Highlander's Challenge (35 page)

"No, I couldn't. I have my father to deal with, and believe it or not, he isn't in the best of health." She snapped the book closed. "Besides, I couldn't live like that. It's too rough for me."

Tuck laughed. "You'd miss your MTV, is that it?" She smiled. "Actually, I'd miss the Learning Channel, but that's not it. I would be beyond frustrated in that atmosphere. My studies are too complex. I need access to my lab, to various forms of equipment still considered experimental in their own right. I wouldn't be happy in the past."

"But you like the romance of it," Tuck said with a grin. Jenny's eyes turned dreamy. "Oh, yes. The chivalry, the grandeur, it would be something to see. And I would like to help the child you mentioned, but it would be an endless process. There would always be another person in need, and I'm only one woman."

Tuck sighed. "You're right. But maybe you'll come visit someday. The, uh, portcullis will always be raised." They both laughed, lifting their spirits. 339

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"I've been thinking," Tuck said. "Why fifteen eighty-four?

And why did I get shot back before the solstice instead of on it? And why did I come back to a slight second after I left?"

"Excellent questions," Jenny said, taking off her glasses.

"I've asked myself the same." She chewed on the end of the frames, her eyes narrowing as she concentrated. "I would like to test my theory."

"And that would be?"

She lifted her far-off gaze and focused on Tuck. "I've determined that the date you arrived was the spring equinox. As for the year, and do ... not ... laugh, I believe your wish had something to do with it."

She curled her lips in against her teeth, trying not to snort, but Jenny obviously saw the humor on her face. "Sorry, that's a bigger piece for me to swallow than this whole time travel thing."

Waving her glasses, Jenny said, "Hear me out. What were you thinking when you tossed your coin into the fountain?" Tuck blinked, but remained silent.

"I thought so." She slipped her glasses back on. "You had that time period or possibly even a Highlander in your thoughts, and I added to that image with my story. Which I undoubtedly wouldn't have told, nor would it have existed if you hadn't gone back. So, it was predestined, in a way, a loop in time."

"We're back to that fairy stuff, aren't we?" Tuck asked with a small groan.

"Well, perhaps not fairies, so much as you landed
when
you most wanted to be. Now, as to the rest of my theory, I 340

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believe you can only step into the time loop on the solstice and out of it on the equinox."

"Whoa, whoa. I didn't arrive here on the equinox." Jenny sighed thoughtfully. "Let's see if I can explain it more simply."

Tuck smirked. "Please do."

"Think of it like the ferry. A perpetual loop, yet with a stop along the way. It begins on the mainland, stops at the isle of Mull then returns to the mainland. You left here on the solstice, landed in the sixteenth century on the equinox, then ended your trip when you began, on the solstice."

"So you're saying that if I leave on the winter solstice, I'd arrive on the fall equinox. Then
if
I chose to come back on the solstice, I'd arrive here seconds after I left?" Nodding, Jenny looked off into the distance. "Yes, but I'd prefer to test my theory, if you're willing. I'd like to see if you can step into the loop on the equinox, which I believe would place you on the summer solstice. Always falling backward in the year since you are traveling back in time." Tuck nodded, her thoughts running like terrified sheep through her brain. "But what's to guarantee that I'll return to the right year?"

"There are no guarantees. But as I said, I believe the year is up to you, and I don't believe you can begin on the equinox."

Shaking her head, her heart pounding excitedly in her chest, Tuck said, "I don't care. I have to try. If I get back on the summer solstice, I can help fight the Campbells." 341

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Jenny nodded sagely. "Then we'd better get back to work. Your study time just got cut in half."

* * * *

Sadly, however, Jenny's theory was correct. She couldn't travel on the equinox. Tuck felt nearly as horrible as when she realized she hadn't needed to come back to the present to save Jenny. But she had another chance. Dozens of chances. She wasn't going to give up. Ever. She'd try every equinox, every solstice, until she found a way back to Colin. Back to where her heart was.

