Lost in the Mist of Time

by Karen Michelle Nutt

  “Nonsense? What am I supposed to think? You are the one who has been acting like a nutcase. You talk about time travel like it is a simple matter of opening a door to the next room. Then you attack me, tie me up, and carry me off like you’re a…a…a cave man.”

  “Tsk, tsk.” He shook his head. “And here I thought ye would at least try to be a little understanding.”

  “Understanding? You kidnapped me?”

  His expression clouded into anger. “I did no such thing. Ye followed me.

  If ye stayed behind like I had told ye, ye wouldn’t be here now.”

  “Oh, believe me, if you had mentioned that you could time travel, I would have left you faster than you could say H.G. Wells.”

  “H.G.…forget it. The fact remains, believe it or not, yer time does not exist yet and ye do not have to take my word on it. Ye will see soon enough. Now turn around.”

  “Why?”

  “Dar Dia!” He looked skyward for a moment as though he hoped for divine intervention. Then his gaze of icy annoyance glared down on her. When he spoke, his voice was frosted with his impatience, “Because against my better judgment, I am going to untie ye so that ye will see that I am not the monster ye have made me out to be.”

  With the task done, he moved away from her, waiting to see what she would do. He knew he was taking a great risk for she could bolt into the night endangering them both to whatever predator lurked within its depths, be it human or not.

  Surprisingly she didn’t jump to her feet. She just sat there eyeing his every move, while she rubbed her sore wrists obviously weighing her options.

  Aislinn glanced around her, knowing that nothing looked even vaguely familiar. Her car was definitely gone, and she was miles away from anyone. Even if she fled from this man, where was she going to go?

  She glanced at Dougray who at this moment had his back to her. It was odd, but she didn’t fear him even with his delusional notions. It was apparent that something out of the ordinary had happened here, and it was just as obvious that it was out of this man’s control. That much she was certain. Thinking rationally again, she realized it wouldn’t be wise on her part to just stomp off into the wilderness. She supposed for the time being that she would be safer with him.

  Dougray waited patiently for Aislinn to break the silence. He knew that once she did he would know her intentions. He hoped with this ploy that she would realize he wasn’t going to harm her. His tactic seemed to work for she hadn’t as yet bolted into the night. But what was he going to do with her? Back at the keep, she would stick out like a sore thumb. Her appearance for one with her short, cropped hair and her clothing she wore were enough to have his people raise questions. She was taller than any woman that he had ever known and her eyes were darker than midnight, not like the lighter shades of the people of his keep. Within seconds they would know her to be a foreigner, but this was not his main concern. What really had him apprehensive was that she possessed such a defiant stance. She was more like one of his warriors than like a woman of genteel birth. He was not sure how he should present her or how he was to protect her without having her defy him every step of the way.

  “Are we just going to stand around here all night?” She had moved beside him, but not too close. She may have decided not to run away, but she still did not trust him whole heartedly.

  “Hmm? Aye. We will camp here tonight and then I will take ye to my home.”

  “You live around here?”

  “Not exactly, but it’s not far. Maybe two or three days….” “Days? You must be kidding.”

  “Ye can leave then. See where the road takes ye, but be that I warned ye, that ye may not like what ye find.” When he saw that she wasn’t going to bulk him, he nodded his head. “I’ll start a small fire, then find us something to eat.” She didn’t argue, but she pouted and glared at him with those prodding, dark eyes of hers. After a while, he decided that he much preferred to have her raving insults than to have her icy, cold silence.

  The earth proved to be damp as though there had recently been rain and it took a little longer for him to get a good strong fire going, but when he did he noticed that she had moved closer to the warmth. Obviously she was cold, but was not going to say anything. “I’ll be back.”

  “Great,” she grumbled under her breath.

  “Did ye address me?” He cocked an eyebrow and she shot him another glare. He just shook his head leaving her to her thoughts.

  Aislinn finally removed her backpack. She was grateful that Dougray had started the fire before he left. She felt almost comfortable now that the flames were beginning to thaw out her chilled bones. “Where is he going to find food?” she said aloud, not caring if he was in hearing range. “There’s nothing out here.” Hands warm now, she opened up her pack and pulled out her notebook and pen. This experience was worth something she supposed. She flipped to a blank page and wrote: “I have been abducted by a man that thinks he is King Arthur and wants to prove he is man enough to slay a dragon for the fair princess. Delusional? Perhaps. Time will tell.”

  Twenty minutes later she was still sitting alone. She curled her feet closer to her body and looked out into the darkness. She was beginning to be a little spooked. Where was he? Maybe something had happened to him. She stood and moved toward where she had seen him disappear into the night, debating if she should go after him or continue to wait. “Miss me?”

  She jumped and whirled around to see Dougray’s all too handsome face grinning at her. She was about to reprimand him for scaring her nearly to death, when he lifted a fury dead animal in front of her face making the words choke in her throat. “Dinner is about to be served,” he announced and then walked back to the fire to begin the process of skinning the thing.

  Astonishment touched her pale face taking all of her will power not to gag. “You don’t expect me to eat that, do you?”

