A Heartbeat Back to the Highlands

by Deborah R Stigall

  As the boy turned from stoking the fires, he smiled and nodded as he met her gaze. Smiling nervously in return, Harley managed a weak wave, then her hand dropped back to her lap.

  How had she ended up in this place? No matter how many times she went over it in her mind, she couldn’t remember anything earlier then waking up in the feather bed upstairs. She still had her memories of her life before….here. She just couldn’t quite seem to locate the one that might explain how she came to be here.

  She jumped as Ronan sat beside her on the bench.

  “Easy now. You’re all right and will soon have some of the best fare in Scotland to make ye feel more at home.”

  Ronan touched his hand lightly to her shoulder, his heart wrenching as he felt her muscles tense. He wondered if this was how his mother had felt when she’d first crossed over into the past. No wonder the clan still told tales of his parent’s struggle when they’d first married and the turmoil the entire clan had gone thru. Interrupting his thoughts, Ronan glanced up at the noisy arrival of his brothers. Each of them cocked a questioning brow at Ronan, as they communicated silently as they had since birth.

  “Harley, these are my brothers, Faolan and Latharn. We all came into the world but a few minutes apart. Faolan is the eldest and Latharn…the youngest.” Nodding at each of his brothers in turn, his eyes narrowed with unspoken meaning. Hands off. She’s mine.

  “Welcome to our home, Mistress Harley.” Ever the proper, serious heir to the lairdship, Faolan bowed his head politely to Harley. “Easy, Brother. She’s not been in my dreams.” He silently shot back to Ronan.

  His pale green eyes snapping, Latharn slid onto the bench beside Harley as he silently challenged both his brothers’ in his mind. “’Tis good to meet ye, mayhap ye can tell us of the future?”

  “Latharn!”

  His eyes rolling toward the ceiling, Latharn shook his head as he turned to nod at his father. “Mistress Harley, I’d like to introduce ye to Laird Caelan MacKay…..our father.”

  Harley’s eyes grew even more round as she looked up into the friendly gaze of the Laird of Clan MacKay. Now she knew where Ronan and his brothers had gotten their size. His sandy blonde hair handsomely streaked with gray, Caelan was still an impressive man that was barely a few inches taller than his sons. Not quite as brawny as he had been in his youth, his broad chest and muscular arms still commanded respect.

  “It’s good…to meet you…Mr. MacKay.” Harley’s voice trembled as her tiny hand disappeared into his huge grasp.

  “Laird MacKay, Lass…if any of the clan is about. But when it’s just family, please call me Caelan.” Swiveling his gaze to his youngest son, Caelan frowned as he walked to the head of the table. “And please, Mistress Harley, it would be best for all concerned…if ye refrained from telling anyone specific details about the future. The tapestry of time is delicate fabric indeed. The slightest meddling could be most disastrous.”

  Glancing at Latharn, Harley noted with amusement that his downcast eyes were barely hiding a mischievous glint. She’d definitely have to watch her words with that one. She felt sure he was the type that would trick her into revealing facts about the future before she realized the words had left her mouth.

  Harley smiled shyly as she reassured Caelan. “I really don’t think I know of any secrets that might change the course of the world.”

  “You never know,” Rachel interjected as she joined her family at the table. “The slightest…seemingly innocent change of a small detail…could in essence, prevent you from ever existing.”

  Harley’s smile slowly disappeared as a sobering thought entered her mind. “Sort of like…if while in the past, I happen to kill one of my ancestors…then I will never be born?”

  “Ahhh….she is as wise as she is beautiful.” Emrys hobbled up to the table, leaning his cane against the bench as he sat. “I am Emrys, Druidic advisor to the Clan MacKay.” Nodding his snowy white head in Harley’s direction, he gifted her with a rare smile.

  “Druidic advisor?” Harley felt her mind spinning as she attempted to take it all in. She was still struggling with the concept of not altering history. If she traveled to the past and killed an ancestor, which in effect would prevent her from being born…..then how could she exist to travel to the past to kill the ancestor?

