[Runes of Argyl 01.0] The Runes of Argyl Trilogy

by Jessica Savage

  It had all started at the desk outside of Reginald P. Wooley, Esquire’s office. Reginald was a senior partner at the offices of Davis, Franklin, and Wooley, Attorneys at Law, a prestigious criminal defense office in Daytona Beach, Florida, when she received a telephone call from Tyler Yancey, her great aunt’s estate attorney. She had been expecting the call for about a week, and was beginning to worry that it would not come in time for her trip to Scotland.

  “Reginald Wooley’s office, Lily speaking,” she had answered.

  “Yes, Miss Rey,” the man’s voice had said through the crackle of cell-phone static, “I am calling in regards to Mrs. Henry’s estate. The reading of her will is this afternoon, and she had specifically asked that you be present, as it concerns you very much.”

  “Okay, what time?”

  “We will be starting at 4:00 p.m., exactly.”

  “I’ll be there,” she said, replacing the telephone in the receiver. She remembered glancing at the clock and thinking to herself how they could have called her earlier. Her flight was scheduled to leave the runway at 8:15 that evening, and with the post-9/11 security, she would need to be at the airport by no later than 5:00 that evening.

  She was cutting it mighty fine, indeed.

  She had been looking forward to the trip—her chance to visit the land of her ancestors—for several months. She had always felt drawn to Scotland, most likely because family tradition had always said that they were descended from Scottish nobility, and it made her dream of castles, of handsome men full of chivalry and honor—basically what every young girl dreams of. The problem was, those young girls eventually learn that there are no more castles, princes to sweep them off their feet, or dragons to slay.

  No, in modern life, there were only asshole law partners who prevent qualified women from promoting their lowly secretary’s job to a full paralegal, all while making her do the work of one. The bad part was, Reginald P. Wooley, Esq. was a perverted old man who only wanted to keep her at his front desk because of her round ass and large, perky tits. It was almost as if she was nothing but a long pair of legs and a vagina to the assholes at Davis, Franklin, and Wooley. They didn’t care that she was a certified paralegal, or that she was much better qualified than the ugly guy they had just hired to hold the title. They would rather have Lily in the position of “eye-candy-in-chief,” all while working her to death.

  When she was honest with herself though, it wasn’t hard to understand why they wanted her to act as the company eye candy. In addition to her obvious physical assets of a large bust and round derriere, she also possessed with long, dark auburn hair that perfectly complemented her stunningly bright and large blue eyes. Her slightly hollowed cheeks and strong, thin chin perfectly balanced her face, and her legs were toned much more than the average, a testament to the multiple marathons, half-marathons, 10 and 5ks that she competed in every year. All in all, she was easily one of the prettiest women in Daytona Beach.

  That day at lunchtime, she told the partners that she had finished her work, and told Reginald that she was leaving for her vacation. “Don’t you get lost in time over there! Make sure you come back!” he had answered, his eyes raking the plunging neckline of her blouse.

  “I won’t!” Lily answered, all while thinking to herself that if she could help it, she definitely wouldn’t…come back. “Asshole,” she said to herself, as she walked out the front door of the office she so despised.

  As she rode down A1A listening to P!NK’s most recent album, “The Truth About Love,” she cranked up the music and lost herself in her own world for a few moments. After she got home, showered, threw her suitcases in the back of her car, ate some lunch, and watched a last little bit of American television before leaving, she headed off to Tyler Yancey’s office for her appointment.

  She had been very close to her Great Aunt Yvonne, who raised her from the time she turned eleven. When her mother had been killed in a car accident, her father wanted nothing to do with Lily, so the deadbeat asshole gladly signed his rights as a parent over to Yvonne, who was Lily’s mother’s aunt. Yvonne had not had any children of her own, but Great Uncle Harold, Aunt “Vonny’s” husband, had a daughter from a previous marriage. His granddaughter, Rose, was the same age as Lily.

