Mind Game

by Iris Johansen

  “You’re saying I’m hardheaded?”

  “You know you are. Look, you were always so sure that those dreams I had about Cira meant something. I was the skeptical one. But there was something about what I saw that night that made me—I have to believe that maybe this one—we should at least try it, MacDuff.” She briefly told him the details of the dream, attempting not to leave out anything. “Don’t you see? It just seemed like the answer. The mist was just as bad during Cira’s time, but she found a way. Marcus’s dog, Galo, was able to get through the fog and find his way to the cave. I don’t know how. It could have been pure instinct. But he did it.”

  “According to this latest dream?” MacDuff’s tone was faintly quizzical. “I know I’ve encouraged you to think that Cira led us here. Hell, I’ve used those dreams of yours to get my own way and keep you searching. That’s why I’d like to believe you. But we’re too close, Jane. In this instance, I prefer to base my faith on my lights rather than on Cira’s hound.”

  “Marcus’s dog,” Jane said, correcting him. “And you’ve tried half a dozen different light systems to break through that mist over these last years. None of them has worked. And this might be just another one.”

  “And it might not.”

  “MacDuff, you know how Jane fights believing in anything that’s connected with Cira,” Eve said. “You tried to persuade her for years before you got her to come on your treasure hunt.” She took a step forward. “Cira may have been a guiding force in Jane’s life, but Jane’s a realist. Since the night she had that first dream when she was a teenager, she questioned everything. She didn’t want any explanations that weren’t based on pure fact.” She met his eyes. “But she didn’t question this dream. She had enough faith to get me to call Joe and ask him to bring our friend Margaret Douglas and her dog, Juno. They’re here now.” She smiled and gestured to Margaret. “You’ve always liked experiments, MacDuff. Let’s see what happens.”

  MacDuff was frowning and didn’t answer. Eve had been very persuasive, but no one was more stubborn than MacDuff when he got his mind set on something. Jane had been afraid that stubbornness would set in when she had talked to him yesterday. She could see that he had invested so much time and effort in the idea of making those blasted light systems work that he was reluctant to give them up.

  Okay, she’d have to find a way that he wouldn’t have to do that.

  “Look, you said that light system was ready to test out. Let’s still do it. If it works, you can forget all about anything but your space-age technology.” She made a face. “And I’ll have to go down on my knees to beg Margaret for forgiveness for dragging her here.”

  He raised a brow. “And so you should. But I perceive an if somewhere in that entirely reasonable suggestion.”

  “We might as well take Margaret and her dog, Juno, with us when you’re testing, and see if an alternate solution might work if the tech world fails us again.”

  MacDuff chuckled. “Like turning loose a dog that has no knowledge of the Highlands or the north bank? And certainly should have no homing instinct that would be triggered to take her to Marcus’s cave?”

  She met his eyes. “Yes.”

  “It’s the stuff of madness, Jane.”

  “Perhaps. But then why do I feel it’s the right way to go?”

  He didn’t speak for a moment, and she thought she’d lost him.

  Then a reckless smile lit his face. “How can I resist? It’s too mad a challenge not to accept it. After all, I am a Highlander. Let’s get going, Jane.”

  She blinked. “Now? In the middle of the night?”

  He glanced at Margaret. “Unless this lass hasn’t the stamina to go for a trek through the mist. Why not?”

  Jane was sure she could think of a dozen practical reasons. But she’d been the one to make the offer, and if it had aroused that innate streak of recklessness in MacDuff, she’d be foolish to make excuses that might cause him to have second thoughts.

  She turned to Margaret. “What do you say? Are you too tired?”

  Margaret smiled. “Tired? It’s why I came. It’s a great adventure.” She met MacDuff’s eyes. “Of course, the laird may need his rest. He’s not as young as Juno and I are.”

  “Ouch.” MacDuff turned on his heel. “I’ll go dress, wake Jock, and meet you here in fifteen minutes.” He disappeared into his tent.

  Jane turned back to Margaret. “You’re sure? It can wait, Margaret.”