  His blue eyes narrowing as he watched her closely, Emrys leaned across the table. “Try not to think about it o’er much. ‘Twill only make your head ache.”

  “Don’t worry, Harley. Soon you’ll feel right at home. I’ll help ye any way I can.” Aveline finally joined the group, sliding nonchalantly into her seat beside her mother.

  “This is Aveline, our youngest.” Caelan glared at Aveline for her late arrival, then returned his attention to Harley. “We’ll all do our best to help ye fit into this time and ye’ll have the protection of Clan MacKay.”

  “But you’ll find that Ronan is your greatest protector. It was he who freed you from the locket.” Aveline winced as Emrys kicked her shin underneath the table.

  “He did what?” Harley cast a worried glance around the table, searching each face for an explanation.

  “Aveline, you will go to my solar and wait.” Rachel spoke to her daughter thru clenched teeth as she struggled to reign in her irritation at Aveline’s revelation to Harley.

  “But Mama,” Aveline turned towards her mother, her lower lip trembling with embarrassment.

  “I said go…now!” Rachel rose and grabbing her daughter under the arm, steered her toward the door.

  Covering her face with her hands, Aveline ran from the room as Rachel returned to the table.

  “Harley,” Rachel studied the girl’s ashen face, searching for the words to calm her. “Are you familiar with any of the ancient Celtic lore….the tales of Gods and Goddesses?”

  Nervously chewing her lower lip, Harley barely shrugged her shoulders. “A little….I guess. I was always more interested in stories about the sea.”

  Pursing his lips as his brows drew into a frown, Ronan held up his hand as his mother opened her mouth to continue. “Did ye ever happen to hear any stories of the Sea Goddess Bheara?”

  Rubbing her temples as her head began throbbing; Harley inhaled deeply as she searched her mind. “No…the only stories I remember about Sea Gods or Goddesses were always about Poseidon or Calypso. But what has that got to do with what Aveline was talking about? What did she mean that it was you who freed me from a locket?”

  Facing Harley, he took her gently by the shoulders, slowly turning her towards him. “It seems that your soul was trapped inside the Sea Goddess Bheara’s locket until we performed the ritual to have you released.”

  Harley searched Ronan’s eyes, wanting desperately to find some sense of rationality to grasp. What he was saying couldn’t be true. Gods and Goddesses were just stories….mythology. Rituals…magic? That was the stuff of good fiction….not what happened to an average girl from Kentucky. But if that were the case, how could she explain the fact that she was sitting in Scotland in the 1400’s?

  Shrugging her shoulders out of his grasp, Harley stumbled as she rose from her seat. Backing her way out of the room, her lower lip trembled as she struggled to explain her circumstances not only to the room at large but especially to herself.

  “None of this is happening. This is all just a bad dream. All I have to do is wake up.” That was the only explanation for this situation. All she had to do was wake up.

  Slowly rising, Ronan eased his way toward her….watching her closely since he sensed she was about to bolt. “I know it seems hard to believe…..hard to accept. But ye will be much better off if ye sit and try to listen to everything….calmly.”

  “Calmly?! Sit and listen calmly?” Harley’s voice cracked with a rising note of hysteria, as she frantically searched the faces staring at her. “I sit and listen calmly to the sermon at church or to the safety training video at work. This…This magical mumbo jumbo you’re talking about is not something I can listen to calml
y!”

  Stumbling as she backed into another of the long trestle benches, she swayed as she clutched at the table for support. As Ronan came nearer, she grabbed one of the ladles off the table, pointing it in his direction. “Stay away from me! I don’t know who you are or how I got here….but you just stay away from me!” Then slinging the heavy iron ladle at his head, she turned and ran up the staircase leading to the outer battlements.

  Easily side-stepping the flying ladle, Ronan broke into a run to catch up with her. The last thing the family heard from the pair was Ronan shouting Harley’s name as he bound up the steps behind her.

