The Secret of Isobel Key (22 page)

~

Back at their ritzy Edinburgh hotel, Tammy felt the odd sense of coming home. Maybe it was just nice to be somewhere familiar again; this trip had been like nothing she'd ever expected.

Brian
eyed the expensive lobby with a frown. “I won't be joining you ladies here. I've got my own place in Edinburgh.” His eyes sought Lou's with such obvious hunger that she blushed. “I'll leave you to get settled.”

He lingered for a moment, and Tammy sighed. She glanced at Lou, watching Brian walk out of the hotel and shook her head. “Come on, Lou. I just want to sleep for a year.”

“Too bad about your family thing tomorrow.”

Tammy shrugged. “You can come with me, if you want.”

Lou shook her head. “I'd like to spend some more time with Brian.”

“Makes sense. Just don't do anything I wouldn't do!” Tammy offered playfully.

Lou blushed. “I didn't know there was anything you wouldn't do.”

Tammy winked. “Exactly.”

The airport was packed with travelers, and Tammy shoved her way through the crowd to check the departures board. Brian turned to Lou and pulled her close. Ignoring the people around them, he kissed her passionately, his tongue darting between her lips with longing. When he finally released her, Lou felt weak in the knees. Brian smiled his lovely smile, looking down into her face, and he squeezed her arms before letting go and taking a small step back.

Tammy reemerged out of the crowd. “They said the flight is on time, and we're boarding at gate C23.” She turned to Brian and hugged him quickly. “Thanks for showing us around. It was an experience!” She laughed lightly, and then looked at Lou. “Better say goodbye now. I want to get on the other side of security with plenty of time to spare.”

Lou looked at Tammy, then at Brian. She shook her head briefly. “Tammy, I need a minute. I want to go check on something at the flight counter.” She glanced at her watch. “This won't take long, and we'll still have plenty of time to make our flight.” Perplexed, Tammy nodded, and Lou took off through the crowd, carrying her backpack over one shoulder.

Tammy turned to Brian, who was grinning from ear to ear. “And just what do you know about this, Brian?” She tried to sound light and teasing, but her stomach clenched. She was afraid she knew what was going on, and Brian's words confirmed her fears.

“I asked her to stay in Scotland with me a bit longer. She didn't tell me yes or no yet, but I'm sure she's gone to change her ticket.” His smile stretched wider, and Tammy swallowed nervously.

Of course she wanted Lou to be happy, but it was all so fast. The old Lou never did anything impulsively. But her friend had changed, Tammy realized. She'd changed a lot.

At that moment, Lou materialized out of the crowd beside her. Tammy took one look at her face and knew that she would be flying back to Boston alone.

“Tammy, I hate to tell you this, but--” Lou began her confession, but Tammy interrupted her.

“You're not coming back today, are you?”

Startled, Lou nodded, and then looked at Brian with a raised eyebrow. He grinned at her, and his smile told her that his request to her on the train was no longer a secret.

Instead of speaking to Brian, however, Lou turned and flung her arms around her best friend. “I'm so sorry. This isn't what I planned! Will you be okay on the flight?” Tears began to run down her cheeks, and she realized Tammy was sniffling, too.

Tammy held her tight, and answered, “I'll be fine. But I want to know that you'll be okay, too!” She pulled out of the embrace, but kept her hands firmly on Lou's shoulders. “You will be okay, right? This is what you want?”

Wiping her nose with the back of her hand, Lou nodded and looked her friend in the eye. “This is a really big chance, but I have to take it.”

Tammy nodded, and then pulled her close for another embrace. “But make sure you call. I don't want you to drop off the face of the earth.”

Lou shook her head vehemently against Tammy's shoulder. “Never. You're stuck with me. I need you too much.”

“I need you, too. Don't be gone forever!” Tammy spoke with such sincerity and warmth that Lou knew that any tension that may have arisen between them on this trip was now buried and forgotten, their lifetime of friendship trumping their recent differences.

“
Now,” Lou spoke firmly, trying to slow the flood of tears from her eyes, “you need to go through security. You don't want to miss your flight.” She gestured with her head toward the line at the security checkpoint, which had gotten longer in the time they had been standing there making their goodbyes.

Tammy hugged her tight once more, and then turned to Brian and whispered, “Keep her safe!” Brian nodded, and Tammy picked up her large travel pack, slung it over her shoulder, and turned toward the security line. She looked back over her shoulder once, smiled and waved jauntily, then turned quickly away and stepped into the long line. She began busying herself by digging through her purse, and Lou knew that Tammy wouldn't look up or wave at them again. Tammy would focus on the flight at hand, and wouldn't allow herself to think of Lou until she was on the ground at Logan, if she could help it.

Sighing, Lou turned toward Brian. She was dreading this conversation even more than she had dreaded her goodbyes with Tammy. Brian was grinning broadly at her, his face lit up with the expectation.

“Brian,” she began, “I've thought about your idea. It may be the sweetest thing anyone has ever asked me to do, and I would love to stay with you longer.” Brian reached out for her, but she took a step backwards.

She continued. “I would love to stay, but I can't. I have something that I need to do on my own.”

“What are you talking about?” Brian looked hurt and confused.

Lou continued, hoping that he would be able to understand. “I have a chance right now to find out who I am, to see where I come from, and I can't see any other option.”

“I know who you are. You're smart and compassionate. You're a good friend. You believe in making things right. You're wonderful.” Brian took a step closer and reached his hand for her face. Gently, he cupped her cheek in his large palm, and Lou stifled a sob.

She whispered, “I've loved the time we've had together, and I think...I've fallen in love with you, too.”

“Then stay with me. We can figure this out together.”

