Chapter 4

Oskar scanned the landscape as they traveled. He felt wary and tense, as though eyes were watching him.

He glanced over his shoulder at Alfred Brewer. The bastard was lying back in the cart like a king, allowing everyone else to do the hard work. They should have made him ride, broken leg or not. He'd made his choice to become an outlaw and he had to deal with the consequences.

Like you did, you mean?a voice spoke in his head. You were given a second chance. Why not this man?

He tugged on the reins irritably and the horses snorted. That was different. He'd spent his life trying to make amends for what he'd once been. But men like Alfred Brewer? They were rotten to the core.

"Where are we?" the lass said suddenly by his side.

"On our way to Edinburgh," he grunted. "Where else?"

She fixed him with a stare. She had quite the stare on her, this healer from Abbotsfield. "I know that. I mean where are we exactly?" She gestured at the rolling hills around them stretching as far as the eye could see. "It shouldn't be like this. I know Edinburgh and its surrounds pretty well—I had to travel all over during my training—but I don't recognize this place at all. In fact, I don't remember a stretch of wilderness like this so close to the city."

What was she going on about? This wasn't wilderness. There was a village not three miles from here.

Oskar glanced at her. Her hair was tangled and messy, coming free of its braid, but it framed her face perfectly, highlighting her porcelain skin and those striking dark eyes that seemed to burn with annoyance whenever she looked at him. Her lips were full and inviting, slightly chapped from the dry wind that had put a rosy glow into her cheeks.

Aye, she was a fine-looking lass all right, even if she was a little strange and irritating. She wore odd clothes, spoke with an unfamiliar accent, and carried supplies in that bag of hers he'd never seen the like of before.

"What should it be like then?" he asked her, raising an eyebrow.

She bit her lip, looking around. "There should be roads and cars at least. The A9 runs this way doesn't it? So where is it?"

He shrugged. "I dinna have a clue." Nor did he know what she was talking about. Aye, she was definitely strange.

"Why are you transporting Alfred by farm wagon? Wouldn't it be quicker by car? Or even better, by ambulance?"

He glanced at her. "Ye ask a lot of questions, lass, and I dinna ken most of the things ye ask. Ambulance? Car?"

She shook her head. "This is all wrong," she muttered under her breath. "I was just at Bettie's house. How can I be here? With a bunch of soldiers and a criminal?"

She seemed agitated, confused even. Beneath her strange coat she was wearing an even stranger garment. It was sky blue in color and covered her from neck to knees with a pair of stockings beneath and boots up to her ankles. Was it some kind of healer's garb? He had no idea, but that, coupled with her mannerisms and odd turn of speech, made him wonder if she was some kind of outlander.

"Ye aren't from around here, are ye, lass?"

"Not originally," she agreed with a shake of her head. "Although I live in Edinburgh now. I stayed there after uni. I come from Wales." She fell silent for a while, staring out over the landscape as it rolled by. "How about you?"

"I was born in Edinburgh," he replied in a low voice.

"And how did you join the military?"

"Ye mean the Order of the Osprey? That's a long story." And not one I'm willing to discuss, so don't ask.

Perhaps picking up on his mood, the lass didn't press the matter. Instead, she swiveled on the seat and looked down at Alfred Brewer.

"How's he doing?" she asked Magnus and Emeric.

"He's barely shut up since we left," Magnus growled. "So I take that as a good sign. Keeps complaining about how much pain he's in."

"So would ye if ye'd had yer leg almost ripped off!" Alfred said, glaring indignantly at his captors.

"Ye shouldnae have tried to escape then should ye?" Emeric said. "Anyone with half a brain would have realized that incline was too steep for climbing. Ye are lucky ye only broke yer leg and not yer neck."

"He wouldnae have escaped at all if we hadnae had to stop to move that fallen tree out of the way," Magnus rumbled. "I told ye that road would be difficult at this time of year."

Emeric's brows rose. "Oh, so it's my fault now is it? If we'd have gone yer way we'd have been set upon by brigands for sure!"

"Oh, and ye can see the future now, can ye?" Magnus returned.

