Chapter 3

The closer Jen got, the more the dirt path looked more like a road than a hiking trail. She could see the tracks of wheels on it, but they weren"t like car tire tracks. They were too thin. More like bicycle wheel prints but there was no tread on them, which she thought was very strange. There were horse hoof prints as well as footprints, though none with any patterns on the soles.

She walked in silence, now feeling like it was a morning hike more than anything else, but she definitely knew she was nowhere near the hotel or in the city. It had to be a forest or park outside the city. Someone must have drugged her to take her so far without waking her up. It was the only explanation. At least it was the only explanation she had at that moment. That changed completely twenty minutes later when she saw something.

"What the heck is that?" she gasped.

Up ahead in the distance was a hill. That wasn"t unusual, she"d just traversed several hills to get to the road she was on. What was unusual was the stone and timber building that stood atop that hill as though to overlook everything below. Even at the distance, she could tell it was very old.

"Okay, cool, old castle on a hill far away; that"s completely normal, right? Something tells me I"m not in Memphis anymore."

The tall walls made of stone stood proudly on the hill, encasing a large stone building that stood in the center of the tall walls. Her gaze traveled down the slope of the huge hill to the bottom of it, where she could see a grouping of little stone cottages with thatched roofs. The road she was on seemed to lead right toward them, and Jen felt she was getting closer to the answers she needed. Surely someone there would know how she"d gotten here. Wherever "here" was.

Jennifer followed the curvy road, sure it would lead to the homes at the bottom of the hill and maybe to the castle, too, which she also wouldn"t mind taking a look at.

She suddenly felt anxious and extra aware of her surroundings, her body on alert and looking for any risk ahead as she walked forward. The atmosphere grew tense, and the birds had gone quiet. She could feel the change in the air as though it was a sixth sense.

Jen could sensepeople hiding behind bushes and in the shadows of the trees just off the path, though she didn"t know why they were hiding. Were they merely curious about her and wanted to watch her unobserved? Maybe, but that didn"t feel right. Something about the feeling was almost sinister, so she knew she needed to be prepared for anything.

Jennifer had trained very hard as an MMA fighter, which had made her instincts strong and her reflexes quick, so she knew she'd be able to handle an attack.

Suddenly, a man jumped out from the brush. "Hand over your gold!" he shouted as he tried to grab her.

She quickly dodged the attack and hit back with a quick, hard jab to his face, making him fall to the ground as someone else emerged from the brush. She fought with her hands and feet even though she was barefoot, using her strength and quickness to avoid their blows. The second thief attacked, coming at her with a club in his hand and swinging it wildly. Her maneuvers were on point and took her attackers by surprise, and she danced away from their blows as another man emerged to help his buddies.

"How is this lass so able to deflect our punches?" one said.

"Why is she so strong?" another muttered as he got back to his feet.

Jennifer was relentless. She hit her attackers hard and accurately with a few jabs and elbows, using everything she knew from her training to keep them at bay. She soon had several of them on the ground, keening in pain and she stopped to smirk at them. However, her victory over them was only temporary.

The thieves regained their feet as a few more of their friends burst from the bushes and hit Jennifer hard a few times while she was prematurely congratulating herself. Staggering, she recovered her footing and defended herself with a few jujitsu moves. The men were much bigger than her, but that didn"t bother her. She just used their strength against them as she ducked and dodged their blows.

A few minutes into the melee, the sound of horses' hooves pounding the ground reached her ears, which seemed odd. She glanced up in surprise, distracted from the fight for another moment.

Men rode down the hill on horses. The thieves seemed surprised as well, but then they drew short swords from their hips that she hadn"t noticed before and faced the men on the horses.

"The guards from the fort!" one of the men shouted. Jennifer was shocked. Swords? Why do they have swords? But there was no time to think more about it as the men on horses were suddenly upon them.

The brawl was quick but relentless. Jennifer swept one of the thieves' legs out from under him, and he fell onto his back as the men on horses jumped down and engaged in a sword fight with several of the men who had attacked her. After several minutes of combat, the thieves gathered themselves up and ran away back into the bushes and beyond.

Jennifer wiped the blood from her split lip and looked at the men who"d come to her rescue. They weren"t as rough-looking as the men who'd attacked her, but they wore kilts and medieval-period clothing. She knew she must also look a sight in bare feet, sweatpants, and a T-shirt, but what they wore was completely over the top.

"What is this?" she whispered as she stared at them.

"Are you alright, lass?" one of the men, who seemed to be in charge, asked Jennifer.

"I think so," she said, glancing over her shoulder to where the thieves had disappeared to. "I"ve had worse fights than that." She pushed her hair from her face and looked up at the man.

"Aye; I don"t doubt it," the man said. He exchanged a look of confusion with his comrades. Then he continued. "You are a good fighter, lass. I've never seen a woman fight in such a way; 'tis a strange thing to behold. But you do it so well."

"I"ve practiced for many years. Fighting is my profession," she said with a shrug.

This answer again drew many unusual and confused looks from the men.

She had a slew of questions, but the man was so attractive that she forgot it all for a moment. His piercing blue eyes smiled at her, and his square jawline and masculine features were framed by wavy, thick, auburn hair. His tall, formidable stature was bigger than most men she had seen in the MMA ring. There was a hardy nature and ruggedness to him that attracted her immediately. But who was he? And where was she?