59. Chapter 59 - Kaitlyn

CHAPTER 59 - KAITLYN

THE WILDERNESS OF VIRGINIA - 1775

T hat man shoved me against the exterior door and down the two steps to the cellar hatch. He was so gross and handsy, putting his hand on my breast as he forced me toward the dungeon. He smelled drunk and seemed unsteady.

He swayed as he crouched over the hatch to pull away the bolt and then there was a giant forceful heave from below. My husband threw the doors up with his back, knocking Drunk Guy off balance. Drunk Guy careened. Magnus meanwhile leapt through the doors and I shoved Drunk Guy, hard. While he stumbled and fell I grabbed his gun from his holster.

Magnus swung the machete and sliced off the dude’s arm, I shrieked because blood was everywhere — above us, a man carrying a rifle slammed through the back door.

Magnus grabbed my arm and yanked me around the side of the building, tweaking my ankle, as the man shot at us.

I pressed to the house, breathing heavily, Magnus took the gun from my hand, put it in the back of his belt, and jerked his head across the side lawn toward the woods. We ran.

It wasn’t far, we made it to the cover, but it was thick underbrush and tightly packed old trees. It was tough going as we fought our way through brambles and woods. Branches clawed at me as we ran. We scrambled over a boulder, and then our path was clear. We hit the ground and ran until we were so deep into the woods that we collapsed behind a boulder to breathe.

I thought my heart would explode. I was so out of breath. He put a finger to his lips and then breathed deep, and put his hand out palm down, lower, then lower, he breathed in again slower, looking me in the eye. We matched our breaths — in long, hold, out long. He whispered, “Better?”

I nodded and whispered, “I’m so thirsty.”

He said, “There is a river next tae us, we are goin’ tae hae tae calm ourselves before we approach.”

“I’m going to drink so much water.”

He squeezed my hand. “Ye good?”

I nodded.

He waved for me to follow.

We crept through the underbrush and came to the edge of the river. It was so delicious looking — wide, sparkling water, calm, like the Amelia river, with a blue heron wading between tall grasses at the edge. It looked timeless.

Magnus peered out from behind the tree for a long time, then he nodded. We crept forward, collapsed to our hands and knees, scooped water, and drank from our cupped palms.

I said, “Thank God we have water, I can do anything now.”

He splashed water all over his face and head and whipped his hair back in a spray. Then he slicked it back, looking a lot less like a wild man. I washed my hands in the water taking care to make sure the cut I had gotten was clean.

He asked, “Did he hurt ye?”

I nodded.

“Did he do anything else tae ye?”

“He tried, but... he, he didn’t. But ow...” I pushed my sleeve up, there was a bruise on my lower arm. I pulled my skirt up, there was a big gnarly bruise on my shin, and an even bigger one on my thigh.

He said, “Ye hae bruises on yer face as well.”

He reached out and said, “There is one here on yer brow and another here on yer jaw.”

I frowned, “I didn’t realize, I was just trying to stay alive.”

He nodded. Then he drank from his cupped hands again. “Dost ye think a fish might jump in my mouth if I will it?”

“Like a bear?” I shook my head. “I doubt it, we’ll need to fish for our supper I think and?—”

There was a shout and horses coming through the woods.

Magnus scrambled to his feet, grabbed my arm, and dragged me up. We raced into the woods, disappearing into the deep wooded growth, heading in the opposite direction.

We were slower on foot, but we snuck, until finally we came to a spot on the river that was shallow and fordable. We hid behind a tree while we took off our boots, then peeled off our socks. We held them in our hands. Magnus looked out, up and down the river, listening. Then he nodded.

I raced into the river and waded across. Magnus followed, then passed me, leading me into the woods. We headed up a hillside.

We ran until we couldn’t run any more.

He pulled up under a stand of trees and hanging his head, breathing heavily, he tried to get on top of his breathing. “Och nae, they are makin’ it hard tae escape.”

We were on a rise. I could see the river sparkling not far below us. But through the trees we could see some of the valley. I asked, “Can you see the house?”

He pointed, “Tis there, by that river bend, dost ye see the gray of the roof?”

I nodded. “We ran a long way.”

“Aye.”

Then beyond the house we witnessed the swirling of a storm and above it big banking black clouds, rising into the sky.

I asked, “Coming or going?”

He watched for a moment, hands on his hips, trying to calm his breathing. “I think goin’.”

