Highland Tales Series Box Set by Rory B Byrne

Author:Rory B Byrne [Byrne, Rory B]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781952134449
Publisher: Chestnut Treehouse Publishers
Published: 2020-07-18T22:00:00+00:00

Bean Nighe

The small collection of huts was the perfect shelter from the elements, but I had overstayed my welcome. The sudden disappearance of Ghillie Dhu gave me the creeps. It made it impossible for me to sleep on the ground, thinking I’d wake up buried in the dirt. I didn’t want to think about what Ghillie fed me when he shared his porridge. And I didn’t believe Clan Slora wanted me hanging around waiting for their return.

I faced the real possibility of starvation. Water wasn’t the issue. But there was only so much water I could drink, and it didn’t do me any good to fill the hungry void in my belly.

I found a high hillside to scan the rest of the quiet countryside that rang in my ears. I wasn’t used to so much open space without machinery. The deep blue sky had wispy gray clouds. It was a landscape free of any electronic sound, no industrial intervention. The closest I saw to human artistry was in the forging of the weapons. Even the stone and mud huts were primitive but practical.

Well, that wasn’t true. I pulled the dirk from my jacket pocket. The carvings on the handle and cover demonstrated refined craftsmanship. With a turn of the wrist, the blade unlocked from the sheath and pulled free. I had a knife and nothing to use it on, with no experience in hunting or fishing. I was a forager at best. I still had a few months before elderberries, white currants, blackcurrants, and blackberries came into season. Yup, I was doomed. I pressed my thumb against the edge of the knife and winced.

I saw plenty of people do that in the movies without the knife biting the skin. Now, I had a thin beading line from the slice in my thumb.

“At least, it will take my mind off being hungry,” I said.

I heard the rustling of low bushes in the hills, and I thought I saw the black swish of a long tail.

“And I suppose you’re waiting around for me to die so you can chew on my bones,” I said. “Cat Sìth, ha! Bet you thought I couldn’t say it!”

I thought about Ghillie Dhu, the friendly old man who sank into the dirt in the hut. I thought about his cryptic talks of Nicneven, a queen who wasn’t the queen of men. All the while, thinking about the things I learned since I left my time, I slowly made my way out of the small hamlet. I went in the opposite direction as Clan Slora, but not back toward the way I started.

The chatter of birds was a welcoming sound because it reminded me that I wasn’t completely alone in the alien world. I wasn’t utterly alone—not when I had birds and the giant Scottish panther stalking me.

I spent the day walking from the higher elevations. My thighs burned. When nightfall neared, I saw the shimmering pool that had steam rolling from its surface. Still a mile off from the site, I made it my destination.

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