by Ria Cantrell
Only after she found herself plucked up into Jamie’s arms and slung against him on his horse, did Sinead realize that it had been nay dream. I could see that fear gave way to desire as she described, in her strange tongue, how it felt when Jamie rode through the MacCollum gates, holding her in his strong arms. Despite her rather precarious lineage and arrival to MacCollum Keep, Sinead said she had never felt so safe in her entire life; even with the threat of the beating that waited for her inside the great fortified keep. I closed my eyes and I tried to see the threads of the Ancients woven around this peculiar woman. For she was peculiar just as I was peculiar. She was like me; there was nay a question about that.
When I settled into that place where the wisdom from the Ancients comes to me, I saw the beautiful Sinead and not only was there threads linking her to our Jamie, their souls sought each other. I could see it, like an unbreakable band joining them and pulling them through time. One would have had to either move forward or one would have had to come back through untold centuries and there it was; Sinead had been the one to make the journey. I dunna’ seek to question the Fates as to why or who they choose to influence time. It is not for me to question, for I learned long ago it is only for me to accept and not dare to risk Their anger or displeasure. Sinead belonged to Jamie; that was certain and Jamie owed his life to the girl that had come from so far away to save him.
I really liked the tenacity of this Sinead MacDougal and though he vowed to nay trust her, Jamie liked her too. As I said, she was many things that would draw a man like Jamie to her, and the least of those was her beauty. When she landed in the field shouting her warning, she was dressed in a scandalous fashion with trews so tight, they rivaled the hosen worn by men of our time. Her tunic was also form fitting, showing her curves to their full and best advantage. And a comely shape had she. Anyone could see that Jamie wanted her. Why, he could scarce keep his kilt from risin’ when ere he saw her. His brothers took to teasin’ him, which did not help the situation at all. Jamie did nay like to look foolish, especially with those other rogues that were his kin. But, try as he might, Jamie MacCollum could nay deny the pull the mysterious lass from another time had on him.
Like us all, when it is yer’ time to love, ye’ can nay more avoid it than you can avoid the final calling home. Jamie was no exception. He fell hard for the beautiful woman and far be it for me to nay want the best mate for my bonny lad. I meddled; aye, t’is true, I did, for Jamie was a fool and he was going to lose the girl if he was not careful. It has long been revealed that if love is denied, especially to one who manipulated time just to be with the mate of one’s heart, Jamie would lose her forever and Sinead would have been thereby lost in a world centuries ahead of Jamie’s time, nursing a broken heart for all of her days. Aye, I know that heartache well. The two souls would thereafter seek one another to ne’er be fulfilled. I could nay let that happen; especially since I too knew such sorrow.
I made certain that when ere the lass was present, I would send for Jamie for some trite and menial task. He was nay one to deny this old woman and so he always came to do my bidding, though I could see his masked annoyance at my insistence of his aid. I have to chuckle because it was nay hard to see what my motive was. He was on to me in a thrice and though he knew what I was about, he indulged me. All be told, despite his annoyance with this meddlin’ old bird, I think he rather liked havin’ an excuse to see the lass.
My requests gave him reason to be near her and he did nay have to listen to his rotten brothers tormenting him for his lovesick ways. I made certain that Jamie would be able to view the lass or offer her a few words without his brothers putting a weevil in the mix. I would oft times arrange for them to be on some wild errand for me just to give Jamie some privacy with the beautiful time-traveler and the feelings that were deepening for her, which he had a hard time hidin’. I chuckle at just how hard a time it was for young Jamie, ah, but I am a wicked old woman.
Sinead MacDougal had timeless and fathomless eyes of the strangest shade of blue-green I had ever seen. They sat deep in a face that seemed to be sculpted to perfection. She had delicate features, and to look at her, one would think she was incapable of the least strenuous tasks, but that was a misconception. She was strong. Her muscles were honed from some sort of thing she called “working out”. None of us understood what that meant, but her lithe body was far from fragile, so I suppose whatever it was that she did gave her untold health. She had luscious curves and she was both tight and soft in all the right places. I could see that my dear boy hungered for her. He was a man, after all and he had the needs of a man to go with his maturity.
