Intuition: The Premonition Series (17 page)

“All right, just one—” I start to say, but I’m interrupted.

“Just one if it’s a good one. Don’t tell me about the ones like last time where we had nine kids and were living in an old fishing cottage and I ended up dying at sea and leaving you to all but starve. I mean nine kids…” Evie says, wrinklin’ her nose.

“It’s not my fault ya couldn’t keep yer hands off me. How do ya think I felt givin’ birth to all of them and then havin’ to take up with the widower next door just to feed them after y’all were gone?” I reply defensively.

“You’re right, I’m sorry. Just, can you tell me one where we didn’t struggle so much… one with a little less pain in it,” she asks hopefully. “Oh, and make it one that I’m the girl because it’s a little weird thinking of myself as a salty, crusty sailor with a penchant for whiskey…” she trails off with a sheepish smile.

“That was just at the end there, ya weren’t always like that—y’all were sweet and—” I try to say.

“Russell!” Evie say, smilin’ at my defense of her…uh him…her… whatever.

“All right, I’ll keep that in mind…let me think,” I say, skimmin’ through memories of our lives together, tryin’ to find a romantic one that will satisfy her. “No…no, that one was hot but…no…nope… well ahh…no…okay here’s one…shoot, no maybe not…” I say, continuin’ to rifle through lives.

“What’s wrong, Russell?” Evie asks in a soft tone.

“Well, it’s just they all start off nice, but then…ya know…one of us ends up dyin’ ‘cuz that’s how life is—or was—now, I’m not so sure anymore. Supposedly, we aren’t gonna die—at least, not a natural death anyway,” I say. I’m glad we’re alone in the room, so I don’t have to make sure no one overhears us. Not that anyone would think anythin’ other than I’m a complete mental patient, but still, it’s nice that this is a private conversation. Except for the angels, they all know exactly what I’m talkin’ ‘bout.

“Okay, I think I found one y’all might like. Y’all were a very, very, very beautiful lass…yer name was Aoibhe, which in Gaelic means beauty, so it was really lucky that ya were so beautiful, or else ya would’ve been teased a lot. Now y’all lived in the Scottish highlands in the year of our Lord 1147, well, that’s when I met ya anyway. It was the reign of King David I, so many of the abbeys in Scotland were bein’ built and there was lots to do for a man who was talented, like yer Da was.”

“I like the way you said that, ‘Da’ like you were truly there,” Evie says.

“I was, Red… and so were ya. These are memories, not stories,” I reply, somewhat frustrated ‘cuz I can tell she’s still in denial ‘bout the fact that we were really there.

“You’re right. I’m sorry… it’s just you sounded like you were Scottish there for a moment and it made it so real,” she replies. “You know Gaelic then?”

“Yeah, I guess so—twelfth century Gaelic anyway. Now, anyway— where was I… you were a Campbell and yer clan was smack dab in the middle of the Highlands. I was a Duncan, which ya won’t know, but we were lowlanders and, bein’ the third son of a wealthy family, I was shipped off to foster with my mother’s people. They were Campbells as well. Y’all startin’ to see where we’re headin’?” I ask her, seein’ the smile formin’ on her sensual mouth.

“What do you mean by foster?” Evie asks.

“Oh, that’s when ya go to another clan and train as a squire and learn to fight so that eventually you can become a knight,” I explain.

“You were a knight?” she asks, her eyes shinin’ again and an amused smile is quiverin’ in the corners of her mouth. “Like…in shining armor.”

“Well, no, the armor we had was different then, not so shiny, not so much metal,” I reply, amused myself. “We were more like soldiers.”

Evie begins shakin’ her head, tryin’ to process what I’m tellin’ her. “So how did we meet?” she asks.

“Well, I’m gettin’ to that—let’s see…Oh, so I was shipped off to the Campbell’s in the Highlands when I was ‘round sixteen and I was not too happy ‘bout it, since I had a girl that I thought I was in love with back at home. She was verra pretty, but not like y’all are. Y’all looked like ya look now, only yer hair was more fiery red and yer eyes were more blue than gray and ya had more freckles ‘cuz y’all would not listen to yer Da when he said ya should wear a wimple ‘cuz ya were a heathen child. But, y’all didn’t look like that ‘til later. Ya were only twelve when I met ya,” I explain.

“Russell! What were you thinking, going after a twelve-year-old girl?” Evie asks, lookin’ appalled.

