When Fate Dictates (35 page)

“Have we got everything?” Simon asked as he
set the candle on the table.

I cast my eyes across the faces of the people
in the room. Fear hung heavily in the air. I smiled at Eilidh.
“Don’t worry sweet; it will be over very soon. Take my hand and
Duncan’s.”

Simon struck the match and held it to the
candle. I held the crystal in my free hand. As the flame reached
the wick I moved my palm into its light and Simon rested his hand
gently on my arm. The thin silver thread joined the flame to the
crystal and the room began to swim. I tightened my hand hold on
Eilidh and felt her tremble as the air around us spun in ever
faster circles.

“Where are we?” Eilidh asked the spinning
stopped.

I shook my head in confusion. “I don’t know.
It looks like a cottage, but it’s not one I have ever seen
before.”

I heard a noise and turned toward it. A
beautiful young woman with long golden hair stood in the frame. I
recognized her features but not who she was.

“I am sorry. I think we may be a bit lost,” I
apologized to the girl.

She smiled softly, but a deep fear hid behind
her eyes. “You are Corran?” she said.

“Aye, I am,” I replied, with shock. “But how
do you know who I am?”

“I am Giorsal, Marta said you would
come.”

******

“Giorsal...?” I stammered.

“Aye, Corran, I am the child you called the
stag for on the mountain after the massacre.”

I moved toward her, desperate to hug the
child of my friend.

“You have grown into a fine woman,
Giorsal.”

“Thank you,” she replied, softly.

“Tell me Giorsal, where is your mother?”

The girl met my eyes and I knew what she was
about to say. “He has taken her, Corran, the Campbell Red Coat who
butchered our people.”

“Angus?” Simon said his voice a low rumble of
rage.

“He said you would come and to tell you that
he would let her live if you meet him.”

“Meet him where?” Simon asked.

“In a place called York,” she replied.

“Right, Corran, light the candle, I’m going
back. You three stay here,” Simon ordered.

“No,” Giorsal whispered, “He wants all three
of you or he will kill my mother. Please, Corran, save her?”

“I will, Giorsal, I will,” I promised,
praying as I did that it was going to be possible.

“When did he take her?” Simon asked.

“A couple of days ago.”

“Where is Marta?” I asked.

“I will take you to her, come Corran,” the
girl said, moving toward me and taking my hand.

“Did the stag come for Marta on the
mountains?” I asked Giorsal as we made our way across a field and
toward a small thatched cottage.

“Aye, it did. You saved us both that
day.”

“Where is Dùghall?”

“He died a year after the massacre.”

“I am sorry, Giorsal.”

She nodded sadly as we reached the door of
the cottage. Giorsal went to knock on the door but I stopped her.
“Wait, how did Marta know I would come?”

“She has always known that you would come
back one day,” Giorsal said, raising her hand once more to knock on
the old wooden door.

The old lady smiled warmly, her face
unchanged with time. “You will help us again, Corran?” she asked,
hugging me with a love I had not known since my grandmother’s
death.

“Aye, Marta, I will try.”

“Come, child, and sit with me,” she said,
ushering me toward a chair in the corner of the cottage. A small
fire burned in the centre of the room and I warmed my hands on its
flames as I passed by it.

“What do you know of the crystal?” I said
eventually.

“I know that it brought you to us and I know
that you will use it to send Nansaidh home to us.”

“Will we live through this Marta?”

The old lady shook her head. “You know I
can’t answer that, child.”

“I need to know how to use the crystal to end
this, Marta.”

“I know, but only you can find the answer to
that. I am sorry, Corran.”

“Then tell me Marta, how can you be so sure
that we will save Nansaidh?”

“Because you have the sprig of heather,
child, that is why.”

“Heather, what heather?” I asked,
confused.

“In your pocket, you carry the locket with
the Highland heather.”

I stared at her in amazement. “How did you
know that? I had even forgotten I had it.”

“It is what guided the crystal to bring you
here today, Corran. There is great magic in the heather you have,
but use it wisely for it can easily be used to do the work of the
devil. Now go child and be safe,” she said, ushering me from the
room.

