The walls were painted a soft blue, the same color as the shirt Daisy had put on this morn.
Drake leaned forward. “How did you find your way here?”
Callan gave them a brief version of his journey, touching upon his life in 14th-century Scotland and how he had found himself catapulted into the present day. Daisy listened, quiet as he talked.
“Before I tell ye about Lucy, I found something at the Renaissance Faire where Daisy and I worked in Boston. Bought it from a merchant who said it had ties to Blackford, though he could not prove it.”
He handed Drake the towel, and as the man unwrapped the broken dagger, his eyes narrowed.
“That blade was stolen from my car last year,” he said, voice tinged with disbelief. “I found records indicating it had once belonged to Lucy.”
They talked as Callan told them how he had been captured and met Lucy, also a captive of Agnes, the daughter of William’s first wife. How Lucy defended her son, stabbing Agnes, then pushing her over the parapet to her death.
“When she told me her sisters were far away, I had no idea she meant seven hundred years in the future.” He snorted.
Mildred nodded, thoughtfully. “She wouldn’t have known yet…” With a glance at her husband, who nodded, she turned back to Callan.
“Melinda, Charlotte, and my niece Chloe are all… gone.” She swallowed. “They traveled to the past. Not together, but they all made it.”
Drake jumped in. “We found evidence that they all found each other.”
“When I met Lucy, she never told me she was a … time-traveler. It wasn’t until I remembered certain things she said that did not make sense when I arrived in this time that I knew for certain.”
He took another drink of the tea, grateful when Drake refilled his glass.
Mildred wiped the tears brimming in her eyes. “Tell me everything you remember about her.”
So he did.
When he finished, Drake cleared his throat. “I found a document mentioning Falconburg Castle, where Melinda lives … lived.” He stood. “I’ll be right back.”
When the warrior returned, he handed Callan a document encased in a protective sleeve.
He moved closer to Daisy so she could see too. She looked up. “The words are too hard to make out.”
“Turn it over,” Drake said. “I had the translation printed out.”
“Millie, don’t cry. They are well.” Drake took his wife’s hands in his.
Daisy touched the document, her voice full of wonder. “It almost looks like some kind of journal entry.”
She looked at Callan, her eyes huge as she read the translation. “It tells of goods, servants, and men being sent to a Bainford Castle, where Lord Bainford and his wife, Chloe Merriweather Gregory, Lady Bainford resided. The items in question sent by several prominent families of the time and overseen on the journey by a close friend.”
She let out a gasp. “Callan, look.”
Daisy pointed at the words as she read. “Thomas Merriweather Wilton. Lord Blackford and his wife, Lucy Merriweather Brandon, Lady Blackford. Lord Falconburg and his wife, Melinda Merriweather Rivers, Lady Falconburg. Lord Ravenskirk and his wife, Charlotte Merriweather Thornton, Lady Ravenskirk. Everything you said is true. You really are from the past.” Daisy reverently handed the document back to Drake.
Mildred met her eyes. “I know. It’s a lot to take in.”
Mildred told them about Karen and the baby she had named Chloe. How she’d taken Karen in, adopted her and given them a home.
“Chloe Penelope Merriweather. She told us when she was two years old that she was going to meet her aunts.”
Mildred took Drake’s hand in hers as she told the tale.
“We were so worried something was wrong with her until we figured out she was babbling on about time travel. Later, when she was grown, she told us she was going to England to visit the stone circles, that she was certain she could go back in time. We were so grateful to find out she made it and was okay.”
The tears started again. Millie pulled a tissue from her sleeve and blew her nose.
