The screech of tires. The blare of sirens.
Irene released her hand. Her dark eyes shone with compassion. “I know it hurts, my dear. I know sometimes ye feel like there is no way ye can live with it. But ye can. Ye are stronger than ye think if ye would only take the time to learn that. Ye will soon have a choice to make. A new path will come before ye, one that, if ye have the courage to take it, will lead ye to the place where ye will find yerself, and to the person who will show ye who ye really are.”
She patted Lily’s knee. “It will be hard, my dear. I wish I could make it easier for ye, but I canna interfere, only offer choices. But if ye make the right one, the pain will be worth it in the end.” She heaved herself to her feet and looked down at Lily. “Choose wisely, my dear.”
She bent and scratched Teddy behind the ear, bid good day to Bettie, and then walked off without another word. Lily stared after her, open-mouthed, until she was out of sight in the distance.
“Lily?” Bettie said. “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Lily snapped her mouth shut and blinked, trying to clear her thoughts. “Why were you talking to that woman? Did you know her?”
Bettie looked around. “What woman?”
“Irene MacAskill. The woman who was here just a moment ago! You were talking to her when I came back with the drinks!”
Bettie frowned, her white eyebrows pulling down. “Lily, my dear, I haven’t spoken to anyone since we came into the park. I waited here with Teddy while you got the drinks. I certainly haven’t spoken to anyone called Irene MacAskill.”
“But...but...” Lily spluttered. Was Bettie messing with her? Was this the old woman’s idea of a joke? But one look at Bettie’s face dispelled this idea. She looked concerned, as if worried about Lily’s sanity.
My sanity?Lily thought.Perhaps I should be worried about it as well. Especially if I’m imagining strange conversations with strange old women.
She blew out a breath and then wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. She’d suddenly lost all interest in her tea and cake. She tossed the slice of cake to Teddy, who wolfed it down in one, and then threw her cup into the nearest bin.
“Are you all right, my dear?” Bettie asked. “You look a little out of sorts.”
“I’m fine,” Lily replied. “Just a little...tired.”
She clipped on Teddy’s lead and then wheeled Bettie out of the park and back along the street to her house. Once inside, she had Bettie practice moving herself from the wheelchair to her chair a few times to make sure she could do it safely and only when she was satisfied did she begin packing up her bag.
“You’re sure you’re going to be okay?” she asked Bettie, who was sitting in her chair with her feet up, Teddy curled in her lap and the TV remote by her hand. “The district nurse will be in later to check your dressing, and I’ll be back tomorrow to do some more rehab.”
“I’ll be fine,” Bettie said with a smile. “Go. Get yourself home and look after yourself for once.” She wagged an admonishing finger at Lily, reminiscent of the schoolteacher she used to be. “And no more arguing!”
“All right, all right! I’m going!” Lily said, holding up her hands. She grabbed her bag, threw on her coat, gave Teddy one final scratch behind the ear, then bid them both goodbye and headed out the back door and along the garden path. At the end,she reached the gate. It had a pergola arching above it covered with twisting roses, just coming into leaf.
Pain twinged down her back again and she halted, gasping, until it passed. She had to admit that Bettie was right: it would feelverygood to get home and put her feet up. Maybe she’d get a pizza and watch a trashy film. Ah, heaven.
She moved to walk through the gate, but paused as something strange caught her eye. The space beneath the arch of the pergola looked... odd. It seemed to be...shimmering. Lily narrowed her eyes, puzzled. It was not warm enough to cause heat-haze like that, but the air wavered like the air over a bonfire.
Intrigued, Lily took a step back to get a better look. She couldn’t see the street through the haze and there were images shimmering in it. But those images made no sense at all. She thought she saw a large lake with three mounted figures riding along the shore, then an ancient-looking city with spires rising into the sky. Then lastly, she saw a man’s face for the briefest instant.
What the hell? What was happening?
She shuffled forward and held her hand out towards the heat-haze. Where her fingers touched it, she felt a warm tingling sensation, and something else as well—an almost irresistible pull.
If ye have the courage to take it, it will lead ye to the place where ye will find yerself, and to the person who will show ye who ye really are.
Why had those words unsettled her so? Why had they stirred up such uncomfortable feelings?
Her foot moved. Then the other. She took a single step forward. The shimmering was right in front of her face now, so close she could feel it tingling against her skin.
Ye canna run forever, my girl.
She took another step and passed through the arch.
