Page 13 of A Promise Through Time

“Don’t worry. There are many here who will help ye,” Wallace assured her, holding her hands. His kind eyes held her gaze almost willing her to relax.

One of the handsome men was walking towards them. He was quite tall with long black hair and even from a distance she could see his amazing blue eyes. She straightened her dress and checked her hair as he approached. “Wallace, welcome! I see ye’ve brought us another lass. I assume she’s been sent by Edna.”

“Ye assume correctly, sir. This is Tina. She is the sister to Elle.” He released one hand as he presented her to this gorgeous man. Her breath caught in her throat as she tried to speak.

“Ah. Ye do resemble her. How is our Hamish?” the man asked.

“He’s great,” Tina said, finally finding her voice.

“Pardon my rudeness, I should introduce myself. I be Robert Mackenzie, laird of the clan. We’ve many a lass from yer time here with us. I imagine ye’ll be wanting to speak with them.”

“I’d like that,” Tina responded.

“Well, come with me, lass.” He held his arm out for her to take. “Thank ye, Wallace. Mary will be pleased to see ye.”

Wallace bowed to Robert and turned to Tina. “Good luck to ye, lass.”

“Thank you, Wallace. You were wonderful company,” she said, truly meaning every word of it.

He turned and walked away leaving her feeling a bit awkward and nervous. How lucky was she? Robert wasn’t only handsome, he was the laird.

“Shall we?” Robert asked.

She blushed and nodded. Robert led her through the heavy doors and into an expansive room, which she imagined was the great hall Edna had told her about. A beautiful dark-haired woman met them and Robert introduced her.

“This is me wife, Irene,” he said.

Tina’s heart sank. She’d been mistaken. Robert was already taken. “Tina,” she said, holding her hand out to Irene.

Irene took her hand and patted it as she held it. “Welcome to Breaghacraig,” she said.

“Thank you.”

“Irene, Edna sent her. She’s Elle’s sister,” Robert explained.

She hadn’t even been here five minutes and she was already back to being Elle’s sister. Some things never changed.

“Will ye get Ashley? She’s with the children upstairs,” Irene said.

“Of course,” Robert said, leaving Tina’s side. “I’ll send her right down.”

“Come, sit,” Irene said

Tina was too nervous to sit right away, so she took a moment to ground herself by looking around the room. The hearth was larger than any she’d ever seen in her life. The opening was as tall as she was. Over the top was a beautiful tapestry of mostly greens and golds, but with many other colors throughout. It depicted the castle in the center surrounded by water on one side and trees on the other. Birds were sprinkled here and there in the sky over the water and seated in the trees. Several ornate wooden chairs were placed in a semi-circle around the hearth, where a small fire burned. She tried to keep her mind from wandering to how crazy this all was. Maybe she’d made a mistake. It might not be too late to find Wallace and have him take her back to the bridge.

“Are ye hungry?” Irene asked, interrupting her muddled thoughts.

“No. Wallace and I ate not too long ago. He’s very nice,” she felt herself beginning to babble and tried to get a grip on herself. “How many women from my time are there here?”

“Let’s see. There’s Ashley, Jenna, Sophia, and Sara. I think that’s all of them,” she laughed. Tina spun in her seat to look at her, surely she didn’t hear her right. That many modern women had chosen to live in the past?

“Are they all married to men they met here?” she asked.

“Aye. They’ll tell ye all about it. Ye seem nervous,” Irene observed.

“I guess I’m not doing a very good job of hiding it, am I.” She rested her hand on her belly, feeling sick.

“If I were in yer shoes, I’d be much the same,” Irene assured her.