37. Chapter 37 - Kaitlyn
CHAPTER 37 - KAITLYN
CHARLOTTESVILLE - 1775
M agnus and I had spoken to the authorities, or rather, he had spoken. I had interjected once and gotten such a stern look from the main dude, total misogynist, that I bit my lip and let my husband speak.
It was for the best anyway, Magnus had built a complicated story that I might have screwed up by joining in. Most of it was bullshit, of course, as we couldn’t talk about time travel, or name Asgall, but the men who were dead on the floor of the inn had a reputation around this part of Virginia. They were known from their criminal activities at the brothel and not well-respected, so it was easy for the Sheriff to see that we were beset upon by scoundrels, especially compared to Magnus, who came across as commanding and confident. A Duke, no less.
Then after we promised we would be staying at the inn and were willing to speak to them the following day, the constable had left us, stating that he ‘hoped we could get some rest after our ordeal.’
We walked to the inn in the dark. Luckily it wasn’t far and after a few steps, Magnus carried me the rest of the way. When we arrived there was a small crowd of onlookers and still a bit of bustle around the dining room, as the servants cleaned the crime scene.
The top floor of the inn was shuttered and dark for the guests trying to sleep through the excitement. There was a rope stretched across the entrance, and a guard we had to talk our way past.
We walked down the hall, our footsteps echoing on the wood floor. There was a chair in front of the entrance to the dining room, and all the tables and chairs were shoved to one side. The rug was rolled up, and oil lamps illuminated pools of light for two servants who were on their hands and knees scrubbing the floor with rags.
The bodies had been removed, the air smelled like lye soap and strong vinegar.
Magnus carried me quietly up the stairs.
I was exhausted. My leg was sore.
Our room was pitch black, but Archie had left us a small flashlight. Magnus set it on the side table to shine a beam of light toward where I lay on the bed. We still had some of the first-aid kit, so I asked Magnus to check for a package with Tylenol in it. He opened the foil, handing two tablets to me. Then he passed me a cup of some cool water to wash them down. I lay back on the bed.
He commented, “M’lady, there is still blood upon yer skirts.”
“How many days until my new dress comes? Three?”
“Aye.”
“I might need tae buy something off the rack while we wait.” I rolled over onto my side. “Can you unfasten some of the pins? He tugged them free and then we pulled my apron away, the overdress off over my head, and then he helped me wiggle the skirts down and tossed them into a pile My shift had a large deep-red bloodstain, already dried on the edges.
“Dost ye want tae be naked?”
“Yes, this is gross, I’m going to need new… clothes first thing in the morning. And hopefully none of the do-over shenanigans requires me to have clothes on.” I put up my arms and he helped pull the chemise off and then I lay back and drew the sheets over me.
He sat down on the edge of the bed, “I am taking off m’boots, if the shannie-cans requires boots twill hae tae wait for me tae put them on again.”
“The shannie-cans?”
He joked, “Did I say it right?”
“Close enough, you’re too hot and the day has been too overly… too much, for me to complain. The shannie-cans are what we need to focus on now.”
He climbed in under the covers and patted his chest. I curled up beside him with my head on his chest, his arm around me. I pulled up the edge of the covers and looked underneath at the bandage. It had bled through, but looked like it had stopped. I dropped the covers over it and pulled them up to my shoulders.
“I know it’s late, we need to sleep.” I yawned right then, “But I don’t know about turning off the light, it kind of feels like a mistake. I’m superstitious.”
“I ken, too dark and mysterious tae sleep, what will happen tae us? We daena ken, tis right before midnight, will we wake up here?”
I kissed his chest. “It seems like bad luck to wait for the end to come, we’re supposed to live every moment.”
“I daena ken what we could do — we canna walk along Main Street, our clothes are filthy and yer leg is injured, we must sit and wait.”
“Also it’s the middle of the night.”
“Aye, perhaps I will get the sleep I hae been needing.” We both lay quietly and he said, “Tomorrow is another day and we will try tae solve some of these problems.”
“If we’re still here.”
I felt him shrug. Then silence fell between us.
Finally he said, his voice very low and sad, “Dost ye think the shannie-cans will bring back Sean?”
“I don’t know, my love, I really don’t. It’s hard to believe it would because we know that’s problematic...”
“And we arna God, we hae tae accept that there is finality tae death, there just is.”
I said, “But also… he was out of his time, you know, and if we intervene a few days before and he’s there, and we are there and the bridge has fixed all of this and we are all together… then maybe? ”
He kissed my hair. “Tis good enough, I hae a wee bit of hope.”
“Me too.”
I finished with, “I love you, Master Magnus, in all our forms, in every timeline. I miss our bairns and am relieved that we will see them soon, that this will be resolved, but I do feel a small bit of regret, that this time we spent with each other will be forgotten. I want every minute of all of it, and I don’t want to lose it.”
“Aye, I feel the same way. We will hae the bairns returned tae our home, but we will hae tae remember tae sit alone on the bed like this and talk things through, it means a great deal tae me, mo reul-iuil.”
“Me too, my love.”
I wept a little on his shirt, with his arms tight around me, holding me close.
When I got past my grief, I said, “Help me sleep, tell me about your favorite day, the one that you would have, if you could pick anything.”
He chuckled. “Tis easy. Twould begin in the dark, before dawn.”
“So early?”
“Aye, I will be up on the walls and Chef Zach will hae given me a cup of hot coffee with whipped cream tae keep me warm.”
I asked, “Where are you, Scotland or Florida?”
“Tis a combination of both. In this moment, tis Scotland. The dawn comes. Tis a glorious day, a sunrise that will make ye believe in Heaven on earth, green grass wavin’ and the air carryin’ the promise of a good day.”
“That’s lovely, and the day has barely begun.”
“I say goodbye tae...” His voice caught. “Sean. And I go down the flight of stairs tae our master bedroom. There ye are, with all the bairns, they hae come tae keep ye company.”
I said, “That’s nice. Is it a comfortable bed?”
“Aye, verra, soft pillows and beddin’ that feels like a cloud. Then we go downstairs tae the kitchen for a large pancake breakfast.”
“We’re in Florida now.”
“Aye, we eat a great deal of food. After that we can do many different things, the day is ours. We ride our horses, first, then go tae the beach, or play in the pool, perhaps we go out on the boat, or... it daena matter but I daena hae tae carry a sword, because we arna worried about anything. Our enemy is vanquished, mo reul-iuil. Tis a perfect day. Oh and it ends with a proper beddin’ of m’wife, if it dinna happen earlier in the day as I was verra excited by the sight of her in the saddle on her horse.”
I said, “I love everything about that day, it’s my perfect day too.”
“Aye, we will hae it again, I promise.”
He wrapped his arms around me and held me as the night crept along and we bided our time.