“Don’t bother with that, Wade. His name’s Dougall. He’s not the friendliest guy I’ve ever met.” Sara eyed Dougall and then turned to Logan. “This is Logan.”
“Nice to meet you. Come on in.”
“Where is Helene?” Dougall demanded.
“She’s here. Upstairs changing I think.” Wade nodded to the stairs. “Zeke! You’ve got company,” he called in the direction of the office. “Are these the two time travellers Zeke was telling me about?” Wade whispered to Sara before she sat down on the sofa.
“Oh, yeah. You don’t need to whisper. It’s them.” Logan and Dougall stood near the windows. It was obvious that Logan wished to be with Sara, but Dougall wasn’t about to give him leave to sit down.
“I’ll go see what’s keeping Zeke,” Wade said as he left the room.
Dougall moved to the foot of the stairs where he bellowed, “Helene! I’m here fer ye.”
No answer. He was just about to sprint up the stairs to search for her when Zeke entered the room. “She’ll be down in a minute. She’s changing her clothes for practice.”
“Why does she need to practice changing her clothes,” Logan asked, appearing puzzled.
Zeke and Sara laughed. “She’s going to practice some self-defense techniques.” He turned and looked squarely at Dougall. “You know, in case she ever finds herself alone and in a bad situation. I want her to be able to take care of herself.”
The two men sized each other up, neither wanting to appear weak to the other. Dougall turned away from the stairs and spoke to Sara. “What’s taking her so long?”
“I don’t know. I’ll go see what she’s up to.” Sara headed upstairs, leaving all four men uncomfortably eyeing one another.
Dougall broke the silence, directing his comment to Zeke. “Helene is me woman. Have you done anything to compromise her virtue?”
“Helene is her own woman. Not yours. You should probably get that through your thick Scottish skull.” Zeke answered.
Dougall was ready for a fight and it seemed Zeke was as well. “If ye’ve done anything to Helene, ye’ll have me to answer to.”
“I respect Helene too much. I would never do anything she didn’t want me to do.” Zeke crossed his arms and stood tall.
“What does that mean? Have ye done something?” Dougall’s anger was getting the better of him.
“I don’t kiss and tell,” Zeke said.
“Ye’ve kissed her!” Dougall reached for his sword and leaped across the room where Zeke stood his ground and didn’t even flinch.
“Dougall!” Helene was descending the stairs with Sara. “What are ye doing? Why does it always seem that ye wish to battle with Zeke? Dinnae embarrass me.”
“Helene.” Dougall lowered his sword and strode across the room to where she now stood at the bottom of the stairs. “Helene, I’ve come fer ye. I must return home. I havenae the time to spend here wooing ye. Ye ken I love ye. I’ve told ye many times.”
“I cannae return with ye, Dougall. Ye want to be laird and I willnae stand in yer way. If ye must return to Castle Treun, then ye must go alone. I willnae go back there to be locked up again.”
“Ye willnae be locked up, love. I’ll be with ye. He willnae harm ye.” He’d kill his father before he let him every lay a finger on Helene.
“He’ll wait until he’s sent ye off on some fool’s errand as he did before and then he’ll lock me up or kill me or both. I’m sorry, but I willnae return to Castle Treun.”
“Helene, do ye nae love me?” Dougall felt crushed under the weight of his disappointment.
She didn’t answer him. Instead she turned to Zeke. “I’m ready fer me lesson now.”
“Alright. Let me deal with this first, so I can concentrate on you,” Zeke answered.
“Helene!” Dougall tried to keep the desperation out of his voice.
“I’m going to practice with Zeke. He teaches others how to use a sword. He’s going to teach me as well.”
Dougall was at a loss for words. He never thought Helene wouldn’t be happy to return with him and why was she learning to use a sword, when he could protect her and keep her from harm. He gazed at Logan who was looking at him with a strange sadness in his eyes. “Dinnae look at me as though I’m to be pitied.”
