My Laird's Castle (26 page)

“Yes, she was,” I said. I dared not say more.

“Then you have been to Scotland before? How did you meet Lady Mary?” Stephen asked.
 

As much as I liked Stephen, he asked far too many questions. I threw Colin a quick glance.

“Aye, Mistress Pratt has been to Edinburgh before. That is where they met.”

Colin then changed the conversation to the weather again, and Stephen’s curiosity was diverted from me.

I followed Colin around for the rest of the morning, sitting in the library and reading a book while he worked on correspondence. After a few hours, he turned to look out the window.

“The rain has eased. Since ye have set yerself as my shadow, I wish to walk down to the river to see how it progresses. Are ye up for the journey?”

I nodded and rose.

“I just need a cloak and those wooden shoes by the back door.”

Colin tilted his head. “How did ye know of those?”

I quirked an eyebrow and gave him a pointed look.

“I’ve been here before?”

“Aye, so ye have said.”

I followed him to the back door, where he draped the cloak around my shoulders. I slipped into the sturdier shoes while he donned a greatcoat, and we returned to the front of the house to set out. This time, I managed to hike my skirts up to my waistband myself.

Colin, his mood lightening as we trekked away from the castle, asked me more questions, especially about the sensation of traveling through time. I answered as best I could.

We reached the river, which had indeed spilled over the banks, the trail and the small bridge. Colin paused at the top of the hill.

“What would happen if ye were to touch the river again?” he asked.

“I would probably travel through time,” I said, “back to my time.”

“I think ye should go home, Beth,” he said quietly. “It isna safe in the Highlands right now. I think ye should go.”

Anguish tore at my heart.
 

“No!” I said. “I can’t.”

He turned to look at me.

“Because ye feel the need to save me?”

“Yes!” I said. “That, and I love you. I can’t leave you.”

Colin pulled me into his arms, pressing his lips to the top of my head.

“Ye canna stay, lass. It is too dangerous. If I must help my fellow clansmen, then I must. I canna turn my back on them any more than my father already did.”

I wrapped my arms around his waist, pressing my face to his chest.

“No, I won’t go. You can’t make me go, Colin. I’m staying here with you. This is where I belong, no matter how dangerous it is.”

Colin slipped a hand under my chin and lifted my face. He bent his head to kiss me, and I was once again certain I could never willingly leave him.

He lifted his head and looked down into my eyes with a soft gaze.

“I dinna want ye to go either, Beth. I want ye to stay with me. I wish only to protect ye.”

“No,” I said firmly. “I’m staying.”

A smile spread across his face, and he nodded.

“I had to insist, ye ken.”

“I know,” I said. I reached up to touch my lips to his. He cupped my face in his palms.

“Is it possible to lose my heart in a moment?” he whispered.

“I know I did,” I said, warmth spreading throughout my heart despite the chill of the day. “From the moment I saw you.”

He nodded.

“Aye. I ken the feeling. Ye came to me with such love, I couldna resist ye. I didna want to. Come. Let us go home.”

Colin wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and we walked back to the castle. He asked me again to explain the circumstances surrounding his death, and promised to avoid the boy if he could.

“But ye understand that if they come to ask me for help, I must do something.”

I nodded.

“I know,” I said with a sigh. “But, Colin, many things aren’t happening exactly as they did the first time I came. What if your possible death comes from some other means? From the soldiers? If you help the rebels, you will still be considered a traitor to the Crown.”

“I will take care, Beth. I will take care.”

“I’m still going to watch out for you,” I said firmly. “I’m still going to follow you everywhere.”

Colin laughed out loud.

“I must say I quite enjoyed yer company, my shadow,” Colin said. He laughed again, and we returned to the castle.
 

The rain lessened even further that afternoon, and Stephen and his men left the following morning after ascertaining that the river had subsided.

A month of blissful happiness passed, and I trusted Colin to let me know if he was contacted by the rebels.
 

Elinor and her father showed up as I expected, but this time, the tension between Elinor and myself was of short duration. I had told Colin even before they arrived that she had wanted to marry him, and he quickly nipped that in the bud by announcing almost immediately that he planned to marry me. He had proposed to me the day that I told him Elinor and his uncle would come for a visit, stating that since I knew so much about the future, I should have known he would ask me to marry him again.

Elinor decided to stay when her father left, as I expected she would, and I welcomed her female companionship. Besides, I knew she needed to meet Stephen when he came. They seemed just right for each other. However, if and when Stephen returned, he would be in pursuit of the Jacobites.

“Colin,” I asked the morning that her father left, “have you been contacted by the rebels?”

I had been reading in the library while Colin worked on his papers. Elinor was resting. Colin set down his pen and eyed me.

“Aye,” he said. “Auld Donald came by the back door last night. I didna have the heart to tell ye.”

I stiffened.

“What did you tell them?”

“I ken ye dinna wish to hear it, Beth, but I told them I will help them. I must get them to Glasgow so they can escape Scotland.”

I jumped up and ran to him, grabbing his shoulders as if I could shake some sense into him.

“Stephen is coming again. And he’s coming in search of them. He will be injured as well if we don’t stop the boy.”

“I ken yer words, my love. I told Donald he must keep any and all weapons out of the reach of Samuel. Donald is his grandfather, ye ken? He loves the lad. Donald said the boy isna right in the head since Culloden. He didna ask me why I cautioned him, but said he will watch over him.”

I slipped into Colin’s lap and wrapped my arms around his neck.

“What if it isn’t enough?”

