The Curse of McMillan Castle - A Novella (A Scottish Time Travel Romance): Book 12.5

by Bethany Claire

  Today, however, Rosie knew she should make an exception. After what Cooper had done for her with this room, the boy deserved a little bit of kindness.

  And after a long, sleepless night of reading, Rosie was starving. She knew there was a cake for her somewhere in the castle kitchen. Perhaps, Cooper would be up for a little bit of mischief.

  Smiling, Rosie dressed and looked herself over in the mirror.

  Thirteen. Was there possibly a more complicated age? Surely not. No longer a child, but certainly not a woman. It was the most stuck-in-the-middle age ever. If it were up to her, she would just skip all the way to eighteen and be done with it.

  Tucking her red curls behind her ears, Rosie brushed the sleep from her eyes and quietly made her way out of her bedroom tower.

  She’d never been up and about in the castle when it was so quiet. It brought to mind the ghost story she’d just been reading, and despite her love of all things spooky, her feet moved a little more quickly than was absolutely necessary as she ran through the castle hallways in her search for Cooper. When she reached the dining hall and saw a candle burning, she knew she’d found him.

  “Cooper.” She whispered his name, and gently knocked on the wall so he would turn toward her.

  “Rosie?”

  Rosie could see Cooper twist toward her, but realizing that he probably couldn’t see her in the darkness, she hurried toward the candlelight.

  “Yeah, it’s me. You hungry?”

  Cooper smiled and popped up from his place on the floor. “It’s weird. I’m always hungry nowadays. Maybe it means I’m finally growing.”

  Rosie snorted. “I wouldn’t count on it. I bet you’re always going to be that small.”

  Cooper didn’t take her bait. Much to her disappointment, he never did.

  “Wrong. I’m definitely not going to stay this small. You just wait and see.”

  “I’m not holding my breath.”

  Again, Cooper didn’t bite and instead changed the subject. “What are you doing up so early, anyway? Please tell me you didn’t sleep badly. I wanted you to have the best night’s sleep ever.”

  She smiled even more widely. “I didn’t sleep at all, Cooper! It was the best night ever.”

  “Huh?”

  “I read all night long, one of the stories you got for me. Thank you, Cooper. Really.”

  Rosie didn’t miss how Cooper’s shoulders relaxed a little bit once he knew she was pleased.

  “Well, that does sound like a pretty good night. I’ve never been able to stay up the whole night reading, but I bet someday I’m able to get there. Now, what are we going to eat?”

  Rosie shrugged, guiltily. “Birthday cake, maybe?”

  Cooper bent to lift his candle from its place on the floor and held the flame up between them. His expression was hesitant.

  “You want to cut into it before the celebration tonight?”

  Rosie nodded.

  “Won’t we get into trouble?”

  Rosie was thirteen now. Weren’t thirteen years olds supposed to get into a little bit of trouble? And Cooper was way past due for some. She shrugged again. “So? Sometimes, trouble is fun. Besides, it’s my birthday cake. Shouldn’t I be able to eat it whenever I want?”

  Cooper furrowed his brows and lifted his shoulders reluctantly. “I don’t know. I don’t feel great about it.”

  “I bet you’ll feel better about it when we’re elbow deep in some chocolate cake. You’re in, right?”

  Cooper sighed and gave her a nod. “Don’t you know by now, Rosie? I’d follow you anywhere. Now, let’s go enjoy this cake because I have a feeling it might be all we are allowed to eat for the next three days after we’re caught.”

  Rosie wrinkled her nose at him in confusion. “You think they’re going to starve us as punishment? Boy, you really haven’t been in very much trouble before, have you?”

  “Nope.”

  Rosie reached for his free hand and began to pull him toward the kitchen. “Well, then it’s time for you to figure out just how not-scary trouble really is. Trust me, it will be fine.”

  While she wasn’t entirely sure that her reassurances to Cooper were true, she was too far in to back out now.

