“No, though she is a lovely sight to be sure, I willna be here long enough to know anyone, save ye and yer husband, Jerry.”
Morna said nothing, merely reaching back to grab the cloth, rinsing it once more before gesturing to him to lay back again. “Let me tell ye now, so that there will be no more questions about me being truthful with ye, how I plan to build up yer strength. The first time I sent ye back was to nearly three months ago, and it was too far for yer first trip. This last time was doable, only a week back, but as it still caused ye some pain, I think it best if today’s journey only takes ye back a few hours—a day at the most. Tomorrow we shall go a bit farther, a week and a half, I reckon, and then the next day a bit shorter, and so on and so on. One day far, one day close, until we build up yer strength. Is this acceptable to ye?”
Eoghanan winced as the cloth touched his tender skin once more, his voice slightly unsteady as he answered, “Aye, ’tis fine.”
Morna smiled at him, squeezing his hand in sympathy before pressing the rag against him once more. “I’m only just to yer shoulder and, after I’ve cleansed ye, I still have to apply the salve. Best ye tell me about this lass ye have seen. Ye havena spoken of her until today.”
“Verra well.” He’d thought of nothing else but her for days, so despite Morna’s request, it seemed the only natural thing to speak of. Besides, he’d not yet been given the opportunity to write about her and all he’d seen, a practice he’d kept religiously since childhood. He very much didn’t want to forget her. Perhaps speaking of the lass would keep her fresh in his memory so that he would have the words ready when it came time to write. “I doona know her name, for each time the wee boy, her son I suppose, calls her ‘Mom.’ ’Tis no her real name. The lad is called, Cooper. An odd name to be sure, but it seems to fit the lad just fine.”
Once he started, the words left him freely, and he took his time describing every instant, recalling every word he’d heard between them. He no longer spoke directly to Morna, but more to himself. It stirred something inside him, to speak of the lass and her son, something that made him feel alive and whole, rather than the weak, wounded man he’d felt like for the past many moons.
The memories of his beloved strangers took him away. He no longer felt the witch’s work, not noticing that she’d finished until he heard Jerry’s voice in the doorway.
“Morna dear, when ye are finished with him, will ye join me? I need some help in the garden, if ye doona mind. There’s a wee beasty weed that is near strangling the life out of one of me plants. I’d like ye to use a bit of magic and kill the devil.”
Patting his hand in a motherly fashion, Morna stood from her place beside him, glancing over her shoulder to answer her husband. “I’m finished with him. I’ll leave him to rest a while, and we will try out another travel this afternoon.”
Eoghanan shifted his eyes from Jerry back to Morna as she addressed him before leaving.
“Are ye comfortable? Will ye be okay for a few hours?”
Eoghanan nodded confidently. “Aye, but I’d like to write in me book. Could ye hand it to me?”
Morna started in the direction of his journal but stopped midway, turning a mischevious smile at him. “No, I doona think so. Ye need to start building yer strength here as well, and walking across the room willna rip ye open from temple to toe. I’ll leave ye to get it for yerself.”
*
Jerry grasped at Morna’s arm as soon as she closed the bedroom door behind her. “Ye are much too good at making up lies, love. It unsettles me a bit.”
Morna looked at him incredulously. “I doona know what ye mean by that.”
He stopped and faced her, blocking her path down the hallway, staring at her with one wiry eyebrow raised, waiting to speak again until she smiled guiltily. “Ach, look there. See, ye do know perfectly what I mean. Ye told the lad that ye doona choose where he ends up. If that were true, I wouldna have had to speak to a Mr. Perdie in America about the money that we will give him to get the lass here, would I?”
“Have ye taken to spying on me, Jerry?”
“I’ve always spied on ye. Ye get yerself in far too much trouble without me supervision. But I doona believe I knew until today just how well ye could lie.”
His wife leaned in to kiss him reassuringly on the cheek. “Life isna worth it without some trouble now and then, but ye shouldna be surprised that I am a good liar. ’Tis a trait of women and the fault of men that we must be so. The folly of ye all has required it of us. I dare ye to find one woman that isna capable of it.”
Giving his cheek a quick pat, Morna pushed past him, moving down the hallway ahead of him, leaving Jerry rather stunned and open-mouthed.
Chapter 3
LaGuardia Airport, New York City
Present Day