The Wellspring (Kaitlyn and the Highlander #12) - Diana Knightley Page 0,103

Bidets.”

“Well, it sounds like you’ve thought this all through. Soda, check. Bidet, check. Yep, you’re ready.”

A wisp of my hair blew across my eyes, I pulled it away and tucked it behind my ear. “I know. I think everything through. Now he just needs to come home so I can talk to him about it.”

An image floated through my mind: poking my head from the tent. Magnus, crouching beside the fire, a pot of coffee on, his wide shoulders stretching his linen shirt. He smiled, the corner of his eyes crinkling for me. Did ye wake mo reul-iuil?

I did, I’m waking my love.

Yes…

Aye.

Fifty-nine - Magnus

I was folded over the chest on the back of the horse, sliding in and out of consciousness, seein’ visions — one, Fraoch tryin’ tae get the half sticks of the tent tae form a long stick tae thread through the tent fabric.

James weakly called out instructions. “No, no, that’s the end for the front flap, no, put that in the pocket. Argh, this is frustrating. My arm is totally dislocated.”

I was too weak tae raise my head, but forced out the words, “Where are…?”

Fraoch said, “Far enough away tae hide.”

I weakly said, “We hae tae jump.”

Fraoch said, “Nae, we canna, we will hae tae wait until ye are well enough. Ye art in nae condition.”

I drifted unconscious, but woke up tae the world when James screamed. My sight was blurry but Fraoch was twistin’ James’s arm. “Daena scream, ye arna a bairn, ye must allow me tae—”

James groaned, yelled, “Fuck!” Then sat up and moved his arm in a small circle. “That’s going to hurt in the morning.” He tore a strip of fabric from a shirt in our bag, wrapped it around his back so it held his arm tae his side, and then helped Fraoch finish setting up the tent.

Then they turned their attention tae me. Fraoch pulled the metal chest from my lap and placed it inside the tent and then removed the bag from m’shoulder. Then he made me drop down intae his arms. He groaned when I landed on him. “Och ye are a sack of trouble.”

I weakly joked, “I am trying tae rescue the world.”

“Aye and ye are doin’ naethin’ but sleep through it. Tis a travesty. What kind of hero sleeps on his horse?”

“A broken hero.”

He lugged me tae the tent and deposited me ontae the ground.

James knelt beside me and used the little machine he brought tae check m’pulse. He frowned, unscrewed the lid on a bottle, and passed me two pills. “Take these. I think you’ll be able to move in the morning.”

“Ye think?” asked Fraoch.

James said, “What do I know? I’m a contractor with a first aid class I took two years ago. It didn’t cover heart craziness due to time travel and sword fights over a king’s throne. The basic lesson was that you need to reduce stress. How the hell do you reduce stress in this guy? But you have to, sound good?”

“Aye, I will reduce m’stress as soon as I kill the man who is threatening m’family.”

“I don’t think that’s the way this is going to work. Your heart is saying, ‘Slow the fuck down, now,’ so you’re going to have to sit here in this tent until you’re de-stressed enough to move and then you’ll need to move somewhere safe where you can de-stress even longer.”

“I canna de-stress if I daena ken if m’family is surviving.”

Fraoch chimed in with, “Ye canna find out if yer family is survivin’ if ye daena survive.”

I fell asleep again. I woke up tae hear Fraoch and James conversing about me. James saying, “I have to go back and tell Katie, she made me promise.”

Fraoch’s words, “I ken but…”

I slept some more.

When I woke up in the morn the tent was cold and empty. I tried to raise m’self, but felt too weak.

I called, “Master James, Fraoch?”

Fraoch unzipped the door and stuck his head in. He looked wild, a smile within his long beard. His hair unkempt. Over his shoulder was a sliver of the Scottish sky and in through the door the chill of a Highland winter. “Aye, Og Maggy, hae ye awaken finally?”

“Ye are on watch? Where is Master James?”

“I want ye tae ken, ye canna fight me. Ye hae been half-dead and we had tae make decisions on yer welfare.”

“Och, what did ye do?”

“James has gone tae bring Kaitlyn tae ye. He promised her he would if ye had any trouble. Ye ken