Ghost Clan

by Heather Walker

  “How did you manage to spend so much time there?” Carmen asked. “Didn’t your parents notice you were gone so much?”

  “Oh, they never noticed anything. My father worked eighty hours a week to support the family and keep my brother and my sisters and me alive, and my mother was passed out drunk most of the time. Nobody noticed if I disappeared for a few days. Only once when my younger sister saw me getting ready to cast the spell, she broke down crying and begged me to take her with me.”

  “And did you?”

  “Of course I did, and she had such a wonderful time there, she didn’t want to come back.”

  “That must have been hard. I can understand why she would want to stay. You must have made a pretty good case to convince her to come back.”

  “I didn’t bring her back. I left her there.”

  Carmen’s head shot up. “You what?”

  “She’s still over there. I haven’t seen her since.”

  “You left her there?” Carmen cried. “How could you do that?”

  “It was easy. I didn’t want to come back myself, but for some reason, I always did.”

  “How old was she? Who took care of her after that?”

  “She was ten years old, and a nice farm wife took her in. She needed an older girl to help take care of her babies, and she offered my sister a place. You never saw a girl so happy as the day I left her behind. I cried, but she couldn’t have been more delighted.”

  Carmen shook her head. “She must be under the curse, too.”

  “If you lift the curse, you should find her,” Lucy told her. “You can tell her I send my regards, and I still think of her fondly.”

  “I’ll do my best. What’s her name?”

  Lucy thought it over. “My parents gave her the name Alice, but the farmer’s wife gave her the name Gahkra. It means something in their dialect. I’m not sure what.”

  Carmen picked her jaw up off the floor. “Gahkra is your sister?”

  Lucy nodded. “Now come on. Let’s get this over with. Did you sign the paper giving me possession of the house?”

  Carmen shook herself awake. “Yes, I did, and I sent a letter to my lawyer about it, too. I’m sure there will be some legal issues not having the papers notarized before I leave, but since there’s no one to contest your rights, I don’t see what problem you could have. Just stay here and don’t make too big a splash in the neighborhood and you’ll be fine.”

  Lucy moved her sage smudge stick and the china bowl of lavender water into position. “Sit over there.”

  Carmen crossed her legs and held out her hands.

  “We don’t have to hold hands,” Lucy told her. “Just repeat the words over and over, as loud as you can, and try to concentrate on going back there. Don’t think about anything else.”

  Carmen closed her eyes and conjured up that image etched into her mind of the view from the enchanted castle over the rolling Scottish landscape. Clouds raced across the sky, and the stone keeps towered all around her. The wind whipped among the flags overhead.

  Lucy started chanting the magic words, and Carmen joined in.

  “Mnistoh, mnylnin, ini dheflo llyatta lladdepas sefrimi viaphreen urlu…”

  Their voices joined in chorus. Carmen called the words louder. She called on Urlu to take her back, to take her to that castle and to Angus and Hazel. She never wanted anything so much in her life. She prayed those words with all her heart and soul.

  The first explosion startled her, even when she expected it. She lost the chant for a moment, but Lucy’s voice caught her and brought her back to the rhythm. She lifted her voice higher. It was happening.

  The smudge stick caught on fire, and the candles snuffed out. The water cascaded out of the bowl, and that acrid stench burned her nostrils. She rocked back in her seat, and her head swam.

  The next thing she knew, a blinding light stabbed her eyes. Her hand flew to her face to shield her eyes, but her vision adjusted before it got there. She found herself staring into the startled eyes of Callum Cameron.

  Bright sunlight streaming through the window outlined Angus’s towering form. He brandished his saber over his shoulder in the act of slashing it down at Hazel kneeling on the floor.

  Callum jumped back three feet, and Jamie whipped around to stare at her. Everyone stared at her in shock—everyone but Hazel. Hazel bent over her folded knees. Muffled sobs came out of her. She didn’t even see Carmen appear in the room.

  Angus stood stunned with his sword upraised. “Carmen!”