  Chapter 5

  Madeline

  Rosie’s birthday played out differently than my daughter had imagined it would. When the cook happened upon Rosie and Cooper cowering in the corner of the kitchen, their faces covered in icing, and alerted me to what had happened, I made the executive decision to let the day pass without a word about it. I knew my daughter. Part of her wanted to get in trouble. She possessed the same rebellious streak in her that I’d had myself at her age. Each little harmless act of rebellion she committed now was like a giant red flashing warning sign of the hell that awaited me in the years to come.

  It was for that reason that I chose to ignore the birthday cake fiasco. There would be battles in the years ahead that would be worth fighting with her— sneaking birthday cake wasn’t one of them.

  Instead, without saying a word to Rosie, I instructed the cook to leave the cake out in the dining hall so that everyone in the castle could help themselves to it throughout the day. When it was time for dinner, we made no presentation of the cake, sang her no birthday song, and blew out no candles. We still ate Rosie’s favorite meal, gifted her presents, and behaved pleasantly as if nothing had happened. The only difference was that the evening progressed as if there had never been a cake made solely for her.

  She got the point really quickly.

  By the next morning, she had apologized to me, and the cook, twice, and poor Cooper had done so at least a half dozen times.

  In the week that followed Rosie’s birthday, I saw little of her. She spent every spare moment in her new bedroom. Most days she was still asleep when I left to make my home check-ins with the handful of villagers I’d now added to my little ‘stay-busy-so-you-don’t-cry-yourself-to-sleep’ home care practice.

  Eventually though, I began to miss the time that I’d grown accustomed to each day with my daughter when we were sharing a room. So one morning I decided I simply couldn’t do without a few hours with my ginger-headed teenager.

  When my knock on her bedroom door was met without answer, I slowly cracked it open to see her sleeping with her arms high above her head, a book spread open on her chest. If I were to wager on it, I’d bet she’d only been asleep for a couple of hours at best.

  Smiling, I walked over, picked up the book, and marked its place before bending down to kiss her on the forehead.

  “Wake up, sleepyhead. Will you come with me to Henry’s this morning? He’s been wanting to give you your birthday gift for a while now.”

  Rosie groaned and stretched before slowly fluttering her eyes open. “He has a gift for me?”

  Of course that had gotten her attention.

  “Yes. Can you get dressed quickly? It looks like it’s going to rain soon. I’d like to get there before the sky opens up.”

  She nodded sleepily, and sat up in the bed. “Give me five. I’ll meet you downstairs.”

  Duncan

  After days of keeping the portrait safe during his travels to McMillan territory, Duncan wasn’t about to allow the sudden rainstorm to destroy the painting now that he was within sight of McMillan Castle. Upon arriving at his destination, however, he was entirely unsure how to proceed.

  While it stood to reason that if the lassie’s last name was McMillan, the portrait most likely belonged at McMillan Castle itself, he didn’t know whether it was wise to ride straight up to the castle. He knew nothing of the McMillans. More than a few lairds he knew of wouldn’t take kindly to a stranger arriving on the castle steps unannounced and requesting entry. Mayhap it was wisest to knock on the door of one of the villagers and inquire into the temperament of the territory’s laird.

  Blinking through the rain, Duncan closely observed the village as he looked for a dry place to seek refuge from the rain.

  “If I can find ye a sta
ble for a while, will ye enjoy a nice rest?”

  In Tabitha’s stead, Duncan found that he’d taken to speaking to his horse much like he’d done to the strange wild beastie that visited him at home each night.

  The horse said nothing but pulled in the direction of the stables in the distance.

  “There ye go, lad. Ye wish to be out of this weather just as much as I do.”

  With the stable empty, and the cottage next to it quiet in response to his knocking, Duncan secured his horse within the stables and left payment outside the door of the empty home before leaving in search of another home that might be amiable to his questions.

  Not far from the stables, he could see a cottage alight with candles and could make out the figures of at least three people within. It would do well enough.

  It took only a moment for the door to swing open.

