McCann's Manor

by Charlotte Holley

  "No, I don't think he was. At first that was exactly what I thought he was talking about, but as soon as I could think clearly, I called for you. Good thing you gave me this garnet,” she said, picked the stone up and turned it in her hand.

  He looked at the stone, then at her, smiled finally. “Are you all right, then?"

  Liz sighed heavily, hung her head. “I-I'm a little shaken. I guess that's all."

  "Come here, little one,” Ben said as he put his arm around her. “You look as though you need a wee bit of comforting."

  Liz burst into tears as she felt the warmth of his arms around her. She suddenly felt very alone and lonely. She thought she needed a great deal more than a wee bit of comforting.

  "There, there ... Surely it isn't that bad, lass,” he soothed.

  "Well, it isn't good, is it? I mean, John just left with his daughter for two weeks in Florida; Moira and her bunch are going to start attacking me in my sleep when my defenses are at their lowest, and now I feel like I need someone to hold me more than I have for years. What more could be wrong?"

  "I am here with you. I am holding you. I will stay with you as long as you need me,” he said as he cupped her chin in his big hand.

  "But you are—"

  "I am a ghost. Is that what you were going to say?"

  Liz looked at the ceiling. She had never dealt with ghosts who seemed so alive. Benjamin was warm, kind, loving. “Who was that, Ben? I mean, surely it wasn't Moira trying to seduce me."

  "Not that she wouldn't be capable of the disguise, but it was most likely Sean under her direction,” Ben said.

  "Oh, Ben I don't understand this composite spirit thing at all! Kim and I have been talking about trying to go back in time and undo whatever it was that caused Moira to be the way she was, but would that be enough?” Liz asked.

  "You would go back in time to try to undo what has been done? Very risky business that. You should think the alternatives over quite well before attempting it,” he cautioned.

  Liz studied his face a moment. “You have a better suggestion?"

  "I wish I did, lass, but I confess I have no better ideas on the subject."

  "Will you go with us?"

  He frowned, sighed. “Aye, if it is your wish, I will go with you. I would like to see what you are planning to do, lass."

  "Wish I knew what we're planning, Ben. I'm making this up as I go, I'm afraid. You may be agreeing to go watch us fail totally,” she said grimly.

  "You and Kim are the last and only hope any of us has, lass. You will know what to do when the time comes."

  Liz studied Ben's assured expression. She could easily lose herself in that face, in those arms, she thought—not that it would do her any good. Ben was from the past. There was no future for the two of them. Besides, even if there was a future for them, he loved Constance—and she had just declared her love for John, hadn't she? Then why did she feel so drawn to Ben? Just stupid, she supposed.

  "You look so troubled, lass. Do you wish you had never come here?” Ben asked, cupping her face, so near his.

  Liz blinked back tears, shook her head slightly. “No, I don't wish I had never come here. I just wish I wasn't so confused about everything,” she said.

  "Everything, lass?” he asked, his clear eyes searching hers.

  "How can you do that?” she asked.

  "Do what?"

  "Well, everything—hold me, look at me that way—make me feel this way. When you touch me, it feels like you're—” she paused, considered the gravity of what she was thinking.

  "Alive? It feels like I am a flesh and blood man, sitting here with you? Is that it, lass?"

  It did feel like he was alive and physically there with her. But then again, it had also felt like she was with a living, physical man just moments before when she was being accosted by the John impostor. “Well, yes! Is it all a magic trick? I mean, Moira/Sean just did the same thing to me, making me feel like John was really here, and now, you seem so real to me."

  "Well, lass, I am real, you know. You needed me and I came to you."

  "Yes, but how can you seem so physically alive?"

  He smiled warmly at her, ran his fingers through her hair. “Consider this, lass. A portal through time can take one into the future as well as the past, can it not?"

  "I suppose so."

  "And if someone you know died two hundred years ago came to you, you would assume them to be a ghost, when in actuality, they might have come physically through the portal and have been transported through time. Such a person would be physically alive, would he not?” he asked, watching her in amusement as the impact of his words hit her.