  “But you don’t want to wait.” Her gaze went to MacDuff’s tent. “And neither does he. I think the wait has gone on too long.” She smiled. “Go finish getting dressed, Jane. Or we’ll be leaving without you.” She turned to Eve and Joe. “Are you coming along? Or are you going to keep the home fires burning?”

  Joe and Eve exchanged a long look and then Joe said, “We’ll stay here. Cara, Lisa, and my son have to be protected, and I’d prefer to do that than to go off on a Cira treasure hunt.” His arm tightened around Eve. “Eve and I have always been aware Cira’s been Jane’s special beacon.” His gaze shifted to Jane. “Go and find her. You know we’ll take care of everything here.”

  She gave him a quick hug. “Thanks, Joe.”

  She flew up the hill toward her tent.

  But she stopped when she was only halfway there.

  Lisa.

  She stared at Lisa’s tent, which was just a short distance from her own. It was a wonder that Lisa hadn’t awakened when Jane had. But then, Jane had been on the alert for an arrival.

  Should she wake Lisa now and let her go with them? She knew there was no question Lisa would come. The mist had fascinated her since she’d arrived here.

  “Decisions?” Eve was coming up the hill toward her. “Lisa? You’re hesitating. That usually means it’s no clear choice.”

  “She’d want to go.”

  “And?”

  “Are you just letting me talk this out?”

  “Of course.” Eve smiled. “Then I can’t be blamed for steering you in the wrong direction.”

  “I’d never blame you.”

  “And?” she repeated.

  “It might be a rough night and hard on her.”

  “True.”

  “But she’d still stay with us and never let us know. I’d have to watch her.”

  Eve was silent.

  Jane met her eyes. “I don’t want to have to concentrate on anything but what I have to do tonight.”

  “Cira?”

  “Cira.” She smiled. “So I think I’ll let her make the decision. I’ll go to my tent and finish dressing and then go down to the campfire. If Lisa hears me and comes out and asks what’s happening, then I’ll tell her.”

  “Fate?”

  “Yes and the fact that I told Lisa earlier that I wouldn’t let her interfere with what I knew had to be done where Cira was concerned.” She turned back and started climbing the hill. “But I could use a little help with explanations if I end up leaving her behind.…”

  * * *

  “This is completely weird,” Margaret said as she walked beside Jane through the mist. “These flashlight beams hardly do any good at all. I can barely see MacDuff and Jock up ahead.”

  “Then you can see the problem. We haven’t even reached the curve of the north bank. Once we pass that pile of boulders, the mist thickens and becomes almost impenetrable to light.”

  “Why?”

  “Who knows? The phenomenon has been studied by several universities, including Oxford, and there are theories but no answers. MacDuff wouldn’t let them tear apart his lands to try to find them.” She shrugged. “And maybe they wouldn’t have found the answers anyway.” She gazed at Margaret. “I know it’s eerie. Does it make you nervous?”

  “No, I grew up in the woods, remember? I like it.” She glanced at Juno, who was trotting a few feet away. “So does Juno. She seems … comfortable.”

  “And what does that mean?”

  Margaret chuckled. “Just what I said. Juno and I are friends and I’m
not going to intrude on her. I’ve told her what you want from her. I’ve also told her that if she can’t give it, I’ll understand.”

  “That’s all I can ask.” Jane looked at the shimmer of white that was Juno in the fog. “You know, when I first met you and that vet you worked for on Summer Island told me that you could communicate with animals, I thought she was crazy. Well, that is, I would have if she hadn’t been so professional about it.”

  “Put a professional mask on anything and it seems to conceal any bullshit?” Margaret chuckled. “Admit it: You believed it because you wanted to believe I could diagnose what was wrong with your dog, Toby, when no one else could. You wanted to believe it so that I could find a way to save your dog’s life.”

  “And you did. Toby lived.” And Jane was still passionately grateful to her. Toby was now in a special program on Summer Island that increased the longevity and strength of dogs, and the last time Jane had visited he was wonderfully well and happy. “And here I am asking you for another favor, and telling you that I need you.”