  The smile disappeared from the face of the lass before him as she looked him over. Without a word, she turned back to address someone else inside the home.

  “Henry, were you expecting anyone today? Do you know this man?”

  By God, the lass spoke strangely. She wasn’t from Scotland, to be sure, but where then? He’d never heard such plain speech in his life.

  “Nae, lass. I’m expecting no one, but let him in all the same. He is drenched from head to toe.”

  Duncan watched as the strange woman stepped aside to permit him entry. He nodded in thanks as he stepped inside and spoke for the first time.

  “My apologies for the intrusion. Ye doona ken me, sir. I am no’ from these parts. I merely wish to ask ye a question or two then I shall continue on my way.”

  The lass next to him spoke up again. “Henry doesn’t have any money to give you, sir. If you are a beggar, you will have to look elsewhere.”

  The road must’ve been harsher to him than he realized if he looked rough enough to be mistaken for a beggar.

  “Nae, lass. I am no’ a beggar. I have urgent business with Laird McMillan. I only mean to inquire as to his nature. The laird doesna ken I am coming, and I doona wish to be met with hostility.”

  For the first time, the young woman seated next to the old man smiled in his direction and spoke up. “You mean, Baodan? No worries there. Mom greeted you with way more hostility than anyone at the castle will. You’ve already met McMillan Castle’s scariest resident.”

  The young girl laughed, and Duncan watched as her mother crossed her arms and frowned at the girl before returning her gaze to him. The young lassie’s speech was just as unfamiliar to him as her mother’s.

  “I apologize. I should not have assumed. It’s just that Henry is too kind, and I wouldn’t want anyone to take advantage of him. What exactly is the nature of your business with Baodan?”

  Despite the woman’s apology, her tone said everything that her words did not—she remained suspicious of him.

  “I believe I am in possession of something that belongs to him. I wish to return it. Then I shall be on me way back home.”

  The woman said nothing as she looked him over once more, assessing him, judging him. The intensity of her gaze made him nervous, and he thought that perhaps the wee lass had been right about her being the castle’s scariest resident, for there had been no one in a fair number of years who set him quite as on edge as she.

  “Fine. You can follow us back up to the castle once the rain stops. Take off those wet boots and you can join us by the fire.”

  Chapter 6

  Madeline

  Why in the world was I being so mean to this probably-harmless stranger? I tried to determine the answer as I watched him interact with Henry and my daughter as we all sat around the fire waiting for the storm to pass.

  The man was kind, witty, and intelligent, but each and every time he directed any statement or question toward me, I responded with the friendliness of a thorn bush. What was the matter with me?

  The question tormented me as the afternoon passed, and the rain continued. It was only when the distant part of my mind that was vaguely paying attention to the conversation in the room picked up on Rosie’s mention of her late father that it hit me immediately.

  I was attracted to this man. Instantly. Immediately. And my body and mind’s reaction to the foreign chemical reaction was to throw up my strongest defense mechanism—to behave like a super, cranky bitch.

  It was the first time in fifteen years I’d had such a visceral reaction to anyone. And it was the first time since Tim had died that some part of the person I’d been before had attempted to flicker back to life.

  But rather than allow some part of my humanity to return, the most broken parts of me had rebelled against it.

  It was only further proof of just how hopeless any chance of my life ever being normal again really was.

  Claustrophobic and frustrated with myself, I stood and looked out the window toward the castle before interrupting the conversation of the others in the room.

  “It’s just sprinkling now, and it’s getting dark. We’d better head to the castle.”

  “Aye.”

  The stranger—I still didn’t know his name, although I was certain he’d said it—stood, thanked Henry for his hospitality and made his way to the door.

  “Allow me to fetch me horse. ’Twill only take me a moment.”

  Once he was far enough away that he could no longer hear her, Rosie walked over to me and grabbed my hand.

  “Are you okay, Mom? You’ve been acting strange all afternoon.”

  “Of course, I am. Just frustrated that the whole day got away from me due to this weather.”

