Jack instead scoffed as he eyed her. “It’s 1650,” he answered. “How is it that ye dinnae ken this?”
Isla forgot to breathe for a second, and as the implication of his answer sunk in, she lowered her face into her hands and burst into uncontrollable laughter that lasted a second before it turned to tears streaming down her cheeks.
* * *
Jack stared at her, his mouth agape and his brain in confusion.What do I do? Why is she sobbing? How did one laugh and then sob at the same time?
This woman had clearly hit her head badly during the attack with the brigands.
He didn’t understand this woman. First off, she was dressed in a strange way, and it seemed as if she had completely lost her mind or perhaps her memory.
Either way she was crying now, and he was moved with the intense urge to console her. Jack didn’t want to react to the push inside him to go to her, but in the end, he couldn’t ignore it, so he gently brought his hands to her back, and started to gently stroke her.
“How is this possible?” she sobbed and murmured, “How am I here? It’s not right, I can’t be here.”
“Where are ye ought to be?” he asked before he could stop himself. Jack didn’t think that he needed to concern himself with her matters.
He should be on his way. He had saved her life, so he should let her continue her path, but somehow, his heart wouldn’t let him do that.
She raised her head and stared at him with her teary eyes. Her green gaze was hypnotizing. It drew him in and sent a myriad of emotions through him. Jack was left breathless by the intensity and shock of what he was feeling, so he decided to put some distance between him and the woman.
“I973,” she answered in the same whispering tone. “I live in 1973… I am… my friends,” she stammered, then pressed her lips together and continued crying again.
Jack didn’t think he heard her right at first, but it suddenly dawned on him what she was saying, so he arched a brow.
“1973,” she repeated before she drew away from him. “I was at the fair in Birlet Shallows in 1973, and I was—”
Jack didn’t let her finish before he burst into a fit of laughter that tickled his sides. He didn’t stop laughing for the next few seconds while she stared at him.
She’s either insane or a witch.He didn’t want to entertain this madness any longer, so he forced his laughter down, and pressed his lips into a thin line.
“I’m heading for my Castle now,” he said, then turned away from her to walk away.
“Wait,” she called. Jack didn’t want to turn, but once again he couldn’t resist. “I am not insane, and I am not lying either. I speak the truth. I am from 1973.”
“Ye do realize ye are sayin’ that ye are from the future?” he asked her. “The people here will cast stones at ye if ye speak this madness elsewhere.”
“It is not madness,” she defended, then closed the distance between them with one large step. “I can prove it to you,” she continued. “I can tell you of your family’s lineage and what is to come after now.”
Jack felt the tendons of his neck tense, and the tight draw of his shoulders caused pain to spring to the back of his neck.
He was tense, his body poised like a bow on a string, and as he stared into her overly damp eyes, and listened to the tremors in her voice, his skin started to crawl with a creeping sensation.
“In year 1642, the late laird who would be your father died from an unknown illness and his wife shortly after. His first and only son—” she paused, then continued, “Jack Lyons inherits his Lairdship, but he also passes without any male heirs or any heir at all. The Lairdship passes on to his cousin, Aideen Lyons, who destroys the Clan and leads the Humphreys Clan into playing a vital role that will lead to the merger of Scottish islands and Highlands and England to form one kingdom known as the United Kingdom under the rule of Queen Anne.”
Jack kept staring at her as she rattled on. He didn’t understand some of the words she used, and what was that about a merger of Scotland and England?
She’s insane.
He stopped her by raising a hand and released a deep exasperated breath. “I cannae handle any of this,” he said as he shook his head. “Good luck findin’ yer fair and loch.”
Jack turned and started marching away, but the next sentence out of her mouth made him stop right in his tracks. “I ken of the Humphreys Clan’s secret passed on from generation to generation. The secret of Ardenhill and the treasures buried underneath the Humphreys Castle’s hill.”
Jack spun back around to her, and he saw that she wasn’t smiling.
“That secret is naythin’ but a myth,” he told her after a short laugh. “Ye have been listenin’ to many stories… perhaps from yer parents?”
“I do not listen to child stories, and this is not a joke. I mean it… some years from now the treasure will be found. It will be discovered and will be used against your Clan. It is the downfall of the Humphreys Clan. In a few years from now, even you will not be able to fight the rebellion coming.”