Page 20 of See A Highlander (A Highlander Across Time #10)

CHAPTER 20

T om walked across the courtyard of the castle. He made his way out to the path that led down to the shore. He got a good view and saw that there was no one down there. He turned back and headed to the castle. He had been looking for Annie ever since she left him earlier that day. The sun was starting to set and he hadn’t found her in any of the places he looked.

Although the castle grounds were quite immense there weren’t a lot of places that she could be. She was new to the castle and she wouldn’t necessarily be in the cottages on the grounds outside the castle walls and he’d been told she hadn’t taken a horse to the village. He searched high and low for her, even in the gathering room near the enchanted door, and the dungeons as well, but he couldn’t find her.

There was so much that he wanted to tell her but she hadn’t given him an opportunity to do so. He wanted to explain detail by detail what had happened in the corridor with Bella. About her trying to entice him to hire her as an assistant, and then not budging from where she stood. How he had tried to be patient and talk some sense into her, but she refused to listen. Having Annie distrust him didn’t feel good especially because he had been on the verge of asking her to be his wife.

Tom found David sitting with a group of men at a table outside. “David, can I have a word?"

"Tom, good evenin',” David nodded to the men and walked over to Tom.

"What is it?"

“I cannot find Annie anywhere. Have you seen her?"

“I have not. But she can't have gone far. She must be in the castle somewhere."

“Things aren’t good between us at the moment. That spoiled brat Bella messed things up between Annie and me. She is quite furious, and I am afraid that she has gone off in anger and put herself in danger."

Concern crossed David’s face. “I understand. How can I help?"

"I won't take much of your time. I only want someone to help me search.. I am afraid that I keep missing her.”

“Glad to be of help, Tom. Where shall I look?"

“The courtyard and the great hall and below stairs. I will check the kitchens, dining hall, and all the upstairs. Meet me in the courtyard when you are done or if you find her."

“Good enough. Don’t worry we’ll find her."

“I hope so. At least to set the record straight."

Tom started at the top of the castle and worked his way down. He checked every empty chamber suite, the library and nursery, then went to her room once more to find it still empty. From there he continued down through the floors until he got to the great hall and headed fo the Dining Hall and then into the kitchens.

Annie was nowhere to be found. It was as though she’d disappeared. He hurried back out to the courtyard hoping that David had better luck.

“Did you come upon her?” Tom asked.

“I did not. I asked Ellie if she has seen her by way of the kitchen and she has not either. I assume you didn’t find her?”

Tom shook his head. "I did not."

The men were quiet as they waited a moment. Tom was growing very worried. Finally David came up with an idea.

“Did you not say that she often visits Lady Maria? Maybe she is in her chambers. That would be a good reason why you have not seen her."

“That is true. I can't exactly go to Lady Maria and ask for Annie's we're about. That would raise too much suspicion, do you not think so?”

"True. But listen, I am sure that's what it is. She is probably with Lady Maria or one of the other women from her time.”

"That could very well be true. I guess I wouldn’t be so worried if we hadn’t had a row the way we did. By the way, stay away from that Bella, she isn’t a good person. Like a child causing trouble for everyone."

“Aye, so you have warned me before. Now why don't you take drink with us, and we will check for your Annie again in a few hours."

“Aye. At least that will keep my mind off of what might have befallen her."

Tom followed David to sit with the guards and drank whisky. Tom listened to the stories from the men about the day's work. Lots of laughter and joking helped to ease his worry, even though it weighed on him in the back of his mind.Finally he decided that he would wait for her in her room. He assumed that she would eventually return there to go to sleep, and he wanted to be there when she came back so he could explain. Before long, his mind grew tired from worry. He laid down on the bed to wait for her and eventually fell asleep.

The next morning the sunlight hit him directly in his eyes. He woke up with a throbbing headache and sat up in bed, groggy, wondering where he was. It took him a moment to remember that he wasn’t in his own bed and was waiting for Annie. But the bed hadn’t been disturbed. If she had returned and saw him, then she left, but that wouldn’t be like her. With her temper and anger at him it was more likely that she would rouse him awake and kick him out of her room.

Panic moved through him as he realized that perhaps she had left the castle grounds completely in her state of anger. Out there was no place for a woman alone, especially one who wasn’t even from this time. She wouldn’t last. He got to his feet and prepared to search the castle again for her. He couldn’t bear to think of her out there beyond the castle walls alone. Would she really leave the safety of everything she knew?

