Stone Heart (4 page)

Apparently, dreaming was easier to deal with than the fact that her niece would follow her in death very soon.

Karen carefully arranged the blankets around her aunt, kissed her good night, and sat up with her for a while.

Eventually, her own failing strength forced her to the cot on the other side of the room.

It was about three o'clock in the morning when something made Karen wake up and throw the covers off. She turned on a lamp and walked over to Aggie's bed.

27

Stone Heart

by Candace Sams

There was a serene smile on the older woman's face, but her breathing had stopped. Karen felt for a pulse, knowing there would be none. She dropped her head, leaned against her aunt's shoulder and cried. Whether it was for Aggie, herself or both of them, Karen wasn't sure. It just seemed that life hadn't played fair. There were so many things they'd planned. Now, neither of them would ever see any of their dreams come true. Worse, there would be no one to care.

* * * *

Karen took off her black gloves and waited for the bank manager to leave. When she heard the door close behind him, she sat and looked at the box in front of her. There was no use putting it off. Aggie's will was inside, though there wouldn't be anything of value to keep. Even if there was, there would be no sense in doing so. She just didn't have much time left.

She quickly unlocked the box, reached inside and began to read the strangest letter of her life. Karen began to wish she hadn't made any promises regarding the contents of her aunt's will. Since she had, there was nothing to do but follow through. In her mind, poor Agatha had turned a fairy tale into something real. The most surprising thing of all was an account book in the bottom of the metal box. In it, there were records of deposits made over a very long period of time.

Seven thousand dollars was a lot of money, but it was all to be spent as Aggie stipulated. Even if Karen wanted to back out of her promise, which was unacceptable, the money could 28

Stone Heart

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only be used as her Aunt's will instructed. It was to be spent on a wild goose chase.

Karen sat for a very long time and thought it over. It could be done. She
had
promised, and a Matthews never went back on a promise. Suddenly, she began to smile. Regardless of the bizarre request her dying aunt had made, Aggie had given Karen a way and the means to have one great adventure.

One wondrous time to look back on before her illness overcame her.

"What the hell!" Karen muttered to herself. What in the world did she have to lose? It was the craziest thing she'd ever heard of, but Aggie had scrimped for years so Karen could keep an insane promise. "I'll do it!"

With that, she got up, left the bank and went home. If it took every bit of knowledge she possessed, she'd use her extensive education in computer sciences to verify some information. Then she'd sell everything she owned and book her tickets. For the first time in her life, Karen threw every bit of caution to the wind and decided to live her remaining days with passion.

* * * *

"Excuse me. Can you tell me how to get to Glen Darach from here?" Karen held out a map to the hotel concierge and pointed to it. She hoped the pronunciation of the Scottish village was correct, and she pretended not to notice when the man gazed at her a little too long. The concern in his eyes was quickly masked, and professional courtesy took the place of any pity he may have felt.

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Stone Heart

by Candace Sams

She was used to it. Being ill for so long had left her with a decimated appearance. Her honey-colored hair was dry and lifeless. Her face too pale and her body far too thin. The few friends she had left hadn't been able to emotionally deal with the situation. She recalled them all as, one by one, they'd made their excuses to stop visiting. Some hadn't understood the malady was congenital, not contagious. But she felt no malice toward them. Watching someone waste away wasn't easy.

She mentally pulled herself back from her thoughts as she heard the concierge say, "There's a car rental company not ten minutes away, and you can follow the road southwest out of town, Miss. The lanes are clearly marked all along the way.

I'll ring the rental company and have a car delivered, if you like."

She nodded. "Get me the biggest car they've got. Loaded.

With all the extras."

The man smiled. "Right you are, Miss." He turned to make the call.

Karen took time to peruse the hotel's interior. It was quite lovely. Antiques decorated every conceivable space, and medieval tapestries hung on the walls. Inside and out, the accommodations reminded her of an old castle. She'd never have chosen something so extravagant, but this would be the last trip she would ever take. She would splurge on everything.

When the car was delivered, she took the time to familiarize herself with how to drive on the
wrong
side of the road. It was noon. She judged the distance and guessed she 30

Stone Heart

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would get to her destination about sunset. Perfect timing.

Three hundred years to the day.

She had begun this trip as the end to a promise, and as she'd been taught, promises were to be kept. The lovely green hills made her feel more and more like a tourist waiting to discover something new just around each bend.
Why not
enjoy it.
Tonight, after she read the words her aunt had scribbled down, the promise would be kept. Maybe she could spend the rest of her time just driving and seeing something of the world until her illness stopped her.

Her chest began to hurt again, something that was occurring with more frequency. She pulled to the side of the road, took her medicine and waited for it to take effect. When the pain stopped, she drove on and made good time.

Occasionally, someone would herd sheep across the road, but she'd planned for contingencies such as losing her way or flat tires. Aggie had been very specific about reciting the little poem on
this
day. Tomorrow would be too late. Karen had sworn over and over to do this. It was a crazy promise, but when she was a little girl and Aggie had taken care of her, nothing had been too hard or demanding for her aunt. She owed Aggie, and the more she saw of the beautiful country, the more content she was with her decision to come. When it came time for her to join Aggie, she'd be in one of the most picturesque and oldest countries on Earth. People died in much less glorious surroundings all the time. At least luck was with her in being able to pick her spot.

Hours later she slowed down and parked on the side of the road. She paused to check her bearings. The information she 31

Stone Heart

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had hacked from the computer files indicated the statue was in a cemetery. And the cemetery was near the town of Glen Darach. She saw a cemetery on one side of the road, and a sign indicated she'd arrived at the outskirts of that town. A narrow dirt road led into the woods across the street. She turned her car into the cemetery and began to search.

