Page 71 of Her Highland Prophecy
“Thank you,” Diana said, squeezing his arm. “I truly appreciate it.”
The two of them sat in silence until Gordain finally dismissed the last of the Clansmen. One of the stable hands brought over Taranis, and a smaller bay horse for her.
For once, Diana had her own horse. They had to keep appearances after all, and they were pretending to go meet her wealthy English parents. If they were truly from the seventeenth century, they would have had a heart attack seeing her sitting practically in Gordain’s lap on his horse.
Then again, even her father who lived in the twentieth would not have appreciated some of her behavior lately…she blushed slightly at the reminder of just how far Gordain’s hands had wandered the previous night.
She mounted the mare and started out after Gordain. As they reached the edge of the forest surrounding the Castle, she turned back to get the last glimpse of it. Large and sturdy, and yet at the same time homier than most houses she had lived in during her life, she had come to appreciate it despite the lack of conveniences.
“Ready, Princess?” Gordain asked from beside her.
She nodded, and with one last look at the place that had been a haven for her during her time in the past, she turned around and followed Gordain into the dense forest. Ballachulish and the answers she was searching for were waiting.
26
Gordain cursed the necessity of riding on separate horses for the hundredth time since they set off from Sutherford Castle. He had become so used to having Diana sit close to him when they rode together anywhere that having her six feet away from him, on the back of a different horse, was more than a little disconcerting.
It was better when the path allowed them to ride side by side but they were obligated to ride in line in places where it was narrower. Yelling in order to be heard was not his idea of intimate conversation.
Not that there had been much of that. Since the moment they had left the Castle, Diana had seemed less inclined than ever to make conversation. He glanced back at her, only to find her gaze wandering over the trees absent mindedly. He wasn’t sure what was wrong, but he knew that he didn’t like it.
The instant the path in front of him widened again he eased the horse’s speed a little allowing her horse to catch up to his.
“We will arrive at the fair in two days, Princess,” he said, speaking for the first time in what felt like an age.
She nodded a bit distractedly.
“What will we do once we arrive?” she asked. “Do you have a plan?”
“I would ask the same of ye. Do ye have a plan?”
She seemed a little more animated at his question.
“I need to find a gypsy that recognizes the medallion that the gypsy from the future gave me. She told me that it had been in her family for generations so hopefully someone will recognize it.”
He wasn’t as optimistic as her.
“Why do ye think that they would be at the same fair?”
It was not the most pressing concern he had, but he would start there. At least she was answering his questions with full sentences rather than the nods and small acknowledges he had been getting.
“I can’t know with absolute certainty of course, but in general, there are only a few big fairs like the ones in Ballachulish. If they are still going there in the future, they are likely going there in the past.”
“I wouldnae call the fair at Ballachulish ‘big’, Princess. It isnae as large as the one in Inverness.”
“Perhaps, but it is a place to start at least.”
Gordain hated to break her confidence, but he had to ask.
“And if ye cannae find someone who kens the necklace? What will ye do then?”
Her face fell. He could tell that it was not something she wanted to think about, but it was nevertheless something they had to consider.
“I will have to look for the cave then. I remember it was just beyond the edge of the fair in the future. There was a valley there and the cave was behind a small cluster of elderberries.”
“Elderberries?”
She nodded. “That was what they gypsy told me when she described the cave. That it would be by the elderberries.”
