Page 4 of Wendy Meets the Highlander Hamish (Scottish Highlander I Never Knew #5)

A s Wendy, Hamish, and his brothers passed through the gate leading to the courtyard of Fort Donald, her jaw dropped. The place was huge and should have looked ancient, but somehow, it wasn’t.

“Hamish, why don’t you take the lass inside and introduce her to the Chief and the others, we’ll see to the horses,” Artair said as they dismounted outside of the stables.

“Aye, good thought,” Hamish replied.

Wendy’s eyes were wide as she gaped at everything going on in the courtyard.

There were guardsmen doing training, but it looked slightly odd, more like they were doing some sort of martial arts, which was completely out of place.

There was the stables, full of horses and people cleaning out stables and brushing down the horses.

In another section sat what could only be a blacksmith area with a huge forge where a man in a kilt that matched Hamish’s was hammering out a sword.

“I thought you were the blacksmith?” she said to him as he helped her down.

He chuckled. “Aye, I am, that’s our youngest brother Ewan. He’s my apprentice.”

“Oh,” Wendy replied, still stunned at everything going on here. Looking up she noticed there were guards on the walls, they were carrying quivers filled with arrows and had bows slung over their shoulders. “This place is incredible,” she murmured.

Hamish chuckled. “Come, lass. Let me introduce you to the Chief.”

He put his hand on her lower back and guided her to the stone steps that led up to some giant wooden doors.

He pulled the door opened and they stepped into the castle.

Wendy stood in the huge stone hallway, letting her eyes adjust to the dimmer light.

There were sconce with flaming torches on the walls, adding more light as the sunlight coming in the windows wasn’t enough to make it all the way down the hall.

There was a stone staircase that led up and around to the next floor, and then rooms off to both the left and right of them.

Hamish guided her along as she attempted to take it all in. He paused at a door and knocked, then opened it at the shout from inside.

“Chief? We’ve another visitor.”

The man behind the desk looked up. He had wavy auburn hair, that looked tousled. It fell in thick waves around his shoulders, giving him an air of ruggedness and allure. His bright blue eyes were deep and mesmerizing. He looked intelligent and had the bearing of a leader.

Standing, a smile crossed his face, making him seem friendlier. “Welcome to Fort Donald. I’m Chief Cam MacDonald and my wife is going to be thrilled to meet you.”

Wendy took his offered hand. “I’m Wendy Carson. Are you and Hamish related?” she looked between them.

“Aye, cousins.” Cam nodded. “Hamish, would you send for my wife?” he asked.

“O’course.” Hamish’s hand dropped from her back, and he turned toward the door again, stepping into that great hall for a moment.

“Why do you think your wife will want to meet me?” Wendy asked with curiosity.

Cam’s smile widened. “Because she’s like you. From the future.”

“Oh. Hamish did say there were others here. Where is she from?”

“A place called America. She traveled a lot, but she was in Memphis when she was brought here,” he said, but there was a slight hesitation in his words, like he was holding something back.

Before Wendy could ask the million questions that popped into her head, the door opened again, and Hamish returned with an athletic looking brunette with hazel eyes.

She was slightly shorter than Wendy and was dressed in a pair of wide pants with a top that wrapped crossways at her waist. It wasn’t typical attire for a woman, or for anyone in this time period she thought, but somehow suited her.

As soon as the woman’s gaze met Wendy’s her entire face lit up.

“Jen, this is Wendy Carson. Wendy, my wife, Lady Jen MacDonald.”

“Hi, welcome to Fort Donald. I bet you’ve got a million questions,” she said as she pulled Wendy into a hug.

Wendy laughed. “Maybe only a half million. I can’t believe I’m here, let alone someone else from the US. Your husband said you were in Memphis when Dub Sith brought you here. He gets around, doesn’t he?” She shook her head. “I was on a ferry in the Puget Sound.”

“Isn’t that near Seattle?” Jen asked. “I spent some time there, great city.”

Wendy nodded. “It is. I lived in Seattle. I was on my way to Vashan Island when something happened to the ferry, and I was going to end up drowning.”

“Well that sucks. Did you chose to come here?” she asked.

Wendy hesitated. “Sort of? I mean he did tell me he was bringing me to Islay, and it would be the seventeenth century, but it was more of a he could save my life by bringing me here or I could drown. Wasn’t much of a choice, you know?

But I think he must have intended to ask me to come and was just working up to it. ”

“What do you mean?” Cam asked.

