Highland Love
Highland Love – Prologue“Daddy,” Jessica pleaded with her father. “Please convince Mother to let me go.”
“Jessica,” Corey began. “You most certainly are not going to Scotland.”
“But Daddy,” she whined.
“No.” Corey looked at his only daughter and wondered where she had gotten the strong will that nearly drove him to madness on more occasions than one. His answer walked through the door.
“Is she still complaining about Scotland?” Victoria asked her husband.
“I don’t see why you don’t let her go,” Jasmine threw in.
“Jas,” Josh began, “Jessica is not going to Scotland. Don’t get involved, it’s none of your business anyway.”
“It would be good for her,” Jasmine continued. “You had your adventures,” she accused Josh. “Why deny your favorite little sister hers?”
“She’s my only little sister,” Josh reminded his wife. “And if it were up to me, I would take her there myself. Unfortunately, Mom and Dad don’t want her to go. I’m not going to undermine them.”
“Aren’t you not allowing her to go because you don’t believe she’s old enough?” Jasmine asked her newly acquired parents.
“Yes, I suppose it is,” Victoria admitted.
“Then it’s settled. Josh and I will take her to Scotland. We’re old enough, and we won’t let her out of our sight.”
Joshua looked at his wife and wondered where she had obtained the power of mincing words. “Jas, I never said--”
“Of course you did.” She told him. “You said ‘If it was up to me, I’d take her.’ Well, it’s up to you, and now you get to take her,” Jasmine smiled at him, knowing she had won.
Jessica ran up to her brother and kissed his cheek. “Oh, thank you Josh. This means so much to me.” She skipped out of the room as she told her mother she was going to visit Cecilia and tell her that she was going to Scotland.
Jasmine and Victoria left the room, planning dates and which ship to take.
Josh looked at his father, “What just happened?”
Corey laughed. “Your wife just tricked you into going someplace you don’t want to go,” he told his son. “Welcome to the wonderful world of marriage.”
Highland Love – Part One“Do you realize that five-hundred years ago there were Scottish Lairds really and truly living here? And that one right there,” Jessica added as she pointed to a picture on the wall, “was the very last laird of the Edan clan.”
Jasmine smiled at her sister-in-law. They were so alike in many ways and yet so different in many others. They both loved adventure, however they loved very different kinds of adventure. Jasmine loved to test the limits of the known. Jessica had a passion for the unknown, namely history.
Jessica spent hours upon hours in the family library learning all she could about past civilizations. Still, her hunger for knowledge had never been satisfied. She told everyone that she would never be truly happy until she had seen history first-hand; which was why they were in Scotland in the first place.
“This is the castle of the Edan clan,” Jessica announced suddenly. Josh and Jasmine looked at their companion, knowing that they were in store for a full recitation of the clan history. Scotland was Jessica’s favorite place to study, and Josh swore that she knew every clan to ever tread on Scottish soil.
“Why did I let you trick me into this?” Josh whispered to his wife.
“Because you love me,” she replied, smiling sweetly at him. “And because you knew that if you didn’t agree to fulfill your only sister’s one true dream you would end up sleeping out on that lovely beach,” she added.
“My father spent many nights on that beach,” Joshua told her. “And it didn’t harm him in the least.”
“You told me you wanted adventures, remember? Well, consider this one of them.”
Jessica looked at her brother and his wife. They were fighting again. She rolled her eyes and walked to another part of the castle. She turned down numerous hallways; so many that she wasn’t quite sure she’d be able to find her way back. She stopped.
Were those voices she heard?
She listened harder. Those were definitely voices. She followed them to find where they were coming from.
Suddenly, the hallway emptied into one of the biggest dining halls she had ever before seen. This very same dining hall was also packed with people in medieval garb. Jessica looked at them, stunned into silence, for a few moments. It was truly an amazing sight. Once she had determined that this was not in her imagination, she decided that the castle must have hired actors for some reason. She turned to run back and tell Josh and Jasmine what she had found; instead, she ran into something very big and very hard.
Jessica looked up and found herself staring into the eyes of the laird of the castle. The very same laird that had been in the picture she was looking at just a few short minutes before.
Highland Love – Part Two“Who are you?” The laird demanded in Gaelic. “What are you doing here? What clan are you from?”
