Rachel nestled into the space in front of him, feeling as safe as always with his arms wrapped around her. She was going to miss him. He might be a brute and a killer but she was still going to miss him.
She did not remember her dreams the next morning, if she had them at all. She woke up feeling refreshed. Cam was right about the atmosphere. It felt better. The air was crisper, the light brighter. The darkness that had spread was dissipating with the morning mist, hopefully never to return.
That day they saw many signs of life. New flowers were blooming through the soil where there had been only scorched earth before. Crops were beginning to sprout.
The sun beating down upon the two of them, forcing them to rest often. They drank from streams as did their horse, the water ice cold and a blessed relief from the heat of the sun.
In the afternoon Cam bathed in a loch, swimming out into the water while Rachel washed at the edge of the shore. When he emerged a short time later, his hose clung to him in such a way that she had to look away, blushing as she did so.
She needed to focus. Thinking about that outline of his body through his hose wouldn’t help. She couldn’t stay. She knew that. She didn’t belong in this time. She belonged at home in her own time.
If she stayed she would only cause problems for him. Already she had caused conflict between the MacKenzies and the MacGregors.
He came and sat beside her on the shore, water dripping from his hair. “You ready to move on?” he asked. “We will be there in a couple of hours.”
“I’m ready,” she said, feeling far from it. The day was slipping by too fast. When they got there, she would find a way home and have no excuse not to use it. Then she would be alone again.
Sure, she would have her memories of Cam and of the Highlands but that would be a pale imitation of true happiness. And she had found happiness with him, for those brief moments when he kissed her, when he held her close at night, she was happier than she’d ever been before.
She thought of the battles they’d come through, the blood spilled, the people killed. Could she stay knowing that more deaths might occur, deaths for which she might be responsible? Was she bad luck? Was that what it was?
She remained lost in thought until they reached the castle. By the time it came into view she’d made up her mind. She didn’t want to go. She would wait for the right moment to talk to him about it but the right moment wasn’t when the trumpets were ringing and the portcullis was being raised, the occupants of the castle coming out to greet the safe return of their Laird.
“Philip,” Cam said, spotting him through the crowd. Rachel looked but saw nothing. She looked again and there he was, almost hidden against the stone walls. He walked through the crowd, taking Cam’s outstretched hand. “It is good to see you alive.”
“I could say the same about you. How goes it?”
“I bring my betrothed back alive.” He kissed Rachel before turning back to the crowd. “And the barefoot man is now a stone man.”
“A stone man?”
“Part of the stone circle at Cullen Point.”
“But how?”
“A spell-”
Another voice interrupted. “I told you. She is a witch. She must be sacrificed.”
Rachel looked to see the owner of the voice. It was Tor, he was pointing at her, his face red as he yelled once more. “She brought us this evil. We must burn her.”
“She saved us all,” Cam said, having to raise his voice to make it heard over the crowd. “It is because of her that the barefoot man is gone forever.”
“Lies!”
The crowd grew closer, hands reaching out for Rachel. Cam pushed as many away as he could but he could not hold back the tide for long. “Take her somewhere safe,” he yelled to Philip, drawing his sword and using the butt of it to keep people at bay.
Rachel felt hands clawing at her. She pushed back as people spat the word, “Witch,” into her face.
“Come on,” Philip said, grabbing her arm and yanking her through the crowd. “Say nothing.”
As soon as they were in the mass he threw a cloak over her, moving her slowly away from the crowd until they were at the base of the wall. “What are you doing?” Rachel hissed from under the hood.
“Getting you somewhere safe, like he said.”
Philip moved silently, leading her toward the corner and then onto a thin rabbit trail that moved up the hillside into the woods beyond. She looked back, seeing the crowd still surrounding Cam.
“We must help him,” she said, trying to turn Philip around.
