The Secret of Isobel Key (21 page)

Once the ends of the salt circle met, Lou set the canister down and picked up the bundle of sage. Taking her candle from Brian, she held the sage in the flame long enough for it to catch and begin producing thick, white smoke. Holding her candle in one hand and the sage in the other, Lou started to walk around the interior of the salt circle. White smoke billowed behind her. Tammy shifted uncomfortably as Lou passed by her, but didn't say anything. Brian coughed when he smelled his first whiff of the sage, but he quickly stifled the noise and stood silently waiting for Lou to finish.

“We come here tonight,” Lou spoke as she planted herself firmly in place, setting the still smoldering sage on the ground at her feet and clasping her thin white candle with both hands, “to right an ancient wrong.” Her eyes sought out Brian's, and he nodded at her encouragingly. She glanced toward Tammy, but her friend was still looking intently at the ground. Lou took a deep breath before she continued to speak.

She had been thinking all day about what she wanted to say, but standing there in the dark added unexpected weight to her words. She gulped once before going on.

“
This wrong was the murder of Isobel Key, and we come here in perfect love and perfect trust to set things right. Isobel was burned as a witch in January of 1667, although she had committed no crime, real or imagined. Her remains were buried at this spot,” as Lou spoke those words, she stared intently at Tammy as if waiting for a challenge, but Tammy gave no sign that she was even listening, so Lou pressed bravely on. “She was buried without ceremony or reverence, her charred bones thrown into the earth. Tonight, we give her the honor that was denied at the time of her death.”

Hands shaking slightly, Lou leaned across the circle to pass her candle to Brian and she reached into the brown paper bag to pull out first the bottle of wine, then the corkscrew, and last, the four paper cups. She fumbled with the corkscrew for a moment, but then Brian's strong hands closed around hers as he took the bottle from her, and in one, deft motion, he released the cork from the mouth of the bottle. The sound of the accompanying “pop” wouldn't have seemed loud in a restaurant, but out in the open, it was like a gunshot. Lou and Tammy both jumped, but Brian calmly handed the open bottle of wine back to Lou, slipping the corkscrew into his pocket.

Lou knelt to the ground and began to pour wine into the paper cups that she'd brought. In the candlelit darkness, the crimson liquid looked black as she poured it, and Lou had a momentary vision of the congealed, black blood filling the room in her nightmare. She shook her head and swallowed the bile that was rising in her throat. For a second, she wondered if their actions might anger Isobel's ghost, but she pushed that frightening thought aside.

When all four cups were filled to the brim, she picked up two, one in each hand. She crossed the circle to where Tammy stood, still staring at the ground, and handed her the first cup. Tammy hesitated for a moment, then lifted her eyes to meet Lou's gaze as she took the wine. Lou couldn't read the expression on her best friend's face, but she tried to smile at her. Tammy didn't smile back, but she nodded slightly and took the wine.

Lou turned to Brian. As he took the wine, his fingers brushed hers, and her skin tingled. Lou shivered at his touch, thinking about the way they'd spent the afternoon. It was harder than she'd expected to concentrate on the ritual with Brian there. She turned back to the center of the circle, leaving one cup on the ground and lifting the other high in a toast.

Brian and Tammy mimicked her gesture. Lou paused for a moment, savoring the energy that was pulsing around the circle, and when she spoke, her voice was louder and more confident.

“We drink to the memory of Isobel Key, the innocent woman interred here in this place. We drink in her honor.” She lifted the cup to her lips, and took a sip. The others did the same. Still holding her cup, Lou began the brief blessing that she had prepared in the New Age shop earlier that day.

“Isobel Key, blood of my blood, be at peace and rest well. Your grave is sacred, this place is sacred, your bones are sacred. You are dead, but not forgotten. Blessed be this place, blessed be your bones, and blessed be your family, who has not forsaken you.” She drank again, deeply this time, and drained her cup. She set the cup down, and nodded to Brian. He opened his mouth to speak, but Tammy's voice cut across the night before he had the chance.

