In Search of the Past (Stacey and Shane Mcleod, #2)

by Rikki Dyson

  Stacey was not the type person to confide in other people. She pretty much kept her own council. She liked Andrea and wished she could ask her some things, but she knew that she wouldn’t: All of a sudden Stacey had a great need to be alone.

  She told Andrea, “I’m going in to change.”

  Stacey went to her room, showered, dressed in jeans and a pink cotton top. She went downstairs to the small library to look for a book. She found one of poems and was thumbing through it when Shane found her. “Well, I found your hiding place.”

  “Were you looking for me?”

  “Yes, well, kind of, I looked up from the lake and you were gone.”

  “You know me, here today, gone tomorrow.”

  Well, before you run off and leave us would you fancy a bite of supper?” .

  “Is it that time already?” Stacey asked

  “Swimming should’ve given you an appetite. I know it did me,” he said.

  Shane took her hand and pulled her up out of the chair.

  There were nine of them for supper counting little Ryan. It was pleasant and chatty. There was much conversation about people Stacey didn’t know. She was glad no one was asking her any questions. For some strange reason she felt like she needed to get away. She heard Shane’s mother ask him was he looking forward to the dance tomorrow night? He put his hands up and said, “Oh, yes in deed, hold me back.” Everyone at the table laughed softly at his glib reply, except Stacey. She smiled, but never taking her eyes off Shane’s face said, “You know you don’t have to go if you’d rather not.”

  “You don’t think I would leave you to the mercy of that wolf in sheep’s clothing, do you?”

  “Believe it or not, I’m quite capable of taking care of myself,” Stacey said.

  “I’m going and that’s that. Right.” Shane assured her.

  Now the conversation came round to Wakefield manor. Sir John said, “If not for Perceval Wakefield, I wouldn’t be setting foot in Wakefield manor.”

  Andrea got a strange look on her face. Both Phillip and Shane reached for her. Phillip took her hand and Shane put his arm on the back of her chair. Little Ryan was beating his high chair tray with a spoon; fortunately, no one noticed their stance. Ryan’s grandmother let him down to run

  around.

  Sir John continued, “It’s that nephew of his I can’t stand. He’s a bloody prick.”

  “John!” exclaimed Aunt Letty. “There are young people at this table.”

  “Don’t mind us Aunt Letty,” Shane said. “We feel the same way.”

  Andrea excused herself to go get Ryan ready for bed. Stacey asked, could she be of any help? The three of them left the dining room together.

  “I’m sure Papa doesn’t know or there would be hell to pay. I don’t want him to ever know.” Andrea said.

  Chapter 7

  The Missing

  The next morning everyone came down to breakfast except Stacey. When she did not appear they thought she was having a lie-in. Shane went up and knocked on her door. To his

  surprise there was no answer. He looked in her room, the bed was never slept in or else had already been made. He didn’t see her cases, he opened the closet and it was empty. Shane had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that Stacey had left. He was angry and wondered why she didn’t say, goodbye? Why leave in the middle of the night? She was free to go anytime she wanted. What about tonight? He wondered. Why did she buy a dress if she had no intentions of staying? Did she really buy a dress? What about the papers we’re suppose to see tonight? Or had she gone to see Rory Wakefield?

  Shane was sitting on the foot of Stacey’s bed lost in wonder when Mrs. Nickels passed the door. “What’s the trouble with you, Doctor Shane?”

  He looked up and asked, “Did Stacey tell you she was leaving today?”

  Mrs. Nickels came in and laid the clean sheets and towels on the bed. “She’s a real minx, that one,” Mrs. Nickels said. “Her mother has raised a proper girl there.”

  “If she’s so damn proper, she should’ve had the decency and common courtesy to say, goodbye.” Shane wondered why Stacey leaving bothered him so much. Women had come and gone in his life and it had never bothered him before, until now.

  “Well Doctor Shane, I’m sure she will when she’s ready to go. Of course, she has a few

  things in the dryer to pack before she goes anywhere. I would do them for her, but she won’t even let me make her bed for her. I tell you, she’s a minx, that girl.”

