Her Secret Protector Bear (Oak Mountain Shifters)

by Leela Ash

  "Ah."

  Andrea frowned slightly. "Do you know what it is?"

  "It's a rune from the old times."

  The look on Andrea’s face must have told Geraldine that she did not understand.

  "It's a powerful artifact. Ye better take care of it. The great Scottish clans would have used something like this against their enemy."

  "You mean black magic?"

  “There is no black magic. Just magic. But it can be used for good or evil."

  Andrea was hypnotized for a few seconds, lost in the gaze of the twinkling eyes.

  She laughed uneasily to break the spell the old woman was weaving. She would have to get moving soon to make it to Glasgow by nightfall. "But of course that's all silly nonsense. We know that now."

  "Is it?” The old lady leaned forward. “This is such a special spot. It is said that Iona is a place where the thinnest of veils separates time and eternity."

  Andrea felt uncomfortable. She knew what Geraldine was saying, but it was all a little too late for that. She had made her mind up and set the wheels in motion. There was to be no going back, and not wanting to be rude, she stood, ready to leave.

  "I have to go. My flight is tomorrow."

  The old lady handed back the stone and looked seriously at Andrea.

  "Rushing towards the future, that's what everyone seems to be doing these days. But don't forget yesterday. We can learn a lot by reflection. Remember, as one famous author once said, “The past is a different country—they do things differently there."

  It was a strange thing to say, but it had been a strange day all around. Putting the stone back in her pocket, Andrea smiled and bid farewell before quickly heading out. On the short walk back across the road and down to the chapel, she was conscious of the rune in her pocket and could almost feel it burning away against the denim of her jeans. She would be glad to get rid of it once and for all.

  Chapter 5

  It was almost midday by the time she had skirted the wall and walked back around to the grave of Alexhander McDonald. The place was deserted and the air seemed quieter than usual, if that could have been possible. It was as if someone had muffled the air, like the effect of thick snow in winter.

  Kneeling by the side of the grave, she pulled out the stone and started to dig it into the earth with her fingers, just as the old Abbey bell began to toll noon. The sound of the ringing made her look up, and she saw that the clouds had started to gather. The sun was almost covered by a thick white cloud that seemed to be descending like a fog all around her. The air felt suddenly chill and she shivered, wrapping her arms about her body as a defense against the sudden cold.

  The mist dampened the air and she could feel stray strands of hair start to stick to the nape of her neck with the moisture. As the air thickened, she started to panic, robbed of all visual reference to the world around her. It was funny how the loss of just one of the senses could bring about a sense of panic. Andrea breathed deeply to calm herself. She was just being silly and needed to stand her ground until the fog lifted, which it surely must.

  Scotch mist, she laughed inwardly at the thought. In New York it was a whisky-based cocktail, quite different to the real thing. Something to tell her buddies back home, anyway.

  After a few minutes, the clouds began to clear, the white fog swirling into phantom shapes before her eyes. As the looming shape of the abbey started to appear once more to her left, she thought she could hear the muffled toll of the noon bell again. It must be an auditory allusion brought on by the freak weather—or even the toll of the all clear?

  Although she was certain that she had stood quite still, when the air cleared Andrea was disorientated. The little chapel was still in front of her, yet the grave she had been kneeling at only a few moments ago looked fresh and without a headstone, a hand-hewn wooden cross marking the spot. She was crying too, and the tears fell down her cheeks for the loss of something she could not quite grasp. Something was different; even the air had changed. Turning quickly, Andrea looked back towards the road. A few rocks and an expanse of wild gorse occupied the site of the St. Columba hotel. Turning all the way around, her eyes widened. Gone were the simple white houses and the road. Even the Abbey had changed. It wasn't as grand, and she didn't know much about architecture, but it seemed from a much earlier period, almost medieval. The only building she could see was the old nunnery in the near distance, now no longer a ruin but a fully functioning building. Andrea shook her head as she saw two black-draped nuns walk across the little garden to the front of the building. It was all utter madness. Maybe she had fallen and received a blow to the head, or fallen asleep and was in the middle of a most vivid dream? Incredulous, she looked down. Gone were her jeans and fleece, and in their place a long garment, some sort of smock with the arms covered. Her feet were bare and her hair fell in loose curls around her neck. Her hand was still tightly grasped around the rune, but she had no time to wonder.

