Wild About The Witch Part 6

Piper remembered Catie and gasped. "I forgot. She completely upstaged my news with her own news."

Mellie looked on with interest, always eager for gossip, and Piper knew she wondered what was so juicy it could upstage Lachlan's sister. Evie narrowed her eyes at her before Mellie pulled her pewter crucifix from the neckline of her top and kissed it.

"I swear I'll keep it a secret until you release me from the burden."

Evie and Piper laughed at the wording of the vow. No one in Castle on Hill could possibly keep a secret for long, so it would have to do. After Evie shared her good news, and Mellie finished squealing with glee, she cracked a few more eggs into the bowl, eyeing Evie's midsection.

"No, I'm not going overboard with this one," Evie swore. "I gained way more than I needed with Mags. And Piper's cracking the wedding whip, so we'll have to choose a date soon."

"Why don't you just wear one of those Jane Austen style dresses? Do that as the theme?" Mellie asked absently, not looking up from the frying pan.

Piper exchanged a look of wonderment with Evie, and she almost heard a choir of angels and feel the light of heaven shine down on the fantastic idea. Evie was so crazy about all those books and movies, Piper didn't know why they hadn't thought of it before, even before the threat of the belly overtook them. The flowy Regency style would give them a few extra months of planning time.

"Holy c.r.a.p, that's a brilliant idea," Evie said, holding out her arm. "Look, I've got gooseb.u.mps." She turned to Piper. "We can have a carriage."

"h.e.l.l yes. Carriages for everyone. I feel weak right now. I can't even feel my arms, I'm so excited."

"Slap some more b.u.t.ter in that pan, Mel," Evie said. "A loose Regency dress will cover it all up nicely."

"Let's name the new baby," Mellie suggested. "Since it'll be a girl for sure, I vote for Allessandra."

"Probably not," Evie said, helping her slice bread for toast.

"Catriona!" Piper breathed when Catie peeked her head around the door and looked like she was going to beat a hasty retreat.

"Better, but it doesn't go with Magnus," Evie said.

Piper ran and pulled Catie into the kitchen, offering her a cup of tea. To her dismay, the girl still looked angry and upset, and kept a stony demeanor as she sat at the table.

Mellie laughed and told Evie she still hadn't been informed yet, as they'd been sidetracked once again by wedding talk. Piper introduced them and Catie sat there looking miserable, only offering Mel the weakest of smiles.

"Another Ferguson in the castle, that's wonderful," Evie said, sitting down across from her. She raised her eyebrows questioningly at Piper. Why was there another Ferguson in the castle? Piper shrugged, not sure and not convinced it was so wonderful.

"Are ye the mother of the wee lad whose pictures are everywhere?" Catie asked.

"The wee lad is mine, yes," Evie said, whipping out her phone and scrolling to a vast alb.u.m of pictures.

She handed it over, always glad to show off Magnus, and Catie seemed just as eager to look at them. Piper felt a small knot of jealousy that Evie got smiles and interest, when Catie barely looked at her. She knew she had to calm down before she started acting like a weird, desperate stepmother, trying too hard to get Catie to like her. It was completely natural that she be aloof until she got to know her better. And realized she wasn't a witch. Her headache flared and she nearly dropped the cup she held.

"So, what brings you to this century?" Evie asked overly casually, her cheeks going red at the prying question.

"That is what I'd like to know as well." Lachlan entered the kitchen, causing Catie to jump as he frowned ferociously at her, before switching gears and amiably wishing the rest of them a good morning.

Just having him in the room soothed Piper's nerves and she wanted to hug him, but didn't want a miniature Ferguson death glare aimed her way.

Mellie hurriedly slid the scrambled eggs onto a plate and slithered from the room, the coward, and Evie looked like she was torn between fleeing and making popcorn for the show that was sure to begin.

He kissed Piper, which made her uncomfortable under his sister's oppressive side eye. He noticed and turned his wrath on Catie.

