Page 4

C rystal sat on the bench, still slightly damp.

The blanket had soaked in much of the water.

The fire helped but her boots and socks were still wet and cold.

She nervously sat drinking her tea since she'd finished her soup, and waiting for Gavin to tell her what the next move would be.

As time passed it seemed like her hopes of this being a hallucination or some sort of village reenactment started to fade.

The door opened and another man walked in.

This one held such confidence that the whole tavern went quiet and turned his way.

Crystal immediately set eyes on him and noticed how handsome and rugged he was.

His long blond hair was almost platinum white and his close-trimmed beard looked like it was only a couple days past a five o'clock shadow.

His form was tall, lean, and youthful. Crystal felt an immediate attraction and couldn't look away, especially because he was dressed differently than the others in the tavern.

This young man wore a tunic shirt tucked into a knee-length kilt with a matching, bulky, plaid, scarf-like thing that crossed over his shoulder.

At his side was a sword in a sheath and various other weapons that hung from his belt.

She thought he looked like something out of a very well-done fantasy movie.

Behind him entered two more men dressed in the same manner, and two women, one was curvy and petite with dark brown hair and green eyes.

The other was tall and slim with flaming red hair and gray eyes.

Although they were dressed in period clothing, there was something familiar about the women to Crystal.

"Thank heavens," Gavin said as his eyes landed on the newcomers.

"Who are they?" she asked.

"The Watch. They will help you, lass. Wait here a moment." Gavin stood up and walked to the man with the long blond hair and whispered in his ear.

The man turned and looked her square in the eyes.

His blue eyes penetrated right through her.

He didn't smile, he only gave her a serious look.

It made her uncomfortable. Finally he nodded at Gavin and went to speak quietly to the two women.

The women turned to Crystal and smiled a genuine smile at her.

Before long they moved to her table and sat down.

"Hey, are you alright?" the red-head asked as she approached. "I'm Elena."

"Oh my God. Finally someone who doesn't speak like everyone here," Crystal said.

"I completely understand. We've been through exactly what you're going through, now. I'm Melanie," the petite curvy one said.

"Can I use your phone? Mine is wet and dead. I don't know what the hell is going on here but I'm cold and wet and need to get home."

They looked at each other and then at Crystal. "Here, I have a dry blanket in my bag," Elena said, opening her leather satchel and handing a blanket to her.

Crystal eagerly put the wet blanket down and wrapped the dry one around her."Much better. Now can we get me out of here, please?" Crystal said.

Elena took a deep breath. "What's your name?"

"Crystal Corwin. I'm a writer."

"What's the last thing you remember before waking up in the water?" Melanie asked.

Crystal paused, her mind drifting back over what she could recall. "Let's see. I was at this stupid bar to celebrate my latest book, then I'm pretty sure this jerk drugged me, and then it's all fuzzy from there until I was suddenly in the water, and honestly I think I was hallucinating."

"Tell us," Elena said.

"Well I was in this weird place. I don't know.

I heard what I thought were voices that sounded melodic but I couldn't make out the words.

There was a warm glow and I felt better, but then I was plunged into ice and opened my eyes in water.

I was pretty deep under water, but I don't understand how, I don't remember how I got in it, but maybe I fell?

Anyway, I swam up to the surface and Gavin pulled me from the water.

It's honestly so bizarre." Crystal shook her head and looked at the two women.

"I don't know what's happening here, but Gavin says we're in Scotland.

That can't be possible. I live in the U.S. "

"Okay, so, you are in Scotland," Melanie started, her voice steady and calm. I know you're confused, but don't panic. We promise to explain everything to you once we're back at the Keep."

Shaking her head, Crystal said, "No. Explain now. What is happening here? I'm scared."

Elena sat down next to her and gently said, "You have every right to be scared. This is an unusual circumstance. Right now you're not in any danger. Both Melanie and I have had similar experiences."

"You have?" Crystal said, her eyebrows raising.

"Yes, and I promise we will tell you everything about what's going on here, but right now there's something more pressing we have to deal with," Elena said.

"How's the lass?" the young man with the long blond hair stood asked from over Elena's shoulder.

"A bit confused, which is understandable," Elena said. "This is Crystal Corwin." Elena looked from him back to Crystal. "Crystal, this is Jamie Grant. Think of him like a police man."

"Welcome, lass. I know things here might look a wee bit odd to you, but you'll come to understand it in time. As Elena said, I'm with the Watch, as are the men with me."

Crystal looked up into his blue eyes and felt relieved to see a soft smile on his face. His words were inviting and warm. "Nice to meet you, Jamie."

"And you, lass. Don't worry, we'll soon have you sorted, but I'm afraid it might be a short while as I have business that needs attending to," he said with a nod and walked to the Innkeeper.

Crystal was sorry to see the man walk away so quickly because his attractiveness was a distraction from her confusion.

"I promise, everything is going to be okay," Elena said.

"Have you eaten anything?" Melanie asked.

"Yes. Gavin has been very good to me. He brought me here, fed me, and gave me hot tea and whisky."

"I'll get you another," Elena said. She stood up and walked to the bar to fetch the drink.

Melanie looked around with her brow furrowed as she looked at everyone's faces.

"Is there something going on? Everyone is so tense or is that just the script?" Crystal asked.

Melanie's eyes flashed as she looked back at her.

She frowned a little and said, "It's not role playing.

This town, these people, they're all real, Crystal.

I know it all looks strange, sounds strange, but trust me.

And yes, your senses are correct. Everyone is tense.

It's partly the reason we're here, to question all the villagers we come across," Melanie said.

"For what?"

"Well, there's been a murder, unfortunately."

"What? That's awful," Crystal said. Though she wasn't too shocked. She always spent hours researching for her crime thriller novels and had learned that murder happened somewhere in the world every second of every hour of the day.

"Yes, it is awful. So you can see we have a duty to fulfill, but we will see you through this as well."

"Here you are," Elena said, returning with a hot cup of tea.

"Thank you." Crystal took the cup with a grateful smile.

"We really need to get you out of those damp clothes. Too bad it's not summer, the sun would dry your clothes in no time," Elena said.

"Yes, if that would be possible. I don't have a change of clothes though." Crystal pursed her lips and glanced at Elena's bag. "You don't happen to have a pair of jeans and some different socks and shoes in there do you?"

Again the women looked at each other and then back to her as if they were keeping something from her.

"What? What is it?" Crystal asked, getting tired of these strange looks.

"We can't get you modern clothes. All we have will be more like what we're wearing," Elena replied.

"Oh Lord. I don't know why this is so difficult. I think it's really great that you guys aren't breaking character with this murder-mystery game thing, but I'm over it. Please let me use your phone and point me to the bathroom so I can get out of these clothes."

The two women sighed and looked at each other again, as though having a private conversation between them, one she wasn't privy too.

Crystal began to get very annoyed by this.

She'd had enough of this game and although she didn't want to be ungrateful for their kindness, she really needed to get to the bottom of all this, find a phone and get home.