“I didn’t go after ya! Y’all went after me! I couldn’t get rid of ya. Y’all followed me ‘round all the time—y’all were always makin’ somethin’ for me and tryin’ to get me to take it from ya. Ya drove me crazy,” I say, smilin’ at her playfully, rememberin’ her at twelve.

“Oh, well… that’s a little more understandable…” Evie comments in relief, before she asks, “What’s a wimple?”

“It’s a piece of fabric ya use to cover yer hair and ya fasten it in place with a circle of metal, called a chaplet,” I explain, watchin’ her face puzzle over the foreign head coverin’.

“Wow, that’s weird—okay go on.” she smiles.

“Yeah, well, one day I’d had it with ya. I told ya that ya had to stop followin’ me ‘round and that I was never gonna take another token from ya. I was in front of all of my buddies, ya see, and it was embarrassin’ me. Ya got real quiet and ya said, ‘But I love ya.’ And me bein’ the mean sixteen-year-old kid I was, I told ya I was never gonna love ya back,” I admit, raisin’ my eyebrows at Evie who is lookin’ at me as if I’m an ogre.

“No, you didn’t say that to a twelve-year-old girl! You’re heartless!” she says accusin’ly.

“Oh, but I did, and ya know what ya said, Aoibhe? Y’all said, ‘Leander Duncan,’ that was my name then, Leander, ‘I’ll not give ya another thing ‘til ya tell me ya love me.’ And ya ran away and ya left me alone,” I say in a gentle tone, rememberin’ that fiery, beautiful little girl.

“Then what happened?” Evie asks when I don’t continue right away.

“Well, a few years went by and I went home to my family, so when I saw ya again, y’all were ‘bout sixteen or so, and oh my Lord, were ya the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen in my life,” I say, smilin’ ruefully at Evie as she grins at me wickedly.

“Ha, ha, serves you right, Leander! Tell me everything and don’t you leave out any details!” she grins.

“All right, so I had come with my Mam to visit with her kin, the Campbell clan, for a kind of gatherin’ thing we used to have from time to time back then. I saw y’all with yer Da, who by the way, was a blacksmith and he had arms like this,” I say, indicatin’ a bicep the size of my thigh. “He had to be one of the most intimidatin’ men I’d ever seen,” I go on, rememberin’ the size of Aoibhe’s father. “And he was taller than I am now, so ya can imagine someone like me not really bein’ intimidated easily by another fella, but he was one scary Da.” I watch as Evie tries to imagine what I’m tellin’ her. “Anyway, y’all were with yer Da, and the minute ya saw me, it was like y’all had eaten some bad haggis or somethin’. Yer face went pale and yer jaw clenched and ya wouldn’t look at me again after that.”

“So, what did Leander do?” Evie asks, sittin’ forward in her seat.

“Well, I just kinda watched ya for awhile. Every young man in the whole place was watchin’ ya, so I was in good company. Ya danced every dance with a new partner, but ya didn’t seem to have any particular interest in any one, so I felt it was safe to ask ya for a dance. But, when I did, y’all turned me down flat. No explanation, I just said, ‘May I have the next dance?’ and ya said, ‘no.’ Then, ya danced with the next fella that asked ya.” I watch Evie’s eyes sparkle as I continue the story how I remember it. “When it was time for supper, I was sittin’ with some of the fellas I knew and the lasses were servin’ up trays of food. Y’all were passin’ out the bread and ya got stuck with my table, so ya went down the line and when y’all got to me, ya skipped me, like I wasn’t even there. When I pointed out to ya that y’all had missed me, ya know whatcha said?” I ask Evie with a chuckle, rememberin’ the response in my head.

“No, what did I say?” Evie asks me with a quirk of her brow.

“Ya said, ‘I didn’t miss ya, Leander, I skipped ya ‘cuz ya told me that yer never gonna take another thing from me again and, guess what? I’ll not be givin’ ya another thing either.’”

“Hooray for me!” Evie laughs. “Then what did you do?”

“Well, ya tossed down the gauntlet, now didn’t ya?” I ask, rubbin’ my hands together, rememberin’ what I did next. “I had to see just how stubborn y’all were, so I started off by bringin’ ya flowers. That was an easy one for ya to turn down. Then I bought ya a chaplet for yer hair. Y’all turned that down, too. Then I bought ya some kid-skin boots, but y’all wouldn’t take those either, so I figured ya couldn’t be bought.” I tell her, as I go down the list.

“So, if I couldn’t be bought… then what?” Evie asks with a curious smile.

“Well, I had to get underhanded. I followed y’all when ya went to visit yer sister in a neighborin’ burg. When ya went inside, I ran yer horse off and waited ‘til ya came out,” I admit, hangin’ my head, feelin’ a little ashamed at what I had done over eight hundred years ago.