"Speak, la.s.s," he boomed, planting his hands on the table and leaning over her. "Ye've had your good night's sleep. Now tell me why ye've done such a fool thing as come here."

Not to be intimidated so easily, she shoved the bench back and scrambled to her feet. "Do ye dare to try to boss me around?" she asked, her eyes a paler blue than Lachlan's but just as stormy. "I'll tell ye why I came. Because I thought ye'd been put under a witch's spell and brought here against your will, that's why." Catie stamped her foot and took a deep breath. "I found it's only half true, though. Ye're not here against your will," she spat, glaring at Piper.

Piper wilted and moved a step away from Lachlan, her heart pounding at the words. She often wondered about the family he'd left behind, but always pushed the thoughts away.

It was his choice, and more than anything, she'd wanted him to choose her. But she would have gone to his time as well. Anything to be with him. Had he been a.s.sured of that? Did he make the right choice? Catie was just a child, really. Only seventeen. Maybe he shouldn't have left. Lachlan reached for her hand, taking away some of the guilt, but Catie still glowered at her.

"That's enough," Lachlan yelled. "Ye'll be respectful and apologize."

Catie ignored that order as if it hadn't been given. "I thought ye were in danger." Her voice broke. "Ye had to be in danger to leave your family, aye? Ye'd never do anything irresponsible or selfish," she said, shaking her head in disgust. "I came to rescue ye." She put her head in her hands and laughed. "How foolish I was. Ye're happy, not in peril, and certainly not giving us a thought. And I was left to think ye dead, and mourn ye."

Lachlan dropped Piper's hand, looking utterly stunned. "Ah, b.l.o.o.d.y Quinn making a mess of things as usual. I should never have left it to him-"

"Dinna ye dare blame Quinn," she said, slamming her hand onto the table. "If he made a mess of things, it's because ye left him with nothing but a mess to work with. Aye, he lied, but who would believe what ye did? I thought it madness until the moment it worked. Honestly, I dinna know which of ye I hate more." Her face scrunched up as she struggled not to cry and Piper rushed forward to comfort her. Catie jerked away and turned to the door, but stopped, looking around wildly. "I dinna want to stay here," she said pitifully. "I dinna want to be in this place anymore."

Piper didn't have the first clue what to do after she was rebuffed. Anything else she tried would make Catie feel worse, but standing there doing nothing tore into her heart. She could tell Lachlan had a tight, but tenuous control on his temper, his mouth firmly shut, a muscle in his jaw twitching. A heavy silence settled over them all.

"She's welcome to stay with us," Evie offered in a voice so small it barely made its way from the table where she sat frozen through the outbursts.

"Nonsense," Lachlan snapped. "We willna put ye out. Catie can go to her room until she can ask Piper's forgiveness and be reasonable."

Piper gasped. She loved him completely, but couldn't he see how much worse he was making things? Would he be this tyrannical with their own children, if they ever had any?

Catie's mouth slowly dropped open and Evie rushed to a.s.sure him it wouldn't be any trouble. Piper put her hand on his arm, urging him to let her stay, at least for a night, so they could take a breath. This seemed to outrage Catie more, that she should get what she wanted, and even worse, to be a.s.sisted by Piper in any way.

"No. I dinna need your permission," she said. "Ye canna lie to me and then expect me to follow your orders." She turned to Evie and smiled shakily. "I thank ye for the offer. I shall just take a moment to gather my things." With a glare at Lachlan and a grimace of distaste in Piper's direction, she slammed from the kitchen.

"Sorry," Evie whispered.

Piper sat down on the bench and put her head on her arms, feeling as if she'd been caught in the middle of a tempest. Catie hated her and thought she was a witch. She didn't know what to do with that. Lachlan squeezed her shoulder and sat beside her, placing a comforting kiss on her forehead.

"She'll come around, love. She's got a bit of a temper is all, and doesna mean what she said about ye." He sighed. "She meant what she said about me, though. I didna handle it right at all, leaving the way I did."

