Chapter Fourteen
Kerry had made her mind up. She would wait until they got to the old hall and then cry out for help. The place had been deserted when she’d last been there but Callum had told her why. They had all been summoned to the castle or something like that, leaving the way clear for a MacCleod to enter MacIntyre land without sparking war.
There were bound to be people there this time. She might not be able to escape the painful grip Edward had on her but she wouldn’t need to. Once they got there and she started screaming the entire population would come charging over and in the confusion she’d run for it. She’d get through the portal on her own and keep running. In her own time the police would be able to help her keep Edward away. Here she could only rely on herself.
There was no point trying to get to Callum. She would only make his life worse.
He had to marry Nessa. That was the conclusion she’d reached as they grew closer to MacIntyre hall. She kept looking around her for any sign of life but there was nothing yet.
She’d decided it would be better for him to marry the woman he was supposed to. Even if he did love Kerry it wouldn’t be possible for the two of them to be together, not really. They were from different worlds. He was used to violence and death surrounding him but she wasn’t. Not only that but if she stayed she risked causing clan war.
Edward would keep chasing her too and she shuddered to think of the damage he could do to a medieval people. What if he brought a gun back with him? Even the strongest medieval highlander could do little against a revolver or a shotgun.
Or what if he tried some sports almanac shenanigans? The future might be President Edward. The idea didn’t bear thinking about.
She would get through the portal and then she would destroy it. That was the only way to protect the past and the future. How could she destroy it? She would work that out when she got there.
The main thing she needed to do was break free from him. Could she get through the portal and destroy it before he got through? Could that work? Leave him stuck in the past to get an arrow through the throat when he picked on the wrong highlander. That might just work.
She would be in the present and it would be as good as killing him but without any of the moral complications. He’d be trapped in the past and she’d finally be safe.
The downside would be that she would never get to be with Callum. She did her best not to think about that part.
They turned a corner and there was the hall in front of them. A plume of black smoke was rising from it. The hall itself was ablaze.
It was a hellish image and for a moment Kerry couldn’t take in what was happening. There was too much to see.
Edward’s hand slipped from hers as he stood in shock staring at the sight before him.
An old woman burst out from the flames, appearing in the doorway and then staggering away. At the same moment a group of men carrying flaming torches were running over to the hovels next to the hall. Another group of men on horseback were riding in from the road to the right.
“We need to help them,” Kerry said, taking a step forward.
Edward blocked her way. “No we don’t. We need to go home.”
“But there are people in trouble.” Already the men with torches were setting fire to the hovels, the thatch was alight, more dark smoke rising into the air. “They need our help.”
“Don’t you get it? These people are already dead. They died hundreds of years ago.”
“No they didn’t.” She saw another person bursting out from the doorway, this one also somehow not ablaze. “They’re alive right now.”
“Listen, we’re going home and that’s all there is to it.”
“How?”
“What?”
“How are we going home. The place is an inferno.”
“She just came out of it and that guy just ran inside. It can’t be that bad.”
Glancing from side to side, Kerry thought about screaming but realized the noise would be lost against the roar of the fire. As she looked past the village she saw the old woman stagger back and vanish out of sight.
Edward had let go of her again and was busy staring at the fight. She took her chance, running as fast as she could toward the old woman. She heard him shouting behind her but she didn’t look back, sprinting across the grass toward what she saw was a steep riverbank.
She stopped at the edge and looked down into the foaming torrent. There she was, her head just vanishing below the waves. “Hold on,” she shouted, sliding her way down the bank, her arm outstretched. She tried to stop at the edge but the grass was slick with dew and she was unable to prevent herself from losing balance.
With a single gasp she fell headfirst into the river and was immediately lost under the water. Opening her eyes she saw the old woman floating nearby, the two of them being fast washed downstream. Putting on a spurt of speed she kicked her legs and grabbed hold of the stranger, lifting her head to the surface so she could breathe.
