My Laird's Castle

by Bess McBride

  Colin wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and we walked back to the castle. He asked me again to explain the circumstances surrounding his death, and promised to avoid the boy if he could.

  “But ye understand that if they come to ask me for help, I must do something.”

  I nodded.

  “I know,” I said with a sigh. “But, Colin, many things aren’t happening exactly as they did the first time I came. What if your possible death comes from some other means? From the soldiers? If you help the rebels, you will still be considered a traitor to the Crown.”

  “I will take care, Beth. I will take care.”

  “I’m still going to watch out for you,” I said firmly. “I’m still going to follow you everywhere.”

  Colin laughed out loud.

  “I must say I quite enjoyed yer company, my shadow,” Colin said. He laughed again, and we returned to the castle.

  The rain lessened even further that afternoon, and Stephen and his men left the following morning after ascertaining that the river had subsided.

  A month of blissful happiness passed, and I trusted Colin to let me know if he was contacted by the rebels.

  Elinor and her father showed up as I expected, but this time, the tension between Elinor and myself was of short duration. I had told Colin even before they arrived that she had wanted to marry him, and he quickly nipped that in the bud by announcing almost immediately that he planned to marry me. He had proposed to me the day that I told him Elinor and his uncle would come for a visit, stating that since I knew so much about the future, I should have known he would ask me to marry him again.

  Elinor decided to stay when her father left, as I expected she would, and I welcomed her female companionship. Besides, I knew she needed to meet Stephen when he came. They seemed just right for each other. However, if and when Stephen returned, he would be in pursuit of the Jacobites.

  “Colin,” I asked the morning that her father left, “have you been contacted by the rebels?”

  I had been reading in the library while Colin worked on his papers. Elinor was resting. Colin set down his pen and eyed me.

  “Aye,” he said. “Auld Donald came by the back door last night. I didna have the heart to tell ye.”

  I stiffened.

  “What did you tell them?”

  “I ken ye dinna wish to hear it, Beth, but I told them I will help them. I must get them to Glasgow so they can escape Scotland.”

  I jumped up and ran to him, grabbing his shoulders as if I could shake some sense into him.

  “Stephen is coming again. And he’s coming in search of them. He will be injured as well if we don’t stop the boy.”

  “I ken yer words, my love. I told Donald he must keep any and all weapons out of the reach of Samuel. Donald is his grandfather, ye ken? He loves the lad. Donald said the boy isna right in the head since Culloden. He didna ask me why I cautioned him, but said he will watch over him.”

  I slipped into Colin’s lap and wrapped my arms around his neck.

  “What if it isn’t enough?”

  “It has to be. I will set out this afternoon and meet them in the hills so there is nae chance Captain Jones will encounter them when he arrives.” He looked down at the paper on his desk. “I have prepared a will naming ye as my heir. I think it is legal.”

  I stared down at the horrible piece of paper.

  “If I lose you, I’m not staying here.”

  “I think that is wise, love, but just in case ye decide to stay, there is my testimonial.”

  “I’m going with you,” I said.

  “Nay, ye are not,” Colin said firmly.

  “Please, Colin!” I said. I clutched him tightly. “Please let me go.”

  “Nay. It is too dangerous. I will return in three or four days.”

  “Stephen will come before then, today or tomorrow, I think.”

  “Then I must make haste.” He eased me off his lap and stood, taking me in his arms. “I love ye, Beth, so much that it seems as if my heart must break. I love ye.”

  “I love you too, Colin,” I said, trying to fight the tears. I had cried more over this man than I’d ever cried in my life.

  He pulled out of my arms. I followed him into the kitchen, where he helped himself to some food and drink, wrapping it up. Mrs. Renwick must have been on a well-deserved break. Then I followed him back upstairs as he donned his greatcoat.

  George appeared at the back door, seemingly out of nowhere, as usual, and he held it open while Colin embraced me one last time and left. I ran out of the house and into the rain to watch Colin as he headed up the hill.

  I was letting it happen again! I could stop this, and somehow I was letting it happen again. I had no faith that old Donald would be able to stop his grandson, who sounded like he had a terrible case of post-traumatic stress disorder, and maybe something else.