  He paused and looked up at her, an amused expression spread across his rugged features. “Ye don’t have to, but there’s not much else to be had.” He turned back to his chore completely ignoring her, or so she thought. After a moment, she made a wide curve back to her side of the fire. She picked up her pen and notebook. She wrote: “He lures animals out and slices their throats with….” She glanced up at him wondering just what he had used. Dagger? She shrugged and wrote down the weapon of choice.

  As much as she hated to admit it, the meat roasting over the open flame smelt really good and her stomach rebelled with rumbling noises that seemed to penetrate the silence. Dougray was watching her, an arched brow indicating his humorous surprise. A blush like a shadow ran over her cheeks and she quickly turned her attention elsewhere.

  She felt rather than saw him move beside her. “Here.” She turned to see the offering of a juicy, mouthwatering piece of meat. “I don’t want to hear any protests,” he insisted. “If I have to hear yer stomach growling all night, I won’t be able to sleep.” She grabbed the dagger that held the tantalizing meat, causing him to chuckle at her. At that point, she was simply too famished to really care that he was taking great delight in her embarrassment.

  One taste and she was in heaven. “This is good.” He detected a thawing in her tone.

  “A compliment?” He had retrieved his half of the dinner.

  She shrugged and took another bite. “Thanks,” she added this time with a grin.

  His eyes met hers from across the flames. “Ye’re welcome.”

  Finished with her dinner, Aislinn took out her water bottle and took a large swallow. When she lowered it from her mouth, she realized that maybe Dougray might be thirsty too. She supposed that it would only be polite to offer him a drink, since he had been so kind to share his dinner with her. “Want some?”

  “Aye.” He nodded.

  She closed the lid and tossed it over to him. After a few swallows, he wiped his face with the back of his hand. He eyed her from where he sat. She seemed to have accepted her fate at least for now, making him feel a little guilty that she h
ad to be dragged into it. It wasn’t her fault, after all, that she was trapped in this time. Hopefully once he spoke with Neala, they would know how to send her back.

  He found that she was the one studying him and surprisingly with less hostility than before. She looked rather comely with the glow of the firelight warming her cheeks to a bright pink. A.J., he spun the name in his mind. It was an unusual name, obviously a nickname of some sort, though until now he had not thought to ask her about it. “What’s yer name?” He broke from his native tongue to converse in hers.

  “You know what it is?”

  “A.J. must stand for something.” “What’s it to you?”

  “Nothing.” He shrugged with indifference. “I just thought that ye’d like me to call ye by yer given name. I guess I can continue to call ye lass.” He saw the unadulterated fire in her eyes making his mouth twitch in humor. She had a strong spirit. He found that he actually admired her spunk.

  “You’ve been calling me A.J. for the last two weeks, and now you can’t?”

  “I never much cared for it. Besides if I am to introduce ye as a lady…well Lady A.J. doesn’t quite have an elegant ring to it.”

  She couldn’t believe that he still held fast to this cockamamie story of his, but what the heck. She could give him her real name. What did it matter? Once they found civilization, he would be forced to face reality. “My name is Aislinn Jacqueline, thus A.J. Aislinn is a Celtic name and Jacqueline is French. I should thank the Lord that they didn’t throw in a Cheyenne name to add to the other part of my heritage.”

  Dougray’s face drained of any color. “Aislinn is yer first name?” He sat up straighter.

  “If you’re going to make some wise crack, I’ll kick you in the teeth.” “Do ye know what yer name means?”

  “Dream or vision, something of the sort. Why?”

  Dougray raised his hands in the air, looking to the heavens as though he were talking to someone. “Old woman, ye do have a sense of humor.” He started laughing almost hysterically, making Aislinn again think that he was indeed a raving lunatic.

  “I fail to see what is so funny.”

  He stopped his chortling to observe her obvious disdain. “Nay, it seems that ye wouldn’t. An old woman prophesized that I would cross to yer world, claiming that I was to seek a vision.”

  “So?” She shrugged.

  “Well, does it not make sense? Yer name means vision. Seek a vision.” “That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard. Couldn’t you come up with a

  better story?”

  “I am only telling ye what she foretold.” He was frustrated with her attitude and fell silent again.

  After a while, he decided to make himself ready for slumber. He removed his sword placing it beside him. He noticed that she was getting comfortable and had removed her shoes so that she could warm her feet by the fire. He studied her beneath half-closed lids. She was such a mystery to him. She was spirited and strong, and yet he knew that she sought men that were of no match for her. This much he learned from Connor. He had viewed her actions on the camcorder, but yet he had not heard her side of the story. Without dwelling on why he had decided to do so, he again broke the silence as if he was purposely trying to goad her into an argument. “Did ye want Roger to be yer mate?”

  “What?” She looked at him with utter wonderment. “Are we talking about that again?”

  “As I recall, ye never really answered me.”

  “Well he’s….” What had he been to her? She had wanted the relationship to be more, but the passion was not there for her. “He was my boyfriend for a time. I certainly never thought of him as a mate, as you so elegantly put it.” He was totally bewildered by her response. He saw in evidence for himself that this Roger had been in pursuit. So what had she been after? “Ye were not intimate then?”