Giorsal did not follow me back into the
cottage; instead she saw me to the door, touched my hand and kissed
me in farewell. I could feel the dampness of her tears on her cheek
and took her hand in mine. “We will do our best to bring your
mother back to you, Giorsal.”

In the cottage, Simon and Duncan were huddled
in a corner, the tiny book of ‘Highland Magic’, open in Simon’s
hand.

“Where is Eilidh? I asked, scanning the room
for her.

“Oh, she went outside to help with
something,” Duncan replied.

“And you let her go on her own! Duncan, what
could you be thinking?” I shouted turning on my heels to find the
girl.

As it went, she was perfectly fine and I
found her outside a cottage with another girl of about the same
age, plucking some pheasants. I watched her from a distance for a
while and noticed how at home she looked, here in this place that
should have been foreign to her. But then I considered that this
place was the most normality the girl had seen since Angus had
turned her world upside down.

“Simon, it’s time to go.”

“Aye, Corran, that it is,” he said, placing
the candle on the table. I took Duncan’s hand and held the crystal
in the palm of my free hand.

“Do you know which York Angus wants us in?” I
asked as Simon lit the match.

“No, but it doesn’t matter. The crystal will
take us to him, regardless of which time he is in.”

“Ma, where is Eilidh?” Duncan asked as the
flame connected with the wick.

“She is safe, Duncan,” I replied, as the
silver thread connected with the crystal and the room spun around
us.

I knew immediately where we were. The stark
white walls and the cold polished floor unmistakably placed us in
Angus’s flat.

“Before you ask, this is the York of the
future and we are in Angus’s flat,” I whispered.

“Do you think he is here, now?” Duncan asked
in hushed voice.

“I have no idea lad, but I am sure we will
soon find out,” Simon replied.

The room was quiet and still, the only sound
being that of our shoes as we moved slowly across the floor.

“I think if he was here we would have known
by now,” I said. “But we should make sure that he hasn’t got
Nansaidh here.”

Simon nodded and moved toward the door into
the kitchen. “No, I don’t think he has her here,” he said,
reappearing from through the doorway.

“She’s not in the bedroom either,” I said,
shutting the door quietly behind me. “He wanted to get me out of
this flat as soon as he could, so I can’t see why he would want to
bring attention to himself by keeping Nansaidh here.”

“Where do you think he has taken her ma?”

“I don’t know Duncan but we have to find
her.”

“Ma, why did you leave Eilidh behind?”

I put my hand out to touch him but he backed
away. “Duncan, it would have been wrong to bring her here, into
this world and the dangers we are about to face.”

“Aye, ma, I can’t argue with that, but it
hurts to leave her.”

“I know it does, Duncan, but she is alive and
is safe in her own time.”

“Come on you two,” Simon said, opening the
door to the landing of the flat. “I want to find this girl before
Angus has a chance to do her some harm.”

I stood in the shop and looked in horror at a
portrait on the wall.

“Ma what is that picture of you and pa doing
up there and who is that baby?” Duncan asked.

“It is you, lad, and that picture was painted
just after we found you on the banks of the Ouse,” replied
Simon.

“What is it doing in here?” Duncan asked.

“That is a very good question,” Simon said,
moving his eyes around the room. “He certainly has some interesting
things in here.”

“Pa, why has he got so many weapons?” Duncan
asked, lightly touching a flintlock pistol which was mounted on the
wall.

“Because he acquires them in our time and
then brings them to the future to sell for a great profit,” replied
Simon.

“I dare say he doesn’t mind too much how he
acquires the merchandise either,” I said wondering how many lives
he had destroyed over the years for personal gain. What should we
do, Simon? Do you think we should go and look for him, or wait for
him to come to us?”

He frowned, rubbing his hands roughly through
his hair. “He knows we will come and he probably knows we are here
already, so we might as well wait for him to come to us.”

“Simon, do you think he will bring
Nansaidh?”

“No, I don’t. We will have to find her
ourselves, but I have already tried that with the crystal already
and it brought us here, to his flat.”

“Simon, she is here, she must be. If you used
the crystal to find her and it brought us here, then here is where
she is.”

