Prescribed for Love (6 page)

“
Look, I don’t know what kind of joke you’re trying to pull here, but t
here is no way I’ve tra
velled back to Scotland in
the year 1412. If I had,
e
v
eryone
here
would be speaking Gaelic.
Yet, I’ve had no trouble understanding their speech
,
even though I only speak English,” retorted Cat.
She did not care if her argument was poor—it made perfect sense to her.

“
Really?
Now this is fascinating!” replied the witch
while clapping her hands in excitement
,
“
The spell provides for whatever is needed, so it must have taught ye Gaelic.
”

“But I’m n
ot speaking Gaelic!” fumed Cat.

“Aye
…
y
e are,” smiled Elspeth in reply.
Cat was ready to argue
further
with the woman,
but stopped. Now that it had been
pointed
out, she realized she
was not speaking in English
.
Holy crap,
I’m not even thinking in English!
Onl
y if she really concentrated could she form a sentence in English.
An even greater panic seized
Cat as she realized
the woman’s words must be true—she was stuck
in 1412
and speaking a languag
e previously unknown to her
.
She wanted to deny it, but
she could not.
Reflecting on the events that had taken place since waking is this hut a few days ago,
Cat realized
she had not seen a
ny
modern convenience
s
.
She could not recall a single light switch, paved road, or even a plane’s vapor trail.

Cat remained frozen for nearly ten minutes with shock.
Finally
willing to accept the
impossible
s
he asked, “Will I ever be able to go home?”

“
Well, that depends.
For what did ye ask
that brought ye here?
”
queried
Elspeth.

“
I didn’t ask for anything,” replied
Cat.

“Ye must have asked for something.”

“No,
I never uttered a single syllable to the book before I arrived here.”

“Hmm, that does make things more difficult.
The only thing I can say
with certainty then
is that ye were
brough
t here to fulfill a need
,
” reasoned the witch
.

“That’s it!” exclaimed Cat, “As soon as I arrived here, some guy named Mac wanted me to go to his castle to help heal his sister.
I think he thought I was you.
I must ha
ve been brought back to help Ailsa.”

“
Tis a good theory, b
ut the
man never came here to use the book
. H
e
could
n
ae
have been the one to ask a favor o
f the book,” explained Elspeth.

“Good point,” murmured Cat, but then her eyes brightened,
“Although, maybe he actually asked sometime in
his
future
(my past)
and the book sent me back far enough in
time
to when I could help her!”

The old woman
contemplated
Cat’s words, “It is a sound theory, but y
er reasoning is making my hea
d spin
.
Were ye able to heal the girl?” asked the wit
ch.

Ca
t’s face fell, “No
!
I knew what was wrong, but
that stubborn man
would not take my advice.
In fact, he lo
cked me in a room and
t
hreatened to burn me as a witch!
”

“
Ach, always with the witch burnings! I cannae tell ye how many I have had to avoid in my years,” said the woman as an aside. “
But
, hopefully giving him the knowledge was enough.
Ye can t
ry asking the book to send ye home.
If ye are still he
re
after
speaking yer request
,
then we will know ye havenae
yet fulfilled yer purpose
,” suggested the witch.

“
That’s a good
idea, but there’s only one problem
,”
replie
d Cat, “The book is still in
the castle
.”

“
Well
then lassie, ye have gotten yerself into a fine mess
,”
laughed
Elspeth.
“We will have to devise a way to get ye back to the castle safely
so ye may retrieve the book
.
In the meantim
e
,
ye are welcome to stay here.”

***

“Come in,” called
Ailsa.
One of the maids, Lainie,
entered
with breakfast.
She had been helping
Ailsa
with her secret over the
past two weeks.

“
Here ye g
o Miss Ailsa, eggs and meat,
and
nae
a single piece of bread, just as ye requested,” said the maid as she set down the tray
with a solid thud and a meaningful glance
.

“I ken
that loo
k Lainie, what is on yer mind?”
While Ailsa may have been
the laird’s sister, this had not stopped her from forming a great friendship with the maid. She and Lainie were of the same age and had played together often as children. As Ailsa had become more and more ill, Lainie had been one of the few to offer
frequent
companionship
rather than sympathy
.

