Highlander Found Read online

  Audrina found it extraordinary that, even after centuries sitting behind a stone, even though it was unexposed to the elements, it was still in pristine condition, as if it had never survived centuries of time passing by. She was sure that it was probably dusty when the mason found it, possibly even the gem was scratched or worn and thus had to be restored, but the pin was pristine.

  The brunt orange gem sat at the apex of a silver hill. The silver had been bent and molded onto a swirling pattern to resemble the crest of the hill, so the gem was the representation of the sun. From what Audrina knew of Celtic mythology, the sun symbol was more widely used in the sun cross symbols, which were indicative of Christianity’s introduction to the Celtic peoples. But this sun was a literal representation of the sun, suggesting that whoever designed and forged the pin, was still a practicing pagan, possibly giving the pin druidic or witchcraft origins. On the outset of the circular pin, the silver swirled into a Celtic knot which was wavy around the edges, like a river. Audrina knew this because as Grandfather and she had investigated the Claran, or MacClaran name, it was discovered that the Claran’s were one of the older tribes of Scotland, but those particular tribes were ancient, nomadic druids who traveled the waters from the Isle of Eire, also known as Ireland. The modern day Claran’s were to be found inhabiting the areas on the River Clare and the name Claran literally meant, “One who lives near the River Clare.” So, Audrina knew her ancestors had been an ancient people of magics and mystery, and the warring tribes had caused them to take root in Scotland as one of the founding tribes, and they had taken their name and origins with them. The evidence was right there in the pin that resembled the pagan magics and the river beds from whence her people came. The tribes, like the rivers on the pin, were split between Ireland and Scotland.

  Audrina felt her excitement at having found such a connection to her ancestors, begin to grow. She stared with her face almost pressed to the glass, willing the pin to do something, anything to give her a sign that she belonged there, with it. She felt like, somewhere deep in her soul, that the pin belonged to her, but she knew this was silly, because it belonged to the museum in Scotland. It didn’t change the connection she imagined she could feel through the glass.

  As she stood there, she again realized the grumblings of the crowd around her as she had allowed herself to be lost in her thoughts. She was about to exit the line and circle back around, when the crowd was jostled and parted by the streak of a black clothed and masked figure, who shoved them aside. When the intruder got to Audrina, he shoved her so hard, she knocked into the glass and it smashed as the sirens from the museum began to wail. Audrina cut the back of her hand on the glass as she tried to stop her fall, but with the rest of the crowd, she tumbled to the floor. Audrina looked up, just in time to see the masked figure reach into the case and grab something. A flash of orange and silver registered in her mind, and she clawed her way back up and ran after the thief, as he dashed outside the museum with what she could only proclaim as “her” kilt pin.

  Audrina chased after him as the wail of sirens from the museum’s security, and the automatically notified police screeched in her ear. As athletic as she was, it didn’t take her long to catch up to the thief, and she tackled him, expertly maneuvering him into a judo hold from her years of training with Mr. Tanaka at his Japanese dojo. Audrina had needed an outlet for her rage and frustration for losing everyone she had ever loved. And she had miraculously stumbled upon it in the classes offered at the dojo and Mr. Tanaka’s ever-patient and serene temperament.

  The thief was quickly apprehended at Audrina’s capable hands, just as the police showed up and began to cross the sunny court-yard.

  “Hey lady, are you nuts?” one of the officer called. “You don’t chase after a criminal! What were you thinking!” he shouted.

  Audrina didn’t answer him, but reached out her shaking hand toward the pin that had fallen to the ground in the take-down of the thief, and as her bloodied fingers from the cut on the glass closed around the pin, the sun shone brightly through a cloud cover, landing directly on the pin, the blood and her hand, and then suddenly, there was a black and gray mist, and Audrina was falling, falling, falling.

