Prescribed for Love (8 page)

“Yeah sure, you
just
surrounded me with s
harp objects
because you like me,” retorted Catriona.

“We
thought ye might be a Cameron
. If we had known it was ye in the tree, we would never have surrounded ye so,” replied
Alasdair
,
“Although, we are here to retrieve ye.”

“Oh, so
you aren’t here to kill me now. Y
ou’re just here to drag me back to your castle so you can burn me
later—
probably while having a picnic. I hear burnings are marvelous entertainment!” said Catriona, sounding more angry and panicked.

“
Maybe
I can better explain,”
offered
Cailen. “
Laird MacLean
speaks
true
, we
dinnae mean ye any harm
.
W
e
are here to
apologize
for doubting ye
.”

Seeing
she was still skeptical Branan added,
“
We truly are ashamed.
Ailsa took yer advice and is healed. It is at her request we are seeking ye. She wants ye to come back to the keep so she can thank ye properly.”

***

Something in the young guard’s eyes made Catriona
relax; h
is
words were
just so sincere. She still did not fully trust the
m
en
, but this provided her with the opportunity she needed.
She
would
go back with them so she could get the book and go home.
H
owever, she would
stay vigilant
to ensure
they would not get the chance
t
o follow throu
gh on their earlier threats to prematurely end her life
.
“Fine, I’ll go with you,” she
relented, “But first
,
I must
thank Els
peth for letting me stay here
.”

Walking toward the hut, Cat
frequently
peered over her shoulder
to see what the men were doing behind her. Each time she turned, they plastered smiles on their faces. It was actually pret
ty funny. It was like one of those
bad cartoons where a wolf would act nonchalant behind its prey. She just hoped they were actually sincere, and not trying to hide something nefarious.

“Elspeth,” called Cat as she walked in the hut.

“Aye?”

“It looks like I will be leaving sooner than I thought. Lord High-and-Mighty is outside with two of his goons.”

“Are ye sure ye want to go?” asked the old woman.

“I need to go if I’m ever going to get home,” replied Cat.
“Thank you for letting me stay here as long as you have.”

“
It
was nothing. Now, ye be careful,” cautioned the witch. “And if ye have any need to return here, ye are always welcome.” Cat hugged the
woman
before once again joining
the MacLeans outside.

As
Catriona
left the hut to
begin the
journey to Duart Castle
for the second time
, she noticed there
were only three horses.
Seriously?
They came here to get me, but didn’t think to bring and extra horse?
Men sure haven’t changed much over the centuries.
Out of the corner of her eye s
he saw
Alasdair
of
fer her a hand to ride with him.
However,
if
their motives turned out to be
as nefarious
as she feared, she thought she would have the best chance of slipping away from the young guard.
She turned to him
,
“Branan, do you mind if I ride with you?”

“
It would be an honor
My Lady
.”
Wow, this guy is laying it on thick!

“You can just call me Cat.”

“
As ye wish
Lady Cat,” replied
Branan, “
Do ye call yerself ‘Cat’ because ye clim
b trees like one?”

“No, my brother started calling me
‘Cat’
when we were young, and the name just stuck.
I
think he was just too lazy to say the whole thing
.
”

“Oh, so ye have a brother. A
re those his clothes ye are wearing?” asked Branan teasingly.

“I borrowed these from Elspeth
. I wish they were my brother’s though, I miss him dearly.”

“What happened to him?” asked Branan.

“The more appropriate question would be
‘
what happened to me?
’
” Cat
thought
it
best not to reveal
her status as
a
time
traveler
.
If these three
heard the story
they might just decide to burn her as
a witch after all. “I
honestl
y don’t know how I got here. One minute I
was at home and
the next
I was waking up in a strange location after a blow to the head
.
Alasdair
found
me at Elspeth’s cottage right after I woke
.”
There, that’s close enough to the truth.

“The Cameron
s must have stolen ye
,” added Cailen as he joined the conversation. “They are a mean lot.”

“Again with the Camerons, are you
enemies
?” she asked.
Seeing their nods of affirmation she decided
this was as good of an explanation as
any
other
.
She continued,
“
Maybe,
but I
worry for my brother. He
will have no idea what happened to me.”