Sometimes, Sinead could be seen running in the morning mist even before the sun had a chance to warm the land. She donned her weird trews and wore the most ridiculous looking shoes when she went a’runnin’. She did strange things, too, like twisting and stretching her body in odd ways and she had other rituals she did to give her body strength.
Once I saw her goading Jamie and she said that men in her time did this silly looking practice to get strong and she doubted that Jamie, for all his brawn could do it. She propped herself on the ground, with her legs extended behind her; her toes pointed toward the earth and her arms were braced widely on either side of her head. I still laugh as I recall her bobbling up and down, counting out these push offs as I think she called them. It looked ridiculous, and Jamie could barely stop laughing. Sinead challenged him to try it and at first it landed poor Jamie face down in the dirt. Ach, Jamie was furious and so he secretly worked on learning this senseless practice that Sinead had challenged him to master. He was not going to be bested by a wisp of a lass and he was not going to let his brothers make a mockery of him so, when he thought no one was about, Jamie set out to Sinead’s challenge.
As I mentioned, Jamie was quite a braw laddie and so it did nay take long for him to get the hang of this trainin’. He wanted to impress Sinead with his progress. Impress her, he did for after a few of those push offs or whatever they were called, I could see Sinead’s eyes grow wide with pleasure. I dare say her desire was evident and she then did something that sealed her fate to Jamie. As he was doing that ludicrous discipline, Sinead climbed upon him and pressed her body to his in the most lewd of positions. I could see the smirks on the faces of the brothers as this lass boldly molded herself to Jamie’s muscled back. It was downright lusty and none of the brothers knew what to say, but stood as if they had lost their minds as they watched Jamie continue to work that regimen with the lass clinging saucily to his back.
None of us could hear what she was saying, but she whispered things to Jamie and I was certain it was some bawdy assessment for color clearly rose in his face and across the back of his neck. Well, then, the bold lass finally relented and when she climbed off of him, Jamie faced her. They sat there staring into one another’s eyes, both breathing heavily; oblivious to their audience of myself and the other MacCollum lads. He kissed her then, with us all as witness and we knew we had best leave them alone for if we stayed, we would no doubt get another show we were not sure we wanted to see.
And so it happened. Jamie was smitten with the MacDougal lass from another time as was she with him. Adversaries soon turned to lovers and the want to return to her own time faded away. Likewise, did Jamie’s protests of taking a woman to wife. The bold lass had given up everything she had ever known in order to fulfill her heart’s yearning when she married Jamie a few weeks later.
I dare say that this woman chosen by the Fates was the best possible mate for my dear young Jamie. Even though she was nay from our time, she did her best to embrace it and in the end, she thrived in it. In saving Jamie’s life that day in the field, she saved his very soul. So few of us get that chance, I’m afraid, but I am glad that our dear Jamie did.
Aye, some would say the lass was bold; mayhap some would say she was even a little crass for she was nay afraid to speak her mind nor was she afraid to show passionate affection to Jamie in the company of his sibl
ings, his da or myself, for that matter. I suppose women from her time were more like her than women from our days. I would have the pleasure and rather uncomfortable encounter of meeting another woman like the beautiful Sinead some years later. Her brassiness made Sinead’s pale in comparison, but I must admit I admire the fortitude of these young women from a distant future.
I am happy to learn that women in the time further on the Wheel of Ages are strong and smart. They speak honestly and without worry of propriety. They dunna’ care to keep up appearances just for appearance sake. I think, had I grown up in a time like these, I would have thrived as well for I have not been known to hold my tongue if ere the need arose.
I will tell you about my encounter with the other woman from Sinead’s time, for her tale is so deeply entwined with mine, I will save it for later. She was a woman I have grown to love and to admire, just as I had with the lovely and bold Sinead.
