Highland Shifter

by Catherine Bybee

  A tiny fleck of excitement met Amber’s eyes. Helen made a mental note to go through the pictures she had in the camera with Amber to help her prepare.

  “Here we go.” Helen found the photo and zoomed in. Memory of the necklace flooded her mind. “No need to guess anymore.”

  “This is amazing,” Amber took the camera from Helen and stared at the display. “The image of you is perfect.”

  Something Helen took for granted everyday was a miraculous invention to Amber. “Here,” she said, taking the camera from Amber’s hands.

  With a couple adjustments, Helen kept the flash from flooding the room and stood back. “Move closer Simon,” she instructed.

  “I haven’t done this in years.” He moved close to Amber and placed an arm around her shoulders.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Look over here,” Helen told Amber. “Smile.”

  Amber’s smile was as fake as they came. Helen took the shot anyway. After a couple, Amber started to relax and ask questions. “Are you taking our photograph?” Helen kept shooting.

  “I am.”

  “But it only makes a small noise.”

  “But it does a big job.”

  Amber cocked her head to the side and the perfect smile lit her face.

  “Got it.”

  Helen walked over to her subjects and revealed what she’d captured.

  Simon glanced at the photographer with a look of serene pleasure while Amber held an expression of amused fascination. “’Tis me.”

  A soft chuckle fell from Helen’s lips. “It is.”

  Amber placed a hand on Helen’s arm. “Please take these of all our family. Our home. So that I might look back on them when I miss my family.”

  “Consider it done.”

  Without warning, Amber crushed Helen into a huge hug. “You’ve given me such a gift.”

  She glanced at Simon who winked at her. “I haven’t done anything yet.”

  “You’ve given me something to remember everyone by. Not that I could ever truly forget, but this will make my leaving less painful.” A tear fell off Amber’s cheek.

  Helen felt her eyes well up. “Oh, stop that. You’re going to make me cry.”

  Pushing away, Amber picked up her skirts and hurried to the door. “Where are you going?”

  “To tell my mother.”

  Then she was gone.

  The second the door closed Simon placed an arm around Helen’s waist and kissed the top of her head. “You’ve given her something money can’t buy.”

  “It’s just a picture.”

  He shook his head. “What does a family grab when their home is on fire?”

  “Valuables.”

  “No, lass, they grab pictures. Snapshots of family memories money cannot replace.”

  “I didn’t have family photos. Didn’t have a family to take them with,” she mumbled.

  Simon took the camera from her hand and placed it on the table, then wrapped a second arm around her. “I’m sorry you’ve lived your life alone.”

  The hard armor built around the emotions of growing up an orphan started to crack. “It’s hard to miss what you didn’t know.” Amber’s words flowed from her mouth.

  Simon didn’t appear convinced.

  He tilted her head and brought his lips to hers. His kiss was full of emotion. It stole her breath and plucked away at the steel around her heart. Her arms crept around his shoulders, but he didn’t probe further, just took his time savoring this sweet kiss of promise.

  Someone behind them cleared her throat and Helen nearly jumped back. Simon kept her from moving far.

  They both looked at the door at the same time.

  “Mom.”

  Lizzy filled the doorframe and smiled. “Don’t let me interrupt.”

  Simon rolled his eyes. These two had such a healthy relationship.

  “You know…?” She walked in and shut the door. “You really should lock this door.”

  “We were only kissing,” Helen defended them.

  Lizzy waved a dismissive hand in the air. “Not that. Your camera is sitting there, and the stones. What would someone think coming across them?”

  “Amber just left.”

  “Yeah, I know. She said you were taking pictures.”

  Slipping out of Simon’s embrace, Helen picked up her camera and took aim. “Amber wants pictures of everyone.”

  Lizzy slid beside Simon and smiled. “I would too if I were leaving.”

  “You are leaving,” Simon reminded her.

  “Only for a little while. Fin isn’t getting rid of me that easily.”

