“To become a Bond villain? All you need is a cat on your lap and you’d be perfect.”
“I need you to change something that needs changing. What would you say if I told you I could change your life, Heather? In just five minutes your whole life could be different. Not just different, better. Much better.”
“Are you going to try and sell me something?”
“I’m not going to sell you anything. I need your help like I said. I can’t do this without you. You’re special.”
“I’m not special.”
“On the contrary. You are very special indeed. You have a blood link to the Frazers.”
“The Frazers? As in the clan?”
“Precisely. I need someone with a link to the Frazers. It’s taken a long time to work out that was what we needed and we’ve had many failures along the way. This time, it’s all going to work. Because of you.”
Heather scratched her forehead. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about. You do know that, right?”
“Okay, let me start at the beginning and I must warn you, this is going to sound a bit weird.”
“As opposed to everything you’ve said so far?”
“I have a key in my possession. It is rather a unique key. It will allow you to go through a door back to the year 1300, the year your ancestor was stabbed in the heart by the laird of the MacGregor Clan. You can go back and stop him. You can change history for the better.”
Heather scraped her chair back. “All right, very funny.”
“Do I look like I’m joking?
“Did my landlady put you up to this?”
“I mean every word I just said. Where are you going?”
“I’m done here.” She turned to the door and went to open it. “When did you lock this? Let me out of here.”
“Not until you listen to me, Heather. At least hear me out before you make your mind up. Once you’ve heard the proposal, then you can decide.”
“This isn’t a proposal. This is a joke wrapped up in a lab coat.”
“What makes you so sure about that?”
“Seriously? You need me to answer that? You say you have a key that can send me back in time and you want to know why I’m a teeny bit sceptical? Unlock this door.”
“No.” His voice lowered to a whisper and though he never stopped smiling his eyes had turned icy cold. “I will prove it to you. After that, if you want to leave, fine.” His voice returned to normal. “Give me one minute of your time, that’s not asking too much, is it?”
She let go of the door handle. “One minute.”
“Excellent. Sit down, won’t you?”
“I’ll stand. Fifty five seconds.”
“We will shortly go through to the lab. The door is waiting. You will unlock the door with the key. You will walk through and on the other side will be 1300. Just like that. You simply walk into the laird’s room, pick up his knife and then bring it back here. Then you’re done.”
“So I unlock a door, go back in time, steal a knife and that’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“So when I unlock the door and nothing happens because time travel is impossible, what then?”
“If that’s the case, then you walk away.”
“I think I’ll walk away now, thanks.”
He stood up. “Think about it, Heather. You know exactly what I’m talking about. Gavin MacGregor stabbed poor old Mungo Frazer with the knife. Take away the knife and everything changes. I’ve had people working on the math for years. Change one event and the twenty year war it sparks never happens, Scotland finds peace centuries sooner. The country changes for the better. Your family history changes for the better. Just bring back the knife and it’s all different. Won’t you do it for your family?”
“What do you know about my family?”
“I know a lot more than you’d think. I know you’ve worked ten hour days since you were fourteen. I know your parents did the same but still died on welfare. I know how cold they were to you, as cold as their parents were to them. Your family could do so much better, be so much warmer. You could be happy. You could change so many lives. All you have to do is go back and pick up the knife. Then use the key to unlock any door and the boys in white will do the rest. You’ll be back here in an instant.”
“Say I believe you, which I don’t. Say I go back and steal the knife, which I won’t. What’s to stop him picking up another one and stabbing Mungo anyway?”
“Because he only does it with that knife. I’ve had boffins way smarter than you or me working on this for long enough to be absolutely certain. Take that knife away and it can’t happen. History will change for the better. Your history will change for the better. Think about your life, Heather. Don’t you deserve better?”
He walked past her, unlocking the office door. “I’m going left here. What do you want to do? Follow me and see if I’m lying? Or turn right and go back to your car, back to your old life to spend forever wondering what if?”
Heather said nothing for a moment. It was ridiculous of course. Some kind of test to see how she handled this kind of situation, like a convoluted job interview that combined fortitude and psychometric in one insane scenario. “All right,” she said, following him left out of the office. “But if nothing happens, I get one heck of a raise. Deal?”
“Deal.” He glanced back over his shoulder. “Good decision by the way.”
Swiping a keycard through another door made it open with a hiss like an airlock. On the other side banks of computer screens covered an entire wall, men in lab coats scurrying back and forth in front of them. On the far left a set of steps led down to an empty room. Empty except for a door in the far side. “That’s the door,” Tony said, pointing down the steps. “We have period clothes for you to put on. All you do is take the key, go through-”
“And get the knife, I get it. Listen, I’m not changing clothes for some prank on the new girl. I can’t wait to see the look on your face when I unlock that door and nothing happens.”
“So you won’t put the dress on?”
“I’m happy wearing this, thanks.”
He shrugged. “One last thing. We’ve calibrated it all as best we can but we can’t guarantee exactly where you’ll come out or when.”
“So I might step out straight into the Arctic in the sixteenth century BC?”