  Looking around the table, Emrys sighed as he stretched to pick up a loaf of bread from the tray. “So….how long do ye think it will be before they marry?” Emrys tore off a hunk of bread, idly picking at the crust as he glanced up to find everyone at the table staring at him in disbelief.

  “What?”

  *******

  Bursting thru the doorway onto the outer wall, Harley’s hand flew to her throat as she glanced wildly about her. In the distance to her right were rocky cliffs and the rugged terrain of a land she’d never seen. To her left, the moon was just beginning to rise over the sea, its pale white reflection dancing upon the waters. Running to the edge of the wall, she stretched to look down to the waves crashing against the precipice supporting Castle MacKay.

  “Harley!” Ronan came barreling thru the doorway, his eyes widening as he saw her leaning out over the rough hewn stones.

  The rising wind whipped her flowing black hair around her body. Her tear streaked face glistened in the light of the rising moon. Backing as far away from Ronan as the wall would allow, her voice shook as her fingernails dug into her palms.

  “Leave me alone!”

  Ronan inhaled deeply, his brow furrowing into a frown. Forcing himself to take a step back, he consciously held his arms relaxed at his sides. “Harley…” he spoke softly, trying to calm her down. The pain in her eyes was like a knife to his heart.

  “I know it’s a lot to take in…but ye have to trust me when I tell ye that I’m here to help ye. I willna’ let any harm come to ye. I promise.”

  Her body shaking as she glanced out to the shimmering waves, Harley bit her lip as tears filled her eyes. “I’m completely….totally…..lost. I’m even more alone here then when I was in Kentucky. What did I ever do to deserve this?”

  Covering her face with her hands, Harley dropped to her knees as she finally gave in to sobbing. Rocking back and forth, she keened her misery to the night as Ronan stood aside and helplessly watched.

  Unable to witness her suffering any longer, Ronan’s jaw tightened with determination as he walked across the stones. Picking her up into his arms, he cradled her against his chest as though she were a child.

  “Ye are not alone. I am here….and I’ve been searching for ye for longer than ye know.”

  Her hands curling into fists, Harley wriggled to be set down as she sniffed and hiccupped thru her tears. “I’m better off alone…..and I’m used to it. So…please…just leave me alone.” Edging her way back to the archway leading to the stairs, she swallowed hard as she wiped the back of her hand across her face.

  “Somehow, I’ll figure out a way to survive around here. Your mother did it so…I know it can be done. But let’s just get something straight, the time that I come from…the place where I used to be…I lived alone, took care of myself….and didn’t depend on anyone. So…somehow….that’s the way I intend to survive here.”

  Arching one dark brow, Ronan crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned back against the wall. Tilting his head, he studied this very frustrating woman….this very enticing woman whom he was more than ready to console.

  “I think ye’ll find that in this century, it might be a bit more complicated for ye to survive without the help of anyone at all. Unless ye plan on joining the nunnery….ye’ll find that ye’ll need a man around to protect ye.”

  Her golden eyes sparking with inner fire, they narrowed as though she were a cat about to strike her prey. Her hand on the iron hook of the door, her lethal tone left no doubt that she meant her words.

  “Don’t bet on it.”

  *******

  Staring at the door that had just slammed shut in his face, Ronan didn’t move from where he leaned against the huge stone block. His arms crossed loosely over his chest, one corner of his mouth twitched as he slowly shook his head.

  What in the world had the future done to women? He’d not only offered the protection of his home, he’d assured the hysterical lass that she’d never be alone. Ronan wasn’t a vain man when it came to women but he’d never had a shortage of maids that were eager to warm his bed. Since he was second born, he also didn’t have to worry about the fact that they were merely after the title of Laird’s wife either….since that was Faolan’s duty. When a lovely lass sought out his company, Ronan knew it was because she wanted him….and not some title that might be coming down the line.

  With his wild good looks and his frequent absences to the sea, Ronan was a mystery that the women loved to try and unravel. Something about trying to tame a man from his wandering ways made Ronan irresistible.

