The Mind Traveler Series: Book One, The Highlanders

Chapter One

There is a man who is wearing a kilt and tartan and has long brown hair. I've grown accustomed to this look, for the past month he has been in my dreams almost every night. He turns to me and beckons calling my name.

Kathy-Ann.

Kathy-Ann…

"Kathy-Ann,wake up!!" my heart beats faster and turning to Sarah I see we're on a plane. It all comes crashing back. We are on a plane going on a trip around Scotland. This is the first time my parents let me and my best friend Sarah, Sarah Enola Winona Holt go alone. 

"Sorry, I had a dream" said as I was leaning back into the uncomfortable chair that did nothing to ease the nervousness in my gutt. We only have two more hours and might as well try to sleep before we land but Sarah has other plans. 

"Tell me every detail " Sarah commands as she shakes me. I put my hands on her shoulders to stop her, my pale freckled skin a major contrast to her russet skin. "Same old, same old" I wish I could tell her it was something new but nothing, which is why I hope this trip to Scotland may help.

Couple hours later were in the Royal Highland Hotel, fifteen minutes from Inverness Airport. This was a place for spies, for war, that is much of Scotland's history. No surprise to hear stories of Will o'the Wisp or the Banshee, not with a country with so much strife and bloodshed. 

Once we got settled Sarah and I decided to walk to Culloden. A place I've heard much about, it isn't really far from our hotel, about eight minutes or so. "Macintosh, Fraser, Cambell, Stewart" Sarah I hear her calling the names of clan's who died at this place. "Ya, I can't believe what they must have gone through. Last real battle before the British really took hold" We stop at the stone that says "Clan Mcavoy".

"What do you mean?" Sarah turns to me but I don't get to respond before things go black. 

"Kathy-Ann". 

I'm back to the man on the horse. I don't think before I grab his hand. I trust this man. I know I've seen him before and he is taking me to Abergeldie Castle. Back in my time it was a majestic ruin now it is a beauty you could only dream about. "Have we meant the other before?" he seems more familiar every second I'm here. 

"You are a funny lady. You know me of course, have since we were children" Laughing he gets off and helps me off as well. "Well my dear man, if you please humor me" leading me through the corridors and up the stairs  step after step I wish there were such a thing as stairs. Half way up I am doubled over and out of breath. "You act like you haven't done this before Miss Kathy" I just glare at him and insist  I have not done this before. The man doesn't answer me but his glances give me a sense that he is for whatever reason concerned. 

He takes me to Allison Collins, Abergeldie Castle's Healer. "Riley Liam Kyle Taylor , What have you done to poor Kathy?" Riley seems to take great offense to this and to Allison's luck he leaves the healing chambers. Allison or Alley as she seems to like to be called, give me a proper look over. Alley and Riley end up in a discussion that for the life of me I cannot understand. "Will ya please speak English so if ya are gonna talk bout me least let me understand ya '' There is a look between the two of them, the same worried glance I've seen before. 

"You act like ye never heard Gaelic before". 

My senses all come back to me. I can feel pain in my eyes, their watering. I can hear birds chirping and crow. Shaking my head, I see not the walls of a castle but stones on grass. Just like that I'm back in the present day. "Thank God! You dropped to your knees and after you just stared into space" Sarah explains to me and I don't have a response. 

Before I know it my legs are taking me in a direction I didn't even know I knew. Sarah is furious that I walked off. So what I do is tell her of the dreams. Well… I think that's what they are, they're too real. There has to be more to it than that. In a dream you don’t feel pain, you don’t smell or taste, but in my dream I could. 
         “Why can’t I find the library!” I end up yelling at the sky. “Probably because..It’s, oh I don’t know it’s the COUNTRY!” Sarah gestures to everything around us. All we see is a village with old houses and stone streets, clean air and yards of grass and flowers. After this amazing revelation we end up going to a place in the village to go get Afternoon Tea. There are ham and butter, cucumber and salmon sandwiches. The biscuits have Jam and cream, the sweets are cake and I can’t even bother to remember what else. 
         
      Not that my mind has been much of anywhere or anytime. When it’s in the present I’m stuck in the past and when I have those dreams I can’t for the life of me remember anything going on. So at the tea I explain everything to Sarah, even all the things she already knew. She doesn’t say anything at all but has a look of contemplation. I end up finding out that she is keeping all the secrets. 
    She tells me about transportation, which is this process where you turn off the left side of your brain and transport it to any place, time or world you want by connecting to that Universe wave length. Sarah even goes on to say that the CIA have proof of this in secretly kept documents that got released in 2003 called “Analysis and Assessment of Gateway Process”. To be honest with you I don’t have the time nor the patient to really read it so I’m going to skip that and ask Sarah everything instead.
               Sarah mentions there are so many different Universes, to explain it better she gave me a scenario. You have to choose between orange and apple juice, no matter which you choose there is a Universe where both exist. We have always been able to do this. She says that Transporting is as natural as walking but we don’t see it that way because we didn’t grow up doing it. Sarah has this theory that I’ve been accidently transporting to this other time and because I have no control my mind will be all over the place.
 
This completely makes no sense. I have no idea how she understands anything at all. It’s night time and the stars are shining brighter than I have ever seen in my life. I supposed nature is so much more alive away from the city, in the mountains. I meditate before I go to bed. Well I lay down, I keep my arms and legs apart and count. I repeat three things in my mind.