Page 53 of Only a Breath Away

Lady Mairead narrowed her eyes. “WhereisJames Cook?”

We all looked at each other.

Quentin said, “Last I saw of him he was being dragged into the castle by Domnall.”

She said, “Magnus, when ye sensed Kaitlyn was near ye at Stirling, did ye sense James Cook?”

“Nae, but I dinna go tae the dungeons.”

Zach said, “Quentin, what was it James chiseled into the rock of his cell?”

Quentin said, “His initials and the year 1589.”

Lady Mairead said, “And that was the year James Cook traveled tae try and rescue Sophie. He is looping. Who would like tae attend me tae go keep James Cook from his madness?”

Hayley said, “What do you mean? He’s not there, he’s been in the thirteenth century, he’s somewhere else—”

“Nae, he is stuck, looping in the year 1589. This is what he is trying tae say.”

Fraoch said, “ I daena ken if I am followin’ this exactly. We ken we hae a bridge, we need tae use it at the banks where the time unraveled? We ought tae go tae the year 1589 and use it then?”

We nodded.

He said, “I see two issues. One, we daena ken what happens when we ‘use’ it, and is it painful?”

Quentin groaned. “The vessels are awful. The Trailblazer takes us to the brink of death. I figure using the Bridge to knit time must be really really excruciating.”

I nodded. “We daena ken what happens after we ‘use’ it. How does it bridge time? Does one time override the other? Or does it stitch taegether? I am a king in the year 1290, Kaitlyn is in Stirling Castle in the year 1290, held captive by Ormr and Domnall, yet we are not in the same time.”

Lady Mairead said, “I went tae the year 1290 and ye were nae king, twas a man named John Balliol.”

Quentin said, “And Ormr and Domnall are like fucking whack-a-moles, they keep disappearing and coming back in different places.”

“I daena ken what a whack-a-mole is but I agree with the sentiment.”

Zach said, “We totally need to take Boss to a fair. Put that on a list.”

Hayley said, “Katie is the one to keep the lists.”

Emma typed on the laptop. “I’m listing it for her.”

I nodded. “So if we bridge time, who is the king? Where does Kaitlyn turn up? Does she turn up? This might be the last time we…”

Colonel Quentin put his hand on m’shoulder. “Sorry boss, we have to hope that’s not the outcome.”

Chef Zach said, “We don’t know which timeline will be superior, which will overwrite the others— will people from one timeline be able to cross to the other? It’s like a conch shell of time, we could be all spiraling around, who’s on the spiral, who isn’t?”

Quentin said, “And also, I hate to say... maybe once the Bridge sets the timeline straight, the people who are out of time are... um, no longer with us... so it won’t, um... you know... matter.”

I said, “Before we use the Bridge we ought tae say goodbye tae those we love.”

Quentin let out a long breath. “Yeah, Boss, I agree.”

I stood and pulled m’sword from under the couch.

Lady Mairead said, “Notthisagain.”

“Nae, ‘not this again.’” I said, “We believe loopin’ caused the timeline tae unravel. We hae tae stop the looping afore we can use the Bridge, or else the timeline might unravel again. We are going tae the year 1589. Colonel Quentin we need guns, many guns and swords. Ye hae been there, what was the weather?”

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