“I a
m sure yer brother will come looking fo
r ye,” soothed Cailen, “Any
brother would.
Alasdair
certainly would if ye were
his
sister.”

“I can certainly believe that. Especially since
he was willing to kill me to
protect her,” spat Catriona.

“I wouldna
e
have killed ye,” replied
Alasdair
as he finally worked his way into the conversation
.

“Then why did you
lock
me away?”
question
ed Cat.

“I was hoping yer fear might inspire some creativity,”
said
Alasdair
matter-of-factly.

“
Well Mac, it worked.
I
‘
creatively
’
fled for my life,”
spat
Cat.
She turned her attention back to the road ahead
,
effectively
ending the
conversation.
But, she soon regretted her harsh retort. She needed to get that book back, and it would probably be easier to accomplish her aim if
she were on good terms with the MacLeans
.
“Look, Alasdair, I’m sorry, it’s just that…” but no one was paying attention to her.

“
Do
ye think
they are
actually Camerons this time?”
asked
Branan.
Startled, Cat turned to see a group of riders quickly approaching from behind.

“
Possibly
,”
replied Alasdair.
“Find
a place
for Catriona to hide safely out of sight.
”

Branan brought Cat
to an area of
heavy
underbrush
and
instructed
her to
stay
well
concealed
before
rejoining
Alasdair
.
The suspense was nearly palpable as she watched the riders in the distance barrel toward their location.
When the two groups of men finally met, the scene before her almost felt surreal. Both Branan and Cailen were engaged in one-on-one altercations, while Alasdair fought the other two assailants.

Catriona was impressed with
how well he could fight two men;
but
,
she
thought it must only be a matter of time before he was overwhelmed
. As if her thoughts had been a cue to the fates, she watched in horror as Alasdair fell. Thankfully, he had merely been unseated while felling one of his opponents.
Alasdair redirected the other man’s attack before bringing him to the ground as well.

But, just as Cat began to believe Alasdair would succeed in this endeavor,
a movement to the right caught her
eye
.
There was a fifth man, and he was sneaking behind
Alasdair
with a knife
.
Cat briefly contemplated letting
Alasdair
handle
the situation on his own, but
he
was in possession of the
enchanted book
.
If he died, her
means of getting back home
would become much more difficult
to obtain
.
She waited until the
miscreant
passed
just in front of her
and then leap
t.

Cat latched herself onto the man’s back, but was
almost
immediately thrown off again.
As she fell, the man spiraled into a defensive position to face the
unexpected
threat
.
However, his stance relaxed and h
is face contorted into a sneer of laughter as he recognized Catriona for a woman.
Oh shit, now I’m in trouble.
She scrambled to her feet and ran further into the woods.
She grabbed a large stick as she was running so she would at least have someth
ing with which to defend
.
Hearing her attacker clos
e the distance,
Cat
dug in her heels and
turned. She would rather stand and fight than be stabbed in the back.

Cat
managed to get in a couple of good swings before he ripped
the branch out of her hands.
So much for my resolve to fight!
Cat
tried
once again
to
flee, but instead
tripped and
tumbled to
her back.
The man
jumped on top of her and raised his blade to deliver
a devastating
blow. In desperation, Cat took
both of her thumbs and dug them into his
eyes;
dirty tricks were her only hope at this point.
The man
released a terrible scream from the unanticipated agony.

***

Alasdair
quickly dispatched
the last of the four men
. Cailen and Branan had
easily
defeated
the
other two
.
The
attack had not even been a challenge
.
These Camerons had obviously not been well-trained soldiers
. Intending to
let
Catriona
know it was now
safe
, he
approached
her hiding place.
Alasdair
barely t
ook
a step before he heard a
terrifying
scream
.
Fearing for Catriona
,
he
rushed
toward the origin of
the sound.
He
found her
wrestling to keep
a
blade from
piercing
her throat.
In
one swift motion
,
Alasdair
lifted
the assailant
from atop Catriona
while running
him through with
his blade
.
Satisfied
this last Cameron
was no longer a threat,
Alasdair
went
to
Catriona’s
side
, “
Are ye alright lass?”