Senga stood outside the kitchen clasping her hands and smiling nervously at them.

“Yer pallets are all made up by the fire, if ye wull follow me, lasses.”

Amena jumped up and ran over to Senga.

“All o' us lasses wull sleep in here, aye Senga?”

Poor girl. She didn’t want to sleep alone with strangers. Who could blame her? The cook knelt to see eye to eye with the girl, but before Senga could explain, Jessica jumped in.

“Aye, we wull all sleep in here. Senga and ye will share one o' the pallets she was sae nice tae make up for us all.”

Senga smiled her gratitude then went to her room off the kitchen to change into her night dress, Amena trailing after her.

Katherine and Lauren had already gotten into their pallets when Jessica found hers between them.

Katherine whispered, “It isn't any too comfortable lying down on furs on the hard wooden floor.”

Lauren whispered back, “It’s only for tonight. After that we’ll have the soft feather bed. But isn’t this an amazing adventure? Wait, shhhh. Don’t answer. Senga’s coming.”

Senga stopped at their feet with Amena’s hand in hers.

“Amena says ‘tis all right with her if we two stay in my room, sae we bid ye hae a good night.”

“Night.”

“Good night, Senga, Amena.”

“See ye on the morrow.”

At least Katherine waited till they were probably out of hearing range.

“It is a good adventure, but you still should have warned us. What are we doing here, anyway?”

“Go to sleep,” Lauren begged.

The two of them argued on in whispers, but Jessica was more tired than she had ever been in her life. What a day it had been! Very soon, she sank into a blissful sleep.

* * *

Jessica was in a stone room with mysterious carvings on the windowless walls. Not quite pictures, their lacy and knotted intricate patterns looked like curly letters, but not letters she recognized. There was light in the room, coming from torches on the wall.

Four thrones lined one wall, and seated in three of the thrones were Katherine, Lauren, and Lauren's friend Kelsey, the one who had to rush off to a meeting at their hotel. Was that just this morning?

Kelsey gestured to the fourth throne.

"Have a seat. We have a lot to explain to you, and our dreams are the only time we’ll be able to."

What an odd dream.

Shrugging, Jessica made her way over to the fourth throne.

"I know this is a dream, but why do you have us in a dungeon? And even weirder, why are there thrones in the dungeon?"

Kelsey smiled a joyful smile, the same kind Lauren got whenever she talked about adventuring.

"This isn't a dungeon. It's the ancient palace beneath Dunskey Castle, the power seat of the kings of old Alba. Gaels and Picts formed Alba together 2000 years ago. They were one of the few kingdoms to successfully defy Romanization. For this reason, this palace has great power. No one can overhear us here." Kelsey shared an odd look with Lauren. "Not even if they’re touching your sleeping body."

Who listens to a lecture in a dream? Dreams are meant to be fun.

Jessica got up out of the throne and went to open a large ornately carved wooden door that she'd only just noticed on the far wall.

Her friends got up and followed her. Katherine looked just as mystified as Jessica felt, but Lauren… Lauren didn't look surprised at all.

Jessica whirled on Lauren.

"You obviously know what's going on, Lauren, so tell the rest of us already."

Lauren smiled apologetically.

"Sorry about all the secrecy. I have a hard time talking anywhere but in the dream world. It's not that I don't want to talk to you, I just can't.”

They had walked down a stone corridor and were passing through another room festooned with odd carvings in the stone. It was difficult to tell what this room had been used for, as no furniture had survived, but it did seem like an underground palace. Why had people lived underground?

Lauren was still talking.

"Kelsey has more experience with time travel than any of us, so maybe she can explain."

Lauren looked at Kelsey with such hope, it paused Jessica's anger. Who was this Kelsey person? And why did Lauren look up to her so?

Katherine leaned close to Jessica's ear.

"Is this a dream, or is this some sort of strange telepathic communication in our sleep? Let's ask each other in the morning if we both remember it."

"Good idea," Jessica whispered back.

Kelsey stopped at a stone staircase going up into the darkness.

"Wander around all you like, but don't go up any of these staircases, or you will leave the protected zone, and you're not ready for that yet."

Jessica turned on Kelsey with more anger than she had felt toward her friend. It was easier with a stranger, confrontation.

"Kelsey, just tell us what's going on!"

Kelsey hovered up into the air, reminding Jessica this was just a dream.

"Lauren and I have known about time travel for years. My husband Tavish and her ex John are from a family enslaved to druids. Most of the druids are good people, but some of them aren't, and it's important not to let them gain control over us."

She shared that odd look with Lauren again — and was Kelsey's look apologetic? Lauren's look was definitely hopeful.

Jessica figured it was her dream, and she would ask the questions.

“Why do the men here shy away from my touch like preschoolers who believe in cooties?”

