Page 23 of Hearts Bound By Time

“Bring the little one here,” came the voice from a stall further down the stable aisle way.

“Where are ye? Who are ye?” Wee Robert was frightened, but he didnae wish his siblings to see him that way, so he stood tall and began walking towards the voice.

Chapter 11

The Stable

Teddy was beginning to lose hope that he’d locate the children. After finding the carrot, he’d seen nothing to indicate that they were heading along the path to the stables, but his intuition told him to keep going. The wind was blowing right in his face, causing him to look down and to the side to avoid the stinging snow. He carefully continued on his way using only the knowledge he’d garnered from years of living in Glendaloch. He’d walked this path many times and though he wasn’t looking where he was going, he somehow knew the way. The tree stump he ran into, however, was not one he remembered ever seeing and much to his surprise, it spoke to him.

“Ow! Watch where yer going.” The voice of a young boy yelled.

Teddy stopped and was shocked to see one of the twins. Gazing up he saw the other twin not far behind. “Where have ye been? I’ve been searching fer ye. Where are the others?” Teddy felt an odd combination of relief and panic on realizing that there were only two children in front of him.

“They went to see the horses. Ranald and I got tired of walking, so we turned around. I don’t think they’ll ever get there.”

So the one he’d tripped over was Rowan. He’d had a devil of a time keeping them straight in his head. “Well, I’m sorry to tell ye this, Rowan, but we’re heading back the way ye just came. Ye ken we must find them. We dinnae wish any harm to come their way.” Teddy was surely using his daily allotment of words. He hardly ever had anything to say and he liked it that way. “Come along then.”

“I’m so verra tired, Teddy. Do we have to go with ye?”

“Aye, ye do.”

“Can ye carry us?” Two sets of pleading eyes gazed up at him. How could he refuse them?

Teddy reached his arms down and scooped up the two heavy bundles before continuing his walk. There was no way to avoid the snow hitting him in the face now. He’d best just get on with it, what good would it do him to complain? The only reason he found himself in this predicament was because he’d literally fallen asleep on the job. Edna would be very angry with him and he could only imagine how their parents would react.

“We’re almost there, boys.” Teddy wasn’t sure if he was reassuring the twins or himself. Perhaps both. He could see the lights of Mrs. MacDougall’s stables dimly shining through the falling snow. He picked up his pace and upon finally reaching the stable doors, he put the twins down and carefully opened them.

Teddy wasn’t surprised to find the stable well-lit and warm. Mrs. MacDougall saw to it that every horse in her stable was well cared for and during the winter months that meant heating the space they called home. He was, however, surprised to see a woman he didn’t recognize holding baby Emma and cooing softly to her.

“Teddy!” Fiona shouted, running to him. “Ye found us.”

“Aye.” He counted the children to make sure they were all present and accounted for. “Ye gave me quite a fright.”

“We’re sorry. Robbie wanted to come see his pony.”

Wee Robert glanced sheepishly up at Teddy, not saying a word.

“And who is this?” Teddy motioned to the woman. Her head was covered with a hood, which cloaked her face in darkness. He couldn’t see enough of her to decide if he knew her.

“My name’s Marissa.” She threw the hood back from her head, revealing bespectacled eyes of the brightest blue and a pert little turned up nose, all encased in a lovely heart shaped face, surrounded by platinum blonde hair, which was streaked much like Edna’s only in pink. Her accent was distinctly American.

Teddy was immediately taken with her. In his eyes she was the most beautiful of women. He stammered and stuttered as he tried to speak, eventually managing, “I’m Teddy.”

“You’re the babysitter.” She stated matter-of-factly.

“Aye. Not a verra good one, I’m afraid.”

“These little rascals told me all about their adventure and for what it’s worth, I don’t see how anyone could blame you. They were pretty stealthy from what I understand. I’m just happy they made it to the stable before this little one turned into a popsicle.” Marissa gazed down at Emma who beamed a smile that was filled with joy as she reached up a hand and grasped onto Marissa’s hair.

Teddy moved closer under the pretense of seeing Emma. He stood as near to Marissa as he dared, wishing he was the one wrapping his hand in her hair. She smelled lovely too. An aroma of citrus and roses gently wafted through the air around her.

“These two must be Rowan and Ranald. I’m happy to see you didn’t get lost on your way back to the inn.”

“We werenae lost,” Rowan stated. “Teddy made us come with him.”

“Well, I’d say it was a good thing. Otherwise how would I have gotten to meet you?”

The twins softened, obviously as enchanted with Marissa as Teddy was. They too approached and stood as near as they could possibly get without dislodging Emma in the process.