“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 WASnotfine. 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? Itwasn’twinter. 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 thedistance, 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. Hewouldprotect 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 B&B in the distance, but a crumbling stone structure that was little more than a barn.
She swallowed thickly. “Youcannotbe 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.
