Under the Same Sky (Kaitlyn and the Highlander Book 7)

by Diana Knightley

  Because my husband asked me to. He asked me to be a terrible arse through all this and hold his family together while he beat Reyes’s ass and so far I had done a bang up job: Emma and Ben? Headed home. Quentin? Shot Reyes, injured him, now headed home and taking his wife to the hospital. Lady Mairead? I was holding a gun on her right as we fucking spoke.

  I was the motherfucking matriarch and I was going to handle this. I needed to put Bella somewhere way way way back in the past so she would have to deal with some discomfort. My husband had been keeping her way too comfortable for way too long.

  And I had to protect little Archie, but frankly, I was not cut out for it. Freaking danger was fast on my heels every moment. So I needed to make Bella uncomfortable, make Archie safe.

  “Take them to Balloch in the year 1704. There’s the castle, the high walls, they’ve dealt with future-danger before. It’s not the best conditions for a baby, but we can make sure he’s well provided for until it’s safe to get him and there is no one else who would protect him better than Lizbeth and Sean.”

  “You are willing tae have your husband’s mistress take his son tae live with Magnus’s family? She has provided him an heir before ye have, twill look verra poorly for ye. Everyone will be discussing your failings—”

  Hayley said, “Whoa lady, watch your mouth.”

  I raised the gun and aimed it at her fucking face. “Shut up. Stop talking about it like you’re trying to advise me while you’re really being a total bitch. You will find Bella and Archie and you will take them to Scotland, to Balloch Castle, the year 1704. You will tell Lizbeth that I sent them and that she is to take care of them. Do you understand?”

  “You can put your weapon down. I daena understand, but I will do it. I do agree that Magnus would like them tae be there.” Her eyes glinted mischievously.

  I lowered the gun and wrote on the piece of paper a note for Lizbeth:

  Dear Lizbeth,

  Lady Mairead is bringing you Magnus’s son, Archibald Campbell, and Archibald’s mother, Bella. They need protection, can you please watch over them?

  Love, your Sister, Kaitlyn

  I folded the paper and passed it to Lady Mairead. “For when you find them.”

  She said, “You are expecting a great deal of his family tae care for a bastard son…”

  “If I remember correctly, you delivered a bastard to them to care for, and he turned out okay.”

  She huffed.

  “That being said, please find Archie.”

  “Tis my grandson, of course I will find him. I will find him and I will kill the man who took him from this house.” She turned to leave the wing.

  I was in shock. I didn’t get to see Archie. I didn’t get to say goodbye and it frankly hurt my heart a lot.

  The battle outside was frantic: explosions on the grounds and gunshots from the sky.

  Then to make matters worse the power died, the whole house’s hum stopped and it all went eerily quiet inside, while outside was complete mayhem and sure to be a crap-ton of carnage.

  “How do we get back to the main house?”

  Zach said, “Follow me.”

  Lady Mairead without even a ‘goodbye’ slipped through the back door to an enclosed patio and I watched her twist the ends of a vessel. Then the storm was raging, the noise of it drowning out the sounds of war ravaging the property, and—

  I had to get back to the main house. I had to talk to Hammond.

  I had to get through this battle to the ruins of Balloch.

  Thirty-two - Magnus

  The last thing I wanted tae do was get on another ship so my other option was a coach tae take me tae Edinburgh. Twould be two weeks, they promised, if the weather was good. Twould be much longer if the weather wasna good.

  I had money and clothes given tae me from Cousin May. I was attired in a pale gray coat with embroidery edging on the front and a ruffle at the neck. My hair held a bow. I joked with May, “Tis always a bow in my hair when I visit London.”

  She laughed and said, “When have you been to London before?”

  I quickly added, “Tis what my father would always say.”

  She laughed.

  My pants were short and there were tights and small shoes tae contend with, but I had a belt at my hip and she gave me a sword tae hang there, so I felt well-attired for a trip.

  We had a nice dinner with talk of the news of the time: the king, the recent battles, the impending war, the banks, and a good night’s sleep in a proper bed. I traveled with May the following morning tae London and met my seat on the coach.

