Through the Mist: Restoration

by C. Renee Freeman

  Allan flung his arms around his father. “I am sorry I could not defend the family, Da,” he cried softly. “I tried.”

  Benjamin slowly rocked his son and whispered soothing words of comfort. Tilly moved to leave them alone but stopped when he placed a hand on her shoulder. He pulled her into the embrace with his free arm. She relaxed. If Allan could find comfort and security there, so could she.

  ∞

  Before they left the ruins, Benjamin insisted they visit the old well. “It will be real to you when you see it,” he explained to them both.

  Tilly and Allan peered into the inky blackness of the well. It was impossible to see anything down there, yet they knew Richard MacDonald’s body lay at the bottom. They exchanged a look before mounting their horses. No one would find the man down there.

  The mood on the return trip was much lighter. Allan appointed himself as Tilly’s personal tour guide. He noted various landmarks they passed and mentioned the best places to find fresh water. The area was obviously a favorite spot. She noticed that Benjamin seemed visibly relieved. Clearly, the trip was meant as a salve for his soul as much as it was for theirs.

  They returned to the stable and gave their horses to the groom. Allan snagged quick hugs from his father and Tilly before running toward the castle.

  Benjamin took her hand as they slowly meandered through the garden, neither of them wanting to return to the chaos inside the castle just yet. “Thank you for joining us,” he said. “I know how much you hate horseback riding.”

  Tilly laughed. “It is not my favorite activity,” she admitted. “I am glad you picked a gentle horse for me.”

  “Oh, aye, you must be very careful about what you put between your legs,” he teased. He kissed her passionately, stealing away any reply she may have had.

  Breathless, she managed to escape his kiss. “What if the servants see?” she asked primly. “Aren’t we supposed to be more proper than this?”

  As he wrapped his arms around her, he murmured against her lips, “As you say, to hell with propriety.”

  ∞

  Benjamin did eventually return to the castle. He would like to ignore his responsibilities but knew that was impossible. He went to his study where he discovered Iain waiting for him.

  “I understand you visited the old ruin,” Iain said, handing Benjamin a glass of whisky. “Did it help the boy?”

  “Aye, I believe it did,” Benjamin replied, easing into the chair behind his desk. He studied his friend who obviously was not there to exchange pleasantries and enjoy the Campbell draught. “What troubles you?”

  “I most sincerely apologize for failing you,” Iain said, his voice shaking. “I thought I had enough protections in place so that we would know when Richard MacDonald arrived. I was wrong.”

  “Do not trouble yourself. The man was canny.”

  “No, no, it is my fault,” he said as tears filled his eyes. “If something had happened to the children, I would never forgive myself.”

  “Nothing happened,” Benjamin said firmly. “You posted sentries, and the man killed two of them. He was determined to seek revenge. You could have put an army in front of him, and he still would have tried to fulfill his plan.”

  “It appears we only needed a woman, not an army. I am glad Mrs. Munro stopped him.”

  “I am too. Perhaps we misjudged her.”

  Iain nodded but said nothing. He sipped the glass of whisky, looking absolutely miserable.

  Benjamin rose from his chair and took a seat beside his friend. Placing his hand upon the man’s shoulder, he said, “I hold no ill will toward you. You did everything you could to protect my family, and I appreciate it.”

  “He could have killed my family too,” Iain whispered. “I believed he had when we received the message. I was so focused upon my own kin that I forgot about yours.”

  “Enough!” Benjamin commanded. “That man will no longer bring pain to this family. I will not have him destroy you. Your liege has said you did the best you could. Leave it.”

  Iain raised an eyebrow. “My liege, is it?” he asked in playful mockery. “Should I fall to one knee and thank you for your benevolence, milord?”

  Benjamin guffawed. “If you did, I fear my heart would stop from shock.”

  Iain swallowed the last of the whisky and placed the empty glass on the desk. Sighing, he said, “I appreciate your forgiveness.” He held up his hand to stifle Benjamin’s protest. “I will not speak further on the subject. I promise.”

