by Jen McConnel
Lou heard a noise coming from the direction of town. She froze, knowing that she would not be seen in a dream, yet she was unaccountably afraid of whatever was coming her way.
The sounds grew more distinct, and Lou saw the source of the noise. A mass of people surged up the road, headed in her direction. They carried lit torches and shouted and jostled each other. Toward the center of the group, the men and women were carrying something. It wasn’t until they dropped part of their burden that Lou could make out the shape of human bones.
The bones were charred, as if they had sat for hours in the fire. She thought she knew who they belonged to, and her suspicions were confirmed when a man called out “The witch’s soul is back with her master!” His words were answered with a cheer, and Lou watched, nauseous, as some of the boys in the group each picked up a bone and began to batter each other as if they were playing with wooden swords. A dog ran by their game and scooped a bony hand into its mouth.
The skull slipped to the ground, and instead of bending to retrieve it, the woman who carried it began to kick it in front of her. Lou wanted to cover her eyes, to scream, to cry at them to stop, but she was frozen in the dream, unable to look away, unable to stop listening.
The mob passed without noticing her, but one of the mangy dogs trotting along at the edge of the crowd stopped directly in front of her and howled once, low and menacing, before continuing along its way. Still unable to move her body, Lou stared as the crowd flowed around her. They stopped some hundred yards away, and Lou watched the flurry of shovels, digging into the earth. Squinting in the dark, Lou was just able to make out a thin dirt path, crossing the main road from St. Andrews, at the spot where the mob had stopped. “The crossroads!” With that frenzied thought, she was sent spinning out of the dream, pulled into absolute darkness.
She shot up in bed, wild eyed, and looked across the room at Tammy, also wide awake and staring.
Tammy began to stutter, her face white with terror. “God, what an awful nightmare. Awful! There were people, and bones, so many bones!” She shut her eyes and shuddered. “It was so awful.”
Lou crossed the room to her best friend. “I know. I think I dreamed the same thing. Did you see where they buried the bones?”
Tammy shook her head, frantically. “No, I didn’t see them bury anything. I just saw them!” She choked, gagging. Lou squeezed her shoulders, trying to reassure her.
“I saw them. I saw them too,” she murmured, soothingly. Gradually, Tammy started to calm down, and Lou leaned close to her face to whisper, “But I saw more. I know where they buried Isobel’s remains!”
Tammy looked at her friend with suspicion. “You think we saw something real? Lou, it was just a nightmare.”
Lou shook her head. “Tammy, I’ve had dreams like this before since we’ve been here. It’s a sending from the past!” Lou was getting excited as she spoke and didn’t notice Tammy’s disgusted expression. “Isobel is helping us, or someone is! We’re meant to find her grave, and this dream will show us where she’s buried.”
Tammy pushed Lou’s arm off her shoulders, and shook her head fiercely. “Lou, honestly, all this witch talk is getting into your head.” She crossed her arms stubbornly. “This isn’t reality! Reality is what you see when you’re awake, it’s what you can prove with facts and experts and eyewitnesses! It isn’t a ghost telling you something in your sleep. People get committed for believing that kind of crap.”
Lou forced herself to speak quietly, glancing at their sleeping roommates before she began. “Tammy, I know you think I’m crazy. But did you ever think, just for a moment, that there’s more than one kind of reality?” Tammy looked away, but Lou pressed on. “Not a separate reality, not something you have to choose between, but what if there is a hidden reality? A reality made up of tiny threads of energy, connecting people and places in ways that don’t always make sense? That kind of reality that sends dreams to people to help guide them when they’re desperate for information, or the same kind of reality that lets the spirits of the dead pass on love and help, even unseen, to their descendants.”
Tammy snorted and muttered “New Age idiots.”
Lou flexed her fingers in an effort to contain her anger. “Tammy, it isn’t just Pagans who believe in things like this! Look at Christians! Even my mother believes in miracles! And the Muslims believe in angels. How is this any different? I may call it magic, and you may call it a prayer or miracles or angels, but we’re all saying the same thing!”
