Chapter 8
Dylan wasn’t familiar with witches and faeries, but he was not one to discount their existence, especially since Edna Campbell had made him a believer by allowing him to cross the bridge into another time.
He had also seen Maggie’s handiwork yesterday, when she put a stop to the disaster that took place in the apple orchard.
But what had caused it? It didn’t add up.
It had been a beautiful sunny day and then, without warning, the trees around them were exploding—there was no other way to describe it—and fiery branches rained down on them.
It was a frightening spectacle and one he would never forget.
Something, or someone, had caused it to happen and he was going to get to the bottom of it.
He was going to ask Alec to join him today on a ride out to the orchard, to see if he could find any clues.
Too many strange goings on here at Breaghacraig were being left without explanation.
His natural curiosity had gotten the better of him and he wouldn’t rest until he had the answers.
Dylan knocked on Alec’s door. “Alec, are you in there?”
“Aye,” came the reply. “Give me a minute.”
“I was wondering if you’d like to ride out with me to the apple orchard.
I want to look for clues.” Dylan waited patiently.
He could hear rustling on the other side of the door.
He assumed he must have woken Alec. The door opened a crack and a sleepy-headed Alec peered out at him.
“Do you sleep with that cap on?” Dylan questioned with a laugh.
“Of course I do. It keeps me head warm.” Maggie answered a little testily.
“Well, what do you think? Do you want to go with me?”
“Aye. I’d be happy to join ye. I’ll meet ye in the courtyard shortly.” Maggie stifled a yawn. “Could ye bring some food? I’m quite hungry.”
“Sure. I’ll go get some from the kitchen and I’ll have the stable boys bring our horses. See you in a bit.” Dylan turned away and headed downstairs, first to the stables to speak to the stable boys, and next across the courtyard to the kitchen.
As he approached, he could hear the sounds of women talking. He knew it was Jenna, Sophia and Mary, already hard at work preparing food for the day ahead. “Good morning, ladies,” Dylan said when he entered the kitchen.
“Good morning,” they responded.
“You’re up early,” Jenna said, dusting the table with flour. The three women began kneading dough as they looked expectantly to Dylan.
“I had a lot on my mind. Sophia, how’s Latharn? He took quite a blow to the head yesterday.”
“He feels much better this morning. He had a nasty headache last night, but it’s gone now. He’s going to take it easy for a day or two, whether he likes it or not.” Sophia spoke with a very determined expression on her face.
“He won’t like it, but I have no doubt he’ll follow orders.
” Dylan chuckled and Sophia’s expression relaxed as she joined him.
As a waitress in twenty first century San Francisco, Sophia had a crush on Dylan and he had behaved very badly after their first date by not calling her.
She had been extremely angry with him, but thank goodness all was forgiven and he was once again in her good graces.
He could now appreciate her for the special woman that she was. Latharn was a lucky man.
“What can we get fer ye?” Mary asked. Dylan knew the cook had taken a liking to him since his arrival. She didn’t allow many people in her kitchen while she cooked, but she made an exception for him. “Come, love, sit down. Would ye like some bannocks?”
“That would be great. I was wondering if I could get them to go. I’m going riding this morning with Alec and he’s hungry, too.”
“Of course, of course.” Mary grabbed a sack from a nearby rack and began filling it with bannocks, fruit and a flask of cider. “Will that be enough for ye?”
“That should do the trick.” Dylan watched as Mary gave him an odd look.
He realized she probably didn’t understand the modern expression.
“Thank you, Mary. You are too good to me.” Dylan copied what he had seen the men of this time period do on many occasions and reached for Mary’s hand to place a kiss on her fingers.
Mary blushed. “Och. Yer a charmer, ye are.”
“Where are you off to?” Jenna asked, as she and Sophia expertly worked with the dough.
“We’re heading back to the orchard.”
“Do ye think that’s safe now? I wouldnae want any harm to come to ye.” Mary appeared concerned at his announcement.
“We’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me, Mary. I’ll be very careful.” He reassured her with a gentle squeeze of her shoulder. “I’ll see you all later on.”
Dylan couldn’t help but laugh as he walked from the kitchen and overheard Mary speaking to Jenna and Sophia. “He’s a handsome one, isnae he?” Mary, who was old enough to be his mother, apparently had a crush on him.
