Wild About The Witch Part 9

"b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l, Quinn, are you mad?" Lizzie cried, being the first to spot him.

He'd dismounted several yards away and sent his horse back to its home with a firm slap on the rump. He had to go with them, as he was certain he'd die trying to get back to the castle on foot. His shoulder throbbed, even through the whiskey haze.

Oliver jumped up from where he ground the herbs onto the dirt and ran to help him. "You look terrible," he said, guiding Quinn to the cleared circle they made. A few minutes more and he would have missed them.

"Don't put him there," Lizzie said.

He smiled at the old chaperone voice she used. "Dinna listen to the wee spinster," he told Oliver. "I'm coming with ye after all." He focused on Lizzie. "Someone has to look for my sister."

She huffed. "I said we were going to- oh my goodness, you're the biggest fool I've ever met."

"It's been said, aye." Quinn smiled at her, ignoring her death glare.

Standing upright was beginning to be a ch.o.r.e and he lay down on the ground, smack in the middle of their clearing.

"You're half dead from getting out here," she said. "The trip can't do you good."

"Then the greatly advanced medical knowledge of your time will have to save me," he said, trying not to feel hurt at her adamance to get rid of him. Was he going to make it that much harder for her to stay once they got there? He hoped so. In fact, he planned on it.

Oliver nodded down at him and looked to Lizzie. "He has a point about that."

She sat down next to Quinn, her face scrunched into the angriest he'd ever seen it, and roughly placed her hand on his chest.

"Fine, then. I've never been to this part of Scotland in my own time, but I feel quite certain there's no hospital at the outskirts of the woods, Mr. Cleverboots. I hope your stubbornness hasn't killed you at last."

He put his hand on top of hers and tried to look contrite while Oliver began the chant.

Chapter 10.

Catie took Shane's hand and let him help her out of his low vehicle, shaking out the skirts of the long, pink dress she'd found at the second hand shop after their lovely lunch date the day before. The shopkeeper recognized her and put the dress on Piper's tab, wrapping it up for her before she could argue about it.

"I like the way ye dress, Catie," he told her.

She smiled at him, feeling a little silly when he bowed in a joking manner. If only he knew that was what she was glad to be away from.

She liked that he liked it, but she mainly dressed that way to keep Lachlan from exploding more than he was going to anyway. She liked the freedom that modern day clothes offered, but her long dresses offered her a sense of security she was going to need to face Lachlan here in a bit.

Sam and Evie were being kind and understanding and she was more grateful than she could express for letting her stay with them after her tantrum at the castle, but she knew she had to settle things with Lachlan. She'd only risked everything to come here so that she could rescue him, and now that he didn't need rescuing, she figured she would be sent home.

Evie a.s.sured her it was possible to get back without Lord Ashford, and not even that difficult. She'd been shocked to find out her brother was a bit of an expert at crossing through different times. She thought he might have visited them if that was the case.

Not wanting to get her dander up again, when she was trying so hard to be understanding and forgiving, she turned to Shane. He always put a smile on her face. Both Mellie and Sam warned her to be wary of him, but he'd never been anything other than a gentleman in her presence.

She wanted to work up her courage before she went inside to face Lachlan, so she followed Shane to check in on the animals. He took her hand again to help her jump over a big puddle leading up to the pig pen, and didn't let go even when they were well on the other side of the muck. After they rounded the barn, he leaned over her, a wicked look in his eyes.

Her heart started to pound, wondering if this was the moment she'd been warned about. Was he about to ravish her against the side of the barn? She blushed furiously, regretting picking up one of the brightly colored novels that were strewn all over Evie's house. Of course nothing like what went on in those pages was about to happen here.

"I finally finished repainting the door frames at the inn," he said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

She s.h.i.+vered and nodded, not sure where that unromantic beginning would lead to. Should she mention that she'd helped give baby Magnus a bath last night? Were they just going to discuss mundane events and then he would kiss her? She blushed even harder for thinking about kissing. For wanting him to do it. For all Lord Hollingsborn's avowals of love, he'd never kissed her.

Of course, he hadn't really loved her, just needed her fortune. Shane didn't know about her fortune, just that she was a girl from a farm, visiting her brother. And if anything, said brother would scare him off liking her.

