Our Shared Horizon (Kaitlyn and the Highlander Book 10)

by Diana Knightley

  Lizbeth helped me peel the sodden layers of skirts and my shift and bodice off, piling it on the floor. Water puddled around the clothes turning the dust to mud.

  A woman brought in a bundle of clothes with a dry shift, and another blanket. After she left, while Lizbeth helped me into the dry shift, she asked, “So tell me the story of it?”

  “The wedding was beautiful, I wish you could have been there.” I shivered as she pulled the dry shift down over my arms. “And our honeymoon was nice, but the rain was awful. All these men kept coming to the inn, so many, until it wasn’t safe to go downstairs. They were threatening us and... we barely escaped.”

  “I was told that men were killed.”

  “Yes.” I needed to be under the bedcovers. The bed blankets had been fluffed causing a puff of dust in the room. I coughed and sneezed twice while I climbed into the bed.

  “I canna understand where they were from or what their purpose was besides mischief. I ken ye are still verra frightened, but I am glad ye survived and that the men of the castle now ken they are gathering.” She pulled the covers to my shoulders and added, “Fraoch will be here soon, he is still advisin’ the men. Sean will send a party tae the village tae move them along.” She sighed. “Tis dangerous tae have that many men amassed in our lands. The Earl inna here, we hae sent someone tae Edinburgh tae tell him of it.”

  “There is so much here that would be solved with a phone.”

  “Aye, I am sure yer future has many things that we need. These boots are verra wonderful.” She held up the hem of her skirt to show me she was wearing her Uggs.

  My teeth chattered. I was having trouble getting on top of the cold. “They aren’t waterproof sadly. You need waterproof boots, there is so much water. The loch was up in the streets.”

  “I truly hope Madame Greer is well. I am worried on a family in the village with a brand new bairn.” She shook her head sadly. “Dost ye need food?”

  “Will you drag my satchel closer? I have something there to eat.”

  She dragged my bag closer. It was sopping wet. I dug through it for a Snickers bar, took one bite, and then closed the package over itself. “I actually just need to sleep. I think my body is closing down after all of that.”

  She patted my shoulder. “I will send Fraoch tae ye, and Auld Mary will be in the hall if ye be needin’ anything.”

  She left the room.

  I watched the fire wondering why I hadn’t brought one of those emergency warming blankets, for shock, because I couldn’t stop shivering. Then I answered myself: I didn’t bring it because I didn’t think I would need one in July in Scotland. It never crossed my mind.

  But that’s the thing about me — apparently I lacked the imagination for all the things that could go wrong.

  Fraoch arrived. His voice hushed, “Hayley, are ye sleepin’?”

  “No.”

  I had the covers pulled up to my ears and I was curled up into the fetal position. I heard the thud of his heavy clothes hitting the ground, the belts, his kilt and his noises as he breathed through the pain of removing them. He must have been sore, but also had to be relieved to have them off.

  “Did you tell them about it?”

  He sat on the edge of the bed to take off his boots. “Aye, there is much tae be done, but they hae sent me tae bed.”

  “Good, I need the body heat.”

  He climbed in under the covers and pulled in behind me. “Och, ye are near frozen”

  I shivered. “I can’t get my body temperature to...” I couldn’t finish the sentence as I was too cold to expend the energy to put to words what I was trying to do — get my body to act normal, not all tensed up, hypothermia-like.

  His arms went around me. I turned over and snuggled in, my head tucked against this lower jaw, up in his beard, my lips against his chest, his arms around my shoulders. I pressed all my parts to his warmth and hoped it would warm me through.

  He teased, “Dost ye want me tae warm ye from the inside?”

  “Yes, definitely, just not right now, let me warm up a bit.”

  I shivered against him as I slowly fell asleep.

  Fraoch’s voice reached me from down a long tunnel, “Hayley, ye are coughin’.”

  I coughed again, my body wracked with it.

  And I was on fire. My body hurt. Every hair on my arm was in agony against the wool blanket, rough against tender skin that felt burned from the fever that was raging inside me. I coughed again. Fraoch held on around me, “Ye are verra unwell, what am I tae do for ye?”

