She had seen a few men on horses just before she passed out and imagined in horror that she had stumbled into some sort of bizarre anachronistic Scottish man-cult with a penchant for damsels in distress.
Lily shut her eyes to fight off the wave of nausea that washed over her at that thought. Keep it together, Lily, she thought. You ’ve seen enough news magazine shows to know that you have to play along with nuts like this. You just need time to think. If only there weren ’t a hammer pounding away in your skull.
She mustered her best captive-girl voice and asked sweetly, “Do you have any Advil or aspirin? My head is killing me.”
Wrong question. That set Ewen off. “You silly lass! You ’ll be taken for either a witch or a lunatic unless you keep your mouth shut. Only three people know who you are. My grandfather took Robert as his ward after he fell through that cursed maze. And now Robbie, my uncle, and I remain the only ones who know the truth of it.”
His voice held a note of admiration as he continued, “It was only the wisdom of my grandfather what spared him. A lad near grown, and a stranger at that, kything out of the sky and onto a glen in Letterfinlay.”
Robert also had a run-in with that hideous maze? Gram’s lullaby popped once again into her head. “Upon Letterfinlay soil he did land, Claiming he came from a future grand…” She didn’t understand what was going on. Did they actually know that song? For a fleeting moment, Lily thought maybe she was going crazy, or that she had found herself in the past, or had even been there all along. She shook her head—time travel was a thing of fantasy. These men were clearly deluded and apparently had the money to pursue their fetish.
“Do not disregard Gormshuil,” Robert said. “She too has a comprehensive knowledge of my tale. ”
“Aye lad” exasperation flickered a moment in Ewen ’ — s eyes “the witch Gormshuil knows your story as well. ”— He once again pinned Lily with that dark blue gaze. “Now lass, listen to me. You’re no longer in your own time, and I don’t know what we’re to do with you, and with that strange accent. ”
“Look who’s talking,” Lily mumbled. Her joke to herself was rewarded with a viselike grip on the chin.
“Mind me,” he snarled. “You must remain quiet until we can figure out how to explain you. First, where are you from? What languages do you speak?”
“Get your hand off me. ” Lily jerked her chin away. “Would you like a list of my hobbies and interests as well?
Turn-ons: walks in the park, turn-offs: mean people. ” She shot him a pointed look.
“Look, I appreciate your help, but really, I ’m fine now. I’d just like to get back to my cottage. ”
The men glowered in silence, so Lily answered the original question. “I ’m from California. I studied a bit of French in high school, does that count?”
“You mean to tell me that you don ’t speak any other languages?”
“Surely you’ve studied Latin,” Robert interjected.
Ewen cut him off. “You’re from …where?”
“You know, the United States. America. The US of A. ”
The silence continued.
“Oh, I get it, would you rather I refer to them as the colonies?”
“Ah. ” Understanding registered on Ewen’s face. “But I fear that won ’t do. You’ll have to be from France, then. A horrible accident befell you on your journey and impaired your memory. That will gain us some time. And, if you run across one with the French tongue, well, we’ll just have to claim you as a wee daft in the head. ”
Lily’s fury didn ’t have time to manifest itself before she heard a quiet scratching at the door. He turned to her, “Quick lass, what ’s your name?”
“Lily. Lily Hamlin. ”
“No. From this day forward, you ’re Lily Cameron. And keep your silence.”
The men regained their composure and, in his sweetest voice, the blond said, “Come.” Lily could’ve sworn she caught Ewen rolling his eyes.
The door creaked open to reveal a small, hunched woman in a long, bibbed skirt and bonnet carrying a tray of food. Lily’s stomach rejoiced at the thought of some nourishment. She didn’t know how many meals she’d missed, and she would need energy if she was to figure out how to get the hell out of there.
She studied the woman with the tray. As she approached, Lily realized that she must only be in her late forties, even though at first glance she ’d looked much older and more haggard. Lily hoped that she wouldn’t be expected to wear a ridiculous costume like this woman ’s. Her long, tan -colored skirt was made of a coarse material and looked
the worse for wear. A yellow and blue tartan shawl was cinched around the woman’s shoulders and more than compensated for the dull color of the skirt. Lily could see bare feet peeking out from underneath and thought despairingly that it would be hard to make an escape wearing such a long skirt.
“Lochiel, Master Robert, I came to check on the miss and brought a spot of food. ”
So the blond’s name is Robert, Lily thought. And “Lochiel” must be a term of address for the one named Ewen.