by Carey Corp
The front bell chimed, causing Vee to leap into the air like a very nimble, and very startled, cat. She pressed one hand to her heart and then raked the other through her hair. “That’s probably the caretaker, right? Ally’s mom?”
“Adelaide Dell.” Using my best Mary Poppins accent to loosen her up, I added, “Ally said her mum would ‘pop round’ today to see how we were getting on.”
Still clutching the journal and humming, I stepped in time to the door and wrestled briefly with the deadbolt before opening it. The woman on the other side was … surprisingly modern. With a name like Adelaide, I’d pictured a matronly, middle-aged woman with wisps of graying hair escaping from her bun and spectacles hanging from a chain across her bosom. This woman was reminiscent of an aging runway model. Her pale blonde hair brushed her chin in an asymmetric style. And her designer ensemble—wedged pumps, pinstripe suit, and flared navy blue raincoat—reminded me of something I’d seen recently in a Saks Fifth Avenue window. Despite the overcast skies, she didn’t carry an umbrella.
“Good mornin’ girls.” The woman stepped into the foyer and waited for me to close the door before extending her hand. “You must be Mackenna. I’m Addie Dell. Well now, you’ve grown into a lovely young woman.”
“Thanks.” I didn’t remember meeting her during my previous visits, but it had been seven years since the last time I’d been to Alloway. When I shook her hand, I complimented her on the renovations. “Everything is even more amazing than in the pictures.”
“I’m ever so pleased the upgrades are to your liking.” Addie’s regal smile faltered slightly as her sharp green eyes slid past me. “And you, of course, are the friend.”
Following Addie’s gaze, I noticed Vee was still in her candy-striped sleep shorts and pink tank that read EAT SLEEP DANCE REPEAT. Of course, I was no better in my sweat pants and oversized Les Mis T-shirt. Feeling fifty shades of awkward, I hastily introduced my bestie to the woman who’d taken such meticulous care of my late aunt’s legacy.
Addie clasped Vee’s hand in both of hers and gave it a shake. Rather than let go, she lingered, staring with narrow, speculative eyes. “Allyson didn’t tell me you were so … passionate.”
The way she said it—almost like another word had been on the tip of her tongue—made me wonder what she meant. She finally let go of Vee’s hand and focused on her shirt. “You’re a dancer, I see.”
Vee nodded but crossed her arms over her chest self-consciously as I stepped between them. “Sorry, you caught us in our pajamas.”
Addie nodded politely, as if wearing pajamas instead of real clothes was a valid life choice. She pulled a sleek black binder from her designer bag and extended it to me. “Then I’ll just leave this paperwork with you and scoot to my next appointment.”
The “paperwork” was to transfer Dunbrae Cottage into my name. As Addie handed me the documents, her eyes widened. “Is that your aunt’s journal?” When I nodded, she covered my hand, and the book, with her own perfectly manicured fingers. Her touch, cold but gentle, zapped me with a shock of static electricity. “I could’ve sworn that it was boxed up in the attic with the rest of your aunt’s personal effects. How ever did you come across it?”
Vee stepped forward. “I found it in the library. With the books on Scotland.”
Addie arched a thin, perfectly sculpted brow. “Did you now? How very peculiar. I must say, that is a most fortuitous discovery.”
Since we were on the subject of my aunt’s belongs, there was another item I needed to locate. I cleared my throat and Addie turned to me, unleashing a bright smile the exact replica of her daughter’s. “Yes, dear?”
“Uh, my aunt had a green vase that she kept in the library. Do you know what happened to it?”
“I expect you’ll find it in the attic with the rest of Mrs. Lockhart’s personal effects.” She cast a quick glance in Vee’s direction before continuing. “However, if you don’t, I’d consult wee Veronica here. She seems to be particularly clever in the area of finding hidden things.”
With a friendly wave, Addie strode away on her stylish shoes. The minute her candy apple red Mini Cooper roared down the lane, the skies opened up. Cold droplets of rain pelted the earth in an angry staccato, making me anxious to get back to the sanctuary of the library.
As I closed the door, Vee asked, “Do you still want to go down to the Brig o’ Doon today?”