Kelsey gasped.

“Married couples don’t touch in public in this time, so any touch at all between strangers is a shock. Don’t do it again!”

Jessica opened her mouth to tell Kelsey what she thought about being lectured after the fact rather than warned ahead of time, but Kelsey gave Jessica and Katherine a warm smile and talked over her.

"So let's see your adventures so far, shall we?"

And with that, she proceeded to show a 3D movie all around them of their adventures so far: Lauren taking them over to that clump of trees and then hugging them, the world spinning, walking out the road toward where they thought the highway was, their encounter with the scary men on horseback, fleeing through the woods and up the craggy mountain, Katherine coming back with the men, and the men's invitation for them to stay in their family’s manor house.

But the part Kelsey played over and over again was when Katherine brought the men back to the shack and they were casually talking about the women being from the future.

This part played five times in rapid succession, and with each time, Kelsey's face got more concerned, angry, even. She turned on Lauren and spoke to her as if she were a small child who had misbehaved.

"Why didn't you warn them not to tell anyone you’re from the future? Look what they've gone and done! This could be really bad! Yes, this is a fun adventure, but it’s not a game, Lauren! These people are superstitious. People get burned as witches in these times. What were you thinking?"

Lauren trembled in fear, all of her excitement about the adventure gone.

"I tried to warn them. I did! But something kept stopping me. My mouth just clamped shut. Maybe it's the druids. Maybe somehow, they’re controlling me. Maybe they want Jess and Kath to mess up. I don't know. But I really did try to warn them. I literally could not speak whenever I tried. Please, you have to believe me. I'm not stupid. I know what's at stake here. Maybe I should have aborted the trip, but I was just so excited."

Lauren broke down into tears.

Jessica looked to Kelsey and saw that comforting Lauren was the farthest thing from her mind, so Jessica did, holding close her old friend from college.

Kelsey took a deep breath and got herself under control and then smiled apologetically at everyone.

"Okay. I believe you, Lauren. I'm sorry I took my frustration out on you. You're probably right. The druids probably are controlling you somehow." Kelsey's glance rested on the strange ancient rune-carved dagger Lauren wore. "I’ll work on it, okay?"

Lauren wiped her nose on her sleeve and sniffed as she nodded yes.

"Okay. Thanks. Don't get me wrong. I'm still really grateful that I get to go on a time travel adventure. I wanted this more than anything. You know that. And it’s just awesome that we don’t need the guys. I was all set to beg Jeff to take me back, can you believe it? To be able to do this without having to do that is just the best."

Kelsey nodded.

"I know. I'm so lucky to have Tavish back. I forget sometimes how easy I have it. I know I told you this before, but sooner or later the druids are going to ask you to find an artifact for them. That's the whole reason they send us back, you know, not just to have adventures."

Lauren nodded, squeezing Jessica's hand and then letting go.

Jessica let go reluctantly. Even though this was a dream, she wanted to be grounded in contact with someone. She knew it was stupid to ask questions in a dream, but she couldn't help herself.

"What kind of artifact? And how are we going to get it?"

Kelsey looked concerned for a moment, but she quickly covered it up with reassurance.

"I have Tavish, and I've been to Celtic University, and so the druids just tell us what they want and how they think we can get it. It's going to be different for you. You'll probably have to blend in with the people for a while before you get the chance to get the artifact. But I have no doubt that when the time comes, Lauren will know what's expected of you and how to do it."

Kelsey was fading away now, and Jessica rushed to ask her burning questions.

“When we’re done, how do we get home again?”

Kelsey turned frustrated eyes on Lauren once more.

“Didn’t you tell them anything?”

Lauren’s tears started flowing anew.

“I told you! I tried to tell them, but I just simply cannot speak when I try to say certain things. My mouth freezes up on me!”

Kelsey raised a hand palm out in a gesture of peace.

“OK, OK, sorry.”

Kelsey turned to Jessica and Katherine.

“When you are done finding the artifact and the druids tell Lauren it’s time to go home once more, they may send you home from wherever you are. But if they don’t, go back to the place you arrived here in this time. If it had the power to help send you back here, then it will have the power to help send you home. Lauren’s dagger will do the rest.”

Kelsey was almost gone, and Jessica panicked.

"Will you be able to answer our questions every night in our dreams like this?"

Kelsey gave Jessica a sad smile.

"No, sorry. I'm on my own quest for artifacts, and I have other assignments that I have to see to. But I’ll check in with you as often as I can. Once a month or so."

With that, Kelsey was gone, and Jessica’s dream dissolved into something normal about trying to fly by flapping her arms. Normally she enjoyed these flying dreams, but the prior dream had seemed so real that her last thought from it wouldn’t leave her mind.

Once a MONTH?