Marjorie knew she wasn’t putting it well, but Shona’s icy stare unnerved her.
“I know all there is to know about my parents,” she said in a low, steady voice. “They were drowned in a yachting accident when I was five. I’m Marjorie Malcolm-Scott, and immediately after Christmas I’m going back to live with my cousins in Canada, and I doubt if I’ll ever come back here.”
Then she added, very slowly, looking directly at Marjorie, “There’s no way you can change that.”
“But can’t I tell you about your parents?” begged Marjorie. “I thought you used to wonder about them. Look, you should at least go to this gallery.”
She thrust the flimsy paper she was still holding into Shona’s hand. Without even glancing at it, Shona crumpled it up and hurled it into the fire. They both watched it burn.
Just then the door opened and a tall, slightly stooped, gray-haired man walked into the room. Uncle Fergus! Marjorie looked at him expectantly, but his glance just slid off her, almost as if she wasn’t there. He turned to Shona and said, “I didn’t know you had company, Marjorie.”
“She’s just leaving,” Shona said smoothly. “I’ll ring for Mrs. Kilpatrick to show her out.”
“I’ll show myself out,” Marjorie said, and added to Shona as she walked between her and Uncle Fergus, “After all, I know the way!”
She left the house, slamming the door behind her. Shona’s voice was still ringing in her ears. “I’m Marjorie Malcolm-Scott, and there’s no way you can change that!” She could see the hard look on Shona’s face, and for a moment she felt strangely sorry for her. Yes, Shona could keep her money, her relatives, and even her name! Marjorie walked down Willowbrae Road feeling bold, confident and daring. She had found herself at last. And she liked what she had found.
About the Author
Margaret Anderson was born and educated in Scotland. She has a B.Sc. (Honors) degree in genetics from Edinburgh University. After working as a statistician and biologist in England, Canada, and the United States, she took up writing science and nature articles for children’s magazines. Her first book was nonfiction, Exploring the Insect World. Then she turned to writing historical and time-slip fiction. Searching for Shona (© 1978 by Margaret J. Anderson) was a Borzoi book, published by Alfred A; Knopf. In writing it she drew heavily on her wartime memories of her own childhood in Lockerbie, Scotland.
After writing ten novels, all published by Knopf, Anderson completed the circle by going back to nonfiction writing. These books include biographies of Charles Darwin and Isaac Newton. Her most recent book is Bugged-Out Insects (Enslow, 2011). Because she gets emails from fans who read her early novels as a child and would now like to have their children read them, she is venturing into the e-book world. In the Keep of Time and In the Circle of Time are already available as e-books. The Mists of Time will complete the Time trilogy. Coming soon is To Nowhere and Back, originally published in 1975 and selected by the NY Times Book Review for their Outstanding Books of the Year list.
Visit Margaret J. Anderson’s web page at http://members.peak.org/∼mja/.
Credits
Cover design by Jena Rose Anderson, 2013
Searching for Shona Page 11