Desperate, Lou reached for Tammy’s hand. Tammy didn’t jerk away, but she didn’t look up, either. “I know you don’t believe what I believe, Tammy. But that shouldn’t mean that what you believe is automatically right, and what I believe is wrong. There’s room for a lot of different ideas in this world.” She squeezed her friend’s hand, but Tammy didn’t respond. Lou let go and sighed.
“I’m not asking you to believe me, Tammy. I’m just asking for your respect. As your best friend, as someone you’ve grown up with, please respect my beliefs.”
Tammy spoke quietly. “Of course I respect you. You’re insanely smart; how could I not respect someone who finished school in three years?”
Lou sighed. “I believe in this.”
Finally, Tammy nodded. “I’ll try not to criticize you, but don’t expect me to go along with any mumbo-jumbo.” Lou leaned forward and hugged Tammy, and she squeezed her in return. Tammy looked at the clock and leaped up, relieved to break the seriousness of the moment.
“It’s past seven! We have to get ready fast if you don’t want lover boy to be waiting too long!” With that, she grabbed her towel and fled the room, leaving Lou behind in the dark.
Sighing, Lou flopped back down on her bed. It was so hard for her to make Tammy listen when even Lou wasn’t one hundred percent convinced about what she was saying. But ever since they’d come to Scotland, Lou felt like her mind was opening up and shifting. The dreams she’d been having seemed to matter, and this most recent dream was obviously about the long dead Isobel Key. Lou wondered if she’d ever be able to put her feelings and beliefs into words that would make sense to her best friend, or, gods forbid, her family. Lou crossed her fingers and made one desperate wish.
Chapter Thirty-two
When Tammy and Lou got down to the lobby, Maggie met them with a smile.
“Your gentleman friend is in the next room.”
Lou thanked her and headed through the side door. She found Brian staring at a group of framed images on the wall, but his head was blocking them from her view. Lou wanted to slip her arms around him, but she felt her old shyness returning, so she just tapped his shoulder.
“Sorry if you’ve been waiting long.” Lou murmured. Brian smiled down at her, his wide lips parted slightly. Lou felt her heart began to race when Brian dipped his head toward her face. He hovered in the air for a moment, and then he kissed her deeply. Forgetting her nightmare and the lingering tension with Tammy, Lou gave herself up to the sensation of Brian’s tongue exploring her mouth. When he finally pulled back, they were both smiling, and Lou was a little breathless.
“I wasn’t waiting long, don’t worry. Are you girls ready to go?”
~
At breakfast, Tammy handed over the copy of the doctor’s letter to Brian.
When Brian had finished reading, he looked up at Tammy across the table, and then turned to gaze at Lou beside him. “This is huge!” he exclaimed. “This letter proves that your ancestress was no witch!” In his excitement, he knocked over the carafe of orange juice, and Tammy scrambled out of the way of the golden liquid.
“Don’t you see?” Brian continued, oblivious of the mess. “Even this one letter will cast doubt over all the cases!” Lou nodded uncertainly, and he went on. “You have to publish it.” He sat back, his cheeks red excitement. “What a discovery!”
Lou looked at Tammy across the table, uncertain of how to proceed. Tammy shrugged and mopped up the spilled juice with her napkin. Drawing a deep breath, Lo
u made her decision.
“It doesn’t seem right to call attention to this letter. The doctor was so ashamed of his actions, and he’s dead and gone now, so what is the point in stirring up scandal?” Brian’s mouth hung open as Lou talked, but she pushed on. “You may be right, this could be exactly the thing to cause people to take a second look at the different accusations of witchcraft, but so what? People have already been doing that for the last century. No one believes the victims were witches anymore; what good would this letter do? Enough slander and harm have already been done because of the actions of one doctor.”
