Forever Knight: Thornton Brothers Time Travel (A Thornton Brothers Time Travel Romance Book 2) (3 page)

“Give him gold and send him on his way.” Thomas prodded the big Scot with a booted foot. “Perhaps he will die. It would be for the best.”

Featherton sniffed. “There is a large price on his head. Many would turn him in for the gold.”

“Nay. He stays.” Robert took the man’s arms. “We will put him in the empty chamber next to mine. Tell no one.” He looked to his steward. “Janet can tend to him. We keep him locked away until he is healed enough to leave.”

“Why, Robert?” Thomas looked at him. “You risk all for a Scot who would slit our throats in our beds.”

“Not now.”

Janet tugged on Robert’s tunic.
 

“Everyone is still asleep?”

She nodded.

“Thank you, lass.”

Robert bent down. “Help me move him.” They carried Connor silently through the hall and up to the chamber. Robert suppressed a chuckle at the number of weapons Featherton piled on the trunk at the foot of the bed. Two swords, two daggers, and four dirks.

“No wonder he was so heavy,” the steward said as he laid the last dirk on the pile of weaponry.

Janet silently entered the room and set about cleaning the man’s wounds. She motioned them over, pointing to the slashes on his chest and the hole in his shoulder and arm. Robert threw the ruined silk under tunic into the fire. Arrows couldn’t pierce silk. The point went in, taking the silk with it. He could see a bit of the fabric in the man’s shoulder. ’Twas good—it could be removed without leaving any of the arrow behind.

“Damn it to hell.” Thomas ran a hand through his hair. “He needs a healer.”

Robert looked to Featherton. “Wake the witch.”

Thomas crossed himself. “Nay. He may be a bloody Scot, but we cannot. She will steal his soul.”

“You are an old woman. The healer will keep our secret, though she may turn you into a frog for crossing yourself in her presence.” Seeing the expression on his captain’s face, Robert laughed. “I should not jest. In truth, I do not know if she is healer or witch, and I care not.”

Robert looked out the window into the blackness. In a few hours it would be morning. “Connor McTavish saved my life.” He turned to face the men. “’Twas a year ago during winter. Eight men caught me unaware in the inn. I was…unsteady. The Scot saved me. Fetched a healer. Stayed with me until the fever passed and I healed.” He blew out a breath. “After, when I was still weak as a babe, he tracked down the three men who had escaped. Killed them one by one.” He stared down at the man. “If he had not raised his blade, I would be dead.”

Thomas cursed. “You told everyone you spent the winter with a woman.”

Robert shrugged. “Even then Connor had a price on his head. And my pride was injured.”

“I will fetch the healer,” Featherton said as he left the room.

“Not a word to anyone.” Robert looked from Thomas to Janet. Both nodded. “Janet, you will aid the healer.”

The girl nodded and went back to cleaning Connor’s wounds. Janet cleaned and helped in the kitchen. She tended minor wounds, had a soft touch. The child would grow up to be a healer; Robert knew it deep in his bones. He should think on asking the healer to take up residence at Highworth. Teach Janet.

Until Connor was gone, it was dangerous for all. Not just at Highworth, but for his brothers and their families. His cousins as well. Everyone must stay away. ’Twas the only way to keep them safe.

“Mom? Where are you guys?” Elizabeth listened to the static on the phone as her mom’s voice faded in and out before finally becoming clear.

“Rainbow, darling. Your father and I are in Peru, but not for long. We’re planning our next adventure. We’re off to India. Seeking enlightenment. An entire year of traveling around the country and spending time with gurus. Doesn’t that sound fantastic?”

Elizabeth loved her parents but they were the flightiest people on the planet. “It sounds great, Mom. I was wondering if you guys might be coming home after India?”

She explained what had happened, the latest arrest. How she felt she wasn’t making enough of a difference anymore.

