Master of the Scrolls

by Benjamin Ford

  ‘I really don’t know! I’ve been to the past and returned, and I’m still none the wiser!’

  Though not strictly true, since she was a whole lot wiser than she had been before her sojourn into another lifetime, she now saw shadows from the past wherever she looked.

  True, Peter and Isabella were gone, but for how long? The manuscript was – hopefully – still up on her bedside table, and the locket was where it always remained, around her neck. When Allan returned, so too would Samuel Wylams, who would not rest until he had wrested the secrets from her possession, of that Gloria was certain.

  Then there was the matter of James. Before her tumble down the stairs, Wilma had said the spirit of James Trevayne had also found its way to this time. If she could discover in whose body his spirit resided, might they perhaps continue with their relationship?

  ‘Gloria, are you sure you will be all right?’

  She smiled at Louise reassuringly as she returned from her brief reverie. ‘Yes, Lou, I’ll be fine. It’ll just take time to get over James and Elizabeth, and it’ll take a bit of getting used to, being back in the Twentieth Century, being called Gloria again.’

  ‘Allan will be home again soon. Are you going to tell him all that’s happened?’

  Gloria shrugged, taking a deep breath. ‘I ought to, since Allan and I have no secrets from each other, though lord knows what he’ll make of it all!’ She did not tell Louise that she was dreading Allan’s return for a completely different reason than her friend might suppose. She knew Allan well enough to know he would believe her story, especially with so many people to back her up. She would no more willingly cheat on him than he would cheat on her. What she feared was coming face to face with Samuel Wylams once more, especially in the body of someone she loved – even more so now she knew the manner in which he had to die to prevent his spirit from ever returning.

  Yet still doubts remained.

  Her mind returned to the time at Ravenscreag Hall when Wilma’s voice had transformed into a deeper voice. She struggled to recall the voice Wilma had used – Who am I? It had been a recognisable masculine voice. At the time she had been certain it was the manifestation of Samuel’s voice, but now though she was unsure. She felt certain she would have recognised it as Allan’s voice, yet she had not… but then again, she should also have recognised the voice within her dreams!

  Perhaps her suggestion that Wilma was merely playing on her fears was a true assessment. Had the mad woman herself not claimed to be playing a spiteful game of nightmares with both Gloria and Phil?

  Then again, was it perhaps possible that Wilma really had been the embodiment of Samuel Wylams, and that Allan was not? If Allan was Samuel’s reincarnation, then his spirit could not have possessed Wilma; she could not have been his reincarnation. Just because he and Samuel bore an uncanny striking resemblance to one another, did not necessarily mean Allan must be the warlock’s reincarnation.

  Her thoughts going round in circles were making her dizzy with confusion.

  Confusion! Always confusion! Why did everything always have to be so damned complicated? All Gloria wanted was a simple life, something denied to her. ‘Lou, do you think I should tell Allan everything?’

  Louise looked startled. ‘I’m not sure it would be entirely prudent for me to answer that! Only you can decide how strong your love for each other is, Gloria. I believe I know my brother well enough to think he will be open minded, but then again...’ She shrugged her shoulders helplessly. ‘The only thing I can say with any certainty is that I shall not be saying anything to him. It’s between the pair of you.’

  Gloria smiled weakly. ‘Thanks. What would I do without you?’

  ‘Go mad, probably! Listen, I’m going now, and I’ll take George with me. I think you could do with a nice relaxing bath! Now that I know you are all right, I can relax a bit myself. Call your mother though; she was more concerned about you than I was.’

  ‘Okay, Lou. I’ll ring her right away.’

  ‘Can we meet for dinner tonight, Gloria?’ asked Louise quietly as she watched George make his way back through the kitchen. She smiled a farewell at Phil, who remained seated in the living room while the two women wandered towards the back door. ‘I’d like a couple of hours alone with you. There are some private things I really need to talk to you about, and I cannot put them off any longer. I know you’ve been through an ordeal, but you are my best friend… you’re the only one I can talk to!’

