"I'm really here," she said out loud, her voice hoarse from screaming — belatedly, she hoped she hadn't woken anyone up, but at least these stone walls seemed thick and soundproof. "I'm really here," she said again, trying to make herself believe it. She got up, moved around the room, running her hand over the furniture and the walls, trying to force herself to accept what she was seeing with her own eyes. To ground herself in the reality of the situation.
To believe, once and for all, that this was no dream. She was really in Scotland. It was really the sixteenth century.
And she was really, utterly, alone.
Chapter 18
It must have been the middle of the night, she realized as she peered through the window at the placid lake waters below. She could make out the courtyard below her, too — no men to be seen crossing back and forth. Just a few glowing points that must have been torches on the walls, and the rest was silent. She moved away from the window, biting her lip. Her heart was pounding too hard to let her get back to sleep, and she was feeling an odd, creeping sense of claustrophobia across her skin. The thought of pulling blankets over her body again was unacceptable.
There was a basin of water sitting on the table, clearly intended for her to wash herself with. She hesitated, feeling a little grimy from the lake water and the long day… but not especially wanting to conduct a midnight bath in this odd little room. Besides, she didn't have a change of clothes. It would feel silly to bathe herself, then just put dirty clothes on again… that was a task that could wait until tomorrow. But exploring the basin did give her something — she discovered a candle in a little dish, which she lit with some difficulty with the flint and steel that had been left beside it. At least her father had taught her how to coax flame from flint and steel, she thought with some relief, thinking back with fondness to her patient father teaching her irritable twelve-year-old self.
"Why can't I just use matches?" she'd said irritably.
But he'd been calm. "Might not have matches," was all he'd say.
And sure enough — she suspected matches hadn't quite been invented yet. That probably hadn't been what her father was thinking when he taught her to use flint and steel, but nevertheless, she thought a silent prayer of thankfulness as the light of the candle lit up her little room. But she wasn't just going to sit in here all night. Pulling the huge cloak Maggie had given her around her shoulders — it made her feel like a big strong bear — she carefully eased the solid wooden door open and slipped out into the deserted corridors of the castle.
She must have wandered for an hour or so, all told, her feet feeling the chill of the stone floors even through the boots she was wearing. She went up and down the stairs, followed the corridors hither and thither, hiding around a corner whenever she saw another light or sensed someone coming — she didn't want to be discovered, didn't want some awkward conversation with a servant who wanted to know what she was doing.
Not when she herself didn't know what she was doing. Ever since she was a little girl, she'd felt a need to wander around new places by herself — a kind of personal getting of her bearings, a way of figuring out what was where for herself, independent of anyone else helping her… because she knew for a fact that she might not always have someone to help her. That was how it worked — you got someone to teach you, then you figured out how to do it for yourself in case that person wasn't always there to help you. Like her dad, with the flint and steel, and the matches. God, she wished her dad was here now.
But he wasn't, she thought numbly as she climbed stair after stair, heading for the highest part of the castle she could reach. He was as far away as he could possibly be… and what was worse, he and her mother were probably about to get some horrible, horrible news about their only daughter. What would they have found in the truck at the bottom of the lake, she wondered? Would there be a body? Surely not — she was here in Scotland. An empty truck, then. What would they think had happened to her? What kind of mystery would her poor parents be left to deal with?
Kay shook her head a little as she reached the top of the stairs, shining the little light on the door she'd reached before she gently pushed it open. Sure enough, her instincts had steered her right. This was the very top of the castle — the roof, or the ramparts, whatever it was called. She moved out onto the wide, flat roof, shivering a little as the cold air whipped at her coat, making it flap in the night air. It was freezing cold, and dark — she had to cover up the candle to stop the wind from snuffing it out, and she narrowed her eyes, peering around at her new surroundings. The view was probably better by daylight, she had to conclude as she moved over to a low, crenelated wall at the edge of the roof, peering down into the waters of the Loch.