  At the sound of voices drifting from the chapel, Andrea started to panic. Confused and disoriented, she did the only thing she could think of and quickly ran to the far wall of the chapel and hid from view. Several men appeared, all wearing long tunics strung with belts and woolen wrappings. Some wore small black caps while others carried swords. The accents were thick and she strained her ears to hear the conversation, closing her eyes to concentrate on the foreign sounds.

  "Andra?" a thick accent called out, and as Andrea opened her eyes, she was shocked to see a tall, dark man approaching her. With a sword by his side, he looked fierce as he strode towards her, and she moved closer to the wall in alarm. His face was one of both amazement and sheer joy as he took her in his arms. She felt too weak and tired to resist.

  "Andra, I have just been praying for you. It is a miracle. I sat with you all last night and hoped to God that you would live and now here you are. But what are you doing out here? You have no slippers on yer feet and you are cold. We must get you back to the nunnery.”

  Andrea could only look back open mouthed. She had never had so little to say.

  "Come with me, you'll be catching yer death. I almost lost you once and I don’t want that to happen again. I have a little time before we join Alasdair Macolla MacDonald at Inverlochy to meet that bloody Campbell Clan.”

  "Alexhander!" a voice called across to them.

  He looked around in response.

  "Don't forget the meeting tonight," the man smiled and nodded at Andrea as he walked past them.

  Taking her gently by the arm, Alexhander led her down the small path to the gate in the wall. She walked the short way to the nunnery in a daze, convinced that at any moment she would wake up and return to reality. Her best bet for the moment was to remain silent. The name Alexhander was the same name as on the grave and in her Grandma's diary. Maybe the strain of the last few weeks had been too much, after all?

  They approached a great oak wooden door in a large square building attached to the chapel of the nunnery. After banging loudly for admittance, Alexhander attempted to pull her close and she froze in his arms, eyes wide in alarm.

  "Andra, I realize you have been weak and it is a sorrow that the child did not live, but there is time, and we shall have our son. There has not been one day that has gone by when I have been out with the men that I have not thought about you and what we have lost. It is not only your heart that has been broken."

  Pulling her closely, Alexhander brought his face to hers. She could smell his masculinity, sweat, and long days spent amongst men and horses. Turning, she lowered her head just as the door opened before them. A woman clothed from head to foot in black stood before them and looked as shocked as Alex to see the girl, her face turning white and her eyes widening.

  "Andra, my sweet child, where on earth have you been? Alex, I’m so sorry–I did not know that she had crept out. I only left her for a moment. I thought she was still unconscious. Now leave her to me and I will take care of her."

  For a moment he stood there, quietly lo
oking at her as if thinking of something more to say. For all of his strength and weaponry, he looked like a broken man.

  "Go now, Alex. You can come to her later."

  With a nod of his head and a final look at Andrea, he turned around and walked back in the direction of the chapel.

  Abbess Helena looked quizzically at the girl. In the black cloak and wimple, she could have been any age but Andrea guessed she must be in her mid 50s. She smiled down at Andrea, but the warmth did not extend to her eyes.

  The two women walked down a small and dark corridor to another room that was sparsely furnished yet comfortable with a bed and a small table and chair. There was a grate within the fireplace that contained the remnants of an old fire, grey ash and soot. Combs and ribbons were strewn around the room and a small mirror rested on an old chest. The bed linen was exquisitely embroidered with pictures of birds and flowers and red velvet curtains hung around the bed posts, giving the impression of luxury among the plain fitments.