  Liz frowned a moment as she considered what he had said. “Are you telling me you came forward in time to help me?"

  "Aye, lass, that is exactly what I am telling you,” Benjamin affirmed.

  "But how can that be? How did you know when to arrive?” she quizzed.

  "Alas, I am not sure I can tell you how I knew. I have been waiting for you a long time. It is more trial and error than anything else. Once I went far enough forward in time to learn someone could save the house and release the spirits, it was only a matter of backtracking, so to speak,” he explained. “Now, you have seen my ghost a few times, true enough. But this is our second meeting in the flesh, and the ghost of Benjamin McCann; well, he has gone to the light, as you put it. You'll not see that manifestation again."

  A light turned on in Liz's mind. “Night before last, when you took us to the pyramid—?” she speculated.

  "Aye, that was our first meeting in the flesh. You puzzled over it at the time, wondering why I was so warm and alive-seeming, did you not?"

  "Yes, I did. You're going to have to excuse me for not believing all this just at your word. I mean, my reason was almost overwhelmed a few minutes ago into thinking that liar was John. How can I be certain this is really you and that you're indeed Benjamin McCann in the flesh?"

  "Good girl! Don't simply accept my word for it. You must have proof of everything from here on. Look at me, Elizabeth. I imparted my knowledge to you and Kimberly in the pyramid that night, remember? You know me. All you have to do is ask your own knowing, lass. Remember, also, that if I am not the real Benjamin McCann, I cannot go into that pyramid, not even if you give me your permission.” Benjamin explained.

  Liz looked deep into his eyes, realized for the first time they were the exact same dark steel blue-gray color of John's eyes. There were other similarities between them as well, such as facial structure and body build, now that she noticed it. Was the inexplicable reason she found herself so drawn to Ben that he reminded her of John? This man in front of her was Benjamin; she'd stake her life on it. In fact, she was staking her life on it, wasn't she? She was positive now he was telling her the truth. “You're right. I do know you. Sorry for doubting. But where is Timothy?"

  "No, don't apologize. You are right to have doubts. I left the cat chasing mice; ‘tis his favorite interest. Just keep in mind, anyone who claims to be me can be proved or disproved by the pyramid if you cannot tell the difference. And I will now be happy to go there with you to prove my words, if you wish it."

  Liz smiled at him. “That won't be necessary, Ben. I trust you."

  "Aye, you do. Mark my words that you do not trust too lightly, lass. Much depends on your not trusting the wrong ones,” he cautioned.

  "That brings up a point, Ben. When the spirit of Tarrh—or Moira—appeared to me here before, it was easy to tell it wasn't a physically alive entity. But just now ... Ben, I really believed it was John for a while. There was only something in the back of my mind that wouldn't accept it somehow. Could Moira have sent Sean through the portal to me from the past, too? Could this entity that was with me have been alive?"

  "Aye, it could have happened, but the last I knew, they did not have a way to control the portal, so it would have been a blind chance they were taking. Besides, I suspect Moira was here as well, attacking you with magic while he was
accosting your body, because she is the one who wants to control you. Her magic is very powerful and she could appear to be alive and assume any form she chose—or work a spell that would make Sean look like your beloved John,” Benjamin said.

  Liz wondered what she was hearing in Ben's tone when he spoke about her beloved John. It couldn't be jealousy and yet, it sounded like something akin to the green-eyed response. She wanted to ask him about it, but there were other things more important they needed to talk about, weren't there? How could he be so certain Moira and Sean couldn't control the portal? “Moira is a total enigma to me, Ben. Do you know anything about her life before she became Tarrh's wife? Why is she so bent on destroying everything? And there is yet another entity wrapped up in all this as well. Are you aware of that?"

  "I have no answers for these questions, Elizabeth. I did try to learn more about her, of course, but it appears even Tarrh himself didn't know that much about her. Therefore, I have no idea why she would be so vindictive,” Benjamin said with a shrug. “What of this other entity? What do you mean?