  Rising from his chair, he patted Benjamin on the shoulder. “Get some rest, my friend,” he said. “One threat has passed. Let us enjoy a moment of peace before Fate brings us another trial.”

  As he watched Iain leave the study, he sincerely hoped Fate would leave him be. The latest trial was more than his heart could take.

  Forty One

  The next morning, Allan, Angus, and Michael waited for Tilly at a table in the library. Daniel had opened an old book and promised to reveal its secrets to them. She recognized it as the volume of family history that Benjamin wanted Allan to read.

  “I am so happy we have a learned man in our midst,” she said. “I am ashamed to say I do not know how to read Latin and could not unlock the mysteries of the text.”

  Daniel smiled at the compliment. “Oh, it is a fascinating work, milady,” he said, turning one of the yellowed pages. “I was just about to share a story with the boys.”

  She walked around the table and looked at the page. She inhaled deeply at the sight. “That picture!” she exclaimed, pointing to the page. “It looks like a shield that hung in the inn where I stayed before I came here.” She felt as if someone poured icy water down her back.

  The tutor nodded absently. He ran a finger under the text, reading the words first in Latin and then translating them to English. The ancestor who documented the work told the story of the shield’s origin. It came to the family after a fight with the MacDonalds.

  “It proves those bastards have been cutthroats for centuries,” Allan mumbled bitterly. Tilly gave him a stern look for his poor choice of words.

  She felt the chill deepen when she realized the battle took place near the present day site of Mrs. Douglas’ cottage. Didn’t the innkeeper tell them her inn was located in Gleann A’bunadh, the same valley mentioned in the story? Fascinated, she listened closely as Daniel continued to translate it.

  Colin Campbell was the hero in the tale. Driven away by grief from the death of his true love, he fled abroad with a group of men. They became mercenaries who fought wherever fortune took them. He lived this dark life for two long years. At last, he felt the pull of his homeland. Upon his return, he discovered a group of villagers being attacked by a horde of MacDonald invaders. He and his men rescued them.

  Unfortunately, he was unable to save the village’s chieftain. The man’s wife, a wise woman rumored to be a white witch, imparted a blessing upon Colin. She gave him the chieftain’s shield as a talisman against harm. She called forth power from the earth and moon, imparting magic upon the metal. Carry it, she told him, and you will be safe.

  He was moved by their plight so he promised protection and gave the villagers land, where they flourished. From the description of its location, it sounded like the beginning of the village of Deoch.

  Colin credited the shield with bringing great fortune and luck to the family. Within days of his return to the Campbell castle, a woman arrived. It was her supposed demise that sent him away two years previously. To his delight, she was alive and restored to him. He quickly wed her, something he longed to do before she allegedly died. He would not let her slip from his grasp again.

  In honor of the battle that brought him this mystical object, he erected a monument on the hill where he first looked down upon the valley and saw the battle. He personally designed the piece, using symbols from the shield.

  Tilly grew uneasy. She knew uneducated folk throughout time were a superstitious lot. However, the resemblance to the shield an
d monolith at Gleann A’bunadh was extraordinary.

  Daniel cleared his throat as he turned the page. Colin was a firm believer in the shield’s power. He carried it with him in every battle. He claimed no arrow or sword ever harmed him whenever he had it. The day he did not carry it was the day he suffered a mortal blow. On his death bed, he reportedly entreated the family to always preserve the shield. It had been a great blessing to him.

  She reached forward and flipped the page to the original rendering of the shield. She studied it carefully. While the drawing showed the same primitive cross spread across the circular piece of metal, it lacked the symbols she saw the night she disappeared. If it was a mystical object, would the symbols only appear at certain times? Wasn’t there a full moon that night?

  “That shield looks like the one hanging above Da’s fireplace,” Angus said, pointing to the drawing. “He says it is really old and will not let us touch it.”