  Shane looked up at her and asked, “What are you talking about Mrs. Nickels?”

  “About Miss Stacey.” she said. “Isn’t that who you’re talking about?”

  Shane went downstairs to the laundry room. There was her one piece of luggage. He went to the dining room to join the others for breakfast. “She didn’t leave,” he said.

  “Who didn’t leave darling?” his mother asked.

  “Stacey,” he said.

  “Yes, we know dear. She left Mrs. Nickels a note. She’ll be back around noon.”

  “Where did she go?” Shane asked.

  “To Chatington,” his dad said. “She wants to look over the countryside and say, Goodbye, whatever that means. Here’s the note if you want to read it.”

  The note read: Mrs. Nickels, please ask the family to excuse me from breakfast. I’m taking a fast drive to Chatington to see the countryside and say my goodbyes, to this wonderful part of England. I’ll finish my laundry when I get back, Miss Minx.

  It was a bit past noon ( like one-thirty) when Stacey returned. Around twelve-thirty Shane had started walking to the front window and looking out. He didn’t want anyone to see he was worried.

  “What if she’s lost?” Shane remarked.

  His dad looked up from the chess board and said, “What? With that wonderful map she has in her head. I doubt it.”

  Shane heard the crunch of the gravel driveway when her car pulled in at one-thirty. He sat down with a sports magazine. He didn’t want Stacey to know he’d been walking the floor. When she came by the parlor door, Andrew asked, “Did you have a good time?”

  “Yes sir, and thanks for directing me to Mrs. Beckett. She had a wealth of information. Mom is gonna’ be blown away.”

  “Come dear, Mrs. Nickels saved you a spot of lunch,” Sir John said.

  “Oh, she shouldn’t have. I had a late breakfast.”

  “Nonsense,” Andrew said. “we’ll have a cup of tea while you eat.” Arm in arm John and Andrew escorted Stacey to the dining room. Mrs. Nickels brought her a chicken salad on a bed of lettuce. As Stacey ate, she told them about Mrs. Beckett having a computer and a fax

  machine. “I gave Mrs. Becket all of Mom’s information, now they can deal directly with each other directly.”

  When Stacey finished eating, the two gentlemen went back to their chess game. Stacey went to the kitchen and thanked Mrs. Nickels for lunch and told her how delicious her chicken salad was. Delighted by the compliment, Mrs. Nickels said, “It’s a pleasure to feed you pet. You young people are too thin now days.”

  “I’ll try my best to eat more but first I need to finish my laundry,” Stacey said.

  “I would’ve had them finished long ago if you had of allowed me.”

  “I know, just think if I had, then I would have nothing to do now.” Stacey hugged the older woman and headed to the laundry room.

  When Shane came to the laundry room door, Stacey was sitting on the washer with her

  clothes tumbling in the dryer. She had ear phones on listening to her CD player and keeping

  time to the music. Stacey opened her eyes, looked up and there he was, standing in the door

  way leaning against the door frame. His arms crossed over his chest and his legs crossed at

  the ankles.

  Stacey looked at him and smiled. In her head she wondered: If he had any idea how sexy he looked standing that way? But all she said was, “Hi.”

  “Did you enjoy yourself today? I take it you
didn’t fancy company.”

  “It wasn’t that,” Stacey said. “it was very early and you were asleep. I peeked.”

  Shane shook his head and said, “Right, are we still on for tonight?”

  “Yes, of course,” Stacey said. Then asked, “Where is everybody?”

  “Mother and Aunt Letty went shopping. Andrea, Phillip and Ryan went to visit a cousin of his. They’ll all be back in time for supper.

  “I like that,” Stacey said.

  “What?”

  “Calling the last meal of the day supper. Usually, ya’ll say dinner or tea. At home we always call it supper.”

  “Sometimes we dress for dinner, but not for supper.”

  “Ho, ho, naked for supper huh?” Stacey teased. “That sounds interesting.”

  Shane came over, took her shoulders and gently shook her. “I believe you know what I mean, miss smarty minx.”

  They both started laughing. Shane had a look for a minute like he was going to kiss her, but he didn’t.

