“No, you need Juno. I’m just along for the ride … and to find out what’s out there.”
“Which may not be up to us, if MacDuff’s lights work. He and Jock will be exploring that bank the minute they can see it.” She tried to smile. “And that will be good for MacDuff, too. It will just confuse me. I don’t think that’s the way Cira wants it.”
“We’ll find out, won’t we?” Margaret said. “And the worst thing that will happen is that Juno will get a long walk to stretch her legs after that trip across the ocean.”
“If she doesn’t fall in the lake running down these banks.”
“She swims well. And I’d jump in to help her.”
Jane smiled. “Because she’s your friend. Just like you jumped in to help me.”
“Something like that. But you offered me an adventure to sweeten the pot. There are so many mysteries in life and nature, and it’s not often we get the chance to explore one as interesting as this.” She squinted, trying to peer through the mist. “Are those the boulders you spoke about just ahead?”
*
“It will be just a few minutes.” Jock smiled at Jane and Margaret. “Sit down on those rocks and get as comfortable as you can. We were almost ready before we left here yesterday. It’s just the control switch.” He disappeared back into the mist.
“You’re right,” Margaret said as she slowly stroked Juno’s head. “The mist is much worse … or better here. I can see how any search team would be paralyzed. You feel totally isolated and disoriented.”
“Does it bother you?”
“No, and it doesn’t bother you, either, does it?”
Jane shook her head. “I’ve never felt a threat here. I feel … at home.” She glanced at Juno. “How about her?”
“She’s alert … a little tense. She’s not frightened.” She paused. “She’s waiting for something.”
“So are we,” Jane said wryly. “And I wish MacDuff and Jock would just—”
“Ready.” MacDuff appeared out of the mist, his eyes shining and eager. He was carrying a large utilitarian-looking switch. “Jock, attach that last transformer,” he called before he turned back to Jane and Margaret. “It’s going to work.” He reached over and ruffled the hair on Juno’s head. “Sorry a fine lass like you won’t get your chance to prove yourself, but that’s life.” He turned to Jane, his excitement almost tangible. “Four poles and the power of those new lights will cause the entire area to light up like a fireworks display on your Fourth of July. Only these fireworks will stay on until we turn them off.”
“Last transformer connected.” Jock had appeared out of the mist. “Press your magic switch, MacDuff.”
“Jane?” MacDuff was holding out the switch to her. “You’ve been in this from the beginning. I won’t leave you out.”
She shook her head. “Your treasure. Your family. Good luck, MacDuff.”
He smiled. “Thank you. And you won’t call down a Cira hex on me?”
“Never.”
“Then here goes.” He drew a deep breath and pressed the switch.
And the lights came on!
MacDuff gave a shout. “Yes. Jock, do you see them?”
“Aye.” Jock’s gaze was fixed on MacDuff’s exuberant expression. “You did it, MacDuff.”
“Fourth of July, MacDuff,” Jane said gently. “Congratulations.”
He jerked her to her feet and whirled her in a circle. “Now let’s go take a look down that bank. Now that we can make out some of the topography and the—” He stopped, frowning.
Juno was on her feet, whimpering.
Jane glanced at her in puzzlement. The dog’s dark eyes were bright with eagerness, not fear, and her tail was wagging.
“Afraid not, Juno,” Jane told her. “It appears that this is as far as we go tonight.”
“Maybe not.” Margaret’s gaze was on Juno, too. “She’s not waiting anymore.”
And Jock was muttering curses under his breath, his gaze on the four poles with their brilliant lights.
Which were no longer brilliant.
The lights appeared to be dimming, slowly losing their power.
“No!” MacDuff’s face was tense with strain. “Come on. We have to fix it. There must be something wrong with the connection, Jock.”
Jock had already moved deeper into the mist, which was less obscuring than before but fast becoming worse. MacDuff was with him in seconds, and Jane and Margaret watched them working frantically at the connections fixed to the poles.
And Juno was still whimpering.
Jane shook her head in bewilderment. “What’s happening here, Margaret?”
“With those lights? How should I know?” She gazed at Juno. “With her? She wants me to give her permission to go. She says it’s time.” She met Jane’s eyes. “It’s your call.”
Or was it Cira’s?
Jane watched MacDuff and Jock moving quickly in the mist. “MacDuff is the only one who has the right to tell me that.” She stood up and smiled faintly. “Cira would agree. I’m sure anyone who challenged the head of the family in her day wouldn’t have lived long.” Then she was striding into the mist toward the two men.
“What’s wrong?” she asked as she reached them. “Can you fix it?”
“We don’t know what’s wrong,” Jock said tersely. “There’s nothing wrong with the lights, transformers, or the connections.” He glanced up at the light on the pole. “And the lights aren’t going completely out as some of the other light systems did. You can see the lights are still burning. They’re just not at full power.”
“It could be that the lights had too much power and the heat interacted with the condensation from the mist once it was turned on,” MacDuff said in frustration. “At any rate, those lights aren’t going to give illumination for more than a distance of two or three feet from each pole until we figure out a solution.”
“We’ll do it, MacDuff,” Jock said. “It will just take a little longer.”
“It should have worked.”
“Aye, but think how you’ll be able to rub that Australian bloke’s nose in the fact that it didn’t. We’ll just make a few improvements and show him how the Scots do it better.”
Warmth, friendship, healing.
MacDuff was responding, albeit reluctantly. “We can do it. But who knows how long it will take. God, I’m tired of struggling with those damn lights.” He was silent a moment and then whirled to face Jane. “No ‘I told you so’?”
“It could have worked. I’m sorry for your sake that it didn’t.”
“But you still think you’re right about using the dog.”
“I don’t know, MacDuff. I believe I might be.” She paused. “Margaret’s retriever, Juno, wants permission to go hunting. I won’t let Margaret let her do it unless you’re okay with it.”
He stared at her for a moment and then waved his hand impatiently. “Go ahead. A deal is a deal. Try not to fall in the lake.”
She didn’t move. “Margaret said that she’d jump in the lake to rescue Juno. She made no promises about me. So I think the two of you should come along. Forget about starting to fix those lights now.” She took a step closer, her gaze glittering with the excitement suddenly zinging through her. “I really think you should be with us tonight.”
“Do you?” MacDuff’s gaze was fixed on her face. “Aye, I can see you do.” His face was suddenly lit with that reckless smile again. “Well, who am I to argue? I apparently have nothing better to do at the moment.” He turned to Jock. “Come on, we have to protect Jane and my property from that fierce, marauding Juno.”
*
Mist.
Thicker than Jane had ever seen it.
She could hear Juno barking ahead of her in the distance.
The retriever sounded far away and probably was, because their pace had been so painstakingly slow since they had left the boulders.
They were having to travel slowly and single file because the path was narrow and the lake only feet away.
She could feel her heart beating hard, her palms damp, as she traveled blindly through the mist.
“It’s okay, Jane,” Margaret called from behind her. “I wanted to give Juno free rein since she seemed to know where she was going, but I’ll have her start to come back and lead us. This path is too dangerous without a guide.”