Chapter 12

12

T he fates must surely be laughing at her now.

How could she ever forget she was the daughter of a blacksmith and a clan healer? Not someone that a trained physician from a big city would be interested in claiming. And now she finds out he isn’t only a visitor to the clan, but a visitor to this time? Her mother had spoken of the arch’s powers and of the other visitors before, but she’d not paid much heed to those stories. Travelers from her clan’s future held no interest for her.

Other than Douglas, that is.

Caitlin dipped her cloth into the bucket and wrung out the excess water. Wiping her eyes and face, she tried to remove the evidence of how much she was interested in him. Somehow, the strength and frequency of the dreams had led her to believe that they were meant to be together. Just like the laird and Anice. They would overcome their differences and learn to trust and care for each other and the clan.

Together.

For the rest of their lives.

She sighed and laid the cloth over the edge of the well.

’Twas not meant to be, after all. Her mother had said as much to Robert and Anice... and Douglas. And how his eyes had lit when she said he was there for as long as the Fates permitted. Caitlin wondered if he knew how much he wanted to return to his home. It was clear in his eyes when she looked at him and that’s what caused her to lose control.

He didn’t look disappointed that he would leave her someday. No matter how she felt when he touched her, when he kissed her, even when he spoke her name. The ties between them must be in her own thoughts and not in his.

Well, now that she knew how things would go, she would learn as much as she could from his skills as a surgeon while he was with them.

Caitlin went inside and gathered up the sacks and jars of herbs and medicaments that she and her mother had prepared for their visits today. She would find solace in her work, as she had before Douglas arrived—and as she would after he left.

She walked down the path toward the village. Her first stop would be to look in on Iain’s wife and new bairn. The birthing had been a difficult one and Mildread had not yet recovered her strength after the long labor and heavy bleeding. A new concoction promised to aid in her recovery and Caitlin carried it now in her bags.

This was what she was meant to do, and Caitlin forgot her worries about Douglas or questions about when and where he came from in the face of her duties to the clan.

Much later that morning, Caitlin had finished visiting those who needed her mother’s healing herbs and potions and went back to their cottage to prepare the noon meal. Instead of her mother, she found Douglas rummaging through one of her parents’ trunks.

“Can I help ye find something in there?”

Douglas jumped at her voice and turned to face her, shoving that “something” behind his back.

“Oh, Caitlin, it’s you. You startled me,” he laughed nervously. “Your mother put my clothes in here and I was looking for them.”

She moved closer and saw the pile he held in his hands. Those strange breeches in that fabric she’d never seen before. They were a dark blue heavy material and they had the most outrageous fastener at the waist. She’d caught but a glimpse before her mother folded them and put them aside. And his jacket—leather this color she’d seen, but again not made in the same way. No laces or buttons on it to hold it closed, just that strange row of tiny metal fastenings. There were other objects, but none was familiar to her.

“I wanted to check my watch to see if it worked yet,” he began, holding out a metal bracelet before her. “It’s stopped.” He shook his head and stared at the strange object.

“What is a watch?” she asked, looking at the brightly colored bracelet. It had tiny numbers etched into its surface but a small black space in the center that he stared at. She knew her numbers and letters and could read and write them, so she recognized them immediately. But what startled her was the flashing coming from the watch. In the dim light of her parents’ room, it seemed to glow in front of her eyes.

“This is a timepiece, Caitlin. A clock I can wear on my wrist to tell time. It works in the light”—he turned his wrist toward the door of the chamber so she could see the etchings change—”or in the dark.” Facing the wall, the etchings were again visible in the dark.

“You were wearing this when you...?” Her voice betrayed her discomfort, shaking when she’d rather it be firm and smooth.

“Yes, I was wearing this when I found you in the forest,” he purposely misinterpreted her words.

“So, you dinna hiv a clear understanding of this, either?”

She could feel her throat tighten and tears threatened in her eyes.

“No, I don’t, Caitlin. As a matter of fact, I still find it very hard to believe at all.” He put the pile down in the trunk, closed it and turned back to her. His face was so serious and she could see he wrestled with his own disbelief and uncertainty. It made her feel a bit better.

