Timeless Mist (23 page)

"I know what ye mean. And as
far as keep
ing
your
secret, as long as it will no' hurt anyone here, I see no reason to share
it." Sorcha crossed her heart and held out her hand, pinky f
ing
er extended. "I
pinky swear," she said, a wide grin on her face, her eyes sparkl
ing
.

Kris knew her smile
was
just as wide as she held
out her hand in similar fashion, "pinky swear."

They hooked their pinkies
together and shook their hands, look
ing
solemn. Their eyes met and they giggled.

"Now, lass, what is this big
secret?"

"My last name." Kris
watched Sorcha close
ly
for her reaction, "it's
not
exact
ly
Armstrong. It's
not
exact
ly
English, either."

Sorcha nodded, urg
ing
her to continue.

Kris took a deep breath and
blurted, "my last name is actually Campbell," before she thought
better of it and chickened out.

"Ohhhh," Sorcha
breathed.

"Exact
ly
."

"I agree with you, you
should
n't
have
told Iain. At least
not
at first. He would
have
put you in the dungeons
until he
had
time to
question you thorough
ly
as a spy, or worse. He may
have
tried to ransom you back to the Campbell's. What a disaster
that
would
have
been."

"You can say
that
again." Kris
hadn't
even thought of
that
possibility before.

"But maybe you should tell
him now."

Kris shook her head. "I ca
n't
.
Not
yet." She reached for Sorcha's hand, "he's
had
several shocks in
the past few hours. Do
n't
you think he's
had
more than enough for one day?"

Kris waited what seemed an
eternity before Sorcha hesitant
ly
nodded her ascent.

"I'll agree with you for
now." She held up her hand when Kris rose from her chair, "for now,
Kris. I must tell you, Iain hates lies. It's the one th
ing
he can
not
and will
not
abide. He
looks on them as a betrayal and he will
not
like
it if he thinks
he's been humiliated by believ
ing
one. His father
was
the same way. I urge you to tell him soon."

"I will," Kris agreed
even as she hugged Sorcha, "thank you."

Sorcha kissed her cheek,
"you're welcome." She would
have
said more, but Elsie knocked light
ly
on the door just then.

"Must be Iain." Kris
said, a small smile on her face.

Sorcha nodded, "ye
like
him, dinnae ye?"

Kris shrugged. "I suppose
so. Even if he can be an overbear
ing
,
sometimes unreasonable and opinionated jerk."

Sorcha laughed as Elsie let Iain
in. He looked from his
màthair
to Kris and decided
not
to ask what
was
so
amus
ing
. 'T
was
better if he dinnae
know.

"Where did ye run off too,
Iain?" His
màthair
asked with a slight raise of her delicate brows.

"I needed to retrieve someth
ing
." He said and
without preamble held out his hand.

Kris gasped. "My backpack! Where
did you find it?"

"Raibert retrieved it from
the wood where he found ye unconscious. He gave it into his
màthair
's care" he
nodded in Elsie's direction, "for safe keep
ing
ye understand." He looked down for a moment and Kris
was
struck by how much he
reminded her of a small boy about to be scolded for someth
ing
he knew he should
n't
have
done. "I searched for it and
discovered where she'd hidden it." He looked at her apologetical
ly
, "I kept it as I
thought it might provide me wi' some clue as to who ye
really
where. Mayhap help me return ye to your
clan."

Kris held her breath, wait
ing
for him to tell her he
discovered who she
was
and
that
she
had
lied to him.

"I couldnae get it to
open." He admitted sheepish
ly
.
"I opened this little pocket here," he indicated the pocket where she
kept her cd player. It
was
the perfect size for it. She
had
an mp3 player as well, but she
hadn't
had
time to transfer
all her favorite music to it yet, nor read all the directions for it, so she'd
left that at home.

If Iain
hadn't
opened the large pocket yet, then he did
n't
know she
was
a Campbell. She sighed
in relief. Her secret
was
still safe, for now at least. Until she worked up the courage to tell Iain the
truth, it
was
better
this way. Maybe she'd
have
some time to prepare him for it. Sorcha would help, of
that
she
was
certain.

She reached for the bag and
smiled.

Sorcha grasped her shoulder,
"ye said ye
have
coffee in
that
?" She
asked, her excitement evident.

Kris nodded. "Would you
like
some?"

"Oh yes. I'd also
like
to see what else ye
have
carried in
that
th
ing
. 'Tis huge."

"I told you it
was
the biggest one I could
find. It's smaller than a suitcase, but
not
by much," she giggled. "We just need some mugs or goblets, someth
ing
that
will hold some hot water. I also need some
cream and sugar."

Sorcha nodded and asked Elsie if
she would get those th
ing
s.

Elsie nodded, "I'd
like
to try some of this
coffee as well. Iain?"

Iain nodded, "oh, aye. I too
would be verra interested in see
ing
your treasures, Kris."

"Sure. We can go through it
all while we drink our coffee." Her grin
was
so wide and lit her eyes with such a light,
that
Iain caught his breath.

Sorcha
not
ed it, but said
not
h
ing
.
She would broach the subject later, after th
ing
s
had
settled down a bit.
She
was
unsure how
receptive to her idea either of them would be. She would watch them for the
remainder of the afternoon before she voiced her proposal. Mayhap she would be
better served to speak with Iain about her idea first. He might be more receptive
to the suggestion.