Brian tried to interrupt, but Tammy stopped him. “Lou is right, Brian. What if the doctor has descendants? What would that do to them, to learn that their ancestor is not only a murderer, but that he knowingly gave false testimony?” She sighed. “I agree with you, Brian. This is a big find, and could change the history of not just Isobel Key, but other victims as well, but the choice lies with Lou.”
Brian looked disappointed, but he nodded once. He turned impatiently to Lou. “What will you do?”
She paused, gathering her words. She wasn’t sure what they’d say, but she knew what she wanted. “I want to give the letter to the professor, Professor MacDonald, and leave the matter in his hands. I know he’ll make the right choice about how to use it in the future.”
Brian and Tammy exchanged an uncertain look, but they nodded, tightly, and Lou continued. “But first, before I take the letter to the professor, I want to go to Isobel’s grave. I want to give her a proper funeral.” When she saw the looks of revulsion on her listeners’ faces, Lou rushed on. “We won’t try to dig her up: that would be messy, and someone would probably stop us before we’d dug even a foot. We can, however, lay her to rest with ceremony.” Lou took a deep breath before continuing. “The Christian church condemned her, and, well, I’m not exactly a practicing Christian.” Lou paused to gauge their reactions to this. Tammy closed her eyes and shook her head in denial, but Brian kept his gaze steadily on Lou. She couldn’t read his expression.
Nervously, Lou continued. “I don’t know the rites of the church, but I know things that I can say for myself, and things that I want to do for Isobel. Neither of you have to come with me if you aren’t comfortable with that, but if you do come, I’d appreciate it if you would think of your own prayer or blessing to add to the ritual.”
Tammy sat silently, looking at the table. Brian nodded slowly and said, “I’d like to help.”
Lou squeezed his hand in gratitude, and then turned to her friend.
Tammy fiddled with her napkin, neatly tearing the paper into thin little strips, but she couldn’t find distraction forever. When the napkin was in shreds before her, she looked up and sighed.
“I’ll respect it, Lou, but that’s it. If I come, you’ll have to respect that I don’t want to be involved in any hocus pocus!” Lou nodded at her silently, and Tammy considered. “You said you’d like us to speak, and we can choose what to say?”
“Of course. I just want to send her off with some kind of remembrance.”
Tammy thought for a moment before she said, “If I respect whatever it is you plan to do, will you respect it if I say the Lord’s Prayer?”
Lou was so happy she could barely speak. Tammy reached her hand across the table, and Lou grasped it and squeezed tightly.
“Thank you,” she whispered. Tammy nodded, still clasping her best friend’s hand.
Brian broke the emotional silence that had descended upon the table. “I think it’s a great idea to have a funeral for Isobel, Louisa, but how exactly did you plan to find the spot?”
Tammy snorted, and Lou glared at her. “I had a dream,” Lou began, never taking her eyes off her best friend, and when Tammy dropped her eyes, Lou continued. “I had a dream last night, and I think I saw where she was buried.” Lou waited for Brian to declare that she was insane, but he didn’t. He just looked at her for a long time before he shrugged.
“My mother claims she knows things before they happen; she says that her dreams tell her.” Tammy looked at him, her eyes big, and Lou stared at Brian in relief. “Who’s to say that you can’t see in dreams the same way she can?” Brian kissed Lou on the forehead, and she felt herself melting into his warm embrace. She snuggled closer to him in the vinyl booth and sighed.
Tammy coughed loudly. “Okay, get a room. We’re eating breakfast, for God’s sake!”
Lou and Brian broke apart and laughed, but he kept a hand firmly upon her thigh under the table while they finished their coffee. His thumb was tracing gentle circles on her leg, and Lou shivered with delight. She had to sip her coffee slowly and carefully; Brian’s touch left her so distracted that she was amazed she didn’t spill it all over herself. When they were finally through with breakfast, Lou stood up.
“I have a few things I need to get before we can do this, and I think it would be better if we go out to Isobel’s grave this evening.” She glanced at them both. “You’re welcome to come with me, either of you, if you want.” Tammy shook her head silently, but Brian stood up.