  There were six seats altogether, five were full of other passengers. My travel companions were a wealthy widow, Madame Fuller, and her son, Samuel, headed tae York; a young man who was a clockmaker’s assistant, his name was Paul Hanley; and a young woman, a Mistress Brookes and her traveling companion.

  Madame Fuller sat across from me and kept battin’ her eyelashes, and smilin’, and arrangin’ herself tae be in my sight, accentuatin’ her form in front of me. I found it hard tae ken where tae look when she kept leaning forward, dropping things tae the floor, and expectin’ me tae collect them for her.

  The clockmaker would have been a catch but she seemed bored as we all were by his opinin’ on what he kent about clocks. He had a way of speakin’ that was slow and endless much like the clock wheels he was ever describin’.

  The Mistress Brooke, covered verra modestly, read from her bible, clearing her throat at the widow’s offenses.

  The days wore on. I was relieved I had been able tae clean myself and change clothes afore I came aboard, because the cabin seemed tae grow smaller and smaller. The conveyance rocked, the air was stuffy, the closeness dismayin’.

  The trip was verra slow. There were many days I walked beside the carriage, climbing back in when it rained.

  Sections of the route I had tae help push the coach through muddy passes, or climb off tae lighten the load during difficult terrain.

  But I was grateful tae be movin’ and every step took me closer tae Scotland, and unlike the ship, if I needed air I could climb out and take it. Many days I made it tae the next village afore the coach arrived.

  I worried on all that needed tae be done. I was alone and desperate, and nae closer tae killing Reyes, tae making my family safe. I prayed that Kaitlyn was protected in the future, and that she held Archie in her arms. That she kept Quentin and Zach and everyone close, and that she was being strong while she waited for me.

  My only comfort was when I walked. It reminded me tae be patient. I hadna my Mustang and someone tae drive. I couldna fly through the skies. I had a need tae get tae Scotland and I was trapped in a different century. There was nothin’ tae do tae help it. Except walk.

  At night I stayed in hostels or taverns. Most nights I slept in the communal rooms, but a few nights tae get some peace and a deep sleep, I spent the extra shillings tae have a bed. For the most part twas all familiar: the people, the conveyance, the houses and the taverns. Twas the politics that had changed. I had tae listen a great deal, tae ken the truth of it all.

  Thirty-three - Kaitlyn

  We returned to the big house through the tiny, dark, hidden, secret hallway and burst out into the big powerless main foyer. Zach peeked out the windows. “Fucking bunch of war-shit going on out there still.”

  Then Hammond rushed in coming directly for me. “There were reports of storms here, I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” He looked around. “Where is everyone else?”

  “Do you know where Archie is?”

  “He’s not here, with you?”

  I was wringing my hands. “He’s not. Where do you think he could be? Bella’s gone, the guy she was with and Archie — where could they go?”

  “I don’t know, I’ll have my men scour the area, it’s too dangerous to leave though, did they have a vessel?”

  “I don’t think so, but it’s possible. I guess anything is possible. Also Quentin took Beaty, Emma, and Ben back home, to sa
fety, Zach and Hayley are staying with me. Where’s Mrs Johnstone?”

  “We evacuated her a few hours ago, no one else would leave without seeing you first.”

  “That means Archie was removed within the last three hours? I mean, it might be possible to find them if they were on foot. Have there been any helicopters? How many storms did you see?”

  “There are reports of storms happening for the last two hours. I do not know, Queen Kaitlyn, I wish I had better information for you, or better news, the safe house has been found. We’re holding them off, but once I get you out of here we need to retreat, we are fighting in too many locations and are stretched thin.”

  “Are we going to lose the kingdom?”

  “I can’t say, it looks bleak but it’s been bleak before. Do we have a king left to protect?”