Her dad’s rich baritone voice came on the line, filling her with warmth. “Sweetheart, your mother and I think you just need a change to shake things up a bit. Sorry, honey, we’re not coming home. Didn’t we tell you? We’re planning to travel the world. Who knows if we’ll ever be back.”
 

There was a muffled conversation and then he was back. “You’re welcome to come out and join us…”

Elizabeth knew they loved her, but truly didn’t want her to join them. They were the happiest when they were together, just the two of them. That was why they’d raised her to be independent, they told her, so she could carve her own life out of this world. As her mom liked to say, every baby bird must leave the nest and fly away. Only in this case, her parents were the ones flying away.

“I appreciate it, Dad. I was thinking of taking a trip to England, a little time off. Maybe when I’m there, I might come see you both for a few days.” No matter if she won the contest or not, Highworth Castle had gotten under her skin.

“Wait a minute, honey. Your mom has something she wants to tell you.”

“Your father says you’re thinking of going to England? What a marvelous idea.” Her mother’s laugh tinkled through the phone, bringing her close. From all the noise, it sounded like her parents were walking through some kind of marketplace.

“If you do go to England, make sure you visit Huntington Castle. It’s our old family castle. We had some moldy old ancestor, what was his name? Oh yes, Captain Rawlins Huntington. He lived, let me think…I believe it was around the mid-1600s. Its all ruins, been that way for hundreds of years. Nothing much to see but if you’re there anyway, pop over.”

“How come you never told me about him? I didn’t know we had a family castle.” Excitement flooded through Elizabeth. First the old woman in the cell, then the magazine, and now this revelation from the parental units. It was a clear sign from the universe.

“You know, you look like your ancestor, Merry Huntington. Apparently all of the Huntington women share the curly hair and green eyes. The men ended up with blond hair and brown eyes. Anyway, she was a direct descendant of Rawlins, but from what I understand he never married. Too many greats to keep track of. Merry was considered quite scandalous. Supposedly we inherited our penchant for adventure from her.”

“I don’t remember ever seeing a portrait of either of them.”

A sigh sounded over the line like the wind in the trees. “We had them. Remember the fire? You were only five, but the whole house burnt up. The portraits were in the attic. We lost everything. You know, the fire was a blessing. Losing everything forces you to reconsider your life. Before it happened, your father and I were terribly materialistic. Afterwards we realized how lucky we were not to have died, and that’s when we decided to simplify our lives. A year later we started traveling about.”

“Grandma never said anything about our family tree.”

“Oh, you know your grandmother. She didn’t want to encourage your wildness…” Her mother trailed off.

Elizabeth wondered if her mother felt bad, leaving her with her grandmother for so long while they traipsed around the world. Though really, she hadn’t minded. Whenever they came back, they had some interesting item they’d found and tons of stories. Both of her parents were more like a fun aunt and uncle than real parents. The other kids at school had parents who attended their games, brought cupcakes to school, and were always around.
 

“My mother convinced us not to take you out of school and drag you all over the world. I told her we would home-school you, but you know your grandmother—she believed in a rigid schedule and a formal education.”

Horns and yelling sounded across the line. Her mother’s voice turned soft. “We did what we thought was right. No sense dwelling in the past. But one thing I know for sure: the sense of adventure is as strong in you as it is in your father and I. Your grandmother? Somehow the adventure bug and curly hair skipped her. A homebody through and through. I should go; there’s some sort of accident up ahead. Lots of yelling.”

“Wait, Mom. What happened to Merry?”

The laugh on the other end traveled the line, wrapping her in a hug, and Elizabeth’s throat closed up. “I almost forgot. And I really shouldn’t be laughing; it isn’t funny. She was hanged at Execution Dock in Wapping for piracy in May of 1701. The story goes she put the rope over her neck herself. Swung next to the infamous Captain Kidd. She never sailed with him. They were on different ships. You know, she dressed as a man and sailed with a rather bloodthirsty crew for years. Lived an eccentric life, to say the least.”