“Damn, he had a live vessel in there, I can’t believe I didn’t grab it. That should have been the first thing I did.”

He chuckled. “Och nae, ye are a terrible arse, listen tae ye — ye wish we had risked more afore we escaped? Ye wish ye had looted him on the way out? We barely survived, mo reul-iuil! It could hae been the end of us, and look at what we hae!” He pulled the gun from the back of his belt with a grin. “Ye did good.”

“I did do good, didn’t I?”

“Absolutely, ye had a knife on ye, but ye were disarmed. Ye went with him upstairs, took a pretty profound beatin’, and then ye dinna run away like I hae told ye tae do around a million times, instead ye thought tae grab the gun.... Tis a terrible arsery thing tae do.”

I leaned back on my arms, but then said, “Ow,” and rubbed my wrists. “He twisted them.” I frowned.

“Och nae, I am sorry he hurt ye, mo reul-iuil. But think how sweet our revenge will be.” He took my arm and kissed me on the inside of my wrists on the pulse points.

“That feels much better.”

“I ken, my kisses are magical.” He chuckled.

I pretended to pout and put my arm up against his lips again. He kissed there. Then I said, “Highlander, I love you, I wish I could live on your kisses, but I am so hungry.”

He checked the gun for bullets and said, “Tis why I am about tae find us some food.”

“It’s like the olden days.”

“Aye, where are we, dost ye think?”

I grinned again. “I saw a newspaper! We’re in Virginia, colonial times, the year is 1775.” I stood up and looked around. “Looks pretty peaceful, but the colonies are at war with England…”

He joked, “I bet the colonial deer taste delicious.”

I said, “Could you get us a deer? Just like that? Okay, then, after a venison feast we will talk about what to do next.”

“Aye, right now I canna hear ye over m’stomach growling.”

We stood up and went to hunt and forage for food.

“Where are we going to look?”

He joked, “Tis America, not Scotland, I thought ye were leadin’. Ye are the one from here.”

I said, “Uh oh. I don’t know anything about colonial America. I’m a Florida girl. I wonder if there’s a drive-thru nearby.” Then I groaned and held my stomach. “I’m too hungry to think?—”

He put his hand out, stopping me mid-step. My heart caught, fearing we had been seen. I followed Magnus’s eyes — he was looking at something in the foliage ahead of us. He raised the gun and aimed.

I stopped breathing. A long minute passed, then he fired.

Flocks of birds flapped up from the trees, tiny beasts scurried away through the brambles. Magnus rushed forward, yelling, “Follow me!”

A moment later he plucked up a dead squirrel, I rejoiced, but he kept running, carrying his kill, racing through the woods. We scrambled for about ten minutes east, up another hill. At long last we stopped at a good viewpoint.

We both doubled over, then collapsed onto our backs, our faces grimaced, to catch our breaths yet again.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this exhausted, or hungry.”

“Aye.” He lumbered up. “Stay there, I need tae make certain we werna followed.” He walked away for a moment, while I stared at the sky thinking, we are all alone in the world. Where are my babies? Are they worried without me?

Finally, he returned. “Nae one is followin’ us, and it daena seem like anyone heard the gunshots.”

I asked, “If I um… help with the fire, will you deal with the um... dinner?”

He nodded. “Aye, ye are squeamish, I ken it.”

I picked up branches for a fire.

Then he used the blade from the cellar to skin the squirrel while I built the fire using the flint he kept in his pocket all the time.

After he skinned it, he jammed a stick through it and put it over the fire with some sticks to hold it up. It took a bit of balancing and a couple of tries, but then it was up, the fire licking at its meat.

I licked my lips, nothing about it was normally tantalizing, but I was so very hungry. I stared at that little beast cooking the whole time as Magnus slowly turned it and we talked of nothing else except what it would taste like, how much we wanted spices, the want for salt, and that we missed Chef Zach.

Finally Magnus said, “Tis ready.”

I put some leaves out on the flattest rock I could find and he placed the cooked squirrel on it. We both crouched beside the meal. He was in a hurry to pick some meat. “Ouch! Och nae, tis hot!” He shook his hand, but immediately tried again, pulling off a hunk and shoving it in his mouth. Chewing, he said, “The whole time I was goin’ tae give ye the first piece but then I put it in m’own mouth, I couldna help it.”