Jessica began to panic. She slowly translated what he had said to her own language. She was then very thankful for those books on Gaelic that she had purchased on some whim. “Who are you?” She nervously asked him.
“I’m the laird of this castle. Now, who are you?” he once again demanded.
"I’m Jessica,” she began. “I’m from the clan Douglas.”
“I’ve never heard of the clan Douglas,” the laid told her. “Are you a lowlander?” he asked with a hint of contempt.
“No,” she hurriedly assured him. “What is the year?” She asked, knowing that she didn’t want to truly hear the answer.
The laid looked at her as if she had just sprouted another head. “’Tis the year of our Lord, 1326. Surely you know that,” he ventured.
“1326?” she nearly shrieked. “No,” she yelled at him as she backed away. “You’re lying. You’re an actor who just happens to look exactly like that painting in the library, and I’m going now. I have to leave,” she turned and ran back down the hallway she had come from.
“What is that lass doing?” Devin, the captain of the guard, asked his laird.
Todd rolled his eyes and looked at his captain. “I have no idea,” he admitted. “Who knows why wenches do anything?” He asked.
“You have a point there,” Devin laughed.
Jessica ran down the hallways, everything was different. The wall drippings were different, the doors were different, even the sounds and smells were different. She began to panic. She burst into the library and, to her further horror, realized that it too was very different. Joshua and Jasmine were not inside. The picture, also, was no longer there. In its place were several other pictures, probably ancestors of the current laird.
Jessica ran back to the dining hall, praying that when she went there it would somehow reverse whatever had been done. She had no such luck.
“Are you done with your little fit?” The laird asked her.
Jessica looked at him and tears welled in her eyes. “It’s truly 1326?” she asked him.
“Yes, it is,” he once again assured her. She then proceeded to burst into tears. “Oh, for the love of God,” Todd sighed.
“What’s wrong with her now?” Devin asked.
“I don’t know,” Todd told him. “But I have to get her out of here.” He then stooped to pick up the still sobbing Jessica. He carried her to his own room and set her down on the bed. “Cease with your crying, wench.” He told her. When Jessica didn’t acknowledge his existence after the third time he ordered her to stop her crying, he left the room feeling very exasperated. Devin was waiting for him outside the door.
“What is wrong with her?” He asked. “Where is she from? Who is she?”
“Cease with your questions, you’re giving me head pains.” Todd ordered his captain.
“Would you like me to go in there and find out about her?” Devin asked.
“Good luck to you,” Todd offered as he walked back toward the dining hall.Highland Love – Part ThreeSeveral hours later Devin exited the room, looking very tired.
“Find out anything about the wench?” Todd asked.
“More than you’d like to know,” Devin told him.
“What has she told you?” Todd was now very intrigued.
“She’s from the year 1850,” Devin began. He truly couldn’t wait to see his laird’s reaction to this.
“She’s a liar,” Todd proclaimed in an icy tone.
“I believe her,” Devin told him. “I don’t know why, I just feel that we can trust her. She was shaken so badly, that couldn’t have been an act. She’s truly very upset, and I can tell you that I would be just as upset if I found myself five-hundred years from where I should be.”
“There is no such thing as time travel,” Todd told Devin. “I don’t trust that wench, and I’m not going to let her out of my sight. Not for a minute. She’s probably here to kill us all,” Todd added as he turned to go into his room.
“You’re not truly going to sleep in the same room as she, are you?” Devin asked in a shocked tone.
“Where else would I sleep, but in my room?” Todd asked as if Devin had asked a fool’s question. He didn’t wait for an answer, but instead went into his room.
When he saw that she was sleeping in his bed, he cursed Devin and prepared himself for another scene with her when he woke her up. He went over and gently shook her, hoping to avoid startling her. “You’re sleeping in my bed,” he announced once she was awake enough to comprehend what he was saying.
“Well, you’ll have to sleep somewhere else tonight,” she told him. “I’m sleeping here. Devin gave me use of this bed, now leave me in peace.” She ordered and turned back over.
“Get out of my bed, wench. Devin is a fool and offered a bed that wasn’t his to offer,” Todd told her.
“Well then, I suggest you take Devin’s bed because I’m not moving from this one,” Jessica again told him.
Todd cursed loudly and grabbed a pillow from the bed. “I’ll play the chivalrous one for this night and sleep on the floor. But I assure you it won’t happen a second time.”
