“I’m not like them.”
“You have MacCallister blood coursing through you.”
“And I freed you from your chains. Does that sound like something a mortal enemy of yours would do?”
He sighed. “It is not so simple. My father was bound in chains by a MacCallister curse. He was cursed and so was I.”
“I don’t believe in curses.”
He ran a hand through his hair, wincing as he remembered the wound in his side. “You travel back in time hundreds of years. You free me from bondage and step through a door to an island far from the mainland and you do not believe in curses. You are an odd one, Natalie MacCallister.”
“And you are a stubborn fool, Wallace MacGregor so where does that leave us?”
“Sailing home hopefully.”
“Ships ahoy,” a voice called from outside the cabin.
They both emerged to see the captain running about, tightening one rope and loosening another. From around the curve of the island five ships were approaching. “I thought you said nothing could catch you,” Wallace said, peering over the side.
“I could not plan for the wind dropping. They have men to row, we do not.”
“What if we row?” Natalie asked.
“They have twenty men to each ship. We could not outrun them. What we need is…that. Starboard side.”
They looked and rolling in along the sea was a thick fog, swallowing the ocean and the first corner of the island in the distance. “The only question is which will reach us first. If we can get into the fog before the ships get too close, we will lose them yet.”
He turned the sail, urging the ship forward, muttering to himself. Natalie looked behind them. The ships were getting inexorably closer, the oars moving in unison. She ran to the front in time to see the fog swallow them up.
The captain sighed, shifting the sail again. “Keep quiet,” he whispered. “It will be our only chance. If luck is on our side, we’ll see out the end of the day yet.”
Natalie had no idea how long they sat in the fog.She was chilled to the bone within minutes, her clothes soaked, her hair sticking to her scalp. There was something eerie about the silence.
Even the few waves that splashed against the side of the ship were deadened. Occasionally she would hear the sound of oars nearby and her heart would begin to race but then the noise would fade away and they would be alone once more.
She found herself drawn to the very front of the ship. She sat there saying nothing, listening to the whispered conversation taking place between Wallace and the captain. They were somewhere in the fog but she could not see them, only hear their quiet voices as they conversed.
Did they know she could hear them? She doubted it. She knew she should tell them but she had been warned to keep still lest the creaking of the boards bring keen eared armies of men down upon them.
“Have you ever escaped through fog before?” Wallace was asking.
“I have escaped far worse. They don’t call me the captain for nothing. I once escaped a house of ill repute with three coins still left in my purse. Can you match that?”
“I have never entered a house of ill repute.”
“Then you are missing out on a treat. Some of them can bend in ways that would make your head spin. Tell me something, my fine warrior. Have you ever known a woman?”
“I have known a few.”
“I mean, have you known a woman.”
“I will not answer that.”
Natalie stifled a giggle. The tough highland warrior sounded embarrassed for the first time since she’d met him.
“That’s anothen,” the captain said. “Dinnae worry. I can quickly teach you the art of wooing. There is nothing to it.”
“I do not need lessons.”
