Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

M ary turned slightly to find herself facing the wicked end of an arrow. She lifted her head up and realized a man was standing there holding a crossbow on her. She hadn't heard him approach, she'd been too caught up in her sorrow and grief to notice him or the others with him, apparently. She shifted and scanned the rest of the area, looking to see what else she had missed while she'd been lost in her thoughts.

"I said, do not move! This arrow is iron and will kill you where you sit!"

Mary's gaze flew back to his. "I'm not moving!" she rasped out. "Who are you?" she asked, staring at the three men clad in kilts with, if she recalled correctly, large swaths of tartan fabric called Plaids like the Scottish wore on occasion.

"As if we would give you our names, goblin! We won't fall for that trick!" the man with the crossbow stared at her hard. "What business do you have here on this side of the burgh?"

Mary looked at him in confusion. Goblin? Was that what she was now? However that wasn't what she asked. "Burgh? What are you talking about?"

The man shook his head and glared at her. "Not going to answer? Very well, we'll see what you have to say to the Laird, before he sees you beheaded and fed to Nessie!"

"What?" Mary cried out in surprise. "But I haven't done anything! What's a Laird? I don't understand!"

The man ignored her. "Grab hold of the creature, we'll lock her in the cage and take her back to the Keep for the Laird."

"Aye."

The two men each came toward her as she attempted to scoot back away from them, but she didn't make it far. They each grabbed an arm and lifted her from the ground. Mary cried out feeling her anger returning. She began to snarl.

"Leave me alone! Leave me alone!" She gnashed her teeth, coming very close to biting the man who seemed to be in charge, but he side stepped her. "I demand to call my lawyer! You can't do this!"

The man looked at her in confusion for a moment, but shook his head as he opened the door to the cage he was about to lock her in. "Best watch yourself, goblin, this is made with iron."

"Stop! You can't just lock me up! I haven't done anything! You aren't the police! This is kidnapping!" Mary screeched.

"We are Watchmen from the Grant Clan at Urquhart Castle. We are the law," he answered.

Grant Clan? Urquhart Castle? Where the hell am I? Mary wondered. And then she realized he'd said he was the law. If that was the case, then maybe they could help her find the creature who stole her body!

"If you are law enforcement officers, then you have to help me! Something stole my body!" she exclaimed.

The man looked at her in confusion again, as if something she'd said had triggered something for him. He moved closer and looked at her through the cage. "What is your name?" he asked.

“I’m Mary Cahill, I work at the American Museum of Natural History and I don't know where I am or what is happening but I woke up and this creature stole my body,” she said.

Hamish stared at the creature in the cage. She certainly didn't act like a goblin and she'd given her name without a second thought, something no goblin would ever do, unless the name was fake, which it probably was considering this creature was a goblin sorceress. He needed to find out which one though.

"Do we still take it to the Laird?" Leith asked.

"Aye, do not trust a word this creature says, and be wary of speaking any names out here within its presence. A goblin sorceress like this one, can do much damage with just a name." He glared at the creature again.

“I'm not a goblin sorceress, you idiot. I'm a human girl. I was turned into this hideous creature by something that took my body and gave me hers in return!” Mary said.

Hamish turned to her giving her a raise of the eyebrow impressed by this clever trick. “That is a very witty explanation, goblin, but you will not trick me or my men. We have come across your kind before and we know what mischief you get up to. You might as well tell me now. What trick are you up to?”

“I'm not up to any tricks. Didn't you hear me? Or is this some sick kind of joke? Are you some kind of LARPer playacting? Well I'm not part of your stupid little skit, you big dummy! I don't know how this is all happening, but I want my body back! Listen to me, you freak, something stole my body and put me in this one!” she said as her fingers clasped the wooden part of the cage and rattled it.

Hamish turned to Leith and Shaw who seemed just as confused as he was by such language. Suddenly, he realized this goblin sounded very much like the women who'd come through the burgh.

He decided to question it more thoroughly. “What is your true name, creature?” he asked.

“Mary Cahill I told you already,” she said, her raspy tone was filled with exasperation.

“And where are you from, Mary?”

“Brooklyn.”

Hamish played along, acting a bit more dense than he actually was. “Brook Lane? I've not heard of this brook before. From what waters does it hale?”

“What? Waters? No, you stupid, burly man. It's not an actual brook. It’s not a creek or a stream or a river of any kind. It’s a borough of New York City in New York. Can I speak to someone in charge here? If you are the law, then where’s your chief of police?”

