He ran for the stables without looking back. Two minutes later he was riding at full pelt out of the gate, ignoring the shouts of his parents who had appeared in the courtyard.
Spurring the horse on, he sped north. After an hour he looked behind him. No one was following.
That wasn’t the case for long.
By the time he was halfway to MacIntyre hall he was convinced he was being followed. Whenever he looked back there were two horses, little more than dots at first but as time passed and his own steed began to tire they grew larger.
By late that evening he could make out two men riding as fast as they could to catch him.
He stopped only briefly at The Red Fox to change his horse before continuing on his way north, putting on a fresh burst of speed to outride the two men who had no doubt been sent after him from the castle.
If they thought they were bringing him back to marry Nessa they had another thing coming. They might be scouts of course, their job only to report on his whereabouts while a larger force was massed.
That got him thinking about MacIntyre hall. He was riding deep into MacIntyre territory and there was no good reason he could give if he were found there by a patrol. I am running from my wife to be and searching for a woman from the future. He could picture the laughter already.
Still, what could he do? He could stop and kill them both but there were only two possible consequences of that. Clan war or his execution as a sop to the MacIntyres.
Better to outride them. Find Kerry and persuade her to stay. Nothing else mattered. It was possible she was a liar but in his heart he knew that wasn’t true. He decided to trust his instincts. He would find her and let the ancient spirits roll their bones. How they landed was up to them. He could only find her. The rest was up to fate.
Behind him the two riders drew near. Both of them were wearing black suits that seemed very out of place in the medieval highlands.