Piper wanted to remind him that he hadn't had much choice at the time, with the Glens wanting him dead and Bella needing to marry Pietro as soon as possible, but she still reeled with her own sense of responsibility in it. She'd only wanted him back with her, and hoped she hadn't had a hand in destroying his relationship with his family.

He reached over and patted Evie's hand. "I hope ye know what ye've got yourself into," he said.

"Oh, I'm sure she'll be fine with me," Evie said. "I haven't betrayed her in any way."

Piper reached over and half heartedly swatted her for that crack. Much too soon. Lachlan groaned and ma.s.saged his temples.

"Hey," Evie said. "Did anyone bother to ask her how she got here?"

Chapter 8.

"I'm sorry you're going through this, Catie," Evie said as they pulled up to her and Sam's little stone cottage. "I admit I only ever saw it from the one side and was always so happy that Lachlan chose to stay. I never thought about who got left behind."

Catie looked up from her phone and sniffed. "Nor did Lachlan, apparently."

"Hmph, well, love makes people silly sometimes."

"Silly is it? Leaving his clan and land and family?"

Evie sighed and unlocked the front door, letting Catie go ahead of her, dragging her bag along the wood floor. She paused to admire the gallery of Magnus that lined the entryway.

"Are you and your brother very close?" she asked.

Catie shrugged, looking bereft. "No, not really. But he took care of things. If anything went wrong, Lachlan fixed it straight away. Everyone was glad to follow Lachlan. Now Quinn's in charge and no one is properly scared of him, they're just scared he'll gamble away the profits from the crops."

Evie showed Catie into Magnus' room. She'd have to find the folding cot and set it up and move the crib into her and Sam's room for the duration.

Good lord, she' hadn't called Sam. She quickly rang him up and told him to get home, then turned and led Catie into the kitchen. The kid just followed as if she was in shock, and Evie didn't want to offer false plat.i.tudes like most adults did when things were messed up beyond repair. She was determined to be better than that. She filled the new six slice toaster with bread and waved Catie to sit at the kitchen table.

"I'm sorry to be cramming my gullet while you're so upset, but if I don't keep some food on my stomach, it gets pretty ugly."

Evie rubbed her belly and smiled. This second pregnancy had been an exciting surprise, and she hadn't freaked out in the least. Motherhood suited her, and forced her to be calm, and Magnus was the absolute light of her life. Sam might have turned a little green around the gills for a second, because he worried about money.

His bookshop always seemed on the verge of collapse no matter how many new souvenirs and pastries he brought in to lure customers, but she often wondered how much of his moaning was unfounded. When Piper had been gone for eight months, she'd learned a lot about managing the estate, and as it turned out, was a natural at it. She offered to go over the books for him, since his regular accountant was ninety-two and she didn't think the man had his heart in the game anymore. But Sam was loyal and Mr. McGivray had been their accountant since the shop belonged to his grandfather.

"Are ye expecting another?" Catie asked, just as the toast popped up, forcing Evie back to the present.

She loaded the toast with b.u.t.ter and jam, gave Catie two slices on a flowery china dessert plate and sat across from her.

"Yes. This one isn't killing me as much as Mags tried to in the beginning. You'll get to meet Mags as soon as Sam gets here. Poor man probably thinks the house is flooding the way I hollered for him to get home."

"Sorry to put ye out," Catie said, nibbling her toast half-heartedly.

"Eh, it's not a bother. I'm desperate to hear how you got here." Evie leaned in eagerly, hoping she wasn't about to get another outburst.

Catie frowned and tilted her head to the side. "Lord Ashford brought me," she said. "How did Lachlan do it?"

"He got sent here accidentally by an awful woman-"

"A witch?"

"Well, yes, I guess. I mean, the spell is witchcraft, I suppose, but I wouldn't necessarily consider everyone who uses it a witch. Lachlan uses a spell, and you wouldn't call him a witch, right? And what about your Lord Ashford?"

Catie put her toast down. "Lachlan uses a spell? How? Can he get us back home?"

