I said, “Us too. Right Archie?”
He nodded and put his fingers in his mouth.
I dropped my skirts to the ground, having the sweatpants on under them and climbed into bed on the other side of Archie. I got little Isla out of the sling and patted a groove into the mattress and held her in the crook of my arm. I looked over their heads into the eyes of my husband. I exhaled.
Across our bairn we entwined our hands.
“I am glad ye are here. Twas a long distance tae come and I ken ye were afraid, I am glad ye arrived safely.”
“Me too. It was… what do you think is truly going on?”
“I think many things are goin’ on, but I daena think we should talk on them this night. In the morn we will discuss it, mo reul-iuil. Twill be a new day and we will plan, but until then I want ye tae ken, I will keep ye safe.”
“I do know that. I really do. I feel so much better now that you’re holding my hand.” I sighed, “I missed you. I had grown very used to our day-to-day. I loved waking up with you and doing boring everyday things.”
“Me as well. I like tae do borin’ everyday things with ye.”
“Like sex, god I miss sex.”
He teased, “Tis the borin’ thing I miss the most.”
“Two more weeks.”
“Och, twill be enough time tae build a proper bedroom for the bairn.”
“Where?”
“There, in the corner.” He gestured with his elbow. “I will hae Chef Zach use his power tools tae build it.”
“We have our contractor here.”
“Aye, I had forgotten! I will hae James build a bedroom for the bairn usin’ a chisel and a pile of rocks.”
I giggled. “Perfect. I can hear him complaining now.”
“And I will hae Chef Zach go tae the kitchen in the morn tae make the bulgin’ waffles.”
“I like it when you call them that. Will they have powdered sugar and strawberries?”
“Aye, they are nae bulgin’ without the berries. Twould be nice tae hae some ice cream as well, we will need Fraoch tae climb tae the top of Ben Lawers for snow.”
“Hayley can go with him, since they are newlyweds. What will Emma do?”
“We will ask her tae run tae the Target store and procure us some yoga mats. I think ye hae forgotten yours.”
Archie shifted and we quieted until he was fully asleep again.
I whispered, “We’re going to do yoga here?”
He chuckled, “The Campbells are verra agitated, they are in need of the exercise that is like a nap time tae calm them down.”
“I like this, we’ll have ordinary days, just here in the eighteenth century.”
“Aye, and wee Archie and Ben will run up and down the halls, much as Sean and I used tae.”
“I can’t wait to see that.”
He pulled my hand up to his lips and kissed my fingers.
“I feel so much better.”
“I love ye, mo reul-iuil.”
“I love you too,” I said, and slowly, in our dark, eighteenth century room we both fell asleep.
The End.
Thank You
There are more chapters in Magnus and Kaitlyn’s story and in Fraoch and Hayley’s story as well…
(book 11: coming soon)
If you need help getting through the pauses before the next books, there is a FB group here: Kaitlyn and the Highlander Group
Thank you for taking the time to read this book. The world is full of entertainment and I appreciate that you chose to spend some time with Magnus and Kaitlyn. I fell in love with Magnus when I was writing him, and I hope you fell in love a little bit too.
As you all know, reviews are the best social proof a book can have, and I would greatly appreciate your review on this book.
Kaitlyn and the Highlander (Book 1)
Time and Space Between Us (Book 2)
Warrior of My Own (Book 3)
Begin Where We Are (Book 4)
A Missing Entanglement (now a prologue within book 5)
Entangled with You (Book 5)
Magnus and a Love Beyond Words (Book 6)
Under the Same Sky (book 7)
Nothing But Dust (book 8)
Again My Love (book 9)
Our Shared Horizon (book 10)
Series Order
Kaitlyn and the Highlander (book 1)
Time and Space Between Us (book 2)
A Warrior of My Own (book 3)
Begin Where We Are (book 4)
A Missing Entanglement (short, optional, between 4&5)
Entangled With You (book 5)
Magnus and a Love Beyond Words (book 6)
Under the Same Sky (book 7)
Nothing but Dust (book 8)
Again My Love (book 9)
Our Shared Horizon (book 10)
Some thoughts and research…
Characters:
Kaitlyn Maude Sheffield - born 1994
Magnus Archibald Caelhin Campbell - born 1681
Isla Peace Barbara Campbell - born October 4, 2020
Lady Mairead (Campbell) Delapointe she is the sister of the Earl of Breadalbane
Hayley Sherman - Kaitlyn’s best friend
Quentin Peters - Magnus’s security guard/colonel in his future army
Beaty Peters - Quentin’s wife. Born in the late 1680s
Zach Greene - The chef
Emma Garcia - Household manager
Baby Ben Greene - born May 15, 2018
Sean Campbell -Magnus’s half-brother
Lizbeth Campbell - Magnus’s half-sister
Sean and Lizbeth are the children born of Lady Mairead and her first husband.
