Stranded By The Highlander: A Scottish Time Travel Romance-Highlander Forever Book 2

by Preston, Rebecca

  Whatever that was.

  Once night had fallen, she made her way downstairs, still deep in thought about what to do about the situation she was in — how to get more information, how to figure out what the Sidhe wanted her to do, how to do it… and somehow leverage it into a visit home, at least, if not an outright return. Anna had hinted that there was no way back… but Anna was happy here, with a husband and a new family to start. Nancy… well, she had to admit she had more than a passing interest in Malcolm, and from what Anna had said, those feelings were not completely un-reciprocated. But overall, she didn’t have much of a stake in this place, as interesting and exciting as it was. She wanted to go home — if not immediately, then eventually. She could be patient, she decided as she made her way into the dining hall, where dinner was nearly ready. After all, with time travel on the table, time really was on her side. But she needed to find a way home. And to do that, she needed more information.

  She joined Malcolm, Donal and Anna for dinner — they were pleased to see her up and about, the Laird especially, who apologized for having been too busy to come and visit with her.

  “But I trust my wife and my tanist kept you well looked after?” he inquired solicitously, his face a little too serious.

  There was a sudden thump, and Nancy shot a look toward Malcolm, whose face was deliberately blank. If she hadn’t known any better, she could have sworn Malcolm had just kicked his Laird in the shins under the table…

  “I’m almost back to normal, I think,” Nancy said cheerfully, not bringing up the fact that Malcolm and Donal seemed to be squabbling like teenaged boys. “One more night of sleep and I’ll be right as rain.”

  “Good to hear,” Donal said firmly, giving Anna’s hand a squeeze on the table. “We nearly lost this one to a nasty illness when she arrived. When you fell ill too, we were afraid history was repeating.”

  “I even sent word to Maggie,” Anna confessed, smiling a little. “To tell her you were unwell. She wrote back saying that you were tougher than that and wouldn’t need her help like I had.”

  Nancy couldn’t help but giggle, covering her mouth as she did. “She’s very direct, isn’t she?”

  “Oh, aye,” Malcolm agreed, grinning. “Speaking of sending word — did you end up sending men to the village?”

  “Aye, I asked Brendan to look into it. He’s been getting stir-crazy on the walls, I thought it might be good for him to spend a night in the village,” Donal explained, glancing at Nancy. “You met Brendan your first night here, didn’t you?”

  She nodded.

  “He’ll be back on the morrow to report. With any luck it’ll just be rats, but you can never be too careful around here. With a burgh within a few miles, any strange occurrence merits investigating…”

  “Speaking of the burgh,” Nancy said brightly. “I’ve had an idea about how I can spend my time here.”

  “Oh, aye?” Malcolm raised an eyebrow. “And how’s that?”

  “Well, I’ve been thinking about the reason the Sidhe brought me here. They must have had a reason, right? They had a reason for bringing Anna… mine must be coming.”

  Donal’s face was closed. “Aye. I’m hoping it’s not as dangerous as Anna’s purpose was.”

  “Me too,” Nancy said. “Ideally it’ll turn out that the Sidhe just needed someone to teach everyone how to scuba dive. But in the event that it’s something worse than that… well, I want to learn everything that I can about the Fae, the burgh, this whole area… even Nessie, if that’s possible. And in return for you all helping me learn, and teaching me what you can…” She took a deep breath. “I have half a tank of air left, and all my scuba gear is here. I think I can make one trip down to the burgh — not much more than that, though. I want to see if I can get an audience with the Sidhe themselves… to speak to them face-to-face about everything that’s going on. And of course, I’d be more than willing to bring any messages from you all.” She finished speaking, feeling oddly formal. The others had been listening intently as she spoke, and Malcolm was smiling fit to burst.

  “I think it’s a brilliant idea,” he said.

  But Donal’s face was serious. “You say you can safely swim down a hundred feet to the bottom of the Loch with this equipment of yours?”

