Page 2 of Wendy Meets the Highlander Hamish (Scottish Highlander I Never Knew #5)

A s Wendy stirred awake, her senses gradually returned to her.

Sunlight streamed down upon her, warming her face and skin.

She blinked and surveyed her surroundings, a sense of bewilderment washing over her.

She found herself lying on the verdant grass, the shore of a picturesque lake mere feet away and on the other side of her were stone ruins of what looked like a former castle or fort of some kind.

The lake, glistening under the brilliant sun, stretched out as far as the eye could see.

Its crystal-clear waters mirrored the pristine blue of the sky and cradled the distant hills that loomed majestically.

The beauty of the scene struck her, its serene tranquility a stark contrast to the chaos of the ferry.

Turning her gaze behind, Wendy's eyes fell once again upon the aged remnants of a stone structure. Time-worn and overrun with nature, the ruins held the echoes of ages long past. Lichen and ivy clung to its walls, telling tales of forgotten lives and stories lost to time.

Dub Sith had told her that he was taking her into the past, to the seventeenth century to be exact, but looking at the ruins, she had to wonder if that was actually where she ended up. Maybe something had happened, and he’d miscalculated?

A soft sound broke her reverie, and she turned to discover a striking sight.

A coal-black horse, ethereal in its beauty, stood silently at the lake’s edge.

Its ebony coat shimmered in the sunlight, and its eyes held a mysterious depth that captured her attention.

With a graceful turn of its head, the horse regarded her with an almost knowing expression, and Wendy couldn't help but feel there was more to this place than met the eye.

But she was alone, and Dub Sith was nowhere in sight.

It was just her and the beautiful horse.

As Wendy sat upon the grassy shore, still bewildered by the sudden turn of events, a group of three men emerged from the trees to the left of her about a hundred yards away.

The men were unlike any she had ever encountered before, dressed in a mix of plaids, kilts, and rough woolen cloaks.

It dawned on her that Dub Sith had at least gotten the place right.

She had to be in Scotland and the shore she was sitting on was that of a loch, as they called it here.

She watched the men and noticed that they weren’t just dressed in Scottish attire, they also wore swords, and rode horses, and seemed straight out of a Highlander romance novel.

They were big and brawny, muscular. She was shocked as it hit her that perhaps her initial assessment of it still being the twenty-first century was wrong.

She’d never seen men who looked like them except on the covers of romance novels.

The Guardsmen, for she could think of no other name for them, approached, looks of curiosity upon their faces. They seemed very skilled as they rode toward her, moving as though they and their horses were of one mind.

As she watched the three guards, a movement near the water caught her eye.

The beautiful coal-black horse, which had watched her so intently only moments before, now galloped toward the loch with an incredible grace.

Its powerful form plunged into the waters, creating a cascade of shimmering ripples in its wake.

In a surreal and almost mystical display, the horse did something that defied the very laws of nature. It dove beneath the water's surface, vanishing from sight. Wendy gasped in awe, unsure if she had truly witnessed such a phenomenon. Had she just seen a kelpie? Was that even possible?

As the group of men fanned out to guard the loch's shore, Wendy found herself feeling more and more like an interloper in a time and place not her own.

She wondered why Dub Sith had brought her here.

She looked back at the splendor of the loch, with its still waters reflecting the vibrant greens and blues of the surrounding landscape.

It seemed overshadowed by the enigmatic presence of these kilted men who appeared to have stepped out of history in her mind, though she knew it was she who was the one out of place.

Amidst the group of men, who looked fairly similar, one particularly striking figure caught Wendy's eye.

Tall and imposing, he exuded an air of rugged masculinity.

His burly physique had Wendy comparing him to Adonis or Hercules from Greek myths, though he was clearly Scottish.

His thick, reddish-blond hair cascaded loosely down to his shoulders, and his piercing gray eyes held a gaze that was both commanding and compassionate.

Summoning her courage, Wendy decided to voice the bewildering queries that swirled like storm clouds in her mind.

“Hi, um, excuse me, but could you tell me where exactly I am?” she questioned.

Dub Sith had said Islay, but she wasn’t sure she could trust that.

