Chapter Thirteen
Tessa awakened groggy, heavy-limbed and unsure which popped up first, the sun or Emily. To her credit, Em tried to be quiet, but to a nine-year-old, quiet was still a relative term.
While her niece rummaged through their meager stash of food, Tess tried to extricate herself from her sleeping bag without moaning too loudly. She shouldn’t be this stiff and achy. She chanced a quick glance at Darach, still wrapped in his plaid, but awake and watching her.
She looked away, searching for the shoes she’d kicked off somewhere near her mattress. She must have fallen asleep in Darach’s arms, and sometime during the night, he’d settled her back on her make-shift bed.
For her comfort or his?
Last night’s events tumbled through her mind like dominos, one after another until she forced herself to stop. She wanted to be angry. Maybe that would burn away this soul-sucking disappointment. But she couldn’t dredge up the energy.
“Aunt Tess!” Emily cried, one hand and a bulging cheek full of blueberry scone. “You’re up. Awesome.”
“I am,” she smiled, trying to sound cheerful. “Come sit with me a moment?”
On her way, Emily grinned at Darach and wiggled the fingers of her free hand, then dropped down beside Tess, broke her scone in two and handed Tess half. “Sorry I didn’t wait. I was kinda hungry.”
Tess nodded. “Of course.” She broke off a tiny piece of scone and nibbled, wondering how to begin. Maybe it was best to just spit it out. Some honesty around here would be refreshing. “Emily, I’m sorry about yesterday. I was upset, but not at you.”
“You were mad at Darach, and he didn’t do anything, so…” she shrugged.
“No,” Tess sighed. “He didn’t. I…overreacted.” She pushed a lock of hair away from Emily’s face. “I’m really sorry. Am I forgiven?”
“Sure.” Emily hugged Tess with her free arm.
“But there’s something else we need to talk about, Em.” Tess waited while Emily sat up and looked at her. “I know my behavior upset you, but you have to remember we’re in a strange country, in a big, dark, unfamiliar house. We’re still learning about both of those things. So, when you ran off, it really frightened me. I can’t protect you if I can’t find you. Besides, didn’t we agree to talk things out with each other when we’re upset?”
At Emily’s pointed look, Tess conceded. “Okay. I messed that up, too. But I need your promise that you won’t run away and hide, ever again. And you’ll always answer when I call you.”
“Okay, deal,” Emily held out her hand, to shake. “But Aunt Tess, I wasn’t hiding. I promise. I didn’t hear you call me. When I came in, I just ran up the stairs without thinking. Then I thought I’d go look out that bedroom window that’s not covered. You know, the one where we saw Ja—” She frowned and looked down at her lap. “Anyway, I decided to go up higher, instead. So, I went through that little closet and up those old stairs we found.”
She turned to Tess, excitement lighting up her eyes. “And guess what I discovered! There’s old furniture and other junk, but I saw this really cool trunk in the corner, and guess what was inside?”
Before Tess could form an answer, Emily barreled on. “I didn’t get clear to the bottom, but I saw thishugeBible and inside the cover were a whole bunch of names. Lots of the last names were Lochridge, same as you and grandpa. And guess what else? There was this smaller book? It said diary on the front, and I kinda wanted to read it. But then I started talking to J….uh…I just sorta starting talking, and I got really sleepy. I was only going to rest for a minute and then read the diary.” She shrugged. “And then I woke up here.”
“Darach found you and brought you down.”
“Oh, cool,” Emily nodded, before tugging urgently on Tessa’s arm. “We’vegotto go back up there and get the diary. I’ll bet there’s really cool stuff in it.”
“Slow down,” Tess cautioned. “One thing at a time. I’m very interested in the diary, of course, and the other stuff, but Emily, didn’t we already talk about the difference between reality and fantasy? And didn’t we agree there wasn’t a…Jack?”
Emily’s expression seemed far from contrite. “Well,youdid.”
“Em—”
“ ’Tis here, Emily!” Darach interrupted, behind them. “I forgot. When I picked ye up last night, sleepin’ peaceful as a lamb, ye were, and…um…holdin’this book, so I tucked it inside my plaid for safe keepin’.”
Tess turned to see Darach fishing the book from the folds of his tartan. Emily had already joined him, all but dancing in anticipation.
“See? See, Aunt Tess?” She came back and dropped down beside Tess, her small fingers fumbling with the ancient leather clasp.
Darach joined them, settling on the other side of Emily. Tess noticed how he automatically rested his hand on Em’s shoulder, like he’d been doing it her whole life.
“Gently,” Tess warned, trying to shake the absurd sensation she was stuck outside their world, looking in. “The book looks very fragile.”
If they’d formed a bond without her, whose fault was that? Hadn’t she held herself back, despite her feelings for Darach? Perhaps she’d been too quick to judge his motives last night. He’d said from the beginning; his stay was only temporary. A few days at best. But he’d never actuallyrefusedto stay. Had he? Could it really be that simple? That he just needed to be asked?
“Here, Aunt Tess, you read it. The writing’s too hard for me.” When Emily handed her the open diary the fragile pages fluttered, giving her a peak at neat lines of faded writing. She thought she even glimpsed a hand-drawn illustration.
