“Let me start at the beginning. Shall we move into the solar? We might as well be comfortable. This could take a while.”
Heather followed her through a door in the back of the great hall. The next room was smaller but more cozy. A couple of armchairs had been placed on either side of the fire.
A half completed tapestry in a frame was in the corner by the window. A large sheepskin rug covered the bare floorboards. “Sit,” Tanya said.
Heather tried to relax but she felt more on edge than she had since first arriving in the past. “Did you travel back in time too?”
“I’ll explain everything. Do you know anything about the silver key that brought you here?”
Heather shook her head, feeling for the hidden bag containing it, suddenly sure that it wouldn’t be there anymore. It was. “Not much. Hang on though, I just need to wrap my head around this. You know I’m from the future?”
Tanya nodded. “Don’t worry. I haven’t told anyone. It’ll be up to you if you want to share.”
“Thank you.” She felt a strange sense of relief washing over her, like she’d been keeping a horrible secret and now she was able to let it go. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Just listen for a little while and I’ll explain as much as I can. There are six silver keys that unlock doors between times. From what I’ve been able to work out, they were forged a long time ago, before the highlands even had clans to roam them. Made by druids after a great battle.
“I’m not sure what is true and what is myth but the story goes that the ancient druids were engaged in a war with a figure known only as the barefoot man. The battle raged for a long time, the fight half physical and half magical until at last the druids won. The barefoot man was not killed though, he faded into the background of time.”
Heather nodded. “Gavin mentioned a barefoot man but I’m sure he said he was defeated only recently.”
“The druids forged the keys so they could help the highlands if the barefoot man were to emerge from hiding. They would bring those who were needed to the time where they could help.”
“How? How is that even possible?”
Tanya shrugged. “That I don’t know. What I do know is that those who came back are linked to the original druids. If you came back to this time using a silver key, it’s because you are one of the descendants of one of those six druids. You have their magical blood running through your veins.”
“But magic’s not real.”
“Isn’t it? Explain how you came back in time using a silver key then.”
“I…”
“You can’t but that doesn’t matter. What matters is what you do next.”
“Look, just stop a minute. Who are you? Did you come back with one of these keys?”
“I didn’t but my mom did. Adoptive mom really but still.”
“I don’t understand.”
Tanya sighed. “Gavin’s mother, Natalie, came back with one of the keys. She was the fourth woman from our time to come back to help the MacGregors. I could get dizzy trying to wrap my head around it all but a woman called Rachel was the first. That was four generations ago. You’re the fifth one to be brought back.
“The line becomes stronger all the time. The druids knew what they were doing. Each generation brought back has strengthened the MacGregor bloodline, combining the six druids into one clan. That is why the barefoot man was finally defeated and that is why you will help defeat his mother.”
“What? Wait, hang on. What did you say?”
“The old crone with no name. She is older than the barefoot man. She has walked this earth since before the druids even knew what they were fighting. She is out there right now massing the forces of our enemies. You will help defeat her.”
“Let me get this straight. There is a woman outside the castle who is hundreds if not thousands of years old and all she wants to do is defeat the MacGregors and take over their castle? Shouldn’t she set her sights a little higher? World domination maybe? Destruction of mankind? Why take on one little clan?”
Tanya leaned forward, warming her hands by the fire. “It is the key she is after, the key you brought back with you. It is the fifth key of the six that were forged.”
“The key? What does she want the key for?”
“To unlock the door that holds her husband captive.”
“She’s married? Yikes.”
