Chapter 2 #2
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. ”
“That makes sense, I guess.”
“I don’t understand all of the workings, but Auntie is instructing me. She has been a great teacher and I hope I can repay her by taking some of the burden of the bridge from her shoulders.”
“Have you ever time traveled?” Sara’s curiosity had gotten the better of her and she had to know.
“I have and so has Dylan. He went back with his cousin Jenna and I went back to help save him from an evil witch who meant to do much harm to the MacKenzies in order to get her way.”
“Wow! This is all so, so … I don’t know. Up until this past year, I would have thought this was all impossible, but now I’m finding out that witches, magic and time travel really do exist.”
“There’s more to know, but I won’t over burden ye with it today.”
Sara’s mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide. “What else could there be? Dragons? Fairies? Elves? Unicorns? Oh, please, tell me there are unicorns!”
Maggie laughed, “You’d be surprised. Keep an open mind. ’Tis all I can tell ye.”
They made their way down the path to the bridge and Sara was surprised that it wasn’t something more grand. Instead it was a simple stone bridge that didn’t look any different than you’d expect in this setting. She walked to the middle and stood perfectly still.
“Are ye hoping Auntie will bring the fog?” Maggie asked. “She wouldnae do that to ye. She has yet to make up her mind whether she should let ye go.”
“I was kind of hoping.” Sara turned, disappointment written all over her face.
“It is very pretty though.” She gazed out over the side and down the stream.
It was a very tranquil setting. She wasn’t sure what she thought it would be like, but if this bridge could change her world for the better, then it was a spectacular bridge.