  Andrea sat down on the bed and put her head in her hands. The room seemed almost familiar. Not that she had seen anything like it before, but her skin tingled with a feeling of déjà vu. The Abbess reached out and placed her hand on the younger girl’s shoulder. The touch of her hand caused Andrea to finally buckle, and she started to weep.

  "There, there, my girl. You have been through so much and you still need to rest. It is a pity that Alexhander has to go away to fight, but your husband is a good man, and he has suffered too. Perhaps you both need some time."

  Her husband! Andrea stared open mouthed at the woman before her.

  "I should know. I love my brother dearly."

  Andrea found her voice at last. "I don't know what's happened to me."

  Helena smiled sadly. "You have been very ill, my child. You lost your first born, a son, over a week ago, and we almost lost you too. Until last night, we thought that you would not recover. You had developed a terrible fever, and the physician said there was nothing else that we could do, except pray. Your recovery is truly a miracle. Now, with our care you will grow stronger each day and soon you will be able to go home."

  Home! Andrea's thoughts shifted to New York and Steve. She would have surely missed her flight back home by now?

  "Where is home?"

  “Why Dounarwyse Castle, of course, over the waters in Mull.”

  Andrea started to stand, and she could feel herself shaking. She grasped at the Abbess’ cloak. "You don't understand, I'm not who you think I am. Something has happened to me this morning. I was by the chapel, taking this to one of the graves."

  Holding up the stone, her hand started to visibly shake. Everything she said or thought seemed ludicrous, and she could feel herself start to shout.

  "All of this is ridiculous! This morning I woke and it was the year 2015. Now I seem to be in some BBC drama from the dark ages. What year is this, for God’s sake?" Andrea’s cheeks flushed as she became almost hysterical.

  The Abbess stood watching her with a growing look of concern on her face. She had seen this all before and something was wrong. Moving slowly to the table, she picked up a small flask and poured a quantity into a silver goblet.

  "It's the year of our Lord 1644, Andra."

  Sitting back on the bed, she started to weep once more. "I just want to go home."

  "You will be home soon, I promise. Now drink this, it will make you feel better.”

  Reluctantly taking the goblet in her shaking hands, Andrea sniffed suspiciously at the liquid. It smelled bitter, of herbs and fruit.

  "It will help you sleep. It will not harm you, I promise."

  Putting the rim of the beaker to her lips, she paused. This was all just a strange dream, of that she was certain. What else could explain this? She was tired too, and maybe the next time she woke, she would be back in the hotel room. Knocking back the draft in one, she handed back the goblet.

  The liquid, though slightly acrid, was warming with a hint of alcohol, and she felt a soft glow around her. The woman in front of her was speaking, but she could not understand the words, the face of the speaker growing hazier as her eyes grew heavier. Settling herself back on the bed, she was soon in a deep and dreamless sleep. The Abbess picked out a woven blanket from the chest and placed it over the girl to keep her warm. The small stone had fallen from her hand onto the floor. Helena picked up the small object and inspected it carefully. Then, slipping it into her pocket, she silently left the room, closing the door behind the sleeping girl.

  Chapter 6

  Alexhander McDonald was uneasy. His wife Andra had seemed strange, almost distant, like the first time he met her three years ago. Yet he had fallen in love with the odd young woman the moment he set eyes on her. She had been found in the chapel by Helena, lost and alone. She had been ill and talked of strange things, of a far and distant land from where she had traveled. On many occasions they found her in the early morning, slumped on the dewy grass surrounding the chapel. She had gabbled incoherently about trying to get home, and they had resorted to locking her door each evening to keep her from harm. Slowly she had gathered strength and had started to talk to him. She spoke of a magical land where metal machines carried men and women over both land and air, where people could talk to each other across the world using a small metal box. It was all so fantastical, so removed from his ken that at first he had thought she was mad. Yet there was something about this determined and strong young woman with the sparkling blue eyes that convinced him otherwise.