Winter arrived on the little isle of Mull and so did Jenny and Tuck. Raghnall Castle was closed for the season, but that didn't stop them.

Tuck worried her bottom lip. If the rest of Jenny's theory was correct, and she arrived on the fall equinox in the right year, it would be months after the fight with the Campbells. That thought terrified her. Would Colin be there, would he remember her, would he still be alive? She considered checking the history books, but according to Jenny, that much detail couldn't be trusted. Only the larger events.

"Well, here we are," Jenny said excitedly, crouched behind the bushes at the edge of the castle grounds. Tuck grinned. She was like a kid on Christmas morning, but she had some bad news for the mousy scientist. "You have to stay here, Jenny."

When they'd arrived on the fall equinox to test her theory, the guards had thoroughly searched Tuck's large leather pack and were beyond confused by the items they'd found. She'd 342

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made up a story about hitchhiking across Europe and they bought it, but Jenny had stuttered and stammered. She nearly blew the whole thing. Who knew how she'd handle getting caught trespassing in the middle of the night after watching her friend disappear into a fountain.

"Stay behind? Are you insane?" Jenny squeaked.

"I won't risk you getting caught. You don't know how to lie."

"I can lie, I just prefer not to," Jenny said with a sniff. Chuckling, Tuck said, "Right. Like you did in September when the guards searched my pack."

"I wasn't prepared for your story. A rather good one, I might add."

Tuck took a deep breath. "You know as well as I do, that if you get caught after I disappear, your scientist-professor brain will take over and you'll be expounding on the
fact
of time travel. You'll either be taken away and locked up, or some other lunatic will believe you. Then what'll happen to history?"

"Hmm, you have a good point. Astonishing that I hadn't come to that conclusion first," Jenny said, straightening her glasses. "If people started traveling whenever they liked, there would be total chaos. And, thinking as you would, someone with a evil mind might decide to change the course of history to suit their own purposes." Tuck's brow furrowed painfully. "My knowing stuff, changing the future for the clan MacLean won't hurt anything will it?"

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"Not on the scale say changing the outcome of World War II might have. Just do your best not interfere too much. Don't let Colin become Scotland's king, for instance." She gave a quick nod of her head. "Gotcha. Low key. No problem. Now, stay put. If I'm not back in fifteen minutes, you'll know it worked."

"Or you got caught."

Narrowing her eyes, Tuck said, "You're going to follow me, aren't you?"

"Naturally. I wondered how long it would take for you to come to that obvious conclusion. I have to see for myself if my theory is correct."

Shaking her head with a weary sigh, she said, "Come on, but keep close to me and do exactly as I say." They made their way to the fountain beneath a sickle moon. That tingly feeling, the sense of knowing something was going to happen, buzzed around Tuck like a swarm of bees.

"Do you feel it?" Jenny whispered. Tuck stopped abruptly several paces from the fountain and turned. Jenny plowed into her with a grunt.

"Feel what?"

"Nothing. Never mind," Jenny said, shaking her head. "It's merely the anticipation."

"Yeah. Anticipation." And fear that they'd both be going to jail, instead of her going back in time.

Jenny hugged her then shoved her toward the water.

"Hurry, before the guards make the next rounds." 344

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"I think you're enjoying this too much," she muttered, holding back the surge of tears threatening to choke her. This might be the last time she ever saw her friend. Jenny's lips quivered and her eyes shown in the dim light.

"I'll admit this is exciting. More so than when that person attacked us in this very spot." She swallowed. "Now, get going. You're holding up science," she said shakily. Tuck grinned and gave her a quick hug. "See ya in the history books, Doc." She turned and stepped into the water. 345

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"You cannot go on like this, my friend," Ian said, casting a shadow over Colin's face.

He ignored him as usual, slipping one of Amelia's delicious treats into his mouth. What a shame he could find no cook who could recreate them, if only their taste and not their odd shape.

