Lost in the Highlands, Volume One

by Lorraine Beaumont

  “You’re welcome.” She sniffed again and wiped away her tears with the back of her sleeve.

  “Ye may have some as well, lass.” He stepped out of her way so she could get to the pot.

  Paige did not want to eat…that… but as she stood there, thirteen pairs of eyes turned on her…with spoons poised… waiting.

  “Great,” she fake enthused and lifted up a bowl. She grabbed hold of the spoon but it was even worse than earlier. It was stuck well and good. Setting her bowl down, using both hands, she tried again and scraped a miniscule amount of food off the bottom of the pot. Her scoop had a lot more bits of brown and black than the others.

  Holding one hand on her bowl, she smacked the spoon down on the other side.

  Nothing happened.

  It did not go unnoticed to Paige that her audience of thirteen still had not taken a bite of their food. No, instead, they were watching her with rapt interest. A flash of irritation shot through her and she really slammed the spoon down on her bowl. A glop of the slop finally released from the spoon and landed inside. Giving them a sheepish grin, she made her way over to the corner of the room where the only empty chair stood. All eyes were still trained on Paige. Faking her exuberance, she shoved her spoon in her bowl and took a bite. She immediately felt like spitting it back out but couldn’t since everyone was watching her. She swallowed and made an “Hmmm, mmm,” sound and then once everyone was turned back to their bowls of food, she pressed her hand to her mouth so she didn’t spit it back out. Literally forcing herself, she swallowed the most disgusting thing she had ever eaten and that was saying something since she accidentally ate a bug once.

  ♦

  “Muir,” Callum said, keeping his voice low turning his attention back to his food. “If this…” he pointed down to his bowl, “is what we will have ta break our fast for the next week, I want ye to know I will stick ta my word and ye can have all my second helpings.”

  Muir made a snorting noise. “Callum, if this is what we are eating for the next week, I want no parts of yer second helpings, let alone my first helpings. Besides, it doesn’t look like there is enough for any second helpings.”

  “Och, Muir! That is no way ta act after the lass has went ta all the trouble to make food for ye.”

  “If ye think it is so great, by all means, ye can have my first helpings as well.”

  Callum made a face. “What are the crunchy brown bits, do ye suppose?” He took a bite.

  “Bugs.”

  Callum gagged. “Och, Muir…” he choked.

  Muir laughed and took a bite of his food. He too, gagged, as he tried to swallow.

  Now it was Callum’s turn to laugh, that is, until one of the brown bits in his bowl moved. Then his laughter turned quickly back into a gagging fit.

  ♦

  Gavin eyed his men, noting the green expressions on their faces as they dutifully ate their paltry meal and then turned his attention back to the lass, who also looked a bit green. His belly grumbled. Throwing caution to the wind, he took a bite of his own food and he too, thought he might very well be sick. This, what he was eating, wouldn’t be fit for a dog, let alone his starving men. He needed to get some real food soon or at this rate they would surely starve.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  LOCH MORAR, SCOTLAND

  Sometime during the reign of King James

  Breakfast ended quickly. Each of the men were kind enough to thank Paige for the meal and then they vacated the premises, promptly taking themselves out of the castle, all looking a little greener than they had before they started the meal. Now the only one remaining was her grumpy roomie, the Laird. He said nary a word but simply watched Paige from across the room.

  It was a bit unsettling to say the least.

  Finally, she couldn’t take him watching her any longer. Standing, she carried her bowl to the table and set it down. Busying herself, she gathered up the other spoons, once again noticing they looked like they were from the future, not the past like they should and the bowls to wash. As she placed them on top of one another she noticed they still had most of her ‘Oatmeal Surprise’ still inside. She couldn’t blame them. Her own bowl was still pretty full as well.

  “Lass,” Gavin said.

  She looked up and her breath caught as she looked at his handsome face. “Yes,” she somehow managed to answer.

  “Thank ye for the meal.”

  “Oh, don’t mention it.” She waved her hand dismissively in the air.

  “Ye don’t cook much, do ye?”

  Paige set the stack of bowls down which made a resounding thud on the table. “No, I don’t.”

  “Didn’t the crone, err, gypsy, ask ye if ye could cook?”

  “Not really.”

  He nodded his head, seemingly accepting her answer. “We don’t have much food in the larder.”

  “I know.” He was slouched back in the chair with his long legs kicked out in the front. It was hard not to stare.

  “We…I mean, I,” he amended, and sat forward, “will try to get ye something better ta cook with in the future.”

  “I just don’t know what half of that stuff is…” she tried to explain.

  “Aye, I suppose ye do not.” He exhaled and stood up from the table. “What do ye usually eat?”

  “Spaghetti, Alfredo, Lobster on special occasions…” she stopped talking because his eyes were rounding. “ Right,” she sighed and rubbed her sweaty palms on her dress. “You don’t know what I am talking about do you?”

  He shook his head. “Nay, lass, I do not.”

