Time Masters Book One; The Call (An Urban Fantasy, Time Travel Romance) (23 page)

“Wine,” Kwaku answered. “From your home, Boyeee.”

“H… home?”

John smiled at him. “Are you ready, Dallan?”

Dallan snorted. “Ready? Are ye having a jest with me, man? Or are ye referring to what we spoke of yesterday?”

“No jest, Dallan.” John took a goblet from the tray and looked suspiciously at it, but at least the red liquid wasn’t looking back at him. He took it as a good sign.

Lany took two goblets from the tray and handed one to Cari. Zara did the same, handing one to her husband.

Kwaku took the goblet from her
and chuckled. “Now, de toast. To de success of our journey!” He gulped down his cupful in one shot, with Zara close behind.

Lany downed his in three swallows and a cough. Cari did the same, sans coughing.

John looked at his cup, sniff
ed the contents, and took a small sip. “Hmm, not bad.” He took another slow swallow. “Not bad at all.”

Dallan watched John, glared at his own goblet, shrugged and downed the entire cup in one long swallow. “Now,” he began, taking a step toward John. “What’s going on? I dinna like to be kept in the dark about things. Ye canna expect me to go along with what the heathen wants, not knowing what he’s about.”

John studied him. Dallan looked as if he were weaving side to side. He looked to his own goblet, then back to Dallan. Maybe
he
was the
one doing the swaying. He
blinked  his
eyes a few times to clear his vision
and looked to Kwaku. “Are we ready to go?”

Kwaku casually shrugged

Lany stepped forward and peered at Dallan, who began to lean slightly off to one side. “Kwaku, what did you do?”

Kwaku chuckled low in his throat
.

“John, answer me. What’s going on?” Dallan demanded as he waved Lany away from him.

“Dallan,”
John
began, “we’re leaving.”

“Leaving?” Dallan blinked at him a few times. “
Wh
… where are we going?”

Kwaku’s laughter got louder.

“Kwaku,” John sighed, “let me tell him. He deserves to know.”

“John? I dinna, I dinna feel…” Dallan turned
on Kwaku. “Why ye goo-for-
nofi
ngg
!”

“Kwaku,
" Lany interjected.
"
I think we should leave, now.”

Kwaku’s laughter lowered to a chuckle, his eyes intent on the Scot.

Dallan seethed “Why ye
furdering
,
minking
,
bwaoody
hedan
. I’ll get ye
fooo
tissss
…”
he began, then promptly fell fl
at on his face. Out cold.

Kwaku threw his arms out in triumph. “Now we are ready to go!” He looked at the rest of the company standing in shock and laughed boisterously. “Let us take de Boyeee to his Maiden, yes?” He motioned to Zara, picked up Da
llan like a sack of meal and fl
ung him over a broad shoulder.

He then wrapped his other arm around his wife and pulled her close. “Now, pretty one,” he bent his face to hers and kissed her passionately. “Take us to de Maiden.” He spoke to her again, in Azurti.

Zara’s entire body shuddered. She then opened her mouth and began to sing.

The Maiden

I’m o’er
young,
I’m o’er young,

I’m o’er young to marry yet!

I’m o’er young, ‘
twod
be a sin

To
tak
me
frae
my mammy yet.

Robert Burns

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Back in the latter part of the twentieth century.

From here folks, you’re on your own!

Shona sat at the foot of her bed and stared intently out the window at the rain. She sighed and turned to look at Kitty who sat in one corner of the bedroom, face buried in a fashion magazine, head bobbing up and do
wn to the music on her Walkman.
Occasionally her eyes grew wide and she smiled as she turned the pages.

An excited squeal accompanied the next page turn. Kitty was looking at a men’s fashion magazine. “Oh, oh, look at this one!” Her head still bobbed to a beat Shona couldn’t hear as she held up the magazine for inspection.

Shona leaned forward and peered at the picture and a blond haired, bare-chested man in blue jeans stared back. She wasn’t impressed. “No, I do not like him.”

“What! How can you not like him?” Kitty looked at the picture again. “What’s not to like?”

“It is just a picture, Kitty, not the real thing.” Shona fell back on the bed, making it creak, and stared at the ceiling instead of the rain.

“Well, to you it may be just a picture. T
o me it’s …
it’s inspirational.”

   
Shona turned her head toward Kitty, one eyebrow raised. “Tell me you are kidding.”

“No, really. I have to have some idea of what I’m looking for. I see him as a sort of map.”

“A map.”

“
Yes. Now all I have to do is fi
gure out how to read it.” Kitty began to carefully tear the picture out. “I’ll add him to my collection.”

Shona groaned, then sat up suddenly. “Collection?”

Kitty looked at her innocently. “Yes. I have to have a collection. In case my tastes change, you know.”

“Then you must have quite a collection. I’d like to see it sometime…”

Both Shona and Kitty turned to see Julia standing in the doorway, an amused look on her face.

“I did not know you were coming ov
er today.” Shona said as she fl
opped backward onto the bed again.