“If you were truly chivalrous,” she told him, “you would sleep in another room.”Highland Love – Part FourJessica woke up slowly the next morning. She lay there with her eyes still closed, hoping to hold onto her dream for just a few more minutes. It wasn’t every night she had a dream as vivid as she had this night. She swore she could still smell that musty air with a hint of burning wood. She turned over in her bed and sighed.
Comfortable?"
Jessica’s eyes were immediately open. It wasn’t a dream. She stared at her laird in awe; he was bigger than she had thought. He towered over her bed as if he planned to pounce on her. She sat up very quickly. “Weren’t you ever taught that it’s impolite to come into a lady’s room without knocking, and especially while she’s sleeping?”
“Aye,” Todd answered her, “I was. But considering this is my room, I don’t see how this applies. Weren’t you ever taught that it’s impolite to steal a man’s bed?”
Jessica acknowledged that he had won this fight. “When are we going to eat?” She asked him, trying to change the subject.
“I ate hours ago, as did the rest of the household. You may run to the kitchens to see if there is anything left if you truly want to. Otherwise, you will have to wait.” He stepped out of her way as she brushed past him to the door.
She turned back to him. “Aren’t you going to show me where the kitchen is?” Todd rolled his eyes and followed her out the door. “What’s it like being the laird?” She asked him after they had taken no more than three steps down the hall.
“What kind of question is that?” he asked her. “Being the laird means that I protect all of those in my keep with my life, and I keep my men trained to do the same.”
"Yes, I understand what your job is, but what is it really like?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” he told her. “What else is there to being a laird?”
Jessica decided to move on to the next question. “Have you ever been in a fight between clans?”
"Aye, of course,” he told her as if she should have known the answer to that.
“Have you ever been badly wounded? How did they treat it? How long was it before you were able to fight again?”
“Cease!” he yelled at her. Jessica shut her mouth. “Ah, Devin. Take our incessantly talking wench to the kitchens and find her something to eat. Then answer any questions she might have so that she doesn’t come bothering me with them again. Take her wherever she asks to go, and tell her anything she wants to know. Is that clear?”
“Aye,” Devin answered. “Come along, my Lady,” he urged her as he took hold of her arm. “Let’s find you something to eat.”Highland Love – Part Five
Jessica had been in 1326 Scotland for almost two weeks. She had learned almost everything there was to know about society at a surprising rate. Devin only had to tell her things once, and it was permanently ingrained into her memory. She decided she wanted to know more about her elusive laird.
"Devin, can you tell me about the Edan clan?”
Devin smiled at her, “Aye, my Lady, I’d be more than happy to tell you about them. I’ve been with them since I was just a bairn. You see,”
“The best person to explain the Edan clan, would be someone of Edan blood.” Devin and Jessica both looked up to see Todd standing over them.
“But my Lord,” Devin began.
“But nothing, Devin. Leave the wench to me. I’ll set her aright on the Edans.” He never took his eyes off of Jessica, even while ordering his edict to Devin.
“Aye, my Lord. Would you like me to get the men started in the lists?”
“Aye.” Todd answered, still not taking his eyes off of Jessica. As soon as they were alone, he spoke directly to her. “Why do you have so many questions?”
“I’m just very curious,” she told him truthfully.
“Curiosity is a curse,” he told her.
“Well then, I shall bear my curse. Now that you’ve lectured me sufficiently are you going to tell me about your clan, or should I seek out Devin?” When he didn’t answer her she got up from her chair. He immediately grabbed hold of her arm and sat her back down.
“That wasn’t a lecture,” he told her. “You don’t ever want a lecture from me. Your ears will burn for weeks,” he promised her. “The Edans have lived in the Highlands for hundreds of years. This keep was built by my great-great-great-grandsire. It has withstood every attack since the portcullis was first lowered. My garrison is known throughout the Highlands for their skill; they have none to be their equals. They train hard and are fiercely loyal. It means a lot to them to wear the Edan colors…”
Jessica stopped listening and instead studied his roughened features. His face was hardened with war. His hair was jet-black, and worn in the long style that all medieval lairds wore their hair. He was very tall, and very well built. His shoulders were broad, and his waist tapered. There was not an ounce of fat on him anywhere; he was made entirely of lean muscle.
