Page 16 of A Rogue in Twilight
“Be wary, lass. And never look back if you see them. Never. Remember that.”
She sighed. All her life she had accepted the Sight and loved the fairy stories, but the older she got, the more she wanted proof. “Grandda, what became of the special blue stone that you said was a key for entering the fairy realm?”
“It stays in its rightful place, hidden in the hill above Struan House.”
“With the gardens enlarged at Struan House in the last few years, I wonder if it is still there. Now the stone wall runs up the hill behind the house.”
“The stone should still be there, but perhaps you are right. I will make sure of it when I return from the city.”
“You must find it before Lord Struan arrives. Mrs. MacKimmie will let me look. I will tell her I dropped something in the gardens the last time I brought her a plate of Mrs. Graham’s clootie dumplings. I will stop there when I fetch the yarns from Margaret.”
“Not yet. The fairies go riding through there. You keep away.”
Elspeth frowned. She thought then that if she had the blue stone, she would go into the hills and set the stone in the rock as she had seen old Donal do. When nothing happened, she would know the truth. If she did see the fairy realm, she would know to take care. Besides, that stone was very special to Donal, and must be recovered from Struan’s gardens, where he thought he had lost it.
What if she tried the stone and discovered that the magic, and Donal’s bargain with the Fey, were indeed real? She shivered.
Chapter Four
These spritely creaturesoften inhabit the lush wooded groves of Scotland, particularly in the Highlands, found in caves and hillsides….fairies prefer to reside in hills, mountains, caves, and near natural wells and springs….
What a load of nonsense, James thought. He dipped his pen in fresh ink to make notes on the paper, and read on.
When a knock sounded at the study door, he looked up, glad of an interruption after working all afternoon. Mrs. MacKimmie peered inside and entered. “My lord, beg your pardon, but Mary the downstairs maid has just quit your service.”
“Another one?” He set down the pen. “The banshee again? That sent the other girl screaming from here last week.” The creature, or was it the door hinge, sometimes shrieked through the whole of the night since the first day he had arrived.
“That, and the haunts and fairies too. She says she canna stay in a household plagued by strange things. She is returning to Edinburgh.”
He frowned. “That’s all the housemaids gone in two weeks.”
“Aye, sir.” She stood with hands folded, wearing a long tweed coat and bonnet.
“Are you ready to leave my service too?” he asked gently.
“Not me, sir. I am used to it.”
“Used to a place infested with fairies as well as banshees, ghosts, boggles, brownies, nesting doves, and a few mice?”
“The fairy ilk will soon ride, as I told you. Some in the glen are ready for it.”
“It is a charming local tradition. What did the maid see? A moth flitting from lamp to lamp?”
“She saw a fairy in the garden today, a beautiful creature that turned and saw her, and vanished among the bushes. Poor Mary was so upset she could not stay another day. The city maids Lady Rankin sent have no head for a good fright, being Southron. Begging your pardon, sir.”
“I am Highland in origin and Southron in residence, so I take no offense. Truly I am surprised the girl saw anything in the garden with all this rain,” James remarked. “Not even the bravest duck would be out in such a downpour. Not that I believe in phantasms, fairies, and whatnot.” He dipped his pen in the ink again, to resume writing about exactly such whatnot.
“Struan House is a favorite place for the fairies, sir. Used to belong to them, so they say. There is more of the Otherworld in our world than we realize.”
“Well, if I see a fairy in the garden, I will invite her inside to dry off and have tea.” As he spoke, he turned a page in the manuscript and took a few notes, inked nib whispering over paper.Fairy riding, he wrote.Local custom in autumn. Find out more.
“Sir, I came to say that I do mean to leave, but only for a few days.”
He looked up. “I was hoping the fairies had not frightened you away as well.”
“Not at all. I always leave the house around the time of the fairy riding. But my daughter just had another child and I would visit them.”
“Certainly! As I said before, I am happy to have some time to myself here.”
