Sunshine embraced her own poor self right after she’d given the same sort of farewelling to Oliver.
“I wish we had more time,” Sunshine said with a smile. “I think we would be good friends.”
Mairead could only nod. Her head was too full of things she’d heard and seen and her heart a bit pained by the thought of having people around her who might want to pass time with her for her to manage any speech.
She watched Cameron take Sunshine’s hand and they both turned and walked down a path to points unknown.
Mairead looked at Oliver. “Well.”
He lifted his eyebrows briefly. “Indeed.”
“This doesn’t feel like the Future. I feel the same.”
“Time is a strange thing.”
“And you?” she asked. “What do you think of this?”
“I thought it was daft,” he admitted. “At first.”
“And now?”
“Hard to argue with it now.” He paused. “What do you think?”
“I’m trying not to.”
He smiled and turned to pull the door of the croft closed. She then found herself walking with him through woods that were silent save for the whisper of wind in the trees.
“How many souls do you think have been lost to this place?” she asked.
“James, your ancestor,” he said, frowning thoughtfully, “and his brother Patrick. And Sunny’s husband, Robert Cameron. How many others?” He shrugged. “No idea.”
“My uncle claims that faeries steal the occasional MacLeod that they fancy.”
He only looked at her with raised eyebrows. “This might be a better explanation for the losses than wee creatures filching them.”
She had to agree, but she did so silently. She studied the forest as they walked and had to admit that it somehow didn’t look as if it belonged to her time, though she now suspected that it did indeed belong to his time.
Though she could scarce believe it at all.
It took far less time to reach the meadow than she suspected it might. She looked up and down that stretch of field, but saw no enemies. She didn’t hear her sheep or her hounds or men training, either.
“I would prefer to see you back to your hall,” Oliver said quietly.
She wanted to say she’d forgotten he was there, but she suspected she would never stand next to him and not be aware of him. “I’ll be fine.”
He reached for her hand and bent over it, then straightened and looked at her. “You are the bravest woman I know.”
“Braver than Sunshine?” she asked.
“Well,” he said, stroking his chin with his free hand, “she is fairly brave as well, enduring Robert Cameron as her husband.”
Mairead smiled a bit in spite of herself. “I wouldn’t let him hear you say as much.”
“His swordplay is terrifying,” Oliver admitted, “so you might be right there.” His smile faded. “Safe home, Mairead.”
“Thank you, Oliver.”
He didn’t release her hand and she couldn’t bring herself to pull it away from his. She looked up at him.