“In this monsoon?” I shook my head. “We’ve got two whole months to play tourist. What I really want is to find Gracie’s vase before we meet Ally tonight.”
“What a coincidence.” Her eyes flicked away and back, but not before I noticed her tracking the journal. “Because I was just thinking you might want to go through your aunt’s things sooner rather than later.”
Although Vee’s words made sense, and my aunt’s belongings did need to get back in their proper place, I worried her suggestion was some kind of ploy to separate me from the journal. I wouldn’t keep it from her forever, just long enough to read it myself and determine if the contents would help or hurt her obsession with Kilt Boy. But in the meantime, I needed her out of the way so I could hide the book. “While I’m doing that, maybe you should take a shower?”
She hesitated, her eyes flicking again to the book in my hand. “I think I might try to take a nap first … I feel like I’m still suffering from jetlag.”
A nap would work as well, but I wasn’t kidding about her needing to bathe. Tucking the journal into my waistband, I replied, “Get some rest then. I’ll wake you up in plenty of time to get clean and pretty for our first evening out in Alloway. Unless you want to show up at the tavern smelling like Stinking Beauty. But if you do, I can guarantee no kilt-wearing hottie is going to come within fifty feet, let alone kiss you.”
CHAPTER 4
Veronica
Ye all ought ta be verra careful as ye traverse these hallowed roads this eve … or risk goin’ the way o’ Old Meg and lose yer own tail!”
With a flourish of his blue-veined hand, the old man finished his recitation of the Tam o’Shanter to raucous cheers and applause from the crowd. His shriveled face, covered in brown spots, reminded me of the dried-up crabapples that littered our backyard in Indiana. Strike that—Janet and Bob’s yard in Indiana. Grasping my mug of ale, I took a huge swallow, the bitter liquid coating my tongue and flowing in a warm path down to my stomach. With the back of my hand, I swiped the foam from my upper lip and glanced across the table at Kenna. Her auburn hair caught glints of light in the otherwise dim tavern as she bounced in her chair applauding the old actor’s performance. I envied her ability to live in the moment, enjoying every experience without the encumbrance of her past or any worry for her future.
Earlier, when she’d woken me from a three-hour nap, I’d felt like somebody’d roofied my tea. My brain spun with the local legends and folklore I’d read the night before, desperately trying to make some connection to my waking visions. Even now, as I sat shoulder to shoulder with Kenna and Ally at the old Tam O’Shanter Inn, Jamie clung to my thoughts like Spanish moss. I couldn’t help but wonder when he would show up again.
I let my gaze wander to the low beamed ceiling and the walls darkened with three centuries of smoke and grime. This place was straight off the pages of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. A perfect backdrop for an ethereal visitation. Then again, on closer inspection, the eighteenth-century pretense didn’t quite hold under the harsh flicker of electric torches and our server’s neon-pink gym shoes peeking out from under her peasant skirt.
Returning my attention to the occupants of our cozy corner table, I watched Ally lean back in her seat, eyes half closed, soaking in the atmosphere. Kenna, on the other hand, craned her neck, her back hunched at an odd angle as if she were searching for something she’d dropped. “Hey, Ken, did you lose something?”
“Nope, just looking for hobbits.” She straightened with a lopsided grin. “Doesn’t this place remind you of the Shire?”
I barked out a laugh,
the mouthful of ale I’d just swallowed in danger of spewing out of my nose. “I was thinking Sleepy Hollow, but yeah, I can totally see Bilbo here.”
Ally laughed along with us and then raised her pint in salute. The flame from the candle on our table reflected on her bejeweled piercings, making her appear more elven or fairy than girl. As if choreographed, the slow strains of live bagpipes began to underscore her toast. “To Mackenna and Veronica and the beginnings of a marvelous new adventure. May new worlds be opened to them, and no matter where they roam, may they be vessels of something greater than themselves.”
“Here, here.” Ken and I clinked our glasses to hers before taking long drinks. My head began to feel like a balloon floating on a string. I turned to ask Ally if we could order some mozzarella sticks, or the Scottish equivalent, but her next comment swept away all thoughts of food.