  Gloria clapped a hand to her mouth. ‘Oh! That tearful phone call… months ago, it seems to me. Something happened to you on your trip! Yes, of course I’ll meet you. Where?’

  ‘I’ll pick you up here at seven, and we’ll go into Tunbridge Wells. There’s that lovely restaurant on The Pantiles.’

  ‘Sure. I’ll see you later, then!’

  They kissed cheeks, and Gloria closed the door, though she was unable to fasten it because of the splintered lock. She would have to get Phil to fix that before he left.

  *

  On her way to the front drawing room of Rachel’s London home, Mary jumped as the telephone rang discordantly, splitting the peaceful silence. She hobbled over and answered it after four rings. ‘Hello,’ she said. ‘May I help you?’

  ‘Hi, Nana Turner!’

  ‘Gloria! My child, you are all right! Your mother was very worried.’

  ‘I know, Lou told me. Is Mother there? Can I speak with her?’

  ‘Yes, child. She’s hovering right beside me. Tell me, has it started?’

  Gloria was about to admit that it had started, progressed and actually finished, but for some reason she stopped after merely confirming that events had indeed begun.

  ‘I thought so. Okay, here’s your mother!’

  Rachel had been upstairs changing bed linen when the phone began to ring, and she had literally dropped everything and raced down the stairs as fast as her legs could carry her, only for her aged mother to beat her at the post, hobbling along on weary ninety-six year old legs. In the few seconds that Mary had been talking to Gloria, Rachel had been hopping agitatedly from one foot to the other, wringing her hands in desperation, and barely prevented herself from ripping the phone from her mother’s hand in her eagerness to speak with her daughter.

  ‘Darling, are you all right? I was so worried when I called before. Someone answered and then I was cut off! I heard a man’s voice. I thought it was that evil Samuel Wylams. Was it? Did he hurt you? What has been going on? I heard Mother ask if it has started. Has it? What’s happened so far?’

  Rachel spoke breathlessly, and was quite perturbed to hear her daughter laughing down the phone. ‘Slow down, Mother, you’ll start hyperventilating!’

  Rachel breathed deeply a couple of times before apologising. ‘So,’ she said, once she had calmed down immeasurably, ‘what has been happening?’

  ‘Samuel was here. I guess he must have lost his temper with the telephone in my office when it rang,’

  Rachel was horrified. ‘Are you all right?’

  ‘I’m fine, Mother. Stop worrying. A lot has happened, believe me – a lot! There’s too much to tell you over the phone, so I’m going to come up to London to tell you and Nana Turner all about it. How’s Dad?’

  ‘He’s calmer than the rest of us, dear. I’m not entirely sure he believes everything he has been told!’

  ‘Typical Dad! Listen, I have to go. I’m desperate for a bath, and Lou is picking me up for a meal at seven. How about I come up there for one o’clock tomorrow?’

  ‘That’s fine, darling, I can wait. Just one thing though – you are all right, aren’t you? You’d tell me if something bad had happened wouldn’t you?’

  Despite the sadness she felt in her heart for the loss of her husband and daughter, when she heard the note of despair and concern in Rachel’s voice, Gloria wished she could wrap her arms reassuringly around her mother and hug her tight. ‘Yes, Mother, I am fine! Really!’ She forced an extra inflection of feeling into her voice, and hoped her mot
her believed it. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? About one o’clock!’

  ‘All right, darling. Goodbye.’

  *

  The gorgeous evening was without a breath of wind to stir the air, and as she pulled up to a red traffic light in George’s car, Louise cast a sideways glance at Gloria seated in the passenger seat, as still and silent as the evening, clearly deep in meditative thought, her face etched with great sadness.

  The months of ordeals Gloria had endured hardly bore thinking about. It was not something Louise wished to happen to her, and though the notion of travelling back in time to live as someone from history was exciting, it was clearly more perilous than even Gloria had made out – and she had said enough, merely touching upon the death of her husband and daughter in that past time. What a terrible thing to have happened! Louise could scarcely comprehend what must be going through Gloria’s mind. For once she could not put herself in her friend’s place.