“It has to be. I will set out this afternoon and meet them in the hills so there is nae chance Captain Jones will encounter them when he arrives.” He looked down at the paper on his desk. “I have prepared a will naming ye as my heir. I think it is legal.”

I stared down at the horrible piece of paper.

“If I lose you, I’m not staying here.”

“I think that is wise, love, but just in case ye decide to stay, there is my testimonial.”

“I’m going with you,” I said.

“Nay, ye are not,” Colin said firmly.

“Please, Colin!” I said. I clutched him tightly. “Please let me go.”

“Nay. It is too dangerous. I will return in three or four days.”

“Stephen will come before then, today or tomorrow, I think.”

“Then I must make haste.” He eased me off his lap and stood, taking me in his arms. “I love ye, Beth, so much that it seems as if my heart must break. I love ye.”

“I love you too, Colin,” I said, trying to fight the tears. I had cried more over this man than I’d ever cried in my life.

He pulled out of my arms. I followed him into the kitchen, where he helped himself to some food and drink, wrapping it up. Mrs. Renwick must have been on a well-deserved break. Then I followed him back upstairs as he donned his greatcoat.

George appeared at the back door, seemingly out of nowhere, as usual, and he held it open while Colin embraced me one last time and left. I ran out of the house and into the rain to watch Colin as he headed up the hill.

I was letting it happen again! I could stop this, and somehow I was letting it happen again. I had no faith that old Donald would be able to stop his grandson, who sounded like he had a terrible case of post-traumatic stress disorder, and maybe something else.

“Colin!” I called, running toward the path. But he was fast. He had vanished. I couldn’t see him through the trees. I stopped to listen to his footsteps but heard nothing.
 

By now soaked through, I ran back to the house. George waited by the door.

“Where is Lady Elinor?” I asked him.

“In the drawing room, mistress.”

I hurried to the drawing room. Elinor, seated on the sofa in front of a toasty little fire, read a book.

“Beth! Whatever is the matter? Have ye been out in the rain?”

“I can’t take too much time, Elinor, so please listen carefully. Colin has gone into the hills to help out some fellow clansmen who escaped from Culloden. English soldiers will come either today or tomorrow, I’m not sure which. A very nice man named Captain Stephen Jones will lead them. You’ll like him. They’ll be hunting for the rebels. They’re not really rebels, just some old men and boys. Anyway, I’m going after Colin.”

My breath was coming in gasps, so anxious was I to get going. Colin, lithe and fit, would probably reach the crest of the hills in no time. It had taken me hours.

By now, Elinor had dropped her book and risen. She stared at me with wide eyes.

“Beth! What are ye going on about? Colin and rebels? The English?”

“Just what I said. I’ll let you soak it in. I have to get going.” I turned for the door. “Just remember, the English will come. Say that Colin and I have gone to visit a neighboring house or something. Anything!”

Elinor followed me, protesting, as I ran for the back door. George, who had been hovering in the hallway, uncertain of my needs, moved quickly to the door. I skipped any notion of food or drink. For all that, I could toss my head back and swallow rain.

I grabbed my cloak.

“The English are coming, George. Say nothing. Leave everything to Lady Elinor.”

“Aye, mistress.” He held open the door, and I hurried out of it, throwing a wave and a few words over my shoulder.

“Take care, Elinor. You’ll be all right. Stephen is a wonderful man.”

And he would be uninjured because I would be there to stop it, as I would stop the boy from hurting Colin. I just wasn’t quite sure how.

Chapter Twenty

And up into the hills I went once again. My journey seemed easier this time, given that I didn’t carry food or water. Desperation made me move faster, and I scrambled, clawing my way through wet leaves and mud, grasping at shrubs and branches to haul myself up.
 

Although I wasn’t sure where I could find Colin, I determined to head for Malcolm’s cottage. Maybe, like last time, the dog would find me. The English had not yet arrived. Maybe I could just stand in the mist and call out Colin’s name.

I almost smiled at the thought. Colin would be angry enough that I had followed him. Shrieking his name out through the valley wasn’t going to make him any happier.

Hours must have passed. I had no way of knowing, and I had to stop once or twice to rest. My skirts and cloak hung heavy with the weight of mud at the hem, and a small part of my brain wondered where my jeans were. Had they been lost in time? If I had traveled back in time to my arrival, yet arrived in Mary’s brown silk dress, where were my clothes? It boggled the mind.

The trees fell away, and I knew I was near the summit. Twenty minutes more of the most excruciating part of the climb, and I dragged myself over the top of the hill. As before, I couldn’t see the valley before me because of the misty rain, but I knew it was there. I followed the path.

“Laddie,” I called out softly. I knew that the dogs were out there somewhere, and I knew their hearing would be excellent. “Laddie.”

Nothing. No dog barked. Nothing came rushing at me. Nor did a tall man whom I loved wrap his arms around me. I wasn’t entirely sure that Colin would embrace me, at any rate. I hurried on.

Sometime later when I felt I must be nearing Malcolm’s cottage, I called for the dog again, keeping my voice low.

“Laddie! Laddie!”

Then I heard him. He barked from somewhere ahead of me.

“Laddie!” I called louder.

An arm came around my neck and yanked me backward, and I shrieked. Another arm came around my waist, pinning my arms to my sides.

“Colin! Let go,” I choked out. “You’re hurting me.”

“Who do ye be?” a male voice whispered near my ear. It wasn’t Colin’s deep baritone, but more of a high-pitched tone. I tried to turn to look at my assailant, but I couldn’t move.
 

I did the only thing I could do. I lifted my leg and kicked at his kneecap with all my might.