  “No, you need Juno. I’m just along for the ride … and to find out what’s out there.”

  “Which may not be up to us, if MacDuff’s lights work. He and Jock will be exploring that bank the minute they can see it.” She tried to smile. “And that will be good for MacDuff, too. It will just confuse me. I don’t think that’s the way Cira wants it.”

  “We’ll find out, won’t we?” Margaret said. “And the worst thing that will happen is that Juno will get a long walk to stretch her legs after that trip across the ocean.”

  “If she doesn’t fall in the lake running down these banks.”

  “She swims well. And I’d jump in to help her.”

  Jane smiled. “Because she’s your friend. Just like you jumped in to help me.”

  “Something like that. But you offered me an adventure to sweeten the pot. There are so many mysteries in life and nature, and it’s not often we get the chance to explore one as interesting as this.” She squinted, trying to peer through the mist. “Are those the boulders you spoke about just ahead?”

  * * *

  “It will be just a few minutes.” Jock smiled at Jane and Margaret. “Sit down on those rocks and get as comfortable as you can. We were almost ready before we left here yesterday. It’s just the control switch.” He disappeared back into the mist.

  “You’re right,” Margaret said as she slowly stroked Juno’s head. “The mist is much worse … or better here. I can see how any search team would be paralyzed. You feel totally isolated and disoriented.”

  “Does it bother you?”

  “No, and it doesn’t bother you, either, does it?”

  Jane shook her head. “I’ve never felt a threat here. I feel … at home.” She glanced at Juno. “How about her?”

  “She’s alert … a little tense. She’s not frightened.” She paused. “She’s waiting for something.”

  “So are we,” Jane said wryly. “And I wish MacDuff and Jock would just—”

  “Ready.” MacDuff appeared out of the mist, his eyes shining and eager. He was carrying a large utilitarian-looking switch. “Jock, attach that last transformer,” he called before he turned back to Jane and Margaret. “It’s going to work.” He reached over and ruffled the hair on Juno’s head. “Sorry a fine lass like you won’t get your chance to prove yourself, but that’s life.” He turned to Jane, his excitement almost tangible. “Four poles and the power of those new lights will cause the entire area to light up like a fireworks display on your Fourth of July. Only these fireworks will stay on until we turn them off.”

  “Last transformer connected.” Jock had appeared out of the mist. “Press your magic switch, MacDuff.”

  “Jane?” MacDuff was holding out the switch to her. “You’ve been in this from the beginning. I won’t leave you out.”

  She shook her head. “Your treasure. Your family. Good luck, MacDuff.”

  He smiled. “Thank you. And you won’t call down a Cira hex on me?”

  “Never.”

  “Then here goes.” He drew a deep breath and pressed the switch.

  And the lights came on!

  MacDuff gave a shout. “Yes. Jock, do you see them?”

  “Aye.” Jock’s gaze was fixed on MacDuff’s exuberant expression. “You did it, MacDuff.”

  “Fourth of July, MacDuff,” Jane said gently. “Congratulations.”

  He jerked her to her feet and whirled her in a circle. “Now let’s go take a look down that bank. Now that we can make out some of the topography and the—” He stopped, frowning.

  Juno was on her feet, whimpering.

  Jane glanced at her in puzzlement. The dog’s dark eyes were bright with eagerness, not fear, and her tail was wagging.

  “Afraid not, Juno,” Jane told her. “It appears that this is as far as we go tonight.”

  “Maybe not.” Margaret’s gaze was on Juno, too. “She’s not waiting anymore.”

  And Jock was muttering curses under his breath, his gaze on the four poles with their brilliant lights.

  Which were no longer brilliant.

  The lights appeared to be dimming, slowly losing their power.

  “No!” MacDuff’s face was tense with strain. “Come on. We have to fix it. There must be something wrong with the connection, Jock.”

  Jock had already moved deeper into the mist, which was less obscuring than before but fast becoming worse. MacDuff was with him in seconds, and Jane and Margaret watched them working frantically at the connections fixed to the poles.