“I’ll come. It will give us some time to--talk.” The pause in his phrase was noticeable, and Tammy snorted into her hands. Lou glared at her, and Tammy stood up, an innocent expression plastered on her face.
“We have to head back to Edinburgh tomorrow, so I think I’ll just take it easy today. There are a few souvenirs I wanted to pick up for people back in Boston. Maybe I can get that all done with while you guys are off doing whatever it is you are planning to do.”
Lou tried to tease her. ”Don’t spend too much!”
Tammy stuck out her tongue. “Whatever you say, Mom.”
Brian stepped in, cutting off their good-natured banter. “We’ll meet back at the hostel tonight, then?”
Tammy nodded, but then shook her finger playfully at them. “Just don’t be late this time! I’m not about to do some weird ritual by myself.”
Chapter Thirty-three
The bells over the door chimed merrily as Lou and Brian entered the shop. At first, Lou couldn’t see anyone in the store, but as she came passed the counter, she saw a figure on the floor, facing one of the walls. Uncertainly, Lou approached, and saw the women who had read the cards for her was kneeling, stocking a shelf with incense from a large cardboard box. Lou stood beside her and cleared her throat, hoping not to startle the woman.
She looked up at Lou with her kind, open face, and smiled warmly. “Ah, it’s you! I thought you might be back. Are your questions finding answers?”
Lou smiled back at her. “Yes, they are. I wanted to thank you again for the crystal.”
The woman placed one of her hands on Lou’s wrist, and pulled herself up from the floor. “Did you scry, then?” Lou nodded, and the woman asked, “Did you make sense of what it was you saw?”
Lou started to shake her head, and then paused. While scrying had shown her images she soon forgotten, it was the same night that she had her first gruesome dream, the dream that she was now certain that she had seen Isobel Key in the flesh. Lou changed her movement and nodded her head once. “I had dreams, and I think I saw more that way, but the dreams didn’t come until after I scried.”
The woman nodded quietly. “That is often the way of it. Some folks take to scrying, others read the cards, still others cast the runes, and then there are those who can dream the help they need.” She appraised Lou for a moment, and then she seemed to become aware of Brian, standing awkwardly near the counter, looking at different jewelry pieces and trying not to intrude on the conversation of the women. “I see that you haven’t come alone today. Would either of you care for some tea?”
Lou looked at Brian, and he nodded. “I wouldn’t mind something warm.”
The woman bustled about for a bit, turning on the electric kettle and bringing cups out of the back room. For a bit there was only quiet companionship between the three as they sipped their hot tea, a rich herbal blend that Lou couldn’t quite place. Brian seemed to be strugg
ling to identify flavors, as well.
“I can taste the mint, but what else is in this tea? It’s delicious.” The woman accepted his compliment graciously, and began to list different ingredients that had gone into her tea.
“The mint that you’re tasting is peppermint, good for any digestion or stomach problems. Then there are rose petals, to calm the mind and heart, and a pinch of dried orange peel, to promote health.” She smiled over her cup, and Lou felt a niggling memory stirring, from one of the many books on witchcraft she had read; she was sure that she recognized the ingredients as being magical as well as practical, but she couldn’t quite remember the spell they added. Something pleasant, she was sure; the tea tasted so good that she almost wanted to lick the cup dry.
After she had drained her cup, the woman gently set her own down and turned to Lou. “Would you be seeking more answers, child?” Lou nodded, and although she had only planned to visit the shop to purchase candles and incense, she was suddenly filled with the urge to have the woman lay out the cards for her, to offer some direction for her feet to follow.
Brian turned away from the tea on the counter, and wandered over to the wall of books. He called over his shoulder, “Take your time! There’s a lot for me to look at out here.”
Lou smiled, and saw the woman smiling, also. “There’s a good man if I ever saw one” Lou heard her murmur, and she nodded in agreement, studying Brian. He was a good man, and the fact that he seemed interested in her continued to surprise her. Without a word, she followed the woman to the back of the shop to have her cards read one more time.
~
