Time of the Highlander (Stones of Scotland #3)

Chapter 1

B y the time the car pulled up on the gravel drive, Brigid was so nervous that her hands were shaking. Thank goodness Finn was driving. She would have been even more of a mess if she’d had to worry about the twists and turns in the roads. This part of Scotland was not known for its easy driving. She smoothed down her skirt, taking comfort in the expensive fabric. At least she was well dressed, if nothing else.

Finn held the car door open for her and Brigid smiled up at him as she climbed out. He was so incredibly handsome, and it only made her more nervous. She so hoped that everything went well.

Unfortunately, everything went even further downhill as soon as Brigid opened the front door. The grand hallway, with its sweeping staircase and gleaming chandelier, was absolutely littered with the boys’ things. Sports kits, pizza boxes, games consoles, the lot.

Brigid groaned. Why couldn’t her brothers have cleaned up for once? They’d known for weeks that she would be back today. She’d even texted on the drive up, just to remind them. A waste of effort, as far as she could tell. It didn’t look like they’d done a single thing to tidy up.

Finn’s nose wrinkled a little as he came to stand beside her. Brigid crumpled inside. She’d so been hoping to impress him. At least he’d seen how lovely and grand the house looked from the outside.

“Ryan!” she called. “Connor! Are you there? Sean?”

Her three brothers all bounded into the hallway from different directions. They were younger than her, still in their teens, but they were quite a bit taller. They took after their father. Brigid let them all hug her affectionately, although she had to swat Connor away when the hug lasted a bit too long.

“And I hope you all remember Finn,” she said, stepping free from the tangle of arms. “My boyfriend.”

Her brothers all shook Finn’s hands rather seriously. On their trips to visit her in London, they had never seemed very friendly with Finn. It was rather a shame. Brigid would have liked it if her family loved Finn as much as she did. But he did seem to be more popular with women than with men, so perhaps that explained it. He’d never met her parents at all.

“Boys, have you done any cooking and cleaning in preparation for my arrival?” she asked.

Ryan shrugged. “We could order a pizza,” he offered.

Brigid tried not to groan. “Get on with that, then,” she said, and pushed past them into the living room. Finn followed behind her as Brigid collapsed onto the sofa and dropped her head into her hands.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, looking up at Finn, who stood on the other side of the room. “This is really not the sort of welcome I was hoping for, after you had to come all the way up to the Highlands from London. I’m guessing my parents aren’t home yet either, or the place wouldn’t be such a mess.”

“That is a shame,” Finn said, his voice as flawlessly polite as ever, although a shade of displeasure showed on his face. “I was very much hoping to speak to them. After all, I’ve heard so much about them.”

Brigid winced slightly. Her parents were very impressive people. Everyone wanted to meet them.

“Well, they are often very busy,” she said. “It’s no surprise they couldn’t make it back this weekend.”

She would have liked to see them, though. It had been ages since they’d all been home at once. Her parents had never even met Finn, even though he’d been her boyfriend for nine months.

Someone shouted from outside. Brigid winced again. It sounded as if her brothers were playing one of their stupid games. Could they not be quiet for five minutes? Finn hated noise and chaos. She sighed.

“I’m going to call my parents,” she told Finn. “See if there’s any chance they can make it back this weekend after all.”

She slipped into her mother’s office. The room was piled high with historical artefacts. No surprise there - Brigid’s mother, Kara, was one of the world’s leading time travellers. She probably wasn’t reachable by phone right now, but she might be at the lab. Brigid decided to give it a try.

“Sorry, Brigid,” the secretary said in an apologetic tone. “Your mother’s in Pictish Scotland right now.”

That was the place where Kara spent the most time, deep in Scottish history. No wonder, given it was the subject of her most famous book. Brigid sighed and thanked the secretary anyway.

She tried her father next, on his private phone. But it went straight to voicemail, a robotic voice telling her that Drest was away on business.

She sighed again. Her father never answered his phone. He had some sort of important military role, but he didn’t talk about the details. Brigid knew next to nothing about his job, which made her think it was very important indeed.

Just as she put the phone down, a massive crash sounded outside. This time, Brigid groaned aloud. Wonderful. Her brothers’ game had got completely out of hand. What on earth had they done now? They were always causing chaos.

She tidied the desk up again, as if she had never been there. It didn’t sound as if her parents would be home at all. She stared out through the window to the misty garden beyond. Could they not have made it home for one weekend? Judging by all his hints, Finn had planned to ask for permission to propose. Would it now be months before she could get engaged? Finn had mentioned rings more than once, but he was a traditionalist. He’d want to speak to her father.

Oh, well. She’d just have to wait for her parents to contact her. Same as always. They’d never seemed all that interested in her life. Perhaps, when she finally graduated from her fashion design course - after a few years of drifting around the world - they would come to her graduation show and be proud of her. A girl could dream.

Brigid walked back into the living room - and gasped. The glass of the French windows lay in glittering fragments across the floor. That must have been the noise she heard! Finn had vanished. She stuck her head through the window, treading cautiously on the glass, but her brothers were nowhere to be seen. What was going on?

She looked around the room, wondering where Finn was. Had he gone to chastise her brothers for smashing the window? How embarrassing.

A small envelope lay on the couch. As she drew closer, she saw her name written across it in bold letters.

Her heart pounded. Was this Finn’s way of breaking up with her? Surely he wouldn’t come all the way to Scotland just to dump her like this. Even after everything that had happened.

But when she opened the letter, it was even worse.

We have Finn. Follow our instructions, or you will never see him again.

Brigid clutched the letter in trembling fingers as she gazed at the rest of the letter. Whatever it took, she would do it. She must find a way to rescue Finn.