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“No, Terrance didn’t come along till 1941, and by that time, I didn’t know if I could have children. We didn’t worry about it, though. Peter was relieved, I think. It gave us time to establish a real home and savings. It allowed him to build a business without having to take labor-intensive jobs.”
“So, what happened on this vacation?” I bit into my roll, melting at the taste. There were few things better than warm bread and melted butter.
“Well, if you ever travel to Scotland—hopefully with me—I’ll take you to Glencoe. In 1692, there was a massacre there. Nearly 40 members of the Clan MacDonald family who lived there were murdered by government forces. The story’s tragic. King William III sent in forces posing as friends, and after a couple weeks, those forces turned on their hosts and slaughtered them.”
I caught my breath. “How horrid. I imagine the land remembers?”
“Oh, aye, indeed. The land is drenched in anger and sorrow, though by now, some of the spirits have gone to their rest. The original orders designated that all men under seventy were to be slain, but somewhere along the line they were changed to an order to kill everyone.”
“Even the children?”
“Even the children. There are more tales to tell concerning the massacre, but we’ll save those for another time. Your great-grandfather and I stayed in a tiny inn. Glencoe is surrounded by mountains, so we went walking every day, hiking into the foothills, and soaking up the energy. The terrain is rugged, and wild, and it’s one of my favorite places. The earth is powerful there. The elementals are always listening.”
I could feel, from her words, the strength and age of the land, and I suddenly wanted to go see it—to hike deep into the mountains and just…be…for awhile.
“Glencoe was once a supervolcano. Not many people know that fact. So there’s a disruptive, explosive memory in the land, as well. It will never erupt again. At least they believe it’s long extinct Anyway, Peter and I were up on the side of one of the mountains there one day, and nobody was around so we stripped and made love off the road, behind our car. That was the first day that our magic took over, and…it was transformative.”
“Did it happen again? Every time?”
“Well, yes and no. It changed our relationship. Neither of us knew what triggered it, but it was like you said. Wild, passionate, and we were both in body and yet, out of body. After that, while it didn’t happen every time, it would always come round again whenever too much time elapsed between our lovemaking sessions. It brought us back together, every time it happened.”
I nodded, thinking over what she had said. It was always odd, when I would capture a glimpse into a friend’s world, or Grams’s world—into a time and place where I hadn’t been present, or even born. It was like peeking behind a closed door.
After dinner, I realized I was beat. By that time, Von, Kells, and James were on the doorstep, ready for another night. I thanked them for coming and, as they headed out to patrol the grounds, I kissed Grams and curled up in my bed with the cats to watch a movie and fall asleep early.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Something was wrong. I couldn’t place what it was, but there was something that seemed different when I woke up. I froze. I sniffed, but couldn’t smell anything. Still, my alarm bells were ringing. Pushing myself up to a sitting position, I leaned back against the headboard, straining to see if I could hear anything other than the rain.
Nothing.
I had long ago learned to pay attention to my instincts, so I slid out from beneath the covers, shivering as my feet hit the cold floor. The kittens were both asleep, curled up on the bottom of the bed, oblivious to the world. They were sleeping the sleep of all those who were young and exhausted after a long day of charging around.
Peeking out my door, everything seemed to be all right. I flipped on the hall light and darted into the living room. Nothing amiss there. The kitchen stood silent, as well. I pressed my nose to the front window, but nothing seemed to be going on outside, and if there was—Von, James, and Kells were out there.
Heading back to my room, I stopped at Grams’s door and softly knocked. She surprised me by opening the door.
“Are you all right?” I asked. “I feel like something’s off.”
Fancypants flew up over Grams’s shoulder. He had taken to sleeping in her room. “What’s going on?”
“We’re not sure, but something feels wrong—” I froze as someone pounded on the front door. “Hold on.” I glanced down. I was wearing a see-through chemise but right now, it sounded like whatever was going on was urgent. At that moment, my phone rang. I glanced at it, then answered.
“Open the door. It’s Von. I need to tell you something.”
It was his voice all right, but with my alarms ringing, I said, “Put yourself on Face-to-Face, so I can be certain?”
“Sure thing. I’ll call you right back.” He hung up, then the phone rang again and I opened it to see Von staring at me, looking frantic. I hurried to the door and opened it.
Von was there, all right, and he rushed in and motioned for me to shut the door. He didn’t seem to notice what I was wearing, which relieved me.
“What’s going on?”
“I’ve called 911. The Anderson farm is on fire.”
“What?” I was so startled that I shouted. “Sorry! I need to get dressed?—”
“Hold on, let me fill you in first.”
