Seumas: A Time Travel Romance (Dunskey Castle Book 2) Read online

  Oh, but she tested one of them and saw this for herself. He found himself smiling, proud of her. She was a clever lass. He had never doubted that.

  Deirdre scooted over toward him and curled up against his side, then whispered up at him.

  “If we canna eat the apples and cheese, what can we eat? I’m sae hungry my tum is growling.”

  He opened the pouch that dangled at his belt, and she squealed in delight and reached in and took out some jerky and dried fruit, then munched happily.

  Finally, Sasha came back to the fires and picked up the stick she’d been stirring with earlier. It wasn’t so long as the bush limbs, only about the length of her leg, but it was straight and sturdy.

  He nodded at her.

  “Ye hae made a good choice for the shaft o yer spear. Now let us see ye fasten the knife tae it.”

  She fumbled just getting her knife out of her belt, and he had to stifle a laugh by blowing his nose in his sleeve.

  Deirdre had caught on to the game, and she covered her mouth to stifle her own giggles, then reached for his water skin. Once she had emptied it down her throat, she handed it back and curled up next to him between the two fires with her head resting on his leg. He undid his arisade and opened it up so that it covered both of them, and the little girl sighed and closed her eyes.

  Meanwhile, Sasha had gotten the knife off her belt and was fumbling around with things in her little bag with her back turned to him. Interesting.

  After a while, she turned back around again, triumphant.

  “I did it. See?” She held up the spear she had made.

  He reached out his hand, and she gave it to him to examine.

  Much to his surprise, he had to admire her spear. The knife stayed firmly in place. It wasn’t a strong enough connection to hold against deer hide, but it wasn’t meant to. She could kill something small with it and have a meal.

  “I hae tae admit, this is a far better spear than I imaginit ye would make. What is this material that holds the knife tae the stick sae well without having tae be shrunk on it like leather?”

  Her face was glowing with his praise, making her look especially beautiful — and that was saying something, because the firelight glinting on her long red hair and the moon shimmering in her eyes were already weaving their magic on him.

  She smiled, and it looked mischievous.

  “I ken, it’s cheating. But all’s fair in love and war, aye? They are callit rubber bands. They are meant tae keep my hair up, and sae they are coverit with a layer o silky thread. Otherwise, my hair would stick tae them and tear. They work verra well for making a spear, dinna they?”

  When she looked away to swat a bug, he pulled on one of the rubber bands a bit. It sprang back to the knife with a loud snapping sound. He looked up to see if she had heard, but she was studying the spot on her wrist where the bug had been. He absentmindedly turned the spear this way and that to examine the rubber bands in the firelight.

  “I dinna fancy admitting this tae ye, but I hae a strong urge tae cut these rubber bands open and see what’s inside.” He gave her his own sheepish smile and handed her spear back.

  She laid the spear down by the rocks he had put round the fire and fished in her little bag some more. At last, she brought a tiny little thing out and handed it to him.

  It was the color of snot, and about the same consistency. He could hear his mother scolding him for playing with it. That was how much it resembled the stuff. Nonetheless, he played with it for quite a while, laughing.

  But when Deirdre opened her eyes for a moment, he quit and gave the rubber band back to Sasha, then stroked Deirdre’s hair to encourage her to settle down again.

  “Rubber. Does it come from an animal?”

  Sasha gave him an understanding smile.

  Which made him realize how arrogant he had been just a few moments ago, laughing at her ignorance of things he took for granted. There were just as many things she knew that he didn’t — far more things, mayhap. Machines and technology. Communicating with all the world…

  She was speaking.

  “Nay, it comes from a tree that grows doon in the jungles near the equator.”

  “The equator?”

  She drew with her finger in the dirt.

  “An imaginit ring round the fat part o the waurld, the warmest part — far away from here.”

  He laughed.

  “Aye, the ships’ crewmen tell stories o lands warmer than here, saying there are far more warmer than caulder, here in Scotland. Hae ye been tae many o them?”