“It’s okay, you’ve barely complained. I’ve complained so much I don’t deserve first bite.” I plucked off my own piece and chewed it. “Man, that is good, don’t know if I’ve ever eaten squirrel before.”

“Daena think Chef Zach considers it a proper meat.”

“He would be wrong, it’s the most delicious thing I ever tasted.” I chewed. “But I was really hungry, I might be exaggerating.” I swallowed. “Gamey.” I took another hunk. “Want more.”

We finished the squirrel and drank from the stream and then sat side by side. I said, “What do you think the kids are doing? I miss them so much.”

He said, “They are terribly worried on us, I hate that they witnessed us be taken away.”

“Yeah, that was devastating. Archie was freaking out just a couple of days ago about you dying — he’ll be inconsolable.”

He nodded. “If only I could give him peace and prosperity, a throne with nae usurpers… I would, but I canna figure out how tae do it. I wasna prepared for Asgall tae gain so much power. I did nae suspect the English King was time traveling. I failed immensely.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I ken ye are tryin’ tae set my mind at ease, Kaitlyn, but this is all m’fault. I dinna ken that the danger was comin’, until I saw m’brother’s life taken in front of me. What if something had happened tae Archibald? I put everyone in danger, and Sean lost his life because of it.”

“He wanted to be there. Everyone was there because they wanted to be at the meeting. This is a lot to have on your shoulders. Please don’t let it break you.”

“Aye. I winna, mo reul-iuil.” He ripped up a weed and pulled apart the leaves and tossed them in front of his feet. “There will be a wind at m’back. Asgall will rue what he has done.”

I nodded. His jaw was set, he was angry and determined.

“What will we do?”

He chuckled dolefully. “First we are goin’ tae need a miracle tae get out of this ancient forest.”

I said, “Yep, a miracle would be nice. We are in a pickle.”

He laughed.

“You never heard that before?”

“Nae, but aye, we are in a salty brine-filled barrel and we will need tae break out of it. Tis a good metaphor.”

I asked, “What do you think Fraoch is doing right now?”

“He is raisin’ an army, but...” He tossed a pebble in front of us. “He will need a vessel tae deliver the army tae Asgall’s shore, an army is nae good if ye canna travel.”

“It’s true, we’re stuck in a pickle, he’s trapped in a dilemma.”

“Aye, and we need tae get a message tae Lady Mairead tellin’ her where we are. She is in a fog.”

“How do we get a message to her?”

“I daena ken, so first we ought tae pray.”

I nodded. “Yeah, we should.” I clasped my hands and bowed my head.

He pressed his hands together and said, “Dear God in Heaven, please watch over our bairns in our absence. Guide them tae find courage while we are apart and solace in the arms of their friends and family. Father, please keep them from despair, and let them ken we are searching tae find our way home tae them. Give Jack, Isla, and Archibald comfort, and though I ken tis not usual, I ask that ye keep Haggis safe, so he may guard them well until m’return. And I ask of ye tae give our friends, Fraoch and Hayley, Zach and Emma, and their bairns, the strength and wisdom tae hold our family taegether until we reunite, please keep all our bairns safe. And please, Almighty Father, I ask also that ye welcome Sean intae yer arms,” his voice broke, “tell him that I am sorry for it... in yer name we pray. Amen.”

I said, “Amen,” and put my arms around him and held him tight. “Want to talk about it?”

“Nae, not now.” He took a deep long breath, then asked, “Which direction ought we go?”

“You’re asking me because I am the native to these colonial shores?”

“Aye.”

“Well, if we are in colonial America, then we need to walk east towards the ocean, that’s where we will find the port towns, where we can, hopefully, get a message out.”

“I agree.” He stood up. “And though I am verra tired, we ought tae walk for a time, we can sleep at nightfall.” He teased, “Point the direction.”

I stood and thought, “Umm.... I think...”

He laughed and started walking down the hill. “Follow me, mo reul-iuil, we must head east.”

I laughed. “I knew that was the way, I just needed a minute.”

“I ken.”

We walked for a bit then emerged from the woods on a newly worn path, we walked a bit then he stopped in his tracks.. “Ye see it, Kaitlyn?” He pointed at three marks slashed on a tree trunk. “Tis a road.”

“Good, I think.”

“At the end of it will be a town.”

“These are the miracles you were talking about.”

“Aye.”