It must have been cloudy — there wasn't much starlight to see by, and the moon was obscured by clouds, too. Here and there, a patch of stars would glow through the cloud cover for a moment, only to be obscured again, and she sighed a little heavily as she looked around. Not the best view. Still, she could make out enough to know where she was — there was the Loch, which meant that Maggie's cottage lay that way… which meant that beyond that, the little patch of lights must have been the village that had been mentioned.
But wait… that wasn't the only source of light she could see. Lowering her candle, she covered her eyes for a moment, willing them to adjust to the darkness. There — north of the castle, about as far from the castle as the village was if not a little further… there was an area that almost seemed to be illuminated by lights. But these weren't the kinds of lights that shone in windows… these were luminous, glowing, almost seeming to dance and sway in the night… she realized with a start that she was shivering, that she'd been standing out here for longer than she'd thought, that her cloak had fallen down around her shoulders and left her fragile shirt exposed to the freezing night air.
"What the hell," she whispered, tearing her eyes away from the lights and taking a few steps back from the edge, suddenly feeling dizzy and confused. What had just happened? It had been like being hypnotized… as though the lights had drawn her in, taken control of her mind…
Then she took a deep breath, shocked as she remembered what Maggie had said that morning about the wisps. Glowing creatures that lived in a bog to the north… creatures with the power to lure cattle into their bog, then kill and eat them in a matter of hours… she felt a shudder run down her spine. Not just cattle. Travelers, too. Those powers worked on humans as well as cattle. Even from this great distance, she'd felt the pull… felt herself hypnotized by the wisps, by their dancing lights…
What would have happened if she'd been any closer?
Chapter 19
She hurried back to her room not long after that, not particularly interested in getting hypnotized by the lights again. It was unsettling, to say the least, and she was glad to find her little room. Though she'd given some thought to leaving the castle, of breaking out and sneaking away, she had to conclude that that was a terrible idea, at least for the time being… what would happen to her out there in the wilderness? Where would she go? What kind of a life could she make in this strange, foreign world without the help of the people who'd taken her in, taken pity on her?
No — she had to stay here. Especially if she wanted to help Liam deal with the wisps. Having experienced a little of their power first hand, she was especially determined to do something about it now… even if she didn't know what that something was going to be.
So she tucked herself back into bed and willed herself to sleep. And to her surprise, it worked. It wasn't the best night of sleep she'd ever had — she kept half-waking, uneasy about half-dreams of glowing lights in the distance… but by the time the sun was peeking through her window, she sat up in bed not feeling nearly as awful and exhausted as she had the day before. And it wasn't long before there was a gentle knocking on the door … and a new excitement descended upon her when she called for whoever it was to come in.
Three women, all in long skirts, came bustling
into the room, each wearing identical expressions of keen, keen interest. The first of them was the shortest — she looked like she was barely five foot tall, but she carried herself with an intimidating confidence that gave Kay the distinct impression that she was in charge. Behind her was a younger woman, blonde, with a big bright smile on her face and a restless energy that reminded Kay of a young horse. And bringing up the rear was a taller, slender woman with a flame-red braid of hair pulled back sharply behind a face set with sharp gray eyes.
"Sorry to descend on you all at once like this," the woman at the front said quickly, "but we were all so excited to meet you."
"I'm guessing you're the other women? The women who got lost like me?"
"That's right," the short woman said brightly, a grin spreading across her face. "Glad you're understanding what's happening. I'm Anna. I was the first one here."
"I'm Nancy," the blonde woman said brightly. "From North Carolina, originally, but — well, I live here now. And this is Elena."
"From Baltimore," the red-haired woman said softly, and Kay smiled a little at the way she said it — that was a Baltimore accent, that was for sure.
"I'm Kay," she said, feeling a little shy suddenly — especially given how well these women were dressed. "Kay Morris. I'm from Casper, Wyoming. I mean, I lived there. I'm from somewhere a lot smaller."