Julia stepped into the room and observed the two girls coolly, her ice blue eyes coming to rest on Shona. “I wanted to let you know that I’ve arranged for the West Coast Representatives of the
European
University to come here Wednesday to interview you.”

Shona sat up, eyes wide
, and smiled. “Truly?”

Julia fl
ipped her blonde hair out of her eyes and sat on the bed next to her. “Truly.”

Shona took a deep breath. “Am I ready?”

Julia put an arm around her. “Of course you are. You’ve worked hard the last two years. I wouldn’t worry about being accepted. How can they turn someone as smart and talented as you away?”

Shona looked at her tutor and smiled weakly. “It has happened before.”

Julia studied her face for a moment, reading Shona’s wariness, then tightened her arm’s hold. “Th
is time will be diff
erent. You’ll see.”

“How
will this time be diff
erent?” Kitty chirped out. “Geez, Yale turned her down, that college in California turned her down, and Julliard turned her down.”

Julia’s face exploded in silent anger as she glared at Kitty.

“I don’t understand why. I just don’t think you should get her hopes up.”
Kitty pouted.

“Th
is time will be different. And I would appreci
ate it if you would keep your negative opinions to yourself from now on.”

“I didn’t mean to be negative. I just think something else is going on. There’s no good reason why none of them accepted her. It’s almost
as if…” Kitty looked to the fl
oor, her face contemplative now, “as if someone didn’t want Shona to be accepted by any of
them
.”

Julia became expressionless as she stared at Kitty. “You think so? Well, that’s an interesting
and very imaginative theory. Th
e sort one might
expect from you.” She turned to Shona, who sat quietly and stared out the window at the rain again, a pained look on her face. Julia spun back on Kitty. “Now see what you’ve done,” she mouthed silently.

Kitty bowed her head and pouted. “I’m sorry, Shona. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Shona looked at her best friend blankly. “It is all right. I know what you meant.” She looked to the window again. “And I agree with you.”

Julia pressed her lips together and stood. “Enough of this. Subject closed. Wednesday is only a few days away and we all seem to be on edge.” She looked from Kitty to Shona. “I think we all need to take an evening and have a little R and R.”

“R and R?” Shona asked, puzzled.

“Rest and rel
axation.” Julia smiled and wink
ed conspiratorially. “Girl’s night out.”

Kitty’s face beamed. “Really? Where are we going?”

Julia’s glare returned as she brought her attention back to Kitty. “I’ll decide. And it won’t be any place you’d want to go.”

“Oh geez, not the art gallery again! That’s not R and R; that’s torture!”

Julia glanced at Shona, a hurt look on her face. “Is that what you call it, too? Torture?”

Shona raised an eyebrow, smiled a half-smile, and nodded.

“Well then, what do you suggest?” Julia crossed her arms and looked from one girl to the other.

“Let Tomy decide. She’s going too, isn’t she? She knows all the good places,” Kitty blurted, jumping to her feet.

“Yes, let Tomy decide.” Shona added.

Julia sighed. “All right, Tomy decides. Does she have
tomorrow night off
? Or is she
baby sitting that old lady she takes care of?"

“
She will be able to go. But we should not stay out too late.” Shona hopped off the bed and stood near Kitty. “Tomy is coming over early Tuesday morning with new lessons and then we are going to the library in the afternoon.”

“Oh! I want to go with you guys!” Kitty squeaked.

Julia ignored her blurt, and looked down her nose at the girls. “She
is still coming tomorrow to fi
nish up the equation sheets she’s had you working on?”

Shona nodded.

“Good. Call her, let her know what’s going on, then have her call me.” She spun on her heel and abruptly left the room.

Kitty fl
opped herself onto the bed. “Wow. What’s eating her?”

Shona looked at Kitty, her face emotionless, and shrugged. “I do not know, perhaps you should tell me. She is your sister.”

“Half sister,” Kitty corrected with a frown then looked to the doorway, her next words a whisper. “And sometimes I wonder if she’s even that.”

* * *

Julia left the Whittard’s house without a word. She drove down the hill to the city center faster than she should and didn’t care.

Kitty was getting close to the truth, too close. Julia thought it safe to let her so-called little sister befriend Shona, thinking Shona needed the social stimulus. As usual, she had been correct: Shona thrived when Kitty spent time with her, and her emotional behavior patterns became as close to normal as one could hope for with Shona.

She didn’t want to deprive Shona of what Kitty provided, yet
she couldn’t risk her sister fi
nding out the truth either. And what if the Whittards found out? No. That could never happen. She had covered her
tracks too well. Each un
iversity had been well paid. Th
ere was no way Shona would have been accepted; she would belong to Julia until the right time came along.

And now was the right time. Julia downshifted around a corner and raced on.

And what of Tomy? Did she need the extra tutorial aide? What did she think of everything? But Tomy had
only been tutoring Shona for fi
ve months. She couldn’t have put together anything that fast, and besides, until lately she only spent a day or two a week with Shona. Not enough time to be too nosy about things…