A Time & Place for Every Laird by Angeline Fortin (ebook reader TXT) 📕

“Who, then?”

“I doubt ye would know of them,” Hugh said,shouldering the door with a yawn. “Though one of my friends,Francois-Marie Arouet, did write voraciously about everything. Hedabbled in politics and philosophy. He even wrote a few plays, butI doubt any of that flummery stood the test of time. Mayhap ye haeheard of Frederick. He was a king, after all.”

“King of what? The hill?”

“Prussia.”

“Prussia?” Claire gaped at him until a hornsounded, recalling her attention to the road ahead of her. “Youknew the king of Prussia?”

“I dinnnae sleep much last night. I believeI will try tae nap now.”

Claire knew he was toying with her now. Thathe was dangling bait before her to lure her curiosity. Well, it hadworked. It seemed there was much more to Hugh Urquhart than met theeye. She thought about how he had avoided answering her questionsthe previous day, and now wondered at what amazing tales he couldhave told.

“You can’t sleep now! Not with a lead-inlike that!” Claire said. “I have to know, how does a braw Scottishman like yourself become a world traveler?”

“Another time,” Hugh denied, closing hiseyes.

“That is so not fair,” Claire grumbled asshe stared at the road ahead of her, the sun setting against themountains at the horizon. How had she so completely misjudged Hugh,she wondered? How could she have not, another part of her brainargued? Given the way he had been dressed, the blood and grime, andhis practically unintelligible use of the English language, whatother conclusion should she have come to? In her fear, should shehave taken the time to ask after his education and experiencebeforehand? Should she have asked for a resume of his lifetimeaccomplishments?

Yes, she had jumped to conclusions, but whowouldn’t have done the same? Given the events of the past two days,with each moment being more unbelievable and fantastic than thenext, Claire thought that overall she was handling everythingfairly well. Really, she was sitting in a car with a man who hadbeen born almost three hundred years ago and she wasn’t freakingout at all!

Claire decided that, in the big picture, shedeserved a gold star.

A big, shiny, 24-carat-gold star.

Chapter 13

“Hugh? Hugh?”

Hugh blinked and yawned, looking around inconfusion. “Did I sleep?”

“Yes. Sugar coma, I think.”

“I willnae ask what that means,” he replied,ignoring her grin as he looked around. He was still in the car butthey were stopped, packed tightly amidst other conveyances in astructure of some sort. Long lamps on the ceiling overhead lit thespace, shedding light on the iron walls and the openings in them,and Hugh could see that night had fallen. Beyond the open windows,there was water shimmering in the moonlight. Were they at sea?

“Where are we?”

“On the ferry,” Sorcha answered, gatheringher purse and coat. “I thought we could get out and stretch a bit.The ride will be about half an hour.”

“Ferry? Tae where?” he asked confusedly.

“Come on, sleepyhead,” she teased. “Shakeoff the cobwebs. I told you we were going to an island.”

“My apologies. I’m nae my best when I firstawaken,” Hugh said as he got out of the car. Cool air immediatelysurrounded him, prickling a refreshing path over his skin andclearing his mind.

“Don’t forget your coat,” Sorcha said, butHugh just raised an arrogant brow at the reminder. He’d been bornon the fringes of the North Sea. Such a mild chill as this onlyserved to invigorate.

They climbed narrow metal stairs to thelarge passenger cabin of the vessel. It was bigger than he hadthought, perhaps four hundred or more feet in length and almost ahundred across. It was easily twice the size of any ship Hugh hadever been aboard. The main cabin was walled in incredible sheets ofglass and spanned the entire length of the ferry. People wereeverywhere. Young, old, tall, short, fat, and thin. Some weredressed more formally and others in jeans like the ones he andSorcha wore. Many faces seemed unfamiliar to Hugh, hinting atethnicities and places he had never seen, yet they melded togetherhere. More than that, the crowd was loud, and noticing a door atthe far end of the cabin, Hugh suggested they step out onto thedeck.

Sorcha nodded and followed him out onto thestern deck, where the cool breeze licked at their cheeks. With asigh, she leaned against the railing and stared down at the waketrailing the ferry.

Hugh, however, could not look down when thesight elsewhere was something quite beyond his experience, perhapsmore astonishing than anything he had seen in this century thusfar. A mass of lights lit the shore like a cluster of stars huggingthe ground. But, like the stars, many ascended toward the heavensand formed shapes against the night sky. “What is that?” There wasenough awe and curiosity in his voice to draw Sorcha’s attentionaway from the water below.

“That? It’s Seattle.”

Hugh had never heard theword before, so it did nothing to fulfill his curiosity. “Butwhat is it?”

“A city.”

Those huge rectangles were buildings, herealized, lit against the night sky. How could that be? It lookedlike no city Hugh had ever seen, and he wasn’t naïve. He had seenmuch of the world and what it had to offer. He had seen the soaringspires of the greatest castles in Europe, but none of them hadreached such heights as this. And the tallest one of all seemed tobe held up by nothing more than thin legs. These buildings touchedthe heavens and were lit with a thousand colorful lights. Bluelights flashing against the sky. Red ones. How?

A tremor snaked its icy chill through Hugh’schest.

What a fool he had been to think that oneworld was much like next. To think that he was equipped to facewhat lay before him. To think that he might even do it all alone.It had all seemed so simple in Sorcha’s home, with walls blockingout the horrible reality of his situation, when there was some joyto be found for an inquiring mind.

But this?

When faced with such a harsh reality, Hughrealized he had about as much influence over his own life as an antdid beneath a man’s boot.

“How am I to survive this, Sorcha? I hadthought I might