"That's nice," she said, leaning in a little closer, completely without meaning to.

He shuffled his foot forward so his leg brushed against her long skirt. "So, would ye like to come to see a film with me tonight? They're finally changing it, so it'll be new."

She didn't need to tell him no matter what it was, it would be new to her. Since she'd arrived, she'd been obsessed with the television. The moment she'd seen it at his house, and later on when Mellie showed her how to work the clicker, and each press of her finger brought an exciting change of scene, it was all she could do to tear herself away from it. Nothing could keep her from saying no. It took her so long to get over her excitement that he tugged on her sleeve and tilted his head beseechingly at her.

"Say ye will. Come on, Catie." His finger slid over her wrist when he let go of her sleeve and she forgot all about the film for a moment.

"Aye, it sounds lovely, Shane. Thank ye."

He smiled and she felt quite sure it was about to happen. He was going to steal a kiss behind the barn. She raised herself up on her toes so he wouldn't have to lean too far, in case that was what made him hesitate. Instead he turned and headed toward the sheep paddock.

Well, he still had this evening at the film. If he ever intended to kiss her in the first place. She followed along beside him, their hands brus.h.i.+ng from time to time, and she realized how badly she wanted him to. Feeling both addled and exhilarated, she reached out and brazenly grabbed his hand. He threaded his fingers with hers and swung her hand playfully out toward the lake.

"Look," he said, squinting into the early morning sunlight. "Isna that Miss Piper?"

It was, and Catie's good mood drained away. Shane turned in that direction, pulling her along with him. Catie knew she had to face Lachlan, but she really didn't want to have to talk to Piper this morning. She dug in her heels and yanked him back. Shane turned around and got up close to her again, putting his hands on her elbows.

"She's nice, Catie. Just give her a chance."

She'd spent most of their time together the day before complaining about Piper and frowned at him for not taking her side. Before she could shrug out of his hold and turn back to the castle, she heard her brother bellow from the edge of the courtyard and quickly jumped back a step, Shane just as quickly dropping his hands to his sides.

"Catriona Edwina Ferguson," he shouted. "Ye get over here at once."

Catie simmered at his childish treatment of her, and her anger bubbled even more when she saw Shane hiding a laugh.

"Edwina. That's awesome," he teased. "Do ye need to go?" He looked scared, and normally she wouldn't have blamed anyone for being skittish around Lachlan, but for some reason she was disappointed.

"No, I dinna need to go," she said, stiffening her spine and turning toward Lachlan. "I'm going to the lake," she hollered, pointing to where Piper stood at the water's edge.

He put his hand to his eyes and peered in that direction, finally nodding begrudgingly. "I shall see ye soon, la.s.s. We have much to discuss." With a glare at Shane, he turned and stomped back inside.

"Ah, Catie. Maybe ye better just go inside now," he said. "I need to get started with the goats, anyway." He grabbed her hand for a quick squeeze, but not before making sure Lachlan was good and gone. "I dinna want ye to get in trouble and miss tonight."

She couldn't fault him for being so reasonable, but she was irritated that she now had to walk down and greet Piper, so she gave him a look that wasn't altogether charming. He shrugged and went on his way, leaving her to either slink inside without giving Lachlan a chance to cool off or be civil to Piper.

Honestly, she would rather muck out all the stalls in the stable than do either, but she noticed Piper leaning over the water, then pacing agitatedly back and forth. Perhaps she lost something in the lake. Curiosity won out over getting yelled at, and she started down the hill.

What Piper thought was an ordinary nightmare, though she hated that they were becoming an ordinary occurrence again, ended up being real. She jerked awake, to find herself ankle deep in the lake, heart pounding and covered in a cold sweat.

Her hands were filthy, dark slivers of dirt jammed deep under her fingernails. She dropped to her knees, splas.h.i.+ng water all over her clothes, not her pajamas, but warm up pants, a green silk blouse and a giant sweats.h.i.+rt that Lachlan had been wearing until he got into bed.

At some point she got out of bed, took off her nightgown and put on these random clothes, then found herself at the lake. The sense of panic that enveloped her when she first woke up slowly subsided. She had the strange feeling that she'd been looking for something, and checked her left hand. Her engagement ring was still there and she breathed a sigh of relief. Embarra.s.sment and fear built up in her and she scurried out of the water and looked around.

