Remember?
Myra needs your help, Lizzy. It wasn’t safe for her to stay here, so her family sent her there. I know you won’t turn your back on her and in turn, on me.
The Gypsy woman from the Renaissance Faire, the one Cassy and I attended, is very dangerous. I’m sure you can find her picture, look at it, study it, and I beg you to stay away from her. If she ever comes near you or Simon, run.
She is, in part, the reason I cannot return to you, at least not at this time.
Paper is sparse here, and I can’t write any more than I have. Know I love you with all my heart. Let Simon know Auntie Tara is happy, and if I can, I will visit someday.
Love, Tara
Todd watched her silent tears fall. Slowly, she read the letter. An occasional gasp or sigh was all she uttered. She read it twice before shutting her eyes and giving into emotion.
“Are you okay?” What a stupid question, of course she wasn’t okay.
“She’s alive. Thank God, she’s alive.”
“Can I see the letter?” Todd put out his hand.
Liz shook her head and put the letter in her purse.
“That could be evidence.”
She was getting up to leave, and Todd was desperate for answers.
“If you thought that, you wouldn’t have brought it to me without reading it,” she concluded. “Where is Myra? I have to talk to her.”
He looked around the park, spotted her staring at them from the far side. When Liz’s eyes found her, her lips lifted in a smile.
“How do you know you can trust her?” he asked.
“Tara told me to.” ****
Myra saw him sitting on a bench talking to a very attractive woman. In the time it took for her heart to lunge in her chest, she realized it was Lizzy sitting next to Todd.
He had given her the letter, just as she asked.
Maybe he trusted her after all.
The two exchanged words, and even from a distance Myra could see Lizzy wiping tears from her eyes. When they both looked up and saw her, she took it as her cue and walked toward them with a calmness she didn’t feel.
Myra spoke first. “You are just as Tara described. More beautiful in fact.”
“Is she okay? I know the letter said she was, but is she really?”
“Oh, Lizzy. She is better than okay, she and my brother make a lovely couple. She misses you so much.”
“Call me Liz, no one calls me Lizzy, except Tara.”
“Then I must call you Lizzy. We are sisters, all of us.”
Liz glanced over her shoulder where Todd stood silent, watching them. “I have so many questions.”
“You will have more before this day is done.”
“Ladies?” he interrupted them. “Would either of you mind telling me what is going on here?”
Myra watched his eyes shift between them both, waiting for one of them to speak. “Thank you, for trusting me.”
His jaw started to twitch. “Don’t thank me yet, Myra. I’m not sure I’ve done the right thing. Miss McAllister here seems to think everything is fine after reading that letter. Would either of you mind telling me what it says?”
They both stood silent.
“Great. That’s just perfect.” His police radio squawked in his ear, taking his attention away from them. “I’ve got to go,” he said after a brief contact with the voice on the other line. “But I’m not done with this yet. I’ll see you when I get home.” He pointed an accusing finger at Myra then ran off to his squad car.
“You’re living with him?” Liz asked once he was gone.
“No...well, I guess...” His car sped off, with lights and sirens blaring.
“Cute. Very cute.”
Myra gave a quick laugh. “You sound just like your sister.”
They both sat on the bench. “Where is she?” Liz jumped right in.
“Scotland. With my brother and the rest of my family.”
“Why can’t she call?”
“There are no phones.”
Liz started to ask another question, Myra stopped her.
“Let me start at the beginning. But I warn you, some of what I’m going to say will be difficult to believe. You might even think me mad before I am done with my story.”
Liz took a deep cleansing breath and settled in for Myra’s tale.
“My family, and now Tara, live in MacCoinnich Keep in Scotland. In the year 1576.”
Lizzy laughed. A short explosion of disbelief.
“Please, hear me out. I know this sounds crazy, but please listen. We are Druids. All of us, even Tara and you. We have certain gifts, powers, which separate us from all others. Grainna, the woman Tara warned you about, is the most powerful evil Druid who ever existed. She murdered countless people in her quest to gain more power. Many years ago, the Ancients stripped that power and sent her to this time. My brothers were sent here last summer to stop Grainna from finding a Druid virgin and regaining those powers. Tara’s life was in danger in this time, so Duncan and Fin brought her to our time to keep her alive.”
Lizzy put her hand up, stopping her from going on. “You want me to believe that my sister is sitting in some castle in the sixteenth century?”
“Aye. She is.”
“And you’re some type of witch with powers?”
“Druid, not witch. My gifts are part of who I am.
I was born with these gifts, like both you and Tara.”
“I don’t believe you.” Lizzy got up to leave.
She expected that. “If I can prove it, will you listen to the rest of my story?”
Arms laced defensively across her chest, Liz turned to her. “Prove it.”
“All Druids have some abilities. Each person’s is different from the next. My strongest gift is the movement of the wind.” Out of nowhere, the wind around them swirled, causing Myra’s hair to pull back as if she faced a storm. Just as quickly, it ceased.
Lizzy’s mouth gaped, then shut. “How do I know you did that?”
Myra looked around to see if others watched.
Two women sat on a blanket a few yards away while their children tossed a ball back and forth, an elderly couple walked hand and hand beyond them.
Being careful not to draw attention to them, Myra stood and took two steps away from the bench.
“Please sit down.”
The bench moved half a foot in their direction.
Enough so that Lizzy saw it, but no one else would.
“I speak the truth. When we are alone I can give you a better demonstration. It isn’t safe out here where we could be spotted.”