by Jodi McIsaac
There was another pause. Cedar could hear Jane whisper, “This is so bizarre…” beside her.
“Finn, who are you talking to?” she asked, unable to stay silent.
“Shh! It’s the ghost, Mum!” Eden said.
“Forgive me,” Finn said to the air. “But we have two humans among our party who cannot see or hear you. May I repeat your words to them?”
The ghost must have agreed, because Finn turned to Cedar and Jane and said, “This is James Abercrombie, who was the last abbot at Scone. He died in 1514. He recognizes us for who we are.” The corners of Finn’s mouth lifted up. “He says that death has a way of opening one’s mind to the supernatural in ways that life cannot. He is the caretaker of this ghostly place and its people. The spirits here had a strong connection to the abbey and they died without peace. Once they make their peace with themselves, they move on.”
“Move on where?” Jane asked.
“To whatever comes next,” Finn answered simply. Then he turned back to the ghost.
“We are looking for the true Lia Fáil, which our forefathers brought to this world from Falias and entrusted into the care of humans. We know that there was once a great stone here on which many of your kings were crowned. They say it was taken by the English, but there are many who doubt that story. Do you know if such a stone still exists in these lands?”
Again, Cedar heard nothing but extended silence as the ghost abbot responded.
“He says there are more than a few ghosts from that dreadful time here in his abbey. Some betrayed their own people and country for English gold. Others failed to protect the innocent around them and sought to save their own lives instead. He says that if we go into the abbey, we’ll hear many stories about the Stone of Destiny.”
Finn, Felix, and Eden started walking across the field. Jane and Cedar looked at each other and then shrugged and started following the others. “How are we supposed to go into a church we can’t bloody see?” Jane whispered. After a few paces, they group stopped abruptly.
Everyone was silent for a long moment, but Cedar could tell that the ghost must be talking, because Finn was nodding at regular intervals. Finally, he turned to look at her. “We’re at the entrance to the abbey,” he said. “The abbot says that he’s willing to open your eyes so that you can see the spirit world inside these walls.”
Jane looked nervously at Cedar, and then nodded.
“Yes, we would like that,” Cedar said. She felt something cold pass through her, like she had been plunged into an ice bath and then quickly dried off. Suddenly, she was no longer standing in the middle of an empty field. A huge translucent stone structure loomed in front of her. She reached out to touch the wooden doors that were only a foot from her face. She expected her hand to pass right through it, but it stopped, and she could feel the grain of the wood beneath her fingers. When she withdrew her hand, the doors opened inward.
“Welcome,” said the ghostly abbot, whom she could now see, a clean-shaven, unremarkable man wearing a plain robe that fell to his ankles. The only thing that stood out about him was the fact that he too appeared both solid and translucent. The top of his head was shaved bald. He smiled and bobbed at Cedar, and she smiled back. Feeling Eden grab for her hand, she knelt down to her daughter’s level.
“How are you doing, baby?” she asked. “Does this scare you?”
“A little,” Eden admitted. “But it’s also really cool!”
“Well, I think all the ghosts here are friendly,” Cedar said as they followed the abbot inside. The floor beneath them was stone, and Cedar wondered if the Lia Fáil could possibly be hiding here among the ghosts. There were many of them around, some standing in groups and talking, others kneeling on benches in prayer, some pacing and muttering.
They followed the abbot until he came to a stop at the doorway to a small chapel. “The man inside may be of help. His name is Thomas de Balmerino. He was abbot here when the English came. They imprisoned him for a time, but he returned to his position when he was released. I do not know what happened to him, only that the peace offered by our Lord has not been sufficient for him to move on. Perhaps you can help each other.”
He left them there at the entrance to the chapel. Cedar looked inside. It was tiny, with only room for a simple altar and three wooden benches. A man sat on one of them, his back toward them, his shoulders shaking. Cedar walked in slowly, but he didn’t seem to notice her. She cleared her throat, and he turned around and saw her, his tear-stained face creasing in confusion. Then he looked behind her and took in the others in the doorway and let out a gasp. He fell to his knees and crossed himself. “The gods of old,” he whispered. “Have you come to take me away for my sins?”
