Silent Vows (16 page)
Out of the corner of her eye, Liz noticed her son trying not to hold on to the waist of the MacCoinnich’s youngest son Cian. Simon had never 134
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been on a horse before, except for the pony rides at the county fair. Those small animals were led around by a rope and presented little chance for the rider to fall. These massive horses could do a hell of a lot of harm if they took off and left their passengers in the dirt.
She was about to call out a warning for her son to hold on when Fin whispered in her ear, “Leave him. The horses will do no more than walk on the way home.”
She realized he had read her thoughts and found the invasion of her mind disturbing. “He could fall.” “He won’t. If you treat him like a child in front of Cian, he will lose the respect of someone close to his age.”
“I would rather him lose respect than fall and get hurt.”
Fin rolled his eyes. “A loss of respect is more damaging than a bruise or cut. I don’t expect someone from your time to understand.”
My time
? He made it sound so dirty. Her spine stiffened, putting more distance between them. She ignored his chuckle and watched Simon out of the corner of her eye. Despite her best judgment, she said nothing to her son and traveled the rest of the way in silence.
****
As they moved closer, her father hurried his mount in front and quickly helped her to her feet.
Myra ran into her mother’s waiting arms. Tears prickled again when her eyes met Tara’s. She knew Lizzy’s sister would have questions, could tell simply by looking at her that she felt some of her pain.
Myra sent Tara a pensive smile and gave a 135
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quick shake of her head. They could talk later.
Fin and Cian’s horses focused her attention to Lizzy and Tara’s reunion. Myra smiled over at Amber and motioned toward Tara who now started to notice that her sister was being helped off Fin’s horse.
“Lizzy?”
Duncan walked Tara down the steps before she broke away and ran to her sister’s arms. “My God, Lizzy!”
Myra choked on their emotional reunion.
Despite the strange expression passing Fin’s face, she knew she did the right thing by bringing Lizzy and Simon home with her.
Tara broke away from her sister only to grasp a silent Simon and hold him tight.
“How? Why?” Tara asked her broken questions.
Lizzy stared at her sister, tears streamed down her face. “I made Myra promise to bring us. I had to see you safe with my own eyes.” Lizzy peeked over Tara’s shoulder to Fin. Myra felt his scorn.
“It is just a visit, Tara. Only a short visit.” From the sound of Lizzy’s voice, she felt Finlay’s condemnation as well.
Fin lifted a brow then turned and walked away.
“You’re here now. That’s what matters.”
They hugged again.
“Merry Christmas, Lizzy.”
****
Myra couldn’t help but wonder what Todd was doing at that very moment. Was he happy she was gone? Or surprised that she’d told the truth about coming from the past? There’d be no denying it now that he’d seen her leave with his own eyes. She pushed her thoughts aside and attempted to focus on 136
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the joy of her family.
“Did you have a premonition, Myra? A sign to say it was safe to return?” her mother asked.
“No, mother.” Myra’s eyes met the floor.
“Did Grainna find you?”
“We never saw Grainna.” Myra swallowed a long drink and prayed her family didn’t pry too much.
“So there was no threat from her?” Her mother’s eyes searched for answers almost more than her words.
“How did you know it was safe for your return?”
her father asked.
Myra avoided the question, asked her own. “Was she here?”
“Aye. But Tara found a way to send her back,”
Duncan explained.
“When?”
“Just a few days ago.”
“’Tis a good thing I’ve returned when I did then.”
She closed the chain of questions off and told them all again how good it was to be home.
Tara, who had refused to let her sister’s hand go asked, “How long will you stay, Lizzy?”
“A week. If that’s okay?” Lizzy glanced over to Ian.
Perfect.
Myra wanted to pat her on the back. Her father needed to make the decision. If left up to Fin, Lizzy would have been sent home already.
“The question is how to get you back?” Fin spoke up. Several heads lifted at his words.
“One of you can take us.” Liz met his disapproving stare with one of her own.
