Leaning heavily on her resolve, she took his arm. “Assist, will be fine.”
Together, they walked toward the opening in the old wall, where if all went well, she’d leave this man and her dreams behind.
* * *
Sean resteda hand on Kenna’s lower back.In case she tripped, he told himself, knowing ’twas no’ wholly true. “Are ye doin’ okay?”
“I’m a bit clumsy, but otherwise fine. Have ye discovered what I stumbled over?” Kenna asked, peering at the small mound of dirt ahead.
“ ’Tis a piece of iron, right enough, but I’ve only uncovered part o’ it, so far. Though ’tis narrow, it seems tae be imbedded in the ground a good piece, yet.”
“So ye still dinnae ken if ’tis part of the gate?”
“No’ yet,” Sean frowned, hating to disappoint her. “It could be anything. A piece of old equipment, or even the rusted remnants of a wee fence that once marked a family plot.”
“Of course.”
The flat tone of Kenna’s voice worried him. He wasnae sure how much more discouragement the lass could take. “We’ll know soon enough.” Sean steered her around the mound of dirt to the shallow hole. “I’m hoping ’twill be recognizable, once we get it out.”
Kenna’s brows drew together as she peered down at the object, turning her head this way and that. “I dinnae ken what it might be, either.”
Sean picked up the shovel. “Will ye rest a bit while I finish diggin’ it out?”
“Mayhap in a while. I want tae spend some time outside the wall. Perhaps something will come tae me about that night, that I’ve forgotten or overlooked.”
“Keep in mind ye’re no’ healed up yet. Besides,” he grinned, “if any more accidents befall ye, ’tismyhide, Owen will tan.”
“Better ye than me,” she teased, turning away. “Even a disappointed look from him breaks my heart.”
Even though Kenna had only gone a few feet away to stand outside the wall, Sean kept stealing glances at her as he dug, terrified he might look up and she’d be gone. Just the thought made his heart race and his throat go dry. Neither of them knew the perfect place, time, or situation that would take her back. What if Kenna stumbled onto it before they were ready? Beforehewas ready?
Despite the sun beating down on his back and the sweat dripping from his brow, Sean felt a chill. They’d talked about her leaving and he kenned why she must go. But he hadnae come tae terms wi’ it actually happening.
He paused to watch her as she studied the ground just beyond where the gate would have hung. A stray breeze played with her hair and teased the hem of her ancient dress. For a split second, he saw what she might have looked like in her own time. She might be coming in from a field or a barn, or simply standing in a garden. So beautiful, and yet so burdened.
Sean glanced at the sky, their surroundings, even the air around Kenna. How would the transition happen? Would there be a warning, or would she just disappear? How does one merely step from one time to another? Why did Kenna make it through the gate but no’ Elanor? Or her mither?
Was there a good witch, like Soni, in Kenna’s world that had a purpose for sending her here?
Kenna said he couldnae go back wi’ her, but how could she ken that for sure? If hecouldtravel to the sixteenth century, could he be born again in the eighteenth? If no’, would that mean his mither and father would be childless? He wouldnae die on Culloden Moor? Wouldnae meet Soni and live again, tae come here and meet Kenna in the first place?
Och! ’Twas a circle with no end!
Sean sat on the edge of the hole he’d dug, his thoughts spiraling with unanswered questions. ’Twas so much he dinnae understand, but he realized as much as he wanted to go wi’ Kenna to help and protect her—even if ’twas possible—he couldnae chance the repercussions of wiping away a lifetime of his own interactions. ’Twould be impossible to ken what good or bad might come of it.
Quietly growling his frustration, he shoved his fingers through his hair. He still hadnae paid for—nor come to terms with—the last harmful deed he was responsible for. He couldnae add more.
Using the shovel to release his vexation, Sean attacked the soil around the imbedded iron with a vengeance. ’Twas no’ long before he’d loosened the thing enough to finally pull it free.
’Twas a curved piece of iron about three feet long, so rusted and corroded he couldnae tell what the original finish might have looked like.
“Kenna.” Holding it up, he waved her over. “Come see what ye think.”
She crossed the short distance between them as rapidly as she could. “Do ye ken ’tis part of the gate? Were there any more pieces?”
Brushing away as much of the dirt as possible, he handed it to her. “Have a care. ’Tis heavy.”
Kenna studied the piece with such yearning, it near broke Sean’s heart. “Nae. I’ve found no other pieces, yet, but I’ve more diggin’ tae do. What do ye ken of the curve? Could it fit into the top part o’ the gate?”
