My Heart's in the Highlands Read Online Free PDF Page A

source of the chaos.
    She couldn’t seem to separate the two.   It was as if her consciousness had somehow been influenced by this Hero Conagham.  She picked away at the back of Mikah’s mind like a termite digging her way in so that she might overrun Mikah’s psyche, battling to be at the forefront of Mikah’s consciousness.  The confusion and shock that she had been riddled with ever since the accident had left her in this trance-like state while she tried to comprehend what had happened or at least come to terms with it.  Was she hallucinating, perhaps?
    Or, considering the appearance of the man before her, dreaming ?
    Either way, she was s till Mikah … but not.
    If that made any sense.
    Mikah didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry, because she knew it did not.   She was afraid that if she did engage in either one, she might not be able to stop.  That alone might get her sent to the loony bin, if the insanity in her head did not.
    Sensing that her distress was building, Lord Ayr squeezed her hand, “Don’t think about it now, love.  Just rest.  Tomorrow we’ll go home to Cuilean and there everything will get better.”
    Cuilean , Mikah thought dreamily, letting her eyes drift closed.  The tension and anxiety drained away.  Home.
    Love.
     

Chapter Four
     
    The castle at Dùn Cuilean
    On the shores of the Firth of Clyde
    Ayrshire, Scotland
    Ju ne 1856
     
    “Are we almost there?”
    “Almost, Papa,” Mikah said without hesitation for the relationship or the question itself.   They were nearing their destination.  Mikah could feel it in her bones.  Every mile the carriage traveled, every sight and smell that assailed her, told her so.  She could feel the excitement building inside of her, not just her own excitement but Hero Conagham’s as well.
    It was all still very strange.
    When Lord Ayr, the doctor, and the maid, Mandy, had finally left her alone the previous afternoon, Mikah had studied herself in the mirror of the dressing table.  What she saw had surprised her.  She looked much the same as always, but paler and a little softer, as if she had never been out in the sun and had skipped her twice-weekly Zumba class for months.  Her clothing and hairstyle were middle Victorian in styling.  Further investigation of the hotel room had revealed furnishings that she considered antique, while a peek through the window showed a world out of time with a smoky, industrial skyline and carriages, wagons, and people dressed much as she was.
    Gone was the twenty-first century , and Mikah kept waiting for the dream to end.  At any minute she expected to wake up and find herself when and where she belonged.  Not in the summer of 1856 but safe and sound back in the autumn of 2012.  Her arms would most likely be covered in bruises in the days to come from her constant pinching.  When the dream persisted, there had been moments of panic that bubbled up in her chest until she’d been ready to scream.
    Then she would think of home.   Not Mikah’s home in Milwaukee but the castle, Dùn Cuilean, where they would be arriving shortly.  She could see it clearly in her mind, feel a longing for the place deep within her soul. 
    Her home.   Hero’s home.  It didn’t matter.  It was home .
    And Ian Conagham would be there was well.
    Those two thoughts had subdued the schizophrenic hysteria that had kept building in Mikah the previous day, leaving her able to consider her situation more logically.  Clearly, she must have taken quite a blow to the head, because this was the most absurd dream she’d ever experienced.  Whether her dreams were realistic or fantastical, Mikah seldom dreamed that she was someone else.  Even if she were a warrior princess from outer space, she was still Mikah, warrior princess from outer space.
    On the rare occasion, she might dream that she was someone else, but never both at the same time.  That was the part she was having the hardest time understanding.  In this