Chapter 36
T he task was awkward and took a while, but they managed to load Tam’s body into a cart. Mary scrambled up to sit beside him. She wasn’t weeping any more, but she still trembled, and she refused to leave him. Brigid’s heart ached every time she looked at Mary’s empty eyes. How terrible, not to realise the depths of your love for someone until you had lost them.
Someone called out Brigid’s name. She turned around, confused and a little afraid. Was the Professor back? What was going on? Sandy gripped her hand, and she took a lot of comfort from that.
And then she saw the man pushing through the remaining crowd, and picking his way over the fallen tents, still calling out her name. It was Finn.
Brigid instinctively backed away a little, unwilling to engage with him. But the warmth of Sandy’s hand, squeezing hers, reassured her. She could do this. She straightened up and faced Finn head on, glaring at him as he walked the final few steps to stand in front of her.
“Brigid, please help me,” Finn croaked, reaching out a hand.
Sandy reacted in the blink of an eye.
He grabbed Finn by the throat. Arms bulging, he actually managed to lift the smaller man so that his feet dangled just above the ground. Panting and gasping, Finn clawed at Sandy’s hands, but he couldn’t do much to free himself. Brigid’s jaw dropped open at the sight.
Then she gathered herself together. Satisfying as this was, it was not what she wanted.
“Sandy, let him go,” she said. He did - so abruptly that Finn fell to the floor and lay sprawling in the mud.
“That man is scum for what he did to you,” Sandy growled. “And yet he still dares to come and ask for your help? He doesn’t deserve a single thing from you.”
Finn pulled himself to his knees. He looked up at Brigid, terror plain on his face.
“What do you want?” Brigid asked reluctantly.
“Please forgive me,” he begged. “I swear, none of this was supposed to happen. I didn’t think any of it through. I didn’t mean for people to get hurt. It just seemed like easy money.”
Brigid shook her head.
“You’re a coward,” she said disgustedly.
“Yes, I am,” Finn admitted. “But I also know about time travel and the Professor’s plans. I can help you, Brigid. We can work together, and I’ll do whatever you want.”
“And I think I can guess the price,” Brigid said, feeling her lip curl as she stared down at him. “You want to go back to your time.”
“Yes, I do,” Finn said desperately. “I don’t want to stay here in the eighteenth century. I hate it here. Please, send me home. I beg you.”
Sandy growled at him again, a vicious, animal sound that sent Finn scrambling backwards in the mud.
“I have no intention of helping you,” Brigid said coldly. “Find your own way home, if it’s so important to you. Or build some kind of life here. I won’t help you at all.”
Anger replaced the fear in his eyes. He got to his feet and took a step towards her, his fists clenched.
“You’d better get me home,” he said.
“Stay away from me,” Brigid warned, holding her hands up. “I don’t want you anywhere near me.”
Sandy took a threatening step forwards. That seemed to be enough for Finn. He turned and bolted, jumping awkwardly over the remnants of the tents. The remaining men jeered at him as he ran.
Brigid watched until Finn disappeared into the trees. She felt strangely light-hearted. Finally, an old, ugly part of her life had been cut away. She could move on now - without Finn.
And then she remembered that Tam was dead, and Finn had never been worth the fight. She turned to Sandy and collapsed against him as he wrapped her tightly in his arms.