He’d told her not to trust the Fae after all.

“Aye, lass. You are upon the Isle of Islay, in Scotland. I fear you’ve traveled quite far,” the stunning man with the piercing gray eyes said.

Wendy nodded. She knew that to be true. “You’re right about that.” She smiled and looked back to the loch. “Was that a kelpie?” she asked, directing her gaze to the once again still waters.

“Aye. Dangerous creatures they are, the kelpie.

You should nae engage with them by any means.

They are malevolent water spirits, often taking on the guise of a magnificent horse.

Tis a maleficent trick to beckon folk to the water's edge, luring them closer before dragging them to a watery grave. Tis a creature of cunning and terror that one should count themselves lucky to survive as you did, lass.”

His description sent shivers coursing down Wendy's spine, and the intrigue it kindled within her seemed boundless.

“What tis your name, lass?” he asked, watching her with curiosity.

Wendy smiled as she finally stood up and dusted off her jeans, which thankfully had dried during the trip she’d taken with Dub Sith. “Wendy Carson. As you’ve probably guessed, I’m not from around here,” she said with a laugh.

“Nae, I expected as much, lass. I’m Hamish MacDonald and these are my brothers, Artair and Crisdean.” He indicated each and they gave her a welcoming smile and a nod. “We’re from Clan Donald. Do you know how you got here to Islay?”

"Hello,” she greeted them. “I was aboard a ferry," Wendy explained, her voice tinged with disbelief, “that’s a boat, back in the Puget Sound, which you of course have never heard of. Um, I come from a place far from here. Anyway, a man, well, I’m not sure if I can call him a man, he said he was Fae — pretty sure I believe him since he brought me here —” Wendy began, her thoughts all jumbled as she looked back up at Hamish who was grinning at her and lost her train of thought.

“A Fae? T’would nae be Dub Sith you speak of, would it?” he asked. “Did he have pale eyes, jet-black hair, and a scarred visage?"

“Yes, that’s who it was, and he did look like that.

Anyway, he asked me if I could help some friends of his in Islay when I met him, and I gave him my information, but a little while later there was some kind of accident with the ferry and I ended up underwater with no way out.

He offered me the chance to come here, and I took it. ”

“He asked for your help?” Hamish inquired, looking slightly confused.

"Initially yes. Though at the time I wasn’t aware he meant friends here in…

this particular place.” She shook her head.

She’d almost said in the past, which might not be a good idea, considering they might think she was a witch or something.

She tried to watch what she said as she wrapped her head around everything that had happened.

“Anyway, I agreed to come and help with some kind of problem with some Fae creatures, and now I wonder if the kelpie was the creature in question.”

"Aye, you could have the right of it, lass. The kelpie is at the heart of the turmoil we face. Tis a creature as treacherous as the depths of the loch it inhabits." Hamish sighed.

“Then you must be the friends Dub Sith spoke of,” Wendy said with a smile. “If I can be of help, I’ll do what I can, but you’ll need to tell me more of what the problem is.”

“Aye, we’d much appreciate your help, if you are able. That can wait though. You must be tired from your journey here. Traveling into the distant past must be wearing on a body.” Hamish offered his hand to her.

Wendy gave him a startled look and he dropped his hand. “You know about that?”

“Aye, lass. You are nae the first to have been brought here by Dub Sith from the future. He seems to enjoy picking you lasses up from a place far from here and dropping you into the heart of our troubles.”

“There are other women from the future here?” Wendy was shocked. “Where are they?”

"At the Fort. Fort Donald, the home of our clan. Would you like to ride with me?”

Wendy looked from him to the other men and the horses. Could she trust him? She bit her lip as she contemplated what she should do. She was out in the middle of nowhere, dressed in twenty-first century attire, and she didn’t know her way from here to literally anywhere at the moment.

With a deep breath, she accepted Hamish's outstretched hand. “All right, I suppose since I trusted Dub Sith enough to travel back in time to seventeenth century Scotland, I can trust you to get me to this Fort Donald on horseback.”

Hamish laughed. “That’s the spirit, lass.”