It was still early in the morning, the sun only just rising. Lachlan might be getting up and realizing she wasn't in the castle. The boys would be out in the pasture soon to deal with the livestock. What happened?

The last thing she remembered was Lachlan peeling off the same sweats.h.i.+rt she now used to dry her legs. She was searching wedding ideas for Evie, and even finding some for her and Lachlan, when he'd cleared his throat and she looked up from her screen to see his glorious, chiseled chest on full display just inches from her. They'd had a very enjoyable time before falling asleep in each other's arms, and now she was out here, panicking over something in the water.

Piper relaxed when she realized no one was out and about yet, and sat down in the gra.s.s to try to figure things out. She focused on the ducks floating near the edge and wished they could tell her when she arrived, how long she'd been out there, and if she'd said anything. The greedy things were used to getting fed by anyone who ventured to the lake and as soon as she sat down, they made their way towards her.

"No, sorry. As you were," she said, tossing pebbles at them.

They gave up thinking they were getting any bread and she went back to worrying. She'd used sleepwalking as an excuse before, to try and hide something she shouldn't have been doing, but she hadn't actually done it before. That she knew of. Hugging her knees, she thought about the odd thing that happened yesterday after Catie stormed off with Evie.

Lachlan had been railing about his fool brother Quinn s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g everything up as usual, and how stubborn and bratty Catie was, and she made some fresh tea and benignly agreed with everything he said until he calmed down enough to see reason. She poured out two big mugs for them while standing at the counter in the kitchen. The next thing she knew she was bent over in pain, one of the mugs broken at her feet.

She wasn't sure what happened, because she didn't know how she got from the counter to the table, where she slammed her s.h.i.+n on the bench and dropped the cup. Lachlan steadied her and took the other mug before she spilled the scalding tea all over herself, and she laughed it off as clumsiness. It had only been a few seconds of blacking out, and yesterday she wrote it off as stress and not paying attention. Today, sitting in cold, wet pants by the lake, she wasn't so sure.

"It can't be," she said, struggling against tears.

More than a month had pa.s.sed since her heartbreakingly failed visit to her grandma Rose in the eighteenth century. She'd been accused of witchcraft, which wasn't entirely false since she was possessed by her ancestor Daria, and her grandmother almost convinced her the only way to rid herself of Daria's spirit was to let herself be drowned.

If it hadn't been for Evie convincing her that was a load of codswallop, and Lachlan nearly getting himself killed fighting off angry villagers, she never would have made it back from that trip.

After she got Lachlan all fixed up, they went on a much needed island vacation, and everything had been wonderful. Not a peep out of Daria's spirit. Had she been foolish to think she was so easily rid of her?

As soon as they came back to Castle on Hill, things all went haywire. First Catie's surprise visit, and now this. Didn't her evil ancestor know she was trying to plan a wedding?

As she stared at the gently rippling water, she wondered if she was led out here to actually look for something. Not just sleepwalking craziness, but perhaps there was really something to find at the water's edge. Her heart started to pound again, not wanting to find anything. She was sick of finding things!

If it was something important, though, she needed to find it, and paced along the sh.o.r.e, looking into the murky shallows. With great trepidation, she focused her mind inward as she looked, trying to get in touch with that annoying little voice that had tormented her up until about a month ago.

Silence, not even a whisper. And there didn't seem to be anything in the water or around the bank, unless Daria was working with pebbles and moss these days.

"Pardon me, may I help ye find something?"

The meek little voice made her nearly jump out of her skin and she whirled around to see Catie twisting her long prom dress skirt and looking miserable.

"Oh, Catie, you startled me," Piper said, picking her way out of the reeds. Great. All she needed was for Catie to be even more suspicious of her. "No, I didn't lose anything, but thank you. I come out here a lot to enjoy the sunrise." She winced at the terrible lie as Catie turned completely around to see the sun rising over the woods. "And feed the ducks," she hurriedly said. "I thought I saw something s.h.i.+ny, but it turned out to be nothing. Just a pebble." Piper put her hands on her hips and tried not to look insane or possessed.