"Welcome to the castle," Anna said softly. "I hope Donal welcomed you properly? And you know you're welcome to stay as long as you need?"
"He did, and I do. Thanks," she said, giving a helpless little smile. "I guess I'm still a bit… delirious. It's hard to take in."
"I thought I was going mad," Anna said frankly, taking a seat. "For at least the first few days. And Nancy here wouldn't even admit that there was a chance this was anything other than a dream at first."
"It's true," Nancy said with a shrug. "So you're doing pretty well not to be a gibbering mess, I'd say."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Kay said softly. "I mean, I feel pretty… close to the edge. I had the most terrible dreams…"
"How did you get here?" That was Elena, her voice soft but firm. Something irresistible about it, about the question — she found herself answering before she could think about it.
"I was driving," she said. "There was a driver ahead of me… drunk, or high, or something… I had to swerve off road to avoid a head-on collision and I wound up at the bottom of a lake. I guess," she added, shrugging. "I don't really remember it all. Next thing I knew I was lying on the lakeshore and Maggie was prodding me with a stick."
Nancy covered her mouth, but not before a peal of laughter escaped her. "I'm so sorry! You poor thing. What a dreadful way to wake up."
"I mean, I was glad she found me. If she hadn't, I might have just died of exposure right then and there. That's no way to go." She shivered, thinking of a few cows she'd found one year after a particularly hard winter. They'd been huddled together, but even their body heat hadn't been able to save them — they'd frozen to death right then and there. A horrible fate to have been spared. "What happened to you three?" she asked, suddenly curious. "How did you all get here?"
"Near death experiences," Elena said frankly. "I was going down some stairs to investigate a basement when they gave out underneath me and I fell. Next thing I knew, I was here."
"And I was trapped in a cave-in," Nancy said brightly. "Underwater cave system. I had maybe an hour of air left and no way of getting back out to the surface… then suddenly I was in open water, and when I swam to the surface, here I was."
"I had an ex-boyfriend come to my house with a gun," Anna said bluntly. "No nice way of putting that one. But all three of us — all four of us, it sounds like — were saved by the Sidhe. They yanked us away from certain death and brought us here instead."
"Where we fell in love and got married and had babies," Elena said drily, rolling her eyes a little as though disgusted by the very idea. Nancy punched her in the arm, a mock-stern look on her face.
"Don't be so negative. You love your husband."
"I do, unfortunately," she said wryly. "Did you meet Brendan? He's Captain of the Guard."
"And my Malcolm is tanist, and Anna's Donal is the Laird."
"That's kind of a wild coincidence," Kay pointed out, even though she was smiling at the gentle banter between the women. "All three of you just happened to meet your husbands… what, within a few months of getting here?"
"A few days, actually." Anna shrugged. "I've given it some thought myself. It's possible that it's a coincidence, true. Or that the three of us were so traumatized by the adjustment that we fell in love with the first men we met —" Elena made a disgusted sound in her throat, and Anna's eyes twinkled — this was clearly a favorite joke of hers. "But what I actually think is that the Sidhe like playing matchmaker about as much as they like saving lives. There's just something about Donal." She shrugged. "He's perfect for me. We suit each other exactly. Sure, we argue and have our differences, but the more time I spend with him the more I know he's the right man for me. We make each other stronger. Like sharpening a blade."
Kay couldn't help but smile at that. It seemed like these women were in the right place… so why couldn't she shake the feeling that she wasn't?
Chapter 20
"That's… lovely," Kay said faintly, not having been prepared for such a romantic sentiment from such a pragmatic woman. "Someone told me you were a soldier?"
"Back home, yeah. Infantry." She smiled. "I was also into swords in a big way, which was more of a hobby than a profession, but it sure did come in handy here. Nancy was a scuba instructor."
"North Carolina's youngest certified diving instructor," Nancy said with a shrug. "Gotta hold onto my bragging rights, even though the people in this room are the only ones who'd appreciate it in the whole damn world."