Baby Archie Campbell - born 2382
Bella Florentin - mother of Archie
Colonel Hammond Donahoe
The Earl of Breadalbane - Lady Mairead’s brother
Tyler Garrison Wilson - Archie’s grown alter-ego
Grandma Barb
Grandpa Jack
Pablo Picasso - 1881 - 1973
Picasso’s friends - Max Jacob and Guillaume Apollinaire
Fraoch MacDonald - born in 1714, is aged 26 in 1740 when he meets Magnus is pretending to be a MacLeod
Colonel Hammond - Magnus calls him Hammie, come to find out — cousin.
King Roderick - now just plain Roderick, because Magnus has kicked his arse and sent him into hiding.
The line of kings in the future-future
Donnan the Second - murdered by Kaitlyn Campbell in the year 2381
Samuel - Donnan’s brother. Attempted takeover during the transfer of power between Donnan and Magnus, uncrowned. (Killed in the arena by Magnus.)
Magnus the First - crowned in 2382 shortly before the birth of his son, Archibald Campbell, next in line for the throne.
Roderick the Usurper - son of Samuel. Claimed a right to the throne. Raised an army and overthrew Magnus the First in 2383. Bella is with him. Wait — now that never happened… He might still be an issue though.
Magnus the First
Some Scottish and Gaelic words that appear within the book series:
Chan eil an t-sìde cho math an-diugh 's a bha e an-dé - The weather's not as good today as it was yesterday.
Tha droch shìde ann - The weather is bad.
Dreich - dull and miserable weather
Turadh - a break in the clouds between showers
Solasta - luminous shining (possible nickname)
Splang - flash, spark, sparkle
Mo reul-iuil - my North Star (nickname)
Bidh thu a ‘faileadh mar ghaisgeach - you have the scent of a breeze.
Osna - a sigh
Rionnag - star
Sollier - bright
Ghrian - the sun
Mo ghradh - my own love
Tha thu breagha - you are beautiful
Mo chridhe - my heart
Corrachag-cagail - dancing and flickering ember flames
Mo reul-iuil, is ann leatsa abhios mo chridhe gubrath -
My North Star, my heart belongs to you forever
Dinna ken - didn’t know
A h-uile là sona dhuibh 's gun là idir dona dhuib - May all your days be happy ones
Tae - to
Winna - won’t or will not
Daena - don’t
Tis - it is or there is. This is most often a contraction t’is, but it looked messy and hard to read on the page so I removed the apostrophe. For Magnus it’s not a contraction, it’s a word.
Och nae - Oh no.
Ken, kent, kens - know, knew, knows
iora rua - a squirrel. (Magnus compares Kaitlyn to this ;o)
scabby-boggin tarriwag - Ugly-foul smelling testicles
latha fada - long day
sùgh am gròiseid - juice in the gooseberry
Beinn Labhair - Ben Lawers, the highest mountain in the southern part of the Scottish Highlands. It lies to the north of Loch Tay.
"And I will come again, my love, though it were ten thousand mile…” is from the beautiful Robert Burns poem, O my Luve's like a red, red rose, written in 1794 after Magnus’s time.
beannachd leibh - farewell or blessings be with you.
"Fra banc to banc, fra wod to wod, I rin, Ourhailit with my feeble fantasie, Lyk til a leif that fallis from a trie…” is from a Sonet by Mark Alexander Boyd. 1563-1601
mucag is Gaelic for piglet
m’bhean - my wife
m’bhean ghlan - means clean wife, Fraoch's nickname for Hayley.