“No, nothing like that. Tell her, Harry.”
One of the lab techs stopped and turned to face her, pushing his glasses up his nose. “You’ll be no more than ten miles from MacGregor Castle, that’s as accurate as we can get it. We can be sure it won’t be more than a month before the peace treaty. You can get the knife anytime in that month as long as you don’t leave it too long. Once he sets off to the treaty it’ll be too late.”
“Can’t I just go back again and have another go?”
Harry shook his head. “This is a one shot deal.”
“You don’t seriously believe all this, do you?”
He’d already turned back to the monitors, pushing buttons with a look of concentration on his face. Heather looked up at Tony who was still smiling as he pressed a small silver key into her hand.
“Good luck,” he said. “Remember, we’re all rooting for you.”
“Nothing’s going to happen,” she said as he ushered her down the steps. She turned around to find him right behind her, waving her forward. “Seriously,” she continued, holding the key out toward the lock. “Nothing’s going to happen.”
She slid the key into the lock and turned it slowly. As she withdrew the key she felt something tingling in her arm, like a balloon had been rubbed against her skin, the hairs standing on end. She turned the handle. The door opened. She could see grass on the other side. The door led outside. Tony stood close to her, peering through.
“This your back garden?” she asked.
Not quite,” he said, giving her a push across the threshold. “See you soon.”
His push was harder than it needed
to be and knocked her off balance. She staggered forward and by the time she righted herself the door had been pulled shut behind her. She went to pull it open but it was locked. She looked up. The lab had gone. In its place was a crumbling stone building. Where had the key gone? Had she dropped it?
The door swung open a second later. Her brain couldn’t handle what she saw through it. There was no sign of the lab. Instead there was a huge figure filling the doorway.
He was tall enough to brush the lintel, his arms bulging with muscles. Across his chest a tartan plaid did little to hide his tanned skin. He was staring at her. Light brown short hair topped a handsome face. The man’s dark eyes flashed fury as he raised a sword above his head and brought it whipping down to slice her skull in two.
She winced as the sword came crashing down. She had no time to react. She was going to die.
At the last moment the sword stopped, resting on top of her hair. The man frowned at her as he pulled the sword back. “Who are you?” he asked in strong Scottish accent, his voice surprisingly warm rather than scary. “Speak with haste, where did you come from?”
From behind him other faces peered out at her, more men like him, none of them friendly.
“You need not fear us,” he said, taking a step out of the doorway. “But you must conceal yourself. Quick, we have little time. They are coming.”
She shook her head, unable to move at all. “You were going to kill me,” she managed to say, eyes fixed on the sword.”
He shook his head. “I am Gavin, laird of the MacGregors. I do not kill innocent women.”
Someone whistled from somewhere to her left.
“Inside, now!”
He reached out to grab her. She took one look at him, at those arms like tree trunks. She thought of what he would do if he got hold of her. Then she turned and ran for her life.
4
When Gavin opened the door of the broch he didn’t expect to find a woman on the other side. He was expecting to find bloodthirsty outlaws and he knew he needed to strike first if his men were to stand a chance of survival.
He almost killed her.
He set out from the castle that morning with half a dozen of his best men, leaving Bruce to take care of things while he got back to work dealing with the outlaw problem.
It had been a tiring week since they’d escaped from Frazer Castle. MacGregor Castle wasn’t in too bad of shape considering how long he’d been gone but it needed a laird back at the helm.
The people had been bickering. With no one in charge, crops that needed bringing in for the winter were being left too long in the fields. Everyone was too afraid of the roaming outlaws. That was to be expected. For six months the story had been that MacGregor land was easy pickings, the laird was out of the picture.
Not anymore. He set to work at once, organizing patrols, sending out scouts and spies, getting the lay of the land.
For the first couple of days he’d hardly slept, there was too much to do. He kept expecting Mungo to turn up with the King’s army by his side but nothing had happened so far. Was the old man biding his time before attacking or had he finally got the message that you couldn’t simply kidnap and slaughter your way to success anymore.
It wasn’t the 12th century, it was the 14th. Diplomacy was making inroads across the highlands. Far more arguments were being settled by marriage than by war. Even Robert the Bruce, still fighting for his right to the Scottish throne, wanted to talk to Edward about peace. It was the English king who refused to discuss things, not the Scottish.
The outlaws were a more immediate problem. They were rife. Last night he’d had his first real stroke of luck. There was a bunch of bandits who had grouped together and one of his scouts had been able to find their hidden base far inside Blackwood Forest.
From there they struck out into MacGregor land, taking tolls from road users, insisting on percentages of wheat ground at mills near the forest, forcing the blacksmiths to produce weapons for them.
They were clearly getting organized and Gavin was glad he and his men been able to escape when they did. Any longer and there might have been more than just Mungo’s army to deal with, there might have been an entire outlaw army.
He sat and listened to the scout’s story for an hour. “They’re ordered around by a real piece of work, goes by the name of Jimmy the Snout. Called that because of his broken nose apparently. Rumor is he takes orders from some woman.”