Kay laughed. "I'm impressed." Her eyes flicked to Elena, the quieter of the trio, who was looking at her intently with those cool gray eyes. "And you, Elena? What did you do back home?"
"I was a cop," she said shortly. "A detective. Baltimore PD."
"Wow," Kay said faintly. "Sounds like something out of a movie."
"It was a long time ago. What did you do?"
"I'm a vet," she said with a shrug. "I specialize in farm animals. I was a ranch hand for most of my life, too."
"Must be useful to know how to ride a horse," Anna said, giving her a broad smile. "These two didn't have a great time of it when they first got here."
"I did okay," Elena objected, clearly ruffled by the sly dig. Anna was grinning. "Well, I did … I'm better at it now." She scowled. "Whatever. I'm more interested in your medical knowledge. That's likely to come in handy around here."
Kay shrugged. "I mean, I'm not a human doctor. I can do some simple stuff — stitches and the like — but I wouldn't really trust myself —"
"Around here, it's revolutionary to suggest washing your hands before cleaning a wound," Elena said, rolling her eyes. "Trust me — your medical expertise is sorely needed here. Might just save some lives."
"Anything I can do to help. I was actually going to help Liam out with the wisps that are preying on cattle around the place."
The women were exchanging looks, and Kay couldn't help but frown a little, confused by why they were looking at each other. Anna looked at her thoughtfully, a playful light in her eyes. "You sure move fast."
"What do you mean? I just — when I got here, he came to Maggie's to ask her about cattle, and I helped them figure some stuff out. What!"
"It's just — well, we all met our husbands within a few days of getting here." Nancy giggled. "And Liam's gorgeous, and single, and he's the stablemaster, and you're a vet, and that seems like a match made in heaven to me…"
"Leave her alone," Elena said, exasperated. "Let her settle in first before you start dogging her to get married. Honestly."
"Speaking of settling in," Kay said quickly, keen to change the subject from Liam — she could feel a blush alread
y beginning to spread across her cheeks and she didn't feel like she knew these women well enough just yet to talk to them about that kind of thing… for all that she did really like them, so far. "How did you three… cope, with all this?"
"Cope?" That was Elena, her gaze intent.
"I just… " Kay sighed, fiddling with the blankets that were still in her lap. "I feel like if I think for too long about where I am and what's going on that I'm going to completely snap. The only way I'm managing my mental health is by focusing on the here and now. It's really overwhelming and I'm just…" She took a deep, shuddering breath. "I'm worried I'm not cut out for this. That I'm going to have a complete breakdown. It's already hard enough not to just… assume I'm hallucinating and give up on trying to understand all this."
"I get it," Anna said softly. "Really, I do. When I got here, there was nobody else like me. I didn't have anyone to talk to about any of it… not until Nancy got here, at any rate. And yeah… it took a while to adjust. A few months, at least. Maybe I'm still adjusting." She laughed — a sound that was echoed by Elena.
"I know I am," the red-haired woman said simply, spreading her hands. "What happened to us is completely unheard of. We're alone in this — we only have each other. It's completely understandable to need some time to adjust, Kay. Don't be so hard on yourself."
"Yeah, dude. It's completely nuts." Nancy shrugged. "Give yourself time. Take some deep breaths when it gets crazy, take as many naps as you can… oh, and watch out for the sickness."
"The sickness?" Kay raised an eyebrow, thinking back to the previous day. "I think Donal said something about that. All three of you got sick when you first got here?"
"Yeah, we did," Elena said, her nose wrinkling. "Something about our immune systems not being used to Sixteenth Century Scotland. It sucked, but it was okay. With Maggie's help," she added with a smile. "Trust me — if that woman ever offers you a potion, take it and don't look back. They don't taste the best, but they're absolutely magic."
Distracted By The Highlander: A Scottish Time Travel Romance (Highlander Forever Book 4) Page 7