The Curse: Touch of Eternity (The Curse series) (27 page)

The three Scots across the road jolted to attention when the blonde girl—apparently called Ashley—exited the house and started walking down the street. The night was hot and still, and totally quiet, except for the growling and hissing of two cats. Without another word, the three slipped out of the van and followed the girl.

Cathal’s steps were almost silent as he got closer and closer. When Ashley was only one step ahead, he grabbed her in a flash. She put up a struggle, but that came to a halt when Alasdair rushed in to subdue her. She tried to scream, but Cathal pressed his hand strongly against her mouth. Together the men shoved her into the van. Nathaira got in behind Ashley and closed the door. Cathal and Alasdair straightened their clothing, glancing around to make sure no one had witnessed their little interlude. Then they got in the van as well.

The street remained quiet. Only from inside the van could Ashley’s terrified cries be heard. The van slowly rolled down the street before turning left, out of sight.

Two trembling figures peeled themselves out of the shadows behind the trash cans, mouths open in disbelief.

“Quick,” Kim said. “You have to follow the van. I’ll go to Sam to get help. Try to stay behind them for as long as you can, and be careful. Don’t let them know you are following them!”

Kim gave Justin a push in the right direction. She could hardly believe what they had just seen. She hoped Justin would be able to catch the van and tail it for a while. She didn’t think they’d seen his car. She sprinted to Sam’s house and rang the doorbell urgently.

I turned down the music when I thought I heard the doorbell. Someone was pressing the button repeatedly.

“All right, all right, I’m coming!” God, I said to myself, why was Kim in such a hurry?

When I opened the door, Kim practically fell on top of me. Her face was white, her voice shaking.

“Quick, call the police! Ashley has been kidnapped.”

Before I fully understood what she’d said, she grabbed the phone in the kitchen and started punching in the numbers.

“What? Calm down! What happened?”

I took the phone away from her and pressed it back into the wall mount.

“Wait a second, Kim. Tell me what’s going on!”

She pushed me away and grabbed the receiver again. Only when I shook her by the shoulders did she snap out of it enough to fill me in.

“Two men just dragged Ashley into a van. Justin is following them. We have to call for help!”

“What men? Did you see them? What did they look like? What kind of car was it?”

“A van, a dark-blue van. It all happened so quickly I didn’t think to get the license plate. The one guy I couldn’t
see very well, but the other one had blond shoulder-length hair. And he was tall, really tall!”

My knees buckled. I thought I was about to pass out. I clapped my hands to my face and let myself slide down the wall. My thoughts were whirling: Could this be happening? Had they followed me to America? That seemed impossible. But what else could it mean?

“Kim… I think that was Alasdair Buchanan.”

As soon as I said the name out loud, I knew I was right. And if Alasdair had followed me here, then we were all in great danger. In mortal danger! The pendant flamed hot, burning against my skin.

Fair Isle

T
he little boat was rocking under Payton’s feet, and he jumped onto the jetty. He thanked the fisherman who had brought him to Fair Isle and waved to him as he departed, watching for a moment as the small boat bobbed up and down like a waterbird.

Fair Isle. Here, at last, he should be able to find some answers, to find out more about the curse, and if there was any way to lift it. The waves were pounding high, and the white foam from the sea was washed far up onto the beach. A cold wind blew into his face, but Payton didn’t feel a thing.

Since Sam had left him, his world had become dull again, with less and less feeling every passing day. As if the weather were adapting to his mood, the sky was full of dense clouds. The sun was nowhere to be found, and even the time of day seemed to have lost its way, getting stuck somewhere between morning and evening.

Payton walked along the jetty, across the wet sand, up to a stony embankment forming a natural dam. Payton climbed up the steps hewn into the stone and got his first view of his destination.

The island was small and sparsely populated. There was only one village, and the people lived just as their ancestors
had for hundreds of years—raising sheep and catching fish. Their little stony huts were placed haphazardly, as if a giant had dropped them from above. Each one faced a different direction. Some roofs looked badly damaged, bowed down almost to the ground. They were mixed in with newer-looking houses, which were painted white.

In the middle of the village, Payton could see the largest building on the island, next to a large square, surrounded by trees. A kind of church, he thought, or maybe a temple of some sort.

A narrow path led from the water to the village, and Payton decided to follow it.

The first buildings he passed seemed deserted, with doors that looked like they hadn’t been opened in ages. The large square was empty too. There was no light through the windows of the houses and no smoke rising from the chimneys. He was getting a bit worried that he’d come here for nothing.

Yet the village didn’t seem to be completely abandoned, as everything was well kept and tidy. In the front gardens, the last summer flowers were blooming next to precisely laid-out herbal beds, and the paths in the village had recently been swept. Here and there, bean plants had sent their runners creeping up rods; the plants looked healthy, sure to provide a good harvest.

Payton knocked at every single door, but not one was opened.

Disappointed, he sat down on a bench and waited. His gaze landed upon his arm, and he studied the scar that his last trip with Sam had left him with. It was hardly visible any longer, but he stroked it with his finger and wished for
that moment when he could still feel pain, when he had still been near Sam.