She leaned forward, the sparkle of her emerald eyes eclipsing her facial jewels. “Now friends, are you ready to hear the real legend of the Brig o’ Doon?”
“Didn’t we just hear it?” Kenna asked before turning her attention back to the small stage where a fiddler joined the song, kicking up the tempo.
With a quirk of her perfectly arched brow, Ally caught my eyes. “The Tam is but a child’s tale. I’m talking about the true history of the Bridge of Doon … and what waits on the other side.”
The image of Jamie MacCrae swayed before my eyes, his boot-clad feet firmly planted on an arch of gray stone, his deep, rolling voice calling, “Verranica … Come to me.”
Ally’s rosebud lips quirked into a surreptitious smile before her intense gaze shifted to something behind me and she waved. “Alasdair! Come meet some new friends of mine from the States.”
The wizened old man approached our table and inclined his head in an old-fashioned gesture of respect. “Ladies.”
“Won’t you join us for a pint, Alasdair? My friends here were wantin’ to know more about the Brig o’ Doon.”
“Certainly.” He took the seat across the table from me, rubbed his white-stubble-covered chin as he contemplated each of us with keen, blue-gray eyes. “This tale is not for the faint of heart, lasses.”
Kenna’s lips tilted slightly as she met his challenge. “I think we can handle it.”
The old actor shifted his attention to me and I gave him a nod of assent, my voice trapped in my chest.
“All right, then.” A grin creased the man’s craggy face, lighting his countenance like a sunrise. “What most people dinna know, my fair lassies”—he rested his crossed arms on the table and lowered his voice in a theatrical whisper—”is that Robert Burns dinna create the legend of Brig o’ Doon. He borrowed it from an even older tale.”
I leaned forward and the clamor of the crowded pub faded away.
“Once upon a time, there existed a prosperous kingdom called Doon. It was rich with fertile lands and abundant mountain streams, its beauty beyond compare. The wise and just leader, King Angus Andrew Kellan MacCrae, was adored by all.”
A slow shiver crawled up my spine. What were the chances of my dream boy and this mythical king sharing not one, but two names? I glanced at Kenna, her foot tapping to the music as she drew a series of circles in the condensation on her mug. Could I tell her about the connection? The answer was an easy no. She’d make some crack about “obsessive delusions” then never surrender her aunt’s journal. I had to find out what Gracie knew.
With effort, I reigned in my focus and turned back to the old man. He angled toward me so that the candle’s glow distorted the plains and recesses of his face, giving the appearance that his jaw unhinged as he spoke.
“But what is seen as light will forever be coveted by the dark. And so it was that the kingdom o’ Doon was targeted by a coven of witches who desired to possess the realm for themselves. For years, they tried to seize the kingdom. No matter what strategy they employed—be it covert tactics to undermine the royal family or open warfare—they were thwarted at every turn.
“One legend has it that the witches raised an army of the undead to fight against the king’s forces. But even against this aberration of nature, Doon’s royal army reigned supreme. And yet, our witches didna give up.” Alasdair paused dramatically to lean even closer to our captivated ears.
“’Tis purported that they made a pact wi’ Auld Clootie hisself. A foul bargain that would deliver Doon into their hands. In exchange, the witches would place the Great Deceiver on the throne as their king, and all the righteous subjects o’ Doon would be bound to him for eternity.
“So the kingdom was beset by catastrophe at ever’ turn. First, illness struck the palace. The king’s true love—his lovely queen—died, crippling the ruler with grief. Then the undead army returned in numbers so great not even the brave knights of Doon could keep them at bay. Finally, King MacCrae’s infant son succumbed to the very illness that killed the queen and so many others.”
The old man slumped back in his seat, silent. Several long seconds ticked by while we waited for him to continue. When he seemed disinclined to do so, I couldn’t hold my silence any longer.
“That’s it? Evil wins?” This tragic tale could not be the end of the legend!
“I was no’ finished, young lady. Give an old man a moment to rest,” he said with an impish grin and a wink.
After finishing half his ale in one long draw, Alasdair settled back into his tale. “So, bein’ the God-fearing man that he was, the good king locked himself in the chapel and spent seven days and nights on his knees in prayer. He wouldna accept food nor drink, nor the counsel of his advisors. When he finally emerged, his youngest son was healed, and what was left o’ Doon’s army returned to the palace claiming the undead monsters had vanished.
