Helen accepted a smile from Lizzy and Fin stepped forward and took her hand in his. He kissed the back of it and winked at her when her face flushed.
“The Laird of this clan, Ian and his wife Lora. Grandparents of my heart.”
“’Tis good to see you home, lad.” Ian didn’t bother kissing her hand, he pulled her into a hug that compressed all the air from her lungs. When he released her, he left his hands on her arms and squeezed. “Many thanks for bringing him home, lass. Our house is yours.”
“Ah, thanks.”
“Welcome,” Lora said.
“Duncan and Tara, my aunt and uncle.”
Duncan kissed her hand.
“There isn’t a test on the names, feel free to ask,” Tara suggested.
“I’ll have to do that.”
“You might remember Todd, the missing cop?” Todd waved and skipped the hand kissing. His face was vaguely familiar. “And his wife Myra. Again, an aunt and an uncle.”
Myra was very pregnant as she greeted Helen from across the room. Helen waved with a short “Hi.”
“Amber.” Simon pointed out.
Amber waved.
“And Cian.” Cian was slightly larger than Simon, but the tight edge of his jaw had Helen swallowing hard.
“Don’t forget us,” one of the children said.
Small arms lifted to Simon. He quickly picked up the child and offered a tickle with a smile. “This is Aislin, Myra and Todd’s youngest child. Over there is her big brother Jake. Selma, Kyle, and Tavish are my sister and brothers.” Selma was a beautiful teenage girl and her brothers not far behind in age. “Briac, Fiona, and Ian belong to Duncan and Tara.”
Tara spoke up again. “There really isn’t a test. In fact, kids?” The children turned to Tara. “Be sure and tell Miss Adams your name when you speak with her to help her remember.”
A chorus of “Yes, Aunt Tara” and “Yes, Mom,” followed.
“Please call me Helen.”
“We have the easy part. ’Tis you who will stumble over names for weeks.” This came from one of the boys, his name already forgotten. “I’m Kyle,” he reminded her.
“Thanks, but I don’t think I’ll be staying here for weeks.”
Kyle titled his head to the side and furrowed his brow. “Yes, you will.”
The convicted tone of the child would have been comical if it wasn’t for the fact that all the people surrounding her had one skill or another. Telekinesis, premonitions, reading people’s minds…heck, Simon’s father could cause an earthquake and his grandfather could charge lightning from the sky. So to hear a ten-year-old tell her she wasn’t going anywhere made her squirm. Did he know something she didn’t?
Simon must have sensed her unease. He moved closer and placed a hand on her waist again. “Helen and I have some unfinished business to take care of at her home.”
That caught the attention of the adults. The children appeared unaffected.
“What kind of business?” Fin, earthquake man, and Simon’s step dad said. The names might not be too difficult to remember if Helen could match them with their Druid power.
Simon glanced at the kids and raised his brow.
Lizzy stepped forward. “My guess is we have a lot to discuss. Let’s get Helen dressed, and we’ll continue this over dinner.”
Dressed? Helen glanced down at her jeans and t-shirt then at all the women in the room. Lord, when was the last time she even wore a dress?
“How did you manage to travel, Simon? None of the stones were missing.”
“Helen’s necklace.”
Simon glanced down at Helen’s neck, and his smile slid from his face.
“What?”
“Don’t panic.”
Oh, God, nothing good ever came from those words. “What?”
“What necklace, Uncle Simon?”
Helen lowered her eyes to her chest.
It was gone. Her necklace, her ticket home, was gone.
* * * *
All the color in Helen’s face washed away in the space of one breath. She pushed passed him and jumped back onto his bed, tearing the coverings away in an attempt to find her time-traveling necklace.
“It’s got to be here.”
Lizzy narrowed her gaze.
“She has a necklace that opens the portal of time,” Simon explained. “It’s how we got here.”
“It’s not here,” Helen cried franticly.
Simon reached over and placed a hand on Helen’s shoulder. “’Tis okay, lass, we’ll find it.”
Tara motioned the kids out of the room.
“How am I going to get home?”
“We have other stones to move you.”
“You do? Oh, yeah…you do.” Helen nodded now, her eyes still wide with uncertainty. The fact that Helen allowed his arm to stay around her waist as he helped her off the bed and onto her feet was a testament to how unbalanced she felt.
“What does it look like?” Lizzy walked around the bed and looked at the floor.
“The pendant is made of a plain rock, the chain and setting has Celtic knots wound together.”
Amber, who had moved around the bed with his Mom, stopped Liz from kneeling to search for the missing necklace.
“Was the stone this big?” Amber raised her hand and circled her forefinger with her thumb.
“Aye,” Simon told her.
“The necklace isn’t lost, it doesn’t exist yet.”
“Excuse me?” Helen asked.
“After Simon went to your time, five of the sacred stones multiplied leaving large and small stones beside them. I’ve only recently started creating pieces of jewelry to disguise them. ’Tis safe to conclude from your return that after the smaller stones have been generated both cannot be present in the same time. Hence, your necklace simply vanished once you returned.”
“But I came and went before and nothing happened.”
“The small stones weren’t born yet,” Lizzy said. “When Fin and I returned with one stone from the future many years ago, that stone disappeared.”
Helen shook her head. “I don’t get it.”
“Not to worry, lass,” Ian said. “All you need do is assist Amber in creating the necklace, and you’ll be able to return home with as much ease as you’ve traveled here today.”
“But we need to get back right away, don’t we?” Helen glanced up at Simon.
“We’ve all the time in the world. When we return we’ll do so within minutes of our leaving. We are talking time travel, love. As long as we don’t try to return to a time when we are already there, everything will work out.”