  “Yep,” Nancy said. No point explaining that she was technically cutting it a little bit fine in regard to the amount of air she actually had left… it wasn’t as if anyone else in this world was going to call her out for breaking the rule of thirds. Unless Anna was hiding some in-depth scuba knowledge away from her, of course. “But only with your permission, Laird Donal. I’m new to all of this… I have no idea how etiquette works when it comes to faeries. I’ll go with your blessing, or not at all. And not until I’ve done plenty of research first, by the way.”

  “That would be wise, I think,” Donal said, frowning. “It’s a good idea, Nancy. I must admit, the idea of speaking directly to our allies is a tempting one. They’re good allies, but they’re rather mysterious in their communications. But I’ll have to give it some thought.”

  “Of course,” she said quickly. “Like I said — I have plenty of research to be getting on with first. With your blessing as well, I hope.”

  “Aye, absolutely. Learn whatever you can from the libraries and the scholars here. You’re a gift from the Sidhe themselves… you’re one of us, Nancy. Our lore is no secret to you.” Donal smiled at her, reached across to clasp her hand in his for a moment. An oddly touching gesture. “And if and when the time comes to go diving…”

  “I’ll carry any message you like,” she promised, smiling.

  They finished their meal happily, chatting away about the goings-on in the castle. It felt good to be around people again, talking and laughing in the crowded hall. Strange, how much like home the castle already felt. Good company would do that, Nancy supposed, smiling around at the friends she’d made. Even the homesickness, the pain of missing her father, felt like it was a comfortable distance away.

  She couldn’t wait to learn more about her new home.

  Chapter 19

  Nancy had been right about the illness. After dinner, she took herself straight up to bed — lingering a little to say goodnight to Malcolm, of course, which drew a beady-eyed gaze from Anna. She tucked herself up in bed and drifted happily off to sleep, where only a few dreams of underwater caves and uncertain air levels disturbed her. And when the sun rose in the morning, creeping over her window ledge to touch her face, she knew as she opened her eyes that she was fighting fit again.

  Still, she made sure to dress warmly before heading downstairs for breakfast… and she certainly knew better than to skip the most important meal of the day, for all that a part of her was tempted to just go straight to the library to study. She zipped down the spiral staircases, already more confident on the precarious steps, and half-walked, half-skipped into the dining hall again… where she ran straight into Malcolm. He was dressed for travel, it looked like — wearing the Clan’s tartan and a thick cloak over his usual ensemble — and he had a couple of oat cakes in his hand that he was tucking into the cloak.

  “Nancy! Good morning,” he said, clearly surprised to see her. “You’re up early.”

  “I’m well again! Want to make the most of it,” she said brightly. “Where are you off to?”

  “I’m heading to the village to check in with Brendan about what’s been going on. He sent word late last night, requesting we bring some of the castle’s dogs down. And I need to stop in at the blacksmith, too. The man owes me money.”

  She decided not to follow that with any questions — it seemed like a rather old grudge. “Are you walking?”

  “No, no. We keep a stable for such purposes.” He tilted his head. “Do people from your time still ride? We know Anna can handle a horse, but she was into all that… so-called historical stuff. Strange, to think of our lives as history.”

  “I can ride,” she said brightly. “My mother took me to lessons when I was
little. It’s been a while, but I think I’ve still got it.”

  “Well.” Malcolm cleared his throat. “Would you like to come with me? Company on the road is always nice. If you’re feeling well enough, of course,” he said hastily. “I just know you were interested to see the village —”

  “I’d love to,” Nancy said, eyes wide — and very grateful that she’d thought to dress warmly that morning, if she was going to be riding in the early morning air. “Just let me grab some breakfast and I’ll be right back!”

  It was the work of a couple of moments to dart into the Dining Hall and seize a couple of the oat cakes that she’d seen Malcolm tucking into his cloak — and thankfully, the coat she was wearing had pockets, too. When she came trotting back out, he extended his arm to her and led her through the great doors and into the bracing morning air beyond. The sun was up, but the chill of the night was still in the air, and she shivered a little, her breath still visible on the cold morning air.