With new determination, Tom splashed water on his face from the wash basin and readied himself to spend the morning looking for Annie again. He moved to the window to look out over the land and that's when he saw her coming up the trail from the shore. Jacob was at her side. He suddenly realized that she had gone to the fisherman's cottages. He was relieved to see her safe and sound. Now he would just wait for her to return to her room so that they could talk and hopefully he could win her heart again. He prayed that she would accept him and trust his word against her cousins.

Annie walked with Jacob to the castle kitchens. He and Heigl were friendly since he and the other fishermen provided the majority of the fish for the castle, but she wanted Heigl to feed him seeing as he’d been kind enough to walk her back to the castle before he set out back home. She said goodbye and thank you to the man and then made her way through the castle.

As she walked she decided that she was going to keep the pregnancy a secret, if she actually was pregnant. That was something she was still struggling with believing. Either way, it was the best thing for her to do so that she could figure out what to do in the meantime. Telling Tom that she was pregnant would pressure him to marry her. And she didn’t want him to marry her out of some obligation.

The problem was she also didn’t want to marry a man who would lie and be deceitful in the fact he’d been with her cousin. Even still the thought of that hurt her heart. She’d been so elated to have let the past go, to cautiously take a step toward trusting him and then to have that trust shattered in such a way was devastating to her.

All of these thoughts weighed heavily on her and she was feeling completely alone and without anyone to give her any answers. A part of her wanted to go to Maria but she also didn’t want anyone to know how foolish he had been to fall for Tom, while he’d been having sex with Bella too. No there was only one place that she could go for answers and now she would demand them with ferocity.

Instead of going back to her room, she slipped down to the back stairs, past the guards rooms, and down to the gathering room to ask the only being that seemed to have any power over anything at all in her life. She would demand that the Scathach appear to her and make known why these things were happening to her. This witch, ghost, or Fae, or whatever she was, had gotten her into this mess in the first place, and she wanted her to get her out of it or at the very least, explain it.

Annie slipped past several guards and made her way to the enchanted door. Luckily, there was no one in the gathering room, and she thought maybe it was because it was fairly early in the morning and the guards were eating their morning meal up in the dining hall.

“Scathach, I’m here. You know who I am, you brought me here. Tell me what I’m supposed to do now, please,” she said, staring at the door.

There was no answer at all that she could make out. Annie leaned against the wall, waiting. A heavy burden was upon her, and she wished that she was back making her paranormal vlog. Her only concern should be her livestream and getting subscribers, not this heaviness that she suddenly found herself in.

“Please. HEAR ME. I beg you. Scathach, where are you? Come to me and tell me what I should do? Should I trust Tom at all? Is he sleeping with Bella? Why does she hurt me like she does? She is a horrible human. She causes everyone pain. What am I going to do?” Annie burst into tears.

In that moment, a strong draft moved through the gathering room, pushing her hair from her face. But there was no voice on the wind. No answers came and the room was silent.

Annie waited until her tears were long dry and with a heavy heart made her way back to her room. But when she walked in, she was surprised to see Tom sitting at the small table. He looked a wreck. His eyes were red, and it looked like he hadn’t slept very much at all.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, surprised that he was still here. Why had he waited for her when Bella was available and just down the hall?

He stood up and seemed upset. “I’ve been here all night. I waited all night for you to return, but you never came. I thought that something horrible had happened to you. I’ve been sick with worry. Why would you do that to me?” he said.

Annie hadn’t expected that he would have been looking for her or worried about her at all after their fight. It made her feel slightly better, but she still didn’t trust him after seeing him and Bella kissing.

“I walked along the shore and before I knew it I was at Jacob and Marjorie’s cottage and the sun was going down. They took me in for the night. Jacob walked back with me this morning.”

"I saw you from the window, so I know where you went, but I don’t understand why. Don’t you realize how dangerous it is to go out at night like that on your own? There are bandits, and ruffians, highwaymen who would not think twice about harming a lass on their own. If anything had happened to you, I would blame myself and my heart would be broken.”

His voice was full of anguish that had Annie second guessing what was going on. Was he just that good of an actor, or did he really care? She frowned. She’d seen him with Bella. They’d been kissing right there in the hall for anyone to see. He’d broken her heart and she couldn’t stand it.

