by Jane Stain
"And dae ye realize that wherever Lauren walks across a room, ye move tae be near her?"
Taran picked up a rock and threw it up the hill behind Leif — at a rabbit which likely wasn't even there.
"Aw, nay, I dae na."
Leif turned around and resumed their climb, sharing a wink with Luag — who was wisely staying out of this brothers’ squabble.
"Aye, but ye dae. Everyone else can see. Mayhap ye should look more closely at yer own behavior.”
They were within earshot of the manor now, and Senga came out and ran down to greet them. The look on her face said she had big news for them.
Oh no. Has the summons come? Is it time to go off to battle already?
Senga stopped and spoke.
"I kept Amena safe, but that meant that I couldna prevent the lasses from leaving. Ye seemed dead set on making them pay for some sort o' crime, sae ‘tis sorry I am. They raided yer battle bags as wull, taking the water skins with them ower the hill yonder."
She looked behind her up the hill they climbed.
Dread hit Leif like a stone to the chest, nearly making him fall to his knees right there on the hill up to Cresh Manor. He had to fight to breathe, so choked up was he.
"How long ago did they leave?"
Senga’s eyes moved around to all three men as if looking for how her news had been taken, well or ill. She appeared to arrive on the fact that it was bad news, because she rushed on to speak, wringing her hands as if washing dishes.
"They left right after ye did, Leif. And ye hae been gone nearly half a day doon in the village.”
Chapter 18
Lauren wanted to beg her friends for forgiveness but couldn't. The druid inside the dagger she carried wouldn’t let her. His name was Galdus, and he had started out only gaining her useful information, such as where the village was and the most protected way to get there. He still did that and more. He had hidden her and her friends during the attack at the manor house, and he had prevented the druids’ spell from making them fall asleep. But now sometimes he wouldn’t let her say what she wanted to say, and sometimes he gave her commands. She needed his help in order to get home. She was dependent on him. What had she done?
Galdus’s voice spoke in her mind.
"There. Take them intae that wee alcove on the higher ground beneath the overhang sae that the rain tonight will na get ye."
Lauren followed these useful instructions, settling her friends in for the night.
Her friends didn't have a clue how much danger they were in. They still thought this was a fun adventure.
Jessica proudly took a lighter out of her purse.
"We can have a fire! We’ll be warm!"
Lauren started to tell Jessica that was a bad idea, but Galdus took over, making Lauren's voice sound much harsher than she'd ever been when speaking to her friend. It made Jessica cringe. It made Lauren cringe too, having her friend think she regarded her so little.
"Put that away! How dare you! Are you daft? We went to so much trouble to hide our tracks and get away, and now you want to send up a smoke signal to tell the men exactly where we are!"
Delirious with sickness, Jessica broke down in tears, looking to Katherine for support.
"I'm sorry. I just want to be warm. I was hot with fever before, but now I'm getting cold."
Katherine pulled Jessica closer where they had settled on the ground and put her arm around her, spreading the quilt and both of their huge woolen shawls over both of them. She gave Lauren a scathing look.
"What is wrong with you, Lauren? You could have said that much more nicely.” And then Katherine spoke softly. “Still, you're right. Come over on my other side. The only way we will stay warm enough is to snuggle up close together and share body heat. You know that. You’re the product field tester, the outdoor survivalist. You have more experience out here then both of us combined, so please don't be afraid to share the things you think of. Unlike some people, I would appreciate it."
Miserable, Lauren snuggled up next to Katherine, who she didn't know nearly as well as Jessica. It was awkward, but it was warm. Before long, she fell into a deep dreamless sleep.
Galdus woke Lauren just before dawn.
"Get up and walk away from camp tae relieve yourself."
Lauren wandered up the hill opposite their camp.
"Make certies there be cover enough, or ye wull be seen."
Seen by whom, Lauren wondered. There’s no one for miles.
But she didn't deliberately speak to Galdus in her mind.
‘Choose your battles,’ her father always said.
In this instance that seemed to apply in spades. She would dig in about other, more important things. She went up over the top of the hill and halfway down the other side, just to make him happy. And then she had to go about taking off the belt full of bags and oddities that she carried around underneath her leine. She set it all safely aside, did her business, and then reassembled herself so that all her items were safely stored underneath her leine yet again.
She was coming back up on their camp, and Jessica and Katherine were gone! Their purses were still there by where their heads had lain. The quilt had been tossed aside and lay in the mud.
Panic grabbed hold of Lauren as she picked these things up, folding the quilt so the mud was inside and wouldn’t make her cold.
"Galdus, where are they?"
"We don't need them anymore. They kept you warm last night, and there's another warm place for you to sleep less than a day's walk from here."
"They’re my friends, Galdus. And I brought them here. I'm responsible for them. They’ll never get home without… your help."
Galdus was quiet, and Lauren took that as an admission. He had deliberately separated her from them.
And then she heard a cry. It was Katherine!
"Lauren! Lauren, if you can hear me, go get Luag and Taran and—"
Lauren dropped the quilt but shouldered the purses and took off running in the direction of Katherine’s voice, almost tripping over rocks and almost being skewered by branches. When at long last she came in sight of her friend, she despaired.
