It was the blond man who stepped towards the wagon driver, ignoring Caitlin completely. “Good day, Alfred,” he said with a jovial grin and a twinkle in his eye. “Sorry to drop in on ye unannounced like this but Conall tells me ye’ve been a very naughty boy.”
Alfred spun towards the rider and pointed a pudgy finger. “Traitor!”
The mounted man—Conall? —shrugged. “Traitor? Seems a wee bit hypocritical dinna ye think, coming from ye?”
Alfred looked around wildly, searching for escape, but the blond man shook his head. “Dinna do aught stupid, Alfred. Ye wouldnae get three paces before Emeric got ye.” He nodded at one of the trees and Caitlin looked up to see a fifth man up in the branches holding a bow with an arrow trained on Alfred.
Alfred swallowed thickly. “Who are ye?” he asked. “What do ye want?”
Caitlin would dearly love to know the same thing. Who were all these men? And where had they come from? She began backing away, hoping they were too caught up in their conversation to notice her. But she’d not gone three paces before she bumped into something hard and whirled to find the red-headed man standing behind her.
“Where do ye think ye are going, lass?” he asked smoothly, his hand moving to rest on the hilt of one of his swords. Swords? Why was he carrying swords?
Caitlin swallowed, her heart racing. “I... I just need to get back to my hotel. I got lost and I didn’t mean to intrude on anything.”
The man’s eyes narrowed. “Lost? In these woods? That’s a dangerous game to play, lass.”
Caitlin took a step back. What was happening? This was crazy!
The blond man, who seemed to be the leader, spoke to the red-head. “Easy, Oskar.” He walked to stand in front of Caitlin and looked her over with his hands planted on his hips.
Caitlin couldn’t help but notice how handsome he was, with his rugged, stubbled jaw and sparkling blue eyes. This, coupled with his tanned skin and messy blond hair, gave him a careless, cocky sort of attractiveness. But there was something about the way he moved that told her this man was dangerous, despite his easy-going appearance.
“Who are you?” she demanded, pleased when her voice didn’t tremble.
The man smiled, a flash of white teeth, and gave her a flourishing bow. “Kai Stewart at yer service. And I’m afraid ye have stumbled right into the middle of my business.”
***
KAI GRINNED AT THElass, adopting his usual affable charm, but his mind was whirling, playing over a hundred different scenarios.
Who was this woman and where had she come from? At first, he’d thought she was part of Alfred’s crew but one look at Conall’s bafflement and Alfred’s subsequent behavior towards her, had quelled that notion. Her large blue eyes were wide with fright and darted between each of his men as if worried about what they might do.
His eyes strayed to the ground by the lass’s feet. That odd device that Alfred had knocked out of her hand lay there, staring up from the grass. It was a little black oblong, made of a strange material with a piece of glass over the front. On that glass, a green dot was slowly pulsing and there were buttons on one side.
A shiver of unease went through him at the sight of it. He’d only ever seen that kind of material—plastic?—and that kind of glowing power—electricity?—on a handful of occasions and they were always on things that his brother and mother owned.
Things from the future.
That person will bring ye yer choice about which man ye want to be and which road ye wish to take.
He glanced up at the lass. No. She couldn’t be. Could she?
She had appeared right after Irene MacAskill had, she carried objects that did not belong in this time, and she was dressed like no Highland woman he had ever seen.
Damn it all. This was a complication he couldreallydo without.
What are you playing at, Irene?he thought.What are you up to?
But he didn’t have time to think about it now. He scooped up the device and tucked it away before anyone else could see it.
“What is yer name, lass?”
“Caitlin,” she replied, looking around warily. “Caitlin Summers. Who are you people?”
“We mean ye no harm,” he assured her. “But we need ye to stay just where ye are until we get this sorted out.” To Oskar he said, “Make sure she doesnae move.” Then he returned to the wagon.
Alfred looked even more panicked as Kai approached. “Please, I beg of ye, let me go. I’ll do anything ye want!”
