Page 13 of Treachery in the Highlands
"You came from New York City," she says as if she's not sure she knows how to pronounce the name."Now, tell me about the trouble you got yourself into."
"Let's just say I got mixed up with the wrong crowd back in New York.Thought I could handle it, but..."I trail off, not wanting to relive those memories.
"Och, ye poor laddie."
Rachel moves closer.Too close.The scent of her turns me, but the way her bodice pushes the mounds of her tits up might just turn me into a rampaging animal.She's hot, yes.But there's something else about her, something I can't quite describe, that makes me want to pull her into my arms and rip that bodice open.
Rachel stretches her hand out to me, nearly touching my shoulder before she seems to think better of it.Her blue eyes search mine."Ye've been through the ringer, haven't ye?"
I shrug, trying to play it cool even while eying the concoction she's been working on."It's nothing I couldn't have handled before I fell through some kind of weird whirlpool.Things are different now, way different."I peer down at her vials."What exactly are you brewing there, anyway?Some kind of truth serum?"
Rachel laughs, and the musical sound enchanting."Nothing so sinister, I assure ye.'Tis a potion to help anchor ye to our time.Without it, ye might just slip right back to yer own century."
"Wait, you're serious?This isn't some elaborate prank?"
"I'm afraid not, Joey," Rachel says."You have truly traveled through time, and now you're here in seventeenth century Scotland.Though I cannae say how or why just yet.Someone must have thrown you into this world for a reason, whether it was nefarious or not."
"What if I'm stuck here?"
She shrugs one shoulder."I'm fair certain ye will adapt.Ye dinnae seem like the sort who would simply lie down and die."
Rachel continues to stir her concoction."And as for being stuck, well, that remains to be seen.First, we need to stabilize your presence here."
Finally, she lifts the mortar, which is now filled with a swirling, iridescent liquid.Then she commands me to "drink this" while holding it out to me.
I squirm at the sight of the orangish liquid."Uh, no offense, but I'm not in the habit of drinking mystery brews offered to me by strangers.Not even beautiful ones."
She gives me an exasperated look, shaking her head.
I gaze down at the mystery brew that still faintly bubbles.This must be an alternate universe, but I guess I'd better get used to it.
Chapter Six
Rachel
I roll my eyes at Joey."Och, ye daft man.If I wanted to harm ye, I'd have left ye to drown in the moat.Now drink up before ye fade away entirely."
"And if I don't swallow your witch's brew?"
"Then ye might find yourself slipping back through time, perhaps to somewhere in the middle of a Viking raid---or worse.Is that what ye prefer?"
I cannae hold back my exasperation.Joey is behaving in a quite uncooperative and ungrateful manner.
He scrunches up his face."Uh...no, I guess?"
I release my frustration with a blustering sigh.Joey Finnegan is the most obstinate man I have ever met.Well, after Alisdair MacLeod, that is.But I dinnae want to think about thatcacanright now.Aye, Alisdair is a wee shit, despite being quite large.
Joey folds his arms over his chest."About that MacTaggart book of magic...has anyone tried to find it?"
I roll my eyes and huff."Do ye think MacTaggarts are stupid?Aye, every generation has hunted for the book, but it's gone.Or mayhap hidden by a cloaking spell at the bottom of a well.An evil witch stole it, according to the legend.But who knows what the truth might be?"
"Sorry.I didn't mean to offend you.Just thought I might be able to help."
He gives up on conversation and instead picks at the blanket on the bed.
I've just bent over to sniff my potion, inhaling deeply and smiling as the steam washes over me, when I notice Joey staring at my bodice.
"What's the bother now, Mr.Finnegan?"
