of the road, where the buildings stopped and an expanse of green came into view.
“That’s the way to the bridge,” Maggie answered. “Would ye like to go see it?”
“Can we? I mean we won’t mess anything up will we?” She had no idea how the whole process of time travel worked and she didn’t want to accidentally effect it in any way.
“Of course ye willnae mess anything up. People cross the bridge all the time. ’Tis only when the fog is present that ye can cross to another time.”
“Any time? Or is it just Logan’s time?” Sara had lots of questions about time travel. She wanted to be sure she didn’t end up in the wrong time period.
“The bridge only allows access to the current time and five hundred years in the past. I’ve never heard of anyone going to any other times. My aunt has been the bridge keeper for many, many years and she oversees those who travel.”
“I see. So, you couldn’t accidentally pass through the fog then.”
“It has happened a time or two. Usually on the heels of another traveler.”
Sara’s face was a lesson in skepticism. “Only a time or two?”
“That we know of,” Maggie seemed very unconcerned about these extra travelers so maybe everything did work out just fine. “Auntie is very careful about who’s crossing the bridge and when. Ye see, someone has to be on the other side in order for ye to make the journey.”
“So, if I go, someone will be waiting for me?”
“Not
necessarily,” Maggie said.
“I don’t get it.” This all seemed out of the realm of possibility.
“Well, Auntie looks to see if someone is there or in the vicinity of the bridge. They may simply be crossing the bridge at the same time as the traveler arrives. They’re kind of an anchor that pulls you in and holds you there.”
“Hmmm… I’m confused.” Sara stopped walking and turned to face Maggie. She had been so focused on seeing Logan that the logistics of time travel had not really occurred to her. Frankly, it was causing a whole new kind of worry to work its way into her stomach. She really needed to understand how this worked. “So, the person on the other side of time doesn’t necessarily know that someone is traveling through time. What if they’re moving too quickly and they cross the bridge before the traveler arrives?”
“That hasn’t ever happened that I know of. Auntie uses her magic to delay them long enough for the time traveler to appear. They might all of a sudden feel the need to stop and take a breath or to look out at the stream that flows under the bridge. They may think it’s their choice to do so, but in actual fact, Auntie is guiding them. For those coming here from the past ’tis much easier. We know when they’re coming and we’re the ones to meet them.”
“That makes sense, I guess. I saw Logan and Dougall leave San Francisco, but I wasn’t sure what would happen on the other end.”
“So, now you know.”
“Amazing!” That tension was starting to ease. She could do this. She could be a time traveler. “So, another question. When someone travels to San Francisco from the past, they always end up at the Marina Green, right?”
“Right. At least as far as I know.”
“Why San Francisco?”
“That’s a good question. Part of it is because of Ashley, she was from San Francisco. Jenna and Dylan were next and they were both from San Francisco. Auntie Edna had already begun wondering if it would be possible to send someone directly to San Francisco from the past and she found that she could. That’s how Cormac ended up there. San Francisco had all the elements she needed to work with, specifically bridges and fog. Also, there are always an abundance of people around to anchor the travelers when they arrive.”