  Carmen burst into action. She darted forward under that menacing blade. “What are you doing? Hazel, are you all right?”

  Carmen dropped on her knees next to her friend and put her arms around Hazel’s shoulders. She hugged her close to comfort her and called back over her shoulder to Angus. “What in the world is going on here?”

  Ever so slowly, Angus lowered his sword. “She’s the witch. We had tae do awa’ wi’ ‘er.”

  “Do away with her!” Carmen cried. “Didn’t she tell you it was all a mistake? The spell she cast to send us here put the land under a curse. Don’t tell me you really intended to kill her. It’s all right, Hazel. I’m here. Nothing’s going to happen to you now.”

  Angus glared down at her. He didn’t seem all that happy to see her. Did Carmen make a terrible mistake coming back here a second time? The man she loved couldn’t really be planning to chop Hazel’s head off—and for what?

  Hazel didn’t respond to all Carmen’s coaxing. She sobbed and stared straight in front of her. Carmen followed her gaze and saw a stack of sooty papers on the floor. “What did you do?”

  No one answered. The five men stood stunned and listened to her consoling Hazel.

  When Hazel still didn’t answer, Carmen got to her feet and confronted Angus. “What’s going on here? You were about to kill her. Didn’t you believe her when she told you she didn’t do any of this?”

  He shrugged. “We tried tae bring ye back. It didnae work.”

  “I guess it didn’t.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Was it really so important to you to get me back?”

  He looked away. “Anyway, ye’re ‘ere now.”

  “Yeah. I guess I am.” She surveyed the other four men. Ewan didn’t look so good. The others wouldn’t meet her gaze. “I guess I better take care of her. We can talk about this later.”

  She knelt down and put her arms around Hazel. “Come on, Hazel. I’m going to take you to another room and clean you up. Can you stand?”

  Hazel still choked back sobs, but she suffered Carmen to get her on her feet and lead her out of the room. Carmen steered her down the hall to one of the empty bedrooms. She sat Hazel on the bed and wet a towel at the wash stand against the wall.

  She dabbed the cold cloth against Hazel’s face. Carmen did her best to straighten Hazel’s hair, but it was snarled so badly, she couldn’t do much. She would have to brush it out and maybe braid it so it didn’t get into such a mess.

  Hazel blinked back tears. The cool wetness revived her, and she raised her bleary eyes to Carmen’s face. “You’re back.”

  Carmen did her best to smile. “I guess you’ve had a bad time while I was gone.”

  Hazel twisted her skirt into knots. “You don’t know what it’s been like. Angus has been a monster. He threatened to kill me if I didn’t bring you back. He says I caused all this, that I killed all those people and ruined his life. He blames me for all of this, even though I told him I didn’t do anything. Even his brothers are afraid to stand up to him.”

  “Really? He never acted like that before.”

  “He’s been out of his mind since you disappeared, Carmen. He’s like a wild animal. I…I don’t think I can face him again.”

  “You don’t have to face him,” Carmen told her. “You stay in here. I’ll talk to him. Maybe he’ll settle down, now that I’m back.”

  “And if he doesn’t?”

  “If he doesn’t, then we’ll leave. We’ll go back to ou
r own time, and these brothers can work it out for themselves.”

  Hazel’s lip quivered. “Really?”

  “Really.”

  Hazel grabbed Carmen’s hand. “Oh, Carmen! I thought I would never see you again. I thought I would have to spend the rest of my life in that dungeon, and then I thought he would kill me for sure. You should have seen him. I was never more scared in my life.”

  Carmen pursed her lips. She couldn’t listen to this. She caught a glimpse of the desperate madness on Angus’s face when she appeared in the room. He was getting ready to kill Hazel.

  Carmen dragged her senses back to her friend. “Are you hungry, Hazel? You look like you haven’t had a decent meal in a while.”

  Hazel wrenched her skirt between her fingers and didn’t answer. If Angus planned to slaughter her, he and his brothers probably didn’t bother to feed her.