“No!” Cedar said quickly, with a horrified glance at Finn. “We’re just looking for something. The abbot—um, Abbot Abercrombie—said you might be able to help.”
Still on his knees, he drew back, as though afraid she might strike him. “I know what you’re looking for,” he said, his voice quavering. “It’s not here, it’s not here,” he moaned.
“It’s okay,” Cedar said, trying to sound soothing. “It’s Thomas, right? We just want to know where it is. The Stone of Destiny,” she added, in case he was referring to something else entirely. “Is it… hidden somewhere?”
The man began to weep uncontrollably. “I was the keeper of the stone when they came. I would have died to save it, but they stole it from us, may they be ever cursed!”
“The English?” Cedar asked. “King Edward?”
The ghostly man spat on the floor and began tearing at his hair. “It’s my fault that Scotland was lost. If I had only protected the stone, the English would not have been able to conquer us!”
Cedar stared at the wretched man at her feet, and tried to think of something to say. “I’m no historian, but I think the English just had a bigger army. Besides, it was technically Ireland’s stone, not Scotland’s. It’s not even Ireland’s, really—it belongs in Tír na nÓg with the Tuatha Dé Danann. So Scotland couldn’t have been cursed when taken. It never belonged to Scotland in the first place.”
He looked up at her incredulously. “How is this possible?”
“The stone you were protecting came from Falias, one of the Four Cities, the original homeland of the Tuatha Dé Danann. It’s in another world,” she explained. “The Danann loaned it to the Irish kings, and one of them then loaned it to his brother Fergus, King of Scotland. That’s how it came to be here. We have come to take it to Tír na nÓg. That’s where it belongs.”
The man stopped crying. “Do you speak the truth?” he said.
She nodded fervently and got down on her knees beside him, taking his shaking hands in her own. “Thomas? I know I probably look human to you, but I’m really one of them, one of the Tuatha Dé Danann. And believe me when I tell you that it wasn’t your fault that Scotland was defeated.”
Cedar felt a soft wind sweep through the room. The man on the floor stood up, straightened his clothes, and smiled at her. “Thank you,” he said softly. “I do not know where it is, except that it is no longer here. May you find your Stone of Destiny.” Then he glowed slightly, becoming increasingly translucent until she could no longer see him at all.
“That was incredible.” Finn walked into the chapel and helped her to her feet. “You gave him the peace he’s been waiting for for more than seven hundred years.”
“And now we know that the stone that was here really was taken by the English,” Cedar said. “So maybe the one in Edinburgh Castle is the real one after all.”
“You guys? You might want to come see this.” Jane was looking out of a narrow window in the hallway outside the chapel. Felix hoisted Eden into his arms and was at the window in two long strides. Finn was right behind him.
“What is it?” Cedar said, rushing over to join the others. Eden let out a whimper and buried her face in Felix’s neck.
“Druids,” Finn said, his eyes narrowing. A dozen figures wearing long
dark cloaks had gathered outside of the abbey. Apparently unable to see the ghostly building, they were slowly wandering the grounds, their faces obscured by hoods.
“Druids?” Cedar repeated, moving closer to the window. “What are they doing here?”
“Two options,” Felix answered. “Either looking for the Lia Fáil… or looking for us.”
“Do you think Nuala sent them here? How would they know where we were?” Cedar asked. She placed her hand on Eden’s back and rubbed it soothingly, but she couldn’t keep the worry out of her voice.
“I don’t know,” Felix answered. “Perhaps someone overheard us at the pub. Or it could just be a coincidence. Or, if the druids truly are in league with Nuala, it wouldn’t surprise me if they’re searching for the Lia Fáil to keep us from finding it.”
“Well, they won’t find it here,” Cedar said. “But we should probably leave. It doesn’t look like they can see us, but the abbot might let them in.”