  The door opened once more, revealing not Harley, but Caelan…a smug look of knowing exactly what his son was up against tingeing his face.

  “Harley has gone to your room and locked herself in….I don’t think she realizes those chambers are actually yours.”

  His glance sidling to study his father’s expression, Ronan propped his chin in his hand. “I can most assuredly promise ye that the lass doesn’t know those rooms are mine….and if she did…they would be the last refuge on earth that she would ever seek.”

  Rubbing his mouth to try to hide his smile, Caelan turned his face away from his son. “A wise man once told me that ye must be patient. Persistent and patient. She’s got a lot to adapt to and it will take some time.” Turning to pat Ronan on the shoulder, Caelan nodded solemnly as he continued. “But trust me….when ye finally win her heart…all of it will have been worthwhile.”

  “Win her heart?” Ronan pushed himself away from the wall, as he threw his hands in the air. “I never said I wanted to win her heart. I’m just trying to help the lass thru her loneliness.”

  Lacing his fingers together, Caelan pursed his lips as looked across the land that sang to him like the sweetest of songs. “Ye may be the second in line…and ye may think yourself safe from the curse. But trust me, Son…this lass is the one ye were meant to be joined with…I see it in your eyes.”

  His face darkening, Ronan’s nostrils flared as he moved to where he could better view the sea. “My life is at sea….I need no wife pining away for me at home or weeping every time I leave.”

  A knowing smile tickling at his lips, Caelan clapped his son on the back as he turned to leave Ronan with his thoughts. “We don’t always know what our destinies are until they force us to acknowledge them. Just because ye’ve always been at home on the sea….doesna’ mean that’s where the rest of your days lie.”

  “Hmmmph,” was Ronan’s only response as he continued staring at the mesmerizing waves crashing against the rocks. His bruised ego still gnawing away at the back of his mind, he ignored his father’s chuckle as Caelan softly closed the door behind him.

  *******

  Hugging herself against the growling hunger gnawing at her stomach, Harley paced back and forth across the stone floor. Shaking her head, she swallowed hard as she tried stifling the next onslaught of tears.

  “Stop it! Crying’s not going to do anything but make your nose run!”

  Chiding herself, she rubbed her temples as she tried slowing her whirling thoughts to some level of reason. She might as well stop trying to figure out how she’d ended up here and concentrate on how she was going to survive now that she was here.

  Searching her memories, her heart began hammering as she recalled Scotland’s bloody history from a class she’d taken years ago. Frowning, she tried to
recall the year where the worst of the turmoil had started but finally gave up when she couldn’t come up with the date.

  Dropping into the chair sitting beside the hearth, Harley leaned her head into hands. Heaving a sigh of exhaustion, she glanced about the room, finally noticing the decor for the first time. The massive oak bed was huge with four tall posts and deep rich curtains held back with ties. The vibrant blue velvet reminded her of the deepest part of the sea she’d seen…somewhere?....in photographs perhaps?

  The tall windows were adorned with intricate tapestries, all woven with pictures depicting marine life. From the dark wood of the furniture carved with shells and wave-like whirls to the coverings on the bed, everything she saw reminded her of some aspect of the ocean.

  Her thoughts interrupted by a quiet rap on the door, Harley ran a weary hand across her tear-stained cheeks. “Come in....I guess.” Her voice still hitching with unshed tears, she took a deep breath to gain control.

  Holding a tray of food under one arm, Rachel slowly opened the door. “I figured you were starving. But I thought you’d probably rather eat up here….since our little family gathering didn’t go so well.”

  Swallowing hard, a tremulous smile tickling her lips, Harley rose to take the tray from Rachel’s hands. Setting it on the table, she nodded toward the other chair in the room in silent request for Rachel to sit.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to seem ungrateful.” Nervously running a hand thru her hair, she perched on the edge of her seat. “It’s just that I’m having a hard time….accepting….all of this.” Weakly waving her hand thru the air, she glanced about the room.