  “Well, it’s really good and …” She stopped again because his eyes were growing larger by the moment and not in a ‘Wow…that sounds delicious way’. “All righty then…”

  “Did ye bring such wonders from the future with ye?” he asked with a hopeful gleam in his eyes…or was that merely hunger?

  “No, well, I am not sure. The gypsy, err, woman, did give me a basket.”

  The hopeful gleam was back in his sexy eyes. “Where is it?”

  “I don’t know.” She lifted her shoulders in a shrug.

  He raked his hand through his dark hair, in aggravation, she supposed, and expelled a lengthy breath. “Then I will have to leave for a while,” he said as though coming to some kind of decision.

  “Wait…what?” She stepped closer to him, and was once again, reminded, of how large he really was in comparison.

  “I will have to leave ye for a wee bit.” He stared down at her with a curious look on his handsome face.

  “Why?” Her heart rate jumped into double time. She didn’t want him to leave her… alone. “Where will the rest of the, ah, men, be?”

  “No need ta fear, lass, they will be coming with me.”

  She wasn’t necessarily afraid of them being here with her but the opposite. She didn’t want to be here all alone.

  “I need ta find some food for us ta eat.”

  That was true enough, she supposed, but what was she going to do while he and the other men were gone.

  As if sensing her distress, he added, “Ye can clean up this…while we are away.” He swept his hand through the air indicating the hall.

  “Clean what exactly?”

  He lifted his brows. “This…” Again, he indicated the room they were standing in.

  She looked around at the mess. “By myself?”

  “Do ye see someone I do not?” His brow lifted again.

  “Well no…”

  “Then ye have yer answer, aye?”

  “Where do you keep your cleaning supplies?”

  “My what?” His brows creased.

  “Oh, never mind.” What was the point? The man obviously had no idea what she was talking about.

  He gave her another one of his curious looks.

  “Do you have anything in particular you would like me to do, other than clean this…” Dump, she wanted to say, but instead swept her hand in the air, not able to keep the derision from my voice.

  “D
o ye need more duties while I am away?”

  “No…not at all.” She didn’t even want to do this.

  “Ye bit off a bit more than ye could chew, didn’t ye, lass?”

  She sighed. “I suppose.”

  “Not ta worry, lass, there is plenty ta keep ye busy.”

  “I can see that.”

  He chuckled and took a step closer.

  Again, her belly did another involuntary flutter.

  “I will be back before ye know it, lass.” He was standing so close her temperature immediately shot upward. “And if ye are good…” Lifting his hand, he cupped her face tenderly, his thumb caressing the side of her jaw. She had all she could do not to press her face closer to his hand. “I will even consider letting ye tend ta me later.” He gave her a winning smile that made her breath hitch and her toes curl in her shoes.

  “Oh, joy! Not!” she responded callously without thinking what she was really saying. It was more of a knee-jerk reaction because she was so flustered and not sure how to respond.

  His smile turned upside down into a severe frown as his dark brows drew together and that pained look she had seen briefly earlier entered his eyes for a moment before it was replaced with a cold unnerving stare.

  Paige shivered in spite of the warmth she felt standing so close to him.

  “Do not forget ta change the rushes.” He turned on his heel and stormed out of the castle.

  “I didn’t mean…” she tried to explain, but it was too late, he was already gone.

  ♦

  “Way to go, Paige!” She stomped around the room. “Of all the stupid, idiotic things to say…” she railed, feeling like a real ‘b’. She didn’t know what she was thinking. She didn’t mean it the way it sounded. And obviously, he didn’t know she was being sarcastic because of how embarrassed she was and now he probably thought she was…well, she didn’t know, but he wasn’t happy, that was for sure. And neither was she.

  When she asked for a Highlander for her own she didn’t stop to consider the repercussions of such a wish. She certainly didn’t think she would be made to do menial labor for her wished highlander as well.

  ♦

  Fifteen minutes later, after Paige had a mini tantrum, expelling a good amount of her energy, she decided to just do as he asked.

  Surprisingly, not only was cleaning universal, it also spanned time, with the exception of vacuums, dusters, and well, the products she needed to clean with.

  However, she somehow made do with what she had. She boiled water in the pot over the fire in the kitchen and once it was good and hot, she dumped the bowls inside as well as the spoons to get rid of the sticky remnants of her ‘Oatmeal Surprise’. While that was boiling away, she cleaned up the rest of the kitchen as best as she could by wiping down the table and putting things away on the shelves.

  Now, she was back in the main hall with nothing but dirty grass all over the floor that looked like hay. Not able to find a broom, she tried kicking it.

  Dust floated up in the air, choking her. Covering her mouth, she backed away from the cloud.

  “There’s got to be an easier way.”

  In hopes of finding a broom, she ran back to the kitchen/cook room.

  No luck.

  “Think, Paige…” She walked in circles and then finally came up with an idea. Leaving the kitchen, she walked out the back door—the same one the dog ran out of earlier.

  A rather bushy pine tree with low hanging branches was off to the side of the dirt pathway. Walking over to it, she broke off one of the smaller limbs.

  “This should do the trick.”

  With her makeshift broom in hand, Paige made her way back to the great hall. Swishing it back and forth, she began to sweep.