Locations:
Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island, Florida, present day
Magnus’s home in Scotland - Balloch. Built in 1552. In early 1800s it was rebuilt as Taymouth Castle. (Maybe because of the breach in the walls caused by our siege from the future?) Situated on the south bank of the River Tay, in the heart of the Grampian Mountains. In 2382 it is a ruin.
Kilchurn Castle - Magnus’s childhood home, favorite castle of his uncle Baldie. On an island at the northeastern end of Loch Awe. In the region Argyll.
The kingdom of Magnus the First is in Scotland, his Caisteal Morag is very near Balloch Castle.
Paris, Montmartre, 1904.
True things that happened:
Kenmore Hotel is widely considered to be the oldest hotel in Scotland. It is where our Fraoch and Hayley passed their honeymoon.
Rob Roy MacGregor, at the time was known as Rab Ruadh, then Chief of the MacGregor Clan. He was working in droving and cattle dealing with the Campbells of Breadalbane. Later, Rob Roy was declared bankrupt, failed to respond to a summons, and declared an outlaw in 1713. Rob Roy got shelter from the Campbells of Breadelbane at Finlarig Castle in 1714.
The Fortingall Yew is an ancient European yew in the churchyard of the village of Fortingall in Perthshire, Scotland. It is known for being one of the oldest trees in Britain, with modern estimates believing it to be between 2,000 to even possibly 5,000 years old.
Fortingall is the village that Magnus and friends are using as the safer place to jump into the 18th Century.
Fortingall used to be called Fartairchill. (I am not making that up.)
Acknowledgments
A big thank you to David Sutton for beta-reading again. You have been here from the beginning and have a really great insight into the characters… the biggest one this time was to ask me, please, don’t do what I was planning to do with Quentin. Your opinion was right, I changed the scene, and it’s so much better for it. And for the idea of Hayley’s mental list. “So, mattress. Mattress and a watch. Mattress, a watch, and fire logs. That list getting longer could be a running joke that gets funnier as her list gets longer.” Thank you. You also asked for Magnus holding Isla and a final scene with Hayley and Fraoch, those were lovely, thank you for the suggestions, they make the story better and better.
A huge thank you to Heather Hawkes for beta-reading yet again. And advising me on Hayley’s hospital scene (now taking place in the house) and loving Rob Roy. I’m so glad you liked it. Thank you for saying, “Another winner!” And for all your help.
Thank you to Kristen Schoenmann De Haan for your help with Katie’s breastfeeding abilities and Emma’s support and for loving that this story included more of everyone and also loving Quentin’s arc. I love him too. Thank you.
Thank you to Jessica Fox for your thoughts, from the cliffhanger (thank you for helping me come to a conclusion) to Quentin’s missing vessel, you gave me so much to think about. Thank you for spending your time with this series, still.
And a special, gigantic thank you to Cynthia Tyler for pointing out so many things. You read once with exuberance and then a second time with more detail, finding mistake after mistake, from military details, to recipes for brose, you help me make the story better and better. I’m filled with gratitude that you’re so good at this, thank you.
And a very big thank you to Keira Stevens for becoming the narrator of my audiobooks and bringing Kaitlyn and Magnus to life. Now, when I’m writing, I hear your voices in my head and they have become even more living breathing friends to me. I adore the way you do this, all of this, from beginning to the very finished end. And thank you for finding the perfect voice to read POV Magnus beginning in book 4 and becoming a collaborator and manager and all the new things you have to do to make that happen.
And thank you to Shane East for joining the team and voicing Magnus. He is perfect.
Thank you to Jackie Malecki and Angelique Mahfood for signing on to help admin the big and growing FB group. Your energy and positivity and humor and spirit, all the things you do and say and bring to the conversation. Thank you. I’m so glad you’re there!
Thank you to Linda Rose Lynch for posting so many wonderful photos, from kilted men to ruined castles, you start our days off right.
And thank you to Anna Spain for running the weekly book club, it means so much to me that you started it for the group, I know it takes time and I don’t know what to say, but thank you.
