“I didn’t climb up there.”
“Flew up then, did you?”
“Look, I just need to get back up okay. Can you give me a hand?”
There was a creak above them and then a screech of stone against stone. The ground shook violently.
Eddard grabbed her hand, pulling her back as she began clambering up the rough stones at the base of the wall, oblivious to the danger. “Get away from there,” he said. “Cannae ye see it’s collapsing?”
“I have to get back through that door before it’s too late.”
Another creak and then a long line zigzagged through the masonry like lightning down a tree trunk. At any moment the whole thing would come down. “Away from it,” he said, yanking her backward.
She tried to fight him, still not heeding the danger, trying once again to climb the wall despite it already collapsing around her, giant stones crashing to the earth, sending up plumes of dust into the air.
His patience running out, he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, dodging more falling stones as he carried her toward the safety of the empty church.
As he crossed the threshold there was an enormous crash behind him and he looked back in time to see the rest of the wall gone. There was only dust and his ringing ears to tell him it ever stood there.
“Put me down!” She kicked and hit but he ignored her, keeping his arm around her hips until he was sure the danger was gone.
“You’re one foolish woman,” he said, loosening his grip at last. He barely let go before she was on the floor, sprinting back toward the collapsed wall.
“Where is it?” she asked, disappearing into the dust cloud before emerging again a second later, coughing and spluttering. “Where’s it gone?”
“Where’s what gone? Are you mad, woman? Come away from there.”
“The door. I need to get through the door.”
“There’s nae door nae more, just kindling and rubble.”
“No, there must be. I have to get home.”
“What are you blethering about?”
She grabbed his tunic, staring wildly into his eyes and he was again taken by how blue they looked. He frowned. She looked like someone he knew. Who was it?
“The key,” she suddenly said, her eyes widening as she grabbed his baldric. “It’s the key that did it. He stole it from me. I have to get it back. I have to get home. I can’t stay here. I don’t even know where here is.”
He gently pulled her hands away, holding them in his own. “Take a deep breath, lass. You’re nae making any sense. Who stole your key? Have we a thief here on the island? Name the blaggard.”
“You don’t understand. I have to get it back.”
“Right, haud on. Let’s start at the beginning. What key is this you’re talking about?”
She sighed, sitting heavily on the nearest rock, putting her head in her hands. When she looked up, he was again struck by the fact he knew that face. Where did he know that face from?
“I was sent a key in the mail. When I used it at MacGregor castle, something happened, I don’t know what. I went through a door and ended up with these guards who locked me up. It was some kind of portal, like in the movies. Oh God, let this be a dream.”
“It’s nae dream. You’re as real as I am. What about this key of yours?”
“This guy appeared and he took the key off me and then he shoved me through onto that ledge where you saw me.”
“But that door up there doesnae go anywhere. It used to lead into the dormitory but that fell many years ago. How could you come through it?”
She looked up at him, blinking as the dust slowly settled around them. “You’re not listening. The door was like some kind of magic door or something. I know it was the key. I need to get it back so I can unlock the door back at the castle. That will send me home.”
“And where is home?”