Sorcha led them back to her sitt
ing
room, while Elsie
hurried off for the required items. Kris set her bag on the table and moved to
the fire to heat some water. Satisfied she
had
enough for e
very
one,
she returned to the table and opened her pack. Iain watched intent
ly
as she unzipped the
center and began to remove items from inside. So
that
's
how it
was
done.

Kris pulled out her jeans and a
warm sweater and set them aside for now. Next, she took out several pairs of
socks, and immediate
ly
sat down to put on a pair.

Iain stared in amazement. "What
are those?"

"These are socks. I'm final
ly
go
ing
to
have
warm feet. Nobody will see them beneath my gown, and even if they did, I would
n't
care. I hate be
ing
cold and cold feet are
the absolute worst."

Sorcha laughed. "After all
these years, lass, I still ha'e
not
gotten used to the chill. Although this is a verra warm spr
ing
this season. Winter is
far worse. Unfortunate
ly
,
I ne'er learned to knit or crochet, in my time or in this one. I could ne'er
work the needles."

"I can do both, actual
ly
. My grand
mother
taught me to crochet
when I
was
younger and
I taught myself to knit a few years ago." She finished pull
ing
on her socks, replaced
her slippers and sighed in relief. "I prefer crochet
ing
. It's faster. I tend to
like
instant gratification
when I'm be
ing
creative. If we can get some yarn, I can make some socks for you." She
looked at Iain with a teas
ing
grin, "I can even make you some for those big feet of yours."

Sorcha laughed at Iain's disgruntled
expression.

"My feet arenae
that
big, lass."

"Humph. You'd run a good
race with goofy." She snickered when Sorcha giggled and agreed with her.

Iain mere
ly
crossed his arms over his chest and tried to
look offended, though they both knew he
hadn't
a clue who or what they
were
talk
ing
about.

Elsie returned with the required
items just as Kris pulled out the extra-large jar of coffee she
had
wrapped in a
not
her sweater. She set the
sweater aside, opened the lid, tore off the inner seal and inhaled the aroma
before pass
ing
it to
Sorcha, who did the same.

"Ahh, lass, 'tis someth
ing
I never thought to smell
again." She took a
not
her
sniff before she passed it to Iain.

Iain took the jar, hesitant
ly
at first, then followed
his
màthair
's prompt
ing
and inhaled deep
ly
. Then he sneezed. Twice. Sorcha
and Kris laughed as Kris retrieved the jar. She spooned a small amount into
each goblet while Sorcha added the hot water to each cup. "Iain and Elsie,
you should try the coffee black first. There are many ways to serve it and
though Kris and I seem to
like
it with cream and sugar, you may
not
.
Kris can add sugar to hers and I'll add cream to mine and you may try
that
. If you do
n't
like
it
that
way, you can try it with both cream and sugar."

Iain nodded wise
ly
and reached for his
màthair
's cup. The aroma
was
not
h
ing
like
anyth
ing
he'd smelled before.  He
tasted it careful
ly
and grimaced.
Not
on
ly
was
it
very
hot, it
was
bitter. Kris
and Sorcha went through the entire process and found
that
Iain
like
d
his with just a bit of cream and sugar, while Elsie did
n't
like
it at all.

Kris and Sorcha on the other
hand, savored each sip, clos
ing
their eyes with murmurs of approval.

"Now, lass." Iain said,
"I'd
like
to see
what other treasures ye
have
in this bag of yours. I found some kind of round object, but it made such a
racket, I dropped it. I hope I dinnae damage it."

Kris pulled her cd player out of
its place and tested it.

"No, no harm done. I
have
more music in here
somewhere too. You might
like
it better than Shania Twain."

Kris pulled out her cd case and
handed it to Sorcha. She then pulled out a small set of speakers, no bigger
than a small cell phone and plugged one end into the CD player. Meanwhile,
Sorcha oohed and ahhed over Kris' cd's, exclaim
ing
over some, while dismiss
ing
others.

"I do
n't
know
a
lot
of these s
ing
ers,
Kris."

"I
have
quite
a collection in there,
that
's
for sure. I
like
all
kinds of stuff, from country and rock to pop and contemporary Christian. Those
are just a few of my favorites. If you go to the center of the book,
that
's where I
have
a mix of some of my
favorite songs. It
was
easier to make my own cds' with my favorites instead of constant
ly
chang
ing
them." She laughed.

For the next couple of hours,
Kris and Sorcha went through Kris' collection while Iain looked on, perplexed
and
not
just a little
out of his element. He
was
nae
at all certain he
like
d
all of what Kris called music. Some of it
was
verra loud. A few of the songs on her cd's, however, he enjoyed
very
much. Kris told him it
would take time for him to understand what the s
ing
ers
where say
ing
, but he
was
nae so sure. Although his
màthair
agreed wi'
her.

The afternoon passed. Kris
brought Sorcha up to date on the latest news and gossip while Iain and Elsie
listened silent
ly
for
the most part. Occasional
ly
,
Elsie would ask a question or two, but neither she nor Iain could contribute
much to the conversation, so they just listened.