Oskar sighed. They were giving him a headache. The three of them had been on the road for nearly a week with only themselves and their prisoner for company. Tempers were getting a little frayed. He glanced behind. Magnus and Emeric were glaring at each other with murder in their eyes. And they dared call him the bad-tempered one!

"Enough!" he snapped. "We willnae achieve aught by arguing!"

Magnus and Emeric nodded sullenly, still glaring at each other. Lily, on the other hand, watched the exchange with a mix of concern and amusement.

"I must apologize for my sword-brothers," Oskar said. "We've been on the road a long time and they're getting a little twitchy."

She gave a wry smile. "It's alright. I get it. It's a bit like being stuck in a car with your siblings during a long road trip. You know each other too well and can't escape."

Oskar snorted. "Aye, there's some truth to that all right."

She winced suddenly, and shifted awkwardly on the bench as though trying to find a comfortable position.

"Are ye all right, lass?"

"I'm fine. I just get a bit stiff if I stay in one position too long."

He nodded although he suspected she wasn't being entirely truthful. He'd been a warrior long enough to know the look of true pain when he saw it.

Silence fell as the countryside rolled by on each side. Lily shivered.

"Cold, lass?"

"A little. It's warmer down in the valleys. How long till spring makes its way up here, I wonder?"

"Many months," Oskar replied. "It isnae even Yuletide yet."

Her sudden reaction was unexpected. "I beg your pardon? What do you mean it's not Yuletide yet?"

"Yule is over a month away," he said, puzzled. "And although ye might do things differently in Wales, I'm pretty sure Yule is the same time everywhere."

She stared at him, her mouth working but no words coming out. She looked away, her eyes roving over the bleak, wintry landscape.

"Yuletide?" she muttered to herself. "Christmas? But that's not possible. It's March."

"What's wrong, lass?" he asked her. "Ye seem a little...confused."

She'd gone very pale and her eyes, as they scanned the landscape, were wide and frightened. "I'm fine," she said thickly. "Just fine. Can't this thing go any faster?"

LILY WAS not fine. She most definitely was not fine. Something very strange was going on here. First the dilapidated manor house that looked like something out of an old story. Then Oskar, Magnus and Emeric dressed so strangely. Then the wagon that they were traveling in instead of a proper vehicle. And finally, Oskar's revelation that it was winter.

How was that possible? It wasn't winter. It was almost April and the spring flowers were already out in the parks and gardens. Up here, it was still bare and bleak but she'd assumed that was because she was in the uplands and spring always came a bit later in the hills. But now Oskar was claiming it wasn't even Christmas yet? How could that be? It couldn't. It was impossible.

She glanced at Oskar, wondering if he was playing some kind of joke on her, but one look at his stern gaze fixed on the track ahead dispelled the notion. She got the feeling that lying or joking wasn't something that this fierce, short-tempered man did easily.

Oh God. What was going on? Where was she and how the hell had she ended up here?

She glanced around for the umpteenth time. She kept hoping to spot the A9 or another, smaller road, or spot walkers in the distance, or somebody out riding their horse, or rock climbers on the escarpments round about, or a house, or a car, or...anything. Anything at all that would give herself something to anchor to. Anything at all familiar that would tell her she wasn't losing her mind.

But there was nothing. Bleak winter landscape as far as the eye could see with the only living things in evidence the five of them and the horses. There wasn't even a bird in the sky or a rabbit in the heather.

A spasm of pain went down her back and she gasped, despite herself. Oskar looked at her sharply, concern etched on his smooth features, but she looked away, refusing to meet his gaze, and practised her breathing exercises until the pain passed.

"We'll be losing the light soon," Magnus rumbled from the back. "We'll need to think about stopping for the night."

Lily whirled on him. "Stopping for the night? What do you mean? I thought we'd be in Edinburgh by tonight!"

"I'm afraid not, lass," Magnus replied. "It's at least a two-day journey to Edinburgh from here."

"What?" she said, her eyes going wide. "That's not possible! How can it take so long?"

Magnus shrugged. "There are few roads in this area. I'm sorry, lass, but we canna go much further. Dinna worry, we'll get there as soon as we can."

Lily felt panic beginning to bubble in her stomach. Two days? How could it be two days? It didn't take that long to get anywhere in Scotland! So what were they talking about?