“I can assure you, he will not,” came a voice behind them. Abbot Abercrombie had joined them, and his eyes were trained on the figures who were roaming around beneath his halls. “There is little love between your druids and the men of this abbey. They have tried to find us before. But they hunger for power, not knowledge. We are not faultless ourselves, of course—our continued existence in this place bears evidence to that fact. But no druid will cross this threshold while I am abbot here.” Then he smiled at Felix and gave another of his strange little bows. “You, of course, are always welcome here, my lords and ladies. We are at your service.”
“Thank you. It doesn’t seem like they are anymore,” Finn muttered. He took Eden from Felix and turned to face the abbot. “We need to leave without being noticed. I’d like to avoid a fight if we can. We need a door—a real one.”
“You will find no real doors here,” the abbot said, ignoring the strangeness of the request. “The closest is in the stone chapel on the hill. It has fared slightly better than this noble hall.”
“What if they see us?” Eden asked in a small voice, her face pressed against Finn’s chest.
“They will see you once you leave this place,” the abbot said. “But perhaps my brothers and I can provide enough of a distraction for you to reach the chapel safely. Give me but a moment.” He faded away, and Cedar turned back to watch the druids mill around the grounds of the Palace. They moved slowly, as though waiting for something to happen.
Well, something is about to happen, Cedar thought. She just wasn’t sure what.
They headed to the front of the abbey, near the door, and after a few moments, the abbot reappeared beside them. “I have roused my brothers. But you will need to move quickly. Are you ready?”
Finn tightened his grip on Eden. “Felix, you’ll make sure Cedar and Jane get out safely?”
Felix nodded. “You and Eden lead the way and open the sidh, the ladies will follow you, and then I’ll come through last.”
The abbot folded his hands and closed his eyes, as though in prayer. “It is time,” he said. Then he disappeared, and the ghost door in front of them swung open.
Cedar grabbed Jane’s hand and together they followed Finn and Eden out of the abbey. The fresh air of the material world filled her lungs as they sprinted toward the stone chapel. The druids were still there, but a ghost had appeared beside each one of them. Based on the druids’ terrified reactions, the ghosts were very much visible. Cedar tried to ignore them and ran as fast as she could. Finn and Eden had just reached the chapel when she heard a voice cry out, “There they are!”
“Just keep going!” Felix said from behind them as they dodged the replica Lia Fáil and hurtled toward the chapel door. She heard a loud crack and a yell, and then they ran through the shimmering air of the sidh, tumbling onto the floor of Cedar’s apartment in Halifax. Finn slammed the sidh shut the second Felix was through. There was a thump as something hard fell to the floor. A severed arm draped in a long black sleeve lay bleeding on the carpet in front of them. It had clearly been amputated by the closing of the sidh. Cedar stared at it, horrified.
“Oh… gross…,” Jane said from beside her, scooting away.
“Good timing,” Felix said to Finn as Eden inched toward the arm, her eyes wide.
“Don’t even think about touching that,” Cedar told her, getting to her feet. She led her daughter away from the gruesome sight, shuddering as she thought about what the arm’s owner must be going through back in Scone. “Why don’t I make you some hot chocolate?”
“Mum, who were those guys? Why were they chasing us?” Eden asked as she sat down at the table and watched Cedar bustle around the kitchen.
“They’re called druids,” Cedar told her. She never knew exactly how much to tell Eden, but it was probably better for her to know what they were up against. “I think they are looking for the Lia Fáil as well.” It didn’t seem necessary to say that the druids could have been looking for them.
“Gran was a druid,” Eden said.
“She was,” Cedar agreed. “And so is Liam, the man who was here yesterday. But there are good druids and bad ones. So we just have to keep our eyes open and try to stay away from the bad ones, okay?” She placed a mug of hot chocolate in front of Eden and tossed in a handful of mini-marshmallows.