Evie put down her toast as well. Catie seemed awfully interested in the use of spells, as if she didn't know anything about them, which couldn't be possible. "How did you get here?" Evie asked forcefully.

"There's a house in London," Catie said with a shrug. "We stood in the corner of a bedroom and then we were here."

"Did you have to, um, cut your finger or say any words?" Evie leaned so far over the table, her hair dipped into the sticky jam on her toast. She swept it behind her shoulder, never taking her eyes off Catie.

"No," she said impatiently, wanting her own questions answered. "Is that how Lachlan did it? Or that Piper woman did it for him?"

Evie flinched at the way she spat out Piper's name, but let it slide for the moment. There would be plenty of time to make her see Piper wasn't an evil brother-stealer. If there was another way to travel without spells or bloodletting, she wanted to know about it posthaste.

"Catie, this is important. Who is Lord Ashford?"

Catie let out the longest sigh Evie ever heard. "I dinna know. He wasna meant to help me. It was Miss Burnet who came from this time, and he was going to help her get back."

"Miss Burnet?" Evie asked, more confused than ever. "Someone from this time was in the eighteenth century? How did she get there, do you know?"

"No. I only know because I, ah, stole her letter and tricked her into missing the proper time, then tricked Lord Ashford into thinking I was her."

"Dear lord," Evie said, looking down at her empty plate. It was still morning, and she was pregnant, but she could have used a drink nonetheless.

Sam flew into the house with Magnus swinging in his ca.r.s.eat. Everything was madness, trying to explain who Catie was and why she was there, which Evie still didn't understand. Catie was enamored by little fat Mags and he was delighted to have someone new fawn over him. She offered to take care of him if they wanted to go out for dinner, and Evie almost got sidetracked by the tempting offer.

"Whoa, wait. Let's get back on track here." She pushed Sam into the seat next to her. "Sam, listen. She says she got here from a house in London. London."

"I dinna understand why that's so important," Catie said, crossing her eyes at Magnus and making him giggle his delightful baby laugh.

"We thought it was tied to the land around the castle," Sam said.

Evie jumped up and got a piece of paper and a pencil. "We need to make a list of everything we know so far," she said, nerdily excited. She looked expectantly at Catie. "You said you didn't have to do a spell of any kind."

"Definitely not," she said, affronted. "We just stood there. Oh, Lord Ashford was verra particular about the timing. It had to be just so. He almost didna get to stay and help me get to Scotland, because of his schedule."

Evie looked up from her paper. "Describe Lord Ashford," she demanded. She glanced wildly at Sam, who narrowed his eyes at her. "Did he have dark hair, around Sam's height-"

"Aye, silver grey eyes, verra aristocratic."

Evie bounced in her seat. "Kind of rude, always checking his pocket watch like the white rabbit?"

"Wasn't written yet in her time," Sam interjected at Catie's befuddled look.

"Oh, well, he was an annoying character in a children's book, who was always late."

"I wouldna say rude, just a bit gruff," Catie said. "But he looked at his watch quite a bit, aye. He had a wee book he referred to as well. I thought it had to be his schedule."

Evie stood up and paced in a circle, she was so happy to have someone corroborate her story. "The mysterious man, Sam," she said giddily. "It has to be him." She turned to Catie. "We went to another time, after yours but before this one, and I met him! No one believed me, but he was there, and he just disappeared. I'm not crazy." She sank back into the kitchen chair and tried to settle down. She hadn't realized how worried she was that she really had imagined him.

"No one doubted you, Ev," Sam said, patting her knee.

"Everyone doubted me," she said, then shook her head. "Even though it stands to reason that we aren't the only ones who can do it, I always thought it was just through spells."

"Ye say when ye met Lord Ashford in this other time, he disappeared?" Catie asked. Magnus fussed and squirmed and she got up, pacing and patting his back. Evie and Sam exchanged appreciative looks at her expertise with infants. "Wherever ye were, there must have been a portal there."