“It isn’t that easy, Lady Elizabeth.”
“It’s Liz,” she corrected.
Fin stood and walked to the fire. “Here you are Lady Elizabeth, widow and mother of Simon.”
Liz dropped her sister’s hand and took to her feet. “I’m not a widow.”
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“We know that. But that will be the story you tell.” “Excuse me?”
Myra watched the exchange in silence, all the while glancing at Tara. Both women knew Lizzy enough to understand she was about to lose her composure.
“You heard me.” Fin turned away as if to say the topic was closed.
“Listen to me...” Liz raised her voice and reached out to make him face her.
He caught her hand. “You listen. In this time, you are nothing without the protection of this family.
And since you saw fit to force my sister to bring you here, you will abide by the boundaries we give you.
Your very presence will raise questions, most of which will bring a lie to your lips in order to keep who we are hidden from those who seek to destroy us. Furthermore, I will not allow Simon the ridicule which would come to him because of your thoughtlessness.”
Chest to chest, Lizzy and Finlay held their jaws firm. A slight twitch to Lizzy’s fingers displayed her anger.
“Lizzy, Fin speaks the truth. While you’re here, we have to keep where you are from a secret. For all our sakes,” Myra calmly stated, hoping to ease the tension in the room.
“Fine.” Lizzy’s eyes never left Fin’s.
Fin’s brow rose, silently saying, ‘I win.’
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The family had gone to bed. Only Fin and Myra remained. Staring into the fire, Myra felt lost in her thoughts, while Fin sat across from her, his attempts to read her mind and emotions obvious. She had learned to block Fin out of her mind when they were children. It frustrated him then, and she knew it frustrated him now.
“Why did you come back when you did?” he asked.
“I needed to.”
“Needed to? Why? Was there a threat?”
Her eyes skirted from the fire to him and back again. “Someone was watching us. I’m not sure how much of a threat they were. If the time here kept with the time in the future, then it couldn’t have been Grainna who watched.”
“If not Grainna, then who?”
“I do not know.”
“So it may not be safe for Elizabeth to return.”
Fin decided.
Myra shook her head. “I didn’t say that.”
“But you said
us
. Someone was watching us. If it wasn’t safe for both of you, then it isn’t safe for her alone.”
Myra closed her eyes knowing she couldn’t keep Fin from the truth for long. “Lizzy wasn’t the
us
.”
Fin stopped pacing, looked back at her. “Then 139
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who?”
She stood, straightened her skirt. “’Tis late, Fin, I’ve had a very long day.”
“Why won’t you talk to me?”
“I’m tired. Let us talk on this another day.”
Fin stopped her from leaving. “If you didn’t have a sign or premonition, and you weren’t sure Grainna wasn’t there, in fact you believed she was here, then why did you come back? If Grainna was here you would have walked directly into harm’s way.”
“Nay, Fin. I wouldn’t have.”
“What are you saying? She will kill the virgin she uses to break her curse, you know this.”
“Yes. I know.”
Stop asking questions.
He crossed to her, shook her shoulders, demanding she look at him. “Why? Why would you risk your life to return when you did?”
“Dammit, Fin, Grainna has no use for me
now
.”
Her words came in a scalding rush. Tears sprung to her eyes.
Fin’s mouth snapped shut. He stepped back and asked through clenched teeth. “Who?”
“Does it matter? We both knew it was an option.
One I am sure everyone will be thinking I took before long.” She turned from him and looked away.
“I don’t want this to cloud our Christmas, Fin.
Please keep it between us. For now.”
“Are you with child?” He choked out.
“No.”
He let out a long breath. “Then no one needs to know what happened. We can go on as normal.”
“Normal?” She looked above her to the candles ablaze on the chandelier above her head. She waved her hand sending the wind above both their heads to put out the flames. “Nothing is normal. Nothing.”
****
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“Yeah.” Todd answered the phone trying to lift his head out of the fog.
“Don’t tell me you’re sleeping. Man what is up with you lately?”