  The color drained from Tilly’s face. She excused herself and quickly left the library, hoping no one noticed her unease. After all this time, she could not believe the answer to her problem might be so near.

  ∞

  Tilly climbed onto a chair that she dragged in front of the fireplace in Benjamin’s room. She needed a closer look at that shield. She noticed scratches and gouges in the metal. The cross that spread across the front of the object looked similar to the one on the shield in her own time. It even bore the same Celtic knots on each end. Unfortunately, she did not see the intricate symbols she saw on that fateful night – no fish, no strange caldron, nothing. She dared to touch the cool metal. She half expected an electric shock but felt nothing.

  Sighing, she jumped from the chair and pushed it back in place. She laughed quietly to herself. So what if it was the same shield? The castle was filled with antiques. And, didn’t Mrs. Douglas herself say the Campbell family loaned her objects for display at the inn? Maybe an old shield was one of them.

  Still, it was unsettling to hear the tale and see something that looked so much like an artifact from her time. Could it be the supernatural object that would send her home? Isn’t that how it worked in fairy tales? A magic portal would open at the right time, allowing her to return home – or something preposterous like that? She could not stop staring at it. What if it was?

  She sank into the chair. “It is time to make a decision, girl,” she could imagine her friend Beth saying to her. If – and it was a BIG ‘if’ – the shield in front of her was the same object from the cottage and IF it could provide her with a way home, did she really want to return?

  She considered the same question that she asked herself a thousand times, yet could never answer. What was waiting for her? Her family was gone. She had no job. She sold the restaurant and the house. She had no clear plan for the future. The negative column filled rapidly in her mental list of pros and cons.

  Here, she had a job as a teacher, the very thing she wanted. She felt a growing attachment to Benjamin and his children, a feeling she never expected to have. If she stayed, she might have a family again. The scales were tipping highly in favor of staying.

  “Do you love him?” she asked aloud, knowing Beth would ask the same question. “Do you love him enough to accept that he may never believe you?”

  Sighing heavily, she answered, “Yes.” She did. Sure, she wanted him to believe her, but would she let it be an obstacle to her happiness? She felt complete when she was with him and his family. Her life once again had purpose.

  She made her decision. She would stay here. She would not look further for a way to return to her own time. She exited the room before anyone found her there. She had no desire to explain the superstitious notions that caused the visit. It was nonsense, right?

  Just like time travel.

  ∞

  Benjamin and Tilly did not make love that night, preferring to snuggle close and discuss the happenings of the day. He was candid about the business of the estate. He walked a fine line as he tried to repeal the damage done by his father without alerting the man. Tilly offered some suggestions, which seemed to ease his mind. Soon, he drifted off to sleep.

  She was nearly there herself when the moon shone through the window. She watched a beam of light slowly climbed the wall and strike the silvery metal of the shield. She gasped when the infinity symbol appeared in the top right quadrant. Slowly, another symbol – a fish - emerged in the lower left quadrant.

  She stared in disbelief. She immediately recognized them as the same symbols she saw on the night she slipped through the mist and into Benjamin’s arms. She waited for the other two to appear, but they did not. Almost as quickly as they appeared, the symbols vanished.

  She carefully untangled herself from Benjamin’s embrace and slid from the bed. She tiptoed to the fireplace. The story of a mystical shield was so fresh in her mind. It was possible that, on the verge of sleep, she dreamt that she saw the symbols. Squinting, she examined the metal. She did not see any hints of the symbols, only scratches from centuries of use.

  “What is the matter?” Benjamin asked sleepily.

  “Nothing,” she answered breathlessly. “Go back to sleep.”

  She took a seat beside the fireplace and stayed awake until the wee hours of morning, wondering if she imagined the sight.

  Forty Two

  Tilly returned to her room when she saw the first pink rays of dawn pierce the horizon. Despite how tired she was, she had not been able to close her eyes the previous night. She was afraid she would miss the sight of the symbols if they reappeared on the surface of the shield. They did not.

