Donna Fletcher Short Story Collection (14 page)

Ali went to her daughter. “Heed Aunt Sydney’s
words well for she has protected you from all but the sands of
time. Only the most powerful of witches can do that.”

“Don’t worry, Mom, it’s a mere mortal
Halloween party and there’s always Aunt Tempest and Uncle Michael
to rescue us.” And with that and a tinkling laugh Jade grabbed
Alex’s hand and rushed them both out of the room.

She was tired of all the dire warnings. It
was All Hallows Eve and she wanted to enjoy herself with her mortal
friends. There was time enough to celebrate with family. Tonight
was hers to enjoy.

~~~

Jade was bored. It hadn’t taken long, though
it was nearing midnight that she finally in desperation gave in and
admitted to herself that she should have listened to her family and
remained home to celebrate this night with them. All this merriment
with outrageous costumes, bubbling cauldrons, creepy music may fit
mortals’ idea of Halloween but it was a far cry from how true
witches celebrated.

The change of each season was a cause of
celebration for witches, but the autumn, Samhain, could easily be
called the season of the witch. To Jade it was the most magical of
festivals, a time when all manner of creatures were free to walk
the earth, to drink of life and welcome the New Year. Rituals,
spells, chants and special treats were all part of the fun and joy
she had experienced with her family on Samhain.

And that’s where she wanted to be, with her
family, with her kind... with witches.

“Ready to go home?” Jade turned, happy that
Alex felt the same as she did, but no one stood behind her. She
gave a cursory glance around the room, it not being hard to spot
her cousin in a crowd.

He stood a distance from her, though when
their eyes met he immediately left the beautiful woman he was
speaking with and walked toward her. She could tell he was just as
ready as she was to go home.

“It is time.”

She gave a quick glance behind her, and there
stood a woman dressed as so many portrayed witches today... like an
old hag.

“An apple?” the woman asked with a hackling
laugh and shoved the shiny red fruit into Jade’s hand and wandered
off.

Jade shook her head, how so not original to
copy the scene in Snow White. She looked once again to Alex who
hurried toward her. Was that worry she saw on his face?

Something was wrong. As soon as he reached
her, he grabbed her arm and rushed her out of the house.

“We need to get out of here,” Alex
warned.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“The sands of time shift and it’s a powerful
shift, which means someone of great power emerges or looks to
capture someone. We don’t want to be caught in it,” Alex said. “We
leave the car and transport. Whatever you do don’t let go of my
hand.”

Jade and he had transported many times
together so there was no worry that they could do it. They hurried
to the small wooded area across the street. With each step Jade
felt her legs grow heavy, her arms weak almost as if she was
disconnecting from her body.

She thought she heard Alex yell to her but
she couldn’t be sure. She grew dizzy, the apple slipping from her
hand. She could barely stand and wanted to reach out to her cousin
for help but couldn’t feel her arms. And then suddenly, as if she
took a wrong step, she was falling, tumbling down into an abyss.
Down, down, down she went, darkness consuming her until there was
nothing.

~~~

Jade groaned and opened her eyes slowly. The
mist still swirled around her and beneath was solid earth,
blanketed with crunchy leaves from the feel and sound of it. Had
Alex transported them to the woods beyond her house?

She sat up with a start ready to admonish her
cousin for an uncomfortable transport when a wave of dizziness hit
her and she plunked her hands flat on the ground at her sides to
stable her balance.

What in the world had Alex done? Sudden
transports could leave one lightheaded, top that off with being
dumped in the middle of the woods—good Goddess—she hoped not and
that could very well be the reason for her discomfort. Plus the
thought of finding her way out of the forest in the dark of night
was far from appealing. Not that she was unfamiliar with the area,
she had grown up playing in these woods and as she matured,
learning all they had to teach.

Jade got slowly to her feet, the mist almost
evaporated, and looked about at her surroundings. The waning moon
provided little light and made it all the harder to determine where
she had landed.

“Alex,” she called out and heard her strong
voice echo in the woods. When no answer came, she tried again and
when she tried the third time and was met again with silence,
concern rushed through her.

Had he been hurt in transport? They had
separated during the process, unusual for them. They had always
transported together hand-in-hand and never had difficulty reaching
their destination. So this separation was the first for them and to
her most unnerving.

Her only recourse was to begin to find her
way home and hope that she met with Alex along the way. She took a
fortifying breath and was about to take her first step when she saw
a figure about to emerge from the last of the dissipating mist, a
short distance away.

She smiled when she saw the outline of a man
dressed in what she was certain was a Highlander plaid. It had to
be Alex. Her relief and smile quickly faded as the man came into
view.

Jade caught her breath at the sight of him.
His costume, the Highlander plaid far surpassed Alex’s. The
stranger fit it as if he was born to it. Her cousin may be a hunk,
but this man was... all male. He was a good looking man. His
features were strong and not only caught the eye but kept it,
valleys and ridges and even a sprinkle of wrinkles defined him a
man well experienced with life and proud of it. His looks were so
intriguing that Jade could not take her eyes off him, especially
his intense dark eyes. His long auburn hair wasn’t bad either. It
fell passed his shoulders with a braid hanging down along either
side of his head.

But whatever was he doing dressed in a
costume on Wainwright property?

He approached her with such confident strides
that she almost took a step back, but she didn’t. She stood firm
where she was, though she admitted to herself that he did
intimidate, not something she ever experienced before.

“What manner of garment do you wear?” he
demanded.

Two things caught her attention; his superior
attitude and his Scottish brogue with his strange manner of speech,
as if he were from another time and place.

The thought jolted her. Was it possible?
Could the sands of time have captured her and transported
her...

Good Goddess, where was she?

“Do you hear me woman?”