“Ye sh
ould tell him,” scolded Lainie.

“I will,” assured Ailsa.

“
Ye should tell him today,”
correct
ed the maid
, with greater emphasis
.

“I want to be sure I will stay well,” reasoned Ailsa, “
Alasdair
has been so devastated each ti
me a healer failed to help me.”

“
But y
e are better!
Ye have even put on weight,” said Lainie.
She added in a whisper, “A
nd Branan is his target today.”

“Oh dear,” muttered Ailsa.
Even though
Alasdair
felt Catriona had fled the c
astle because she could
not
provide a cure
, Ailsa did not believe that
had been
the woman’s motivation
.
Rather, s
he
believed Catriona
had simply fled out of fear.
Ailsa might have done
the same
if she thought the alternative was b
eing burnt
to death
for giving simple advice
.

In fact,
Catriona had been s
o confidant
her dietary instructions would help
,
Ailsa
had
decided to heed
the healer’s
advice
.
But, she had only wanted to try if she could do so secretly—avoiding the risk of upsetting her brother if the attempt failed.
Ailsa
had wanted to be entirely certain she was well before claiming success.

Unfortunately, this desire for secrecy had forced Ailsa to ban Alasdair from her room. Every time he had come to her he
had come bearing gifts—
mostly consisting of the items Catriona had strictly forbid.
In desperation, Ailsa had told
her brother
she did not want to see him.
What she had not anticipated was his reaction to his
banishment.

Thinking
she was dis
gus
ted with him for failing her, Alasdair
grew angry at himself and began to release his
frustrations
by
training
in the lists with his men.
He had
begun by
put
ting
them all through rigorous
exercises
.
However, i
n the last few days, he had sing
led out one man on which to hone his skills
.
Rather than
a
simple exercise, Alasdair’s opponent for the day foun
d himself in what was very nearly a fight for his life.
Lainie
wanted
Ailsa
to
confront Alasdair
before he did much harm to Branan—his
current target. Ailsa felt obligated to do as the maid wished. After all, what kind of friend would she be in she let her brother possibly kill her friend’s love-interest?

“
Ye are right, it is
time I confronted the big oaf. Quickly
, help me get dressed so I
can put a stop to this madness
!”
Ailsa
knew
she was now well enough
Alasdair
would not try to force her back on
to
her previous
diet
.
Lainie h
elpe
d her
dressed
in record time.
Hopefully Branan is still in one piece
.

***

Alasdair
was currently
releasing his
frustrations
through swordplay with
Branan
.
While the
young man was not the best
with a claymore, h
e was the
youngest, and had the most
stamina
.
Alasdair
wanted
to
participate in
a long brawl
so he would be too tired to think
of
his current
demon
s
.
He could not believe he had
wasted his time looking for the witch, only to have her flee
!
Instead of enjoying his sister’s company for however much
more
ti
me
God granted, he had been
dismiss
ed for failing her.
Why should that w
itch
have been able to do what every other healer had failed to do?

Angry at his own stupidity,
Alasdair
raised his
sword to
deliver a heavy blow to Branan’s weaker side.
But just before the blade
landed
, he
realized the boy
’s
attention
was
elsewhere.
Alasdair
t
wist
ed
his
weapon
just in time, only striking
Branan
with the f
l
at of
the blade
.
As the young guard fell to the ground he yelled,
“Why did ye let
down yer guard
?
I almost killed ye!”

“
Maybe
he
sees
a ghost,” replied a soft voice behind him.
Turning at th
e sound,
Alasdair
was dumbfounded
to see
his sister standing before him, healthier than he had seen her in months
, if not years
.
He
simply
could
not believe
his eyes
.
“
Close
yer mouth brother. Y
e
wouldnae
want any bugs
to fly in
would
ye?”
teased Ailsa.

Finding his voice
Alasdair
asked,
“How did this happen?
Are ye
trul
y well?”
Alasdair
had been trying to come to grips with his sister’s failing health for so long he had trouble believing his fears could finally be
dismissed.