  "I don't know about the entity, except it's older and more powerful. I know what Moira wants, though,” Liz confided.

  "You do? Well, what is it, lass?"

  "The reason she wanted to control Missy and now me is that she wants the chance to live out her days as a mere mortal without magic. For some reason she feels she was cheated out of a normal life and she wants someone to trade places with her willingly,” Liz said.

  Benjamin frowned, shook his head. “You think that is what all this is about?"

  "Yes, I do. I know it may not make sense to us, but to her warped mind it may make perfect sense. Ben, don't you see? She hates magic, feels it's a curse she's been forced to endure,” she suggested.

  "I see. Your assessment may just be correct. So you believe if we could find out what happened to make her feel this way—"

  "It will take slightly more than just finding out what happened. We would need to heal the hurt she suffered as well,” Liz said.

  "And then?"

  Liz took a deep breath. Did Ben think she was daft, or was he buying her rationale? Why did it matter whether he agreed or not? Because she would have to convince him to come with Kim and her and help them, that was why. “Okay, Ben,” she began, “I've been thinking about this a lot and correct me if I'm wrong. I don't really know much about magic, but Tarrh worked some kind of binding spell on Moira and Sean, right?"

  "Aye, that he did..."

  "Well, what has been bound can be unbound, can't it?"

  "Aye, lass, but you have to know exactly what incantations or spells were used to work the binding, and you have to be very strong in the black arts,” he warned.

  "Are you sure? You unbound them from Tarrh's pit for a time—and later you put another binding on them to send them back. Later, Leonard and Missy let them out again—so it can't be all that hard."

  Benjamin stared at her in disbelief. “Surely you are not serious. I let them out quite by accident and it took me years to discover how to rebind them. Leonard and Melissa were ignorant of magic, and their actions have been disastrous. The act they performed unknowingly cost them their lives as well as their souls and reopened the gate to hell itself,” he protested.

  "It's not hell, Ben,” she contradicted. “Granted, it may be like hell for Tarrh, but it's not hell itself. My point is, you did rebind them. If we could enlist Tarrh to help us, the four of us together could undo the damage Moira has done. The spirits all need to be freed from the binding before we can release them forever. And before we can free them from the binding, we have to heal Moira from whatever happened to her,” Liz said simply.

  "Aye, you make it sound easy enough, but it will not be easy, lass,” he said.

  "But you will try, won't you?"

  "Aye, I will try, but how do you propose to enlist Tarrh's help?” he queried.

  "You can control the portal,” she said.

  "What does that have to do with it?"

  "We go to him before he married Moira, convince him to go with us on a journey through the portal into the future to show him what happened after their marriage and appeal to his logic to help us end the suffering this whole thing has brought to everyone. Simple,” Liz said with a smile.

  "Only a woman would call such a plot simple. What makes you think he will listen to us?” Benjamin asked.

  "Do you have a better idea? I assumed you had come into the present because you wanted to help us with this project. Was I wrong?"

  "Nay, you were not wrong, nor do I have a better idea. I will do whatever I can to help you and Kimberly. If you truly believe we can get Tarrh to listen to and heed our story, then it is where we will start,” he said resolutely.

  "Thank you, Ben. I appreciate your offer of help. I suppose we should start as soon as possible. Let's go see if Kim's ready to set out on this excursion into the past."

  He looked at her, a soft smile on his face. “Lass, have you no fear of the task you have set for yourself?"

  She returned his smile, met his gaze only a moment before she looked away. Why did she feel like such a schoolgirl when she looked into his eyes? “Of course, I'm afraid. But after what just happened—or nearly did, I have to put fear aside and be brave. The sooner we get this done, the sooner I can sleep at night. Let's go find Kim."

  Chapter 31

  Kim listened with interest as Liz and Benjamin recounted their conversation and Liz's experience with the impostor. “So, does that mean we're ready to head into the past?” she asked.

  "We're almost ready, yes. I thought we should maybe call Joel as a standby for the animals, in case we don't time it quite as well as we thought. We can leave food down for them that will last until tomorrow night, but if we aren't back by then, someone will need to come see about them,” Liz said.