“Do you see her?” he asked bluntly.

“No, you know I can’t see her any more than
you can. All I am saying is that she is here, somewhere.”

“Perhaps, but the crystal took me to you when
I was looking for Angus. It could be a trick.”

“I don’t think it is, Simon, I think she is
here somewhere.”

“Alright, then let’s assume you are right.
Where do we look?” he said, scanning his eyes over the dimly lit
room.

“There is another door here,” said Duncan
moving some crates.

Simon and I raced to his side, dragging at
the crates and boxes to expose a previously hidden door. I tried
the handle and it turned. I pushed gently and it moved an inch.

“It’s not locked,” I whispered.

“Aye, I can see that,” he muttered under his
breath. “Get behind me, Corran,” he said, brushing his coat aside
and pulling the new pistol from his belt.

Duncan pushed in behind his father, leaving
me to tail. I put my hands out to feel my way in through the
shadows of stacked boxes and objects. My heart raced and my hands
trembled as we edged cautiously into the room. I heard a whimper
and froze. Simon and Duncan froze too and then it was there again,
the thin, high pitched sound of a smothered cry.

“Show yourself Angus,” Simon growled into the
darkness of the room.

******

“We meet again, little brother.”

“Aye, we do,” replied Simon with a deep and
throaty voice.

“Are we to end it this time?” Angus
demanded.

“We are, Angus, but I will fight you fair.
Come out from behind the skirts of a woman. Let her go and we will
end this like men,” Simon bellowed ferociously.

Angus laughed and the loud evil sound
vibrated off the walls. “So you don’t know I have the lovely Rose
as well?”

“Do you think it makes you tough, Angus, to
hide behind women?”

“Oh no, Simon, it makes me smart. You see I
know you, little brother, and you are weak. Weak with compassion
and morals, you will not do anything that might harm these
lasses.”

“Come out and face me like a man you pathetic
coward,” Simon roared with rage.

“Give me your crystal and then I will let
them go,” he said.

“Why? You have your own.”

“I do, but I want yours as well.”

“Take me,” I demanded, “in exchange for
Nansaidh and Rose.”

Simon swung round to face me. “What are you
doing woman? Be quiet.”

“I will take the lass in exchange for Rose,
but not Nansaidh,” shouted Angus.

“No, Corran, don’t be such a fool,” Simon
said, as I started walking toward Angus. Simon grabbed me as I made
to pass him. “What are you doing? You are going to get yourself
killed,” he whispered into my ear.

“Keep him talking and trust me, Simon,” I
whispered, moving past him and closer to Angus.

“Where are they?” I demanded of Angus.

The red-haired man grinned at me. “You really
are quite pathetic if you thought for one second I was going to let
either of them go. They are down there, on the floor in the
corner,” he said. “Now, join them,” he boomed, waving his pistol at
me.

I sank to the floor beside my old friend and
Rose. “Shh, it’s okay, I am going to get you both out of here,” I
said, hastily pulling the gags from their mouths and undoing the
ropes around their hands. “Don’t make a sound, just do as I say,” I
whispered, nervously peering over my shoulder. I was grateful to
hear that Simon was doing as I had asked and had Angus very much
distracted.

I slid my hands into my pocket and removed
the tiny silver locket and pushed it into Nansaidh’s hand. “I don’t
know how this works Nansaidh, but you need to take it back to
Marta.”

“I know,” my friend said, nodding. “Marta
said that one day you would give me the heather in the locket. I
was to tell you that you would find it in the portrait.”

“What?” I asked.

“The portrait, she said you would know what
she meant.”

“I don’t have a clue, but it doesn’t matter
now, Nansaidh. Just take it, and this,” I said, pushing the oval
crystal into her hand. “You are going home, my friend,” I said,
quickly pulling the tiny stub of candle from my pocket and striking
a match. “Move the crystal into the light, Nansaidh,” I whispered
urgently as the flame caught the wick.

“Nooo... !” Angus bellowed, hearing my
whisper. He swung around to see the lit candle. With his back to
Simon and Duncan, he trained the gun steadily on Nansaidh.