  She made such a fuss over his simple question with her huffing and the rolling of her eyes that it left him even more baffled. He had no idea that he had aroused old fears and uncertainties in her ability to have a deeper bond. “Really, I don’t believe it is any of your concern.”

  He shrugged with indifference. “Just making conversation is all.”

  “Well you could have asked about the weather or something. You have only been around for two weeks and with a memory loss, may I remind you.

  I don’t know anything about you, and you certainly do not know me. And if you think….”

  “Well enough,” he interrupted. “I get the point.” What on earth had possessed him to open his mouth? They were silent again for a good length of time. Then out of the blue, she decided to answer the question.

  “No.” He locked his gaze with hers wondering why she had changed her mind, and revealed a part of her that she seemed determined to hide. “No, we…Roger and I were not intimate,” she added at the last moment making him raise his brows ever so slightly.

  “Hmm. I figured as much, or at least if ye had been, ye would have tired of him soon enough.”

  “You what?” There was that high-pitch tone again. It was really beginning to grate on his nerves. “You were not thinking that,” she continued, “or you wouldn’t have asked.” She folded her arms defensively against her chest and her lips pressed together into a fine line. He was beginning to recognize this angry silent stance of hers. It spoke that he had broken all the rules and had tried to cross her protective barrier. He had thought that the conversation was terminated but again she surprised him. “Why did you think that? How could you, when you never even met the man?”

  “I didn’t have to. It said it all in the few minutes that yer brother had me view the video. It was quite obvious that he was no match for ye.”

  “My match? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “I can easily see the fire in yer spirit. Ye would devour that weak man or….”

  “Or what?” she snapped. “And Roger is not weak,” she added just a little too late.

  “He is, as ye well know it. He would have ended up extinguishing that flame ye possess, as if ye were a wick being covered with a snuffer.”

  “Oh, don’t be ridiculous. Who asked you anyway?” “Ye did. And I gave ye my opinion.”

  “I was in love with him,” she insisted in a matter-of-fact way, which surely spoke the opposite.

  “Then ye don’t know what being in love is all about. But perhaps deep down ye really do know. Ye didn’t marry the weak man. Think about that, Aislinn.” Her eyes blazed over him, but he didn’t care. Maybe it was about time that someone told her the truth.

  “I suppose since you have me all figured out that you could tell just what kind of man that I should be looking for.” His lively twinkle in his eye only incensed her more. “You perhaps? Are you strong enough to match my will?” She could have bitten her tongue off. What in the world was she doing? This man had practically kidnapped her. Did she really want to provoke him when she was at his mercy?

  He gave her an appraising look as though he was actually seriously considering her challenge. She couldn’t help but squirm under is icy blue stare.

  Dougray found that he was not completely sure what he thought of her. Her short hair was rather unflattering and boyish. She was very tall, and thin, far too thin for his liking. He loved the feel of a woman with rounded curves. Still, there was something about the boyish lass that drew him. Maybe it was her strength that he liked. She was haughty to a fault and not afraid to voice what was on her mind. The other women that he had ever cared to converse with could never hold their own more than five minutes. Even his sweet dear Ella was not one to say much, and then there was Fiona but he could not think of one conversation that he had ever held with her. It had never mattered. If conversation was needed, he sought out one of his men.

  Aislinn Hennessy was different in every way. He found he was intrigued with that. She was intelligent and had already proved quite interesting, if not just downright entertaining. He would never be bored with her that much he was certain, not when she took hold of
an issue and wouldn’t let it go.

  His eyes lingered on her full lips. Even in anger, they begged to be kissed and those few stolen caresses that they had shared made him long for more. His gaze finally met hers and he knew instantly by the contempt in her eyes that he could never let her know any of this, at least not right now. He shuddered at the thought of what she would do with the information. For surely she would sever his manhood with one fell swoop and enjoy every torturous moment of it. She obviously was under the impression that she wanted someone she could control, and he was not one that would ever allow a woman to tell him what to do.

  “Nay. I’d be too much of a man for the likes of ye.” It took all his will power not to smile, for she nearly threw a temper tantrum from his outright rejection.

  “Too much of a man! You…you jerk!” He had no idea what that meant but it couldn’t be good. “You bastard.” Now she was getting personal. He came to his feet and took a step forward. She grabbed her shoe and threw it at him. “Stay away or so help me, I’ll render you unable to perform any manly duties from this day forth.”

  That halted him, but it didn’t stop him from throwing back his head with a laugh. “Maybe I was wrong. With that much energy, a quick toss could prove to be quite vigorous. I’m willing to give it a try,” he teased.

  She screamed and threw her other shoe, which he easily knocked away.

  Still chuckling, he again sat down near the fire.

  After a long moment of her glaring into the flames, she raised her gaze to him. “Give me back my shoes,” she demanded without even a please.

  “Come over here and get them yerself. Unless,” he paused as he thoughtfully twisted his mustache, “you’re afraid to come near me.”

  “Humph! Afraid indeed.”

  He lifted his brows in a bemused gesture and waved his hand toward the items she wanted so badly.