***
The courtyard was quiet this morning. Everyone had been up until the wee hours last night and they were probably catching up on some much-needed rest. Maggie stood waiting for Dylan to arrive, holding the horses that had been delivered by the stable boys a few moments before.
She wasn’t sure it was a good idea to do this, but she wanted to spend time with Dylan, even if she had to pretend to be someone else in order to do it.
“Alec,” Dylan called.
Maggie watched as he strode towards her with a sack of food thrown over his shoulder. He couldn’t look any better to her if he tried. She masked her obvious admiration by looking down at her feet. This was going to be a challenge. She hoped she didn’t slip up.
“I’ve got some food, Mary packed plenty for both of us.
I know you said you were hungry, so grab something and we’ll get started.
” He held out the sack to Maggie and she reached in and took a bannock and a piece of fruit.
She had been so preoccupied with Dylan that she didn’t even look to see what she had picked, but saw now that it was a beautiful pear.
Maggie placed the food in her pocket while she mounted her horse and watched as Dylan mounted his.
Retrieving the pear, she bit into it and turned her horse towards the gate with Dylan following close behind.
They were just about to pass through, when she heard Brielle calling out to Dylan.
The sound of her voice resembled the sound of chalk on a blackboard, and it had the same effect on Maggie.
“Dylan, where are ye off to?” Brielle asked. She was mounted on her own horse and trotted up to them.
“We thought we’d head back out to the apple orchard and take a look around,” Dylan answered. “I want to see if we can come up with any explanation for that sudden storm yesterday afternoon.”
“Do ye mind if I join ye?” Brielle smiled sweetly at him.
“No. Not at all.” Dylan replied.
“What about you, Alec, do ye mind?” Brielle was playing with her as far as Maggie could tell and she had all she could do to keep her voice under control, so she simply shook her head. “Good, I wouldnae want to interfere with yer outing,” Brielle added.
Maggie was irritated beyond belief with Brielle, who had obviously intended to be coming with them, no matter what Dylan or she might have to say about it.
She nudged her horse forward and rode in front of Dylan and Brielle, who rode side-by-side as they headed for the orchard.
I wonder what she’s up to this time. It can’t be anything good!
***
“What made you decide to go riding this morning, Maggie?” Dylan was not happy to see her, but he hoped she didn’t notice.
He had wanted to examine the orchard with Alec alone.
There was something strange about the whole situation and the thought had popped into his head that maybe Maggie had more to do with it than it appeared.
But why would she do it? It didn’t make any sense, and then there was the fact that she had stopped it.
His hopes of getting answers, without her hovering around, had been dashed.
Maggie slowed her horse and they both fell back a good distance from Alec. “I was worried fer ye, Dylan,” Maggie said quietly. “I believe yer little friend, Alec, may have been the one who caused the lightning strikes yesterday.” She turned her sweet face to his.
“Alec? Why would he do something like that?” Dylan was baffled by her accusation. Alec was a young lad, sent by Edna to Breaghacraig along with Angus. What possible reason could he have to do something like that?
“I dinnae ken why, but just before the lightning struck for the first time, I was watching him. He stared into the sky, as if he was calling down the fiery bolts, and then once they began to rain down on us all, he stood there, smiling an evil smile.” Rather than sounding concerned about what had happened, she seemed pleased with her recounting.
Dylan gave it some thought and while he didn’t necessarily believe Maggie, he felt the need to watch his back on two fronts today. Could he trust either one of them?
“I believe Alec is a witch, Dylan, and I think she’s a young woman—not a young lad as she would have everyone believe.” Brielle sat atop her horse with a smug smile on her face. “She must have fooled my aunt and uncle into allowing her to come to Breaghacraig.”
“I’m not sure what to think about that possibility.
” Could Alec conceivably be a woman? Admittedly, he was very slight of build and didn’t have a lot of strength in his arms or shoulders—that much had been obvious when they’d sparred together a few days ago.
Dylan ran everything through his head and had to admit, he was having a hard time believing what he’d just heard.
He focused on Alec riding ahead of them and scrutinized the young lad very carefully.
Could he be a woman? Anything was possible, he supposed.
It was one more thing he would need to investigate.
He had to get to the bottom of this. “Come on. Let’s catch up with Alec. ”