Chapter 13 #2
Samantha shook her head. “Thought about it now and again, but that’s it.
” That was probably an understatement considering all the time she’d spent over the years looking at pictures of Scotland, or borrowing library books about Scotland, or surfing travel sights about Scotland.
But that was more than Sunny needed to know.
“It’s a lovely place,” Sunny said. “You would probably like it.”
“I imagine I would,” Samantha agreed, though she very much doubted she would ever make it that far north. At the moment she was mostly worried about making it out of the country without getting arrested.
She looked at Sunny and realized the countess was watching her more closely than Samantha was comfortable with. She searched for something to talk about that didn’t have to do with anything serious.
“You’re an American?” she asked.
“From Seattle. I came over here to visit my sister. Then a set of fortuitous circumstances put me in the same place as Cam and here we are. It’s funny how things work out, isn’t it?”
Samantha supposed in her own life it was less funny than strange, but Sunny didn’t need to know that, either.
But speaking of strange, she had a woman sitting across from her who had looked at a stab wound and thought nothing of it.
It was tempting to speculate on what else she might think nothing of.
Maybe there was no harm in venturing a casual comment or two.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. She looked at Sunny.
“Have you seen odd things here?”
“What sorts of things?” Sunny asked easily.
“Um,” Samantha began, “odd things. Paranormal things.”
“Like ghosts?”
“That’d do for a start.”
Sunny smiled. “Of course. It is England and Scotland after all. Lots of history hanging around.”
“Can you be specific?”
Sunny shrugged. “Our neighbor to the south has a piper who plays whenever his lord is in the mood for a little battle dirge.”
“So?”
“Well, that piper is a ghost,” Sunny said with a smile. “He’s very good.”
“Have you heard him?”
“Yes, and I’ve seen him as well.”
“Interesting,” Samantha said faintly. “Anything else?”
“What sort of anything elses?”
Samantha could hardly believe she was going to give voice to the words, but she had to know. She was starting to feel a little crazy.
“This seems so silly,” she began, finding that the thought sounded less silly than it did absolutely insane, “but what do you think about time travel?”
Sunny’s face was absolutely expressionless. Samantha couldn’t say she was any sort of investigator, but she thought she might be able to put on her Derrick hat and consider the facts of the case. Sunny had been animated before; now she was very cautious.
Something was up.
“I think,” Sunny said slowly, “that there are many things that are possible.” She smiled. “Why not this?”
“Because it’s crazy.”
Sunny shrugged. “Traveling in a plane or talking on a cell phone would have seemed crazy to someone who lived two hundred years ago. Maybe there are just things we don’t understand.”
Samantha decided there was no point in not being frank. “You didn’t seem surprised by Derrick’s shoulder wound.”
“It’s London,” Sunny said. “Lots of things happen in London.”
“You didn’t call the cops.”
“There are some things that are better kept to the family.”
“But,” Samantha blurted out, “he thinks I left the missing lace in Elizabethan England.”
Sunny looked at her blandly. “And what do you think?”
“I think he’s crazy,” Samantha said, but she had to admit she didn’t think he was as crazy as she’d thought him before. “Mostly.”
“Lots of crazy things in the world.”
“He thinks we’re going to go look for the lace tonight.”
“Now, that is crazy,” Sunny said with a smile. “He did admit as much to me which is why I gave him my supersecret, frighten-any-bug-left-in-you-out-of-you brew. He’ll be fine. He’ll also sleep until tomorrow afternoon.”
Samantha smiled in spite of herself. “He’ll be furious.”
“With me?” Sunny scoffed. “I’m not worried. I’m also not going to hang around. Give me a call if he starts hallucinating.”
“And just what am I supposed to do until you get here if he does?” Samantha asked, profoundly alarmed.
“Bean him with his laptop would be my suggestion, but he was rude to me and I found his apology somewhat lacking so I’m probably not his biggest fan at the moment.
” She smiled and rose. “You have our numbers. Call if you need help. And watch as much pay-per-view as you like. Use the personal shopper downstairs if he gets really feisty. He’s picking up the tab, after all. ”
“Oh, I don’t think I’ll need the shopper,” Samantha said faintly. “Emily keeps bringing me things.”
“Perfect,” Sunny said cheerfully. “I’ll check back in later.”
Samantha thanked her and saw her to the door, locked it behind her, then looked at her afternoon stretching in front of her and wondered what she should do.
She had Derrick’s tablet, which she supposed would keep her busy for a while.
She could probably have another nap in a very luxurious place, as well as a couple of meals she would probably never match again in her lifetime.
She might as well take advantage of it while she could.
She wondered what would happen if she called the airline, dipped heavily into her savings to purchase a hideously expensive same-day ticket, then called a taxi and bolted for the airport.
If she’d had the guts, she would have sent the personal shopper downstairs out for a wig so she could have escaped detection.
But that would only have solved one of her problems and that was her current location.
There would still be people who thought she had lace she didn’t have.
She would still be thinking quite seriously that Lydia Cooke was responsible for planting that lace on her.
And that lace would still be sitting in Elizabethan England under a planter she sincerely hoped didn’t get watered anytime soon.
She got up and paced, trying to convince herself that none of those things mattered.
She paced for a very long time.
She finally sat down and gave in. She considered a movie, then downloaded another book to Derrick’s computer.
Maybe it would take her mind off her past, which she couldn’t erase, and her present, which she couldn’t seem to avoid.
It would do nothing for her future, she knew, which left her feeling rather unsettled.
Because she had the feeling that after she went to Elizabethan England with the currently unconscious grouch in the other room, she would be on her own.