Chapter 1 #2
The men examined her from head to toe, which made her want to hide behind the giant who she’d spent the afternoon riding with.
She took a good look at these men. They were all armed.
Some had swords, some had bows and they all had knives tucked into various places on their persons.
Somehow, they didn’t seem terribly threatening to her, only curious.
“Where did she come from?” one of them asked.
“A place far from here, Donal.” Hamish responded.
“Did the witch send her?” He looked warily in her direction.
“Aye,” was his answer.
“Wait. What witch? What are you talking about?” This was going from one kind of crazy to a whole new level.
“She doesnae ken?” Donal asked.
“Nae. I havenae told her.” Hamish cast a pitying glance at her.
“Told me what? You better tell me now or I’ll …”
“Or ye’ll what, lass?” he chuckled.
He was right. What could she do? One woman against all these men were terrible odds. “Or I’ll walk back the way we came.”
Hamish and Donal snickered at that and walked away, leaving her alone as the camp came to life around her.
With the exception of Donal and Hamish, the men had dispersed and were busy setting up camp.
They laughed and talked as they worked. Elle could see there wasn’t any way she was going to be able to walk back.
They’d been riding for quite some time and the sky was beginning to darken.
She couldn’t find her way out of a paper bag, what made her think she wouldn’t get doubly lost trying to find her way back to the place she was originally lost at.
***
“Hamish, ye must tell her where she is,” Donal said, socking him in the arm.
Hamish glared at him. “I ken what I must do. I dinnae wish to frighten her.”
“She’s already frightened. Look at her.”
Hamish gazed at Elle, who had herself backed up against his horse.
Donal was right. She was frightened. He could see it in the way her eyes darted back and forth around the camp, the way her lips quivered the slightest little bit, and the way her arms hugged her body tightly as she sought shelter beside Aylwen.
“I’ll tell her, but I’m nae sure what will happen when I do. ”
“She’s nae about to walk back to the bridge. ’Tis too dark.” Donal pushed him towards Elle.
Elle was staring at him as he left Donal and came back to her. “I must tell ye the truth.”
“Oh, my God. Are you kidnapping me?” She moved further away from him. “I’m kidnapped. Just so you know, my manager will pay you whatever you want.”
“Yer nae kidnapped, lass.” He sighed heavily, “Ye’ve time traveled.”
Her eyes opened wide as disbelief showed on her pretty face. “That’s not possible. There’s no such thing as time travel.”
“Aye. There is and ye’ve done it.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Then how else do ye explain that yer here in the year 1517?”
“I’m not. This is 2017 and I’m in San Francisco.”
“Yer in Scotland, lass.” He did his best to sound calm and reassuring. He could see she was ready to run, which would be futile, because he would catch her and bring her back. It was for her own good.
“No. That’s not possible. Why are you lying to me?” Tears appeared in her eyes.
He didn’t like the way her voice was sounding more and more frantic. “Calm yerself. We’ll stay here tonight and tomorrow I’ll bring ye to Breaghacraig. The lasses there will help ye.”
Donal approached them with a flask. “Here. Drink this.”
“What is it?”
“Whisky.”
She looked to Hamish, who nodded his head.
“’Twill help ye sleep.” Edna had gotten this all wrong.
He wanted to time travel. He didn’t want a time traveler.
She must have misunderstood him. Nonetheless, he was going to have to see that she got to the castle where the Ladies Ashley and Jenna could help explain things to her.
In the meantime, he only hoped that she wouldn’t begin to cry or scream.
Much to his surprise she took the flask from Donal and took a huge swig and then another.
Donal was grinning like an idjit. “There ye go, lass. Come sit by the fire. We’ll feed ye and give ye more whisky and before ye ken it ye’ll sleep. ’Twill be good. Come.” He held out his arm for her to take, but Hamish shoved him out of the way.
“I’ll take care of her,” he growled.
Elle took his arm and he escorted her to the fire where she plopped herself down on the ground. One of the men handed her a bannock, which she accepted and began to eat without saying a word.
Hamish sat down beside her, his large frame touching hers. An unintended thrill ran through his body, a feeling that he liked more than he wished to admit to himself. Elle didn’t move away. He snuck a glance in her direction where he noted that she seemed stunned. He couldn’t blame her.
“So, ye had no idea ye were coming here.” He thought if he could engage her in conversation it might help.
“I still don’t know where here is.” She stopped eating. “I’m not really very hungry.”
“I’ll take it,” Donal said as he sat down on the other side of her.
Before Hamish could stop him he took it from her and stuffed it in his mouth. “Donal!”
“Aye?”
“Please leave us. I’d like to speak with the lass … alone.”
Donal winked at him as he rose and moved to the other side of the fire.
“Tell me what happened to ye,” he kept his voice low and calm.
“I don’t really know.” She raised her eyes to gaze at him.
“I had a meeting with my manager today. I was supposed to meet him and we were going to talk about upcoming events. As I was walking to meet him, I got a text from my sister, Tina. We were texting back and forth when I noticed I had no service. That’s when I looked up and saw you. ”
“I’m sorry, lass.” He really was, he couldn’t even begin to imagine how confused and vulnerable she must feel.
