Chapter Nine

 

 

The next morning Kerry awoke to find herself alone. She had just enough time to register where she was before the door opened and Callum walked in carrying a tall ewer. “Morning,” he said, pouring water from the ewer into a bowl on the windowsill. The shutters were open and the first gray shafts of morning light were brushing the tree tops outside. “What time is it?” Kerry asked, yawning widely. “Have you been up long?”

“It is time we were moving on. Porridge is ready downstairs when we’ve washed.”

Splashing water onto his face, Callum rubbed vigorously with his fingertips, cleaning the grime of the previous day from his features. “Are you not getting up?”

“I’m barely awake,” she replied, pushing the blankets down and getting to her feet. “Just give me a second.”

Dipping her hands in the water, the icy chill of it opened her eyes wide. A single splash to the face and she felt more alert than any alarm clock could have made her.

“There is talk downstairs of a thief in the inn. The Englishman from the corner last night is nowhere to be seen. I thought he looked suspicious. Come, let’s get moving.”

He led the way out of the bedroom and then downstairs. Kerry was glad of the thickness of her dress for the fire in the bedroom had died overnight. She wished she had a change of clothing though she seemed to be the only one to care. She noticed when they walked into the body of the inn that everyone else was still wearing what they had worn the previous night.

The patrons were all eating and talking in low voices. Someone was complaining loudly to the innkeeper that their purse of coins had been taken from their room overnight. The innkeeper was nodding patiently but saying nothing in response.

“Sit by the fire and get warm,” Callum said. “You’re shivering.”

“Am I?” Kerry asked, looking down at her fingers, surprised to see them trembling. A few minutes by the fire and she was soon baking hot. When the porridge appeared she realized just how hungry she was, devouring it in no time at all. Callum took a second bowl and then a third and only then did he rise to his feet and go over to the innkeeper.

What they spoke of, Kerry could not make out. She found herself looking at Callum and thinking about the previous night. Was she really the same person who’d so boldly gone and laid next to him by the fireside? It wasn’t even an original line she’d used, it was the one she’d seen in Twins. The fact that it had worked still shocked her. He hadn’t sent her away, he had said nothing at all about her audacity. At least he was unlikely to accuse her of stealing material from a movie. The chances of him having seen it were pretty unlikely.

She couldn’t believe she’d been so bold. That wasn’t her. Yet it must have been. She only had to look at him to think of those arms wrapping around her, making her feel so safe as the fire died down to embers. She hadn’t slept, not at first. She’d been too excited. Her heart had pounded as he held her close, his body pressing against hers. She kept as still as she could though she wanted to do so much in that moment.

She managed to control herself by telling herself she was going home soon. She would be back in her own time and she would have to learn to live without the feel of him against her, without ever smelling him again, without hearing his voice, that gruff Scottish accent of his that made her quiver with desire every single time he spoke.

Just looking at him as he talked to the innkeeper was increasing her heart rate. She pressed her hands together, trying to regain control of herself. The love she felt towards him was threatening to overwhelm her. She had to keep a handle on it if she was to get home again.

She knew one thing for certain. It would not be the same Kerry Sutherland who went home. She had already changed. Not just joining him by the fireside but everything she’d been through. She had seen death. She had seen the wildness of a land before modern invention, before pollution, before traffic, before all the things that she thought were important but they weren’t, not really.

All that mattered was walking over to her and he looked angry.

“What’s the matter?” she asked, immediately fearing she was the cause of his ire.

“Our horse was taken last night.”

“Oh no.” Kerry tried not to smile. If they had to walk it would mean longer together.

“The innkeeper is giving us another to make up for the theft. They are getting it ready now. Have you done with your porridge?”

“I have though it seems a shame to leave the fireside.”

“We must be moving. The planets align soon.”

“What does that matter?”

“The woman we are going to see will be away for it. We must reach her before she leaves else who knows when she may return.”

Within minutes of leaving the inn it began to rain. The gray dawn never brightened. A gloom hung over them and Kerry’s dress was soon soaked through. Callum continued without complaint nor pause.

The journey took most of the day. They stopped for only short spells to rest the horse and by the time the sun set Kerry was aching in places she didn’t even know existed. She was barely able to walk when she finally climbed down for the last time, having to shuffle hunched over until her muscles began to relax.

They had passed through stunning countryside but Kerry had glanced at it only occasionally, for the most part keeping her head down, trying to avoid the worst of the rain.

It was an impossible task and she stood dripping wet as Callum tied up the horse to a tree trunk by the roadside. “Where are we?” she asked. “I see nothing but rain and mud.”

“This way,” he replied, walking between the trees and across a patch of long grass. “She lives down there.”

Kerry didn’t spot the cottage until they were almost on top of it. Hidden in a dip at the foot of a mountain, even the color of the walls matched the surrounding countryside, the roof made of turf with smoke rising lazily through it and drifting away into the air.