  As an only child, Lily had never known what it would be like to have a sibling, and Rose quickly became something of a surrogate sister. Rose’s father had abandoned her before she was born, leaving her to be raised by her mother, who had barely graduated high-school. Because her mother had to work two jobs to provide for her, Rose spent a lot of time with Lily’s Uncle Harold and Aunt Vonny. Now that Aunt Vonny had passed away, Lily had no family left besides Rose. Rose, of course, was not even related to her technically, but might as well have been.

  When Lily arrived at the lawyer’s office, Rose eyed her white halter top and short blue shorts and immediately began laughing, her cigarette dangerously close to falling out of her mouth. “Hey, ho!”

  “Hey yourself, skank!” Lily answered, breaking out into a wide grin. It was a normal routine of theirs to greet each other with insults, but it could not have been clearer to the average on-looker that they were close. “How’ve you been?” Lily asked as they embraced.

  “I’m okay…it’s still hard to believe that Vonny is gone, you know?”

  “Yeah, I’m really going to miss her.”

  “What do you think she left you?”

  “Probably $10 million…”

  “Wishful thinking, much?”

  “Considering that she didn’t have two pennies to rub together, yeah.”

  “Yeah…I guess the fact that she paid for our college was our inheritance, huh?”

  “Couldn’t have asked f0r more.”

  “So, why are you dressed like a whore?” Rose said, snuffing out her cigarette, “You thinking that the lawyer will give you more if he thinks you’ll give him a blowjob in the car out back?”

  “Well, I figured it couldn’t hurt” she joked, punching her on the left shoulder before opening the door to the small storefront that Tyler Yancey had rented for a law office.

  “Hmmm…you’ve got a point there. Seriously, though…why?” Rose pressed, walking through the open door.

  “I’ve got a plane to catch in a few hours, figured I’d make it easier for them to strip search me,” Lily answered sarcastically.

  “I forgot! Where are you going, again? Ireland?”

  “No, Scotland.”

  “What’s the difference?” Rose asked as the lawyer walked from behind a small partition.

  “Only the North Channel of the Irish Sea,” Yancey answered before Lily could open her mouth. “Ladies, thank you for coming. Shall we begin?”

  “Aren’t we expecting anyone else?” Rose asked.

  “No, you are the only two who Mrs. Henry made specific bequests to, and you are the only two who she specifically requested to be here. Shall we begin?”

  “Sure,” Rose answered, sitting down in an office chair by the front door as Lily took a seat beside her.

  “The last will and testament of Yvonne T. Henry,” the lawyer read aloud, “It is my wish that with exception of two personal effects, to be named herein, all of my assets be liquidated, and used to settle my final debts. First, my necklace of sterling silver and amethyst is bequeathed to my grand-niece, Lily O. Rey, along with the letter that accompanies it. Additionally, Lily is to receive one half of the monetary value of my estate, or two million dollars, whichever is less.” Trevor paused to take a sip of water while this sank into Lily’s consciousness. He then continued, “Secondly, my antique dining set, incorporating sterling silver cutlery and fine china plate are bequeathed to Rose S. Tolliver, along with the letter that accompanies the set. Additionally, Rose is to receive one half of the monetary value of my estate, or two million dollars, whichever is less. If there are any funds available after the monetary value of my estate has been determined, I leave everything to the Florida Cancer Society, in remembrance of
my late husband, Harold M. Henry.”

  Lily and Rose sat there in shock as the attorney reached behind the partition and handed each of them a fine wooden chest, containing their bequests. “Naturally, we are unable to give you your financial inheritance, but we can arrange to have it deposited in your personal bank accounts.”

  “How much was it?” Rose asked, obviously still in shock.

  “You will each receive $1.98 million.”

  “Wow,” Lily said quietly a few moments later, when they had exited the office.

  “Did you know?” Rose asked.

  “Know? Know what?”

  “That Gramma Vonny was rich?”