  “I’ll bring you something from the kitchen. Stay here and keep the door closed. I’ll make sure none of them comes near you.”

  Hazel’s chin fell on her chest. She did her best to hold back another flood of tears. Carmen hurried away so she wouldn’t see Hazel break down again. She let herself out of the room.

  Chapter 28

  Angus stared at the door where Carmen left with Hazel. His saber still hung useless in his hand. Had he really been about to chop that innocent girl’s head off?

  He read the whole thing in Carmen’s startled eyes. She couldn’t believe he would be capable of such a cruel and despicable act. He watched the whole scene from somewhere far away, but he was powerless to stop himself, even when he knew it was wrong.

  His brothers looked back and forth from him to each other. One by one, they drifted out of the room until only Ewan remained behind. Ewan finished opening the curtains and gathered up all the evidence of their misguided attempt to reproduce the spell—all except Angus’s sword. That remained behind to accuse Angus of his actions.

  Ewan let himself out of the room. His heavy tread faded down the passage, but Angus couldn’t get himself to move. His fingers shook until the saber fell out of his hand. It banged against the floor and startled him out of his trance.

  Carmen was back, but not the way he imagined. She didn’t rush into his arms and cover his face and neck with kisses. She didn’t give him that brilliant smile of hers and squeeze his hand in knowing suggestion. She didn’t throw her arms and legs around him in the passionate excitement of seeing him again.

  Instead, she saw him at his worst. She saw him blood-thirsty and demonic. She would make up her mind to abandon him. She would return to her own time, and he could forget about ever getting her back.

  In a hypnotic trance, he turned away toward the window. He let his eyes rest on that gentle country out there. When he cast a glance over his shoulder at the room, he could hardly bring himself to believe everything that happened there in the last hour.

  He didn’t think to retrieve his saber when he stumbled out of the room. He hesitated in the hall to look both ways. He couldn’t get his mind to function. He caught sight of Ewan moving between the kitchen and the garden. For lack of anything better to do, he headed that way.

  Ewan actually smiled at him on his way back outside. The big Highlander moved off toward the stables and left Angus alone. The kitchen oozed its homey atmosphere into his blood. It invited him to relax and join the easy world of domestic chores and simple pleasures. Whoever kept this kitchen going didn’t care if Angus Cameron was the next King to sit on the Phoenix Throne, whatever that meant.

  He looked around at all the pots and pans. How much more he preferred this simple, prosaic life to any lofty ambitions of Thrones and Kings and curses. He would gladly give it all up to sit by a peaceful fire telling stories with his brothers the way they used to do back home.

  A rapid step clipped down the hall and Carmen entered the kitchen. She gave Angus a sharp glare before she crossed to the fire and ladled a portion of soup into a bowl. “You really did a number on Hazel while I was gone. You haven’t fed her. She’s falling over from anxiety and hunger. I’m surprised at you.”

  “Ye dinnae ken what it’s been lik’ wi’ her these last few days.”

  “That’s funny. She says the same thing about you. You scared her out of her wits threatening to kill her like that.”

  “It were no threat. I woulda killed her a dozen times if ye hadnae showed up when ye did.”

  Carmen’s head snapped around to narrow her eyes at him. “Why didn’t you believe her? Couldn’t you see she wouldn’t hurt of fly?”

  “I ken see now she’s got no magic tae speak of. She couldnae e’en bring ye back when it was ‘er that brought ye ‘ere in the first place, and I ken see ye care a heap more fer ‘er than ye do fer me.”

  Carmen slammed the bowl down on the table so hard it slopped over her hand. “Is that what you think? You think I came back here for her? What do you think I am? I’ve been going out of my mind these last few weeks trying to find a way to get back here so I could be with you.”

  Angus frowned. “Weeks? It’s been two days.”

  Carmen snatched up the bowl and whirled away. “Well, I can see I made a mistake. You just want someone to mistreat, and you found a vulnerable victim in Hazel. I should have known you didn’t really care about getting me back.”