  I nodded but said, “The trouble is I don’t think he has a vessel. I think he’s stuck somewhere, but I know how to get him one, to set it so he can find it, but I have to get it to Balloch Castle—”

  He shook his head. “You mean the ruins of Balloch Castle, and that’s impossible. There’s active fighting all over the ground—”

  “I still have to go, even if it is impossible. I have to—”

  “Helicopters are too dangerous. We would need a large military escort.” He gestured at Hayley and Zach. “They aren’t enough.”

  “That’s okay, I’m not asking for a helicopter, just some weapons. We’ll time jump there, to tomorrow morning.”

  “What about if you jumped back in time to before the war?”

  I thought about that for a moment. “I can’t. I can’t loop back on my own life, right Zach?”

  “Right.”

  “And if I go farther back I’ll be in Donnan’s time. I mean, if I thought on it long enough I could maybe come up with a time, but I don’t have the luxury of thinking. I have to go. Tomorrow at Balloch is all I can—”

  “I have a man I can send with you then. He's jumped before, as Donnan’s guard. I trust him. I can’t let you go without a guard.”

  “Okay, thank you.”

  He was in his fighting uniform and very dirty, his face covered in soot and black grease. Like he had been in a wildfire. Like he was tired. Like he had been through a war. “I’ll send him in and notify my commanders that you’re leaving and prepare the rest of us to retreat.”

  “Hayley and I will change out of our clothes.”

  “I can give you twenty minutes. Then we’ll start clearing this place, you need to be out of here before that happens.”

  Hayley and I raced down the hall to the room that Magnus and I stayed in hoping there’d be something for us to wear.

  I ripped open a drawer and tossed clothes around, while Hayley struggled out of her bodice and we both dropped our shifts and big skirts to the ground. I found a dark pair of pants. I tossed her another pair, plus a casual shirt with a jacket that belted at the waist for me, and a zip up one for her. I did some karate kicks to prove to myself that I could move in the pants if called upon, and felt light after taking off the past-century clothes.

  Hammond was frazzled when he arrived with the new soldier. “Queen Kaitlyn, this is Captain Warren.”

  Captain Warren was big, ugly, and grumpy looking. With his shaved head and soldier uniform, he looked like the guy who would be cast in a movie as ‘the big angry soldier who yells a lot.’

  He nodded and grunted hello.

  Hammond said, “He has been briefed. You’ll need to leave now.” He passed me a gun, a big one. “Have you shot one of these?”

  “No.”

  He took it back and handed me a handgun. “How about this?”

  “Yes, I have.”

  He gave one to Hayley. Zach was already armed.

  Hammond had a bag beside him with four guns and some other weapons. He pilfered through it and pulled out a bulletproof vest. He pulled it down over my head and strapped it around my chest. It was ridiculously heavy.

  Hayley asked, “What about mine?”

  He handed her one and passed one to Zach. They helped each other put them on.

  Next Hammond brought out a helmet, planted it on my head, and latched the strap under my chin. He put helmets on Hayley and Zach and we all looked like military soldiers. Hayley looked like a 'scared as shit’ military soldier. We stalked through the house to the backyard again.

  Hayley and Zach climbed onto one of the ATVs and I climbed on behind Captain Warren. “What’s the date today?” I asked Hammond. “I’m kind of freaking out and it’s not easy to jump twice in one day. It’s hard to concentrate on the numbers.”

  Hammond told me the date, and said goodbye and to be safe, and I added that date to the list of numbers I knew by heart: the numbers for Balloch castle, now a ruin.

  Thirty-four - Magnus

  After spending the night in the the Sheep Heid Inn in Edinburgh, I bought a horse and some supplies for my ride tae Balloch. Twould take two days, two nights of sleepin’ in taverns tae get there.

  I was verra exhausted from bein’ always tryin’ tae get there.

  Until mid-day on the third day, I came tae it, finally.

  The walls that had crumbled during the battle with the drones had been rebuilt. Another section of wall was being built, with scaffoldin’ and workers around the base. There was glass in more of the windows. The gardens around the castle were planned and lavish. The stables were larger. The Earl and his descendants were doin’ verra well for themselves.

