Page 94 of A Thistle Beyond Time
“Yeah, well, if it were up to me. He’d be long gone.”
Sophia sat quietly, her back resting against a huge tree trunk. The expression on her face was a troubled one. She met Jenna’s eyes in a silent show of support. Jenna joined her and they sat as close together as possible, to ward off the chill of the night. Jonathan had wrapped himself in the plaid Jenna had used to wipe down Rose, leaving Sophia and Jenna to freeze. It wasn’t long before he dozed off and they could hear soft snores emitting from him, as he lay on his bed of pine needles.
“Sophia,” Jenna whispered. “We’ve got to get out of here. Now’s our chance while he’s sleeping.” Sophia appeared too frightened to move and Jenna felt bad for her. “Come on Sophia let’s go – unless you’d rather stay here.”
“I’m coming,” Sophia said softly.
There were good reasons for them to be afraid of Jonathan, and this could be their only opportunity to escape. Jenna decided they should head back to Breaghacraig, and hope Jonathan would sleep through their departure and long into the night. That would give them the time they needed to get safely away from him. Sophia put her finger to her lips and the two women got up and moved towards the horses, as quietly as possible. They continued to check on Jonathan every few feet, to make sure he was asleep. Once they reached the horses, Jenna motioned to Sophia that they should take Jonathan’s horse along with them. Sophia nodded her understanding and reached for one of the leads. They had all three of the horses and were beginning to creep away when Jenna heard the unmistakeable sound of a pistol being cocked.
“Where do you ladies think you’re going?” Jonathan was standing up and had the gun pointed in their direction. “You really didn’t think I’d be fool enough to fall asleep around you two, did you?”
Jenna and Sophia huddled together miserably. “Jonathan, put that gun away. You aren’t going to use it.” Jenna tried to sound strong and determined, despite the fact that she wasn’t.
“I guess you don’t know me very well then. I’ll do whatever I have to do, to get you back to San Francisco. Once we’re back, you’re going to be so distraught over our breakup, you’re going to decide to kill yourself.”
Jenna stared at him in disbelief. “What are you talking about? I’d never kill myself.”
“No. You probably wouldn’t, but I certainly would. You see, I took out a life insurance policy on you, while we were still married. The only way I can collect on it, is if you’re dead. I thought about killing you here in this medieval hellhole, but that wouldn’t work. You’d just be missing back in our time and then I’d need to wait seven years to collect. I can’t wait that long, I’m afraid. I need the money now.”
“Jonathan, think about what you’re saying! I can give you money! You don’t have to kill me. I’ll give you as much money as you want, I promise,” Jenna pleaded desperately.
“Sorry, babe. You had the chance to do that already, but you blew it. Now, get back over here. Leave the horses,” Jonathan ordered.
Jenna exchanged a ‘better-do-what-he-says’ look with Sophia. They dropped the reins and went back to sitting beneath the shelter of the tree. This time, when Jonathan lay back down, he faced them and kept the gun in his hand. “I’m a light sleeper. Don’t try anything,” he threatened.
Chapter 30
Head throbbing, Cormac tried to stand up, but his legs had a mind of their own and insisted that he stay seated. “What happened,” he groaned. Off to his left, he heard the sound of another groan.
“Cormac,” Cailin rasped.
“Aye, brother, I am here. What goes on here? I’m having difficulty remembering.”
Cailin sat up, just as a frantic Ashley made her way to his side. “Cailin, are you alright?”
“Nay,” Cailin responded.
“What happened? I was so tired that I decided to retire for the evening. I just woke and realized you hadn’t come to bed.”
“Ashley, where’s Jenna?” Cormac said, his head pounding with the force of a thousand drummers drumming against his skull.
“I haven’t seen her. I lost track of her during the evening and I thought she was with you.”
“Something’s not right here,” Cailin stated the obvious.
“I’m going to search for Jenna. You two should try to get up. Did you drink too much last night?” Ashley asked.
“Nay. Not enough to have this effect,” Cailin answered.
“The last thing I remember is Sophia refilling my cup with ale,” Cormac rubbed his head and squinted. “Cailin do ye think she gave us a sleeping draught?”
“Aye. Mayhap she did, but why?”
“We’d best see if we can find Jenna.” Cormac had a bad feeling about this. Panic seized him as he forced his way up from the ground. His legs swayed beneath him, but he fought to maintain his balance and won.
Ashley reached down to help Cailin up. “Cailin, we have to find her. Let’s check the guards and see if they’ve seen anything. Where are Latharn, Donal and Fergus? They were supposed to be keeping an eye on Sophia and Jonathan.”
The three began their search and were not surprised to find that Latharn, Donal and Fergus, along with all the guards, were in the same state. Worse, nobody had seen Jenna, Jonathan or Sophia in hours.