“Oh, well he saw my notes, I’m writing a book—” she stopped and frowned.

“I was writing a book on the supernatural, the Fae and all that. You know, myths and legends, that sort of thing. I had drawn a picture of a kelpie, and he commented on it. Told me he had friends that needed help and thought maybe I was the one who could. After talking to Hamish I’m pretty sure he meant all of you. ”

“Yeah, I’d say that’s a safe bet,” Jen agreed.

“So what’s your story? How come he brought you and how’d you end up married to him?” Wendy pointed to Cam who chuckled.

Jen told her how she’d been at her dad’s funeral when Dub Sith approached her and offered her what she thought was a martial arts fight. He’d brought her here, she met Cam, fell in love and now got to live with him in this amazing place.

“So I did see those guards doing martial arts!” Wendy pointed toward the courtyard.

Jen laughed. “You did. When I got here, I was attacked by some bandits, used my skills, and impressed Cam.” She winked at him. “I’ve been teaching them all I know ever since.”

“That’s crazy.” Wendy giggled and then stopped short. “Wait, won’t that mess with the time continuum or something? Won’t we? I mean just by being here we’re changing history, aren’t we?”

“Maybe?” Jen replied. “However, maybe we were always meant to come back here and the future that happens, takes place because we came back, at least that’s how we’ve looked at it. You’re the fifth one to show up, so I don’t think us being here is going to change too much.” She shrugged.

“And Dub Sith was right. If you’ve got knowledge of these kelpie creatures that could help us, we’d appreciate it, lass,” Cam said.

Jen looked at him and frowned. “How about we get her some food and let her rest before we toss her into the loch to deal with those creatures?”

Cam chuckled. “Right you are, love. Why donnae you see to her, get her a room, some food and proper attire, while I talk with Hamish about what he discovered today?”

Jen nodded. “Perfect.” She moved into his arms and kissed him. “I’ll see you later.”

“What is it you say?” Cam gave her a teasing look. “Tis a date.”

Jen laughed and turned back to Wendy. “Let’s go, I’ll give you a quick tour for now, and we’ll do a more thorough one later.”

Wendy nodded but before she followed Jen out of the room she turned to Hamish.

“Thanks for bringing me here. You might have even saved me from that kelpie, now that I think about it. I might have tried to pet it if you hadn’t shown up.

And thanks for telling me all about this place and what’s been going on. ”

Hamish’s piercing gray eyes met hers and he smiled. “Twas my pleasure, lass. My duty after all.”

Wendy’s brow furrowed. She’d thought there might be something between them.

She’d felt an instant attraction to him and had thought he’d felt the same, but with him saying it was his duty, now she wondered if maybe he wasn’t as attracted to her as she’d thought.

She arched her brow and said, “Was it merely duty, Hamish, or is there something more? Because I kinda thought there was. You’re not involved with someone are you? Married?”

Hamish met her gaze, a hint of intrigue dancing in his eyes.

He leaned forward slightly, as if to share a private confidence.

"Wendy, lass, I won't deny that I find you quite intriguing. But as a member of the Donald Clan, tis my duty to assist anyone in need, especially those who find themselves in such a perplexing situation. An’ nae, I am nae married, nor am I involved with anyone.”

Wendy studied him a moment and then gave him a nod as she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. “Good to know. I’ll see you later, I hope.”

He smiled and there was a distinct twinkle in his gray eyes. “I hope you settle in well, lass."

Jen was waiting for her in the hall and when she joined her, Jen said, “I saw Sally a moment ago and told her you’d arrived.

She’s preparing a bedchamber for you and I’m having her bring up a meal as well.

You’re probably not going to want to eat in the dining hall tonight, it might be a bit overwhelming. ”

“Okay, does everyone here know about us? I mean is it just taken for granted that time travel is real or what?”

“Nearly everyone at Fort Donald is aware. We’re all family and the Donald Clan is allies with the Fae. There are those outside of the family though that don’t know, and we can’t let them in on it. So we tell them we’ve come from a small town in the south of England.”

“That makes sense, but why England? We don’t sound English to them, do we?”

Jen shrugged. “We just tell them everyone from our area talks like us.” She laughed. “People here don’t travel beyond Scotland’s borders, let alone Islay, and we rarely get visitors from anywhere outside of Scotland, so it’s not really a problem.”

“So who might I need to be aware of that I can’t tell?” Wendy asked as they walked.