“Our Father, who art in heaven...” The familiar words reminded Lou of her mother and made her stomach clench, but she tried to smile at her friend. Tammy's voice shook with emotion as she spoke, and in the candlelight, Lou could see tears glistening in her eyes. She locked eyes with Lou and drank her wine after she finished the prayer. Lou wanted to reach across the circle and hug Tammy, but before she could move, Brian cleared his throat and began to speak.

“
May the blessings of light be on you, light within and light without.” Lou listened, spellbound by the words of the old blessing. “May the blessed sun shine down upon you like a great peat fire, so that stranger or friend may come and warm himself. And may the blessings of the rain be also on you. May it wash your spirit fair and clean, and leave there a shining pool where the blue of Heaven shines. May the blessed earth sit soft below you, soft above you, soft around you, and may you truly be at peace all of your days.” He hesitated a moment, looking at Lou for permission to end the blessing as was traditional. She nodded, and he added the final word, “Amen.” He drank his wine quickly.

Silence descended on the crossroads, and the three of them stood for a moment, still and unmoving, looking at each other in the sputtering candlelight. Finally, Lou stepped forward and lifted the cup of wine off the ground. Without speaking, she upended it, pouring the wine over the ancient grave at her feet.

“Isobel,” she said quietly, “you are not cursed, nor were you a witch. We remember the truth. Your memory is cleared, and your soul may now rest peacefully.” The wine made a dark puddle before trickling slowly off the pavement. “Know that you are remembered, and know that you are remembered well.” Quietly, she added the traditional words to conclude the ritual. “So mote it be.” She blew out her candle, and Brian and Tammy followed suit. Almost as one, they all stepped backwards out of the circle, and Tammy turned the flashlight back on.

Lou picked up the cups and the empty wine bottle, and Tammy held the melted candles in one hand. Together, they turned back onto the road that would lead them into St. Andrews. No one spoke at all on the long walk back. They were lost in their own thoughts. As they neared the hostel, Brian turned to Lou and kissed her, gently, on the forehead.

“I'll see you tomorrow morning.” His words broke the peaceful silence, and Lou nodded. “I'd like to go back to Edinburgh with you both, and keep you company these next two days, if that's alright.” Brian's question made him seem vulnerable, and Lou's heart swelled.

Lou glanced at Tammy, who nodded. Lou smiled. “Of course.” Her voice was calm, but her mind was reeling. The thought of leaving suddenly became real, and it hit her that in two days, she would be leaving Scotland, and Brian, for good. Her heart stuck in her throat at the thought, but she tried not to cry. Standing on her tiptoes, she kissed him one more time, and then she watched him walk away, barely conscious of the fact that Tammy was still standing there beside her. She jumped when Tammy's hand rested gently on her shoulder, and when she turned her face to her best friend, her eyes were distant.

Lou paused, and then impulsively threw her arms around Tammy.

“Thank you,” she whispered into the dark, and although Tammy didn't speak, Lou could feel her returning embrace. Maybe they had healed more that night than an ancient wrong.

Maggie was still behind the desk the next morning, and she smiled at Tammy and Lou as they checked out. Lou felt a twinge of sadness; she wished she'd had more time in St. Andrews, but she was glad she had figured out so much in the short time they'd been there.
Maybe I'll come back some day.

The girls waved and headed out to the street, dragging their bags. A battered cab was waiting at the curb, and Tammy looked around curiously.

“What happened to Brian? Isn't he coming with us?”

Lou nodded. “He stopped by this morning while you were in the shower. He had some things to do, so he said he'd meet us at the train station.”

Tammy laughed. “Just like the night when we left Edinburgh with him. But a lot has changed, hasn't it?”

“Everything has changed.” Lou's reply was soft, and Tammy frowned. That sounded ominous. Brusquely, Tammy opened the door to the cab.

“We better get moving. Are you ready?”

Lou looked up and down the street slowly, and then she nodded. “One step closer to home.” She swung her bag into the waiting trunk and climbed into the car.

Tammy grinned. Looping her arm in Lou's as they sat in the back of the car, she said, “That's just what we need. To go home. This has been a great trip, but I have to confess, I can't wait to go home!”