"No," she said, her voice a little shrill. "We can't stop. We have to keep going. We'll get there in a couple of hours, I'm sure. It's just beyond that hill, I know it."

There was absolutely no way she was spending the night with four strange men in the middle of nowhere. Absolutely no way!

As if sensing her panic, Oskar said, "It's all right, lass. We willnae let any harm come to ye. I will protect ye. We all will. On this ye have my word."

She turned to look at him. His eyes had that intense look in them again and for some strange reason she knew he meant every word. He would protect her. She knew it as strongly as she knew the sun would rise tomorrow. But that didn't assuage her panic. Okay, so these men might not be intending to hurt her but that didn't mean she wanted to spend the night in some hotel with them!

"There it is," Emeric said, standing in the back of the wagon and pointing into the distance. "Home sweet home. Warm blankets and a hot meal, here I come."

Lily turned to follow his outstretched finger and stared in shock. It wasn't some rural hotel or BB in the distance, but a crumbling stone structure that was little more than a barn.

She swallowed thickly. "You cannot be serious."

"Dinna worry," Emeric replied. "As soon as we've got a fire going, it will be as cozy as can be."

Oskar drove the wagon up to the barn and pulled the horses to a halt. He jumped down, strode to the door, and unceremoniously shoved it open, disappearing inside briefly before returning.

"A few pigeons but it will do just fine," he announced.

Lily pressed her hand to her stomach to fight the sudden nausea that roiled through her. They really thought she was going to spend the night in that? This was a nightmare. An absolute nightmare. Maybe she should have stayed at Dunhaven Manor with Lord Eberwyn. At least then she would have had half-decent walls and a roof over her head.

Oskar strode over and held his hand out to her. She stared stupidly at it.

"Well?" he said. "Are ye getting down or not?"

Not,she wanted to say. I'm not staying here. No way. Take me to a hotel right now.

But instead, in something of a stupor, she found herself taking Oskar's hand and allowing him to help her down from the wagon. Her legs nearly gave way as she hit the ground and pain shot all the way up the back of her legs and into her spine. It was strong enough to make her gasp.

"Whoa, steady there, lass," Oskar said, putting his hands around her forearms to steady her.

Despite herself, Lily clung to him, his strong grip reassuring in a world where nothing seemed to make sense right now.

"What is it?" he asked, peering at her intently. "What's wrong?"

What's wrong?she wanted to shout. What's right don't you mean? Look around you! Does any of this look normal to you?

But she only shook her head mutely and pushed away from his grip. Magnus and Emeric lifted Alfred Brewer from the back of the wagon and took him into the barn. Lily watched them go. What was she supposed to do now? Just go inside with them?

"It will be warmer inside," Oskar said. "Magnus makes a mean campfire. Dinna told him I said so though."

She watched as he walked over to the huge carthorses and began undoing the traces. He moved slowly, talking to the horses in a gentle voice far removed from his usual gruff manner. Once he had the harness off he reached up and gently stroked the velvet end of the horses' noses and the huge beasts' eyes closed contentedly.

Lily pulled in a breath. She couldn't stand out here all night. Steeling herself, she tightened her grip on her bag and walked over to the door, ducking below the low lintel.

Inside, she found exactly what she'd expected to find: an old barn, with rough stone walls, an earth floor and a beamed ceiling that had seen better days. It had been divided up into two rooms and Magnus was busy building a fire inside a circle of rocks in the first room. There was no sign of Emeric or Alfred Brewer.

"Everything all right, lass?" Magnus asked, looking up at her.

She realized she was standing in the doorway, staring. "What? Oh, yes. Where's Alfred? I need to check him over."

Magnus nodded to a doorway on the far side of the room. "Emeric's taken him through there. More secure."

Clutching her bag, Lily crossed the room and went through the door. Beyond was a smaller room that still had mounds of moldy straw in the corners, attesting to what it had once been used for. There was no door out of this room and no windows of any kind. If anyone wanted to escape from here, they would have to come through the main room where the others were.

Not that Alfred Brewer had much chance of escaping, mind you. He was sat with his back against a post, his broken leg stretched out in front of him and wrists tied together. Emeric was just straightening from tying him to the post with a rope around his waist.

"Is that really necessary?"

