Page 91 of Laird of Twilight
“I want to see the place,” James said. “There is bound to be something of value for my work.” He reached into his leather knapsack and brought out a stone, cradled in his hand. “There could be other stones like this one.”
“The wee blue stone! You have it!” Donal reached out for it, turning it in his hand. “Oh aye, this is the one.”
“It was in a collection in the house. But if it belongs to you, please take it,” James said. “But I would like to know where it was found originally. Blue agate is rare, and a deposit here could be an important geological discovery.”
“I did not find this one. It was given to me by a fairy queen years ago, to be used as a key to their realm on the days whenever I go there—”
“Go there?” James repeated. “To the fairy world?”
“I tried to tell you,” Elspeth said. “You thought it a lot of fairy nonsense.”
“Most do,” Donal remarked. “Aye, lad, I have seen similar stones in this mountain, and in the hill behind Struan House. You should look there.”
“I shall. For now, let us proceed up to the cave.”
As Donal led them up the slope, James walked steadily with the aid of the stick, his stride sure, his gait slightly uneven. Yet Elspeth knew that no matter how strenuous the walk was in places, he would not complain, would not stop.
The sky clouded over in a cool mist, and soon Elspeth felt raindrops on her head and cheek as she and the men took the upward slope at a good pace. They advanced along a crooked path formed in a narrow dip between two foothills, like a tuck in a quilt. A runnel of water trickled downward, cutting between rock and turf. Ahead lay a vast piling of rock and scree that had tumbled down eons ago from the massive black shoulders of the mountaintop far above.
Now and then, James stopped, and Elspeth and Donal waited. She thought he wanted to rest his leg, though he did not mention it. Instead, he picked up rocks and examined them, sometimes cracking away small samples to drop into his sack, sometimes simply skittering them down the mountainside. He and Donal sent a few flying, with chuckles, which seemed to relieve some of the tension that had gathered. Elspeth thought that the mountainside had begun to feel ominous and secretive. She shuddered, looking around.
“Limestone with marine fossils, and signs of the Old Red Sandstone layer,” James said, half talking to himself. He moved to another section. “This seems volcanic beneath,” he murmured to no one in particular. With a pencil and small notebook, he wrote something down, muttering. “Granite and basalt. Fascinating.”
Elspeth smiled, happy to see him content in his work. She looked over at her grandfather, who was shaking his head.
“What is so interesting about a lot of old rock?” he asked, and she laughed.
Along the way, James brushed his hand over a section of dull gray rock as if it was the finest marble. He picked up a few small stones nearby, handing them to Elspeth. She gasped when she saw the glitter of perfectly formed crystals, clear and peat-colored.
“Rock crystal and cairngorm,” he explained. “Keep them. We will have them made into a brooch or a ring if you like.” Thrilled by the simple beauty of the stones, she thanked him, tucking the crystals in her skirt pocket.
“A memento of the day,” she said, with the sudden fervent hope that she would come safely down from the mountain, and James and Donal as well.
“This way. Sideways over the slope is easier here than straight up,” Donal said, leading them to the left. The ground was turf and rock, rough and runneled, and they relied on walking sticks and helping hands as they went. Above, Elspeth saw a desolate expanse of fallen rock, while overhead, mist gathered. Rain now pattered lightly over their heads and shoulders, splattering on the rocks.
“Here is the corrie. The Goblin Cave is just there,” Donal said, pointing again.
Ahead was a curved hollow of rock and a heavy scattering of loose stones—the corrie—and to one side, cutting into a cliff littered with scree, a dark opening in a fold of broad rock. With a low exclamation, James began to move toward it.
“Struan, wait,” Donal said. “Here you see it. But we cannot go inside. It is not safe.”
“We will be careful,” James said, as her grandfather shook his head soberly.
“Grandda, we came all this way. We have to go inside,” Elspeth said.
“The power of the Fey is too strong here. We should stay away. Though you both have more protection against them than I do.”
“Why is that?” James asked.
“Love,” Donal said simply. “It bonds you and guards you. Love is what will break their hold over Elspeth. Though it would be stronger if—” He stopped.
“If what?” Elspeth asked. At that moment, watching the two men she loved most in the world, she could not imagine anything stronger than what she felt.
“Stronger if you two were wed already. But the love is there, and should be enough.”
“Should be?” Elspeth said, feeling a qualm. The rain came down in earnest now. She reached out a hand to James, and he took it. “Grandda, come inside with us. It will be dry there. And we can search together for the fairy gold..”
“It is not there. I told you, they will not have it there, in their own place.”