So, Sinead won young Jamie’s heart true and true. He tried hard not to believe the fantastic tale of her traveling through space and time, but I had to help him trust that her words were real. Sinead had not only just fallen back to our time, nay. She could travel between the two worlds, hers and ours. With a little guidance from me, from what I knew about the whole practice of it, she was able to go back to her home.
She said her goodbyes for she had decided to stay with Jamie and become his wife and raise his children with him. He was her heart and she was his. Sinead mostly went back to fetch some of her outlandish attire, but I suppose there are some concessions that were harmless enough to allow and she was loathe to give up. I dunna’ blame her. Knowing what I know about the time ahead, I believe a time such as ours was quite hard on a body and I dunna’ fault her for bringing some of the things that brought her relief and comfort in a rather savage and primitive time compared to the one she had lived in.
I warned her about bringing things that were not of our time back but I suppose a few garments would not change the Plan of things too greatly. Though in retrospect, Sinead did change history. Aye, she did. She had read about Jamie’s death, which is what had prompted her to come to save him. She saved the clans from a blood feud as well. Those ripples I am sure ran deep through time, but what’s done is done.
When I went forward to that time I mentioned, I sought out that passage about Jamie and found the story had greatly changed. It said that a skirmish was thwarted and that the MacDougal did not seek to destroy MacCollum any longer. Aye, they still raided our land, but eventually, even they became our allies with the unlikely help, of all people, from Ruiri. Anyway, once Sinead found herself with child, she no longer went back to her time. We kept her secret as best we could and only Jamie, Caleb and I knew about her Gift. I think Bronwyn suspected it, but she did not question Sinead and we all thought it best to leave the truth hidden at that.
Chapter Seventeen – The Clan MacDougal
Not all clans warred with each other. Aye, t’is true that most clans were in some ways rivals and most clans fell to raidin’. None could deny that and most times it was justified with a counter raid. Rarely, a full blood feud ensued, but sadly sometimes it did come to that.
The MacDougal Clan was not bent on a blood feud. I think if Sinead had not come when she did, Jamie’s life would have cost any hope of peace between the clans. But rather, since he lived, the rivalry grew but the blind hatred, thankfully, did not. Oh, dunna’ get me wrong, they did nay like each other. They surely did nay trust each other, but no rival blood had been spilled to date.
It did escalate, I must admit, shortly after Ruiri took his Binding Vow with Brielle. Not only did the MacDougals steal our sheep, but for some sadistic reason they took to laying some of our prime grazing lands to waste. I swear Jamie wanted vengeance and I canna’ say I really blamed him. T’was nay just Ruiri who wanted vengeance on all of the guilty MacDougals. Of course Jamie and Liam wanted their own piece of justice. Shawn was kept home to await the birth of his second son and Caleb was needed to oversee matters that a laird is needed to administer. Well, that particular raid ended with an actual alliance that still exists today. Ah, how the Fates weave their threads indeed!
Well, then, the MacCollum lads seemed to be followin’ a wild goose chase as night after night, the MacDougals evaded my bonnie MacCollum men. Every time they seemed to close in on the raiding party, they were left without the end of the prize. Instead, more grazing land was razed and a few more ewes were taken in the midst of it all. I have no doubt that Ruiri was not the only one who wanted to spill the blood of those who had lain waste to the precious MacCollum meadows.
It seemed that Ruiri had an uncommon bond with Brielle since he had spoken the Binding and for some unknown reason, he knew he had to return to her. He felt she had encountered some vicious evil and he did nay have to think too deeply to know that very evil would come at none other than the hands of her verra’ own brothers. Ruiri had to get back to MacCollum, leaving his brothers to finish the fight, so he could make certain his beautiful bride was safe and sound where he last left her.
Only, he did nay make it home; nay. On his journey back to MacCollum Keep, he rode right into the arms of the MacDougal himself. Ruiri was nay a man to go down without a fight and so he fought as many of them as he could. I daresay, he even killed a few. Now ye’ may think that would have waged a full on blood feud and by the One God, it nearly did. But the truth of it was that Stephen MacDougal had nay intention of killing any of the MacCollums. Nor did he really need the sheep. It was all a big ruse ye’ see, to get at least one of the MacCollum men to aid him in the training of his own forces.