Catie shrugged and stared out at the water. "Well, I dinna want to go in just yet," she said. "Do ye have any more food for the ducks?"

"What?" Piper asked, then remembered it was her reason for being out there. "Uh, no. Ducks, ha! More like pigs. They gobble everything up so fast." She pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache coming on.

"Is Lachlan verra angry with me?" Catie asked.

Piper felt like a jerk, being so concerned with hiding her own mess, that she forgot about Catie's mess. She sighed. "Yes, but he'll get over it. I think he's more angry at himself."

"Good," Catie said, but without any rancor. "No offense to ye, miss, but I dinna understand why he left us. Not just me and Quinn, but the clan and the farm."

"I think you should talk to him. I'll make sure he doesn't yell at you, if you can try to promise the same."

"I can try to promise," she said, with a hint of a smile.

They found Lachlan in the kitchen, looking sour and gripping a coffee mug dangerously tight. He didn't question her about why she was down by the lake at all, let alone so early, but started right in on Catie. Piper sighed, her promise to keep him from yelling already broken.

"I'll have ye explain to me what ye were doing with that lad so early in the morning," he thundered. "Have ye lost your mind as well as your good sense? Wait, I beg your pardon. Ye never had a bit of good sense to lose, did ye?"

"Lachlan!" Piper said, horrified.

Is this how he would treat their own children one day? She needed to get him some parenting books, and fast. But then she realized what he said. What lad?

"Shane was kind enough to give me a ride to the castle this morning, since Evie isna coming until later," Catie said, eyes shooting daggers at him. "And we're watching a film together later," she added defiantly.

"Like h.e.l.l, ye are," he said, rising from the bench. "For one thing, I've heard some unsavory tales about that lad-"

Catie slapped her palm against the table and interrupted him. "Aye, and so have I. The people in this place canna keep from wagging their malicious tongues. I would have thought ye better than to be a part of it. But Shane has been nothing but a gentleman to me, and I judge people by their actions, not the words of others."

Piper put her hand over her mouth and shook her head as Lachlan looked at her for help. "Point to Catie on that one," she said. "I like Shane very much."

Catie turned to her with a pained expression, as if it hurt her that they were on the same side. She nodded a curt thanks, which Piper was glad for at this point. Lachlan's shoulders slumped, not wanting to concede.

"But love, they shall be in the darkened theater. If she goes, we must go as well."

"Mother of mercy," Catie yelled. "I was about to be married in our own time."

Lachlan raised a brow at that. "I dinna think this Shane has marriage in mind, la.s.s, though he may be after the benefits of it."

Piper waved her hands behind Catie's back, trying to make him stop talking. She was completely mortified, and couldn't begin to imagine how Catie must feel. This couldn't possibly end well.

"Ye are one to talk," Catie said with a dark laugh. "Do ye and Piper here sleep in separate bedrooms, then?"

Piper wanted to grab her hand and run from the kitchen, save them both. Lachlan's face drained of all color to be slowly replaced with the most violent of purples. She'd never seen him so angry. At first she feared for Catie, then she thought perhaps Lachlan was having a small stroke of some kind. She couldn't stand the charged silence another moment.

"Catie, things are different in this-"

"No," Lachlan said, pointing to her. "Dinna try to help."

Quite affronted at being dismissed, Piper threw up her hands, poured herself some tea and had a seat at the bar. Catie glanced at her sympathetically, but she only shrugged. Let them tear each other to shreds so long as they didn't break anything.

Lachlan took a long breath and stared at the ceiling before sitting back down. "All of this is moot," he said. "There's no reason to get attached to the lad as ye must go back before Quinn follows ye here, trying to rescue ye."

"Funny how Quinn and I care about each other enough to try and do something so foolhardy, eh, Lachlan? Who would ever think to aid a family member who was in trouble?"

Lachlan folded his arms on the table and rested his head on them. Piper had to grip the edges of the bar to keep from rus.h.i.+ng over to comfort him after he'd highhandedly ordered her not to help. Still, her heart ached to see him so out of his depth. He was a better provider than he was a nurturer, and even though she knew he cared about Catie, he was having the devil of a time showing it.