  “I don’t know. It hurts.”

  “Where?”

  “Everywhere.”

  I slept, hot, but not sweating, coughing when I woke, only to fall deep asleep again. Not really sleeping though, more like unconscious.

  Scenes floated by — Fraoch, his sweaty brow close to my shoulder, his hands clasped.... the sound of prayer... Lizbeth’s voice, “Take this drink, Madame Hayley... murmuring voices, indistinct...

  Then later, Fraoch, whispering... Hayley? Hayley wake up... later still, “Hayley, I want tae send ye home. Lizbeth has said ye would have physicians tae heal ye.”

  My voice floated past my ears, wha...? Then coughing convulsed my chest, it hurt. I would have cried but I had no liquid left. I was a parched leaf, dry as sand, an hour glass of time, sand sliding through glass bulbs and — what were we talking about? Making me go home?

  “I can’t. I won’t leave you, I’m going to be okay, it’s just a...” Coughing again. I groaned.

  “Hayley, I canna let ye die. I have kent someone tae die...” Please, m’bhean ghlan. I coughed more. I couldn’t get it up. I was having trouble getting air down.

  “I don’t want to leave you.”

  I daena want ye tae die, please.

  I nodded.

  I was lifted. Blankets stuffed around my arms. I was carried from the castle. I was heavy, unhelpful, it was a long long way. Fraoch’s face was concerned, afraid, tired.

  It was raining — still. I buried my face against his beard trying to be a satchel against his chest, not a burden, not a heart-break of a load, but a help-mate. Trying. Failing.

  He got me to the gates then down the path to the stables and then across the field to the woods. Just within the tree line. We usually went a lot farther away but this was all he could do with my heavy ass.

  He heaved me to the muddy ground.

  “I don’t want to leave you.”

  “Will yer physician make ye well? Because I canna and I love ye and ye promised me ye would nae die.” He placed the vessel on my stomach.

  “I won’t go without you.” I refused to touch it. I started coughing. I drew to my side and coughed into the mud. He picked up my hand and placed it on the vessel.

  “Ye hae tae, Hayley.”

  “Go with me, please.” I coughed harder and burst into tears.

  He nodded.

  “Just hold on,” I said.

  He put his hands on my arms, his head bowed, kneeling beside me in the dirt. I twisted the ends of the vessel and made sure that the symbols and numbers were aligned. I knew I was sick, I knew I had to get it right. I didn’t even want to think about waking up in the age of the dinosaurs. There definitely wouldn’t be antibiotics in the age of the dinosaurs. “Is it right?” I asked.

  “I daena ken.”

  I raised my head and forced myself to focus. It looked right. I dropped my head back and finished the twisting

  The vessel lit up and the storm surge began, winds from every direction, the trees above swishing and swooshing, branches creaking and small sticks and leaves whirling through the trunks of the trees. A noise like a roar and that familiar lull right before the tug, like the top of a rollercoaster right before the descent — into madness some might say. I began to cough and wondered briefly what would happen to me time-traveling while this sick, would I survive—

  Fraoch let go of my arms and scrambled away.

  The agony of the time jump began.

/>   Sixteen - Kaitlyn

  “This might be the greatest thing I’ve ever done.”

  “Tis? Seems a bit odd tae me.”

  He wasn’t wrong. He was in a plank position. I was on top of him, in my own plank, my hands on his ankles, my toes between his shoulder blades. We were both completely still because balance in this was everything, or so our instructor told us. We were in the prenatal couples yoga class I had purchased a Groupon for, being instructed by a man named Kashi.

  “Are you getting tired?”

  “Nae, tis easy, even when ye are the weight of two people.” The couple in the position beside us dropped to the ground and the woman laughed.

  The couple behind us collapsed to the ground.

  I said, “I’m one person and like an eighth of a person. I’m not that big.” My arms were shaking, but I was too competitive to quit before Magnus. “Are you sure you’re not tired, you seem kind of shaky.”