“Who lives here?” Kerry asked as they approached the cottage.

“I do,” a voice said, pulling open the door to reveal an elderly woman wrapped in a tartan blanket with a headscarf hiding most of her features. “Come in, Callum,” she said, beckoning them both over. “I see you’ve brought a wee friend with you.”

“This is Kerry Sutherland,” Callum said as they ducked under the doorway. “Kerry, this is Fenella. Kerry has a couple of questions for you.”

“It’s about the doorway, isn’t it, lass?”

Kerry blinked, her eyes adjusting to the gloom as she tried to make out the interior of the cottage. “How did you know that?”

“You are not the first to come to me. Many will come. Or have come from your perspective. Time is a strange thing, dinnae you think? North corner on the left. It’s like Podgorny, you think you have a handle on it and then it disappears out of the window and goes hunting mice for days. You’ll have no trouble, the MacIntyres are all at their castle. Apologies, I’m rambling. You wanted to ask me something, is that right? Yes I do, it’s to the north of here.”

“Sorry?”

“My fault. I get ahead of myself sometimes. Ask away.”

“This is going to sound strange but do you know of a door that can send people through time?”

“Yes I do, it’s to the north of here.”

“So we go north,” Callum said.

“Go to the old hall of the MacIntyres. The door to Andrew’s bedroom is the door you seek. Now Callum, go tend to my veggies. I need to speak to the lass.”

Callum got up and left without another word, pulling the door closed as he went. Kerry looked across at Fenella who motioned toward a couple of battered wooden chairs. “Take a seat.”

Kerry did as she was bid, feeling herself under intense scrutiny as Fenella pushed back her hood and examined her closely. “Something bad is coming for you.”

Kerry sat up straight, an image of Edward flashing before her eyes. “What? What is coming?”

“That I cannot see. I only know that if you go back to your own time it will not find you.”

“I am going back.” She sighed with relief. “So it’ll be fine.”

“I have not finished. I know you are from another time and you are not the first lass from centuries hence who has stolen a laird’s heart. Know this, Kerry. You will soon have to make a choice and the choice you make will impact more people than you know.”

“What choice? What are you talking about?”

“You must decide whether to stay here or return to your own time. Remain here and darkness surrounds you but also a bright light. Great things will happen to the clan as long as you make the right choice.”

“And what is the right choice?”

“I do not know. Only you know that.”

“But what choice do I have? I don’t belong here.”

“Dinnae be so sure. He’s the man you love, is he not? Now you should be making a move. The planets are aligning.”

She stood up and opened the door in time for Callum to walk through it. “We should be making a move. The planets are aligning,” Callum said. “No doubt you want to get going, Fenella.”

Kerry looked from him to Fenella. It was as if the old woman could see into the future. She had so many questions but no time to ask them. Fenella was already walking away up the mountain, leaving the two of them alone. “What did she tell you?” Callum asked as they made their way back to the roadside where their horse was waiting.

“That I have to make a choice.”

“Dinnae tell me. She makes us all make choices. I dinnae know why I bother going to her. Still, at least we know the doorway is real and even better, we know where it is.”

He helped her onto the horse before climbing on behind her. Slowly they continued their journey north.

“We will reach MacIntyre’s old hall by morning if we dinnae encounter any of them on the way.”

“Any of whom?”

“The MacIntyres. They aren’t fond of MacCleods.”

“Do any of the clans get on?”

“Only when fighting the English.”

They did not stop once through the night. Kerry managed to doze off on a couple of occasions but the movement of the horse brought her out of sleep all too soon and by the time the sun rose she was exhausted. “It’s there,” Callum said, pointing past her to the stone building in the distance.

“Where is everyone? The place looks deserted.”

“Remember what Fenella said? They’re all at the castle which is good news for us.”

Within a few minutes they were standing outside the hall. “This way,” Callum said, pulling open the door. “She said north corner on the left. I will bid you farewell here.”

“You’re not coming in with me?”

“The MacIntyres would start war if they found out I set foot in there.” Something flashed across his eyes but Kerry could not work out what it was.

“Oh. Then I guess this is goodbye.”

“Aye, lass. I thank you for your company and I wish you well in your own time.” He looked like he was about to say something else but then he turned and walked away, leading the horse by the reins, not looking back.

Kerry had wanted to say so much more to him before she went but it was as if her lips had become glued shut. There was too much trying to get out and it meant nothing managed it other than a sad sigh as she turned and walked into the hall.

She could tell which doorway it was. There was the same strange energy in the air that she’d felt when she awoke on the earthworks by the castle. The door was open. All she had to do was step through and she would be back in her own time.

She thought about what Fenella had said. This was her choice to make. Stay and risk something bad but also something good. Or go back home and risk Edward. She stood looking at the door and as she did so Callum’s face appeared in her mind, the way he had treated her in comparison to Edward. She took a deep breath and then made her decision.