  Helen managed several shots before Liz stopped her. “We’ll get the whole family together before we leave. No need to do a bunch now.”

  After turning off the camera, she tucked it into her bag. Keeping it in the open was asking for trouble. “I should get back to this anyway.” Helen started to weave the bands of metal together for the chain. At least that part should be easy.

  “Can I have a minute with you?” Lizzy asked her son.

  “Sure.” Simon turned back to Helen. “I’ll be right back.”

  * * * *

  The family hall was vacant. Simon knew a guard was stationed at the top of the stairway, far out of hearing range.

  “So, you and Helen?” Liz asked Simon.

  This was new. His mother never took an interest in his love life. For all he knew, she wasn’t aware he had one. Lizzy wasn’t stupid. Pretending she was would be insulting. That didn’t mean Simon had to share much in the way of details.

  “Helen and I.”

  Liz placed her hands on her hips and attempted a scowl.

  She sucked at scowling.

  “I like her.”

  Simon smiled. “So do I.”

  “She’s smart.”

  “I think so, too.”

  “Smart, but not completely prepared to be here…with you.”

  “What are you dancing around, Mom?”

  “There aren’t corner drug stores, you know, to pick up things. I had to raise you for the first thirteen years of your life by myself. It wasn’t easy.”

  Ah, got it. His mother was giving him a delayed speech about birth control. Not that it existed much in this time.

  Lizzy went on. “The way we all breed around here…. It’s like it’s in the water or something.”

  “It’s in the sex, Mom.”

  She slapped his arm in a playful manner. “You do right by that girl.”

  “Do you really believe you have to tell me this?” In a way, he was offended by the conversation. His mom should know him better than anyone. They’d been through hell and back together.

  “I’m a mom, I worry. I have a right to worry if I want to. Sex makes babies, not that I need to tell you this, and yours will be my grandchildren. You grew up without a father for a lot of years. I know you won’t want that for your children.”

  “Mom?” Simon placed a hand on her shoulder and stopped her tirade. “Helen and I are adults. We will deal with whatever we need to deal with. If you know me so well, you know you don’t have to worry about it.”

  “I still worry.”

  “And I love you for it.” His smile turned into a scowl. “But don’t insult me.”

  He met her shocked expression with silence.

  “I didn’t mean to insult you.”

  “But you did.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I know.”

  Simon left his mother in the hall and went back in the room where Helen worked. When she turned her smile on him part of his anger toward his mother faded.

  However, her words didn’t.

  * * * *

  The sanctuary Helen hoped to share with Simon for the remaining days they had in the sixteenth century was currently being renovated to house Tara and Lora. Much to her utter frustration, cornering Simon alone proved impossible. She was too exhausted to do much other than sleep anyway.

  Finally, after only a
few days of work, the necklaces were completed. With their completion, the reality that they’d be leaving soon crept in.

  Helen managed to take pictures of the family in various places of the Keep. From the high tower, she took shots of the surrounding hills. The final shots of the Keep would have to wait until they left. Nobody went outside the walls without a full escort and certainly not for a frivolous picture.

  Pictures, especially digital ones, lasted forever. Where will these end up, she mused. Who would see them and what impact would they have on the future? Was she changing the future by taking them? Having never been the artsy photographer who took shots with hopes of landing them in the Smithsonian, Helen realized that these could end up on some government database of “X” files about the possibility of time travel. How she downloaded them, and where she put them, would have to be figured out, carefully. Every possible security considered. Every photo placed into a computer had a date stamp on it and location the picture was taken. Although that function probably wouldn’t work in the sixteenth century. Even if it did, anyone analyzing the data would think a computer had screwed up.

  Helen stood over a basin of water, splashing her face and neck. What she wouldn’t do for a shower. The poor excuse for a bathroom stunk and was shared by too many people. She didn’t have long to wait. Their return trip home was less then twelve hours away. Once night fell, they would ride out, find a secluded spot, and slip into the twenty-first century. They had darn well better arrive in Mrs. Dawson’s backyard, or they’d all end up on the news as a band of misfits dressed in medieval garb.

