That child would pick it up and take it home with her. From there it would make its way, slowly, over many years, to an antique shop in New York. There it would remain until a buyer was found. A buyer who knew exactly what she was looking for.
Cam and Rachel didn’t know anything about what would happen to the key in the loch. They didn’t know what would happen to the other five keys. Five keys that unlocked five doors to the past. Five stories waiting to be told.
The story of Cam and Rachel was almost over. There was just one chapter left to tell and that came two years after their return to MacGregor Castle.
Chapter Twenty
Rachel couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “How is this even possible?” she asked, looking from Cam to the alchemist and back again. “I can’t believe it.”
“Believe it,” Cam replied. “Thomas has done it.”
She looked down at the table, hardly able to move. “And you’re sure it will work.”
“Aye,” Thomas said, running his hand through his shock of gray hair. “It has taken many a sleepless night but I think I’ve managed it.”
She picked up the cellphone, hardly willing to hope.
A length of oil coated twine ran from it to a glass bottle filled with a dark liquid. From that bottle a mass of metal ran to other tubes and pipes. Liquids swirled and bubbled. Heat rose from the fire in the corner of the room, the flames powering the whole thing. An entire room given over to one task.
“You have made a battery?”
“Of sorts,” Thomas said. “It harnesses heat as power but I dinnae ken how long it will give you. Minutes maybe. Perhaps only seconds.”
“Any time is long enough,” she replied, taking a deep breath. “Are we all ready?”
“Do it,” Cam said.
“I pray it works,” Thomas added, wincing as she pressed the power button. He let out a gasp as the cellphone beeped in response, powering up at once.
Rachel’s hands shook as she tapped on the screen, loading the last number that called her and redialling it.
The line was crackly. Low battery beeps were constant, the screen fading and then returning to life. Each time it died, she held her breath. Thomas pumped the bellows and it came back stronger.
However long she had, hopefully it would be long enough for one final talk with her mother.
There was a series of dial tones and then a click as the cellphone connected. “Who is this?” Morag asked. “Rachel, is that you?”
“It’s me, Mom,” Rachel said. “I love you.”
“How are you calling me?”
“We got the cellphone to work but I don’t know how long it will last. I miss you Mom. I never got to say bye properly. I’m sorry.”
“You’ll see me again soon.”
“I will?”
“I just have to catch a flight. There’s an antique shop I need to visit. Then I’ll be able to come and see you.”
“I’m married, Mom. And I’m pregnant too. We’re going to have a baby, me and Cam.”
A louder beep from the cellphone, the call almost dying. Morag’s voice was faint, fading all the time. “Your father would have been so proud. Make sure you-”
The line went dead. She looked at Thomas but he only shook his head. “It was all I could give you, I’m sorry.”
She managed a smile through her tears. “It was enough. I thank you for your hard work.”
“It was nothing,” he said with a shrug.