  Stacey was having thoughts about this very sexy handsome older man and what he could teach her about making love. The problem was she didn’t have the faintest idea how to seduce him. Stacey slipped off the washer, opened the dryer and started folding her clothes and putting them in her valise. Her luggage consisted of a large red canvas valise and a make-up case. She didn’t carry much make up, instead it did hold her hair dryer and bath products.

  At the supper table everyone was kind of quiet. Sir John said, “I want to make a toast to Stacey.” She was surprised. “May the road be clear ahead of you and the wind to your back. In the past few days you have become like part of the family. We are going to miss you.”

  “Oh, thank you, I’m gonna’ miss ya’ll too. If I say anymore I’ll start to cry.”

  “Well, we don’t want that, now do we?” Aunt Letty said. “Please know our door will always be open to you.”

  After supper the four party goers went upstairs to get ready. Stacey was the last one to come down. She had showered and put her hair up in a smooth twist decorated with a comb of small pearls. She left a sprig of hair on each side just in front of her ears. In her ears were small pearl earrings, that was her only jewelry. She put on her black chiffon dress with tiny sleeves almost off the shoulders. The bodice was form fitting and the skirt full. The black chiffon was beautiful on her. The hard part was zipping it up the back. That done, she stepped into her black high heeled sandals. Stacey didn’t use much make up just a little mascara and lipstick. Her perfume was Intuition, by Estee lauder. She grabbed her car keys, lipstick and compact. She looked in the mirror one last time and said to herself; “Well girl, this is as good as it’s gonna’ get, so just go.”

  As Stacey came down the stairs she apologized for taking so long.

  “My dear, it was well worth it,” Andrew said. “You look smashing.”

  “Dad, I wish you would stop stealing my thunder.” To Stacey he said, “You look very smart, now let’s go.”

  Stacey was surprised by Shane’s macho attitude. She had met young men with that attitude before. They had never appealed to her and after a first date she dropped them. Of course, this wasn’t a date, it was an investigation and possibly a learning process.

  “I hope you don’t mind,” Aunt Letty said. “We’re taking separate cars. We won’t be staying late.”

  “That’s fine,” Shane said. He was nervous tonight and he didn’t know why. He’d been to many black tie functions before this one. He scolded himself for feeling like a novice. Stacey surprised him when she handed him her car keys. “You can drive and will you carry these in your pocket? I forgot to buy a little black bag.”

  “Sure,” he said and hastily stuck the lipstick and compact in his pocket. Well, that was a first. He couldn’t remember any woman asking him to carry her items for her. Shane was confused where Stacey was concerned. She seemed like a half child half woman. He wondered why all of a sudden he was in a snippy mood. He hoped Stacey didn’t notice. He had no reasonable excuse other than he was in an agitated state which he was at a loss to explain, even to himself.

  Chapter 8

  The Wakefield Regale

  As Shane opened the car door for Stacey, she asked, “Who put a burr under your saddle?”

  “If that’s one of your down home country sayings, I don’t know what you mean,” Shane said, as he started the car.

  “Oh, I think you do,” Stacey said, “but I’ll let it slide this time.”

  When they arrived at Wakefield manor, it was lit up like a Christmas tree and a group of young men were parking cars. “Good, they have valet parking,” Shane said. “Maybe we can get in take care of business and get out.”

  “What’s your big hurry?” Stacey said. “I plan on enjoying myself for awhile. Why waste a perfectly good evening?”

  As they went in, Lord Wakefield and Rory were greeting the guests. Rory smiled at Stacey and introduced her to his uncle. The snub to Shane was obvious. Stacey ignored his rudeness and said, “How do you do sir. This is my friend, Doctor McLeod.”

  Lord Wakefield was very nice, nothing like his nephew. “Miss Scott, yes of course, I’ll be more than happy to show you the papers. Allow me to attend to my guests and I’ll send someone for you.”

  Stacey thanked lord Wakefield, then she and Shane had a glass of champagne which seemed to put Shane in a better mood.

  “Do you dance?” Stacey asked.

  “Do ducks swim?” he answered.