"I'm afraid it is," Emeric replied, climbing to his feet and adjusting the band that held his hair back. "He's already tried to escape once. We canna risk it happening again."

"Well, I need to check his injury."

"Be my guest. He isnae going anywhere. Shout if ye need anything." He went back into the first room, leaving her alone with Alfred.

She crouched in front of him and put down her bag. His eyes were more alert, indicating that he was sobering up. His gaze followed her as she opened her bag and began pulling out supplies.

"What are ye doing with these men?" he asked her. "Ye aren't one of the Order."

"No," she agreed and gently began unwinding the bandage to check his leg. "I'm just an idiot who's got caught up in this."

Alfred winced in pain but didn't howl as he had before. She didn't know whether this was a good sign or not. Beneath the bandage the break looked clean and the skin wasn't broken although a huge blue and black bruise was spreading down the leg.

"It's no worse," she pronounced, taking a clean bandage from the bag and winding it around the splint. "If you're lucky, they might just be able to put a cast on it and you won't need surgery."

Alfred cocked his head as he watched her. "Ye could let me go, ye know."

Her hands faltered for an instant before continuing their work. "I can't do that."

"Of course ye can. It's easy. Ye just have to untie these ropes. I'll take care of the rest."

She sat back on her heels and regarded him. "Look, whatever is going on between you and these men, it's nothing to do with me. I'm just here to take care of your injury. Once we get to Edinburgh, you'll get the proper care you need."

He snorted contemptuously. "Hardly. When we get to Edinburgh, they'll hang me."

She started, taken aback by this statement. "What are you talking about?"

"That's what they do to traitors isnae it? I'll soon be dancing on the end of a rope."

"That's not funny, Alfred. In fact, that's a little sick."

"I'm not trying to be funny." He leaned forward as far as the rope around the post would allow. "Ye could stop that. Ye could let me go."

"Alfred, you're a criminal."

"Says who? All ye have to go on is their word. Who says I'm a criminal? Where's the evidence? Where's the proof?"

Lily shifted uncomfortably. "That will all come out during your trial."

He laughed. "Oh, will it now? My trial will be a sham. They've already decided I'm guilty. And they'll hang me for it."

"Stop saying that!" Lily snapped. "We haven't had capital punishment in this country for a long, long time!"

She scrambled to her feet. She didn't want to have this conversation. She grabbed her bag and hurried through the other room and outside into the cold air where she leaned against the outer wall of the barn, breathing heavily.

It was getting dark and the temperature was falling rapidly but Lily felt unnaturally hot. Oh God, what was going on?

Dropping her bag to the ground, she took out her cell phone and held it up. As before, there was no signal. She could have wept with frustration. No, no, no! She needed to get out of here right now!

Holding the phone in both hands, she strode away from the barn, desperately hoping that the icon in the corner would begin to flash to show she'd found a signal. But it didn't. With mounting panic, she began making a circle of the barn, holding the phone up high then began jabbing at the display, desperately trying to get it to do something, anything.

Come on, damn it!

"What are ye doing?"

Lily spun with a yelp to find Oskar standing behind her, watching her curiously. In the gathering gloom, the light from the phone display cast his face in an eerie light.

His eyes fell to the device in her hand and then widened. "What is that?"

"What does it look like? My phone! I'm trying to get a signal!"

He darted forward and snatched it out of her hand. His expression turned stony as he examined it. "I dinna believe it," he breathed.

"Give me back my phone!" Lily demanded, holding out her hand. "What's wrong with you?"

He didn't move. He stared at the device in his hand with a mixture of fury and fear, as though it was a viper that might bite him.

"Why didnae ye tell us?" he grated, his eyes snapping to her. "Ye've been lying to us all this time!"

"Lying to you? What are you talking about?"

He brandished the phone at her as though this explained everything. "Why didnae ye tell us about this? What game are ye playing?" His voice throbbed with fury.

"Have you gone mad?" she demanded. "I'm not playing any game!"

"Oh?" he snapped, taking a few steps towards her. "Then why did ye not tell us ye were a time traveler?"

Lily could not have been more shocked if he'd accused her of being a Martian. "I'm sorry, a what now?"

"Ye heard me," he grated. He grabbed her wrist. "Who are ye? What do ye want with us?"

