Highlander's Destiny, page 16
“I agree with Amber,” said the young man, his accent similar to the woman’s.
Doubt registered on Bruce’s face, but he was still not lowering his sword. “David, ye, too? But how do ye all ken that?”
Colum watched them with an open mouth and a confused frown.
The man with a modern-day haircut cleared his throat. “We know that because I know her from back home. From Oxford. In fact, she’s my distant relative. I’m English, and yet you don’t suspect me of being a spy, do you?”
Bruce studied him. “Of course I dinna suspect ye. We fought together. Ye belong to clan Mackenzie, James. And I dinna ken that woman. She was caught more than a sennight ago listening near my tent. We all thought she was a man, and then she said there was an assassin in the camp that came for me. Based on her accent and the fact that she was caught spying, we all had nae doubt that she’s a spy for Edward.”
Danielle couldn’t believe her ears. Why were all these people protecting her like that?
“Yes,” said James, “she was looking for me. We got separated over the years, and when she contacted me, I invited her to join me here and then later to come to Eilean Donan. She was on her way and looking for me. Weren’t you, um…”
“Danielle,” said Colum helpfully. “The lass did mention Jamie when we caught her, as ye’ll recall, Yer Grace.”
“Well, there we are,” James said, hiding any shock behind a poker face.
Bruce took a long breath in as he studied them all. Then he reluctantly lowered his sword.
“I trust ye, James,” Bruce said and looked at Danielle. “I just dinna understand why ye didna tell me earlier ye were James’s relative. We wouldna have needed to put ye into the cage. And why did ye let us believe ye were a man?”
Danielle cleared her throat nervously. She couldn’t believe this was it. She still needed to understand why they’d all helped her.
“It was a misunderstanding,” she said. “I wish I had been clearer on who I was. But could you blame me? It’s not exactly the safest place for a woman.”
“Aye. Well,” Bruce said. “I’ll let ye talk to yer relative, then.”
He turned and started to walk away when Danielle called after him. “Your Grace…did you plan to dig traps around the road?”
He frowned. “What traps?”
She looked back in the direction from which she and Colum had come. “Have your people dig some pits in the ground around the road near the entrance at the forest, between the burn and the forest. Cover them with branches and leaves. When the English army comes, they will be forced to meet you from only one direction. Use that to your advantage to reinforce your anticavalry strength. The English may have higher numbers, but that doesn’t mean they will win.”
Amber turned to Bruce. “I like that. It’s a smart plan, Your Grace.”
The king looked at her thoughtfully. “I will take this under consideration.”
As Danielle watched his broad back recede into the distance, the realization settled into her bones. She was free to go.
Chapter 27
The four people who had protected Danielle surrounded her and Colum. Their eyes were bright and joyful as they watched her.
“Why did you protect me?” she asked as she looked around at their faces.
“Why do you think?” said James in perfect, modern English.
She frowned. Modern English? There had been some sort of recognition when they’d seen her jeans and shoes.
“Yes, Danielle,” said Amber with a soft chuckle. “I think you already know, even if it’s hard to believe.”
And Amber and David had American accents, she was sure now.
She swallowed hard. “Did you all go through the rock?” She looked at the hill visible above the tops of the trees.
“Rocks,” said David. “There are several.”
Colum’s face went blank. “David…ye are from the future, too?”
David nodded. “I am. My sister, Rogene, too.”
Danielle swallowed. “There are more of us?”
“Yes,” James said. “We’re like a small, secret society here. Now you, Colum, are a member of it, as well.”
“Oh my God,” whispered Danielle. “I can go back, right?”
“Yes, you can,” said Amber with a smile and looked at Owen with so much love, it stole Danielle’s breath. “We chose to stay here for those we love.”
James crossed his arms over his chest. “I am…well, I was a police detective from Oxford. I’m married to Catrìona Mackenzie of Eilean Donan.”
