“And they said?”
“They said they understood.” Mairi started the car, rubbing her chilly fingers together as she waited for the engine to warm. Winter was coming and it was a damp, chilly Edinburgh day. The memory of Kenna’s flippant response to her quandary eased her tensed muscles a notch. “Kenna told me they were doing their best to keep Granny’s mind off me by popping out more babies for her to cuddle.”
Lilia smiled. “I need to hop back soon and get in on some of that major spoiling action myself.”
The digital clock on the dashboard clicked and flashed, cranking her tension back up a notch. Crap on a cracker. Over an hour and a half late and she still had to drop Lilia off at her organic beauty shop.
Mairi bit her lip, glaring down at the engine dial, willing it to peg over to the warm side faster. Which charge nurse was on shift today? She thought back over the revised schedule. Charge Nurse Fiona. Thankfully, the grandmotherly woman had pretty much adopted her so today’s butt chewing for her perpetual tardiness shouldn’t be too painful. Fiona knew she was always late. She just couldn’t seem to help it, and sweet, motherly Fiona didn’t seem to mind—at least not too very much.
The high-pitched hum of the automobile’s engine settled into a low steady purr as toasty warm air finally blasted out of the vents. Mairi aimed one of the blowers toward her feet and watched the garage door slowly rise in the rearview mirror. “Well, dammit.”
Lilia looked up from her ever-present smartphone. “What?”
“It’s sleeting. That’ll slow us even more.” Sleet-covered roads would be slicker than penguin shit on ice. Mairi switched on the wipers and re-aimed the heat toward the windshield. She’d have fun scraping ice off her windshield at the end of her shift tonight too. Pinging sleet rattled a chilly good morning against the car as she backed out into the street.
Squinting through the deluge, she picked up speed. Apparently, it hadn’t been sleeting long. Ice hadn’t coated the roads yet. The cobbled bricks of the historic street seemed to be only wet. Good. She just might reach the hospital before the two-hour-late mark. If she cut over to Princes Street Gardens, she could shave off even more of her lateness. During the wee hours of Edinburgh’s early morning, that would be the speediest route to Lilia’s stop and then on to the hospital. Mairi zipped up a side street and cut a hard left.
A silver-gray blur cleared a low stone wall and charged into the street.
Lilia lunged forward and slapped both hands on the dash. “Don’t hit that dog!”
“Shit!” Mairi slammed the brake pedal to the floor, then cringed at the sickening thump-bump-bump against the left front tire of the car. Dammit all straight to hell.She’d hit the dog. She killed the engine and bolted out the door. It had happened so fast. There was no way she could swerve and miss it.
Her heart knotted in her throat as she eased around to the front of the car. Double damn dammit. Tears stung her eyes. She couldn’t bear the thought of what she’d been unable to avoid. “I am so sorry,” she whispered as she knelt down beside the motionless body.
“Is it . . .” Lilia squatted down beside her.
“I don’t know.” Mairi moved around to the front of the large dog and peered closer at its rain-slicked head. Eyes closed. Mouth slightly ajar. Tongue relaxed and hanging out one side of the beast’s mouth. It did not look good. She swallowed hard and hesitated. She had to touch it. Had to check for a heartbeat. No way could she just take off and leave the poor animal in the road like a discarded rag doll.
She smoothed her hand up the furry ribcage and pressed into the warm softness where the canine’s limp foreleg joined its chest. A faint heartbeat tickled beneath her fingertips along with something more. Something strange. A gentle zap of energy that wasn’t entirely unpleasant. She rolled back on her heels and scrubbed her tingling palm up and down her thigh. What in the world was that?
“Oh no. Is it too late?” Lilia’s voice broke as she swiped the back of her hand across her cheeks and sniffed.
Mairi stared down at the huge, motionless dog, flexing her hand against the unbelievable sensation “No. Not yet. I felt a heartbeat. Go get the emergency blanket out of the car and fold down the backseat. We have to get him out of the road before I can try to save him.”
Lilia sprinted back to the car.
Mairi quickly glanced around the vacant street. Thank heavens it was still too early for many to be about, but that wouldn’t last for long. They had to get the dog out of the street before anyone else came along and called the authorities to put the poor beast out of its misery. Mairi eyed the great beast. She had to save this dog. This wasn’t just some stray. This animal was . . . special. She couldn’t explain it, but she damn sure felt it in her heart.
Boots splatted through the puddles behind her, then Lilia nudged her with the heavy wool of the emergency blanket always kept in the car. “He’s a good-sized dog. Do you think we’ll be able to get him in the back of the car?”
“We have no choice.” Mairi swiped the back of her hand against the steady barrage of sleet stinging her face. She had to find out what was different about this animal. The surprising energy of the beast, the odd sensation that had surged up into her hand. It had felt as though a kindred spirit had just reached out and connected with her soul. Had the Fates sent him to her as some sort of animal guardian like Trulie’s dog, Karma, and Granny’s cat, Kismet? If so, why? Only firstborn daughters of the time-runner generation were granted guardians. She and Lilia were the youngest of the four.
“How about if we spread the blanket behind him and then carefully roll him back on it?” Lilia’s knuckles whitened on the end of the blanket she held clenched between her hands.
“Perfect. But we have to hurry. Edinburgh’s morning crowd will soon be hitting the streets.” Mairi grabbed the other end of the blanket and helped Lilia spread it behind the dog. Lilia bent and supported the animal’s head and shoulders while Mairi slid her hands underneath the canine’s hindquarters.
“Thanks for giving me the end with the teeth,” Lilia said as she lifted and sidled sideways toward the blanket.
“He’s not going to hurt us.” Mairi had no idea how she knew that, but she just did. Maybe that knowing was somehow built into the strange sensation that had greeted her when she had felt the dog’s heartbeat. “I don’t think rolling him was a good idea either. I’m glad you went for the lift and shift instead.”
Gently, they settled the motionless animal on the center of the blanket. Wrapping the corners of the heavy wool cloth around their hands, they lifted in unison and shuffled toward the rear of the car.
“Holy crap, he weighs a ton.” Lilia grunted and strained to wrap the corners of the blankets tighter around her fists. “With that long narrow nose, he reminds me of a wolf. What breed do you think he is?” She scuttled across the sidewalk with the heavy burden.
“A big wet one. Less talk and more action. The wetter he gets the heavier he’s going to be.” A wolf?Was Lilia nuts? What would a wolf be doing running loose in Edinburgh?Mairi quick-stepped backward and on the count of three, they hefted the animal into the back of the car.
Batting her drenched curls out of her face, Mairi gently closed the back hatch of the car. “Get in. We’ve got to get somewhere private and get our new friend healed.”
