Chapter 13 #2
From George’s perspective it looked as though one of the smouldering logs at the edge of the fire suddenly rose into the air and floated towards me.
His eyes widened and he hurried to put the desk between himself and the levitating log.
All I could hear was Mal, who was carrying the smoking branch, going, ‘Ow, ow, bloody hell, ow.’ The log shot back into the fireplace as he dropped it. ‘Ow!’
‘Window, open!’ I commanded and Lachlan dashed around to the back of the room to fling open the shutter that covered the window. The breeze instantly started sending papers flying all over the room.
‘Oops, sorry about that,’ apologised Lachlan, pointlessly, and closed it again.
George continued to stand, blinking at me. After a moment or two he shook his head. ‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘You’re definitely something rare. But you’re no demon, that I’ll wager.’
‘Just tell him,’ Lachlan whispered, although I didn’t know why, because George couldn’t hear him.
‘I come from another time,’ I said, the words coming in a rush. ‘To do something, or change something, but I don’t really know what. It all seems a bit of a cock-up actually.’
George frowned. ‘A what?’
Thankfully, before I had to explain, there were feet on the stairs and the tapestry was thrust aside. Jamie came in followed by Kenna, who turned out to be the older woman who helped Jeannie out with the brewing. She shivered and looked around as she came in.
‘You can go, Jamie,’ George said.
‘But—’
‘Go.’ He spoke very evenly but the word held huge amounts of ‘I am the boss so you had better do as you are told’.
‘But you will call out if you need me?’
‘That I will, Jamie lad, never fear.’ We all waited for Jamie to leave, which he did, reluctantly. ‘He’s brother to my wife,’ George said, and the fabric-swathed figure dipped her head in acknowledgement although I suspected the explanation was aimed at me. ‘Now, Kenna.’
The woman turned to him. Her eyes were very blue, I could see, and she didn’t avert them or curtsey as I might have expected, faced by an earl. ‘My lord.’
‘Can you tell me if there are any… spirits in this room right now?’
The old woman smiled slightly. ‘Aye, my lord. There’s one right here.
’ She pointed at me but her eyes moved across the air around me.
I didn’t think she could actually see me.
Then she waved a hand in Mal’s direction.
‘Another here, and one over by the window, I think. There are more out there, on the landing too.’
‘Do you know what they want?’
She took a deep breath and stared at me again. ‘No. They’ve some task, some matter to put right, is all I know.’ Then she looked back at George. ‘They mean no evil.’
‘But they’re definitely here. In here. Now. With me.’
‘Oh yes, my lord. I think this one…’ a hand outlined the space roughly where I stood ‘…is a wee girl. There’s another girl outside the room. The others… Men, I think. But not from here…’ She frowned. ‘From here, but not from here. I don’t understand it.’
‘I think they are having trouble understanding it themselves,’ George said faintly. ‘Can you hear them speak?’ He motioned towards me with his head.
I cleared my throat. ‘Um. Hello, Kenna,’ I said, my voice sounding feeble. ‘I’m Pax.’
She shook her head. ‘No. I can sense them. Feel them in the air, but I cannae see or hear them.’
‘Oh, for God’s sake, this is ridiculous!’ Mal snapped. ‘Why can’t he believe the evidence of his own eyes?’
‘Because the whole situation is mad, that’s why,’ Lachlan replied. ‘I don’t blame him for wanting a second opinion. Just remember what happened when we arrived.’
‘So, what do we do now?’ I asked.
‘Now we know he can see you, I guess we try to work out what we have to do,’ Lachlan replied.
At the same time as George said, ‘I don’t know.
I knew the castle was haunted, but not like this.
’ George shook his head. ‘A girl dressed as a boy and invisible demons.’ He looked utterly baffled and I didn’t blame him.
‘And you say you’re here for a reason but you don’t know what it is?
’ George kept on shaking his head. ‘Kenna, you’d best go back,’ he said. ‘Thank you for coming.’
She inclined her head and made her way slowly out of the room, while Mal took several angry-looking steps towards Lachlan.
‘Don’t,’ I said.
‘Don’t?’ George jerked his head up to look at me.
‘Sorry, not you. The – other demon.’
George rubbed his hands over his face. ‘I don’t suppose you can tell the future, can you? Or kill my enemies?’
‘Sorry, no, I don’t think so.’
‘Well, we can tell him his future,’ Lachlan said. ‘If he wants to know. Well, nothing specific, but you know that your family loses the castle.’
‘We shouldn’t,’ I said and George stopped rubbing to peer at me between his fingers.
‘I don’t understand any of this,’ he said. ‘If God sends me demons, he should at least drop some hints about why they’re here.’
‘The demons would also like a heads-up,’ Mal said, snippily. ‘Because it sounds like these two have got plans.’
‘We really don’t know,’ I began, answering them both, but Lachlan came over and bundled Mal out, flipping up the tapestry to exit, which made George take another deep breath.
‘Have they gone?’
‘Yes. I suspect they’re arguing ferociously outside now.’
‘Do demons argue? I thought you blasted with your demonic powers?’
‘We’re not that kind of demon,’ I said weakly. ‘I’m going to have to go now and sort them out.’ Then I remembered I was supposed to be other-worldly. ‘But I shall return!’ I added, trying to fill my words with supernatural import.
‘But… you have told me nothing of your mission!’ George sounded disappointed. I, in the meantime, was acutely aware of raised voices coming from beyond the room.
‘I’m… we’re not going anywhere. I’ll speak to you again soon.’ I was getting worried by the volume of the shouting. It seemed to be coming mostly from Mal, with intercessions at a more sensible tone from Lachlan.
‘Will you come to me tonight?’ he asked.
Kaylinn, who was still hovering about outside, gave a muffled giggle.
‘I shall be in the kirk later, praying for our safety and that of our King. I’ll be alone. It might be a good time for us to talk.’ He hesitated. ‘Would you be willing?’
Willing probably wasn’t the right word, but I had to do something. The others were relying on me to make this work. The responsibility was mine and it was a very lonely feeling.
‘Yes,’ I said, sounding impressively sure of myself.
‘Then let us speak later.’ I got a small smile now. ‘And if you can enter the kirk then I shall know you are no demon.’
He bent his head back to his papers with an impressively insouciant wave of dismissal, but before I turned to leave I noticed that his hands were shaking.