Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

T he ride In the cage was uncomfortable to say the least. Every now and again she would be jostled and knock into one of the iron bars, which would make her skin sizzle and Mary couldn't help but gasp in agony with each touch.

Mary felt overwhelming despair as they traveled. She had no idea what these strange men were going to do with her. They said they were taking her to some Laird, but what did that even mean? Was that some kind of boss for whatever game they were playing? Nothing made sense anymore. She wished with everything inside her that she would wake up from this nightmare.

As the sun started to rise, Mary lifted her head to look around. They were on a dirt road, not a bit of pavement in sight. It was very strange to not see anything modern anywhere around. She couldn't imagine how she'd managed to get here to this backwards crazy place where creatures could steal your body and humans locked her up in a cage that burned her.

After another thirty minutes, the group turned to the right and Mary's jaw dropped. Ahead of her was a massive stone wall with an iron gate. They were crossing a long land bridge to get to it.

"What the hell?" she murmured, her voice croaking as she spoke.

When they passed through the gate, into a huge courtyard, she saw what looked like a real live medieval castle, with guards on the walls, stables, wagons, people in period dress… it was all so surreal that she had to rub her eyes to make sure she wasn't imagining it.

"Where the hell am I?"

"Urquhart Castle," the man in charge answered as he rode up next to her. "Now maybe you'll give us some real answers, goblin witch."

"I'm not a freaking goblin, you stupid man!" Mary exclaimed.

"What's this you've brought us," a man strode toward them from the castle steps.

"Caught this goblin witch on the banks of the Loch about ten miles North. It won't answer my questions and claims it's not a goblin." The man chuckled.

"Because I'm not, you bonehead man! I'm a human woman who had her body stolen! I've told you!" Mary ground out.

The new man came forward and stared at her with curiosity. "What's your name?"

Mary sighed. "Mary Cahill."

"Curious. Where are you from?" the man asked.

"It said it was from Brook Lane. Never heard of it before, have you?"

"Not Brook Lane, moron, Brooklyn, as in Brooklyn, New York!"

The new man turned to one of the crowd that was beginning to gather to gawk at her. He whispered something to that man and then turned back to her. "How did you get here?"

"I don't know, honestly. I was shot… well I think I was shot during a robbery at the bank and I blacked out. When I woke up, I was in some weird stone room on a table and this thing… this creature was there. I couldn't really see it very well, but it looked like what I do now. It was going through my things, my dress and stuff that was off to the side of the room. Then it called out my name a bunch of times, said it was me and suddenly it was wearing my body and I was in this one. I don't understand how that happened. I tried to follow it but it went through this weird door and ended up in that giant lake. Some strange aquatic Brachiosaurus helped me get to the surface and brought me to the shore where these idiots threated to kill me with their stupid crossbows and then locked me in this cage and now I'm here." Mary glared at the man as a woman moved closer to his side.

"What's going on?" the woman asked, her eyes on Mary.

"This goblin claims to be from Brooklyn, New York."

"Because I am from Brooklyn, New York! Why won't any of you bozos believe me? Are you all stupid? And what's with all the Ren Faire dresses and kilts? What is this place?"

The woman moved closer to her. "Tell me what you do in Brooklyn."

"Why? I've already told these morons and none of them listened."

"Please? Humor me."

"Whatever. I'm a tour guide at the American Museum of Natural History."

"And that's in Brooklyn?"

"No, it's in Upper Manhattan."

The woman smiled. "And what's the date?"

"June 27, 2022. At least it was when I was shot—" Mary frowned.

"You were shot?"

"I went to the bank on my lunch hour, it was being robbed and they shot me or I thought they did, but… I woke up in that weird stone room and now I just don't know."

The woman turned to the men. "You need to let her out of there. She's telling the truth. Not only does her accent match a Brooklyn accent, even if it's coming from a goblin throat, but she knows too much about New York to be a real goblin."

"That's what I've been saying! I'm not a goblin! My body was stolen!"

"You're sure?" the newest man asked. "You have to be one hundred percent sure."

"I am."

He nodded and moved forward, opening the cage door. "I'm not exactly sure what happened to you, but I'd like to find out more. Please, allow me to help you out of there so you don't burn yourself." He held a hand out for her.

Mary tentatively took a hold of his hand, careful to not let the claws on her fingers cut into him. Nervously, she slipped out of the door and to the ground. She stood several feet shorter than all of the men, and a foot shorter than the woman. "This sucks. I want my body back, can you all help me?"

"I'm not sure how we can do that, but we'll try," the woman answered. "I'm Ivy, let's get you inside and make you comfortable, okay?"

"I'm Mary. Thanks, I appreciate it. This is the first decent thing that's happened since this nightmare began." Mary sighed then paused. "I take that back, it's the second. The first was the help from the Brachiosaurus. I never imagined one would be so gentle."

Ivy smiled. "We'll talk about that in a few minutes, once we have you somewhere settled."

"I'm trusting you on this, Ivy. If she's not who she says she is, we could be letting an enemy into the castle."

Mary turned to him, her hands on her hips. "I am not your enemy. This body isn't mine and I would never hurt anyone on purpose!"

"See that it stays that way."

As they started toward the castle, the man who first accosted her stepped into their path. "I want to apologize."

Mary waited for him to say something more, but he didn't. "Okay? Then apologize."

He smiled and it took her breath away. The man was very handsome. Now that she got a real look at him, he was the type of man romances were written about. Her eyes trailed over him, from his dark hair, to his warm brown eyes and rakish smile. He had thick muscular arms and a chest that was massive which tapered down to a narrow waist and strong legs.

Mary reached up and tucked a strand of her straw-like hair behind her ear which felt incredibly large to her fingers. "Oh my God! What is going on with my ears?" She gripped her ear with her fingers, feeling the oddness of them. They were large and felt like they were pointed. "No, no, no… oh God, what did that creature turn me into?" she cried.

Ivy patted her arm gently. "It's okay, it's going to be okay, I promise. We'll figure this out."

The man's expression gentled and turned to one of sympathy. "It's not too bad. For a goblin, you look nice."

Mary covered her face with her hands, but her large nose protruded and just made her sob some more.

"Shhh, lass, it will be all right. We'll fix you."

Mary looked up through her watery eyes. "How?" she whispered.

"We have many scholars here who can look in the archives to see if there is a cure, and there is always Old Maggie."

Mary sniffled. "Old Maggie?"

Ivy nodded. "She's a friend. We'll talk more about that later. I think we should probably get you to that room now before more of the staff starts filtering into the hallways and gets a good look at you. Everyone here is aware of the creatures who come through the burgh, but it might not be the best idea to have you out in the open like this, don't you think, Hamish?"

The burly man's name was Hamish? Mary thought as she peeked up at him.

His expression darkened a little and he nodded. "No, probably not. Come, lass. I'll help Lady Ivy escort you to one of the guest rooms." He gently took her hand in his and helped her up the castle steps.

In that moment, Mary wished that he could see her true body, because this one, she knew, was not attractive at all and she wanted so very much for him to find her as attractive as she found him.