  She looked up at the stars, collecting her thoughts, and he took the opportunity to admire the pleasing lines of her face, brought out by the firelight. After a moment she looked back at him and sparkled her eyes, nodding yes.

  “I hae been tae a dozen o them or more. I lived in one o those places with my parents in my early teens.”

  He took her hand and guided her over on the other side of him from Deirdre, then lay down and waited for her to lie down as well.

  She squeezed his hand, got up, and came back with one of Cottman Brogan’s fine woolen blankets, which she wrapped around herself before lying down next to him.

  “Are we gaun'ae sleep while these fires yet burn? Isna that dangerous?”

  “A bit,” he said. “But it would be more dangerous trying tae sleep without the fires. ’Tis quite cauld. Rest ye easy. They’re doon tae coals, but the sun will be up before they go oot.”

  Dà Dheug (12)

  Sasha woke up cramped and uncomfortable, reaching to pull herself back up onto her bed. Must’ve had too much to drink last night. This always happened when she did. She couldn’t reach the bed. She opened her eyes to find it — and came fully awake, gasping. Where the …

  Oh yeah.

  Seumas!

  Content and feeling safe now that she saw his back, she relaxed and took in the wonderful sights and scents of nature around her, covered by smoke and fire — and the aroma of roasting meat.

  She swallowed. Her mouth was watering despite all the smoke from fat dripping into the fire.

  When she sat up, she had to rub her eyes to believe what she saw. Seumas and Deirdre were indeed roasting meat over a fire – on her spear.

  She grabbed her purse. Best to make herself presentable before he saw that she was awake. She washed her face with a moist towelette and brushed out her hair. After she had applied the quickest version of makeup she could manage, she felt presentable. Barely.

  “Couldna wait tae test my spear oot, eh Seumas? How was it?”

  He gave her a goofy look that made her giggle and then walked over to offer his hand.

  She let him help her up, and they embraced. It felt so good, it was making her delirious. She melted into him.

  And then they heard Deirdre’s giggling again.

  Oh yeah. They weren’t alone. Her body wasn’t as willing to let go as her mind was, and their separation was slow and gradual and reluctant. Finally, though, they were only holding hands, watching Deirdre roast the meat like an expert.

  The way she handled the spear really was quite amazing. It was the perfect size for her, so that it looked like it had been made for her.

  And then it dawned on Sasha.

  “No way.”

  She was so amazed, she had slipped into English by accident. Deirdre looked at her quizzically, but Seumas clearly understood what she’d said.

  “Aye, the wee lass caught the rabbit, not I. She’s a fine little huntress.”

  They had a hearty breakfast of roasted meat complemented with her apples and cheese, washed down with fresh water Seumas had walked a mile and back to fetch for them all.

  The whole time, Sasha was doing her best not to feel inadequate. It was difficult, being bested by a six-year-old. No, Sasha hadn’t tried and failed. That wasn’t the point. Deirdre had been up at dawn and gone out and gotten them food, and Sasha had slept in.

  But once the food was in her stomach and they strapped what little they ha
d to themselves and were on their way, she gradually got over it. Walking with Deirdre and Seumas was far better than walking by herself.

  Deirdre was entertaining, for one thing. She literally ran circles around Sasha and Seumas, checking out every thistle bush and oddly shaped rock until she suddenly was just too tired to walk anymore and Seumas scooped her up and carried her in his arms the rest of the way, snoring again.

  They exchanged a look over the sleeping girl as they walked.

  “Aye,” Sasha said to him, “this is nice. It feels like we’re a family.”

  Seumas kissed the top of Deirdre’s head as he crested a hill.

  “Ye took the words oot o my mouth.”

  Sasha looked tenderly at Deirdre.

  “Poor dear. She was up most o the night chasing after ye, and then she was sae excited tae be underway with us this morning that she wore herself oot.”

