13
Heather felt like kicking herself as she followed Tanya. All she had to do was tell Gavin about Keir and somehow she hadn’t been able to do it. What was wrong with her? She wasn’t this meek, was she? She could concentrate, couldn’t she? If only he hadn’t kissed her again.
The first time, she’d been able to convince herself he hadn’t meant it. There was no way of telling herself he didn’t mean the kiss that had just taken place.
She could still feel it on her lips long after he’d left. Even as Tanya motioned for her to sit down she was still feeling it. She didn’t walk over to the nearest bench, she floated.
It was only as she sat down that reality began to come back to her. She hadn’t told him about Keir, about the fact that he was a traitor working with Jimmy the Snout to undermine the MacGregors.
“Tell me about yourself,” Tanya said.
Heather looked up. Tanya was older than her by about five years, her hair hidden under a pillbox hat, ribbon tied under her chin.
Her skin was pale but her eyes were warm. She looked as if she had known some hard times but those times were long in the past. She was smiling at Heather as if they were old friends.
“I’m not sure what you want to know,” Heather said, her eyes moving down to take in Tanya’s clothing. She wore a similar dress to hers but it looked so much better on her. Was there any doubt as to why Gavin had been talking to Tanya? Another flare of jealousy rose up, this one more bitter than the last. The kiss was almost forgotten in her anger.
Why had she thought she even had a chance with him?
“What year have you come from?”
Heather looked up, seeing that Tanya’s eyes had become piercing, reading her swiftly, seeing the panic that covered her face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know you’ve come from a time far in the future.”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Why lie about it?”
“I’m not lying.”
“So you’re telling me that you’re from the year 1300. What year were you born?”
“Nineteen-ninety-” She stopped herself. “I mean Twelve-ninety. Twelve-ninety.”
So you’re ten years old?”
“Twelve-eighty.”
“Who’s king at the moment?”
“Erm, I don’t know.”
“Stop the charade, Heather. I know.”
“What? What do you know?”
Tanya stood up and crossed to the fire, picking up the poker and prodding the flames with it, bringing them back to life. “The thing I miss most is central heating.”
Heather looked at her back, starting to wonder. “What’s that?”
Tanya turned around again, looking suddenly deadly serious. “Susanne showed me your cellphone.”
Heather stiffened. “Oh. I-”
“It’s fine. Look, I wanted to get you on your own. We have a few things we need to talk about.”
“Yeah, like how come you know what a cellphone is.”