He picked up his clock, tossed it back onto his nightstand. “What do you want, Jake?”
“You are sleeping. I thought I was lazy.”
“Jake!”
“Okay, okay, listen I have the kids this afternoon and I was thinking...”
Jake’s thinking usually involved him. “Cut to the chase.”
“What are you doing for Christmas dinner?”
“Microwave and a beer. Why?”
“Well the kids haven’t seen Uncle Todd in a while. I thought it would be nice if you came over.”
His head was starting to pound. “And?”
“Come on, Todd, you know I don’t cook. Denny’s just isn’t right on Christmas.”
Damn
. He was looking forward to a full day of brooding. He agreed to help his friend and was about to hang up the phone when Jake stopped him. “By the way, one of those missing women showed up last night.”
“Missing women?” Todd wasn’t sure what he was talking about.
“Yeah, I got the call yesterday. I thought you and I could check it out, maybe score a few points with the Sergeant, work our way up the ranks.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Gwen Adams, the old lady from the Renaissance Faire.”
Todd’s eyes flew open as Jake’s words registered. “Is she alive?”
“Yeah, she’s alive, in the hospital outside of San Luis Obispo. Not saying much from what I’ve been told.”
“Any idea where she’s been all this time?”
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“See, I knew you’d want to know more. How about we go on up tomorrow and find out?”
Todd hung up, scratched the stubble on his chin spoke to himself, “Let’s see if the evil witch is all Myra said she was.”
****
Everyone held a miracle in their hands.
“Here, Fin. I know the bathroom Tara has been on you to finish has given you trouble.” She handed him a book. “’Tis a book on plumbing that should help.”
Fin smiled, gave his thanks and leafed through the pages.
Lizzy handed a box to Tara. “I thought you might like this. Cassy took it at the Faire.”
“Did you tell her about me?” Tara took the box.
“Yeah. She thinks I’m crazy, but I told her.”
“That’s all you can do.”
“Open your gift.”
Tara slowly lifted the lid of the box. Inside was a framed picture of her and Duncan the day they were handfasted in the twenty-first century.
“Oh, Lizzy. Thank you so much.” Tara hugged her sister with tears in her eyes.
“Cian, ‘tis for you.” Myra handed him a box.
“What is it?” he asked, pulling the wafer thin device from the box.
Simon bounded out of his chair. “Dude, it’s an iPod.”
“What is that?”
Simon rolled his eyes and turned it on. “Myra what did you load in here?”
“I asked the merchant to add whatever the boys of your time listened to.” She smiled when Simon put one of the earpieces to his head and the other to 142
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her brother’s. Before long, they were both bobbing their heads and smiling.
“Hey, how are you going to charge it?” Simon asked.
Myra put her hand on the device and pulled in the energy around them, then channeled it into the machine. “Man, you have to show me how you do that. Think of the money saved on batteries, mom.”
Simon’s excitement had them all laughing.
Amber held her diary and the assortment of ink pens as if it were gold. No more quill and inkblots on parchment paper. It was the perfect gift for her eleven-year-old sister.
Lora looked over the books on healing herbs and medicine made from them.
For Ian, Myra had thought of many things, but what she brought him was what she had seen Todd enjoy. Several bottles of Scotch sat in front of him.
He poured a portion for himself and his eldest sons, all of whom approved.
“Your time has many wonderful things,” Lora said to Lizzy.
“It does. I think Myra has brought one of everything. She had us up and down every aisle at every department store.”
Tara laughed. “God, I haven’t thought of shopping in months.”
“What we couldn’t find there we searched for in other stores like it. Buildings the size of our village.”
“You jest,” Ian said waving his hand in the air.
“Why would anyone need such large buildings to store goods?”
Myra leaned over and picked up the bag of chocolates they were all enjoying. “Take these simple candies. There are maybe ten different flavors just by this name on the bag. Those flavors have different color wrappers. Why they even had pictures of stockings and snowpersons—”