  Stacey rolled her eyes. “Yes, but what do ducks have to do with, do you dance?”

  “Young lady, I’ll have you know my mother sent me to dance school, where I excelled. I was a bit shy and clumsy as a young lad. My introduction to dancing gave me confidence and put me in great demand as a teenager.”

  “Sorry I asked,” Stacey said, laughing.

  She danced with Shane and found him to be a very smooth dancer. She was sure he was experienced at many other things as well as dancing. Stacey danced with Sir John as well as three or four other gentlemen she didn’t know. Shane watched as Stacey danced with some of the other guest. He thought, to himself; She may think of herself as a country girl, but she is the most beautiful woman here tonight.

  Stacey and Shane were looking around the manor. “My, my, the privileged do live well,” Shane said.

  “I wouldn’t want it if I couldn’t have happiness too,” Stacey said. “Actually, I prefer a cozy house. Our ranch house is cozy; every room is lived in from the basement to the upstairs. My mom and dad lived in the basement of our ranch house while it was being built. They were very happy and that’s where I was born,” Stacey said with a sly smile.

  Shane laughed at her and said, “I have never before met anyone quite like you.”

  He marveled at the wonder of that as he held her in his arms dancing. He took notice that their bodies fit so well. He had a great urge to kiss her, however, he knew she was too young to get involved with and his common sense told him to steer clear of this alluring young woman.

  Around eleven-thirty the butler approached Stacey. “His lordship will see you now, Miss Scott.” Stacey took Shane’s hand and they followed the butler to the library where Lord Wakefield offered them refreshments. Both she and Shane declined. After Stacey told Lord Wakefield a little about her quest, he was intrigued and wanted to help all he could. He took an old box from his wall safe and showed them the papers the monk had written so long ago.

  The paper was very old and yellowed. They told of the death of the tenth earl of Dun- Raven and his son in June of fourteen sixty-nine. They fought for the house of York. The Duke of York was his liege lord. The war of the roses was a bloody, civil war. King Edward IV went into exile, but returned in fourteen seven-one. He landed in Yorkshire with one thousand five hundred men. They landed on the feudal domain of Wakefield. The people of Yorkshire joined him there. The Neville and Warwick families swung over to the Lancastrian side.

  “Was this Wakefield an ancestor of yours,
sir?” Shane asked

  “Yes, I believe he was,” Lord Wakefield said. “Actually the domain of Wakefield belonged to King Edward IV, but we were related to him in a remote way.”

  The papers stated: There was no one the countess could count on after the earl and his son were killed in the year fourteen-sixty-nine. She was very fearful for the lives of her three daughters. Brother Ian, who was the castle priest helped them to escape and smuggled them into Scotland. He took them to his brother’s farm. The countess was still a comely woman in her late thirties. The twin daughters were fourteen and the youngest daughter was twelve.

  “Does it tell their names or where in Scotland was their destination?” Stacey asked.

  “No my dear, but I believe that was for their own safety. Those were bloody times and the nobility were meat for the ax, if on the wrong side. Also it says here, There was Plantagenet blood in the Fitz-Morgan line. That alone made it dangerous for them. If I’m understanding these writings correctly, the countess didn’t want her daughters betrothed to either Lancastrians or to York’s, where they would have been used as pawns in the disputes between York and Lancaster. Lord Wakefield read on: With both the earl and his son dead, the countess was in need of a protector. It wasn’t Dun-Raven castle alone that met its end. The Lancastrians demolished two other castles that belonged to the earl.”

  “Finwick and Falcon Crest,” Stacey said under her breath. Only Shane heard her. “May I please get a copy of this document?” Stacey asked.

  “Yes, of course,” Lord Wakefield said. “I’ll have James print you out a copy now. You know, now that I think about it, I believe the countess was very wise to have fled England. We have read of the tragedy of lady Jane Grey. It could just as easily have happened to the earl’s daughters. The royals and nobility certainly sacrificed their children for selfish gain. Well, I sincerely hope this helps with your quest, my dear.”

  “I hope so too sir,” Stacey said. “Thank you so much for your help.”