  Again, dust floated up in the air and some large chunks of something that looked a lot like bones went sailing across the room and pinged against the stone wall.

  “Gross.”

  She closed her eyes, not wanting to see what it was. At least the pine-branch was better than kicking the hay/rushes but it didn’t help with the cloud of dust. What she needed was a cloth for her face.

  And since she didn’t see anything else to use, she lifted her gown and pulled up the bottom of the linen under-dress and ripped off the ruffle, then tied it around her face. If she had a mirror, she was sure she would look like a bank robber.

  Getting to work, she swept/kicked and dragged the smelly grass/hay out the door. With one big push, she shoved the entire pile over the side of the stairs, where they fell into a heap.

  No one was around save for the mangy dog, the one that had run from her food earlier, and his head was going back and forth like he was watching a tennis match as she made each trip outside until she finished sweeping out the main hall.

  Standing the broom in the corner, she looked around at her handiwork. It did look better and it definitely smelled better too. Brushing off her hands, she made her way back to the kitchen.

  She checked the dishes in the pot. Most of the water was gone. Lifting the hem of her gown up, she wrapped it around her hands, pulled the pot off the hook, and set it down on the table. Once the water-cooled, she pulled out the now reasonably clean dishes to dry on a large piece of cloth.

  ♦

  Twenty minutes later, after she finished with the dishes, she went back to the main hall to see what else needed cleaning. All in all, the place looked pretty good and if she wasn’t so damn tired she would have patted herself on her back for achieving that no small feat in just a single day.

  Walking over to the door, she looked outside. The sun was gradually fading from the horizon as heavy clouds gathered, pressing down from the skies above. It looked like a storm was brewing and now that she had stopped moving, she realized how alone she was.

  Shivering, she rubbed her arms.

  A large tree in the center of the yard shook in the wind as dust and debris lifted in the air pushing its way across the flattened grass and out the open gates. The fine hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as an uneasy feeling coursed through her body.

  She felt like someone was watching her.

  Slowly, she turned to look over her shoulder but the gloomy hall was just as empty as she had left it.

  Not wanting to go back inside, Paige sat down on the stairs and waited for her highlander, correction… highlanders, to come back.

  CHAPTER NINE

  LOCH MORAR, SCOTLAND

  Sometime during the reign of King James

  “Come now, Shamus,” Gavin said in a placating tone with his hands held aloft as he was rounded on by the large tavern owner who was wielding a pitchfork at him.

  “Och, ye know we are in a bad way what with the drought and all the wee bairns the misses and me daughters keep popping out at every turn.”

  “Aye, I know.” Gavin sighed. He scrubbed his hands over his face, and let them drop back down to his sides. His men kept back, like he instructed, watching. They were only to interfere if he needed them and Shamus, even though he was a large man and carried on with a good amount of bluster, his threats were just that, threats. He would not act on them.

  “Gavin, ye are my friend and ye know I would help if I could.”

  “Aye, I know.”

  “I know yer intentions are good, but ye have yet ta give me back what ye borrowed that last time ye were here.”

  “I would if I could, ye know that. And when I get the treasure…”

  “Ye keep talking about this supposed treasure but ye still have not found it have ye?

  “Well, no, not yet but…” He wasn’t going to tell the man the deal he made with the latest witch. The villagers were a superstitious lot. If he told him about the lass he had at the castle who claimed to be from the future, either Shamus would think him crazy or he might gather the village folk to come to the castle to have a look for themselves. The way Paige talked and looked, even though she was dressed in his colors the villagers would immediately realize something was not quite right. Then th
ey would get scared and do to her what they always did when they didn’t understand something.

  They would try to burn her at the stake like the one before the last. And when that didn’t work, they would drown her in the nearest body of water, which was his Loch to see if she would float. And she did; instead of releasing her, they weighed her down with rocks to make sure she did not come back, which she didn’t.

  Nay. He’d seen enough of that kind of barbaric behavior to last a lifetime. He wouldn’t want that fate on the lass, even if she was a true witch. He would need to talk to her again, see if the crone told her how to go about getting the treasure from the monster without being used as a sacrifice.

  Shamus exhaled and stuck his pitchfork in the dirt. “I can give ye some eggs, a few vegetables from the larder and a few kegs of ale.”

  “Nay, I don’t want to take the last of yer eggs or vegetables. He left the ale part out.”

  “It’s fine,” he said. “We can spare a few.”

  “I thank ye kindly for yer generous nature, Shamus.”

  “Just remember the service I have done for ye, if and or when ye ever find that damnable treasure, aye?”

  “I will not forget.”

  “Tilly, fetch the Laird his bounty.”

  “Aye father,” said a young pretty girl not more than ten and six with curling red hair. She gave Gavin a small smile before she ducked back into the tavern behind her father to do his bidding.

  “Now,” Shamus said, holding his massive arm out. “Let’s get a drink and ye can tell me what ye have been about since the last I laid eyes on ye.”

  Gavin nodded his head at his men letting them know to keep an eye out and followed Shamus inside the darkened tavern.