He had been daydreaming for quite some time when he heard voices from a distance. A short while later, some people appeared under a grove of trees at the edge of the village. The men were pulling a cart piled high with peat. The women carried baskets hanging from their arms, and their children were running around behind them. It must be a big family, or a group of friends, he thought, from the way they were laughing and joking with each other.

A little boy, not more than five years old, grabbed an apple from one of the baskets and quickly hid behind his friends. A woman raised a finger in reprimand, but she didn’t look angry. It was clear that she loved the little group of children.

Bit by bit, they all made their way into the square. Payton stood up, and when the villagers got closer, he stepped forward in a friendly manner.

“
Latha math
!” he greeted the people. Curious eyes followed him when he approached the closest man.

“My name is Payton McLean. I have a puzzle in my life, and I’m hoping that you will be able to help me. I’m looking for someone who can answer my questions about a woman called Vanora who lived on this island long ago. Do you know whom I should turn to?”

The man returned Payton’s greeting, but shook his head.

“
Tha mi duilich
,” he apologized. “We can’t help you. But there might be someone who can. Can you tell us more about yourself?”

Payton didn’t want to reveal anything, but he could tell the villagers weren’t going to give him much access unless they felt they could trust him.

“I am Douglas, by the way,” the man said. “It’s too late to find someone to talk to now anyway. It’s about to get dark.”

“But it’s important.”

“Hmm. How about this. We could use some help unloading the peat. We have a lot of work ahead of us. In exchange, I’ll give you a roof over your head for the night. What do you say?”

Douglas turned his back on Payton and stepped toward the other men, who were already lifting the heavy lumps of peat off the cart. Most of the women had already disappeared inside, and the children had gathered around one of the huts, where they were listening attentively to an old woman’s story.

Payton didn’t need long to think about it. He had to find answers. And if that meant being tested by the villagers, well, he would dig up all the peat on the island if he had to.

He set down his jacket and his bag, and rolled up his sleeves. Then he grabbed the thick, heavy bundles one by one, and lifted them off. Two of the men started hacking the big bundles into smaller hunks. When the cart was empty and the pile of peat had grown high, they began stacking these smaller hunks in front of each hut.

Payton worked along without complaint. After a while, the curious glances from the working men stopped. A white-haired woman approached the men. As she got closer, Payton realized that she couldn’t be older than twenty, but her hair was such a light blonde that it seemed to be white. Her tender beauty seemed almost spooky. She brought
refreshments—a big hunk of cheese, some apple slices, and bread that was still warm from the oven.

“Tapadh leat,” he said in thanks.

“Where are you from?” the young woman asked. She lowered her head so that her hair fell like a protective veil in front of her face.

Payton noticed that the other men were watching him, and he didn’t know whether it was a good idea to talk to the girl. He was just about to murmur a short answer when she grabbed his arm.

“I can see a lot of what you aren’t saying,” she said. “But if you are looking for answers, you must trust me. Ignore the others. Only I can help you! I will wait for you. Come to my hut tomorrow at dawn. Then we will talk.”

She turned and disappeared into her hut.

Payton ate his bread and drank some cool water. He worked with the men until darkness fell.

“Payton! Thank you for your help. Come now, we deserve a decent meal and a warm bed.”

Douglas clapped Payton on the shoulder and led him to the outskirts of the village. There, in a hut that stood alone, a warm, inviting glow illuminated the windows. Payton had expected to find Douglas’s wife waiting there, but the hut was empty.

“You live here alone?” asked Payton, the smell of fried meat drifting into his nose.

“Yes, like most of us here. But the women from the village look after all of us. They cook together and every hut gets its share. Just like with the peat. And I suppose with everything else, too.”

After the meal, Payton asked, “Why do you not look for a wife?”

“Well, Payton. Here on Fair Isle, it’s a slightly different view of marriage than in other parts. Here, the women decide on the man they want. They are the wise people in our village. But even they can’t decide freely. They follow the predictions and prophecies made by our ancestors.”

“And the white-haired woman—who is she?”

“Her name is Uisgeliath.”

Payton’s heart leapt. Uisgeliath was the woman Roy had told him to find. Payton had been afraid to ask for her by name when he’d first arrived on Fair Isle because he thought it might scare the villagers off.

“She protects our past,” Douglas said. “And she has an eye that opens up your soul. Nobody can lie to her. That is why it is important that you talk to her tomorrow.”

“But why were the men watching me so closely when she was talking to me?”

“Well, they wanted to see if you could withstand her eye.”

“And… did I?”

“Yes, otherwise you wouldn’t be here.”

Douglas yawned. “It’s getting late. You can sleep over here on my bed. I will sleep in the chamber over there.” He started to lie down on a roughly hewn bench.

Payton tried to refuse, but his host declined. In the end, he took the bed, but he remained wide awake. When the moon broke through the layer of clouds, the little hut lit up slightly through its only window. Payton shut his eyes and pictured Sam in front of him. Sam lying next to him on the beach that night. How when she woke up, the moonlight had reflected in her eyes. Payton had felt her love, so
despite the pain, he had reached out for her hand. And now, just as then, he wasn’t to find any sleep.