Savoring the morsel, he let his gaze wander over the little spring. He'd had some men clear a wide path through the wood so he could more easily arrive by horseback whenever the mood struck him. Which, as Ian was so wont to point out, he did every day.

For hours, he would lie back against the sweet grass and watch the clouds pass overhead. He listened to the music of the burbling spring and imagined it was her voice he heard. The soft words she spoke while they lay together, the steady beat of her heart drumming in time with his. All the things he remembered and cherished about her.

And on those days when it rained, he imagined the thunder and lightening to be her as well. Her waspish retorts, her fiery temper, her burning passion. He relived them all time and again, but soon, the fall colors would be gone and winter would be upon them. He wouldn't be able to lie here and remember, the bitter cold would drive him indoors. Ian kicked his foot, knocking it off the log he'd propped it upon. "Get up, you lack-wit whoreson." The twig between his fingers snapped. "Watch your tongue, Sassenach."

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"What I'm watching is a Highlander who's gone as soft as a newborn babe's arse."

Colin flung out his arm and brought Ian to the ground. Throwing a few well-placed blows and receiving a few in return, they rolled about the clearing, pummeling one another.

"I'll break your nose, you bleedin' Sassenach. Then the lassies willna find you so pretty," Colin said between grunts and blows.

"You couldn't break my nose with your incredibly hard head much less your flabby fist, you beef-witted Scot." Ian gained the upper hand as they rolled, pinning him for the moment, but Colin would win as he always did. It had become a game of sorts, one he appreciated, as it took his mind off of Amelia if but for a few short moments. Once they were through thrashing one another, he would feel better and would be ready to return to the castle and bear another night alone with the memory of her sweet skin against his, tormenting him.

"You wouldn't be losing if you'd bothered to take a few pointers from your wife," a familiar voice said. They both fell still as a shadow fell over them where they lay. Slowly, Ian lifted his head for a look at the intruder, while Colin tilted his back, his heart pounding in his chest. A redheaded angel stood over them, a cocky grin on her rosy lips, with both hands resting on her hips. The sunlight flashed off her ring, blinding him for a moment. He prayed she wasn't an illusion created by his lonely heart. 347

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The vision sighed. "Ian, if you don't get off my husband, and soon, I might have to hurt you. You look a little too cozy, if you catch my drift."

"Huh? Oh! Yes, quite right, quite right." He scrambled off, leaving Colin lying there with his mouth open.

"He's all yours, my lady." Ian bowed grandly. "I shall make myself useful back at the castle," he said, backing away. The sound of horse's hooves faded and still Colin could not move. He could only gaze up at the woman standing over him.

His wife.

Her hair had grown considerably since she left some months ago, now lying across her shoulders in wild disarray. His fingers twitched, aching to feel the long lazy curls slip between them.

She slipped off her pack and sank to her knees by his side.

"Are you comfortable?" She grinned, a devilish sparkle in her eyes. "I wouldn't want to disturb your rest." Lifting her head, she shaded her eyes as she glanced at the sky. "It's a beautiful day. A little on the nippy side, but a good one for being lazy."

In one swift move, he pulled her to his chest and rolled her to her back, pinning her beneath him. He drank in the feel and look of her. Her flaming curls spread against the late autumn grass, her warm sweet breath brushing across his face, her heart beating in tune with his. She was color, where there was none, she was sound, where there'd been only the wind and water, she was life, where there'd been only loneliness.

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And she was his.

"Tell me I'm not dreaming, mavourneen," he begged, his throat tight.

She ran the tips of her fingers along his jaw to his lips. "If you are dreaming, please don't wake up." On a moan, he pressed his lips to hers and knew she was real. She'd come back to him. Somehow she'd found a way, leaving behind wonders he could never imagine. An easier life than he could ever give her.

He rained kisses across her cheek to her ear then simply held her as his eyes dampened, afraid the future would rip her from his arms.

She gripped him, whispering roughly. "I was so afraid I wouldn't find you. Afraid I'd end up in the wrong time, the wrong place. That the Campbells would've—"