  CHAPTER 3

  Audrina felt something soft and velvety nuzzling her ear. She opened her eyes and wondered why she was being eaten by a great big…

  “Is that a cow?” she wondered. She laid on the prickly grass and wondered where the stone courtyard had gone. She remembered looking up into the brilliant sun and she had reached for something, and then, everything had gone black and gray. Audrina pushed up, causing the beast with shaggy brown fur to take a step to the side and she quickly jumped to her feet, clutching her head because it was still spinning.

  The cow ambled off down the field a few paces and for the briefest moment, Audrina considered calling it back because at least the cow had been comforting in a weird way. Audrina looked around, confused.

  “Where am I?” she asked out loud.

  No one answered her, but the cow looked at her with big brown eyes and mooed, happily, and swished its tail.

  “It’s nice to meet you too,” she muttered.

  Audrina looked around and discovered she was standing on the offset of some trees. The forest she was standing near was the border line for the field she was in, and at the far edge of the field, she noticed was a farm. She couldn’t figure out how she got here because she had just been…

  Audrina realized she couldn’t remember clearly what she had been doing. She remembered that there was a gray and black mist, and she wondered if maybe she was dreaming. She looked around her and saw something shiny in the grass where she had fallen. She bent over and picked it up. It was an orange and silver pin with a rather peculiar design, but she couldn’t remember how she came to have such a pin. Audrina blinked and shaded her eyes to the sun, looking around some more. She found a red ball cap that she picked up and she recognized it as her own. She stuffed the kilt pin in her pocket and donned the ball cap and looked out over the field once more.

  At the far end of the field, Audrina saw what looked like a large stone castle.

  “Well that can’t be right,” she muttered. Audrina looked at the cow for support, but the beast snorted at her and continued walking toward the farm. Audrina figured, she might as well see if anyone was home at the farm, because maybe they could help her, so she kept a safe distance as she walked toward the farm with the cow. Audrina had never really interacted with live stock before, having grown up around or in the city of San Francisco.

  “That’s right. San Francisco,” she thought. She had been in San Francisco when she had fallen. Or maybe she had been hit over the head? Audrina stuffed her hand in the pocket of her jeans and her fingers closed around the pin. Flashes of a hooded man jolted through her memory. There was the pin, and then, and then…

  It aggravated Audrina to be so confused. She remembered she had been on her way to the museum to see something. She remembered the strange dream she had the night before. She remembered thinking she was going to finally book that trip to Scotland. So why couldn’t she remember what had happened at the museum? Maybe she really had waited too long, and now she was cracking up. Maybe this wasn’t a dream at all, and she was actually in an asylum somewhere, doped up on drugs that were making her think about all of the pretty places in the world, and not all of the horrible things that happened in the trauma unit. Audrina shook her head, certain that she wasn’t crazy.

  Audrina continued to walk through the field after the cow, thinking there must be some reason she was in the field. It wasn’t like her to visit farmlands, and as she looked around she also wondered where all the farm machinery was. It seemed rather odd to her that there were no tractors or farm hands or even fences for that matter.

  The closer Audrina got to the farm and the stone fortress a few miles beyond that, the more confused she got. Why was there a stone castle in San Francisco? When did they build that? She must be dreaming agai
n, she decided. She often dreamt of far off places when she drifted off to sleep after having stared at her pictures. Audrina began to wonder at what point she had gone home from the museum to take a nap though and that’s when she saw a figure emerge from the woods to her left.

  Audrina’s frown increased, when she noticed the man was wearing a dirty, ragged kilt, over a set of trousers that looked like animal skins. The man who approached her was carrying a crudely made pitch fork of some kind and when he walked up to her, he tossed the pitch fork to the ground near the cow. Audrina gagged at the stench coming from the man and she almost got sick when he opened his mouth to speak to her, and she realized all of his teeth were weathered down to blackened and brown stumps.

  She couldn’t understand a word he said, but it sounded something like, “What the bloody hell are ye doin’, ye wee trollop? Scamperin’ round me coos en’ showin off yer legs like a common whore in them trews? Aye, well I’ve got the time this day, ye wee whore, and ye can have a go at me cock with yer pretty mouth first and then we’ll spread yer wee legs and have a go at yer fine silky pelt, aye?”