His grip was tight enough to hurt. "Ow! Let me go! You're hurting me!"

"Not until ye start talking. Who are ye? What century have ye come from? Who sent ye?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Time travel? Was he totally insane?

She kicked him in the shins as hard as she could and was rewarded when he let her go with a curse and began hopping around. She took off, running as fast as she could away from the barn. She didn't care that she was in the middle of nowhere. She didn't care that she couldn't get a signal on her cell. The one overriding thought flashing through her mind: she had to get away from these madmen this instant.

He caught her in less than five steps. Oskar's strong hands closed about her arm and yanked her roughly around. She swung her fist at him but he caught it with his other hand and held her there. She found herself facing him, less than an arm's length away. His chest was heaving and there was a strange expression on his face, something between anger and hurt.

"Let me go, you madman!" she yelled. She tried to kick him again but he managed to dance out of the way while still keeping a tight hold of her.

"Will ye stop that?" he snapped. "It bloody hurts!"

"Good! Now you know what it feels like! Take your hands off me!"

"Not until ye tell me the truth."

"I am telling you the truth! You're the one who's acting like a lunatic all of a sudden!"

Oskar pressed his lips together and didn't answer. He glared at her and Lily glared right back. If he thought she was going to be intimidated by him, he'd better think again! Her annoyed gaze met his furious one and she could smell the scent of him: wood smoke and open skies, and the wind had tousled his hair so that if fell around his face in messy red tangles. His deep blue eyes seemed to pierce right through her.

For a second, she forgot everything else. She forgot the barn, the landscape around, the crazy situation in which she found herself. She forgot everything but Oskar's warm, strong hands on her arms.

Someone cleared their throat. "Everything all right?"

The two of them sprang apart. Magnus was standing behind, one eyebrow raised enquiringly. Oskar ran a hand through his hair, looking flustered.

"Nay, everything is most definitely not all right," he snapped. He held out Lily's cell phone. "Look what I found. Seems our traveling companion has been lying to us."

Lily clenched her fists. "I have not been lying to you! How many times do I have to tell you? Dear Lord, it's only a cell phone!"

She expected Magnus to laugh off Oskar's outburst—he did seem the more reasonable of the two—so she was surprised when his eyes narrowed and a stony expression crossed his features. He studied Lily and rubbed his chin in thought.

"Well, this complicates things."

She looked between him and Oskar. "Complicates things? Why does my cell phone complicate things?"

"Because that thing doesnae belong in this time, lass," Magnus rumbled. "And it marks ye out as a time-traveler."

Not him too! He was as insane as Oskar!

She began backing away. "Okay. Joke's over. Very funny. Ha, ha."

"This isnae a laughing matter, lass." Magnus replied. "Why are ye here? And why didnae ye reveal who ye were? It would have made things much simpler."

Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly. "Look, I don't know what the heck either of you are talking about. If this is some sort of game, then I'm not playing. Please, you're scaring me."

Magnus's expression turned thoughtful. "Do ye mean to say that ye dinna know what's happened to ye?"

"I've been telling you that from the start!"

Magnus glanced at Oskar who was glaring at Lily with his arms crossed over his chest. Magnus blew out a breath. "I think we should all go inside," he said calmly. "Where we can discuss this and get to the bottom of it. Emeric is cooking supper. Why dinna we go join him?"

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on!"

"We will," Magnus said soothingly, holding out his hands in a placating gesture. "Ye have my word. We'll straighten this all out, lass. I promise. Will ye trust us?"

Lily didn't reply. She looked from Magnus to Oskar and back again. All the fight went out of her. She was suddenly exhausted. "All right," she muttered. "All right."

She followed Magnus back into the barn. It was blessedly warm inside and the campfire lit the space with a warm glow. Emeric looked up from where he was stirring a pan over the fire, a curious expression on his face.

"What was all the shouting about?"

Magnus didn't answer. He folded himself onto one of the straw mats that they'd laid by the fire. Oskar lounged by the door, leaning on the wall with his arms crossed. Lily folded onto the ground on the opposite side of the fire from the three men.

"All right," she said, lifting her chin. "Start talking. Who the hell are you people and what is going on here?"