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she thought. He ate his oats while staring at her. She stared right back until he finally nodded.
    “I’ve come to the conclusion you are a victim in all this,” he said, dabbing at his mouth with a handkerchief.
    “That’s awfully astute of you,” she said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
    He didn’t notice or didn’t care. She hated how he treated her as if she was as insignificant as a beetle he could crush under his boot at any moment. She hated that she was starting to believe it.
    “I do not think you had anything to do with your being in the wrong time,” he continued. Oh, he meant a victim of time travel, not of him, the gun-toting kidnapper. She couldn’t work up the energy to roll her eyes. “I do not hold with witches,” he said.
    “Yes, I’m aware,” she sighed.
    “Excellent. I propose we work together. If you help me, I will get you back to your proper time.”
    “That’s a tempting offer, Solomon,” she said, and this time he caught the sarcasm. Instead of a painful blow, he gave her more bread and a smile.
    “I could get you back to the moment you left. No one would even know you’d gone. This last year here would be yours alone, and no one would be the wiser.”
    That did tempt her. It was worse than a blow to the head and in her weakened state, the thought that this could all just be a memory made her dizzy.
    “You’re lying,” she said.
    He shook his head placidly, not the least offended by her disbelief. She knew then that he could do it, just as he said. She could get her life back. In fact, she never would have lost it. She could walk back downstairs at Belmary House and find Trent—
    She dug her fingers into the dirt and caught her breath. She didn’t want to find Trent, or start up the endless rounds of auditions of her old life. She wanted to find Quinn and make things up to him. Nothing was more clear to her than that.
    But the last time they were together, he could barely look at her, he was so disgusted by her behavior. What if she stayed here and it was all a waste of time?
    “Okay, Wodge. Just tell me what to do.” She tiredly leaned against a tree as he smiled at her again and gave her more food.

Chapter 4

    As the train sped toward Scotland, Catie relaxed into the window seat, entranced by everything that whizzed by outside. No one sat next to her and the older lady across from her barely nodded before sticking round things in her ears and concentrating on a flat tablet with moving pictures on it. Catie longed to get a closer look at it, but didn’t dare, remembering Lord Ashford’s warning not to speak to anyone. But he’d told her to get something to eat, so when a girl about her age walked past with her arms laden with goods, she took a chance and asked her where she got it.
    “Shop in the next coach,” she said, hardly glancing at her.
    Catie didn’t understand what Lord Ashford was so worried about. The people here didn’t seem to give a hoot about her. She made her way toward the shop, quivering with excitement to feel the train’s smooth movement under her feet. She found she didn’t need to hang onto the seats at all and entered the shop with a delighted grin smeared all over her face. The train, the shop, the shop in the train. It was all so wondrous.
    She didn’t know where to begin. Nothing looked like food straight off, and she picked up different packages to read the ingredients, finally choosing a ham sandwich, a bright red package of something called Doritos, an apple and a bottle of pink lemonade, because it looked so pretty.
    “Free biscuit with the sandwich, miss,” the elderly gentleman told her, pointing to a display. She took one off the top and got her wad of bills out of her pocket, nervously waiting for the total and hoping she wouldn’t make too much of a fool of herself.
    Merciful heavens, it was expensive! Lord Ashford had warned her not to make a fuss but she couldn’t help gasping when the man told her the amount. She handed