  The old anger revived. He slammed his fist down on the table hard enough to make her jump around to face him. “Ye radge! Do ye ken what it’s done tae me tae ha’e ye yanked awa’ o’ me lik’ that? What did ye think would happen when ye stepped in front o’ the ruby when I was just about tae destroy the witch once and for all? I thought I killed ye, too. Isn’t it bad enough I’ve had to watch every mon that stood wi’ me die before me eyes, and Rob….” His voice broke.

  He couldn’t hold back his feelings a second longer. He stormed away so she wouldn’t see him break down. He couldn’t tell her what happened to him when the shot he intended for the witch hit her instead and transported her out of his life—probably for good.

  He stopped in front of the portico and clamped his eyes shut. He willed himself not to break down, and he thanked Heaven Ewan was nowhere around to see him. He shook all over in his struggle to get himself under control.

  A soft hand touched his back, and her voice caressed his tattered soul. “I didn’t know…”

  He didn’t recognize his own voice. It squeaked out of him, and it took all his strength to keep it under control. “I thought I lost ye, lass. If the witch…If she couldnae bring ye back, I thought ye mun’ be dead, and I couldnae live wi’ that.”

  She rested her forehead against his back, and her hands slipped around his waist. She whispered into his shirt. “I didn’t know. I didn’t know how to get back to you. I’ve spent all this time searching for a way to get through. I thought the curse would lift when I went back through, that you would be King and everything would be okay. Then I found out it hadn’t lifted at all, that I somehow got sent back alone and the other four were still over here somewhere. I thought I’d die if I didn’t get back to you somehow.”

  He couldn’t lower his guard now. He lowered it once for her, and it almost killed him to lose her. If he lowered it again, he would collapse. He pressed her hands against his stomach. That’s as far as he could let himself soften to her.

  She breathed into his skin through his shirt. He couldn’t do this—not here. He had to hold it together before he went insane. He patted her hand. “Ye best go tae see tae yer friend.”

  She froze. Then she gave him a quick squeeze. “Okay. I’ll see you later.” And she was gone.

  After she left, Angus started walking. He didn’t care where he went, but the madness no longer forced him to flee from everything. He walked far out into the fields between the river and the mountain over which his party trekked to get here.

  Where the waving grass met the steep hillside, he sank onto the ground. The grass grew almost as high as his head, and it hid him from prying eyes. He let his senses drift on the rustlin
g wind. The grass waved all around him. He peered down among the roots where the worms and bugs should have crawled around in own their little kingdom.

  The spell was over. He sensed that in his deepest being now. They had the witch under control, and Carmen was back. The curse would lift. He still didn’t know how, but it would happen. Now that he had Carmen, they would find a way. They broke the power holding them down. He found the thistle, and he would become King.

  The castle’s towers shone in the sun above the grass around his face. Its pinnacles and keeps glowed pale egg-shell grey against the sky. When did it change color? Maybe it never did. Maybe he saw it as black before because he wanted to see it that color. Carmen saw it as white, and they were both correct.

  No wraiths would come after them again. They would learn this castle’s secrets, even if it took years. He no longer cared how long it took. He would live here with Carmen forever. He didn’t care if he never saw another living face as long as he had her.

  There in the grass, he hugged his knees to his chest and buried his face in his arms. He was a young boy back in his father’s lands. He never tasted steel or the icy terror of the wraiths. All the horror and agony of these last few months washed away and left him clean and new.

  He ached for Carmen right now. He ached for all the love he never let himself feel for her. He ached to let her see who and what he really was, not this slathering demon scaring everyone to death.

  He stayed out in the fields until long after dark. Lights winked on in the castle, even in the parts where his brothers never went. They would eat in the kitchen and then retire to their own rooms. Carmen would be busy with Hazel for a while. She didn’t want him interfering.

  The stars came out and the moon rose over the land. It cast its silver glow over the fields and lit up the castle, but the scene didn’t fill him with foreboding and loathsome hate the way it did when he first set eyes on the place.