Sneaks by B Button

Like I said, I don’t know how to explain all that has happened.”
    “Kally, where do ye come from? I need to ken the answer.”
    “Far away.”
    “That’s not an answer I can accept.”
    I sighed. “I wish I could explain it better, but I can’t, not right now. Trust me, though, I’m not here to do harm to anyone. Can you trust me for the time being?”
    The laird rubbed at his furry chin. “Weel, there’s already a problem with that, lass.”
    “What?”
    “Fer one, ye have already done plenty of harm. And two, I am the laird. Ye are supposed to tell me what I want to ken. “
    “I did harm?” I asked. I thought I had been given the title of legend, not that I’d hurt anyone.
    “Aye, lass.”
    “Laird, you have to believe me, I never meant to do harm to anyone. I would never have done that on purpose. I apologize and hope that I can be forgiven. As for you being the laird – well, we’ll just have to find a way to get past that.”
    He stared at me a moment, his eyes dark and unhappy. And then he smiled. I think. His angry eyes crinkled slightly and then went back to serious before I could join any joviality.
    “So,” I continued, “how did I do harm?”
    He sighed heavily. “I thought,” he hesitated. “I thought the same someone who took Mac hurt ye too, and then the wolves carried ye away.”
    “I believe that’s partially true. Well, I wasn’t hurt but I was sent away against my will.” That wasn’t the complete truth. I was trying to escape that night, but still. “Anyway, I can’t tell you exactly what happened. There were no wolves involved, though. Did you figure out who’d taken Mac?”
    “No, but not for lack of trying. I …”
    “What?”
    “At one time or another, I blamed each and every person.”
    “Oh, laird, I’m so sorry. Is that why Una was away for so long?” This was awful.
    Brian Duncan suddenly sat up straighter in his chair. Something changed about the way he held his shoulders. “Mistress Kally, it is I who should apologize. I reacted badly when ye left. I am attempting to mend the damage, but that was not yer fault. I believe ye didna intend to do the harm, lass. I shouldna sounded as though I was blaming ye.” He looked down at his clasped hands. “Ye are here now. Are ye going to stay? ”
    “I. Uh.”
    “Ye will not be forced to stay. Ye dinna have to fix clocks if ye dinna want to, but will be a guest in my home, on my land. I believe I mistreated ye the last time ye were here by not allowing ye to leave. I’ll not do that again. I believe that was maybe the first and worst mistake I made. I’m happy to have the chance to put things right with ye.”
    Again, I wanted to shake him. I remembered his deep sadness over the death of his wife when I was last here – my disappearance only added to his superstitious beliefs. I felt awful.
    “Laird, you weren’t terribly unkind to me. I’m sorry I left without saying good-bye last time – again, I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.” I cleared my throat. “May I stay until tomorrow? I would love to say hello to Corc and Ian, too.”
    “Aye, it would be our pleasure to have ye stay as long as ye like. We’ll all have dinner this night and ye can make yer greetings then.”
    “Thank you, that would be wonderful.” 
    “Lass, I have to tell ye that we wilna search for ye again if ye disappear.”
    “I wouldn’t expect you to.”
    “Good, I’ll tell Una to prepare a feast.”
    “I’ll do it. Let me go find her. Maybe I can help her with things. If there are any clocks that need fixed, I brought my tools.”
    The laird looked at that clock on the ledge behind him. I’d noticed that it was still working.
    “I dinna ken, but I’ll ask. This one is fine. I think about ye every time I look at it.”
    Time pieces, clocks, the movement of time, the telling of time – finally all leading to traveling through time; these things brought people together in many ways. Mr. Bellini’s clock gave him his