As I sat beside Gran on the bed, holding her hand, I pondered how everything had unfolded so swiftly. What transpired last night? Had the spell she was weaving gone awry? A sinking feeling gripped my heart,settling in my stomach as I realized I hadn’t considered the spellbook before ushering everyone into the cottage. If anyone laid eyes on it, they would undoubtedly brand Gran a witch.
My mind raced, retracing my steps. No, the book hadn’t been in the kitchen. I would have noticed. Gran must have stowed it away before falling ill. Beads of sweat formed at my hairline as I contemplated the book resting in the cottage, unattended. What if someone went back to gather her belongings and stumbled upon it?
That could not happen. Leaning forward, I kissed Gran’s head, resolving to return and locate the book. Just as I turned to leave, the duke entered the room, accompanied by an older gentleman.
“Cora, this is Martin McDougal, our physician,”the duke introduced as they approached the bedside.
“Can you provide more details about her illness?”the doctor inquired.
“Other than a slight cough the past few days she seemed perfectly well until I discovered her this morning. She was lying on the floor, surrounded by vomit, and she felt very cold,”I conveyed.
The physician leaned in, conducting a thorough examination. He listened to her chest, then lifted her eyelids and peered into her mouth.
“What did the vomit look like?”he continued, still scrutinizing her.
“I’m not entirely certain; the room was still dim,”I replied.
“Was it dark or light in color?”he pressed.
Taking a moment to recollect, I remembered it distinctly against the aged wood floors, even in the low light.
“It was dark, notably darker than the wood floor,”I affirmed.
He turned and exchanged a look with the duke.
“Her eyes are showing an unnatural dilation, and judging by the appearance of her mouth, I suspect she ingested some form of toxin, possibly belladonna,”the physician explained, pointing out her lips, which had turned a dark shade of blue within moments.
“Are you suggesting she was poisoned?”I questioned, fear wellingwithin me. Why would anyone want to poison Gran? Then my heart stopped. Had she accidentally poisoned herself during the spell? Thinking back on what I had witnessed last night, I remembered one of the plants Gran held having small black berries on it. She must have known what they were; why would she willingly consume them? At that moment, I knew I needed to return to the cottage, locate the book, and find the spell she had been weaving last night.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The Cailleach
Nora stared down at the last page of the chapter and let out a sigh of relief. Nothing in the book mirrored the events of her day. She had been going back and forth on whether she believed the book was somehow linked to her own life. The shadow effects of the two must have just been her mind conjuring up some adventure or even just pure coincidence.
She was about to set the book on the side table when the smell of fresh Italian spices wafted up the stairs and into her room. Her stomach let out a groan, and it dawned on her that she had never cooked the pizza. She had left it thawing on the counter. With Alistair’s unexpected arrival and the awkwardness that had filled the space, she had quickly retreated to her room without even thinking about it, but apparently, he had found it.
The smell filled her with a sudden hunger that left her stomach cramping from too many hours of neglect. She followed the scent down the stairs, where she found Alistair pulling the pizza out of the oven.
“Hey, hope you don’t mind, but you had left this out, and I figured I better cook it, or it would have gone to waste,” he told her as she walked toward him.
“I’m glad you did. I had completely forgotten to eat until the smell forced my stomach to remember,” she said with a slight smile before pulling out one of the bar stools and sitting down across from where he stood.
She watched as he cut the pizza into slices, pulled two plates from a cupboard, set a slice on one, and handed it to her.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me. It’s your pizza; I just put it in the oven,” he said, with a sharp edge to his tone as he served himself a slice and then walked over to the stool beside hers.
They sat in an awkward silence as they began to eat. Nora had no idea what to talk about, and she wasn’t even sure she wanted to talk. After all, their previous interactions had been more than unpleasant. She wasn’t sure she should risk breaking the unspoken truths they had going.
“Have you been to Letterfearn before?” Nora asked, finally breaking down, not able to take the silence any longer.
“No, not really. I have been to Kyle and a few other towns near here on assignment though. You?”
“No, it’s actually the first time I have ever been outside the US. Letterfearn was a place my grandmother talked about often when I was a child, so I decided to come see it for myself,” she said, pulling a piece of pepperoni off her pizza and eating it before taking a large bite.
“Really? Your first time out of the States at your age?”
