The Laird's Future Bride Read Online Free

Holly, safe.

Chapter Two

     
    “Did ye not hear what I just told me son? I can nay send ye back.” Magan threw her hands up. “Ye’re here for good.” Magan let her hands drop and stepped closer to her. “Ye may as well get used to the idea.”
    “I can’t stay here. I’m only supposed to be on holiday. I start university in a couple of months. That’s just one reason. I need indoor plumbing, electricity, clean clothes, fresh, clean water, and so on.” Holly knew if she really had to, she could live without some of those things, but she didn’t want to. She belonged in her own time, not in the fifteen hundreds where woman had no rights and men were the powerful leaders.
    “Och now, lass, ye’ll get used to this way of life. The magic would nay have brought ye if it did not think ye could live here.” Magan patted her arm. “I think we should get our story straight to tell to everyone, then I’ll show ye to yer chambers and get a maid to organize a bath for ye.” Magan practically bounced with excitement. “I always wanted a daughter.”
    Holly felt numb. She didn’t know what to say or do. Right now, she needed time to relax and think things over before she made any drastic moves, so she nodded at Magan. “Let’s hear the story to tell people.”
    “This is good. I’m glad ye’re not fighting it. Ye are now Lady Holly Drake, a distant cousin of me sister’s husband in England. And…me son’s betrothed. Ye met briefly while he visited me aunt at the Macdonalds earlier this spring. The betrothal has been kept quiet as ye're parents fell ill and died, and ye've been in mourning. Ye're accent, we can say is different because ye and yer parents traveled a lot. Yer escort was attacked by blackguards on the way, and ye barely escaped with yer life, but have lost all yer things. Duncan is going out to look now for survivors and any of yer belongings, but, as we know, he won't find anything. Ye canna mention anything about how ye got here, or the time ye live in, to anyone. Being a witch or even being accused of witchery will get ye killed. Me son will protect ye. The wedding will be tomorrow morning when the priest arrives from the village and—”
    “Stop. I cannot marry your son. I don’t know him. I am not getting married.” Holly stood and went to the window. She gasped as she saw that where she had seen trees and a clearing, there now were men fighting and little cottages. Before the lightning had chased her, Holly hadn’t seen any cottages. With the sparks she had seen from Magan’s hands, and the sight now before her, Holly knew for sure that she’d travelled in time.
    “Holly, ye have nay choice. Ye are an unprotected female. A noble one. People will talk.”
    “I have choices. I am not noble. I am from the future. Let the people talk. I am going to find a way home.” Holly couldn’t live in the fifteen hundreds, and had to find a way back to her own time. Walking to the door, she opened it and left the room. A lot more people had gathered in the big dining hall. Holly clutched the satchel containing all her belongings and hurried out of the back room. People stood staring at her and Holly felt uncomfortable. She picked up speed, wanting to leave this place as fast as she could.
    “Stop her. Lady Holly is distraught with what has happened to her escorts,” Holly heard Magan yell, just as she reached the doors.
    A mammoth of a man with a huge scar on his left cheek grabbed her arm. “Me lady, the laird will find anyone if they survived.”
    Holly stared way up into the big man’s dark eyes. His salt-and-pepper hair with his rugged, scarred face made him an imposing figure. He gently pulled her away from the door and over to the staircase, where Magan stood waiting for her. Holly knew she wasn’t strong enough to fight the man holding her, so she followed Magan up the stairs.
    Magan opened the first door from the stairs and motioned Holly inside. Holly walked into the room to see a