Her friends had been kidnapped by a couple of men with a wooden cage on a wagon.
"Galdus, you can get them away. You can free them."
Lauren ran toward her poor captured friends.
"But I willna,” said Galdus. “If ye go after them, ye will just become captured tae, and I will hae tae go intae the hands o' one o' those men’s druid masters. Dinna get yerself captured. The slave o' another druid is na o' any use tae me. Go on tae the next castle sae that ye may help me. Once ye deliver the artifact, I will help ye get home. That is oor bargain."
He had separated her out so that she couldn’t help them!
So he thought.
"Ye dinna ken people at all. I'm gaun'ae get Taran and Leif and Luag. And we're gaun'ae save my friends.”
Chapter 19
Katherine woke up in the back of a caged wagon. She and Jessica were in the back by themselves and everyone else was clumped up for warmth toward the front of the wagon, behind the driver stand.
During the day the driver and the other man were right there, but in the evenings they went off and had a fire to stay warm and talked into the night just far enough away that those in the wagon could converse without being overheard amid all the coughing and sneezing of the prisoners, all of whom were sick except Katherine.
"When are you two new girls from?" asked a prisoner in 1980s baggy clothes. Stylish vintage.
"Pleased to meet you, too. I'm Katherine, and this is Jessica. We’re from 2017. Did you all come here sick, or did you get sick while you were here like Jessica did?”
A different man spoke up.
"I'm Robert from 1996, and we all got here sick. You mean to say you weren't sick when you arrived?"
It wasn't difficult to figure out whose men had captured them, because they were headed back toward the druid castle.
Chapter 20<
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Leif didn't waste any time wondering if he should go after the lasses. They had left in a hurry without provisions because of his anger. They were fleeing from him. He needed to find them and bring them back to safety.
And how dare he have thought of kicking them out of Cresh Manor? Once offered, his protection didn't end simply because he was angry at someone or found out something about them he didn't like. No, once protection was offered it could not be taken back.
Perhaps this should be a lesson in not giving protection so lightly, but that was a lesson for another day. He headed into the house for his travel bag, speaking to Taran and Luag without looking at them.
"We wull use the water in the tank for the water closet tae fill up the water skins we hae been keeping in reserve."
Taran sped up to walk alongside him, putting a reassuring arm around his shoulders.
"Aye. And we wull find the lasses and bring them home tae safety. Dinna fash."
Luag hung back at first, but Leif had noted the way his blond friend doted on Katherine. He would be kicking himself if he didn't come along, and so Leif made it easy for him.
"Ye are coming with us, Luag. We need yer help, ye ken?" Leif put his hand on his sword when he said this last part. It worked.
Luag stood up straighter, putting his shoulders back and thrusting his chest out in deserved pride for his fighting skills.
"Aye, Leif. Whenever ye need me I will come along. What dae I enjoy more than a good fight, eh?"
Leif clapped his friend on the back as they entered Cresh Manor.
"Aye indeed, and I hae na telt ye lately how much I appreciate yer company. I am truly blessed by it, considering the lands ye hail from."
They quickly filled the reserve water skins — the water closet proved very convenient indeed, saving them a trip down to the well — and were ready to leave in moments, thanks to the soldiering bags they rummaged through making sure nothing else had been taken, and nothing else had.
Before Leif could even ask her to, Senga came out of the kitchen with provisions for their journey — in double portions, likely thinking of the lasses.
Amena ran out of the kitchen with the cook, and as usual, their sister fastened herself to each of their legs, squeezing tight in full awareness that they were about to leave without her.
Taran caressed their sister's hair out of her face.
"We will na be gone long this time, Amena. We're just gaun'ae go get the lasses and bring them home. We will be home ourselves afore ye ken."
Amena nuzzled her head into Taran's hand.
"Senga says ye wull be going off tae battle soon. What if that happens afore ye come back and I never get tae say goodbye? Sae I am gaun'ae dae it now."
Leif went down on one knee so that he could look his sister in the eye.
"Och, ye are smart for such a wee lass, and 'tis glad I am ye wish tae tell us goodbye. Careless we are, and undeserving o' the love o' such a fine lass as ye."
He punctuated this last part with a kiss on top of Amena's head and then got up and took the provisions Senga offered, nodding for her to take Amena in hand and not allow her to follow them.
Senga solemnly nodded in return, assuring him with her eyes that she would care for his sister and the house in his absence.
Leif smiled frankly at Senga and turned his head sideways in order to let her know there was never a question about whether she would do that, and he was grateful.
She gave him her best twinkling smile in return and shared that also with Taran, who must have been giving her a similar look.
With that, they were ready to go. They left Cresh Manor and climbed the steep trail the lasses had taken.
“I wonder if the lasses ken where they are going, or if they only took the nearest way oot o' toon,” Leif mused.
Taran gave him the ghost of a smile.
“The nearest way oot, I am guessing.”
This trail led to Laird Ualraig's castle, and because of the difficulty in getting there, Leif and Taran hadn't been since they were lads. Leif’s heart was glad the lasses had gone this way though. Ualraig was a generous soul. He would receive the lasses with kindness.