  He chuckled. “I am nae shaky but I would prefer tae hold ye up when I am facin’ ye.”

  The man in the couple on the other side of us laughed at Magnus’s joke and then he and his wife fell to their yoga mat.

  I whispered, “You’re incorrigible and you aren’t supposed to be thinking about anything but peace and balance and being one with the universe.” I lowered myself to his back and said, “I can’t anymore.”

  He, to show off, did three push ups with me sprawled on his back and then collapsed. “Och ye are verra heavy, mo reul-iuil. Twas like being pinned under a horse.”

  The instructor said, “Now Magnus, we probably shouldn’t compare our partners to horses.”

  I joked. “It’s okay, he really really likes his horse. It’s a compliment.”

  The instructor said, “We need to be in child’s pose.”

  I turned around and got into child’s pose right on Magnus’s back. My toes on his thighs, my bony knees pressed into the small of his back, my face on his shoulders, my arms stretched on his arms. The curve of his back was perfect for my stomach to rest in and for the first time in weeks I had a full hip stretch. “Oh my god, I was doing this to be cheeky, but this feels so good you might have to be my yoga mat for the next four months.”

  “If ye are on top I daena think I can maintain a flat position for long.”

  Kashi said, “Okay, couples, now face each other, feet out, put the soles of your feet together, and hold hands in the middle. Now pull back and forth stretching each other forward.”

  I crawled off Magnus and sat down on the yoga mat. He lumbered up and turned around to face me. He was wearing a pair of loose jogger pants and a Lycra exercise shirt that stretched across his burly man-muscles and being so hot.

  I spread my legs wide, he spread his about a foot and a half apart. “Magnus, is that the best you can do?”

  “Och, tis nae natural tae do it more.”

  Kashi came over and gave a small press on Magnus’s back, pushing him forward by a half inch. “Your hips are very tight, Magnus.”

  Magnus groaned and strained under the effort of his nose being thirty-eight inches from the floor.

  I glanced at the man beside us, practically folded over flat on the mat. “Look, I’ll bring my feet closer together.” But there was no way we could hold hands with that much distance between us. I reached for his hands and giggled when he could barely reach his hands to his knees. “That is just unfortunate, it’s high time we got you to a yoga class.”

  “I hae never needed tae spread m’legs afore in m’entire life.”

  I spread my legs wide, and shimmied my hips forward so that the soles of his feet were against my inner thighs. I shook my head sadly. “You, sir, have tight hips.”

  He joked, “Madame I have everythin’ tight, tis one of the many things ye like about me.”

  “True.” I leaned back, pulling him forward, he barely bowed. “The thing is though, if your hips are loose, your back will be protected from injury. You won’t have as much pain in your old age.”

  He groaned as I pulled him very gently a wee little bit more. “How auld am I tae be, this is verra like tae kill me.”

  I giggled and said, “Now pull me.” He slowly rolled back and I folded over my pregnant belly and it felt so good. I wasn’t near the ground but close enough and stretched in all the best ways.

  “Och, ye are good at it.”

  “Let’s do you one more time.” I pulled back, pulling him forward, and he did bend a little more and then he growled, shimmied forward on his butt, scooped his legs under mine, pulled my ass closer, and kissed my big rounded tummy. I leaned back on my arms enjoying the show.

  Kashi said, “You’re not doing the move exactly right.”

  I lifted Magnus’s chin, “But you bent over so much more, nicely done.”

  “Twas a better goal tae kiss ye than the sweaty floor.”

  After laying on the ground for a guided meditation, the class was over, and we went to our locker rooms to change. Meeting in the parking lot in the high heat of mid day, I said, “You promised me a whole day of all the things I want to do. So next, lunch.”

  “I am famished. Twas a brutal workout, especially that last part where we lay there on the mats, thinkin’ on our inner spirits.”

  “I think I heard you snoring.”

  “Twas verra like nap time.”

  “To the Mustang!”