  “Colin!” I called, running toward the path. But he was fast. He had vanished. I couldn’t see him through the trees. I stopped to listen to his footsteps but heard nothing.

  By now soaked through, I ran back to the house. George waited by the door.

  “Where is Lady Elinor?” I asked him.

  “In the drawing room, mistress.”

  I hurried to the drawing room. Elinor, seated on the sofa in front of a toasty little fire, read a book.

  “Beth! Whatever is the matter? Have ye been out in the rain?”

  “I can’t take too much time, Elinor, so please listen carefully. Colin has gone into the hills to help out some fellow clansmen who escaped from Culloden. English soldiers will come either today or tomorrow, I’m not sure which. A very nice man named Captain Stephen Jones will lead them. You’ll like him. They’ll be hunting for the rebels. They’re not really rebels, just some old men and boys. Anyway, I’m going after Colin.”

  My breath was coming in gasps, so anxious was I to get going. Colin, lithe and fit, would probably reach the crest of the hills in no time. It had taken me hours.

  By now, Elinor had dropped her book and risen. She stared at me with wide eyes.

  “Beth! What are ye going on about? Colin and rebels? The English?”

  “Just what I said. I’ll let you soak it in. I have to get going.” I turned for the door. “Just remember, the English will come. Say that Colin and I have gone to visit a neighboring house or something. Anything!”

  Elinor followed me, protesting, as I ran for the back door. George, who had been hovering in the hallway, uncertain of my needs, moved quickly to the door. I skipped any notion of food or drink. For all that, I could toss my head back and swallow rain.

  I grabbed my cloak.

  “The English are coming, George. Say nothing. Leave everything to Lady Elinor.”

  “Aye, mistress.” He held open the door, and I hurried out of it, throwing a wave and a few words over my shoulder.

  “Take care, Elinor. You’ll be all right. Stephen is a wonderful man.”

  And he would be uninjured because I would be there to stop it, as I would stop the boy from hurting Colin. I just wasn’t quite sure how.

  Chapter Twenty

  And up into the hills I went once again. My journey seemed easier this time, given that I didn’t carry food or water. Desperation made me move faster, and I scrambled, clawing my way through wet leaves and mud, grasping at shrubs and branches to haul myself up.

  Although I wasn’t sure where I could find Colin, I determined to head for Malcolm’s cottage. Maybe, like last time, the dog would find me. The English had not yet arrived. Maybe I could just stand in the mist and call out Colin’s name.

  I almost smiled at the thought. Colin would be angry enough that I had followed him. Shrieking his name out through the valley wasn’t going to make him any happier.

  Hours must have passed. I had no way of knowing, and I had to stop once or twice to rest. My skirts and cloak hung heavy with the weight of mud at the hem, and a small part of my brain wondered where my jeans were. Had they been lost in time? If
I had traveled back in time to my arrival, yet arrived in Mary’s brown silk dress, where were my clothes? It boggled the mind.

  The trees fell away, and I knew I was near the summit. Twenty minutes more of the most excruciating part of the climb, and I dragged myself over the top of the hill. As before, I couldn’t see the valley before me because of the misty rain, but I knew it was there. I followed the path.

  “Laddie,” I called out softly. I knew that the dogs were out there somewhere, and I knew their hearing would be excellent. “Laddie.”

  Nothing. No dog barked. Nothing came rushing at me. Nor did a tall man whom I loved wrap his arms around me. I wasn’t entirely sure that Colin would embrace me, at any rate. I hurried on.

  Sometime later when I felt I must be nearing Malcolm’s cottage, I called for the dog again, keeping my voice low.

  “Laddie! Laddie!”

  Then I heard him. He barked from somewhere ahead of me.

  “Laddie!” I called louder.

  An arm came around my neck and yanked me backward, and I shrieked. Another arm came around my waist, pinning my arms to my sides.

  “Colin! Let go,” I choked out. “You’re hurting me.”

  “Who do ye be?” a male voice whispered near my ear. It wasn’t Colin’s deep baritone, but more of a high-pitched tone. I tried to turn to look at my assailant, but I couldn’t move.

  I did the only thing I could do. I lifted my leg and kicked at his kneecap with all my might.

