Prescribed for Love (18 page)

As if
knowing they had been in his thoughts
, Catriona and her brother appeared along the wall.
Alasdair
turned to leave, but then something Catriona said caught his attention, “
No, I haven’
t told
Alasdair
and I don’t plan to. He would never believe the truth. Hell, I hardly believe it!”
Alasdair
had not intended to eavesdrop, but now he foun
d he found himself rooted to the spot, desirous to learn more
.

“
You know, he may be able to help us figure out what
is needed
,
”
suggested Keith

“Maybe, but
I doubt it—he had never seen the
book before I came here with it,
”
replied Catriona.

“
Hey
, do you think
us being here
violates
the Temporal Prime Directive?” asked
her brother.

“First of all, no, we’re not even Starfleet. And second of all, talking about Star Trek is hardly helping.” Catriona paused for a moment before redirecting their conversation back to the previous topic, “And even if
Alasdair
could help, it wouldn’t matter. We need that book to get home. When did you last have it?”

Keith must have been thinking
because there was a long pause. “After I grabbed the book, I fell down a di
tch. I must have dropped it as I
fell. But as soon as I stood I saw your graduation cap. Do you know where you lost that? The book should be near it.”

“Ugh no, I don’t know where. I only know it was on the way here from Elspeth’s hut.”

“That sucks. But hey, we can kill two birds with one stone. We could head to Elspeth’s and look for the book
, and we could also talk to her—she may have more information that we could use
. I still have a hard time believing
her explanation. Hey, I have an idea—
maybe
the book triggers some kind of wormhole
.”

“
Seriously Keith, we’re not living in a
Star Trek
episode
!”
Alasdair
must be mishearing what they were saying, for star treks made no sense, and he could think of no connection between books and holes of worms.
“But seriously Keith, what do you think I should do about my other problem.”

“You know, it’s not very nice to refer to it as a problem,”
said Keith teasingly
.

“
You seemed to be referring to it as a problem during our singing,” countered
Catriona.

“Touché
,” he said and then paused,
“
Cat, I know you wanted my advice, but I honestly don’t know what to tell you. This seems like something you need to figure out on your own.”

“But what would you do in my situation?” she asked.

“I could never be in your situation,” he replied.

“You know Keith,
” said Catriona with a sigh, “
sometimes you take things too literally. But you’re probably right, this really is something I’ll just have to play by ear.”

“I know you wanted me to
say something more
helpful
, but I honestly can’t,” replied Keith.
“
But for what it’s worth, I’m always here if you need to talk something through.”

“Thanks
. And
even though I’m sorry I dragged you into this mess, I’m glad you’re here with me
.”

“Honestly, I’m
also glad I’m here. T
his is better than continuing to think you were dead. Besides, this could be
fun
.”
Alasdair
heard Catriona laugh
in reply. The siblings then began to continue their walk along the parapets.
Alasdair
ducked out of
sight just before they would have seen him
.

Alasdair
did not know what to make of this developm
ent. He was a bit concerned
Catriona was purposefully keeping information from him. He
briefly considered the possibility of their being aligned with the
Camerons, but
dismissed the thought
as
unlikely;
especially considering one had tried to kill
her. He wondered what she could possibly need in order to return home.
Alasdair was also curious why what he had
thought was
Catriona’s
spell book was so important. He could only pray that whatever difficulties Cat and her brother were facing would not
bring any additional danger to his keep.

One thing was for certain though—until he better understood
this need for secrecy
, he was going to gain possession of the book. He did not know why it was so important, but he
did know he would discover the truth.

Alasdair
spent most of the early morning hours within sight of the
stable;
he wanted
to ensure
he would know if Catriona and her brother tried to leave.
Luckily, his intuition was correct and h
e did not have to wait long for them to appear.
Amusingly,
he had not needed to keep
such a close eye on the stable
because they
actually came in search of him
. “
Hi
Alasdair
, we were wondering if you would mind if we borrowed two of your horses. I wanted to
visit
Elspeth and see how she is doing,” said Catriona.

“Aye
, that sounds like a good idea
considering the trouble of late. I will go with ye,” said
Alasdair
, brooking no argument.
Catriona
looked briefly as if she wanted to
dissuade him from
going, but
instead nodded her agreement.

***

Catriona snickered to herself as she watched her brother try and mount the horse in front of him. He had never had much contact with horses,
and
much
of
the true hilarity stemmed from his clothing. He had been loaned a kilt and linen shirt. Cat had suggested he wear his jeans, but he had insisted on having a true 1412 Scottish experience. “An
d what are you laughing at smartass
?” Keith asked her when he saw her mirth.