Lou stared out the window, nodding her head slightly as Tammy talked.

“I mean, this was all amazing and everything, but Scotland is so… quiet!”

Lou chuckled. “That's one way to describe it, I guess.”

Tammy nodded. “Exactly. I miss Boston. Vacations are great, but this was a long one.”

“But what about your aunt?”

“Oh, don't worry about that. I know how to be polite at a family party.” Tammy snorted. “I'll gush about it so much, I bet her friends will think I want to move over here and never go back to the States.”

Lou tried to laugh, but the sound was strained. Tammy lapsed into silence as they approached the train station.

~

The train ride from Leuchars to Edinburgh station was a quiet contrast to the ride less than a week ago. Without the crush of students, they had no trouble finding seats together in the fairly empty car, populated only by themselves and an elderly couple leaning on each other in their seats. Brian sat across from Lou, holding her hands and not speaking, and Tammy sat on her left, flipping through her guidebook with a red pen and circling the places they had seen in their adventure.

Lou held Brian's hand, and he squeezed her fingers. Tammy yawned and stretched, then stood up, placing her guidebook face down on the table in front of them.

“I'm off to find the washroom,” she announced loudly, not looking at Brian or Lou or waiting for their response.

The minute she was out of sight, Brian leaned forward.

“
Lou, I've been thinking.” He grasped her hands more tightly. “I've been thinking about us.”

“What about us?” Lou had dreaded the idea of saying goodbye to Brian. She hadn't wanted to face reality, but Brian seemed determined to have this conversation.

“Louisa, you don't have to leave.” He stared intently into her eyes, his own blue eyes sparkling.

“Yes, I do. Our tickets are booked and paid for.”

Brian shook his head in frustration. “But why do you need to leave right now? I know you don't have classes or a job to go back to, so what's the point of rushing off?”

Lou exhaled slowly. “But I've still got to go back to find another job! I pay half of the rent with Tammy, and if I'm not there, she won't be able to make ends meet.” Lou knew it was a lie even as she said it: Tammy's parents usually covered the rent, but Brian had no way of knowing that.

Brian did, however, know Tammy. “She's resourceful. I know she'd be fine.” He paused again, watching her cautious expression. “You don't really have anything forcing you to go back. What if you stayed here with me?”

Her heart thumped, but Lou hesitated. “What would I do here?”

Brian leaned forward eagerly, mistaking her question as agreement to his suggestion. “You could do more research. You could see more of Scotland. It wouldn't matter; you could just be with me.” He looked down, suddenly shy. “I'd love to spend more time with you. There's nothing that would make me happier. Besides, it would be great to kiss you at midnight on Hogmanay.”

Lou frowned; she'd almost forgotten the upcoming holiday. Brian was right, though, on that count. She would love to ring in the New Year in his strong arms, but that wasn't what she'd been planning. Feebly, she tried to reason with him. “Don't you have tours to give?”

He shook his head. “We rotate the tours, so no one gives back to back expeditions. I can take as much time off as I want, or you could come on tours with me, and learn more about the rest of the island. You could even talk about the witch trials to the tour groups, if you want!” Caught up in the enthusiasm of his idea, Brian didn't notice how dark Lou's expression became when he mentioned the idea of her talking about the witches to tourists.

Slowly, she shook her head, but before she could verbalize her rejection, Brian leaned across the table and kissed her deeply.

“Please don't say yes or no yet. I know there isn't a lot of time left, but I want you to think about it. Don't give me an answer until we're at the airport. Sleep on it. Please, Louisa.” He cupped her cheeks with his warm hands, and whispered, “I think I love you.”

Her lips parted in surprise, but before she could answer, Tammy was suddenly standing next to her, clearing her throat loudly.

“Well, I found it, if you could call that tiny little closet a washroom!” She slid back into her seat, and Brian let go of Lou's face and settled back into his seat. He took her hands again, and he kept a tight grip on her for the remainder of the train ride. Neither of them spoke any more about his suggestion, but Brian's eyes shone bright with hope, and Lou's mind raced along as the train sped across Scotland.