Lou shook her head, feeling the tears start to fall. “No. I need to do this, and I might not have another chance.”

“But where are you going to go?” Brian's face was twisted with pain, and Lou could see that it cost him a real effort to speak.

Lou took a tentative step closer, and Brian inhaled sharply. She looked up at his face, hovering inches above hers. Standing on her tiptoes, Lou reached up and gave him one last kiss. His lips were warm and salty, and Lou realized he was crying, too. Shutting her eyes, she tried to blot out the airport and the frantic swirl of thoughts in her mind, but the kiss was over too quickly. Carefully, Lou pulled away, and Brian dropped his hands to his side in defeat. She took a deep breath and forced herself to look into his wounded blue eyes one last time.

“I'm going to find my family.”

Professor MacDonald didn't notice the letter immediately, so he wasn't certain when it arrived. It had slipped from the mail slot behind a small table in the entryway, and it might have sat there, untouched, for years if he had not knocked some coins off the same table and bent to retrieve them.

The envelope in front of his face was large and firm, the kind used to mail photos and important documents. The postmark said it had come from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, but there was no return address given.

Taking the strange envelope into his study, the professor planted himself firmly in the big leather chair. He turned the envelope over in his hands, weighing the contents and savoring the mystery. When he couldn't stand it anymore, he pulled the tab and heard the satisfying rip of the thin cardboard. He reached inside the envelope and pulled out a sheet of paper, another envelope, and a photograph. He stared at the photograph for a long time, and tears welled up in his eyes.

Before he could weep, however, he set the photograph down on his lap with the rest of the mail. Ignoring the second envelope in the packet, he turned his attention instead to the single sheet of paper and began to read.

Dear Professor,

I never had the chance to properly thank you for all your help in my research (both the ancient and the modern). I've enclosed here something which I hope will be useful to you: it's in the unmarked envelope, and the original is in the archives there in St. Andrews. I leave it to you what to do with this document. I trust your judgment, Professor.

I can't tell you how good it feels to be able to write this letter. I have found my family…our family. And what a big family it is! My mother has married and has three other children, and I have something I never imagined: siblings. I've enclosed a photograph, and you can see me there in the middle, between your cousin and my mother.

I hope to be coming back to Scotland very soon. I have decided to go back to school, and I have applied to a graduate program for history. I want to continue my research on the witches of Scotland, and I think I should be able to take a semester to go back and spend some time in the archives in St. Andrews. Besides, there are a few people I'd like to see again in your beautiful country.

I will be in touch with you again soon.

Truly,

Louisa Anne

The professor read the letter twice, smiling as he thought of his cousin reunited with her granddaughter after all these years. He was glad the girl had sought them out: he picked up the photograph again and studied her face. She looked bright and happy, he decided, and so did the women on either side of her. He sighed, content to have seen the story through to a happy ending, and felt a rare pang of regret that he did not have any children or grandchildren to fill his little house with love. Pushing aside those uncharacteristic thoughts, he riffled through the papers on his lap absentmindedly.

His
eyes fell upon the second, unmarked envelope. Curious about what the girl had said, he split the seal and drew out a crumpled Xerox of what appeared to be an ancient text. The date at the top of the page read “28th April, 1689,” and the professor's eyes took in the words of the strange letter.

As he read, his hand began to tremble, and the page was shaking so violently when he reached the end that he was sure he must have read the words incorrectly.

Shaking his head, the professor read the letter four more times. Disbelief was slowly replaced by academic frenzy, and he found a notebook to start scribbling his ideas. What a find this was! Ignoring the sun as it moved across his room and then fell below the horizon, the professor worked long into the night, frantic with joy at the miraculous twist of fate that had led him to this reality. While he worked, he was unaware that beneath an unmarked crossroads at the edge of town, Isobel Key was finally at peace.

But secrets do not stay buried forever.

There are so many people who need to be thanked for the existence of this book. They say it takes a village to raise a child, and this book is my firstborn twice over; it's been an amazing experience giving Isobel new life, and my deepest thanks go to Meredith Rich, my editor extraordinaire. This book would be a very different thing if not for her, and I am forever grateful. Huge thanks to the team at Bloomsbury Spark for helping this story grow wings. I am so happy to be a part of this family.

My gratitude to the University of Edinburgh and their excellent Survey of Scottish Witchcraft; what a wonderful resource! Thanks also to the Guttenberg Project; your work allows new readers to experience old texts, and that's a powerful thing. A composite of primary sources inspired the history of this tale, and I am forever grateful to the various lovers of history and research I've met in my life, particularly the ones at WMU and Clarion who taught me to dig deeper.

To Lory for reading infinite versions of this story over the years, and to Deanna, JRo, Jean, and VG for your support and belief in all my writing endeavors. To Deb and Laura for your story suggestions, and for reminding me to ask, “what if?” To Boyce for cheering as my journey twists and turns. Hugs and cupcakes to the Vals and the Sparkies; I'm so lucky to have found such great communities. Many thanks to all my early readers, and to everyone who read and loved this tale in its first incarnation.

Finally, thank you to my wonderful family and friends for loving me even when I had to lock myself in my writing cave for weeks on end. Biggest thanks to my husband for story walks, constant encouragement, and chocolate. You are the reason I dare to dream.

And, last but never least, thanks to you for reading this book!

Jen
McConnel first began writing poetry as a child. A Michigander by birth, she now lives and writes in the beautiful state of North Carolina. When she isn't crafting worlds of fiction, she teaches college writing composition and yoga. Once upon a time, she was a middle school teacher, a librarian, and a bookseller, but those are stories for another time. Visit
http://www.jenmcconnel.com
to learn more.

Copyright © 2013 by Jen McConnel
All rights reserved. You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce, or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means, (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.