62. Chapter 62 - Lochinvar

Wake up, wake up, ye hae Ash with ye, ye must wake up. I woke with a start, I had tae get up, she would be frightened. I was lyin' beside her m'leg thrown over her hips. I pulled my leg off, she moaned. I forced m'self up and kneeled beside her "Ash, wake up, ye ken tis me, Lochie, I am so sorry, ye must wake up."

I placed my hands on both sides of her face. "Mistress Ash, please, please wake up."

Her eyes fluttered, then opened and focused on me, then her mouth drew down. "Owie owie, owie, Lochie, it hurts."

"I ken it does, Mistress Ash, I am so sorry. I ken."

She grabbed her left arm. "I dislocated my shoulder!" Tears spilled from her eyes. "I didn't want to do it — I told you I didn't want to. It hurts everywhere."

I said, "Someone will be here for us in just a minute, all will be well."

She became aware of our surroundings, looking all around at the trees. "We're surrounded by woods — what woods are these? Where are we?"

"We are in Scotland, Ash, at Balloch castle, the home of the Earl of Breadalbane."

She looked directly at me, "What year?"

"The year of our Lord, 1710."

Horses were coming up the path.

I scrambled up and stood over her, with my hand on my gun and waited.

Twas Quentin, Sean, and Liam.

Quentin said, "Dammit, Lochie, where's Magnus, is he okay?"

I said, "He's good, Fraoch is good, they helped me get Ash."

"Why the hell didn't they come back with you?"

"Magnus thought he could solve everything by taking his throne once more."

Sean said, "And why do you have their horses?"

I shook my head, "I daena ken... I think... Magnus said they might hae tae use the Trailblazer, but I canna remember the details. We were bein' chased. They tossed the reins at me and told me tae jump."

"So you don't really know where they are?"

"The last thing we talked about was his throne, I am certain they are returnin' tae..." I glanced at Ash, she had gone pale. "More pressin', Ash is injured."

While Sean and Liam began gatherin' our horses taegether. Quentin dismounted his horse and crouched beside Ash. "Hey, Ash, how's it going?"

Her hand gripped her shoulder. "Where are you from — you sound normal."

"Fernandina Beach."

"Island local... okay, you explain it, what the hell is going on?"

"Damn, you're all the way back at ‘what the hell is going on'? That's not good, jumping sucks, especially when you have no idea what's going on. But... welcome to Scotland."

Ash winced. "Sucks so far."

Quentin said, "Where does it hurt?"

"I dislocated it. I did it once before, about four years ago."

Quentin said, "So... you know it's going to hurt, right? The next few minutes are going to be awful." He helped her sit up. "Did you do this part in the hospital?'"

"Yep."

Her face was in a grimace of pain. I hated seein' it, I stood up and began pacin' around them.

Quentin said, "You're cool, Lochie?"

"Tis hard tae watch, I daena want ye tae hurt her."

She blew out air, "Owie owie owie."

I asked, "Dost ye need me tae hold yer hand?"

She nodded.

I crouched down beside her and held her good hand. But then I looked at her palm. "Yer hands look verra painful, Ash."

She nodded. "Blisters from carrying my weapon."

I said, "What kind of weapon?"

"An iron spike, about five pounds, about twenty inches long. It was not great, but it was all I could find."

"Och nae..."

Quentin said, "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we don't have a hospital, Ash, so you're just going to have to buck up while we get this joint back, can you do that?"

She nodded.

He took her hand and gently raised it up and over her head.

She breathed in bursts, puff puff puff. "Owie owie owie," she choked out, "I suppose there's no pain meds either?"

He folded her arm down. She was panting.

"No no, we have lots of pain meds, we got all the pain meds, just no doctor. We're going rogue. Now scratch your back. Back and forth." She winced, holding her breath as she shifted her hand back and forth until there was an audible pop and her shoulder went back intae place.

She let out the air and said, "Oh thank gumdrops and Easter candy, sweet, sweet relief."

Quentin helped her bring her arm back around to her front. He said, "Lochie, check my side pack, there's a first aid kit."

I raced over tae the horse and dug through the pack for a big red box with a cross on the side. I brought it back and he said, "Ash, I'm going to give you a rudimentary field-wrap, we'll do it better when you get to the castle."

He unwound a bandage and bound it around her shoulder and arm, holdin' it close tae her side. Then he cleaned her palms and wiped the skin with an ointment, and wrapped them with white bandages. She said, "Feels better already."

Quentin opened a jar of medicine and poured three pills intae her palm. He passed her a bottle with water.

She said, looking down on the pills, "I don't know, I might get pretty loopy, seems like I might need my wits about me."

Quentin said, "I know you've been through an ordeal and this is all scary, but we're going to a really nice castle, you'll have a bed and a warm meal. Take the medicine."

She popped them in her mouth and drank a long draft of water tae wash them down.

I said, "We hae a cart or a horse, both are likely tae cause ye discomfort."

"I'll take the cart, if that's okay, the horse is kinda... It's all a lot for me to get used to." One of the horses stamped and snorted. Her face drew down.

I helped her up and with an arm for support brought her tae the cart. She was covered in dirt. I brushed a twig from her hair and got her sittin' in the middle on a burlap sack. I dug through one of the packs on my horse and found a plaid tae wrap around her shoulders, fussin' with gettin' it tight and tucked in so that her arm was stationary. We were verra close while I worked and then I said, "I am sorry."

She blinked and looked as if she might cry.

"It winna be a long ride, Mistress Ash, I will do my best tae keep ye comfortable."

Sean and Liam checked the harness for the horse and then we headed toward Balloch castle.