  “We’ll warm up on the road,” Malcolm promised, his long strides carrying him toward a low building around the side of the castle — which Nancy now recognized as a stable. There was a black horse tethered to a rail by the open doors of the stable, tacked up and ready to go — presumably already organized for Malcolm’s use. She supposed a tanist wouldn’t be in the habit of tacking up his own horses. But concern gnawed at her — she knew how to ride, but she certainly didn’t know how to tack a horse up. The lessons hadn’t covered that.

  “Didn’t you say we were taking dogs with us? Are we going to carry them on the horses, or…”

  Malcolm chuckled. “Hunting dogs. They’re used to walking beside horses.” And sure enough, a man was walking around the castle to meet them with two dogs at his side. Anna had always been more of a cat person — but she had to admit, these dogs were rather sweet. They were built like greyhounds, but they didn’t quite look like the kinds of greyhounds she was used to… they were more solidly built, with shaggier, dark brown fur.

  “Tell Brendan I want these two back soon, hear?” the man said, nodding at the dogs. “They’ve got the best noses in the kennel.”

  “How are they with rats? Sounds like that’s what’s wrong down there.”

  “Rats? Why don’t they just get a couple of cats to curb the vermin? These boys are wasted on rats.” The man knelt to scratch one of the dog’s ears — the animal closed its eyes, tongue lolling out in pleasure at the attention. Nancy couldn’t help but smile — four hundred years may have passed, but not much had changed when it came to man’s best friend.

  The dogs fell obediently in behind Malcolm’s horse when their handler whistled. In the meantime, a servant emerged from the stable leading another horse, this one bright chestnut. The man had a saddle and bridle over one arm and set about tacking the horse with practiced motions. Malcolm must have given the word that they’d be needing a second horse… she appreciated it, though she felt a momentary pang of disappointment that they wouldn’t be sharing a steed. The idea of riding close to Malcolm was a rather pleasant one… just because it was cold, of course. No other reason.

  The chestnut was a mare, and Nancy stroked her nose before she readied herself to jump into the saddle. Thankfully, she was a sweet thing, very calm and patient with her nervous rider, and fell happily into step with Brendan’s more spirited black gelding. They rode out through the gate, the dogs walking obediently at the heels of their horses and set off along the shore of the Loch.

  What a beautiful way to spend a morning, Nancy thought to herself, unable to keep the smile from her face. Malcolm had been right — with time, and the exertion of riding, she warmed up pleasantly, until the cool breeze in the air was bracing and not chilling. Her horse had a long, comfortable stride that seemed to eat up the distance without much effort from either of them, and Malcolm regaled her with tales of the patrols he’d been on in the dead of night along this stretch of road… and all the ridiculous false alarms they’d encountered when hunting for Unseelie Fae.

  They rode past Maggie’s cottage — she peered in through the windows, but it was impossible to see if the woman was in there.

  “Probably giving Kaitlyn her lessons,” Malcolm called, grinning. “Best not to disturb them for fear of raising her wrath.”

  Did he mean Kaitlyn’s or Maggie’s? Nancy wondered with a smile.

  The village was everything she’d expected it to be. Unbelievably quaint and beautiful, it sat gathered around the main road like a living creature — the main street populated by shops and storefronts, with a few smaller streets — more like lanes, if she was honest — that seemed to lead to more residential zones. The whole place was barely the size of downtown Raleigh. Still, from what she understood, a few hundred people lived here — it wasn’t the tiniest town imaginable, though compared to her populous hometown, it was pretty small.

  There was an oddly familiar church standing at the top of the road as they rode up it, and she frowned.

  “Is that a Catholic church?”

  “Oh, aye. Well, it is now, with Father Caleb having moved in. He’s an interesting fellow,” Malcolm started — but then looked up, clearly distracted by something. Sure enough, Brendan was striding along the street toward them from what looked like the local tavern, his armor clanking.

  “Oh, good, you’ve brought the dogs. And Nancy,” he added, looking up at her with some surprise. “Good morning. Feeling better?”

