She once again remained silent realizing that no doubt the search party was returning or another followed in their path.
After several minute passed without a sound she looked at him questionably.
He bent down and to her surprise stole a quick kiss and with a strong hook of his arm around her waist he had them out from the bushes and on their way, in a different direction then the search party.
She tried to fashion some type of story to tell him if he should ask again what manner of dress she wore. She wanted to be ready for him. She also wondered if her family was aware by now of what happened and how long before they could locate her.
Aunt Tempest and Uncle Michael were due to join the holiday celebration soon after Jade had left for the party, another reason her parents probably hadn’t wanted her to go. But she had visited with her aunt and uncle and their twin boys not long ago in Scotland and had been looking forward to seeing them after the party. Now it would be up to them to rescue her, for only they possessed the power to do so.
That was if Alex made it home, or had he been lost in time along with her? No, he hadn’t responded when she had called out to him because he wasn’t here with her. He was home where they both should be this very moment. Where she desperately wished she could be.
Jade almost tripped for the third time, her thin high heels not good for the woodsy terrain, and the Highlander grabbing tight hold of her and preventing her fall each time. Until finally... he stopped, plopped her down on a rotting stump, swiped her shoes off her feet and tossed them into the woods.
She thought he would demand to know about what manner of dress she wore again, but he didn’t. He grabbed her around the waist and all but carried her along with him, her bare feet barely touching the ground.
Jade wanted to know where he was taking her but she had little chance to ask, little chance to do anything but go along with him. Naturally she was nervous, but there were always her abilities to call on if necessary, though she much preferred not to. She did not want this Highlander to know she was a witch.
It wasn’t long before they came upon a small cottage that looked in need of repair. With the sky darkening overhead and thunder rumbling in the distance, Jade was relieved they would have shelter.
He hurried her inside just as the first raindrop splattered on the ground and after giving her a gentle shove inside and securing the latch, he turned.
“Now that I have saved a witch, you belong to me?”
~~~
“I am not a witch and I most certainly do not belong to you,” Jade said adamantly, her cheeks burning red with anger, an annoying trait she wished she could avoid.
“How can you deny who you are?” His glance ran over her much too intimately. “Only a witch would dare wear such an indecent garment and for one reason only... to entice a man to his doom.”
“Then if you believe me a witch, don’t you fear being enticed to your doom?”
He shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. “I saved you, therefore, you are beholden to me.”
Why did she have to be impressed by his muscles? Here she was having traveled through time and what does she do? She admires a Highlander’s muscles. Was she an idiot? She had to take control not only of the situation, but of him. And the place to start was with his name. At least knowing it would allow her to weave a spell if necessary. And buy her time for her family to locate her and bring her home.
“What is your name?” she asked firmly, though kept demand out of her tone.
“I would be a fool to reveal that to you,” he said with a grin. “I am not completely ignorant of a witch’s way, though I will have your name.”
She saw no harm in it and gave it freely, hoping he may at some point change his mind and share his name with her. “Jade.”
“Jade,” he said, “a strange name for a beautiful witch.”
He thought her beautiful. She caught herself before she responded with a smile. Whatever was the matter with her? Her circumstances were dire and here she was sensitive to the fact that he thought her beautiful. Need she forget that he also thought her a witch?
“Why do you say I am beholden to you?” she asked rubbing the chill from her arms.
He walked over to a three-legged chair lying on its side on the earth floor, grabbed it and snapped it over bended knee to break easily into pieces. He scooped them up, tossed them in the fireplace and set to work starting a fire.
Only when he got a fire going did he answer her. “Being a witch you know why, but I will play your game for in the end you know you cannot deny me.”
Deny him. She didn’t like the sound of that, even though he was right. It was part of the Witches Code, though a very old part that very few were aware of or acknowledged. Perhaps it was known well in this time period.
“A witch is beholden to anyone who saves her life and does her no harm.”
“For how long?” she asked, though knew the answer.
He moved closer and took hold of a strand of her hair that curled at her shoulder and rubbed it between his fingers. “Silky and soft, the color of moonlight, and so very lovely.”
It was odd to hear a man admire her hair in such a way. A modern man might comment on her being a natural blond but never would one compare it to the color of moonlight. And she found she rather liked the comparison. It was romantic.
She gave herself another silent warning. She was letting control of the situation slip away from her and that could prove dangerous. She had to keep her wits about her. It wasn’t easy though with him standing so close. Where before a chill had run through her, heat now slowly consumed her body and the fire wasn’t providing the heat. The Highlander was affecting her like no other man ever had. And it was so unlike her to feel this way on first meeting someone. Naturally, she had been attracted to the men she dated, but never had she experienced such a strong appeal to a man so soon.
She had always been careful and selective when it came to men. She wanted time to get to know them, while they wanted to get to know her intimately right away. Not an option for her.