  And Juno was still whimpering.

  Jane shook her head in bewilderment. “What’s happening here, Margaret?”

  “With those lights? How should I know?” She gazed at Juno. “With her? She wants me to give her permission to go. She says it’s time.” She met Jane’s eyes. “It’s your call.”

  Or was it Cira’s?

  Jane watched MacDuff and Jock moving quickly in the mist. “MacDuff is the only one who has the right to tell me that.” She stood up and smiled faintly. “Cira would agree. I’m sure anyone who challenged the head of the family in her day wouldn’t have lived long.” Then she was striding into the mist toward the two men.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked as she reached them. “Can you fix it?”

  “We don’t know what’s wrong,” Jock said tersely. “There’s nothing wrong with the lights, transformers, or the connections.” He glanced up at the light on the pole. “And the lights aren’t going completely out as some of the other light systems did. You can see the lights are still burning. They’re just not at full power.”

  “It could be that the lights had too much power and the heat interacted with the condensation from the mist once it was turned on,” MacDuff said in frustration. “At any rate, those lights aren’t going to give illumination for more than a distance of two or three feet from each pole until we figure out a solution.”

  “We’ll do it, MacDuff,” Jock said. “It will just take a little longer.”

  “It should have worked.”

  “Aye, but think how you’ll be able to rub that Australian bloke’s nose in the fact that it didn’t. We’ll just make a few improvements and show him how the Scots do it better.”

  Warmth, friendship, healing.

  MacDuff was responding, albeit reluctantly. “We can do it. But who knows how long it will take. God, I’m tired of struggling with those damn lights.” He was silent a moment and then whirled to face Jane. “No ‘I told you so’?”

  “It could have worked. I’m sorry for your sake that it didn’t.”

  “But you still think you’re right about using the dog.”

  “I don’t know, MacDuff. I believe I might be.” She paused. “Margaret’s retriever, Juno, wants permission to go hunting. I won’t let Margaret let her do it unless you’re okay with it.”

  He stared at her for a moment and then waved his hand impatiently. “Go ahead. A deal is a deal. Try not to fall in the lake.”


  She didn’t move. “Margaret said that she’d jump in the lake to rescue Juno. She made no promises about me. So I think the two of you should come along. Forget about starting to fix those lights now.” She took a step closer, her gaze glittering with the excitement suddenly zinging through her. “I really think you should be with us tonight.”

  “Do you?” MacDuff’s gaze was fixed on her face. “Aye, I can see you do.” His face was suddenly lit with that reckless smile again. “Well, who am I to argue? I apparently have nothing better to do at the moment.” He turned to Jock. “Come on, we have to protect Jane and my property from that fierce, marauding Juno.”

  * * *

  Mist.

  Thicker than Jane had ever seen it.

  She could hear Juno barking ahead of her in the distance.

  The retriever sounded far away and probably was, because their pace had been so painstakingly slow since they had left the boulders.

  They were having to travel slowly and single file because the path was narrow and the lake only feet away.

  She could feel her heart beating hard, her palms damp, as she traveled blindly through the mist.

  “It’s okay, Jane,” Margaret called from behind her. “I wanted to give Juno free rein since she seemed to know where she was going, but I’ll have her start to come back and lead us. This path is too dangerous without a guide.”

  “Tell me about it.” She steadied her voice. “Isn’t Juno having any trouble?”

  “No. She’s fine.” She paused. “As I said, she knows where she’s going.”

  “Do you?”

  “No, I’m getting little wisps of what Juno knows, but I can’t put it together. It doesn’t make sense to me.” She was silent a moment. “Okay, Juno will be coming back and forth now. We’ll be able to move faster.”

  A few minutes later, the barking was closer and Jane could see the gleam of Juno’s white coat in the darkness. Then the retriever turned and started back in the direction she had come, but not going too fast for them not to catch glimpses of her in the mist.

  It was still difficult, but not nearly as bad as before.