She carried herself with the maturity of women twice her age, yet sometimes she would do or say something that revealed how young she truly was.
“I’m sorry if I’ve offended ye, lass. ’Tis only that ye look quite troubled.”
She pointed to the seat behind me. Understanding her silent command, I turned the chair around once again and sat. The moment I was seated, she spoke.
“I need ye to tell me everything about yer relationship with Grier. Why was she helping ye? How did ye meet her? Alasdair canna help ye with this. Useless as I am, I am yer only hope.”
Her reminder of my thoughtlessness pained me, but I knew it best to say nothing else of it and answer the questions she’d asked of me. While the possibility of her being able to see me home seemed small, I knew it was the only option I now had.
“Ye may verra well not believe my story, but I beg ye to listen silently until the end.”
Agreeing with one small nod of her head, I continued.
“Lass, I canna explain what happened to me. I’ve yet to find anyone that can, but there is truth in every word I’m about to tell ye. I was not born in this century, not even in the next. My life, my friends, my family—they all lay in the twentieth century, some three hundred years in the future.”
Pausing, I searched Morna’s eyes but found her gaze unreadable. I continued.
“On the eve of my twenty-eighth birthday, I went to sleep inside my old farm house, content in knowing that come morning, I would have another long day of work ahead of me. I woke in the middle of the woods, far from my home, and entirely out of my time.
“I wandered for days until I reached a village outside of Creedrich Castle. It was only then that I truly began to realize the oddity of my circumstance. I believed I’d gone mad. No modern means of transportation lined the streets. No buildings resembled the town I knew from back home. I hid silently amongst the people for the better part of a week, eating scraps where I could find them, listening in on every conversation I could. Eventually, when I came to terms with the only reality I could imagine, I made a plan to ensure my survival.
“Even out of my own time, I knew that I could navigate Scotland. So I went to the laird to offer my services as a messenger. I hoped that by traveling I could find someone who could help me home. I dinna have to look far. ’Twas at the castle, I met Grier.”
For the first time since beginning my long tale, Morna spoke. “Did Grier work for the laird?”
I shook my head.
“No. The laird of Creedrich Castle, like yer father, fears magic. His wife doesna share his fear. Grier would often provide healing remedies to the lady of the castle in secret. The night I went to offer my services to the laird, Grier was sneaking away from the lady’s bedchamber.
“I said nothing to her that night and was hired on as a messenger like I hoped. ’Twas only after working at the castle for some weeks that I began to hear rumors of Grier’s work within the castle. Eventually, I thought it worth the risk to seek her out and tell her my story. She believed me immediately and offered to help me return home.
“In short time, Grier and I secretly moved in together as ’twas easier for us to work on possible spells and read through old spell books together. Grier worked night and day trying to find a way to send me home, but in the year I was with her, we found nothing.”
“Where were ye when Grier died?”
Memory of that terrible night still caused the breath to tighten in my chest. I couldn’t bear to think of my friend dying in such a horrible way, and the guilt I felt for not being there weighed on me every single day.
“I was away delivering messages for the laird. I know little of what happened. Only that I returned to find our home destroyed. When I made my way to the village, I was told that the laird found out about his wife’s friendship with Grier and attempted to banish her for witchcraft. When she refused to leave, he set our home aflame. Rather than abandon her home, she allowed herself to burn inside.”
It was this that made my grief easier to bear. While I missed her, I couldn’t bring myself to forgive her for leaving me. Her pride sentenced me to a life out of time.
“I’m sorry.”
Morna’s small voice pulled me from my thoughts.
“Aye. ’Twas the darkest night of my life. In my rage, I left Creedrich territory and traveled aimlessly for months seeking work and keeping an open ear for another with magic who might help me. A fortnight ago, I crossed paths with yer brother’s messenger. When I learned he sought Grier, I knew I needed to come to Conall territory. I hoped that if ye all knew Grier, ye might know of a way to help me. It seems I was right. Will ye help me, Morna?”
Slowly, Morna walked across the room, never glancing in my direction as she spoke.
“I must think, Jerry. I’ll see ye this evening.”
Without another word, the only other person I’d ever told my tale to walked away. Her quick retreat was enough proof of her disbelief.
She thought me mad.
Dinner with her father was now more important than ever. I needed Morna’s help even if it took me years to convince her that my story was true. Work at the castle would keep me close to her.
I would stop at nothing to win the trust of Morna’s bastardly father.
