There was a man, young and very tall, angry, and armed with a dirk.
James tried to look ready to fight, but he was wearing sweatpants with the ‘Relax the Contractor is here’ t-shirt. We had no weapon unless a broken Matchbox car counted.
The man looked menacing, but also confused. “I was… I was preparin’ tae battle, I was… I had men around me, then I turned tae call back and they were gone. Ye are the first souls I hae seen since it happened.” His eyes narrowed angrily.
James planted his stance protectively. “You haven’t seen anyone?”
“Nae and I am goin’ tae kill ye for it.”
I said, “So we’re the first people you've seen and you plan to kill us? That seems unhelpful.”
James said, “Katie.”
“No, seriously, dude,” I said, “we didn’t make everyone disappear, we’re just innocent. No reason to kill us, think this through, maybe we can help each other.” I looked around, at a loss for what I could offer.
He said, “Do ye hae any of the firearms?”
James said, “What the... the guns? You know about guns?” Under his breath he said, “Do they have guns this far back?”
“The guards in the castle had guns.”
James said, “Oh, right, they did, but out of time, right?”
The guy said, “Aye, I hae seen them, I want a gun.”
James said, “I have crates of weapons here somewhere, alotof guns, so many guns. As soon as I find them, I’ll give them all to you. Just don’t kill us.”
I added, “And I am very hungry. Do you have any food, good sir? I’ve been in the castle, there wasn’t any…”
He reached into a leather bag at his waist, pulled out some dried meat, and tossed a piece to James, who broke it in half and passed me a bit.
“Thank you.” I shoved it in my mouth and chewed happily. Then, with that solved, I sized him up.What could I say to explain this?
I asked, “Are you a time traveler?”
James said, “Shush, Katie, what the hell?”
I shrugged. “As far as I can tell we’re in some kind of a time slippage. Homeboy here is with us, ergo: he must be a time traveler.”
The man asked, “Och, a time traveler? What dost ye mean?” He kept his dirk dangerously pointed at us.
I narrowed my eyes. “You really don’t know?”
James said, “He doesn’t really know, look at him.”
The man asked, “What did ye mean by time slippin’?” He remained on edge, ready to strike.
“Like, we went to bed in one time, and then when we woke up it was a different time. Have you ever been in a river, when there is an eddy?”
“Aye, the current will pull ye under if ye arna careful.”
“Exactly!And yes, we all ought to beverycareful. No one needs to killanyone. What’s your name?”
“I am William Wallace.”
I said, “Like,theWilliam Wallace?”
“Tis what I said.”
