Chapter 2

Lucky's POV

I stopped for a second and watched the trees ahead of me. I hadn’t given them much thought at first, but now, as they stood like one tall guardian after another around me, I was feeling a bit claustrophobic.

The river had led me to this forest, but so far no people. Just my luck. Which was sort of ironic, since that was also my name. I smiled at my own joke and kept on going. Well, at least now, I had a direction. And I wasn’t going to die. It was late summer and the forest was rich in berries and nuts. The water was fresh and, if necessary, I could make a weapon of some kind and hunt a small animal. My biggest threat was the wildlife. The predators with sharper teeth than mine. But somehow I still kept my fingers crossed that I’d meet people before I met them.

I made a stop to wash and eat some of the barriers I’d collected when I made my first native encounter.

“Stay where you are!” A loud but young voice said behind me. I jumped up and faced the man. I recognized the language as English, but besides the rifle in his hands pointing at me, I didn’t register much else. My heart sank, and a cold shiver went down my spine. Shit!

“Who are you?”, he continued after a short examination and without lowering his weapon. “And what are you doing here?”

“As you can see,” I answered as calmly as I could and in his own tongue. “I’m lost.”

“You’re no Scot!” He exclaimed and finally lowered the rifle. My heart was pounding and fear slowly started to grab and twist my thoughts.

No!

I madly told myself. This is not the place to freak out.

I need to live!

I need to think...

Calmly!

I quickly looked the man up and down again. He was young and had recognized me as not a threat. One point for me, and I praised myself lucky to be of the female sex. Somehow that always helped, when running into strangers; even back home.

“No,” I answered, and could only imagine that he was talking about a Scotsman. If I remembered correctly, the English and the Scots had hated each other since they discovered each other's existence on the same island. I could therefore guess, I was somewhere on that island, but I had no idea on which side of the border I’d landed.

I took a deep breath. The man was still looking at me and I could only imagine that he was slowly realizing that I was a woman. And again, I could use my sex to my advantage. Perhaps he’d help me if he thought I was English?

“Could you help me get back home?” I asked in as perfect English as I could.

“Yes, I’d like that,” he answered and put his gun down. My heart sank. Unfortunately, I knew the look in his eyes. He had put one gun down but intended to use his other one. My heart started to race.

Oh, fuck it!

Why did I have to meet a man out in the woods? It was always the weird, horny types wandering between the tall trees. And from what I could guess from his clothes, he looked like he was a military officer. And I definitely knew that type! They would fuck a rock with a hole in it. Unless I thought of something quick, I was going to be in deep shit!

That was when it hit me!

Another thing I knew about military men, was that they were always full of themselves. I could use that to my advantage.

“Oh, please would you?” I said in my sweet voice. I usually only used it when I was being sarcastic. But he obviously didn’t know that. He nodded and encouraged me to get closer.

“I can hardly believe it,” I continued with a smile as I walked up to him. “You came to my rescue. Just like a knight in the stories.”

“And if I remember correctly,” he answered with a grin, confirming that he was buying into my act. “A knight always gets a kiss for his good deeds. How will you reward me?”

“A kiss?” I echoed, trying to act shy and surprised, but still not being beneath my age. “Oh, my! I don’t think I’m bold enough. M-my husband will most likely kill me.”

He took one step closer, and we were now face to face.

“I’m a soldier,” he said, leaning forward. “I live for danger.”

As soon as his eyes were closed, I took my chance. I grabbed the gun and, as if I could hear Grindvald's voice inside my head, I immediately knew what to do.

Hit it where it hurts!

Groin, foot, and a final blow to the head. He barely screamed and went out cold. So what was that loud bang? Then I realized. In the commotion, the gun had gone off. A thin white stripe of smoke calmly exited the barrel, as if it playfully wanted to remind me that it wasn’t on my side.

“Damn it,” I muttered, annoyed with the traitor, and threw it back to its master. If someone heard that, they would run to his aid and then I had some explaining issues.

I needed to leave, quickly.

But as I got up, I remembered that the soldier probably had supplies on him and if I were to survive a night in the woods, I was going to need all the help I could get.

Quickly, I checked his pockets. A box of matches, some paper, a handkerchief, and a pocket knife. He got the handkerchief back.

A noise behind me had my head snapping up--- and my heart sank. Soundlessly, a man was trying to sneak up on me. If his horse hadn't made a nice, I wouldn't even have noticed him!

I could see from the expression on his face that he was annoyed, that his horse had made me aware of his presence. But his annoyance quickly morphed into surprise as he took a second look at me.

I guess he didn’t expect to see a woman.

He rose to his full height and I realized that not only was he tall, but he looked completely different from the man on the ground. His hair was curly and the color of rust - just like his beard. His eyes were dark blue or brown - I couldn’t tell from where I was standing other than they were really dark. He was also dressed differently, but the traditional kilt of the Scots provided me with the final clue to my surroundings.

I had somehow ended up in Scotland.

Then--- he spoke.

And I was utterly confused!

He spoke a language I’d never heard before - and I knew a lot of them! Besides, I thought that, even if the dialect was different, they all talked some version of English. And worse, now it looked like he was waiting for an answer.

I had no idea---

Suddenly, his gaze shifted from me to the unconscious man by my side. And instantly his expression grew darker. My heart sank as I realized that he was reaching for his gun. A thousand thoughts flew through my head. Among them, that I was going to die just as anonymously as my husband. And just like I would never know what happened to him, my parents would never know what happened to me.

I couldn't let that happen!

I don’t know what came over me. An iron will to survive or just plain panic. I grabbed a stone by my feet and threw it as hard as I could.

And hit him square between the eyes!

I didn't know which one of us was more surprised - him or me. I hadn't even been aiming, and my aim was true!

He waddled from side to side before he collapsed - a thin stripe of red blood ran down his forehead.

Shit!

Did I just kill him?

I rushed to his side, but to my relief, he was only unconscious. He was going to have one hell of a headache, but he would live.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” I sighed. I met two people in this new world, and I’d knocked them both unconscious. This didn’t bode well for my stay.

I looked up and that’s when I noticed the horse before me. OK, perhaps all hope wasn’t lost yet. I left the men and gently approached the horse. But it didn’t seem to be bothered by me. Not even my clumsy attempt to get on its back or my efforts to get it to move seemed to have any effect on it either.

“Well, come on, you big donkey! Walk!” I snared while I made another attempt to get it to move. But the horse just wiggled his ears, as if he was enjoying himself, while I made a fool of myself.

“OK, fine!” I huffed, just about to give up. “What can I do, to get you to move?” To my surprise, he suddenly walked a few feet toward the Scot.

There he stopped.

I could hardly believe it...

“You don’t want to leave without your master?” I exclaimed, surprised. The horse stomped his hooves, clear in his reply. “Well, I guess he must be as kind as he is good-looking for you to be this faithful, ha?” As I said this, I think the horse started to like me, because he let me rummage through the saddlebags without making a fuss. “We’ll bring him then! Just promise me, you’ll move! Because I have a feeling that no matter which one of their companies I run into, they’ll hate me!”

I found a rope long enough to first tie him up, and then to get him strapped to the horse's side. When I finished, I got back up on the horse, and as by magic, he started to walk on his own.

“I have a strange feeling, you know where you’re going,” I murmured. “And I do not.”