  With a curse, the man let me go, and I swung around, wondering what to do next. I had no weapon to fight him off if he came at me again, and I fully expected him to.

  It was no man who had slumped to the ground, clutching his knee and howling, but a tall boy, hardly more than thirteen or so, with long scraggly reddish hair and a muddy freckled face. His clothing was wet and filthy.

  “Samuel?” I put out a hand as if to stop him from rising to attack me again, but he hardly looked like he was going anywhere at the moment.

  Laddie barked and ran toward me from out of the mist. He pressed himself against me as if to protect me.

  “Laddie!” a voice called. Malcolm! Laddie ran away, presumably returning to Malcolm’s side.

  I turned back to the boy, who still cursed and nursed his knee. He looked up and eyed me wildly with dark-blue eyes.

  “Malcolm!” I called. “Malcolm! Here!”

  “Where is Lord Anderson?” I asked Samuel.

  He moved to a crouching position on one knee, still holding the other, but said nothing.

  Malcolm appeared out of the mist, Laddie at his side, panting. The other dogs followed, encircling the scene as though trying to herd us.

  “Here! What’s this?” Malcolm said, eyeing both of us.

  “Samuel attacked me!” I pointed accusingly. “I’m looking for Lord Anderson. Is he all right? Have you seen him?”

  It had occurred to me I might be too late. Samuel was obviously disturbed, maybe in a perpetual state of fright. What if he had already killed Colin? I saw no blood on his muddy hands.

  “And who might ye be?” Malcolm asked, directing his question to me.

  I turned to look at him, my eyes now as wild as the boy’s. Malcolm didn’t know who I was.

  “I’m Lord Anderson’s fiancée. He came up here a few hours ago. I need to see him.”

  Malcolm turned and spoke to Samuel in Gaelic. I don’t know what he said, but his tone seemed aggressive, as if he censured the boy. Samuel pushed himself off from his kneeling position and hobbled off down the path in the direction of the cottage.

  “No! Wait! He’s dangerous!” I cried out. “He’s going to kill Colin!” I knew how crazy I sounded, but I couldn’t possibly explain time travel to Malcolm.

  “The lad is just troubled, mistress. He isna dangerous. I am sure he meant ye no harm.” Malcolm leaned on his shepherd’s hook. “Ye say his lairdship is up here?”

  “Yes, he just came up here. I followed him, but I’m sure he must have arrived a few hours ago. And Samuel is dangerous. I know he’s troubled, but he’s also dangerous. I need to find Lord Anderson, and I need to talk to Samuel’s grandfather.”

  “If ye were coming up here, why didna ye travel with his lairdship?”

  I almost stomped my foot in frustration.

  “Because he didn’t want me to follow him, Malcolm. Okay? Now, where do you think he is? Where are the Jacobites?”

  At this, Malcolm visibly stiffened.

  “I know all about them. I’m sure that’s where Colin is. He’s going to try to take them to Glasgow. I just need to see that he’s safe, that Samuel doesn’t injure him. The English soldiers will be here soon, maybe today, maybe tomorrow or the day after. They’re searching for this little group of rebels.”

  Malcolm’s eyes hardened, and he rubbed at his beard, looking down at the dogs as if to consult them.

  “I ken where they are,” he said finally, in a gruff voice. “It isna far. Come to my cottage and take shelter from the rain. I will find Laird Anderson.”

  “No, I want to go with you,” I said.

  Malcolm shook his head.

  “Women!” he mumbled. “Come then, if ye must.”

  He turned and strode down the path, and I hurried in his wake, the dogs following us. He didn’t talk to me, and I was too exhausted to speak. We passed his cottage, which did indeed look invitingly dry and warm, with smoke emanating from the chimney. Fifteen minutes later, he veered off the path toward the left and headed into a small grove of trees.

  He called something out in Gaelic, and an old man who looked as if he was on death’s doorstep stepped out from behind trees. Malcolm and the old man spoke to each other in Gaelic.

  Colin appeared out of the mist.

  “Beth!” he said, striding toward me. “What are ye doing here? Didna I tell ye that ye couldna come wi me?”

