Prescribed for Love (17 page)

“Ugh, that means nothing!
Why don’t you try asking Keith,
”
suggested Cat.

“I did.”

“And just what did you ask him?” questioned Cat.

“I asked him why he killed Cailen,” responded
Alasdair
.

“Yeah,
then I told him what he
could do
with himself when he didn’t like my answer
,”
interjected Keith. Cat was surprised he had stayed silent so long. She had been avoiding looking at him for fear of bursting into tears before this whole matter was resolved. But, she could not stop herself from turning to look at him when she heard him ask, “Cat, is that really you?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“God, I thought you were dead.”

“More like not even born...” she muttered.

“What?” asked Keith.

“
Never mind
, I’ll explain everything to you later, after we get this spectacle settled.” Bringing the conversation back on track she asked, “Now, what happened that led you to be hovering over Cailen’s body?”

Keith
explained how his search for Cat had brought him
to the scene of Cailen’s murder
. He had not even been there a moment before Niall found him and accused him of the
terrible deed.

Having heard Keith’s story,
Alasdair
then began to question Niall further. Since no one had actually seen the attack, and since Keith had had no weapons on him,
Alasdair
released him.
It made far more sense that a Cameron would have done this, not a man searching for his sister
.

The matter now resolved
, Keith addressed his sister
. “I had begun to fear you were dead!”
exclaimed Keith as he wrapped his sister in a bone-crushing hug.
“But how is it you’ve been living in the woods in Massachusetts this whole time? Are these men keeping you hostage?”

“No, Keith, they’re not, but I need to explain some things to you.
Come with me
.”
Cat dragged her brother away from the crowd for privacy. “Keith, I need to know
something
. Did you see an old book at some point with Celtic scrollwork
around the edge of the cover
?”

“Yes I did
, but what does that have to do with anything?
”
he asked.

“Okay, this is going to sound crazy, but please hear me through,” Cat then told Keith her own story. He did not believe her tale of time travel at first. In fact, he argued the same fact about language that she did, but after a while, she was finally able to convince him.

“But then, how did I get here?” asked Keith.

“I think that was my fault.
This morning
, I was very upset. I was talking to
myself and wished you were here to give me some advice.
I forgot the book was in the room with me
;
I
think I
accidentally wished you back in
to
the past.”

“Jesus Cat, what did you get us into?” asked her brother
, dragging his hand down his face
.

“Hey, I didn’t ask to come here, and I only accidentally brought you here,” defended Cat.

“What happened that made you ask
for my advice?” inquired
Keith.

Of course he would focus on the one detail I don’t really want to talk about right now.
“We can talk about that later,” she replied.

“Or, we can talk about it now. It’s gotta be something big if the magic book determined it was important enough to drag me six hundred years into the past!”

“Well, um…”

“Just spit it out Cat.”

“I’m pregnant.”

Keith sighed and
rubbed his temples
. “Let me guess, Mr. Big-and-Brawny over there is the father?”

“Yes, but don’t tell him! He doesn’t know yet. I don’t even know if I’m going to tell him.”

“Cat, what were you thinking?”

“
I wasn’t thinking
—obviously!
Look, we can talk about this later, but for right now,
let’s just let things calm down
.
”

Oddly enough, things calmed down
rather quickly
.
Cat had at first thought people might still blame Keith for Cailen’s death. But, e
veryone in the castle had grown to trust Catriona, so they were willing to extend that trust to her brother. It probably also helped that
Keith had such a charming personality.
He
had always been one of the people that could instantly get people to like him.

Since things had gone so smoothly, Cat felt no hesitation bringing Keith down to the main hall for supper that evening.
She thought it likely to be a somber affair, but knew it was best to go. If anyone still suspected Keith of foul-play, she figured his
appearance at the meal might help dispel any lingering
doubts
.

While the atmosphere was
mournful
, it was not as melancholy as Cat would have thought.
In fact,
many clansmen
had brought out their instruments
to allow those within the hall to sing out their grief
. “
My goodness, these songs are beautiful; they are so heartfelt,” said Cat after a particularly sad song.

“So ye have an appreciation for good music, do ye?” asked Ailsa.

“Yes I do, but not as much as my brother, he has the real talent.”

“Oh, don’t be so modest Cat, you have a g
ood
voice,” said Keith.

“Maybe, but you have a great
voice, and can also play the guitar,” said Cat. To help make ends meet during their time in college, Keith had worked as a deejay at various gatherings and parties.
Cat had often gone alongside him to the events to help where she could.
For some of the more serious
affairs
, he would play his guitar, and they would both sing.
The extra money helped ease some of the
unforeseen expenses of getting an education.

“What is a guitar?” asked Ailsa.

“It’s a stringed instrument,” replied Keith.

