“I’ll take that as a yes. Now listen carefully, because this is where it gets complicated. There are many futures and many pasts, some of them real, some of them little more than smoke. I have been blessed with the sight into some of those paths and so, sadly, has the barefoot man. He knows that the time of reckoning grows near. Even now his tentacles spread throughout the highlands as they did a generation ago and as they will again unless you do something about it.”
“Me?” Natalie asked, looking confused. “What do I have to do with anything?”
“When the MacGregors lost the war, their loss was not a fair one. The barefoot man…how can I put this? He…tweaks things. His help gave the remaining MacCallisters the power over this land but it was not a power they were ever supposed to wield. Even now, their grip on things grows slight. Soon, they will be as lost as us all unless the barefoot man can be dealt with.”
“Who is this barefoot man?”
“That is a question that has vexed many for a very long time. I can tell you only a little, and much of what is said of him is contradictory. He is old, very old, though he looks little older than Wallace here. He is not working alone, that much I can be sure of. He yearns for power but he has been thwarted thanks to a dash of luck and a lot of effort on the part of the MacGregors. Each defeat has made him more dangerous. He once wished to travel to the future but he does not know he is bound to this time as a dog is bound to its master. Whenever he tries to travel forward, he is pulled back. Soon he will seek a different goal.”
“I don’t understand.”
“That doesnae matter. What matters is this. Laird MacGregor was locked up under a curse that was supposed to last forever. That key was able to break an unbreakable curse. That makes it a powerful tool in this struggle. You wield the key, that makes you a powerful tool as well. It is in your hands that the fate of our land now rests. It is up to you what happens to all of us.”
“Me? But I’m no one.”
“You are not no one. You are the one.”
“I’m not who you think I am, I’m just-”
Deirdre held up a hand to silence her. Then she turned and glanced out of the window. “Time runs short. Take this.” She got up and reached behind her bed, pulling out a dagger, the blade black as night. “If you are the one, you will know when to use this. Now go.”
Wallace got to his feet, seeing the look in Deirdre’s eyes. “What’s out there?”
“The captain is waiting for you by his ship. All you have to do is get to it.” She grabbed Wallace’s hands. “Whatever you do, do not let any harm come to her. If we meet again, I shall have something very important to tell you. I wish I could tell you now but it would be too dangerous. Take care.”
He glanced past her through the window. Several boats were growing near the shore. “An army,” he said. “What are they doing here?”
“Looking for you,” she replied. “You must go. Take the goat track to the north.” She hurried them both out the door, calling after them, “Good luck.”
Wallace began running. He glanced over his shoulder. Already Natalie was falling back,struggling up the steep path that led along the rising cliff edge.
Swearing under his breath and seeing the boats less than a minute from the shore he turned back. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“This,” he replied, hoisting her over his shoulder. He began to run, the weight of her doing nothing to slow him down. As he ran he kept glancing at the dagger she held in her hand. Why had she been given that?
More thoughts crossed his mind. Deirdre had not mentioned his deal with the barefoot man but he had the strangest feeling she knew about it, nonetheless. Was that the secret she referred to? And why had he the feeling he knew her from somewhere?
While he’d been sitting inside her shack he was sure she was reading his innermost thoughts. He shook off the feeling. That was not possible.
He knew he would have to make a choice at some point. Let that point be far off. For now what mattered was getting away from the people chasing them.
If they were working for the barefoot man, they would snatch the key from him and his chance at being reunited with his father would vanish. Onlyby keeping her and the key safe did he still have a chance at getting his deal honored. For now, it was the two of them against the world.
The goat track vanished a little further on. For a moment he was unsure which way to go but then he saw a narrow track leading into the undergrowth, dipping below the boughs of a giant hazel tree.
Once out the other side, he was gratified to see a ship down by the shore. He put on a fresh burst of speed, ignoring the crashing sounds of men following behind, their shouts fading as he put some distance between himself and his pursuers.
A minute later he was down on the shoreline with Natalie back on her feet. A man in a battered old leather hat was climbing out of a rowing boat, dragging it up onto the sand. “Captain,” Wallace shouted. “We set sail.”
“I am not your captain,” the man replied. “Nor am I going anywhere. I am going hunting for gull eggs.”
“We must get to the mainland at once. Deirdre sent us.”
“That old witch. She just wants me gone because of what I called her last time I was here. You tell her from me, there is nothing that will getme sailing off here until I am good and ready. I’m staying put.”
At that point, the pursuing army reached the clifftop above. With a cry they began to sprint down toward the sand.
“On second thought,” the man said, pushing his rowboat back into the water. “It might be time to get going after all. Well, are you coming or not?”