  She was glad that no one was in her room. It was a bit too early for the fireplace maid to light the fire, and Sarah usually did not make an appearance until the sun was up. She flopped onto her bed and lay there for several moments. She could not believe what had happened.

  For the last three months, she searched for some clue about how to return to her own time. Truth be told, she did not think it was possible. The appearance of the symbols on the shield cast everything into doubt. Perhaps there was a way to go home after all.

  “I beg your pardon, milady,” the fireplace maid said from the doorway. “I did not realize you would be awake. Should I send for Miss Sarah?”

  “No, thank you,” Tilly said. She rose from the bed and strode toward the window. She listened to the maid build a fire, a sound that was so familiar to her now. She closed her eyes and inhaled the first whiffs of smoke.

  She thought how odd it was to grow so comfortable with one’s surroundings. In such a short time, she had adapted to the lack of plumbing and central heating. Wearing long dresses instead of pants did not seem unusual. Donning a bonnet before leaving the castle – the castle – was normal. Strange how quickly I have adjusted, she thought. She opened her eyes and surveyed the scene before her. It was so beautiful and so different from the view she had in North Carolina.

  “Milady, you are awake!” Sarah exclaimed. “It is very early.”

  “I could not sleep last night.”

  “Are you unwell?”

  “I am fine, although I would prefer to have breakfast in my room this morning. Would that be too much trouble?”

  Sarah moved closer and stared intently at Tilly. “I will be happy to bring a tray to milady’s room,” she said. “Are you sure you are well? You look very pale.”

  “I am well, just tired.”

  Sarah nodded. She glared at the fireplace maid, who quickly finished tending the fire, gathered her things, and rushed from the room. Sarah made her way to the door and said, “I will return in a few moments, milady. Please rest until then.”

  Tilly managed a weak smile. She walked over to the bed and lay down again. This time, fatigue won over curiosity, and she fell into a deep sleep.

  ∞

  After years spent working through college and then raising twins, Tilly was a master of the nap. She felt refreshed and clear-headed when she awoke some thirty minutes later. Stretching, she emerged fr
om the bed. She heard Sarah in the dressing room next door and beckoned her to enter.

  “I was about to return to the kitchen, milady,” she said. She carried a heavy tray that she deposited onto a table beside the fireplace. “I thought you would sleep longer, so I did not want your food to be cold.”

  “Thank you very much for your consideration, Sarah,” Tilly said. She walked to the fireplace and took a seat in one of the overstuffed chairs.

  Sarah poured a cup of tea and handed it to Tilly, who added a liberal dose of cream and sugar. While she may have grown accustomed to some things, the bitter brew was not one of them. She plucked a freshly-baked scone from the tray and took a hearty bite. She did love the scones, though.

  “Will milady take a ride this morning?” Sarah asked.

  “No, I will not,” Tilly replied. She needed time to think, and a horseback ride with Benjamin would be very distracting.

  “I shall prepare another dress for you then,” Sarah said as she made her way toward the dressing room. “If milady would like anything else, I will be happy to attend you.”

  Tilly frowned. Before Sarah could reach the doorway, she said, “Are you well this morning? You have been very formal with me.”

  She apparently struck a nerve. Sarah’s lower lip quivered.

  Tilly placed the cup of tea on the table and rushed to the maid’s side. “Sarah, what is the matter?” she asked. “Has this business with Richard MacDonald upset you? Are you afraid?”

  Sarah dissolved into tears. “No, milady. It is Daniel,” she said between gasping sobs. “I am not fancy enough for him.”

  Tilly guided Sarah back to the fireplace and forced her to take a seat in one of the chairs. She sat opposite her. “Is that why you were being so formal?” she asked. “Did you hope to change your personality for him?”

  Producing a handkerchief from her apron pocket, Sarah dried her eyes. “Yes,” she confessed. “I want to be more proper so that I can deserve him.”