  The original plan was for Helen, Simon, Amber, and Cian to land in Scotland to intercept Philip and learn what he was up to. In light of the new and bigger problem, Scotland would have to wait until they tucked everyone in Mrs. Dawson’s home.

  Helen’s poor friend was going to flip when they arrived. She’d love it. Every noisy inch of it. Mrs. Dawson always wanted children, but was never blessed with them. Careful what you ask for. A crash-course in being a grandparent was about to absorb Mrs. Dawson’s life.

  Frantic pounding on a door down the hall snapped Helen out of her thoughts. Her heart rate kicked in her chest as she flew to the door.

  Shouts started to accompany the pounding. “We’re leaving now.”

  Helen flung open the door and observed the chaos. Children ran to their parents with wide eyes and trembling lips. Simon, wearing only a kilt over his hips, pounded on doors as he ran down the hall.

  Ian ran down the opposite way shouting orders. “Gather only essentials and dress quickly. You ride within the hour.”

  “An hour? What happened?”

  “Their army is on the move,” Ian explained.

  “How soon before they get here?”

  “Two days. We need you to leave and spread word once you’re gone.” Ian placed a hand to the side of Amber’s cheek. “I’m sorry to have you leave like this.”

  Amber nodded and stifled a gasp when Ian turned and fled the hall.

  “Okay, kids. You heard your grandfather. Get dressed and pack only what you can carry. Selma, Briac, help the others.” Tara grasped Amber’s arm and led her away.

  Helen started to follow but Simon stopped her.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked him.

  The hall emptied in seconds, everyone scrambling to follow Ian’s direction.

  “I wanted to show you much more than the inside of these walls. But we’ve run out of time.”

  She sighed and leaned into his broad chest for one blessed moment. “Don’t worry, Simon. The guy in the store said this necklace is good for more than one ride.”

  He chuckled and brought his hands to her face. After one deep, penetrating stare, he grazed his lips to hers and turned to follow Ian.

  One simple kiss and her whole body rippled with pleasure.

  “Helen?” Tara called from Amber’s room, forcing her out of her daze.

  Chapter Twenty

  Rain pelted them on their ride across the Highlands. They rode for only two hours, but it felt like twenty. Sadly, Helen needed to ride with Briac so Simon could protect the women and children if necessary. Briac kept his seat despite the fact Helen nearly dragged him off on at least two occasions. Even with a death grip on the mane of the horse, holding on wasn’t easy. She vowed never again to curse her car for its lack of speed or impeccable timing for breaking down. A car had a roof, heater, and cushioned seats. Black Beauty, or whatever the name of the horse they rode was, didn’t even have a decent saddle.

  Even with her internal complaints, Helen wasn’t oblivious to the others. Myra didn’t so much as squeak and the poor girl was seven months pregnant. Amber hadn’t uttered a word since she left the Keep. They left the Keep with Lora, Tara, Duncan, and Fin, but the four of them were an escort, not part of the future-traveling party.

  Watching Amber part with her father had been painful. Ian’s eyes glossed over and his lip trembled when Amber mounted her horse. At least she would have some family with her for a while longer. But in the end, she would be left in the future without them.

  Without realizing where her gaze landed, she was staring at Simon’s broad shoulders as he led the small band of travelers through the dense wooded forest. Duncan scouted ahead and doubled back constantly. Fin kept with the bulk of them and Cian took up the rear. The sun had set and the last rays of light were fading.

  The forest opened up to a meadow and Duncan stopped their party. “This spot will work.” The rain eased to a small drizzle, which offered some relief.

  With only twenty yards of open space, there was enough room to light a circle with all of them in it. Hopefully their plan would work, and Helen would be standing under pelting hot water within the hour. Without the threat of war, violence, or capture from the wacked-out enemy wanting to steal the MacCoinnich women, Helen could finally let her guard down. Medieval life didn’t hold a whole hell of a lot of appeal.