  I had been thinkin’ long on who I would ken at Balloch, twas a question whether the Earl would be there, or Lizbeth, she would be close tae sixty years auld now and I had nae memory if she lived tae 1740. I wished I had a phone tae discover the history of them.

  There would be my nephews and nieces and I could present myself as their cousin, but I might be recognizable tae someone that had been living long. I decided twould be best tae be Magnus’s son again.

  Twas easy enough tae get through the gates, I asked after the Earl, but was told his son, the Lord Glenorchy resided there now. I inquired about seein’ him and the guard explained he was off doin’ parliamentary business in Edinburgh. So after inquirin’ about some of the old folk around, it came tae me that Sean was gone, as was Lizbeth, and yet, there were many of their children there, and so I asked tae see my nephew, Gavin, Sean’s son, who I guessed tae be about forty years auld.

  Gavin Campbell strolled up with a confused expression. He was big like his father, ginger like his mother. I kent I looked out of place with m’fancy English clothes and wished I had bought a tartan in the city.

  I introduced myself as cousin Magnus, son of Magnus Campbell, and that I had just arrived from the Colonies then laughed about havin’ said, ‘just arrived’. I told him I had been travelin’ for weeks tae get tae Scotland from London.

  He earnestly asked what the colonies were like and mentioned that his son, now eighteen years auld was dreaming of movin’ tae the colonies soon.

  “Nae, I daena recommend the trip. Twas far more likely tae kill a man than tae convey him.”

  “Where did ye live there?”

  “I was near Savannah, dost ye ken of it?”

  “Nae, tis near Virginia?”

  “Aye, verra near.”

  “Dost yer family grow tobacco? I have heard tis a lucrative crop, we have been wantin’ tae be in the business of it…”

  He led me through the well-appointed courtyard, and tae the Great Hall. There were more tapestries than afore and more sculptures linin’ the halls. I was brought close and introduced tae a group of men and we sat in a circle and talked of the colonies. They kent more than I thought. I was able tae tell them of the siege on St Augustine as well as the port of Charleston and then regaled them with stories about the crossing.

  I considered it a service tae explain how bleak tis tae cross the ocean, as there were young men about who wanted verra much tae go. I warned them that the crossin’ would take them from this life too soon, and told them of
the monsters in the riverbeds and the mosquitos, like our midges but with a lastin’ bite.

  Then twas their turn tae tell me of the intrigues of the time, there had been riots and unrest. The French were involved with the clans and it seemed as if trouble was a brewin’ on every front. Listenin’ tae the men I learned many stories of the Highlands that confused me. I was seein’ the future of my life, but also the past from Kaitlyn’s and I had much tae ask her, much tae learn.

  As I listened I wanted tae advise these descendants on how tae comport themselves. I was watching the faces and eyes and mannerisms of men who were much the same as Sean and Baldie and I wanted tae help them, tae take up arms with them, tae protect them. I wanted tae warn them about what was coming, but I couldna because I hadna asked the right questions in the future.

  Across the way I saw a woman who looked exactly like Lizbeth, and I crossed the room tae introduce m’self. She was the embodiment of her grandmother, now young, now with a spirit verra like Lizbeth too.

  She told me her name was Catherine but that everyone called her Cath. She was verra like seein’ a ghost tae have her in front of me, a stranger in the place of Lizbeth of whom I was so fond.

  I was offered the evenin’ meal though twas still verra light out, just the end of August. We gathered at the big table, everythin’ simple as the Lord of the castle wasna residin’ there at this time.

  There was a sense of unreality tae the day, so much was familiar, a great deal more was different. The faces were similar, the people strangers. There was enough of me tae remind them of a Campbell so they accepted me easily.

  We were eatin’ lamb with peas and cabbage and twas then that an older man by the name of Colin approached and introduced himself. “Ye are the spittin’ image of yer father, Magnus, exactly as I remember him, though it has been thirty years — except the clothes, the Magnus I kent would rather have his gimcrack hangin’ than be dressed in the clothes of an English jack-a-dandy.”