When it came to the Highlander she wondered if she would want to wait to get to know him or be careless and throw caution to the wind as Aunt Sydney would say. That thought was like a slap in the face to her. Was she losing all sound reason? She always prided herself on her sensibility when it came to men. And this foreign reaction of hers to the Highlander was far from sensible.
She forced herself to remain focused. “How long?” she repeated realizing he hadn’t answered her question.
“Until the witch bestows a favor.”
Jade felt herself backed into a corner. He believed her a witch and she doubted he would relent and believe otherwise. Therefore he would not release her. She could admit she was a witch and grant him a favor, allowing her to be on her way. Both solutions meant revealing herself as a witch, a dangerous declaration in this era.
He leaned close, as if he meant to kiss her and said, “Your loveliness stuns the eyes.”
Were her knees going weak from his words?
His arm slipped around her waist and drew her close. “You grow weak?”
Damn if she wasn’t. He was melting her with his romantic words.
She had to put an end to this. He was a Highlander warrior and she was a modern witch. Nothing could ever come of them. If anything, it was a mere romantic fantasy, the stuff that books were written about.
She had to get rid of him and concentrate on connecting with her family and finding the way back home. The only way she could do that was...
She gave him a gentle shove and said, “You’re right. I am a witch. What favor do you want of me?”
He smiled. “I knew it as soon as I first laid eyes on you. Your strange yet enticing scent, your garments just as strange and just as alluring and your beauty like no other I have ever seen. You had to be a witch, for you tempted my soul at first glance.”
He was all but blaming the witch in her for tempting him
and yet he made it sound romantic. She shook her head at the crazy thought and warned herself once again to concentrate and be done with him.
“Let me think,” he said and took a step toward her.
Jade backed away from him, his dark eyes warning that he may ask for something she would not be willing to give.
“You cannot deny me.”
She didn’t like the reminder and she grew more concerned over the favor he would ask of her. “Your favor can bring harm to none, otherwise I can deny you.”
“I wish no one harm,” he said.
“Then ask your favor and be done with it.”
“And you will grant it?” he asked a bit doubtfully.
Jade had enough. “Ask and get it over or I just may turn you into a toad for annoying me.”
He walked over to her, rested his hands at her waist and said, “Be my wife.”
~~~
Jade stared at him speechless for several moments before she was able to ask, “Be your wife?”
“Aye,” he nodded.
“That’s more than a favor you ask of me.”
“It is best for both of us.”
“I don’t see how,” she said slipping away from him only to have his strong hands draw her back to him again.
“Trust me when I say we were fated to meet.”
“Trust you?” she said with a choked laugh. “I don’t even know your name.”
“You will if you marry me.”
Jade was beginning to wonder if perhaps she had fallen down the rabbit hole, nothing made sense.
His hand slipped around her neck and his lips drifted to hers. “Can you not feel the magic between us?”
He felt it too, this pull, tug, draw that refused to let go, that made no sense but somehow seemed so right. Could it be real?
“My name is Tor, I give you my name as you freely gave me yours.” He waited his lips hovering just above hers.
His words struck a familiar chord that she had heard before but couldn’t quite grasp, like a word on the tip of the tongue one fought to recall.
She went to shake her head but his mouth caught hers and he kissed her, chasing the last of sound reason from her mind and leaving nothing but the kiss. It melted her defenses and she was soon lost to its power.
Tor’s head shot up suddenly, though his arm remained firm around her waist.
“Come out, witch, we know you’re in there,” yelled a man outside the cottage.
“Stay close and hold tight. I will keep you safe,” Tor warned and with that he tugged her along as he hurried them outside.
Fear shot through Jade as she glanced at five men who stood sword in hand. In the middle of them sat a stack of tree branches, kindling for fire to burn the witch. This was not happening. This was all a dream and she needed to wake up. She had wasted precious time on the Highlander when she should have been trying to connect with her family.
She silently reached out to the ones she knew had the power to help her. Aunt Tempest, Uncle Michael, I need your help.
“Let the witch go and we will not harm you, we will free you of the spell cast over you,” one man said.
“We have wed,” Tor said as if it settled the matter.
The men gasped. “Yea has wed a witch?”
“Jade is my wife,” Tor said and turned to her.
Jade knew he wanted her to confirm the same and at the moment she thought it might be in her best interest to do so, after all her words meant nothing. “Tor is my husband.”
The men gasped again.
Jade felt the earth shudder and she almost sighed aloud with relief. Her family had found her and was opening the sands of time to bring her home.
“Let us save you,” one man called out. “The witch has befuddled you just as he befuddled poor Margaret. Let us burn him and save your soul.”
Jade couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It was Tor they searched for; he was a witch?
He pulled her up against, grinned, and then kissed her as they were yanked into the swirling void and damn if he didn’t rob her of her senses again and she didn’t surrender again.
Jade landed with a thud on a bed of thick grass that had barely softened her landing. She didn’t want to open her eyes and have to face her family.