“I wish I could have met her.” Elizabeth was stunned. She had no idea her ancestor was so fascinating.

“Rainbow, darling. Embrace change; it’s good for the soul. No matter what you decide, have fun and live life to the fullest. Kisses.”

And with that, her mother was gone. Elizabeth didn’t even have time to say goodbye. It was settled. If she won the contest, she’d have an all-expenses-paid trip to England. And if she didn’t, she was going anyway. Her boss had made it clear it was time for her to move on. One or two arrests were fine, but by the time you got to seven, the company started to get uncomfortable, thinking Elizabeth was doing too much, going too far. With seven weeks of vacation time coming, she could take a nice, long trip. Maybe it was time for something new. She’d become so frustrated by companies that weren’t held accountable for the wrongs they committed.
 

When the phone rang, her intuition told her to hurry. She jumped out of the shower, dripping water across the floor of the campground facilities, and fumbled with the locker door, searching for the cell phone. “Hello?”
 

“Miss Elizabeth Smith?” The voice was oh so very English. “Your essay was brilliant. I’m calling to offer you a full week, all expenses paid, at Huntington Castle.”
 

Elizabeth squealed as the voice on the other end changed her life.
 

“I can’t believe I won.”

The voice went on. The man provided her with all the details. She wrote them down, her mind racing a hundred miles a minute.

“We apologize for the short notice, but the owner has a few eccentricities. Are you sure you’ll be able to make it?”

“Oh, I’ll make it. I’ll see you in two weeks.”

She jumped up and down, screaming and yelling, and a few of the other campers averted their eyes and hurried to leave the crazy woman alone.
 

Back at the camper, she rummaged in a drawer. When she came outside and plopped down at a nearby picnic table, a small boy and girl were looking at her, their eyes huge. Guess the singing was a bit much. She smiled at them and opened a journal. Colored pens and stickers ready. It was time to plan.

Thanks to her parents’ influence, she always had an up-to-date passport, and with her living situation it wasn’t like she had a lease or mortgage to worry about. All she had to do was ask Darla if she could leave Lulabell and the camper with her while she was overseas.

England. A fairytale castle. The old woman had been right. She said Elizabeth was going to take a journey. Wrapped up in a blanket, she sipped a chai tea, running her fingers over the scarred wood of the picnic table. Who did the initials belong to? So many lives coming and going. It was in the fifties today. The sun warmed her and melted the last of the snow on the ground. The brisk air invigorated her as Elizabeth listed everything she wanted to do on her trip.
 

Darla was one of her oldest friends. Thank goodness she lived in Kentucky. She was at Churchill Downs when she got Elizabeth’s text. She was a veterinarian and was looking in on one of the horses. There would be plenty of room on the farm where Darla and her husband lived. Wait until Elizabeth told Sunshine. Of course, she’d have to admit to her friend she’d been right about the old woman they met in jail.

How exactly had the woman worded the pronouncement? Something about her not being able to return? That was silly. England was only a plane ride away. She could easily come back whenever she wished. Guess the woman couldn’t get everything right.

Who knew? Maybe she would meet a handsome stranger while she was traveling. Find her own happily ever after. It was going to be a grand adventure. And with that thought, Elizabeth decided she’d fly in a day early and visit the site where her ancestor was hanged. After her week of luxury, she’d visit the old family castle.
 

It was time to make a few changes. She called her boss, gave her two weeks’ notice, and was inordinately pleased with herself. Who knew, maybe she’d stay in England. Create her own adventure like her ancestor. Without the whole hanging part, of course.

Robert nodded to the man on guard as he strode into the chamber. “How is he?”

The healer and young Janet hovered over Connor. The man mumbled and thrashed in his sleep, lines of pain etched across his face. Robert flinched, seeing the damage inflicted upon the Scot. So many wounds, the stitching dark in the light of the fire.