“You looked ridiculous trying to mount the horse while keeping your knees together. You
must
know the kilt is long enoug
h to cover everything important,
”
replied Cat as they began to follow Alasdair.

“It certainly doesn’t feel that way. I don’t know how you women manage in these things. With this blouse and skirt, I feel like I’m one pair of lace trimmed so
cks away from being
a
cross-dressing schoolgirl.”

“You’re being ridiculous, those clothes are very masculine. Besides,
if you wanted to be a cross-dresser, you would need to get rid of all that leg hair—and sadly, I’m all out of disposable razors
.”

Nodding toward Cat’s purse
Keith
asked,
“
What don’t you carry in that thing
?”

“A transporter.”

“Funny. Now who’s making the Star Trek jokes?”
he
asked
mockingly
. “Hey, you don’t happen to have any candy in there?”

“If you touch
my chocolate—you die
,” growled Cat.

“I know you’re normally possessive of your chocolate
Cat
, but I think that baby is making you crazy already. I’ve never heard you growl before.”

“Keep your voice down!” said Cat, practically yelling.

“Maybe you should follow your own advice,” whispered Keith.

Irritated, Cat brought her horse forward to join
Alasdair
. Behind her she heard Keith mutter something about getting her panties all in a bunch. This only further
ed her irritation
.
“
Alasdair
, may I borrow your sword?”

“And what do ye intend to do with it?”

“I intend to kill my brother.”

“Why would ye want to do that?
If ye kill hi
m, then ye may nae
be able to get home, and ye made it verra clear ye dinnae want to stay here.”
said
Alasdair
.

Ouch!
“Look, I’m sorry about the other day. I should have at least said something and not run off.
You need to realize though, that I have no intention of staying here, it’s not you personally. Hell, if I had met you back home, I might have seriously considered your offer
. I like you, I really do, and I never meant to mislead you. I thought you understood this wasn’t serious.” Catriona felt awkward when
Alasdair
did not respond, so she started to ramble, “It’s not that I don’t appreciate the offer, I know you meant well, but I just can’t stay here.”

Finally,
Alasdair
responded, “Aye, well, I suppose I cannae fault ye for wanting t
o return to yer home. I would feel
the same.”

“I’m glad you understand,” she replied.
“
Friends?”

“Only friends?” asked
Alasdair
implying he was still interesting in more
.

“I think it’s for the best. I don’t want people to think I’ll be staying here permanently,” replied Cat.

“Many already think ye are”

“Which is exactly why
we need to put a little distance between us,” she said.

“Hey Cat, isn’t this near where you lost your cap? Do
n’t
you wanna stop and look for it?” called Keith from behind.

And I thought I needed to work on my subtlety skills!
“Sure.” To
Alasdair
she asked, “Do you mind if we stop?”

***

Alasdair
had been expecting something
similar to this
.
“Nay, I dinnae mind—j
ust
ahead is an area where we can also water the horses
while ye look
for ye
r…
cap
.”

Alasdair
was very familiar with the area;
he knew
exactly
where Catriona had lost her cap that first day. Leading
the way, h
e was able to spot the black item before either she or her brother
did
.
He
let his eyes quickly scan the area for the book. Finding it easily, he maneuvered his horse so Catriona could see her
cap
, but be unable to see the book.

Just as planned, Keith spotted the cap and moved toward it, with Catriona close on his heels. While this caught their attention,
Alasdair
dismounted to walk his horse,
stealthily scooping the book from the ground before
placing it in one of the sacks on his horse
’
s back.

Pleased
he had pulled off this trickery with so little effort, he turned his attention back to Catriona.
He was amused by her att
empts to look for the
book. She was obviously trying to look around, witho
ut making it obvious to him
she was searching for something
besides her cap
.
Admiring
her profile,
Alasdair
felt a small pang of regret that she had not agreed to his proposal. While she was an extremely comely woman, that was not the sole reason for his regret.
He could not help but admire her character.
He had never met a woman so determined to do whatever was necessary in order to accomplish a goal. His k
eep could use a woman like this;
it
truly
was a shame she would eventually leave.

Well, nae
until I return this book to her.
The mystery behind the item still intrigued him. He simply could not fathom how their ability to return home depended on its pages.
Alasdair
woul
d need to look through it again;
maybe something was hidden that he had not seen upon his first inspection. How
ever, it still bothered him
Catriona had not come to him with this problem. While he sincerely doubted she would do anything to put his peopl
e at risk, he still worried
the book was dangerous in some manner. He knew his concern was most likely unfounded, but he just
could not shake the feeling
the book
would someday cause him great grief.