  Before Audrina could react or ask him what he was talking about, the farmer lunged at her and tackled her to the ground. He was reaching between his legs and unfastening his pants, and all Audrina could do was try to scream.

  He clapped a dirty, smelly hand over her mouth as he hollered, “Haud yer wheest, woman!” while he tried to unfasten the button on Audrina’s jeans. He slapped her hard, and she saw stars in her eyes. She had to shake her head a few times before she could focus on fighting him off again.

  Audrina struggled under him, gagging at the stench of his unwashed body as he lowered his head and licked up the side of her neck with putrid breath.

  “Stop, stop it! Please!” she cried as his hand found one of her breasts through her tee-shirt and he squeezed roughly. The pain brought tears to her eyes.

  The man thrust his hips against hers and she could feel that he was hard and ready, and that she knew if she didn’t stop him, he was going to rape her right in the middle of the field.

  Audrina reached up and scratched at his grizzled face just as he was about to push her jeans down. She clawed at him while she choked for air, because he used one hand to pin her to the ground, and the other to claw at her jeans.

  She managed to scratch him hard enough that she drew blood down his cheek. His misty gray eyes watered and he shouted at her again.

  “Bloody bitch!” he roared and slapped her again. This caused her ball cap to fall off and the man froze when her red hair tumbled out from under it and splayed out under her in a fan. The farmer froze on top of her, looking wide-eyed and alarmed.

  “It can’t be,” he whispered.

  Audrina struggled under him. She tried to put her clothes back on right. He had ripped her tee-shirt so that her black bra was showing, and she held the two halves of the rip so that she could cover up.

  “Maeve? Maeve MacClaran? But yer dead.”

  Audrina wasted no time at his hesitation. She didn’t know who Maeve MacClaran was, but she brought her knee up, catching the farmer right in the groin so that he doubled over and lay on the ground. He was howling with pain when Audrina took the chance and punched him, which caused blood to spurt from his nose. He wheezed as he tried to catch his breath and he rocked back and forth on the ground in pain.

  Audrina scrambled up and kicked him one last time for emphasis, so that it ensured she had plenty of time to run and escape the farmer. She shuddered in revulsion as she took one last look at the farmer and then she sprinted toward the farm. She looked back only once to see the cow that had awoken her, was standing over the farmer, and two more, long, shaggy haired cows had joined it. She heard the farmer’s curses at the cows, even though she couldn’t understand what he had been saying. Audrina didn’t waste any more time, she ran to the farm and locked herself inside in order to escape her assailant.

  CHAPTER 4

  Audrina looked around the tiny farm. There were stalls to the left side that were matted with hay and a few watering and grain troughs and there were storage barrels to the right. She noticed a line of clothing hanging over the back wall directly in front of her and she ran up to it, snatching some of the strange looking pants she had seen the farmer wearing. There was also a white linen shirt and another kilt, but Audrina figured she could dress like a man and go unnoticed even if she didn’t have a kilt on.

  Audrina bit back her panic. It had occurred to her as she looked down her body as she hastily began stripping, that the attack in the field, wasn’t a dream. She came to this conclusion because she saw the bruises that had begun to appear on her skin and she felt the pain in her neck where the farmer had choked her.

  Audrina tried to concentrate on anything else. She didn’t want to think about the fact that someone had just tried to rape her. She also was in shock that if this wasn’t a dream, then the big stone castle she had seen before she was attacked, was also real.

  After Audrina dressed and stashed her jeans, ballcap and ripped tee-shirt in an empty sack that she had found hanging on the wall, she looked around and found a large crudely tanned leather, wide-brimmed hat hanging on the wall. She replaced her ball cap for the farmer’s hat and tucked her long red hair, up under the hat.

  Audrina then looked around at the barrels and she tried to peek in the first one she came across. She couldn’t pry the lid off, so she moved onto the next one. Audrina discovered most of the barrels had grain in them, and she couldn’t pry open the ones that had seals on them.

