Across Time Part 29

192 *193.

"Do as they wish," she said in their native tongue. "It is merely a body, Lachlan."

Lachlan stepped back, away from the slash of the harsh words, only to feel the tip of a sword in his back urging him forward. "No, Maeve,"

he said in ancient Gaelic. "I would rather die than harm you."

"Oh look," the commander said, bemused. "They're barking those ugly sounds they call language. Well then, Druid priestess, when he thrusts his magic wand into you, I want to hear your pleasure as well as your pain in the only civilized tongue. Do you understand?"

Maeve turned from an anguished Lachlan toward the commander.

"Civilized men do not pervert their souls with the likes of this entertainment."

The commander sneered at her. "Get on with it, priestess, or your man will feel the bite of a sword before he can feel the bite of your womanness."

Lachlan's eyes pleaded with her. "I-can-not."

Maeve stepped up to him and slapped his face. This brought a resounding cheer from the soldiers. As they filled the air with their roaring sounds, Maeve gritted her teeth and said, "Catie needs more time, Lachlan. Please, do as they command. We will live through this if you do as I say."

Lachlan's sorrow was replaced by surprise. "Cate? Oh, Maeve, she is so far away. Too far that even she cannot help us now."

Maeve's hand suddenly reached out and grabbed his neck. This, too, was well-received by the soldiers as they beat their swords against their shields. "Then, do as I command."

"Maeve-" Lachlan murmured. "I beg you."

She grabbed his face and pulled him to her. "Listen," she hissed in an even more ancient language only Druids spoke. "Can't you hear?"

She whispered loud enough to be heard over the shouting men. "Listen carefully. Listen with your nature spirit."

All Lachlan could hear was the sound of metal on metal and the blood rushing through his body.

"She's out there," she said, violently pushing him away, as if he disgusted her. The soldiers booed and hissed as Lachlan stumbled *

194 *195.

backward, nearly falling into the fire. Again, the sword prodded him forward. With a look of utter helplessness, he took an aggressive step toward Maeve, who nodded. "Trust me," she mouthed. "You'll not do me any harm."

"Maeve, do not be a fool," he said, digging his fingers into her shoulders. "It is not Cate. You delude yourself." For years, he had dreamt of being with Maeve, but this-this was nothing like his dreams. This was a nightmare. To force Maeve into accepting something from him that should be freely given and equally received was more than he could bear, and a small part of him knew it would irrevocably change their relationship if they were to live through this.

"You are a good man, my friend. This charade is almost over." Once again, she slapped him, sending him reeling backward.

"I'll not allow this one to touch me, Commander. Perhaps you would rather in his stead."

Before Lachlan could do anything more, a low rumble could be heard and the ground began to shake. The soldiers paused their metallic banging long enough to hear the first hooves of the approaching stampede. Glancing about, they immediately formed a blockade against the onslaught of whatever was coming.

Out of the lifting mist charged one hundred rampaging cows and bulls, knocking soldiers to the ground and crushing them beneath their hooves. This way and that, the cows charged, crushing shields and breaking dropped swords. In the center of the maelstrom, Maeve and Lachlan stood erect calmly watching as the soldiers, one-by-one, fell to the onrush of cattle that seemed to have no end. The Commander made a dash for his horse, stepping over his fallen soldiers, but when he reached the hitching post, all the horses were gone. Turning, he glared at Lachlan and Maeve, who went unharmed among the huge beasts as they rushed by them.

"Why do they not kill you?" he cried, shaking his sword at the two of them.

Lachlan stood tall. "We are Druids. Nature harms us not."

"We shall beat your kind event-" His final word was lost as the next dozen bulls knocked him over, and trampled him with their sharp *

194 *195.

hooves.

When the dust settled and the cattle had completely destroyed the makeshift camp, only Lachlan and Maeve stood alive among the eight corpses littering the woods. "She is here," Maeve whispered, smiling softly at Lachlan.

"Maeve, she is nearly a day's walk from here."

Maeve ignored him and started in the direction the cattle had come. "You're wrong. She's here. I know it."

And out of the mist she came, riding a small dappled mare that was breathing hard and sweating profusely. Sitting next to her on a tall amber-colored horse was Sean Finnegan who beamed broadly at the damage his beasts had done.

"Maeve!" Jumping off her horse, Cate ran to Maeve and embraced her so hard they nearly toppled over.

"Oh, Catie, I knew you'd come."

"Are you all right? Did they hurt you?" Cate looked at Maeve's torn dress and then pulled Maeve to her before she could respond. She wept, out of fear, out of a sense of relief, out of all the emotions that had been swimming inside her since she spoke with Jessie. She could not find any words, any at all, to express how she felt, so she just cried.

Finally, when Maeve could no longer breathe, she gently pulled away and brushed the tears from her face. "It's all right, now, Catie.

We're all right."

Nodding, Cate tried to compose herself. "I-it-Jessie-"

Maeve nodded slowly. "Ah, I see."

"In a dream, one of my memories of this awful event forced its way to her. She told me what was happening, so we grabbed what horses we could and rode all night."

Lachlan walked over and patted Cate on the back. "And thank the G.o.ddess you did. That was very brave of you to come through the forest at night, Cate McEwen. You continue to surprise me. Thank you for reaching us in time."

