words: Google Earth,” she answered enthusiastically. “We can just look it up.”
“Look it up?” he repeated curiously, but Claire was already pulling her laptop in front of her. “What is that?”
Claire explained the basic operation of the computer as her laptop was booting up. Using the simplest terms, she gave him a base description of the Internet and finally answered his questions about Google. “Where is it?”
“ Rosebraugh?”
“ Yes. How do you spell it?” Hugh spelled out the name while Claire typed it in and hit enter expectantly. Nothing. “Is that a town? It’s not coming up.”
Hugh glowered suspiciously at the screen. There was a dislike between man and machinery that Claire was certain would take more than a few days to overcome. Of course, a more unnerved time traveler might have beaten the computer with a stick until it lay in bits. Shooting her guest a suspicious glance, she scooted the laptop out of his reach… just in case. “Nae, ’tis a castle.”
“You have a castle?” Claire asked in surprise, eyeing him up and down as if she were trying to see more than she previously had. A castle said something more than blacksmith or soldier. “A castle? An actual castle?”
“I know of none that are less than authentic.”
“Hilarious,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “So you have a castle?”
“ Rosebraugh. It sits at the easternmost end of the South Sutor Cromarty wi’ the Moray Firth on one side and the Cromarty Firth on the other. ’Tis the first place that the sun blesses each morning and the grandest place in all the world,” he said with feeling.
“I’m sure you think so,” she said not unkindly. “But it’s a pretty big world, you know.”
“You think me simple, Sorcha?” Hugh shook his head at her reproach. “I hae seen sights tae delight the senses, but there is nae place that stirs my soul as Rosebraugh does.”
“I wasn’t trying to pick a fight,” Claire said apologetically at his defensive retort. Who could blame him? If she had just lost her home, she doubted she would take kindly to anyone’s attempt to dismiss her memories of it. In truth, she had found his words poignantly poetic.
Claire retyped the word, adding castle to the end but still there was nothing. “Are you sure that’s how you spell it? Maybe there’s a variation or something?”
Hugh raised a disdainful brow and Claire sighed. “Fine, but it’s not coming up that way.”
“What do ye mean ‘comin g up’?”
Claire gestured for Hugh to sit next to her, spent a few minutes explaining the program to him, how it worked, and what she expected it to find. As an example, she typed in Spokane to demonstrate. The image of the planet rotated and zoomed in on the city, making Hugh’s eyes widen with surprise. He tensed as if ready to pounce and Claire shielded her laptop protectively until his posture eased once more.
“This is a map of this town?”
“It’s a picture of S pokane,” Claire clarified. “We have machines in outer space that we call satellites that have cameras that can take pictures of us down here.”
“Camera?”
“A machine that captures an image to save.”
Hugh nodded. “Like the roving eye at the prison?”
He was clever. Claire had to give him that. “Laboratory, but yes, like that.”
“Fascinating.” Hugh fell into silence for a few moments, clearly thinking of all the implications of what she had said. Or simply not absorbing them, Claire wasn’t sure. He ran a finger over the monitor as if examining the texture then paused. “Hold. How did the machine get put intae the skies above the earth?”
“We sent them there . We shot it up there in a rocket.”
“Machines that go intae the skies? People?” She nodded, and Hugh started to laugh. For a moment, she wasn’t sure he believed her, but then he slapped his knee and barked out a harsh laugh. “I
“Look it up?” he repeated curiously, but Claire was already pulling her laptop in front of her. “What is that?”
Claire explained the basic operation of the computer as her laptop was booting up. Using the simplest terms, she gave him a base description of the Internet and finally answered his questions about Google. “Where is it?”
“ Rosebraugh?”
“ Yes. How do you spell it?” Hugh spelled out the name while Claire typed it in and hit enter expectantly. Nothing. “Is that a town? It’s not coming up.”
Hugh glowered suspiciously at the screen. There was a dislike between man and machinery that Claire was certain would take more than a few days to overcome. Of course, a more unnerved time traveler might have beaten the computer with a stick until it lay in bits. Shooting her guest a suspicious glance, she scooted the laptop out of his reach… just in case. “Nae, ’tis a castle.”
“You have a castle?” Claire asked in surprise, eyeing him up and down as if she were trying to see more than she previously had. A castle said something more than blacksmith or soldier. “A castle? An actual castle?”
“I know of none that are less than authentic.”
“Hilarious,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “So you have a castle?”
“ Rosebraugh. It sits at the easternmost end of the South Sutor Cromarty wi’ the Moray Firth on one side and the Cromarty Firth on the other. ’Tis the first place that the sun blesses each morning and the grandest place in all the world,” he said with feeling.
“I’m sure you think so,” she said not unkindly. “But it’s a pretty big world, you know.”
“You think me simple, Sorcha?” Hugh shook his head at her reproach. “I hae seen sights tae delight the senses, but there is nae place that stirs my soul as Rosebraugh does.”
“I wasn’t trying to pick a fight,” Claire said apologetically at his defensive retort. Who could blame him? If she had just lost her home, she doubted she would take kindly to anyone’s attempt to dismiss her memories of it. In truth, she had found his words poignantly poetic.
Claire retyped the word, adding castle to the end but still there was nothing. “Are you sure that’s how you spell it? Maybe there’s a variation or something?”
Hugh raised a disdainful brow and Claire sighed. “Fine, but it’s not coming up that way.”
“What do ye mean ‘comin g up’?”
Claire gestured for Hugh to sit next to her, spent a few minutes explaining the program to him, how it worked, and what she expected it to find. As an example, she typed in Spokane to demonstrate. The image of the planet rotated and zoomed in on the city, making Hugh’s eyes widen with surprise. He tensed as if ready to pounce and Claire shielded her laptop protectively until his posture eased once more.
“This is a map of this town?”
“It’s a picture of S pokane,” Claire clarified. “We have machines in outer space that we call satellites that have cameras that can take pictures of us down here.”
“Camera?”
“A machine that captures an image to save.”
Hugh nodded. “Like the roving eye at the prison?”
He was clever. Claire had to give him that. “Laboratory, but yes, like that.”
“Fascinating.” Hugh fell into silence for a few moments, clearly thinking of all the implications of what she had said. Or simply not absorbing them, Claire wasn’t sure. He ran a finger over the monitor as if examining the texture then paused. “Hold. How did the machine get put intae the skies above the earth?”
“We sent them there . We shot it up there in a rocket.”
“Machines that go intae the skies? People?” She nodded, and Hugh started to laugh. For a moment, she wasn’t sure he believed her, but then he slapped his knee and barked out a harsh laugh. “I
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