  We drove a couple of blocks to the restaurant I picked out, because it was so freaking hot outside walking was not an option. We got a table and were handed menus. I looked over mine while explaining to Magnus, “Zach told me I needed to take you out for some real food and he gave me three choices. I chose this restaurant because of lobster mac and cheese which is one hundred percent what I’m ordering. He told me we had to order veggies, but I think you would like the pulled pork sandwich and probably some French fries. I’ll order a salad and we can decide whether to eat it or not, to be healthy. Also, I’m not allowed to have a soda apparently, Emma told me not to, so we’re going to go to the juice bar after this and buy me a juice as big as my head.”

  The waitress came over to take our order, and I ordered all the food, adding a few extra things at the last minute.

  Then we held hands across the table and smiled happily at each other. “I’m so glad you’re home, thank you for doing this with me.”

  “I am glad tae do it.”

  “How do you think Archie is? He’s not even three years old yet, he’s so wee. Can we call and check on him, is it too soon?” I already had my phone out of my bag, dialing Emma. “Hey, how is he?”

  She answered, “He’s great, playing with Ben. Zach was crawling around with them but now he’s taking a nap while they pile blocks on his back.”

  “Sounds a little like our work out. We’ll reenact it when we get home. Call us if you need us, we can be home in ten minutes.”

  We hung up and I stared at Magnus again. “How am I here in a public restaurant when I really want to take you home and have my way with you?”

  “Och, ye are randy for me after seein’ me in m’warrior pose with m’big sword.”

  I laughed. “You, Master Magnus, didn’t have a sword.”

  “I have a sword, I always have a sword.”

  The waitress brought us our meal and we passed the time eating and talking and laughing, so happy to be together. “What do you think Hayley is doing?”

  “I daena ken, she might be with four bairn by now.”

  My eyes went wide. “No way. She is planning to marry that man, but she is not going to have a bunch of babies. And she better come home first and talk to me. I still want to know if there’s going to be a wedding. It’s already been a few weeks.”

  “Och, there will be a wedding. She will see tae it.”

  “And I shouldn’t worry about her, she’s going to stay away until after the birth. She does not want to be here for all the drama...”

  I glanced at Magnus, his brow drawn down, full of worry. I stopped myself and finished with,
“She knows she won’t have my full attention for a while.”

  He said, “Speaking of full attention, in the other timeline we learned the vessels are coded.”

  I leaned forward. “Do tell, how did we learn that?”

  “Lady Mairead told us, tis how tae track them. They each have a symbol and there is a list of the symbols. She told us that ye are in possession of the list in the antique book by Johnne Cambell.”

  “Wow, okay, this is amazing news. Can we track them if we know them? We have the tracker, right?”

  “Aye we do, I have one in m’vault in the kingdom. The other is in the kitchen of the house here in Florida.”

  “And we should catalogue the rest, good, I’m on it.” I grinned. “Was Lady Mairead upset when she knew we had the book? What did she say?”

  “She is verra upset ye possess it. That ye hae it is one of the most irritatin’ aspects of ye, I think.”

  “That’s awesome. I love having something over her.”

  I ate a bite of lobster mac and cheese and moaned happily. “Guess what?”

  “What?”

  “The baby is moving like crazy.”

  He pulled a chair up beside me and put two hands on my belly just above my maternity shorts and waited. The baby rolled from one side to the other.

  I said, “Baby liked the yoga.”

  Magnus nodded and held on with intense concentration, quiet and observant. The baby rolled over again with a big kick.

  “It makes you thoughtful, huh?”

  “Tis a verra momentous occasion tae feel the baby inside ye, It fills me with gratitude. I give thanks tae God every morn that I hae been given the chance tae be here for it.”

  “Me too. You know, this is our rainbow baby. A baby after a...” I shook my head. “After a loss, I don’t really want to say it out loud, to talk about it, but this baby is a gift. I’m terrified but also filled with hope.”

  “Aye, me as well.”

  After the baby finished his, or her, somersaults Magnus stroked my hair from my face, kissed me and settled back in his own seat. We finished eating.