  ‘You’re very quiet this evening, Gloria.’ Louise’s gentle voice barely registered with her friend as she put the car in gear and sped off when the traffic light changed to green.

  Gloria did not respond. She stared out of the passenger window, distracted by the mid-summer greens and spectacular multi-hued flowers on the verges and in the fields as they sped along the narrow back lanes.

  ‘Are you listening, Gloria?’ Louise raised her voice slightly to draw her friend’s abstracted attention back to her.

  ‘Sorry Lou, I was thinking,’ sighed Gloria as she returned to the present from her reverie into the past.

  ‘Were you thinking about James and Elizabeth?’

  Gloria managed a weak smile that betrayed all the heartache she felt. ‘Amongst others,’ she sighed, her response noncommittal, and as if that was adequate explanation, she cast her attention once more to the passing scenery.

  Louise shrugged to herself and concentrated on her driving. She was not about to pressure her friend into talking about what she had been through. Heaven only knew what must have been going through Gloria’s mind: she had been through so much, she deserved a little leeway; after all, only that morning she had been almost burned alive, and lost two people very dear to her! Gloria knew she was there for her, ready to listen should she finally decide to talk about her ordeals.

  Gloria’s eyes would not focus on the passing scenery. Her vision, blurred with barely repressed tears, fixed on the past. She saw images of James holding Elizabeth, beckoning to her and calling out her name through the ethereal mists of time, pleading with her for help as flames, fanned by summer winds of discontent, flickered all around them.

  Her mind, unlike her eyes, fixed firmly on the present. She had made Phil promise to return to Scotland, and she hoped he would abide by her wishes. She felt he would, if only for the fact that Peter was no longer present within him, tethered to Isabella, whose spirit was also thankfully gone from her own mind. Gloria did not want Phil lingering on the edge of her life when Allan returned within the next day or so.

  Allan she felt she should deal with alone, not when Phil was lurking nearby. Much as she liked Phil and sympathised with his plight – confused as he was about the situation in which they found themselves embroiled – as far as Gloria was concerned, his part in proceedings was over. Peter and Isabella had departed, and with the exodus of their apparently conjoined spirits, there was no further attachment between Phil and her, though she knew Phil did not view the situation thus. She knew that under Peter’s influence, Phil had fallen in love with her, and while in her company, his passions and genuine feelings of longing could not be chained.

  Gloria was aware that she would likely meet Phil again, probably on her next visit to Ravenscreag Hall, and she was truly terrified that any real feelings she might have for him would come to the fore. It was bad enough that she had betrayed Allan four-hundred-odd years in the past, and twice in this lifetime under the influence of Isabella. She had no desire to ignite any other passions yet – not until she first looked Allan in the eye.

  Instinct told her that Phil was a good man who would be a perfect gentleman, and treat her relationship with Allan with the respect it deserved. The reason she had sent Phil away was more to do with not trusting herself than not trusting him.

  The tranquil greenery outside the car gradually faded as they neared the outskirts of Tunbridge Wells. She turned away from the view and looked at Louise, who ignored her and concentrated on her driving. ‘Sorry, Lou, I’ve not been much company so far, have I?’

  Louise chuckled mirthlessly. ‘It’s okay, really! You’ve been through a lot. I think I can understand what you’ve gone through!’

  Poor Lou, thought Gloria, lapsing once more into silence. She tries so hard to understand, she really does. But in the end, she understands absolutely nothing.

  *

  As she and her mother had done, months ago according to Gloria’s memory, so she and Louise decided to dine outside beneath the shaded colonnade of the same restaurant.

  ‘All right,’ said Louise as they awaited the arrival of their meal, ‘I have to confess, I don’t really know how it must have felt for you, how it must still feel for you. What you went through is the most astonishing thing that could possibly happen to anyone, and I don’t think anyone could even begin to comprehend it unless it happened to them. And then, to lose two people so dear to you… I think you are coping very well!’