  Thankfully, he wrapped me in an embrace. Everything was all right. He was alive, and I was in his arms. I breathed in his woodsy scent.

  “I couldn’t stay there. I had to follow you.”

  Malcolm turned and spoke to Colin in Gaelic. Colin asked him a few questions, then turned to the old man, who I assumed was Donald, the boy’s grandfather, and the one who would not be able to make the journey out of Scotland due to his poor health. I recognized him as the old man to whom Colin had been speaking in the glen.

  “Samuel attacked ye?” Colin asked me.

  I nodded. “Yes, on the path. I’m not sure what he was planning to do, but yes, he came at me from behind. I don’t know what you’re going to do about him. In my opinion, he is dangerous. He needs help.”

  “Aye,” Colin said with a nod, “but he willna get help here in the Highlands. He’ll do better when he is safely away from Scotland.”

  “If you can get him out of here before he kills someone.”

  “I am forewarned, Beth. He willna brandish a sword or a dirk while I have aught to say about it.”

  He kissed the top of my head.

  “But what canna I do wi ye? I must take them to Glasgow. I dinna think they can manage alone.”

  I clutched the front of his jacket.

  “No, that’s just how it happens. No!”

  Colin looked up to see if Malcolm and Donald were within earshot, but they had moved away.

  “Didna ye say that Captain Jones was here? That he brought my body back to the castle? Didna ye say that he himself was wounded by the lad? It seems as if things are nae happening as ye remembered. Isna it possible that this time will be different, Beth? That forewarned, I can watch Samuel?”

  I clung to him.

  “I can’t lose you again, Colin. I can’t.”

  “Ye willna lose me, Beth. I dinna want to lose ye either. I dinna want ye traveling in time again to attempt to change the future. It is possible ye canna come back to me.”

  I cupped his face in my hands.

  “I love you.”

  “I love ye too, lass.”

  I swallowed
hard.

  “Show me the boy, then I’ll return to the castle on my own. I’ll be fine. I’ve done it before. I’d better take Donald with me. Remember, I told you that you had to bring him down?”

  Colin tilted his head and eyed me curiously before turning and calling out. Samuel limped out from behind a tree, terrified, his eyes on Colin.

  Colin spoke to him in Gaelic, and from the sound of it, he gave him a talking to. The boy cowered, and my heart went out to him.

  “Stop, Colin. Let me talk to him. Does he speak English?”

  “Aye, a bit.”

  I turned to the boy. Colin kept his arm around me.

  “Samuel, I am so sorry for what has happened to you. I know you’re scared and you’re sad. I know you lost your father at Culloden, but you have to try to control your anger and your fear. Lord Anderson is going to take you away. Your grandfather probably won’t be able to go. He is too sick, but you have to go...to a new life in a new country. Maybe America. You won’t go to an English prison, and you won’t be executed.” I pointed my finger at the boy, staring at me with wide eyes. “But don’t you dare hurt Lord Anderson, or I will haunt you, no matter where you are, and don’t you think I won’t.” That probably wasn’t the best thing to say to a traumatized boy, but it was all I had.

  “Och, Beth,” Colin remonstrated with a chuckle. “The lad will think ye are a witch or a ghost.”

  And indeed, Samuel looked even more frightened than before. But the damage was done. All I could do was smile gently at him and nod. I turned back to Colin.

  “Tell his grandfather that we’re leaving, and give them a chance to say good-bye.”

  “Are ye sure ye can manage the auld man? I think I should come wi ye.”

  I shook my head. “No, I’ll be fine. I want you to go before Stephen arrives.”

  Colin pulled my hands to his mouth and kissed them before turning away to speak to Donald and Malcolm. Laddie came to my side and sat down, as if to comfort me. If Colin and I survived this, we were getting a sheepdog.

  I wandered deeper into the woods and studied the encampment. A small fire burned in the middle, giving off no warmth that I could feel. There was no obvious evidence of food. The two other older men and four boys sat about on rocks and on beds of leaves, watching Colin and Donald...and me. A pathetic-looking group, all huddled in plaids draped around their shoulders. I assumed Colin would have them dispose of their tartans before they reached Glasgow, but for now they needed the warmth of the thick cloth.