“Try living your whole life out of a suitcase,” I mumble.
He whips his head towards me and chuckles. “Are ye upset with me?”
My feigned, uncaring mask falls away. He can read me like a book. I don’t know why I’m so surprised; my mom always told me I was an open book, freely showing my emotions like a picture on a page.
“No, sorry.” I grimace. “I’ll just miss you, is all.”
Lachlan freezes when he glances into the open box. “I think ye should come take a look at this.”
I shuffle along the walkway until I make it to the other side of the box he has opened. Placed right on top is a gaudy necklace of braided metal with three sizable, spaced-out blue rectangles that are made to resemble sapphires.
“Whoa, that’s heavier than I thought it would be,” I mutter, passing it off to Lachlan.
The next items are long, almost sheer, flowing skirts in different shades of white and cream. They’re thicker than chiffon but just as light and silken in my hand; it’s a fabric I can’t quite place. Below the skirts, I find an even bigger swathe of the same fabric and hold it up to my chest.
“This looks just like something my mom would wear,” I whisper.
Lachlan eyes me warily. No doubt waiting for my mood to shift into something darker. But the sleeveless gown is beautiful. The neckline cuts straight across the collarbones, and ruching is sewn across the bodice in three different places. It’s very regal and totally my mother.
I move to drape the dress across the boxes next to us and reach back in for the piles of leather at the bottom. But a piece of folded parchment falls to the floor when I pull out the pile of leather straps that have become entangled. Lachlan stoops to pick up the folded parchment that had clattered to the floor, and he carefully unfolds it.
A light floral fragrance wafts from the paper. Something about the scent tugs at my memory, and I instantly forget about the tangled leather and drop it back into the box as I study the faded ink on the parchment.
It’s hard to make it out completely, but it looks like a map of an island.
The island is drawn out in black ink, but there are severaldepictions on the island drawn in gold ink. Some of the gold-colored drawings are of curved mounds with small openings resembling burial sites. The other drawing is of small vertical lines, twelve of them in a circle.
But what catches my eye is the drawing of my medallion shimmering in the top right corner of the map.
“Lachlan, that’s my medallion in the corner. Look!”
The elation at finally finding something related to the necklace has me jumping up and down. A cheer flies from my lips, and I quickly smother it behind my hands to avoid waking Gran. He chuckles at my exuberance, but then his brows furrow in concentration. Relief flows through me as if a heavy load has been lifted.
Lachlan gently lays the map out on top of the box and leans in closer to study the gold drawings. Realization flickers across his features, and he digs his phone out of his pocket. A couple of swipes later, he holds his phone out to me, excitement brimming in his smile.
“Look!” His phone is pulled up on a map of the Orkney Islands; it’s a perfect copy of the map in front of us.
“It’s Orkney!” I gasp.
Lachlan is still glancing back and forth between his phone and the map. “The gold drawings here line up with the Ring of Brodgar, and look, that mound is where the Maeshowe chambered cairn is.” He grins broadly at me. “Would ye care to join me now?”
I’ve never been to Orkney, but from the way he describes it, I think it sounds like a place I would love to see. But leaving Gran for the weekend when we don’t know how many good days she has left really worries me. My mind is spinning with the connections and the possibilities this could mean, though. I bet if I asked Maggie to stay with Lizzie, I could manage a weekend trip. That and Gran’s last words, “You need to go,” push me.
“Can I really come with you this weekend? There might be something there that would have answers, and I?—”
Lachlan cuts me off. “I would love to ha’ ye come with me, Key.”
Satisfied that he seems genuine and isn’t just placating me, I smile back at him, saying, “I can’t believe we actually found something.”
Lachlan still seems to be locked onto the map, tracing the outline of the medallion. I don’t know if it’s the excitement fueling my newfound courage or just his unnaturally handsome face, but I quietly say, “I’m excited about our first adventure together; we make a great team.”
Lachlan’s eyes quickly flash from the map to mine, and he smiles. “We do make a great team.” His eyes are bright, spurring me on.
“We kind of belong together.” I hold my breath, waiting for his reply.
His eyes dim. “Of course we do; you’re the Key to my Lach.”
His smile is comforting, but his words are not.
