“We will eat nothing more that you provide. You will not control our behaviour anymore. Guards!”
Four men ran in, grabbing hold of the steward as he protested in words that fell between curses and blasphemy. “You’ll all pay for this,” he said as he was dragged outside.
The Laird walked across to Eddard and held out a hand. “I am in your debt.”
Eddard shook, not sure what to say.
“I feel immense shame at what my steward has done in my name. Philip will return home at once. Morag is where she belongs and I feel as if I am awake for the first time in years. Accept my apologies for your exile. Whatever you wish for, name it and it shall be your reward.”
“I want only one thing and it is something you cannot give.”
The Laird frowned and then smiled. “I think I understand. Wait here a moment.”
Chapter Fourteen
When Jessica was twelve, she was hit by a car. It gave her a glancing blow before skidding to a halt, the elderly driver running over and apologizing profusely. “I thought I hit the brake,” she said as if that explained everything.
How she felt just before the car hit was how she felt when Rachel touched the scar on her arm, the one she knew nothing about where it had come from.
There was a heavy feeling in her feet and in the pit of her stomach, as if she wanted to move but was glued to the spot. A tidal wave washed over her, leaving her unable to breathe. Her only thought was white. A white light that filled her eyes and her mind, wiping away the present and sending her back in time.
As she stood in the courtyard saying words without even knowing where they were coming from, more and more memories came to her, each one flashing by before she had a chance to process them.
They embraced her but she felt nothing. What was happening to her? Was this something to do with the time travel? What would happen when they found out the truth? That she wasn’t their daughter?
Before she knew it she was inside the keep with the Laird and Lady. The three of them were alone. The Lady took her hand and together they stood by the fireplace. On the mantelpiece above it was a doll. A doll she recognized.
“I left my babby lying here,
Lying here, lying here.
I left my babby lying here.
Tae go and gather blaeberries.”
Jessica looked into the eyes of the woman in front of her, seeing them rimmed with tears. “I know that song,” she said, staggering back as a memory hit her that was so powerful she blacked out.
She was a child, walking along a corridor, leaving her parents behind. She lived in the castle. She’d always lived in the castle. She’d been born in the castle. She had a brother. He was a baby.
The lullaby was running through her head as she passed through a door to retrieve her doll. The key turning. The key in the door. That was it.
She opened her eyes and looked up into the worried face of the Lady above her. “Mom?” she asked, sitting up slowly. “Is that you?”
“Morag,” Rachel said, openly weeping as she drew her daughter into her arms.
“Mom,” Jessica said.
She wasn’t Jessica. That was the name they’d given her when they found her alone and scared in the twenty-first century. She was Morag. Her name was Morag. She almost passed out again, her head throbbing with memories as if it had been asleep for years and was just waking up for the first time.
She hugged her mother and this time she felt more emotions than she could handle. Her eyes closed as she began to cry, her mother continuing to sing the lullaby to her, her father nowhere to be seen.
“Where have you been all this time?” Rachel asked a little later. The two of them were sitting in the Laird’s private quarters, their faces red from the tears. Outside crows were cawing loudly but inside there was little noise.
Morag thought how to answer, the silence in the room feeling heavy. She was still trying to piece together the snippets of memories that rolled around inside her head. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Try me,” Rachel replied, turning the little silver key over in her hands. “I never thought I’d see a key like this again.”
“You recognize it?”