“Douglas, about this morn....” She was determined to take control over her own emotions. He was here and would stay for some amount of time. She could not walk around on the verge of crying the whole time. “I think the last days hiv worn heavily on me. I thought the dreams meant something... something different from what it appears they meant. I’d accustomed myself to certain plans, certain feelings, and now I dinna ken what they mean.”

He reached out and took her hand in his, entwining their fingers. That feeling was still there, fainter but still there.

“Before I passed under the archway, a wise woman in my time told me that you would save my life and I would save yours. Maybe the dreams were just to ensure that we would be there to do that?”

“’Twould seem so.” But the feelings went deeper than that, she was sure of it. If their task was finished, Douglas would be gone and this pull she felt with his every touch would cease.

“Caitlin, about this morning….” Now it was his turn to hesitate. “I did feel some relief, a great deal of relief actually, with your mother’s words. I live a different life in my time, a very different life from how I will or can live here. I found out very quickly in trailing your mother today that my skills as a physician depend more on the technology of my time than on my healing skills.”

“ Tek-knoll-o-gee ? ’Tisn’t the Gaelic?” She felt so stupid when he spoke in words she couldn’t understand. Another demonstration of how different they were. She was a peasant in a village in the Highlands and he was a physician who knew wonderful things from another time, when they had objects such as watches to tell them the hour, in the light or dark.

“No, it isn’t the Gaelic.” He laughed, his deep voice came out in a rumble that she felt inside of her heart. “I didn’t realize how much of what I do in treating my patients relies on the... gadgets or machines, some like this watch, and not on my ability to heal.”

“Physicians in your time use these gadgets to heal?” Caitlin didn’t understand this, either. You didn’t heal people, they healed themselves. Healers helped by making the body stronger or by repairing damage whenever possible.

He sat down on the trunk, pulling her down next to him. She noticed that their fingers were still entwined and did nothing to loosen them. With her free hand, she pushed her long braid over her shoulder. His gaze followed her every movement.

“Physicians in my time rely on others to give them the signs and symptoms of disease and injury and spend little time with the person who is ill or ailing. We come, we treat, we leave.”

“And who cares for them afore and after ye?” She was appalled at this. She and her mam would sometimes spend days when needed with one person. They watched for signs of improvement or worsening and changed their treatments accordingly. No one else told them how to care, or when not to care.

“Nurses and assistants. We reserve our skills for the procedures that only we can perform.” She saw a look cross his face, as though he suddenly recognized how pompous he sounded. Then a flash of pain before he controlled his expressions better. Pain? Regret? She wasn’t certain which she saw in his eyes.

“What is it, Douglas? What pains ye so?” She couldn’t stop the words from leaving her mouth. He shuddered and then looked into her eyes.

“I always wanted to be a doctor to take care of people and help them heal. I only just realized that I haven’t done that.” He hung his head and brought her hand to his mouth. Breathless and waiting to see if he would repeat his caress of her fingers with his lips and tongue, she waited and watched... and hoped.

“Caitlin? Douglas? Ye be here?”

Her mother’s voice startled them. Douglas jumped up from his seat and dropped Caitlin’s hand. She ran her hands through her hair, pushing the loosened tendrils back behind her ears.

“Aye, Mam, we are,” she answered, walking toward the door of the chamber. “Douglas was looking for his clothing and belongings.”

“’Twould be a better idea to leave them here, Douglas. Ye will hiv no privacy at the keep.”

“The keep?” she looked from her mother to Douglas. “Ye go to the keep?”

“After you left this morning, Robert suggested that I stay there in the men’s barracks. It will draw less suspicion than if I stay here.” Douglas turned to her mother. “I think you may be correct, Moira. I’ll leave my things here with you.”

“Robert has let it be known that Douglas is a distant cousin who is visiting and who haes an interest in the healing arts. He wants Douglas to train as well with the men at the keep.”

“’Twould seem a good plan.” So, he would be here but not? Other than passing in the village or at the keep, she would not see him?

“I hiv asked Douglas to teach us some of his healing ways while he is wi’ us, Caitlin. Surely the clan can benefit from his knowledge.”

“I was just telling Caitlin that I think you have more to show me than I you. But I will share what I can with you.” Douglas nodded and smiled at her. So they would have time together after all.

“So, we will work together then, for the good of the clan?” she asked. Something felt very right and good about this plan. ’Twould work.

“Aye, daughter, as always, for the good of the clan.”