Page 65 of A Thistle Beyond Time
Jenna was scrunching herself into as small a target as possible, to avoid the pelting raindrops. Cormac reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a plaid, which he expertly wrapped around her, to shield Jenna from the weather.
“Thank you,” she muttered through the layers of fabric. She almost laughed when she imagined that Cormac had purposely covered her mouth, so he didn’t have to listen to her complain any longer.
“Yer most welcome, lass. Now, let’s get to Breaghacraig before ye catch yer death.” He urged Saidear forward into a ground-eating canter and before she knew it, they were at the gates of the castle, which opened wide to allow them entrance. As they passed through, she was amazed to see many people scurrying about. The rain was not deterring them from attending to their tasks. Two boys ran to them when they finally came to a stop and took Saidear’s reins from Cormac, who had hopped down and was reaching up for Jenna. She was wrapped up so tightly that she had no choice but to allow Cormac to lift her from the horse. As she stood by his side, he gave direction to the boys on Saidear’s care. He wrapped a protective arm around Jenna’s shoulders and guided her towards the massive doors of the castle. They were still quite a distance away when the doors opened and a petite woman with dark auburn hair and a tall dark-haired man came through and the woman stopped dead in her tracks.
The man said something to her, but she continued to stare at Jenna, who watched as the woman called her name and began running towards her. For a split second, Jenna wasn’t sure, but then she recognized her best friend, Ashley. The man grabbed Ashley’s arm to stop her and gave her a stern talking to. “Oh, my God, that’s Ashley!” she said to Cormac. “Who’s that crazy fool who’s holding her by the arm?”
“That daft idjit is me brother, Cailin. Ashley is his wife.”
* * *
Cormac caught Jenna as her legs went out from underneath her. “Damn this stupid blanket!” she cursed, trying unsuccessfully to disentangle herself. She’d almost fallen flat on her face in her rush to reach Ashley.
“Jenna, let me help ye,” Cormac said calmly, as he unwrapped her from the plaid. He had no sooner removed it than she bolted towards Ashley.
“Leave her alone!” Jenna shrieked at Cailin.
Cormac couldn’t help but laugh. The expression on his brother’s face was priceless. He obviously had no idea who this woman was, or why she might be telling him to leave his own wife alone.
Cailin glanced at Ashley and then returned his gaze to Cormac, who had just arrived at Jenna’s side. “Brother, who is this wee spitfire ye have with ye?”
“She is Ashley’s good friend, Jenna.” He watched as his brother took in the scene in front of him. Jenna and Ashley were hugging fiercely, laughing, and crying. It almost brought a tear to Cormac’s own eyes to see how happy they both were to be reunited. “We should get them inside out of the rain and I’ll tell ye the whole story.”
Cormac’s sister Irene was standing in the doorway with her husband Robert. They both appeared puzzled, but remained silent. Cormac and Cailin pried the girls apart and led them inside, past those who had gathered to discover what was happening. Once inside, the great hall was warm and inviting. A huge blaze burned brightly in the fireplace and torches had been lit throughout, to make up for the dark and dreary day outside. Cormac was relieved to have finally returned home. He prepared himself to tell those gathered where he had been over the past several days, but before he could speak, Irene had a question. “Who is this lass ye’ve brought home with ye, Cormac? She seems to know our Ashley.”
“Aye. She does, Irene. ’Tis Ashley’s friend, Jenna, from San Francisco,” Cormac explained.
“What is she doing here? Where did ye find her?” Irene asked.
“’Tis a long story and one I’d be happy to share with ye, but we are both verra hungry and wet. Irene, do ye have something dry that Jenna could wear? She’s had a long journey and has a tendency to be prickly as a thistle when she is uncomfortable.” Cormac hoped Irene would take care of the food and clothing and be satisfied to wait a bit for his story.
“Aye. I’ll help the lass get dry and we’ll see to it that ye both are fed,” Irene said. “Go on then. Go get yourself changed and come right back. I’ll not want to wait long to hear yer story.” Irene swatted his backside to send him on his way.
“Jenna, go with me sister, Irene. She’ll see that ye get some dry clothes and I’ll meet ye back here for some food.”
Jenna glanced up from her conversation with Ashley and nodded. Ashley smiled a huge smile of thanks in his direction and blew him a kiss. He looked from his sweet sister-in-law to Jenna and Irene, who were sizing each other up. They were a lot alike and Cormac watched as Irene headed Jenna’s way, hoping that the two would get on well.
* * *
Jenna stood her ground, holding on to Ashley’s hands, as Irene approached. She was a black haired, blue-eyed beauty, who obviously was the one in charge here.
“Jenna, I’m pleased to meet ye,” Irene introduced herself. “Cormac is me brother and yer friend Ashley is as good a sister to me, as if she had been born into our family.”
“Nice to meet you,” Jenna said, extending her hand to Irene, who looked a bit confused by the gesture. “Oh, I’m sorry, I guess you don’t shake hands here.” Jenna pulled her hand back in embarrassment.
“Jenna, let’s go get you something dry to wear,” Ashley said. She had happy tears in her eyes as she took Jenna by the hand and they followed Irene up the stairs.
“We’ll give her yer old chamber, Ashley. Right this way, Jenna.” Irene directed them to a room on their right and said, “I’ll be right back with a dress for ye.”
Ashley opened the door to the room and ushered Jenna inside. “Jenna, I can’t believe you’re here. I’m so happy. I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again.” Ashley was crying happy tears again and Jenna gave her another big hug.
“I know. When you called and said you were getting married, you omitted the part about time travel and my never seeing you again. You should have told me, Ashley.” Jenna pulled back and gazed earnestly into Ashley’s eyes.
“I should have, but I thought you wouldn’t believe me and the last thing I wanted was for you to come over here and try to find me.” Ashley couldn’t take her eyes off her friend. “Jenna, tell me how Cormac found you. How did you get here?”
“It’s a long story, and I’m sure you won’t believe me,” Jenna hesitated for just a moment. “Cormac kidnapped me.” There, she’d said it. Ashley seemed shocked, but Jenna was just telling her the truth.
Ashley shook her head in denial. “What do you mean? Cormac would never do anything like that.”