“Russell!” Evie says in shock.

“I know, but I was gettin’ desperate and y’all were so stubborn. Anyway, y’all came out and I pretended to have just seen ya. I offered ya a ride back, but ya wouldn’t take it. So I had to walk behind ya all the way back, feelin’ guilty for what I had done to ya. Y’all told me later that ya knew I’d done it, too, so ya walked extra slow to punish me,” I say, smilin’. “Y’all were such a mean lass!”

“Me? You drove the horse off,” she says, laughin’.

“Anyway, by now, I was so obsessed with ya I didn’t know what to do with myself. I had fancied myself in love before, but nothin’ came close to what I was feelin’ for ya. So, keep in mind I was a desperate man—maybe I shouldn’t tell ya this part,” I say, gettin’ up from my seat and grabbin’ my bag.

“Where are you going? You can’t leave until you tell me what you did to me!” Evie says, grabbin’ one of the throw pillows from the sofa and tossin’ it at me. I catch it easily, huggin’ it to my body, inhalin’ her perfume on it as I sit back down in my chair.

“Okay—just remember—desperate man. So there I was, in love with ya, and I couldn’t come up with a way to make y’all unbend toward me. So, I followed ya to the loch. Y’all went there to wash yer clothes and, when everyone else left, ya stayed to wash yer hair. Ya only had on yer kirtle, which is kinda like a slip made of linen and when it’s wet, well, there’s nothin’ left to the imagination. So, I took the woolen overdress ya left on the bank and I sat just under the tree with it, waitin’ for y’all to notice,” I say, toyin’ with the corner of the pillow.

“What happened when I noticed?” Evie asks breathlessly.

“Well, ya stormed out of the water with yer hands on yer hips. Y’all took one look at me sittin’ under the tree, and ya started marchin’ home. Y’all would’ve had to go right through the center of town in yer wet kirtle, if I hadn’t caught up to ya and stood in front of ya, blockin’ yer way,” I explain, smilin’. “Although, I didn’t mind the view from behind ya at all…” I add, and catch the next pillow easily as it sails toward my head. “Anyway, I said that y’all had to take yer dress back from me before someone saw ya. Y’all said, ‘I’m never gonna take any of yer tokens from ya, I’d rather walk through the town naked.’ So I said, ‘But I love ya.’” I pause, lookin’ up at Evie. Her eyes are on me, listenin’ to every word I say. “So y’all said, ‘Good Lord man…finally! I thought I was gonna have to walk through town, nearly as naked as the day I was born, before ya told me that ya loved me,’” I tell Evie, smilin’ ruefully. “And then, well, ya kissed me…and it was so sweet and innocent and hot, all at the same time.”

“So, Aoibhe married Leander?” Evie asks in a soft tone, bitin’ her bottom lip.

“Yeah,” I sigh, noticin’ she has distanced herself from my memories once again. “Y’all already had yer Da make the rings. Y’all were just waitin’ on me to get to the ‘I love ya’ part. Y’all always were one step ahead of me,” I say, standin’ up again.

I start walkin’ from the room when Evie asks, “What happened to Aoibhe and Leander?”

I pause, not sure I should tell her this part. “Well, a few years after we were married, I got real sick with what we used to call the morbid sore throat. And there I was, beggin’ ya to leave me be and go back to yer Da, but yer stubborn and y’all wouldn’t go. Y’all kept nursin’ me and I got better…and y’all got sick…and ya didn’t get better,” I say quietly, ‘cuz my throat gets tight as I remember Aoibhe dyin’ in my arms. The sorrow of that day still lingers in my soul. “Ya seein’ a pattern here at all, Red?” I ask her sadly. “Y’all gave up yer life for mine.”

“I don’t remember being Aoibhe,” Evie says in a quiet voice

“I know, but she’s there—in yer soul—I kissed her on the beach and she tried to give up her soul for me a few months ago. I know y’all don’t remember, but yer her and she’s y’all and this is by far the strangest life I’ve ever had,” I say, rubbin’ my hand through my hair.

“Just say the word and I’ll end it for you and you can be free to go on to your next life,” Reed says as he enters the library in his customary stealthy way. I never even hear him comin’ and that is irratatin’, since I should with my improved hearin’.

“I’ll let ya know on that. I was thinkin’ of stickin’ ‘round, at least ‘til ya get called back to Heaven. Wouldn’t want to miss one minute with ya,” I reply, tryin’ not to let him get to me.