Epilogue
Mary Tulloch looked into the surface of the mirror. Her reflection was the same image she’d seen on that long-ago day when she was little more than a child.
She’d no complaints with life. She’d been loved and had loved; her children were healthy and a comfort. She’d been kind when she could and cruel when the occasion warranted it.
Now was time for it to end.
The reflection changed, as if the Tulloch Sgàthán had heard her thoughts, brown clouds boiling around the edge of the reflection.
A young girl, shockingly attired in faded blue trousers, stood there, her face twisted in an expression of irritation.
A white pea was tucked into each ear, both peas connected by a white vine to something clutched in her fist. Behind her stood a crowd of people being led by a woman in a strange dress, consisting of a kilt and a man’s jacket.
She could almost hear the derision in the girl’s voice as she spoke to someone and wondered at the reasons for her anger. As she watched, the girl separated herself from the others, stomping away until she came to a plot of land so familiar Mary’s heart clenched.
Her cottage was different, however, marked by placards and ropes. She tried to read one of the signs, but her vision had faded over the years. Instead, she concentrated on where the girl had gone, some distance behind the cottage.
She tripped on something laid into the earth, something existing even in this age. Her heart racing, Mary watched as the girl knelt, tucked the white beans and vine in her pocket, and lifted a rotting board. Slowly, the girl bent, her hand outstretched.
The image faded, but the purpose of it had been clear enough.
The day was blustery and threatening a storm as Mary Tulloch left her cottage.
She took her time walking to the edge of her land, knowing that it might be the last time she made the journey.
With some effort, she lifted the boards placed over an abandoned well, the very place she’d found the mirror all those years ago.
Gently, she laid the Tulloch Sgàthán on a pillow of dirt for a girl in the future to discover again.