David chuckled. “He was investigating my disappearance—mine and Rogene’s.”
A slight shiver went through Danielle. “I remember that. A student and her brother disappeared in Eilean Donan. That was all over the news what…a year ago?”
“Yes, that’s us. Only, for us it’s been four years. Rogene traveled in time and fell in love with Angus Mackenzie. I tried to stop her from returning to him and fell through time with her. Now I’m married to Anna MacDonald, who’s Colum’s cousin and Robert the Bruce’s daughter.”
Danielle opened her mouth. “No, really?”
He nodded, proud.
“What about you, Amber?” Danielle asked.
“I was a US Army officer. I actually was on the run for a crime I hadn’t committed and fell through time…and fell in love with this hunk.” She winked at Owen, and he wrapped one large arm around her waist and brought her to him, planting a long, passionate kiss on her lips.
“Get a room,” said David, and everyone chuckled.
Colum watched them, shaking his head. “I didna ken any of that. I thought there was something different about ye, David… But I didna ken. And ye all stayed here for love?”
The three time travelers nodded. When Colum looked at Danielle, his gaze was full of longing, and her throat clenched. She knew what he was thinking. She was thinking the same.
If there were people who had stayed back in time for love…could Danielle stay for him?
She swallowed hard as her heart drummed heavily in her chest. She had no idea if she could. Actually, she knew she couldn’t. Her life was in the future. Her family. Her job—if she could somehow get it back. How could she uproot her life for a man she had met less than two weeks ago…a man who had kept her tied up for half of that time?
She was in love with him, yes, but it was a fling, wasn’t it? The thought of committing to him and leaving behind everything she knew filled her whole being with fear. The same fear she’d felt after what had happened with Sebastian—the reason she’d never had a boyfriend and had avoided dating.
Because she couldn’t trust people. She couldn’t even fully trust herself.
“How did you get here, Danielle?” asked Amber.
She told the story about visiting her sister, Jamie, who was a coordinator at the Bannockburn reenactment. That got a lot of excited nods. She told the story about Sìneag and her little chat with her. Then how she’d traveled in time and thought at first she was still at the reenactment. Then how Colum had caught her eavesdropping and thought she was a spy. And as Colum stepped in and told them how he’d dragged her to the English camp and then how she’d saved his life after the English had caught them and how they’d gotten into the king’s camp and escaped a beheading, the time travelers and Owen exchanged meaningful glances with one another.
“And now,” said Amber, “you two are part of the club.”
Danielle wanted to tell her there was no “you two,” but she didn’t want to hurt Colum’s feelings.
“Maybe,” Danielle said. “Only, I’m not staying. I’m positively shell-shocked that you, modern-day people, chose to stay in this time and make a life here. That you left important jobs and good lives and people you love.”
“To be happy with the ones that we love,” said Amber. “I’ve never once regretted my choice.”
“Nor have I,” echoed James.
“Neither have I,” said David. “Well, I did regret it for the first three years. But not since Anna agreed to marry me.”
“What are you going to do, Danielle?” Amber asked.
Danielle looked at Colum. She knew she wouldn’t stay, but also couldn’t bring herself to leave yet, knowing she’d never see him again. As he stared back into her eyes, it felt like they weren’t finished yet. There were words unspoken, decisions not made, important things not discussed.
“I don’t know. But I know the Scots need all the help they can get, and so I can at the very least lend a pair of working hands.”
Amber clapped her on the shoulder. “Okay. Thank you for that. There are more of us time travelers in this camp. Find us later. I feel like you two have some stuff to talk about.”
She turned the men around and they walked away.
When Danielle and Colum were left alone, the silence between them was a living thing. “Let’s go find something for ye to eat, lass,” Colum said. “Ye’re exhausted.”
Even now he was caring about her, making sure she was all right. Her heart melted as they walked towards a campfire together.
“Would ye stay until the morrow, lass?” he asked. “I canna bear the thought of never seeing ye again.”
She thawed as he took her hand in his and squeezed it. “I will, until tomorrow. I’ll help however I can. And…I also can’t bear the thought of never seeing you again.”
There was great sadness in Colum’s eyes as they sat at the campfire and Colum checked a boiling cauldron. There was no one near, and the food in the camp was communal, so he took two clean bowls and poured some stew into them. He gave a hot bowl to Danielle, and as she blew on the steaming food, she murmured, “Oh yum. I’m only now realizing how hungry I am for a real, hot meal. We did the right thing by saving time and only eating what we had in the packs on our way back. But I’m so happy to eat this.”
Colum chuckled and opened a horn flask of uisge. “Sláinte.”
As he drank, there was so much sadness in his eyes, her heart broke.
“Ye may stay for a few more days, lass,” he said. “As long as ye can afford to. But as much as it breaks my heart, ’tis a good thing ye’re leaving. I wouldna want ye to stay for the battle and risk yer life. ’Tis better that ye’re away and alive than by my side and dead.”
Chapter 28
“Where do ye think ye’re going?”
The voice came from behind Danielle’s back. She was headed towards the road with a shovel in her hand. Several Highland men and women went that way, as well. It was the day after Colum and she had arrived at the camp. Just this morning, Bruce had announced that pits should be dug in the fields on both sides of the Falkirk road right before it went into New Park forest. The area that needed to be dug out was hundreds of square feet. Colum had been commanded to form a unit that would dig the pits, and she had volunteered to help.
The woods ended about ten feet away, and the Falkirk road spread before her. It was dark under the shadows of pine, birch, and aspen trees, with sunlight shooting through gaps in the canopy here and there like laser beams. Around the forest spread a field of tall grasses and weeds, occasional bushes, and clumps of wildflowers.
Danielle turned around. The voice sounded like it was directed at her, even though she was pretty sure she had done nothing wrong.
She could see the hill with the time-traveling stone about six hundred feet to her right. If she ran, she could reach it in a few minutes. But she couldn’t leave Colum. Not yet.
“Yeah.” She turned back, her gut clenching. The voice hadn’t sounded friendly. Anytime she’d spoken to anyone besides the time travelers in the camp, she’d faced animosity. Upon hearing her accent, the person would freeze like an animal waiting to see if it should fight or flee.
This voice sounded like that of someone who’d decided “fight” was the answer.
The man who stood before her had a shovel in his hand, as well. He was a tall man, in his late thirties or early forties. His beard was dark, like most Mackenzie beards were, Danielle had learned in the past twelve hours. Was this man a Mackenzie?
He scrutinized her with a cautious, antagonistic gaze.
“I’m going to dig the pits like the king commanded,” she said.
“Ye’re doing nae such thing,” said the man and headed towards her, his gait broad, his scowl hard. “Ye shouldna even be here at all.”
He came to her and unceremoniously grabbed the shovel out of her hands.
“Excuse me!” she said. The other men and women who carried shovels towards the fields glanced back curiously.
“Ye think ye’re allowed to go in there and do yer things?” the angry Scot demanded.
“What things?”
“Yer…Sassenach things.”
“Aye, Marcas,” another man chimed in, stepping up beside the first. He held his own shovel menacingly and looked at her with dark eyes under dark, bushy eyebrows. “What do ye think ye’re doing?”
Outraged, Danielle reached out to take her shovel from the first man, but he jerked his arms, keeping it just out of her grasp.
Danielle slowly became aware of several other men and women stopping and turning to her. She felt their gazes burning into her like torches.
This was exactly the wrong thing to happen to someone who wanted to blend in and befriend people.
“I must go and dig those pits,” she said.
“I dinna think ye will,” said Marcas.
Danielle’s heart raced. His dark eyes glittered with obvious menace.
“Why’s that?”
She wondered if she had done something to offend this man, besides being English. But since she had talked to Bruce yesterday, she’d only helped Colum to set up his tent, gone foraging, and found some useful herbs for Catrìona and some mushrooms and berries for Kate. Then she’d cooked with the time traveler women, and they’d made enough to feed at least thirty men.
Then she had spent the night with Colum, kissing, giving each other sponge baths, and letting him have his way with her…or was it the other way around? After which, she’d fallen asleep in his arms, her body fully satisfied, her mind refusing to think about the stone up the hill. Refusing to think about her parents and her sister going mad with worry.
Shoving aside the distracting thoughts, Danielle made an effort to sound nice and civil. “Please, give me back my shovel.”
She wasn’t afraid of these men. She could already see Marcas had a bad left leg and knew she could inflict a lot of pain with one kick. The second man was shorter and leaner—she’d be able to knock him down if she had to.
Would those surrounding them attack her if she tried to fight her way past the two men, though? In the camp, many had given her dark glances and even made comments loud enough that she could hear them: Sassenach pigs… Nae Sassenachs are welcome here… Sassenachs should just go home… They were never directed towards James Murray, who was also English. He had earned their trust already.
“Look,” she said, “you two seem like reasonable people—”
“Give the lass back her shovel.”
The voice was harsh, masculine, and had an unapologetic authority about it.
She looked around. It was Colum, his shoulders straight, his scowl like a declaration.
“Of course ye would defend her,” scoffed Marcas, still holding Danielle’s shovel. “She’s the only one spreading her legs for ye. All the MacDonald lasses ken better.”
The veins on Colum’s reddening neck bulged. A flush crept onto his cheekbones. In one large step, he reached Marcas and grabbed his collar.
“Dinna ye dare insult her,” Colum spat. “What she’s doing is nae concern of yers.”
Danielle’s stomach clenched. He was going against his own clan for her, protecting her honor… No one had ever done anything like that for her.
Marcas bared his teeth. “If there’s a traitor going around the camp who may betray us during the battle, it definitely concerns me. And most importantly, it concerns my clan and my king.”
Colum kept scowling at Marcas. “Apologize to her.”
Danielle stood close to them. “Colum, there’s really no need…”
But Colum didn’t budge. He stood like a bear, ready to tear Marcas apart.
Marcas scoffed. “Ye think the clan will accept her? A Sassenach woman? From ye, the traitor?”
Danielle’s heart broke in two. “Colum, please don’t try to—”
“No, Danielle. Marcas hasna trusted me for eight years.”
“’Tis because I was one of the first ones to come and fetch ye from Berwick. Imagine my surprise when I saw ye almost cut Aulay’s head off. Yer own uncle that had always been yer champion.”
Colum’s face lost all his anger. He let go of Marcas and pushed him away, taking several steps back. “Aye. Uncle Aulay has always stood for me because he kens…”
“Kens what?” Marcas demanded.
Colum’s jaw worked. “Doesna matter. Leave Danielle alone.”
“She’s the enemy. She’ll never have a place with the MacDonalds.” Marcas threw Danielle’s shovel into the bushes and walked away.
Danielle felt her heart soar, knowing that Colum had protected her. Her blood was like warm honey flowing through her. As people dispersed around them and kept going, Colum came closer and stood before her, just one step away.
His eyes locked with hers, dark and liquid and hot. “Lass, dinna fash about him—”
“He’s right, though, isn’t he?” she asked. “They’d never accept me. Maybe they wouldn’t accept you because of me, as well. And being accepted and forgiven is all you’ve wanted since you returned to your clan.”
Colum’s jaw muscles hardened, and his already sharp angles became sharper. “Lass, dinna—”
“But I am something that would always hold you back, aren’t I?”
“Nae, lass—”
She nodded. She hadn’t really thought about how devastating her and Colum’s differences were for a couple in this time. Back in her century, a Scottish man and an English woman wouldn’t make a splash. In this century, Colum was seen as sleeping with the enemy simply because of her birthplace and accent.