Cate blushed. Lachlan handed out very few compliments, so when he did, it was cherished. "You're welcome, Lachlan, but it wasn't me.

Well, it wasn't me acting alone. I had help. Without Jessie-"

196 *197.

Lachlan stared at her. "Jessie?"

Cate nodded. "She warned me. She saw this memory."

"But how could she have a memory of something you were not a part of?"

Maeve smiled knowingly. "It was not her memory. It was mine. Do not forget, Lachlan, that Cate and I are soul mates. I will tell Catie what happened to us here and thus, it will become part of her memory.

It was that 'memory' Jessie saw."

Lachlan shuddered. "And thank the G.o.ddesses she did."

Maeve quickly repaired her torn dress as best she could and glanced up to ask, "Were you able to get any of the information we need?"

Cate shook her head. "We were more concerned with saving you both from these Romans butchers." With a look of disdain, Cate glared at the crushed and b.l.o.o.d.y bodies on the ground. "We had no other choice but to tend to this first."

"It was a good choice, Cate," Lachlan said. Then, he turned to Sean and shook his hand. "Well met, Sean. If any of your animals are missing or injured, we will gladly pay you for them. Thank you, my friend."

Sean sat straighter in his saddle. "The b.l.o.o.d.y Romans will want to feast on the meat of my cows, but not if they are loose and run free. I had planned on letting them go when I heard the soldiers were near, but this was a far better use for them."

"We appreciate your sacrifice."

"It was my pleasure watching these pigs get trampled by cows.

Thank me not."

"How on earth did the two of you manage to stampede so many cattle?"

"I am not alone, Lachlan." On that note, twelve other Druids appeared as if by magic from various parts of the forest. "We herded them here with help from Sean. Once they were gathered, we prayed and I led a protection ritual. I knew you would be safe from harm."

"You performed a ceremony?" Lachlan asked.

Cate nodded. "I had to. It was my duty to protect you. I asked the G.o.ddess Boann of the sacred white cow to protect you."

196 *197.

Lachlan turned to Maeve. "But how did you know she was here?"

"I found Cate all the way from Gaul. It was nothing to know she was near. It is how we are. It is how we shall always be."

Lachlan shook his head. "There is more."

"Indeed. Do you think, of all Cate's memories housed within Jessie's soul, that it was pure coincidence that this memory pushed its way through?" Maeve asked.

Lachlan's face registered surprise. "You did it?"

Maeve smiled. "Cate's soul is connected to mine, whether she is in the future and I'm in her past. Jessie was able to access that memory because I supplied it for her."

"You were able to send a memory? How can that be?"

Maeve nodded. "Forget not my powers, Lachlan. You have only seen what little I have chosen to show you."

Lachlan bowed his head. "Indeed, madam. I shan't forget again."

He bowed low, not merely for a show of respect, but to let Maeve know whatever nearly transpired between them did not lessen his deep respect and admiration for her. She returned the bow to him to repair any damage their experience might have wrought.

"Are we to head back to the grove?" one of the Druids asked Lachlan.

"Not until we have spoken to the Chieftain. He awaits our decision."

Maeve raised an eyebrow at him. "What about Catie?"

"She is here now. We shall not send her back. If she and Jessie are as connected as you believe them to be, perhaps it is best if we return her to the Otherworld or to her own Dreamworld where they may reconnect."

The Druids prayed together, performed a short ceremony to thank the G.o.ddesses for bringing them all here safely, and, finally, headed off to the highlands, for what could very well be the last time.

Jessie woke up exactly at six in the morning. Sadly, it had been a dreamless night, and she figured it was because Cate was doing what she *

198 *199.

could to save Lachlan and Maeve. Not knowing what had happened to Maeve and Lachlan was driving her nuts. As hard as she tried to access her soul's memory within her, she could not. Jessie decided that that was one of the first things she was going to learn when she got her life back. She was going to learn how to remember. She knew Ceara could help her learn how to hear her past when it whispered to her. It was there. It was only a matter of being able to retrieve it.

She had just finished breakfast when the doorbell rang. To her surprise, it was Tanner.

"Hey. I brought some samples of my work for your Dad to look at.

Mind if I drop them off?"

Jessie opened the door, glad for the company. "Come on in. What have you been up to?"

"I've been trying to straighten out that mess Chris got us into by spreading those d.a.m.n rumors. What a little a.s.shole." Tanner sat on one of the sofas in the parlor and set his work on the coffee table. "Heard you're restricted. That totally sucks."

Jessie nodded. "You have no idea."

"What do you do all day? Work?"

"I've had plenty of thinking time."

"About what?"

Jessie studied him a moment, weighing whether or not she could or should trust him. "Have you ever just known that doing something in particular would change your life? That you were stepping onto a path you knew was right?"

Tanner shook his head. "Nope. Well, maybe. This may sound weird, but I kinda have that feeling about you."

Jessie sat up. "Really?"

"Yeah. I've never really hung around someone who had their act together like you do. Your folks are whacked if they think you're a screw up. Whacked and way off base."

Jessie didn't know what to say. No one had ever really believed in her before, and now, suddenly, it seemed as if everyone around her was beginning to. It felt good. No, it felt great. "Thanks."

"You're good people, Jess. You deserve a better break than the one *

198 *199.