Cooper ran up to his dad, who stood by the pond, waving at Morna and Jerry as they pulled away from the castle. “Where are they going?”
“They’re just heading back a little early so that Morna can get started on some dinner. We’ll ride back with Eoghanan and your Mom whenever they get back over here.”
Cooper reached down into his pocket, turning the stone over and over, thinking about the magic. It was taking Mom and E-o too long. E-o had been right; his Mom was too much of a grown-up to believe. He would have to help her.
He pulled out the stone, trying to remember what he’d heard Morna say. He couldn’t remember exactly, but it was something about the rock touching water. If the rock was magical, his Mom would be angry with him for sure, but it was the only way to show her. Besides, it might not do anything—just like the colored dinosaur eggs his Dad had gotten him once. They were supposed to hatch if placed in water, but they never did.
If only grown-ups were easier to teach things to, he wouldn’t have had to take the rock in the first place. Rearing back, he let the rock fly; everything went black the moment it hit the water.
Chapter 19
“Uh, I’m sorry, can you say that again?” Obviously, he’d misspoken. There was absolutely no way he’d been in the airport. Jerry and Morna had both said Eoghanan had been at their inn for several months. He didn’t strike me as the type of man who would take off for a quick little “vaca” to New York.
“Grace, I know that ye willna believe me. No until ye witness it for yerself. ’Tis my hope that ye will allow me to tell ye all that I know and then consider allowing me to prove it to ye.”
“Witness what? Eoghanan, you’re freaking me out. Just say whatever it is you’re trying to say, plainly. Get on with it.”
“I was injured by a sword, just as I told ye, but ’twas no in this time. This wound,” he paused to point at the scar that started on the side of his temple. “was given to me in the year sixteen hundred and forty-seven, in the verra castle behind ye. I am only in this time now, so that I can heal with the help of Morna’s magic.”
“Alright.” I stood, tossing a hand in dismissal toward him as I took off back toward the pond. “I’ve had enough. You’re cra…”
The word hung unfinished, my feet taking off the moment I saw Jeffrey running toward us, dripping wet, breathless and screaming for me to follow him. He turned back toward the direction he’d come as soon as he saw me running, screaming at me from over his shoulder.
“Grace, I…Cooper’s gone.”
“What do you mean, he’s gone?” My stomach churned, vomit threatening to come up at the panic that built within me.
“I don’t know, Grace. He was standing right there. Right there, Grace.” He pointed at the grass next to me. He was crying now, tears flowing freely, his voice a panicked rasp. “I was right next to him. He just threw a rock. I swear. I didn’t turn away from him for a second. He just threw a rock and…” he shook his head as if he didn’t believe his own words, “he just vanished.”
“Jeffrey, if Cooper put you up to this and you were stupid enough to go along with it, I swear to you, I will murder you.”
“Grace!” He grabbed me roughly, shaking me so hard my teeth rattled. “Do I look like I’m joking?”
He didn’t, not at all, and my brain simply couldn’t process the horror of what he said. “He’s gone.”
“No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.” I could say nothing else as I collapsed against him.
“Hush, lass.” Eoghanan stood behind me, pulling me off of Jeffrey. He gripped my shoulders too tightly, but it was enough to make me do as he said. “Jeffrey, show me what the lad did.”
He was so calm I wanted to slap him. I twisted away from his grip, whirling on him, my voice barely forming words—like in a dream where you want to scream, you need to scream, but it just won’t come.
“What’s…what’s the matter with you? We don’t have time. We have to find him.”
I jumped toward the water to search for him, but Eoghanan reached out, jerking me back against him with his left hand, wrapping it around my waist so that I couldn’t move.
“Jeffrey, pick up a damn rock and show me what the lad did.”
Eoghanan’s tone was deeper than I’d ever heard it. It was a direct order.
I struggled against him, but he held me still as Jeffrey looked at him, confusion and shock muddling his normally flawless face. Slowly, he bent to pick up a rock. Shaking his head, he held his hand back, “He just…all he did was throw it.”
Jeffrey’s rock went sailing toward the water. When it hit the surface and disappeared below the water, so did Jeffrey.
I screamed. Something hard hit me on the top of the head causing my vision to blur. The last thing I saw before I lost consciousness was the sight of headlights barreling toward us.
Chapter 20
The Inn Near Conall Castle
Present Day