She noticed that he had stopped talking and she looked up at him questioningly.
“I wouldn’t want to interrupt your examination. Are you quite finished?” He asked her.
She blushed furiously. “Aye,” she answered.
“Good,” he then continued to recite his lineage for her along with all of the great deeds his ancestors had done.Highland Love – Part Six“I agree with you completely,” Colin assured Devin.
Look at them,” Devin ordered. “He never lets her out of his sight.”
“And whenever he drags himself out to the lists, you can be sure she’s lurking somewhere nearby,” Colin added.
Devin smiled at his blood brother. “I do believe our Laird has lost his heart.”
“Either that or his mind.”
"Aren’t you the romantic?” Devin laughed.
"Devin, Colin, don’t make me whip both of your bottoms. Practice,” Todd ordered his two best fighters.
Jessica, as Colin had pointed out, was lurking somewhere nearby. She always stayed up against the inner bailey walls, but she never let Todd out of her sight.
Todd was much the same. When he wasn’t practicing in the lists, he would be showing her places, or explaining things to her in great detail. He looked over at the wall, where he knew she would be, and smiled to himself. He had gotten himself a wench, and a comely one at that. She smiled at him, and he offered a gruff nod in return, which only made her smile broader.
Devin walked up to Jessica. “You like him, don’t you?” He asked.
Jessica never took her eyes off of him. “Aye. He really is a sweet man,” she told him.
Devin burst into laughter. “Don’t ever let him hear you say that,” he warned her. “Todd is anything but ‘sweet.’ He is a ruthless killer who wouldn’t hesitate to kill his own kin if they posed a threat to his keep.”
Jessica looked at Devin. “He’s different with me. He’s nothing like this gruff laird who orders men about constantly. That’s why I find it so funny,” she told him.
“You just guard your heart, my Lady,” he told her in a serious tone. “Your time dropped you here very quickly, and it can take you back just as fast. Don’t lose your heart to someone you can’t be guaranteed to have in your life from one day to the next.”Highland Love – Part Seven
Todd lay on the cold floor that had become his bed. He couldn’t stop thinking about the woman occupying his bed at this very moment. He could hear her even breathing, the breathing that had become his lullaby. He got up, and sat on the edge of the bed. The moon cast light on her delicate features and he took a really good look at her. Her dark curls formed a halo around her head. Her skin was very tanned, but showed no signs of a rough life. He wondered where, exactly, she had come from. Her eyebrows were perfectly arched, and her cheekbones were high. Her lips were full, and a deep red color; they always looked as if she had just been scandalously kissed. Her brow furrowed in her sleep, and she began breathing faster.
She was having a nightmare.
He began soothing her, hoping to lull her back to sleep. She suddenly grabbed onto him and buried her head in his shoulder. “Josh, please save me from this, please, Josh,” she begged him over and over again.
Todd stiffened. Who was Josh? Her husband probably. He looked at the girl he had been admiring just a few short moments ago. There was no reason that a wench as comely as this one wouldn’t be married. He cursed himself a fool for not considering this earlier. He got up off of the bed and stormed to his library.Highland Love – Part Eight
“What did you do to her?” Devin demanded of Todd the next day.
“I didn’t do anything to her,” Todd claimed as he parried Devin’s attacks.
“She isn’t here today. You’ve been ignoring her existence completely since yesterday morning. I may be a fool, but I don’t think she did anything to you,” Devin told him.
Todd immediately began aggressively attacking Devin. “Aye, you are a fool.”
“Peace,” Devin cried after ten minutes of Todd’s merciless attacks. They were both panting when they finished. “What happened, Todd?”
“She’s married,” Todd told his captain.
“Married? Jessica? I assure you, she’s not,” Devin claimed.
"Then who is Josh? She woke up with a nightmare, and clung to me while begging comfort from some man by the name of Josh. If she’s not asking her husband for a rescue, then who would she be yelling for?” Todd demanded.
Devin was shocked. “Todd, she’s not married. I don’t know who this Josh is, but it’s not her husband.”
“Then why don’t you go find out who he is?” Todd asked him.
“The things I do for my Laird’s happiness,” Devin sighed as he walked toward the manor. He slowly made his way to the library, but found Jessica looking out a window instead. “My Lady,” he said to get her attention. She turned to him. “My Laird is very disturbed, my Lady, and I’m afraid that you’re the only one who can set him aright.”