  When she was done exploring the barn for any useful materials, Audrina carefully unlocked the door and peeked outside. She saw that the farmer was still lying in the field at some distance and she heard his bellows at the cows and could only assume that he was shouting for them to leave him alone. Audrina smiled to herself as she slipped out of the barn and snuck toward the house. Now he knew what it felt like to be accosted and not be left alone or have something that was attacking him not stop when he commanded them too.

  Audrina slipped along the wall of the barn, trying not to be noticed. She wasn’t sure who else would be around and she felt her heart thumping with anxiety, as she listened at the back door of the small farmhouse.

  After a few moments, Audrina took a deep breath, and opened the back door which creaked on its wooden hinges. She blew out her breath and stepped inside the small, one room, farmhouse and began searching the roughly hewn cabinets and drawers that were sitting around the edges of the small house.

  The house, or hut, was so small, that only a bed that smelled suspiciously like the farmer was lying in the corner. She had just enough room to stand in the middle of the hut and slowly turn in a circle. Audrina shuddered when she looked at the bed a moment, and she was certain the straw that was the material that made up the mattress, began to crawl. She moved on and saw the table that was sitting in the opposite corner. It was simply constructed, with four legs that sat on top of a piece of wood that had been hastily split. The farmer hadn’t even bothered to sand it down and make it smooth. The two chairs that sat around the table were just stumps from a tree that he had cut down and brought in. In the corner by the door, Audrina found two more barrels that were open and inside she found sacks and packages of food in his larder. She helped herself to some of the packages that felt like bread of some kind, and she opted to leave the bloodied packages in the other barrel that smelt and looked like rancid meat.

  Audrina filled her sack with as much as she could carry, and she carefully crept out the back door again. She didn’t see the farmer in the field anymore, so she decided her best course of action was to walk toward the castle that she saw in the distance. She was sure she could find someone who would help her and wouldn’t accost her.

  As Audrina walked into town, a plan began to form in her mind. She knew she had to gather information. Based on the bruises she had received at the hands of the farmer and the attack, there was just too much that had happened in the
last hour that she could deny that something very strange had happened. That, coupled with the fact that she was walking toward a large stone castle with a bustling, medieval town surrounding it, based on what she saw the closer she got, Audrina knew she was in serious trouble if she didn’t gather as much information as she possibly could. She made a silent vow to herself to remain as unnoticed as possible, because if her suspicions were correct, she would be accused of being a witch if she divulged that she believed she had fallen back in time.

  CHAPTER 5

  As Audrina walked closer to the town, she saw that the buildings in the town that sat at the base of the stone keep, were all made of wood and clay. Some of them were constructed of stone, but she was certain that all of them were from a time period, she wasn’t familiar with. The buildings all had large stone chimneys and almost all of them were emitting plumes of smoke, despite the warm summer sun that had been basking down on her for the hour or so that it had taken her to walk to the town. Her eyesight had deceived her, and she had assumed that the fortress had been much farther away than she had originally guessed, but Audrina discovered it was only a mile or so to the town. What had taken her so long to walk there, was the fact that there was a complete and utter lack of a modern rode of any kind.

  Audrina had found herself on a cow path of sorts. The muddy road had been clod upon by many hooves and Audrina had had to carefully step around all sorts of animal excrement’s as she made her way down the path. She had occasionally glanced back to see if the farmer had followed her, but to her relief, he hadn’t.

  Audrina’s mind raced as she wondered where she was. She had guessed at what the farmer had been saying. He had been calling her a whore and that somehow her clothing was the reasoning for his attack. It didn’t excuse his actions though. Audrina felt like she was caught somewhere between reality and a dream. She couldn’t possibly have traveled through time to another place, could she? As she neared the town, several horse-drawn wagons passed her by on their way out, and she heard more than one person call out a greeting to her, but she hadn’t understood them. They were speaking to her in some sort of broken English, and she felt like it was somehow familiar, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.