  Kim shook her head. “Liz, you know if we tell him where we're going, he'll just try to talk us out of it,” she complained.

  Liz laughed, nodded. “You're probably right. But we could tell him we were going to visit some old friends and—"

  "Are you suggesting lying to the priest?” Benjamin asked in surprise.

  Kim shot Liz a quick glance before the two women smiled at Benjamin. “No, not at all, Ben,” Liz said frankly. “I'm simply suggesting not telling him the whole truth. If we tell him an old friend—that's you—is stopping by to get us, and we're going to visit some other old friends with you, that's true, in a manner of speaking. I have met them all, even though I can't say Moira and Sean are on my list of favorite people. And if we say we plan on being back by tomorrow night but that we might wind up staying over, that's also the truth, sort of. Everyone knows how plans are sometimes changed on the spur of the moment."

  "Ah, yes ... how could I have forgotten? Women have such an interesting brand of logic,” Benjamin said.

  "I think that was a cut—was that a cut, Ben?” Liz asked jokingly.

  "A cut? Nay, lass, merely an observation,” Benjamin clarified.

  "What's with the lass thing?” Kim asked.

  "Lass thing?” Benjamin echoed, puzzled.

  "Well, yes, Liz and I are both past the age when I would expect to be called lass. Aren't we actually older than you?"

  Benjamin smiled wryly, turned his head to the side. “That all depends now, does it not? I am a couple hundred years your elder, even though in age I might be a year or two younger, chronologically speaking. Of course, I suppose you will say that is a technicality. Age has never meant much to me. I refer to you as lasses because you are females and not nearly old or ugly enough to be referred to as crones."

  "Well, then by all means, please do call me lass,” Kim said. “I certainly prefer it to crone!"

  "Aye, and I prefer the term over crone, especially for two such lovely, lively ladies as yourselves,” Benjamin replied with a warm smile.

  "Listen to you!” Liz observed. “If I didn't know better, I'd think you were flirting with us, Ben."

 
; Benjamin gave her a provocative look from under his raised brows that stunned her. “Aye? Well, perhaps I am, a bit. I am a man, after all,” he assured her.

  Liz felt her cheeks burning under his torrid gaze. She hadn't taken Ben for a womanizer; she had assumed since he had loved and lost Constance he had never looked at any other women. Of course, that was a foolish supposition, wasn't it? How many men would never look at another woman just because they had lost the love of their lives? For that matter, how many women would?

  She found herself wondering anew what she was doing; here she had been thinking she was falling in love with John and now she was acting like a schoolgirl over a man who was long dead. God, woman, where is your brain, she wondered. Was it possible her celibate lifestyle was making her overly sensitive to the attentions of just any man—every man? Next thing she knew, she'd be entertaining lustful thoughts over Mark, or Joel—no! Not Joel! He was too young, and he was a priest, for heaven sakes!

  "Well,” she said, clearing her throat, “if you will take care of the animals, Kim, I'll go call Joel and see if he's willing to come see about them if we don't make it back by tomorrow night."

  Kim eyed Liz a moment before answering. “Sure thing,” she said. “I hope the water has gone down enough that he can get here. He may think it strange that we're going to visit friends if the roads are still impassable."

  "Oh, I hadn't thought about that.” Liz admitted. “Guess I'll call the highway department and see about the roads first. We may have to postpone our little visit to the past a day or two; either that, or tell Joel the whole story and hope he won't try to talk us out of it."

  "Postponing it is not a good idea, Elizabeth,” Benjamin said. “Do you want me to talk to the Father? I am sure I can make him understand the importance of what we are attempting to do."

  "No, that's all right, Ben. I think I can handle it. He would probably pass out if you told him he was talking to Benjamin McCann on the phone,” Liz joked.

  "Do you think so?” Benjamin quipped in return.

  "Aye, Mister McCann, that I do!” she answered in her best Texan Scots/Irish accent.