  “No…” Lily said before carefully opening the case and removing the yellowed envelope that sat inside on top of the pristine necklace. Opening the envelope, she found a letter dated in 1999, written in her Aunt Vonny’s minute, tidy handwriting:

  My Dearest Lily,

  I do not know if you were aware that the necklace I have left you exists. It has been passed down through the generations from our ancestors, always to the first-born woman of the next generation. If your mother had not passed, it would have been left to her; however, as you are the only surviving woman in our line from the generations after my own, it is now yours. I have had it appraised, and the certificate of authenticity, signed by the Department chairwoman of the University of Florida’s Anthropology Department, will verify that it originated in the early fourteenth century in our ancestral homeland of Scotland.

  Also, family legend says that the necklace conceals a power that only one woman, the descendant of our ancestor, would be able to unlock. Unfortunately, I do not have any way of knowing (or passing on to you) what that power is. I can only tell you that many women in our line have borne her name, including you—Lily.

  I know that it has long been your ambition to visit the land of our ancestors, so perhaps you can be the one to solve the mystery of our family necklace. Maybe you can one day visit the home of the first Lily in our family, Culcreuch Castle in Fintry, to ascertain the roots of the legend, and the power that the necklace possesses.

  Until we meet again, know that I have always loved you, my dearest niece,

  Aunt Vonny

  Chapter 2

  “Well, that’s a coincidence,” Lily said quietly to herself.

  “What?” Rose asked, tears in her eyes as she held her letter from Aunt Vonny tight in her right hand.

  “Here, read this,” Lily answered, handing over her letter. She watched as Rose’s eyes flew from right to left as she read the letter.

  “Okay? So?”

  “I’m staying at the Culcreuch Castle while I’m gone,” Lily replied.

  “Oh! I get it! Your ancestor lived in the castle where you’re going to be staying!”

  “Exactly,” Lily answered, smiling. “Speaking of which, I need to get going.”

  “Okay,” Rose said, giving her a hug. “Be safe, okay? And enjoy your vacation!”

  “Oh, I will…I have an American Express with a $5,000 limit, and all the money I need to pay it off if I blow it on this trip!”

  “Aw, yeah!” Rose said, laughing, “Now, get to the airport, before you’re late!”

  “Okay, bye!” Lily said, shutting her door. She blew a kiss at her oldest friend, and backed out of her parking space.

  Fifteen minutes later, she was pulling into the parking lot at the airport, only ten minutes before 5:00 p.m. She breezed through the security checkpoint (she wasn’t strip searched) and was among the first group to board the plane. Soon, the plane was leaving Daytona Beach and heading for Dublin where she would only have to catch a puddle jumper to Glasgow. Door to door, it was nearly a twenty-four hour journey, including the layovers.

  When she finally arrived at the Culcreuch Castle in Fintry, she was in awe of the ancient structure and felt immediately drawn to the place, as if something about it was calling to her in the deepest recesses of her soul. With a strange feeling of déjà vu, Lily felt that she had been to this beautiful old building before, even though she had never before stepped foot in a country other than her American homeland.

  Taking her suitcases and other travel bags from the back seat of the cab, she crossed the threshold of the medieval building. Setting her luggage down at the door of the castle, she approached the main desk, which was occupied by a portly, elderly female maître d'hôtel.

  “What can I do for you, my dear?” the older woman asked in a fantastic Scottish accent.

  “Hello, I have a reservation for Rey,” Lily said.

  “Okay. Ray…and what’s his last name, my dear?”

  “Oh no!” Lily answered, laughing, “Rey is my last name, R-E-Y.”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry, dearie!” the lady replied, mortified, “Please forgive me! We don’t often get American clientele, and I find it hard to understand…these old ears, you know!” she said with a light, breezy laugh.

  “It’s not a problem at all, it happens back home all the time, Mrs…?”

  “Stuart, dear. But you can call me Mammy…everyone does.”

  “Okay, Mammy, thank you.”

  “Now, Miss Rey, I have you reserved for the Battlements Room, but the reservation for the Seton of Gargunnock room was canceled, so I’ll let a pretty girl like you have it, if you want. It’s only £10 more.”

  “Please, call me Lily,” she answered.

  “Lily? What a beautiful name! Did you know that there is a legend about one of the ladies of this castle, and her name was Lily?”