“We have stringed instruments, do ye think ye might be able to play one?” asked Ailsa.

“I don’t know; I’m not sure how different they are, I’d have to take a look at one.”

Ailsa
caught the attention of one of the men
who had been playing
, “
May
we borrow yer
instrument
?
” As the man approached
,
A
ilsa
nodded in Keith’s direction.

No sooner had the man handed Keith
the instrument
than Cat’s brother began to fiddle with it. He practiced a few chords
and then tested
a few simple melodies
. “I think I could manage to play this.”

“Would ye?” asked Ailsa.

“Only if Cat sings with me,” replied Keith.
The people in the immediate vicinity had begun to take notice of the conversation, and they were waiting expectantly
with hopeful looks on their faces
.

“Ugh fine.” Lowering her voice so only her brother could hear she asked, “But what should we sing? We need something appropriate for
the time period and mood
.”

“I was thinking Sarah McLachlan,” replied Keith. Cat glared at her brother. He knew those songs had begun to irritate her. She
admired the artist’s talent
, and thought the
lyrics were beautiful—s
he just hated that because of those stupid commercials
she always
thought about helpless puppies and abused kittens
when she heard the singer’s
voice
.

“Fine, but not ‘Angel,’” agreed Cat. “Besides, ‘I Will Remember You’ has fewer references to futuristic concepts.” Keith nodded his agreement
. Without further ado,
he began to play.
Cat began singing softly at first; she had always been a bit shy about singing, she knew she had a decent voice, but had always been afraid of criticism. As she saw everyone around her listening
appreciatively
, she gained confidence. At least Keith was nice enough to sing the accompanying parts. She was relieved when the song finally came to an end.

“That was beautiful!” exclaimed A
ilsa. “Ye must sing another!
”

“What about something a little more uplifting?” suggested Keith. He was in his element performing. Unlike Ca
t, he fed off of the attention.

“Oh aye, please do. We are sad that we lost Cailen, but he lived a good life
. He wouldnae mind a little cheer
.”

“What do you have in mind this time?” asked Cat.

“I was thinking
‘Lean on M
e.
’
What do you think?”

“Ha, that is
actually
remarkably appropriate.” No sooner had Cat agreed
than
Keith dragged her to her feet to stand next to him
as he began the
desired m
elody. She still was amazed
he had basical
ly mastered the new instrument in
such a short
period of
time.
At least in this song, Keith would sing the majority of the lyrics, Cat would mostly just jo
in in at
the appropriate parts.

By the time they hit the first chorus, Keith got everyone to clap along. By the second, he ha
d everyone singing along. He
also made everyone laugh as he took the ‘lean on me’ part of the lyr
ics literally. Cat almost fell
over the first
time he dragged her to his
side
and then
leaned onto
her a few moments later. He also seemed to delight in teasing her by looking at her stomach ev
ery time the word ‘problem’ was sung in the lyrics. She could only hope
no one
else noticed what he was doing.

Ailsa looked absolutely delighted as they r
eturned to their seats, “Ye must
play another!”

“I’m glad you liked the songs, but I think I’
m done for the evening.”

“
I ken, ye dinnae like the attention do ye?” asked Ailsa.
“My only justification is
I was so impressed with your talent I was being selfish,” said a contrite Ailsa.

“Oh, don’t be so hard on yourself,” said Keith, “There are few
women
who can resist my talent!”

“Fortunately, I am one of them,” said Cat as she
rolled her eyes
. To Ailsa she said, “And don’t believe a word he says, he thinks he’s God’s gift to women.”
All three laughed at the jest
.

***

Alasdair
had not joined in the rev
elry that took place at dinner.
Instead, he took his sour mood to t
he parapets to mull over his
thoughts. He was afraid his
temperament
would ruin whatever merriment could be found. He knew his people needed to celebrate Cailen’s life. But,
Alasdair
could not help but be disturbed by what had occurred.
This most recent attack seemed to only inspire more questions
than answers.

First, who was actually responsible for the murder? He thought
the
Cameron
s were most likely
, but he obviously could not be sure.
Nay it must have been Cameron—nothing else makes sense.
But then why had he
attacked now
? It had been months since they had attacked MacLean land.
Was this just a prelude to a more serious occurrence
Alasdair had feared might occur for years
?

He had been trying to answer these questions all
evening. But, Alasdair knew he would not be able to solve the mystery;
he
simply did not have enough information. Rather than continuing this useless train of thought, he let his mind turn to Catriona. He wished he had never taken Ailsa’s advice and suggested marriage. Yes, they got along well enough, but Catriona had never expressed a desire to stay here, she had always talked of returning to her home and her brother. If
Alasdair
had but waited even a few more hours, he would not have had to face the humiliation of her refusal.
At least no one was there to witness the sorry event.