| |
Pale beams of early spring sunlight shone through their small bedroom window, hitting the dust motes which danced around the room otherwise unacknowledged. Caitlin lay on top of Scott, the length of her naked body stretched out on his, her head on his chest—her favourite place.
“I love hearing your heartbeat. The rise and fall of your rib cage is relaxing too.” Her voice was soft and husky as she spoke into his sternum while chest-hair tickled her face.
“Ye were rather relaxed last night, lass. You let yourself go all right. Lack of neighbours, aye?”
“You, Mr Campbell, weren’t silent on the matter, either!” Caitlin raised her head and looked him in the eyes. “I love you. What is it you say? Always and forever only yours.” She brushed her lips softly against his mouth. “I love your blue eyes. You’re quite handsome for an old man.” She flinched. The gentle slap on her buttocks stung. She ignored it. “Except for the beard! Winter’s over now. When is it going?” She gave his beard a tug with her fingers. Disregarding Scott’s pained expression, Caitlin continued, “And I love your Highland accent, which apparently, I’ve said before in the future. Ow! Leave my bottom alone! You’ve already had your fill of it. We should get up and feed our animals.” She lifted herself off him but struggled to extricate his hands from her bottom.
“Love you too, always and forever. And you said it first, my beautiful wife,” Scott whispered in her ear as he released his hold on her.
After they had breakfasted, dressed and fed the animals, Scott rode off on Adam to check the boundaries, his daily, sometimes twice daily, task. He’d go at various times of the day in case he was watched, and any routine noted. He made sure there was no set routine, and he varied his route. Today he started at the back of their property and worked his way to the east boundary, where the unwelcome group of armed men had gained access. The snow had melted, and the ground was wet and semi-flooded in parts and very muddy as Adam’s hooves sloshed through it.
Scott came to the small wood of Scots pine. It was the nearest point of entry from the closest road. A figure moved behind a tree. This person had got close without him noticing, until now. He kicked Adam to a gallop as he raised his rifle to his shoulder.
“Show yourself! Drop any weapons you have! Now!”
The person threw a bow, a quiver full of arrows and a handgun, then stepped out slowly from behind the tree, with hands in the air. Scott looked down the double-barrel of his rifle at his youngest daughter. He lowered it at once.
“Kelly?” He blinked a few times. “Kelly? Is that you, Kelly?” he shouted as he swung his right leg over and jumped off Adam. The black horse snorted.
“Dad!” Kelly ran toward him.
They met, and he held her close in a warm hug.
“Cannae believe it! How’d ye...? Why d’you...? What on earth are ye doing here, child!” Scott held her by the shoulders and tried not to shake her. “Ye are here, so ye have come through a time machine which may not have worked for yoo!” Bending lower to look her directly in the eye, he continued his tirade. “What if it had nae, lass? Ye’d be dead, child! Ye should nae ha’ done it!” He yelled, shaking his head, trying to stop the alarm welling up inside him.
“But Dad, I came to warn you! You’re in danger. They’re sending someone back to get you.”
“What! Surely no’. Why?” Scott shook his head.
“Because you stole a time journey.”
“They will actually send someone? What? To arrest me? They cannae take me back, so they’ll be trapped here. Wha’s the point o’ that?” His skin above his nose bunched, tightening his brow.
“Eventually they will do return journeys, so, when they can, they’ll come for you.”
“Really? It will take years of developing the technology—findin’ the technology—and the resources. They would’ve forgotten about me by then.” Scott put his arm across Kelly’s shoulder as they walked side by side toward Adam.
“Well, Angela is adamant about it.”
“Angela? Why? What’s she doing?”
“She’s on the Chief Council now. Thinks she has something to prove. Like justice has to be done no matter who it is.”
“Aye, well. She’s right there,” Scott conceded. “But my own daughter is ‘on my case’?” He found that hard to digest.
“Aye, Dad. You’ve embarrassed her. Murray says the power’s gone to her head.”
Scott hugged his youngest daughter again, then grabbed Adam’s reins. Leadership, power, all those things Caitlin spent hours discussing with Angela. Was she no’ listening?
“Well, I cannae say I’m no’ disappointed in my eldest havin’ a vendetta against me, but I suppose she’s just doing her job. You must have had help,” Scott said after a pause. “Ye ha’ stolen a time journey too, daughter o’ mine!”
“Yeah, well, Murray helped me.”
“Oh, no. We will be in big trouble. He’ll get it in the neck for you back there.”
“No, Angus helped us, and they know how to cover up. Hopefully, they have.”
Still hugging Kelly, Scott shook his head, his eyes staring. How will they not miss her not being there in the future? What will happen now she was with them, here and now? For she could not return.
“What’s in there? Is it money?” Scott pointed to the duffle bag she carried.
“Aye. Cash.”
“There were two bags o’ cash waiting for me in the pod afore I left,” he recollected. “Did you put them in there?”