“It’s like a bad dream. Maybe it is a dream. When will I wake up?” she pleaded.
“’Tis nae a dream. ’Tis verra real.”
Elle looked as if she may cry. Hamish had to admit, calming a weeping woman wasn’t something he knew anything about. He didn’t know what he should do. “Try nae to think of it tonight. Tomorrow ye’ll understand.”
She put her head in her hands, sniffling and shaking.
“Och, nae. Dinnae cry, lass.” Telling her not to cry wasn’t going to work.
What was he thinking? He placed an arm around her shoulders and drew her into his embrace, where he cradled her head against his chest and did the only thing he could do.
He let her cry. And cry she did. Hamish held her throughout, feeling a warmth he didn’t know he was capable of.
When she finally ran out of tears, Hamish’s shirt was wet with her tears.
She pulled away from him, wiping her eyes with her hands, “I must look terrible.”
Hamish examined her face. Black streaks and smudges were on her cheeks and around her eyes. He wondered what had caused it. Reaching out a finger, he ran it gently across her cheek and then looked at the black which was now on his finger. “What is this?” He showed Elle his finger.
She quickly reached for the bag she’d worn on her back.
Opening it, she pulled out something which she opened and looked into.
“I’m a mess. My mascara ran all over my face.
I’m so embarrassed.” She reached into her bag again and pulled out something else he’d never seen before.
The item contained a cloth that she used to wipe her face.
“That’s better.” She put everything back in the bag and glanced around her.
“I should probably turn my phone off. I don’t want to waste my battery.
” She reached for what Hamish had come to understand was her phone.
It was never out of her hand and seemed to hold a strange power over her.
“There,” she said. “It’s not like anyone’s going to be able to call or text me anyway.
He recognized the fear creeping back into her voice. “May I?” he asked, holding his hand out for her phone.
Elle handed it to him, watching him the whole time as if she were afraid he wouldn’t give it back. Hamish turned the small flat item over and over in his hands, examining it from every angle. “Ye can speak to others with this?”
“Yes. Not here though. It’s as useless as that rock over there at the moment.” She pointed to a large rock nearby.
Hamish chuckled at this and handed the phone back to her. She carefully placed it in her backpack. “Who would ye speak with if ye could?”
“I was texting with my sister when I lost service. She’ll be mad because we didn’t finish our conversation, but that’s not so unusual. She doesn’t think I keep in touch enough.”
“Will she be worried about ye?”
“Probably not. I’m always so busy that sometimes she doesn’t hear from me for weeks on end. This won’t seem unusual to her.”
Hamish wondered about her life, where she lived, who her family was. He would have asked, but Elle spoke again. “Are we going to sleep out here?” she asked, her voice tremulous with apprehension.
“Aye.”
“Will we be safe? Are there wild animals we should worry about?”
“Dinnae fear. I will protect ye,” he assured her. “Come. Lie down here.” He laid a plaid out on the ground for her. She moved to it, sitting down and staring up at him with the largest, saddest eyes he’d ever seen.
“Where will you sleep?”
“I’ll sleep here, next to ye, if ye like. I promise ye, I’ll be a gentleman.” He meant it too. If she was in his charge, it was his duty to see that no harm came to her from anyone, including himself.
“Alright,” she said. She reclined and turned her back to him.
The other men were still talking and laughing quietly around the fire.
Donal looked up at Hamish, giving him a grin that completely misread the situation.
Hamish shook his head at him and took his place beside Elle, being careful not to touch her.
He covered them both with the plaid and then propped his head up on his arm, wondering what this all meant.
Why had Edna sent her to him? Or had she.
What had the old man said? “She’s all yers.
” That could mean many things and if he thought about it too hard he’d give himself a headache.
Whatever it meant, one thing he knew for certain. She was his responsibility.
He wasn’t tired and he was fairly sure Elle wasn’t sleeping either, but at least she wasn’t crying.
He was glad, because he truly felt helpless when she did.
His mind wandered back over the day, trying to make sense of everything.
Elle was quite pretty with her short shorn blonde hair and big, blue eyes.
She was dressed like a man in a grey hooded tunic over black breeches and boots that appeared too heavy for her delicate frame.
She wore a quilted vest in a bright peacock blue over her tunic.
Was this the way women dressed in her time?
Or was she dressed as a man for a reason?
Elle flopped onto her back and placed her bag under her head, grimacing as she did so.
Hamish sat up and removed his shirt, which he rolled into a pillow of sorts. “Here, lass. Use this.”
She opened her eyes and gazed up at him, the sapphire blue orbs drawing him in. “Won’t you be cold?”
“Nae.” She lifted her head, removing the bag and Hamish gently set his rolled up shirt beneath her neck.
“Thank you.” She smiled warmly at him, obviously examining his naked chest as she did.
Keep yer hands to yerself, Hamish! “Yer welcome. Can ye nae sleep?”
“I don’t know what time it is, but I’m usually up pretty late.”
“Donal! Whiskey!” Hamish called out.