He tested Taran to see if he agreed.
"Mayhap we can stop for sleep on the way, aye?"
Taran nodded, giving Leif his own wee grin.
Leif guessed his brother was also remembering how he had begged to come along on that trip to Laird Ualraig's in much the same way Amena had begged to come along with them. Leif hadn't teased Taran about it in years, and he suspected that his brother’s wee grin was partly in the hope Leif wouldn't start anew.
"Aye. He will take good care o' them, and from what I recall, his son is just as kindly."
Leif nodded.
Luag put a hand on Leif’s shoulder as they made the steep climb.
"Dae ye recall as clearly as dae I when the messenger came tae tell o' Laird Ualraig's son’s wedding?"
Leif threw back his head and laughed heartily.
"How could I ever forget that? All the lasses in town were certain he wanted them to attend the bride. Even Senga."
Luag’s smile was not as ironic as it usually was, the man was so amused.
"’Tis a wonder all men dinna make themselves seamsters o' wedding celebration leine, there is such a fortune tae be made."
Even Taran chuckled at this jest, rather tame for Luag. Which reinforced Leif's notion that Luag was more put out over Katherine's plight then he would admit.
There was not much daylight left, and so they had to take the inferior campsite, the one on this side of the mountain, where the winds came into the small overhang that kept them dry from the almost constant rain at the tops of the Highland mountains. But with their fire they were cozy enough, and after quickly chewing some hardtack they were off again first thing in the morning.
They were halfway down the trail on the other side of the mountain and Taran was regaling them with memories of how unsure he'd been on his first deer hunt when he froze, looking down into the canyon.
Leif followed his brother’s gaze and saw a lone traveler in a leine he couldn’t quite place… Wait. Leif looked to Taran for confirmation on whose leine that was.
And he received it. Taran's eyes went wide, and without even thinking, he stopped and put his hands around his mouth and yelled out to alone traveler.
"Lauren! Lauren, up here! Where are Katherine and Jessica? Are they hurt? Is there danger?"
Lauren didn't yell back. Instead, she tried to play that game of charades she loved so much. At least they had taught her some of their own gestures, so they kenned her meaning.
She hooked a hand around her neck sideways and dragged herself sideways to indicate capture and then put her hand behind her and raised up two fingers to indicate it was the other two lasses who had been captured.
What!
Seeing red, Leif opened his mouth to reprove Lauren, but Taran beat him to it.
"Quit the game and just tell us, Lauren! Which way did they gae?"
But this was serious. Lauren choked herself, indicating she was unable to speak.
Taran gasped and took off running down the treacherous hill toward her.
Even Leif, the older brother who thought he knew better, found himself agreeing that it was worth the risk. If they didn't catch the lasses soon, their captors would have them in a stronghold and it would be nigh on impossible to get them back. As he rushed down, Leif was gratified to hear Luag running behind him.
Lauren continued her gestures while they ran, indicating that Jessica and Katherine's captors had taken her in the direction of the druid castle.
This loaned even more urgency to their errand. The druids! They had been trying to capture the lasses all along. What would the druids do to them?
Taran must've been thinking the same thing.
"Is it druids who capturit them?" he yelled down to Lauren.
She shook her head no and then held her hand out palm down at her waist, which
usually meant children, but that didn't make sense.
Taran spoke his guess instead of yelling now, for they had almost reached her.
"Henchmen hae her?"
Lauren nodded yes with tears in her eyes, sobbing as Taran took her in his arms and held her fiercely to him, rocking back and forth to comfort her.
"Here," he said after a few moments, dragging some of Senga's provisions out of his pack. "Ye must be hungry."
She frantically pointed in the direction the lasses had gone, indicating they needed to go, now.
But Taran held her fast and pushed the food into her hand.
"Ye must eat. Mayhap later we will be in the middle o' a fight, and that would be a bad time for yer strength tae give out. Eat."
It was a command, and Leif fully expected the lass to bristle over it, but she surprised him by doing as Taran said and eating the hardtack quickly, washing it down with water from one of the skins she carried.
He didn't resent her at all for taking the water skins. Not when he had plenty. Everyone needed water, and it had been his fault the lasses left so suddenly. He needed to get control of his temper.
He admired his brother for waiting until she was done eating before asking her any more questions.
"Why canna ye speak? Hae ye been hurt? Was there fighting? Hae the other lasses been hurt?"
To all this she shook her head no and pointed back to Cresh Manor, indicating that she would explain why she couldn’t speak when they got home. Next, she beckoned them to go in the direction of the druid palace, quite frantically.
“How many captors?" asked Leif.
She held up four fingers.
“For henchmen against the three o' us shouldna be too bad odds.” Leif looked at Luag, who nodded agreement.
But Lauren squatted as if seated and then held her hands out in front of her as if holding the reins and then held out her hand and outlined the shape of horses rather than cattle. Not good.
The lasses’ captors had them in a horse-drawn wagon and would make verra good time. No wonder Lauren wanted them to hurry.