“No, Murray did.”
“You gave me Mum’s ring. So, you and Murray knew what I was about to do? She told yoo, aye?”
Kelly looked up at him. “Yep. She asked us to do those two things for you.”
“Your mother knew I was coming back, and she never said a word to me, all those years.” Scott hugged his daughter and swayed gently, enjoying their embrace. Then he tensed. “How will I explain this to your mother?”
Scott rode Adam to the crofter’s cottage via the back route so as not to pass by the kitchen window as usual. Kelly rode behind him on the stallion. Once in the stable, they dismounted Adam.
“Now you stay here. Brush him down for me, will ye? I’ll break this news to your mother.” Scott turned to go, then turned back, the discomfort in his stomach surely showing on his face. “Don’t know how this meeting will go. Mind, your mother is nearly forty years younger than when you last saw her.”
“Okay.”
“Dinnae ken how long I’ll be afore I return for ye.” His grin was tight.
“It’s okay, Dad. I’m not going anywhere.” Kelly smiled.
***
CAITLIN STOKED THE fire under the Copper to heat water for the weekly wash. She looked up when Scott entered the laundry.
“You’re back early. Any trouble?”
Scott stood close and pressed his lips to hers for a while.
“I have a surprise for yoo,” he whispered in her ear when he released her mouth from his.
“Oh well, I’ll need to do the washing first. Anyways, did I not tire you out enough last night? Honestly Scott Campbell, you are insatiable!”
“No, I dinnae mean that. I have a surprise for ye. Just dinnae ken how to tell ye.” His shoulders drooped.
“Whatever’s the matter, Scott?”
Scott shook his head. “Ye’ll no’ believe me but,” he took a breath, “here goes. Kelly our youngest is here,” he finished quickly, his accent thick with his stress.
Caitlin stared back at him. Long moments passed.
Scott raised his eyebrow. “Did ye hear me, lass?”
“Yes,” she swallowed. “Our youngest daughter, the one you are closest to, is here.”
Scott nodded.
“Are you sure you’re not just missing her too much?”
“No Cait, I’m nae imagining things! Kelly has come back through time, for to be with us.”
“But why?”
“Well, apparently, they’re after me for the time journey I stole,” he finished very quietly.
She did a double blink.
“They are coming back in time to arrest you for stealing a time journey and she’s come to, what, protect you? Misdirect them? What?”
“Probably all o’ that, aye. Kelly says she came back to warn me. But she’ll most likely stick around. She’s a handy lass to have. Good with knives, like her mother.”
Scott sprinted to the stable after directing her to the living area to wait.
Caitlin sat on the green sofa near the fireplace. The room was warm, as it had been all winter long. The smell of smoke, ash, and raw wood pervaded the room and its contents. She looked at her hands in her lap. Kelly was their youngest. Another time traveller in the family. Must be brave like her father. Footsteps coming through the backdoor disturbed her. Scott walked in with a tall slim teenage girl dressed in army camouflage, her hazel eyes and long light-brown hair matched her attire.
Kelly was nothing like herself in her teens. Not a trace of makeup in sight. Caitlin rose to meet them, staring intently at her youngest daughter, blinking often, trying to hold back tears developing from the confusion of emotions within her.
Kelly barely reached the doorway when she spied Caitlin. Running toward her, Kelly burst into tears and enveloped her in a bear-like hug and appeared to be not for letting go. Caitlin returned the hug and raised her eyebrows at Scott. She had no words; the swirling emotions within her became warmth and an inexplicable love for the girl who now held her tight. Kelly cried loudly for a few moments.
“Are ye all right lass? Your mother’s pleased to see you,” Scott’s tone revealed his concern. Kelly’s crying continued. Scott removed Kelly from Caitlin, sat the girl on the sofa, and put his arm around her shoulder. “Whatever’s wrong, Kelly? I thought ye’d be happy when ye saw her.”
Kelly looked up at her father through tear-soaked eyes. “You said to remember Mum’s almost forty years younger than when I saw her last. Well, it’s not just that. When I saw her last, she was dead! I’m so glad to have my mum back, whatever age she is!” Kelly returned to Caitlin and resumed the hug. Over her daughter’s shoulder, Caitlin shook her head imperceptibly at Scott.
Kelly finally settled, and Scott made a pot of tea. Caitlin spent examined her daughter.
“You’re so like your father! Am I in there somewhere?”
“Oh, Mum, I love you. I’ve missed you so much,” Kelly answered through more tears.
“You were there when I died?” She ventured. Kelly nodded. “No teenager should have to do that. I’m so sorry, Kelly.” Caitlin put her arm around Kelly as she sat beside her.
“Mum, I spent a lot of time with you when you were sick. We got close. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”
Caitlin started crying silent tears. They weren’t tears of sadness. They were tears of pride at the young woman she had just met—the impressive young woman who called her ‘Mum’.