Granny pulled in a slow, deep breath and ran a fingernail along a scratch that ran the length of the cutting-board countertop. “Tamhas was the man I intended to marry. Seems like an eternity ago.”
Marry? Trulie straightened without speaking and quickly double-checked the height of the flame underneath the already sputtering teakettle. Confusion successfully clipped her tongue and muddled her ability to think. Granny had never mentioned leaving behind a man she had intended to marry. Glancing across the counter into the living room, her three sisters had frozen in place, their eyes rounded as wide as their open mouths.
“Is Tamhas our grandfather?” Trulie shrugged behind Granny’s back when Kenna gave her the I-can’t-believe-you-just-asked-that look.
“Your mother was not born illegitimate.” Granny rolled her eyes and shook her head. “My husband—your grandfather—died while out hunting with the chieftain. Wild boars are very dangerous creatures.”
Trulie waited. Maybe Granny would go ahead and spill the beans if she wasn’t interrupted. Catching Kenna looking as though she were about to speak, Trulie made the “zip it” motion across her mouth.
Kenna snapped her mouth shut and folded her hands in her lap.
“Tamhas was your grandfather’s closest friend. He became my protector after I was widowed. The protection grew to love ... and it was returned.” Granny’s voice softened as though she were talking more to herself than to them. She swallowed hard and straightened her back as though struggling to contain her emotions. She looked up and smiled at Lilia and Mairi. “Tamhas and I were to be married the summer you two were born.”
Trulie’s heart fell and she turned away. Leaning against the sink, she stared out the kitchen window at the treetops swaying in the breeze. The summer Lilia and Mairi were born was when all their lives had drastically changed. Their parents had died and Granny had brought them all to a future filled with the promise of life through the miracles of modern medicine. Granny had made an oath and she had more than kept it. Not only had she saved her granddaughters’ lives, she had raised them at the cost of losing the man she loved.
Granny pressed a trembling hand on Trulie’s shoulder. Her voice hitched with unshed tears as she leaned in close. “I will not have you or your sisters feeling bad. I would make the same choice if I had to do it all over again. You four are my dear sweet babies. You all are the lifeblood that keeps my old heart beating.”
Trulie’s throat ached with unshed tears. All that Granny had lost weighed heavy on her heart. Sniffing against the threat of losing control, Trulie coughed and cleared her throat. “You sacrificed so much. Why didn’t you tell us all this sooner? We could have jumped back to Tamhas before now.”
Granny patted the corners of her glistening eyes and shook her head. She swallowed hard, sniffed in a deep breath, and squared her shoulders again. “The time was not right. I had to make sure you were all properly trained. You especially, Trulie.”
A sense of uneasiness sprouted deep in Trulie’s core. Maybe she would have been better off if she had just allowed Granny to keep her secrets to herself.
Granny turned to her, took her hands in hers, and clasped them tightly. Her calloused thumbs rubbed across the tops of Trulie’s knuckles as she stared down at their joined hands. “You know the time runner legacy—our folklore. Of all the time runner bloodlines I have ever known, our line is by far the most gifted.”
She paused and glanced around the room, smiling at each of the girls. “You each have been blessed with powerful gifts, along with the ability to walk across time. Reading auras and sensing energy have been child’s play to all of you since you were born. And you...” Granny paused again, bounced their clasped hands up and down, then peered into Trulie’s face with a shaking smile. “You, my dear, are just like me. You are the eldest daughter. Therefore, your talents include those of your sisters as well as many other blessings.”
Granny gently squeezed her hands again. “As the eldest daughters of our respective generations, we can snip out bits of any timeline and weave them into delightful illusions in the present. If need be, we’re also capable of showing the future or the past to those who need to see it most. With greater focus, we can glimpse down any number of possible futures depending on the choices made. These gifts all demand greater responsibility.”
Trulie swallowed hard. She didn’t want to hear this. She knew the responsibility of a time runner. Granny had also made it quite clear on several occasions the dire risks involved if any of them succumbed to the temptations their gifts created. The Sinclair legacy was sometimes a heavy yoke—and often more a curse than a blessing.
Granny released her hands and pressed her own tightly against her middle. Trulie clenched her teeth. She could tell by Granny’s faraway look that her litany of the Sinclair heritage wasn’t over.
With a deep breath, Granny’s unblinking gaze locked on Trulie. “You are just as able to heal when the Fates allow it as Mairi when she lays hands on someone in need.” Granny’s smile faltered a bit more as her gaze shifted to focus on something only she could see. “If only the Fates had seen fit to allow my healing of your mother ... and of you and your sisters.”
Granny cleared her throat, took another deep breath, and straightened her shoulders as though shrugging against the weight of the painful memories. “Visions come to you, just as they do to Lilia when she happens to meet a person chosen by the Fates to be warned.”
Trulie eased a step away from Granny. She didn’t want or need an itemized review of the gifts and idiosyncrasies of the eldest time runner daughters. Not now. “We are all special, Granny. We understand that.” Regular responsibilities were enough to worry about. Trulie should know. She had been saddled with them ever since she was old enough to help Granny take care of the rest of the girls. She would rather not dwell on the additional responsibilities she had inherited through birth order.
“The burden is yours, Trulie. As it is mine.” Granny’s voice held a hint of sadness. “Life is always more difficult for those of us who feel other people’s true souls and read their auras.” Granny opened the cabinet, pulled down five cups and dropped a teabag in each of them. “But you should be thankful you also have Kenna’s gift. You can wipe a person’s mind clean of painful memories. Sometimes folks just need a fresh start.”
Trulie accepted the steaming hot cup of tea and leaned back against the counter. She had done her best to ignore Granny’s private tutoring on the multitude of abilities given to an eldest time runner. She had kept the knowledge to herself. Hadn’t even shared it with Kenna. She had convinced herself the other girls would catch up when they reached a certain age. Lord knows they were all odd. She didn’t want to be the oddest of them all. “When did you know I would be saddled with all the extra ... stuff?” A bitter huff escaped her. She sounded like a deluxe model with extra attachments.
“Since before you were born,” Granny replied as she softly blew across the top of her steaming tea. Her voice took on a chiding tone as she peered across her cup. “You know that, gal. How many times have I had you recite our rede and name off your abilities?”
Kenna, Lilia, and Mairi lined up along the other side of the counter like magpies on a fence line. Kenna reached across the counter and playfully poked Trulie’s arm. “We always knew you were the weirdest one of us.”
“Nice.” Trulie jerked away and dumped what was left of her tea in the sink. A nagging sense of impatience swelled within her. As she turned the cup upside down in the rack, she couldn’t help but feel Granny’s current sense of victory. The sly old woman.Granny had successfully steered them all down Mysticism Lane to get the conversation off Tamhas and her cross-century affair.
Turning back to face them all, Trulie crossed her arms and leaned back against the counter. “So tell us, Granny. Once we get back to Tamhas’s time, are you two going to...” Trulie cocked an eyebrow and twirled one finger in the air.
Granny stood as tall as her tiny four-foot-ten frame allowed and stuck her chin in the air. “That, young lady, is none of your business.”
CHAPTER5
Clothes were sorted. Bags packed. Everything was ready. Tomorrow, they would leave. Trulie nudged the porch swing into motion. She needed to hear the soothing lullaby of the creaking chains as the swing softly swayed. Tomorrow brought a lot of uncertainty. She hoped with all her heart and soul that she was doing the right thing.
Mairi slipped out the screen door, stepped over Karma sprawled on the porch, and plopped down in the swing beside her. “You going to say bye to anyone besides Dan? Did he really believe you when you told him that lie about moving to Scotland for a few months?”