  “Lots better, yes, thank you.” It felt odd, so many people inquiring after her health. It had only been a cold… but then again, in this time before modern medicine, a cold could be deadly. She was grateful to have only been bedridden for a few days. “All the better for a ride on this beautiful morning.”

  “Aye, it is that. We’ve got a few more nice weeks before autumn closes in, I’d warrant,” Brendan said, looking up at the sky.

  “What’s the story, then?” Malcolm jumped down from his horse, an effortlessly graceful move that Nancy didn’t dare imitate. There had been a block for her to stand on at the castle… she didn’t want to risk trying to mount her horse again without it.

  “Rats, I reckon. We had a good look around where the thefts had taken place, but there didn’t seem to be anything to indicate anything but vermin. We’ll leave a dog here at the store, and another in the larder at the Church, and see if that helps at all.”

  A man was walking quickly down the street toward them — a skinny, shorter man with brown hair and a somewhat sallow look. He couldn’t be much older than her, though the priest robes he was wearing made him look older, and he looked down at the dogs sitting patiently at Brendan’s feet with a distinct look of unease.

  “Father Caleb,” Brendan said, nodding. “Malcolm’s brought down a couple of dogs, as we discussed. With any luck, they’ll handle your vermin problem.”

  “Very kind of you,” Caleb said, giving Malcolm a stiff little bow. “They’re troubling occurrences, these thefts. I had hoped to keep my larder well-stocked for the needy, but alas…” He peered up at Nancy, clearly unsure of her purpose here. “Malcolm, have you married?”

  Brendan dissolved into a coughing fit. Alarmed, Malcolm cleared his throat. “No! No. No, Father, this is Nancy Kane. She’s visiting with us for a while.” His eyes flicked around the quiet streets of the town — but it seemed that Father Caleb was not among the people who were in on the true story. “From a nearby town.”

  “I wanted to see the Loch,” Nancy said brightly, getting in on the lie immediately. “Lovely to meet you, Father.”

  Caleb offered her a stiff little bow — but it seemed he was too busy to spend long exchanging pleasantries. It wasn’t long before he’d returned to his church, one of the dogs pacing obediently at his heels, and Malcolm, Brendan and Nancy set out for the castle again. Malcolm peeled off at the last minute, citing his grievance with the blacksmith, leaving Brendan and Nancy to make the ride back by themselves. Brendan was perfectly pleasant company, of course, but Nancy couldn’t help but feel
a pang of regret that she wouldn’t get to spend the ride with Malcolm.

  Hmmm, she thought to herself. This might become a problem if I’m not careful.

  Chapter 20

  A few days passed before word came from the village that the thefts seemed to have died down. Father Caleb visited himself, looking somewhat frightened and overwhelmed by the Sept where it stood on the Loch. Nancy happened to be wandering out to the stables to visit with the horse she’d ridden into town, having ‘borrowed’ some oats from the kitchens for it as a snack… she’d grown quite fond of the old chestnut mare in the time they’d spent together. So it was that she saw the Father, creeping through the gate as though ready and waiting to be shot through with arrows.

  It was Brendan that met with him in the courtyard. The Guard Captain seemed to enjoy the man’s clear discomfort with where he was and what he was doing — Nancy could see him deliberately holding himself so that he looked as tall and broad as possible, angling his body so that his cloak fell away from the sword at his hip at every possible opportunity. She knew Father Caleb had been involved, somehow, with the events of Anna’s arrival to the Castle… something to do with witch hunters, and a mutiny among the villagers, and the Loch Ness Monster (Nancy’s particular interest in the story) eating a whole fleet of boats. She hadn’t seen its teeth, but something about the quiet strength in its eyes made her absolutely believe that it was capable of eating a fleet of boats. But what role did Father Caleb play, she wondered, discretely eyeballing the man from her vantage point by the stables. It couldn’t have been that bad, if he was standing there. She got the idea that the men and women of the Sept didn’t tolerate any nonsense from the people they chose to spend time with.