43. Chapter 43 - Lochinvar
CHAPTER 43 - LOCHINVAR
STILL LEFT BEHIND NEAR CROFT MORAIG STONE CIRCLE - OCTOBER 9, 1683
A sh said, “Waiting is hard.”
“I ken...” Then I added, “There is another issue we need tae discuss, Ash. I hae been thinking on this, the lack of rescue, the quiet. Tis becoming clear tae me that another plan is afoot.”
She drew her focus tae me. “What kind of plan?”
“There is always a chance that someone starts us all over.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
“I hae been thinking, we are all of us out of time, ye ken, and stuck in places, and Magnus’s children are in dire straits. They hae been living without their parents for ten years, tis unfathomable. It canna stand. So we will need tae rescue them earlier. But when? After they hae suffered the trauma of Asgall kidnapping Magnus and Kaitlin in front of them? After they hae witnessed the death of Sean? It might be easier tae kill Asgall and then intervene earlier and stop all of recent history afore it starts.”
“Oh, so they could intervene before something happened, then Sean would survive it?”
I shrugged. “It seems like it would work.”
“Then they should do that, intervene earlier. Definitely. How does it work?”
“I think ye just go tae a different point in time and ask everyone tae do something differently. If Magnus was preparin’ tae go see the English king in the field we could tell Magnus not tae do it.”
“That would work, that sounds easy.”
“Except Magnus might not want tae do that close a do-over, he wouldna want tae argue with the English king about whether tae meet him or not… anything could happen. Tis like a do-over near the end of a fight, ye might still lose the fight if yer opponent swings well. Ye could do the do-over at the start of a fight, but ye might still lose. If ye back up tae long before the fight ye might hae a chance of the fight never happening. We daena arrange do-overs verra often because they can be unwieldy and dangerous.”
“How dangerous?”
“Ye might write over important things ye wanted tae happen. Especially if ye go verra far back. Tis more likely tae give ye a chance tae stop the problem but ye are more likely tae write over important things…”
We sat there quietly then I said, “The trouble with do-overs is they arna precise. They disrupt the timeline, write over history, for better or for worse. If ye did something important in that time yer accomplishment will be written over as well. If ye remember, in those days, between all the things that my Campbell family might want tae do-over, there was a wedding, ye ken?”
“Right, we got married.”
“Aye, just days after we met.”
“And… so would that mean that we wouldn’t be married, we wouldn’t remember getting married?”
“Aye.”
“Then we would need to tell ourselves to do it?”
I nodded.
“Okay, we need to get a message to ourselves Lochie, how do we do it?” Her eyes went even wider. “What if they do-over even farther back? Do you think they would go so far back that they might start it before we even met?”
I chewed my lip. “I daena think they could do that, twould be cruel — that weekend Junior was born. Would it be better tae do a do-over afore he is born or after?”
“This is too much to think about.”
“Aye, and that weekend ye and I pressed our spittle thumbs taegether, I winna give any of it up, yer pie… nae, they canna do-over that.” I held her hand. “Except they might. We ought tae prepare for the possibility.”
“What do we do?”
“I daena ken. Ye are the woman I hoped ye would ken how tae solve an issue of love.”
“I know next to nothing about time travel, you literally just told me about do-overs and I’m nodding in agreement but I don’t really understand. ”
She dug in her pocket and pulled out a pen. “We need paper, got any paper?”
“Aye.” I pulled the piece of paper from my sporran and passed it tae her. “A couple of pens now, as well.”
“I absolutely see the importance of these things now. Next, we will write each other a love letter. I will write on one side to you, you write on the other to me. Then when someone finds it they will deliver it to us — that’s how it works, right? They will find it?”
“Usually.”
“Then we will read our letters and wherever we are on our timeline we will see how we felt about each other and then we will know. Everything will be alright, right? How will someone find it? We need an old book and a library!”
“After we write the letter, we can place it in the box under the boulder. We will cover it up and when someone from my family comes along tae replace the vessel and guns in that box they will find it.”
“Easy! Is it easy? Someone will replace the vessel?”
“We are ever hopeful.”
“Okay, we need to write our letters.”
She used the stiff back of a leather bag as the table and wrote a letter. “Don’t read it, this is for our future selves, but make it out to me.”
She passed me the paper. I said, “Ash, I want ye tae ken, I am new tae readin’ and not great at writin’. I am going tae write simply, ye winna think poorly of me?”
“No, of course not. Just write. I love you.”
“I love ye as well.”
I wrote.
Then I folded the letter and we carried it over tae the small boulder. I rolled it away, easier tae do after we had loosened the boulder’s seat earlier. Ash dug the loose dirt away from the top of the box. “Will we be able to get in it? Archie used his handprint.”
I crouched down beside the box and pressed m’hand and it flipped open. “Archibald is the son of a king, but so am I, even if Donnan wanted tae abandon me in the past.”
“Far better to be the brother of the current king. Magnus actually wants you around and needs your help.”
“Aye.”
We placed the folded paper inside the box and Ash dropped in a few pens. “I can see how important they are in emergencies now. Those are for the next person.”
“How many dost ye hae now?”
“Five left.”
“I hae two pens, another piece of paper, a gun, and yer pink undergarmies. I am ready for anything.”
She laughed. I closed the lid and replaced the dirt and the boulder.
She whispered, “I hope they find it.”
I said, “I hope they kill Asgall, I hope they rescue us, and…”
I folded my hands and began a prayer.
I prayed for our family tae be victorious in the battle of our lives, and tae reunite the bairns with their mother and father. Then I asked God tae guide whoever it was that would be rescuin’ us, tae intervene with care. “And Our Father, if they find us earlier on our timeline afore we meet, I pray that we are easy tae persuade tae find one another again. And please guide us tae marry once more. Amen.”
She said, “Amen.”
I said, “Now we wait for the do-over tae begin.”
And then we sat together under the tree, with Ash tucked under my arm, waiting.