Hamish found her answer interesting. It did sound as if she was talking like the women who had come through the burgh, but then again, it could be a goblin trick. “Tell me then. How did you get here from this Brooklane?”

“I don’t know. As I said, I work at the museum. I went to the bank on my lunch hour to deal with a fraudulent charge on my account and some robbers came in. They took me hostage." The goblin woman paused and a frown marred her lips. "I think one of them shot me? But I'm not sure of that since this isn't my body. Anyway, when I woke up I was in this weird stone room and there was a creature who looked like… well that looked like this." She gestured to her body with disgust. "She read my name out loud with some other words and I watched as she stole my body and I took on her body.”

“Oh, of course. You heard what I said a moment ago about what a goblin can do with a name and now you're using it in your story. That’s very clever, goblin witch,” Hamish said.

“Uggghhhhhh,” the goblin groaned in what could only be considered anger. She slammed her hands against the bottom of the cage repeatedly.

Hamish, Leith, and Shaw each took a step back. Hamish knew there was no way for her to break free from the cage. The iron should protect against that. However, she could still be powerful enough to conjure some kind of magic and he wanted them to be out of the line of fire.

He raised his crossbow and said, "Stop that or I will have no choice but to shoot you dead, goblin witch."

“Ugh. I have already said I'm not a goblin. Get this through that incredibly thick skull of yours! This is not my body!”.

He nudged the crossbow toward her face. “What’s it going to be?”

The goblin closed its yellow eyes and sighed. It lifted its hands up in surrender. "Fine." "I'm glad we have an understanding."

“Where are you taking me?”

“I will be taking you to the castle so that the Laird himself can decide what is to be done with you, goblin witch,” he said.

“Castle? You mentioned that before. Where the hell am I? Is this some sort of game? Am I on a television show?” she said.

Hamish ignored her and started toward his horse.

"Answer me!"

He turned to see the goblin grab onto the iron bar of the door, but it immediately pulled its hand off when the iron seared its skin.

“Ouch. What the…?”

“Aye, I told you it’s iron. Ye cannot touch it. You already know that,” he said.

“No. I didn't know that, you fool. I told you I'm not a goblin! How would I know iron would burn this stupid body? It's not mine!"

Hamish sighed. "Stop with the histrionics, witch, I'm tired of listening to you complain."

Hamish knew it was entirely possible that the goblin was indeed a human woman who'd had her body stolen by the real goblin witch, but he wasn't going to take a chance on being wrong. It was well above his rank to make that kind of a decision. Still she really did sound like the ladies who had come to them from the future. She mentioned things the others had spoken of before, but again, it could all be a trick.

"What are we doing?" Leith asked.

"We meet up with Sean and the others, then head to the castle," Hamish answered.

"We're really going to take it into the castle?" Shaw asked.

“No. We'll take it as far as the courtyard. I refuse to be responsible for allowing a tricky sorceress inside the walls, it might be exactly what it wants. This could be a trick to get to the Laird. Outside is the safest," Hamish replied.

“Aye, let's be on our way, then,” Shaw said.

They mounted their horses and headed for the bend where Sean and the others were waiting. Hamish raised a hand in greeting. "Come across anything?" he asked when they reached them.

"No, but it looks as though you have."

"Aye. Goblin sorceress, who claims she's a human. We're taking her to the Laird."

"A human? Is she blind as well?" Sean asked, gaping at her.

"No, claims the real goblin sorceress stole her body, but we aren't taking any chances, so we caged her."

"Aye, smart move."

"I'll ride behind the creature, make sure it doesn't attempt any magic. You ride at the front, send Errol ahead to warn of our arrival."

"Aye. Errol, head to the castle and send for the Laird."

Errol gave a nod and took off at a gallop.

The rest of them kept a steady pace back to the castle. Hamish kept an eye out for any kind of ambush that the goblin may have called to it. But when he looked at the sorceress, she did not look around in anticipation of a rescue, instead she sat with her head down, and wept.

The creature was actually sobbing and mumbling about being abducted and treated in such a horrible manner. He felt bad about it, way more than he should be feeling for a goblin, which only served to make him more resolute in keeping up his guard. He would not be tricked into showing sympathy to this creature and letting it go. Still, he didn't have to be mean. It was caged in iron and most likely couldn't do any kind of magic.

He hoped that once they reached the castle, the Laird or someone would be able to determine the creature's true nature.