“Got it. Stay away from bad druids,” Eden said as she slurped down a marshmallow. Cedar smiled. The innocence of childhood must be making it easier for her to accept all of the astonishing experiences they’d had over the past few weeks. She seemed to be taking it all in stride. She was born to be a fairy princess, Cedar thought.
They wrapped the arm in several black garbage bags and tossed it through a sidh Eden made to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. A couple of hours later, after a gourmet meal of frozen pizza and potato chips, they decided it was time for their heist to begin. Cedar’s stomach twisted with nerves as they all gathered in her bedroom. She wished she was the one going instead of Finn, but he was the only one who could alter his appearance on a moment’s notice. Besides, she would never be able to lift the stone, even if she could break through the glass case.
Finn snapped his fingers and hurried out of the room, reemerging a few moments later with a black bed sheet. “Something to hide under until I transform,” he said. “Assuming you don’t have a balaclava.”
She shook her head. “What are you going to transform into?” she asked. “A bear?” She was trying to imagine what animal could be strong enough to break through the glass—and possibly steel—that held the stone.
“Mmm, something like that,” he answered noncommittally.
Felix checked the time. “All right,” he said. “It’s the middle of the night in Edinburgh. Off you go, Finn. We’ll be watching from this side.”
Finn leaned down and kissed Cedar. “Good luck,” she whispered, then gently nudged Eden. “It’s time, honey.” Eden nodded and walked over to the door. “Remember, the Crown Room, where the stone was,” Cedar said.
“I know,” Eden said, and opened the door.
Finn threw the black sheet over his body and stepped through the sidh. They all crowded around the doorway to watch him. The room was completely dark and Cedar could barely see anything. All she could make out was the rippling of the sheet as Finn’s body started to twitch and grow. Then she saw something huge obscuring the doorway. The faint, shimmering light of the sidh reflected off what appeared to be… scales. Then a large, horned head appeared through the doorway and a golden eye as big as her fist winked back at them.
“Did he…?” she said, taking a step back in surprise. “Did he just turn into a…?”
Felix was laughing. “A dragon! I haven’t seen one of those in centuries! Well, it will do the trick, no doubt.”
Cedar wished she could hear what was happening on the other side, but sound never traveled through the sidhe. She wondered if alarms were going off and wished that Finn would hurry. The glass case had been covered with steel blinds, and Finn was slashing them to ribbons with hi
s claws. For a moment, the sidh was concealed by blackness and she couldn’t see him at all anymore, but then a blast of dragon-fire enrobed the case, illuminating the throne room.
“Cedar, fire!” she heard Jane yell.
“I know!” she said, unable to take her eyes off the sidh.
“Not there—here!” Jane said, grabbing her arm and shaking it. Cedar looked around. In an instant the room had filled with fire and smoke. Cedar glanced back through the sidh—had Finn’s fire gotten out of control? But there were no flames around the door; this was something different. Cedar grabbed Eden and ran to the window, but a blast of flames burst out in front of them. In an utter panic, Eden broke away from her and ran for the sidh. Cedar grabbed her before she could bolt headlong into Finn’s dragon fire, which was still lighting up the Crown Room. Eden screamed as the door to the sidh slammed shut and immediately burst into flames. The smoke and heat in the room were so intense that Cedar knew they wouldn’t be able to bear it much longer. She put her lips close to Eden’s ear and yelled, “We need to get out! Use the bathroom door! Get us out of here!”
She guided Eden, who was coughing and choking, through the smoke and toward the en suite door, which was still untouched by the flames. Eden flung it open and Cedar pulled her through, hoping that Felix and Jane would follow.
Cedar was splayed on the ground, coughing and sucking in fresh air. She reached for Eden. Her face was covered in soot and her hair singed, but she looked unharmed.
“Are you okay? Can you breathe?” Cedar asked, her voice hoarse. Eden nodded. Cedar propped herself up and looked around to see where Eden’s sidh had taken them. It was dark, but she could make out tall stone towers all around them, and she could feel—and see—the cobblestones beneath them. They were back in the square courtyard of Edinburgh Castle. And they were not alone.