“He won’t talk to me,” she told him in a hurt tone. “I don’t know what I did, but he’s furious with me.”
Devin wanted to comfort her, but wouldn’t risk the wrath of his laird if he found out. Instead, he went on with the inquisition. “My Lady, you had a nightmare a few evenings ago. In your dream you called out a man’s name. Todd believes you to be married.”
“Married? Heavens no,” Jessica told him.
“I tried assuring him of that, but he wouldn’t hear of it. Now, if you truly want to fix things up, you can answer one question for him.”
"What is it?” Jessica asked hesitantly.
“Who is Josh?”
Jessica smiled, then burst into laughter. “Todd thinks that I’m married to Joshua?” She laughed even harder.
It was then that the laird walked into the hallway. “What is wrong with the wench now?” He asked Devin.
Devin shrugged. “She happens to find the fact that you believe her married to Josh laughable.”
Todd grabbed her shoulders and shook her until her laughter ceased. “Who is Josh,” he demanded.
She smiled at him. “You really are a stubborn laird, do you know that? You’re a stubborn laird who needs to learn how to find things out before he goes on a rampage. That’s probably why you’ve been in so many wars,” she told him.
“Wench,”
“What?” She asked as she smiled sweetly at him.
“Who is Josh?” he asked in a tone that meant he wasn’t in the mood for any more of he stalling.
“Josh,” she told him through another fit of laughter. “Is my twin brother.”
Todd looked at Devin, who was also laughing. “Keep laughing,” Todd warned him.
“But it is rather funny, my Laird,” Devin defended.
"You,” he said pointing to Devin, “in the lists. I have a score to settle. And you,” he said pointing to Jessica, “don’t ever do that to me again.”
Highland Love – Part NineTodd found himself being awakened for the fifth night in a row. As always, he got into bed and held her until the nightmares subsided. This nightmare was different, however. Instead of her yelling her brother’s name, it was Todd’s that escaped her lips. She became fully awake. “Todd?”
“Aye, wench. Go back to sleep,” he told her as he stroked her hair.
"Todd, stay with me tonight,” she pleaded with him. “I had a horrid dream that I lost you. Please don’t leave me tonight.”
“Aye, I’ll stay if it’s what you want,” he assured her. “Now back to sleep. ‘Tis too early to be getting up.”
“I love you, Todd,” she told him as she began to drift back to sleep.
“Aye, wench. I know, I know.”
Todd didn’t sleep anymore that night. He got out of bed as soon as he heard the first stirrings of his men in the dining hall. He went down the stairs and sought out Devin.
“She has to go back,” Todd announced without preamble.
“Todd,” Devin began to protest.
“Nay, I’ll not hear another word about it. I’ve made my decision. We have to find a way to get her back home. She’s been having nightmares every night, and I can’t stand to see her like that. She has to go back,” Todd stated with conviction.
“Do you love her?” Devin asked him.
Todd looked away. “It doesn’t matter how I feel. I only want what’s best for her. What’s best for her is not waking up every night from nightmares, therefore what’s best for her is not being here.”
Devin rested his hand on Todd’s shoulder to offer the only comfort that was fit for a warrior. “If it’s what you want, and what’s truly best for her, I’ll help you.”
“Thank you for that,” Todd told his friend. “I’m going to go wake her up.” Todd then disappeared up the stairs that led to the hall that his room was in. He opened the door and found his bed…empty. Something in his heart told him that she wasn’t on a trip to the garderobe. He ran down the hall to check anyway; suddenly, he stopped.
Was that smoke he smelled?Highland Love – Part TenJessica rolled over in her sleep and reached out for Todd’s arm. He wasn’t there. Thinking that he had gotten up for the day, she sat up and swung her feet to the floor. She found herself face to face with Joshua and Jasmine. Her heart stopped beating, and her eyes grew wide. “Josh?”
“Yes, it’s me, and I’d like to know what you think you’re doing?” He screamed at her. “Do you realize that we have been looking all over this godforsaken castle for you for three hours? How did you end up in this bed, and what on earth possessed you to fall asleep here?”
Jessica had never seen Josh so angry with her. That along with the confusion she was experiencing was enough to send her to tears.