“Wake up, wife, we’re home.”
Jade bolted up, her eyes turning wide at the castle a few feet in front of her. People in peasant garb tended numerous bonfires that burnt brightly, which were meant for only one thing; to help the souls of the dead find their way home on All Hallows Eve and to keep evil spirits away. She knew well the activities, her family often talking of past celebrations, which meant she was still far from home.
She struggled to get to her feet, forgetting her feet were bare while demanding, “Where am I?”
“Where your family intended you to be,” Tor said reaching down and with a firm arm around her waist lifted her up in a flash.
She gave his chest a good shove and almost stumbled when he abruptly released her. He was quick to grab hold of her again.
“Have your footing yet?” he asked with a grin.
“You can release me now.”
He did, though said, “Aye, I’ll be doing that soon enough.”
Jade sensed that they weren’t speaking about the same thing and it was about time she got clarification. “Start explaining.”
“It that a demand, wife?”
She wanted to wipe his growing grin off his face when she realized how appealing he looked in the dark of night with a full moon silhouetting him.
Full moon? Last place there was a waning moon.
She shook her head. “Yes, it’s a demand. What do you mean I’m where my family intended? And after you released me you implied that you would be releasing me yet again. What do you mean? I want answers and I want them now.”
“Your family should be the ones subjected to that temper of yours.”
“I do not have a temper. I am a reasonable person, wanting sensible ans—”
He grabbed her and kissed her once again turning her legs weak. When he ended the kiss all too quickly, he said, “A pleasant way to silence you.”
Jade took a moment to gather her thoughts, his kiss somehow always leaving her weak and breathless. “I’ll remain silent if you will explain.”
Tor nodded and held out his hand. “Let’s walk; they’re expecting us.”
Jade almost asked who was expecting them, but clamped her lips shut and slipped her hand in his. His large hand wrapped around hers, his warmth seeping into her, offering comfort.
“Your mother and father had an idea that the rest of your family thought a wise one. And so they fashioned a plan, All Hallows Eve being the perfect time for it. The sands of time would open and make time-travel that less difficult.”
Tor looked to see if she would comment and when she didn’t he smiled and gave her hand a squeeze. “Your parents know how important your studies are to you and so they arranged for you to study with the wisest of teachers.”
Jade couldn’t contain her excitement. “Edrea, the wise?”
Tor nodded. “My grandmother.”
That turned Jade speechless.
“So it is not only kisses that turn you speechless.”
“Surprise does have that effect on me as does your kisses.” Had she just admitted to his kisses alone silencing her? There was no question about it, she was losing her mind.
“That is good to know, lass,” he said and before she could respond he continued. “All was set. The transport was to take place at your home, that mortal party you had to attend delaying the surprise. Your cousin Alex was charged with seeing you transported here before All Hallows Eve ended where everyone would be waiting to celebrate the remainder of the three day festival and your good fortunate of studying with a renowned healer.”
“What went wrong?” Jade asked.
“Do you recall an old hag giving you an apple just before transporting?”
“Yes, I do.�
�
“And you are well aware that all manner of creatures and evil spirits walk the earth on All Hallows Eve intending harm?”
She nodded.
“That woman was one of them and that apple was cursed by a spell. Alex made it to the castle yonder but you were sent spinning out of time and place, landing you in Scotland during the burning times.”
Jade frowned. “Why send you and not my Aunt Tempest or Uncle Michael?”
“I often travel through time and I am particularly skilled at traveling the sands of time and...”
Jade waited having sensed there was more to why he had rescued her and not family.
“The spell on the apple made your return impossible unless you returned with a husband.”
She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“You and Alex were separated during transport because you were not husband and wife. When it was discovered you needed to wed to return home, the natural solution was for me to go find you, wed you to bring you home and release you once here.”
“Now I remember,” Jade said. “It started at the party with hearing a voice ask about going home and it’s time, which had to be my family summoning me.”
He nodded.
She stared at him a moment. “You wed me in the Old Way, claiming names and declaring we took each other as husband and wife.”
“And we can dissolve the marriage the same way,” he said.
Had he sounded reluctant?
Jade stopped abruptly and turned wide eyes on him. “Once I gave you my name you put a spell on me so that I would find you appealing and surrender to whatever you asked.” She shook her head again. “You befuddled poor Margaret thinking her me.”
“I did,” he admitted, “then realized my mistake. And it was a small, barely significant spell I cast on you.”
She shook his hand off and with a wave of her hand around her said, “Cleanse me of the spells that be, no one is in command of me.”
Once she finished she walked up to him, threw her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on his lips.
Tor responded wrapping his arms around her waist and drawing her close.
Their kiss didn’t end quickly, but did end reluctantly.
“A good-bye kiss for your husband?” he asked. “Now we need only say the words and we dissolve the marriage.”
Donna Fletcher Short Story Collection Page 11