Which brings me to a huge thank you to every single member of the FB group, Kaitlyn and the Highlander. If I could thank you individually I would, I do try. Thank you for every day, in every way, sharing your thoughts, joys, and loves with me. It’s so amazing, thank you. You inspire me to try harder.
______________________
I asked everyone to share their true love stories and there were so many beautiful ones. Some were happy some were heartbreaking. Thank you for your candor, I loved them all so much.
Thank you, Cindy Ball, Faith Ransom, Lisa Roberge, Cassandra Ridings, Melinda Ann, Amy Beagle, Lizzie Fernandez, Jessica Blasek, Cassandra Martin, Karen Nichols, Tina Marie Mustage, Sonja Lucas, Emily Crawford, Pamela Copeland, Amanda Ashmead, Sandy Hambrick, Sharon Palmer, Kristi McFadden, Jennifer Clark, Carol Leslie, Molly Lyions, Jenna Rae Payne, Cortney Lieberg, Karen Caldwell, Marilyn Costa, Elizabeth Johnson, Jessica Blasé, Becky Kelemen, Macy Buhler, CM Mccrory, Cathy Combs, Suzette Smith, Vicky Walker, Carol Tallant, Natasha Howard, Christine Schultheiss, Sara Bacher, and Dayle Stewart, for being a part of the magic.
______________________
And when I ask ‘research questions’ you give such great answers…
The most recent one, I asked for you to name Fraoch’s horse. I loved a lot of them but ultimately I chose Thor, Sandy Hambrick’s idea. Thank you!
_______________________
I asked for a name for Magnus and Kaitlyn’s baby. And after a lot of thought, chose this one: Isla Peace Barbara Campbell.
Isla was recommended by: Natasha Howard, Hailey Nickerson, and Mary Metcalf. Basically everyone agreed that Barbara would be in there somewhere.
_________________
I asked for gifts for the Campbells in the eighteenth century. Hayley delivered stacks and stacks of things and they were all recommended by people in the FB group, from Uggs to tooth powder.
Thank you Courtney Brennan, Sara Bacher, Kelly Sale, Heather Haroldsen, Gena Rodsan, Anitta Dunlap, Kelly Bentham, Annie Miller, Bonnie Gray, Yvette Brown, Margo Machnik, Christine Champeaux, Sand
y Hambrick, Michelle Cochran, Tara Moore, Kate Schuster, Kathy Ann Harper, Macy M Buhler, Kristy Jaye, Faith Ransom, Sly Greenberg, Christine Cornelison, Nicole Darbe, Jacki Malecki, Erin Swearingen, Candis Lively, Dianna Schmidt, Stacey Moran, Dani Conley, Emily Smith-Haskins, Cristina Barnes, Linda West, Shannon Fleckenstein, Torri Brouhard, Leisha Israel, Pamela Beneke, Emily Crawford, Angelique Mahfood, Jessica Herron, Nadeen Lough, Suzette Smith, Gail Bissett, Michele Billings, Michelle Lyons, LaVonne Bartling, Rebecca Meyer, Anna Spain, Jennifer Smith, and Michelle Lisgaris. Phew! So many. Thank you!!!
And an extra shout out to Yvette Brown for finding the product, Ballwash. I laughed so hard, that was perfect.
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Thank you to Sandy Hambrick for starting a conversation with me about how to get our time travelers some help while traveling. She suggested potassium, calcium, and magnesium among other things. And gave me insights into how to test, administer, and why it would be necessary. Thank you for all your advice, it was needed right about now.
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I asked for a name for Beaty’s pig and after 141 ideas, chose Lindsay Ames Gibson’s. She said, “mucag is Gaelic for piglet, so maybe Mookie?” Mookie it is!
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I asked for the name of a song that Hayley would have downloaded to her phone to play during the siege in the hotel. I chose, Bang Bang by Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj. It was actually my daughter Gwyn’s idea, plus Chrissy Roose in the group. Thank you!
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If I have somehow forgotten to add your name, or didn’t remember your contribution, please forgive me. I am living in the world of Magnus and Kaitlyn and it is hard some days to come up for air.
Our Shared Horizon (Kaitlyn and the Highlander Book 10) Page 27