“For God’s sake, Jessica, stop that crying.”
Jasmine glared at he husband. “Congratulations.” She walked over to the bed and sat down next to Jessica and hugged her. “It’s ok, Jess. I won’t let that awful brother of yours hurt you. In fact, I think he needs a week on that wonderful beach back home to think about what he just did. What happened to you?”
Jessica looked at her sister-in-law with tear blurred vision. “I went back in time,” she told them. “I know it sounds insane, but I really did. I’m sure of it. I was there for over a month. You say I was only gone for three hours? I was there for a month, and I fell asleep in his bed,”
“What?” Joshua roared. “Who’s bed did you fall asleep in?”
"That’s enough from you,” Jasmine told her husband. “Jessica, time travel is…”
“I don’t care if you believe me,” Jessica yelled as she jumped from the bed. “I have to find out what happened to him. They always keep records in these libraries.” She then took off running toward where she knew the library to be. As she ran she noticed things that scared her. There were far fewer doors in these halls than there were before. Rooms didn’t just disappear.
She ran faster.
She burst into the library and quickly found the book she was looking for. She flipped to the page she wanted and quickly read what it said there. “No, no, no,” she repeated over and over again.
Jasmine came up behind her. “What’s wrong, Jess?”
Jessica looked at Jasmine and her tears began to flow again, “He didn’t die, he just didn’t,” she proclaimed as she sobbed uncontrollably.
“What does the book say?” Jasmine asked Josh as she attempted to comfort Jessica.
“It says, ‘The Edan clan came to an abrupt end when a fire ripped through the castle. There were no known survivors. The Edans’ cousins took over the keep after the last rightful laird, Todd Edan, perished in 1326’.” Josh turned to his wife. “You can’t believe she went back in time?”
“These tears are real,” Jasmine told him. “And I’ve never seen anyone cry over a dream before.”
“Cease with your crying, wench.”
Jasmine glared at her husband. “That wasn’t funny, Josh.”
Josh looked shocked. “I didn’t say that.”
Jessica stopped crying and pulled away from Jasmine. She looked over Josh’s shoulder and ran toward her Scottish Laird. He picked her up and kissed her forehead. “You didn’t think I’d let you leave me, did you?” He asked her.
“Oh, Todd, how did you survive? It said that you all died, I thought you died, Todd, I thought you died.”
“As you can see, the fire didn’t get me,” he told her. “It was the strangest thing, one minute I was helping to bank the fire, the next I was standing in the hall outside this room. Wench, you’re choking me.” When she loosened her grip, he looked down at her and smiled. “If I was never found, then they can never take me back. It looks like I’m stuck in your time forever,” he told her.
“What language are they speaking?” Josh asked Jasmine.
“Gaelic, I think.” Jasmine answered him. “Jessica has several books on it.”
“Leave it to my little sister,” Josh sighed.
“Isn’t she older than you?” Jasmine asked him with an innocent smile.
“I told my father to never tell that to anyone,” Josh yelled. Jasmine just laughed at him. “What are they saying, anyway?” He asked.
“I haven’t the foggiest. But I’m sure it’s something along the lines of how much they love each other.”
“You are too much a romantic,” Joshua accused his wife.
“It’s a woman’s lot in life, I’m afraid. Jessica, bring your Laird over here and introduce us,” Jasmine ordered.
Highland Love – EpilogueThe group was sitting on the boat on their way back home, and the three from Barbados were trying to teach the Scottish laird how to speak English, and Jessica was teaching Josh and Jasmine how to speak Gaelic.
“Neither language is very complicated,” Jessica said exasperatedly. “I don’t know why any of you are having problems with it.”
“Watch it, little sister, or I’ll throw you overboard,” Josh promised.
“What did he say?” Todd asked.
“He told me that he’s going to throw me overboard,” Jessica replied, conveniently leaving out the fact that she had insulted him first.
“I’ll see him in the lists,” Todd told her.
Jessica’s eyes grew wide. “Todd, no. There aren’t any lists anymore. You can’t go around cutting people down.”
"What are you telling him?” Joshua asked Jessica.
“I’m telling him to run you through with his sword,” she answered. She sat back for a few moments and thought. Maybe she shouldn’t teach them each other’s language. Things could be much more fun this way.
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