After an hour of looking, there was no sign of the statue.

The cemetery was big, but something the size she was looking for should stick out. All she saw were rows and rows of old gravestones. Strangely, she began to panic. Perhaps the statute had been destroyed. If that were the case, then her promise to Aggie couldn't be kept.

"Please let me find it," she murmured. "
Please
."

Another half hour of looking proved that the statue just wasn't there. Karen felt emotionally sick. It was such a small thing Aggie had asked, and all that money had been socked away with the thought of completing
this
task on
this
particular night.

As the sun began to sink, Karen gave up hope. She slowly made her way back to the car and noticed a dirt road opposite the cemetery. Perhaps there was an older, unmarked section of the burial grounds down that old road.

She got back into the car and began to drive. When the road became impossible to navigate, she stopped and turned off the engine. A quick inspection of the car's glove compartment revealed a flashlight the rental company had thoughtfully provided. She decided to walk as far as her stamina would allow.

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Stone Heart

by Candace Sams

Judging by the neglected branches, logs and bushes growing in the road, no one had been to the area in quite some time. Karen had to pick her way around all the debris, hoping she would find the statue nearby. Owls began to hoot, and scurrying sounds in the underbrush made her nervous.

The place was eerie.

The dirt road dwindled down to a path. This abruptly ended about one hundred yards from where she had parked the car.

A thick tangle of brush lay directly before her. What if she was wrong? But how could the information she had hacked be bogus? So far, everything else in her computer search matched the information she'd found in Agatha's safe deposit box. The small, out-of-the-way town existed. There was a cemetery. The statue had been described in detail, along with the silly story surrounding its existence. So, where was it?

Karen refused to believe she'd come all this way for nothing.

This was for Aggie. She
had
to find the stupid statue and say the ridiculous words in Agatha's note.

She pushed through the brush knowing the exertion would cost her, but she had her medication in her pocket. This was alongside Aggie's old note on how to recite the poem.

Suddenly, the last of the brush was behind her, and she stood in a glen about twenty feet in diameter. There was nothing there. She almost wept in disappointment. Karen turned to walk back to the car. That was when she saw it.

The statue was the most disgusting, horrifying thing imaginable. Excluding the stone pedestal upon which it stood, it looked to be almost seven feet tall. The gray, moss-covered stone only served to make the thing look more wretched. Its 33

Stone Heart

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face was that of some relentless demon. Horns jutted out from its forehead and its mouth gaped open in a silent, fiendish howl. It was a gargoyle. But not like the protective kind she'd seen in pictures.
This
statue appeared to exemplify everything that was evil. Its body was that of some clawed, four-footed beast poised to pounce. Its massive size made a joke out of two tiny wings mounted to its back. It was as if the beast wanted to fly. Lacking the wings to do so, it sat and snarled at the world instead. Around its legs wound chains made of stone. Maybe its creator meant to symbolically bind the statue to its location forever.

Karen stood and looked at it for some time. Instead of being frightened, she felt sorry for the thing. That made her smile. Why she'd waste time feeling sorry for a hunk of stone didn't make any sense. As she continued to stare at the statue, she realized it had probably been moved from the cemetery because of its demonic appearance. She imagined most people wouldn't want to be near it very long. But to stick the statue in the woods and let vines, moss and insects have it seemed sad. The movers could have put it somewhere less obscure. Perhaps someone might have moved it to a secluded garden where the thing wouldn't have offended church-minded parishioners. She sighed. No matter how it ended up in this godforsaken spot, she was happy to have found it.

Angus heard the soft sigh. He knew someone had made their way toward him from the sounds in the undergrowth.

Perhaps they would take a hammer to him. As he prayed it would be so, he hoped they would speak first and let him 34

Stone Heart

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know that he was not alone. Just one more sound of a human voice, and he would be more than ready to leave this life.

"You're not the most attractive thing I've ever seen.

Whoever carved you had one sick battery upstairs," a voice muttered.

A woman
. She had the dulcet tones of a dove. Would she speak more? Or would she go away and leave him alone again?

Speak. Let me hear that sound again. I beg you ... Please!

he silently screamed.

Karen took the paper out of her pocket. The moon would be almost full tonight, but the twilight was only just beginning, so there was still enough light by which to see. In case it got dark quickly, however, she had the small flashlight in her pocket. She unfolded the note and glanced at it for the umpteenth time. Then she put the paper away. The words were in her memory. She wouldn't need light or prompting to recite them.

"This is for you, Aggie. I hope you can hear me and know I kept my word," she whispered. "Here goes nothin'. 'I look not upon you as a man. Centuries part you from your land. Three hundred years to live apart, because you had a cold, stone heart.'"

Karen waited for several minutes. Nothing happened. What had she expected? It was a promise extracted from her by a sick woman living in a state of dementia. This whole idea had been silly, but her promise had been kept. Now she could go on with what was left of her life, such as it was.

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Stone Heart

by Candace Sams

She nodded in recognition of completing the task. Then, she turned to walk away. From behind her, a thick fog crept toward her feet. It was an unearthly green and reminded her of a horror film she'd once watched. Nothing had ever frightened her as much as this fog. Not even her own mortality. It was one thing to slip quietly away while sleeping.

Quite another to encounter some strange phenomenon in the middle of a country steeped in legend and myth.

She heard a sound like the splitting of rock. Her chest began to throb with pain, which wasn't surprising.

Unexpected anxiety could cause it to come on suddenly.

Turning to face the statue, she saw the thing had cracked in a dozen places, and green light glared from deep within the cracks. It was as if something was trying to break out of the stone.

"
Holy crud!"
she croaked. "Oh, Aggie, you weren't crazy."