  “No, I did not,” Lily said, interested. “Could I hear it sometime? I’m just really tired right now from traveling…”

  “Of course, dearie. So how about the Seton of Gargunnock room? I tell you what…it’s a bigger room, and I’ll give it to you for no extra charge, just because I love your pretty name.”

  “Oh, yeah, sure…that would be great!” Lily said.

  “Excellent, then. Here, I’ll have somebody show you to your room. Dinner is downstairs at 17:00, okay?”

  “1700…that’s, what? Five o’clock, right?”

  “Yes dearie, I keep forgetting that you Yanks use that silly twelve-hour clock, but to you, yes, five o’clock. Will you be making it down?”

  Lily looked down at her watch and saw that it was nearly 4:00 p.m., and responded, “No, Miss Mammy, I don’t believe I will. I’m very tired from the journey here, so I think I’m going to take a nap instead.”

  “Okay dearie, if you wake up and decide that you are hungry, the kitchen is open until 21:00. Just knock, okay?”

  “Thank you, Miss Mammy,” Lily answered as a young man appeared to take her baggage upstairs.

  “Enjoy your nap, dearie,” Mammy responded. Lily followed the young baggage carrier up the steps on the far end of the room, fully taking in the sights as they went. He couldn’t have been a day older than sixteen.

  “Seton of Gargunnock, righ’?” the muscle-bound young man grunted at her through a thick, Irish accent.

  “Yes, sir,” Lily responded.

  “Mammy tell you ‘bout the ghos’ in there?”

  “No, but that’s okay…I don’t believe in ghosts.”

  “Just ‘cause you don’t believe in somethin’ don’t meant it isn’t there,” the youth pointed out. “He tends to come out when somebody is staying in that room. He takes a likin’ to tha ladies, or so they say.”

  “A ‘liking’ to the ladies that stay in there? What do you mean?”

  “He ignores the men that stay there every so often, unless he’s with a lady. Screamed at one man for sleepin’ with tha lady that was with him, word is,” the boy said, grinning.

  “You mean, the ghost yelled at the man for having sex with a woman?” Lily asked unabashed, “What did he say?”

  “Tha’s right…and no one knows what he’s sayin,’ ‘cause he don’t speak no English. But seein’ as you are a pretty lady,” the lad pressed forward, his eyes raking Lily’s chest, her breasts barely concealed behind th
e halter top that she still wore. “You should be just fine.” The youth grinned, exposing rotten teeth with wide gaps between them. “Have a nice nap, beau’iful,” he said, dropping Lily’s luggage inside the door and leaving her behind, alone.

  Lily turned away from the door that the bag-boy had just closed and saw the most beautiful room that she had ever laid eyes on. There was something about the simplistic nature of the beige walls and golden furniture that perfectly complemented one another. There was an elegant, antique vanity sitting beside the bed, and a window that opened and overlooked the front lawn of the castle and the Loch that was on the grounds, offering a spectacular view of hills in the distance.

  She sat down on the edge of the bed, and lay back, falling into a deep sleep without removing any of her clothes.

  Chapter 3

  After a full night’s rest, Lily awoke to the sound of finches singing in the distance. The sun streamed in through the window that overlooked the Loch, and greeted her with a warm kiss, rousing her from the deepest recesses of slumber. She stretched her arms above her head and smiled without opening her eyes.

  Then suddenly, a man’s voice from somewhere to her left caused her to jerk fully awake.

  “Who the hell are you?!” the man yelled at her. He was not speaking English, but rather another language that Lily did not recognize at all.

  Strangely, though, she understood exactly what he was saying, and so replied, “I’m Lily! Who the hell are you, and what are you doing in my room?!” To her surprise, Lily found that she spoke with the same rolling language as the man. Somehow, without being taught, she had learned a new language!

  “Your room?” the stunningly handsome man answered. “I am Matthew Galbraith, second son of Maurice Galbraith, chief of the Clan Galbraith, and master of this castle! This is my room, and I want to know what you are doing in it at this early hour!”