  They went on in silence for a while, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. And for the rest of the three-hour walk, she told him about all the warm places she’d been, from Southern California to Hawaii to the Bahamas to New Mexico, Texas, Florida…

  ~*~

  Sasha saw the standing stones long before they reached them, of course. The sight brought on an elation so intense that she stuttered for the first time since she was a child, and immediately shut her mouth, embarrassed. It was extra awful because she was stuttering in Gaelic, so she didn’t have her normal coping mechanisms to correct it — aside from closing her mouth.

  “Th th th th there it is!”

  Bless him, Seumas didn’t show that he noticed her difficulty. He just nodded as he hoisted Deirdre into a more comfortable carrying position up over his shoulder.

  Sasha ran the last hundred yards, barely noticing all the rocks she felt through her impractical boots. By the time Seumas got there, Deirdre was awake, and she ran for the last little bit to join Sasha and go exploring. Sasha pointed out every standing stone and named them for Deirdre, vaguely explaining that some old man where she was from knew a great deal about them.

  And then they got to the largest standing stone, and as soon as Sasha touched it, she had another vision.

  Flames springing up all around them. Streaks of lightning scorching the earth. Laughter that she recognized but couldn’t place.

  When she came back to herself, Seumas had caught her once more.

  She grabbed him.

  “I saw this area ringed with fire and lightning. It canna hae been a natural thing, ‘twas far ower weird for that. And I know it wull come tae pass. All the rest o my visions hae. We should hurry up and find the sword and then get oot o here.”

  She had the creepiest feeling she was being watched. It was raising the tiny fine hairs on the back of her neck and down her shoulders and upper arms, giving her goosebumps. She looked all around, but she couldn’t see anyone. That didn’t mean they weren’t there.

  But she had come all the way out here, so she was going to search.

  Seumas searched as well.

  Little Deirdre was following her all around, imitating what she was doing. Sasha wasn’t sure if the wee lass was really searching, but she sure was adorable.

  Sasha felt all over the rocks for places of concealment, looking carefully for runes carved into the stone like in the underground castle, telling how to open the secret doors. So far, she’d seen none of that, though. Galdus’s actual grave had been dug up many times, of course. She highly doubted anything would be found in there. That would be the last place she looked.

  She stood still for a moment and smiled, making herself look all around and be in the moment. She had no urge at all to take a photo. It looked the same now as it did on the Internet back in her time. But it was beautiful to her.

  These rocks were so old and whether worn, yet had so obviously been placed here because of the formation they made. A clock and calendar, marking where the sun was in the sky during the day and the year. Right now it was midday, so the rocks only had tiny little shadows. The real show came at sunset and sunrise, when the sun peeked through the gaps between the standing stones.

  She was reaching out to touch the second to last stone when the flames leapt up. Startled, she screamed and jumped backward into the center of the ring of stones.

  Behind her, she heard Seumas scream out in pain, and she turned around to see him holding his shoulder while dodging back from the flames which had appeared around the perimeter of the stone circle.

  They were trapped inside, at the mercy of whoever was causing this magical fire.

  And Deirdre was nowhere to be seen.

  Sasha had just started to think that fire wasn’t enough to keep her in here and she could run through the flames and not get too badly burned and then roll to put the fire out if her clothes caught — when the lightning started. There was no way she would survive being hit by that.

  Seumas had walked over to her and taken hold of her, probably more for their comfort than anything else. He whispered in her ear.

  “Ye were on the edge o the stone, even more ootside the ring o stones that I was. The fire went right through ye, Sasha. Ye were no burned. I wasna in the fire as much is ye were, and look at me.” He took his hand away from his shoulder for a moment and showed her where his shoulder had been burned right through his shirt. “I patted oot the flames here, and that was what made me cry oot.”

  She gave him a look of anguish and sympathy. It had to be excruciatingly painful to be patting flames out on top of a burn.

  At long last, their attackers came near. She could hear three sets of footfalls outside the ring, and when they got close, she could sometimes see three white-robed figures through the wavering flames. They stopped only a few feet away on the other side.

  And then she heard Brian the Druid’s voice, and she cursed aloud.