  Rubbing her butt after sliding off the horse, Helen stood back as the family said their goodbyes. Duncan and Tara spent time assuring their children they would be together very soon. “Listen to Aunt Lizzy and Aunt Myra,” Tara told them.

  “Take charge when the men are absent, Briac.” Duncan patted his son’s shoulder as he spoke. Even though the kid was in his teens, he still had a tear in his eye. Dad did, too. Not that Helen would ever say she witnessed it. These Highland men had a very strict “no crying” creed built in. She couldn’t help but wonder if they could lose an arm and keep from weeping. Something told her they could.

  Tara had Amber in a deathly hug. “I guess I should have known things were quiet for too long.”

  Amber didn’t hold back her tears. They ran down her face silently. “You had the courage to come to us, once upon a time. Now ’tis time for me to go forward. I suppose the Ancients might call it balance.”

  Helen opened her eyes wide to keep her own tears back. Duncan and Fin both held their sister and offered words of strength. Of hope. But when Lora stepped forward, it seemed everyone held his or her breath.

  Lora held both of Amber’s hands as emotion clogged her powerful words. “My lovely daughter. Every time the lord blessed your father and I with another child I had but one wish. I prayed that all of you would live long and happy lives. Duncan found the perfect mate in Tara. She’s witty, strong, and brings laughter to our home. Myra would never have been happy with a man in our time. They simply weren’t diverse enough for her. Todd is everything and more, the perfect husband and father. And Lizzy….” Lora laughed through her tears. “The things she says! God’s blood, we all think them, but she has the courage to say them and make even your father listen. Fin is blessed to have found her and Simon. Our home is stuffed with healthy children and laughter.”

  Lora sucked in her lower lip, tears fell, but she kept going.

  Helen wept openly, not caring. It’s not raining enough for people to think natural causes are to blame.

  Lora placed one hand to the side
of Amber face. “But your laughter has been missing for some time. Every day my heart broke a little more. My beautiful baby was dying, and there was nothing I could do but watch.” Lora’s words sucked into a hoarse whisper. “But then Helen dropped in and offered us hope. Offered you hope. Even if I’m not able to witness your happiness, at least the Ancient’s gave me hope that you would find it.”

  Amber pulled in audible breaths.

  “If our paths never cross again in this lifetime, know that I will see you again in the next. I love you.”

  Amber threw her hands around her mother’s shoulders and cried the wail of the grieving.

  Helen had to turn away. Lora’s love was strong enough to move mountains. At least Amber would always know that her mother cared.

  Simon appeared at Helen’s side, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. He placed his lips to her temple in silent understanding. Calm settled over her.

  Although, the grief she witnessed was not her own, it still hurt. Helen vowed in that moment to be as much help to Amber in the future as she could. They would both be orphans in a sense. If there was one thing Helen knew, it was how to be a woman without a family.

  Of that, Helen was the resident expert.

  Amber and Lora broke apart, and more goodbyes spread.

  When Helen turned around most of her tears were gone.

  “Are you ready?” she asked Amber.

  After removing the moisture from her face with the back of her hand, Amber forced a smile and nodded. “Ready.”

  Lizzy had helped Helen with the words to move them through time. Liz thought it would be stronger coming from the person wearing the necklace and had the forethought to consider that Amber would be too upset to talk.

  She had been right.

  Everyone traveling, all six adults and eight children formed a circle. The adults spread among the kids, easing their discomfort. Simon removed a knife from his waist. “We should shed a drop of blood,” he told everyone.

  But when he went to cut his own hand Helen’s skin jolted. “No!”

  He stopped his action and pitched his brows together.

  “No. That isn’t how I did this the first or second time I went through time.” And the kids didn’t need any more stress than they already have. Even though Cian held a time traveling stone in a knife at his waist, Helen looked to Amber for help.