  Rosie narrowed her eyes at me. She wasn’t buying it, but rather than pry, she pretended that she did.

  “Okay. Surely Baodan will invite Duncan to stay for dinner, right? He should really allow him to stay the night at the castle, too. I hate the thought of him having to be back out on the road again in this weather.”

  Duncan. I made a mental note so that I would remember his name.

  “I’m sure no one will mind him staying for dinner, but he should seek shelter at the inn if he doesn’t wish to be on the road. The castle is full up, as it is.”

  Rosie frowned at me, but said nothing as we watched Duncan approach.

  “Thank ye both for yer kindness in allowing me to walk with ye to the castle.”

  I gave him a curt nod and pointed to his horse.

  “Just keep your horse behind us. I don’t want to step in its excrement.”

  Rosie turned horrified eyes on me as we stepped away from Henry’s house to begin the short walk to the castle.

  What the hell was wrong with me? I seriously needed to get a grip.

  In complete contrast to the way I’d treated Duncan and completely in line with Rosie’s predictions, the first person we ran into at McMillan Castle after seeing Duncan’s horse to the castle stables—my stepmother, Kenna—greeted Duncan with nothing but warmth.

  “Who do the two of ye have with ye? Have ye picked up a new friend?”

  Duncan spoke up beside me before either Rosie or myself could answer her. “They were kind enough to allow me to walk with them after the rain. Me name is Duncan. Might ye be the mistress of this castle?”

  Kenna blushed and waved a dismissive hand. “Nae, lad. No’ anymore. I am the laird’s mother. Might I be of assistance to ye?”

  Duncan nodded. “Aye, mayhap so. I recently came into possession of something I believe belongs here. I have come to return it.”

  Kenna cocked her head to the side in confusion before gripping his arm and pulling him further into the castle entry hall.

  “Something that belongs here, ye say? How then did it end up in yer possession?”

  “I am a stone mason, me lady. Recently, I undertook some work for a man back home. When I was finished, he couldna pay. Instead, he offered what I have returned to ye today. I doona ken how this item found its way to the man who gave it to me.”

  “And why precisely would ye return something that was gifted to y
e? And how do ye ken it originates from here?”

  Before continuing, Duncan glanced cautiously over at my daughter. “Forgive me, but I doona ken if ’tis best for me to say in front of the child. I doona wish to scare her.”

  Rosie wasted no time in speaking up for herself. “First, I’m not a child. Second, you’re worried about scaring me? Don’t be. I love being scared. Please don’t stop on my account.”

  I nodded as Duncan’s eyes searched mine for permission. Rosie and I were both too intrigued to leave Duncan alone with Kenna without hearing the whole story.

  “It’s fine. Go ahead.”

  Duncan frowned, but said nothing as he returned his attention to Kenna. “Verra well then. Me lady, I carry with me a portrait of a lass I believe must be related to ye. This lassie’s soul has tormented me each night I’ve had this here painting in me possession. ’Tis me hope that returned to her home, she shall return to peace once more, and I might finally have a good night’s sleep.”

  I watched as Kenna’s face paled even before Duncan moved to undrape the portrait. The moment the portrait was revealed to her, I saw her eyes begin to roll, and I rushed to catch her as she fell.

  Chapter 7

  Duncan

  Lady Kenna had seen the portrait before—the way her face paled before she collapsed backwards into Madeline’s arms made that clear. He moved quickly after watching the Lady Kenna swoon, laying the portrait down on its back before hurrying to offer his assistance.

  The woman regained consciousness quickly. Her eyes fluttered open almost as quickly as they’d rolled back into her head.

  “Ach, me apologies. I dinna mean to upset ye so.”

  Madeline placed one hand on Kenna’s cheek before looking up at him. “Help me get her into the sitting room. Her skin is so cold. Let’s get her seated by the fire.”

  With a quick nod, Duncan lowered himself and scooped Kenna into his arms. The woman was petite and lighter than most children.