Chapter Sixteen
Kerry lost sight of Janet in a wood a day’s walk from MacIntyre hall. Rain was falling heavily and the last of the autumn leaves did little to keep it from soaking her.
She didn’t realize they had become separated until it was too late. For some time they had been walking single file, slogging their way through the trees along a track which seemed to go on uphill forever. When she finally stopped and looked around her she could see nothing but darkness. The trail had become a muddy mixture of water and pine needles and it soaked through her shoes and froze her toes. Janet was nowhere to be seen.
Over the noise of the wind whistling through the branches she shouted for her companion but the only response was the trees creaking as they moved back and forth in the worsening storm.
Lost and alone she leaned back on a tree trunk and thought about her next move.
Closing her eyes she felt a strange sense of peace coming over her despite the icy chill of the wind. Her chattering teeth slowed and she was able to breathe again.
Let fate decide, she thought. She had no idea which way she was facing, let alone how far she had to go. She didn’t remember the wood last time she was walking this way so she knew she was lost. There was no way of knowing for sure where MacIntyre hall was until it turned light. She could wait where she was or keep moving and see where she ended up.
Go home or go to him? While walking north with Janet from Crossraguel she had become increasingly unsure as to whether or not she was making the right decision. Go home and she risked bumping into Edward once again.
The peace that had filled her as she stood there in the wood remained as she thought of him. She felt stronger, as if he had become smaller, less of a threat. Perhaps she would just take a sword back with her and show him what she’d learned while she’d been here. Out of nowhere she felt as if she could easily defeat him in a sword fight. What was happening to her?
She didn’t know it but she was standing in the exact spot that many centuries earlier had been home to a stone circle. Inside the stone circle a woman had blessed the stones, a woman who one day would walk along a pier on the English coastline, a woman who owned a cat called Podgorny that stood beside her while she spoke to the spirits within the stones, talking to them of times past and future, how they were no more fixed in time than she was.
Kerry didn’t know about any of that. All she knew was when she opened her eyes she knew exactly what to do. Walk out of the wood and head in a straight line. The rest was up to fate.
Standing still for a final moment, she felt the most immense connection with the land around her. Her feet seemed to reach into the soil as if she had become part of the landscape. She could feel the ground moving with the wind as if it were breathing. In the distance a hedgehog was settling down under a pile of leaves to hibernate. She could tell because she could feel its heartbeat.
It lasted only for the briefest of moments but when it was gone she felt a wrenching sense of loss. In that moment she would have given anything to experience it again. She understood for the first time what Callum had been talking about when he told her about connecting to the land around him, being part of the highlands. She felt it too.
She began to walk, feeling a strange sense of peace. She was on her own journey. It was one she had to take alone. She knew with absolute certainty that Janet was on her own journey. They might meet again. They might not. It didn’t matter.
All that mattered was walking in a straight line and keeping going no matter how cold she felt. No matter how strong the wind became, no matter how heavy the rain, she would keep going until she reached her destination wherever it was.
The trees began to thin as the first light of gray dawn appeared in the distance. She paused, blinking in the rain, looking about her for a moment. The ocean was that way. In that direction was a range of mountains. How did she know that?
She shrugged and continued on her way. Over the course of the next hour the wind died down and the rain began to slow until by the time the morning had truly begun the clouds were slowly parting to allow a few rays of weak sunlight to shine through, lighting up the heather as if marking the way she was supposed to go.
In the distance she could make out a figure heading along a road, walking beside a donkey and cart. She reached the road a minute later, marching along it with a newfound sense of purpose.
As the figure grew nearer she could see a pile of turnips on the back of the cart. He nodded a greeting, tapping the donkey on the side. The grateful beast came to a stop, sniffing at the grass at its feet. “Good morrow,” the man said, lifting his cap to scratch at his thinning black hair. “You look lost.”
“Not lost,” Kerry smiled. “I know exactly where I’m going. How about you?”
“Turnips to a wedding. Gift from the MacIntyres.”
“Handing out turnips. How kind of them.”
“A bit odd if you ask me.”
“How so?”
He leaned toward her, glancing around him as if to check if anyone was listening. “Is it not a little strange handing out our food to the MacCleods? There’s something fishy about this if you ask me.”
“The MacCleods? Is it a MacCleod wedding?”
“How long have you been on the road for, I thought everyone knew.”
“Knew what?”
“Young Callum MacCleod is marrying Nessa MacKay in a week’s time. I’m to get these to their table before the ceremony and why? We have bones to pick with both clans.” He shrugged. “But if I’m to keep my head on my shoulders I better get moving. Good day to you lass.”
Kerry waved as he set off moving once more, the cart wheels creaking as they forced a way through the puddles on the road.
