“Or—” Rogan jerked a glance at the door “—shall I call for the clan hen wife? Perhaps you hurt yourself worse than we know. You might be in need of—”
“No.” Lindy stood, careful to snatch a pillow and hold it strategically. “I’m fine, really. It’s just that—”
“Here—” Rogan swirled a plaid around her shoulders “—I’ll no’ have you taking a chill .” He strode across the room and yanked the shutters tight, dusting his hands as he turned back to her.
But not before Lindy caught a look at the view. A cold drizzle was falling and she’d seen mist, lots of drifting curtains of mist. But she’d also seen endless roll ing moorland and dark, rugged hills. A vast wilderness that stretched as far as the eye could see. It was also a landscape covered with thick woods.
The Scotland she’d left hadn’t been anywhere near as forested.
Needing to be sure of what she’d seen, she gripped Rogan’s borrowed plaid more tightly about her and went to the window, opening the shutters he’d just closed.
She hadn’t been mistaken. She really was looking out at medievalScotland.
And if the scenery wasn’t proof enough, the deep silence was. Only a world truly empty of everything modern could be so still .
And thetextureof the air! Even with the damp gusting wind and all the mist, everywhere she looked, the world seemed filled with light and colour in ways she’d never have believed possible. Almost like an uncut jewel, sparkling in its purity.
Lindy gulped, her heart splitting. It was as if she’d stepped inside her own story.
She so wanted to stay here.
“Justwhat,lass?” Rogan’s arms went around from behind and he pull ed her back against his chest. “Tell me what’s troubling you.”
Lindy bit her lip. She wasnotgoing to cry. “I . . . it’s just that—”
“Ho, Rogan!” The door flew open and a young man burst into the room. Big, hairy and kilted, he looked like he’d just stepped off the set ofRob RoyorBraveheart.But for all his fierce appearance, the slack-jawed, owl-eyed stare he gave Lindy made him much less intimidating.
“It’s herself!” He raised an arm, pointing. “Your dream vixen! You’ve described her so often, I’d know her anywhere.”
“You’re forgetting your manners.” Rogan scowled at him. “MacGraiths know better than to gawk at women, whoe’er they might be. This loon, if you’re curious—” Rogan glanced at Lindy “—is my cousin, Gavin.”
“My lady.” Gavin bobbed his head, the crookedness of his smile revealing a chipped tooth.
The introduction made, Rogan crossed the room in three swift strides and took the younger man by the elbow, turning him back towards the door. “Away with you now and hold your flapping tongue.”
“I canna. Your da sent me up here with grim tidings.” Gavin broke free and swatted at his mussed sleeve. “One o’ the men just hastened in from Smoo. Lady Euphemia was walking along the cliffs above the cave and before he could call out a warning—” he paused, throwing a look at Lindy “—she slipped into one o’ the sinkholes. He swears he saw her go down and even heard her scream, but when he ran over to the edge o’ the crevice and peered in, she disappeared.”
Lindy gasped.
Rogan slid an arm around her, drawing her near. “The tide washes in and out of the sinkholes. Have men searched the beach? Or, if there’s no sign of her there, have they taken out boats? She could have been washed out to sea and might be in the water around the cliffs.”
“To be sure they’ve done all that, but they won’t be finding her.” Gavin sounded convinced. “She’s gone, sure as I’m standing here.”
“No one can be sure until a thorough search is made.” Rogan started steering his cousin out the door again. “Others have fallen into the sinkholes only to be found later, wandering the moors, as well you know.”
“Did you no’ hear me, man?” Gavin thrust his jaw. “I said she disappeared when the guard peered o’er the edge, into the sinkhole. He saw her right enough and then, like mist before the sun, she vanished!”
“And how ale-headed was the guard, eh?” Rogan shoved his cousin out the door and slammed it behind him, this time sliding the drawbar in place.
“I’m sorry, lass.” He turned to Lindy, reaching for her. “Dinna let Gavin’s blethering—”
“I don’t think he was.” Lindy moved away, thinking again of sweaters and pull ed threads. “That woman’s disappearance will be my fault. I came here and, as is the way with such things, someone had to be sent forward to my time.” She paused, leaning against a table. Guilt swept her. “It’s because of me that an innocent—”
“Euphemia MacNairn lost her innocence the morning she awoke and discovered she had breasts.” Long strides brought Rogan to where she stood. He braced his hands on either side of her, caging her against the table. “I regret speaking poorly of her if she truly has come to harm. But you need to know, as you’ll hear it soon enough, that she was my clan’s choice for my bride. I resisted because—” he leaned close and kissed her, slow and deep “—I knew you’d come to me someday, somehow.
“And—” he straightened, his expression solemn “—because Lady Euphemia was the last female I’d have wed, regardless. There’s no’ a laird or kitchen laddie in these parts, save o’ this clan, that she hasn’t bedded.”
“But—”