  At first, Brian was laughing. The laugh she’d heard in her vision. How had she not recognized it? The Druid’s laughter was disturbing. It was the cackling normally associated with a witch, but in a male voice. It was just… Wrong.

  She felt relief when at last he stopped laughing and spoke, even though he was speaking cruelly.

  “Aw, Sasha. Ye hae come such a long way, all the way from a distant future. Ye left such a life o ease and luxury. I’m verra glad ye did. And verra glad ye found love. Ah, love. A powerful, powerful force in the waurld. It is sae powerful that I will need naught else for the rest o the year, now that I have ye. Dae ye know what I can dae with that power? Och, but ye dinna. Ye hae only the knowledge needed tae be the errand lassie for yer betters. Ye dinna ken even how tae bend time intae an instrument and have yer man use it for ye, now dae ye? Nay ye dinna.”

  He pointed to her ring and eyed her in a way that said she was a fool to have ever put it on, then cackled some more, and Sasha wished he would quit and start talking again.

  Until she heard what he had to say.

  “Ye dinna ken how much I wish I could become yer new master and keep ye tae run my own errands, lassie. Ye could make a way for me tae see the future! But ye are na suited for that. Ye are already marked for sacrifice. ‘Tis such a waste, but there ‘tis.”

  Despite her resolve, she shrank the tiniest bit at his scorn, hunching her shoulders the slightest.

  It was enough. Derision poured out of the old Druid’s mouth like sewer water.

  “Och, and I am meant tae be locked inside the tower, ye say? Tsk, tsk, tsk. Yer friend Kelsey even knows I hae the power o illusion, and she didna tell ye, did she? The two o ye lasses think yer sae clever. Ha!”

  Changing into the likeness of Laird Malcomb, he laughed now again, but this time it was a laugh of amusement — which was even more dreadful than his cackling laugh of mockery had been.

  But right up against her ear, Seumas made a pleased sound in his chest.

  At first, this puzzled her, but then she remembered Laird Malcomb was his uncle. She squeezed him tight, acknowledging his relief in realizing his uncle hadn’t been displeased with him
at all, that it hadn’t even been his uncle they met in the marketplace. Just another of Brian the Druid’s illusions.

  If she hadn’t been holding Seumas, she would’ve put her hands over her ears. Even though she was holding him, she was still tempted. Instead, she rested her head against his chest so that at least one of her ears was covered.

  He must’ve read her mind, because he covered her other ear with the hand that wasn’t holding his shoulder. She squeezed him tight again, this time in gratitude, and he caressed her cheek with his thumb.

  Their mutual comforting made Brian laugh all the harder. He laughed so loud, she could swear it was echoing off the nearby mountains. And then he spoke some more, and this time she was wishing he would laugh and quit talking. She could hear him through her covered ears, but it wasn’t nearly as unpleasant.

  “Ha, I hae na hatred for ye, Sasha, only envy. I’m old and wise, and I can admit tae envy. It willna save ye, this realization that I dinna hate ye, but mayhap it wull be a small comfort tae ye, tae ken that yer dying now from hatred, but from greed. Aw, only greed. I want that power ye hae inside ye, the power o creation that ye carry. I can use that power —”

  He grunted. One of the other Druids must have nudged him.

  He grumbled something and then went on.

  “Verra wull, we can use yer power. Howsoever, it canna be harvested this day, ye ken. The moon must be at its fullest, in order for us tae take yer power. And that willna happen for a few days yet. Sae ye must stay here until then. And it would be a waste tae feed ye. Anyhow, hardship will make yer love blossom intae a greater flower than it is even now — creating all the more power for us tae harvest.”

  He gave his delighted laugh now, and she was starting to understand that each time he laughed, it would be even more horrible than the last time.

  Well, she wasn’t going to go down without a fight — or at least a negotiation. Knowing others were here who felt sure of themselves enough to nudge him gave her a little bit of confidence. It was to them she addressed herself.

  “Whosoever has come here with Brian, I now speak tae ye.” Remembering what Kelsey had told her, she showed them her ring. “I am one of ye.”