“Gatherin’ all his people, the king explained that their kingdom had been placed under an enchantment that would protect them from destruction at the witches’ hands … that they would, in fact, be an island to themselves and no one would be able to get in or out of the boundaries save for one day ever’ hundred years.”
No one at the table spoke for several seconds, and in the lull the sounds around me began to filter back into my consciousness. A haunting melody played in the background accompanied by a clear, sweet voice, “Will ye go, lassie, go …”
By all logic, an enchanted kingdom was too perfect to exist—didn’t exist. But I couldn’t silence the voice in my head asking, What if? What if the boy who shared a name with the original king of Doon, the same boy who’d wedged himself in my otherwise lifeless heart, was out there somewhere waiting for me to find him?
“So,” Kenna said with a smirk, snapping me out of my reverie. “How does one find this Scottish Shangri-la?”
“Ah-hah. You see, that is the great mystery. Many learned people have made it their life’s work to discover the kingdom of Doon.” His faded blue eyes narrowed. “But I happen to know of a reliable source that saw Doon with her own eyes.” He lifted his glass toward Kenna. “To Grace Lockhart! God rest her soul.”
Kenna sat straight up in her chair. “How did you know my aunt?”
“’Tis a small world, Mackenna Reid.” With a tip of his head, Alasdair wished us good night and shuffled back to the bar, Ally following on his heels.
“He’s such a liar. My aunt may have loved to tell tales, but I don’t believe for one minute she thought any of them were real.” Kenna turned to me and hitched a thumb over her shoulder at the departing old man. “Do you believe that guy?”
“I don’t know …”
“Oh, come on, Vee, fairy tales don’t exist. You of all people should know that.”
She was right. I was no longer that little girl who wished on falling stars. I’d learned from experience hoping for the impossible just ended in heartbreak … but did that mean I’d stopped believing altogether?
I clenched my teeth and stared into my empty mug, the buzzy feeling its contents had given me long gone. “You’re right.” I pushed down my melancholy, and gave her a bright smile. “M
ake-believe can be fun sometimes, though.”
Her gaze caught mine. “Sure. But like with acting, one needs to be able to tell the difference between fantasy and reality.”
That was the thing, I did know the difference. And the more information I discovered, the less I could shake the feeling that whatever was happening to me was very real.
I listened to the clock in the library chime once and glanced at Kenna. She sat slumped on the living room sofa, snoring softly while a DVD of the latest Les Miserables remake played on the flat screen. Although she’d been the one insistent on a movie musical marathon, she’d not even lasted through Fantine’s fall into ruin.
Mindful of the creaking wood, I crept up the stairs and down the darkened hall to her room. Why I was creeping, I wasn’t sure. Once Kenna was out, nothing but a gaggle of zombies could rouse her … and maybe not even that.
My skin prickled with anticipation as I switched on her bedside lamp and began searching for the journal. I wanted to find proof for Kenna, but I also needed to see what was inside the tiny book—needed to find validation for myself that the voice inside my heart whispered the truth.
Both cluttered nightstands were empty of books. Moving to the dresser, I opened drawers and sorted through familiar articles of Kenna’s colorful wardrobe. Sneakiness was not really in my nature, and a vague sense of guilt gave me pause until I reminded myself I was doing this for Kenna’s own good … as well as mine. The question of Doon’s existence was already driving a wedge between us. She was too pragmatic to believe without concrete proof. And without evidence, she would continue to dismiss my instincts as literary-influenced romanticism—or in Kenna speak, nuttier than a squirrel on crack.
Opening the right bottom drawer, I pushed aside haphazardly folded piles of pajamas until my fingers connected with cool, smooth leather. I scooped up the journal, my hands trembling slightly as I carried it into the light. I carefully undid the tie and opened the fragile book to a random entry. The words blurred for a moment, forcing me to close my eyes to regain my focus. The pages felt stiff like parchment and smelled faintly of old sandals and lavender. Breathing deeply, I opened my eyes and began to read: