Abby stood and accepted the gown, lifting it to drop over her head, but Ellie stopped her, running her forefinger over the dark bruises on Abby’s upper arm.
“Lady Rosalyn has some herbs that might help that. And the scrape on your neck.”
“Thanks.” Abby darted her eyes away from the other woman’s, hiding her ridiculous embarrassment by sliding into the gown. She thrust her arms into the long sleeves and allowed the yards of material to float down around her. There was no reason for her to feel like this. It wasn’t her fault she’d been attacked.
Too much. There was just too much happening to allow her to think straight. All this sensory overload had cluttered her mind and kept her from thinkingrationally. She just needed to look at the situation from a scientific, logical perspective.
Not that it felt like there was anything either scientific or logical going on here as her reality tumbled away from her.
“It’s okay,” she murmured to herself. “Even Einstein said that reality is merely illusion.”
“I’m sorry?” A little frown furrowed Ellie’s brow as she lifted her head from digging through the piles on the bed.
“Nothing.”
So, if logic had failed her, maybe she should forget reality and work with what she had. If she accepted what both Colin and Ellie said, if all it really took was a wish . . .
“Just for the sake of argument, Ellie, let’s say everything you’re telling me is the truth. If I wished myself here, then I should be able to wish myself home again, to my own time, right? Whenever I want to.” She fumbled with the lacing at her neck, finally managing a small bow before looking up at her companion.
Ellie’s face clearly reflected an internal battle over the words she chose. “It certainly seems like itshouldwork that way, doesn’t it?” With a shrug, she picked up another item from the bundle and headed around the bed to where Abby waited. “By all means, you can try wishing yourself back any time you want, but I wouldn’t hold my breath expecting it to work.”
“Wait.” Abby caught Ellie’s hand with her own as the other woman held out another garment to her. “What do you mean it won’t work?”
Again Ellie shrugged. “I’m not saying it absolutely won’t. I’m only saying it didn’t for me. The real versionof Faerie Magic isn’t at all like the fairy tales you and I grew up on. You can’t just rub a lamp and get three wishes. See, the thing is, the Faerie Magic works for its own purpose. It’s almost like the Fae are only loaning you their Magic to get you to do something they want done. If they granted your wish, they had a reason. They want something to happen. Whether it’s some lesson you have to learn or some task that needs to be performed, until that particular thing is done, no matter what you want, you’re stuck here. At least, that’s how it worked for me.”
If all this was real, how completely awful for this poor woman to be stranded here, so far away from her own time.
“Couldn’t you ever figure out your task? Is that why you’re still here?”
“Oh, no,” Ellie chuckled. “I’m here because this is where Caden is. And I was meant to be with Caden.”
“In fourteenth-century Scotland,” Abby countered, fully aware of the sarcasm in her voice. “With no cars and no cell phones, and not even any freaking toilet paper.”
Ellie’s responding giggle was infectious. “Oh, honey, believe me, there are things that are so much more important than any of that stuff. I wouldn’t trade my life with Caden MacAlister for all the toilet paper in the entire twenty-first century. You wait and see. You’ll get used to it here.”
“Used to it? Oh, I don’t think so. I can’t even begin to imagine wanting to live in the fourteenth century. If I really am out of my own time, you can bet I’m going to do whatever it takes to get myself back to where I belong.”
Ellie shrugged. “But until you manage that, since you’re an archaeologist and all, maybe you can think of this as a hands-on learning experience. You know, like an up close and personal chance to study the things you normally only see after they’ve rotted in the ground for centuries.” She leaned back over the bed, digging through the piles of clothing while she spoke as if she were discussing nothing more important than the weather. “Well, darn. I guess I didn’t grab those little slippers after all. You wait right here, and I’ll be right back.”
With that, she hurried out the door, pulling it softly shut behind her.
Abby brushed her hands down the long overdress she’d slipped over her head, absently smoothing the soft fabric as her mind worked frantically to process all she’d been told.
Just because wishing didn’t work for Ellie didn’t mean it wouldn’t work for her. Assuming it had ever worked at all.
One way to find out.
“I wish to be back to my own time.” She stood very still, eyes closed, waiting.
Nothing.
Maybe the Faeries were simply concerned with her well-being and didn’t want to send her back into danger.
“Okay, then. I can respect that. I wish I were safely back in my own home, in Denver, in my own time.” Again she waited, watching for any tiny sign that might indicate it was working.
Where was the green lightning Ellie had spoken of? Or the green bubble of light she’d seen in the cave?Or even—oh, my God!—the green glow she’d seen the night in the bar when she’d wished to find the one man for her?
Maybe it was true. Maybe it was all true. But if it was, why wasn’t it working now?
