* * *
The walk seemed to take forever. By the end of it, Lindsey’s feet were sore. She feared taking her sneakers off. She felt sure there was blood down there from burst blisters. His pace had been relentless from the moment they set off up the mountainside. She was soon lost as they moved along the ridge and then down into a valley filled with lush heather.
The entire time they walked, she saw no one. The sun was setting by the time they stopped. She had fallen far behind and was limping to try and keep up when he glanced behind him.
“Rest,” he said, coming back to her.
“I’m fine. I thought you said this boat wasn’t far away.”
“It’s another mile but I dinnae ken whether it will still be there.”
Lindsey looked behind her. All day to get from one side of the loch to the other. It would have been no more than an hour by car. She’d no idea it could take so long to walk somewhere when there were no paths to follow.
Occasionally they came across rabbit trails but most of the time she had to push her aching legs through thick bushes of heather that hid numerous holes in the earth below.
Twice she’d fallen, almost twisting her ankle. Both times he’d helped her up without a word. Then he was striding off again like he was a ghost, the terrain not slowing him for a moment.
Was he a ghost? She found herself thinking as she walked. There was still the slim chance she was dreaming all this though that seemed increasingly unlikely. He had lived and died all those years ago and yet there he was in front of her, marching on without a care in the world.
That wasn’t true. He had flashed such rage about the death of the princess that she vowed not to bring the subject up again. Instead, she focused on where she was going, trying to ignore the hunger growing inside her and the increasing pain in her feet.
When he noticed her limping and insisted they rest, she didn’t refuse the invitation, stretching out on the grass, taking deep breaths and refusing to think about what would happen if this didn’t work.
He sat beside her, staring into the distance and saying nothing. She took the chance to examine him better. How did he compare to what the history books had said?
He was different from how she’d imagined him, she knew that for sure. She’d pictured a cruel murderer laughing over the corpse of his victim, arrogance, and entitlement written across his face. The reality was very different.
There was pain behind his eyes, one she had noticed early on despite his refusal to express much in the way of emotion. His hair was long, his skin darkened by a life lived in the sun. She took in the muscles on his arms, the way he sat perfectly still, his legs still looking like they might burst out of the hose at any moment.
“Ready?” he asked, looking across at her. “If we get a move on, we should make it by dark.” He got to his feet and held a hand down to help her up.
“I’m ready,” she said, taking the proffered hand. He lifted her upright in a second. She took a step and then winced, pain coursing through her foot.
“Are ye all right, lass?”
“I’m fine.”
He nodded before setting off. She followed, doing her best to ignore the pain.
“What happens when we find the boat?” she called after him.
He slowed his pace until he was beside her. “We take you to the island and see if the rumors are true.”
“What rumors?”
“All ah know is that the well on the island has powers beyond man’s ken. The druid knows more about it than ah do.”
“So, it might not work?”
He didn’t answer. She tried not to think about what she’d do if it didn’t work, if she was forever stuck in this time. Mom would lose the house and would never know what happened to her daughter. It had to work. She had to believe it would work.
It took another hour to get down to the lochside. When they arrived, Tavish vanished into the undergrowth, dragging out a moss-covered rowing boat.
“How long’s that been there?” she asked.
“Ah found it the first year ah was here.”
“Why haven’t you used it?”