  ‘I’m not coping at all really,’ Gloria sighed, ‘I’m bottling everything up inside at the moment. Besides, I don’t think I have any more tears left right now… though I daresay there will be more of those when I go to bed tonight. But we’re not here to talk about me, are we? I want to know what happened to make you cut short your trip. The last I heard you were in Canada, and then all of a sudden you’re back in England. So, what happened?’

  Louise took a deep breath. ‘Since you know I was in Canada you obviously received my last postcard, so you also know that I met this man out there?’

  Gloria nodded, struggling to recall the details of her friend’s postcard. ‘By all accounts he was a bit blasé, a bit of a cliché – tall, dark and handsome! And you were hopelessly in love with him, which is why I was kind of surprised to see you with George… never mind the fact that you couldn’t stand George before you went away!’

  ‘That’s getting a bit off topic, Gloria! Anyway, this man turned out to be married!’

  Gloria was not sure whether to laugh or cry at her friend’s shamefully whispered revelation. ‘Oh come on Lou, you could have been a bit more original: tall, dark and handsome, and married? What was his name, John Smith? Was he an airline pilot?’

  ‘No,’ sighed Louise with a slight smile as she recalled her one-time childhood dream she had often shared with Gloria – to marry an airline pilot who would whisk her away on jaunts around the world. Well, she had at least done the latter… herself. ‘His name is Glyn Martinique. He’s a millionaire businessman.’

  ‘He sounds very exotic!’

  ‘So is his wife. She’s a dusky Polynesian beauty called Hilo.’

  ‘Ah, French West Indies meets Hawaii in Canada, eh?’

  ‘Something like that. Anyway, my point is that I didn’t know he was married until it was too late. When I discovered he had a wife I called off our romance, but until then I thought he was the most loving, romantic man I had ever met. I lost my heart to him, but he betrayed me, and he betrayed his wife too! I can’t understand why anyone who is committed to one person would want to sleep with someone else, especially when you’re married – and especially when your wife is quite possibly the most stunningly beautiful woman in the world!’

  Louise’s eyes filled with shame at what she clearly felt was partly her fault. She felt guilt and remorse, plainly directed at Hilo, the wronged spouse.

  Gloria reached across the table and laid a comforting hand on Louise’s arm. ‘I’m so sorry, Lou. It must be awful, placing your trust in someone you’ve fallen in love with, only to have the rug pull
ed out from under you!’

  ‘The best of it is, she caught us in bed together!’

  ‘Oh God, how awful! She didn’t attack you did she?’

  ‘She shouted and screamed a bit, then went very quiet, which I found a bit frightening, so I got out of the hotel room as quickly as I could and left them to it. I will never forget the look of disgust and hatred on her young face! That’s why I reacted so badly when I saw you and Phil, because I didn’t want Allan to go through what poor Hilo went through.’

  ‘Well, it wasn’t your fault, so don’t beat yourself up about it. Some men are just complete bastards, there’s no two ways about it! At least you didn’t find yourself in my situation. Allan has a daughter he will never see, a daughter who might have been brought up to be a beautiful young woman had she not been murdered by a baying crowd of witch-hunters!’

  ‘Hopefully my child will not be murdered like that!’ Louise looked into Gloria’s eyes solemnly as she softly uttered those words. ‘Yes, Gloria, I’m pregnant with Glyn’s child!’

  Gloria choked on her wine. ‘Are you sure?’

  Louise nodded. ‘Positive. He was the only guy I slept with on my trip, and I only did that because he said he loved me, and actually behaved as if he loved me too! I wanted to get your opinion on what I should do, but that was before I started falling for George! I haven’t told him any of this yet.’

  ‘That’s something I still can’t get over, Lou!’

  ‘I know, I completely agree with you. I’m a little ambivalent about my actual feelings for him. He might just have merely been a convenient shoulder to cry on. And his sudden feelings towards me are just as odd, don’t you think?’

  ‘Indeed, though I think he always had a soft spot for you, Lou. How do you think George will react to this news?’

  Louise shrugged. ‘To be honest, I’m not sure I’m going to tell him. His behaviour has become even odder. He’s still speaking in a weird voice, and he’s still asking all sorts of questions about you.’