11
Lindsey couldn’t stop thinking about the kiss as she clambered down the side of the mountain toward the castle, doing her best to concentrate on what she was about to do.
Her lips continued to tingle, making it impossible for her to forget what had just happened. It had come from nowhere.
She never thought in her wildest dreams that Tavish had any intention of kissing her. Whenever he seemed to warm to her, he closed down again and she’d given up trying to understand why. Then, out of nowhere, he just did it.
She’d heard that kisses could be more than just kisses. She didn’t believe it until it had happened to her. She’d only been kissed once and that was Bobby Tucker doing it for a bet when she was fourteen and the only girl in school with braces.
Nothing in her life had led her to believe that a kiss could send her stomach cartwheeling up to bump into her heart which was thudding hard enough to burst out of her chest. Her whole body trembled the moment their lips pressed together and she had to fight like she was escaping quicksand to end it.
It had to stop. She knew that. But it was like trying to just have one piece of chocolate and wrapping up the rest of the bar. She knew perfectly well that kissing him was a bad idea. One kiss and she wanted much more.
Pulling away from that kiss was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do in her life, but she had no choice. If he was going back to his clan and she was going back to her mom, they couldn’t go any further down that dangerous road.
At the end was love and she wasn’t ever going to go there. It would only end in pain when she had to say goodbye. Far better to let that one kiss linger in her memory. She was going home. She must not fall for him.
The way he switched back to talking about their plan proved he wasn’t that bothered anyway. She made her way down from the ridge telling herself to ignore how she felt, to ignore the fireworks that had gone off when their lips touched, to focus on what mattered. Getting the sacred stone and then getting home.
When she heard fighting above her, she looked up, seeing him on the verge of falling to his death. A moment later he had the upper hand and the man he was fighting was falling from view.
She turned away. That was who he was. He wasn’t a soft and gentle man. He was a Highland brute like the rest of them. She had promised to get the stone and she would, but she would not fall for someone like that. No way.
She found the garderobe entrance just where he’d said it would be. No one was looking down from the battlements. She was able to examine the hole in detail. It was surrounded by filth, the stench enough to make her retch several times while she tried to build up the courage to climb inside.
Glancing around her, she saw a clump of straggly trees beside a fisherman’s hut. At once, she thought of Tavish, of how they’d first met.
Stop it, she told herself. It was not the time for reminiscing. Linen had been draped over the branches of the trees to dry. She glanced around her to see if anyone was looking before grabbing the nearest length. Wrapping it around her, she returned to the castle looking like an Egyptian mummy.
“You can do this,” she whispered, taking a deep breath before ducking down and pushing her way into the hole in the stone. The smell was far stronger inside and she had to fight for breath as she squeezed her way up the narrow chute, the linen soon soaked through with filth.
After a few feet of climbing, the walls became smoother and she found herself sliding back down. Only by digging her elbows into the stone could she arrest her descent.
Pausing to catch her breath she looked up and down. Eight or so feet from the ground. Another twenty at least left to climb.
Pushing her feet against the far wall, she was able to clamber again, steadily making progress, the hole above her growing closer. She had no idea how long it took.
Several times she slid back until for each foot of progress, she was falling back six inches. Finally, her lungs burning and her limbs on fire from the effort, she got her arms to the hole that opened out into the garderobe chamber high up in the castle.
Using the last of her strength, she yanked herself out, falling in an exhausted heap to the floor, panting for breath.
As soon as she could move again, she unpeeled the length of linen from around her body, tossing it back down the garderobe chute with a grimace. A second later she cursed herself. She’d have to climb back down without its protection.
It was too late to worry about that. She needed to move before she was spotted. The garderobe had two right angles to it, keeping it shielded from the main chamber beyond.
She edged along, peering through a thick curtain into a solar. There was no one in view but she had to stop for a moment to take in the beauty of the sight before her.
She’d been in many medieval castles in her time but they were recreations of how they might have looked. This one was real and it was stunning. The walls were whitewashed and covered in intricate tapestries depicting battle scenes.
The floor was covered with sheepskin rugs, the fireplace dark wood and carved with animals, both real and imagined. Whoever had carved it had done an excellent job.
She crossed the floor to it, able to envision the craftsman chipping away until the lamb being chased by the fox looked so real it might flick its tail toward her at any moment.
From the window, she could hear noise. She darted across to glance out. There was plenty of life down there and again she had to pause to admire it. She was seeing something no one from her time would ever get a chance to see.
The sound of hammering came from a forge in the corner, a blacksmith at work on a sword, surrounded by billowing smoke. Further on a group of women in dresses of vivid green were at work on small looms. Dogs ran about, children darted to and fro. Tartan-clad men marched back and forth. The place was a buzz of activity.
There was the chapel, not far from where she was. How to get to it? The answer came at once. All she had to do was look busy. There were so many people there, who would spot one more?