“If I’d actually disappeared, you’d simply go be with Bella, I mean why wouldn’t you? You did it before,” she accused with anger in her eyes.

Tom huffed. "I don't know how to make you believe that I am telling you the truth. There is nothing between that woman and myself. When you came upon us, I was trying to get past her. She was blocking the way and refused to move. Demanded that I make her my assistant, which I would not do. I attempted to reason with her, and get her to move without touching her, but she would not budge. At my wit’s end, I decided to slide by with my back against the wall, but in an in an instant she pushed me against the wall and planted a kiss on me. It was in that second that you appeared around the corner. I had no time to push her away before your arrival, but I was in a state of surprise and shock at her being so forward. Please understand that I would have pushed her away even had I not heard your voice. You said yourself that she was out to try and steal me from you, and that is what you came upon, and nothing else. She has done nothing but throw herself at me like a wanton woman, so if I actually wanted her, it wouldn’t be hard, but I don’t want her. I have never wanted her. From the moment I met you, Annie, I wanted you and only you,” he said.

Annie wanted to believe him, but she was scared. Scared of getting hurt. Of having her heart broken so badly she’d never recover. He had the power to do that to her. “I want to believe you, Tom. I want to go back to the way things were before between us, before I saw you and Bella kissing. But that image is still in my head and you’re going to have to give me time. Please just leave me alone for a while. I'm very tired, and I just want to rest,” she said looking at her bed as though it was the most comfortable thing that she had ever seen.

Tom sighed. “I understand it is a lot to ask of you. I will go and respect your wishes. But promise that you will not leave the castle grounds again on your own. I beg you. It isn’t safe and I cannot be worried all night again for your safety.”

She was touched to hear him so concerned for her safety but she wasn’t going to let her heart given to it. Not yet. “I promise I won't leave the castle grounds without someone with me.”

“Then I will leave you to your rest. I'm glad you have returned, Annie. But please know, I will not give up on us. I won't stop fighting for you,” he said. He walked out and closed the door behind him.

Annie laid down and fell into a deep sleep. It wasn’t until evening that she woke up with a voracious appetite. She didn’t want to leave her room though, so she caught Dorine coming down the hall and begged her to bring her an evening meal.

“Of course, Miss. I’ll be back in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.” Dorine smiled.

Though it was a bit longer than that, Dorine promptly returned with a platter full of food for her and Annie ate it all. She wandered around her room, feeling unsettled. As though something was going to happen, but she didn’t know what that could be. She tried laying back down, but sleep wouldn’t come.

Unable to get any more rest, Annie dressed and decided to go for a walk around the castle with the intent of going down to the gathering room again, if she were able to slip down there undetected. Though she didn’t get an answer from Scathach the last time, the draft that had move through the room was enough of a sign to make Annie think there might have been something to it.

There was something about being able to confess everything that she was feeling to the doorway. It was a form of therapy, and she knew how strange it was, but she needed that outlet. As she moved down the darkened hallway, past the guards rooms to the edge of the gathering room, she heard a familiar voice. She tiptoed closer until she could hear the voice clearly. It was Tom and she was shocked to hear him pleading with someone. Had he come to talk to Scathach too? she wondered.

“A little guidance would be a of help. I don’t know what to do in these circumstances. You are the one who brought her here. I don't know if she is meant for me, but I confess I love her madly,” he said.

Annie gasped and slammed a hand against her mouth to keep herself quiet. She didn’t know if he was speaking about her, but she hoped that he was. She continued to listen.

“Is Annie meant to be my wife? If I ask for her hand, will she turn me down?” he asked. “I am sick of the redheaded woman, Bella. She is tricky and does not leave me alone. Now she has caused a rift between Annie and me. I don’t know how to make her stop. I will not hit a woman. This Bella seems as though she could get violent, and I fear for myself and for Annie. I have seen this look in her eyes before. She has the irrational temperament of a child who will do something wrong because she hasn’t gotten her own way.”

Annie was thrilled to hear him confess this. A heavy burden lifted from her shoulders. She loved hearing that he loved her, especially because she held the possible secret that she may be carrying his child.

“The problem is Annie grows unhappier because of her cousin’s trickery, and I don’t trust my temper around Bella because of that. Seeing how hurt Bella made Annie has made my blood boil. I don’t want to harm Bella, but when she hurts the woman I love, I’m not sure I can control myself. I don’t know what I’m capable of doing to protect the one I love. What should I do?”