“I hear you just fine, and watch how you
speak to me,” she snapped, intending to present a façade of courage
while her legs turned weak.

“Then answer me,” he said approaching her.
“Your garments are strange; your tongue foreign.”

She certainly couldn’t deny that. But instead
of answering she was about to question when he rushed forward,
grabbed her around the waist, hefted her up against his side and
hurried into the woods. They hadn’t gone far when he stopped
abruptly, wrapped his body protectively around hers as he squeezed
them passed a thicket of bushes and then with his mouth so close to
hers she swore he intended to kiss her, he whispered,
“Silence.”

Stunned by how easily and so thoughtfully he
had shielded her with his body, she did as ordered without
question.

“The witch travels this way,” a man called
out.

Jade tensed in the Highlander’s arms and he
drew her closer more protectively against his body. He was thick
with muscle and so very warm. And damn if she didn’t like his
scent, a favorite of hers, though not found on modern men; pine and
earth.

She hadn’t realized how chilled she was until
now with his warm body chasing her shivers. Oddly enough, she
actually felt safe with this stranger and rested comfortably
against him.

“Can you not smell her? It’s a sweet
sickening stench.”

Jade realized then that it was her perfume
they smelled and the two men who had spoken had thick brogues and
far from modern speech. And she’d be a fool not to admit that she
was no longer home or in her time. But where exactly was she? And
more importantly how did she get home?

“We need to find the witch,” a third voice
chimed in and Jade wondered just how many men made up the search
party.

“And get the spell off young Margaret that
has left her all befuddled. Soon it will spread to others.”

“Not if we set the witch to fire,” said one
man who had already spoken.

Jade tensed again. Had she landed in the
burning times? She titled her head back to look up at the
Highlander hoping that perhaps she could sense something or perhaps
see something, her skill as a seer just beginning to develop.

His mouth came down on hers fast and hard,
taking command of a kiss that sent her legs trembling and her
stomach fluttering. This Highlander sure could kiss and for several
moments she got lost in it.

Finally, when he brought it to an end leaving
her dazed, he said with a smile, “A good way to silence you,
woman.”

She punched him in the chest, not that it did
a bid of good. She hurt her hand rather than him, though it was her
pride that suffered the blow more. He kissed her not because he
wanted to, but to keep her silent. “I had no intentions of
speaking.”

“And yet you do.”

She snickered. “I’m not some dim-witted
woman. You speak therefore it must be safe to talk once more.”

“Then what do you have to say for yourself?”
he demanded.

“Let me go,” she said pronouncing the three
words as if he was hard of hearing or he lacked understanding
her.

He laughed, which irritated her all the
more.

“You will let me go,” she said more
firmly.

“When I am ready.”

“And when will that be?” she asked, knowing a
spell could easily resolve her problem but reluctant to use it on
him, though why she didn’t know.

“When you tell me what manner of woman you
are.”

“Whatever do you mean?” she asked knowing
full well what he implied. She did not fit in this place or time.
And she couldn’t agree more, though she would dare not admit it, at
least not yet.

He gave a sharp snap of his head and quickly
pressed a finger to her lips. She wished it were his lips instead
and the thought disturbed her. Whatever was the matter with her? In
all likelihood he was a Highlander warrior from the 1600s, far from
a modern man. And while there was a certain appeal to him, perhaps
an elemental, savage quality, it certainly was one that could never
endure the test of time.

She once again remained silent realizing that
no doubt the search party was returning or another followed in
their path.

After several minute passed without a sound
she looked at him questionably.

He bent down and to her surprise stole a
quick kiss and with a strong hook of his arm around her waist he
had them out from the bushes and on their way, in a different
direction then the search party.

She tried to fashion some type of story to
tell him if he should ask again what manner of dress she wore. She
wanted to be ready for him. She also wondered if her family was
aware by now of what happened and how long before they could locate
her.

Aunt Tempest and Uncle Michael were due to
join the holiday celebration soon after Jade had left for the
party, another reason her parents probably hadn’t wanted her to go.
But she had visited with her aunt and uncle and their twin boys not
long ago in Scotland and had been looking forward to seeing them
after the party. Now it would be up to them to rescue her, for only
they possessed the power to do so.

That was if Alex made it home, or had he been
lost in time along with her? No, he hadn’t responded when she had
called out to him because he wasn’t here with her. He was home
where they both should be this very moment. Where she desperately
wished she could be.

Jade almost tripped for the third time, her
thin high heels not good for the woodsy terrain, and the Highlander
grabbing tight hold of her and preventing her fall each time. Until
finally... he stopped, plopped her down on a rotting stump, swiped
her shoes off her feet and tossed them into the woods.

She thought he would demand to know about
what manner of dress she wore again, but he didn’t. He grabbed her
around the waist and all but carried her along with him, her bare
feet barely touching the ground.

Jade wanted to know where he was taking her
but she had little chance to ask, little chance to do anything but
go along with him. Naturally she was nervous, but there were always
her abilities to call on if necessary, though she much preferred
not to. She did not want this Highlander to know she was a
witch.

It wasn’t long before they came upon a small
cottage that looked in need of repair. With the sky darkening
overhead and thunder rumbling in the distance, Jade was relieved
they would have shelter.

He hurried her inside just as the first
raindrop splattered on the ground and after giving her a gentle
shove inside and securing the latch, he turned.

“Now that I have saved a witch, you belong to
me?”

~~~

“I am not a witch and I most certainly do not
belong to you,” Jade said adamantly, her cheeks burning red with
anger, an annoying trait she wished she could avoid.

“How can you deny who you are?” His glance
ran over her much too intimately. “Only a witch would dare wear
such an indecent garment and for one reason only... to entice a man
to his doom.”