14
Lindsey tried to pluck up the courage to say something. She sat on the ground, her back against the cold stone of the well. Quinn sat opposite her, a warm smile on his face.
“You should go home,” Quinn said. “You’ve done what you needed to do.”
She shook her head, getting to her feet. “I’m not going home.”
“And why not? I could send you back right now. You’d be safe. All of this will soon be a distant memory, a time that belongs to nothing but the history books.”
The books, she thought. That was how she could get a message to her mother. “The stone we found,” she said, getting to her feet.
“What about it?”
“The clan needs it, right?”
“Aye. More than anything, they need it to bring the highlands together.”
“So would they reward the person who returned it?”
His smile broadened. “Go on. You’re almost there.”
“The book I read, the history of the Sinclair Clan. Who wrote it?”
“It is being written as we speak. The laird has been laboring over it for years. And to answer your question, yes.”
“What question? I haven’t asked a question.”
“You’re about to.”
“What if the reward for returning the stone was to be allowed to include a message in the book, a message that would be there when…”
Her mind was already whirling. Was it possible? Could it work? Could she really leave a message for her mom to read in the future? If she could, then that meant…
She jumped to her feet. “Where’s Tavish?”
“On his way tae Castle Sinclair.”
“I need to find him.”
“Come wi’ me. Ah will row us across.”
She sat in the boat while Quinn rowed. The gnawing despair that been growing inside her had vanished, replaced by a single desperate hope. She could stay.
She winced as she thought of the things she’d said to Tavish when they were last together. She would have to apologize, hope he could forgive her for pushing him away.
Then? Well, then she would tell him she didn’t need to go home. She already was home. If he would have her. She thought of the kiss.
Before the boat even reached the shore she was out and splashing through the water.
“Take my horse,” Quinn shouted after her. “It’s a lot quicker than going on foot.”
“Thank you,” she shouted back, reaching the piebald nag a second later. The horse looked like it was ready to collapse but as soon as she was on its back it was running with hurricane winds behind it.
She could barely hold on, gripping the horse’s neck as it galloped along the grass, heading steadily south. She didn’t have to guide it or stop for it to drink. It seemed to take no time at all to reach Castle Sinclair and yet it still took an eternity.
During the journey, she thought about what Quinn had said, and about what Tavish had said.
The more she thought about it, the more she realized it was a test and one she almost failed. Whatever powers had brought her back through the past, there were other powers out there too, ones that had no interest in her happiness.