Gavin frowned, rubbing his chin. “An outlaw taking orders from a woman? What’s her name?”
“No one knows. I’m not sure if it’s just his way of keeping them in check. Tells them he needs to get his orders from her then vanishes deeper into the forest. Comes back and off they go hunting in packs like wolves.”
“Anything else?”
“Aye. As it happens, he’s going out himself tomorrow. There’s a stash of coins hidden in the old broch on the south side of Loch Glamis. They found it was left there by a miller when the English king’s men came taxing last year. Jimmy says he doesn’t trust his gang not to pocket it so he’s going to get it himself. Taking half a dozen or so with him.”
“The broch near the crossroads?” Gavin sat upright, thinking hard.
“Aye. He’s due to set out at first light. Could be the perfect chance to take him.”
“From Blackwood Forest? How far in was their camp?”
“About half a mile.”
Gavin did a quick mental calculation. “So he’ll get to the broch around ten in the morning.”
The scout nodded. “I expect so. What do you want to do?”
“I think I’ll organize a welcoming committee for this Jimmy the Snout seeing as its MacGregor coins he’s coming for.”
“You must be cautious my laird. I’ve seen him strike without warning. If he sees you, you’ll get an ax to your heart before you get a chance to try and take him. He’s one man you will never take alive.”
“Then I’ll cut off his head and bring the rest of his gang in instead.”
Gavin and his men set out a little after midnight, making their way in the dark to the old broch. They reached it just after first light.
The broch had been a fortified house at some point in the past but it had been decades since it was last used. The roof was missing and the walls in danger of collapse but it was still standing and better yet, it was big enough for Gavin and five of his men to fit inside.
Once they were inside, they quickly found the stash of coins. Then all they could do was wait. One man was up in the tall oak to the side of the house, ready to give the signal when he saw Jimmy the Snout approaching.
It seemed to take an age, the men restless, eager to enjoy a decent fight. Gavin marked the passage of time by the movement of the sun through the missing roof.
He knew it was time when he heard movement outside. It was the moment he had been waiting for. Sword in hand, he shoved the door open and swung, ready to kill Jimmy the Snout before he knew what was happening.
Only it wasn’t a brutish outlaw standing there ready for a battle. It was the most enchanting creature he’d ever seen. He was already swinging his sword before he was able to stop himself, at the last possible moment bringing his arm to a halt, the sword so close to her he winced.
He looked at her closely as he withdrew the sword. She had long blonde hair that was uncovered and looked freshly washed and brushed. It framed the face of a Goddess. In an instant he took in her red lips, her wide frightened eyes, her strange attire. What was she wearing?
“Who are you?” he asked. “Speak with haste, where did you come from?”
She just looked blankly back at him. He had to force his eyes to remain on hers. They kept wanting to stray downward to the tightness of her clothing, the way it accentuated her wonderful figure.
“You need not fear us,” he said, taking a step out of the doorway. “But you must conceal yourself. Quick, we have little time. They are coming.”
She shook her head. “You were going
to kill me.”
The thought of her ever coming to harm because of him made him feel sick. “I am Gavin, laird of the MacGregors. I do not kill innocent women.”
A low whistle from the tree. Jimmy was coming. Time had run out. He reached out and tried to grab her but she was already running, straight toward the distant figure of Jimmy the Snout who had appeared from around the bend in the track.
Gavin had no choice. Motioning for his men to stay where they were, he dropped his sword and sprinted after her. She was surprisingly fast but he was faster.
Scooping her up into his arms, he dragged her back toward the broch, ignoring her protests. “Shut your mouth,” he growled. “Or you’ll get us all killed.”
She tried to scream but he got his hand over her face, stifling her cries for long enough to run back to the broch. He shoved her through the door, following her in and quickly pulling it closed. “Keep her silent,” he said, glancing back through the crack in the doorway. “Be ready.”
The door was pulled open and Lachlan stuck his head in. “Too late. He saw you. He’s showing a clean pair of heels.”
Gavin cursed and then spat. “The coward. Come on, before he gets too far. Alan, you keep an eye on her. Dinnae let her go. She’ll only get herself killed.”
She scowled back at him, trying to fight her way free from Alan’s grip. “Bind her if you have to.”
He grabbed his sword on the way out and then he was sprinting for the second time in as many minutes, trying to catch up with Jimmy the Snout.
By the time he realized it was a trap, it was almost too late. He saw Jimmy disappearing into a glen, three men close behind him. That made it seven to four. It should be easy enough to take him. His mind flashed back to the woman. Who was she?
It was Lachlan who noticed something amiss and for a long time afterward Gavin cursed himself for not spotting it. He almost got them all killed because he was thinking about the woman, about the way her body had felt when he’d carried her back to the broch, the warmth of it, the softness of the fabric that covered her skin. He should have been concentrating on the sign that was right in front of him, the clear sign of the trap he almost stepped blindly into.
The Key to His Castle: A Clean Time Travel Romance (Clan MacGregor Book 5) Page 4