The MacDougal had spent too much time in the court of the King and so his own forces were undisciplined and unskilled in the protection of MacDougal land. They were a wild and spiteful bunch and they lacked the skill to muster to a cause if the need arose. And the need was arisin’, it was. The Lowlanders were forging alliances with some of the English barons and Highland property was a well-sought after prize.
Stephen MacDougal knew that when the time came, his lands would be forfeit to the English barons and Lowland lords if he could nay keep his men focused on its protection. He did nay care which MacCollum would aid his cause but he was glad he had captured the Highland Wolf above all others. Ruiri was none too keen on aiding the blasted MacDougal but with Brielle in danger, he gave heed and agreed to the MacDougal’s terms. In the end, Stephen MacDougal joined his forces with MacCollum and they have nay strayed as allies to this day.
Ruiri became the commander of the MacDougal guards and they forged the clans further with the marriage of Stephen’s son, Devin, by his first wife to Ruiri’s daughter, Brigid Caitlyn many years later. There was a further vein in the alliance between Ruiri’s line as well, when one Conner MacCollum, Ruiri’s son fell in love with the MacDougal’s daughter.
It’s queer how things turn out really. I suppose Brigid Caitlyn would nay have even been born had it nay been for Stephen MacDougal’s aid to Ruiri. Ruiri’s premonition had come to pass and Brielle MacCollum had been taken by a rogue henchmen of the Campbell brothers. For such a waning force, those two seemed to have eyes and ears all over the place and I reckon that word of Brielle’s arrival to MacCollum would have been news that would travel quicker than the plague. It would be the sort of news to fire the hateful Campbell spawns.
Well, those Campbells, particularly Roderick, the eldest, was nay going to let his sister sit in the hands of his most hated enemy. He hated the MacCollums for what they had become; a thriving clan, while his clan withered away from his own excess and depravity. Ye’ may say that all men are worthy of redemption, but not that one! Nay, his evil ran deep and it had been the cause of many a sufferin’ for my sweet Brielle.
Once it was learned she had been abducted, we all feared for her life. She was Ruiri’s wife by the Bindin’ now and that alone would make Roderick wish her dead. Well, thanks to the aid of Stephen MacDougal, Brielle was rescued and Roderick lay rottin’ in hell, I suppose. And
a better place there would nay be for the likes of him.
As a healer, I have tried to seek a path that offers forgiveness. Heaven knows if anyone needed such a pardon, it was me and so I was loathe to not rain it upon some troubled soul if it was desired. After all, t’was nay up to me to judge a man for his crimes when the weight of my own mistakes pressed heavily upon me. But Roderick Campbell was nay a man I could ever speak a prayer of healing for. Nay, if he were to rot in the pits of hell, then so be it. Sometimes there is nay redemption for an evil such as his.
I know Roderick was a disgrace to his grandfather, my dearest friend, Gavin Campbell, and he was a scourge to his own sister and her husband; my beloved Ruiri and Brielle. I think if Stephen MacDougal had nay aided Ruiri that fateful day, both he and possibly Brielle would have perished along with any hopes of offspring of their own. From that moment on, Stephen MacDougal became a trusted friend and ally to Ruiri and their allegiance to each other has benefited both clans through the years.
I mentioned that Brigid Caitlyn wed Stephen’s son, Devin. Like all the MacCollums, Ruiri was not going to let his beautiful little girl be forced to marry someone she did nay love, but she grew up in the shadow of the MacDougal peace and many a clan gathering brought Devin to the doors of MacCollum. He was a wee bit older than Briggie, but they seemed destined to find one another. Devin had started out bein’ like an older brother to sweet Briggie, and as oft times happen, when one is nay a brother in truth, eventually love blossoms between the two. So it was for Brigid Caitlyn.