  As the months passed by, her strange talk diminished and she seemed to settle into a peaceful routine with the nuns and the help of his sister, the Abbess Helena. He had visited her often, and she had eventually reciprocated his love. Everything had been going so well until she lost the baby and nearly died too. But now she seemed on the verge of madness again, talking strangely of things he could not understand. He would be fighting soon, and he feared for her safety should the war be lost.

  She had not shared his bed for several months. He had been frightened of her delicate condition and had not wanted to force his lust onto her. Yet he loved her with a passion and ached for her until he could hardly bear it. In a few days he would be gone and who knew if and when he would return? He had hoped to give her another child, so that even though he might not return, part of him would live on. He would go to her tonight and see how she was.

  Back in the room, Andrea woke with a start, wondering where the hell she was. The light had faded and long shadows fell across the bed. At first she thought she was back in the hotel bedroom and had just woken from a strange dream, but as her eyes became more accustomed to the light, she saw the shadows of the simple furniture and the outline of the embroidered birds on her quilt. For a moment she lay still, not quite knowing what to do or think, a bitter taste of herbs still lingering on her lips. Her mind raced back to the entries in her grandmother’s diary. Surely it could not be a coincidence, some grand hallucination that they were both party to – that would be ridiculous.

  Yet what was the alternative? That somehow she had found herself transported back in time to be with a man that Betty had met in 1956? Now that was ludicrous. But what else could explain her position? Alexhander was an extremely attractive man and she could see why her Gran had fallen for him. The dark and brooding good looks combined with a great physique and a gentle nature... What woman wouldn’t kill to be in her position? But that, too, was a ridiculous notion. This man, this phantom, whatever he was, had been dead for nearly four centuries. Back in her own time, his bones would be rotting in their tomb. There was no sense to it all, none that she could see anyhow.

  Moving quickly from the bed, she moved across the floor and made an attempt to open the door. She had been locked in. Cold and hungry, she crept back underneath the quilt. Although she was terrified, she would just have to sit it out. Either it was a terrible nightmare or a reality. But if Betty had somehow managed to live through the strange ordeal, then so could she.

  At the soun
d of approaching footsteps and the rattle of a key in the lock, Andrea lay back on the bed and closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep. The sound of soft footsteps over the stone floor was soon followed by the hushed whispering voices of Helena and Alexhander.

  “She’s asleep. We better not disturb her.”

  “I need to be with her again Helena, before I ride to battle.”

  “Do you think that would be a good thing, my brother? She is still weak and tired, and I am not sure how strong her mind is.”

  A long sigh ensued as Alex looked over the figure of his sleeping wife.

  “When you return, there will be time.”

  “I may never return.”

  There was a pause as Helena crossed to where her brother was standing and put her arms around him.

  “Do not even think such a thing, Alex. God will be with you. I am certain.”

  “I am worried that she is returning to her old ways. When I first met her, when you had just taken her in, she seemed convinced she was from another time, another place, just as she does now.”

  “It is the fever, that is all. In a few days she will be quite herself again and well enough to go back home. Now you must go to eat with your men. Return here later and she may be awake. The draught I gave her will keep her sleeping for a few hours yet.”

  Andrea felt his soft breath on her forehead before his lips brushed the skin in a tender kiss. Real or not, she had never felt so cared for by a man.

  As soon as she heard the door close and the key turned, she opened her eyes and sat up. She would have to act normal, try and play her part until she could figure out a way to get back to the present time. The thought of being locked in this room and drugged for weeks was not a pleasant thought, and she needed to be strong and in her own mind to get back home. The key to getting back must be somewhere in the chapel grounds and perhaps the small rune had something to do with it. Back at the hotel, Geraldine had seemed to think it held some kind of magic. Searching in her pockets, she realized the stone was missing. The last time she had seen it was when she had shown it to Helena. She searched the room, but it was nowhere to be found. Perhaps the Abbess had taken it as she slept?